Best goaltender season+playoff of all-time?
- Thread starter amnesiac
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TheDevilMadeMe
Registered User
I would go with Parent too, since it's harder to maintain that performance over so many more
games.
But damn, Thomas was amazing
WingsFan95
Registered User
Going on raw numbers and accomplishments, Roy in 89:
33-5-6 regular season record
.908%
2.47 GAA
4 Shutouts
Vezina
13-6 playoff record
.920%
2.09 GAA
2 Shutouts
He lost 4 games to an all-star team arguably better than his own by a margin and the scores of those losses were:
3-2
3-2
4-2 (empty net)
4-2 (empty net)
He was virtually perfect for his team.
33-5-6 regular season record
.908%
2.47 GAA
4 Shutouts
Vezina
13-6 playoff record
.920%
2.09 GAA
2 Shutouts
He lost 4 games to an all-star team arguably better than his own by a margin and the scores of those losses were:
3-2
3-2
4-2 (empty net)
4-2 (empty net)
He was virtually perfect for his team.
seventieslord
Student Of The Game
Why can't a goalie just win the Vezina AND the Hart, and the cup AND the smythe in one season so we don't have to have conversations like these?
vadim sharifijanov
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- Oct 10, 2007
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no love for ronnie hextall, '87?
seriously though, i would put giguere '03 in the conversation. he was my pick for the hart that year-- the only reason that team even made the playoffs. and he definitely should have won the vezina. basically, brodeur had a great year and won in a landslide, but that was partly because he was due for one. turco got all the second place votes for having misleadingly awesome numbers (goalies on four defensive juggernauts-- NJ, dallas, philly, and the lemaires-- all put up historically good numbers). belfour got a bit of homer love though he was excellent that year. nobody else got significant votes.
giguere had a bad first month, turned it on a bit, then went on a blackout back-to-back-to-back shutout streak before christmas (7GA in 6 games, 5 of them in one game). then had a bad week (really bad). the rest of the way, he was incredible, putting up 11 wins in 13 games after the new year (3GA in those two losses), and being consistently good after that and singlehandedly carrying the ducks into the playoffs.
and then of course the best playoff goaltending performance i've seen since 1993, which i don't have to tell any of you about.
seriously though, i would put giguere '03 in the conversation. he was my pick for the hart that year-- the only reason that team even made the playoffs. and he definitely should have won the vezina. basically, brodeur had a great year and won in a landslide, but that was partly because he was due for one. turco got all the second place votes for having misleadingly awesome numbers (goalies on four defensive juggernauts-- NJ, dallas, philly, and the lemaires-- all put up historically good numbers). belfour got a bit of homer love though he was excellent that year. nobody else got significant votes.
giguere had a bad first month, turned it on a bit, then went on a blackout back-to-back-to-back shutout streak before christmas (7GA in 6 games, 5 of them in one game). then had a bad week (really bad). the rest of the way, he was incredible, putting up 11 wins in 13 games after the new year (3GA in those two losses), and being consistently good after that and singlehandedly carrying the ducks into the playoffs.
and then of course the best playoff goaltending performance i've seen since 1993, which i don't have to tell any of you about.
Dennis Bonvie
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Psycho Papa Joe
Porkchop Hoser
jkrx
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vadim sharifijanov
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- Oct 10, 2007
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jkrx
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KingGallagherXI
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It can't be stressed enough how terrible the 99 Sabres were. They were a kind of Nashville minus Weber and Suter.
Triple Deke
Registered User
If we're going just based on results, Parent probably takes it.
However, if it's individual effort, Hasek wins. He was the only reason Buffalo made it as far as they did in 98/99. I don't think Thomas or Parent could duplicate his numbers with the lineup he had in front of him.
However, if it's individual effort, Hasek wins. He was the only reason Buffalo made it as far as they did in 98/99. I don't think Thomas or Parent could duplicate his numbers with the lineup he had in front of him.
EagleBelfour
Registered User
I'll take 1998-99 Dominik Hasek. The statisatics are not as flashy as the one of Tim Thomas, but it's probably the best season ever put out by a goaltender, All-Time.
I saw him in the HM, but Terry Sawchuk in 1951-52 was pretty incredible too:
Regular Season:
70GP
1.90GAA
44W
14L
12T
12SO
Playoffs:
8GP
0.63GAA
8W
0L
4SO
Yes, he played in front of an amazing team, but still!
My Top-5 would be:
Dominik Hasek 98-99
Bernard Parent 73-74
Tim Thomas 10-11
Terry Sawchuk 51-52
JS Giguere 02-03
I saw him in the HM, but Terry Sawchuk in 1951-52 was pretty incredible too:
Regular Season:
70GP
1.90GAA
44W
14L
12T
12SO
Playoffs:
8GP
0.63GAA
8W
0L
4SO
Yes, he played in front of an amazing team, but still!
My Top-5 would be:
Dominik Hasek 98-99
Bernard Parent 73-74
Tim Thomas 10-11
Terry Sawchuk 51-52
JS Giguere 02-03
seventieslord
Student Of The Game
EB, I think you have really narrowed down the top-5 here. Without looking, Benedict might have a case here, if any of his super dominant regular seasons and playoffs coincided.
Strangely:
- the hasek season everyone likes the most now is not one of his hart seasons.
- roy doesn't really qualify here; his best regular seasons and playoffs were never the same.
Strangely:
- the hasek season everyone likes the most now is not one of his hart seasons.
- roy doesn't really qualify here; his best regular seasons and playoffs were never the same.
Rhiessan71
Just a Fool
To me. Thomas was just the best of a pretty mediocre crop for the Conn this year.
Timmy wasn't the reason the B's got by the Habs, in fact he was almost the reason they didn't and was out played badly by Price for most of that series.
He didn't do much of anything in the Flyer series, he didn't have to.
He played well vs Tampa most of that series but had his moments.
It was only in the Finals that he was really dominant from start to finish.
Both Parent and Hasek get the nod ahead of him imo. Not even sure I would rank Timmy above Roy in 2000/2001 either.
Timmy wasn't the reason the B's got by the Habs, in fact he was almost the reason they didn't and was out played badly by Price for most of that series.
He didn't do much of anything in the Flyer series, he didn't have to.
He played well vs Tampa most of that series but had his moments.
It was only in the Finals that he was really dominant from start to finish.
Both Parent and Hasek get the nod ahead of him imo. Not even sure I would rank Timmy above Roy in 2000/2001 either.
EagleBelfour
Registered User
I thought about Benedict, but to make a case for him, we would need to extensively search newspapers to build a case.
- Not that Jaromir Jagr was not a deserving Hart winner, but I think the voters got bored voting for Hasek after two seasons. Yashin definitely didn't have the better season and if anything Jagr and Hasek should be neck-to-neck in the voting. Although 1998-99 might be Hasek third best regular season, it's a better regular season than a good number of Hart trophy winner seasons, and obviously is playoff performances were extraordinary.
- As Rhiessan wrote, 2000-01 is probably the best overall season for Roy, but it dosn't cut it for me.
I'll be honest, I saw one game of Tim Thomas this regular season, as I was travelling, but what I saw of Tim Thomas in the playoffs was astonishing, I don't need the statistics in front of me to realize what my own two eyes saw. If he was at that level during the regular season (from what I've read, he was just as good), I think it justify him in any Top-5. I agree that Dominik Hasek is definitely ahead, and perhaps it's because Thomas' performances are vividly into my mind that I put him ahead of JS Giguere (I remember that Giguere definitely had the best playoffs, even better than '99 Hasek, but I don't remember him being that dominant in the regular season, and the Hart/Vezina voting tend to agree with me).
Rhiessan71
Just a Fool
Yeah, this post about sums it up really.
Top 5...yep, top 3...maybe, top 2...nope.
Again though, Timmy was only dominant for the Finals and most of the Conf finals. His round 2 and especially round 1 performances were not Smythe worthy. Like I said, he wasn't even the best goalie in their first round series.
Hockey Outsider
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- Jan 16, 2005
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I think Roy's best year, if you're trying to have reasonable balance between the regular season and playoffs, was 1988-89.
He was clearly the best goalie in the regular season (won the Vezina with 15 out of 21 first-place votes; led the league in save percentage by 0.8%) and had a good, deep playoff run (losing in the Cup finals).
Clearly though this isn't one of the top five or ten goalie-seasons of all-time.
Dennis Bonvie
Registered User
TheDevilMadeMe
Registered User
Plus Mike Peca, the best defensive forward in the league. But yes, they were an overall mediocre team other than goal
TheDevilMadeMe
Registered User
Hasek was not the only reason Buffalo made it as far as they did. They averaged more than 3 goals per game heading into the finals. Hasek's team was mediocre on paper, but he got a ton of offensive support in 98-99. No big scorers on the team, but a lot of scoring depth that year
Rhiessan71
Just a Fool
C'mon dude...3 of those 4 games the Flyers were completely demoralized by their terrible goaltending and horrible play in their own end.
And he was still almost the reason the B's didn't make it out of the first round. Bergeron not only saved his bacon but also the entire first line's as well.
Thomas didn't just get outplayed by Price, he got outplayed badly.
Like I said, Thomas was the best choice out of a mediocre crop.
Don't get me wrong, he deserved the Conn this year but it certainly wasn't a Conn Smythe performance for the ages, prolly not even for the last decade heh.
It's his performance through the regular season, that even allows for his inclusion in this thread.
IMO, his regular season performance was better than his Playoff performance.
Last edited:
Michael Farkas
Celebrate 68
It's good that someone can step out of the moment for a second and really identify what happened, without getting sucked into "the story"
Rhiessan definitely gets it. He was nearly the cause of another early Boston exit in round one...he handled the listless Flyers well - maybe the most offensively unimaginative team versus their actual skill level I've ever seen in playoff contention, they had nothing - but that's fine...and Tampa was a real up and down series for him, some of the goals he surrendered (like the 40-footer between the legs from Lecavalier) were very questionable...2 shutouts yes (one in game 7 where it looked like Tampa had run out of gas a bit certainly) but 19 goals in the other 5 games (18 in 4 as well). Not magical versus Tampa, up and down at best really.
And then in the Finals he pretty much loses game 2 with the soft goal from the boards on Burrows and one of the weaker overtime goals (weakest?) since goaltending really started to evolve in to what we see today in and around the mid-90's to Burrows later on...and not that he singlehandedly lost game 5, but he ends up putting it in his own oven on Maxim Lapierre's shot that appears to maybe be going wide...but I mean, one-nothing is one-nothing, you'd still like to, ideally, not see a bank shot go in in that fashion...
But Rhiessan sums it up very nicely...he's the best of a very mediocre crop which is fine...but the numbers seem more dazzling than the performance...he reminds me a little bit of Roman Cechmanek and really to date they've accomplished a pretty similar career...
The Vezina, Cup and CS put Thomas well over the top...but they were hanging pretty close for a while...
Rhiessan hits it exactly, IMHO...
Rhiessan definitely gets it. He was nearly the cause of another early Boston exit in round one...he handled the listless Flyers well - maybe the most offensively unimaginative team versus their actual skill level I've ever seen in playoff contention, they had nothing - but that's fine...and Tampa was a real up and down series for him, some of the goals he surrendered (like the 40-footer between the legs from Lecavalier) were very questionable...2 shutouts yes (one in game 7 where it looked like Tampa had run out of gas a bit certainly) but 19 goals in the other 5 games (18 in 4 as well). Not magical versus Tampa, up and down at best really.
And then in the Finals he pretty much loses game 2 with the soft goal from the boards on Burrows and one of the weaker overtime goals (weakest?) since goaltending really started to evolve in to what we see today in and around the mid-90's to Burrows later on...and not that he singlehandedly lost game 5, but he ends up putting it in his own oven on Maxim Lapierre's shot that appears to maybe be going wide...but I mean, one-nothing is one-nothing, you'd still like to, ideally, not see a bank shot go in in that fashion...
But Rhiessan sums it up very nicely...he's the best of a very mediocre crop which is fine...but the numbers seem more dazzling than the performance...he reminds me a little bit of Roman Cechmanek and really to date they've accomplished a pretty similar career...
The Vezina, Cup and CS put Thomas well over the top...but they were hanging pretty close for a while...
Rhiessan hits it exactly, IMHO...
