Jaroslav Halak Listed As Day-To-Day; Blues Can't Get A Break

Halak’s mysterious injury might be the break the Blues needed. The injuries to Perron and Oshie have really hurt this season, but the most disappointing thing for the Blues this year by far has been the play of Halak.

In the first 12 games of the season, he looked great. I cautioned my fellow fans about him, though, because his body of work was not very broad or deep. Like everyone, I loved him in the playoffs last year, and especially on the big stage of the Olympics.
But unlike many of you, I was not ready to anoint this guy as the next Glen Hall. He had only played an handful of games in the NHL.

And then, on Veteran’s Day, Halak began to fizzle out. The Blues had the game won, and then he gave up a terrible goal from behind the net by JP Dumont. The defense was there, the forwards were there. It was just a terrible goal.

Since that game, be honest……..you expect at least one weak goal out of this guy, if not two, per game. How can a team win with that type of goaltending?

Maybe there is still hope for this guy….. I am not sure. But the Blues are in a huge playoff battle once again, and they need great goaltending. Conks has been quite good the past two games, but they need great, not good.

My thought is: maybe it is time for Jake Allen. Could he be worse?? I mean, Halak, since the first 12 games, has one of the worst save-percentages in the entire league. It is embarassing: way below .890. He has been terrible. I mentioned the Nashville game that he gave up a horrendous goal; I can come up with four or five others, and so could the rest of you if you are being honest. He had single-handedly cost the Blues 10-12 points this season. They would be in the playoff hunt if not for his penchant for giving up at least one bad goal per game, and his inability to come up with the big save on breakaways.

As for Allen: let’s give him a chance. These are desperate times. Our goaltending has been atrocious. Most of you are too young, but I remember 1971 very well: Montreal made the playoffs, but they were not confident about their netminder, Rogatien
Vachon. They had invested a lot in Vachon, and had traded away their prior number one goalie, Gump Worsley, with whom they had won two Cups in ’68 and ’69. But in ’71, they soured on Vachon, and they made the bold move to bring up a raw rookie from the AHL, Ken Dryden. They brought him up just before the playoffs, and he went on to lead them to upset the Boston Bruins (Orr, Hodge, Esposito, etc) and to go on to win the Cup, and to win the Conn-Smythe trophy.

I am not saying that Allen would do this for the Blues, but I am saying that there is a reason that the Canadiens have a lot of Cups and we have none. There is no reason anymore to pretend that Halak is a good goaltender this year. For whatever reason, he is bad, in a terrible slump, and is one of the worst goalies statistically in the entire league. So, give someone else a chance. Remember two years ago, when the Blues surprisingly made the Playoffs? That was all because of amazingly great goaltending (by Mason). Do any of you actually have confidence in Halak, to do that same thing this year? He has been a terrible disappointment.

I am prepared to endure the slings and arrows of the Halak-lovers. Please understand: I am not talking about his entire career, but just this year. This year, he has been statistically one of the worst goalies in the league. Will he better in the future?….Perhaps. What happened early this year though, after his hot start, was a joke. He was being annointed as the Blues’ great goalie of the future, the best goalie in franchise history. I understand that most of you never saw Glen Hall play, but take it from me, he was amazingly great. The thing about Hall: he was that way from the very start, when he won the Calder Trophy. He came up in the six-team days, and teams back then went with only one goalie, so he was able to break in at a very young age to be one of the best six goalies in the world. The great ones: they hardly ever gave up bad goals, the ones that have you shaking your head. Halak this year, since that Nashville game on November 11: he has given up that “bad” goal at least once, often twice, per game.

So, his injury may be a blessing in disguise.