Comments on: Muž za Maskou (The Man Behind the Mask)

By: Daily Bluenotes: 9-1-10

Daily Bluenotes: 9-1-10 — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:23:30 +0000

[...] Brian Haenchen profiles Jaroslav Halak for Hockey Independent. [...]

By: Red

Red — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 20:53:29 +0000

Lars Eller was only the Blues “top forward prospect” because of multiple graduations. While I fully expect him to be a top-six forward for the next decade plus, he’s not a superstar. Halak, on the other hand, can absolutely dazzle at the single most important position in hockey.

If the Blues had *not* improved their goaltending situation(long term), it would have been much, much worse than trading Lars. If the Blues didn’t have David Backes, TJ Oshie, David Perron, Patrik Berglund, and Alex Steen as young veterans and Andy Macdonald rounding out their top six, perhaps retaining Eller would’ve been necessary. But let’s face it, he’s not better than any of the six forwards I just mentioned now, and he may never be.

By: Jeff Quirin

Jeff Quirin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 16:56:43 +0000

Good stuff Brian.

It’s a gamble giving up a guy who could be a top line forward in Eller. Then again Halak feels like a safe bet. Success at basically every level, young enough to grow and rebound if he falts and at a very nice salary for what he can become.

Goaltending wins games. Nothing against Mason, but in the lifetime of the contract he turned down, he wouldn’t improve to the level Halak will hopefully hit. If you give up a top prospect, so be it. You have to be solid in net.

By: Joe Hogan

Joe Hogan — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 23:19:11 +0000

First, great article Brian. Now, on to my opinion.

When we signed Halak, I was thrilled that we got him. His performance in the playoffs was incredible. However, we did give away Eller. Right now our team is full of young talent and I think that Eller would have added more talent to the group.

As for Halak, I think that he will help us. In recent years, our goalie situation hasn’t been that great. Mason did have a fantastic second half of the ’08-09 season, but that was short lived.

Overall, I am happy that we were able to sign Halak but still aggrivated that we gave up Eller. All that’s left to do is see what unfolds. I have a good feeling about the upcoming season and I can’t wait until we take the ice. GO BLUES!