"Only a goalie can appreciate what a goalie goes through." ~ Jacques Plante

"There is no position in sport as noble as goaltending." ~ Vladislav Tretiak

"Playing goal is like being shot at." ~ Jacques Plante

"The goalie is like the guy on the minefield. He discovers the mines and destroys them. If you make a mistake, somebody gets blown up. " ~ Arturs Irbe, San Jose Sharks goalie

"We are the sort of people who make health insurance popular." ~ Hall of Fame goalie Terry Sawchuk

"In Biblical times I stoned people to death. Now they are re-paying me by hurling pucks at my head." ~ Giles Gratton

"Grim, humorless, largely uncreative, getting little physical pleasure in return." ~ Ken Dryden

"It's the only way I can support my family. If I could do it some other way, I wouldn't be playing goal." ~ Glenn Hall

"I don't want nothing comin' at me that I can't stop." ~ Joe Frazier, former Heavyweight boxing champion on why he wouldn't want to be a goalie

"Any discussion on hockey goaltenders must begin with the assumption that they are about three sandwiches shy of a picnic. I can prove this. From the moment Primitive Manfirst lurched erect, he and those who came after him survived on the principle that when something hard and potentially painful comes at you at great velocity, you get the hell out of its path. Goalkeepers throw themselves into its path. I rest my case." ~ Jim Taylor, columnist

"A goalie just stands there, seemingly impassive but actually boiling inside. They play a different game than anyone else. The closest approach in another sport might be the catcher in baseball. But still, he does things that are baseball - goes up to hit, chases fouls, etc. In hockey, a goalie does nothing that other players do. Except for his sweater; he even dresses differently right down to his skates." ~ Muzz Patrick, old-time coach

"How many people in life spend eighteen years getting shot at?" ~ Kevin Constantine, hockey coach

"Goalies are fine fellows when you meet them at center ice. They are fine fellows off the ice too. But don't think this cordiality is going to apply when you skate by the front of his cave. He'd slice you up if you come in close." ~ Chandler Sterling, writer

"There is no such thing as painless goaltending, If they could get enough padding to assure against every type of bruise, you'd have to be swung into position with a small derrick." ~ Don Cherry

"You put on years when you put on a goaltender's equipment. A twenty-year-old kid is suddenly middle-aged when he's got that stuff on." ~ Ted Green, former NHL star

"Goaltending is a suffering position. Your equipment protects you from injury, but not from pain, every time you go out there. And if you allow a goal, the red lights go on for everyone to see. But you get to be a hero too." ~ Kevin Constantine

"I already had four broken noses, a broken jaw, two broken cheekbones, and almost two-hundred stitches in my head. I didn't care how the mask looked. I was afraid I would look just like the mask, the way things were going." ~ Jacques Plante

"The scariest thing in the world is losing your mask." ~ Patrick Roy

"Anybody who wears a mask is scared." ~ Gump Worsley, Hall of Fame Goalie