HALAK, Jaroslav - Traded quietly away on his vacation at the age of 25, goaltender Jaroslav Halak will best be remembered for leading a mediocre Montreal Canadiens team to its best playoff showing since the great Patrick Roy caught lightning in a bottle seventeen years previously.
A quiet, humble man, Halak, known as "Jaro" to his friends and "you goddamn rubber bastard" by Sidney Crosby, was born in Bratislava, Slovakia on May 13, 1985. He grew up in modest circumstances, but knew from the age of four he wanted to be an NHL goaltender. His desire baffled his family and friends who hoped he would one day lead Slovakia to the World Cup.
Unfortunately, Halak suffered from birth from a serious case of NotCanadianitis. He was unexpectedly drafted by the Canadiens in 2003, despite his condition, which he continued to battle in the years following his selection. He put up stellar save percentages and demonstrated a deep desire to win hockey games at every level. In 2005, however, Halak fell victim to a secondary ailment: Notafirstrounderia. Canadiens management had doubts about whether a non-Canadian, ninth-round goalie could really make a difference for their team. Halak was subsequently exiled to the minors, banished from his AHL team as it won the Calder Cup, recalled and left to sit on the bench in Montreal and relegated to backup status behind a teammate who had the good fortune to be both Canadian AND a first-round draft pick.
Still, Halak persisted and, when the team finally had no other choice, he briefly became the Canadiens' number-one goalie. He inspired belief in his team and passion in his fans. He never quit, and he was hailed as a great teammate and a winner by all who knew him.
At one time, late in his life as a Hab, Halak was wrongly accused of demanding a trade. He later insisted he'd done nothing but ask for more ice time. This spawned savage debate among Canadiens' fans about who should be the Habs' top goalie. Many never realized Halak had already won that title.
Sadly, Halak succumbed to his ailments shortly after the playoffs. NotCanadianitis and Notafirstrounderia proved a deadly combination for the young goalie. When he developed side effects including ProbablyCan'tAffordHimNow, he quietly "went west." On June 17, 2010, Jaroslav Halak gave up his bleu-blanc-et-rouge spirit, as Pierre Gauthier stood by holding the plug.
Halak leaves to mourn a legion of heartbroken Habs fans who believed he was the next great Canadiens goalie, Carey Price,who will now be one softie away from a lynching, Pierre Gauthier, whose legacy could very well ride on this trade, Lars Eller and Ian Schultz, who will forever be expected to be better than they are, and teammates who knew they could win every night with him in net.
A memorial service will be held sometime in the new season at the Bell Centre. Time and date will follow, as soon as the NHL schedule makers reveal when the Blues will next play in Montreal.
About Me
- J.T.
- My name is Leigh Anne Power, and I am a Habs fan. I'm kind of obsessed, so even though the world doesn't need another Habs blog, I can't help it. If you choose to follow this blog on Twitter, it's at @habsloyalist. The link's below.
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The H Does Not Stand For Habs by Leigh Anne Power (J.T.) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright © 2011 The H Does NOT Stand For Habs. All rights reserved.
The H Does Not Stand For Habs by J.T./Leigh Anne Power is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
The H Does Not Stand For Habs by J.T./Leigh Anne Power is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
50 comments:
Just posted a comment to your soccer blog about the Halak deal. Didn't know how long it would take you to post and couldn't contain myself.
I totally agree that the writing was on the wall for Jaro from the beginning. The use of a first round pick on the "franchise" only sealed the deal. Not even his heroics in the playoffs and the millions he put in the pockets of ownership could sway this mindset. I will take intestinal fortitude and fight over potential anyday of the week. I will miss him greatly.
I think this is a horrible mistake, and a measly pathetic trade. I love Price, but I do not think he is ready to handle this team alone. Halak saved his butt so many times this year, and he really was the starting goaltender. Its sad to see him go after he did so much for us, although I knew that a trade was enevitable...
Now the question is, who will back up Price?
Lars Eller projected as a second line center. Is Plekanec next?
Pleks was gone the minute PG said negotiations were off till after the playoffs. You really think Pleks will forgo free agency with July 1 just around the corner?
Another UFA gone for nothing and the mismanagement continues in Montreal.
We traded everything and got nothing.
I ♥ J.T.
what a terrible trade
RIP.
The way I see it, it was Halak or Plekanec. I fail to see how the Habs could afford both of them. I'm sure Halak's agent will get somewhere around 3.5 and 4 million bucks for his player while Plekanec will probably sign for 5 million ( I don't think he's worth it but that's another story. )Price better be good or he might find out what it means to play in Montreal.
Pleks disappeared in the playoff. Habs can do better than him.
I have a serious problem with this whole article. The Canadiens made a decision and that resulted in Halak being traded. If you can't be a Habs fan when someone you like gets traded then you're not a Habs fan.
God, this post is so friggin' lame. Halak's gone. Great. Now we can move forward without The Little Engine That Could. I personally couldn't be more glad.
I thought Halak performed beyond all expectations, was by all accounts a great team guy and I am over him already. This is a bold move and I am anxious to see how it turns out.
I know there will be those that will predict disaster and proclaim this as another harbinger of incompetence. But many of them were wrong all season, so let's wait and see.
JT, I love your article. I can tell you really liked this Hab. His death is sad and I wish him well in the afterlife that is St. Louis hockey.
We just lost 2 franchise players in the past two weeks. First a possible franchise coach in Guy Boucher and now a franchise goalie in Halak. This Gainey/Gauthier bromance with Carey Price is silly. We'll be lucky to get out of the first round next year and we'll be wasting the best years of Cammelleri, Gionta and Markov fixing the mess that Gauthier has just made.
I've been a Habs fan for about 52 years. I almost gave up on the organization when they traded Chelly. Then the Molsons sold out The Forum, essentially because they were speculating on the land value rather than renovate again. I was teetering on the edge. Now the worst trade in 20 years or so, giving up on a guy with ice in his veins and the confidence to put a brick wall on his mask--all this for the potential of a head case who cries when he loses and will never stand up to the pressure, certainly not here. I hate to say it, but: GO BLUES GO!!
Great trade. First off whether anyone like it or not we kept the better goaltender. Just take a look at their rebound control as one example of what I mean. Two whoever thinks Jaro has ice in his veins and Carey doesn't, just go back to the World Jrs - sudden death shootout for the gold with a country on your back. Remember Toews didn't shoot for the win, Carey had to make the save to ensure gold. Now that's clutch. Look, it's my opinion that Lars Eller is a Great cap responsible move - he's cheep, young and good. And quite frankly the best prospect we've had since Price. Be excited folks, look forward, never look back. Jaro is now the bad guy, not Carey.
Yikes, Deernuts will not be pleased.
Lars Eller better be good, and not "good for a Dane" because unless he's coming to rape and pillage the opposition, this trade can be added to the history books of bad trades Montreal has made. Last time I looked the Danes had to be rescued from the monster by the Geats.
I just cant believe people are still saying we kept the best goalie. Is it the best goalie that had a 13-20-4 record last year vs Halak's 26 wins and only 13 defeat? Rebound control??? WTF is that, Price let so many softy in last year that Kleenex want him to be the spokeperson for there new softer kleenex...Halak had won the heart of all habs fan last year. Price, first bad game of the year will be the beginning of the end for him.
Cant believe people saying we have kept the best goalie. The WJC, who cares, did you see with what goaltender they won in the past years...we are so talented, you can put anybody in goal and we have a chance to win at the WJC, dont base your carreer on what you have done in the junior.
This move is way to familiar to the Roy trade when we got nothing in return. Dont you remember that it was that trade that started the worst decade in Habs history???
I think they made a good choice by keeping Price but I feel that they didn't get enough for Halak. For those Price "haters" who think that he totally bombed last season, take a look at the teams that he faced and the ones that Halak faced. You'd be surprised to know that he had the tougher ride and the fact that the players didn't support him when he was in nets is another thing. I agree that he needed an attitude adjustment but in my opinion, he WILL be the goalie that management thinks he is...
Beautiful, JT.
Take a look at the teams Price faces compared to Halak? Yes because facing the Caps and Pens is such a ride in the park! Price is done in Montreal! He may become a star, but it won't be in Montreal, he can't handle the pressure!
So yah have two goalies.. One "Price" yah give chance after chance after chance and he never lives up to the hype... Second "Halak" waits patiently for a chance that he finally gets... and helps us beat the CAPS and the PENS... so then all of a sudden Price is the better choice? Goodbye playoffs next year!! Yeah believe it folks.. I have been calling Price a choker since he was in Hamilton.. HE AIN'T GETTIN NO BETTER!
Anonymous (4:02am)
Obviously I was talking about the regular season and not the playoffs. Don't get me wrong, I like Halak but like I said, in the long term, Price is the better choice.
Just wait and see.....to be continued
Price has one of the worst work ethic I ever saw in a goalie. I do not know if any of you guys ever went to see the Habs training in Brossard, but when you do, look at Price not listening to the goalie coach and wandering around looking at the journalists and you'll likely understand that the kid is way over his head.
He never had to work for what he had, his talent took him all the way to the NHL where he now needs to work hard, which he fails to do. He now needs to perform under pressure, which he failed to do. He needs to earn the respect of his teammates, which he failed to do. Ask any bar-hoppin' people you know in Montreal to name you the worst Habs player they saw clubbing and I can tell you that "Price" will come out often.
This is one of the worst decision I could have foreseen paired with one of the worst trade in the NHL since Heatley to San Jose.
Looking at the Habs as a team, the present soft lineup is not going anywhere. If the Canadiens want to compete for real, they have to get bigger and harder to play against. Hab fans have to realize that beating the Caps and the Pens were flukes and won't happen next year without major changes to the second line. Halak is a fine goalie and I wish he could have stayed but with his greedy agent this clearly wasn't possible.
Gauthier got what he could for the rights to negotiate with Walsh so good luck to St. Louis. In return the Habs got some real toughness in Schultz which is vital for the team going forward. Check him out on hockeyfights, very impressive. He has a brother playing in the NHL which should help his developement and he's a right hand shot. In Eller, Gauthier got a pretty good looking center prospect for the second line.
All in all a pretty gutsy days work for our GM.
Fisher went balistic over the deal which only makes me like it more.
I can not believe all the people defending this move....
1) The argument about how good Price was in the junior has to be the worst ever...Alexandre Daigle was fantastic in the juniors....
2) The fans loved Halak and booed price...WHAT DO YOU WANT MORE????? (not saying it's okay to boo but Price has even more pressure now than he had before..is this positive by any mean?)
3) What would it have taken for Halak to get some recognition? Win the Stanley cup? The Conn Smythe (it was close...) Halak single-handedly brought the Habs in the Playoffs the last two years!
4) Let's calm down and look at what we get for a PROVEN number one goalie in the league with TREMENDOUS stats and a more than questionable defence in front of him: .....a POSSIBLE good player in Elles...okay. Isn't it a little like getting a D'Agostini, Chipchura or Pacioretty vs. HALAK? Those three guys were also possible good players right?
This is shocking!
But the last nail in this coffin: people were expecting the Habs to get Perron for Halak, those expectations implied the whole French-bashing argument that the Habs would be getting him only for the french and bla bla bla...what now?
I take exception to what Scott said... earlier here:
"I have a serious problem with this whole article. The Canadiens made a decision and that resulted in Halak being traded. If you can't be a Habs fan when someone you like gets traded then you're not a Habs fan."
I am sick of mediocre efforts by many of our players since our last Cup. And management made it all possible and they seem determined to continue their streak. They'll resign Andrei Kostitsyn (a big lazy guy full of skill), Plekanec who is plays like he's on the other team in the playoffs. Gotta keep them. Price has had 4 years to show himself. He won one third of his games last season. A keeper! Halak won two thirds. You saw the playoffs. Price has sucked in the playoffs like Plekanec, year after year. Get rid of them, not Halak. I love this team too much to watch it fall apart anymore. I seriously get headaches and stomaches when Price is in net. My hopes are dashed now and 44 years of being a FANatic are not easy to give up but idiots are at the helm and I am not going down with the ship I love. My health is too important and I love my family too much to have them suffer me in a foul mood all the time during the hockey season. I feel sorriest for the team though. Stanley cups will never come to Montreal as long as idiocy is the rule of the day. Cammalleri and Gionta, you have my sympathies. Carey Price - do us a favor and ask for a trade before it's too late, for us and you. Pierre Gauthier will soon be Goat-ier and Price will be ripped apart by the fans. Price thinks he's seen booing. Not yet he hasn't.
lmao i had to have a peek at this as soon as i got off work. i'm adding you to my favorites & to quote a line from the Simpsons "it's funny cause it's true". :)
I have to comment again (because I really care) to this:
Anonymous wrote earlier: ''For those Price "haters" who think that he totally bombed last season, take a look at the teams that he faced and the ones that Halak faced. You'd be surprised to know that he had the tougher ride and the fact that the players didn't support him when he was in nets is another thing."
I read an article that showed that during the regular season Halak faced the best snipers in the NHL and had a way better one-on-one save percentage than Price with the best sharpshooters. We will never get past Washington with Price because Ovechkin owns Price. Ovie has a 10+ year contract with Washington in the eastern conference with us. Ovie must be drinking vodka and dancing with knees bent and arms crossed like a maniac at the news that Halak is gone from the eastern conference. And it doesn't take Ovie to bury Price. Boston eliminated us in 4 game sweep last year with Price. A rarity in our glorious history. So forget ever seeing the finals let alone winning it all unless another great backup goalie shows him how it's really done - AGAIN! Any routine breakaway is an automatic goal against Price. He has more holes in his game than a spaghetti strainer. Halak gave his team and his fans confidence nearly all of the time. That's why the team played better in front of Halak and not Price. (No one's perfect & keep in mind that no team has won 2 game 7 series and won the cup. But what series they were.) Price doesn't have the game to fit his size. Halak had calm confidence and Price seems like he isn't really in it. Not enough emotion or pride. Halak showed Ovie didn't he? Price never showed anyone anything. I refuse to watch him anymore.
The official argument is that Price is bigger. A donkey in net for the habs would still not be the biggest ass on the ice. Sorry Carey, but enough is enough. Let's get rid of Cammalleri and Gionta (5'9'' and 5'7'', respectively), then since they're small. They only scored half our playoff goals and 54 of our 207 (25+%) regular season goals. I'm sure Benoit Puliot and Andrei Kostitsyn, being bigger, are the better choice given their logic. They were the invisible men for the most part in the playoffs. They should have been traded along with so many other under-performers before Halak. An NHL net is 4 feet high and 6 feet wide. Halak is 5'11''. He's got it covered. Patrick Roy is 6'. I think they were tall enough. Price is 6'3'' and it ain't helping. Bob Gainey loved Price and I smell his hands all over this trade like Russia's Putin over Medvedev. Give it up Bob. You are putting a huge blemish on your legacy at risk here. First goalie Cristobal Huet for Price and now Halak. At least GM Pierre Gauthier can claim he's never played hockey before. Just look at him. Molsons owns the Habs and are acting like drunks. I guess Ste Catherine's will be safe for a long, long time though. I can't watch any more. It's torturous like a show on carnivores in the wild preying on poor helpless animals. I care too much for that. When Price is history, let me know. Until then I will slowly bleed to death...red, white and blue.
JT:
-interesting post written from the heart but sport franchises and GM decisions have to be made with a clear head not a heavy heart
-as much as I believe the firm of Gainey and Gauthier have made many errors it is not in the realm of reality that Jaro got traded because he's not a Canadian; however, there may be a smidge of truth that they traded the 9th round pick instead of the 5th overall.
-although I liked and wanted the CH to keep both goalies at least until the deadline in my view they traded the right guy because I believe long term Price will prove out the better tender
-what is interesting is that in Jaro's own interview he indicated that Gauthier had never talked to Allan Walsh & David Shattia about a new contract for Jaro...it's not that they could not agree on a number and term they didn't even talk. very strange because if for no other reason than gathering salary intelligence would help them on other negotiations, Price for one. not to discuss any number is beyond bizarre unless they realized that Jaro's agents who also represent Marc Andre Fluery (who Jaro beat this spring) were going to ask for a big payday.
-as you have noted before they have pretty much boxed themselves in with Plekanec. no one in the system to replace him and no one of his age and skill on the UFA market. so perhaps they are close with Plekanec and the number is big and Jaro who had abritration rights would have blown the bank whereas Price only has to be qualified at 10% more than last year + bonuses.
-this comes back to the Gomez acquisition and other overpayments last July which has become a cap nightmare and Jaro is it's first casuality and not the last
-@anon; as for comments about Price's character and work ethic. if you info is 12 months old update yourself then comment. Price according to Cammalleri, Gionta, Gill and Gorges has cleaned up his act and has worked hard on the ice in practice and in the gymn to become a better professional. they have all publicly made these comments and all said they are pleased with Price as a teammate and his comportment during the playoffs in terms of his work ethic and support to teammates. but I guess salacious bullshit makes for better conjecture
-as for what the CH got in Eller and Shultz even hockey people say it's too early to judge so for fans to say the trade is terrible and we got screwed again keep your powder dry you know a lot less than people that do this for a living. we'll have to wait and see
-btw I'm a fan that thinks the team is poorly managed and has made far too many mistakes to still be employed but on this transaction I believe they kept the right goalie and as for what they got back it's too far above my pay grade to know.
-the team remains a bubble team notwithstanding it's one shot wonder of a few weeks ago. that some believe the CH are top 4 and could have won the Cup with Markov that also will become obvious in time as just more Boivin spin.
One question: where's Khabibulin bow after he won wiht Tampa?
Surprisingly good and astute move by Gauthier. Two really good prospects with skills that the team needs for an average young goaltender. Cool!
I wish Jaroslav Halak all the best on a team that will hopefully respect him far more than Bob Gainey and Pierre Gauthier ever did. Those who think Price is going to win a cup are dreamers and the rest of us are in a nightmare that we can't wake up from.
Too funny JT, and bang on the nose. I think I just became a closet Blues fan.
Thank you Montreal. AS a Blues fan I was sad to see Eller go. He has soft hands and is not afraid to mix it up on the boards. I thought Eller could have made our club. But our problem here is we had a guy named Big Walt that wa staking a roster spot. After he got smoked in the jaw and somehow went in the net, he was finished. Just dead weight. I know the Habs will get a good second line centerman. But I do believe we got the better end of the trade. Habs fans no went a great goalie has been lost. You can go back to Patric Roy and Jacque Plant. They know what great qualities stanley cup goaltenders are all about. Just as we know in St. Louis what great baseball teams are all about. Halak is a good skater, dosen't give up rebounds, challenges the rush. Early in his carrer the knock on him was that he went down to early. Looks like this year he stands tall a little longer. He's not afraid to play in front of the crease. And the best part is he looses the pressure of Montreal. He fits the young team that dosen't require Canadian citizenship to play. At least I believe that's why a contarct with him was never discussed. St Louis is a great hockey town. Many players who played here still reside here. I love Le Habitante and the tradition. But St Louis may be the best fit at this point in a young guys career. By the way. if you Habs fans are willing to trade away a bag of pucks..... We'll give you Eric Brewer
My greatest fear was that Hab management would stand pat and just tweak the lineup. This move encourages me to think that more significant changes are coming because Gauthier displayed some stones with this move and clearly sees the Habs need significant changes to contend for the cup.
I'm still quite pissed i dont know which is good, i love Halak but what the hell now right? Can't become a blues fan now anyway.
I was mad, now I have been driven mad. Beware all who proceed any further...
I have been waiting since 1993 for another cup. They came thick and fast in my childhood of the '70's. So many. Heady days. Pride overflowing in our belle provence. I felt that again recently for two months as did we all. That silver bowl seems so much further now. I nearly cried watching Halak clips on youtube today. The saves, the glory. So fresh and yet so far away now. I have had a lifelong love affair with the Habs' hockey. But like all good love affairs, if they don't go all the way once in a while, what's the point, eh? Funny thing is I have never felt so damn screwed in all my life and not in a good way. The bad way for a man of my proclivities. Just ask my wife... She thinks the management of the Habs don't respect us. I think this is true and that extends to the players as well. It would have been nice to at least ask the public what they thought. But then hey don't care what we think. That's the problem. They are too smart and we are too stupid to know what's best for our team. It's our team too. We love it, you just work there. Remember that.
What is the message to the team with the trading of Halak? Don't get too good and expect to be rewarded for it. We can always get someone cheaper to replace you. Or we'll pay you more if you could just suck a whole lot more. Congrats Pleks and Price. They're getting raises. Seriously. Is this the banks all over again? Insanity! There is only one thing to do. It was supposedly all about money, so we need to make it about money.
I CALL FOR A BOYCOTT OF MOLSONS AND THE MONTREAL CANADIENS ORGANIZATION because the ONLY thing they understand is MONEY. Withhold it and we get the power back. Without us they are gone. It's time for a revolution to save our team. Do you want us to be the (shudder) Leafs. If we don't make a stand they will continue to dash our hopes and dreams over and over. Today has been very rough and I don't see it getting any better anytime soon. I won't be watching until Price is gone and the management changes or at least how they operate.
Good luck to you all and to the team. Thanks to Yaro, he goes to a better place, I hope - he deserves it. Not that they gave him any choice about where he may have wanted to go. It's just his life here. Too much to ask for respect for a job well done, eh? Understandable if he had sucked. He would've understood. No wait, that was Price that sucked. Maybe they mixed up the names. Criminal. I wash my hands of them. They will never create a great team like the Chicago Black Hawks who respect another at all levels - players and management alike. I heard that all through the playoffs and it seemed genuine as well, not forced. I'm glad they got THE CUP. They deserve it. I expect them to repeat next year. Or maybe it will be the Blues. I hear they have a great new goaltender...
"...Lars Eller and Ian Schultz, who will forever be expected to be better than they are..."
Isn't that the case for EVERY Canadiens player?
On another subject, Larry Robinson appears to have been available and looking to return to the Hab family as an ambassador or coach. What a great addition he would have been to the depleted Canadiens coaching staff. Boivin was too busy to return his agent's phone calls so he stays with the Devils, clearly a classier more competent organization. Very disappointing.
wow! you people lead the league at looking at this all wrong! ive been for the Habs fo r forty years, nd ive seen hell of a lot things go down. lets be honest 4a minute, halak was good no doubt , but thats it``good`` good only gets you so far, see Steve Penney 84. Halak is a copy of him and Cristobal Huet much loved. But love only gets u close. i wont go into stats because they mean nothing to me. i look at the game. Halak was good stopping shots below 1ft high, any higher he would be toast, Price is 2years his junior,and still 22. relax ppl we r no where close to winning the cup at this point. Screw just barely making the playoffs i want to get back to where the playoffs are a formality. like the Detroit Red Wings and the New Jersey Devils. For me mediocre just doesnt cut it any more.Halak is good. Price WILL be better give it time rlaxs and enjoy the ride while this happens.stop all your pissing and dissing of the Habs, Lets hope Lars Ellar and Ian Shultz have good careers in Montreal. I am a HABS fans 1st. i pull for the team. Lets all get behind them now instead of this internal war we were waging based on 2 goalies, how stupid were WE! Candiens Fans UNITE!
chill every1 its just another player.
I hate this trade. It really hurts and its like management didnt appreciate what Halak did this year. They don't care the fans prefer Halak over Price. They try to send a message with their preference by booing Price. People get bent out of shape about it. I don't think Jacques Martin would be too happy with this trade either. He liked Halak better. They traded the wrong goalie. May as well bring back Rejean Houle as GM if they want to continue destroying the team.
HALAK > PRICE & PLEKANEC
I feel like Bob Gainey had his finger prints all over this trade. He's still in the organization and they traded Halak even though he has been outplaying Price for the past 2 seasons. Halak proved how good he is this year and has been is the more deserving goalie taking Montreal deep in the playoffs. The deepest run since 1993. I feel so mad and frustrated at management. IT makes me sick and it seems like their saying they wont keep the best player for the team. Halak certainly is and he wins more than Price and that should reflect that he is the better player for this team.
this trade really suck's for the hab's what the hell were they thinking. do they really think that price is there man i think not the kid can't handle the pressure in montreal and he never will i have been a habs fan for 35 year's what was gauthier thinking my god man get your head out of your ass your living a dream if you think price is your guy shame on you for not giving halak a chance you need to go back to managment school because you have know ideal what your dealing with in the eyes of the fans in montreal they will eat you a live for the stupid trade you made
Spoken so loud and true. Amen
I just don't understand why so many habs fans thinks this is a great trade. They should keep the players that give them the best chance to win and this trade makes no sense if you are gonna be playing your best player. Halak outperformed Price. Halak had a better W-L record than Price, and he has better stats in every other category too. Not only that, some people say that Halak didnt want to be there and was gonna sign with the khl. Thats bs. He has the Roy holding the cup in 93 on his mask for a reason. He has a great respect for the Habs and their history as a team. His dream was to lead Montreal to a Stanley Cup like Patrick Roy did. The people who try to justify that this was a good trade that will improve the team doesnt make sense at all. Price will never be able to do what Halak did this year for Montreal ever! Halak's 54 saves against Washington was the best goaltending performance I have ever seen in a long time.
The sad part is really that it was the wrong trade for everyone - both teams, both goalies and all their fans. Price will never succeed in Montreal because he's been pummeled by the pressure. Halak won't succeed in St Louis because he needs the pressure. The two guys Habs are getting will quite probably never amount to much. It's the dreaded lose-lose scenario
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