The Greatest

Congratulations to Patrick Roy on his recent induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame. The waiting period was simply a formality for the greatest money goaltender the game has ever seen.

If you want intangibles, the man had those. He had a knack for getting into the head of other teams. He had a knack for turning it on, and shutting down other teams when the game was on the line and it really mattered. Playoffs? He lived for them. Roy was the backbone of four Stanley Cup winning teams. Twice in Montreal, and twice in Colorado. He was without question, the best playoff goaltender of all time. He took a '92-'93 Montreal Canadiens team to the top behind a patchwork lineup to win his second Stanley Cup. In the '95-'96 season, he lived up to his word by bring a Stanley Cup victory the the Colorado Avalanche (formerly the Quebec Nordiques). After being embarrassed in a loss to Detroit after his coach in Montreal kept him in the game, Roy demanded a trade. While he was getting ready to leave Montreal for Colorado, he told his former teammates that he was going to win the Stanley Cup, and thats just what he did.

Not enough? Want some statistics? How about an NHL record 551 regular season wins? Or an NHL record 151 playoff wins? He's also played more minutes, and started more games than any other goaltender in both the regular season and the playoffs. His career was also littered with awards, three times he won the Vezina Trophy as the league's top goaltender (1989, 1990, 1992). The Jennings trophy five times, for fewest goals allowed (in 1987, 1988 and 1989 shared with Brian Hayward, and then in 1992 and 2002 by himself). Roy was a first team NHL all star 4 times, and a second team all star twice in his career. He also played in eleven all star games.

Perhaps the most impressive stat? His record three Conn Smythe trophies as playoff MVP. No other player has ever won three Conn Smythe trophies as the playoff MVP. Not Wayne Gretzky, not Guy Lafleur, not Bobby Orr, not Mario Lemieux. Only Patrick Roy. The first of which coming at the tender age of 20 in 1986 as the youngest player to ever win the award. The second came in 1993 behind the patchwork Canadiens lineup. After losing the first two games in the first round against the Nordiques, Roy got fired up after hearing the Quebec coach proclaim that they had figured Roy out. How did he respond? By backstopping the Canadiens to four straight wins over the Nordiques to win that series, four more straight wins to sweep the Buffalo Sabres in the second round, and then three more in a row to start off the third round against the Islanders. All in all, 11 straight victories, including 10 consecutive overtime victories. Read that again, 10 overtime victories in a stretch of 11 games. Good players can win in the regular season, great players win in the playoffs, with the game on the line, 10 times in a row. His final Conn Smythe came in 2001 with the Colorado Avalanche when he won all 16 games for the Ave's, while posting a 1.69 GAA and a .934 save percentage.

So as if there were any question that Patrick Roy would be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame after the required three year waiting period, here it is. Congratulations to Roy, and the rest of the 2006 Hockey Hall of Fame class: Dick Duff, Herb Brooks and Harley Hotchkiss.