Thrashers Pavelec Collapses Early In First Period Of Season Opener

UPDATE: Pavelec was taken to the hospital and has regained consciousness. He will be held overnight for observations. There is still no information as to what exactly caused Pavelec's blackout during the game.

The Thrashers managed to rally against the Capitals and put together an impressive 4-2 win over the defending President's Trophy winners in their season opener.

ORIGINAL: Some scary things can happen out of the clear blue in sports, and that was the case very early on during the Atlanta Thrashers' season and home opener against the Washington Capitals Friday. At 2:25 into the first period, the play was whistled down in the Thrashers offensive zone. Meanwhile, goaltender Ondrej Pavelec collapsed in his goal crease on the other end of the ice. There were no players around him and all available medical personnel was called in to help stretcher him off the ice.

Chris Mason, who was signed as an unrestricted free agent over the summer for the next two years, filled in for the Thrashers and surrendered a goal less than one minute later. Pavelec did not face any shots during his playing time.

Goaltenders Ready To Battle It Out For Starter Spot

For teams like the New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks, there is little doubt as to who will be starting in net when the puck drops to start the regular season. No matter how well Johan Hedberg, Martin Biron and Cory Schneider impress in training camp, none of them will supplant Martin Brodeur, Henrik Lundqvist or Roberto Luongo.

Many teams, however, enter camp with at least two options that have realistic chances of taking the No. 1 role when the regular season beings on October 7. While one may have a greater shot than the other, nothing is set in stone for either player and training camp will provide the perfect opportunity for both goaltenders to prove their value to the organization.

Here are a few teams that will need to observe their options closely and select the man most capable of defending their net during the season ahead.

Atlanta Thrashers: Ondrej Pavelec vs. Chris Mason

When the Atlanta Thrashers traded Kari Lehtonen last season to the Dallas Stars, they made the statement that they were ready to move ahead in a new direction between the pipes. Lehtonen had been their guy for a number of years. But his player never equaled expectations and he had a myriad of injuries during his time with Atlanta.

Ondrej Pavelec was the guy waiting in the wings once the Thrashers gave up on Lehtonen. Previous to last year, he played a total of 19 games over two seasons and failed to impress. Last season, he played 42 games (starting 40) and did not do much better as the No. 1 man. He finished the season with a 14-18-7 record to go with a 3.29 goals against average and .906 save percentage. Needless to say, the different direction Atlanta was planning to go in did not pan out much better than the original with Lehtonen.

The new look Thrashers will likely give Pavelec a shot at claiming that No. 1 role for next season. And he will probably be given the benefit of the doubt for his youth and considering they drafted him in the second round of the 2005 NHL Draft for the purpose of sporting their crease in a major way.

But when the St. Louis Blues signed Jaroslav Halak, they allowed Chris Mason to leave via free agency. The Thrashers swooped right in on the opening day of free agency and granted him a two-year deal for $3.7 million. Mason played incredibly well for the Blues during his two years of service with the team and completed last season with an impressive 30 wins.

At 34 years old, Mason may come into training camp as the backup to the 23-year old Pavelec. But Mason has performed better than Pavelec recently and any slip by the youngster can be instant cause for the Thrashers to go with the veteran.

Who Should Be The No. 1 Goalie? - Chris Mason
Who Will Be The No. 1 Goalie? - Ondrej Pavelec

Between The Pipes: Ellis Heading To Tampa, Mason Joining Atlanta, Raycroft Aligning With Stars

In light of teams being able to find postseason success without a high-priced goaltender, many are now seeking cheaper options to guard their net. While Evgeni Nabokov and Marty Turco are still without employment, several less-prolific, yet experienced goalies were snatched up right away - and cheap.

~ The Montreal Canadiens tried to bring Dan Ellis into their mix when they traded for his rights from the Nashville Predators. But they couldn't come to an agreement with the 30-year old, and instead opted to bring in Alex Auld on a one year deal. That left Ellis to look for work elsewhere, and he found it in Tampa Bay. Lightning General Manager Steve Yzerman was able to lock him up for two years at $3 million, marking a $500,000/year discount over what former Lightning Antero Niittymaki signed for as the newest No. 1/1A in San Jose. Ellis should start out playing the backup role, with a generous portion of games going his way, to Mike Smith. And if Smith slips, there should be no hesitation on Tampa's end to make a switch. This is a good, cost-saving move by Yzerman that provides the Lightning a formidable one-two punch in net.

~ When the St. Louis Blues decided to get younger in net and traded for Jaroslav Halak, who is thus far unsigned as a restricted free agent, it pretty much spelled the end of Chris Mason's tenure with the team. That doesn't mean the 34-year old was a disappointment during his two years in St. Louis. Quite the contrary. He served extremely well in 118 games played with a 57-43-15 record as a Blue. In 61 games last year, he won a career-high 30 games and posted a 2.53 goals against average and .913 save percentage. Two years ago, he racked up a career-high six shutouts. That's solid production that the Atlanta Thrashers hope will continue from their new backup netminder. Mason signed with the ever-improving Thrashers for the next two years at $3.7 million. He will see salaries of $1.6 million next season and $2.1 million in 2011-12 for an annual cap hit of $1.85 million. Yeah, it's a bit expensive. But with Kari Lehtonen and Johan Hedberg both gone and Ondrej Pavelec still pretty unproven, Mason's pay is justified. When it's all said and done, he'll probably end up becoming Atlanta's starter.

~ Andrew Raycroft will forever be known as the Boston Bruin rookie who won the Calder Memorial Trophy in 2004 and then went on to be ridiculously awful. But as a backup to Roberto Luongo in Vancouver last season, Raycroft actually played pretty well. He was in 21 games, went 9-5-1, had a 2.42 goals against and .911 save percentage. He parlayed that into a two-year, $1.3 million contract to play backup to Kari Lehtonen in Dallas. He will see salaries of $700,000 next season and $600,000 in 2011-12. A Lehtonen/Raycroft combination is pretty uninspiring really. But it's not exactly easy to get excited over a replacement for Marty Turco.

Montreal Sends Playoff Hero To Blues

 

There was going to come a time during this offseason where the Montreal Canadiens needed to establish who their No. 1 goaltender was, and then get rid of the other guy. That decision came on Thursday, when the first blockbuster deal of the summer was announced. Montreal decided to stick with Carey Price, and in doing so pulled the trigger on a trade that sent the rights to Jaroslav Halak to the St. Louis Blues for forwards Lars Eller and Ian Schultz.

Halak, who will be a restricted free agent on July 1, was most recently a playoff hero for the Canadiens. As the eighth seed, Montreal was expected to be bounced by the Washington Capitals in the first round. But the Habs shocked the world by sending Alexander Ovechkin and Co. home early after a seven-game series. Then they moved on to eliminate the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins in seven games, as well. Montreal was hardly a match for the Philadelphia Flyers in the Conference Finals. But the fact that the team even got there after having to play two Eastern Conference favorites was an accomplishment in itself.

And the very reason for Montreal bunking the odds and getting as deep as it did in the playoffs was the quality goaltending received from Halak. He literally stole the show on several occasions as he was leading the Canadiens to victory.

Even during the regular season, Halak proved to be the more stable force in between the pipes for Montreal. He went 26-13-5 in 45 games played, sporting a 2.40 goals against average, a fourth-ranked save percentage at .924 and five shutouts.

None of that matters in the business world of hockey, though. In that world, great play equates to great trade value, and that’s all Montreal saw in him when it came time to pick their starter. It was a move that shocked the Montreal fans. It shocked Halak. And it even shocked now former-Blues goaltender Chris Mason.