Top 10 Best Ice Hockey Goalies of All Time
When it comes to the most pressure-packed job in hockey, nothing compares to standing between the pipes. As a goalie, you're the last line of defense, the one who either saves the day or watches the red light flash behind you. It's a role that demands razor-sharp reflexes, nerves of steel, and the kind of focus that could block out a freight train. Over the years, certain netminders have taken that challenge and made it their own by turning jaw-dropping saves and marathon shutouts into something fans will never forget.Of course, picking the greatest goalie of all time isn't exactly a science. Are you looking at career stats, championship wins, or how many times they absolutely robbed a future Hall of Famer on a breakaway? Maybe you've got a soft spot for a certain butterfly technique, a stand-up style that screams old-school, or just a goalie who terrified you every time your team faced them. However you choose, your vote helps shape this list into something that truly reflects what fans value in a goaltender.
Dominik Hasek won six Vezina Trophies and two Hart Memorial Trophies during his NHL career. He posted a career save percentage of .922, one of the highest among retired goalies. Hasek won two Stanley Cups with the Detroit Red Wings in 2002 and 2008. Unlike any goaltender before or after him, Hasek never had or needed a playing style. The Czech team in '98 didn't even bother coming close to winning gold, but he was the best player in the world in the late '90s. He almost wrote a very similar story in the '99 playoffs with Buffalo, which was only derailed because of a controversial call.
He won two Hart Trophies and six Vezinas, more than both Roy and Brodeur. He has the best career save percentage by a retired goaltender in the modern era, while still playing for teams that were nowhere near playoff-ready, until Detroit in 2002 when he won it all.
Martin Brodeur holds the NHL records for most career wins (691) and shutouts (125) by a goaltender. He won three Stanley Cups with the New Jersey Devils. Brodeur also earned four Vezina Trophies over the course of his career. Brodeur is the greatest goaltender of all time. Critics say the trap helped him, but they conveniently or ignorantly neglect the fact that he was one of the main key components of the trap being as successful as it was.
The Canadiens played the neutral zone trap as well when Roy played there. The difference was Brodeur's remarkable puck-handling skills. The trap forces teams to dump the puck in the neutral zone, and Brodeur would then use his stick-handling skills and make passes, immediately putting the Devils back on the attack. When Montreal played the trap, Roy was almost inept when it came to handling the puck. Therefore, he could not limit shots or scoring opportunities as Brodeur did.
Brodeur gets criticized for not facing as many shots on average per game as Roy or Hasek. However, instead of stopping shots, he was stopping the scoring/shooting chances altogether by handling the puck, simultaneously creating a scoring opportunity for his team. What more could you want in a goaltender? Brodeur literally helped his team defensively and offensively. No other goalie can say that.
Then the Brodeur rule came into effect, and now goalies can't handle the puck outside the trapezoid all because of Brodeur's dominant puck-handling skills. After the Stevens, Niedermayer, and Daneyko days, Brodeur went on to win four Vezinas and was still a force on the ice at age 40, leading his Devils to a fifth Stanley Cup appearance!
Critics want to discredit him for the teams he played for because of their defense, primarily in the '90s with Stevens, Daneyko, and Niedermayer. However, only one of them won the James Norris Trophy for best defenseman, and that was Niedermayer in 2004. Stevens was a bruiser and a force to be reckoned with physically, but to overrate him as a means to underrate Brodeur doesn't work. Lastly, Daneyko was a tough and durable guy, but again, when Brodeur detractors are at work, this guy gets lifted to a status only he dreams... more
Patrick Roy won four Stanley Cups and was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy three times. He played for both the Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche. Roy was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2006. Roy could have gone to any team and won. Marty was a product of the trap system and would not have been any good on a team that didn't have such a great defense. He played in a different era than Roy with giant pads, small nets, and the two-line pass rule. If he played for the Islanders, we wouldn't be having this conversation, but Patrick would have made any team relevant. Any team.
And just to put a nice bow on all this, in the 2001 Cup Finals, Roy vs. Marty, who won again? Oh right, Roy. Enough said.
Most playoff wins and most Conn Smythes. No doubt cannot be touched. Not even by Wayne Gretzky. Even Gretzky picks Roy over Brodeur as the best of all time.
Roy has the most playoff wins, has more assists than Brodeur, and played way fewer games. Hasek does not come close in playoff wins. That is his and the Blackhawks' problem if he did not start early enough. We are not psychics to predict what would happen. We only go by facts. Roy has more accomplishments than Hasek.
When Jacques Plante was together with Bernie Parent in Toronto, he refined the goaltending methods of Bernie Parent and taught him everything he knew about the position. After that, Bernie Parent improved dramatically and is now in the Hockey Hall of Fame with Jacques Plante! That is just one of many reasons why Jacques Plante is the best ever!
When someone else is awarded their seventh Vezina, only then will you see his equal.
Vladislav Tretiak was a three-time Olympic gold medalist with the Soviet national team. He won ten IIHF World Championships between 1970 and 1983. Tretiak was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1989. As a goalie myself, I found him to be extremely intimidating to players because he very rarely gave them a second chance from rebounds. His very quick reflexes reduced quick passes, redirects, and deflections by at least 50%. The saddest part is that he was not allowed to play in the NHL, so he could set new standards for up-and-coming goalies.
I'm positive that he would have set records that, like Gretzky and Orr, would not be matched or beaten for years. By far an unsung hero.
Tretiak was the most intimidating goalie to ever put on pads. His three gold medals and one silver spanning twelve years of near-total dominance are unprecedented. In that time, Tretiak won every game played against NHL teams, including all-star competitions. Had he been allowed to play in the NHL for those twelve-plus years, all indications are that Tretiak would have dominated the NHL.
Terry Sawchuk recorded 103 career shutouts and over 400 wins in the NHL. He won four Stanley Cups and four Vezina Trophies. Sawchuk was posthumously inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1971. Four Stanley Cups, 103 wins with smaller schedules, and an unbelievable 4 shutouts and 8 straight wins in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Best goalie ever!
He put his body on the line at a time when goalkeepers didn't wear face masks. That's how tough he was. Check his stats. Legend.
As far as I'm concerned, Terry Sawchuk was the greatest hockey goaltender of all time.
I am a Montrealer born in the sixties. Ken Dryden is a god!
No question. His 5 cups in 8 years is all you need to know.
An amazing goalie who decided to stop playing hockey because he said that the NHL wasn't tough enough for his level of play, so he decided to finish his law degree.
He does have the top goalie trophy named after him.
Mike Richter was a brick wall when it came to breakaways and penalty shots.
Marc-Andre Fleury has won three Stanley Cups and earned over 500 career NHL wins. He won the Vezina Trophy in 2021 while playing for the Vegas Golden Knights. Fleury was the first overall pick in the 2003 NHL Draft. Most entertaining goalie on the ice today. Combines skill, natural talent, and is just plain fun to watch.
He's awesome, and he just got six wins in a row with the Penguins.
I love Flower! Great personality and a great goaltender.
The Newcomers
During the 1936 Winter Olympic Ice Hockey Tournament, Jimmy Foster made 219 saves from the 222 shots he faced, helping Great Britain win an unexpected gold medal. It was arguably the best performance ever by a player in an Olympic ice hockey tournament.
There is a book titled Pride & Glory by author Rob Jovanovic about that 1936 Winter Olympic gold medal-winning Great Britain ice hockey team, and it is very interesting.
For any goalie that has played at least 5 games in Olympic ice hockey history, Jimmy Foster has the highest save percentage and the lowest goals-against average ever, along with an outstanding career. Jimmy Foster was the goalie on the 1936 Winter Olympic gold medal Great Britain ice hockey team!
Jimmy Foster has the most combined shutouts in IIHF World Championship and Olympic play than any goalie in IIHF history. He was recently inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2023.
Carey Price won the Hart Trophy, Vezina Trophy, and Ted Lindsay Award in 2015. He holds the record for most wins by a Montreal Canadiens goaltender. Price helped Canada secure Olympic gold at the 2014 Winter Games. Of any of the listed goalies, this is the guy I would have starting on my all-time team. He is as close as you can get to a perfect goalie.
It is because of him that Montreal went to the conference finals. If only Kreider hadn't injured him, we would have won the cup.
Only Hasek has more Ted Lindsays and Harts, but Carey Price has way better stats. He had 44 wins, a 1.96 GAA, .933 SV%, and 9 shutouts in one year. That's better than Dominik Hasek.
Glenn Hall deserves to be in the top five goalies on this or any list. He won three Vezina Trophies, the Calder Trophy, and the Conn Smythe Trophy in the 1968 playoffs. He played 552 games in a row, an all-time record. He also made seven first all-star teams and four second teams. He was rated No. 16 by The Hockey News in 1998 among the NHL's greatest players of all time.
His records speak for themselves. He had 84 shutouts, played 502 games in a row, and made the first All-Star team 7 times when competing against Sawchuck and Plante. He won two Vezina trophies. The best of his time.
Henrik Lundqvist won the Vezina Trophy in 2012 and ranks among the top 10 in all-time NHL wins. He spent his entire NHL career with the New York Rangers. Lundqvist holds the franchise record for most wins and shutouts. I think he should be ahead of Brodeur. Brodeur is very overrated, and I think Lundqvist is very underrated. Lundqvist has a better save percentage and has the record for most consecutive Game 7 wins ever, which shows his clutchness.
Brodeur got all his wins on one of the best defensive teams of all time, while Lundqvist had to get his on a team with a crappy defense for the last ten years. For as long as I have seen Lundqvist in net, the Rangers have never had a good defense, and Lundqvist still managed to get a better save percentage than Brodeur.
Think about this: Brodeur has a worse save percentage than Lundqvist by a lot but a better goals-against average. How is this so? This is because Brodeur faced a lot fewer shots on his great defensive team, so he gave up more goals per shot than Lundqvist but still gave up fewer goals per game because he only had like 15-20 shots against him per game. This is why save percentage is way more accurate in ranking goalies than goals-against average.
And also, people say Brodeur has the most wins! Well, guess what? He also has the most losses! Seems pretty irrelevant now, right? And even after that, if you still think wins is an important stat and I can't change your mind, Lundqvist still wins in that column because Brodeur played eleven more seasons than Lundqvist and only has about 250 more wins. Lundqvist averages about 30 wins a season, so if he played as long as Brodeur, he would have an extra 330 wins and would pass Brodeur in wins. This is just for people who think wins is a good stat for ranking goalies - I sure don't. This was just to prove that even if it was, Lundqvist still wins.
Simply, Lundqvist is the better goalie, and Brodeur is overrated.
Absolute brick wall. He often catches fire and turns into the terminator. The single goalie that strikes the most fear in my heart when in the opposing pipes.
Probably the best goaltender ever to know how to get his defense to rally around him. Hockey is a team sport, and he is a team player.
Great goalie. Led the Islanders to consecutive playoff appearances.
Pekka Rinne won the Vezina Trophy in 2018 after multiple nominations in previous seasons. He played his entire NHL career with the Nashville Predators. Rinne recorded over 300 career wins and 60 shutouts. Who could hate Rinne? There's some dumb Quick fanboy in the comments who hates Pekka for some reason, but this guy is everything you can want in a player and a person. He's an extremely humble guy who more than deserves the cup.
Best Finnish goalie. Sharp and a very good blocker. Good with team play and doesn't take any bad risks. Good winning percentage because he is good.
Best in Predators history. He will never be forgotten! Possibly first ballot.
Roberto Luongo is one of only four goalies in NHL history to surpass 1,000 games played. He ranks among the all-time leaders in both wins and saves. Luongo won two Olympic gold medals with Team Canada in 2010 and 2014. He carried the Canucks to the finals in 2011, wherein he had two shutouts. He is currently making a horrendous team appear at least respectable in Florida. Lu was simply never fortunate enough to be blessed with a dominant team.
Luongo has always played at an elite tier. He has only played on a good team for 1 or 2 years, yet he is among the best in wins. He carries every team he has been on and gets unfairly blamed because he couldn't win a game by being the only person on the ice actually playing.
Don't forget he won the Olympic gold for Canada in Vancouver in 2010. He should be Number 1!
Ron Hextall was the first NHL goalie to score a goal by shooting the puck into the opposing net. He won the Vezina Trophy in 1987 and the Conn Smythe Trophy the same year despite his team not winning the Cup. Hextall spent most of his career with the Philadelphia Flyers. First goalie to score a goal in the regular season and playoffs. By far the most aggressive and feared goalie ever! Search YouTube for Ron Hextall, and you will have a greater respect for him!
He is the best! He served the Oilers in the great times and has been a great goalie. I'm surprised he did not make the top 5.
Tuukka Rask won the Vezina Trophy in 2014 and finished his NHL career with a save percentage above .920. He spent his entire NHL tenure with the Boston Bruins. Rask also helped Finland win bronze at the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Jonathan Quick won two Stanley Cups with the Los Angeles Kings in 2012 and 2014. He earned the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2012 for his playoff performance. Quick is also a two-time William M. Jennings Trophy winner. He needs to be above Rinne. He is amazing and always makes amazing saves. Love him. I'm a goalie person. I like other positions but love goalies, but I hate Rinne.
The most naturally skilled goalie ever.
The Kings won the cup with this guy!
He was a great goalkeeper who played for Latvia. The highest point of his career with the Hurricanes was 2001 - 02 when Irbe was instrumental in leading the Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup finals, where they fell to the Detroit Red Wings.
Irbe was the best goalkeeper in the world!
This guy has heart. Not in the top 5, but his name will always come up in a conversation. He has a lot of great games under his belt.
I don't think he's the number one best goalie of all time, but Tony Esposito definitely deserves to be a lot higher than he currently is on the list. He should probably be somewhere in the lower half of the top 10. He's very underrated nowadays.
Best goalie ever considering the amount of shots on net and the team in front of him. He was a star.
Two Stanley Cups and two Vezinas and would have had more wins if not for a freak eye injury. People say that the Flyers and the Broad Street Bullies gooned their way to those two Cups in '74 and '75, but it was his net minding that was the real difference! Also, if he had not been hurt in the '76 Cup Finals, it might have been three straight Cups!
The ultimate money goalie, so intense.
The most charismatic and probably the friendliest goalie ever. A great person and an idol!
A great athlete! Always exemplary on the ice and in his life!
A pride for Team Canada and our country!