Top 10 European Goalies of last 20 years

[IggyFan12]

So who are the top 10 European Goalies since 1990? To help you rank them I have the following critera:
You are a head coach of a team and need to choose the 10 best goalies you want playing on your team for a whole season and playoffs. The goalies will play at their peak. They will play according to their season best for the season and their playoff best for the playoffs.

1) Domink Hasek- 735 GP 389W-223L-82T-32OT. Win%= .529 With a 2.20 G.A.A .922SV% with 81 SO. He was won 1 cup as a starter, 6 Veiznas, 2 Harts, 1 Olympic Gold medal.

2) Miika Kipprusoff- 458GP 239W-153L-7T-50 OT. Win%= .522 With a 2.44 G.A.A, .914 SV% with 34 SO. He was appeared in game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, has won 1 Veizna, nominated for 1 Hart trophy, 1 Olympic Bronze and 1 World Cup Silver. Also has the modern G.A.A record for 1 season with a 1.69 G.A.A in 2003/2004.

3)Nikolai Khabibulin 696GP 306W-276L-58T-47 OT. Win%=.440 With a 2.68 G.A.A a .908Sv% with 41 SO. He won 1 Cup in 04 in game 7. He has also been a very good goalie for a number of years while also having a number of down seasons as well.

4)Evgeni Nabokov 563 GP 293W-178L-29T-51 OT. Win%= .520 with a 2.39 G.A.A a .912SV% with 50 SO. He has never played in the Cup finals but has made the Western Conference Finals twice. A very good regular season goalie who never found the same success in the post season.

5)Tomas Vokoun 575 GP-240W-239L-35T-50 OT. Win%=.417 with a 2.56 GAA a .916SV% with 38 SO. Vokoun has never played on a great team but he has been consistent for most of his career. If he ever got a chance to play for a contender he would have more post season success.


6)Henrik Lundqvist 338GP-177W-110L-44OT. Win%=.524 with a 2.33 GAA a .918SV% with 24SO. Lundqvist has 1 Gold Medal(2006) and has been the reason for the Rangers return as a playoff team. Has never made it out of the 2nd round however.6)

7)Olie Kolzig 719GP-303W-297L-63T-39 OT. Win%=.421 with a 2.71 GAA a .906 SV% with 35 SO. He once made it to the Stanley Cup finals loosing in 4 straight to the Wings. He also won the Veizna in 2000. The best goalie the Capitals ever had was a work horse for them in the late 90's and 00's.


8)Arturs Irbe 568GP-218W-236L-79T-12OT. Win%=.384 with a 2.83 G.A.A a .899 SV% with 33SO. Irbe once took the Hurricanes to the Cup finals before loosing in 5 to the Wings.

9)Ilya Bryzgalov 258GP-120W-96L-25OT. Win%=.465 with a 2.55GAA a .914SV% with 16 SO. Bryzgalov got the Coyotes into the playoffs when no one else thought they would get it. Just starting to peak.

10)Jaroslav Halak 101GP-56W-34L-7OT. Win%=.555 with a 2.62 GAA a .919 SV% with 9 SO. Halak hasnt been a starter for long but took Montreal deep into the playoffs beating both Pittsburgh and Washington.

So this is my list what do you guys think? Any changes?

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[TheDevilMadeMe]

Gaps intentional

1. Dominik Hasek (duh)

2. Miikka Kiprusoff (fantastic 3-4 year peak, top 10 goalie every season. Vezina + Cup run)
3. Olaf Kolzig (the backbone of a great defensive team in Washington. Vezina + Cup run)

4. Nikolai Khabibulin (no regular season hardware, but among the top 5 goalies in the league for several years. Excellent in the playoffs).
5. Evgeni Nabokov (Great regular seasons, questionable playoffs).
6. Arturs Irbe (inconsistent, but capable of stealing series when he was on)
7. Henrik Lundqvist (Will move up on the list in a few years. Hard to rank. Better Vezina record already than Bulin and Irbe).
8. Tomas Vokoun (great save % in Nashville and Florida, no regular season awards and no postseason success).
9. Roman Cechmanek (fantastic 3 year stretch in the regular season. Exposed in the playoffs).
10. Ilya Bryzgalov is probably 10th. Is there anyone better?


(I had written this before ushvinder reminded me of CechmanekL 10. There has to be a better pick than Halak for 10th. Christobal Huet has had a better career to this point, but there has to be someone better, right?)

 

[canucks4ever]

Roman Cechmanek had 3 awesome seasons.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Roman Cechmanek had 3 awesome seasons.

Good point, I forgot about him. Definitely knocks my garbage Halak/Huet off the list. I'll revise the post above.

 

[IggyFan12]

Some other names for 10th because I was also having trouble with the last spot include:

Turek, Salo, Hedberg, Cechmanek, Backstrom, and Niemi.

 

[seventieslord]

I can't really improve on TDMM's list. My main concern with the OP's list was that Kolzig was much further down than he deserved - should be 2nd, or 3rd at worst.

 

[jkrx]

I dont see how Halak can be ranked in the top 10 before goalies like Salo, Turek or Chechmanek. I dont see Kolzig that far down on the list. I don't why Irbe is that far down either for that matter.

 

[BraveCanadian]

Gaps intentional

1. Dominik Hasek (duh)

2. Miikka Kiprusoff (fantastic 3-4 year peak, top 10 goalie every season. Vezina + Cup run)
3. Olaf Kolzig (the backbone of a great defensive team in Washington. Vezina + Cup run)

4. Nikolai Khabibulin (no regular season hardware, but among the top 5 goalies in the league for several years. Excellent in the playoffs).
5. Evgeni Nabokov (Great regular seasons, questionable playoffs).
6. Arturs Irbe (inconsistent, but capable of stealing series when he was on)
7. Henrik Lundqvist (Will move up on the list in a few years. Hard to rank. Better Vezina record already than Bulin and Irbe).
8. Tomas Vokoun (great save % in Nashville and Florida, no regular season awards and no postseason success).
9. Roman Cechmanek (fantastic 3 year stretch in the regular season. Exposed in the playoffs).
10. Ilya Bryzgalov is probably 10th. Is there anyone better?


(I had written this before ushvinder reminded me of CechmanekL 10. There has to be a better pick than Halak for 10th. Christobal Huet has had a better career to this point, but there has to be someone better, right?)

I think you pretty much nailed it.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

I think you pretty much nailed it.

Now that I remember, I want to put Tommy Salo in there somewhere, but was he really better than Bryzgalov or Cechmanek? I'm not sure.

 

[Starchild74]

Gaps intentional

1. Dominik Hasek (duh)

2. Miikka Kiprusoff (fantastic 3-4 year peak, top 10 goalie every season. Vezina + Cup run)
3. Olaf Kolzig (the backbone of a great defensive team in Washington. Vezina + Cup run)

4. Nikolai Khabibulin (no regular season hardware, but among the top 5 goalies in the league for several years. Excellent in the playoffs).
5. Evgeni Nabokov (Great regular seasons, questionable playoffs).
6. Arturs Irbe (inconsistent, but capable of stealing series when he was on)
7. Henrik Lundqvist (Will move up on the list in a few years. Hard to rank. Better Vezina record already than Bulin and Irbe).
8. Tomas Vokoun (great save % in Nashville and Florida, no regular season awards and no postseason success).
9. Roman Cechmanek (fantastic 3 year stretch in the regular season. Exposed in the playoffs).
10. Ilya Bryzgalov is probably 10th. Is there anyone better?


(I had written this before ushvinder reminded me of CechmanekL 10. There has to be a better pick than Halak for 10th. Christobal Huet has had a better career to this point, but there has to be someone better, right?)

I agree with the list up until number 8

At 8 I would put Tommy Salo becuase of his international play decent regular season and not bad playoffs as well.

9. Tomas Vokoun reasons you stated

10. Niklas Backstrom. He has been one of the top goalies in the NHl and some very good international play as well

I left out Cechmanek becasue it was only three years that is it. I mean Backstrom has better numbers then him so far in 3 years

Bryzgalov was a back up for a while and only one great year so far

 

[Malefic74]

Not sure if he ranks in the top 10, but you could mention Roman Turek's peak years and not be too far off.

In a more tragic sense you could certainly argue a case for Pelle Lindbergh.

 

[kmad]

Not sure if he ranks in the top 10, but you could mention Roman Turek's peak years and not be too far off.

In a more tragic sense you could certainly argue a case for Pelle Lindbergh.

Yeah, I was going to mention Roman Turek for the 10th spot over Bryzgalov.

And I hate to make you feel old... but Lindbergh died more than 20 years ago.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Gaps intentional

1. Dominik Hasek (duh)

2. Miikka Kiprusoff (fantastic 3-4 year peak, top 10 goalie every season. Vezina + Cup run)
3. Olaf Kolzig (the backbone of a great defensive team in Washington. Vezina + Cup run)

4. Nikolai Khabibulin (no regular season hardware, but among the top 5 goalies in the league for several years. Excellent in the playoffs).
5. Evgeni Nabokov (Great regular seasons, questionable playoffs).
6. Arturs Irbe (inconsistent, but capable of stealing series when he was on)
7. Henrik Lundqvist (Will move up on the list in a few years. Hard to rank. Better Vezina record already than Bulin and Irbe).
8. Tomas Vokoun (great save % in Nashville and Florida, no regular season awards and no postseason success).
9. Roman Cechmanek (fantastic 3 year stretch in the regular season. Exposed in the playoffs).
10. Ilya Bryzgalov is probably 10th. Is there anyone better?


(I had written this before ushvinder reminded me of CechmanekL 10. There has to be a better pick than Halak for 10th. Christobal Huet has had a better career to this point, but there has to be someone better, right?)

Few people remember that as a teenager, Irbe was slated to be the next Tretiak for the Soviets. And he did steal series in the NHL and games in International play. When he was on he was as much fun to watch as anyone.

 

[Malefic74]

Yeah, I was going to mention Roman Turek for the 10th spot over Bryzgalov.

And I hate to make you feel old... but Lindbergh died more than 20 years ago.

Groan. In addition to senility and no longer noticing the passage of time, apparently i have lost the ability to read and follow instructions.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

I didn't include Turek because I think history has showed him to be a product of the St. Louis defense (Pronger, MacInnis, etc).

 

[begbeee]

I think Turek really should not be considered in TOP 10 poll.
Same with Cechmanek. His stats seems like he was a monster goalie, but I remember how much he was bashed instead his star stats.

 

[alko]

For Halak is it too soon to be mentioned in the top 10.
i was glad to see, ho he played in playoff, but there must be some respect to other goalies... 1 playoff its not enough!

 

[MS]

Olaf Kolzig really, really doesn't belong on this list.

I don't care if he played for Germany because of his parents' ancestry, the guy is as Canadian as it gets. He's from Vancouver Island, played in the WHL, and has never even lived in Europe save for an 8-game stint in the DEL during the lockout.

In 1996, Kolzig was a 26 y/o journeyman with 6 career NHL wins, and his chances of ever playing for Canada looked incredibly marginal. So he jumped at the chance to play for Germany at that year's World Cup, and was then tied to them for good.

__________

It seems that all we remember of Tommy Salo is that Belarus goal, but he was a top-10 NHL goalie for around 5 years and is certainly better-suited for this list than Turek or Halak (yet), and I'd probably rate him ahead of Cechmanek as well.

 

[Howe Elbows 9]

The following table is sorted by wins, the top five among these goalies in wins, SV%, GAA and SO are bolded.

Player |From |To |GP |W |L |SV% |GAA |SO
Dominik Hasek |1991 |2008 |735 | 389 |223 | .922 | 2.20 | 81
Nikolai Khabibulin |1995 |2010 |696 | 306 |276 |.908 |2.68 | 41
Olaf Kölzig |1990 |2009 |719 | 303 |297 |.906 |2.71 |35
Evgeni Nabokov |2000 |2010 |563 | 293 |178 |.912 | 2.39 | 50
Tomas Vokoun |1997 |2010 |575 | 240 |239 | .916 |2.56 | 38
Miikka Kiprusoff |2001 |2010 |458 |239 |153 | .914 |2.44 |34
Arturs Irbe |1992 |2004 |568 |218 |236 |.899 |2.83 |33
Tommy Salo |1995 |2004 |526 |210 |225 |.905 |2.55 | 37
Henrik Lundqvist |2006 |2010 |338 |177 |110 | .918 | 2.33 |24
Roman Turek |1997 |2004 |328 |159 |115 |.907 | 2.31 |27
Cristobal Huet |2003 |2010 |272 |129 |90 |.913 |2.46 |24
Vesa Toskala |2002 |2010 |266 |129 |82 |.902 |2.76 |13
Johan Hedberg |2001 |2010 |293 |123 |114 |.900 |2.93 |14
Ilya Bryzgalov |2002 |2010 |258 |120 |96 | .914 |2.55 |16
Niklas Bäckström |2007 |2010 |230 |119 |68 | .918 | 2.37 |19

So for 1-8 I agree with TheDevilMadeMe, then...

9. Tommy Salo
10. Niklas Bäckström

Looking through Vezina voting in recent years tells me Niklas was sixth in 06-07 and 07-08 and third in 08-09. For me that trumps Bryzgalov's second place this past season.

 

[jkrx]

Olaf Kolzig really, really doesn't belong on this list.

I don't care if he played for Germany because of his parents' ancestry, the guy is as Canadian as it gets. He's from Vancouver Island, played in the WHL, and has never even lived in Europe save for an 8-game stint in the DEL during the lockout.

In 1996, Kolzig was a 26 y/o journeyman with 6 career NHL wins, and his chances of ever playing for Canada looked incredibly marginal. So he jumped at the chance to play for Germany at that year's World Cup, and was then tied to them for good.

__________

It seems that all we remember of Tommy Salo is that Belarus goal, but he was a top-10 NHL goalie for around 5 years and is certainly better-suited for this list than Turek or Halak (yet), and I'd probably rate him ahead of Cechmanek as well.

Journeyman? He was drafted by washington. They moved him from different minor teams sure but that would hardly make him a journeyman.

Edit: 11 games, not 8.

 

[MS]

Journeyman? He was drafted by washington. They moved him from different minor teams sure but that would hardly make him a journeyman.

He was 26, had spent most of the previous 6 seasons in the minors including large chunks of 2 seasons in the ECHL, and had a career record of 6-21.

He might have stayed in the same organization, but the term 'journeyman' isn't far off. No-one ever thought he'd amount to anything at that point.

In any case, the main point is that he isn't European.

 

[Zam Boni]

Gaps intentional

1. Dominik Hasek (duh)

2. Miikka Kiprusoff (fantastic 3-4 year peak, top 10 goalie every season. Vezina + Cup run)
3. Olaf Kolzig (the backbone of a great defensive team in Washington. Vezina + Cup run)

4. Nikolai Khabibulin (no regular season hardware, but among the top 5 goalies in the league for several years. Excellent in the playoffs).
5. Evgeni Nabokov (Great regular seasons, questionable playoffs).
6. Arturs Irbe (inconsistent, but capable of stealing series when he was on)
7. Henrik Lundqvist (Will move up on the list in a few years. Hard to rank. Better Vezina record already than Bulin and Irbe).
8. Tomas Vokoun (great save % in Nashville and Florida, no regular season awards and no postseason success).
9. Roman Cechmanek (fantastic 3 year stretch in the regular season. Exposed in the playoffs).
10. Ilya Bryzgalov is probably 10th. Is there anyone better?


(I had written this before ushvinder reminded me of CechmanekL 10. There has to be a better pick than Halak for 10th. Christobal Huet has had a better career to this point, but there has to be someone better, right?)

Call me a homer, but I'd like Lundqvist a bit higher on that list. His number matches Kiprusoff/Nabokov and he has about the same W% ~.52 and SO% ~.07.
His lack of success in the playoffs certainly doesnt help his case, and as you noted, he might move up the list in the future. Solid list though, and I might be slightly homeristic.

Dont want Salo anywhere near Lundqvist though...

 

[kmad]

His lack of success in the playoffs certainly doesnt help his case, and as you noted, he might move up the list in the future.

IMO he's the best active goalie in the NHL. I'd predict that he'll end up 2nd on this list behind Hasek when his career's over. Of course, that's barring Tuukka Rask going insane.

 

[IggyFan12]

The more that I think about it the more that I would put Salo in at #9 and Bryzgalov in at #10. The reason why I have Irbe at #8 is because of poor win %. Ya he played on some very poor teams but he has only won 38.4% of the games he has started. That doesnt give me alot of confidence in him as a goalie. I know he was a very good goalie but so were the other 7 i put ahead of him. I dont know who of the 7 goalies I put ahead of him I would put Irbe ahead of. I know Khabibulin has a poor win% as well but he has a Ring and Vokoun has a great SV% far better than Irbe.

 

[seekritdude]

baised dude sneaks in again...

The more that I think about it the more that I would put Salo in at #9 and Bryzgalov in at #10. The reason why I have Irbe at #8 is because of poor win %. Ya he played on some very poor teams but he has only won 38.4% of the games he has started. That doesnt give me alot of confidence in him as a goalie. I know he was a very good goalie but so were the other 7 i put ahead of him. I dont know who of the 7 goalies I put ahead of him I would put Irbe ahead of. I know Khabibulin has a poor win% as well but he has a Ring and Vokoun has a great SV% far better than Irbe.

Well I think you answerd your question as to why irbe had a poor winning percentage. The teams he played for if you average it out are the worst of the bunch that I can see. He played his whole career with almost always a ho-hum or bottom barrel team. The second year san jose team was the worst team in NHL history wasn't it? And the first year san jose team I think was thrid worst in history only behind that one washington year and of course san joses third year.

Off hand that second year in san jose he was averaging 38 shots against him every 60 mins.Pretty ridiculous...

Although he may have played for some defensive minded teams not like he really every played with elite defensmen themselves or anything.

I know irbe hasn't won any rewards(well not NHL wise at least), or didn't get as many votes as others but thats pretty suspect imo. I know I use it a lot but(its only cuz his word means more then mine of course)but gretzky himself said he thought irbe was the best player in the league in 94. He should have gotten more votes that year. the 98-99 year of course, if you don't count the last 10 games of carolinas year where they all went down the *******, irbe had a good chance of leading the league in save. And of course the stanely cup run in 2002. Which to me, irbe was more valuable to carolina then lidstrom was to detroit. And isn't the conn smythe suppose to go to the person most valuable to his team? So I never got that one.


Basically how many goalies could have done what irbe did with the teams he did it for? Its stretching the 20 years rule a bit, but like Dennis Bonvie basically was alluding to(or at least I assume he was)irbe also proved he can play well for good teams just like anyone else if giving the chance. I guess since only in the 20 year time frame that 1990 world championship irbe had LESS then a GAA. Irbe never got the chance to play a full season with a good team.

So yea, I know he was prone to bad goals, but he was also prone to getting the short end of the stick as well.