Thursday, October 05, 2006
Sabourin Succotash
Maybe the Canucks just missed Alex Auld that much (Jason Botchford and Ben Kuzma, Vancouver Province)?
For his part, Sabourin is looking forward to the opportunity to learn from Roberto Luongo (Iain MacIntyre, Vancouver Sun):
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Comments/Questions: Feel free to post in the comments section or email me at gocanucksgo10 (at) hotmail (dot) com.
Technorati Tags: NHL, hockey, Vancouver, Canucks, Dany+Sabourin, Wade+Flaherty
There's a reason the Canucks showed tremendous patience in finding their backup to Roberto Luongo.Flaherty will be re-assigned to the Manitoba Moose.
They were waiting for just the right goalie at just the right price.
They found him Wednesday when the Pittsburgh Penguins tried to get Dany Sabourin through the waiver wire.
The Canucks had been watching the Val D'Or, Que.-born 26-year-old for more than a year and loved what they saw.
They believe the 6-foot-4, 200-pounder -- an Alex Auld clone -- has shown steady improvement since he left the Calgary Flames organization in 2004.
The Canucks passed up chances to get more experienced goalies such as Craig Anderson and Jason LaBarbera.
Sabourin was dynamite in preseason, posting a 1.85 GAA and a .957 save percentage.
He won the AHL goalie of the year title with a 2.26 GAA, a 30-14-4 record and a .922 save percentage.
"There were rumours that they were looking, so it doesn't overly surprise me but it is a little disappointing. You're not getting any younger, so obviously it's disappointing.You have to feel for him somehow. Last season, he couldn't get called up because of the waiver rule. But being the consummate professional that he is, he reported to camp and seemingly won the back-up job. Now, he's lost it to probably the only other AHL goalie to play better than he did last year.
"I knew something was either going to happen or not happen in the next day or two. Right now, the plan is just to head back to Vancouver and gather up and figure things out."
For his part, Sabourin is looking forward to the opportunity to learn from Roberto Luongo (Iain MacIntyre, Vancouver Sun):
Dany Sabourin learned from Roberto Luongo at hockey school. Now he's counting on his old teacher to help him through final exams.I'm sure he can. And hopefully stop the puck and win some games while he's at it.
Eight years and five National Hockey League games after he was drafted, Sabourin was claimed Wednesday on waivers by the Vancouver Canucks from the Pittsburgh Penguins and handed the job as Luongo's understudy.
Sabourin will back up Luongo when the Canucks open their NHL season today against the Detroit Red Wings.
"Roberto played on Val d'Or's junior team and that's where I'm from," Sabourin, the 26-year-old from Quebec, said before travelling Wednesday night to Detroit. "We met a couple of times at goalie school. He's a great guy. I'm really looking forward to playing with him. I'll be watching Roberto when I'm not playing because I'm sure I can learn some things from him."
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Comments/Questions: Feel free to post in the comments section or email me at gocanucksgo10 (at) hotmail (dot) com.
Technorati Tags: NHL, hockey, Vancouver, Canucks, Dany+Sabourin, Wade+Flaherty
4 Comments:
1) All last year we heard that wade Flaherty was the best goalie NOT in the NHL, how the new CBA kept him down, etc.
2) News flash. Flaherty sucks! If he was good enough to be in the NHL, he WOULD be in the NHL.
3) If this move by the Canucks doesn't cement this, nothing will. Good luck in Manitoba Wade!
A. I hate you guys for takin' Dany from us. No fair!
B. I love you guys for giving Ruutu to us, even if he never plays another game as good as he did tonight (He was FANTASTIC).
faux - No, Flaherty wasn't the best goalie, but I thought, given his results last season in Manitoba and this preseason and how he professional he has been, he deserved a shot.
That said, if I was in Nonis' position, I would have picked the younger goalie with upside as well.
shots - Have you seen Sabourin play? All we know about him is from what we've read or heard in the media.
PS. Say hi to Roots for us.
I've seen Sabourin a few times. He's only played a handful of NHL games, but he's pretty good. I don't think he has enough time on the ice to judge his ability to start, but I think he could be a really good backup and start in stretches if he needed to. I was upset when I heard he got claimed. You have to remember, he was considered a very nice prospect by the Flames but they had no room for him so the took him off their hands. The Penguins always had a similar situation because we've had so many goalies with pretty decent talent (of course now we've dealt them all or let them go to clear out that glut). I think you got a nice player with that move.
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