Were the 90's the greatest era of Goaltenders?

[Mcnotloilersfan]

I remember as a 90's kid (born in 87), Goaltenders were legends.

Brodeur
Roy
Hasek "The Dominator"
Joseph "CuJo"
Belfour
Richter
Osgood

etc.

I feel like today's generation of goaltending isn't the same. You don't have those guys that are consistently strong year after year.

Is it that the 90's were the prime of NHL goaltending, or was it the pre-lockout defensive structure that helped these goaltenders reach their legendary status?

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[Nico the Draft Riser]

Only because the current goaltenders havent retired yet

 

[Mcnotloilersfan]

Only because the current goaltenders havent retired yet

But I'm referring to when they played. I feel like the status of the goaltenders were much bigger than the ones now while they played.

 

[Nico the Draft Riser]

But I'm referring to when they played. I feel like the status of the goaltenders were much bigger than the ones now while they played.

Sure - they jumped around a lot more, flexibility and agility were the name of the game. Now its positioning and rebound control.

90s was the perfect knee hockey goaltending style

 

[SotasicA]

Osgood?! LOL

What about Beezer and Hextall?

 

[TheGoldenJet]

There were definitely a group of goalies there that seemed to be a level or two above their peers back in the 90s. Not sure if the peers caught up or the elites no longer have that type of separation from the pack, but it no longer feels the same.

 

[tony d]

I think it might have been. Roy, Hasek and Brodeur are all top 5 goalies all time IMO.

 

[ZeroPucksGiven]

I remember as a 90's kid (born in 87), Goaltenders were legends.

Brodeur
Roy
Hasek "The Dominator"
Joseph "CuJo"
Belfour
Richter
Osgood

etc.

I feel like today's generation of goaltending isn't the same. You don't have those guys that are consistently strong year after year.

Is it that the 90's were the prime of NHL goaltending, or was it the pre-lockout defensive structure that helped these goaltenders reach their legendary status?

One of these is not like the other

 

[ZeroPucksGiven]

There were definitely a group of goalies there that seemed to be a level or two above their peers back in the 90s. Not sure if the peers caught up or the elites no longer have that type of separation from the pack, but it no longer feels the same.

That's pretty much it- the level of separation is much lower now vs back then

Back then you had those goalies who were heads and shoulders above their peers by significant margins.

Nowadays not much separates the best goalie from league average.

 

[Mcnotloilersfan]

Osgood?! LOL

What about Beezer and Hextall?

That was implied with the "etc."

 

[DaveG]

Best for top end.

Certainly not better depth wise then this current era. The fact that you name Osgood is testament enough to that.

So, with prime Brodeur in both eras it's basically:

Roy, Hasek, Belfour, Joseph, Richter, Osgood, Hebert, Barrasso, Hextall

vs

Lundqvist, Price, Thomas, Luongo, Vokoun, Rask, Quick, Rinne, Crawford

top 2 is decidedly 90s, but after that is so far decidedly post-lockout that it's not even funny.

 

[Sugi21]

A more fun list is obscure 90's goalies lol like Pat Jablonski, Darren Puppa, Rick Tabaracci, Trevor Kidd and a whole lot more...

 

[Mcnotloilersfan]

Best for top end.

Certainly not better depth wise then this current era. The fact that you name Osgood is testament enough to that.

So, with prime Brodeur in both eras it's basically:

Roy, Hasek, Belfour, Joseph, Richter, Osgood, Hebert, Barrasso, Hextall

vs

Lundqvist, Price, Thomas, Luongo, Vokoun, Rask, Quick, Rinne, Crawford

top 2 is decidedly 90s, but after that is so far decidedly post-lockout that it's not even funny.

I think you're under-rating Belfour Joseph and Richter while also forgetting guys like Potvin, Fuhr, Vanbriesbrook, Ranford etc.

 

[Mcnotloilersfan]

A more fun list is obscure 90's goalies lol like Pat Jablonski, Darren Puppa, Rick Tabaracci, Trevor Kidd and a whole lot more...

Lets not forget Jim Carey. haha

 

[KingBran]

I would agree that the 90's had some of the best goaltending.

 

[IamNotADancer]

Time to be controversial,... again.

The answer to that question, at least to me, is a resounding yes.
BUT it's not because they were all simply better (aside from Roy, Hasek, Brodeur and maybe CuJo), it's for the simple fact that those were the players most of us 80's, 90's kids grew up with when playing video games. Name recognition.


Let's take Richter for a second. Lundqvist to me is the far superior goalie to Richter, yet Richter is romanticized among fans and not just in Rangerstown. Yes, he has a Stanley Cup, but as shown by Osgood and Fleury, there is a lot more to a Cup than goaltending. Overall, in there prime I'd still take Lundqvist every single time over Richter despite the cup and having seen both of them play.

Don't get me wrong, I still do think on an objective level that the 90's were prime for goalies, the gap just isn't as big as many want us to believe.

 

[Captain Bowie]

I think the mean and median today is significantly better than 25 years ago. But the 3 best from that era are possibly the 3 best of all-time, so that does say something.

 

[NyQuil]

I’ll take the era with Andre “Red Light” Racicot.

 

[Sugi21]

Lets not forget Jim Carey. haha

Haha or Ron Tug'a'nut

 

[CuriousGeorge]

I remember as a 90's kid (born in 87), Goaltenders were legends.

Brodeur
Roy
Hasek "The Dominator"
Joseph "CuJo"
Belfour
Richter
Osgood

etc.

I feel like today's generation of goaltending isn't the same. You don't have those guys that are consistently strong year after year.

Is it that the 90's were the prime of NHL goaltending, or was it the pre-lockout defensive structure that helped these goaltenders reach their legendary status?

Not even close.

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

I still think Chris Osgood was a stellar goaltender. Wasn't a superstar or anything, but he put up very good numbers. I'd probably compare Osgood to somewhere around the likes of James Reimer.

But He isn't better than those other goalies.

 

[b in vancouver]

Mid 70s.
Dryden, Cheevers, Esposito, Parent, Vachon

 

[Chet Manley]

Not sure that they were better at keeping the puck out of the net, but they were definitely more fun to watch. Less homologised and had to more frequently use their athleticism, quick reflexes, and improvisation.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Like all other positions, goalies who entered the league circa 1985 were born the in the later stages of the Baby Boom era when the birth rate roughly doubled over what it was before and after. You had A LOT more Canadian boys playing hockey during the 1970s than you do today, not to mention that it was also the golden era of hockey in the USSR, and those boys played during an era when their respective govern

ments had just finished massive investments in both recreational sports and in national athletic teams. They enjoyed an environment in which pretty much any kid with athletic talent could play hockey to his heart's content at a relatively low price, and specifically goalies could learn the game at a far more reasonable price-point than young goalies today.

They were also coincidentally positioned to learn the position as young children in a stand-up heavy environment that emphasized reflexes and skating, and then as teenagers to experience the transition to a butterfly environment that emphasized positioning and flexibility.

No huge surprise that this environment consistently produced all-time great talents (Roy, Hasek, Belfour, Joseph, Fuhr and Barrasso on the early side, Brodeur on the late side)

 

[Martin Skoula]

Hard to compare eras for me. I'd like to see how they would have fared in today's game with the screened tip fetish offense we have today.

I'm sure they'd have better looking Sv% with 15+ shots from the outside every game, but higher GAA from letting in an extra goal off broken deflection plays now and then.