Jaroslav Halák

Jaroslav Halák (born May 13, 1985 in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia) is a Slovak professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). He formerly played for the Montreal Canadiens.

Playing career
Halák was the 271st overall pick by the Canadiens in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.

Halák was called up to the main roster on February 15, 2007, after an injury to goaltender Cristobal Huet.

Halák played his first NHL game on February 18, 2007. He stopped 31 shots in a 3–2 win over the Blue Jackets in Columbus, Ohio. Prior to his call-up, Halák had the lowest GAA in the American Hockey League (2.00) for the Hamilton Bulldogs. He is the fourth Slovak born net minder to play in the NHL, joining Ján Lašák, Rastislav Staňa and Peter Budaj.

On March 20, 2007, Halák made thirty saves to give the Montreal Canadiens a 1–0 victory over the Boston Bruins for his first NHL shutout. He recorded a second shutout, also against the Bruins on April 2, 2007. Halák's great play in the end of the 2006-2007 NHL season helped Montreal fight for a playoff spot during an injury to Cristobal Huet. Halák played for Team Slovakia in the 2007 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships.

Halák had been assigned to the Hamilton Bulldogs for the majority of the 2007–08 season. However, since the trade of Cristobal Huet, Halák took over full-time as the Canadiens backup. He started his first playoff game on April 30, 2008 against the Philadelphia Flyers (a 4-2 loss) after sub-par performances from starter Carey Price, who once again took over the following game.

In February 2010, Halák started as goaltender for the Slovak National Team in the 2010 Winter Olympics, stopping 36 of 37 shots in a preliminary round game victory against a strong Russian team. Halák and his Slovak teammates finished 4th overall in the Olympics after losing against Team Finland. Halák started all the games during the Winter Games.

Jaroslav Halák's solid play with the Montreal Canadiens in 2009-10 earned him the Molson Cup Player of the Year for the 2009-10 season. His strong play carried into the playoffs. Despite intimidation attempts by Montreal's first round opponents, President's Trophy-winners Washington Capitals, Halák remained focused on his game and led Montreal to surprising results. In game 6 of the first round of the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Washington Capitals Halak stopped 53 shots for a club record in a regular-time playoff game, leading the Canadiens to a 4-1 victory. In game 7 of the first round, Halak only allowed one goal for the third consecutive game as the Canadiens rallied to shock the top-seeded Capitals by a score of 2-1.

On June 17, 2010, Halak was traded to St. Louis for Lars Eller and Ian Schultz. Halak made it to the playoffs with the Blues and got injured, having Brian Elliott fill the hole he left.