Jaroslav Halak

Jaroslav Halak is a Slovak goalie on the St. Louis Blues.

Halak was drafted by the Canadiens in 2003, and made his NHL debut in 2007. He saw some limited success in his first two seasons, but Carey Price was the heralded starter of the future and Halak never played great enough to steal the starting job in Montreal until 2009. In ‘09-10, he played his way into the starter’s role, and posted 26 wins in 43 starts with a 2.40 GAA. He then helped backstop the 8th seeded Canadiens to the Eastern Conference Finals, pulling off upsets over the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins before succumbing to the Philadelphia Flyers. Despite his incredible performance in the playoffs, the Habs opted to retain Carey Price and traded Halak to the Blues for Lars Eller and another prospect.

Halak played for Team Slovakia at the 2007 World Hockey Championships, and was the starter for his country at the 2010 Winter Olympics, where he helped the Slovaks reach the bronze medal game, the furthest they had ever gone in the tournament.