Chicago Blackhawks: 5 Best Goalies in team history

4. Corey Crawford

Corey Crawford has won the most Stanley Cups as a Blackhawks’ goalie in team history. I know they’ve only won six Stanley Cups, that’s still really good. Any goalie that can win multiple Stanley Cups has to be great.

Throughout Crawford’s career, he’s been underestimated. In most of the playoff series he won, he was considered the worse of the two goalies. He never really got the respect he earned, outside of Chicago.

Crawford has played all of his NHL with the Blackhawks. He’s played the third-most games in Blackhawks’ history. Crawford is 257-160-53. He has a good chance of catching up to second place in most wins in team history (276).

Not only has Crawford won two Stanley Cups, but he also has been an All-Star twice, along with two Jennings Trophies.

Before his concussion in 2017, Crawford was one of the best goalies in the league. He was 16-9-2 that season. If he didn’t get hurt, the Blackhawks might have made the playoffs. We’ll never know.

Since the injury, Crawford hasn’t been the same player. He has some great games and great moments, but overall, he isn’t the same guy. Age has caught up with him, so I don’t see him going any higher in this list. He’s still had an amazing career and when he hangs up the skates, he will be apart of the NHL Hall of Fame.

3. Glenn Hall

The Hall of Fame goalie Glenn Hall spent 10 of his 18 NHL seasons with the Blackhawks. Hall was the goalie on the 1961 Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks. Throughout his career, Hall has been an All-Star 11 times, he won the Vezina Trophy three times and was the Rookie of the Year in 1956.

One cool thing about Hall was this, he is one of the only players in NHL history to win the Conn Smythe in a Stanley Cup losing effort. Yes, he was that good.

What we don’t like about Hall was how he played for both St. Louis and Detroit. What we do like is how he spent the majority of his career in Chicago. As a Blackhawk, Hall went 276-229-107. He has the second-most wins in Blackhawks’ history.

In his NHL career, he had a 2.50 GAA and saved 91.8% of the pucks shot at him. Hall had 84 shutouts. He did this all in the era of the stand-up goalie.

I can only how well some of these goalies would have played in the hybrid era. Goalies have become better in today’s game. Hall was one of the goalies that were before his time with all of the success he had.

2. Ed Belfour

Ed Belfour was apart of the 1990s evolution in goalies. Before the 1990s, the majority of goalies were considered stand-up goalies. Once players like Belfour, Patrick Roy, and others came to the NHL, everything changed.

Belfour was with the Blackhawks for eight seasons. He was the Rookie of the Year in 1991, he was a two-time All-Star with the Blackhawks, and he won the Jennings Trophy three times. Even though he didn’t win a Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks, he would get one with Dallas.

He is one of the only goalies in NHL history to win 40-plus games multiple times in a season. Belfour was called on many times. Belfour played a lot of hockey for the Blackhawks.

Many fans were upset when Belfour was traded by the Blackhawks in 1997. The trade consisted of right-wing Ulf Dahlen, defenseman Michal Sykora, goalie Chris Terreri and a conditional second-round draft pick in 1998. Even back then the Blackhawks were making bad trades.

Either way, in eight seasons, Belfour won 201 games for the Blackhawks. His career record was 484-320-125. After leaving Chicago, he would add another Jennings Trophy and another All-Star appearance. That isn’t a bad mark to leave on the league.

1. Tony Esposito

There are arguments on who is the best goalie in Blackhawks’ history. Is it Belfour or is it Tony Esposito? Overall, it has to be Esposito. It is very tough to say, all of the goalies on this list played in different eras. I have different reasons for why these players are where they are.

At the end of the day, Esposito has to be one of, if not the best goalie to never win a Stanley Cup. Besides 13 games in Montreal, Esposito spent his whole career with the Blackhawks. He is a legend in Chicago.

Esposito has the record for most wins in franchise history. With a 418-302-148 record, no one is touching that for a long time. It’ll take a goalie that plays his whole career with the Blackhawks, as a starter.

In his career, the Hall of Fame goalie was a five-time All-Star, won three Vezina Trophies, and was the Rookie of the Year in 1970. Which stinks for Esposito is his inability to win in the playoffs. In 18  seasons, he just played in 99 playoff games. He was 45-53 during those games.

There’s a lot of credit still given to Esposito today. He is the gold standard of goalies for the Blackhawks’ origination. Whenever a new goalie comes to town, fans are hoping for the next Esposito.

We have had our next Esposito with Crawford as our goalie since 2011. Crawford won’t catch the records Esposito has, but he still could win another Stanley Cup. It depends on Crawford’s health. When he is on his A-game, he is just as sharp as he was in 2015. When he struggles, it’s bad.

It’s very important to always remember the ones that came before the future of the team. We’ve been very lucky with amazing skaters we’ve seen this past decade. We still can’t forget about the ones who bail out the skaters.

Tell us at home, who is the best goalie in Blackhawks’ history?