Vive le Huet! Or what do we know about Cristobal?

Vive le Huet, the final piece of a puzzle and the most vital player for Caps to sneak into playoffs. He made possible that impossible push from the bottom of the division to the top of it. Bruce Boudreau said about Huet's record and his decision to go with Huet all the way "Huet lost only two games for Caps, in one of them he had two consecutive 5 on 3 and in another our own Nicklas Backstrom scored on him." He had won everything else.

By John Pereira, ESPN.COM, Apr. 6, 2008

Cristobal Huet drew chants of "hip, hip, hu-et" from the home crowd as he made 25 saves in the win. Since joining the team at the trade deadline, Huet has looked nearly unbeatable, winning his last nine games, with a goals-against average of 1.52 over that span. He'll most likely re-sign with the team for next season and should be a solid pick in fantasy drafts next year.

What do we know about Cristobal? Not much, really... I found an outdated fan site called "Cristobal Huet: King of the Crease". Wikipedia has his name pronouced wrong, though he had that name pronounciation before he joined the Caps:

Cristobal Huet (pronounced [yˈɛt]) (born September 3, 1975 in Saint-Martin-d'Hères, France) is a French professional ice hockey goaltender, currently playing for the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League. Huet was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings as their seventh-round pick, 214th overall, in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, becoming the first ever netminder, and second ever player, behind Philippe Bozon, from France to play in the NHL.

One of the posters from France at Caps forum said that even French debate how to pronounce Huet. Go figure!

What else? He was selected for NHL's All Star team in Dallas on January 23 and 24, 2007. The March 4, 2008 issue of The Hockey News, the magazine's crew (with input from scouts) ranked Huet as #22. Why Huet was brought to Caps?
James Mirtle (Feb. 26, 2008):

TSN is reporting that the Capitals have acquired Cristobal Huet for a second-round pick.

Tyler Dellow had a great post last week on Washington's desperate need for a No. 1 goaltender, and given the low price here, I have to commend GM George McPhee for making this move. Washington's on the outside looking in but in hot pursuit of Carolina atop the Southeast Division, and they could potentially go on a run if they do get into the playoffs.

And Olaf Kolzig has been awful this season.

Last year Olaf Kolzig was 17th and Cristobal Huet was 21st in The Hockey News rankings.

by Greg Wyshynski, AOL Fanhouse, Apr. 4 "Huet: Washington's Hidden MVP":

Cristobal Huet has been the catalyst for two of the most important decisions made by Eastern Conference general managers this season. The first was Bob Gainey’s decision that Huet wasn’t fit for the postseason, opting to trade his only veteran goaltender and hand over the Canadiens to Carey Roy Dryden rookie Carey Price. The second was George McPhee’s decision to weigh the Capitals’ playoff hopes against 16 years of nostalgia and loyalty; thus Huet was acquired in a trade deadline stunner, and Olaf Kolzig soon found himself serving as his backup.

If Alexander Ovechkin is the Capitals’ (and depending on your own standards, the League’s) most valuable player, Huet is perhaps the team’s most vital in this playoff push — one that’s led to Washington inhabiting the No. 8 seed as of Friday. He’s started 12 games and won 10 of them, posting a 1.69 GAA and a sterling .934 save percentage. He’s in the midst of an eight-game winning streak, and hasn’t allowed more than one goal in any of his last three.

I agree with Greg on Huet as most vital for playoff push. Alex can score, but when you have a hole in your own net, nothing is going to help you, no matter how much you can score. Speaking of it, an Alex Ovechkin stat to blow you away: Ovechkin has 40 more goals than anybody else on the Washington Capitals, which is amazing, considering that 22 teams in the NHL don't even have a 40-goal scorer ...

Now back to Huet. James Mirtle has a nice article dated Apr. 22, 2006

I find it mind-boggling that it's possible for a player to grow up in St. Martin D'Heres, France, in the shadow of the French Alps, and less than eight years later, lead hockey's most historic franchise, the Montreal Canadiens, into the playoffs.

What a journey. What a story Cristobal Huet's must be.

...hmmm... The Caps have the same story too, but as usual everything pales when Ovechkin is around. This guy outplayed Malkin for Hart, Kovalchuk for Richard, Crosby for Calder... Now he outplayed the goalie for attention... :-)