Puckgenius*
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Who was the better goalie in their prime? Both small frame goalies but were allstars in their primes.
When Richter was on (1994 and 1997 playoffs, 1996 World Cup), he was better than Cujo at his best, I think. But Cujo was much more consistent during his prime and also had a much longer prime.
Great poll, I voted even. Both were great goaltenders during their primes. Richter had a better prime but Cujo had a longer prime (on average teams)
I voted for Richter, on the logic that he reached higher heights of play. I didn't really think to take into account that CuJo was at his best for a far longer period of time, but it's a valid point and certainly complicates things. I'm a fan of both -- great goalies with unmistakable, unique styles.
I do have to say this: the last several years of Richter's career, his reputation was tarnished by some horrible, horrible Rangers teams. I've always thought that he gets more criticism for his play in that period than he deserves -- his numbers weren't good, but as a Ranger fan, I got to watch him single-handedly keep his team in so many games. I feel he was playing as well as you could ask of any goalie.
The way I see it, I had the benefit of watching him almost every game, and thus could see that he was trying to achieve the impossible on a nightly basis -- which you couldn't really see when you watch a few Rangers games here and there and check out the stats. Others might argue that I'm biased, as a Rangers fan and a Richter fan. I can't honestly tell you which is the truth.
I voted Richter. He had a higher peak and while Cujo did play on some average teams and do very well, Richter's Rangers teams were rather lax defensively. Richter stole the Rangers many, many game, and I think that if Richter was on a defensively solid team like the Devils he would have had a few cups.
When Richter was on (1994 and 1997 playoffs, 1996 World Cup), he was better than Cujo at his best, I think. But Cujo was much more consistent during his prime and also had a much longer prime.
I voted for Richter, on the logic that he reached higher heights of play. I didn't really think to take into account that CuJo was at his best for a far longer period of time, but it's a valid point and certainly complicates things. I'm a fan of both -- great goalies with unmistakable, unique styles.
I do have to say this: the last several years of Richter's career, his reputation was tarnished by some horrible, horrible Rangers teams. I've always thought that he gets more criticism for his play in that period than he deserves -- his numbers weren't good, but as a Ranger fan, I got to watch him single-handedly keep his team in so many games. I feel he was playing as well as you could ask of any goalie.
The way I see it, I had the benefit of watching him almost every game, and thus could see that he was trying to achieve the impossible on a nightly basis -- which you couldn't really see when you watch a few Rangers games here and there and check out the stats. Others might argue that I'm biased, as a Rangers fan and a Richter fan. I can't honestly tell you which is the truth.
I don't know, the Rangers return to respectability has also coincided with Henrik Lundqvist's arrival, which has given them all-star workhorse goaltending year in and year out the way Cujo did for the Blues, Oilers and Leafs. The Rangers are drafting better these days but their tendency to purchase high price UFA talent is the same as when Richter was a Ranger. Seems like the big difference is a goalie who can be the glue to hold things together.
My take on the 1997-2003 Richter is the exact opposite.
I think he was in a similar situation to the post-1991 Bill Ranford - a guy whose skills had substantially eroded but was excused for mediocre play by the fact that the team around him was perceived to be poor.
When Richter was injured in 2002, a journeyman starter in Mike Dunham came in and posted numbers that absolute blew away anything Richter had posted in years. So it was possible to stop pucks on those teams.
To me, Richter was a guy who had 2 elite seasons (1993-94 culminating in the Cup win, and 1996-97 starting with the World Cup) that were huge outliers in a career that outside of those years was that of a very average starting goalie.
Joseph didn't have the couple major highs that Richter did, but was consistently a much more reliable goalie.
The results with Richter in nets Post lockout may not have been exactly the same as they have been because I believe Lundqvist to be a better goalie than Richter, but I do believe that the team would have made the PO's the same amount of times that we have since the lockout.
There has been a big difference in overall focus from the Org. with a team defence first mentality post lockout regardless of Jagr's gaudy numbers. The Rangers pre-lockout were never good defensively and had alot of offensive passengers which made Mike work harder than he should have and thus skewered his numbers. Had the team made any effort to play some defence and help Richter out at all, he wouldn't have looked so ordinary.
Happens quite often when goalies specifically get moved from one team to make room for the new kid on the block (in this case Vokoun pushing Dunham out of the Music City)
The following year, Mike Dunham had what any other goalie would have had on that Rangers team and that was a losing record, with very very ugly numbers.
No doubt Cujo had a longer career with better numbers, but his highs were never as high as Richters and his lows were just as low as Richters.
Happens quite often when goalies specifically get moved from one team to make room for the new kid on the block (in this case Vokoun pushing Dunham out of the Music City)
The following year, Mike Dunham had what any other goalie would have had on that Rangers team and that was a losing record, with very very ugly numbers.
No doubt Cujo had a longer career with better numbers, but his highs were never as high as Richters and his lows were just as low as Richters.
Hmmm is that the year the Rangers lost in the ECF to the Flyers? I'm not sure how good Richter played that year but Cujo absolutely stole the first round series VS the Stars that year. One of the best goaltending performances I have ever seen.