A tale of two goaltenders
Montreal Canadiens fans were in shock and disbelief when their beloved Habs traded the popular Jaroslav Halak in 2010.
And so was the future Prime Minister of this country.
“What? Halak for two hockey sticks and a bag of magic beans?,” Justin Trudeau, a Liberal MP at the time, asked in the House of Commons in Ottawa.
Actually, the return the Canadiens received from Doug Armstrong’s St. Louis Blues for Halak was young forwards Lars Eller and Ian Schultz.
From websites to social media, the reaction to the deal echoed Trudeau’s, including comments such as a “shame,” a “nightmare,” and “April Fool’s in June.”
While Canadiens management decided to stick with the younger Carey Price, Halak was by far the more popular of the two goaltenders in Montreal, having just led the Habs to the Eastern Conference final before bowing out to the Philadelpha Flyers.
Just weeks after the trade, Halak returned to Montreal for an autograph session at Fairview Mall in Pointe Claire. The lineup of people clamouring to get his coveted signature snaked all the way around the store.
Then just 22, maybe Carey Price was the choice of Canadiens management, but he certainly wasn’t in the eyes of the team’s loyal supporters. Just one year earlier, the frustrated goalie had mockingly lifted up his arms a la Patrick Roy in response to receiving Bronx cheers from the Bell Centre throng during a tough playoff loss against the rival Boston Bruins, a gesture that certainly didn’t sit well in that hotbed of hockey.
Still, the Habs brass didn’t lose faith in Price. In the end, he was the goalie the team’s braintrust opted to move forward with, not Halak.
Six years later, a lot has changed. Trudeau now runs Canada. Price has won a Hart Trophy as NHL MVP and a Vezina as the league’s top goalie. Most consider him the top puckstopper on the planet, much to the glee of Canadiens fans who are now on board with him.
And now, in a delicious piece of irony, Price will go head-tohead against his former teammate Tuesday night when his Team Canada squad faces off against Halak’s Team Europe in the opener of this best-of-three World Cup of Hockey final.
Price admits he’s a different player and, for that matter, person from the greenhorn who was still adapting to the glaring spotlight of Montreal while he was battling Halak for playing time back in 2010.
“I think I grew up a little bit,” Price said on Monday. “I was still pretty young, early in my career at that point in my life. I just kind of grew up a little bit more.”
Asked for a scouting report on Halak, Price was short and to the point. That’s just the way Carey Price is these days.
“Obviously he’s a pretty quiet guy with a calm demeanor,” Price said of Halak. “He lets the puck and the play come towards him. Those are a couple of things he does really well.”
TORONTO — Brad Marchand wasn’t among the first 16 players named to Canada’s World Cup of Hockey roster because the team’s brass wanted to avoid a controversy.
Even though everyone involved in the selection process had Marchand on their initial lists, Canada’s decision-makers knew that nobody would be surprised by his omission. Excluding a player with more star power might have caused an unnecessary controversy, so Team Canada’s brass opted to wait until late May to name Marchand to the roster.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be a big story if Brad wasn’t on the (first) list and we knew he was going to make the team,” said Canadian general manager Doug Armstrong. “But to remove one of those (other) 16 you’re sort of creating something that doesn’t need to be created. But he was on everyone’s roster right from the get-go.”
Marchand has been the most pleasant surprise for Canada at the World Cup, a seamless fit alongside Sidney Crosby and Patrice Bergeron on the team’s top line. The 28-year-old, who signed an eight-year, US$49-million deal with the Boston Bruins on Monday morning, has rung up five points, including a pair of key goals in a semifinal win against Russia over the weekend.
Posting a career-high 37 goals and 60 points last season for the Bruins, Marchand didn’t want to discuss his new contract ahead of the best-of-three final with Europe, preferring to keep the focus on Canada and their quest for a title.
The Halifax native will remain central to those efforts, his connection with Crosby and Bergeron causing fits for foes at the World Cup. Armstrong has been pleasantly surprised by quickly “synergy” has developed between Marchand and Crosby in particular.
Team Canada is a heavy favourite in this final, and rightly so. But the great equalizer in a short tournament is a hot goaltender, a role Halak has shown he can fill in the past. If he turns in a performance like, say, Martin Gerber did when he and the Swiss blanked Canada 2-0 at the 2006 Turin Olympics, there certainly could be an upset in the making.
The man who traded for Halak six years ago was Blues general manager Armstrong, who now is doing double duty as the GM of Team Canada. As such, Armstrong, like Price, is keenly aware of Halak’s abilities and personality, both on and off the ice.
Explained Armstrong: “He’s very calm. He’s very quiet. He sort
The Canadian captain set up both of Marchand’s goals against the Russians and had the second assist on his first goal of the tournament against the Czech Republic.
Familiarity between the two developed well before the tournament.
Skating alongside Crosby during the off-season, Marchand also attended the Pittsburgh captain’s annual late-summer camp with Bergeron, his long-time Bruins linemate. The duo joined a line with Crosby in what turned out to be a preview of things to come. Marchand said the experience offered him insight into how quickly Crosby processed the game and how best to react as a linemate.
“He just reads the game and executes at such a high level and so quickly that you do need to react a little differently,” Marchand said. “It did take a bit of time, but I feel like we’re getting a little more comfortable out there every day and things are going are all right.”
Their synergy was apparent against the Russians.
With Canada trailing 2-1 late in the second period of the weekend clash, Crosby grabbed a loose puck that defenceman Andrei Markov couldn’t quite corral. He of stays to himself, and I think in something like this, he doesn’t get rattled. He doesn’t look for the limelight. He probably stays away from it. So he just comes in and does his business and goes home.
“I think that fits in very well to a team like the European team where they’re all getting to know each other. He can just come in and do his job, and he’s doing it very well right now.”
Better than Price, the same man who he lost his job to in Montreal?
In this intriguing Tale of Two Goalies, we’ll find out the answer to that question this week. slung it across the ice to a waiting Marchand, who slipped a shot past Russian goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.
The goal tied the game 2-2 and unclenched any apparent tension for Canada after Russia stormed in front 72 seconds earlier.
Then, mere moments into the third, Marchand took a Crosby drop pass and whistled another shot past Bobrovsky’s glove for a lead that stood the rest of the way.
Crosby, who leads the World Cup in scoring with seven points, said the connection with Marchand and Bergeron (four points) has proven effective because all three worked hard to force turnovers.
“But I think just the way he competes every shift you know that he’s able to generate a lot sometimes from nothing,” Crosby said of Marchand over the weekend.
Head coach Mike Babcock has said Crosby fits best with smart, speedy players who hound the puck, all boxes Marchand checks.
The 71st overall pick of the 2006 draft, Marchand has managed at least 20 goals five times in five full seasons with Boston (he had 18 goals in the 48-game season), doing so with minimal power-play time. In fact, his 66 even-strength goals since the start of the 201314 season lands him in the same ballpark as more reputed scorers like Crosby (69), Patrick Kane (69), Phil Kessel (68) and John Tavares (67).
Marchand, also an effective penalty killer, has emerged as more than just an agitator for the Bruins, who are nonetheless betting big on the eight-year deal ($6.125 million cap hit). Marchand, only 5-foot-9 and less than 200 pounds, plays a punishing physical style and may not wear well with age.
Questions about the contract would have to wait though.
“It’s a place that I’m very excited about being for the next number of years and potentially my whole career,” Marchand said of Boston. “But right now I’m here and I want the focus to be here. This is where I’m at.”