Ron Hextall Review

I wanna start by saying goalies are the players I filter through most often in NHL. At the begging of the year I do my best to try every base goalie and as many upgrades goalies as I can. I know goalies are some of the least consistent players in HUT every year, for this reason I do my best to try as many goalies as I can to figure out who works best with my team. For the past three years of HUT the goalie I liked most is any Rinne card. Used him as my goalie for more games than any goalie in the previous three years. Sadly this year he has been garbage for me. I have tried every 86+ base goalie and hero goalie and some upgrades and this year Ron Hextall is the guy I'm sticking with for the rest of the year and I'll tell you why. Also it may be hard to believe I've tried that many goalies but I've played 700+ games across four accounts so every goalie did get at least 10 games trial

GAA:1.98

Current Record: 178-5

High: 94 rating. My rating 97

Hextall by far has the best glove I have ever used in HUT. He has saved me so many times from short side snipes from some of the best shooters in the game. If it's a straight shot high on net and he's not screened he will most likely make the save. All goalie let one in once in a while but he stops them 19 times out of 20. If you have trouble getting sniped in your zone please try Hextall out. His glove is the greatest aspect to his game. I could not praise it enough!

Low: 93 rating. My rating 94

The low rating on the card is pretty on point. Hextall usually lets about 2 goals in a game and I'd say they are usually scored from shots low on net. Like his glove if it's a straight shot he will likely make the save. I'd say 90% of the goals scored on me are tips or deflections. Hextall is very good at reading the shot but when there is a lot of traffic and it gets deflected it's probably going in. It's extremely frustrating seeing those goals go in but I haven't found a goalie that stops most tips and deflections. That being said Hextall is a pretty big goalie and if he stays in the crease he could make the save because he does cover a good portion on the net but I wouldn't get your hopes up.

Quickness: 94 Rating. My Rating 95

Hextall can move across the crease pretty quickly. He stops a good portion of one timers. His only flaw is if you catch him on a long cross ice pass for a one timer he lays flat on the ice so if they elevate it it's going in. The only goalie I've had more success with on quickness was probably Kolzig. Hextall still competes with Kolzig but I would say Kolzig has the edge in this category. You shouldn't have any problem with Hextall's quickness.

Positioning: 93 Rating. My rating 96

It's pretty hard to catch Hextall out of position. He stays in the crease most of the time. Has had some surprising saves staying with the player on the forehand backhand deke on a breakaway. He can cover wrap arounds really well. The only way you can usually catch him out of positioning is with the cross crease one timer and even then I've been pleasantly surprised with how often he has stopped them. Usually it looks like it's going in but he some how gets a piece last second. His quickness also contributes to this but I think it's more so because he is always positioned in front of the net extremely well

Rebound Control: 93 rating. My rating 90

So this is where you are going to get beat with on Hextall more often than not. He is incredibly inconsistent with his rebound control. Sometimes he can hold the puck and tie it up but if you throw a shot off his pad he's kicking it out hard to the side. I recommend always covering the guy without the puck in front of the net because Hextall can usually stop the first shot but if he kicks it out you're going to want to grab that rebound.

Hextall is my favorite goalie this year but I know different goalies work better with different teams if you are having trouble with goaltending I might be able to help or make a suggestion based off of your team! But if you have no idea where to start and are in need of a new goalie immediately I suggest trying Hextall if you haven't he's an absolute animal!