Young goalie tandems

[seventieslord]

Goalies seem to peak later in their careers than forwards and defensemen. (I usually say it's 27-28 for forwards, 29-30 for Defensemen, and 31-32 for goalies) As a result, you don't see a lot of teams going with a very young goalie. If you do, they tend to have an older mentor-type as a backup. Or, You may see an older starter serving as the tutor for his eventual successor. Or, they just may have two old goalies. But you rarely see a team with two young goalies. And even rarer is a team with two young goalies that is very successful.

The best example I can think of off the top of my head is the 1993-94 and 1994-95 Toronto Maple Leafs. They went with Felix Potvin (21-22) as a starter and Damian Rhodes (23-24) as a backup, and the Leafs were a very good regular season team, finishing 3rd and 5th in the conference.

New Jersey in 1996-97 and 1997-98 had a Brodeur and Dunham (both 24-25) tandem and had very successful regular seasons.

What are some others? Particularly the successful ones.

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[Bear of Bad News]

I'll start with Fuhr/Moog in 1980s Edmonton.

Vanbiesbrouck/Richter for the Rangers?

 

[Johnny Engine]

Fiset and Thibeault for Quebec come to mind, at 23 and 19, respectively. More recently, Price and Halak at 21 and 23. Neither were terribly successful tandems, but not failures either. Also, I'm expecting the Kings to have a very young pair of Jonathans sharing the net soon.

 

[seventieslord]

Moog and Fuhr are an excellent example. Richter and Beezer... sorta. In their first year as a tandem, they were 23 and 26. By the end of that four-year period, 26 and 29.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Bernie Parent and Doug Favell, of the expansion Flyers (1967), were both born in 1945 (two days apart).

 

[MXD]

The Phil Myre, Rogie Vachon, and Ken Dryden that won the cup was a whole 10 years YOUNGER than the Sawchuck/Bower duo that won the cup in '67.

 

[Hoser]

The Atlanta Flames' Phil Myre and Dan Bouchard were 23 and 21 at the beginning of their first season, '72.

 

[Stray Wasp]

In 77-78 the Sabres used two 22 year olds in goal, Don Edwards and Bob Sauve. They garnered 105 points in the regular season.

 

[panorama01*]

The 1984-85 Maple Leafs opened the season with the Ken Wregget/Allan Bester combination, each was 20 years old. After a couple of months they were both sent to the minors, replaced by Tim Bernhardt and Rick St. Croix. The Wregget/Bester combination was back in business for 1986-87 through 1988.

 

[Dissonance]

Great thread topic! A few other examples…

The Blues in 1990-91 went with Vincent Riendeau (24) and a rookie Curtis Joseph (23) and ended up with the second-best record in the league. After that season, Joseph became the clear starter, but the Blues still stuck him with some pretty young back-ups (Pat Jablonski, Guy Hebert) and did just fine.

The Nordiques in 1985-86. Clint Malarchuk (24) was in his first NHL season as a starter, with Mario Gosselin (22) as his backup. They won the Adams division and had the fourth-best record in the league.

The 1985-86 Minnesota North Stars did pretty well with a 24-year-old Don Beaupre and a 23-year-old Jon Casey. (Although Beaupre was already in his sixth [!] NHL season, so maybe this isn't such a good example.)

The 1995-96 Capitals made the playoffs with 21-year-old rookie Jim Carey and a 25-year-old-but-very-green Olaf Kolzig.

 

[Hawkey Town 18]

Not sure if Belfour and Hasek qualify? Probably too old (25 and 26). Has their ever been a greater tandem at that age though? Hall and Plante would certainly top them, but that was when they were older.

 

[lextune]

Darren Pang and Bob Mason (23 and 26) split the 87/88 season in the nets for the Blackhawks.....

.....you didn't say they had to be GOOD goalies, lol.

 

[panorama01*]

To start the 1998-99 season, the Canadiens had Jocelyn Thibault (23) and Jose Theodore (22)...

 

[Ohashi_Jouzu*]

Bernie Parent and Doug Favell, of the expansion Flyers (1967), were both born in 1945 (two days apart).

I'll take you the '67 Flyers and raise you the '82/83 (to '85/86) Flyers with Lindbergh (23) and Froese (24). That team took home 106 pts that year, but got swept in the first round by the Rangers.

Don't know if they qualify, but the Flyers also had Peeters and St.Croix just before that.

Darren Pang and Bob Mason (23 and 26) split the 87/88 season in the nets for the Blackhawks.....

.....you didn't say they had to be GOOD goalies, lol.

Oh, in that case, '87/88 Maple Leafs: Wregget (23), Bester (23), and Reese (21). Also, '87/88 (until '89; remove Beaupre, add Myllys and Berthiaume) North Stars with Beaupre (26), Takko (25), and Casey (25).

Bridging the two levels, we also have the '94/95 Jets with Khabibulin (22) and Cheveldae (26). How about the Nordiques of the late 80s/early 90s? Gosselin, Tugnutt, Mason, Brunetta, Fiset, Tanner.

 

[eastcoaster]

Another good pair who have been overlooked so far would be Chico Resch and Billy Smith with the Islanders during the 70's. The first year they shared the job was in 74/75. Resch was 26 and Smith was 23 at the start of the season. They were the Isles goalies for six plus seasons, they both played a lot, and their goaltending was one of the reasons the Islanders became a respectable so quickly after joining the league in 1972.

 

[panorama01*]

The Nordiques opened the 1989-90 year with Ron Tugnutt, 21 and Stephane Fiset, 19.