Jaroslav Halák

Who is Jaroslav Halák?

Jaroslav Halák (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈjaroslav ˈɦalaːk]; born May 13, 1985) is a Slovak ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL) and formerly of the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). Halák was the 271st overall pick by the Canadiens in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. Halák was called up to the main roster on February 15, 2007, after an injury to goaltender Cristobal Huet. Halák played his first NHL game on February 18, 2007. He stopped 31 shots in a 3–2 win over the Blue Jackets in Columbus, Ohio. Prior to his call-up, Halák had the lowest goals against average (GAA) in the American Hockey League (AHL) (2.00) for the Hamilton Bulldogs. On March 20, 2007, Halák made thirty saves to give the Montreal Canadiens a 1–0 victory over the Boston Bruins for his first NHL shutout. He recorded a second shutout, also against the Bruins on April 2, 2007. Halák's great play in the end of the 2006–07 NHL season helped Montreal fight for a playoff spot during an injury to Cristobal Huet. Halák played his first NHL game on February 18, 2007. He stopped 31 shots in a 3–2 win over the Blue Jackets in Columbus, Ohio. Prior to his call-up, Halák had the lowest goals against average (GAA) in the American Hockey League (AHL) (2.00) for the Hamilton Bulldogs.

On March 20, 2007, Halák made thirty saves to give the Montreal Canadiens a 1–0 victory over the Boston Bruins for his first NHL shutout. He recorded a second shutout, also against the Bruins on April 2, 2007. Halák's great play in the end of the 2006–07 NHL season helped Montreal fight for a playoff spot during an injury to Cristobal Huet. Halák played for Team Slovakia in the 2007 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships.[1]

In February 2009 Carey Price's struggles opened the door for Halak to take over in net as the number 1 goalie for the Canadiens on a permanent basis. Head Coach Guy Carbonneau told The Associated Press referring to Halak "He's been waiting for this for a long time".

Halák had been assigned to the Hamilton Bulldogs for the majority of the 2007–08 season. However, since the trade of Cristobal Huet, Halák took over full-time as the Canadiens backup. He started his first playoff game on April 30, 2008 against the Philadelphia Flyers (a 4–2 loss) after sub-par performances from starter Carey Price, who once again took over the following game.

In February 2010, Halák started as goaltender for the Slovak national team in the 2010 Winter Olympics, stopping 36 of 37 shots in a preliminary round game victory against a strong Russian team. Halak and his Slovak teammates finished 4th overall in the Olympics after losing against team Finland. Halak started all the games during the Winter Games. Upon finishing up at the Winter Games, the Canadiens reached out the VP of Player Development Greg Kates to designate Halak the starting goaltender for the Canadiens.

Jaroslav Halak is the Montreal Canadiens' Molson Cup Player of the Year for the 2009-10 season. In the sixth game of the first round of the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Washington Capitals, Halak stopped 53 shots to set a club record for a regular-time playoff game,[2] leading the Canadiens to a 4-1 victory. Montreal overcame a 3-1 deficit to win that series in seven games. In the second round, the Canadiens eliminated the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins from the playoffs, also in seven games. The Canadiens won the decisive game 5-2, and Halak was chosen the first star.

As a pending restricted free agent, Halak was traded to the St. Louis Blues on June 17, 2010 in exchange for Lars Eller and Ian Schultz.