Can Huet Regain His Magic?
Noises of how he was to be a one year wonder were loudly heard again this preseason. Pierre Maguire of TSN proclaimed that every team in the league had the key to beating Cristobal Huet – shooting high.
So far this season, Huet has been handily outplayed by Swiss netminder and supposed backup David Aebischer. A flubbed early goal allowed on the second shot of the game against Buffalo cost the team dearly. So is Cristobal the next Patrick Roy or the next Steve Penney?
This article is exclusive to HTR and TheHabsFan.com.8 games into the regular season and the story of the statistics doesn’t look good for Canadiens goaltender Cristobal Huet. Huet, 31, sports an unflattering 3.15GAA in 4 games played, along with a unimpressive .885 save percentage. Huet has 1 win in those four games, along with 2 overtime losses and 1 regulation loss. By contrast teammate David Aebischer has a superb .921SP, 3 wins and a 2.46GAA.
Huet had a rough outing against Buffalo on Monday night. On just the second Sabres shot of the game, the puck went off Huet’s gloves and fell behind him into the net. Questions are being raised about his game by various analysts, especially his performance in the shootouts.
It is fair to say that although his performance hasn’t been losing games for Montreal, it has been subpar and not on the same level of last season. Aebischer’s play has been the opposite and the calls for the team to ride him until his play cools off grow louder with every game Huet loses. For now, he has the support of his coach as number one, but that may well change.
As for whether Huet can ever regain his mojo – it’s a tricky question. It’s early in the year, but the pressure in Montreal is never anything to be trifled with. Guy Carbonneau has shown confidence in Huet by choosing him to start him tonight against the Boston Bruins – a team Huet shut out last year. Both him and teammate Sergei Samsonov will be looking to prove their worth as key members of this year’s squad.
Will tonight’s game be the definitive answer? No. But if Huet has a strong game, or even better steals one for the Canadiens, you can be sure that any supposed goaltending controversy will be put to rest.