Rookie goalies with a nice “ring” to them
The St. Louis Blues were dead last in the NHL in January 2019. More than five months later they were Stanley Cup champions, thanks largely to the goaltending of rookie Jordan Binnington. Could first-year standout Igor Shesterkin do the same for the New York Rangers?
Jordan Binnington did it. Why not Igor Shesterkin?
If the 67.5 percent of the 126 followers who voted in Blue Line Station’s recent unscientific poll have their way, Shesterkin will start the opening game of a best-of-five-play-in series against the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Russian standout was the consensus pick over fellow 24-year-old Alexandar Georgiev (3.2%) and future Hall of Famer Henrik Lundqvist (29.4%) who has an outstanding history against the Canes and is the only of the trio with NHL playoff experience.
Shesterkin has played all of 12 regular season NHL games. Of those, seven were against the three lowest-scoring teams in each conference (Devils, twice). Georgiev has 77 appearances on his NHL resume. Neither’s track record screams “I’m the starter!” come playoff time.
But then, look at Binnington and the St. Louis Blues of last season.
The Blues replaced head coach Mike Yeo after 19 games (7-9-3) with Craig Berube. The team then proceeded to win just eight of their next eighteen matches and on January 3, 2019, ranked dead last in the NHL with 34 points.
Binnington had two starts in December before taking over for good in the new year. He responded by posting a 20-4-1 record, 1.89 goals-against average (GAA) and .927 save percentage (SP) to lead the Blues to an improbable playoff berth.
In the playoffs, he became the second NHL rookie goalie to win 16 playoff matches, posting an impressive 2.46 GAA and .914 SP last postseason.
His best work came in the opening period of Game Seven of the Finals versus Boston, when he turned aside a 12-shot barrage by the Bruins. St. Louis went over 16 minutes between shots on goal, and had only four in the period, but scored on the last two.
Binnington stopped 11 more Boston bids in the second period, as the Blues held on to their 2-0 despite having been out shot 23-10. He lost his shutout with 2:10 remaining, but by then the Blues already had a 4-0 lead and locked up the franchise’s first Stanley Cup title.
Not bad for a kid drafted in the third round in 2011 and who played just one game for the Blues before last season.
Could a similar scenario play out for Shesterkin and the Rangers?
History isn’t on his side.
In 52 seasons since the NHL’s expansion in 1967, only six rookie goalies have lead his team to a Stanley Cup championship. Here’s a look at each with team and Cup-winning season listed.
Matt Murray, Pittsburgh Penguins, 2015-16
Murray wasn’t Pittsburgh’s choice to start the postseason. It was Marc-Andre Fleury, who won the Stanley Cup as the team’s starter in 2009. But Fleury sustained a concussion late in the season and missed the first two rounds of the postseason.
Murray himself got injured just before the playoffs and missed the first two matches of the opening round, forcing third-stringer Jeff Zatkoff into action.
Ranger fans remember this series well as they split the two games in Pittsburgh with Zatkoff in net. With the rookie Murray returning for game three, Blueshirts faithful were confident that a first round win was inevitable.
Instead, Murray backstopped the Penguins to three straight wins, allowing only four goals and eliminating the Rangers in five games.
He went on to post a 15-6 record, 2.08 GAA and 9.23 SP to help the Pens win their fourth Stanley Cup. In an unusual note, since he only played 13 regular season game in 2015-16, he was still a rookie the next season when he led the Penguins to their second straight championship, making him the only goalie to backstop his team to two Stanley Cups as a rookie both years.
The next two goalies won their only Stanley Cup rings as rookies.
Antti Niemi, Chicago Blackhawks, 2009-10
As a 26-year-old rookie, Niemi posted a 16-6 record, 2.63 GAA and .910 SP to help Chicago win its first Cup since 1961, and became the first Finnish-born goalie to win hockey’s Holy Grail. Until Binnington accomplished the same feat, Niemi was the first rookie goalie to win 16 games in one playoff season.
Cam Ward, Carolina Hurricanes, 2005-06
After Martin Gerber lost Carolina’s first two playoff games, Ward was handed the starting job and proceeded to win his next seven games. He tied Ron Hextall and Patrick Roy for postseason wins by a rookie goalie (15), had a 2.14 GAA and .920 SP, and led the Canes past the Edmonton Oilers in seven games, winning the Cup and Conn Smythe Trophy.
Up next, the only goalie to win the Conn Smythe Trophy with two different teams.
Patrick Roy, Montreal Canadiens, 1985-86
Maybe there is something to the “Curse of St. Patrick.”
Roy won the Stanley Cup as rookie and then another in 1992-93. Three years later he was by humiliated by new head coach Mario Tremblay, who left the goalie in for nine goals before pulling him in an 11-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings at the Montreal Forum.
Four days later, Roy was traded to the Colorado Avalanche. Montreal hasn’t been back to the Finals since.
The year before joining the Canadiens, Roy helped their AHL affiliate win the Calder Cup. As an NHL rookie, he went 15-5 with a 1.93 GAA, .923 SP and a shutout in the playoffs.
Along the way, Roy and the Canadiens defeated the Rangers in five games in the Conference Finals. The Blueshirts averaged 29 shots on goal per match, but Roy prevailed with a save percentage of .938.
The 20 year old won the first of his three Conn Smythe Trophies after guiding the Habs to a five game win over the Calgary Flames in the Finals, making him the youngest player to ever win that award. He won one more Cup and another Smythe Trophy in 1993.
After his trade to Colorado, he won two more Stanley Cups and his third Conn Smythe Trophy in 2001.
Roy remains in the record books as the only player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy three times and the only player to win it for two different teams.
The next goalie led his team to a Stanley Cup title before winning the Calder Trophy the following season.
Ken Dryden, Montreal Canadiens, 1970-71
The Cornell University graduate is the only goalie to win the Stanley Cup before winning the Calder Trophy the next season.
Despite having appeared in only six NHL matches prior to the 1971 playoffs, Dryden got the nod over all-star Rogie Vachon and won 12 games, recording a .914 SP and 3.01 GAA to win the Conn Smythe and another Stanley Cup for Montreal.
The following season, Dryden posted a 39-8-15 record, 2.24 GAA, 9.30 SP and eight shutouts, but lost to the Rangers in six games in the Quarterfinals. Dryden stopped 91.1 percent of the 192 shots the Blueshirts put on goal.
Meanwhile, New York swept Chicago in the Semifinals before losing in six to Boston in the Finals.
Dryden was the goalie for a dominant Montreal team that won six Stanley Cups from 1971 to 1979.
Next, rookie goalies who almost won the Stanley Cup including a Ranger favorite..
John Vanbiesbrouck, New York Rangers, 1985-86
John Vanbiesbrouck was a rookie in 1984-85, appearing in 42 games and sharing goaltending duties with veteran Glen Hanlon. However, when the playoffs started, Hanlon played all but 26 seconds of five games in the Patrick Division Semifinals won by the New York Islanders.
We’re including the “Beezer” because the next season marked his first as the Rangers’ main guy in the crease and because he was a Stanley Cup rookie that postseason. He didn’t disappoint.
Vanbiesbrouck won the Vezina Trophy, finished fifth in voting for the Hart Trophy, and led the Blueshirts (78 points) to playoff upsets of Philadelphia (110 points) and Washington (107 points). The Flyers and Caps had the NHL’s highest point totals behind the Edmonton Oilers (119 points).
In the Conference Finals, Vanbiesbrouck posted a 2.90 GAA and save percentage of .900, but Patrick Roy was an absolute beast for Montreal as the Canadiens won in five games.
Next, a rival goalie who fought as well as he played his position, and even chipped in on offense with a goal and 27 assists.
Ron Hextall, Philadelphia Flyers, 1986-87
His grandfather was Bryan Hextall Sr., the late Hall of Fame winger who led the Rangers in scoring four times and the NHL once, and scored in overtime of Game Six of the 1940 Finals to oust Toronto at Maple Leaf Gardens.
His father, Bryan, played 549 NHL games, including 21 for the Rangers. And his uncle, Dennis, appeared in 681 league matches, including 13 with the Blueshirts.
To say Ron Hextall comes from a hockey family would be an understatement. To say he wasn’t one of the best all-time rookies in NHL history would be inaccurate.
No Rangers fan will readily admit to admiring Hextall. Why would they? He played for bitter rivals Philadelphia and the Islanders, and was among the most-volatile (and dirty) players in NHL history (as evidenced by his league-record 584 career penalty minutes among goalies).
But he deserves credit for a great rookie campaign in which he nearly helped the Flyers knock off the dynastic Oilers.
In his first season playing for the team that calls Broad Street in South Philly home, Hextall led all goaltenders with 66 appearances, 37 wins, and save percentage of 90. He also led in minutes (3,792), shots against (1,929) and saves (1,739), and was rewarded with the Vezina Trophy. He narrowly lost the Calder Trophy to Luc Robitaille.
In the postseason, Hextall helped the Flyers take out the Rangers, Islanders and Roy’s Canadiens before falling in seven to the high-octane Oilers in the Finals. Edmonton scored 372 goals during the season, 54 more goals than the next best team.
Hextall had a 3.09 GAA average and .903 SP in the Finals. In six games of the Patrick Division Semifinals against the Rangers, he posted a .929 SP and two shutouts, including one in the series-clincher at Madison Square Garden.
Passing of the crease duties?
If indeed the NHL resumes soon with the playoffs, the Rangers will have to decide who starts in goal. Rest assured, the choice won’t be made by one person among the team’s higher-ups. And it won’t be an easy one.
Two months ago and before the COVID-19 forced the NHL to suspend play, Shesterkin probably would have gotten the nod given his 10-2 record, 2.52 GAA and .932 SP. But, again, that was two months ago. Nobody knows for certain how he’ll play after such a long layoff.
That goes for Lundqvist, as well.
The regular and post seasons are entirely different beasts, but it is hard to ignore “The King’s” track record against the Hurricanes. He’s already beaten them three times this season (.947 SP) and lifetime is 33-12-1 with a 2.00 GAA and .934 SP against them. (The Rangers haven’t faced Carolina in the postseason.)
If the Rangers do go with Shesterkin, the kid and his team face a daunting road to even reach the Finals. Nothing is impossible, but as history’s proven, few rookie goalies and their teams complete the journey. Hopefully, we’ll soon all get the chance to see what the Blueshirts can do regardless of who they pick.
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