CORRECT ANSWER: Current Rangers' coach Ron Low was a goaltender for eleven National Hockey League seasons, spending part of that time suffering through one of the worst incarnations of the Washington Capitals.
1. Neil Robinson 75
2. Bryan McCready 64
3. Donny Daubanton 57
4. Gary Balentine 49
5. Jerry Kotzman 42
6. K. Patrick Laffin 35
7. Phil Michaels 30
Rowan & Martin 30
9. Jason Kurylo 29
10. Dave White 25
TWO-POINT QUESTION: This National Hockey League goaltender was just
prohibited from playing for the Russian Olympic team in the 2002 Winter
Olympics next February. Name him.
CORRECT ANSWER: San Jose's Evgeni
Nabokov was ruled ineligible by the IIHF because, at age 19, he played for
Kazakhstan at the 1994 World Championships. Russian coach Viacheslav Fetisov
still intends to name Nabokov to the team, so things could get interesting,
which is how we like it.
THREE-POINT QUESTION: On Saturday, Anaheim's
Jean-Sebastien Giguere lost
out on a shutout due to being ejected with 32 seconds remaining, despite
the fact that backup Steve Shields faced no
shots. Name the last National Hockey League goaltender to not record a
shutout, despite stopping every opponent shot in the game (that is, his
partner didn't face a shot).
CORRECT ANSWER: On November 17, 2001,
Roman Turek stopped thirty-eight shots in a
match against his former club, St. Louis. However, he did not earn a shutout,
because backup Mike Vernon was in the Calgary
net for fifty-four seconds.
FIVE-POINT QUESTION: It's considered a dubious distinction to hold
career records in the minor leagues; however, someone has to do it, and many
factors - most significantly, the presence of a six-team NHL for several
decades - has led to quality goaltenders spending large portions of time
in the minors. Having said that, who holds the American Hockey League
record for the greatest number of career regular-season victories?
CORRECT ANSWER: Over the course of eleven seasons, Hockey Hall-of-Famer
Johnny Bower totalled 359 wins, primarily with
the Cleveland Barons.
BONUS QUESTION: Which National Hockey League goaltender holds the
record for most consecutive winning seasons (more wins than losses)?
CORRECT ANSWER: Both Billy Smith
(1974-75 through 1985-86) and Andy Moog
(1982-83 through 1993-94) went twelve seasons in a row while sporting
a winning record. I would consider Smith's mark to be more "legitimate",
since Moog's streak included a "season" of just six decisions.
PICTORAL QUESTION: Identify the goaltender in this picture:
CORRECT ANSWER: Current Rangers' coach Ron Low was a goaltender
for eleven National Hockey League seasons, spending part of that time suffering
through one of the worst incarnations of the Washington Capitals.
TWO-POINT QUESTION: On Saturday, New Jersey's
Martin Brodeur reached
the 300-win plateau. Who was the National Hockey League goaltender to
reach this mark immediately prior to Brodeur?
CORRECT ANSWER: On December 23, 2000, Toronto's
Curtis Joseph stopped
nineteen of twenty-one shots, sending the Leafs to a 5-2 win over rival
Montreal. It was CuJo's third attempt at win #300.
THREE-POINT QUESTION: After the Blackhawks were routed in the 1992
Stanley Cup Final, Mike Keenan was replaced by Darryl Sutter, who had this to
say about his goaltender (before trading him): "He flops around like some
kind of fish." Name the goaltender.
CORRECT ANSWER: Dominik Hasek. Hasek
was then traded to Buffalo for fellow netminder
Stephane Beauregard. To be fair, the
Hawks also received the draft pick that would become Eric Daze, and Steph seems
like a nice-enough fellow that he doesn't deserve to be compared to Dom.
FIVE-POINT QUESTION: Name the National Hockey League's all-time
winningest goaltender amongst Stanley Cup Final games.
CORRECT ANSWER: With twenty-five wins in the SCF,
Jacques Plante took home
most of them while his Canadiens won five consecutive Cups between 1956 and
1960. Another Habitant, Ken Dryden, takes
the runner-up spot with 24 wins.
BONUS QUESTION: Prior to Martin Brodeur, name the last National Hockey
League goaltender to record his 300th regular-season win with a shutout.
CORRECT ANSWER: On March 20, 1988, William
John Smith - known either as "Billy" or "The Axeman", depending on whether
or not he was on your team - blanked the Winnipeg Jets by a 6-0 count.
Pokey Reddick was in the Jet net.
PICTORAL QUESTION: Identify the goaltender in this picture:
CORRECT ANSWER: Kari Takko, whose
six-year National Hockey League career came in the middle of his two stints
with Finnish Assat Pori. He also was Team Finland's goaltender in the 1984
Sarajevo Olympics.
TWO-POINT QUESTION: To put into perspective the magnitude of
Patrick Roy's
500 regular-season wins, consider that only two other goaltenders have
reached 500 NHL wins INCLUDING THE POSTSEASON. Name both.
CORRECT ANSWER: Jacques Plante (505)
and Terry Sawchuk (501). Even these
Hall-of-Famers' totals are now dwarfed by Roy's total, which stands at
640 as of this writing.
THREE-POINT QUESTION: When
Patrick Roy joined the Canadiens, he was given
#32, but switched to #33 before the start of the season. The number he
really wanted, however, was already taken by another member of les Habitants,
and Patrick was afraid to ask for it. What was the number, and who was
the player who was wearing it?
CORRECT ANSWER: One of Roy's favourites growing up was
Rogie Vachon, the Hall of Fame netminder best
known for his years in Los Angeles. Roy wanted Vachon's #30 when he graduated
to the NHL, but Canadiens' tough guy Chris Nilan was already wearing it.
Considering that Nilan totalled 3043 penalty minutes over the course of his
career, I probably wouldn't have asked for it, either.
FIVE-POINT QUESTION: During World War II, this Hall-of-Fame goaltender was discharged from the military due to an extreme case of arthritis. Name him.
CORRECT ANSWER: Johnny Bower: "I used to think I'd never be able to hold a goal stick again. When I was with the Leafs, I'd finish a game, and my stick hand would be locked right up like a claw. Some nights it was so stiff and sore, it'd take me an hour just to get it open and working."
BONUS QUESTION: This goaltender recorded an impressive 96.6% save
percentage, 1.00 goals-against average, and one shutout in the 1998 Winter
Olympics in Nagano, winning every game he appeared in - yet his team did not
medal. Name him.
CORRECT ANSWER: Olaf Kolzig, who did
just about as well for his German team as you could ask. Unfortunately for
Kolzig, the Germans lost, 8-2 to Belarus the day before Kolzig was able to
play, and did not make the medal round.
PICTORAL QUESTION: Identify the goaltender in this picture:
CORRECT ANSWER: This would be Jack
Norris, who is in no way that I'm aware
of related to myself. He *did*, however, spend a season with my hometown
Seattle Totems in 1971-72.
TWO-POINT QUESTION: Who was the first European-born and trained
goaltender to capture one of the National Hockey League's postseason awards?
CORRECT ANSWER: Mere months before his untimely demise, Philadelphia's
Pelle Lindbergh was named the winner of
the 1985 Vezina Trophy. Pelle had an incredible year for the Flyers, winning
40 games with a 3.02 goals-against average and 89.9% save percentage (remember
that goals were scored at a much higher frequency in this era). It should be
pointed out that Charlie Gardiner, the
Vezina Trophy winner from 1931-32, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, but grew
up playing hockey in Canada.
THREE-POINT QUESTION: Including postseason, who was the first National
Hockey League goaltender to play more than 5000 minutes in one season?
CORRECT ANSWER: In 1973-74,
Bernie Parent's first season back in the NHL
after a year in the World league, the Flyer played 4314 minutes in the
regular season (sharing the Vezina with
Tony Esposito), then backstopped
his club all the way to the Stanley Cup, winning his first of two Conn
Smythe Trophies. In total, Parent played 5356 minutes, or just over 89
*hours* in the Philadelphia net.
FIVE-POINT QUESTION: Hall-of-Famer Tiny
Thompson suffered an injury to start the 1938-39 National Hockey League
season, eventually being "Wally Pipped" out of a job in Beantown by a young
Frank Brimsek. What was Thompson's injury?
CORRECT ANSWER: Depending on the source you use, and I've seen both of
these listed in more than one, Thompson was either suffering from a cut
forehead or an eye injury. One time I had a cut on my forehead so large (from
a softball, silly - I wear a mask in the net!) that my eye swelled shut, so
maybe that's what happened. That's just a guess, though.
BONUS QUESTION: Besides being known for winning the 1950 Hart Trophy as
the National Hockey League's Most Valuable Player,
Chuck Rayner is also
famous for skating up the ice and scoring a goal while as a member of his
Navy team. Who was the opposing goaltender who allowed Rayner's goal?
CORRECT ANSWER: Art Jones, the goaltender for Rayner's rival team, the
Canadian Army squad. You have to remember some things - first, crossing
the red line was not prohibited for netminders in that day. Secondly,
goaltenders wore much less equipment and were consequently more maneuvreable.
PICTORAL QUESTION: Identify the goaltender in this picture:
CORRECT ANSWER: I was surprised at how many people got this one - it's
former Canuck Troy Gamble. Gamble broke
into the league with a vengeance, threatening the #1 job of
Kirk McLean. Gamble currently helps with the
broadcasts of the IHL Houston Aeros after an ear problem knocked him out
of the nets permanently.
TWO-POINT QUESTION: Over the weekend, the Montreal Canadiens scored
their 10000th home goal in franchise history. Which netminder gave it up?
CORRECT ANSWER: The Sharks' Evgeni
Nabokov yielded the goal to Montreal newcomer Sergei Berezin, at 1:10 of
the third period. The tally would prove to be the game-winner in a 3-1
Canadiens victory.
THREE-POINT QUESTION: On December 22, 1993, Florida's
John Vanbiesbrouck
stopped 33 of 35 shots in a 3-2 victory. From Vanbiesbrouck's perspective,
what was notable about this contest?
CORRECT ANSWER: This was Vanbiesbrouck's first victory over the New York
Rangers, the team who drafted him in 1981, and the team for whom he played
his first 487 National Hockey League games. The preceding offseason,
Vanbiesbrouck had been traded to Vancouver, and then selected by the Panthers
in the NHL expansion draft.
FIVE-POINT QUESTION: It's probably well-known that Turk Broda was the first National Hockey League netminder to reach the 300-win plateau (regular season) - or, at least, it can be found on the GHP. Almost twenty years earlier, the 200-win barrier was hit - the question is: by whom?
CORRECT ANSWER: On March 13, 1933, Detroit's John Ross Roach recorded his 200th victory. Roach would go on to lead the league in victories (25) over the 1933-34 season.
BONUS QUESTION: Many of you probably recall all of the hulabaloo
surrounding the Wayne Gretzky trade in the summer of 1988. Like in a good
drama, "The Great One" scored on his first shot on goal as a Los Angeles King.
Who was the goaltender (or "best supporting actor", to keep the theme) who
allowed Gretzky's first LA goal?
CORRECT ANSWER: A lot of you were looking for a connection in these
questions, and tried to link this one to the next answer. Well, there was a
link, but it was self-contained - the goaltender was Detroit's Greg Stefan,
who grew up in the same town of Brantford, Ontario, as Gretzky, and played
youth hockey with "The Great One".
PICTORAL QUESTION: Identify the goaltender in this picture:
CORRECT ANSWER: This would be Glen
Hanlon towards the end of his fourteen season National Hockey League
career.