Why is Ed Giacomin in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

We don’t know exactly what happened between 1987 and now, but the standards for goalie admission got a lot stricter. (Well, we do know that goalie stats got better.) It’s so hard to get admitted into the Hall of Fame as a goalie now, but when Ed Giacomin was inducted, it seems like it was less hard.

Why?

Giacomin has good traditional stats, such as wins. And it’s arguable he was the Most Valuable Goalie in the league for four seasons.

But he was never the best goalie in the league by Save Percentage, Goals Saved Above Average or even GAA – that Vezina is for total Goals Against – and his peak only lasted about four years. The rest of his regular season career is not outstanding (especially as he got older).

Additionally, his playoff numbers aren’t great.

So does Ed Giacomin actually belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame? Listen to us discuss it here:

Ed Giacomin’s Career:

• 1965-78; 13 seasons, 8 seasons as a starter, 4 as a 1A, 1 injured or as a backup
• Totals:
  • 290W (8th All Time at his retirement)
  • 209L (11th All Time at his retirement)
  • 96T (22nd All Time, 10th at his retirement),
  • 54 SO (23rd All Time, 14th at his retirement) in 
  • 35582 in Minutes (7th All Time at his retirement) in
  • 610 Games (7th All Time at his retirement);
  • 110.9 PS (10th All Time at his retirement)
  • 74.3 GSAA (12th All Time at his retirement)
• Per Game:
  • .902 SV% (17th All Time at his retirement)
  • 2.82 GAA
• Era: Of the 8 goalies to play in at least 410 Games between 1965 and 1978, Giacomin is
  • 2nd in Wins
  • 3rd in Losses
  • 3rd in Ties
  • 2nd in Goals Against
  • 3rd in Shots
  • 3rd in Saves
  • 4th in Save Percentage
  • 4th in GAA
  • 4th in Goals Saved Above Average
  • 2nd in Shutouts
  • 1st in Minutes
  • 1st in Games
  • 4th in GPS
• Season average: 22-16-7, 4 SO
• 3-year peak (1967-70): 36-21-10, 7 SO; 2.41 GAA, 0.914 SV%, 14.2 PS; 7.8 GSAA
• Playoffs:
  • 29W (12th All Time at his retirement)
  • 35L (8th All Time at his retirement)
  • 1 SO
  • .897 SV% (14th All Time at his retirement)
  • 2.83 GAA
  • -7.2 GSAA
  • 3817 Minutes (13th All Time at his retirement)
  • 65 Games (13th All Time at his retirement)
  • Era: Of the 17 Goalies to play in at least 21 playoff Games between 1965 and 1978, Giacomin is
    • 6th in playoff Wins
    • 2nd in playoff Losses
    • 11th in playoff Shutouts
    • 15th in playoff SV %age (3rd last)
    • 11th in playoff GAA
    • 16th in playoff GSAA
    • 5th in playoff Games
• Adjusted for Era:
  • 2.75 GAA
  • .905 SV%
  • -3.2 Goals Saved Versus Average
  • 398.6 Goals Versus Threshold

Ed Giacomin’s Accomplishments:

• Top 5 in Hart voting once
• Vezina (‘71)
• All Star:
  • 1st Team All Star twice
  • 2nd Team All Star three times
  • 6 All Star Game Appearances
• Top Player:
  • Best Player (by Point Shares) twice (‘67, ‘68)
  • Top 5 Player four times (‘69, ‘70)
  • Top 10 five times (‘71)
  • Best Goalie (by GPS) four times (‘67, ‘68, ‘69, ‘70)
  • Top five six times (‘71, ‘74)
  • Top 10 nine times (‘66, ‘72, ‘73)
• Wins:
  • Leader-boards:
    • Led the league in the Wins three times
    • Top 5 eight times
    • Top 10 nine times
  • Totals:
    • 35 wins three times
• Shutouts:
  • Leader-boards:
    • Led the league in Shutouts three times
    • Top 5 seven times
    • Top 10 nine times
  • Totals:
    • 5 shutouts six times (1 of only 14 players)
• Shots Against:
  • Led the league in Shots twice
  • Top 5 five times
  • Top 10 six times
• Saves:
  • Total Saves:
    • Led the league in Saves twice
    • Top 5 four times
    • Top 10 six times
  • Percentage:
    • Leader-boards:
      • Top 5 in SV% twice
      • Top 10 six times
• Goals Against:
  • GAA:
    • Leader-boards:
      • Top 5 in GAA five times
      • Top 10 seven times
    • Average:
      • Under 2.25 once
      • Under 2.5 twice
  • GSAA:
    • Leader-boards:
      • Top 5 twice
      • Top 10 five times
    • Single-season totals:
      • +20 twice
• Minutes:
  • Leader-boards:
    • Led the league in Minutes four times
    • Top 5 six times
    • Top 10 nine times
  • Totals:
    • +4,000 twice
• Adjusted Peak:
  • 0.911 SV%
  • 74.1 Goals Versus Average
  • 342.2 Goals Versus Threshold

Ed Giacomin’s Great Teams:

• NHL:
  • Best Player? on one Final Four (‘71 Rangers)
  • Starter (led the playoffs in Games, Wins, Goals Against, Shots Against, Saves and Minutes) on one Runner Up (‘72 Rangers)
  • Starter on two Final Fours (‘67, ‘73 Rangers)
  • Starter (led the playoffs in Losses) on one Final Four (‘74 Rangers)