Former Montreal goalie isn’t thinking about it
Capitals goalie Jose Theodore is going home.
The Laval, Quebec native played nine seasons for his hometown Montreal Canadiens — the local kid made good. He earned the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player in 2002 and the Vezina Trophy as its best goaltender. He even won two Stanley Cup playoff series for Montreal, which has done that just four times in 15 years.
But the Canadiens never made it past the second round during Theodore’s tenure. And the scrutiny he faced as a French-Canadian playing goalie for his culture’s most revered sports franchise became too much. His father, Ted, also endured legal issues that generated headlines across Canada. When Theodore’s play slipped in 2006, Montreal traded him to the Colorado Avalanche.
Four years later, Theodore, 33, will start a first-round playoff series for the Caps — the NHL’s best team during the regular season — against the Canadians, who just held onto the No. 8 seed. If all goes according to plan, Theodore returns to Montreal on Monday for Game 3 — just his third game at Bell Centre since the trade. So any thoughts of redemption?
“Not really,” Theodore said succinctly. “No.”
That’s probably a good thing. There’s enough pressure in this series without making a triumphant hometown return an issue, too. Theodore, of course, was the Caps’ starter last spring. But a bad night against the New York Rangers in Game 1 led to a quick hook from Boudreau. Theodore never saw the ice again as rookie Semyon Varlamov led Washington into the second round.
This season Theodore’s numbers have improved — though not by much. He was 32-17-5 with a 2.87 goals-against average (ranked 36th) and a .900 save percentage (40th) last year. In 2009-10 he has a fine 30-7-7 record, a 2.81 goals-against average (32nd) and a .911 save percentage (23rd). Still, Montreal center Tomas Plekanec agreed in an interview with Canadian media Monday that his team wasn’t facing an elite goalie like Buffalo’s Ryan Miller or New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur.
“No. They’re not. They’re facing Jose. And I’ll take Jose’s record the last 23 games over those two guys,” Boudreau said. “What people don’t realize is that last year his 10 previous games before the playoffs weren’t anywhere near what his 10 previous games are here. So there is no short leash. He’s the guy we’re going to go with and see how he goes.”
Theodore has a .922 save percentage since March 3 when the Olympic break ended. That’s a stretch of 12 games. But extend those numbers back to Jan. 13 — or 24 games — and his save percentage is no different: .922. That number would rank sixth in the NHL over a full season.
“That’s going to be interesting, whatever motivation [Theodore] can take playing his home team,” said Caps forward Mike Knuble. “He’s smart enough. He’s been around long enough not to be distracted, not to get caught up in it. But if this is going to drive him a little bit more, obviously we’ll benefit.”
