Where have all the GOATenders gone?

[Brookbank]

The younger generation doesn't have that mentality to want and thrive in a role like that, and with the salary cap and social media why would anyone?

That was the most boomer NPC thing I have read in a long time. And I know you're probably aren't one.

 

[CanadienShark]

Bob , Demko, Saros and Swayman don't fit that upper tier

Bob has won two Vezina trophies and put up a Smythe worthy performance. Hard to say he doesn't.

 

[canuckster19]

You listed four Vezina winners (Hellebuyck won twice so four trophies total) out of 7 professionals, and none with Hart/Lindsey/Smythe considerations although Bobrovsky was in the conversation against a record-setting McDavid.

Vasilevskiy, Price Quick were probably the last most recent challengers but in the end fell short of all-time greatness.

I'm talking goalies who dominate the crease and carry seasons on their backs, not one-time flashes in the pan. Goalies that make bad teams look like playoff qualifiers and playoff contenders into champions.

You can tell me my standards are too high but the greats of yesteryear were able to achieve such lofty heights with worse equipment, less coaching, and heavier workloads and oftentimes, crappier teams. I consider the current class to be very good but not in the conversation of truly great.

While people will say goaltending wasn't a problem for the Canucks in the playoffs, it is obvious the team just plays differently when Demko is in net.

 

[Rorschach]

Made a thread on this. It's not that today is so bad, it's that previously, the years around 1993, were so insanely high in player quality that every era compared to that late 80s to mid 90s era is going to look bad. You have Gretzky and Lemieux as forwards/centers, you have Bourque to Lidstrom on defense and Hasek/Roy/Brodeur on goaltending...then below those guys there are many famous franchise first ballot HOFers under those guys as well.

It's just not a fair comparison.

 

[Brookbank]

Bob has won two Vezina trophies and put up a Smythe worthy performance. Hard to say he doesn't.

Bob is a tough one. He also spent time as a 10 million dollar backup. He almost went full Steve Mason

 

[FDBluth]

I would absolutely love to see another goaltending anomaly like Hasek emerge from somewhere. Hopefully it happens again in our lifetimes.

 

[More 2004]

Vasi will be a first ballot HoFer.. he will go down as top 10 all time.. I love the noobs in this thread mentioning 20 names and not Vasi.

 

[Video Nasty]

Hellebuyck is that guy. He’s a workhorse by today’s standards, playing 60+ games five times and the equivalent of another one in the shortened 2020-2021 season.

He’s led the league in games played four times and has been inside the top three for seven years in a row. He’s always faces high volume; the most shots four times and top three again for seven years in a row, and top three in saves all seven.

He’s won 2 Vezinas, he’s been a finalist an additional two times, and if it matters has collected a top 4 nomination as well.

In a land filled with inconsistent, unreliable goaltending, he’s about as consistent as it gets in this day and age.

Sure, we can point to the playoffs for now, but for that (as well as his own regular season success), we can wax poetic about Vasilevskiy.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

I would absolutely love to see another goaltending anomaly like Hasek emerge from somewhere. Hopefully it happens again in our lifetimes.

Very unlikely imo, unfortunately. I love Hasek, goalie of my childhood team, but his style was the most unique and probably best during the clutch-and-grab era. He would slinky across the crease, do ridiculous dives and shit- I think the modern wrist shot would beat him as much as anyone else, and it’s not where goalie coaching has gone.

 

[syz]

The only way we'd ever see another Hasek is if some kid out there just flatout ignores everything any coach ever tells him and somehow still succeeds.

As the butterfly era has gone on most goalies have tended to save about as many goals as expected. There have been very few guys who consistently save a noticeable amount above expected over the course of multiple seasons. Price and Quick are done, Vasilevskiy to follow. Hellebuyck is still going, and Shesterkin will likely be one of those guys over the next several years. Demko if he can stop being made of glass.