Second-Best Sabres Goalie Ever?

[PromoTheRobot]

On 4/17/2020 at 2:30 PM, Eleven said:

There are some good choices.  IMO it's Miller, but cases can be made for an awful lot of others.  The Sabres traditionally were blessed with superior goaltending.  So, your thoughts?

 

Tom Barasso?

[Marvin]

1 hour ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Tom Barasso?

I just looked up his stats in _The Klein and Reif Hockey Compendium -- 2001 Edition_.  He was better before the trade to Pittsburgh than I remembered.  But Puppa and Malarchuk were almost as good.

Interestingly, the trade for Fuhr looks worse with these numbers.  The only justification the authors could come up with was the psychological edge a 5x Cup winner gave Muckler and the team.

[Taro T]

40 minutes ago, E4 ... Ke2 said:

I just looked up his stats in _The Klein and Reif Hockey Compendium -- 2001 Edition_.  He was better before the trade to Pittsburgh than I remembered.  But Puppa and Malarchuk were almost as good.

Interestingly, the trade for Fuhr looks worse with these numbers.  The only justification the authors could come up with was the psychological edge a 5x Cup winner gave Muckler and the team.

The trade for Fuhr was horrible.  Hasek's the best goalie that ever played and Puppa was adequate as a backup.  Muckler was an idiot & determined to collect every former overrated Euler that hit the market.

Imagine what the team could have been keeping Andreyslug and Puppa & the 1st or swapping them for something that would actually filled a need.

[Marvin]

2 hours ago, Taro T said:

The trade for Fuhr was horrible.  Hasek's the best goalie that ever played and Puppa was adequate as a backup.  Muckler was an idiot & determined to collect every former overrated Euler that hit the market.

Imagine what the team could have been keeping Andreyslug and Puppa & the 1st or swapping them for something that would actually filled a need.

When Fuhr went down in the Bruins series in 1993, I thought the Sabres were done for.  When I was discussing it with other hockey fans in the math department before the Sabres-Habs series started, one of the grad students who emigrated from Eastern Europe laughed at us.  We asked him what he was laughing about.  His response was, "only NHL fans think Hasek is not good."

Needless to say, we were stunned.  One of the guys pointed out that no one trusted him because his style was so unorthodox.  His response was that we had forgotten 1972 (the Summit Series).  I remember apologising to him the next season when Hasek took over.

[Taro T]

5 hours ago, E4 ... Ke2 said:

When Fuhr went down in the Bruins series in 1993, I thought the Sabres were done for.  When I was discussing it with other hockey fans in the math department before the Sabres-Habs series started, one of the grad students who emigrated from Eastern Europe laughed at us.  We asked him what he was laughing about.  His response was, "only NHL fans think Hasek is not good."

Needless to say, we were stunned.  One of the guys pointed out that no one trusted him because his style was so unorthodox.  His response was that we had forgotten 1972 (the Summit Series).  I remember apologising to him the next season when Hasek took over.

If LaFontaine hadn't gotten injured against the Bruins and if Fuhr had gotten injured a bit worse against them, the Sabres probably win the Stanley Cup that year. (Better yet, had Fuhr never become a Sabre ...)

Of course, if Keenan had run with Hasek rather than Bats in his Belfour, Pittsburgh probably still repeats as champs, but doubt they sweep 'em.  Couldn't believe the Sabres traded for him and only gave up Ruuttu and a pick to do so.  He'd been the best goalie behind the Iron Curtain since Tretiak by far.  But Muckler had absolutely no idea what he'd lucked into.

[Wyldnwoody44]

Mika Noronen or Jocelyn Thibault, it's a coin flip really.