Why I Was A Goalie

Before completely turning to music, writing and the odd bit of translating to make ends meet, I played hockey until the Major Juniors level for Laval (Halifax also owned my rights). I was a goalie. I looked like this:

I wanted to be a goalie first and foremost because my boyhood idol, Patrick Roy, was one, but also because it fit my personality the best: as the last line of defense, the goalie is the one responsible for fixing any previous mistakes. The best ones do so with little fanfare, but the egotistical bastards can also have their day - and look foolish at times as well, when things don't go according to plan.

Being a person of extremes, I'm both: calm, quiet, and reserved, but who likes others to know he'll get the job done and will, at times, bask in the temporary glory it brings, knowing full well it will only last until the next ugly goal against. As such, my tenure in many places ended with a severe correction (a 9-1 loss at Brébeuf at the Collegiate level, a 12-0 loss at Notre-Dame to finish my high school career, a 5-0 loss at the Midget AAA level after having posted four straight shutouts). Only my time in the ''Q'' in Juniors didn't end badly - no goals against, and two fights in my final half-game for Laval.

Where I shined, however, was in tournament play. I loved playing in front of packed arenas full of strangers. I have never played in one and gotten less than a silver medal (second-place finish), and never been less than at least MVP of one game, usually named the best goalie of the tournament. For some reason, when the pressure was on, it was like the puck was twice its normal size and fit perfectly in my glove, which became a magnet for it.

There was one tournament, Sainte-Marie, where there was a rule that a player couldn't be named Player Of The Game more than once - so everybody had their chance to shine, and no one could end up being the perennial second-best. I got it in my first game, which meant no matter how I played, I couldn't get it any other time. I didn't care, I was having a blast with the rest of the NDG Wings.

Nevertheless, in the Finals, which we lost 1-0 with the shots being around the 40-10 mark favoring the other team, my buddy Giovanni Rippolo (who had the best slap shot in our age range) was named the best player. While he did get some applause, as soon as he got his prize (a medal), the 1000-seat crowd started chanting ''goalie! goalie! goalie!'' and I had to acknowledge them with a wave, slightly embarrassed yet extremely proud.

Just like Slovakia's Denis Godla from the World Juniors last night:



Those are the moments you live for.

I'm a huge fan of Slovakia in general, and in hockey in particular. They're usually the team I root for in international play, more so since the Rise Of Jaroslav Halak in 2010, but it was already the case even back in the 1980s and 1990s, thanks to the Québec Nordiques' Stastny brothers and an education system that taught us about the rest of the world in addition to our own history.

Classy And Knowledgeable Hockey Fans

Sometimes I think Montréal hockey fans are fucking awful, especially when they boo former players or the other team's star players...

But at times, they still blow my mind with their generosity and faithfulness. I recall a game against the Anaheim Ducks when the crowd cheered former captain Saku Koivu on. And last Tuesday, upon Jaroslav Halak's return to the city that still views him as the last playoff hero it's had, he was given a chilling standing ovation after shutting out the home team 3-0:

Goodbye, Jaro, Thanks For The Memories

Well, they've gone and done it. The Montréal Canadiens have traded Jaroslav Halak to the St. Louis Blues, for prospects Lars Eller and Ian Schultz. Eller played all of seven games in the NHL last year, Schultz played the whole season in junior with the WHL's Calgary Hitmen even though he's 20 years old, so scoring and skating may not be his strongest suits.

Let's not forget that, in addition to this season's long playoff run, Halak has been responsible for taking the team to the playoffs (and, in one instance, one point from) in 3 of the past 4 seasons.

He has been an example to follow both on and off the ice, never publicly complaining despite never getting the respect he deserved (the Rodney Dangerfield of goaltending, as it were), always working like a rabid horse in practice, taking hits for the team. He was aware of the team's history (he had Patrick Roy lifting the Cup painted on his first mask, for God's sake!) and even played his junior hockey in the province of Québec (well, Lewiston, Maine - but you don't choose which team drafts your rights!).

He was the underdog we all love(d), and made it to the top. He single-handedly defeated the Russian team at the Olympics, a defeat that hurt the best team in the tournament so much that they never recovered and were eliminated by Canada just a few days later. When the Habs were eliminated in this year's playoffs, he was so far ahead of everyone else to contend for the Conn Smythe trophy that speculation for the winner once the Hawks won Game 6 even included the Flyers' third-line center Claude Giroux as a candidate.

This stings more than a little. Of course, it's not as frustrating for a fan as the Roy trade to Colorado, nor the Guy Carbonneau trade, but it's probably the most painful one of the past decade.

In tribute, I offer these two links from my Collectibles blog, one from September 2009 featuring an AHL card of Halak's, and one from last March, featuring two cards and a postcard.

It's funny, 'cause I was under the impression that teams wanted to keep quiet, hard-working guys in their mid-20s who get the job done and love your team and town, like Halak, Tomas Plekanec, Andrei Markov and Mathieu Darche. Now one's gone, one's set to test free agency in two weeks, one is rumoured to be trade bait, and the last guy probably won't get re-signed and will go to Tampa instead, to play for his friend and new head coach Guy Boucher.

Funny. Not.

I think Jaroslav Halak will have to change agents soon... Allan Walsh keeps sabotaging his client's season (and, perhaps, careeer) by tweeting bullshit.

First it was cute plays on words, like ''Halak it A LOT!'', then he attacked Carey Price's record saying Habs' management should play his client more... and now this...

And he dares call himself a professional? Fuck that. And I would actually WANT for Halak to sign for 6, even 10 years. Asshole.