Who was Mike Liut and why did he win the Pearson?

[Fear]

So looking back at the Pearson trophy in the 80s, you have a long stretch of Gretzky and Lemieux, but in 1980-81 Mike Liut won it as a goalie.

His win/loss record was impressive, as were his numbers, but they were not mind-blowing, even for the time. And Gretzky had already began his reign, Bossy scored 68 goals, etc. Why did Liut win? What was the attitude around him at the time?

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[NickyFotiu]

Liut had a season or two where he really stood on his head.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

To some extent, the Pearson has been a popularity contest, and this was especially true in the 70s and 80s.

 

[NickyFotiu]

When Liut started St. Louis did not have a great team but he gave them a real chance. I do not remember the year but I know they had a huge point year that was due in part to Liut but it was smoke in mirrors. Come playoff time they lost to my Rangers.

 

[Doctor No]

Here's the Liut season in question:

http://hockeygoalies.org/bio/nhl/logs/STL1980.html

(Unrelated - who's ready to bring that Blues logo back?)

 

[rboomercat90]

In a nut shell he was a very good goalie playing on a bad team. Iirc, he was nominated for the Vezina a few times. Always had similar or better numbers than the good goalies of his era but didn't get much recognition because of his team.

 

[sharkhawk]

There were a lot of old time hockey guys (including players) who didn't think a lot of Gretzky in his first couple of years. They didn't like the comparisons to mr hockey and didn't want to give him any credit.

 

[BM67]

Liut was a bit like Ken Dryden, a large goalie that came out of the NCAA, in Mike's case he arrived in STL from the WHA Cincinnati Stingers.

The Blues went from 18-50-12 (17th of 17 in GA) in 1978-79 without Liut to 34-34-12 in 1979-80 (9th of 21 in GA) and 45-18-17 in 1980-81 (7th of 21 in GA) with Liut.

 

[Leafsdude7]

IIRC, Liut was the starter on the ill-fated 1981 Canada Cup Canadian team, too.

 

[DustyMartellaughs]

He was capable of absolutely stealing games, and it was reflected in the record of the Blues that year.

 

[The Panther]

IIRC, Liut was the starter on the ill-fated 1981 Canada Cup Canadian team, too.

I wouldn't call a 2nd-place finish "ill-fated". Canada was probably the 2nd-best hockey team at that precise moment, and accordingly finished 2nd. Prior to the final game, they'd been smoking the competition and looked great. Sometimes a 3-1 game that's already over ends up 8-1 by the end of the third.

Having said that, Liut was, I think, kind of over-rated in that period. The tail-end of the 70s to about 1987 or 1988 is kind of a weak period for goaltenders, and Liut was given too much credit for St.Louis's 1980-81 success -- short-lived as it was. Had it been 1980 or 1982, Liut wouldn't have been starting for Team Canada, I don't think.

Question: Why wasn't Billy Smith or Pete Peeters starting for Canada in '81?

 

[Jumptheshark]

So looking back at the Pearson trophy in the 80s, you have a long stretch of Gretzky and Lemieux, but in 1980-81 Mike Liut won it as a goalie.

His win/loss record was impressive, as were his numbers, but they were not mind-blowing, even for the time. And Gretzky had already began his reign, Bossy scored 68 goals, etc. Why did Liut win? What was the attitude around him at the time?

first--it is now the ted lindsey award
second it is voted on by the players who think the best player for the individual team

Liut stood on his head for 3 seasons with the blues

 

[The Panther]

I think some fans take the Pearson/Lindsay a bit too seriously. It seems to have more 'status' nowadays than in the past. In the 70s/80s, it seemed to be more an elite-level "participation" award.

 

[Leafsdude7]

I wouldn't call a 2nd-place finish "ill-fated". Canada was probably the 2nd-best hockey team at that precise moment, and accordingly finished 2nd. Prior to the final game, they'd been smoking the competition and looked great. Sometimes a 3-1 game that's already over ends up 8-1 by the end of the third.

Having said that, Liut was, I think, kind of over-rated in that period. The tail-end of the 70s to about 1987 or 1988 is kind of a weak period for goaltenders, and Liut was given too much credit for St.Louis's 1980-81 success -- short-lived as it was. Had it been 1980 or 1982, Liut wouldn't have been starting for Team Canada, I don't think.

Question: Why wasn't Billy Smith or Pete Peeters starting for Canada in '81?

Peeters was injured during the round robin, IIRC. Why they went with Liut over Smith, I'm not sure.

And regardless of the circumstances surrounding it, loosing a championship game 8-1 when you're supposed to be neck-and-neck with your opponent is an "ill-fated" team.

 

[quoipourquoi]

I think some fans take the Pearson/Lindsay a bit too seriously. It seems to have more 'status' nowadays than in the past. In the 70s/80s, it seemed to be more an elite-level "participation" award.

There's been some debate about this, but it appears to have had a definition change in the late-1980s.

 

[HawkNut]

Liut also finished second that season to Gretzky in the Hart race.

I just thought: Put Liut on Edmonton at that time and Fuhr on St. Louis. It's fun to wonder about any differences.

 

[Doctor No]

Peeters was injured during the round robin, IIRC. Why they went with Liut over Smith, I'm not sure.

Smith broke his finger during a Team Canada practice. I can't find the specific date, but it's mentioned as an "earlier" injury in the September 8, 1981 New York Times.

(If anyone can source a date, I'd love to update my site, which is clearly wrong with a 9/9/1981 date).

 

[seventieslord]

Peeters was injured during the round robin, IIRC. Why they went with Liut over Smith, I'm not sure.

And regardless of the circumstances surrounding it, loosing a championship game 8-1 when you're supposed to be neck-and-neck with your opponent is an "ill-fated" team.

This is what I was going to say. They suffered an ill fate; of course they were ill-fated.

 

[Jets4Life]

Poor Liut. No matter what he accomplished in his career, he will always be remembered for being in net for the 8-1 loss in the Canada Cup Final against the USSR.

 

[cupcrazyman]

Wish my hoard of his RC's were worth more.

 

[fish7]

Liut did stand on his head the first couple of years he played for the Blues then Marcel Dionne hit him with a shot to the mid section that shattered his cup and exploded one of his testicles (I was at the game, he went down like he was shot but finished the period) He was never as good after that.

 

[MS]

Best goaltender of the 1980s who was unfortunate to spend his entire prime on stinky St. Louis/Hartford teams.

 

[The Panther]

Liut did stand on his head the first couple of years he played for the Blues then Marcel Dionne hit him with a shot to the mid section that shattered his cup and exploded one of his testicles

C'mon, who among us hasn't experienced that...?

 

[BernieParent]

As a young goaltender, I fell in love with Liut's mask.

 

[IComeInPeace]

I was a big fan of that era's goaltenders, but whenever I saw Liut play, his play never lived up to the hype. Admittedly, I didn't get to see him often though.

I was really cheering for him and the Blues in the 80-81 playoffs, and felt like he had a let down in the playoffs (compared to how good I'd heard he looked in the regular season).

I can't find his regular season save percentage, but in 11 games in the playoffs (5 vs a pretty bad Pen's team, and 6 games vs the Rangers) his save percentage was .857 that season (in an era where save percentages were obviously a lot lower, but that is poor even by that era's standards, against 2 mediocre offenses that season).