Worst #1 goalie ever?

[MS]

Either Ing or Craig Billington in 94.

Billington isn't even close.

He was a 15-year NHL player who represented NJ in the 1993 All-Star game. He was an excellent backup goalie who happened to be the guy who started 65 games for one of the worst teams ever in 1993-94, so put up some of the worst single-season stats ever.

_________

There are a few guys from the '80s who would qualify.

However, the guy who is unquestionably the worst starter of the modern era (worse than Ing) is :

Gary Laskoski.

Laskoski was LA's starter in 1982-83.

In 1981-82, Laskoski was the backup for St. Lawrence University in the NCAA. Appeared in 15 games, went 7-7 for a team that was 12-4-1 with the other goalie in net.

Undrafted, he only signed a pro contract with the Kings on October 22/82 (a month into the 1982-83 season) having never played a game in the minors.

Somehow, he stepped into a vacuum in the LA net (after the career of Mario Lessard had gone into a tailspin), and appeared in 46 games in 1982-83, posting a miserable 4.56 GAA and .857 save %.

In 1983-84, Laskoski quickly lost his job in LA after posting a 4.96 GAA and .829 save % in 13 appearances.

Sent to the minors, Laskoski posted a 4.94 GAA and .857 save % in the AHL over 27 games for the rest of the season. He went 7-12 on not a bad AHL team that was well over .500 with Markus Mattson/Mike Blake/Darren Eliot in net.

Following that season, he retired and never played another game of pro hockey.

So in the stretch from 1982-84, Laskoski went from an undrafted college backup with few hopes of an NHL career to an NHL starter to an AHL sieve to retried.

Worst ever, easily.

http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/l/laskoga01.html

 

[MadArcand]

Billington isn't even close.

He was a 15-year NHL player who represented NJ in the 1993 All-Star game. He was an excellent backup goalie who happened to be the guy who started 65 games for one of the worst teams ever in 1993-94, so put up some of the worst single-season stats ever.

Billington was atrocious even as backup, glorious numbers like .867 in 27 games for Bruins in '95-'96 don't magically appear out of thin air. In fact, I'd say Craig Billington was quite easily the worst regular NHLer goalie I ever saw play.

 

[MS]

Billington was atrocious even as backup, glorious numbers like .867 in 27 games for Bruins in '95-'96 don't magically appear out of thin air. In fact, I'd say Craig Billington was quite easily the worst regular NHLer goalie I ever saw play.

Oh, come on.

Yeah, like a lot of backups, he had a couple poor years during his career. 1995-96 was one of them.

And then in the 5 years after that between 1996 and 2001, his save percentage over that stretch was .915.

If Billington was the worst full-time NHL goalie you ever saw play, you haven't seen much NHL hockey. He isn't even close to being on this list. He's in the list with guys like Jamie McLennan and the like who were solid, serviceable NHL backups for a long time.

He isn't even the worst Boston Bruin goalie from 1995-96 - that distinction belongs to the immortal Blaine Lacher, a guy who *does* deserve mention in this thread.

 

[MadArcand]

Blaine Lacher is a one-hit wonder, akin to the Raycrofts and Careys.

Billington 332 1034 17097 110 149 31 3,63 9 0 8388 87,67
McLennan 254 617 13834 80 109 33 2,68 13 3 6036 89,78

How is Billington similar to a goalie with GAA 1 goal better and SV% 2% better?

In the years that span Billington's career, no goalie who played as many or more games as Billington had worse SV% or GAA.

There are only five goalies with equal or worse SV% & GAA in as many or more games played in NHL history* - Gilles Meloche, Greg Millen, Brian Hayward, Richard Brodeur & Ron Low - and for all of them, the SV% stats are incomplete and often based on last few years, and their GAA is inflated by playing mostly in 80s.

* - this obviously omits goalies with no SV% records to go with.

 

[MS]

Blaine Lacher is a one-hit wonder, akin to the Raycrofts and Careys.

Billington 332 1034 17097 110 149 31 3,63 9 0 8388 87,67
McLennan 254 617 13834 80 109 33 2,68 13 3 6036 89,78

How is Billington similar to a goalie with GAA 1 goal better and SV% 2% better?

In the years that span Billington's career, no goalie who played as many or more games as Billington had worse SV% or GAA.

There are only five goalies with equal or worse SV% & GAA in as many or more games played in NHL history* - Gilles Meloche, Greg Millen, Brian Hayward, Richard Brodeur & Ron Low - and for all of them, the SV% stats are incomplete and often based on last few years, and their GAA is inflated by playing mostly in 80s.

* - this obviously omits goalies with no SV% records to go with.

And if you look past the stats, you can see that :

1) Billington was rushed to the NHL as a teenager on a terrible NJ team, and put up brutal numbers in 1985-86 and 1986-87 when he shouldn't have been anywhere near the NHL.

2) Billington was the unfortunate starter on an expansion Ottawa Senator team that was one of the 5 worst teams in NHL history, and was absolutely shelled.

Those two stints - neither of which were his fault - completely destroy his career numbers. Once he was ready to be an NHLer and was on a decent team, the only really poor stints he had were the 1995-96 season you mention (when his confidence was probably destroyed after his time in Ottawa) and right at the end of his career in Washington.

If you gave Jamie McLennan 40 NHL games at age 19 on a godawful team, and then give him another 70 games on the mid-90s Senators, his career numbers would suck too. McLennan's career also ran 5 years later and more into the dead-puck era than Billington's.

Billington was a solid goalie for NJ in the early '90s, and was one of the best backups in the league in the late 1990s. In 1997-98 only Hasek had a better save % amongst goalies who played in more than 20 games.

In his 3 years years in Colorado, he appeared in 67 games (about the workload of a workhorse starter in a single season) and went 30-22-7 with a .910 save % and a 2.60 GAA. Yeah, what a bum.

In a discussion of 'worst goalies ever', a guy who spent 15 years in the league and played in an All-Star game doesn't belong in the equation.

Billington was one of a litany of guys who was a good backup but a below-average starter. He is not even close to the worst goalie in NHL history to ever hold a starting job.

 

[jkrx]

He is definitly not worse but I would still rank Toskala up there as he is a so inconcistant goalie that you almost want to cry.

 

[MadArcand]

And if you look past the stats, you can see that :

1) Billington was rushed to the NHL as a teenager on a terrible NJ team, and put up brutal numbers in 1985-86 and 1986-87 when he shouldn't have been anywhere near the NHL.

2) Billington was the unfortunate starter on an expansion Ottawa Senator team that was one of the 5 worst teams in NHL history, and was absolutely shelled.

Those two stints - neither of which were his fault - completely destroy his career numbers. Once he was ready to be an NHLer and was on a decent team, the only really poor stints he had were the 1995-96 season you mention (when his confidence was probably destroyed after his time in Ottawa) and right at the end of his career in Washington.

If you gave Jamie McLennan 40 NHL games at age 19 on a godawful team, and then give him another 70 games on the mid-90s Senators, his career numbers would suck too. McLennan's career also ran 5 years later and more into the dead-puck era than Billington's.

Billington was a solid goalie for NJ in the early '90s, and was one of the best backups in the league in the late 1990s. In 1997-98 only Hasek had a better save % amongst goalies who played in more than 20 games.

In his 3 years years in Colorado, he appeared in 67 games (about the workload of a workhorse starter in a single season) and went 30-22-7 with a .910 save % and a 2.60 GAA. Yeah, what a bum.

In a discussion of 'worst goalies ever', a guy who spent 15 years in the league and played in an All-Star game doesn't belong in the equation.

Billington was one of a litany of guys who was a good backup but a below-average starter. He is not even close to the worst goalie in NHL history to ever hold a starting job.

He really doesn't strike me as 'solid' for NJ in 90's.

[b]1985-86	New Jersey Devils	18	77	901	4	9	1	5.13	0	0	482	84.02[/B]
[b]1986-87	New Jersey Devils	22	89	1114	4	13	2	4.79	0	0	569	84.36[/B]
[b]1988-89	New Jersey Devils	3	11	140	1	1	0	4.71	0	0	65	83.08[/B]
1991-92	New Jersey Devils	26	69	1363	13	7	1	3.04	2	0	637	89.17
[b]1992-93	New Jersey Devils	42	146	2389	21	16	4	3.67	2	0	1178	87.61[/B]
[b]1993-94	Ottawa Senators	63	254	3319	11	41	4	4.59	0	0	1801	85.90[/B]
[b]1994-95	Ottawa Senators	9	32	472	0	6	2	4.07	0	0	240	86.67[/B]
1994-95	Boston Bruins	8	19	373	5	1	0	3.06	0	0	140	86.43
[b]1995-96	Boston Bruins	27	79	1380	10	13	3	3.43	1	0	594	86.70[/B]
1996-97	Colorado Avalanche	23	53	1200	11	8	2	2.65	1	0	584	90.92
1997-98	Colorado Avalanche	23	45	1162	8	7	4	2.32	1	0	588	92.35
1998-99	Colorado Avalanche	21	52	1086	11	8	1	2.87	0	0	492	89.43
1999-00	Washington Capitals	13	28	611	3	6	1	2.75	2	0	310	90.97
2000-01	Washington Capitals	12	27	660	3	5	2	2.45	0	0	317	91.48
[b]2001-02	Washington Capitals	17	36	710	4	5	3	3.04	0	0	295	87.80[/B]
[b]2002-03	Washington Capitals	5	17	217	1	3	1	4.70	0	0	96	82.29[/B]

Atrocious seasons bolded.

Anyway, while your points about him being rushed and playing for Sens are certainly true, the bottom line remains that he turned in many disastrous seasons, and has utterly horrible numbers career-wise.

Some more fun facts:

Billington's 93-94 season is 'bested' only by two seasons by a 40+ GP goalie ever:

2 Richard Brodeur 1984-85 32 VAN NHL G 51 2930 16 27 6 38 .388 0 228 4.67 1574 1346 .855
3 Brian Hayward 1985-86 25 WPG NHL G 52 2721 13 28 5 31 .337 0 217 4.79 1373 1156 .842

I don't think he's the worst goalie ever, but the worst true regular - a goalie who spent a lot of seasons and played a lot of games? Definitely.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Gary Laskoski.

Laskoski was LA's starter in 1982-83.

In 1981-82, Laskoski was the backup for St. Lawrence University in the NCAA. Appeared in 15 games, went 7-7 for a team that was 12-4-1 with the other goalie in net.

Undrafted, he only signed a pro contract with the Kings on October 22/82 (a month into the 1982-83 season) having never played a game in the minors.

Somehow, he stepped into a vacuum in the LA net (after the career of Mario Lessard had gone into a tailspin), and appeared in 46 games in 1982-83, posting a miserable 4.56 GAA and .857 save %.

In 1983-84, Laskoski quickly lost his job in LA after posting a 4.96 GAA and .829 save % in 13 appearances.

Sent to the minors, Laskoski posted a 4.94 GAA and .857 save % in the AHL over 27 games for the rest of the season. He went 7-12 on not a bad AHL team that was well over .500 with Markus Mattson/Mike Blake/Darren Eliot in net.

Following that season, he retired and never played another game of pro hockey.

So in the stretch from 1982-84, Laskoski went from an undrafted college backup with few hopes of an NHL career to an NHL starter to an AHL sieve to retried.

I think we may have a winner here folks...

 

[Burke's Evil Spirit]

However, the guy who is unquestionably the worst starter of the modern era (worse than Ing) is :

Gary Laskoski.

Laskoski was LA's starter in 1982-83.

In 1981-82, Laskoski was the backup for St. Lawrence University in the NCAA. Appeared in 15 games, went 7-7 for a team that was 12-4-1 with the other goalie in net.

Undrafted, he only signed a pro contract with the Kings on October 22/82 (a month into the 1982-83 season) having never played a game in the minors.

Somehow, he stepped into a vacuum in the LA net (after the career of Mario Lessard had gone into a tailspin), and appeared in 46 games in 1982-83, posting a miserable 4.56 GAA and .857 save %.

In 1983-84, Laskoski quickly lost his job in LA after posting a 4.96 GAA and .829 save % in 13 appearances.

Sent to the minors, Laskoski posted a 4.94 GAA and .857 save % in the AHL over 27 games for the rest of the season. He went 7-12 on not a bad AHL team that was well over .500 with Markus Mattson/Mike Blake/Darren Eliot in net.

Following that season, he retired and never played another game of pro hockey.

So in the stretch from 1982-84, Laskoski went from an undrafted college backup with few hopes of an NHL career to an NHL starter to an AHL sieve to retried.

Worst ever, easily.

http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/l/laskoga01.html

How does this even happen? Jesus.

 

[Kyle McMahon]

In a discussion of 'worst goalies ever', a guy who spent 15 years in the league and played in an All-Star game doesn't belong in the equation.

This is the key point. NHL coaches, GM's, and scouts aren't stupid (most of the time, see the LA Kings example above for an exception to the rule). If he truly sucked, there's no way he spends that much time in big leagues. He obviously played well enough that several teams were willing to retain his services for extended periods of time.

 

[jkrx]

You got to remember its very hard to caompare a goalie on a really bad team with a goalie on a mediocre team.

For example:

Hasek played for chaotic and rebuilding Buffalo team 95-96 but but would you rate him as a worse goaltender than Darren Puppa who played for a mediocre Tampa?

This was a very simplyfied example.

 

[Nalyd Psycho]

He really doesn't strike me as 'solid' for NJ in 90's.

[b]1985-86	New Jersey Devils	18	77	901	4	9	1	5.13	0	0	482	84.02[/B]
[b]1986-87	New Jersey Devils	22	89	1114	4	13	2	4.79	0	0	569	84.36[/B]
[b]1988-89	New Jersey Devils	3	11	140	1	1	0	4.71	0	0	65	83.08[/B]
1991-92	New Jersey Devils	26	69	1363	13	7	1	3.04	2	0	637	89.17
[b]1992-93	New Jersey Devils	42	146	2389	21	16	4	3.67	2	0	1178	87.61[/B]
[b]1993-94	Ottawa Senators	63	254	3319	11	41	4	4.59	0	0	1801	85.90[/B]
[b]1994-95	Ottawa Senators	9	32	472	0	6	2	4.07	0	0	240	86.67[/B]
1994-95	Boston Bruins	8	19	373	5	1	0	3.06	0	0	140	86.43
[b]1995-96	Boston Bruins	27	79	1380	10	13	3	3.43	1	0	594	86.70[/B]
1996-97	Colorado Avalanche	23	53	1200	11	8	2	2.65	1	0	584	90.92
1997-98	Colorado Avalanche	23	45	1162	8	7	4	2.32	1	0	588	92.35
1998-99	Colorado Avalanche	21	52	1086	11	8	1	2.87	0	0	492	89.43
1999-00	Washington Capitals	13	28	611	3	6	1	2.75	2	0	310	90.97
2000-01	Washington Capitals	12	27	660	3	5	2	2.45	0	0	317	91.48
[b]2001-02	Washington Capitals	17	36	710	4	5	3	3.04	0	0	295	87.80[/B]
[b]2002-03	Washington Capitals	5	17	217	1	3	1	4.70	0	0	96	82.29[/B]

Atrocious seasons bolded.

Anyway, while your points about him being rushed and playing for Sens are certainly true, the bottom line remains that he turned in many disastrous seasons, and has utterly horrible numbers career-wise.

Some more fun facts:

Billington's 93-94 season is 'bested' only by two seasons by a 40+ GP goalie ever:

2 Richard Brodeur 1984-85 32 VAN NHL G 51 2930 16 27 6 38 .388 0 228 4.67 1574 1346 .855
3 Brian Hayward 1985-86 25 WPG NHL G 52 2721 13 28 5 31 .337 0 217 4.79 1373 1156 .842

I don't think he's the worst goalie ever, but the worst true regular - a goalie who spent a lot of seasons and played a lot of games? Definitely.

The 92-93 season is just mediocre. You have to remember that these stats are in context and the 92-93 season was one of a lot of goals being scored.

 

[MadArcand]

This is the key point. NHL coaches, GM's, and scouts aren't stupid (most of the time, see the LA Kings example above for an exception to the rule). If he truly sucked, there's no way he spends that much time in big leagues. He obviously played well enough that several teams were willing to retain his services for extended periods of time.

Or he was a good locker room guy (which I've heard about him numerous times) and solid mentor. No goalie who plays that many games 'truly sucks' when compared to guys like that LA guy. But among the guys who did play as much, Billington did truly suck the most.

 

[SealsFan]

Did you really just suggest a goalie with a Conn Smythe, all-star game appearance, and Canada Cup starting goaltender in a worst goaltender thread?

Ranford was only ever a starting goalie for three playoff runs, and he won the Conn Smythe in one of them. He also won a lengthy shootout at the World Championships to win Canada the gold in 1994. He was stellar for Canada in all of his international appearances. I'd say he could play reasonably well when the chips were down.

Ranford was decent goaltender that showed flashes of greatness now and then, but who was stuck on a lousy Oilers team for what should have been his prime years. You could make the argument that he's the least-accomplished player with a Conn Smythe (and that's not a bad thing to be known for), but suggesting him in this thread is fairly ridiculous.

Fair enough. I've had periods where I stopped following hockey altogether and the 80's into the early 90's was one of them. I admit to basing my choice on his stats alone.

 

[Kyle McMahon]

Or he was a good locker room guy (which I've heard about him numerous times) and solid mentor. No goalie who plays that many games 'truly sucks' when compared to guys like that LA guy. But among the guys who did play as much, Billington did truly suck the most.

I guess if your argument is that he sucks the most amongst post-expansion goalies with 300+ GP, you might have a fair point, I haven't checked the list.

 

[MS]

He really doesn't strike me as 'solid' for NJ in 90's.

[b]1985-86	New Jersey Devils	18	77	901	4	9	1	5.13	0	0	482	84.02[/B]
[b]1986-87	New Jersey Devils	22	89	1114	4	13	2	4.79	0	0	569	84.36[/B]
[b]1988-89	New Jersey Devils	3	11	140	1	1	0	4.71	0	0	65	83.08[/B]
1991-92	New Jersey Devils	26	69	1363	13	7	1	3.04	2	0	637	89.17
[b]1992-93	New Jersey Devils	42	146	2389	21	16	4	3.67	2	0	1178	87.61[/B]
[b]1993-94	Ottawa Senators	63	254	3319	11	41	4	4.59	0	0	1801	85.90[/B]
[b]1994-95	Ottawa Senators	9	32	472	0	6	2	4.07	0	0	240	86.67[/B]
1994-95	Boston Bruins	8	19	373	5	1	0	3.06	0	0	140	86.43
[b]1995-96	Boston Bruins	27	79	1380	10	13	3	3.43	1	0	594	86.70[/B]
1996-97	Colorado Avalanche	23	53	1200	11	8	2	2.65	1	0	584	90.92
1997-98	Colorado Avalanche	23	45	1162	8	7	4	2.32	1	0	588	92.35
1998-99	Colorado Avalanche	21	52	1086	11	8	1	2.87	0	0	492	89.43
1999-00	Washington Capitals	13	28	611	3	6	1	2.75	2	0	310	90.97
2000-01	Washington Capitals	12	27	660	3	5	2	2.45	0	0	317	91.48
[b]2001-02	Washington Capitals	17	36	710	4	5	3	3.04	0	0	295	87.80[/B]
[b]2002-03	Washington Capitals	5	17	217	1	3	1	4.70	0	0	96	82.29[/B]

Atrocious seasons bolded.

Anyway, while your points about him being rushed and playing for Sens are certainly true, the bottom line remains that he turned in many disastrous seasons, and has utterly horrible numbers career-wise.

Some more fun facts:

Billington's 93-94 season is 'bested' only by two seasons by a 40+ GP goalie ever:

2 Richard Brodeur 1984-85 32 VAN NHL G 51 2930 16 27 6 38 .388 0 228 4.67 1574 1346 .855
3 Brian Hayward 1985-86 25 WPG NHL G 52 2721 13 28 5 31 .337 0 217 4.79 1373 1156 .842

I don't think he's the worst goalie ever, but the worst true regular - a goalie who spent a lot of seasons and played a lot of games? Definitely.

Again, you keep coming back to the 1993-94 season - which should be totally taken out of the equation because of the team he was on - and his time in NJ during the 1980s when he was a top prospect (maybe the best goaltending prospect in the game at one point) rushed to the NHL way before he was ready.

His 1992-93 season wasn't 'horrible' - scoring in the NHL was ridiculous at that point and his numbers were pretty average.

Billington was unlucky in being rushed to the NHL and then spending a big chunk of time with one of the worst NHL teams ever. In terms of ability, he's no different from a whole bunch of other guys, and showed this during his time with a good team in Colorado. His career numbers are just dragged down by two situations that most goalies aren't unlucky enough to find themselves in.

And Brodeur and Hayward weren't bad goalies, either.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Did you really just suggest a goalie with a Conn Smythe, all-star game appearance, and Canada Cup starting goaltender in a worst goaltender thread?

Ranford was only ever a starting goalie for three playoff runs, and he won the Conn Smythe in one of them. He also won a lengthy shootout at the World Championships to win Canada the gold in 1994. He was stellar for Canada in all of his international appearances. I'd say he could play reasonably well when the chips were down.

Ranford was decent goaltender that showed flashes of greatness now and then, but who was stuck on a lousy Oilers team for what should have been his prime years. You could make the argument that he's the least-accomplished player with a Conn Smythe (and that's not a bad thing to be known for), but suggesting him in this thread is fairly ridiculous.

Nice post.

I remember Ranford as a 20 year-old rookie for Boston having three 40+ save shutouts. You could see right away that he was exactly the type of goalie who could carry a team when he was hot. I was really pissed when the B's traded him for Moog. It would figure that he would beat the Bruins (and Moog) in the finals a few years later.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Blaine Lacher is a one-hit wonder, akin to the Raycrofts and Careys.

Billington 332 1034 17097 110 149 31 3,63 9 0 8388 87,67
McLennan 254 617 13834 80 109 33 2,68 13 3 6036 89,78

How is Billington similar to a goalie with GAA 1 goal better and SV% 2% better?

In the years that span Billington's career, no goalie who played as many or more games as Billington had worse SV% or GAA.

There are only five goalies with equal or worse SV% & GAA in as many or more games played in NHL history* - Gilles Meloche, Greg Millen, Brian Hayward, Richard Brodeur & Ron Low - and for all of them, the SV% stats are incomplete and often based on last few years, and their GAA is inflated by playing mostly in 80s.

* - this obviously omits goalies with no SV% records to go with.

Please, don't compare "Let 'em in" Lacher to legitimate NHL goaltenders.

 

[Felonious Python]

There are a few guys from the '80s who would qualify.

However, the guy who is unquestionably the worst starter of the modern era (worse than Ing) is :

Gary Laskoski.

Laskoski was LA's starter in 1982-83.

In 1981-82, Laskoski was the backup for St. Lawrence University in the NCAA. Appeared in 15 games, went 7-7 for a team that was 12-4-1 with the other goalie in net.

Undrafted, he only signed a pro contract with the Kings on October 22/82 (a month into the 1982-83 season) having never played a game in the minors.

Somehow, he stepped into a vacuum in the LA net (after the career of Mario Lessard had gone into a tailspin), and appeared in 46 games in 1982-83, posting a miserable 4.56 GAA and .857 save %.

In 1983-84, Laskoski quickly lost his job in LA after posting a 4.96 GAA and .829 save % in 13 appearances.

Sent to the minors, Laskoski posted a 4.94 GAA and .857 save % in the AHL over 27 games for the rest of the season. He went 7-12 on not a bad AHL team that was well over .500 with Markus Mattson/Mike Blake/Darren Eliot in net.

Following that season, he retired and never played another game of pro hockey.

So in the stretch from 1982-84, Laskoski went from an undrafted college backup with few hopes of an NHL career to an NHL starter to an AHL sieve to retried.

Worst ever, easily.

http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/l/laskoga01.html

Laskoski's wikipedia page. lulz

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Laskoski

Gary Laskoski was a great goalie for the LA kings. He is a man of great character and never says something mean. He is alive today and is a great contributor to JPMChase.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

Tim Cheveldae? Win-loss record aside, the man played for the Red Wings after all, between 1990 and 1994 the man accomplished four seasons of save % below .890 and never had a GAA below 3. He was finally ousted as starter by a rookie Chris Osgood (who did considerably better than him with the same team in front of him) and sent to Winnipeg in 93-94. There his save % remained around the same terrible level but his GAA moved up or down depending on how you look at it to around 4. I have a feeling if he had been in net for the Senators in their early years, we'd be looking at some truly historic stat lines.

 

[Kyle McMahon]

Tim Cheveldae? Win-loss record aside, the man played for the Red Wings after all, between 1990 and 1994 the man accomplished four seasons of save % below .890 and never had a GAA below 3. He was finally ousted as starter by a rookie Chris Osgood (who did considerably better than him with the same team in front of him) and sent to Winnipeg in 93-94. There his save % remained around the same terrible level but his GAA moved up or down depending on how you look at it to around 4. I have a feeling if he had been in net for the Senators in their early years, we'd be looking at some truly historic stat lines.

A save percentage in the .880 to .890 range really wasn't that terrible in the early 90's though. In fact, Cheveldae's .889 sv% in 1992-93 ranked tenth in the league amongst goalies with 40+ games played. He ranked twelfth in the same criteria the pevious season. Having a save % over .900 was reserved for all-star level netminders in the early 90's.

 

[htpwn]

Yes we know that you Toronto fans like to blame solely Toskala for your crappy team, but you just dont nominate player for the worst starting goalie based only for 1 season.

Toronto .874%, 3,66 GAA (26 games)
Calgary .918, 2,27 GAA (6 games)

So he was worst ever in Toronto but rather good in Calgary?
Speaks only about the quality of the team not goalie.

If its about the quality of the team in Toskala's case, care to explain Gustavsson's numbers?

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

A save percentage in the .880 to .890 range really wasn't that terrible in the early 90's though. In fact, Cheveldae's .889 sv% in 1992-93 ranked tenth in the league amongst goalies with 40+ games played. He ranked twelfth in the same criteria the pevious season. Having a save % over .900 was reserved for all-star level netminders in the early 90's.

Yeah so at best his save % was about average (the .875 he posted in 1991 wasn't so swell even in that era) and I think you gotta look at it in perspective for whom he played, almost all the other goalies mentioned in this thread played for expansion teams or general bottom-feeders. Cheveldae played a few seasons with Lidstrom and a Selke Trophy winner in front of him.

 

[Kyle McMahon]

Yeah so at best his save % was about average (the .875 he posted in 1991 wasn't so swell even in that era) and I think you gotta look at it in perspective for whom he played, almost all the other goalies mentioned in this thread played for expansion teams or general bottom-feeders. Cheveldae played a few seasons with Lidstrom and a Selke Trophy winner in front of him.

Detroit was on the rise during Cheveldae's tenure there, but they were not an elite team yet. Lidstrom was a rookie in 91-92, and Fedorov was not yet elite either. Cheveldae was basically a back-up quality netminder that had a couple seasons as a passable starter. Far from the worst starting goaltender of his time.

 

[spazway49]

How about Lalime with the Blues in 05-06 he had a 3.64 GAA and went 4-18-8 in in 31 games played, sounds pretty brutal to me.