Unmasked: Favorite attribute from fellow goalies

Holiday memories have a special place for the many NHL goalies who link their initial passion for the position to the unique equipment it requires, and often remember having it fueled by at least one piece of gear that was waiting under the tree on Christmas morning.

Whether it was a new set of pads (Carey Price, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Spencer Martin), or their first set (Collin Delia, Roberto Luongo, Martin Jones, Cam Talbot), goalie skates (Martin Biron) or gloves (Juuse Saros, Louis Domingue), especially ones that matched team colors (Jamie McLennan, Pheonix Copley), their first proper mask (Pekka Rinne, Ryan Miller, Talbot), first painted mask (Anders Nilsson, Jacob Markstrom), or just a stick (Jordan Binnington, Devan Dubnyk), most goalies have a vivid memory of getting new equipment for Christmas.
They often ended up wearing it to bed (Rinne) and in many cases, cite it as a moment of arrival at a higher level, or transition into taking things more seriously.
"As soon as you get your first set of goalie gear and you commit to the position, I kind of feel like that is a big Christmas for you as a young goaltender," Talbot said in 2018.
Unmasked has been sharing those stories annually in this space since 2015, so we decided to switch things up for the second time this year and ask NHL goalies if they could have any attribute from a puck-stopping peer under the tree Christmas morning, what would it be?
Just as they were the last time Unmasked asked this question in 2016, the answers provided a reflection of the best goalies in the NHL, and evolving trends surrounding the position.
Price was a popular pick six years ago for the power and precision of his crease movements, so it's probably not a shock to learn that Vasilevskiy was the name cited most after the Tampa Bay Lightning workhorse won the Vezina Trophy in 2018-19 as the best goalie in the NHL, and the Stanley Cup twice in 2020 and 2021, including the Conn Smythe Trophy as Stanley Cup Playoffs MVP in 2021, before a third straight trip to the Cup Final last season.
Five of the 11 goalies polled this season picked Vasilevskiy but some for different reasons.
"I think Vasilevskiy is the best goalie in the League, so I want to say his athleticism," said San Jose Sharks No. 1 James Reimer. "Just the way he rotates and can move on lateral plays. Vasilevskiy has the ability to get down and get across so fast and I feel like his athleticism is insane, but I feel like that's like the end game of his ability to move around the crease."

St. Louis Blues starter Jordan Binnington pointed to Vasilevskiy's speed and flexibility, and the latter was also the first thing singled out by Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Ilya Samsonov.
"If you stretch like 'Vasy', it helps you to be strong on the posts and you feel a little bit better," Samsonov said. "I'm working a lot about this but Vasilevskiy, he's not human, no? He's an animal. If I try to play like Vasy, I'd be a little bit broken."
Washington Capitals goalie Charlie Lindgren wants several of Vasilevskiy's best attributes.
"Power and quickness and size (6-foot-4, 200 pounds), he's got all those and he's elite at all of them," said Lindgren. "You see him move around even in warmups, and he's so explosive."
Casey DeSmith of the Pittsburgh Penguins wants to stand as tall as the Lightning's No.1.
"Vasilevskiy's size and flexibility because I'm smaller than him," said DeSmith, who is 6-foot. "If I could take my game and drop it into a bigger body, every inch helps. I think my game's pretty well-rounded but obviously size helps."
As for the six respondents who didn't pick Vasilevskiy, two chose other Russia-born goalies.
Montreal Canadiens veteran Jake Allen named Vasilevskiy but chose Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers instead because his movement seems less reliant on raw talent.
"Shesterkin's explosiveness, the way he can swivel his hips and get around the crease," Allen said. "Where most guys will probably be behind the play, not square to the puck, not over the puck, he always is. His lower half is probably the best in the League."

Last, with two Vezina Trophy wins on his resume (2012-13, 2016-17), among the Russia-born goalies cited was Sergei Bobrovsky of the Florida Panthers.
"Bob's post work," said Connor Ingram of the Arizona Coyotes, pointing to Bobrovsky's ability to swivel around his posts from his knees. "The way he uses his back foot to anchor in and out, and the power he has coming off posts is incredible. If you watch him practice, he does it for 10-15 minutes every day. If I could just steal one thing from anybody, that's where I'd go."
Matt Murray of the Maple Leafs had another very specific skill, pointing to the puck handling of Mike Smith, who isn't playing this season with the Edmonton Oilers because of injury.
"I've skated and practiced with him a lot and he's just incredibly creative and very skilled at it and I think it helps out the team a lot," said Murray, who had the same summer goalie coach. "It's something I know his D-men always appreciate because that's a huge help to them."
In Vancouver, Thatcher Demko said he wanted Jonathan Quick's hips because of the positions it allows the long-time Los Angeles Kings goalie to get into and out of with power.
"Quickie's hips, the mobility," said Demko. "He's got the insane range with the explosiveness and that combination is pretty fun to watch. Obviously, he's one of a kind."
Martin, Demko's goalie partner, pointed to Saros, a Vezina Trophy finalist last season.
"I would take Saros' ability to keep his feet," Martin said. "His patience but also his edge work and how he always seems balanced. He looks so coordinated and never out of control."
Although he has not played this season, one goalie mentioned Price. In addition to wanting Price's hands, David Rittich of the Winnipeg Jets also had a Christmas wish a lot of goalies can relate to when it comes to the long-time Canadiens star, whose future is uncertain because of a chronic knee injury.
"I just hope he's going to come back," Rittich said. "He's a [heck] of a goalie."