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 Carey Price (top left) and Jaroslav Halak (bottom right) of the Montreal Canadiens, and Jose Theodore (bottom left) and Semyon Varlamov (top right) of the Washington Capitals. (File photos) |
MONTREAL -- It’s the most-talked about topic nobody involved wants to discuss.
“It’s dangerous,” said Montreal Canadiens forward Mike Cammalleri.
As the 2010 Stanley Cup tournament prepares to get underway, there is perhaps no other series in which goaltending is a larger issue than the one between the underdog Canadiens and the top-ranked Washington Capitals.
There is no certainty who will start in net for either team when the series gets underway in the American capital Thursday night.
For sure, the odds certainly favour ex-Hab Jose Theodore starting for the Caps and Jaroslav Halak for the Canadiens. How long either lasts is another story.
Unlike any other series about to get underway, pretty much the first question to the coaches in this series is, “who will you start in net?”
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You’re not getting that -- at least not asked of both coaches -- anywhere else.
The only thing shorter than answers to questions about the goaltenders are the leashes the coaches hold on them.
“I’ll let you guess,” said Canadiens coach Jacques Martin on Monday. “I have the luxury of three nights and I’ll make the decision Thursday morning.”
Caps coach Bruce Boudreau isn’t announcing his starter until Thursday, either.
There’s interesting things to chew over in both camps.
Halak, who was brilliant at times in helping the Canadiens get into the playoffs, flagged in the last week. He didn’t face the Capitals this season. Carey Price played all four games, winning two and losing another in overtime.
The only other goaltender to have more than two wins against the Caps this year is Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils, who beat them three times.
Would it be a complete shock to see Price lead the Habs onto the ice at the Verizon Center Thursday night?
Nope.
If it is Halak the Caps face for the first time, “it’s different, but we’re still going to shoot the puck,” said Boudreau, briefly retracting the Cone of Silence for a revealing glimpse of the Capitals’ strategy.
It seems like it was a very, very long time ago since Theodore won the Vezina and Hart trophies for the Canadiens (it was 2002) and his road since has twisted around the hazards of both professional struggle and personal tragedy.
His detractors had taken to calling him Jose “Three-Or-More.” After getting yanked in the Caps first playoff game last spring in favour of young Semyon Varlamov, the disappointment of that was insignificant in comparison to having to come to terms with the death of his two-month old son from respiratory complications last summer. The 33-year-old has enjoyed a rejuvenation this season.
Since Jan. 13, he is 20-0-3 with a 2.58 goals against average and a .922 save percentage.
But there is matter of his 7.42 goals against average in the two games he’s played here since leaving the Canadiens. In his career against the Habs, Theodore is 2-1-1 with a 4.05 goals against average and .877 save percentage.
A shaky start by either starter will have everybody looking at the end of the bench.
Cammalleri was reluctant to approach the topic of the Caps’ goaltending for fear of being called for karma interference.
“It’s a dangerous topic. Almost every time I’ve went into a game and said to one of my teammates, ‘Hey, this guy here...’ he’s ended up having a great game and gotten a shutout or something,” he said. “It’s a dangerous topic you almost don’t want to talk about, but I think we have more confidence in our goaltenders.”
No, there is no 100 percent certainty who will start in net for either team and, more interestingly, who will be in net for either team when it finishes.
chris.stevenson@sunmedia.ca