What nations have the best goalies?

[Elias40]

I want to see Wallstedt as the leaader of his team in the NHL..but it will depend on which team chooses him in the draft. Maybe Alnefelt will also have a nice career in the NHL, but I don't think Vasilevski will let him into the goal, so if an exchange came somewhere else, it would help him a lot...

 

[Hasa92]

1st Russia

Too hard to choose 2nd-4th between Canada, USA & Finland.

5th Sweden
6th Germany
7th Czech Rebublic
8th Slovakia
9th Switzerland
10th Latvia

 

[Stubu]

Where is the love for korpisalo and koskinen?

Korpisalo is okay but the frequent soft goals are frustrating, to put it politely.

Koskinen was overrated when he crossed the pond. He had good numbers in SKA but that was behind a ridiculously good F core that drove possession like mad and a very good D core too. It didn't help that Chiarelli paid him too much right off the bat, then extended way before it was necessary. I guess he's a tolerable backup and maybe even a workable 1B, if you don't look at the salary now.

 

[Czechboy]

Korpisalo is okay but the frequent soft goals are frustrating, to put it politely.

Koskinen was overrated when he crossed the pond. He had good numbers in SKA but that was behind a ridiculously good F core that drove possession like mad and a very good D core too. It didn't help that Chiarelli paid him too much right off the bat, then extended way before it was necessary. I guess he's a tolerable backup and maybe even a workable 1B, if you don't look at the salary now.

I'm also an oiler fan... I am well aware of that salary haha.

 

[MaxV]

1st Russia

Too hard to choose 2nd-4th between Canada, USA & Finland.

5th Sweden
6th Germany
7th Czech Rebublic
8th Slovakia
9th Switzerland
10th Latvia

I would take Elvis (Latvia) and Andersen (Denmark) over any Swiss and maybe over Slovakia also.

Finland is still a goalie hotbed, even if some guys are declining. I would still put them over Canada. USA goalies had a better season then Fins, but I'm still leaning towards Finland's group.

 

[Antiillafire]

I would take Elvis (Latvia) and Andersen (Denmark) over any Swiss and maybe over Slovakia also.

Finland is still a goalie hotbed, even if some guys are declining. I would still put them over Canada. USA goalies had a better season then Fins, but I'm still leaning towards Finland's group.

I’m taking Halak over Andersen, but Latvia has advantage over Slovakia for sure

 

[Hasa92]

I would take Elvis (Latvia) and Andersen (Denmark) over any Swiss and maybe over Slovakia also.

Finland is still a goalie hotbed, even if some guys are declining. I would still put them over Canada. USA goalies had a better season then Fins, but I'm still leaning towards Finland's group.

Our goaltending was declining a few years ago but it's getting better again.

I was thinking about Denmark but Andersen is the only goalie I know from them and I made this list having both best goalies and depth in mind.

 

[Namejs]

Over the 5 or 7 years or so, Latvia has always had some promising goalie prospect in the pipeline.

And having a 1st NHL goalie in Merzlikins, a couple of potential NHL goalies in Kivlenieks and Silovs, as well as a top tier goalie in KHL in Kalnins, I would argue we're definitely not 10th in the world.

With Greiss being done, I'd rank us higher than Germany

 

[mattihp]

Over the 5 or 7 years or so, Latvia has always had some promising goalie prospect in the pipeline.

And having a 1st NHL goalie in Merzlikins, a couple of potential NHL goalies in Kivlenieks and Silovs, as well as a top tier goalie in KHL in Kalnins, I would argue we're definitely not 10th in the world.

With Greiss being done, I'd rank us higher than Germany

Latvia has had so many promising goalies after Irbe, but finally they seem to remain on the track for longer in their careers.

 

[Stubu]

I would take Elvis (Latvia) and Andersen (Denmark) over any Swiss and maybe over Slovakia also.

Finland is still a goalie hotbed, even if some guys are declining. I would still put them over Canada. USA goalies had a better season then Fins, but I'm still leaning towards Finland's group.

To tell the truth, I don't understand why that is. We do get good defenders. We don't need to be the hotbed.

 

[Eye of Ra]

for sweden, its better than ever

 

[shello]

I'd say Russia

 

[Czechboy]

neat observation.

The final 4 has 2 Canadians battling each other and 2 Russians battling each other.

 

[Eye of Ra]

1.

Jacob Markström

Calgary Flames

21

1.94

.933

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

So far this season he is better than any Russian and Finnish keeper.

Ullmark looks good for Boston.

Lars Johansson (KHL) would be a top goalie in NHL.

Wallstedt is already one of the better in SHL.

Things look good for Sweden.

Lehner is not Swedish anymore, he never wants to play for our NT. Good luck with to him with the USA NT.

 

[centipede2233]

I would have USA first followed by Russia. USA has Gibson, helle, campbell, demko along with Oettinger, knight and a bounce back quick.
Russian has vasi, shesty, and then there’s a drop to sorokin and varlamov

 

[IceHockeyDude]

Based on this season onnly there are:
20 Canadian goalies with save% over 90
14 Americans
7 Russians
6 Finns
4 Swedes
3 Czechs
1 Slovakian
1 Dane
1 Latvian

 

[Mathieukferland]

Russia is first, followed by the USA, third through fifth is interchangeable between Canada, Sweden, and Finland

 

[Czechboy]

Based on this season onnly there are:
20 Canadian goalies with save% over 90
14 Americans
7 Russians
6 Finns
4 Swedes
3 Czechs
1 Slovakian
1 Dane
1 Latvian

Czechs could be at 6 soon... Rittich, Mrazek and Francouz are all very slowly returning from injuries.

 

[FiLe]

I'd say they're getting about as much love as their recent performances justify. Well, Korpisalo's numbers are at least in part the fault of the entire team in front of him having a complete miss of a season, and he still has many good years ahead of him and all the tools he needs to be a solid starter in the league.

Koskinen was just brutal this season, and unlike Korpisalo, it was almost all his own fault. Also, he's 33 years old, so not a spring chicken anymore. Well, it's still somewhat possible he may regain his past form and play at a good level for two to three more years, but it's more likely that the league is simply done with him.

Since the thread was bumped, I'll take this opportunity to call myself out and say that this post didn't exactly age well. It has been a nice bounce back from Koskinen, and while Korpisalo has still been underwhelming, it's more difficult to shovel a part of the blame on the team, as Elvis has been doing okay.

 

[Czechboy]

Czechs could be at 6 soon... Rittich, Mrazek and Francouz are all very slowly returning from injuries.

Dostal just got called back up.. maybe he gets a start soon too.

 

[Czechboy]

Since the thread was bumped, I'll take this opportunity to call myself out and say that this post didn't exactly age well. It has been a nice bounce back from Koskinen, and while Korpisalo has still been underwhelming, it's more difficult to shovel a part of the blame on the team, as Elvis has been doing okay.

I'm also an Oilers fan... if Mikko was spotted in public at a grocery store, he might get punched. It's not all his fault but he is having a bad season despite what looks like a good record. I want to like him, I do.