From 1962 until 2000, nearly 40 years, Terry Sawchuk was the All Time leader in Wins. From 1964 until 2007, Sawchuk was the All Time leader in Shutouts, a record many thought was unbreakable. From 1961 until 2001, a half century, no other goalie had more Point Shares.
These metrics make it seem like Terry Sawchuk was one of the greatest goalies of all time. But the bloom is off the rose and now a lot of people think that’s not true; that, aside from a stretch at the beginning of his career when he was truly great, he was more of a compiler.
Listen to us talk about Sawchuk’s case for goalie GOAT status here:
Terry Sawchuk’s Career:
- NHL: 1949-70; 21 seasons, 15 as a starter, 3 as a 1A, 3 as a backup
- Totals:
- 445W (8th All Time, 1st at his death, by over 50 – Sawchuk was the career leader from 1962 through 2000),
- 336L (8th All Time 1st at his death),
- 171T (1st All Time);
- 103 SO (2nd All Time – Brodeur – 1st at his death – Sawchuk was the career leader from 1964 through 2007);
- 179 Point Shares (12th All Time, 4th Goalie – Luongo, Brodeur, Roy – 1st at his death – Sawchuk was the career leader from 1961 through 2001);
- -51.5* Goals Saved Above Average (75th All Time out of 78 total goalies) in
- 57,156 Minutes over
- 971 Games
- Averages:
- 2.50 GAA (t-13th All Time at his death)
- .907* Save Percentage (9th All Time at his death)
- Era: Of the 19 goalies to play in at least 205 games between 1949 and 1970, Sawchuk is
- 1st in Wins (by over 50)
- 1st/last in Losses
- 1st in Ties
- 1st/last in Goals Against
- 11th in Save Percentage
- T-3rd in GAA
- 4th in Saves
- 4th in Shots Against
- 15th in GSAA
- 1st in Shutouts (by 21)
- 1st in Minutes by (nearly 6000)
- 1st in Goalie Point Shares
- 1st in Games (by nearly 100)
- Season average: 21-16-8; 5 SO; 8.5 GPS
- 82-game average: 36-28-14; 9 SO; 15.1 GPS
- Playoffs:
- 54W (19th All Time, 3rd All Time at his death – Plante, Broda)
- 47L (t-15th All Time, t-2nd All Time at his death – Hall);
- 12 Shutouts (10th All Time, 3rd at his death – Plante, Broda);
- 43.5 GSAA (10th All Time, 2nd at his death – Plante) in
- 106 Games (17th All Time, t-2nd at his death – Hall)
- Averages:
- .897* SV% (19th All Time at his death)
- 2.53 GAA
- Era: Of the 11 goalies to play in at least 20 playoff games between 1949 and 1970, Sawchuk is
- 2nd in playoff Wins (behind by 17)
- 2nd (2nd last) in playoff Losses (behind/ahead by 15)
- 2nd (2nd last) in playoff Goals Against
- 8th in playoff Save Percentage
- 6th in playoff GAA
- 3rd in playoff Saves
- 3rd in playoff Shots Against
- 2nd in playoff Goals Saved Above Average
- 2nd in playoff Shutouts
- 3rd in playoff Minutes
- T-2nd in playoff Games
- Adjustment for Era:
- 2.73 Adjusted GAA
- .902 SV%
- -61.9 Goals Versus Average
- 404.9 Goals Versus Threshold
- Trades:
- Traded at 25 with Marcel Bonin (22), Lorne Davis (24) and Vic Stasiuk (26) to Boston for Gilles Boisvert (22), Real Chevrefils (23), Norm Corcoran (23), Warren Godfrey (24) and Ed Sanford (26)
- Traded at 27 to Detroit for Johnny Bucyk (22) and cash
- Left exposed in the Intra-league draft at age 34
- Left exposed in the expansion draft at age 37
- Traded at age 38 to Detroit for Jimmy Peters (24)
- Traded at age 39 with Sandy Snow to New York for Larry Jeffrey (28)
Terry Sawchuk’s Accomplishments:
- Top 5 in Hart voting four times
- Vezina (‘52, ‘53, ‘55, ‘65) – tied 5th most all time (Plante, Durnan, Hasek, Dryden)
- Calder (‘51)
- All Star:
- 1st Team All Star three times
- 2nd Team All Star four times
- 11 All Star Game appearances
- Top Player:
- Best Player (by Point Shares) twice (‘51, ‘52) – t-9th most all time
- Top 5 Player eight times (‘53, ‘54, ‘55, ‘58, ‘60, ‘63) – t-6th most all time
- Top 10 Player eleven times (‘56, ‘59, ‘64) – t-5th most all time (Howe, Hall, Gretzky, Bourque)
- Best Goalie (by GPS) three times (‘51, ‘52, ‘53)
- Top 5 Goalie thirteen times (‘54, ‘55, ‘56, ‘58, ‘59, ‘60, ‘62, ‘63, ‘64, ‘65) – 2nd most all time (Hall)
- Top 10 Goalie eighteen times (‘50, ‘57, ‘61, ‘66, ‘67) – most all time
- Wins:
- Leader-boards:
- Led the league in Wins five times (t-3rd most all time – Brodeur, Benedict)
- Top 5 in Wins fifteen times (most all time)
- Top 10 in Wins eighteen times (most all time)
- Single-season totals:
- 40 Wins three times (t-most ever at his death – Plante)
- 35 Wins four times (t-most ever at his death – Plante)
- Leader-boards:
- Shutouts:
- Leader-boards:
- Led the league in Shutouts three times (t-10th most ever)
- Top 5 fifteen times (t-most ever – Hall, Plante)
- Top 10 eighteen times (most ever)
- Single-season totals:
- 10 Shutouts four times (t-most ever – Brodeur – most ever at his death)
- 5 shutouts ten times (t-2nd most ever – Brodeur, most ever at his death)
- Leader-boards:
- Shots Against:
- Led the league in Shots Against once
- Top 5 six times (t-8th most ever)
- Top 10 twelve times (t-2nd most ever – Hall)
- Saves:
- Total Saves:
- Led the league in Saves once
- Top 5 seven times (9th most ever)
- Top 10 twelve times (t-3rd most ever – Esposito, Hall)
- Percentage:
- Leader-boards:
- Top 5 seven times (9th most ever)
- Top 10 twelve times (5th most ever – Hall, Plante, Roy, Worsley)
- Single-season Average:
- Over .920 once (1 of only 13 goalies ever at his death)
- Leader-boards:
- Total Saves:
- Goals Against:
- GAA:
- Leader-boards:
- Led the league in GAA twice (t-9th most ever)
- Top 5 eleven times (t-3rd most ever – Hall, Plante)
- Top 10 seventeen times (most ever)
- Single-season Average:
- 1.9 or Under twice (1 of only 13 goalies ever, 1 of only 10 goalies ever at his death)
- 2 or Under five times (t-most ever – Benedict, Connell, Thompson)
- Under 2.5 six times (1 of only 14 goalies ever at his death)
- Leader-boards:
- Goals Saved Above Average:
- Top 5 six times (t-9th most ever)
- GAA:
- Minutes:
- Leader-boards:
- Led the league in Minutes three times
- Top 5 twelve times (t-most ever – Brodeur, Hall, Lumley)
- Top 10 eighteen times (most ever)
- Single-season totals:
- +4000 minutes seven times (t-2nd most ever – Brodeur – t-most ever at his death)
- Leader-boards:
- Adjusted Peak:
- .903 SV%
- Doesn’t qualify for Goals Versus Average leaderboard
- 291.8 Goals Versus Threshold
Terry Sawchuk’s Great Teams:
- NHL:
- Best Player (led playoffs in wins, GAA, tied the single-playoff record for shutouts, played every game, didn’t lose a game) on one Champion (‘52 Wings)
- Best Player (led playoffs in games, wins, losses, goals against, shots against, saves, save percentage, GAA, shutouts, minutes, played every game) on one Champion (‘54 Wings)
- Starter (led playoffs in games, wins, losses, goals against, shots against, saves, save percentage, minutes) on one Champion (‘67 Leafs)
- Starter (led playoffs in wins, GAA, shutouts, minutes, played every game) on one Champion (‘55 Wings)
- Starter (led playoffs in losses, goals against, shots against, minutes, played every game) on one Runner Up (‘63 Wings)
- Starter (led playoffs in losses) on one Final Four (‘53 Wings)
- Starter (led playoffs in goals against) on one Runner Up (‘64 Wings)
- Starter on one Runner Up (‘61 Wings) and four Final Fours (‘51, ‘58, ‘60 Wings, ‘66 Leafs)
- Backup on one Final Four (‘65 Leafs)