St Louis Blues: Top 30 Goaltenders in Franchise History
3. Roman Turek
1999-2001; 121 games, 66-33-19 record, .907 save percentage, 2.10 GAA, 13 shutouts; 21 postseason games, 12-9 record; 2000 NHL All-Star, 2000 William M. Jennings Trophy Winner, 2000 Vezina Trophy Runner-Up
Due to Turek’s collapse in the 2000-01 Western Conference Finals, it’s easy to forget that Turek arguably put up the most video game-like numbers of any goaltender in St Louis Blues history. During his first season with the Blues, 1999-2000, Turek was spectacular for a Blues team that won the Presidents’ Trophy.
Over 67 games, he went 42-15-9 with a .912 save percentage, a 1.95 goals-against average, and seven shutouts. His 42 wins that year are a record for a Blues goaltender. Unfortunately, his performance dropped off significantly in the playoffs, and he was mediocre at best for a Blues team that was knocked out in seven games during a first-round series with the San Jose Sharks.
Turek came back in 2000-01 and wasn’t as dominant during the regular season, ceding some playing time to rookie Brent Johnson, but his numbers were still very good, as he played 54 games, going 24-18-10 with a .901 save percentage, a 2.28 GAA, and six shutouts.
This time around, he started off much better during the postseason, leading the Blues to a six-game first-round series victory over the Sharks, then helping the team to a four-game sweep of the Dallas Stars in the Conference Semifinals.
Turek just fell apart in the Conference Finals, however, giving up 14 goals over the first four games of the series. Even in the Blues’ Game 3 victory, Turek was a bit shaky, giving up three goals on 33 shots. By the time Turek gave up a costly overtime goal to Stephane Yelle in Game 4, coach Joel Quenneville had lost patience with him, and he turned to Johnson for the rest of that game and in the Blues’ Game 5 elimination loss to the Avs.
With Turek’s failure in the playoffs that year, the Blues sought to go a different direction after the season and swapped Turek for Calgary Flames backup, Fred Brathwaite, while handing Johnson the starting job.
Though his time was brief in St. Louis and his playoff failures pronounced, we can’t forget the fact that Turek delivered one of the greatest regular season performances in franchise history during 1999-2000, then won two playoff series to lead the team to the Conference Finals in 2000-01. Thus, he’s higher up in the rankings than a longtime Blues fan might place him off the top of his or her head.
Next: 2. Mike Liut