Quote:
Originally Posted by Templer
So in the 80' they made more points?
What changed?
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Goalies got bigger, better and their padding took some industrial strength steroids.
In 1983-1984, Tom Barasso won the Vezina (top goaltender) with an .893 save percentage. Best in the league that year were Melanson (.903 in 37 games) and Smith (.896 in 42 games) for the Islanders.
Last season, Garret Sparks of Toronto put up an .893, which was 76th best in the league.
Teams also learned to play some defense along the way, and expansion diluted the top offensive talent.