It goes without saying that the worst goalie trade in Montreal Canadiens history was trading Patrick Roy to the Colorado Avalanche. However, another trade with the Avalanche gave the Canadiens one of the worst goalies in their history. Before Carey Price won the Hart Trophy in 2014, the last goalie to win that award was another Canadiens goalie, Jose Theodore. Theodore rose to prominence in the 2000-01 season when he became the Canadiens' starting goalie, posting a 2.57 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage, but that was nothing compared to what he would do the next year. In the 2001-02 season, Theodore was dominant, posting a 30-24-10 record with a 2.11 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage, taking home the Vezina and Hart trophies.
Theodore established himself as one of the best goalies on the planet, but he could not maintain that level of success. Over the next couple of seasons, his play declined. The combination of his poor play, the controversy surrounding his positive drug test at the 2006 Olympics, and the emergence of Cristobal Huet led the Canadiens to move on from the former Vezina and Hart winner. The trade was one-for-one. The Canadiens sent Theodore to the Avalanche in exchange for goaltender David Aebischer. In Colorado, Aebischer looked like a promising young netminder, but in Montreal, he looked unrecognizable.
David Aebischer looked like the goalie of the future in Colorado
Aebischer made his NHL debut with the Avalanche during the 2000-01 season. He was tasked with being the backup for one of the greatest goalies in league history, Roy. As a rookie, Aebischer put up pretty great numbers, posting a 2.24 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage in 22 starts, doing his part as the Avalanche went on to lift the Stanley Cup. Aebischer did not have much of a workload in his first three seasons with Roy playing such a high percentage of games, but when the Hall of Fame goaltender announced his retirement at the end of the 2002-03 season, the Swiss netminder finally got his chance to be the team’s starter. He went from starting 19 games in both his second and third seasons to 61 in 2003-04.
More than tripling the number of starts did not affect Aebischer’s game. Aebischer posted a 32-19-9 record, with a 2.09 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage, helping Colorado make the playoffs. The Avalanche lost in the second round to the San Jose Sharks, but Aebischer was stellar in the playoffs, posting a 2.08 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage. It looked like Colorado had found their goalie of the future, then the 2004-05 lockout happened. Aebischer played in Switzerland during the lockout and looked like his usual self, but when the NHL came back for the 2005-06 season, he looked like a completely different player, leading to the trade.
Aebischer's tenure with the Canadiens was one to forget
Aebischer began the 2005-06 season with the Avalanche, but after posting a 2.98 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage in 42 starts, the team decided to move on from him in favour of Theodore. Theodore never became the goalie he was in 2001-02 again, but after struggling in his first two seasons with the Avalanche, he finally settled back into the crease in 2007-08. He posted a 28-21-3 record with a 2.44 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage. Theodore went on to have successful stints with the Washington Capitals and Florida Panthers, proving that he was still a more-than-adequate starter in the NHL. Aebischer, on the other hand, could not replicate the success he had before the lockout season.
After Aebischer’s lacklustre start with the Avalanche, things only got worse when he arrived in Montreal. He was brought in to be Huet’s backup, but he became virtually unplayable. In seven starts with the Canadiens following the trade, Aebischer posted a 4-3 record with a 3.73 goals-against average and an .892 save percentage. His second season in Montreal was slightly better, improving his goals-against average to 3.17 and his save percentage to .900, but when Huet went down with an injury that sidelined him for nearly the rest of the season, the Canadiens chose to roll with an unproven rookie at the time, Jaroslav Halak, over Aebischer. The Canadiens chose not to re-sign Aebischer after the 2006-07 season, and he would start just one more NHL game before leaving to sign with Lugano in Switzerland. Aebischer's short tenure with the Canadiens was truly one to forget and will go down as one of the worst goalie acquisitions in the franchise's history.
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