Cristobal Huet

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
Nickname(s) Cristo-Wall, Le Cousin, Hip-hip-hu-ey
Height
Weight		 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
204 lb (93 kg/14 st 8 lb)
NHL Team
F. teams		 Washington Capitals
Montreal Canadiens
Los Angeles Kings
Nationality Flag of France France
Born September 3, 1975 (1975-09-03) (age 32),
Saint-Martin-d'Hères, FRA
NHL Draft 214th overall, 2001
Los Angeles Kings
Pro career 2002 – present

Cristobal Huet (pronounced [yˈɛt]) (born September 3, 1975 in Saint-Martin-d'Hères, France) is a French professional ice hockey goaltender, currently playing for the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League. Huet was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings as their seventh-round pick, 214th overall, in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, becoming the first netminder, and second player overall (after Philippe Bozon), from France to play in the NHL.

Contents

[edit] Playing career

Huet played for the Kings in the 2002–2003 and 2003–2004 seasons. He was traded to the Montreal Canadiens in a three-team deal that sent Mathieu Garon to Los Angeles and Radek Bonk from Ottawa to Montreal. During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, which caused the entire season to be cancelled, Huet played for the Mannheim Eagles in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. He led the team to the finals, where it lost three straight games to Eisbären Berlin.

During the 2005–06 season, Huet blossomed by recording seven shutouts in 36 games. He eventually won the starting job in nets for the Canadiens at the expense of José Théodore, later traded to Colorado for goaltender David Aebischer.

He also won the Molson Cup in February 2006. The Molson Cup is awarded monthly to the best Montreal Canadiens' player. He won the Best Defensive Player award from the NHL during the first week of March, ousting goaltenders such as the Ottawa Senators' Ray Emery and the New Jersey Devils' Martin Brodeur, with a 3–0–0 record and a 1.67 GAA. For the second time of the year, he was named NHL Best Defensive Player on April 3 with a 3–0–0 record, a 0.65 GAA and 0.979 SV%, ousting goaltenders Martin Brodeur, Miikka Kiprusoff and Manny Legace. On April 23, in his first Stanley Cup playoffs start, Huet starred in a 6–1 win against the 2nd seed in Eastern Conference -- the Carolina Hurricanes. Huet stopped 42 of 43 shots in the contest to put the Canadiens up 1–0 in the seven game series. Two days later, Huet recorded his first overtime playoff win, when the Canadiens beat the Hurricanes 6–5 in two overtimes to take the lead 2–0 in the series. But in the next four games, Huet and the Canadiens lost games 2–1, 3–2, 2–1 and 2–1 and the series in goaltender duels with rookie Cam Ward, who took Martin Gerber's starting spot in the series, and who would later go on to win the Conn Smythe Trophy.

On January 13, 2007, Huet was announced as one of the three goalies of the Eastern Conference All-Star Team in the 55th NHL All-Star Game in Dallas. A month later, however, he suffered a left hamstring injury that caused him to miss most of the final two months of the season. In his absence, the Canadiens struggled, and the team missed the postseason.

The Canadiens re-signed Huet in the 2007 offseason for two years at $5.75M total. On February 26, 2008, in a last-minute trade drive by Montreal Canadiens general manager Bob Gainey, Huet was sent to the Washington Capitals for a 2009 second-round draft pick. [1] He essentially took over the starting position from Olaf Kolzig, and his strong play helped lead Washington to securing a playoff berth, where they eventually lost their opening round series against the Philadelphia Flyers in seven games.

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] Regular season

   
Season Team League GP W L T OT MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2002–03 Manchester Monarchs AHL 30 16 8 5 - 1784 68 1 2.29 .922
2002–03 Los Angeles Kings NHL 12 4 4 1 - 541 21 1 2.33 .913
2003–04 Los Angeles Kings NHL 41 10 16 10 - 2199 89 3 2.43 .907
2005–06 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 4 0 4 - - 237 15 0 3.79 .862
2005–06 Montreal Canadiens NHL 36 18 11 - 4 2102 77 7 2.20 .929
2006–07 Montreal Canadiens NHL 42 19 16 - 3 2286 107 2 2.81 .916
2007–08 Montreal Canadiens NHL 39 21 12 - 6 2277 97 2 2.55 .916
2007–08 Washington Capitals NHL 13 11 2 - 0 771 21 2 1.63 .936
NHL totals 183 83 61 11 13 10,178 412 17 2.43 .918


[edit] Playoff career

   
Season Team League GP W L MIN GA SA GAA SV%
2005–06 Manchester Monarchs AHL 1 0 1 30 4 18 8.08 .778
2005–06 Montreal Canadiens NHL 6 2 4 385 15 212 2.33 .929
2007–08 Washington Capitals NHL 7 3 4 451 22 242 2.39 .909
NHL totals 13 5 8 836 37 454 2.66 .919

[edit] International play

Played for France in:

[edit] International statistics

Year Team Comp GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA
1998 France Oly 2 1 1 0 120 5 0 2.50
2002 France Oly 3 0 2 1 179 10 0 3.36

[edit] Honors

  • French Elite League Champion with HC Grenoble-Isère Bruleurs de Loups, 1997/98
  • Albert Hassler Trophy (Most Valuable Domestic Player in the French Elite League), 1997/98
  • French Elite League Champion with HC Grenoble-Isère Bruleurs de Loups, 1997/98
  • Jean Ferrand Trophy (Most Valuable Goaltender in the French Elite League), 1996/97 and 1997/98
  • Swiss National A League Champion with HC Lugano, 1998/99
  • European Hockey League Final Four with HC Lugano, 1999/00
  • Jacques Plante Trophy (Best GAA in the Swiss National A League), 1999/00 and 2000/01
  • NHL Defensive Player of the Week 3–5–06
  • NHL All Star Team roster - 2007
  • Nominee for NHL All Star team - 2008
  • NHL 3rd star for January 2008
  • Traded to Washington for a 2009 2nd round draft pick - February 2008

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Dwayne Roloson		 Winner of the Crozier Award
2006		 Succeeded by
Niklas Bäckström