Betway did a recent question and answer with Hockey Hall of Fame Member Grant Fuhr.
Is it important to have a veteran goalie on the squad to help guide younger goalies?
I think the dynamic has changed. When I came into the league, I didn’t have a goalie coach for the first 13 years, so your partner was your guy to bounce things off of. Whereas now a lot of guys have their own goalie coach, the team has a goalie coach, there’s a director of goalie development, so you’ve got a lot of guys in the system who you can bounce ideas off of. Which means you don’t really have to have that veteran guy now. You can go with two young guys, because you have other guys for them to talk to. Whereas back in my day, the veteran was important, because he was literally your only sounding board.
Do you think our understanding of goaltending is behind because goaltenders are almost playing a different sport than skaters?
Yeah! You’re looking at basically three hours of being engaged. For me the biggest misnomer that everybody talks about, that you hear about, is save percentage. I’m not a fan of save percentage. I’m a fan of ‘Can you make the right save at the right time?’ And they don’t have a dynamic for that yet. At some point they’ll come up with it, it’s getting better and better. But every building counts shots differently. So, save percentage I kind of throw out the window. I look at quality of saves at opportune times in the game. Can you make that save to change the momentum of the game? Can you make that save to save a game? That’s more important to me, and win. It was like that when I came into the league, and it’s like that now. Can you win a game when it’s on the line? That to me is the biggest statistic there is.
A look at Fuhr's career.
You played for both the Oilers and the Maple Leafs in your career, who you do think is closest to winning a Championship?
Both teams are great offensively, but when it comes down to grinding it out against a heavy team for seven games, can you win the 2-1 game? We found out in the early 80’s with our team, we were a big offensive team, but we had to learn how to play those games. Play the heavy game, the hard grinding game. With Toronto the last couple of years, when they play big, physical teams, they struggle with it. Look at last year, that’s what the Florida Panthers were. A big, heavy, physical team, and they will be this year too. They’re going to have to learn how to play that game. Edmonton’s in the same boat. You look at the Vegas Golden Knights, Winnipeg Jets, and Vancouver Canucks, they play a big, heavy game, and they can win those 2-1 games. They’re comfortable playing in those games. Edmonton’s going to have to learn how to be comfortable in those games. Both those clubs are still in the learning process.
You got to play for some big franchises in your career, was there any market you wish you got the chance to play in?
I was pretty fortunate. I would have liked to finish my career back in Edmonton, but if I couldn’t finish in Edmonton, Calgary was close enough. My mom is from Calgary so finishing back there was okay. There are no bad cities in the NHL. It would have been fun to play in Chicago, Boston, or Montreal as an original six city, but if not, Edmonton was a pretty great place to play.
If this year’s Stanley Cup Finals is Edmonton Oilers vs Toronto Maple Leafs, who is Grant Fuhr’s pick to win it all?
Oh, I’ll still stick with the Oilers. It’s still in my blood. It would be a fun final because both teams are so offensive. In the first few games you would see both teams lean on what they do best, which is run and gun. That would be exciting! It would be media heaven. You’ve got Toronto, which everyone thinks is the centre of the universe, Auston Matthews who could score 70 or 75 this year, and then you’ve got Connor McDavid. It would be a fun series to watch, and the fun part for me would be Zach Hyman, who played in Toronto. Shipping him to Edmonton figuring he was expendable, and all of a sudden, he could score 50 or 55 goals this year.
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