Year of the ‘Moose’
Johan Hedberg is a reminder that experience isn’t everything
The low hum reverber- ated through the rafters at the old Mellon Arena on April 16, 2001, growing with every save that netminder JohanHedberg made. Moooooooooooooooose!
“I thought they were booing and I couldn’t figure out why,” Hedberg said with a laugh this week from his home in Sweden. “I was having a good game and every time I touched the puck, peoplewere booing.”
It was only after Hedberg’s 34-save shutout over the Washington Capitals in Game 3 of the first round thathe pieced it together.
Thrust into action earlier that season, Hedberg didn’t have time to get a new mask when he was traded to Pittsburgh. So he wore a baby blue Manitoba Moose helmet through the stretch run andinto the postseason.
The mask and the man behind it came together to write one of the better surprise stories in Penguins postseason history. Hedberg, unheralded and virtually unknown just weeks earlier, led the Penguins to the Eastern Conference final.
As the Penguins embarked upon another postseason, they once again did sowith their goaltending position in flux. Tristan Jarry’s broken foot thrust backup Casey DeSmith into the net for Game 1 of the first-round series against the New York Rangers. Unfortunately, DeSmith was hurt in the second overtime, pushing even less-tested Louis Domingue onto the ice.
But as history and Hedberg will tell you, previous experience is not a prerequisitefor postseason success.
“You step on the ice, and regardless who you’re playing against, you can beat them,” Hedberg said. “I think that was probably my mindset at that time. I don’t care who it is. I’m going to stop you and I’m going to winthe game.”
That improbable postseason run began back in December2000, when Mario Lemieux came out of retirement to reignite the Penguins offense alongside Jaromir Jagr. However, the goaltending position remained a revolving door. While Jean-Sebastian Aubin, Garth Snow and Rich Parent tried unsuccessfully to hold down the crease, rumors floated that general manager Craig Patrick could be in the marketfor a netminder.
Sure enough, on March 12, 2001, the Penguins acquired Hedberg, who was buried in the San Jose Sharks system and playing for the Manitoba Moose of the now-defunct International League.
“It caught me completely off guard,” Hedberg said. “I knew they were looking for a goaltender but they were talking about some big names and experienced goaltenders. So I never thought I would be in that equation.”
At 27 years old, Hedberg was a journeyman who had played professionally in Sweden, the ECHL and the IHL. But just days after the trade, on March 16, Hedberg madehis NHL debut.
“Before I got traded to Pittsburgh,I never thought I would get the chance [to play in the NHL],” Hedberg said. “I was getting too old. I never thought I would get theopportunity.”
Barely over 10 minutes into Hedberg’s first NHL game, Florida Panthers forwardPavel Bure scored on a breakawayfrom the red line to tie the score. But on a night Lemieux netted a pair of goals and Jagr tallied one, Hedberg rebounded to stop 41of 44 in a 6-3 win.
The very next night, the Penguins trotted out Hedberg again in Tampa. This time? It didn’t go so great. The unknown netminder was lit up that night, allowing five goals on just 20 shots.
“I didn’t play well at all,” Hedberg said. “I thought, ‘Well,I blew it.’ ”
But the Penguins gave Hedberg another shot and he made the most of it. In his final seven regular season outings, the goalie went 6-0-1 with a .915 save percentage and 2.3 goals-against average to roll into the postseasonon a winning streak.
Along the way, Hedberg started asking when he was going to finally get a black and gold mask to replace his blueone.
“I ordered a new mask right away and things were going pretty well,” Hedberg said. “The equipment manager at the time said, ‘ You know what? I don’t think we should change. You should stick with the blue one.’ So we did. I had a real Pittsburgh mask made up. But I neverended up using it.”
In the playoffs, Hedberg faced not only the bright lights and the big stage but also and a gauntlet of the league’s top goalies: Washington’s Olaf Kölzig, Buffalo’s Dominik Hasek and New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur. While some might have cowered under the pressure, Hedberg rose to theoccasion.
“For me, I took it as a challenge. Try to beat that guy,” Hedberg said. “It’s the game within the game between the two goalies. It was an extra fight for myself of play against guys like that withthat resume.”
After shutting out the Capitals to swing the firstround series in the Penguins’ favor, Hedberg opened the second round with another perfect outing. He made 25 saves to shut out the Buffalo Sabres and outduelHasek.
That second-round series culminatedwith a Game 7 at then-HSBC Arena. As the game went to overtime and tensionmounted, rough and tumble defenseman Darius Kasparaitis (of all people) flicked a soft wrist shot on net that snuck past Hasek forthe series-clinching goal.
“I can remember every second leading up that goal,” Hedberg said. “He was sliding down the ice, kicking his feet around and everyone’s just cheering. It wasa pretty cool moment.”
While the Penguins’ postseason journey ended in the Eastern Conference final, the first round and the man they called “Moose” remain etched in Penguins lore. As time went on, Hedberg held on to a few small mementos from his time in Pittsburgh. He still has the stick and the puck from the shutout againstWashington. And, of course, he’s kept the blue mask — and the memories thatgo with it.