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Wednesday, November 8, 2000
It all comes down to the goalie
By Rob Parent
Special to ESPN.com
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General manager Craig Patrick traded Tom Barrasso away. He let Ron Tugnutt get away. He put most of the team's prospects in the hands of Jean-Sebastien Aubin, who figured he could shake a healthy new contract out of the situation.
But for a while, Aubin was a holdout in camp and Patrick was left holding a bag of goaltending prospects and minor-league wannabes.
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Wed., Sept. 27
Jaromir Jagr's health is the single biggest factor for Pittsburgh because he is the most dominant player in the world. He has to stay healthy. And their goaltending is another major issue governing the Penguins' success. Jean-Sebastien Aubin will be the No. 1 goalie with Ron Tugnutt now in Columbus. Aubin faces a similar situation to what Brian Boucher is facing in Philadelphia. It's a great opportunity but also a big question mark at the same time.
In addition, how will the non-Czech players respond to new coach Ivan Hlinka? It will be different for the Americans and the Canadians on the team to have a Czech coach. |
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"Once we get a goalie in here," Patrick said, "we'll be fine."
Well, Aubin's in camp, so let's see how right he is.
Any team with Jaromir Jagr, Robert Lang and Martin Straka could say that, especially if they're speaking the same language as their coach.
This will be the historic first season of Czech coach Ivan Hlinka, who says he's going to have an eclectic mix of "skill" – Jagr and his Team Czech teammates – and "kill" players – Matthew Barnaby and Darius Kasparaitis – who can play in a very North American way.
"We need to use the body," Hlinka said. "We have guys who can do it."
He might be right, but in the end, it all comes down to the guy in between the pipes.
Aubin isn't completely proven. As insurance, Patrick was thinking about bringing in unrestricted free agent Mikhail Shtalenkov, who at 34, is a prototype backup. As for the future, most of the focus during training camp was on 20-year-old Sebastien Caron, recognized as the organization's goalie of the future.
"If we started the season right now," Patrick said with a nod toward Caron, "he'd be our goalie. There's no question about that. He's played well. Everybody's feeling very comfortable with that."
On a team of flying Czechs and a new coach still trying to incorporate his system, a green goalie in the nets couldn't leave the Penguins feeling very comfortable, could it?
Patrick should look across the state to Philadelphia, where junior star Maxime Ouellette wants to be kept on by club management, but a numbers problem exists because they drafted and signed a veteran European named Roman Cechmanek to be the backup this season.
By the way, Cechmanek was Dominik Hasek's stand-in for a Czech Republic team featuring all those high-scoring Penguins who won Olympic gold. That team was coached by Hlinka ... it could be an intra-division trade made in heaven.
Even though such trades rarely happen, is it a nuttier idea than beginning the season with a 20-year-old starting goalie?
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Bottom Line on the Penguins
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Strengths
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Weaknesses
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Jaromir Jagr
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Power play
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Defense
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Goaltending
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SEASON OUTLOOK: It will be interesting to see whether Aubin can come into camp late and have a solid year. Elsewhere, Jagr, Straka, Lang and Alexei Kovalev have to find some way to improve on a power play that somehow managed to be horrendous last season. Summary: Hlinka has the right approach with a defense-first philosophy, and trade-deadline acquisitions Bob Boughner and Janne Laukkanen should bolster those efforts. If Aubin is a solid starter, this infusion of defensive-zone stability will help the Penguins rebound to the 40-win level and challenge for the division title. |
Rob Parent covers the NHL for the Delaware County (Pa.) Times. His NHL East column appears every week on ESPN.com.
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