History in an unlikely place

Leafs win 2-1 last night in Florida, thanks almost entirely to Ed Belfour, who ties Terry Sawchuk with 447 wins, second on the all-time list of goaltending victories.
A comparison, quickly, on the top three in that category, and the differences are far less than you might expect with all the changes to the NHL since Sawchuk's heyday:

Patrick Roy 1,029 games, 551 wins, 2.54 GAA
Sawchuk    971 gms, 447 W, 2.51
Belfour       871 gms, 447 W, 2.45
Jacques Plante 837 gms, 437 W, 2.38
Tony Esposito 886 gms, 423 W, 2.92
Martin Brodeur 751 gms, 412 W, 2.19
Curtis Joseph 812 gms, 407 W, 2.74
Glenn Hall 906 gms, 407 W, 2.49
Grant Fuhr 868 gms, 403 W, 3.38
Mike Vernon 781 gms, 385 W, 2.97

It's in the much longer playoff season of the contemporary NHL where you really see differences:

Roy 247 gm, 151 W, 2.30 GAA
Sawchuk 106 gm, 54 W, 2.54 GAA
Belfour 161 gm, 88 W, 2.17 GAA
Plante 112 gm, 71 W, 2.14 GAA
Esposito 99 gm, 45 W, 3.07

AP PHOTO

Terry Sawchuk, left, spends a little quality time with a couple of friends, Sid Abel and Stanley.

Now to the links off last night's game. As Paul Hunter points out, the setting around the rink last night was the last place you'd expect hockey history to be made, and the name of Sawchuk to be invoked, "amid the strip malls in the urban sprawl of south Florida in a game that lacked much emotion or excitement."

My take was a little more succinct, but along the same lines: Empty seats, horrible ice, some truly bad penalty calls (including one Olle Jokinen dive that was straight out of the Jurgen Klinsmann stylebook) and that lame snarl over the house p.a. that punctuates every stoppage. This is Gary Bettman's NHL, not mine.

Here's Belfour on Sawchuk: "It's unbelievable to be in the same ballpark as him". And from Rosie DiManno's column, more Belfour: "He was a fierce competitor. He was very acrobatic out there and obviously very brave, not wearing a mask for most of his career. I'm just honoured to be tied with him."

Okay, so the quotage wasn't great. By Belfour's standards, it was Lincolnesque. And just like the Ol' Railsplitter, or Sawchuk in the crease, he's standing tall.

Speaking of down memory lane, here's a little something for ya: Joe Nieuwendyk at 39, skating out his sunset years.

Other stuff: the Sun's Al Strachan riffs on the Leafs' power play; And remember the Mike Danton story? The CBC looks at the case tomorrow night, including some taped conversations that'll make your head shake, reports Chris Zelkovich.
(C.Y.)

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Riding in on Chris's rain-coattails this morning, as we do our morning look around the league for some good links; let's keep with that all-time goalie great theme.

If we pick up on that all-time wins list, there's Curtis Joseph with 407. Tied with Glenn Hall (for now). After a rough training camp, Cujo's quiet start has turned into a full-blown howl, and the calls of MVP are being heard. Last Saturday, Don Cherry called him the best goalie going right now and he might be right.

Joseph's got 11 wins for an inconsistent Coyotes team, to go with a tiny 2.12 GAA and .932 save %. Those are "old" NHL numbers. And they've got Cujo on the Olympic radar.

Wayne Gretzky says Cujo will get full Olympic consideration if he keeps it up, and he should. Gretzky always says he'll take the players who are playing best at the time (hello Mr. Pronger, Mr. Blake, Mr. Niedermayer -- Mr. McCabe is in the waiting room) so why not Joseph? (SW)

Comments

[FlamFlim]

Another dull game but a victory for God's Team nonetheless. Florida Panthers ... please. End the stupidity of the experiment and fold that useless club. I feel badly for Roberto Luongo.

So Ed Belfour tied Terry Sawchuk for the number of victories as a goalie in the NHL (447). But really, I think it's pointless to make such comparisons.

It's a different game today versus what was accomplished in the days before most of us were even born. It's unfair to the history of the game to say a modern day goalie is as great as Sawchuk because I don't ever
recall seeing Belfour get out there without a goalie mask and with razor thin equipment for a full season and win a Cup.

When the Eagle does that, then and only then should anyone mention him in the same breath as Sawchuk.

[Gary]

Well, I think the comparison to Sawchuk is valid. Yes the old guys did not wear masks but the players were not as big and did not shoot the puck anything close to the way a 4th line winger can shoot it today.

To me the mark of a great goalie is the ability to make the key save at the right time. I don't care if you send out the glove in "rapier like fashion" as Danny Gallivan used to say with a 4 goal lead, I care if you can keep your balance in close in overtime to turn away a close in attempt with a 220 lb. winger hacking away. Belfour and Sawchuk both have the ability to make the key save at the right time, that is why they are both winners and among the best ever.
Eddie is clearly not playing like he used to but I like our chances in a 7 game series against anyone, especially the one line team in our nation's capital.

[Jlo]

I think wins are the only stat you can really compare across the years. It reflects a goalie's performance when it counts.