The Edmonton Oilers All Time Team: Goaltenders

With the closing of Rexall Place, I’ve always been inspired to make my own version of an All Time team.

There’s not bells or whistles: It’s simply the best players to make the All Time team with some reasoning.

Usually I’d like to go with purely players I saw in Oilers colours, but what All Time team would leave off guys like Gretzky, Messier, Coffey, Kurri or Fuhr?

Without further ado, I begin with the goaltenders. In my opinion, this was the easiest position to fill out.

I’m mostly basing their time in Oilers uniforms. So while it would be great to have Adam Oates on an all time team just behind Gretzky and Messier, I am taking into consideration his time as an Oiler only. Where he played one season.

Expect there to be plenty of honorable mentions as we continue this mini series.

Starting Goaltender: #31 Grant Fuhr

Is there any one else to be considered the best goalie in Franchise history other than Grant Fuhr? He was before my time (you’ll be hearing this a lot, I was born in 1989). Fuhr had his best years with the Edmonton Oilers. It’s funny looking at his save percentage or goals against average today and compare it with the goalies of the now: he did not post one season with a save percentage above .900 while in Edmonton.

However, it was a number that reflected the era that he played in. What Grant Fuhr did was shut the door at the most dire of times. In his time, he was the guy you wanted in net in the playoffs. His finest year was the 1987-88 season, where the Edmonton Oilers won their fourth Stanley Cup. Fuhr notched his only Vezina trophy that season and finished an astonishing second in Hart Trophy voting, behind Mario Lemieux and ahead of Wayne Gretzky. That’s some lofty company to be sandwiched between.

The tail end of his career with the Oilers was not a glamourous one, filled with a shoulder injury and a drug abuse problem. He would bounce around from Toronto, Buffalo, Los Angeles, St. Louis and ending his career with the Calgary Flames. He had a renaissance with St.Louis where he played a record high 73 games in a single season.

Grant Fuhr was one of the most clutch goalies of all time. The Oilers would win games 5-4, but when it came to shut it down, Fuhr was the man to do it. He’s a no brainer to be my starter on my All Time Team.

Backup: #35 Andy Moog

Andy Moog was a darn good goalie that somewhat played in the shadow of Grant Fuhr, although when I researched more, I found it surprising that Fuhr and Moog were a platoon system while Moog was an Oiler. I have a soft spot for Moog after reading Peter Gzowski’s The Game of Our Lives (which I consider to be one of the best hockey books ever written). He was portrayed as a young rookie, who looked a bit chubby, but would not be rattled by losses or goals. The mental fortitude of goalies: it’s something I wish I had. No kidding. They go through so many agonizing parts of the game, where their mistakes are magnified to an extent.

Even Fuhr, who was usually cool, once got rattled by fans who booed him and lashed out as a young player.

It’s funny because of the era they both played in, but all time Moog did have a slightly better save percentage and goals against average versus his position mate Fuhr (.887 vs .882 and 3.61 vs 3.69).

Moog was one of the first players to depart the Oilers dynasty as he held out at the start of the 1987 season, eventually playing for Team Canada and being dealt to the Boston Bruins at the trade deadline in the spring, for honorable mention, Bill Ranford.

Moog would be haunted by his ex team, losing twice in two Stanley Cup Appearances. Moog would later on play for the Dallas Stars and Montreal Canadiens.

Honorable Mentions: Bill Ranford, Tommy Salo, Dwayne Roloson and Curtis Jospeh

These three make the honorable mention list. Ranford won the Conn Smythe trophy in the 1990 Stanley Cup playoffs after leading the Oilers to their fifth Stanley Cup. However, I rank him just a bit lower than both Moog and Fuhr, mostly due to the accolades. Ranford was a good goalie too and should not be forgotten.

I have a soft spot for Tommy Salo. He was the goalie for me in Junior High the backbone of the blue collar Oiler days. He was never the same goalie after the 2002 Olympics where he let in a bizarre game against Belarus that eliminated his native Sweden. Salo is currently the All Time Leader for Shutouts in Oilers history with 23.

Dwayne Roloson was nothing short of superb during the 2006 Stanley Cup run. It did not start out great: he was average at best when he started for the Oilers after the trade deadline, but was pure fire during the playoffs. Suffering a fluke injury in Game One against Carolina, I still believe the Oilers could have won if Dwayne Roloson played the entire series. He would later platoon with Mathieu Garon for a season, but would be a starter once more before moving onto the New York Islanders and the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Curtis Joseph played only three seasons with the Edmonton Oilers before leaving in Free Agency for Toronto but man, what a treat was it to watch CuJo. He had my favorite goalie mask of all time and was arguably the best player in those three seasons with the Oilers. I will never forget his heroics in the 1997 playoffs against Dallas. He made one of the most outstanding saves I have ever watched. If the Oilers could have afforded to keep him, I’m sure he would have ended up higher on the list, maybe even as the All Time Backup.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZ1Ewaf-k0o

That concludes my All Time Goaltenders with Grant Fuhr and Andy Moog taking the starter and backup positions with three very honorable mentions. Up next will be the defencemen followed by the forwards.