Oct 27 There Should Be No Goaltending Controversy in Montreal

As I sat high atop the Bell Centre last night watching the pregame skate, I must say I was slightly surprised knowing that Jaroslav Halak was going to start the game. Not because he didn’t deserve it, after winning the Habs’ last three games, but because I was sure the team would want to get Carey Price another crack at the 1-A position against a team the Canadiens should beat.

After the game, a 3-2 overtime victory, your Montreal Canadiens, with 11 games played, are now 6-5 after winning their first two (thanks to Price) and then losing 5 in a row before Halak set the ship straight again.

Last evening’s win against the New York Islanders saw Jacques Martin going with the “hot hand” who faced 31 shots against an Islanders team that was much more aggressive than last Friday when they were trounced 5-1 by the same Habs line-up.

I say I was only slightly surprised because, in essence, the right decision was taken. When Halak was put in against Atlanta, he was put in a situation where the starting spot was his to lose. He won that game as well as the next one against the Islanders, convincingly and while one could argue that the Canadiens should have gone with their “number 1” net-minder in Price against the surging New York Rangers team on Saturday night, it was Halak that earned the coach’s trust.

So it would seem that while last year, to a fault, the Canadiens lived and died with Carey Price in net, this season, whether it is because of the new coach or the new ownership group, Bob Gainey’s “thoroughbred” will sit in his stall until he’s called upon to replace the winingest horse.

I can understand why Mr Gainey, after picking Price 5^th overall in the draft while others such as Devin Setoguchi and Anze Kopitar were still available, would want to stick with his guy, but it appears that the new order of the day is “he who wins get’s a chance to win again.

In the post game press conference, Jacques Martin was asked if it was now safe to assume that Halak was the Canadiens’ official number 1 goaltender, to which he answered with an emphatic “No”.  He went on to say that he was happy with the healthy competition and that there is no jealousy between the two goalies.

Carey Price has not shown any signs of being disgruntled. "Everybody wants to play, but when the team's doing well you have to think of the team first and that's what I'm doing right now," Price said after practice today. "He's (Halak) on a streak right now. He's been playing well, so he deserves his playing time."

Price is also one of the biggest cheerleaders on the bench when the team scores and among the first to approach Halak after each of this recent string of wins, with congratulatory words for his counterpart.

The question that remains is when, not if, Price gets his next start, will he be able to start a winning streak of his own? It is possible to have two goalies co-exist and be successful in the process. The ’91-’92 Rangers had both Mike Richter and Jon Vanbiesbrouck in the line-up and the two combined for 50 wins that season. Will the Price/Halak combination have any chance of doing the same? With games against the Penguins on Wednesday and a back-to-back game scenario against Chicago Friday and the Mapleleafs Saturday, you will surely see Price in at least one of those games. How he answers the challenge will decide how many more he plays than that one.

Tags: Carey price \ goaltending controversy \ habs \ Islanders \ Jacques Martin \ Jaroslave Halak \ Montreal Canadiens \ NHL \ Thrashers \ win