Ken Dryden vs. Dominik Hasek

[Doctor No]

Then, you can also look at the back-up goalies behind Dryden: 'Bunny' Larocque went 96-18-18 during the years he backed-up Dryden. I repeat, the back-up goalie went 96-18-18 (!!!) for five seasons while backing-up Dryden. Now, sure, it was the 1970s and Larocque probably faced a lot of crappy teams,

That's an understatement.

Larocque's average opponent was regularly between 0.36 goals/game and 0.61 goals/game below average - things didn't even get close to Dryden until even the latter's final year, but even then it was a significant difference between the schedules played by the two goalies - one of the larger starter/backup differences that I've seen across a single year, let alone one that persists across seasons.

Just look at Larocque's typical schedule:

1975-1976 Montreal Canadiens Goaltender Game-by-Game Performance

 

[The Panther]

That's an understatement.

View attachment 955231

Larocque's average opponent was regularly between 0.36 goals/game and 0.61 goals/game below average - things didn't even get close to Dryden until even the latter's final year, but even then it was a significant difference between the schedules played by the two goalies - one of the larger starter/backup differences that I've seen across a single year, let alone one that persists across seasons.

Just look at Larocque's typical schedule:

1975-1976 Montreal Canadiens Goaltender Game-by-Game Performance

Right, agreed. And it wasn't like Larocque had a superb save percentage. During those 5 seasons he backed-up Dryden, Larocque had the 8th-best save percentage in the NHL of goalies who appeared in 50+ games (only 33 goalies played 100+ games that half-decade). That's quite good for the #2 goalie, but it's not amazing considering his fabulous team and the weak competition he faced... while Dryden had the #1 save percentage during that span.

Nevertheless, Larocque's being 8th best kind of underscores my point about Dryden's favorable position. As far as I can see, Larocque's save percentage is still better than any other back-up goalie in the NHL during that time.

 

[Boxscore]

Hard to bet against Hasek in any goalie debate but I loved Dryden. He's in my personal Mt. Rushmore of NHL goaltenders for sure...

Hasek
Roy
Dryden
Brodeur