Best non-NA goaltenders of all time?

[Namba 17]

Inspired by the defensemen's thread, I decided to start some threads about other non-NA hockey players of all time.

Let's start with goalies. Top-10 (11):
#1 Hasek
#2 Tretiak
#3 Holecek
#4 Lundqvist
#5 Kiprusoff
#6 Kralik
#7 Lindmark
#8 Dzurilla
#9 Bobrovskiy
#10-11 Rask
#10-11 Kolzig

Discuss

Click to read more...

 

[Killion]

Great List.... whenever we discuss this always raises in my mind the question "where would Pelle Lindbergh have ranked" (?) had he not died so young & tragically as he was without a doubt one of the most innately talented, technically beyond solid Goaltenders Ive ever seen regardless of origin.

 

[tony d]

Hasek and Tretitak are 1-2 for sure. Also I think a case could be made for Lundqvist at 3. Holecek and Kipper round my top 5.

 

[decma]

Inspired by the defensemen's thread, I decided to start some threads about other non-NA hockey players of all time.

Let's start with goalies. Top-10 (11):
#1 Hasek
#2 Tretiak
#3 Holecek
#4 Lundqvist
#5 Kiprusoff
#6 Kralik
#7 Lindmark
#8 Dzurilla
#9 Bobrovskiy
#10-11 Rask
#10-11 Kolzig

Discuss

I don't think Kolzig should count as a non-NA player. He grew up and played his minor hockey in Dartmouth, NS, and played junior in the WHL (Tri-Cities). The fact that he was born in South Africa and played for Germany does not change the fact that his development was completely in North America.

 

[Torspo21]

I would include Urpo Ylönen on that list somewhere.

 

[Howie Hodge]

Very good thread.

I think I put Nikolai Khabibulin on that list, and maybe Lief "Honken" Holmqvist.

I would have loved to see Tretiak and Holecek play in their primes in The NHL. Tretiak I believe would have been Dominik Hasek like. Holecek I'm less confident in saying that about.

Holmqvist did come over and try out with the Red Wings, but it was late in his career. He ended up playing for The London Lions. He also briefly played for Indianapolis in the WHA I believe.

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

Arturs Irbe should be on that list, too.

 

[Pominville Knows]

Very good thread.

I think I put Nikolai Khabibulin on that list, and maybe Lief "Honken" Holmqvist.

I would have loved to see Tretiak and Holecek play in their primes in The NHL. Tretiak I believe would have been Dominik Hasek like. Holecek I'm less confident in saying that about.

Holmqvist did come over and try out with the Red Wings, but it was late in his career. He ended up playing for The London Lions. He also briefly played for Indianapolis in the WHA I believe.

I think Tretiak would have been more like Khabibulin than Hasek, with high peaks but also regular starter years inbetween. Probably a bit better than the Bulin Wall though.
Holecek was all things considered probably better than Tretiak during periods.
Holmqvist clearly less than both, i dont know why exactly he became a legend here in Sweden, leaking goals against the USSR. Probably becouse some single games against them surrendering only five goals or something, maybe with some shutout in one period of play.

 

[Howie Hodge]

I think Tretiak would have been more like Khabibulin than Hasek, with high peaks but also regular starter years inbetween. Probably a bit better than the Bulin Wall though.
Holecek was all things considered probably better than Tretiak during periods.
Holmqvist clearly less than both, i dont know why exactly he became a legend here in Sweden, leaking goals against the USSR. Probably becouse some single games against them surrendering only five goals or something, maybe with some shutout in one period of play.

Thank you for the insight on Holmqvist Darth Yoda; I really don't know much about his career in Europe...

 

[mrhockey193195]

I think Tretiak would have been more like Khabibulin than Hasek, with high peaks but also regular starter years inbetween. Probably a bit better than the Bulin Wall though.

This seems contrary to what a lot of people believe about Tretiak, in that most people (myself included) would think you're underselling Tretiak. Can you explain more why you don't think he would have been a perennial top-3 goalie in the league?

 

[Killion]

Hasek and Tretitak are 1-2 for sure. Also I think a case could be made for Lundqvist at 3. Holecek and Kipper round my top 5.

Pretty much ya.... though I'll tell ya I saw enough of Dzurilla to be amazed by his play at times... along with being highly amused by the fact that his day job was that of a refrigerator repairman.... which just struck me as being so mundane as to still make me giggle.... I mean, goes from STONING the Mighty Red Machine of an evening to manhandling badly contructed Eastern bloc refrigerators in some unheated brutalist tenement flat at 6am the next morning... sweating over a bare lightbulb... getting poisoned by freon leaks..... and Man, was it that in the crisper?!..... aint touchin it.... another guy was Halak. When he was "on" that guy was seriously ON.

 

[Rebels57]

Great List.... whenever we discuss this always raises in my mind the question "where would Pelle Lindbergh have ranked" (?) had he not died so young & tragically as he was without a doubt one of the most innately talented, technically beyond solid Goaltenders Ive ever seen regardless of origin.

So much this.

Could have been #2 behind Hasek. THAT good.

 

[Killion]

So much this.

Could have been #2 behind Hasek. THAT good.

Yeah he had it all going on there. Reflexes, technically & mentally beyond sound/solid & he was still improving, hadnt fully matured as a Goaltender, aspects of his game that needed some tweaking, work, but the Sky the Limit & then some. Great personality & disciplined work ethic. We'll just never know but based on what little we did see not hard to imagine that had his career progressed in the arc it was headed & he'd remained healthy.... Superstardom.

 

[Batis]

#1 Hasek
#2 Tretiak
#3 Holecek
#4 Lundqvist
#5 Kiprusoff

This is exactly how my top 5 would look as well. It seems like I am higher on Holecek than most though and I personally don't think that there is much separating Tretiak and Holecek. I still rank Tretiak ahead due to his elite longevity (14 straight Soviet First Team All-Star selections) while also having a very high peak but Holeceks dominant period between 70/71 and 77/78 is in my opinion the second most impressive 8-season period from a European goaltender behind only Hasek (93/94-00/01). During those 8 seasons Holecek was clearly the best goaltender at the WHC four times (1971, 1973, 1976 and 1978) when he was voted the best goaltender by both the media and the directorate. Holecek was also arguably the best goaltender in two other WHC tournaments when he only won the media vote (1972) or only the directorate award (1975). Being either clearly the best or arguably the best goaltender at 6 WHC tournaments over 8 years is pretty amazing. Holecek also had some really weak performances internationally (especially 1972 WOG and 1976 CC) during this time frame but for the most part his level of play was truly outstanding.

Bobrovsky seems to be making a run at the top 5 though. Hopefully he can give a playoff performance worthy of his regular season resume this season.

 

[adsfan]

Hasek
Tretiak
Lundqvist

Hasek was amazing! I was in the Czech Republic for a few days in 2008 and a lady that I met couldn't believe that I knew who he was. He is a national hero.
Tretiak was the Russian version of Ken Dryden, an almost perfect goalie.
Lundqvist always played better than I expected. It was like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, "who is this guy?".