On a Great Team, Could Henrik Lundqvist Break the Single Season 22 Shut Out Record?
 

George Hainsworth of the 1928-1929 Montreal Canadiens set the single season NHL record in shut outs with 22.

We are almost done completing our defensive corps. We have four extremely solid guys in Staal, Girardi, McDonagh, and Sauer. Two of the previously mentioned four are rookies who play well beyond their years (imagine them when they're seasoned!), Staal is elite, and Girardi is a usable 1st pairing guy, but better suited to the second pairing role. We have one more major D man to add before our defense can become scary. Let's say in two or three years our defense as a whole becomes elite with no holes. Is there any limit to what Henrik can do if this likely scenario occurs?

Elite D = easier games for an elite goalie = more shut outs.


Just for the record, there are four players tied for second place all time with 15 shut outs.

No .

There's no way. If Brodeur couldn't do it with Stevens, Niedermayer, Daneyko and Rafalski there's no way Lundqvist can do it. Brodeur only got to 12. It's next to impossible, especially with the way today's game is.

no way, thats just impossible to do in today's nhl

I'm going to put my money on No.

It IS impossible.

There isn't a shot in hell.

It is an unbreakable record.

Not sure if serious.

You know what they always say....

What happens in the 20's, stays in the 20's! :laugh:

Can he get more than 11? Yes.

Will he ever get near 20? No.

Will ANYONE ever get near 20? No.

No, and he won't even get close. It's just impossible in the modern era.

It's like asking if Sidney Crosby will break Gretzky's 215 point season record. Unless the game undergoes massive changes, it's just not realistic. Crosby is a fantastic player (as is Lundqvist), but the game is different now than it was when the record was set.

The problem is that Brodeur got the most shutouts in a season in his career (12) after the lockout.

Yea I'm going to go with a big HELL NO to that one.

In my mind Hasek was the greatest to ever put on pads. If he can't do it, noone can.

Which is indicative of how difficult and absurd 22 really is.

I'm pretty sure there was no forward passing of the puck at that time, therefore - easy games for goalies.

But it does make your argument of him having defensive players on the team a moot point.

Well, it wasn't until 1928 that forward passes were allowed in the defensive and neutral zones, and the offensive zone the next season.

EDIT: TO be clear, it was the 1929-1930 season in which forward passes were finally allowed in the offensive zone. The season after the record was set. So the record was set when the game was essentially rugby on ice. Not modern hockey.

As for my own opinion, I feel that Henrik could tie for second place all time or stand alone with more with a truly great team supporting him, but I wouldn't bet on him breaking the all time record. Just wanted to know what you guys thought, don't shoot. :laugh:

maybe if he played behind a defense with Lidstrom, Chara, Staal, Weber, Doughty, and Seabrook.

It would take a special team to allow him to do that...
That team most certainly would not fit under a salary cap.

or 6 Marc Staals :yo:

How did they enforce - no forward passing? Whistle the play dead? That sounds awful by today's standards.

Not likely. Even to get to 17, which would be a remarkable number, he would have to record a SO every 4 games assuming 68 starts. To get to 22 that would increase to a SO every 3 games. That's just about impossible.