Rock You Lak a Halak: Jaroslav is reincarnation of Hasek, Vokoun, Irbe…or a Damn Monster!….PLEKS UPDATE

Everyone is bloviating about Halak’s sublime performances these last few weeks. Especially on the heals of the 4 points he just stole from Vancouver and Boston.

We here at habsradio.com – well me actually, because ERIC never believed me – predicted at season’s start that if the Habs were to make the playoffs, Halak would be the starter. Remember, that sounded CRAZY just 3 months ago. And we won’t know for awhile if it will come true. But one thing is for sure, if the playoffs started TODAY, Halak would start in nets. And that in itself is a HUGE shift from where we used to be.

***Look Ma, with me eyes closed***

HOWEVER - this is the first time we’ve had the chance to really watch Halak for a sustained and consistent period of time. So far, he is doing everything he can to just stop the damn puck. His mental toughness is great, his energy factor is way high. He’s the consummate teammate. And his numbers? Well, they are out of this world right now. A .930 save percentage? Are you kidding me? And those game-saving saves? WOW!

BUT - In watching Halak last night, I realized a few things about his game.

* He gives up A LOT of rebounds. If not for some well-timed defensive plays, the scores against him would be higher (we can call this even of course, because if not for Halak bailing out the defencemen night in and night out, they’d all be in Defenceman jail). But at some point, other teams are going to figure this out, no?

* Opponents hit A LOT of posts with him. So is this good luck or good positioning? I don’t know yet.

* He flops around.

It’s this last point that has me most concerned. At times, in watching Halak, I don’t know if all this fish-like behavior is part of his style, or because he is just doing everything he can, on sheer willpower, to beat the puck. In this new era of bigger goalies, it makes sense that Halak would have to move around a little bit more than others.

Halak: He not big man.  But style is….mess.

Look at how tsn.ca describes Dominik Hasek. Sound familiar?

NOW HOLD YOUR FIRE KIDDIES – I don’t think anyone can say yet whether Jaroslav Halak’s floppy- flopping and acrobatic outstretched toe-saves is indicative of an intentional style (like it was for Dominik Hasek), something he does to keep moving out of sheer desperation (like Arturs Irbe), or something in between (Tomas Vokoun).

Those goalies had storied careers and they lifted their teams (and/or countries) to heights they would not have otherwise reached. Halak may yet have that potential.

Or he could be something else entirely.

This is a breakout season for him, and the truth is, we’re all just starting to REALLY get to know him. But his style, if it is a style, is unorthodox – it makes my heart skip a beat, in a bad way – and it’s the kind of thing that could really go either way, or even, season to season (Irbe had some leans years).

In the meantime, let’s enjoy the ride and hope it lasts as long as possible. Because it sure is exciting to watch him.

UPDATE: From Habs I/O. Here’s Pierre McGuire, on Team 990: ‘Per Rick Curren, if Pleks isn’t signed by July 1st, he is gone’. Listen for yourself.

SIGN HIM BOB!!!!