Why Can Montreal Goalies Never Realize Their Potential?
Since Patrick Roy was traded from the Montreal Canadiens to the Colorado Avalanche during the 1995-96 season, there have been a parade of highly touted youngsters tending goal for Les Habitants. The problem is that few have them have ever been able to turn their potential into consistently good results for an extended period of time. Why is this?
Here are some names and some facts:
Jocelyn Thibault – Picked up in the Roy trade and was full of potential based on his QMJHL numbers. Thibault had reasonable success but never prospered with the Canadiens, posting a 67W-56L-24T from 1995-96 until he was dealt to the Blackhawks during the 1998-99 season. He has not been able to dominate since and is now the backup in Buffalo.
Jose Theodore – Theodore broke into the Canadiens lineup during the 1995-96 season as another highly touted French-Canadian goalie who was the next Patrick Roy. Theodore posted impressive numbers in the QMJHL, and excelled at the Juniors. Theodore did ascend to great heights in the NHL, winning the Vezina and Hart Trophies in 2001-02, but fell as quickly as he rose and is now a middle-of-the-pack goalie in Washington.
Cristobal Huet – No, for real, this guy was going to be the next Patrick Roy! Huet was the Canadiens savior in the second half of the 2005-06 season, going 18W-11L-4OTL. The next full season, Huet stalled and was barely above .500 while sharing the net with David Aebischer. Huet was traded during the 2007-08 season because of the emergence of Carey Price and despite posting strong numbers. Even though he has posted strong career numbers, he has still not excelled to become a dominating goalie in the NHL, although time may change that as he plays on a young and promising Blackhawks team.
Carey Price – Forget all those other Patrick Roy wannabe’s, this guy is for real the next Patrick Roy! Price was supposed to be the next great goalie after leading his AHL team to the Calder Cup (2006-07) and the Juniors to the gold medal (2007). Price posted strong numbers last year as a rookie but sputtered in the playoffs and has only put up mediocre numbers this year so far (20W-14L-7OTL, .906, 2.76).
Along the way, there have also been names like Mathieu Garon, Yann Denis and Jaroslav Halak as great prospects that have never been able to deliver.
So what’s the deal? Is Montreal such a tough city to play in that it’s really hard for a young goaltender to thrive? Does the Montreal media grind these players down to mediocrity? Are the Montreal management and coaching staffs poor at developing players?
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Montreal_Canadiens_goalies
Player pages on www.nhl.com