Dryden vs. Tretiak...who was better?
Richard John Rauser
Ah yes, the eternal question. Any thoughts?
For myself, I pick Dryden....
--
Richard J. Rauser "You have no idea what you're doing."
rau...@sfu.ca "Oh, don't worry about that. We're professional
-Kill All Vampires- outlaws - we do this for a living."
-------------------
"Remember, no matter where you go, there you are." -Dr. B.Banzai
Corin N Chater
: Ah yes, the eternal question. Any thoughts?
Without a doubt, Tretiak.
Nam Pham
In a previous article, rau...@fraser.sfu.ca (Richard John Rauser) says:
>
> Ah yes, the eternal question. Any thoughts?
>
> For myself, I pick Dryden....
>
>
Dryden had the Big Three protecting him. Tretiak had none.
Tretiak is the obvious choice.
>
>--
>Richard J. Rauser "You have no idea what you're doing."
>rau...@sfu.ca "Oh, don't worry about that. We're professional
>-Kill All Vampires- outlaws - we do this for a living."
>-------------------
>"Remember, no matter where you go, there you are." -Dr. B.Banzai
>
NP Complete
Deepak Chhabra
Corin N Chater <cch...@uoguelph.ca> wrote:
>Without a doubt, Tretiak.
Tretiak has a mystique associated with him. I didn't see him play all
that much, so I'm not really qualified to assess his goaltending
accurately. However, I've read that his real claim to fame, the game that
got him into the HOF, was the Jan. 31/75 classic vs. Montreal. Aside from
that one event, his international performances weren't really all that
spectacular. That the scouts in North America in '72 expected him to be a
sieve instead of a real goaltender didn't hurt his cause, either. Can
anyone who saw him play extensively add to this?
Dryden was probably the better goaltender.
--
Deepak Chhabra | "If it weren't for physics and law
dchh...@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca | enforcement, I'd be unstoppable."
DON BUI
>
>
>In a previous article, rau...@fraser.sfu.ca (Richard John Rauser) says:
>
>>
>> Ah yes, the eternal question. Any thoughts?
>>
>> For myself, I pick Dryden....
>>
>>
>Dryden had the Big Three protecting him. Tretiak had none.
>
>Tretiak is the obvious choice.
>NP Complete
>
Who cares???? Everyone knows BILLY SMITH ruins both of them.
Why do you think Tretiak declined to come over to play for
the Habs and why Dryden retired so early in his career???
The ISLANDERS and BILLY SMITH !!! :)
-Don
Go ISLES!
Anders Engwall
>Tretiak has a mystique associated with him. I didn't see him play all
>that much, so I'm not really qualified to assess his goaltending
>accurately. However, I've read that his real claim to fame, the game that
>got him into the HOF, was the Jan. 31/75 classic vs. Montreal. Aside from
>that one event, his international performances weren't really all that
>spectacular. That the scouts in North America in '72 expected him to be a
>sieve instead of a real goaltender didn't hurt his cause, either. Can
>anyone who saw him play extensively add to this?
It's hard to tell even if you did see him in numerous World Cups. The
soviets wre so good that they didn't really need a good goaltender to win.
Tretiak was simply put to test very seldom. IMO, czechoslovakian Vladimir
Holecek was the best euro goalie of that era.
---
Anders Engwall Email: Anders....@eua.ericsson.se
ELLEMTEL Utvecklings AB Voice: +46 8 727 3893
Älvsjö, Sweden Fax: +46 8 727 42 20
"Faktiskt är definitionen ganska lyckad. Den är extremt godtycklig."
Scott Jeffrey
>From: rau...@fraser.sfu.ca (Richard John Rauser)
>Subject: Dryden vs. Tretiak...who was better?
>Date: 21 Feb 94 19:13:59 GMT
> Ah yes, the eternal question. Any thoughts?
> For myself, I pick Dryden....
Good question. Both were good goalies who played on great teams. A good
defence can help make an average goalie look good, and a good goalie look
great. Tretiak's greatest quality was his staying power. He was a good
goalie over a long period of time. He was also smart enough not to play in
the NHL during the twilight of his career. Otherwise, people would have
remembered that and not his performances in the Olympics, World
Championships, exhibition series, etc.
With respect to Dryden, he was a good goalie early in his career. However,
the Canadiens' defence really carried him during the late 70's. He was
usually expected to make only a few good saves during a game, and let the
team do the rest. I think he says as much in his book.
The answer to the original question? Does it really matter, since Plante,
Sawchuk and Bower were better than either of them?
***************************************************************************
* Scott Jeffrey *
* University of Alberta *
* sjef...@re.ualberta.ca *
* *
* Go Leafs Go!!!! *
* Here's hoping that the Habs meet the Florida *
* in the 1st round of the playoffs, and that *
* the Leafs don't meet Anaheim *
* *
***************************************************************************
Mikhail V. Solodov
>In article <2kbdue$l...@nermal.cs.uoguelph.ca>,
>Corin N Chater <cch...@uoguelph.ca> wrote:
>
>>Without a doubt, Tretiak.
>
>Tretiak has a mystique associated with him. I didn't see him play all
>that much, so I'm not really qualified to assess his goaltending
>accurately. However, I've read that his real claim to fame, the game that
>got him into the HOF, was the Jan. 31/75 classic vs. Montreal. Aside from
>that one event, his international performances weren't really all that
>spectacular. That the scouts in North America in '72 expected him to be a
>sieve instead of a real goaltender didn't hurt his cause, either. Can
>anyone who saw him play extensively add to this?
>
>Dryden was probably the better goaltender.
>
who saw a lot of both Dryden and Tretiak. The reason is obvious,--
people over here didn't have the opportunity to watch enough
of international hockey, and probably no Soviet league games at all.
While folks in Russia won't getting any NHL coverage. So there you
have it,-- any comparison is restricted to a very limited number
of Super Series games. I don't remember Dryden at all. As for
Tretiak, he had a long career with some awesome years of pure
brilliance. I also remember him having a so-so year or two.
In 1979 Challanger Cup he was even replaced by Vlad Myshkin for
the decisive game. By the way, Vlad shut out Canada (6-0).
But of course, this never comes up in discussions around here,
as well as 8-1 trashing in the Canada Cup'81... :)
Anyway, in quite a long period of his best years, Tretiak was
the best goaler I have ever seen. Don't know about Dryden though...
Michael.
Lydia Mancini
[stuff deleted]
>Who cares???? Everyone knows BILLY SMITH ruins both of them.
>Why do you think Tretiak declined to come over to play for
>the Habs and why Dryden retired so early in his career???
>The ISLANDERS and BILLY SMITH !!! :)
What are you smoking? Dryden retired because he wanted to go into Law.
The Soviets only started letting their players join the NHL a few years ago.
As a matter of fact, the Canadiens only drafted him in 1982, and the Islanders
won 1 Cup after that.
Stop spreading obvious falsities.
-- Lydia
--
(==)(==)(==)(==)(==)(==)(==)(==)(==)(==)(==)(==)(==)(==)(==)(==)(==)(==)(==)
Lydia Mancini | "Oh drat these computers are so naughty and so
sha...@cs.mcgill.ca | complex. I could pinch them."
McGill University | -- Marvin The Martian from Loony Tunes
Hossein Parandeh
>that much, so I'm not really qualified to assess his goaltending
>accurately. However, I've read that his real claim to fame, the game that
>got him into the HOF, was the Jan. 31/75 classic vs. Montreal. Aside from
>that one event, his international performances weren't really all that
>spectacular. That the scouts in North America in '72 expected him to be a
>sieve instead of a real goaltender didn't hurt his cause, either. Can
>anyone who saw him play extensively add to this?
>
>Dryden was probably the better goaltender.
I remember a game between the Habs and the Soviet national team in early 80's.
The Soviets were on a tour of the NHL cities. In this game Tretiak was simply
awsome, he got three standing ovations during the game alone.
hp
Mike Godfrey
Anders Engwall <eua...@eua.ericsson.se> wrote:
>In article 5...@watserv2.uwaterloo.ca, dchh...@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca (Deepak Chhabra) writes:
>
>It's hard to tell even if you did see him in numerous World Cups. The
>soviets wre so good that they didn't really need a good goaltender to win.
>Tretiak was simply put to test very seldom. IMO, czechoslovakian Vladimir
>Holecek was the best euro goalie of that era.
Wasn't his name Jiri Holicek? Or is Jiri a diminutive of Vladimir?
I remember him being just awful in the '76 Canada Cup.
Wasn't Vladimir Dzurilla his understudy or was Dzurilla Soviet? I can't
recall. I do remember Dzurilla being performing well in the '76 Canada Cup
and Canada played the Czechs in the final.
--
Mike Godfrey
Dept of Comp Sci, UofT Resident of Northridge CA, 1966-1971
mi...@turing.toronto.edu
Roger Maynard
>Good question. Both were good goalies who played on great teams. A good
>defence can help make an average goalie look good, and a good goalie look
>great. Tretiak's greatest quality was his staying power. He was a good
>goalie over a long period of time. He was also smart enough not to play in
>the NHL during the twilight of his career. Otherwise, people would have
>remembered that and not his performances in the Olympics, World
>Championships, exhibition series, etc.
The Canadian players built Tretiak up into some kind of God to cover up for
the fact that they couldn't consistently beat the Russians. Tretiak was
entirely over-rated. And BTW, it was Leaf scout Gerry McNamara, who was
later to become the "GM" who rated Tretiak so low before the original summit
series. McNamara was a goaltender.
>With respect to Dryden, he was a good goalie early in his career. However,
>the Canadiens' defence really carried him during the late 70's. He was
>usually expected to make only a few good saves during a game, and let the
>team do the rest. I think he says as much in his book.
Dryden had a hot playoff series when he first came up. Parent, Cheevers and
even the hugely over-rated Tony Esposito were all much better goaltenders.
Both Wayne Thomas and Bunny Laroque had tremdous seasons playing behind the
Had defense and neither of them were ever worth a damn.
>The answer to the original question? Does it really matter, since Plante,
>Sawchuk and Bower were better than either of them?
Sawchuk certainly. Plante perhaps. But certainly not Bower. Typical of
all the Leafs of his day he was nothing more than a journeyman. The best
goalies of all time were Sawchuk and Parent in no particular order. Dryden
and Tretiak don't make the top 10.
cordially, as always,
rm
--
Roger Maynard
may...@ramsey.cs.laurentian.ca
DON BUI
>b...@ee470.ee.mcgill.ca (DON BUI) writes:
>>Who cares???? Everyone knows BILLY SMITH ruins both of them.
>>Why do you think Tretiak declined to come over to play for
>>the Habs and why Dryden retired so early in his career???
>>The ISLANDERS and BILLY SMITH !!! :)
>
>
>What are you smoking? Dryden retired because he wanted to go into Law.
>The Soviets only started letting their players join the NHL a few years ago.|
>As a matter of fact, the Canadiens only drafted him in 1982, and the Islanders
>won 1 Cup after that.
>
>Stop spreading obvious falsities.
Whatever it is I may be smoking, maybe you should try some sometime.
The smiley at the end means not to take things too seriously :) :) :)
BTW, have you read The Game? GREAT book. Towards the end of the book
Dryden sort of lets on that he wanted to stop playing because it just
wasn't fun anymore and this of course had something to do with them not
winning as much anymore. He mentions the Islanders SEVERAL times as
some sort of serious menace. The law thing was a good alibi, but from
what I read, he was just bored of the whole hockey thing (game-travel-
game etc.). It seems he's spent more time since writing books and producing
tv series' than practicing law, no?
-Don
GO ISLES!
Rami Laakso
I have never seen Dryden playing so I can't tell anything about him
but I have to agree with Roger Maynard when he says that Tretiak was overrated
especially in Canada. Surely he was one of the greatest goalies but those
days Soviet Union had excellent defence and that explains a whole lot of
his greatness. The best European goalkeeper I have seen in my lifetime (33
years) is Jiri Holecek from Czechoslovakia (sp?).
Jari Laakso
Anders Engwall
>>IMO, czechoslovakian Vladimir
>>Holecek was the best euro goalie of that era.
In article 14...@jarvis.csri.toronto.edu, mi...@turing.toronto.edu (Mike Godfrey) writes:
>Wasn't his name Jiri Holicek? Or is Jiri a diminutive of Vladimir?
Jiri it was...<groan> Beats me where I got that "Vladimir" from... <sigh>
>I remember him being just awful in the '76 Canada Cup.
He was? I don't remember anything spectacular about him from that torna-
ment, good nor bad. Perhaps I'm just senile.
Anyway, everyone can have a bad day, or even a bad tournament. :-)
>Wasn't Vladimir Dzurilla his understudy or was Dzurilla Soviet? I can't
>recall.
I suppose the Czechoslovakian netters can settle this, but as far as I
remember Dzurilla was Czechoslovakias first-hand goalie before Holecek
came into the picture in around '71.
Ken Hill
Pham) wrote:
Another vote for Tretiak. When they went head to head 20 years ago, Tretiak
blew Dryden away. The reason, I believe, is because of differences in
orientation toward the game between Russia and Canada at that time. For
Russia,
training revolved around the goaltender, who was the key player. For
Canada, the
emphasis was on the forwards, with hard checking and intimidation by the
defense, while the goalie was basically just another defense player. All
this
changed when the Soviets started beating an overly confident Canadian team,
who quickly discovered a different way to play the game.
I know these kinds of discussions are usually pointless, but IMHO Tretiak
was
undoubtedly the greatest goalie to put on the pads. He trained constantly
and
was obsessed with it. He had tremendous reflexes. He studied the game the
way
Russian chessmasters study chess. Sadly, I doubt that he will get the
recognition he deserves for his contribution to the sport.
Ken.
Lydia Mancini
>In article <1994Feb22.1...@sifon.cc.mcgill.ca> sha...@cs.mcgill.ca (Lydia Mancini) writes:
>>b...@ee470.ee.mcgill.ca (DON BUI) writes:
>>>Who cares???? Everyone knows BILLY SMITH ruins both of them.
>>>Why do you think Tretiak declined to come over to play for
>>>the Habs and why Dryden retired so early in his career???
>>>The ISLANDERS and BILLY SMITH !!! :)
>>What are you smoking? Dryden retired because he wanted to go into Law.
>>The Soviets only started letting their players join the NHL a few years ago.|
>>As a matter of fact, the Canadiens only drafted him in 1982, and the Islanders
>>won 1 Cup after that.
>>Stop spreading obvious falsities.
>Whatever it is I may be smoking, maybe you should try some sometime.
>The smiley at the end means not to take things too seriously :) :) :)
Yeah, I got it later, sorry about that.
>BTW, have you read The Game? GREAT book. Towards the end of the book
>Dryden sort of lets on that he wanted to stop playing because it just
>wasn't fun anymore and this of course had something to do with them not
>winning as much anymore. He mentions the Islanders SEVERAL times as
>some sort of serious menace. The law thing was a good alibi, but from
>what I read, he was just bored of the whole hockey thing (game-travel-
>game etc.). It seems he's spent more time since writing books and producing
>tv series' than practicing law, no?
When you've won everything, it's kinda hard to have that will to play anymore.
It's also a good idea to leave at the height if your career. That way you're
remembered for a great career and not what you did at the end when it was
waning.
Bri Farenell
: Ah yes, the eternal question. Any thoughts?
: For myself, I pick Dryden....
Did most N Americans see Tretiak play as much as they saw Dryden play?
Because many N Americans are going to base their opinions of Dryden on
his play in the NHL while their only exposure to Tretiak was in a handful
of games in international play. Maybe you should simply judge this based
on the games in which Dryden played in international competition since
that's our only exposure to Tretiak. If not, it's almost comparing apples
to oranges.
Just a thought...
************
Bri Farenell
fare...@craft.camp.clarkson.edu Clarkson Univ. '95
Glens Falls High Class of '91 Go Erin Whitten (GFH '89)!
NCAA and AHL (among others) contact for rec.sport.hockey
Join the AHL mailing list: ahl-news...@andrew.cmu.edu Go USA Hockey!
Adirondack Red Wings, AHL Calder Cup Champions: 1981 1986 1989 1992
The Mad Kobold ( Doug Norris )
>BTW, have you read The Game? GREAT book. Towards the end of the book
>Dryden sort of lets on that he wanted to stop playing because it just
>wasn't fun anymore and this of course had something to do with them not
>winning as much anymore. He mentions the Islanders SEVERAL times as
>some sort of serious menace. The law thing was a good alibi, but from
>what I read, he was just bored of the whole hockey thing (game-travel-
>game etc.). It seems he's spent more time since writing books and producing
>tv series' than practicing law, no?
If that would be the book "Home Game" by Dryden, then I would also
have to wholeheartedly recommend it as well. It offers a lot of insight into
the Canadian mindset and how ice hockey is something that Canadian life
revolves around.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Douglas Todd Norris (n914...@henson.cc.wwu.edu) "The Mad Kobold"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Look, it's my duty as a knight to try and sample as much peril as I can.
- Sir Galahad, "Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail"
Colin Buchanan
>Vladislav Trekaik, period.
>Darryl Hackett
>THE MONTREAL CANADIENS : THE 25TH STANLEY CUP IN 1994! :)
It seems to me that can only be answered by appealing to objective and
indisputable criteria: In the mid to late seventies when I would
gather with my friends to play ball hockey and shinney on the frozen
playgrounds of Winnipeg MB a good save was greeted by calls of
"oooh, Dryden" but an absolutely spectacular save (ie lying on one's
back and kicking a leg out at the last minute or an acrobatic dive
across the goal mouth to snare a sure goal) was acclaimed by shouts of
"TRASH-AK!! TRASH-AK!!"
You'll get no more honest appraisal than that of 12 year old kids
wound up on fresh air and adrenalin ;)
Colin Buchanan
Carleton University
Ottawa ON
Nam Pham
In a previous article, b...@ee470.ee.mcgill.ca (DON BUI) says:
>In article <CLLnt...@freenet.carleton.ca> ae...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Nam Pham) writes:
>>
>>
>>In a previous article, rau...@fraser.sfu.ca (Richard John Rauser) says:
>>
>>>
>>> Ah yes, the eternal question. Any thoughts?
>>>
>>> For myself, I pick Dryden....
>>>
>>>
>>Dryden had the Big Three protecting him. Tretiak had none.
>>
>>Tretiak is the obvious choice.
>
>>NP Complete
>>
>
>
>Who cares???? Everyone knows BILLY SMITH ruins both of them.
>Why do you think Tretiak declined to come over to play for
>the Habs and why Dryden retired so early in his career???
>The ISLANDERS and BILLY SMITH !!! :)
>
I'm not sure if Bull-dog Smith ruined either Dryden or Tretiak
career. But I've seen him ruined the faces of many players
skating by his crease. Talking about cheap shots. He chopped
Gretzsky leg and faked injury. Bully Smith never shook hands
after a play off series, fearing the retributions from players
of other teams. The last time I heard, he was inducted into
the hall of shame. Isn't that true???
NP Complete
David Stein
I agree absolutely. I think if one compares the (extensive)
international records of both Tretiak and Holecek, Holecek
comes out better. And Dzurila, Kralik, and Hasek are all in
Tretiak's class, though I would not argue they are actually
better. Briza, who is now judged by many as the finest
goalie in Europe, pales in comparision to his predecessors,
so far.
I think Holecek had the misfortune of not being in form (he
might have been sick) during the first Canada Cup, where
he was overshadowed by the older Dzurila who played the game
in which Czechoslovakia defeated Canada 1:0 (the first defeat
for an all-professional Canada team?).
But perhaps even if Holecek had played that game, not Dzurila,
it would make little difference--it was the Soviets whom the
Canadians wished to beat, and so Tretiak got all the spotlight.
After all, Dzurila is almost forgotten in Canada, I assume,
as is the fact that Czechoslovakia came very close to taking
the first Cup home with them to Europe.
Needless to say, I still think Tretiak was an awesome goalie;
it's just that I think that Holecek was a bit better one,
judging mostly by their play in the numerous WC and Olympic
games.
Finally, comparisions with NHL goalies are difficult since there
are only a few games by which one can compare. BTW, I think Hasek
is a world-class goalkeeper, and I thought so even when he was
barely given chance to play in the NHL. What a waste of talent!
Just let the guy play enough games to get used to the NHL and
you'll have a star on your hands....
- David
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm not a native speaker of English, so I'm not sure what I wrote.
Flames will be ignored unless you post them in perfect Czech.
================================ - David (the metamathician) - ===
David Stein
>I suppose the Czechoslovakian netters can settle this, but as far as I
>remember Dzurilla was Czechoslovakias first-hand goalie before Holecek
>came into the picture in around '71.
Yes, Dzurila was around since the 60s. He was arguably the first
NHL-class goalie from Europe.
Bryan Smale
The Mad Kobold ( Doug Norris ) <n914...@waldorf.cc.wwu.edu> wrote:
>b...@ee470.ee.mcgill.ca (DON BUI) writes:
>
>>BTW, have you read The Game? GREAT book. Towards the end of the book
> If that would be the book "Home Game" by Dryden, then I would also
>have to wholeheartedly recommend it as well. It offers a lot of insight into
>the Canadian mindset and how ice hockey is something that Canadian life
>revolves around.
>
a "typical" week during his time with the Canadiens during the late 70s.
It is really a compilation of perspectives and thoughts taken from his
career, but reads like a diary. It is the best book ever written by
a player describing the *experience* of playing -- none of that
typical, "..then there was the night I got dat shutout" stuff.
The other book is a collaboration with Roy MacGregor, I believe,
called "Home Game" and it describes just how important and pervasive
hockey is to Canadians. Another great book...
Bryan
Chris doucas
dchh...@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca (Deepak Chhabra) wrote:
>
> In article <2kbdue$l...@nermal.cs.uoguelph.ca>,
> Corin N Chater <cch...@uoguelph.ca> wrote:
>
> >Without a doubt, Tretiak.
>
> Tretiak has a mystique associated with him. I didn't see him play all
> that much, so I'm not really qualified to assess his goaltending
> accurately. However, I've read that his real claim to fame, the game that
> got him into the HOF, was the Jan. 31/75 classic vs. Montreal. Aside from
> that one event, his international performances weren't really all that
> spectacular. That the scouts in North America in '72 expected him to be a
> sieve instead of a real goaltender didn't hurt his cause, either. Can
> anyone who saw him play extensively add to this?
>
> Dryden was probably the better goaltender.
I saw both Dryden and Tretiak play live and on tv several times. Dryden
got you a little irritated (esp if you were a habs fan) because he had a
rep for not playing his best on important games. But he consistently, came
up with big saves at important moments in the game, which affected the
momentum and outcome. Tretiak, I feel, probably had better talent and
style, but I think one would defer to Dryden for experience (high level
competition). Tretriak was on a winning team that were expected to win and
did. Dryden was always pushed to limits, especially by habs fans. I was at
the Jan 31 classic and another New Years classic (date?), both goalies
played to the same high level, and seemed to be more relaxed as these were
mostly exhibition games. The tension for players and fans was another
matter, considering the great plays, high calibre of hockey, and all those
goalposts that were hit! Both teams benefited by raising the standard to a
high level of talent and skill.
(Never forget Kharlamov coming at me [sitting behind the Canadians goal]
like a locomotive at full steam, bust through the defence like melted
butter, and deak Dryden out of his jock. You could see the goal coming, but
everything seemed like suspended animation for five minutes)
CHRISTOPHER JOSEPH REILLY
>
> For myself, I pick Dryden....
>
>
>
>Richard J. Rauser "You have no idea what you're doing."
>rau...@sfu.ca "Oh, don't worry about that. We're professional
>-Kill All Vampires- outlaws - we do this for a living."
>-------------------
>"Remember, no matter where you go, there you are." -Dr. B.Banzai
>
No offense, but Parent would take either of them any day.
chac...@kean.ucs.mun.ca
>
> Ah yes, the eternal question. Any thoughts?
>
> For myself, I pick Dryden....
>
>
>
> --
> Richard J. Rauser "You have no idea what you're doing."
> rau...@sfu.ca "Oh, don't worry about that. We're professional
> -Kill All Vampires- outlaws - we do this for a living."
> -------------------
> "Remember, no matter where you go, there you are." -Dr. B.Banzai
Vladislav Trekaik, period.
Michael Collingridge
>
>Ah yes, the eternal question...
>
>But all real hockey fans know that
> "Only the lord saves more than Bernie Parent".
And all knowledgeable and objective hockey fans know that the lord was
Terry Sawchuk. Parent may hold the record for most shut-outs in a season,
but Sawchuk holds the NHL record for most career shut-outs at 103.
Terry Sawchuk, affectionately know as "Mister Zero" was the best goaler
ever. Anybody stating otherwise doesn't know what they are talking about.
While we are talking about Mr. Sawchuk I might add since I haven't seen
this reported on r.s.h yet that the Wings are finally going to retire
Sawchuk's #1. On March 6 before the game against Buffalo, Sawchuk's
jersey will be hoisted right up there with #7 ('Terrible Ted' Lindsay),
#9 (Mr. Hockey), and #10 (Alex Delvecchio). I don't know why they picked
this date as the game with the Leafs this Friday would have been more
appropriate since Sawchuk played great for both teams.
Not only did Sawchuk back-stop the Wings to three Stanley Cups including
their last one in 1955, Sawchuk also was a key to the last Cup victory
for the Leafs in 1967. I wasn't around in 1955, but I was old enough to
remember 1967 where Sawchuk was once again at his best in the Chicago
series and then went on to stymie the Montreal attack in the finals.
If you ask me this honour of the greatest goaler of all time has
been long overdue. Sawchuk played for the Wings in 49-50 to 54-55,
57-58 to 63-64 and 68-69. Sadly, he died in 1970 at age 40.
MC
--
<Any views expressed are only my own.>
"... | (The Censor would not let it in!)
Their feats, their fortunes and their fames|When they return from run or raid.
Are hidden from their nearest kin; | Unheard they work, unseen they win
No eager public backs or blames, |That is the custom of `The Trade'."
No journal prints the yarn they spin | -- Rudyard Kipling [Rumours]
Lydia Mancini
>jnim...@sleepy.cis.upenn.edu (Jeffry Nimeroff) sez:
>>
>>Ah yes, the eternal question...
>>
>>But all real hockey fans know that
>> "Only the lord saves more than Bernie Parent".
>
>And all knowledgeable and objective hockey fans know that the lord was
>Terry Sawchuk.
This wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that he was a Red Wing??
-- Lydia :-)
Craig Miller
Tretiak all the way. Check out the shots totals in the Canada-USSR
series and you'll see why. Check out the New Year's Eve Montreal-
Red Army game.
(P.S. I agree that Parent was better than Dryden, especially before
his injury.)