Anton Khudobin: Trying to Solve the Backup Goalie Mystery

Picture Source: Boston Globe

I'll be honest, I didn't really know anything of the sort about Anton Khudobin.  Before he was with the Canes I always referred to him as "the goalie that nobody knows his name that is Tuukka Rask's backup," when he played for the Boston Bruins.  But now that he is a Cane I have done a little bit more research.

Research had to be essential because frankly, the Carolina Hurricanes have really had a weak point in finding a decent back-up to give Cam Ward some type of competition.  The year that the Canes won the Stanley Cup was when the Canes had their truly great tandem of Martin Gerber and Ward.  Gerber was stellar for the Canes during the 2005-06 regular, but struggled mightily during the first round and had to be taken out for Ward who spun the heads of everyone by leading the team to Stanley Cup victory as a rookie.  Unfortunately after that the Canes got rid of Gerber and the team has only made it to the playoffs once after that victory in the 2008-09 season.  After Gerber the Canes rolled through John Grahame, Brian Boucher, Manny Legace, Michael Leighton, and Dan Ellis before settling on Khudobin,  The Hurricanes still cling to their top minor league goalie, Justin Peters, as their number three man who has been a tremendous help the past handful of seasons.

Khudobin has a been a guy that has yo-yoed from the National Hockey League to the American Hockey League for the past several seasons playing for the Houston Aeros, Minnesota Wild, Providence, and Boston Bruins.  He even had two stints in the ECHL playing for the Texas Wildcatters and the Florida Everblades (the latter being owned by Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos).  The bad part for Khudobin is that he isn't utilized a lot because he has great numbers when he has the chance to play.  His average GAA is 2.50 which is really good (his worse GAA was 3.04 in 10 games for the Houston Aeros during the 2008-09 AHL season).  That same 2008-09 AHL season was his only losing season as a professional goaltender.  With that said, the big question is whether or not he can be the man that stops the revolving door of backups and form a fanciful one-two punch with Cam Ward.  Well can he?

Maybe...

I say that on a slightly pessimistic note because of the fact that the Canes have gone through five backups since the departure of Gerber and I do no know if Khudobin will be able to provide the stability that the Canes really need in the net.  In my honest opinion, if the Canes can utilize Khudobin for 20-35 games this season that the team has a really good shot of making the playoffs (that's if Ward can make a great comeback from injury and that Khudobin stays healthy as well).  I feel confident that if he is given that amount of workload as a backup that the Canes will have a good season over.

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