billybudd
Registered User
- Feb 1, 2012
- 22,049
- 2,249
Hasek was a brilliant goalie and most probably better than Roy in the big picture, but also understand his position in Buffalo was an ideal showcase for the classic "man alone" goalie, of which there were many in the 1990s.
Eh, I dunno if I buy that.
The guys you mention--Joseph, Irbe--they had a lot of situations where, like Hasek, they made eye-popping, NHL2nite highlight saves, but their numbers reflected that they were being given a difficult task. It's not just that Hasek made crazy saves, but he made more of those and routine saves than anybody else did. It's not that the guy had the best highlight reel by a mile. It's that the guy who stopped the most pucks by far also had the best highlight reel by a mile. I mean look at this separation.
Player Season Finder | Hockey-Reference.com
And he's second in GAA, but not to Roy (Brodeur having a slightly better GAA is entirely understandable given the team circumstances...given the team circumstances and how good Brodeur was in his own right, that Hasek is even this close is outrageous to me).