Islanders all-time goalie list: Ranking the best and the worst after Billy Smith

June 07, 2024

When he makes his NHL debut some time next season, Ilya Sorokin will become the 53rd goaltender to appear in a game for the Islanders. Over the course of 47 seasons, 52 doesn’t sound like a lot. But when you consider the organization used just five main goalies for the first 18 seasons, 52 sounds like too many.

It’s been a wild ride in net for the Islanders since Billy Smith retired after the 1988-89 season. A parade of iffy draft decisions, poor development and ill-conceived trades has left the Isles always wanting more in goal, at least until the last couple of seasons. Robin Lehner and Thomas Greiss combined to win the Jennings Trophy for fewest goals allowed in 2018-19, the first time Islanders goalies won that award since Smith and Roland Melanson in 1982-83. And Semyon Varlamov, with backup help from Greiss, led the Isles to a conference final this season for the first time since Glenn Healy in 1992-93.

But there’s a lot of “oh, that guy” when you look at the names. So, we’ve tried to streamline it for you here: Ranking all the goalies in Islanders history.

There have been 52, but we made it a list of 46 since there are six who didn’t play enough to merit a full evaluation. That’s a lot of goalies during a lot of down years, so our expert staff (me) made sure to adjust for eras and quality of Islanders teams when putting together this scientific study.

Off we go!

Those who didn’t make the cut

Goran Hogosta — The cleanest sheet in team history: nine minutes played, four shots, no goals. The Swedish goalie signed with the Isles before the 1977-78 season and got into one game, sharing a 9-0 shutout win with Smith on Nov. 1 against the Atlanta Flames.

Richard Brodeur — A name hockey fans from the 1980s will surely remember, though likely not for the four periods he played for the Isles in the first Stanley Cup season of 1979-80. After Bill Torrey drafted Brodeur 97th overall in the 1972 draft, he went to the WHA for seven years, only joining the Islanders after they claimed him in the merger draft, the Nordiques claimed him back and then the Isles swapped Hogosta for Brodeur. He did win the one game he started and was dealt to the Canucks before the 1980-81 season, where he got strafed by the dynasty boys in the 1982 final.

Steve Valiquette — You know him now as the purveyor of great, data-driven insights, but he was in the Isles organization for five years. He got into six games in the ugly 1999-2000 season, when 58 points was somehow not the lowest total in the league. To Vally’s credit, he posted good numbers: 1.87 goals-against average, .949 save percentage and wins in his two starts. Not enough minutes to make our ranking, though we’re always happy to hear his terrific analysis of the modern game.

Peter Mannino — He was almost certainly the only goalie in 2008-09 to win games in the NHL, AHL and ECHL in the same season. That was the pre-John Tavares year, when Scott Gordon rode the Joey MacDonald-Yann Danis tandem in net, with a cameo from Rick DiPietro and some work from Mannino, whose two starts (and one win) that year were his only NHL starts. He’s currently the head coach for Des Moines in the USHL.

George Maneluk — The 76th pick of the 1987 draft, Maneluk never quite rose up through the organizational ranks in the early 1990s. He got his chance with the big club in 1990-91, winning his only start and making four appearances in a forgettable season. He was Jeff Hackett’s backup on the 1990 Calder Cup team in Springfield, though.

Gerry Gray — It’s unfair to pile on any goalie who played even a minute of the expansion 1972-73 season, but Gray’s one and only Islanders game was also the first time the team was shut out, 5-0 at the Coliseum by the Penguins on Oct. 17, 1972. Gray didn’t play another NHL game.

The official rankings

No. 46 — Michal Neuvirth, 2014-15

5 games played, 1-3-1, .881 save percentage, 2.94 goals-against average

Perhaps a controversial choice for the bottom of this list, but we love to stir the pot here. There are goalies who played far more games on far worse teams, but Neuvirth, acquired at the 2015 trade deadline from the Sabres for Chad Johnson and a 2016 third-round pick, was supposed to shore up the No. 2 goalie slot for a team that was cruising toward a second-place finish in the Metro. Instead, Neuvirth was a downgrade, winning just one of his five starts. He was a good NHL goalie before he arrived and went on to be a solid 1B for the Flyers the next three seasons, but his brief stint with the Islanders was lousy. You will see this theme develop as we move along.

No. 45 — Marcel Cousineau, 1998-99

6 GP, 0-4-0, .882, 2.87

Perhaps his claim to greatest fame is being part of the Ziggy Palffy trade to the Kings at the 1999 NHL Draft, even though that basically signaled the end of Cousineau’s NHL career. Playing on a dog of an Isles team in 1998-99, Cousineau was the fourth goalie in the mix, making all four of his starts in an 11-day span around New Year’s. He managed to give up four goals in his first two starts — and the Isles were shut out in both.

N0. 44 — Danny Lorenz, 1990-93

8 GP, 1-5-0, .856, 4.20

The 58th pick of the 1988 draft, Lorenz was a pretty high goalie pick for Bill Torrey just a year after taking Maneluk in the fourth round and Hackett in the second. Lorenz spent six years in the organization and played a couple of games in three straight seasons, including 1992-93, though that regular season didn’t really foretell the big playoff run. Torrey was a magician of a GM, but he was the first in a line of Islanders managers who rarely pressed the right draft button on a goalie.

No. 43 — Nathan Lawson, 2010-11

10 GP, 1-4-2, .893, 4.06

The six-goalie season of 2010-11 is best remembered for Jack Capuano taking over for Scott Gordon after a dismal early-season road trip followed by a familiar slog through injuries and poor play. Lawson was already into his third season in the organization when he got the call that year, essentially replacing Dwayne Roloson after his trade to Tampa in January. Fun fact: Lawson finished his playing career in Slovakia just last year, where he was a teammate of Isles legend Branislav Mezei.

No. 42 — Tom Draper, 1993-94

7 GP, 1-3-0, .864, 4.23

The Eastern Conference final run of 1992-93 was a tough act to follow whether you were the No. 1 goalie, the depth guy like Draper or anyone in between. Draper had a decent resume as a backup, even earning the starting job in the playoffs for the Sabres two years earlier, but he had lousy numbers as the No. 1 guy for Salt Lake in the IHL and didn’t fare much better in his brief stint as Ron Hextall’s backup.

No. 41 — Mikko Koskinen, 2010-11

4 GP, 2-1-0, .873, 4.33

It’s truly remarkable that Koskinen not only returned to the NHL after an eight-year absence, but earned a very good contract from the Oilers to be their 1B after starring in the KHL. The 31st pick of the 2009 draft by Garth Snow, Koskinen had the size but didn’t appear to have the fortitude to endure the early 2010s Islanders. He got the call-up that season in February, making all four of his starts in a five-day span, including Fight Night at the Coli. Maybe that scared him off of the NHL for a decade.

Mikko Koskinen in 2011. (Kathy Kmonicek / Associated Press)

No. 40 — Chris Terreri, 2000-01

8 GP, 2-4-1, .912, 2.56

After winning his second Stanley Cup as Marty Brodeur’s veteran backup in 2000, Terreri may have thought he was on his way to vying for a third in 2000-01, only to be swapped at the trade deadline for John Vanbiesbrouck. The eight Islanders games Terreri played were the last eight of a very respectable NHL career. Terreri is the Isles’ goalie development coach, so clearly there were no hard feelings with Lou Lamoriello.

No. 39 — Mike Dunham, 2006-07

19 GP, 4-10-3, .889, 3.74

Another solid ex-Devil (and Predator and Ranger) who came to the Isles too late in his career to help. As Rick DiPietro’s backup in a promising season, he wasn’t terribly reliable. Dunham, who was Snow’s college roommate at Maine, moved into a goalie coach role soon after and he’s now a goalie coordinator for the Bruins.

No. 38 — Felix Potvin, 1998-2000

33 GP, 7-21-4, .893, 3.35

Perhaps the first case in franchise history of an established goaltender coming to the Island and barely escaping with his career intact. Potvin asked out of Toronto after eight years, came to the Isles for Bryan Berard in January of 1999 and … ugh. Potvin lost his first five starts and lasted until December of the following season before Mike Milbury dealt him to the Canucks for Kevin Weekes, among others, in the midst of Milbury’s long search for goalie stability.

No. 37 — Gerry Desjardins, 1972-74

80 GP, 14-52-9, .881, 4.01

You hesitate to dump on someone whose only two years with the Isles were the worst two in franchise history. But Desjardins, who came via the expansion draft and shared the net with some kid who went on to the Hall of Fame, rebounded nicely from his miserable two seasons. He ended up in Buffalo and led the Sabres to the 1975 Cup final.

No. 36 — Tommy Soderstrom, 1994-97

78 GP, 19-34-9, .886, 3.61

The Two-Tommy System Milbury employed when he took over as coach and GM in 1995 did not quite work out. Soderstrom, acquired from the Flyers for Ron Hextall before the lockout-shortened 1994-95 season, was a star in Sweden but never quite warmed to the NHL game. When Tommy Salo emerged as the No. 1 for the 1996-97 season, Soderstrom got exactly 26 seconds of work in mop-up duty in October and never saw the Island again.

No. 35 — John Vanbiesbrouck, 2000-01

44 GP, 10-25-5, .898, 3.04

Another case of an established NHL goalie coming to the Island at the wrong time — the “wrong time” being anywhere from 1990-2012 or so. Vanbiesbrouck had success in a decade with the Rangers, took the Panthers to the 1996 Cup final, had a couple of good seasons in Philly and then came to the 2000-01 Isles, a truly awful team. DiPietro made a bunch of starts as a 19-year-old, but the net belonged to Beezer for the majority of the season, until Milbury moved him for Terreri at the deadline and he almost won a Cup with the Devils.

No. 34 — Jeff Hackett, 1988-91

43 GP, 9-25-1, .879, 3.60

The 34th pick of the 1987 draft, Torrey may have envisioned Hackett as Kelly Hrudey’s heir apparent. The steep decline of the late ’80s/early ’90s clubs didn’t allow for that; Hackett’s brightest moment in the organization was backstopping AHL Springfield to the 1990 Calder Cup. The Sharks plucked Hackett away in the 1991 expansion draft and he was their nominal starter for San Jose’s first two seasons, which were far worse than the Islanders’ ones.

No. 33 — Martin Biron, 2009-10

29 GP, 9-14-4, .896, 3.27

Biron was an established starter for a decade before his odd decision to take the Isles’ one-year offer to play alongside Roloson in John Tavares’ rookie season. DiPietro was in the mix, too, making things awkward. And Biron didn’t help himself by not playing well — he was a career .910 goalie before and after. The three-headed goalie monster factors into this list an awful lot.

No. 32 — J-F Berube, 2015-17

21 GP, 6-4-3, .900, 3.11

Plucked off waivers at the start of the 2015-16 season as insurance for Jaroslav Halak, who was dealing with groin injuries, Berube was mostly an innocent bystander during that successful season and the much uglier one that followed. He did a fair bit of third-goalie work in practices those two years.

No. 31 — Christopher Gibson, 2015-20

14 GP, 3-4-3, .904, 3.45

Hard to believe he was in the organization for five years before signing with Tampa Bay this offseason. Gibson had some memorable moments to go with 151 AHL appearances in Bridgeport. Gibson was in net for the 2015-16 playoff clincher in Washington, made his NHL debut against Sidney Crosby and the Penguins and had two 50-shot games in 2017-18, including a 50-save win in Calgary.

No. 30 — Chad Johnson, 2014-15

19 GP, 8-8-1, .889, 3.08

Johnson held it down in goal early that season when Halak got off to a slow start, but he faded fast, prompting Snow to send him to Buffalo for Neuvirth at the deadline. With some hindsight, the backups that season hurt what could have been a better regular season for one of the Isles’ best teams of the 2000s.

No. 29 — Anders Nilsson, 2011-14

23 GP, 9-9-2, .898, 3.05

You had to know that Nilsson, who’s carved out a decent NHL career, wouldn’t be long for the Isles when his first start came in Crosby’s return from a 10-month absence and the Penguins captain scored 5:24 into the game. Nilsson had better luck in 2013-14, but his biggest moment came when he was part of the package the Islanders sent to the Blackhawks for Nick Leddy.

No. 28 — Jamie McLennan, 1993-96

56 GP, 17-27-9, .890, 3.22

Noodles was yet another attempt, this one by Torrey in the final draft he’d oversee for the Islanders, to solve the goalie issues of the early 1990s. McLennan was a decent backup for Hextall in 1993-94, but the two years that followed were bad for him and the team and he left as a rare 24-year-old free agent following the 1995-96 season. Definitely better off.

No. 27 — Kevin Poulin, 2010-15

50 GP, 18-25-3, .899, 3.07

Poulin came out like a possible No. 1 goalie of the future from that six-goalie 2010-11, but a dislocated kneecap in warmups that year began a downward spiral due to injury and declining play. He had a shot to be part of the solution in goal during the ugly 2013-14 season but wasn’t good enough then. He can still play — he’s currently among the top goalies in Sweden’s Allsvenskan, their version of the AHL.

No. 26 — Joey MacDonald, 2007-09

51 GP, 14-27-7, .902, 3.36

MacDonald made 100 career NHL starts in goal for five different teams, with 46 of them coming in 2008-09 for the pre-Tavares Islanders. He deserves some sort of medal just for that, never mind posting a .901 save percentage over that heavy workload. No knock on Joey Mac, but if you were ever curious if the Isles were trying to make sure they secured the No. 1 pick at the 2009 draft, seeing MacDonald worked like Marty Brodeur may be a clue.

No. 25 — Eric Fichaud, 1995-98

75 GP, 19-34-9, .899, 3.14

Don Maloney traded Benoit Hogue to the Maple Leafs for Fichaud before the first-round pick had even left juniors, hoping he would be an answer in goal. Answer: No. Fichaud got thrust into the backup role at age 20 and shoulder problems derailed his Isles’ and NHL career in 1997-98.

No. 24 — Steve Weeks, 1991-92

23 GP, 9-4-2, .890, 3.61

The rare veteran who signed with the Islanders and actually helped! Weeks was nearing the end of a workmanlike NHL career when he signed on as part of a rotation with Glenn Healy and Mark Fitzpatrick. Weeks played well and ended up getting dealt to the Kings at the deadline.

No. 23 — Kevin Weekes, 1999-2000

36 GP, 10-20-4, .902, 3.51

Along with Vanbiesbrouck and Dunham, Weekes is a member of the Isles/Rangers/Devils club — and his Isles tenure went about as well as it did for the other two. Acquired from the Canucks for Potvin in December, Weekes carried the load, making 36 appearances in the next 58 games. Milbury sent him to Tampa at the 2000 draft, which was a busy one for dealing away young goalies.

No. 22 — Wade Flaherty, 1997-2001

60 GP, 15-26-6, .897, 2.84

His tenure as a backup on a handful of brutal teams wasn’t noteworthy, but he gets ahead of the pack for these eye-opening numbers: three shutouts and .926 save percentage in 16 appearances in 1997-98, when he backed up Salo after Fichaud was injured.

No. 21 — Roberto Luongo, 1999-2000

24 GP, 7-14-1, .904, 3.25

The One That Got Away. Luongo is a surefire Hall of Famer and he could have been the Islanders’ answer in net after Milbury took him with the fourth pick in 1997. But at the 2000 draft, after Luongo shared the net with four others for part of a season, Milbury sent Luongo to the Panthers and drafted DiPietro. Sigh.

Roberto Luongo in 1999. (B Bennett / Getty Images)

No. 20 — Al Montoya, 2010-12

51 GP, 18-16-10, .905, 2.82

The rare goalie who came through the Islanders in the early 2010s and came out a better goaltender. Acquired for a sixth-rounder in February 2011, The Big Cubano saved a pro career that was likely going to wind down if he couldn’t earn a few starts at the end of that dismal season. He wasn’t as good in 2011-12 backing up Evgeni Nabokov, but Montoya served five more NHL seasons as a reliable backup.

No. 19 — Ron Hextall, 1993-94

65 GP, 27-26-6, .898, 3.08

That was a weird year for Hextall, who had been part of the Eric Lindros trade out of Philly after six good years with the Flyers. He came to the Isles from Quebec for Fitzpatrick and left before the lockout-shortened 94-95 season for Soderstrom, back to Philadelphia, where Hextall almost immediately regained his Vezina form. He wasn’t bad for the Islanders in Al Arbour’s last season behind the bench and he played a ton, which seemingly caught up to him in the playoff sweep at the hands of the Rangers that spring. Amazing stat: 52 PIMs in 65 games.

No. 18 — Yann Danis, 2008-09

31 GP, 10-17-3, .910, 2.86

Strange that a goalie who made just six NHL starts outside of this one Islanders season would rank this high, especially given it was such a hideous season. But Danis, who signed on to be Bridgeport’s starter and got the call when DiPietro got hurt, posted solid numbers for a team that didn’t score and didn’t prevent much, either. We may have ranked him a little too high, but you’ve gotta give some love to the MacDonald-Danis combo.

No. 17 — Garth Snow, 2001-06

127 GP, 44-52-13, .903, 2.76

Many of the mistakes on this list were his responsibility as GM. As a goalie, he wasn’t bad for the Islanders in the final four seasons of his journeyman career; not many other Isles goalies since Smith can say they were on three playoff teams. He even played the 2003 series against Ottawa after Chris Osgood was dealt at the deadline.

No. 16 — Dwayne Roloson, 2009-11

70 GP, 29-31-8, .909, 2.90

His one year-plus with the Isles was marked with some solid play — his 58-save win in Toronto just before Thanksgiving 2009 was one of the more memorable performances of the last 20 years — and a hasty exit. Snow believed Roloson was a divisive presence in the Islanders’ locker room during the 2010-11 debacle, shipped him to Tampa for almost nothing (sorry, Ty Wishart) and then watched Roloson carry the Lightning to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final.

No. 15 — Mark Fitzpatrick, 1988-93

129 GP, 51-53-17, .891, 3.41

Fitzpatrick had the makings of a solid, young goalie soon after the Islanders got him from the Kings. At 21, he helped get the very young 1989-90 team to the playoffs, making 47 appearances. But it was more what happened the next season and beyond that cemented him in team lore. Fitzpatrick missed nearly all of the 1990-91 season with eosinophilia myalgia syndrome, a life-threatening illness that resulted from taking a dietary supplement. He recovered and returned to the Isles, posting decent numbers in ’91-92 and ’92-93 as Healy’s backup while winning the Masterton Trophy in 1992.

No. 14 — Wade Dubielewicz, 2003-08

37 GP, 16-13-2, .920, 2.55

How does a guy with 16 career wins get this high on the list? This is how:

This day in #Isles History (April 8, 2007): The Islanders win their season finale vs. New Jersey in a shootout, clinching a playoff spot. Wade Dubielewicz makes the final save with a poke-check on Devils’ forward Sergei Brylin to clinch the victory. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/16tjgrslrJ

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) April 8, 2020

Let’s just forget what happened when the Isles actually got to the playoffs in 2007. Dubie, who was a reliable AHL goalie for three years prior to his amazing final week in 2006-07, accomplished a lot in a short time.

No. 13 — Tommy Salo, 1994-99

187 GP, 62-94-21, .902, 2.77

He was on some really, really bad teams, so it’s easy to forget how good Salo was. He’s fourth all-time on the Isles with 14 shutouts — that’s 22.6 percent of his total wins as an Islander, by the way. Aside from the losses that piled up and the teams that never had a sniff of the playoffs in his six years on the Island, Salo also got pummeled by Dan Cloutier at the Coliseum near the end of the 1997-98 season. No breaks for Salo during his Isles tenure.

No. 12 — Chris Osgood, 2001-03

103 GP, 49-39-10, .904, 2.65

His acquisition on the eve of the 2001-02 season via the waiver draft added further legitimacy to that squad, and he anchored them through the season with 66 appearances. If he and the banged-up Isles had gotten through the Maple Leafs in the epic 2002 first round, he’d be higher on this list. Like Hextall, Osgood was an All-Star before and after his Isles tenure with the same team, helping the Red Wings to the Cup in 2008.

No. 11 — Evgeni Nabokov, 2011-14

123 GP, 57-43-18, .910, 2.59

A testament to just how good Nabokov was: His save percentage and goals-against numbers were basically identical with two lousy and one overachieving Islanders team as they were in a decade with very good Sharks teams. As reluctantly as he came in off waivers, he embraced the underdog Isles, and there’s no 2013 playoff trip without him. If only he’d have played half that well in the playoffs.

No. 10 — Semyon Varlamov, 2019-present

45 GP, 19-14-6, .914, 2.62

He gets a lot of credit for backstopping a conference final run this summer, but the jury is still out on Varlamov — if we do another of these in a couple of years, he might not be as high with a larger body of Islanders work. Everyone (myself included) was skeptical of the four-year deal for $5 million per he signed 16 months ago. So far, pretty good.

No. 9 — Robin Lehner, 2018-19

46 GP, 25-13-5, .930, 2.13

Starting in 1981-82, the year the NHL made the Vezina Trophy an individual award, there have been exactly four Islanders goalies who were finalists: Smith won it that year, Roland Melanson finished second in 1982-83, Hrudey was third in 1987-88 and then … Lehner. Yes, he played behind a Barry Trotz team with a renewed vigor for defense, but Lehner’s magical 2018-19 was the best goalie season in decades and it’s worth a top-10 rank.

Robin Lehner during his Vezina Trophy-winning season in 2018-19. (Anne-Marie Sorvin / USA TODAY Sports)

No. 8 — Rick DiPietro, 2000-13

318 GP, 130-136-36, .902, 2.87

He became a symbol of the franchise’s repeated failures at the outset of the 21st century so it’s easy to forget, between the crazy injuries and brash behavior, that he was the real deal for a few years. His 2006-07 season was terrific, setting the stage for Dubielewicz’s late heroics. He’s played the second-most games in net for the organization, and the fact that a guy with a Bahhstahhn accent is now a part of the New York sports fabric says a lot.

No. 7 — Glenn Healy, 1989-93

176 GP, 66-79-21, .890, 3.45

The regular-season numbers would put Healy back about 15 spots, and there was only one playoff appearance in his four seasons; but man, what an appearance it was. The 1993 conference final run had all sorts of drama and a torrid run by Ray Ferraro, but none of it happens without Healy’s acrobatics, especially against the Penguins. Watch some grainy YouTube video of that series if you can. Healy was incredible.

No. 6 — Jaroslav Halak, 2014-18

177 GP, 88-65-19, .913, 2.69

His Islanders career started so well, with Halak tying the franchise record for wins (38) in 14-15 and nearly carrying the Isles through Game 7 in Washington. It didn’t end well for Halak, who had nagging injuries his middle two seasons and then a three-month AHL exile in 2017-18. But it’d been so long since an Islanders goalie simply played well for the majority of four consecutive seasons.

No. 5 — Thomas Greiss, 2015-20

193 GP, 101-60-17, .915, 2.70

Would you have believed a journeyman signed as a backup five years ago would be here as the second-best Islanders post-dynasty goalie? Well, have we mentioned that this has been a weird and mostly mediocre time? Greiss had a down 2017-18, like everyone else in the organization, but he’s been good-to-great otherwise. He did some heavy lifting in the 2016 playoffs, was the 1B to two different partners the last two seasons and handled it all with his usual shoulder shrug.

No. 4 — Roland Melanson, 1980-85

136 GP, 77-34-14, .900, 3.14

For those too young to remember the intricate details of four straight Stanley Cups, it’s important to note that from 1981-84, Smith made 129 regular-season appearances and Melanson made 117. They shared the net during the regular season and at times in the playoffs — Arbour turned to Melanson to close out the 1983 opening round against the Caps on the way to the Islanders’ fourth Cup. In 1982-83, Melanson posted a .909 save percentage when the league average was .873. He was legit.

No. 3 — Kelly Hrudey, 1984-89

241 GP, 106-90-26, .889, 3.47

In the period of transition away from the Cup years to a younger, more modern team, there were plenty of bumps for Torrey. None of them happened in goal in the back half of the 1980s though, thanks in large part to Hrudey, who provided stability when chaos was all around. He finished third in the Vezina voting in 1987-88, the last good regular season for the Islanders of the 20th century. And his Easter Epic game, when he made 73 saves, stands as one of the great playoff performances by a goalie in this organization or any other.

No. 2 — Glenn Resch, 1973-81

282 GP, 157-69-47, .911, 2.56

Chico was the man before Smith emerged; like Melanson, Resch’s replacement midway through 1980-81, Resch was more than a backup even though he didn’t get the net in the playoffs once the Islanders emerged as legitimate contenders in 1977-78. Resch’s personal 23-game unbeaten streak in 1978-79 is an Islanders goalie record that likely won’t be broken.

No. 1 — Billy Smith, 1972-89

674 GP, 304-230-104, .895, 3.16

The original, the one and only. For a guy who was there at the ugly beginning in 1972, Smith’s rise to be the cornerstone in net for the Cup runs is remarkable. As noted earlier, he was never a dominant regular-season goalie — from 1977-87, he never made more than 46 appearances in a season — but in the playoffs he had no equal. The only Islanders goalie record he doesn’t hold is shutouts, with 22 to Resch’s 25. Betting he doesn’t care.

(Photo of Kelly Hrudey in 1986: Bruce Bennett Studios via Getty Images Studios / Getty Images)

ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57kWpwbm1iaHxzfJFpZmppX2aGcLXSpZinnJWnwG6zzpqjop1dp66vt8innqxn