The Montreal Canadiens have a long, successful history and a lot of it has come from strong goaltending. Here are the five best goaltenders in franchise history.
The Montreal Canadiens have a long, successful history when it comes to those who played goal in a Habs sweater. Thirteen different members of the organization have won the Vezina trophy. Heck, Georges Vezina himself was a Montreal Canadiens goaltender and the award for best goaltender in the league is named after him.
The Canadiens have won 24 Stanley Cups in their history, and more often than not, they did it with a future Hall of Fame member in the crease. Their strongest dynasties of the 1950’s and 1970’s were built from the net out with Jacques Plante and Ken Dryden providing terrific goaltender, allowing the many other future Hall of Fame players play their game without anxiety.
Where it can become difficult trying to list the Habs top goaltenders in order, is trying to compare different goalies from different eras. The Canadiens have a goalie by the name of George Hainsworth way back in the 1920’s. He still has the franchise record in shutouts with 75 and had a career goals-against average under 2.00 with the Habs.
He also played at a time when line changes were extraordinarily rare and passing the puck forward was not allowed. While his GAA looks incredible, especially his 1.05 in 1927-28, it was pretty common for goalies to allow less than two goals per game back then. The Boston Bruins won the American division that year, scoring 77 goals in 44 games, an average of 1.75 goals per game.
Also, Vezina played at a team even earlier than Hainsworth, when there were three or four teams in the entire league, and it was known as the NHA, not the NHL yet. Vezina fell ill and passed away from tuberculosis which led to the Canadiens organization donating the trophy that bears his name.
So, it can be difficult to compare a goaltender playing in 2020, to one who played in 1920. However, we are going to give it our best shot here. Let’s count down the five best goaltenders in Montreal Canadiens history.