This might be a little late, but since the NHL season has begun, I thought I might bring it up. When Dominik Hasek retired, it was an end to an era. The best goaltender in the history of the NHL retired. There will be none like him, the Dominator.:king:

"None like him"???

Jacques Plante
Terry Sawchuk
Bill Durnan
Patrick Roy

Hasek is NOT the best ever. It is arguable to say he is. It is also arguable to say the above mentioned 4 are the best ever. Personally, I like Plante's numbers. Simply amazing. BUT, he did play with the powerhouse Canadiens. Sawchuk also has some amazing numbers, and he played in Detroit with a line of Howe, Abel, and Lindsay. Bill Durnan aka Dr. Strangeglove, played for Montreal, arguably the greatest goalie ever but he retired early and who is around that remembers seeing any of those three play? And Roy, best money goalie ever? Was anyways. Still clutch when necessary. Hasek, great skill, stuck with a mediocre team all those years in Buffalo. Comes to a team who can actually score some goals in front of him and wins the Cup. My personal choice, I'd have to go with Plante (even though some may discredit him with playing with the powerhouse Canadiens) or Roy because he is the only one of the list aside from Hasek who I was able to see play a lot of games. Roy and Hasek have both stolen games in their careers that they had no right to win, but Roy has that intangible that Hasek does not. In my mind anywho. :goodjob:

Hasek is the luckiest...Goalies like Plante didnt have the same equipment...Just try to goal playing with a frozen puck without an helmet....:p Tretiak or Dryden didnt have pads large like Hasek's pads...As same for the blocker...The glove for catching is now big as a basketball ring...go in used hockey store and just try good 'ol gloves of the 60-70's its smaller than my JR baseball glove...

Patrick Roy changed the position, the way Gretzky changed the offense and Orr changed the defense. Hasek is incredible in a different way, with his crazy splits and flips to make the flashy saves. Roy makes a team do things it wouldn't ordinarily do, in amny ways, and with Hasek in net his teams always had a chance in every game. I'd call it a tie for best ever, and if pressed I'd vote for Roy.

The only reason I don't pick the old time goalies is that I believe that the athleticism and focus of today's athletes makes the comparison unfair, because head to head there's be no real competition. But the crazy guys with no face masks and tiny pads ARE my favorite.

I have to admit its pretty unfair here...3 guys who prefer Roy...2 from Colorado and one from Montreal... :lol: ;)

Have to admit also that Hasek is the best player to watch with is "no-style" goaltending...hilarious...pitching his glove to make a save is silly to me...

Originally posted by Le Petit Prince
I have to admit its pretty unfair here...3 guys who prefer Roy...2 from Colorado and one from Montreal... :lol: ;)


:lol: :goodjob: It's true it's true! :) But forget the comparing today's player to yesterday's player. It's not possible. BUT... Take the Roy/Hasek comparison for instance. Roy has most wins all time, Cups, Conn Smythes, etc. He played with not so good teams in Montreal. Not to knock them, but they did not have scoring like Avalanche have/had. Now, Hasek is similar. Okay, different trophies. He played for a bad team but still took them to the Finals. I've seen both play MANY games. That's a comparison easy to make.

Tretiak was mentioned. I never got to see him play. Lots of people didn't except for a few games. But he was best not to play in NHL at the time. Who knows what he would have done.

Older goalies... Sure they all smoked 2 packs a day and drank and fought. Not the same athleticism as today's Multi-millionairre goalies. Jake The Snake Plante. Look up his numbers. They are awesome. Sawchuk's numbers are lower than Plante across the board except for one place. Shutouts. Compare the teams they played on, and it would be like comparing Roy in CO and Hasek in Buffalo. Well, maybe not that drastic a difference.

Eh, all comes down to opinion I guess. :goodjob:

Gotta give Hasek credit though for his flopping. If someone looked at him funny, he could drop like he'd been shot. Impish is the word I believe. :D

old timers had to go to work the day after a game....

He played with not so good teams in Montreal. Not to knock them, but they did not have scoring like Avalanche have/had.

TRUE! Can you name 3-4 players from the 1993 Montreal Canadians stanley cup winners NOW! without looking anywhere else using only your memory??? :rolleyes: Ithink Hasek had also a better team In Buffalo than Roy in MOntreal...

Kirk Muller

Mathieu Schneider

Patrick Roy

???:confused: Oh it's tough. Well, I got two I guess not counting Roy unless I'm wrong but I don't think I am... Was Claude Lemieux still there? Naw, he got his with Montreal in 86, right? Chelios? Naw, Chicago... <sigh>

ha ah ha...thats two...Lets see ...
John Leclair
Pierre Turgeon
Lyle Odelein
Desjardins
Dionne
Svoboda?
Guy Carbonneau
denis Savard (injured during finals)
Lebeau ?

And I'm from Montreal !

Hey that works! :goodjob: That was the season before I really started getting into hockey. Not that that is an excuse. I still probably would not know. My memory is going in these old days... Hockey trivia might make a nice thread eh? :) Course, might only be 2 or 3 people posting in it...

Hmmm... Hasek or Roy... Greatest goalie... I'd say neither. Me being Soviet, I might be biased, but Id say that for their era, the best goalies were...

Early 30's, 40's, etc: I'd have to say Sawchuck. He won Vezinas, and cups. Should have won alot more. Would have won alot more in our era. He played, from what I heard, about the same as Hasek, except for the Gorilla starting stance.

60's, 70's, etc: Vladdy Tretiak: He played in front of a good team, true. But, ROy plays behind a few hall of famers, he still loses. Ditto for Joseph and (used to be) Brodeur. All of them loose games, sometimes against the worst teams. I dont think its fair to just say he had a good team, if he was replaced By me or Floppa or anyone else, the score wouldnt have changed. Tretiak had a .66 gaa in his rookie season. 2ga in 3 games. He played well for everybody. he won 3 olympic medals, and I think people underrate these. I mean, these are teams with the best players in the world. Tretiak had to stop people like (I think) Bobby Hull. With his undersize pads. He is one of the, if not the best goalies ever.

modern: Hasek, Roy, or Brodeur. I think Hasek played for Buffalo alot longer than Roy did Montreal. Roy has won most of his Stanleys with the Avs. Hasek never won the cup simply because he didnt have a team in front of him. Brodeur needs to play like himself. Until recently, he could compete with Hasek and Roy. Not so good anymore. shame.

Thassit.