HF Habs: Who's your all time favourite habs goalie

[FlatIron]

Paul me and my father watched that game and it was the day that Roy became a God in my young eyes, his head ducking back and forth like a chicken between saves and whistles but cool as a cucumber as the Rangers rained top quality shots at him and the then great Bob Cole doing the Play by play. He carried us that night and many after, I don't think I want the man as a GM but he was a hell of a goalie.

I was 13 and watched every single minute of that run. That OT game is classic, thanks for the link I'll check it out tonight at home.

I still have the last 10 minutes of the cup clinching Game 5 vs Calgary on a VHS tape.

 

[FlatIron]

<- this guy and its not even close. I feel bad for those voting for Huet or Halak. You guys have missed out on some serious legends, Price is pretty close but nothing will beat Roy's rage to win. That's what I miss with this team, and I dont think I've seen it in a player since he left. **** Tremblay to this day.

Exactly, the desire to win was all that mattered with him. PK had it too as did Chelios. Seems like whoever has that desire gets driven out of here. Pathetic.

 

[MXD]

Roy, of course.

 

[MXD]

Exactly, the desire to win was all that mattered with him. PK had it too as did Chelios. Seems like whoever has that desire gets driven out of here. Pathetic.

Chelios was driven out of town due to... well, desire, indeed.
But you may safely drop the "to win" part.

 

[habsgirl5000]

Exactly, the desire to win was all that mattered with him. PK had it too as did Chelios. Seems like whoever has that desire gets driven out of here. Pathetic.

then why is gally still here?

 

[FlatIron]

Chelios was driven out of town due to... well, desire, indeed.
But you may safely drop the "to win" part.

That other desire is part of every male's DNA. LOL

 

[FlatIron]

then why is gally still here?

Give it time.

 

[Habs Icing]

I started watching hockey in the mid 60s so Plante is not in my memory bank. For my money Dryden was the best Habs goalie I ever saw. Scratch that. He is one of the two best goalies I have ever seen. Hasek was the other. Yes better than Roy - can't hold a candle to Dryden. And if some posters want to take away from Dryden's accomplishment by saying he played for an all star team I just want to remind you that Dryden sat out a year because Pollock was doing his best miser imitation and that all star Habs team did diddly squat without Ken Dryden. Dryden and Hasek are the two best goalies I have seen play.

 

[CauZuki]

No Andy Moog? For shame...

 

[Tourist]

Has to be Roy.

 

[koyvoo]

Chelios was driven out of town due to... well, desire, indeed.
But you may safely drop the "to win" part.

Sure Chelios has to go, but the organization didn’t have to get absolutely robbed in the transaction.

 

[koyvoo]

Steve Penny!

 

[Laurentide]

Wasn;t Don Awry traded to Montreal from Boston?Anyways I sure liked Ken Dryden.I remember Phil Espositos frustration trying to score on him calling him a f4%cken octopus.

Awrey was considered a very good defenseman but then he was chosen for Team Canada 72. The Soviets just made him look silly, like Alzner on a bad day. He was just a leviathan who was too slow to play at the pace the Soviets were setting. Watching Awrey struggle was the perfect illustration of how Canadian hockey had atrophied into a somewhat static sport that any lummox could play, regardless of his ability to skate. There was no place in Soviet hockey for anyone who couldn't skate fast. In the NHL, guys who could motor were relatively rare and they stood out (Orr and Cournoyer leap to mind) but pretty much every Soviet player could skate like the wind. I still remember watching the first game of that series from the Forum and being blown away (even at the tender young age of 6 1/2) by how fast the Russkies did everything. They did everything at full speed, they passed the puck a lot more than Canadian players who preferred to lug the puck solo, and every one of those passes was a crisp, tape-to-tape beauty. There was no such thing as a "stay-at-home" anything on the Soviet team, aside from the goalie.

Team Canada's goalies had a lot of trouble. Tony Esposito, for my money, fared much better than Dryden, who seemed to constantly struggle against them. I think that Espo's butterfly style (rare in those days but common today) was more effective against the Soviet style of offense than Dryden's more traditional stand-up style.

Today, only the Habs still employ Awrey-esque, cement-footed defensemen with no skill but lots of "ka-RACK-ter".

 

[MXD]

Sure Chelios has to go, but the organization didn’t have to get absolutely robbed in the transaction.

Chelios' career was expected to do on a downward trajectory, because it was (wrongly, of course) believed his knees were shot.

 

[Laurentide]

Dryden for his exploits in 70-71. Six NHL games of experience. Al McNeil had lost confidence in Rogie Vachon.
Dryden was up against a Orr led Bruins team that lost 13 games that year and scored 399 goals. Dryden beat them and a legend was born!
Those who say he was a good goalie on a great team are wrong. He was as great as any Habs great from that era. Look how far the Habs dropped the year he sat out...

As good as the Habs traditionally were, they needed Dryden to stand on his head in 71 to beat the Bruins and Blackhawks. Same goes for 1973. A great and somewhat underrated team (remember Chuck Lefley?) but they still needed Dryden to be excellent. It was only in the late 70's when they became sooo good that all they stopped needing Dryden to win but only not to lose for them. But even then that's a type of unique pressure because you don't see a lot of shots and it would be easy to lose your edge and let in a softie.

 

[Laurentide]

Chelios' career was expected to do on a downward trajectory, because it was (wrongly, of course) believed his knees were shot.

Maybe, but he wasn't traded because of anything hockey-related. Like always, the Habs got rid of a player because of optics. They were tired of reading about his exploits off the ice. Ron Corey was super sensitive about protecting the club's image, even if it meant screwing up the on-ice product. Corey got rid of Chelios, Roy and Carbonneau (to name just three) for reasons that were entirely unrelated to on-ice performance. He's largely responsible for the mess we have to live with now.

A couple of personal observations:

I remember one night in the late 80's walking down Ste. Catherine near St. Marc and a few yards ahead of me a black Porsche 911 pulled up to the curb. Out of the passenger seat came this tall, long-haired blonde in a full length mink coat and stilettoes. Chelios got out of the driver's side and as he saw my look of recognition (because you're never "expecting" to see anyone famous so when you do you look like a deer in the headlights) He smiled and nodded then took the woman across the street. It was then that it occurred to me: I had seen Chelios wife once on TV. She was a short-haired brunette!

Another time eating at Kojax on Ste. Catherine near Crescent, Chelios comes in to get a gyro. Shortly afterwards a couple of cops walk in because someone is double-parked with their hazards on. As soon as they see that the culprit is Chelios they just wave and say "Pas de probleme" and leave.

 

[Roots73]

Voted for Dryden. But Roy is a close second. I can only imagine the numbers Dryden could have had if he stuck around for another 3-4 years.

 

[MXD]

Maybe, but he wasn't traded because of anything hockey-related. Like always, the Habs got rid of a player because of optics. They were tired of reading about his exploits off the ice.
.

I'm pretty sure Corey wasn't just "reading" about Chelios's off-the-ice achivements.

 

[pepperMonkey]

Well, my fav is rather obvious. Just look at my avatar. But in any case...
Dryden retired before I even knew what hockey was so can't say anything about him.
I believe I was always 'more' interested in the Habs than the Leafs (I live in Leafs nation) but my life long love for the team was cemented when I watched Steve Penney during that one crazy playoff run of his.
Course, right after, I watched Roy play and his legend (in my young eyes) was embedded into my brain forever. Sure, he may not be the 'best skilled' goalie to have ever played the game, but combined with his 'will win' attitude and his passion/rage, well, he's up there with the legends no problem.

Roy, and no one else.
(Note: again, I didn't see any of the earlier goalies so no comment on them)

 

[peate]

No love for Roy's one time partner, André "Red light" Racicot?

 

[c3z4r]

The one with hearing issues, the one and only Patrick Roy.

 

[pepperMonkey]

No love for Roy's one time partner, André "Red light" Racicot?

Not really deserved but as a name, (Red Light Racicot), I will always remember him.

 

[groovejuice]

Bunny got 4? I should remember that.

It wasn't until the early 80's that the Vezina was a most valuable or best at the position award. Prior it was a team goals against award. Ergo, for a very long time the goalie who received the 1st Team All Star nod was considered to be the current best goalie and not the Vezina winner.

 

[Laurentide]

Well, my fav is rather obvious. Just look at my avatar. But in any case...
Dryden retired before I even knew what hockey was so can't say anything about him.
I believe I was always 'more' interested in the Habs than the Leafs (I live in Leafs nation) but my life long love for the team was cemented when I watched Steve Penney during that one crazy playoff run of his.
Course, right after, I watched Roy play and his legend (in my young eyes) was embedded into my brain forever. Sure, he may not be the 'best skilled' goalie to have ever played the game, but combined with his 'will win' attitude and his passion/rage, well, he's up there with the legends no problem.

Roy, and no one else.
(Note: again, I didn't see any of the earlier goalies so no comment on them)

Penney came out of nowhere and faded nearly as quickly. I went to the Good Friday game and he was brilliant. Two or three years later I went to the Forum and watched Roy and the Habs dismantle Penney and the Jets. It was stunning how brief Penney's career arc was.

 

[sharks9]

I was too young to remember much of Roy, Price is my favourite current Habs player though and has been since he was a rookie. I'm excited to see him bounce back next year!