Ann 2RFA Watch: Jaroslav Halak - Will he accept playing second fiddle?
May 23rd 2008 03:22
Jaroslav Halak
With this train of thought, Montreal has always waited for a goalie prodigy, someone that could shine in his first season and be the best goalie in the league for years to come. Canadiens goalie are also expected to be perfect. If the starting goaltender falls into a slump and the back-up performs better, the roles are quickly switched. It happened in 2005-2006 when Cristobal Huet supplanted José Théodore after the latter became an average goalie. Théodore was traded to the Colorado Avalanche, The Habs got Swiss goalie David Aebischer in return. In 2006-2007, Huet and Aebischer split goaltending duties. They started well but things quickly deteriorated once Huet got injured. Aebischer multiplied his bad performances (and got nicknamed “Swiss cheese” for his inability to stop the puck) and Jaroslav Halak – recalled from Hamilton to replace Huet – quickly became Carbonneau's man. At the beginning of the 2007-2008 season, the Canadiens were stuck in a conundrum. They had Cristobal Huet as the starting goalie but there were three competent goalies right behind him. After Halak's impressive 10-6 performance (7-0 at home), there was no doubt in the fans' minds that he would be Huet's back-up. However, no one anticipated Carey Price's arrival.
The Habs' 2005 first round pick (5th overall), Carey Price, was heralded as the savior of the team, the next Patrick Roy. He led both Canada's junior team in the World Championships and the Hamilton Bulldogs (Montreal's farm team) to gold medals (the Calder Cup in the Bulldogs' case). However he wasn't impressive in training camp and would have been sent down to minors if it wasn't for Bob Gainey's intervention. So Carey Price started the season in Montreal while Halak was sent down to Hamilton.
Unsurprisingly, the Slovak goaltender wasn't very happy, and rightly so. Here was this kid coming out of nowhere, taking his place. It took a while for Halak to get over his disappointment. However, he quickly became the AHL's best goalie for the second year in a row. With Huet becoming a UFA this summer, Gainey had a choice to make: either re-sign Huet in order to ease the transition for Price (who is destined to be Montreal's number one goalie), and risk losing Halak, or get rid of Huet and recall Price. Gainey's move happened sooner than anticipated. He traded Huet to the Capitals, Price became the official number one and Halak was assigned as his back-up.
Now that the season's over, the Habs have only one guaranteed goalie for next year. Obviously, Huet's gone while Halak has become an RFA. Although he could get a fair shot with another team (or even go to Russia), the overabundance of free agents goalies will make it hard for him to get a good deal. As for Russia, Halak has said that he's young (23, to be exact), Russia will still be there once he gets older. I don't think that Gainey will have trouble to find a financial agreement with Halak's agent. However, come next season, he'll have to hope that Carbonneau gives him a chance to steal Price's job.
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