Spanning generations, The Maven takes a look at his top-20 favorite all-time New York Islanders goalies.

Spanning generations, The Maven takes a look at his top-20 favorite all-time New York Islanders goalies.

1. BILLY SMITH: Battlin' Bill did it all; as in winning all four Stanley Cups. For The Maven, he always had the honest answer that made him a superior interview.  His post-game with NHL President John Ziegler after the Isles swept Edmonton in 1983 remains an all-time winner among classic out-downs of the Oilers and Wayne Gretzky. Smitty's Game One win over Edmonton in '93 was the finest exhibition of clutch playoff goaltending I'd ever seen.

2. GLENN (CHICO) RESCH: The most popular Islander of his time, Chico is remembered for his 1-0 win in Game 7 of the 1975 0-3 to 4-3 playoff comeback against the Penguins. That, however, is but one example of Glenn's heroics which helped put the Nassaum atop the late 1970's hockey map leading to Resch's one Cup in 1980. Chico was the perfect face of a new NHL franchise, and he had the articulation and personality to please the media.

3. KELLY HRUDEY: The Easter Epic victory at Capitol Centre in Landover, Maryland in the 1987 playoff against the Capitals stands out among the greatest Isles games in franchise history. What's more, Hrudey's 73 saves rank as an NHL goalkeeping classic. As an interview, Kelly was in the A-1 class with both Resch and Smitty.

4. ROLAND MELANSON: Alias "Rollie The Goalie," Melanson emerged as the franchise's first extra-dependable backup. He underlined that point with a number of winning pinch-hit performances, including a pivotal playoff stint against Washington that was a turning point toward yet another Stanley Cup. A bright and amiable fellow, Rollie was a pleasure with whom to schmooze.

5. GLENN HEALY: When the two-time Stanley Cup champion Penguins were driving for their third straight title in the spring of 1993, they underestimated the Isles and the club's netminding. Healy out-goalied the Penguins Tom Barrasso in the pivotal Game Seven, thereby ensuring one of the biggest upsets in playoff annals. And let's not forget that Glenn was half of the hilarious "Heals and Flats" show he worked on offstage with teammate Patrick Flatley.

6. ILYA SOROKIN: In an era when almost every goalie's style now is cookie-cut from the same cutter, this Russian-born phenomenon has introduced an amazingly effective hybrid brand of stopping to his profession. What's more -- in a relatively short time -- he has won the hearts of the UBS crowd with a dossier of amazing performances. Or, as one fan put it: "He's just so gosh, darn good!"

7. SEMYON VARLAMOV: For starters, let's not forget that he almost took the team to the final round in back-to-back years. Varly was as solid as they came -- and remains so -- while occasionally stealing a game when the victory most counted. He has proven to be the ideal mentor and pinch-goalie for Ilya Sorokin.

8. CHRIS OSGOOD: At a time when Michael Peca and Alexei Yashin were powering the Isles offense, they were well-supported by Ossie. In one of the most bitter playoffs with the Maple Leafs in the 2002 postseason. It was Osgood who goaled the Nassaumen to a Game Seven showdown. Had Gary Roberts not bulldozed Osgood in the crease -- a game-changer if ever there was one -- Ossie might have won that game and the series.

9. EVGENI NABOKOV: Over more than a half-century of interviewing, The Maven never has so totally bonded with a goalkeeper as I did during Nabby's stint with the Islanders. Not only was his goaltending of the nonpareil variety, but he was thoroughly at home during our post-game schmoozes on camera. When I'd say, "What tune does this game remind you of?" Nabby would then respond with a line that would enable us to have five minutes of laughs. It was the most fun I ever had chatting with goalies.

10. THOMAS GREISS: I've found -- over the decades -- that some interviews were easy, some were tough, and others were challenging. Thomas, being a naturally good fellow, fell somewhere in between. For starters, there's the fact that the German-born puck-stopper was good at his job and enjoyed enough sensational games to be a choice post-game guest. But being innately modest, he never liked to talk about himself. What I'd start my interview with was a "Greiss is nice!" line and then lead him into his big saves and the victory. Granted that interviewing him was a challenge, but it also was fun.

11. ROBIN LEHNER: Rarely does a netminder become an overnight folk hero, but this previous unknown captured the hearts of Islanders fans in two ways. For one, his puck-stopping was in the deluxe category, and, for another, Lehner bared his soul -- not to mention his mental health problems -- to the public in such a way that he inspired love more than anything. The unfortunate aspect was that, instead of appreciating all the good things that were happening to him on the Island, he nevertheless chose to leave.

12. WADE DUBLEWICZ: He didn't look like a goalie -- too small, they said. Nor did he act like a goalie; kind of far out, but when it came to playing like a goalie, one deft, extremely timely, and unexpected poke-check warmed the hearts of The Faithful. Dubby-Do wasn't exactly a one-save wonder, but the magic poke check has earned Wade a permanent spot in the hearts of Isles fans.

13. ROBERTO LUONGO: The title of his all-too-brief stint in Uniondale could be "Oh, What Might Have Been." Just think of it; had Mike Milbury decided not to trade this long drink of water, the Isles would have had years of netminding that would wind up being a Hall of Fame career. But it sure was fun during the time that Louie graced the Coliseum ice.

14. TOMMY SALO: Like Luongo, the crafty Swedish crease guardian was an awfully good one and better than the critics wrote. But neither the timing nor the team enabled Salo to obtain the accolades that he deserved. For my part, he was a cooperative interview and good enough for me to wish he never would be traded from Uniondale.

15. RICK DIPIETRO: Lady Luck did nothing but frown on this extraordinary talent. Let me say at the beginning that I have never -- ever! -- seen a better puck-handling goalie than this fellow. He was fast and accurate with his passes and an excellent skater to boot. As a matter of fact, this glib interview had all the goods -- except immunity to injury, the element that prematurely shortened his career. This was yet another case of "Oh, what might have been!"

16. JAROSAL HALAK: If you can call it a 'mistake,' the only mistake -- in my eyes, mind you -- Jaro made was following the Maven-Nabby routine. My mistake was thinking that I had another fun guy in the interviewing stable like Nabby. I found that out after Halak's first win at MSG. He had impressively beaten the Rangers, and when I cornered Jaro for the interview, the mistake I made was opening with: "Do you know what song this win reminds me of?" He stared at me as if I had five heads, and then we figured things out from there. All things considered, Jaro was a good goalie and a darned good interview as well.

17. MARK FITZPATRICK: My conclusion after watching a month of his solid stopping was that the Isles had a future Vezina Trophy winner on their hands. Fitz had all the goods and size to go with it, but -- well before he reached his prime -- a mystery illness sidelined him for far too long. By the time Mark returned to the team, he still had major league written all over him, but the sad part was that he never re-found that extra-special groove that enabled him to be a young ace, and that was that.

18. RON HEXTALL: How and why general manager Don Maloney allowed Glenn Healy to leave after Heals' super 1992-93 season, I'll never know. At first, Hexy looked like as good a replacement as any, and -- say this -- Ron did help the club into a final week-of-the-season playoff berth. But the straight-set first-round rout (four-straight) administered by the Rangers made Hex look as if he had just dropped in from the American Hockey League. Too bad the fans liked him, especially during an exhibition game when he fired the puck at the head of a Ranger who had just scored on him!

19. GARTH SNOW: You had to just love this guy as a player. He was fiery, fun, and not too bad with the (oversized) equipment, Snowy was just tickled to be on a Met Area team -- and not Quebec -- and what's more, he showed it. We even loved him as a general manager, but that's another story for another time.

20. WADE FLAHERTY: If I had to pick one goalkeeper from this list as a true "Unsung Hero," Flaherty would be my guy. He arrived on Hempstead Turnpike for the 1997-98 season, and in 11 games, his record was 4-4-3 with a superior 1.99 goals against average and .920 save percentage. For some reason, Flaherty never got a full-time gig and exited the team after the 2000-01 campaign. Historically, Wade is notorious as the goalie who was the last to give up a red light to Wayne Gretzky!