Fans of the Philadelphia Flyers hold up signs behind Jaroslav Halak #41 (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
With the Montreal Canadiens already anointed a potential Cinderella team as they enter the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, many Canadiens fans and media have been reminiscing about former NHL goalie Jaroslav Halak and the team’s improbable run in the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Just as they did in 2010, the Canadiens will face the Capitals in the opening round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and just as the Capitals did in 2010, they enter this postseason as the Presidents’ Trophy winners. Future Hall of Famer and Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin is still the biggest story, especially after surpassing Wayne Gretzky as the NHL’s greatest goal scorer just over two weeks ago, but memories of Halak mania sweeping Montreal 15 years ago have been flowing.
RG Media reached out to Halak’s agent and Montreal native Allan Walsh to arrange an interview with the former Montreal cult hero, but Halak was choosing to decline the insane amount of interview requests he’s been receiving. Walsh, though, was more than willing to look back on a magical time for him, his client, the Canadiens, and their passionate fan base.
Walsh’s Tweet Ignites Goalie Controversy
Many may recall that a tweet by Walsh in that 2009-10 season set the climate around the team on fire but also seemed to give Halak the real chance he deserved. Until then, Halak was the designated backup to the preordained goalie of the future for the Canadiens, Carey Price, whom the Canadiens drafted fifth overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. While Price eventually lived up to that hype and more, at that time Halak was the better goalie, and Walsh let it be known.
“Interesting stat of the night … Price is 10W, 32L in last 42 starts. Hmm,” Walsh tweeted in November 2009.
“The second half of that season—in 2010—it wasn’t just the playoffs; he had emerged well before the playoffs as the Canadiens’ No. 1 goalie,” Walsh recalled in a conversation with RG. “There was a real controversy going on in Montreal. There was the cult of Carey Price, and he was the organization’s ‘Golden Boy,’ and there was a point in time where I had put out a tweet that just stated Carey Price’s stats in his last 40 games, and then Jaro got a chance to play, and he was unreal.”
Halak Takes the Net and Makes History
“I know the initial decision to start him in Game 1 (vs the Capitals) was controversial, but Jaro got into a zone and was incredibly focused and motivated to be the No. 1 guy in Montreal. I think that it goes back a few years before that, when he was the No. 1 goalie in Hamilton (AHL) and Carey Price had finished his junior season in Tri-City. They right away had Price anointed as the No. 1 goalie and played him all the way right through the playoffs for their playoff run there, even though it had been Jaro’s net all year.
So, I think Jaro was thinking, ‘why can’t I get the net in Montreal if I’m the best goalie playing here?’”
Halak essentially seized the starter’s role and subsequently went on one of the best goaltending runs since the 2004-05 NHL lockout.
“So fast forward to spring 2010, and he gets them into the playoffs, and he gets the start in Game 1,” Walsh remembered.
Walsh then pointed out how the new scoring champion of the NHL took a shot at Halak, and his client manifested it into one of the most dominating goalie performances in a playoff series.
“I remember during the Washington series, and I believe it was Game 5. Jaro allowed a goal, and as he usually does when a goal goes in, he reached for his water bottle and squeezed it to get some water on his face,” Walsh recalled.
Halak Mania Sweeps Montreal
As Walsh pointed out, Halak became part of the Montreal driving experience as the city suddenly had stop signs that said ‘Halak’ instead of ‘Arrêt’.
“The next thing I remember is somebody had spray-painted on a STOP sign in Montreal and replaced the word ‘Arrêt’ with ‘Halak,’” Walsh recalled. “So, the Journal de Montréal published a photo of the STOP sign that had been spray-painted ‘HALAK,’ and then that spread through the city. So there I am, driving through the city in the playoffs, and every STOP sign I see is spray-painted ‘HALAK’! The Canadiens also started selling t-shirts with ‘HALAK’ STOP signs.”
The Canadiens advanced to the Eastern Conference Final and then lost to the Philadelphia Flyers in five games. Despite the miracle run to the final behind Halak’s brilliance, the Canadiens, as expected, chose Price as their No. 1 going forward and traded Halak that offseason. Later in the summer, Walsh and Halak held an autograph session for charity on the West Island of Montreal, and 25,000 fans showed up.
Now Canadiens fans are hoping another playoff legend arises and they can knock off the mighty Capitals once again.
James Murphy
