Nikolai Khabibulin is the man on the spot. His benching at the end of last season led to controversy, rumors and bruised feelings. His play this season could spark the Lightning to a new level or perch him on the trading block.
By DAMIAN CRISTODERO
Published October 10, 2003
[Times photo: Dirk Shadd]
‘‘It’s not for me to decide what they’re going to do. . . . I have a contract and I have a lightning bolt on my chest.’’
[Times photo: Dirk Shadd]
During Game 2 against the Capitals on April 12, Khabibulin fights hard to secure the puck, but Washington’s Michael Nylander eventually scores on the play in the second period.
“I don’t really think I have to prove something to somebody. I would like to improve my performance like any player would, and I would like to win the Stanley Cup this year.”
-- NIKOLAI KHABIBULIN
Lightning coach John Tortorella wanted to hear a roar. He didn't get a peep.
He wanted outrage. All he got was acquiescence.
As the story goes, all goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin had to do on the day of Game 5 of the East semifinals against the Devils was to speak up. Get in his coach's face. Tell him he was making a mistake by benching him in favor of backup John Grahame.
We're not talking about a kick the garbage can, trash the office kind of tantrum. Just some indication Khabibulin burned. He didn't even have to talk to Tortorella. A quick word to goaltenders coach Jeff Reese would have sufficed.
Had Khabibulin done that, the story goes, he would have played.
"I heard that after the fact," Khabibulin said during training camp. "I've never been given a choice, you want to play or you don't want to play. I've been raised in Russia. If the coach says something, that's the way it is. You don't argue with the coach."
So Khabibulin accepted his fate, if not privately, then publicly. When reporters gave him a chance to pop off, he declined. Even now, more than five months later, Khabibulin does no more to address the subject than express disappointment over Tortorella's decision, which was backed by general manager Jay Feaster.
That is Khabibulin. He internalizes. Good game or bad, controversial subject or not, his demeanor does not change.
"I'm not trying to go out and let everybody know that I'm too upset about something," he said. "You might see it, but it's better not to say it."
What the Lightning sees from Khabibulin may make or break its season. He is the pivot point for a team returning basically the same lineup.
If Khabibulin plays lights-out as he did in 2001-02, Tampa Bay is a threat to repeat as Southeast Division champs and could challenge for the conference title.
But if he plays as he did last season, alternating between exultant highs and excruciating lows (and the rest of the team doesn't match its in-your-face overachievment), the Lightning could be in for a shock, not to mention a goaltending controversy.
Khabibulin's contract runs out after this season unless Tampa Bay picks up a $6.5-million option. If the Lightning decides he is too expensive, it could trade Khabibulin, rather than lose him to unrestricted free agency, and hand the job to Grahame who has a newly signed three-year deal.
If Khabibulin sparkles and the team shines, well, then, Tampa Bay has some decisions to make.
"It's not for me to decide what they're going to do," Khabibulin said. "I haven't thought about it. I have a contract and I have a lightning bolt on my chest. I'm used to thinking that the jersey I'm wearing, that's my team and I'm going too do the best possible job I can for that team."
It is interesting to speculate what would have happened had Khabibulin forced Tortorella's hand. Maybe the goalie who endured a dreadful nine-decision winless streak in January and February would have continued struggling and lost anyway.
But maybe a fired-up Khabibulin answers the challenge. He did it with a 16-game unbeaten streak that propelled the Lightning into the playoffs and helped him win a franchise-record 30 games. He did it in the quarterfinals against the Capitals when he shook off four up-and-down games and ended the series with a 60-save masterpiece in the triple-overtime Game 6 clincher.
If he answers, maybe we're not having this conversation.
Instead, Khabibulin watched Grahame, in his first playoff game, stop 46 Devils shots. Tampa Bay still lost 2-1 in triple overtime and dropped the series to the eventual Stanley Cup champs four games to one. But the episode created much speculation about Khabibulin's future.
Khabibulin is the team's No. 1 goalie. Tortorella gave him the starting job two days before training camp began. But the coach also said he expects Grahame to push Khabibulin for playing time. It is not a competition now, but it may be if Khabibulin stumbles.
If he does, trade rumors, rampant during the summer, could spring to life. And questions will intensify about whether Khabibulin, 30, whose playoff series victory over the Capitals was his first in five tries, can lead a team to a Stanley Cup title.
Khabibulin is used to the talk. He said he doesn't read the sports section, but that doesn't mean he is insulated.
"You keep hearing these things," he said. "When something happens, the rumors are flying. Unless I'm told from a dependable source that that's what's going on, you just don't pay any attention to it."
Don't rule out a resurgence. Khabibulin has succeeded before in difficult circumstances.
There was the victory in his first game with the Lightning after an almost two-year layoff because of a contract dispute with the Coyotes, and the Hall of Fame level at which he played in his first season with Tampa Bay.
He was magnificent in the 2002 All-Star Game and was named by the International Ice Hockey Federation as the best goalie at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City.
All were moments of great personal motivation, and that may be this season's wild card.
Whether he admits it or not, Khabibulin's pride is hurt. Regardless of the meetings with Tortorella and all the air supposedly cleared, it is not difficult to believe Khabibulin wants to stick it in his coach's ear. And Feaster's too for saying the benched goalie had played poorly.
Khabibulin said Tortorella and Feaster are not part of the equation.
"Generally, I'm playing for the guys sitting here," Khabibulin said, pointing to his teammates' locker stalls at the Ice Sports Forum in Brandon. "This guy and that guy, and they're going to do the same for me. As far as proving anything to anybody, I don't have to do that."
An unreasonable standard?
Khabibulin's stats last season weren't bad.
The native of Sverdlovsk in central Russia was 30-22-11 with four shutouts, a 2.47 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage. He started for the East in the All-Star Game. He twice was the NHL's Player of the Week and was Player of the Month for March when he went 7-0-3 with a 1.27 goals-against average and a .953 save percentage.
But compared with 2001-02, when he tied for second in the league with seven shutouts and tied for fifth with a 2.37 goals-against average, there was a dropoff.
Granted, Khabibulin did not go over a cliff. He reached his goal of 30 victories (five more than 2001-02), the team won its first division title and advanced to the second round of the playoffs. But there is no question soft goals at crucial times were a problem. In addition to his nine-game winless streak, Khabibulin lost eight of 10 from Nov. 19 through Dec. 10. And that came after a 4-4 stretch.
"Obviously, I'd like to play some of the games better," he said. "At the same time I think I had a pretty decent season. Probably wasn't my best year but it wasn't a bad year. We wanted to get to the playoffs, we got there. We even got to the second round. I think it was a big step forward."
Still, ESPN analyst and former goalie Darren Pang said something was missing.
"I sensed there was a slight lack of confidence," he said. "I saw a goaltender who was a split second or a half step behind the development of the play and then the reaction of the shot that came his way."
In the playoffs, Khabibulin's 2.42 goals-against average was sixth among the eight goalies who played at least 10 games. His .913 save percentage was fifth. In four games against the Devils, Khabibulin had a 3.00 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage.
In five games against Tampa Bay, New Jersey's Martin Brodeur was 1.60 and .928.
"(Khabibulin) has the ability to make a difference in the playoffs," said former Rangers goalie John Davidson, an analyst for New York's MSG network. "In that series he didn't."
And he got benched.
"At the time I agreed with (Tortorella)," Pang said. "Based on what I saw, I just didn't think Nik had the bravado to win the game."
Reese doesn't buy all the criticism.
"I know last year (the media) talked about him having an inconsistent year, but he had 30 wins so he certainly was doing something correct," he said. "He's just an unbelievable talent. He's a big part of the reason we're a better team now. We play a system that's very aggressive, and the reason we play that system is because we feel we have one of the best goalies in the world in Nik Khabibulin."
Maybe too much is expected of Khabibulin. You have to wonder if the bar he set in 2001-02, especially though his first 46 games in which he had seven shutouts, a 2.14 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage, set an unreasonable standard.
"I don't think it's unreasonable for him," Reese said. "Yeah, he set a standard when he came in but I believe he can achieve that standard again. But he's got to take it one shot at a time. Wins are the No. 1 priority, and I know he feels that way as well. The save percentage and goals-against will take care of themselves."
Said Khabibulin: "If you show you are capable of something over a pretty long period of time, there's no reason you shouldn't be doing more of that."
How Khabibulin likes to play may have made it more difficult.
Khabibulin likes to work. The more shots the better as far as he's concerned. But as Tampa Bay's team defense sharpened, shots-against plummeted from 2,523 in 2001-02 to 2,298 last season; an average of 28 and a decline of almost three a game.
That may not sound like much, but Khabibulin noticed.
"It's a little weird," he said. "You have to adjust to it. Some games it's not easy to face 20 shots because you're not really into it. And then there's a breakdown and you have to stop it. If you don't, it doesn't look good because you didn't face many shots."
To help stay focused, Khabibulin increased his play of the puck. He spent much time working on that aspect of his game and said a good pass gives him personal satisfaction.
"I know when I'm going out there, I'm giving all I have," he said. "It's not like I'm letting in goals on purpose. Looking back on the season, I know every game I tried 100 percent. I'd like to improve just like any competitive athlete. That's what I'm looking to do this year."
Unfinished business
There was a time critics wondered if Khabibulin could win in the playoffs. After last season's victory over Washington the question became, can he win it all?
Khabibulin does not mind being asked.
"Until you win a Stanley Cup there will always be people saying, "He never passed the second round, he never went to the finals,' " he said. "Until you win the Cup, there is always someone who will throw little stones at you. I believe that someday I'm going to win the Stanley Cup."
He has the tools, and his goal this season is at least 35 victories.
Khabibulin might be the league's best from post to post. His anticipation is so good, it can appear psychic. And he almost always is in position.
His glove and five-hole may have betrayed him at times last season, but after extensive video review by Khabibulin and Reese it was determined that was most likely a matter of confidence and timing than a technical flaw.
Plus, he is healthy. At 6 feet 1, 203 pounds, Khabibulin is slightly heavier than last season but appears leaner. His chest is more defined and his stomach muscles are popping.
There were rumors he battled a groin injury last season. Khabibulin said it wasn't true.
What is true is the faith within the locker room.
"He's been the go-to guy here the last two seasons," defenseman Cory Sarich said. "He's been a big part of this hockey team turning around. He just goes out every night and does his job. I don't think anybody doubts Nikolai Khabibulin's capabilities. If you do, you haven't been watching."
"I think he's going to refocus himself and go after it," Tortorella said. "Find any motivation you can. It makes you a better player as far as adding fuel to the fire."
Even if the motivation comes from anger at one's coach?
"Whatever an athlete needs to motivate himself, he should do," Tortorella said. "That doesn't bother me. That's part of challenging an athlete. When you challenge an athlete, have him step up and try to stick it in your ear."
Khabibulin would not bite.
"I don't really think I have to prove something to somebody," he said. "I would like to improve my performance like any player would, and I would like to win the Stanley Cup this year."
"I think he rises to the challenge," Pang said. "He's a premier goaltender. He will put that behind him, take a deep breath, clench his jaw and use it as his own personal ammunition."
