IMO one of the most underrated was Wayne Stephenson.

On a side note..... I turned down a scholarship to BGSU to play hockey. Guess who went there at the same time?

blue to the bone wrote:Being a younger-ish blues fan not having seen the Plante, Hall or Liut's play I would almost definitely have to agree with this just going off numbers and stories I've heard. To have a gaa in the 3's in an era where the offense had so much room to shoot on goalies who mostly stood and made all the save's is saying something. My list is about identical to Robb's even though I'm just going off hearsay for the first 3. Best goalies I've seen as a blues fan are
1. Fuhr
2.Fuhr
3.Cujo
4.Elliott
5.Halak
6.Hebert (can't remember why I thought he was so good because this was around the time I started to actually learn the game but I just remember a few saves that made me think he was outstanding. Didn't he also win a cup in Anaheim?)

I KNEW I forgot someone!!! Halak!!! I HATE being old and having no short-term memory!!! Halak should be in the group with Elliott. He never really had a chance to prove anything in the playoffs with The Blues. Although they are VERY different in proficiency in particular skills and style, they both average out roughly the same, as slightly above average NHL starters.

So The Blues had two different Fuhrs in goal at different times? I remember Grant. Who was the other one? His twin brother? Uncle, father? Cousin?

foofighter wrote:On a side note..... I turned down a scholarship to BGSU to play hockey. Guess who went there at the same time?

Bob?

Hard question to answer because of the difficulty of comparing goalies across generations. Also have to angle the question either as "Who is the best goalie to ever play for the Blues?" (I'd go with one of Hall, Plante or Fuhr) or "Who is the goalie who played the best as a St. Louis Blue" and I'd have to go with Hall because of his general strong play eith the Blues and performance as Smythe Trophy winner in the '68 Cup finals.

If Elliott plays well and backstops us to a Cup, I'd probably move him up to number 2, at least.

Potsos wrote:Hard question to answer because of the difficulty of comparing goalies across generations. Also have to angle the question either as "Who is the best goalie to ever play for the Blues?" (I'd go with one of Hall, Plante or Fuhr) or "Who is the goalie who played the best as a St. Louis Blue" and I'd have to go with Hall because of his general strong play eith the Blues and performance as Smythe Trophy winner in the '68 Cup finals.

If Elliott plays well and backstops us to a Cup, I'd probably move him up to number 2, at least.

His rising to the occasion, and playing steadily as a Top10-12 NHL starter over this year's whole playoffs, and happening to play in all games of a Stanley Cup drive on a team playing above average defence, and scoring well, does not make him better than Mike Liut, who single-handedly, won a lot more games for teams with poor defences and weak scoring, nor better than Jacques Plante, who played on a much higher level, against super teams in The Finals, and so, DIDN'T end up winning The Stanley Cup while with The Blues.

Elliott is NOT going to steal a whole Finals series on his own. He might be really hot, at the same time as his team plays poorly, and he'll steal a game. He's not going to steal whole series from the best Western Conference teams, not The SCF from the remaining Eastern Conference team while The Blues play poorly, mainly because he has too many weaknesses in his game to be classed with Hall, Plante and other great goalies. He isn't likely to ever play anywhere near as well as Mike Liut did at his best. Crawford, Osgood, Conklin all played on Stanley Cup winners. That didn't prove they were better than Mike Liut because he didn't win. They just had significantly better support from their teams.

Robb_K wrote:

Potsos wrote:Hard question to answer because of the difficulty of comparing goalies across generations. Also have to angle the question either as "Who is the best goalie to ever play for the Blues?" (I'd go with one of Hall, Plante or Fuhr) or "Who is the goalie who played the best as a St. Louis Blue" and I'd have to go with Hall because of his general strong play eith the Blues and performance as Smythe Trophy winner in the '68 Cup finals.

If Elliott plays well and backstops us to a Cup, I'd probably move him up to number 2, at least.

His rising to the occasion, and playing steadily as a Top10-12 NHL starter over this year's whole playoffs, and happening to play in all games of a Stanley Cup drive on a team playing above average defence, and scoring well, does not make him better than Mike Liut, who single-handedly, won a lot more games for teams with poor defences and weak scoring, nor better than Jacques Plante, who played on a much higher level, against super teams in The Finals, and so, DIDN'T end up winning The Stanley Cup while with The Blues.

Elliott is NOT going to steal a whole Finals series on his own. He might be really hot, at the same time as his team plays poorly, and he'll steal a game. He's not going to steal whole series from the best Western Conference teams, not The SCF from the remaining Eastern Conference team while The Blues play poorly, mainly because he has too many weaknesses in his game to be classed with Hall, Plante and other great goalies. He isn't likely to ever play anywhere near as well as Mike Liut did at his best. Crawford, Osgood, Conklin all played on Stanley Cup winners. That didn't prove they were better than Mike Liut because he didn't win. They just had significantly better support from their teams.

Ok, Miss Cleo.

I don't disagree mostly with what you've said about Liut's skill compared to Elliott, but winning is the bottom line. The rest of your post is a lot of guesses about something that hasn't even happened yet and you have no way of knowing.

Potsos wrote:

Robb_K wrote:

Potsos wrote:Hard question to answer because of the difficulty of comparing goalies across generations. Also have to angle the question either as "Who is the best goalie to ever play for the Blues?" (I'd go with one of Hall, Plante or Fuhr) or "Who is the goalie who played the best as a St. Louis Blue" and I'd have to go with Hall because of his general strong play eith the Blues and performance as Smythe Trophy winner in the '68 Cup finals.

If Elliott plays well and backstops us to a Cup, I'd probably move him up to number 2, at least.

His rising to the occasion, and playing steadily as a Top10-12 NHL starter over this year's whole playoffs, and happening to play in all games of a Stanley Cup drive on a team playing above average defence, and scoring well, does not make him better than Mike Liut, who single-handedly, won a lot more games for teams with poor defences and weak scoring, nor better than Jacques Plante, who played on a much higher level, against super teams in The Finals, and so, DIDN'T end up winning The Stanley Cup while with The Blues.

Elliott is NOT going to steal a whole Finals series on his own. He might be really hot, at the same time as his team plays poorly, and he'll steal a game. He's not going to steal whole series from the best Western Conference teams, not The SCF from the remaining Eastern Conference team while The Blues play poorly, mainly because he has too many weaknesses in his game to be classed with Hall, Plante and other great goalies. He isn't likely to ever play anywhere near as well as Mike Liut did at his best. Crawford, Osgood, Conklin all played on Stanley Cup winners. That didn't prove they were better than Mike Liut because he didn't win. They just had significantly better support from their teams.

Ok, Miss Cleo.

I don't disagree mostly with what you've said about Liut's skill compared to Elliott, but winning is the bottom line. The rest of your post is a lot of guesses about something that hasn't even happened yet and you have no way of knowing.

Who is Miss Cleo???

Qapod The Mortician wrote:

foofighter wrote:On a side note..... I turned down a scholarship to BGSU to play hockey. Guess who went there at the same time?

Bob?

Bob Liut. Bob.

CuJo played incredibly well for us but could never put it together in the postseason. I was sad to see him go, but he never could win the Cup elsewhere either, despite playing on some legitimately talented clubs. He's one of those guys who belongs in the "Hall of Really Good" players. I couldn't really judge anybody prior to him (well, Riendeau I guess) given my age.

I thought Fuhr gave us our best shot at a Cup of the goalies we've had since, though I don't think we ever really saw the best of Halak during his time here. In hindsight I wish we had given him a chance at the playoffs last year instead of making the Miller move, but the emphasis there is definitely on hindsight.

LOL Robb K. I put Fuhr on there twice because of how good I thought he was. I haven't witnessed anyone else in the blue note quite like him. His glove was unreal...

blue to the bone wrote:LOL Robb K. I put Fuhr on there twice because of how good I thought he was. I haven't witnessed anyone else in the blue note quite like him. His glove was unreal...

I saw ALL of them, and I'd say that Plante, Hall and Liut were all better than Fuhr (Liut only slightly better than Fuhr with The Blues). Although, I'd guess that Fuhr was a little better than Liut during his best years with The Oilers.

I remember looking at Fuhr from the Mezzanine and thinking his glove looked about as big as a shopping cart.

Hall and Plante were good here but at the end of their careers, I did not see them in their prime. My vote goes to Liut, hands down.
Nick

Hall and Plante were good here but at the end of their careers, I did not see them in their prime. My vote goes to Liut, hands down.
Nick

bluesfanman wrote:Hall and Plante were good here but at the end of their careers, I did not see them in their prime. My vote goes to Liut, hands down.
Nick

I'm a Liut fan too, but don't discount Hall and Plante because they were at the end of their careers. They were still good enough to win the Vezina Trophy. The first year Hall faced the powerhouse Montreal Canadians in the Cup Finals, it was such a mismatch that Montreal should have won every game by 8 goals. Instead Hall, standing on his head, kept every game to a one goal loss, two of them in o/t.
He also won the Conn Smythe that year.
Their Stanley Cup Playoff stats while they were with the Blues:
Jacque Plante 16gp, 4 shutouts, 1.45 gaa.
Glenn Hall 31gp 1 shutout 2.60 gaa

I have been around since the Plante, Hall era although pretty young but when at the top of his game to me Liut was not only the best but most exciting.
Talk about stealing games we had no business winning, he was unreal!

Lefley 25 wrote:I have been around since the Plante, Hall era although pretty young but when at the top of his game to me Liut was not only the best but most exciting.
Talk about stealing games we had no business winning, he was unreal!

I saw them all play. I saw Hall through his whole career, including his rookie season with Detroit. He was just as good while with The Blues in 1967-68, as he had been with Detroit and Chicago. He did fade a bit in 1969-70 band 1970-71. Plante was extremely good while with The Blues. Liut was extremely athletic, He had great reflexes. No way is Elliott anywhere near as good, even if he leads The Blues to The Stanley Cup. He has too many areas of his game that need improvement (almost all) (stickhandling, passing, rebound control, positioning (at times), glove work, reflexes, timing and reading plays). He's a slightly better than average NHL starter. Liut was in the Top 6-8 NHL goalies during his time. He had weak defence corps in front of him most years, and certainly weak team defences.

Well...I suppose the only real answer is Liut, because he's the only goalie to play a whole career in STL.

But like most goalies in STL...he made no noise in the playoffs.

In 2 seasons, Roman Turek did as much or more than every goalie on this list save Hall/Plante in a Blues jersey.

I really don't get the love for Curtis Joseph. He was the goalie when I was 15 to 18.

He won one playoff series...choked away several others with the Blues and the Wings. He got to the third round with Toronto years after playing here....

He was entertaining to watch because he was always out of position and had to leap back into position...He's a great regular season goalie...but couldn't hack it in the bright lights of the playoffs...he did less with the Blues than Roman Turek.

And didn't get any hardware to boot.

Battra wrote:Well...I suppose the only real answer is Liut, because he's the only goalie to play a whole career in STL.

But like most goalies in STL...he made no noise in the playoffs.

In 2 seasons, Roman Turek did as much or more than every goalie on this list save Hall/Plante in a Blues jersey.

I really don't get the love for Curtis Joseph. He was the goalie when I was 15 to 18.

He won one playoff series...choked away several others with the Blues and the Wings. He got to the third round with Toronto years after playing here....

He was entertaining to watch because he was always out of position and had to leap back into position...He's a great regular season goalie...but couldn't hack it in the bright lights of the playoffs...he did less with the Blues than Roman Turek.

And didn't get any hardware to boot.

I like your answer, cuz I'm a Liut fan. Question, though - What does"he was the only goalie that played a whole career in StL" mean?

Mike also played for Hartford and Washington.

StL Dan wrote:

Battra wrote:Well...I suppose the only real answer is Liut, because he's the only goalie to play a whole career in STL.

But like most goalies in STL...he made no noise in the playoffs.

In 2 seasons, Roman Turek did as much or more than every goalie on this list save Hall/Plante in a Blues jersey.

I really don't get the love for Curtis Joseph. He was the goalie when I was 15 to 18.

He won one playoff series...choked away several others with the Blues and the Wings. He got to the third round with Toronto years after playing here....

He was entertaining to watch because he was always out of position and had to leap back into position...He's a great regular season goalie...but couldn't hack it in the bright lights of the playoffs...he did less with the Blues than Roman Turek.

And didn't get any hardware to boot.

I like your answer, cuz I'm a Liut fan. Question, though - What does"he was the only goalie that played a whole career in StL" mean?

Mike also played for Hartford and Washington.

You forgot Cincy!

He played for Bill DeWitt Sr.'s WHA team after accepting his underage junior draft pick.

Liut played 6 seasons here....during his prime no less.

How many others were here a couple years....Joseph...4 years as a starter, 1 as a backup, 1 as an injury replacement.

Fuhr....3.5 seasons here.

Halak, Legace, Lalime, Miller, Elliott, Turek, Brodeur, Osgood, etc...ranging from a part of a season to a few seasons.

We've had as many starting goalies as head coaches!

foofighter wrote:On a side note..... I turned down a scholarship to BGSU to play hockey. Guess who went there at the same time?

Jesus

quote="Battra"

StL Dan wrote:

Battra wrote:Well...I suppose the only real answer is Liut, because he's the only goalie to play a whole career in STL.

But like most goalies in STL...he made no noise in the playoffs.

In 2 seasons, Roman Turek did as much or more than every goalie on this list save Hall/Plante in a Blues jersey.

I really don't get the love for Curtis Joseph. He was the goalie when I was 15 to 18.

He won one playoff series...choked away several others with the Blues and the Wings. He got to the third round with Toronto years after playing here....

He was entertaining to watch because he was always out of position and had to leap back into position...He's a great regular season goalie...but couldn't hack it in the bright lights of the playoffs...he did less with the Blues than Roman Turek.

And didn't get any hardware to boot./quote

I like your answer, cuz I'm a Liut fan. Question, though - What does"he was the only goalie that played a whole career in StL" mean?

Mike also played for Hartford and Washington.

You forgot Cincy!

He played for Bill DeWitt Sr.'s WHA team after accepting his underage junior draft pick.

Liut played 6 seasons here....during his prime no less.

How many others were here a couple years....Joseph...4 years as a starter, 1 as a backup, 1 as an injury replacement.

Fuhr....3.5 seasons here.

Halak, Legace, Lalime, Miller, Elliott, Turek, Brodeur, Osgood, etc...ranging from a part of a season to a few seasons.

We've had as many starting goalies as head coaches!

Indeed! LOL

Good point about the revolving door in StL for goalies.

Staniowski, Riendeau, Hebert, McLennan, Johnson.....the list goes on and on.

StL Dan wrote: Indeed! LOL

Good point about the revolving door in StL for goalies.

Staniowski, Riendeau, Hebert, McLennan, Johnson.....the list goes on and on.

Not just that, but how many greats did we get after the fact....

Hall, Plante, Fuhr, Brodeur, Lalime (after the fact, but not great), Miller, etc.

We're Rura Penthe for goalies.

We do this to the goalies....

Battra wrote:

StL Dan wrote: Indeed! LOL

Good point about the revolving door in StL for goalies.

Staniowski, Riendeau, Hebert, McLennan, Johnson.....the list goes on and on.

Not just that, but how many greats did we get after the fact....

Hall, Plante, Fuhr, Brodeur, Lalime (after the fact, but not great), Miller, etc.

We're Rura Penthe for goalies.

We do this to the goalies....

I had to Google "Rura Penthe", I cannot lie.