These Colorado Avalanche Goalies make up "Mount Rushmore"
This begins a new series, a Mount Rushmore of Colorado Avalanche players through the years.
Mount Rushmore is one of the iconic landmarks of the United States. Nestled in the Black Hills of South Dakota, it’s a mountain with sculptures carved into the side depicting previous influential United States Presidents. It’s comprised of four people, Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt and Jefferson.
Since its inception, the faces depicted on the mural have been debated in multiple ways like their impact on the country, if others should have been sculpted, and many other takes.
In the sports world, a “Mount Rushmore” of a team, or positional area, or city has been debated for years, and Mile High Sticking is about to take their turn. The first instalment of this series will be the goaltenders.
As the Avalanche have been in Denver since 1996, there’s plenty of players up for selection, and the franchise’s time in Quebec won’t be taken into consideration. Although guys like Ron Hextall and Stephane Fiset (great mask) had quality careers with the franchise, they did it for the Nordiques and thus weren’t the Avalanche.
There are plenty of goalies to choose from over the course of 28 years in Denver, and there were a few that stood out. There were also a few up for debate, and some quality netminders didn’t make the cut. Without further ado, here is the Mount Rushmore of Colorado Avalanche goalies.
1.) Patrick Roy
This selection is likely the most obvious. Patrick Roy is arguably the greatest goaltender in NHL history and the Avalanche were lucky enough to have him don the burgundy and blue for several years, helping the team to two Stanley Cup victories during his time in Denver. Acquired midway through the 1995-96 season, Roy was a key cog in the Avalanche’s run to lift Lord Stanley’s chalice later that season. Roy then led the league in wins his first full season in Colorado with 38. He again backstopped the team to a Stanley Cup victory in 2000-01. The next season he led the league in goals against average at 1.94 and shutouts with nine.
Over his Colorado career, he won 262 of the 478 games he played. He had a 2.27 goals against average while wearing the burgundy and blue, and totalled 37 shutouts, more than he had in Montreal.
Roy’s star shone brightest during his time in the playoffs with Colorado. He played 133 games during the playoffs and had a 2.18 goals against average to show for it, with 18 shutouts! He only had five playoff shutouts in Montreal over nine years. Most importantly for Avalanche fans, Roy hoisted those two Stanley Cups. He’s the top goalie on Mount Rushmore.
2.) Semyon Varlamov
Russian born Semyon Varlamov is next on the Mount Rushmore of Colorado goalies. He played in 389 games over eight years in Colorado, and won 183 of those games, second only to Roy on the Colorado wins list. In 2013-14, Varlamov won 41 games for the Avs and helped the team to its only playoff appearance while wearing their colors, a seven-game series loss.
Semyon finished his Avalanche career with a .915 save percentage and a 2.72 goals-against average. He provided a quality start 55% of the time while an Av, posting 206 quality starts over his 389 total games.
After his time in Colorado, Varlamov moved to Long Island where he found a home with the Islanders, splitting time with fellow countryman Ilya Sorokin.
Varlamov was a staple of the Avalanche lineup during his time in Denver. Fans remember him fondly as the top choice in goal for the team, and he provided solid, productive play during his tenure.
Varlamov is second all-time in Avalanche history (to Roy) in games played, wins, goals against, shots against, shutouts and saves. He had over 10,000 saves while wearing an Avalanche uniform. Varlamov is top-ten all-time in save percentage and is top-20 in goals against average. He’s second to only Roy in minutes played as an Avalanche, logging a whopping 22,255 total minutes.
Although the Avalanche as a team were not great during Semyon’s time there, only entering the chase for the Cup one time during his tenure, Varlamov was a stalwart of the team, anchoring the defensive core for eight years. His body of work is clearly good enough to be on Colorado’s Mount Rushmore of netminders and is firmly behind Patrick Roy.
3.) Peter Budaj
Peter Budaj was a homegrown Colorado product, drafted in the second round of the 2001 draft by the Avs. The Czech native played six seasons in Colorado, serving primarily as a backup goaltender during that time to various goalies like Jose Theodore, Andre Raycroft, and others.
He played 242 games with Colorado, never starting more than 57 games in a single season and was a steadying presence that could give the Avs a chance to win when their typical starter was out. He could also provide quality netminding over the long haul, to go along with that 57-game season, he also had a 56-game season—a good number of games for a starting goalie in this league. Budaj won 15 or more games in four of his six seasons in Colorado and won 14 games in his rookie season in 2005-06.
Budaj is third all-time in games played for an Avalanche goalie. He’s fourth all-time in wins, shots against, minutes played and saves. He’s fifth all-time in shutouts for an Avalanche goalie.
After his time in Colorado, "Ned Flanders," as he was known, bounced around with a few teams, notably the Montreal Canadiens and the Los Angeles Kings. His overall numbers were slightly improved once he left Colorado, but that can be attributed to maturing as a goaltender and not playing as many games as he did in Colorado. Budaj got most of his career wins while wearing Burgundy and Blue, and played 242 of his 368 career games in Colorado.
By providing a steadying presence and typically giving the Avalanche an opportunity to win when he was between the pipes, Budaj has earned his way onto the Mount Rushmore of Colorado netminding.
4.) David Aebischer
The fourth position on the Mount Rushmore of Colorado Avalanche goalies is likely to be highly scrutinized and discussed among Avalanche faithful as there are a few goalies who could be in this position, all for various reasons.
The fourth spot on Mount Rushmore goes to David Aebischer for a multitude of reasons. Aebischer was a sixth-round draft pick of Colorado in 1997, and the Swiss native played five seasons in Colorado. As each goalie on this list played at least five seasons with the team, tenure plays a role here.
During that tenure, Aebischer was effective. He played 174 games, winning 89 games while losing just 58 during this time. Aebischer had a career .915 save percentage, far better than at any other point in his career. He had a stellar 2.35 goals against average and added 13 shutouts as an Avalanche. He never had another shutout in his NHL career.
Aebischer had a 40.3 goals saved above average (goals prevented given his save percentage and shots faced) during his time in Colorado, and his goalie point shares were 32.6. This stat is an estimate of points contributed by a goalie due to his play in net. His numbers in each of those categories were significantly lower while on other teams.
A few key factors pushed Aebischer to Mount Rushmore ahead of others. Aebischer’s goals against average is significantly better than current Avalanche netminder Alexandar Georgiev. Aebischer also has more wins than Georgiev, albeit in a few more seasons. His goals against is nearly identical to Phillip Grubauer while playing 61 more games for the Avs. Aebischer also has 23 more wins and one more shutout than Grubauer (13 to 12).
For these reasons, Aebischer gets the nod.
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