CrashingTheGoalie

by Ron Spence

Manny Legace was a nuck for about five minutes.

He was claimed off of waivers by Vancouver on September 30, 1999. And then, Brian Burke – protecting his goalie of the future Kevin Weekes and Garth Snow – placed Legace on waivers and he was claimed back by Detroit on October 13, 1999.

Legace starred for the last two teams to defeat the Canucks – the Blues and the Red Wings.

And Manny is back in the house.

The Carolina Hurricanes – with Cam Ward injured for at least a month – signed Legace to a one-year, $500,000 deal.

Legace had tried out for the Thrashers in September,  but Atlanta was deep in goalies, so he went to the “A.” Manny played six games with the Chicago Wolves, going 2-2-1, with a 3.21 goals-against average.

Legace’s Carolina deal will pay him $105,000 if he doesn’t remain in the Big Tent.

Manny Legace never really got the breaks.

He was drafted by the New England Whalers, but was never called up, even though he was the AHL’s best goalie in 1996 (Hartford’s two goalies – at that time – were Sean Burke and Jason Muzzatti. Also, the Whalers had a great prospect, who they would bring up the following season – Jean-Sebastien Giguere.).

SPRINGFIELD FALCONS – 1994-95

Legace was traded to L.A. where his poor luck continued.

He shared duties with Jamie Storr and Stephane Fiset. They all had similar Save %s – .911 to .917 – and Legace and Fiset – who played 42 games – had a 2.6 G.A.A., while Storr was 2.4.

Legace’s problem was that he wasn’t getting much help from his teammates. Storr was an even 12 and 12, Fislet was 18 and 21, while Legace was 2 wins against 9 losses.

But former goalie, Ken Holland liked him, so Detroit signed him before Vancouver grabbed him off of the waiver wire.

Which brings me to the topic of Nokolai Khabibulin – Legace’s Springfield teammate – in 1994-95.

Khabi was drafted by the Jets, and during the 1993-1994 seasons, Bob Essensa and later Tim Cheveldae were Winnipeg’s main goalies – with Stephane Beauregard and Mike O’Neill playing in 13 and 17 games.

So, there were goalie opportunities in the Peg.

The following – shortened – 1994-95 campaign, the 22-year-old Khabibulin appeared in 23 games for the Springfield Indians, and in 26 contests for the Jets (Cheveldae played in 30.).

During his second NHL season, the young Russian played in 53 games – versus 30 for Cheveldae - and 9 games for Dominic Roussel, Tom Draper and Scott Langkow.

NIKOLAI KHABIBULIN POST-SEASONS

Nikolai moved to Arizona with the Jets, and was a Coyote for three seasons. He had a very good 1998-99 season, averaging .213 GAA and a .923 Save % over 63 games. He also had a 2.4 GAA and .924 Save % during the playoffs.

This banner year was great for him, as he was up for a new contract, and Khabibulin held out and was traded to Tampa Bay, where he won a Stanley Cup in 2004.

Manny Legace had some good regular seasons in Detroit, as Nikolai had in Phoenix. In 2003-04 he played in 41 games and had a 2.12 GAA and a .920 Save %. The following year, he played in 51 games, and was 2.19 and .915.

Also, Manny Legace’s career GAA and Save % are better than Nikolai Khabibulin’s.

MANNY LEGACE POST-SEASONS

But, unlike Khabi, Manny never had the great post-seasons and was always considered a  backup.

Ironically, Manny had better stats in 2007-08 when he was in St. Louis and Khabi was in Chicago. Legace had a 2.41 GAA – to Khabibulin’s 2.63. And he had a .911 Save % versus Nicolai’s .909.

But the following season, the Russian was placed on waivers – which he cleared because of his high salary – and was told that he would have to share his goaltending duties with Cristobal Huet. But, he never complained and quietly earned the starting job during the playoffs.

Legace – on the other hand – had to take the backseat to St. Louis’ new star goalie Chris Mason, and complained. He wasn’t having a good season and should have shut up and played himself back into the lineup.

This angered St. Louis president of hockey operations John Davidson, who sent Manny down to Peoria where he finished the season.

And now he’s back in the NHL – as a backup once again – in Carolina, earning $500,000 per season while Nikolai is in Edmonton earning $3,750,000 on a four year deal.

DETROIT AND VANCOUVER GOALIES 1999-2000

But, back to the Vancouver connection.

As noted above, Manny Legace was placed on waivers – by Vancouver – on October 13, 1999. That was also the same day that Garth Snow was diagnosed with a fractured right index finger, and ended up missing 15 games.

Sixteen days later, Brian Burke had to trade a 4th round pick to Atlanta for Corey Schwab. Schwab would play in 6 games and have a 3.57 GAA and a .86 SV %.
Also, the nucks had to trade draft picks and players to the Islanders – on December 19th – for the ill-fated Felix Potvin. And this didn’t work out, so they had to trade for Dan Cloutier.
Had the Vancouver Canucks had it together and diagnosed Snow’s finger – before putting Manny Legace on waivers – both Legace and the nucks would have had different futures.