Craig Anderson impressing for Sabres at age 41

Entering the 2022-23 season, it felt as though for the first time in a long time, the Buffalo Sabres had optimism surrounding their roster. The script had finally been flipped on the Jack Eichel saga, and players like Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power and several others seemed to point towards a bright future.

While there were plenty of positives, however, one area that seemed to suggest they would struggle in 2022-23 was their goaltending. A duo of Eric Comrie, a goalie with just 28 games of NHL experience entering the year, paired with a past-his-prime veteran in Craig Anderson, didn’t inspire a ton of confidence. That said, while the former has struggled, the latter is having one of his best seasons in some time.

At 41-years-old, Anderson is not only the oldest player in the NHL, but happens to be one of very few goalies in the history of the league to still be suiting up at his age. Fresh off a 40-save shutout win against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday, Anderson owns a 2.58 goals against average (GAA), along with a .919 save percentage (SV%) through 12 games. For comparison’s sake, the league-average save percentage in 2021-22 was .907.

As mentioned, few goaltenders have been able to continue playing in the NHL at Anderson’s age, and even less have played as well as he has to this point. Listed below are the few who kept chugging along at a superb level despite being in their 40’s.

Dominik Hasek

2005-06

Having won six Vezina Trophies, as well as two Hart Trophies and two Stanley Cup championships, Dominik Hasek is regarded by many as the best goaltender to ever play the game. While his entire career was absolutely remarkable, one of his most impressive feats was how good he was able to remain late in his career. During the 2005-06 season, while at the…