John Flyers Fan said:
If Ken Dryden was magically transported into the NHL today he'd have trouble even making it in the NHL today.
QUOTE]
You must never have seen these guys play. Sad, really. Oh add Billy Smith and Grant Fuhr to the list. The entire Patrick Division of the 80's NHL would go undefeated in the pansy league we have today. No brag, just fact, ma'am. Spending time in a gym pumping iron may make you big and strong, but it doesn't make you tough.
-HckyFght!
I watched them all play as well. Even though they were great for their time they wouldn't be as great today. Check out how much they "kicked out" rebounds. Mainly the old style tenders used to time it so that they could kick the stick at the same time as the puck hits the stick. Rebounds these days is virtually unheard of, especially a 50 foot rebound. Goalies didn't really "play" the puck back then so much as "kick the puck" outside the defensive zone. The rebounds eventually got picked off by studious forwards and scoring chances aplenty ensued.
Dryden invented `coming out of the net', was a stand-up type. Fuhr mainly stand-up, mixed with excellent positioning, a bit of the scramble 'epilleptic fit' save. As for Bill Smith...don't remember a thing about him at present.Hextall though, now he had a truly unique style, which i'm glad we don't see anymore.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that today's 'tenders are better, but only cuz they've learned from the masters, and their equipment is lighter,and absorbs pucks instead of letting it out there for a potential scoring op.. Kind of like debating Ali vs. Tyson in a way, one is good 'cuz he incorporated from the other. The other is good as he was a legend and invented his own unique style. A style so good that it stood the test of time, to be used as a benchmark for all future athletes.