Who's the best goalie in franchise history?

Who's the best goalie in franchise history?


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    50

Mosby

<3 Uncle Gary
Feb 16, 2012
23,378
18,086
Toronto
Something I got to thinking about today is, who's the best goalie in franchise history? (since 1996)

I think there are a few top candidates (in no order):

Mike Smith
Games played: 312 (1st)
Wins: 128 (3rd)
Shutouts: 22 (1st)
Playoff GP: 16 (2nd)
Playoff wins: 9 (1st)

Ilya Bryzgalov
Games played: 257 (4th)
Wins: 130 (1st)
Shutouts: 21 (T-2nd)
Playoff GP: 11 (3rd)
Playoff wins: 3 (3rd)
Awards: Vezina Finalist (2009-10)

Sean Burke
Games played: 211 (5th)
Wins: 97 (5th)
Shutouts: 15 (3rd)
Playoff GP: 10 (4th)
Playoff wins: 2 (4th)
Awards: Vezina Finalist (2001-02)

Nikolai Khabibulin
Games played: 284 (3rd)
Wins: 126 (4th)
Shutouts: 21 (T-2nd)
Playoff GP: 18 (1st)
Playoff wins: 8 (2nd)

Pretty basic metrics, but gotta imagine our best ever is one of these four.
 

ck26

Alcoholab User
Jan 31, 2007
11,892
2,035
Coyotes Bandwagon
Smith, easily, though Burkes time as coach/exec does a lot for his overall legacy.

Smith was mad talented, big, athletic, good with the puck, long tenure here, playoff wins, that goal vs Detroit, THAT hack on Dustin Brown's knee, the Alice Cooper mask ... Pizza Goalie / Grease In The Crease, all day.
 

CBJ goalie

Registered User
May 19, 2005
6,868
3,691
London, Ontario
Thank you for stating 'since 1996'.

Here's a great link to every goalie that's tended net for the Coyotes; some names there that had potential, like Esche, Greiss, Tellqvist....
Arizona Coyotes goaltending history

Very hard to pick - Khabibulin was consistent, and was a big reason for the Coyotes consistently making the playoffs during his time here.
Smith helped get them the farthest they've ever been.
Burke resurrected his career here - and was even an All Star.
Bryz had potential to maybe be the best goalie, but went for greener pastures which eventually doomed his career.

I'm voting for Smith.
 

Neighborhood Coyote

Registered User
Sep 14, 2017
3,124
2,711
Tough question for me. If Bryz had more playoff success without the flops... he'd easily be my choice at this time. His wins per games played was much better than Smith's (who is worst on the list for that win %, actually). So I agree with Ultra Mega Chychrun on that one.... Smith was too inconsistent for me.

For anyone wondering, the order of win % given those stats above go: Bryz, Burke, Khabi, and Smith.

Might go Bryz... only had 1 less shutout than Smith with 55 less games played. Would assume he could have surpassed that with the number of games being equal. Along with the aforementioned win % to help him out. Only wish he had more playoff success... that's my detraction on him. But the Yotes in general fall under that category for the most part in their history so it's hard to hold it against him.
 

The Feckless Puck

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Oct 26, 2006
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Whither Brian Boucher? :laugh:

I tend to look more at SV% and GAA rather than numbers like shutouts, games played, and wins. I generally believe those are the best metrics to evaluate a single player in such a heavily team-oriented game. It's not a perfect metric because obviously outside factors influence whether a puck goes in the net besides goalie skill, but over the course of a season the average SV%/GAA does tell a better story of how a goalie performs than anything else.

By that metric, I think Smith is probably the worst of the group mentioned in the OP. Not the worst starter we've ever had (look at the 2007 season before we got Bryz from the Ducks... we started with David Aebischer as our number one), but I wouldn't in a million years name him as our best goalie ever, no matter how much Grease he brought to the Crease.
 

Mosby

<3 Uncle Gary
Feb 16, 2012
23,378
18,086
Toronto
FWIW:

SV%
1) .919, Sean Burke
2) .917, Ilya Bryzgalov
3) .916, Mike Smith
4) .910, Nikolai Khabibulin

GAA
1) 2.39, Sean Burke
2) 2.54, Ilya Bryzgalov
3) 2.58, Nikola Khabibulin
4) 2.69, Mike Smith
 

XX

Waiting for Ishbia
Dec 10, 2002
54,886
14,502
PHX
Burke, a less psychotic Smith

Also pulled doubly duty by coaching the D when he was on the ice, big part of why I'd give him the edge. The difference when his backup was in net was startling.
 

Coyotedroppings

Registered User
Jul 16, 2017
6,332
5,087
Gotta go with Bryz. Folks don't like him because of the playoffs and leaving, but he's been the most well rounded goalie during that time frame. He also got the most wins. Yeah, the D was an emphasis on DT teams, but with that, they still played in our end constantly. High percentage or not, shots is shots and he had the numbers.

Never shoulda left, seemed less concerned with the cosmos and such while he was here and played solid, real solid.

Or, he was about to fall apart and the Coyotes finally saw some favor from the gods???? o_O
 

Mosby

<3 Uncle Gary
Feb 16, 2012
23,378
18,086
Toronto
I think I gotta go Smith. It's close though, across all four.

I'd go Bryz if he had any playoff success to speak of. The other numbers are solid.

Burke's sample size needs to be a little bigger (but maybe Smith's sample size was too big :laugh:)


The good new is that with a few solid seasons, either Kuemper or Raanta can get to the top of this list pretty quick. Kuemper is already 6th in all-time wins, as sad as that is.
 
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The Feckless Puck

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The good new is that with a few solid seasons, either Kuemper or Raanta can get to the top of this list pretty quick. Kuemper is already 6th in all-time wins, as sad as that is.

Just goes to show that we have never really had a franchise goaltender as it's generally understood. Maybe the Cartwheel Kid can be that in a few years... :laugh:
 

Dirty Old Man

Anti-chatter Engine
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Jan 29, 2008
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Thank you for stating 'since 1996'.
Here's a great link to every goalie that's tended net for the Coyotes; some names there that had potential, like Esche, Greiss, Tellqvist....

And then there were some names like Shtalenkov (we called him "Shtinky" just coz we thought it sounded funny), and DesRochers ("DeShootsHeScores", he wasn't good)
 
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Coyotedroppings

Registered User
Jul 16, 2017
6,332
5,087
The good new is that with a few solid seasons, either Kuemper or Raanta can get to the top of this list pretty quick. Kuemper is already 6th in all-time wins, as sad as that is.
The neat thing about these two is that they're not head cases - but they're still goalies. :huh:
 
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Neighborhood Coyote

Registered User
Sep 14, 2017
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Whither Brian Boucher? :laugh:

I tend to look more at SV% and GAA rather than numbers like shutouts, games played, and wins. I generally believe those are the best metrics to evaluate a single player in such a heavily team-oriented game. It's not a perfect metric because obviously outside factors influence whether a puck goes in the net besides goalie skill, but over the course of a season the average SV%/GAA does tell a better story of how a goalie performs than anything else.

By that metric, I think Smith is probably the worst of the group mentioned in the OP. Not the worst starter we've ever had (look at the 2007 season before we got Bryz from the Ducks... we started with David Aebischer as our number one), but I wouldn't in a million years name him as our best goalie ever, no matter how much Grease he brought to the Crease.

I will definitely agree with the Sv% and GAA argument. I just did my first decision based on the stats that were presented without looking further into it haha.

However, after seeing those Sv% and GAA stats posted... Bryz still is a high pick for me so far. Burke did have better stats in those categories but his sample size was half a season or so smaller and the wins are a bit of a factor. I am not super set on either one, though. Decision could be changed pretty easily.

As stated above, it's very hard to judge a goalie on numbers because there are so many different factors that go into their results. What scheme is being played, quality of the team, etc etc.
 

WrinkledPossum

Play Dead
Apr 23, 2016
3,367
1,068
Smith because of 2012. His stats were unreal, carried us to Conference finals. He also played on some pretty garbage teams and still had respectable numbers.
 
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_Del_

Registered User
Jul 4, 2003
15,425
6,736
Burke
Khabi
Smith
Byz
Goalie Bob

I gave it to Burke because he carried the team consistently in his tenure, and was a pure professional when we needed as many as we could find. Like Brodeur, he made things look so easy and calmed everything down.

Khabi was a bit of a headcase, but he was consistently good or great in goal. He led the 97 playoffs in save %, was an All Star goalie here twice, and twice in Tampa where he won his Cup.

Smith would probably top this list if we only looked at his best two years. The rest of the time he average or worse. He absolutely carried the team on his back on our only trip past the first round.

Bryz shared Smith's penchant for giving up the early bad goal. Similarly hot-cold and mentally fragile. Hysterical though, and turned his performance here into a giant contract.I

Goalie Bob wasn't really near the best goalie, but he was the perfect backup for ages. A pro's pro, but not a top talent.

Boucher's streak. CuJo wasn't bad, but wasn't young-CuJo.

We've had a lot of "decent" goaltenders roll through for a year or two as starter or backup. Except that brief patch of rough ice with our three -headed backup/starters, we've been pretty fortunate, really.
 

SniperHF

Rejecting Reports
Mar 9, 2007
42,632
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Phoenix
It's Burke, I've been on the boost Burke's reputation mission for 5-6 years now. And I don't really think he has competition for the #1 spot from anyone so far so the battle starts at 2.

Khabibulin I can see rating at 2 (mostly due to Smith's bad years as Del pointed out) but I think he's slightly boosted by nostalgia. Two years he was a top 10 ish guy and one bad year. Good, but I'm more impressed by Smith's 11-12 season even with the bad considered. He really should have won the Vezina, Khabibulin can't make a case that he had an all time great level season.

Burke should also have a Vezina btw, and not for the year he was 3rd in teh voting but for the one before. Problem was the Coyotes were a lower end mediocre team that year, which frankly makes his season more not less impressive. But wins + reputation of some of the guys ahead of him made that a thing that wasn't going to happen.



I'm also on the Bryz wasn't just boosted by Tippett and was actually mostly good here and just happened to turn to crap right at the end/when he left warpath but that narrative is probably unbreakable. It was only really that first year under Tip the team was truly great defensively. And Bryz also put up good numbers under Wayne which is yet another reason not to just dismiss his results here as all Tip as outsiders like to do.
 
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XX

Waiting for Ishbia
Dec 10, 2002
54,886
14,502
PHX
Tip's system, if it did one thing well, was to limit high danger shots when the guys actually cared about defending. It made any goalie look good, especially if they were big. They could just play the percentages.

Smith got exposed in Calgary for the goalie he has always been.

The Coyotes have one of the best tandems in the league right now. Should be good for a few extra wins.
 

RABBIT

My Yearly Sponsorship has relocated to Houston
Oct 21, 2008
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“Ted’s dead baby. TEDs Dead”
The nostalgia is real.
curtis_joseph_thecoyote.jpeg
 

hbk

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Burke’s interview (2 parter) on splitten chicklets was outstanding. His thoughts on Bryz were fair and honest. Actually BizNasty did a great job just having a conversation.
 
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RABBIT

My Yearly Sponsorship has relocated to Houston
Oct 21, 2008
11,945
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“Ted’s dead baby. TEDs Dead”
Burke’s interview (2 parter) on splitten chicklets was outstanding. His thoughts on Bryz were fair and honest. Actually BizNasty did a great job just having a conversation.

Biz is a gem, he is bigger than just one team. I think he'll have a full-time job with NHL media soon, and that sucks but he truly loves this team and the state so he'll be an awesome mouth piece for us. Seriously one of the best hires this team has made, kind of crazy to say that.
 

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