Will we ever see goalies play 70+ games again?

[Felidae]

In the history of hockey, there has been 113 goalies that have played 70 or more games in a season.

Only 10 of those seasons were past 2010, and since 2015 there's only been 1 goalie to play 70+ games

Will we ever see goalies play 70+ games again, or at least with some frequency?

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[Sticksandsun]

No reason to burn out a goalie, as elite as he may be, in the regular season anymore.
60-65 seems like the max ceiling the top 10 goalies will hit.
I'd prefer to have 55ish/30ish split with your tandem and then ride your #1 in playoffs unless injured or subpar play.

 

[kk]

Was just chatting with a hockey buddy about this the other day. It seems like it's not likely. Reliable if-not-better backups are extremely valuable and even more so for playoff contending teams.

 

[Jericho111091]

"Ever" is a long time, so probably. That said, the game would likely have to change a good deal

 

[BallardEra]

No.

Just like baseball with starting pitchers.

 

[1989]

I doubt it. It's a combination of workload management facilitated by general improvement of backup-quality goalies, and injury reduction (I believe butterfly does lend itself to more lower body/groin injuries over a career, anecdotally, but I don't have numbers.)

It basically guarantees, IMO, that the best goalies of this generation won't make all-time top-10 lists of GOATenders because they would need a much better trophy cabinet.

Records like most games won, most shutouts in a season, etc. aren't up for grabs anymore if they're playing 65 or fewer games per season in a career. In previous eras you needed to be great and a workhorse but not necessarily collect hardware because you could aggregate stats more. Goalies now kind of have to crush the competition with a couple Vezinas and a Cup, and with at least one Hart/Lindsay/Smythe trophy as well to be considered a top goalie all-time.

 

[shello]

Meh, probably. Should we? That’s a different answer

 

[Pablo El Perro]

No. Tampa should with their backup, but still a no.

 

[Section 104]

I wouldn’t be surprised if we see at least one in the next 10 years but I don’t think it will be common . Last year Saros played 64, Georgiev 63 and Hellebuck 60. Is a few more games to reach 70 played that unrealistic?

 

[BruinsFan37]

As long as the NHL keeps scheduling back-to-back games, not very likely. Not impossible though.

And even if they did stop scheduling b2b games, I still don't think it's likely with changes in workload management/health.

 

[PensandCaps]

Maybe hellebuyck. Lead the league 5 times in GP. With seasons of 67(pretty close) 66, and 64 GP.

He's a workhorse. 5 times he's faced the most shots as well.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

Hellebuyck is the closest it’ll come

 

[pi314]

Probably takes a coach with a different philosophy than the consensus.

 

[Figgy44]

Probably takes a coach with a different philosophy than the consensus.

Not just that, you need a perfect storm.

- A coach/management willing to play the 1A 70+ games
- A goalie that wants to play 70+ games
- A team with no choice but to let their goalie play 70+ games (back up/prospects do not oppose/injuries to the back up/prospects)
- A goalie whose level of play doesn't dip badly after 60+ GP (where you should give the back up/prospect a chance)

I wouldn’t be surprised if we see at least one in the next 10 years but I don’t think it will be common . Last year Saros played 64, Georgiev 63 and Hellebuck 60. Is a few more games to reach 70 played that unrealistic?

After around 55 GP (maybe an extra half dozen if there's a good Allstar or tourney related rest mid season), the play of many goalies starts to noticeably drop off. IIRC, Markstrom would start dropping off around the mid 40s GP. The more you play, it's not just fatigue and mistakes. It's increased chance of injury which further drops the level of play.

The margins are also very thin. The difference between elite and meh is 1 goal per 10 shots (9/10 = .900) to 1 goal per 13+ shots (12/13 = .923+).

Riding a goalie that hard must mean that meaningful games are being played. In that scenario, why not rest that top calibre goalie so that you have a chance to win it all, vs having some hard stats on your goalie?

 

[mphmiles]

No. Backup depth has vastly improved and teams have learned that rest is too important for performance to start that many games, and it's not even just that they tire out- it's that they miss practice reps.

Goalie is an incredibly technical position, and when you start 70+ games, you're missing tons of reps in practice because you need to rest on your off days, and your technique starts to slip.

 

[1989]

I forgot to mention that game load management isn't just an NHL-level strategy.
The AHL/KHL/ECHL/NCAA, and others, are all likely practicing load management as well, and IIRC some of those leagues play fewer than 70 games per season anyways.

So while you may have an elite blue chip goalie prospect, it's probable they aren't willing or able to shoulder the load of 65+ games on a regular season-by-season basis just because of development systems, and by the time they reach the NHL / become a legit starter, they're likely seeing loads of 45-55 games played. Asking for 15 or more games played from that point is likely a bubble team desperate to make wild cards.

 

[BigDaddyLurch]

...there probably won't be many that play 60 anymore...