The Boston Bruins Have Had Many Great Goalies But Who Will Make It Into The Top 5?
The Boston Bruins obviously have had many goaltenders throughout the years. But there are only a few goalies that can be considered all time greats and deserve the honor of being considered top 5 net-minders in franchise history.
Who will be number one?
The Boston Bruins have been a NHL franchise since 1924. They were the first hockey team in United States and are part of the Original Six. The Original Six consists of the Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago Blackhawks, and the New York Rangers.
The Boston Bruins name is synonymous in the history of hockey and are known as one of the greatest franchises in league history and they sit 4th all time in Stanley Cups with 6.
Contributing factors for ranking:
- Goals against Average
- Save percentage (if applicable)
- Regular season Wins
Andy Moog
Andy Moog played for the Bruins for 6 seasons and played in 261 games, with a record of 136-75. He had a .886 save percentage which is a very respectable percentage. He also had a 3.08 goals- against average. Moog acquired 13 shutouts as well which marked a career high.
Moog was traded at the trade deadline of the 1987-88 season to the Boston Bruins for Bill Ranford. Andy Moog shared the crease with other Bruins great Reggie Lemelin. Lemelin played most of the games that season as the team lost in the Stanley Cup Finals to the Edmonton Oilers.
During the 1989-90 playoffs Moog took over the starting position and helped to bring the team to the Stanley Cup finals.
Moog gained a reputation as the “Hab-killer” because he helped the Bruins defeated the Montreal Canadiens in both the 1991 and 92 Stanley Cup playoffs, to make it to the Prince of Wales Conference Finals. Unfortunately both time the Bruins met All time great Mario Lemieux and the Pittsburgh Penguins and lost.
Andy Moog helped Bruins defeat the Montreal Canadiens in the Boston Garden for the first time since 1944, but they then lost to Moog’s previous team the Edmonton Oilers.
Moog is also known for his iconic goalie mask that Current Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask‘s mask has a slight resemblance of.
Moog also embraced the term “Big Bad Bruin”
Reggie Lemelin
Rejean “Reggie” Lemelin came to the Boston Bruins for the 1987-88 season after he lost the Starting gig to Mike Vernon. Lemelin made an impact with the Bruins, he was the net-minder for the majority of the 1988 quest to reach the Stanley Cup Final, but the B’s were swept by the Oilers.
Lemelin and Moog were awarded the William M. Jennings Trophy (for fewest team goals allowed) in the 1989-90 season.
Lemelin played 183 games with the Boston Bruins over 6 seasons. He finished with a record of 92-62, with a save percentage of .884 which is very good especially with the amount of games he played. Lemelin finished his Bruins career with a goals against average of 3.09 which is really impressive for his time because the goalie equipment was not what it was today and the offensive talent was insane. He also had 6 shutouts with the Bruins.
Reggie Lemelin Retired in the 192-93 season.
Gilles Gilbert
Gilles Gilbert was with the Bruins for 7 years. He played in 277 games with a record of 153-73. Gilbert is perhaps most well know for his falling backwards after losing to the Canadiens in the 1979 Stanley Cup Playoffs semifinal game 7.
Gilbert hold the NHL record for most consecutive wins by a goalie with 17 which happened during the 1975-76 season. He also hold the record for winning percentage by a goaltender with 50 or more games played. In the 1975-76 season Gilbert finished with a 33-8-10 record making a .843 win percentage in 55 games.
His career goals against average with the Bruins is 2.95 with 16 shutouts.
Gilbert retired in the 1983 season.
Gilbert was the runner-up for the Vezina Trophy (Awarded to the best goalie during the regular season) in the 1980 season with Gerry Cheevers.
Gerry Cheevers
Hall of Famer Gerry Cheevers spent 12 seasons with the Bruins. He appeared in 229 games and finished with a record of 101-74. Cheevers is undoubtedly on of the greatest goalies of all time right behind Martin Brodeur.
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He currently holds the American Hockey League record for most wins in a single season. In 1965 he totaled 48 wins while leading the Rochester Americans to the teams first Calder Cup. Cheevers helped the Bruins win a Stanley Cup in Both 1970 and 72.
During the 1972 season Cheevers went unbeaten in 32 straight games, and it is still the NHL record today.
Cheevers took a hiatus from the NHL from 1972-75 to play in the World Hockey Association (WHA). He then returned to the Bruins for the 76 season; where he made a great pairing with Gilles Gilbert.
He then retired at the end of the 1980 season, and he was the runner-up for the Vezina Trophy.
Gerry Cheevers ended his career with the Bruins with a goals against average of just 2.89. He also had 26 shutouts.
Cheevers is mot well-known for the stitches on his mask. One of the Scariest mask’s of all time. The idea came when he was hit in the head with puck during a practice. The trainer then drew a stitch on his helmet and so the mask was born. A stitch was added every time he was hit.
Tiny Thompson
Hall Of Famer Cecil “Tiny” Thompson was a member of the Boston Bruins for 11 seasons. He played in 468 games, with a record of 252-153. Thompson began his career with the Bruins in the 1928-29 season.
In his first game he had a shutout, becoming the only Hockey Hall Of Fame goalie to do so. He played in all 44 games his first season. He had 12 shutouts and a 1.15 goal-against average, which is the second lowest in League history. First is George Hainsworth with .98 GAA, which he set that same season.
Also that same year Tiny helped the Bruins obtain the teams first Stanley Cup, defeating the Montreal Canadiens and the New York Rangers. Out of five playoff games he played he had 3 shutouts, and only allowed 3 goals.
Thompson won the first of his four Vezina Trophy’s in the 1929-30 season.
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Tiny Thompson finished his career with the Bruins with a goals-against average of only 1.99. He also had 74 shutouts during his time with the Bruins. He will be always know as another one of the greatest goaltenders to ever play the game in the NHL.
Editors Notes: These honorable mentions are from the Site Expert Tanner Rebelo and do not reflect the writers opinions. These goal tenders where omitted from the top five at the writers discretion and are listed below in no particular order. For those of you in the Tuukka Rask camp, a couple of more seasons and he will break into the list.
Honorable Mentions:
Tim Thomas, a goaltender that put the 2011 Boston Bruins team on his back and played at the highest level a goalie might ever play in the NHL. He played for the Bruins over eight NHL seasons with a record of 196-121-45 in 260 starts. Overall his save percentage and goals against average ranks top 5 in team history with a 2.48 GAA and a .921 SV%.
You may never see another goaltender have a run that Thomas had in the 2010-2011 season where he had a .938 SV% and a god like 2.00 GAA on route to a Stanley Cup winning season along with winning his second Vezina Trophy.
Brimsek played for the Boston Bruins for 9 seasons from 1939-1949 playing in 444 games for the Black and Gold. He had a career 2.58 save percentage with the Bruins with a record of 230-144-70, his 230 Bruins wins ranks only 2nd in franchise history behind Tiny Thompson.
His rookie season in 1938-39 was something out of a fairy-tale with the Bruins goaltender recording a 33-9-1 record in 43 games played with an insane 1.56 GAA and 10 shutouts. That means he went out and 23% of the time he recorded a shut for an entire season, just unimaginable in today’s day and age.