Sansided
Eyes On Isles
Home/Islanders All Time Lists

New York Islanders Top 5 Goalies in Team History

UNIONDALE, NY - NOVEMBER 22: Former New York Islander Billy Smith is honored prior to the New York Islanders game against the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on November 22, 2014 in Uniondale, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
UNIONDALE, NY - NOVEMBER 22: Former New York Islander Billy Smith is honored prior to the New York Islanders game against the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on November 22, 2014 in Uniondale, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 6
Next
NEWARK, NJ – OCTOBER 24: Glenn ‘Chico’ Resch is honored by the New Jersey Devils prior to the game against the Dallas Stars at the Prudential Center on October 24, 2014 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEWARK, NJ – OCTOBER 24: Glenn ‘Chico’ Resch is honored by the New Jersey Devils prior to the game against the Dallas Stars at the Prudential Center on October 24, 2014 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Glenn “Chico” Resch

Chico Resch played for the New York Islanders for eight seasons. In that time accumulating a 157-69-47 record. And is the Islanders second winningest goalie in franchise history.

(See the gulf between Billy Smith and the rest of his peers? The second winningest goalie has 147 fewer wins than Smith.)

Resch was the backup for Billy Smith. In his eight years with the Islanders, he never played more than 28 games in a season. So again, it says a lot about the state of the New York Islanders goaltending history when a backup is the second winningest goalie in team history.

It’s not like Resch was a bad goalie. In his eight years, he averaged a 0.911SV% and a 2.56GAA. For the era in which he played in those are outstanding numbers. But as the backup, he didn’t get too many opportunities. Again, he never played more than 28 games in a season.

Chico Resch was with the Islanders for their first cup but was subsequently traded to the Colorado Rockies by the next season. Drawing to a close his time with the Islanders. And there he’d get his chance to become a starter until he retired from the game in 1987.

It’s no surprise that the two best goalies on this list presided over a great period for the franchise. Even though Resch wasn’t around for all four cups he was still around for some Islanders teams that would dominate the NHL.

facebooktwitterreddit