Goalies that were brought in to be the "man" and failed

[novak]

The example I'm thinking about is Grant Fuhr, who had a weird run in the 90s. Seemed like multiple teams paid a premium to pick him up only to have him underwhelm (played pretty well in toronto despite his stats, prior to potvins emergence. Unseated in buffalo by Hasek in Buffalo, atrocious in LA). All of those teams paid a hefty price to get him. Funny that his best results in the 90s came when the blues picked him up off the trash heap... anyway, I'm always interested in goalie stories, I would love to discuss other examples of goalies brought in to be the man and failed to deliver.

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[Dennis Bonvie]

The Whalers brought in 24 year-old Greg Millen to be their number 1 goalie for the next decade.

After 4 seasons in Hartford with the hapless Whale he was shell shocked.

 

[Doctor No]

Sawchuk to the Bruins is the first that comes to mind for me.

Ron Grahame with the Kings.

Does Vanbiesbrouck with the Flyers count? He was kind of old. I could probably list ten for the Flyers.

 

[Michael Farkas]

Bryzgalov in Philly...

 

[Albatros]

The example I'm thinking about is Grant Fuhr, who had a weird run in the 90s. Seemed like multiple teams paid a premium to pick him up only to have him underwhelm (played pretty well in toronto despite his stats, prior to potvins emergence. Unseated in buffalo by Hasek in Buffalo, atrocious in LA). All of those teams paid a hefty price to get him. Funny that his best results in the 90s came when the blues picked him up off the trash heap... anyway, I'm always interested in goalie stories, I would love to discuss other examples of goalies brought in to be the man and failed to deliver.

Fuhr started pretty solid in Buffalo, then his second season got derailed due to injury and he lost his place as a starter to the best goaltender in history. No one would have had a chance in that situation so I wouldn't count it against him.

 

[Prsut18]

First name I think of was Bobrovski this past season, but he still has time to make it right

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

sean burke > garth snow > felix potvin > kevin weekes > dan cloutier

meanwhile, burke ends up in phoenix two years later, reinvents his game under benoit allaire and has a two year peak as a top five goalie

arturs irbe, far and away the canucks best goalie in this crap-go-round, is shocked that garth snow was brought in to play ahead of him, bolts in the off-season, plays 62, 75, and 77 games in the next three years, all winning seasons, and is in the stanley cup finals four years later

potvin reestablishes himself as a top ten goalie as soon as he leaves and has two very very good years where he upset the 2001 wings in the playoffs and pushed the avs to seven games twice

even johan hedberg went on to be a really solid 1b for almost a decade after he left

 

[jiboy]

Halak in St-Louis was alright but a bit underwhelming if you expected a true number one goalie

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Jacques Plante for the Rangers.

 

[VanIslander]

Hasek was brought to Ottawa for playoff success, nothing less.

Ottawa already had a Stanley Cup contender-worthy squad (hence Hasek choosing there), having made the playoffs for 8 consecutive years, three divisional titles the last six seasons and a trip to the Finals (the only time they had even made it past the seocond round!). They needed a guy to get them over the hump.

Hasek had a good year and the league's 2nd best save percentage and the team again won the division.

But 41-year-old Hasek decided to play in the Olympics instead of rest for the playoffs and pulled a groin there and missed the playoffs and the Senators got bounced once again.

Hasek was willing to re-sign for the league minimum but Ottawa passed. The disappointment was palpable.

The only "man" Dom was in Ottawa was The Tin Man.

 

[NyQuil]

But 41-year-old Hasek decided to play in the Olympics instead of rest for the playoffs and pulled a groin there and missed the playoffs and the Senators got bounced once again.

Hasek was willing to re-sign for the league minimum but Ottawa passed. The disappointment was palpable.

The only "man" Dom was in Ottawa was The Tin Man.

The issue wasn't that Hasek was injured, it was that the rumors were circling that he could have come back for the playoffs but declined to safeguard his career.

Ottawa has had a bunch of these guys - Pascal Leclaire (injured), Martin Gerber (didn't pan out), Tom Barrasso (deadline, didn't pan out) and now Matt Murray.

Hasek was still the best goaltender to ever wear a Senators uniform.

 

[GMR]

Brodeur in St. Louis.

Bryzgalov is a good one. The Flyers thought they were getting a top notch goalie. Instead, they got a guy who underperformed and was almost goofier than Gilles Gratton.

 

[Professor What]

The issue wasn't that Hasek was injured, it was that the rumors were circling that he could have come back for the playoffs but declined to safeguard his career.

Ottawa has had a bunch of these guys - Pascal Leclaire (injured), Martin Gerber (didn't pan out), Tom Barrasso (deadline, didn't pan out) and now Matt Murray.

Hasek was still the best goaltender to ever wear a Senators uniform.

And I, for one, can't help but wonder how things might have been different had the team accepted his offer to play for the minimum. As good as Emery was that season, he seemed to crack under the pressure in the Finals. Hasek wouldn't have done that. At a minimum, that would have been a more competitive series.

 

[NyQuil]

And I, for one, can't help but wonder how things might have been different had the team accepted his offer to play for the minimum. As good as Emery was that season, he seemed to crack under the pressure in the Finals. Hasek wouldn't have done that. At a minimum, that would have been a more competitive series.

Well, apparently he'd been cleared by team doctors and still refused to play in 2006.

It's hard to walk into that locker room after something like that.

I agree that he was a much better goalie than Emery.

One thing that Emery did though, was he forced the Senators to become more disciplined and stronger defensively as a team. Emery could stop that first shot, but then he needed the team for second chance opportunities and rebounds.

Hasek stopped the first, second, third and fourth shots.

 

[Franck]

Hasek was brought to Ottawa for playoff success, nothing less.

Ottawa already had a Stanley Cup contender-worthy squad (hence Hasek choosing there), having made the playoffs for 8 consecutive years, three divisional titles the last six seasons and a trip to the Finals (the only time they had even made it past the seocond round!). They needed a guy to get them over the hump.

Hasek had a good year and the league's 2nd best save percentage and the team again won the division.

But 41-year-old Hasek decided to play in the Olympics instead of rest for the playoffs and pulled a groin there and missed the playoffs and the Senators got bounced once again.

Hasek was willing to re-sign for the league minimum but Ottawa passed. The disappointment was palpable.

The only "man" Dom was in Ottawa was The Tin Man.

Wasn't Hasek initially signed for the season that was cancelled by the lockout?

 

[ted2019]

All Flyers Goalies since 1991-92 ( after Hextall got traded). At least they have one now in Carter Hart.

 

[ted2019]

Brodeur in St. Louis.

Bryzgalov is a good one. The Flyers thought they were getting a top notch goalie. Instead, they got a guy who underperformed and was almost goofier than Gilles Gratton.

Bryz gets a bad rap. The 2 seasons before he signed with the Flyers were the following.
Hart Votes: 5
Vezina Votes: 2,6
SO: 15
Wins: 78
Save% .920
GAA: 2.38 ( Roughly)

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

How about Jocelyn Thibault? Poor guy was looked at as the next great French Canadian goaltender to follow in the footsteps of Patrick Roy, and he lasted less than four seasons before he was dealt to Chicago for Jeff Hackett.

He was selected 10th overall and was viewed as a future franchise goaltender who never really established himself as a dependable starting goalie on any of the five teams he played with.

 

[Brodeur]

On the recommendation of new head coach Marc Crawford, Kings GM Dean Lombardi acquired Dan Cloutier in 2006. Cloutier had some decent seasons under Crawford in Vancouver but struggled mightily in LA.

 

[GMR]

On the recommendation of new head coach Marc Crawford, Kings GM Dean Lombardi acquired Dan Cloutier in 2006. Cloutier had some decent seasons under Crawford in Vancouver but struggled mightily in LA.

Did they not watch his playoff games in Vancouver?

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

On the recommendation of new head coach Marc Crawford, Kings GM Dean Lombardi acquired Dan Cloutier in 2006. Cloutier had some decent seasons under Crawford in Vancouver but struggled mightily in LA.

we got a second and a third back for him. it was bonkers.

i mean, we ended up throwing both picks away, but still. as bad of a GM as nonis was, getting luongo, krajicek, a high second (33rd), a high third (66th), and a sixth for bertuzzi, clouts, alex auld, and bryan allen was one hell of a two weeks of GMing.

 

[Brodeur]

Did they not watch his playoff games in Vancouver?

Can't stink in the playoffs if you don't make the playoffs! But yeah, I can't remember too many Kings fans being excited about that trade.

Couple more off the top of my head: Felix Potvin as an Islander? Vesa Toskala in Toronto? CuJo in Detroit?

Maybe a more minor one, but I stumbled on this Trevor Kidd story while reading up on the 1999-00 season. Kidd was traded to Carolina (J.S. Giguere went to Calgary) and he had a solid first season with the Hurricanes. But in 1998-99, he was outplayed by Arturs Irbe. For the Expansion Draft, Carolina decided to protect Irbe over Kidd. Atlanta chose Kidd and immediately traded him to Florida.

Kidd has a fantastic start to the 1999-00 season with the Panthers. The team decides to shed a little payroll by trading former starter Sean Burke in November 1999 for cheaper goalie Mikhail Shtalenkov.

A few weeks later, Kidd injures his shoulder during a meaningless skills competition that the NHL mandated that teams do in order to promote the upcoming All Star game. Kidd is out least 10 weeks. Florida has some shaky goaltending in the following games and the team goes out and acquires Mike Vernon.

Kidd comes back in late February but struggles and Vernon is the starter for the playoffs. For the 2000 Expansion Draft, Florida protects Kidd and loses Vernon. So it looks like Kidd would start the next season as the starter again.

But then the Islanders decide to draft Rick DiPietro #1 at the 2000 Draft and put Roberto Luongo on the market. Florida gets Luongo who outplays Kidd.

More than likely Kidd's career trajectory would have been the same, but it is interesting to think of the butterfly effect if Kidd hadn't been injured in a skills competition.

 

[dr robbie]

This seems to be a common theme for the Blues. Halak, Brodeur, and Miller were all supposed to be what put them over the top when they came in, and they all fell pretty flat.

 

[GMR]

Can't stink in the playoffs if you don't make the playoffs! But yeah, I can't remember too many Kings fans being excited about that trade.

Couple more off the top of my head: Felix Potvin as an Islander? Vesa Toskala in Toronto? CuJo in Detroit?

Maybe a more minor one, but I stumbled on this Trevor Kidd story while reading up on the 1999-00 season. Kidd was traded to Carolina (J.S. Giguere went to Calgary) and he had a solid first season with the Hurricanes. But in 1998-99, he was outplayed by Arturs Irbe. For the Expansion Draft, Carolina decided to protect Irbe over Kidd. Atlanta chose Kidd and immediately traded him to Florida.

Kidd has a fantastic start to the 1999-00 season with the Panthers. The team decides to shed a little payroll by trading former starter Sean Burke in November 1999 for cheaper goalie Mikhail Shtalenkov.

A few weeks later, Kidd injures his shoulder during a meaningless skills competition that the NHL mandated that teams do in order to promote the upcoming All Star game. Kidd is out least 10 weeks. Florida has some shaky goaltending in the following games and the team goes out and acquires Mike Vernon.

Kidd comes back in late February but struggles and Vernon is the starter for the playoffs. For the 2000 Expansion Draft, Florida protects Kidd and loses Vernon. So it looks like Kidd would start the next season as the starter again.

But then the Islanders decide to draft Rick DiPietro #1 at the 2000 Draft and put Roberto Luongo on the market. Florida gets Luongo who outplays Kidd.

More than likely Kidd's career trajectory would have been the same, but it is interesting to think of the butterfly effect if Kidd hadn't been injured in a skills competition.

You mentioned Cujo in Detroit. That's one where the organization and the fans failed Cujo. He was definitely brought in to be the man but I disagree that "he" failed. The Hasek/Legace/Cujo fiasco in 2004 was embarrassing. His numbers in the regular season and playoffs were not bad. He just got no goal support when it counted.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Insert any Bruins goalie from 1995 to 2007 here.

Most notably Toivonen was supposed to be the next great goalie