NHL power rankings: Top 3 greatest goalies of all time

1. Dominik Hasek

Dominik Hasek, known by many as “The Dominator” is the best goalie the NHL has ever seen. He has the most Vezina Trophies under the current system of voting for the league’s best individual goalie with six. Those six Vezina wins are even more incredible when mentioned with the fact he only played 15 NHL seasons.

His career 2.20 GAA is eighth all time, however Roman Cechmanek is the only goalie ahead of him who was born after 1910. As a result of the other goalies ahead of Hasek playing so long ago, none of them have recorded save percentages, as that was not a stat used at the time. His spectacular career .922% save percentage has him sitting tied for first all-time with current Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask and former great Ken Dryden.

One unfortunate thing for Hasek was that he did not play in as many career games as most the all time greats. Due to injuries, as well as briefly retiring, he appeared in just 735 games. His record in those games was outstanding, going 389-223-95. Over the course of those 735 games he had tenures with the Chicago Blackhawks, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, and one season with the Ottawa Senators.

Like the other two goalies on this list, Hasek won plenty of hardware over his career. Along with his six Vezina Trophies, he has two Stanley Cup rings (2002, 2008), both of which came with the Red Wings, three William M. Jennings Trophies, two Lester B. Pearson Trophies, and two Hart Trophies. To this day he is the only goalie to win two Hart Trophies, and he was able to do so in consecutive seasons.

At quick glance, you may have mistaken Hasek to be the worst goalie of all time due to his extremely unorthodox style of play. Whether he was covering pucks with his blocker rather than his glove, using his head to make a save, or flailing around the net, it was always entertaining watching him play. It was also extremely effective, as he is the best goalie in the history of the game.