4 Goalies To Avoid The Tretiak Hockey Hall Of Fame Curse

Something happened in the hockey world in 1989 that may have cursed all who follow. Vladislav Tretiak was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Tretiak was absolutely worthy of the honour but, over the 25 years since, just four goaltenders have entered the shrine.

The first goalies to be inducted came in the inaugural year of the Hockey Hall of Fame, 1945. Charlie Gardner and Georges Vezina were two of three goalies to be inducted during the 1940’s. Four more goalies entered in the 1950’s before the dam burst and ten netminders were inducted in the 1960’s. The numbers dropped slightly in the 1970’s with six entering the Hall before eight more were honoured in the 1980’s.

It all seems to have ended, however, with the 1989 induction of Tretiak. Let’s take a look at the four goalies to reach the pinnacle since. It should be noted that two will most likely soon be inducted. Dominik Hasek is due in 2014 and whenever the day comes that Martin Brodeur retires, he is an automatic.

Billy Smith – 1993

After a year of junior hockey in the QMJHL playing for the Cornwall Royals in 1969-70, Billy became a fifth round pick of the Los Angeles Kings at the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft, 59th overall. He played just five games for Los Angeles during the 1971-72 National Hockey League season, the only five games during his NHL career that would not be played with the New York Islanders.

The Islanders selected Smith fourth overall at the 1972 NHL Expansion Draft, meant to stock New York and the Atlanta Flames with every other team’s rejects. Billy played for the Islanders from 1972-73 until he retired after the 1988-89 season.

Billy played a major role in the Islanders winning the Stanley Cup in four consecutive seasons from 1979-80 to 1982-83. In the last run, 1982-83, he was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Smith was a Vezina Trophy winner just once, in 1981-82. His number 31 has been retired by the New York Islanders. The Billy Smith rookie card comes in the form of number 142 in the 1973-74 O-Pee-Chee set. The hockey card is the second most valuable hockey card in the set, behind just the Larry Robinson rookie card.

Grant Fuhr – 2003

In 2003, Grant Fuhr was the first goaltender to be inducted in over a decade. After two years of junior hockey in the WHL with the Victoria Cougars in 1979-80 and 1980-81, Fuhr was taken eighth overall by the Edmonton Oilers at the 1981 NHL Entry Draft.

Grant played in the National Hockey League between 1981-82 and 1999-00 with the Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Buffalo Sabres, Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues and Calgary Flames. He won five Stanley Cup championships with the Oilers and was awarded the Vezina Trophy in 1987-88. The Oilers have retired Fuhr’s number 31.

The Grant Fuhr rookie card appears as number 105 in the 1982-83 O-Pee-Chee set. Not only is that first Fuhr hockey card the most valuable RC in the set, it is equal to Wayne Gretzky as the most valuable of any card in the set.

Patrick Roy – 2006

Patrick Roy was a second round pick by the Granby Bisons at the 1982 QMJHL Entry Draft and played with the club for three years from 1982-83 to 1984-85. After his second season of junior, Patrick was a third round pick by the Montreal Canadiens at the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, 51st overall.

Roy played in the National Hockey League from 1985-86 to 2002-03 with the Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche. He won four Stanley Cup championships, two with Montreal and two with Colorado. His first came in his rookie season, 1985-86, when he was awarded his first of three Conn Smythe Trophies.

Patrick also was awarded the Vezina Trophy on three occasions. Not only was he inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2006 but was honoured by the IIHF Hall of Fame the same year. His number 33 has been retired by both the Canadiens and Avalanche.

The Patrick Roy rookie card appears as number 53 in the 1986-87 O-Pee-Chee set. The first Roy hockey card is by far the most valuable in the set, more than twice the value of the next, that of Mario Lemieux.

Ed Belfour – 2011

After a year of U.S. College hockey, the undrafted Belfour went pro in 1987-88 with the Saginaw Gears of the IHL. He was honoured as the league’s rookie of the year. By the following season, he played his first 23 games in the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Belfour played in the NHL from 1988-89 to 2006-07 with the Blackhawks, San Jose Sharks, Dallas Stars, Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers. However, his official rookie season didn’t come until 1990-91.

In that 1990-91 season, Ed played in 74 games for the Blackhawks and was on the winning end 43 times. Both those numbers are still NHL rookie goalie records. Belfour was awarded the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year while posting a 2.47 goals against average and .910 save percentage.

Belfour won one Stanley Cup with the Dallas Stars in 1998-99. He was awarded the Vezina Trophy twice. After the NHL, Ed played one last year with Leksand in Sweden’s Allsvenskan before retiring from the game as a player.

The Ed Belfour rookie card comes out of the jumbled mass of hockey cards that was 1990-91. There are three cards from three different manufacturers that are considered the Belfour RC. The 1990-91 Upper Deck number 55 is the most valuable of the three, followed by number 7 in the 1990-91 Bowman set. The least valuable is number 598 in the infamous, mega-mass-produced 1990-91 ProSet collection.