Just curious, why do you think Harry Lumley is a must-add? He's one of those guys that every time I look at him, I seem to rate him lower than before. No significant accomplishments past the age of 28, has 2-3 seasons at the start of his career that he almost certainly wouldn't have had in any other era, sketchy playoff record, was a journeyman that didn't do much better than the goalies he replaced or the goalies who replaced him, and his entire legacy is built on getting Hart credit for two seasons behind a very strong defensive team and winning a Cup with a budding dynasty. To me, Lumley looks like Al Rollins with more longevity.
Not necessarily a must-add, just a better goalie than those 4 I haven't included on my list.
Lumley has 13 seasons as a number 1 goalie in the environment of only 6 NHL teams. (Well, 11 "decent" seasons if you want to scratch off 1945 and 1960)..
That itself is a significant achievement, although it wouldn't make him a top 200 player all-time..
My read on Lumley is that he was a reliable top 4-5 goalie for more than a decade with few spikes upwards.
He has those
1954 and
1955 seasons where the media voted him over prime Sawchuk for the 1st AST. I'm not convinced these selections were undeserved. Although Lumley led the league in GAA, writers also gave him plenty of Hart votes (5th and 2nd) which suggests he was a real difference maker.
1948 is another quality season. Coaches, who voted ASTs in this time, prefered Broda, Brimsek and Durnan all above Lumley. But there were additional unofficial all-stars from this season and all of them uplift Lumley.
This was not my original research, other HFB member, nik jr,
posted them in a different thread and I stored it.
'48 all-star team chosen by Sid Abel, Syl Apps, Neil Colville, Elmer Lach, Johnny Mariucci, Milt Schmidt and Foster Hewitt:
1st AST goalie: Lumley; 2nd AST goalie: Broda.
'48 poll of the Rangers players about the toughest opponents (New York Times; May 5, 1948):
1st AST goalie: Lumley; 2nd AST goalie: Brimsek.
'48 all-star team voted by Hockey News readers before the end of the season:
1st AST goalie: Lumley; 2nd AST goalie: Broda.
1946 season is also interesting. Lumley was the 3rd AST in a strange voting system from members of the press (probably). He was also 4th overall in Hart voting (Durnan was 3rd though).
During the last HOH project, overpass found out and
posted the unofficial '46 all-star team voted on by coaches. Results? A tie between Lumley and Durnan for the 1st AST goalie.
To echo your argument against Vachon, why do we think the 7th best goalie from the Original Six is a top 200 player?
I was talking about one decade (1970s). Original Six era covers 25 years which makes it different.