Some would say that they are made in a factory. The Russian goalies in the NHL are always a treat to watch because of their acrobatic limbs, intense and detailed European training methods, and how they position themselves on stopping the puck. The country of Russia has produced some of the greatest goaltenders to play in history, including likely a few current players.
When goaltenders like Shesterkin, Bobrovsky, or Vasilevskiy steal the show, no one is quite surprised anymore. As the league has gotten more populated in the past few years by the Czech, Latvian, Finnish and Swedish, and less spots are available for the Canadian, Russian and American keepers, who do we see still as some of the top goalies and in their prime, as well as some new up and comers?
Current Russian Goalies (as of December 26th)
Igor Shesterkin (NYR): 16-11-3 ; .908% and 2.55 GAA
Andrei Vasilevsky (TBL): 13-7-2 ; .915% and 2.32 GAA
Yaroslav Askarov (SJS): 12-10-1 ; .898% and 3.37 GAA
Ilya Sorokin (NYI): 12-10-2 ; .910% and 2.55 GAA
Sergei Bobrovsky (FLA): 16-8-1 ; .889% and 2.78 GAA
Pyotr Kochetkov (CAR): 6-2-0 ; .899% and 2.33 GAA
Vitek Vanecek (UTA): 2-8-1 ; .882% and 2.81 GAA
Sergei Murashov (PIT): 1-1-2 ; .897% and 2.56 GAA
Vyacheslav Buteyets (ANA): 0-1-0, .769% (first NHL start)
Artur Akhtyamov (TOR): 5 saves in relief for the Maple Leafs
