[Jay Random]

I make a distinction between the best of all time and the greatest of all time. ‘Best’ is about skill playing the position. ‘Greatest’ is about influence on the game.

With that in mind, I believe Hasek was the best. But Roy changed the way the game is played.

When I was young, back in the Upper Cretaceous, whenever little kids played pickup hockey, it was always the least athletic or most unpopular kid who got stuck playing goal. After Roy, playing goal became cool. Kids with top-notch athletic talent actually wanted to grow up to be goalies. The massive improvement in equipment and training came after, and as a direct result of that.

Patrick Roy changed goaltending as much as Bobby Orr changed the role of the defenceman. He himself is one of the biggest reasons why you can't compare modern goalies with those who came before his time. That, to me, makes him the greatest goalie in the history of the game.