3refs said:
"But, if I had to pick one, I couldn't! I'd flip a coin and take either Bower or Jacques Plante."
These guys were truly great! As long as Plante stayed in his crease he could stop anything. Problem was that he liked to wander around, but Les Habs had a second netminder on the ice called Doug Harvey.
Bowers had lightning fast reflexes and would get his glove, stick, pad, or head if necessary (no mask) in front of a Bobby Hull or Boom Boom slapshot. He was an old man by hockey standards and was still quicker than a teenager. A great shame that his younger playing days were lost in the minors.
Sawchuck I would rate as the greatest that I have seen only because he played much longer than Bower. He could do it all!
Glen Hall came alive in the playoffs and deserves to be rated highly as well. All that being said all of these men had great teams with a strong defense in front of them and would face about 30 shots or less in a game. Now Gumper Worsley had a much weaker team through those years and would face twice as many shots. He let more in but his save percentage was, I believe, often the highest in the league so he deserves mention.
There have been great goaltenders before and since but the last decade of the 6 team loop concentrated not only great goalies but great scorers as well. I consider that to have been hockey's greatest era!