loading...
Canwest News Service
EDMONTON – In the National Hockey League, backup goaltenders are paid to sit and put on a happy face.
For a young player, like Edmonton Oilers netminder Jeff Deslauriers, it’s your lot in life: be patient, wait for your turn.
For an older player, like Dallas Stars backup Alex Auld, you’re thankful for whatever NHL work comes your way.
In Deslauriers’s case, he’s now getting a chance to help earn points for his team and perhaps show something to a coaching staff that didn’t know much about him before this season.
It has been a long, winding road for the Deslauriers, 25, who was drafted 31st overall in the 2002 NHL entry draft. He knows the score: the Oilers signed free-agent Nikolai Khabibulin for four years at $3.75 million US a season because they weren’t sure about what they had in Deslauriers or minor-league goaltender Devan Dubnyk, called up to fill Khabibulin’s roster spot.
But with Khabibulin out with a sore back, this is Deslauriers’s shot at getting past the sit-and-wait-your-turn syndrome.
“I’ve been working hard since 2002 to make my way to the NHL,” Deslauriers said. “I’ve been to the minors, been down and up. That’s how hockey is. You don’t control stuff. You get sent down and you have to pick yourself up and keep battling and never forget where you want to go.
“I’ve got a shot (to play), where I can realize my dream.”
Deslauriers wasn’t irked when the Oilers signed Khabibulin.
“It’s just another challenge,” Deslauriers said. “The team staff made the decision, thinking what was best for the team. Me? I have to do my job . . . like I said I know where I want to go,” he said.
If he does well – shutting out the Phoenix Coyotes on Monday is a nice opening act – his importance in the team’s pecking order will rise dramatically. After all, he wants to be an NHL starter some day.
Deslauriers has played three straight games for the Oilers. He had a spotty start against the Colorado Avalanche last Wednesday, but still ended up with a 6-4 win. He was hung out to dry against the Chicago Blackhawks in a 5-2 loss on Saturday, and he was perfect in a 4-0 win over Phoenix.
In the six games he has played this season, he has a 2.47 goals-against average and .916 save percentage, with three wins, two losses and another setback in a shootout against the Ottawa Senators.
“Our management feels very positively about this young man,” said Oilers head coach Pat Quinn. “(Team management) signed Khabibulin because they weren’t sure (Deslauriers) was ready (for a bigger load), but were happy with his progress.”
Edmonton Journal
jmatheson@thejournal.canwest.com
