Scott Foster becomes 18th NHL goalie since 1982 with perfect save percentage

There are a lot of reasons to be amazed by the story of Scott Foster, the accountant who played goalie in the Blackhawks’ 6-2 win over the Jets Thursday night. The 36-year-old had not played pro hockey in his life. He typically plays at Johnny’s Ice House, not the United Center.

And another incredible fact about Foster’s stint in the NHL is that he went a perfect 7-of-7 on saves, making him the 18th goalie since the league started tracking shots in 1982-83 to post a career save percentage of 1.000. Unfortunately we can’t compare this to the entirety of NHL history given the lack of data, but assuming Foster doesn’t play again, it’s another way he has etched his name into hockey lore.

Foster played 14 minutes against the Jets, who have the third-best offense in the league, and didn’t allow a goal. He helped kill a penalty. He stopped shots from Patrik Laine, Dustin Byfuglien and Paul Stastny. It would be understandable if he spent the rest of his life reminding people he made a save against one of the greatest goal scorers of his generation.

According to Hockey-Reference, here are the 18 netminders to record a 1.000 save percentage in their NHL careers. It’s a real who’s who of emergency goalies.

The other fun name on there is Clifford, although he’s not quite the same kind of story as Foster. Clifford was drafted by the Blackhawks in the sixth round of the 1984 NHL Draft and played professionally for several years.

In 1986, Clifford won the Bobby Smith Trophy, awarded to the OHL’s “Scholastic Player of the Year.” Other players to win that award include Connor McDavid, Steven Stamkos and Matt Duchene. So that wasn’t quite like pulling an accountant from his day job to finish off a game against one of the best teams in the league.

The Blackhawks likely won’t have to turn again to Foster, who only played because of injuries to Anton Forberg and Collin Delia. The team already made an emergency recall of J-F Berube from the AHL for its game against the Avalanche Friday night.

But assuming that Foster doesn’t somehow find himself back in an NHL game again, he’ll be able to proudly call himself one of the few men to post a perfect save percentage at hockey’s highest level. There’s another neat part of one of the best stories of the season.