Corey Schwab and Winless Seasons

My last post dealt with the greatest backup goalies of all-time. In looking at the stats, I found out that the one and only Corey Schwab posted the lowest single season goals against average by a goalie playing in a minimum of ten games since the 1920’s. In 2002/03 he had a 1.47 GAA in 11 games. I found another even more obscure stat about Schwab.
It seems he had the greatest WINLESS season in NHL history. Schwab produced the best season ever among goalies that did not collect a win while playing at least ten games. In 1995/96 he had a 2.18 average over 10 official games with a 0-3-0 record. He did however play only 331 total minutes over those 10 appearances so honourable mention for best winless season ever goes to Jamie Storr. In 2003/04 with Carolina, Storr went 0-8-2 with a 2.91 GAA while playing 660 minutes. It’s quite difficult keep a respectable average when you lose pretty much every game.


Case in point would be Michel Belhumeur of the expansion Washington Capitals in 74/75. He produced an atrocious 0-24-3 record along with the expected 5.36 GAA. He was bested (worst-ed?) in the average category by Winnipeg’s Lindsay Middlebrook in 1980/81 who in his winless season of 0-9-3 slapped together a tidy 5.97 average.

The winless goalie discussion would not be complete without looking at Kevin Weekes. Over his first two seasons in 97/97 and 98/99 with Florida and Vancouver he played eleven games each year without recording a win. He went 0-5-1 and 0-8-1 while having an average under 4.00 each year. He would turn the corner in 99/00 with 16-27-8 record with a 3.23 average. Hey, you gotta start somewhere.

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