OT: Jaroslav Halak

[SRV1990]

"After 581 NHL games, Jaroslav Halak is hanging up the skates."

https://x.com/NHL/status/1946204296078295103

[moose-and-squirrel]

was so excited when they got him

turned out, he's just a European Jake Allen

disapointing

[TheJackBurton]

Did he ever goaler a game against us after being traded?

I know the first year or so after the trade he didn't want to play against us.

[Army's Mom]

was so excited when they got him

turned out, he's just a European Jake Allen

disapointing

Must've been all the fried food and smoking...

[blues2112]

was so excited when they got him

turned out, he's just a European Jake Allen

disapointing

Perfectly stated!

In fairness, each was a decent NHL goalie for a long time. Just not elite, which makes me appreciate JB that much more.

[bluetunehead]

was so excited when they got him

turned out, he's just a European Jake Allen

disapointing

Yeah I was super excited when we got him after he had stood on his head in the playoffs for Montreal. To think that there were plenty of Habs fans who wanted to give us Price instead.

Halak was a perfectly serviceable goalie in the NHL. You don't play nearly 600 games otherwise. Just wasn't quite enough for the Blues.

[dhsux]

was so excited when they got him

turned out, he's just a European Jake Allen

disapointing

Perfectly stated!

In fairness, each was a decent NHL goalie for a long time. Just not elite, which makes me appreciate JB that much more.

Agree.

Then in his last times here he got pretty weird.

[zamadoo]

was so excited when they got him

turned out, he's just a European Jake Allen

disapointing

Perfectly stated!

In fairness, each was a decent NHL goalie for a long time. Just not elite, which makes me appreciate JB that much more.

Agree.

Then in his last times here he got pretty weird.

Yeah, I don't think any of us know exactly what was going on, but it seemed like he was an odd one in the locker room. Maybe there's a bit of a stereotype of goalies being oddballs, but IMO Halak was a pretty darn good goaltender. Heck of a glove. Stood on his head at times and kept us in games when we had no scoring. Seemed like he just fell off from a consistency standpoint. I would even say he's better than Jake Allen, particularly in clutch situations (that goal Jake let up vs MIN...), but Jake was apparently a good locker room guy who won a Cup with us.

[somni]

Wow. Looked him up. He had a pretty nice career. Save % was consistently above .900. GAA was under 3.00 except for one year.

Good on him for the longevity of a career and putting up decent numbers.

[blues2112]

Yeah, I don't think any of us know exactly what was going on, but it seemed like he was an odd one in the locker room. Maybe there's a bit of a stereotype of goalies being oddballs, but IMO Halak was a pretty darn good goaltender. Heck of a glove. Stood on his head at times and kept us in games when we had no scoring. Seemed like he just fell off from a consistency standpoint. I would even say he's better than Jake Allen, particularly in clutch situations (that goal Jake let up vs MIN...), but Jake was apparently a good locker room guy who won a Cup with us.

A consistent refrain I remember hearing from Blues players, Binnington included, was how supportive and positive Allen was in the locker room after losing the starting job.

Impossible to measure how important that was. Glad his name is on the Cup!

[bud white]

was so excited when they got him

turned out, he's just a European Jake Allen

disapointing

Far from it.

Allen freaked out in big games. Halak didn't.

Bad luck more than anything - especially when he was injured in the first round a few years back. That was a very good team.

The Ryan Miller deal was orchestrated by Stillman, by the way. It's hard to go from seeing a ton of shots to few. It is an adjustment.

[IsDurbanodoingtime]

He had a fine career. And he was a heck of a playoff goalie who never got a fair shake. He played in two games for us before injury and was excellent. He got hung out to dry with a bad Slovak team at sochi and Armey bought the [nonsense] about him. He would have beaten Chicago in the first round that year instead we had to trade for a washed up Ryan Miller. He is loved in Montreal for a reason. What he did in that postseason including against the Caps was pretty extraordinary.

[bluetunehead]

was so excited when they got him

turned out, he's just a European Jake Allen

disapointing

Far from it.

Allen freaked out in big games. Halak didn't.

Bad luck more than anything - especially when he was injured in the first round a few years back. That was a very good team.

The Ryan Miller deal was orchestrated by Stillman, by the way. It's hard to go from seeing a ton of shots to few. It is an adjustment.

Yeah I'll always wonder how that year could have gone if we had kept Halak and given him the reigns in the postseason. He was solid in big games a number of times throughout his career. Miller might have made sense if he had the full season to get accustomed to the Blues. But he was a mess for us that postseason.

Halak just no longer had the confidence of the locker room or management.

[Army's Mom]

was so excited when they got him

turned out, he's just a European Jake Allen

disapointing

Far from it.

Allen freaked out in big games. Halak didn't.

Bad luck more than anything - especially when he was injured in the first round a few years back. That was a very good team.

The Ryan Miller deal was orchestrated by Stillman, by the way. It's hard to go from seeing a ton of shots to few. It is an adjustment.

Yeah I'll always wonder how that year could have gone if we had kept Halak and given him the reigns in the postseason. He was solid in big games a number of times throughout his career. Miller might have made sense if he had the full season to get accustomed to the Blues. But he was a mess for us that postseason.

Halak just no longer had the confidence of the locker room or management.

I think some folks underestimate that lockerroom piece - for whatever reason, Backes especially wanted Miller, and the Blues had to at least try to make the captain happy.

I agree Halak got a raw deal, but I wonder if he brought some of it on himself by not being more of a better teammate.

I may be confusing him with someone else, but weren't there rumors of him being a bit hesitant to adapt his stance the way coaches wanted (holding his glove too low)? Was he too aloof in team meetings?

[kimzey59]

was so excited when they got him

turned out, he's just a European Jake Allen

disapointing

Far from it.

Allen freaked out in big games. Halak didn't.

Bad luck more than anything - especially when he was injured in the first round a few years back. That was a very good team.

The Ryan Miller deal was orchestrated by Stillman, by the way. It's hard to go from seeing a ton of shots to few. It is an adjustment.

Yeah I'll always wonder how that year could have gone if we had kept Halak and given him the reigns in the postseason. He was solid in big games a number of times throughout his career. Miller might have made sense if he had the full season to get accustomed to the Blues. But he was a mess for us that postseason.

Halak just no longer had the confidence of the locker room or management.

I think some folks underestimate that lockerroom piece - for whatever reason, Backes especially wanted Miller, and the Blues had to at least try to make the captain happy.

I agree Halak got a raw deal, but I wonder if he brought some of it on himself by not being more of a better teammate.

I may be confusing him with someone else, but weren't there rumors of him being a bit hesitant to adapt his stance the way coaches wanted (holding his glove too low)? Was he too aloof in team meetings?

Ryan Miller was the one that refused to accept any kind of coaching once he got here.


Halak had some injury issues that kept him from holding the Moose at bay. He was never able to establish himself as a clear cut starter but was very good in the 1A role. And he was a good 1B to Tim Thomas later in his career. He was a goofball, but always came off as a good teammate.

[callitwhatyouwant]

Yeah, I don't think any of us know exactly what was going on, but it seemed like he was an odd one in the locker room. Maybe there's a bit of a stereotype of goalies being oddballs, but IMO Halak was a pretty darn good goaltender. Heck of a glove. Stood on his head at times and kept us in games when we had no scoring. Seemed like he just fell off from a consistency standpoint. I would even say he's better than Jake Allen, particularly in clutch situations (that goal Jake let up vs MIN...), but Jake was apparently a good locker room guy who won a Cup with us.

A consistent refrain I remember hearing from Blues players, Binnington included, was how supportive and positive Allen was in the locker room after losing the starting job.

Impossible to measure how important that was. Glad his name is on the Cup!

Jake the Snake lived up to all of his nicknames. You could predict every one of his starts. Jake the Snake against random joe schmo team that wasn't playoff worthy. Shakey Jakey when there was a meaningful game and it was tied up or we were 1 up in the 3rd. You always knew some loose change was going 5 hole where it looked like he thought he made the save and the puck just kept on going.

That being said, I'd take Jake as a backup on about 30-32 rosters. He seems to thrive there. And he was good for the Blues locker room when a lot of starters would have caused a huge fuss. Halak had some magic, and then faded to the league median it seemed.