Five Greatest Goaltenders In Bruins History

In honor of the Bruins signing goaltender Jeremy Swayman to a one-year deal on Tuesday and Linus Ullmark celebrating it on his Instagram account, it's the perfect time to reflect on some of Boston's most outstanding netminders.

Goaltenders are the most important player on a hockey team. Often described as agile and technically sound, goaltenders are the last line of defense and the best penalty killer. As a result, they can directly impact the game's outcome. The Bruins have been fortunate to have some stellar goalies put on the pads and defend their net.

Many of the goaltenders that wore the Spoked-B in their careers have won various awards in the NHL.

Frank Brimsek and Andrew Raycroft both won the Calder Memorial Trophy for Rookie of the Year. Tim Thomas won the Conn Smythe Trophy for the most valuable player in the playoffs. Ullmark, Brimsek, Thomas, Tuukka Rask, Pete Peeters, and Tiny Thompson have all won the Vezina Trophy for the top goaltender in the NHL.

Four goalie tandems, Ullmark and Swayman, Reggie Lemelin and Andy Moog, Manny Fernandez and Thomas, and Rask and Jaroslav Halak have earned the William M. Jennings Trophy for the fewest goals given up in the regular season.

Yet as crucial as the goaltender is to the team, out of the 12 retired Bruin jersey numbers, none of them are goalies. With so many to choose from, who is the best to put on the pads for Boston?

Here are the five greatest:

Frank Brimsek (1939-1949)
Brimsek played 444 games in net for the Bruins, winning the Stanley Cup in 1939 and 1941. Out of his 230 wins, 35 of them came via the shutout. He is one of three Bruins goaltenders to win the Vezina at least twice (1938-39 and 1941-42) and the only Boston goalie to win both the Calder and Vezina trophies in the same season (1938-1939). Brimsek was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1966.

Tim Thomas (2002-2012)
No one can deny the performance Thomas had during the 2011 Stanley Cup run between the pipes for Boston, becoming the first goalie since the 1974-75 season to win the Cup, Vezina and Conn Smythe trophies in the same season. Philadelphia Flyers goalie Bernie Parent is the only other player to earn all three in one season and he did it twice in 1973-74 and 1974-75.

Thomas earned his first Vezina in 2009, leading the league with a 2.10 goals-against average and .933 save percentage. Thomas won 196 of 378 games between the pipes for Boston and his save percentage of .921 is tied for second with Rask, behind Ullmark (.928) on the Bruins' all-time leaderboard.

Gerry Cheevers (1965-72, 1975-80)
Cheevers was the netminder that led the Bruins to their 1970 and 1972 Stanley Cup wins. Over his 12 seasons with the Black and Gold, Cheevers faced 11,747 shots making 10,579 saves for a save percentage of .901. He won 226 games while donning the Spoked-B with 26 via shutout.

The Ontario native not only played 416 games between the pipes for Boston, but following his playing career, he led the team behind the bench as head coach for four seasons in the '80s. Cheevers was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985.

Tuukka Rask (2007-2022)
While Rask never won the Stanley Cup as the starting goaltender, his name is engraved on the trophy as part of the 2011 Cup-winning team. Rask leads all Bruins goalies with 308 wins, is second in shutouts (52), and is tied for second in save percentage with Thomas (.921). Rask led the Bruins to two Stanley Cup Finals in 2013 and 2019. Unfortunately, the Black and Gold were on the losing end of both series. However, his 57 playoff wins are the team’s best all-time.

Tiny Thompson (1928-1939)
Thompson is second behind Rask in Bruins history for wins (252) but holds the record for shutouts with 74. Thompson also tops the list with a 1.99 goals-against average over his 11 years in Boston. He led the Bruins to their first-ever Stanley Cup win in 1928-29 and won four Vezina Trophies while playing for Boston. Thompson held the record for most games played (468) until 2019 when Rask surpassed him with 564. Thompson was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1959.

Honorable mention: Andy Moog (1987-1993). Moog led the Bruins to two Stanley Cup appearances in 1988 and 1990 against the Edmonton Oilers. Moog won 136 games for Boston with 13 shutouts in his six years wearing the Spoked-B.