When Did NHL Goalies Actually Get Good?
"No wonder Gretzky scored all those goals, have you SEEN the goaltending in the 80s??"
I guarantee you have either said or heard that phrase more than once in your life. There's a belief in the online hockey community that no goalie from the 80s or 90s, other than Dominik Hasek or Patrick Roy, could survive in the modern NHL, and that all of them were terrible stand-up goalies who shouldn't have gotten higher than Junior B.
So I decided to look up some stats and find out when Goaltenders in the National Hockey League actually got good at the thing they're supposed to be good at: Stopping the Puck.
Goalies included in this video are: Dominik Hasek, Martin Brodeur, Curtis Joseph, Patrick Roy, Ron Hextall, Kirk McLean, Billy Smith, and many more
A few things come into play with these stats. The effects of NHL exposure to international teams (USSR specifically) led to revised offensive tactics that were counter to what goalies had grown up facing. By the late '70s, play was no longer a north-south majority, and cross ice offense became far more common. The early to mid '80s Oilers were the apex of this style change, and it's no coincidence they were one of the youngest teams in the league. This also happened with an influx of European players in the early '80s. The "muscle memory" of goalies was now affected. Next was the skill levels of Gretzky and Lemieux. For all the assaults goalies experienced with a changing offense, Gretzky and Lemieux were talents beyond that. Those two put up numbers no one else really came close to. While Dan Bouchard of the Flames/Nordiques picked up the butterfly torch from Tony Esposito, Patrick Roy was the first to find success with it, which was almost a necessity change for goalies to find a solution. At the time, 70% of NHL goals were scored along the ice. Then there's the advent of goalie equipment changes starting in the late '80s, especially their pads. The lighter weight leg gear accelerated and assisted a league wide shift to butterfly play. Lightweight foam instead of deer hair made the butterfly much more tenable as a long term style. As butterflying becoming the norm, the '00s saw the rapid introduction of larger goaltenders to cover more net when they were down with legs covering the bottom half. The only counter to all this was the advent of synthetic sticks, allowing players to increase shot velocity considerably over wood sticks. An interesting evolution of problem-reaction for all parts of the game.
This video should have been a lot longer
No effort was put into it really
He couldn't even fact check
@@lilwoodiewood3457HE PUT ALOT I ENJOYED SO MUCH
What an awesome video thanks!!!
I just heard Nick Kyprios on a sports channel talk about how all goalies are the same now. I have been saying that for 10 years. I started playing goal in the early 80's and played until early 2000's at a decent level. There were so many styles then it was awesome. I am 5' 9" and would never be considered now as having a future in goaltending since 6' 2" seems to be the average now. ( I hated taller goalies- Roy, Liut, Hextall etc) Every goalie now plays exactly the same due to coaching at the earliest levels. I just watched Richter and Healy being interviewed for the Rangers 25 th Stanley cup anniversary and they said they didn't have a goalie coach! They each helped one another - wow.
I’m pretty much self taught and play mostly stand up, also being 5’9”. That whole butterfly/blocking doesn’t really work at our height. Got to read and react and trust in Lord Hasek.
FANTASTIC VIDEO MAN! Deserves way more views
I appreciate that. Thank you!
Dude where’d you go? These videos are awesome
The pandemic ended so I started doing Play by Play 🤷♂️🤷♂️
@@undertakerpittwhere?
merzlikins 💀
Top content, keep it up!
Appreciate that! Thank you!
Heyy. I saw you had the wwf rip tribute video(the wwf as we know it). Could you pls send me the video if you can cause I cant find it anywhere else. I had it downloaded on a old hard drive but it got destroyed.
2 years later... carter hart, thatcher demko and elvis merzlinkins all have fallen off a cliff. Hockey is weird
Demko’s game came back in the second half of last season, so I think he will still hold up, But the other two, Jeez… I look pretty dumb in hindsight
Demko is on fire now and carter hart has great numbers on a below average philly team. Was never a big elvis fan but the other two are elite goalies who have played with some bad rosters
The equipment got a lot bigger, and the save % went up.
"goalies sucked until 2005" meanwhile the 90s goalies of Brodeur, Hasek and Roy are still a tier above modern goalies like Price and Vasi imo
They got good when patrick roy entered the chat
hey man . can you send me the wwf as we knew it video
Anyone that could skate could have been a 2nd or 3rd string goalie on any NHL team in the early 80s lol
Don't get carried away.
So many facts missing from this. The WHL expansion diluted the talent pool hurting team defences but spreading the talent amoung more teams making it easier for talented forwards to score, the influx of European players bringing their tactics and style with them and lets not forget the size of goalie equipment getting bigger and massively lighter. Had Dryden, Tony O, Cheevers, Parent and the earlier keepers had this equipment their numbers would have been even better. As for the 2005 offside rule change, that a huge inpact on the total goals scored as well.
They were always good
Goalies started to get good when the goat mike richter joined the rangers
Brodeur debuted in 91 92 or 92 93 not 93 94
He only played a handful of games in 91/92 and 92/93 but didn't play a full NHL season until 93/94. He split duties with Chris Terreri (NJ's number 1) that season. He became NJ's full time starter in 1995.
I’ll tell you when they got bad ! When they started to lay on the ice all the time ,they don’t know anything about cutting down on angles !
Goalies didn't get bad ... STATS don't make a goalie good or bad !!! But you keep going with it !!!! Just a reminder , hockey is a team sport !!!! Did goalies get " bad lol " or did everyone wanna be Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky ????
Perfect example of someone talking out of their ass about something that happened before they were born, just because they've seen a few highlights. I watched hockey in that era. Goalies were BAD!
You think everyone on a good team is automatically a good player because the team is winning?🤡
Players got faster, better and teams played pass the saucer more and more
Plot twist: they are not good
i wish nhlhornsandsongs didn't quit
@@undertakerpitt pain
This is a legit question, but couldn’t it be that in the ‘80s scorers where much better and the goalies where at their mercy and then they weren’t as good later on? I mean, it could be interpreted both ways. Either scorers got better in the ‘80s then got worse and the goalies stayed the same or the goalies were worse in the ‘80s then got better and the scorers stayed the same.
Goalies were good in the 70s to 90 s now they suck !