Thousands Go Shopping for a Halak.

Jaroslav Halak obviously did not see the movie ‘Meet me in St. Louis’.

Halak  instead ‘met’ an estimated crowd of 6,000 today at a mall in the suburban city of  Pointe Claire, Quebec. The last time a ‘visiting player ‘ was accepted with such love was when Guy Lafleur returned with the Rangers and then again with the Quebec Nordiques. Can we start referring to Halak as ‘ Le Demon Sans Cheveaux?’

The massive crowd turned up with twenty dollars in their pockets to have the 2009 -10 playoff hero sign their broken hearts.All the money went to charity and no that does not mean Carey Price.

Halak was scheduled to sign autographs from 2pm – 4 pm yet due to the size and excitement of the crowd, he was still signing as the surrounding stores commenced locking their doors well past 5pm. A large denomination of the crowd were young teenage girls who drowned out any announcements of Halak’s plans. When he finally did stop signing shirts, photos and pretty much anything that was thrown his way – Halak made his way into the mall and thanked the throngs of people still waiting to get an autograph much to the delight of the masses. He was not wearing any team colors – Habs or Blues.

Is the Price right…?

Jaro is making it difficult for the Habs management to move on with their decision to let him go and appoint Price as their starting goalie for the next two seasons. The way that Halak was received today – perhaps the Canadiens could swing a trade with the Blues? Straight up – Price for Halak….!? Why not and it is possible that was the message that Halak’s agent sent M.Gauthier today.

Bare with me…It’s is after Christmas and both Halak and Price are not doing well in their respective towns…Price is being booed so maliciously that he demands a trade. Halak meanwhile is singing the ‘blues’ in St.Louis and playing way below his capability in a city that doesn’ t feed him the energy he needs to compete. St.Louis gladly would like to rid themselves of Halak’s contract and by adding Price they save money on a goalie that will excel away from the media attention.

Montreal are more than willing to pay 3.75 million to a goalie who deserves it and by this time – they must pull out all stops because the Bell Center faithful are on the brink of doing a ‘ Richard Riot ‘  impersonation. Simple. Like the plot for the Alfred Hitchcock movie Strangers on a Train – ‘you do my murder, I’ll do yours…’

At the end of the 2010 – 11 season, Price (St.Louis) and Halak (Montreal) meet in the Stanley Cup final as the Habs win their twenty-fifth Stanley Cup. Price outplays Halak to win the Conn Smythe trophy and brings St.Louis to respectability.

This will be the last time we see Halak in Montreal until March 10 when the Blues pay a visit.

Something tells me that his ‘ghost’ will be the latest in a long line of ghouls haunting a Canadien’s hockey arena. This time however – the referee’ s calls may not be in the Habs favor.

If you would like to share your encounter with Jaroslav – email me at keenerick@hotmail.cm