Shining Between the Pipes

The Blackhawks are well represented on the list of winningest goalies in National Hockey League history. Among the most prominent Hawks netminders of the past six or seven decades, only Corey Crawford does not rank among the all-time leaders in career regular-season victories. Glenn Hall, Tony Esposito, Ed Belfour, and Dominik Hasek do.

     

MARC-ANDRE FLEURY

     And so does Marc-Andre Fleury, who is only the third goalie of all time to log 500 victories. He reached that milestone last Thursday night with a 2-0 shutout of the Montreal Canadiens, the team he idolized while growing up just an hour from their rink. Canadiens fans chanted Fleury’s name as the clock ticked down and gave him a standing ovation after the horn sounded. 

     “I don’t know why,” Fleury said, “but in this building I’ve always had a tough time winning games. It meant a lot to have so many people from Quebec being proud of me being from here and achieving this goal.”

     In the dressing room, the humble Fleury grabbed the WWE-style belt that goes to the Hawks’ most valuable player of each winning game and presented it to Jonathan Toews, in honor of the captain’s first goal this season. Reasoning that Fleury’s 500th victory (a shutout, no less) was the greater achievement, Toews gave the belt right back to Fleury. 

     

     Fleury already has his name engraved on the Stanley Cup three times from his days with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Vezina Trophy as the league’s outstanding goalie of 2020-21 belongs to him thanks to his performances for the Vegas Golden Knights. 

     He has won 375 games for the Penguins, 117 for the Knights, and eight (so far) for the Hawks.

     Below is the current list of the NHL’s all-time leaders in regular-season wins by goalies. (Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of victories achieved in a Blackhawks sweater.)

        Goalie                                    Years                     Wins         

          1. Martin Brodeur                 1991 - 2015            691       

          2. Patrick Roy                      1984 - 2003            551

          3. Marc-Andre Fleury           2003 -                     500  (8) 

          4. Roberto Luongo               1999 - 2019            489

          5. Ed Belfour                        1988 - 2007            484  (201)

          6. Henrik Lundqvist              2005 - 2020            459

          7. Curtis Joseph                   1989 - 2009            454

          8. Terry Sawchuk                  1949 - 1970            445

          9. Jacques Plante                 1952 - 1973            437 

        10. Tony Esposito                   1968 - 1984            423  (418)

        11. Glenn Hall                         1952 - 1971            407  (276)

        12. Grant Fuhr                        1981 - 2000            403

        13. Chris Osgood                    1993 - 2011            401

        14. Ryan Miller                        2002 -                     391

        15. Dominik Hasek                  1990 - 2008            389  (13)

  

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Eagle Lands in Hall of Fame

    

ED BELFOUR

     Between August 7, 1992, and March 23, 1999, the Blackhawks traded four future Hall of Famers, getting practically nothing in return. That is pretty bad, even by the abysmally low standards set by Bill Wirtz and Bob Pulford, who mismanaged the franchise for decades.
     When the Hawks traded backup goalie Dominik Hasek in the summer of 1992, they could be forgiven because starter Ed Belfour was already established as a stalwart, having won the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year and the Vezina Trophy as outstanding goalie in 1991, and having led the Hawks to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1992.
     When they dealt center Jeremy Roenick in 1996, Belfour himself in 1997, and defenseman Chris Chelios in 1999, there was no excuse. And they paid the price. After making the playoffs 38 times in 39 seasons from 1959 through 1997, the Hawks missed the playoffs in nine of the next ten years.
     Fortunately, the Blackhawks are under new management now, they captured the Stanley Cup last year, and they are likely to be perennial contenders for the foreseeable future.
     The four future Hall of Famers who were traded in the Hawks’ darker days are all retired now, and each will be entering the Hall in the next few years. Belfour, the first one eligible, was elected two weeks ago. “I didn’t expect it in any way,” Belfour said. “I was just flabbergasted.”
     In addition to winning the Calder Trophy and the Vezina twice, Belfour won the Jennings Trophy for lowest goals-against average four times—three times for the Hawks and once for the Dallas Stars (in 1999, when the Stars won the Stanley Cup). His 953 games between the pipes ranks fourth in league history, and his 484 wins ranks third.
     When his election to the Hall of Fame was announced, “Eddie the Eagle” said something that any Hall of Famer in any sport can well understand: “It is hard to put into words what this means to me.”
     Hasek, Roenick, and Chelios will have the same feeling some day.