Oddly enough, I can better relate to this point more than anything we've discussed in the past few pages actually.
I've gone back and watched Fuhr and Billy Smith, also seen some of the other major goalies of the 80's (Liut, Peeters, etc. but didn't scout them closely yet). I made a long post about Smith being the goalie based on anticipation and positioning and fitting the defensive Islanders very well as a result. Similarly, Fuhr was more acrobatic it seems, reflex-based and fit the Oilers much better as well. The Oilers are more prone to give up an odd-man rush or to turn the puck over in their own end...so Fuhr's acrobatics (and previously, Moog was of similar style, though less talented and efficient in my estimation) were needed for the Oilers to have success.
Who was better than Fuhr though in the 80's? Assuming you favor positional guys, I assume Smith is one...Peeters?
Fuhr was also on both the '84 and '87 Canada Cup teams which has some merit. '87 he was named the best goaltender of the tournament as well. Put up numbers similar to the pack (minus Vanbiesbrouck, who didn't make it to tournament play despite his best efforts) despite having to face the Soviets 4 times in 9 games.
I would like some more information on Lumley, Rayner and Worsley though...I'm having trouble placing them, to be quite honest...
Maybe I'm in the minority, but I give no attention whatsoever to style.
I understand that some styles fit better than others in some contexts, but in the end, that is "factored" in the results of the goalie. It's perfectly understandable why a guy like Roy did great with Montreal, and why he "probably" wouldn't have done so great with the Oilers (even though he was pretty good behind the closest thing there was to a run-n-gun team later on). In the same order of ideas, there is probably a reason why Pete Peeters ended up goaltending for the Flyers, the Bruins and the Caps (three teams considered "defensive" during that era).
In other words, I don't think there's a style who is better than another. I understand that style has a little more importance than for skaters (by style, PK Subban would actually be the best D-Men in the NHL -- while he's actually a fringe Top-15, all things considered), but even then, there are elements of style amongst skaters that has to be considered (namely, physical play). Some styles just happens to be better fits.
I don't give THAT much attention to the rosters of Canada Cup (especially as far as Canada is concerned). Patrick Roy said something lately on TV about that (outperforming Hextall, yet Hextall was picked, and Hextall having great playoffs was irrelevant, as both had their Connie Smythes). Granted, Fuhr being on Team Canada strongly hinted that he was better than, say, Greg Millen, but it's nothing we didn't know by then.
I think Fuhr's placement in the rankings has to be related to Andy Moog in some fashion. He was actually better than Moog as an Oiler (and as a whole), but the gap wasn't exactly huge. Fuhr was obviously a better playoff performer, but he also had a stretch of bad years, something Moog never really had. And Moog is obviously not up for voting yet (and I'm not sure he'll be either).
I think "bad seasons" have to be considered, unless they are totally pre-prime or totally post-prime. Fuhr isn't the only goalie to have had bad years (Vachon, amongst others), but the later was totally post-prime.
