Best puckhandling goaltenders of all time?

BenchBrawl

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Roy was not very good.Price is far superior among Montreal goalies I've seen play countless times.
 

blood gin

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Anybody remember how awful a puckhandler Hasek was? And also how he would catch the puck, flip it up, and then smack it with his stick almost like a baseball coach hitting infield grounders? And sometimes he'd whiff and chaos ensued
 

blood gin

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Brodeur is really the best and he's well above whoever is 2nd best. He handled the puck with such fluidity. And he was incredible at the long hailmary passes where he would suddenly see something possibly developing down the ice and would strike quickly with great precision to spearhead a great scoring chance



 
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Johnny Engine

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Chuck Rayner stands out among pre-Plante goaltenders. Killion has a pretty good list of 60s/70s guys. Is there anyone else from before that who warrants mention? Am I misremembering this, or did Paddy Moran make a habit of attempting end to end rushes?
 
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DN28

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From non-NHL goalies, I think Vladimir Dzurilla deserves to be mentioned here. His puck-handling was recognized as superior to all other Czechoslovak goalies of his time. He was also the only goalie who officially recorded an assist to a goal in the CSSR 1st league up to 1985.
 

Killion

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Chuck Rayner stands out among pre-Plante goaltenders. Killion has a pretty good list of 60s/70s guys. Is there anyone else from before that who warrants mention? Am I misremembering this, or did Paddy Moran make a habit of attempting end to end rushes?

I dont recall reading that Johnny, its entirely possible as Moran by all accounts was quite the piece of work. He was a Stand-Up Goalie. Strong on his skates. Bit of a Roamer. Good with his stick yes, however my understanding is that that term meant someting else entirely when it came to Paddy Hitman Moran..... as in total Lumberjack. Made guys like Smith & Hextall look like Choir Boys, Paddy not only laying on the lumber but so too spitting disgusting big black gobs of chewing tobacco in the faces of his opponents. Nasty piece of work.

He'd also sometimes launch himself airborne at a player coming in on the rush on him... skate out to meet the guy & rather than cutting down the angle?.... Ninja Attack.... smoke the poor unsuspecting Sap with a Leaping Clothesline.. Flying Bionic Elbow.....Ax Handle Or Ax Blade Smash.... So yes, while Paddy effective, "good with his stick", way ahead of his time with those wrestling moves.... oh, and he was also a "cheater" of sorts, later copied widely by countless others... wearing an oversized jersey... not a pullover jersey but in Paddys day, a cardigan.... buttons down the front left undone... Paddy Moran Puck Snare... later on... Tony Esposito Crotch Catcher... other illegal tricks of the trade that followed, Moran the Godfather of all a that....
 

Johnny Engine

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I dont recall reading that Johnny, its entirely possible as Moran by all accounts was quite the piece of work. He was a Stand-Up Goalie. Strong on his skates. Bit of a Roamer. Good with his stick yes, however my understanding is that that term meant someting else entirely when it came to Paddy Hitman Moran..... as in total Lumberjack. Made guys like Smith & Hextall look like Choir Boys, Paddy not only laying on the lumber but so too spitting disgusting big black gobs of chewing tobacco in the faces of his opponents. Nasty piece of work.

He'd also sometimes launch himself airborne at a player coming in on the rush on him... skate out to meet the guy & rather than cutting down the angle?.... Ninja Attack.... smoke the poor unsuspecting Sap with a Leaping Clothesline, Short-arm Lariat... Flying Bionic Elbow.....Ax Handle Smash.... So yes, while Paddy effective, "good with his stick", way ahead of his time with those wrestling moves.... oh, and he was also a "cheater" of sorts, later copied widely by countless others... wearing an oversized jersey... not a pullover jersey but in Paddys day, a cardigan.... buttons down the front left undone... Paddy Moran Puck Snare... later on... Tony Esposito Crotch Catcher... other illegal tricks of the trade that followed, Moran the Godfather of all a that....

I did misremember it, actually. It was Fred Brophy who attempted the end-to-end rush, scoring a goal against Moran.
Goaltenders' Union, The
The excerpt linked above also notes that Hugh Lehman was known to wander with the puck, although I'm not sure that's enough support to make him a lock for any kind of unified list.
If I had to make such a list, I'd make sure to get Plante and Rayner into the top-5 along with Brodeur and Hextall; Lehman might come under consideration once the modern options started looking questionable (definitely before someone like, say, Patrick Roy).
 

mrhockey193195

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Outside of Brodeur - Barrasso, Turco, and Hextall are the best I've ever seen. I recall Fuhr being quite good as well. Mike Smith & Ben Bishop might be the best in the game today.
 
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Canadiens1958

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Chuck Rayner stands out among pre-Plante goaltenders. Killion has a pretty good list of 60s/70s guys. Is there anyone else from before that who warrants mention? Am I misremembering this, or did Paddy Moran make a habit of attempting end to end rushes?

Rushing with the puck or leaving his net, perhaps but you do not read much about the basics of puckhandling around the net.

Bill Durnan was excellent but comments tend to focus on his ambidextrous ability.
 
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Canadiens1958

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Gump Worsley had a very active stick, swatting or sweeping rebounds to safety. Also helped establishing a perimeter that forwards would rarely venture inside. A better picture exists but could not find it.
000gump1.jpg
 

frisco

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This shows Barrasso setting up Lemieux on a breakaway. Shows his mentality of always looking to move the puck up the ice.

My Best-Carey
 

Killion

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Gump Worsley had a very active stick, swatting or sweeping rebounds to safety. Also helped establishing a perimeter that forwards would rarely venture inside. A better picture exists but could not find it.View attachment 89081

Yeah & thats a classic. Wielded it like a Cricket Bat making full use the wide part to clear pucks & had the confidence in his stick work to use the wide part of the paddle below his glove to stop shots with it, slightly twisting the stick to re-direct the rebound into the corner on this stick side. Worsley very active, defensively concise with his stick.
 

Sadekuuro

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Anybody remember how awful a puckhandler Hasek was? And also how he would catch the puck, flip it up, and then smack it with his stick almost like a baseball coach hitting infield grounders? And sometimes he'd whiff and chaos ensued

Hasek was indeed an adventure, though I don't remember him doing that baseball swing in Detroit. I associate that move with Dwayne Roloson, who used to do it wherever he played... but perhaps he learned it from Dom.
 

Doctor Coffin

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He was only in the league for two seasons, basically, but Darren Pang was the quickest and most adept with a goaltender's stick of any Chicago goalie that I have seen. He recorded six assists in 45 games in 1987-88.
 

Sanf

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I did misremember it, actually. It was Fred Brophy who attempted the end-to-end rush, scoring a goal against Moran.
Goaltenders' Union, The
The excerpt linked above also notes that Hugh Lehman was known to wander with the puck, although I'm not sure that's enough support to make him a lock for any kind of unified list.
If I had to make such a list, I'd make sure to get Plante and Rayner into the top-5 along with Brodeur and Hextall; Lehman might come under consideration once the modern options started looking questionable (definitely before someone like, say, Patrick Roy).

Well Paddy Moran did that too. I have quite many paper clips about him going on end-to-end rush. Actually Clint Bemedict scored a goal from rush while still playing in New Edinburgh. I don´t have my notes here, but I remember papers calling it Paddy Moran trick.

I consider Lehman bit of relic on this matter. When he started his career goalies did wander more. Chief Jones, another IPHL goalie did that too. At the end of his career Lehman was rarity.

Don McLeod who made his career in WHA... Jarmo Myllys was a great one. My idol on that. Lynn Zimmermann. But these goes rather obscure names.
 

BenchBrawl

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Add Frank Brimsek to the list.

Gerry Cosby said:
When Brimsek was in his prime I think he was the best stand-up goalie I've ever seen - when he was hot, he was hot! Any goaltender who can come up with five shutouts in a row has to be fantastic. The thing that I remember most about Brimsek was how well he could handle the puck with his stick.
 

Dennis Bonvie

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First name that comes to mind for me. He was a 3rd dman if the puck was dumped in and he could fire it.

Ron Hextall was similiar. Brodeur was good too.

Rick DiPietro but his career was so short.

I can`t remember now if Mike Palmeteer was good or he just liked to roam outside his crease?

Very good. Think Milbury thought he was getting the next Brodeur.
 
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hilarnat

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Patrick Roy was not good. I remember myself hoping he would keep it as simple as possible.

Outside of Brodeur - Barrasso, Turco, and Hextall are the best I've ever seen. I recall Fuhr being quite good as well. Mike Smith & Ben Bishop might be the best in the game today.

That, with the latest addition of Price for actives sums it up pretty well.
 
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Doctor No

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Cheevers was best at shooting it or ‘paddling’ it over the glass. He looked like he was serving a tennis ball. Right into the stands.
Wasnt a penalty call back then.

Now I'm curious as to when it became a penalty. I have this quote on my site:

On April 2, 1980, Gerry set the single season National Hockey League regular season record for penalty minutes by a goaltender (62). Andy Brown set the mark (60) in 1973-74 with the Pittsburgh Penguins. In a 5-2 win over the Maple Leafs, Cheevers deliberately set the record by shooting the puck into the stands in the last minute of play. "It was a 5-1 hockey game with a half a minute to play so I just couldn't allow the chance to pass. Records are difficult to get so you have to grab one when you can, even if it isn't one of the most glittering ones in the book."
 

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