Around the NHL

[pictman]

I think he was the first goalie to use the fibreglass/cage combo too

I think you might be right.

 

[LucianoBorsato]

I think he was the first goalie to use the fibreglass/cage combo too

I went down the goalie mask/helmet rabbit hole, Esposito made the cage on his hybrid mask with wire and pliers and also added the back plate and extended the forehead for more protection. The modern goalie helmet can be traced back to his tweaks. Awesome stuff

Esposito revisits stories behind mask

Tony Esposito

 

[WolfHouse]

I went down the goalie mask/helmet rabbit hole, Esposito made the cage on his hybrid mask with wire and pliers and also added the back plate and extended the forehead for more protection. The modern goalie helmet can be traced back to his tweaks. Awesome stuff

Esposito revisits stories behind mask

Tony Esposito

There were two kinds of goalies back then... the intellectuals - Dryden and Esposito... and the clinically insane - Cheevers and Smith

 

[LucianoBorsato]

There were two kinds of goalies back then... the intellectuals - Dryden and Esposito... and the clinically insane - Cheevers and Smith

I'm a bit too young to remember Cheevers and Dryden play, but I remember the tail end of Esposito playing. Billy Smith using his stick as a hatchet on opposing players, I remember very well lol. Ron Hextall , I was really in awe of. He was the first goalie I remember being able to handle the puck well and also hack and slash like Smith when needed.

 

[Lowered Expectations]

After watching All Laine's CBJ games the biggest surprise for me is that he is often used to enter the zone on PP! Apparently they used to dump and chase before Laine. And believe or not, he usually is getting the job done. I just find this a bit surprising.

 

[Daximus]

The old time goalies used angles and technique just as much as today's goalies. Techniques were quite different, because of equipment and player size. But they knew what they were doing.

But the size of the goalies and the size of the equipment has changed the game tremendously. I still marvel that they ever score.

The level of professionalism is much higher now too. It used to be that if you saw players spitting while on the bench, it was tobacco juice . Players did actually smoke on the bench too. They stayed fit and worked out by playing hockey. 'Gym? What for? I play or practice hockey almost every day! I'm in great shape'.

Oh no doubt they did at the time. Still the best and most technical of that era. But compared to what they teach today it's not even close to the same level.

The size of the goalies, the way they approach every shot, shot type, shot angle. Equipment helps too but if your still some board kicking your legs out at a puck even with modern pads you're going to miss a lot of low shots.

Hall, Espo, Tretiak and Crozier were the early developers of butterfly but then Roy came along and perfected it to the point where it's basically the standard of goaltending now. Along with the pads he basically started the profly technique and it's continued evolution is ongoing. As most goalie I know say, the butterfly isn't a style it's an arsenal of specific saves for every situation. How good you are at it, depends on how quickly you can react to your changing environment. Of course now we are seeing 6'4+ giants who can occupy large areas of the net but are also incredibly athletic for their size.

 

[JetsFan815]

After watching All Laine's CBJ games the biggest surprise for me is that he is often used to enter the zone on PP! Apparently they used to dump and chase before Laine. And believe or not, he usually is getting the job done. I just find this a bit surprising.

And Roslovic has been their most creative player these last few games. Very strange team, most of their forwards don't try to do anything "clever", no one moves east-west across the ice or does laps with the puck in the offensive zone like the Jets forwards so often do. Lots of Evander Kane style straight line players.

 

[WolfHouse]

Oh no doubt they did at the time. Still the best and most technical of that era. But compared to what they teach today it's not even close to the same level.

The size of the goalies, the way they approach every shot, shot type, shot angle. Equipment helps too but if your still some board kicking your legs out at a puck even with modern pads you're going to miss a lot of low shots.

Hall, Espo, Tretiak and Crozier were the early developers of butterfly but then Roy came along and perfected it to the point where it's basically the standard of goaltending now. Along with the pads he basically started the profly technique and it's continued evolution is ongoing. As most goalie I know say, the butterfly isn't a style it's an arsenal of specific saves for every situation. How good you are at it, depends on how quickly you can react to your changing environment. Of course now we are seeing 6'4+ giants who can occupy large areas of the net but are also incredibly athletic for their size.

Trying to think if there are any Haseks in the league right now... I'd say Markstrom

 

[10Ducky10]

There were two kinds of goalies back then... the intellectuals - Dryden and Esposito... and the clinically insane - Cheevers and Smith

Dryden, to me, was the best big game, money goalie I have ever seen. His record is remarkable.
He played 6 games in 70-71 and started in the playoffs and won the cup. He went on to play 7 more seasons and win 5 more cups.
He won the Calder Cup, the Vezina 5 times and the Conn Smythe once.
He was also in net for game 8 of the Summit series.

 

[Daximus]

The equipment is about twice the size now too...

I think back in those days what you had Mike Palmateer and Tony Esposito as butterfly goalies? Roy really changed the way the game is played... that and goalies were fair game for a stick to the head if they were down low in the early 1980s - ask Billy Smith

Hall, Tretiak and Crozier too.

Brodeur came along and showed that you can basically completely end dump and chase hockey as well, if you just know how to play the puck. They invented an entire rule to neutralize him and a few others like Marty Turco from even being able to play the puck in the corners.

Then there's Hasek who is basically an enigma for the position. His style isn't replicated, even though he arguably had the greatest peak of all time. But it dealt with a lot more abstract idea in goaltending like giving shooters something to shoot at and then taking it away. Pushing shooters to deke rather than shoot and all sorts of other ideas which we still haven't fully unpacked. Hasek flipped goaltending on it's head by forcing shooters to react to the goaltender, not the goaltender to react to the shooter.

 

[Daximus]

Trying to think if there are any Haseks in the league right now... I'd say Markstrom

No one is really like Hasek. Mainly because that kind of style is basically forced out of kids. Everyone is pretty much a cookie cutter version. Markstrom still employs a load of profly techniques. He has a bit more flop to his game but nowhere near what Hasek was doing.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Oh no doubt they did at the time. Still the best and most technical of that era. But compared to what they teach today it's not even close to the same level.

The size of the goalies, the way they approach every shot, shot type, shot angle. Equipment helps too but if your still some board kicking your legs out at a puck even with modern pads you're going to miss a lot of low shots.

Hall, Espo, Tretiak and Crozier were the early developers of butterfly but then Roy came along and perfected it to the point where it's basically the standard of goaltending now. Along with the pads he basically started the profly technique and it's continued evolution is ongoing. As most goalie I know say, the butterfly isn't a style it's an arsenal of specific saves for every situation. How good you are at it, depends on how quickly you can react to your changing environment. Of course now we are seeing 6'4+ giants who can occupy large areas of the net but are also incredibly athletic for their size.

I think it only mirrors the increased professionalism found throughout the game. Really, most sports, if not all. Knowledge builds upon past knowledge and the body of knowledge increases. The same thing happens in all areas. It is the same as comparing your smartphone to the computers that were used in the moon landings.

 

[WolfHouse]

No one is really like Hasek. Mainly because that kind of style is basically forced out of kids. Everyone is pretty much a cookie cutter version. Markstrom still employs a load of profly techniques. He has a bit more flop to his game but nowhere near what Hasek was doing.

I really mean the gut-instinct guys versus the Robots... Helle is a great goalie who is basically calculating all the shots all the time and playing odds like a poker player - Markstrom seems to be more of a natural instinct get into the flow of the game type, this to me is still the Hasek style... but maybe they just call it the athletic butterfly now ha

 

[Joe Hallenback]

Tim Thomas was the last real pure Hasek goalie around

My son says guys like Markstrom and Bob are the closest you can find now

 

[Daximus]

I really mean the gut-instinct guys versus the Robots... Helle is a great goalie who is basically calculating all the shots all the time and playing odds like a poker player - Markstrom seems to be more of a natural instinct get into the flow of the game type, this to me is still the Hasek style... but maybe they just call it the athletic butterfly now ha

I think that's the crazy thing about Hasek is when you just look at him it looks like he's just flopping around out there, just going with whatever comes into his head at the moment. But if you really analyze what he's doing for every action there is a specific reaction he does. If a right handed shooter fakes right and goes backhand left, he lunges out with his blocker, stick flat on the ice, rolls over his glove hand sideways, he's no longer trying to catch the puck in his glove. He's trying to use it as another blocker. He then brings both arms out flat on the ice, head tilted back to see the play and both feet come up. He's used it on virtually every single righty that dekes left on him in his career. He knows that when you're on your backhand you have two options you can either go low, which he has taken away, or you can go high. The hope is that you go high because that's where he is baiting you to go. Now he his looking right at your blade flat on the ice, both feet in the air and all he has to do is guess based on your stick position where you will go.

I've seen some deep dives into the things he does and just like with profly, there is a save for every situation. He just did it in a far more athletic way, by flipping upside down. Now his arms are the butterfly and his pads become the chest. The genius is that he can stack them and take away a sizeable portion or he can split them, something your chest can't do. He also almost always tosses his stick when flipping over, usually throwing it into the net or letting it go towards the shooter.

 

[Daximus]

Tim Thomas was the last real pure Hasek goalie around

My son says guys like Markstrom and Bob are the closest you can find now

I think it's because people see Hasek as a pure flopper. But there was a method to it all. Most goalie now that flop around are doing so out of desperation. Hasek did it as a dedicated style. It was controlled but the complete opposite of what goalies are taught today. Goalies today are taught to be patient, Hasek was all about urgency and forcing the situation.

 

[Daximus]

I think the bigger question is why Hasek never tried to teach his style to anyone. Roy taught his techniques to the world with the help of the Allaire brothers. Hasek just hung them up. One thing about Hasek's style of play that doesn't really help it is the longevity of it is extremely difficult to keep up. It requires you to be in peak condition at all times. Roy's style is something a good goalie can continue to use well into their later years even when their body starts failing them.

 

[HannuJ]

The shoulder pads that goalies used would have left 80% of the net open back then too...

Garth Snow's 2 x 4 says hi

 

[HannuJ]

Trying to think if there are any Haseks in the league right now... I'd say Markstrom

there's no need to be a Hasek nowadays.
the focus on positioning vs athletic mad scrambles to make saves eliminated the need for Haseks.

 

[JetsFan815]

Ben Chiarot's success is pretty confounding. Leads Habs in 5 on 5 icetime, and is on the Habs top pairing and is not only holding his own but thriving. I hope we don't look back at him as "the one that got away". The Myers contract is playing out exactly as everyone here predicted, not so much with Benny. A lot of it is probably the Shea Weber but crazy to see how he's a top pairing d man on a contender.

Not seeing Chariots of fire anymore, more like Chariots of #1 dman.

 

[sipowicz]

Looking back to the Jets 2.0 inaugural season it was Evander no brain Kane’s best season for goals (30) assists (27) and points (57) he has only matched the goal total once in his career since.

 

[None]

NBCSN putting Babcock on their panel beside Patrick Sharp... As if Patrick Sharp needed the cheerleader effect

 

[bustamente]

Speaking of NBCSN looks like NBC will be pulling the plug by the end of the year

 

[jetsv2]

Is the Toronto Vancouver game not blacked out for anyone else. It says blackout in my tv listing but the game is on.

 

[brendan smith]

Is the Toronto Vancouver game not blacked out for anyone else. It says blackout in my tv listing but the game is on.

Shhhh