Best of the Rest: Patrick Lalime

[LastWordArmy]

Our Best of the Rest summer series attempts to find the best player in each franchise's history who is not in the Hall of Fame but is retired for at least three years (ie is hall eligible)

Ottawa was a tough choice. Surely a player like Daniel Alfredsson is a legit Hall candidate, but of course is not yet Hall eligible. This was a common theme with most guys we looked at (ie Yahsin retired only 2 years), and so our best of the rest is.... Patrick Lalime

http://lastwordonsports.com/2014/08/09/best-rest-ottawa-senators-patrick-lalime/

Click to read more...

 

[PoutineSp00nZ]

Our Best of the Rest summer series attempts to find the best player in each franchise's history who is not in the Hall of Fame but is retired for at least three years (ie is hall eligible)

Ottawa was a tough choice. Surely a player like Daniel Alfredsson is a legit Hall candidate, but of course is not yet Hall eligible. This was a common theme with most guys we looked at (ie Yahsin retired only 2 years), and so our best of the rest is.... Patrick Lalime

http://lastwordonsports.com/2014/08/09/best-rest-ottawa-senators-patrick-lalime/

Not even close to being an hof player, but he gets a bad rep for how he ended his tenure in Ottawa. Lalime was lights out for several seasons, and has probably delivered the best playoff goaltending the Sens have ever seen.

 

[saskriders]

Not even close to being an hof player, but he gets a bad rep for how he ended his tenure in Ottawa. Lalime was lights out for several seasons, and has probably delivered the best playoff goaltending the Sens have ever seen.

Good summary Lalime is under appreciated because of one bad game.

 

[Rysto]

Not even close to being an hof player, but he gets a bad rep for how he ended his tenure in Ottawa. Lalime was lights out for several seasons, and has probably delivered the best playoff goaltending the Sens have ever seen.

The crazy thing is that game 1 of that series was a 1-0 OT win by the Flyers. Lalime and the Senators were one shot away from sweeping the Flyers with four consecutive shutouts.

 

[PoutineSp00nZ]

The crazy thing is that game 1 of that series was a 1-0 OT win by the Flyers. Lalime and the Senators were one shot away from sweeping the Flyers with four consecutive shutouts.

Back when the Flyers had the Legion of Doom as well. Not many figured the Sens had much of a shot against them either.

 

[BonkTastic]

I am shocked and appalled that Radek Bonk was not the obvious choice, here.

For shame, LWOS.



FOR SHAME.

 

[Micklebot]

I am shocked and appalled that Radek Bonk was not the obvious choice, here.

For shame, LWOS.



FOR SHAME.

Didn't he only retire in May? I don't think he is eligible based on their criteria.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

Lalime was awesome for the Senators

A real shame how things ended between Ottawa and Patrick...

 

[God Flower]

Back when the Flyers had the Legion of Doom as well. Not many figured the Sens had much of a shot against them either.

Back in those days, there were 3 certainties in the playoffs:

Flyers dominate the Leafs
Leafs dominate the Sens
Sens dominate the Flyers

And it didn't matter who was the higher seed. Wild, wacky stuff.

 

[MainDotC]

Although his service to Ottawa was invaluable he never was anything more than a regular season goalie. He would have been much more successful if he didn't wear his goalie pads loosely.

 

[Langdon Alger]

Back when the Flyers had the Legion of Doom as well. Not many figured the Sens had much of a shot against them either.

Lindros was gone to New York by then and I think Renberg was gone as well by that point. That team had Roenick, Leclair, Recchi, Primeau, Oates, Gagne, and Williams up front. I'm still shocked we only allowed 2 goals in 5 games against them. Lalime played so well that series.

Patty definitely gets a bad rap because of game 7 in 04, but at the same time I think he was a guy that if you made the playoffs and won a round maybe two, you would be happy. He wasn't in that elite league of goalies. He beat Cechmanek twice and Snow once and lost to Cujo a couple of times, Brodeur once and Belfour once in the playoffs. We also gave him very little in terms of goal support and lost a lot of 2-0 games over the years in the playoffs.

 

[L'Aveuglette]

Lalime is indeed the perfect candidate for this award. Kudos.

 

[PoutineSp00nZ]

Lindros was gone to New York by then and I think Renberg was gone as well by that point. That team had Roenick, Leclair, Recchi, Primeau, Oates, Gagne, and Williams up front. I'm still shocked we only allowed 2 goals in 5 games against them. Lalime played so well that series.

Patty definitely gets a bad rap because of game 7 in 04, but at the same time I think he was a guy that if you made the playoffs and won a round maybe two, you would be happy. He wasn't in that elite league of goalies. He beat Cechmanek twice and Snow once and lost to Cujo a couple of times, Brodeur once and Belfour once in the playoffs. We also gave him very little in terms of goal support and lost a lot of 2-0 games over the years in the playoffs.

YOu're right about Lindros, but that was still a heck of a flyers team. Lots of future hall of famers in there.

Chechmanek in goal certainly didn't help them. If only the unibrow could have stopped pucks

 

[Micklebot]

YOu're right about Lindros, but that was still a heck of a flyers team. Lots of future hall of famers in there.

Chechmanek in goal certainly didn't help them. If only the unibrow could have stopped pucks

He had the third highest sv% (.921) in the league that year and a .936 in the playoffs. He followed that up by repeating with the third highest sv% (.925) the very next year.

While the numbers may not be reflective of his true talent, he wasn't the problem.

 

[tony d]

To this day I consider him the best goalie in the team's history, shame he didn't do that well in the playoffs.

 

[aragorn]

Good regular season goalie who folded in the playoffs like a cheap suit. Allowed some of the weakest goals I have ever seen scored in the playoffs, unfortunately he could not handle the pressure of playoff hockey. One of the worse playoff goalies of all time.

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

Ah, if it isn't the guy who couldn't get it done.

Just an average goalie that looked good cause of the team that played infront of him. Look at his GAA and then his sv% very telling.

 

[Ismellofhockey]

Lalime was a great goalie, in the regular in the season and the playoggs both. He had great skill, but he lacked the kind of confidence you see in dominant goalies. A confidant Lalime could dominate. The difference was most glaring when comparing his post season play between the Leafs and Flyers. The Leafs had his number, and it killed his career.

 

[Laphroaig]

Good regular season goalie who folded in the playoffs like a cheap suit. Allowed some of the weakest goals I have ever seen scored in the playoffs, unfortunately he could not handle the pressure of playoff hockey. One of the worse playoff goalies of all time.

I call ********.

Lalime played 41 playoff games for the Sens. He had a cumulative 1.77 goals against average and a .926 save percentage, both outstanding numbers. Goal scoring and not goal tending were the Achilles heal of the Sens during the Lalime years. Alexei Yashin, in particular, never showed up in the playoffs.

 

[MainDotC]

What is Lalime doing nowadays? His NHL days are done - is he drawing a paycheque somewhere? I know he's a broadcaster for RDS but just wasn't sure if that's considered full time work or not.

 

[BonkTastic]

Alexei Yashin, in particular, never showed up in the playoffs.

He had a real nice 1998 playoffs.

More bad years than good, though.

 

[Laphroaig]

Yashin had a total of 6 goals in 26 playoff games during the Lalime years. Alfredsson managed only 14 goals in 47 games during that stretch yet Lalime is the reason we never won a Cup?

FYI 9 goals in 45 games for Radek Bonk. 13 goals in 47 games for Marian Hossa so yeah the playoff losses were all on Lalime.

 

[ChocolateLeclaire]

Yashin had a total of 6 goals in 26 playoff games during the Lalime years. Alfredsson managed only 14 goals in 47 games during that stretch yet Lalime is the reason we never won a Cup?

Yes, he is. Because the playoffs are when scoring typically dries up and where goaltenders excel.

I've seen more from Craig Anderson in the playoffs than Lalime ever showed.

Lalime is a past days Fleury. A capable goalie behind a stacked team but clearly not food enough to win a cup in his own.

Lehner/Anderson as a combination are better than Lalime on his best day.

 

[Laphroaig]

Yes, he is. Because the playoffs are when scoring typically dries up and where goaltenders excel.

I've seen more from Craig Anderson in the playoffs than Lalime ever showed.

Lalime is a past days Fleury. A capable goalie behind a stacked team but clearly not food enough to win a cup in his own.

Lehner/Anderson as a combination are better than Lalime on his best day.

Jonathan Quick won the Stanley Cup last year with a .911 save percentage and a 2.58 goals against. Corey Crawford won the Cup the previous year with a .912 save percentage and a 2.53 goals against. Patrick Lalime posted career playoff stats far superior to these numbers so, no, he wasn't even close to being the reason Ottawa didn't win any Cups.

As for Craig Anderson, please don't make me laugh. When he posts three consecutive shutouts in the playoffs you might be able to mention him in the same sentence as Patrick Lalime but, until then it's not even close. Goodnight.

 

[MainDotC]

Yo don't be knocking Radek Bonk