This isn’t the first time that Jaroslav Halak has been an underdog.
The Team Europe goaltender enters the the World Cup of Hockey final against powerhouse Canada as his team’s best chance to come out with an upset victory.
The 31-year-old was in a similar situation in 2009-10 while with the Montreal Canadiens. Pegged as many as a backup to up-and-comer Carey Price, Halak came up big for the Habs down the stretch and led his team into the post-season.
Halak continued to outplay Price in the Stanley Cup Playoffs that spring and guided the Canadiens to the Eastern Conference final where they eventually fell in five games to the Philadelphia Flyers.
The 5-foot-11, 181-pound netminder started 18 games during those playoffs for Montreal, going 9-9-1 with a 2.55 goals against average and .923 save percentage. That far exceeded Price’s .890 save percentage that he had during four post-season games.
Despite the stellar playoff performance, Halak was dealt in the off-season to the St. Louis Blues for Lars Eller and prospect Ian Schultz. Then-Canadiens GM Pierre Gauthier decided that Price was the future of the team, and in hindsight, it was the right decision.
(Current Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, however, wasn’t a fan of the trade. He said in the House of Commons in Ottawa at the time, “What? Halak for two hockey sticks and a bag of magic beans?”)
Much has changed since Halak’s deal to St. Louis. The Habs have appeared in another Conference final (2014) and Price won just about every award possible for his performance in the 2014-15 NHL season.
The two former teammates will meet again starting Tuesday night in the best-of-three World Cup final at Air Canada Centre with hardware on the line — except this time as opponents.
Halak poses Europe’s best chance at victory in this final, especially with an offence that has struggled to put up points this tournament.
Mats Zuccarello leads the team with a goal and three assists and the line of Anze Kopitar, Tomas Tatar and Marian Hossa has been generating good chemistry of late, although will be facing a tough Canadian defence.
Halak turned aside 42-of-46 shots in Europe’s 4-1 loss to Canada in the round robin, displaying several highlight-reel saves in the process. Not bad for a guy that entered the World Cup as the European’s No. 2 goalie and was only thrusted into the starting job when Frederik Andersen went down with injury in an Olympic qualifying game.
“It’s the best I’ve seen him,” Europe’s GM Miroslav Satan, a former teammate of Halak with the Slovakian national team, told The Canadian Press. “He’s definitely one of the cornerstones of our success.”
Halak will have to come up big for the Europeans much like Sergei Bobrovsky was expected to for the Russians in their semifinal loss to Canada. Bobrovsky was good in that semifinal defeat, stopping 42 shots.
The Slovakian-born Halak has only appeared in nine NHL playoff games — two with the Blues and seven with his current club, the New York Islanders — since his lengthy run with the Canadiens six years ago.
Both Halak and Price have easily been the best two goaltenders at the World Cup and are Nos. 1 and 2 in the two major goalie statistics. Halak has a .947 save percentage and 1.96 goals-against average as opposed to Price’s .948 save percentage and 1.67 GAA.
But if his 37 saves in a 3-2 overtime win over Sweden in the semifinals are any indication, Halak could be ready to stop Sidney Crosby and Co., and lift Europe to an improbable World Cup championship.
