The presentation of the players of the visiting team, before the game at the Bell Center, rarely arouses strong reactions. The most common: applause, well circumscribed in a section, when a Quebec player is announced, as we heard Thursday after Alexandre Carrier was announced among the starting six of the Predators.
Sometimes a star player will be booed. The former Canadian, them, cause variable reactions.
On January 5, the mention of the name of Jaroslav Halak, announced as the starting goalkeeper of the Rangers, drew applause. The next day, the Rangers trained in Brossard. It was an opportunity to ask him how it feels to still be acclaimed, 13 years after his departure. His face lights up.
“I didn’t hear it because I was in the locker room! But it’s good to see that even after all these years, people remember me. It is special. »
Halak didn’t exactly have to bend over backwards to sign 289e career victory. The Habs shot just 18 times that night, and the Rangers won 4-1.
“It’s still weird to play in Montreal,” he admits to The Press. The most important are the two points. And you never know when you’re playing your last game in this arena. Who knows ? Maybe it was my last game at the Bell Centre. Maybe the next game here, the coach will send the other goalkeeper. I will be 38 in four months. Health is the most important thing. »
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Jaroslav Halak had a standout playoff run in 2010.
Among the deans
The Canadian and the Rangers will resume at the end of the afternoon on Sunday, this time at Madison Square Garden. It is not yet known who, Halak or Igor Shesterkin, will get the start.
But the mere fact that Halak is in this conversation is amazing in itself. There are only three goaltenders older than him in the NHL this season: Craig Anderson, Marc-André Fleury and Brian Elliott. But above all, he is part of an endangered species: keepers under 6ft. He is 5’11, the same height as Juuse Saros (Nashville Predators) and Alex Stalock (Chicago Blackhawks).
No goalkeeper is smaller than them. And the trend will continue, as only one goaltender under 6′ has been selected in the last three drafts.
This brings us back to the famous phrase “Below 6 ft 2, you don’t even look at it”, often heard from the mouths of recruiters or even agents looking for future clients.
“I’ve been told about my height for 20 years. From my draft year, I was told that I was too small, that I would never go to the National League, he recalls. And I’m still here. People often ask me if I wish I was 6’3, 6’4. I don’t know. Maybe at that height, I would never have played in the NHL. »
If I had listened to what people say about my size, I would never have played hockey and I don’t know what I would have done for a living.
Jaroslav Halak
He continues: “If you are a keeper under 6 feet, you have to play to your strengths and try to maximize your size, play big. I see 6-foot-5 goalies playing small. And I see 6′ guards looking big because their posture is different. »
Halak cites Roland Melanson and Marc Champagne as the people who most helped him overcome his disadvantage. The first supported him in the organization of the Canadian, as well as in summer camps organized by the Octagon agency. Champagne, meanwhile, first worked with Halak in Lewiston and was hired as the Islanders’ goalie coach when the Slovak joined the team in 2014.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY MARC CHAMPAGNE
Jaroslav Halak with Marc Champagne
“I told him to play in front of the paint, to play big and to compete, explains Champagne. He had the knife between his teeth and he showed it in Montreal. That was it, his wow-factor.
“I had goalies not able to make the saves at 6 ft 4, continues Champagne. Will you struggle to make your job, or just hope the puck hits you? Samuel Montembeault, he fights, Saros too. If you don’t compete, you’ll lose your greatness pretty quickly. »
PHOTO ANDRE PICHETTE, PRESS ARCHIVES
Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak in 2010 with the Montreal Canadiens
More durable than Price
In 2010, Pierre Gauthier put an end to the soap opera surrounding his goalkeepers by trading Halak to the Blues, thus confirming Carey Price’s status as a goalkeeper for the future.
We haven’t kept in touch, but we greet each other when we meet. It’s sad that he doesn’t play anymore. It’s his knee, isn’t it? It would have been nice to see him back on the ice.
Jaroslav Halak
The cohabitation between two goalkeepers at the start of their career “is not always easy”, he agrees. “The two of us were trying to make a name for ourselves. We pushed each other, we challenged each other. But it helped me take the next step. I was traded, I had the chance to be number 1 in St. Louis. He played many games in Montreal. I have played for many teams. I imagine it worked for both of us! »
Since the trade, Price has played 651 games (including the playoffs), compared to 484 for Halak. Price won a Hart Trophy, a Vezina and he led the Canadiens to three Stanley Cup victories in 2021. We will never know if he could have done it too in 2014.
Except that Halak will have been the more durable of the two, in number of years played, despite all the apprehensions due to its size. The factors are many, but its longevity is not trivial.