I remember someone on HNIC saying that Roy finally had acheived one season (.925%) that was higher in that stat than Dom's career %. That always stuck out to me.
That gets overstated because a career save percentage is a moving target.
Hasek's Career Save Percentage as of... (Roy's peak)
1994: .915 (.918)
1995: .920 (.918)
1996: .920 (.918)
1997: .922 (.923)
1998: .924 (.923)
1999: .926 (.923)
2000: .926 (.923)
2001: .925 (.923)
2002: .924 (.925)
2003: .924 (.925)
The fact that Roy's final two seasons (.925 and .920) rank as two of the three highest totals in his career are testament to the fact that Colorado's defensive system from 1995-2001 did him no statistical favors. They didn't tailor themselves to their strength in net; they used Roy as an insurance policy - not unlike Toronto with Joseph and Edmonton with Fuhr.
Big Phil said:
With Roy you can't underestimate the postseason success. No other goalie, not Hasek, can match him in those regards. He took the 1986 and 1993 Habs to the Cup. No one would have predicted either of those teams to win in the beginning of the season or even the beginning of the playoffs. Now, they were better than the Sabres teams Hasek played for, but not by a whole lot and if there is an example of a goalie carrying his team on his back to the Cup it is Roy.
I think the 1986, 1989, and 1993 Canadiens were better teams than the 1999 Sabres, but I don't think they necessarily played better in the playoffs, particularly considering Buffalo's Conference play.
Goals-Per-Game Regular Season, Playoffs (Differential)
1986 MTL: 4.13, 2.76 (-1.37)
1989 MTL: 3.94, 3.02 (-0.92)
1993 MTL: 3.88, 3.02 (-0.86)
1999 BUF: 2.52, 2.61 (+0.09)
1999 BUF (three rounds): 3.24 (+0.72)
Through the rounds they won, Buffalo generated more offense than any of Roy's three Montreal teams that made the finals - and they were the Dead Puck team. Hasek is still their best player, but it's hard for me to take the
Buffalo was an AHL team argument seriously, but we see it so often. The 1986 Canadiens simply should not have won a Stanley Cup while scoring 2.76 goals-per-game in 1986. It's not a reasonable amount of goal support for a champion in that era.
Playoff GPG* of Champion (overtime not factored into numbers... I got lazy )
1976: 3.38
1977: 3.86
1978: 3.87
1979: 3.94
1980: 4.19
1981: 5.39
1982: 4.47
1983: 4.70
1984: 4.95
1985: 5.44
1986: 2.76
1987: 4.14
1988: 4.58
1989: 3.73 (3.94 before shooting on Roy in the Finals)
1990: 4.23
1991: 3.96
1992: 3.95
1993: 3.02
1994: 3.52
1995: 3.35
1996: 3.64