What nations have the best goalies?

Eye of Ra

Grandmaster General of the International boards
Nov 15, 2008
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Malmö, Sweden
Canada:

Fleury
Price
Hart
Mike Smith
Driedger
Binnington
Kuemper
etc

Czech:

Vanecek
Mrázek
Rittich
Francouz
etc


Finland:

Saros
Rask
Lankinen
Rinne
Raanta
Kähkönen
etc


Germany:

Grubauer
Greiss
Niederberger
etc

Latvia:


Merzlikins
Kivlenieks
Kalnins
Punnenovs
etc


Russia:

Varlamov
Vasilevsky
Sorokin
Shestyorkin
Bobrovski
Khudobin
Georgiyev
Samsonov
etc


Slovakia:

Halák
Hudacek
Godla
Rybár
Konrad
Huska
etc


Sweden:

Ullmark
Lehner
Markström
Filip Gustavsson
Jonas Johansson
Lars Johansson
etc


Swiss:

Senn
Berra
Genoni
etc


USA:

Hellebuyck
Demko
Gibson
Nedeljkovic
Campbell
etc


I would rank it:

1: Russia
2: USA
3: Finland
4; Canada
5: Sweden
6: Germany
7: Czech
8: Slovakia
9: Latvia
10: Swiss
 
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Elias40

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Jan 3, 2020
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I think that Dostal will be an important goalkeeper for Czechs in the future, maybe even a number one.
 
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Czechboy

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Czechs next season at nhl level could be a big group...

Mrazek
Rittich
Francouz
Vanecek
Korenar
Vladar

Then we have velmejka and dostal bubbling underneath as well. Then, after that, we still have several drafted goalies that are developing like Dobes, Parik, bednar and Patera.

No vezina contender bit a pretty impressive north American collection.

I purposely left out the euro goalies who are also doing very well in Europe like Hrubec, bartosak and will.

Agree with Elias above... Dostal is our most important one.
 
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Czechboy

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i dont see how. care to explain?
Greiss is retired so the Germans 1-2 is grubauer and neiderberger. Both excellent goalies... We are, at the very least, much deeper.

I'm also not sure grubauer is that much better than mrazek or francouz (who took the job before getting hurt on the same team).

Where would you rank grubauer and neiderberger on my list below of Czech goalies?
 

FiLe

Mr. Know-It-Nothing
Oct 9, 2009
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The top-two is quite clear: Russia has the deepest pool of goalie talent available to them right now, with USA coming in as the distinctive second.

But I'd rank Canada as #3 - at least right now, as Finland is at bit of a turning point. Their established elite goalies are playing out their final years, and it is just a tad too early to say how many of their up-and-comers born in the latter half of the 1990s will become truly elite. There are many good-looking names who can get there, for sure: Saros, Lankinen, Kähkönen, Korpisalo, Husso, Luukkonen... But goalies mature more slowly than skaters, and we'll have to wait another 3-5 years before we can say if Finland's managed to reattain that same impressive goalie depth they had about a decade ago.

I think Sweden and Czechia are somewhat similarly entangled as Canada and Finland. Sweden looks better right now, but the Czechs have some talent in the pipeline that may put them higher in the rankings in the next few years - or not.
 
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Czechboy

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Oh and the answer is Russia... Lol.

US are damn impressive too.

Canada has a nice mix of goalies as well ..
 

FiLe

Mr. Know-It-Nothing
Oct 9, 2009
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Where is the love for korpisalo and koskinen?
I'd say they're getting about as much love as their recent performances justify. Well, Korpisalo's numbers are at least in part the fault of the entire team in front of him having a complete miss of a season, and he still has many good years ahead of him and all the tools he needs to be a solid starter in the league.

Koskinen was just brutal this season, and unlike Korpisalo, it was almost all his own fault. Also, he's 33 years old, so not a spring chicken anymore. Well, it's still somewhat possible he may regain his past form and play at a good level for two to three more years, but it's more likely that the league is simply done with him.
 
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Peiskos

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Jan 4, 2018
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A lot has been said about Canada's goaltending but I think its pretty solid, Fleury is still an elite goalie, albeit he's getting up there in age at 36, its amazing to see the success he's had with the Golden Knights. Price is also still elite at 33. Both of them would be #1 and #2 for Canada if NHL players go to Olympics in 2022...I think Canada still has the best 1-2 punch with those 2.

Carter Hart definitely has a lot of promise going forward, I would include Matt Murray, both of them were Canada's goalies for the 2019 WC, Murray of course already a 2 time Stanley Cup Champion. Tristan Jarry and Binnington as options as well.

Of course Kuemper who impressed this year, apart from them there's a host of serviceable goalies who behind great Canadian teams wouldn't have much of an issue, Driedger, Talbot, Allen, Blackwood, Smith etc.
 
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ORRFForever

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A lot has been said about Canada's goaltending but I think its pretty solid, Fleury is still an elite goalie, albeit he's getting up there in age at 36, its amazing to see the success he's had with the Golden Knights. Price is also still elite at 33. Both of them would be #1 and #2 for Canada if NHL players go to Olympics in 2022...I think Canada still has the best 1-2 punch with those 2.

Carter Hart definitely has a lot of promise going forward, I would include Matt Murray, both of them were Canada's goalies for the 2019 WC, Murray of course already a 2 time Stanley Cup Champion. Tristan Jarry and Binnington as options as well.

Of course Kuemper who impressed this year, apart from them there's a host of serviceable goalies who behind great Canadian teams wouldn't have much of an issue, Driedger, Talbot, Allen, Blackwood, Smith etc.
There has to be someone who surprises to the upside.
 

Czechboy

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A lot has been said about Canada's goaltending but I think its pretty solid, Fleury is still an elite goalie, albeit he's getting up there in age at 36, its amazing to see the success he's had with the Golden Knights. Price is also still elite at 33. Both of them would be #1 and #2 for Canada if NHL players go to Olympics in 2022...I think Canada still has the best 1-2 punch with those 2.

Carter Hart definitely has a lot of promise going forward, I would include Matt Murray, both of them were Canada's goalies for the 2019 WC, Murray of course already a 2 time Stanley Cup Champion. Tristan Jarry and Binnington as options as well.

Of course Kuemper who impressed this year, apart from them there's a host of serviceable goalies who behind great Canadian teams wouldn't have much of an issue, Driedger, Talbot, Allen, Blackwood, Smith etc.
Fun way of looking at it... Canada doesn't have a goalie that could win gold for the Czechs but they have about ten that could win gold for Canada.
 

Antiillafire

Registered User
May 1, 2021
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Whatever happened to Godla? Who are the most likely Slovak goalies to make NHL
Godla was never really an NHL goalie prospect. I’d say Huska is the most likely of the group listed but even than I say he ends up as Liiga or SHL goalie at most. As of right now I don’t think any Slovak goalies will become even Halak’s level let alone elite no.1. Maybe Elias or Korec but those are so far away that it’s impossible to know.
 

Czechboy

Easy schedules rule!
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Godla was never really an NHL goalie prospect. I’d say Huska is the most likely of the group listed but even than I say he ends up as Liiga or SHL goalie at most. As of right now I don’t think any Slovak goalies will become even Halak’s level let alone elite no.1. Maybe Elias or Korec but those are so far away that it’s impossible to know.
Better get halak on the Chara diet so he can stick around awhile!
 

PettersonHughes

Registered User
Aug 26, 2020
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Agreed with OP's list, pretty much a 3-way toss-up between Russia/ US/ Finland who all are deep in goalies; Canada and Sweden both have several elite players and the rest aren't bad but probably a step down from the other 3 in terms of overall quality of depth.
 

SK94

Registered User
Apr 11, 2016
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Hellebuyck, Gibson, Petersen, Nedeljkovic, Oettinger, Demko, Knight, Campbell, Swayman... Our goalie depth is finally pretty good. There are guys like Primeau and Stolarz who can still became good NHL goalies. Youngsters like Wolf and Commesso.

Woll, Parsons and Keyser needs a change and things are not that great at the moment but they are still really talented goalies.

Cale Morris and Hunter Shepard deserves a real shot with NHL organizations and I don't understand why that didn't happen. I expected that there would have been various teams fighting for their signature. In NCAA, there were again many good goalie prospects like Petruzelli, Scheel, McKay and Rowe.
 

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