Roy, Luongo among 6 in final group of top 25 unveiled
The final group of players in the NHL Quarter-Century Team was unveiled Sunday. The latest group is made up of the six goalies voted onto the team.
The list includes four Hall of Famers, and two who likely will be inducted when eligible. Over the quarter century, the six combined to win the Staney Cup six times, the Vezina Trophy as the best goalie in the League seven times, the William M. Jennings Trophy for allowing the fewest goals seven times, and the Hart Trophy (NHL MVP), the Ted Lindsay Award (NHL MVP voted by the NHL Players’ Association) and the Conn Smythe Trophy (playoffs MVP) once each.
The Quarter-Century Team was selected via the NHL Quarter-Century Team Fan Vote presented by SAP from Feb. 12-April 1. The fan vote followed the reveal of all 32 NHL club’s first and second teams, which were announced earlier this year. The six players named to each team’s First Team were eligible for selection in the Fan Vote.
Here is a look at the six goalies on the NHL All Quarter-Century Team. They are listed in alphabetical order and include the club with which they made the first team.
NOTE: All stats are from Jan. 1, 2000-Dec. 31, 2024.
Regular-season stats: 470-283-49 (with 44 ties), 2.27 goals-against average, .912 save percentage, 87 shutouts in 857 games (851 starts)
Postseason stats: 79-64, 2.05 GAA, .918 save percentage, 18 shutouts in 144 games
Awards: Won the Stanley Cup twice in the quarter century with the New Jersey Devils, including in 2003, when he also won the Vezina Trophy and William Jennings Trophy. He also won the Cup in 2000, the Vezina three more times (2004, ’07, ’08), and Jennings Trophy two other times (2004, ’10).
Bio: The NHL’s all-time leader in games (1,266), wins (691) and shutouts (125) would rank sixth all-time in wins and fourth shutouts if you didn’t include his six full seasons prior to the 1999-2000 season. He had eight straight seasons with at least 38 wins from 1999-2008. He finished in the top five in Vezina voting each of those seasons, winning the award four times in a five-year span. Brodeur led the Devils to the Cup Final four times in the 2000s, winning it twice (2000, ’03). He also has the second-most playoff wins and most playoff shutouts since the turn of the century, despite having retired in 2015. Brodeur was named one of the NHL’s 100 Greatest Players at the League’s Centennial celebration in 2017 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2018.
Quote: “We knew we had the guy in net, the most important position, that was going to carry us. … He’s one of the all-time greats. I am biased, but I think he is the greatest goaltender of all time. — former Devils teammate Ken Daneyko
Martin Brodeur owns many key career goalie records
Regular-season stats: 567-333-95 (with two ties), 2.60 GAA, .912 save percentage, 75 shutouts in 1,036 games (1,005 starts)
Postseason stats: 92-74, 2.56 GAA, .911 save percentage, 16 shutouts in 169 games (166 starts)
Awards: Won the Stanley Cup three times with the Pittsburgh Penguins (2009, ’16, ’17), and the Vezina Trophy in 2020-21 with the Vegas Golden Knights when he went 26-10-0 with career bests in goals-against average (1.98) and save percentage (.928) to go along with six shutouts in 36 games. Also won the Jennings Trophy that season.
Bio: Fleury, who will retire at the end of the season, ranks second all-time in wins (575), and leads goalies in wins and playoff wins (92) since Jan. 1, 2000. He has had nine seasons with at least 30 wins and helped the Penguins advance to the Cup Final four times, winning three of them. Fleury has the distinction of leading two NHL teams all-time in wins; ranking first with the Penguins (375) and Vegas Golden Knights (117). He led the Golden Knights to the Cup Final in their inaugural season in 2018 and won his only Vezina with them in 2020-21. In the playoffs, he also delivered, and ranks third all-time in postseason wins. Fleury also made the NHL All-Star Second Team in 2020-21.
Quote: “I just think the biggest thing that jumps out at me is just his love and passion for the game. To play as long as he has at such a high level, you have to truly love what you do. And he does. … I mean, he’s a talented guy and all of that, fierce competitor, but there’s a lot of talented guys. His passion for the game, I think, is what has allowed him to endure the career that he has for as long as he has.” – former Penguins coach Mike Sullivan
MIN@PIT: Penguins fans chant Fleury’s name, give him a standing ovation
Regular-season stats: 459-310-96, 2.43 GAA, .918 save percentage, 64 shutouts in 887 games (871 starts)
Postseason stats: 61-67, 2.30 GAA, .921 save percentage, 10 shutouts in 130 games
Awards: Won the Vezina in 2011-12 when he had 39 wins, a 1.97 GAA, .930 save percentage and eight shutouts in 62 games with the New York Rangers.
Bio: Lundqvist played his entire 15-year career with the Rangers and had at least 30 wins in 11 of them. That began with his rookie season in 2005-06 when he was 30-12-9 with a 2.24 GAA, 922 save percentage and two shutouts in 53 games (50 starts) and was named to the NHL’s First All-Rookie Team. Lundqvist ranks sixth all-time in NHL history in wins and is the all-time leader in the category among Europe-born goalies in NHL history. He was a five-time Vezina finalist, including in each of his first three NHL seasons and won the award in 2011-12 when he was also named to the First All-Star Team. Lundqvist had a minuscule 2.30 GAA in the playoffs, was 6-2 in Game 7s and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2023.
Quote: “There’s been a great history of very good goalies in New York, and maybe what’s so striking about Henrik was his work ethic. He was a great talent, but he really earned the success that he got. I just have a ton of respect for how he went about it … in the end he was a workhorse. He worked his tail off to get where he is now. All players respect that.” — former Rangers goalie Mike Richter
Henrik Lundqvist Great Saves
Regular-season stats: 486-387-91 (with 32 ties), 2.52 GAA, .919 save percentage, 76 shutouts in 1,035 games (1,005 starts)
Postseason stats: 34-35, 2.49 GAA, .918 save percentage, five shutouts in 70 games (68 starts)
Awards: Although he never won the Vezina, Luongo was a three-time finalist (2004, ’07, ’11). He helped the Vancouver Canucks allow the fewest goals in the League to claim the Jennings Trophy in 2010-11 when he was 38-15-7 with a 2.11 GAA, a .928 save percentage and four shutouts in 60 games.
Bio: Luongo played all but nine of his 1,044 career games in the 2000s. A three-time Vezina finalist, Luongo finished second in voting for that award as well as the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP in 2006-07 when he was 47-22-6 with a 2.28 GAA, .921 save percentage and five shutouts in 76 games (75 starts) for the Canucks. He is the only player in NHL history with at least 250 wins with two different teams and made the First Quarter Century Team for each; Luongo leads the Canucks (252) and Florida Panthers (230) in that category and also tops Vancouver and Florida with 38 shutouts for each team. He led the Canucks to the Cup Final in 2011 and had at least 20 wins in 12 of 13 seasons from 2002-16. Luongo, who made the NHL Second All-Star Team twice (2004, ’07), was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2024.
Quote: “For me, he was the difference for us to get to the next level. If you talk about a winner, he is the guy. The way he competed in practice and in games, but mostly in practice. He never took a day off and that’s something that I think a lot of players learned from. … He just wanted to get better each and every day.” — former Canucks forward Henrik Sedin
Luongo stops puck that bounces off the referee
Regular-season stats: 361-261-79, 2.51 GAA, .917 save percentage, 49 shutouts in 712 games (700 starts)
Postseason stats: 43-45, 2.39 GAA, .919 save percentage, eight shutouts in 92 games (89 starts)
Awards: The Montreal Canadiens goalie cleaned up at the 2015 NHL Awards, winning the Vezina, Hart, Ted Lindsay Award and Jennings Trophy. That season, Price led the NHL in wins (44), GAA (1.96), and save percentage (.933), and tied for second in shutouts (nine). He also won the Masterton Trophy for perseverance in 2021-22.
Bio: In 15 NHL seasons from 2007-22, few were as consistent as Price. He had 10 20-win seasons and had a GAA under 2.83 12 times and a save percentage over .915 eight times. He leads the Canadiens — a franchise that is more than 100 years old — in wins and is third in shutouts. Price was named to the First All-Rookie Team after going 24-12-3 with a 2.56 GAA, .920 save percentage and three shutouts in 41 games (40 starts) in 2007-08, while also finishing fourth in Calder Trophy voting as NHL rookie of the year. In his final postseason in 2020-21, he was 13-9 with a 2.28 GAA and .924 save percentage to help the Canadiens advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1993. He was the first player to win the Vezina, Hart and Ted Lindsay in the same season when he did so in 2014-15.
Quote: “He’s the best in the world for a reason. He has been for a long time and he will be for an even longer time. It’s honestly insane to put into words what he’s accomplished. It’s just another level.” — former Canadiens teammate Max Domi
Carey Price’s top 10 career saves
Regular-season stats: 126-59-0 (with 34 ties), 2.09 GAA, .920 save percentage, 20 shutouts in 223 games (219 starts).
Postseason stats: 41-27, 2.02 GAA, .922 save percentage, 11 shutouts in 68 games
Awards: Although only one of his four Cup wins and none of his three Vezina wins came in the past quarter century, Roy helped the Colorado Avalanche win the Cup in 2001 when he also was voted Conn Smythe winner as MVP of the playoffs (16-7, 1.70 GAA, .934 save percentage, four shutouts in 23 games). He also won the Jennings in 2001-02.
Bio: While only four of his 18 NHL seasons took place in the first quarter century, Roy made them count. He recorded at least 32 wins in each, including 40 during the 2000-01 season, the same season in which he led the Colorado Avalanche to the Stanley Cup and won his third Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP. The following season, he was 32-23-8 with a League-leading 1.94 GAA and nine shutouts to go along with a .925 save percentage in 63 games. Roy won the Jennings Trophy, finished second in Vezina voting, third in Hart voting and made the First All-Star Team. He was named one of the NHL’s 100 Greatest Players at the League’s Centennial celebration in 2017, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006.
Quote: “I always said if I had to play one game and I had the choice of anyone in NHL history to play goal for me, I’d pick Patrick Roy, because whenever the stakes were biggest is when he played his best. That’s a tribute to a great athlete.” — former ESPN hockey analyst Barry Melrose
