Walter “Turk” Broda was a workhorse with some decent regular season goalie stats. But, when it came to the post-season, especially after Broda returned from World War 2, there was no better goalie in the NHL. Broda’s post-war run is among the greatest playoff performances of any NHL goalie, winning four Stanley Cups in five years, and leading the playoffs in shutouts every year, including the year the Leafs didn’t win the Cup. Broda’s playoff record from when he returned from WWII to his retirement is 32-12. He led the playoffs in GAA four years in a row. There aren’t many other goalies to have dominated in the playoffs like he did.
Listen to us talk about Broda’s GOAT case and Hall of Fame case here:
Turk Broda’s Career:
- NHL: 1936-43, 1945-52; 14 seasons, 11 as a starter, 1 as a 1A
- Totals:
- 304W (1st All Time at his retirement – held the record from 1950 to 1958)
- 222L (2nd All Time at his retirement)
- 102T (19th All time, 1st All Time at his retirement – held the record from 1949 to 1955);
- 61 SO (6th All Time at his retirement);
- 120.4 PS (1st All Time at his retirement – held the record from 1950 to 1956) in
- 38,182 Minutes (1st All Time at his retirement – held the record from 1950 to 1955) over
- 629 Games (1st All Time at his retirement – held the record from 1950 to 1955)
- Averages:
- 2.53 GAA (11th All Time at his retirement)
- Era: Of the 11 goalies to play in at least 164 games (2 modern seasons) between 1936 and 1952, Broda is
- 1st in Wins (by over 50)
- 1st/last in Losses
- 1st in Ties (by over 20)
- 1st/last in Goals Against
- 4th in GAA
- 1st in Shutouts by over 20
- 1st in Minutes (by nearly 7,000)
- 1st in Games (by 115)
- Season average: 22-16-7; 4 SO; 8.6 GPS
- 82-game average: 40-29-13; 8 SO; 15.7 GPS
- Playoffs:
- 60W (17th All Time, 1st All Time at his retirement by nearly double – held the record from 1947 until 1969)
- 39L (1st All Time at his retirement)
- 13 SO (9th All Time, 1st All Time at his retirement by 44% – held the record from 1950 through 1969) in
- 6,387 Minutes (19th All Time, 1st All Time at his retirement by nearly 2,000 – held the record from 1943 until 1970) over
- 101 Games (20th All Time, 1st All Time a this retirement by 49% – held the record from 1943 until 1968);
- 7th All Time at his retirement
- Era: Of the 9 goalies to play in at least 20 playoff games between 1936 and 1952, Broda is
- 1st in playoff Wins (by nearly double)
- 1st in playoff Losses
- The only goalie to record a Tie
- 1st/Last in playoff Goals Against
- 3rd in playoff GAA (with 3 ½ times as many GP as 1st place and over four times the GP of 2nd)
- 1st in playoff Shutouts (by nearly double 2nd)
- 1st in playoff Minutes (by nearly 2000)
- 1st in playoff Games (by 49%)
- Adjustment for Era:
- 2.68 Adjusted GAA (22nd All Time)
- Trades:
Turk Broda’s Accomplishments:
- Top 5 in Hart voting once
- Vezina (‘41, ‘48)
- NHL 100th Anniversary Team
- All Star:
- 1st All Star Team twice
- 2nd All Star Team once
- 4 All Star Game appearances
- Wins:
- Led the league in Wins twice
- Top 5 eleven times – t-4th most all time (Sawchuk, Brodeur, Hall)
- Top 10 thirteen times – t-10th most all time
- Ties:
- Led the league in Ties twice
- Top 5 ten times – t-3rd most all time (Sawchuk, Hall)
- Top 10 thirteen times – t-6th most all time
- Goals Against:
- Totals:
- Top 5 in Goals Against nine times – t-5th most all time (Lumley, Roach, Sawchuk, Hall)
- Top 10 fourteen times – t-3rd most all time (Sawchuk, Lumley)
- GAA:
- Leaderboards:
- Led the league in GAA twice – t-9th most all time
- Top 5 eleven times – t-3rd all time (Hall, Plante)
- Top 10 twelve times
- Average:
- 2 and under once
- 2.25 and under four times (t-22nd All Time)
- 2.5 and under seven times (t-23rd All Time)
- Leaderboards:
- Totals:
- Shutouts:
- Leaderboards:
- Led the league in Shutouts twice
- Top 5 eleven times – t-5th all time (Sawchuk, Plante, Hall, Lumley)
- Top 10 twelve times – t-8th
- Single-season totals:
- 5 shutouts eight times (1 of only 10 goalies ever, 1 of only 4 ever at his retirement – Thompson, Chabot, Hainsworth)
- Leaderboards:
- Minutes:
- Led the league in Minutes five times – t-5th most all time (Brodeur, Hall, Esposito, Benedict)
- Top 5 eleven times – t-5th most all time (Lumley, Sawchuk, Hall, Brodeur)
- Top 10 fourteen times – t-4th most all time (Sawchuk, Lumley, Hall, Roach)
- Games:
- Led the league in Games Played eight times – t-5th most all time (Roach, Hainsworth, Benedict, Thompson)
- Top 5 eleven times – t-4th most all time (Brodeur, Lumley, Sawchuk)
- Top 10 fourteen times – t-4th most all time (Sawchuk, Lumley, Hall)
- Adjusted peak: Broda played too early for an era adjustment
Turk Broda’s Great Teams:
- NHL:
- Best Player (lead playoffs in wins, GAA and shutouts, played every game) on one Champion (‘49 Leafs)
- Best Player? (lead playoffs in wins, GAA and shutouts, played every game) on one Champion (‘48 Leafs)
- Best Player? (lead playoffs in losses, played every game) on one Runner Up (‘40 Leafs)
- Best Player (lead playoffs in GAA and shutouts) on one Final Four (‘50 Leafs)
- Starter (lead playoffs in wins, GAA and shutouts) on one Champion (‘51 Leafs)
- Starter (lead playoffs in games, wins, losses, shutouts and minutes, played every game) on one Champion (‘42 Leafs)
- Starter (lead playoffs in games, wins, goals against and shutouts, played every game) on one Champion (‘47 Leafs)
- Starter (lead playoffs in losses, goals against and shutouts, played every game) on one Runner Up (‘39 Leafs)
- Starter (lead playoffs in losses, played every game) on one Runner Up (‘38 Leafs)
- Starter on three Final Fours (‘41, ‘43, ‘52 Leafs)
- Amateur:
- Wikipedia claims he won the 1933 Memorial Cup but we can’t find proof of that