Cristobal Huet

At 48 years old, Cristobal Huet has this physical status:

Cristobal Huet (born September 3, 1975) is a former professional ice hockey goaltender in France who is now an assistant coach for Lausanne HC of the National League. He played for HC Lugano and HC Fribourg-Gottéron, as well as within the Chicago Blackhawks, Los Angeles Kings, Montreal Canadiens, and Washington Capitals teams in the National Hockey League. (NHL)

He is the first French netminder and second French-trained player to play in the NHL (after Philippe Bozon).

Huet won the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2009–2010 NHL season, becoming the first Frenchman to win the Stanley Cup as a spectator.

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Playing career

Huet competed in the 1988 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a Grenoble team as a youth.

Huet played for HC Lugano from 1998-99 to 2001-02. In those years, his work took a dramatic turn. In his first year, he won the National League A Championship in his first year and qualified to the European Hockey League final four next year.

In the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, Huet was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings as their seventh-round pick, 214th overall. In the 2002-2003 and 2004-2004 seasons, he was a member of the Kings. In a three-team contract with Mathieu Garon and Radek Bonk from Ottawa to Montreal, he was transferred from Ottawa to Montreal. Huet played for the Adler Mannheim in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga during the 2004–05 lockout. He led the team to the finals, where the Eagles lost in three straight games to Eisbären Berlin.

Huet eventually earned the Canadiens' starting job in goal during the 2005-06 season after being traded to Colorado in exchange for goaltender David Aebischer. In February 2006, he also won the Molson Cup. During the first week of March, he received the Best Defensive Player award from the NHL, ousting goaltenders such as the Ottawa Senators' Ray Emery and the New Jersey Devils' Martin Brodeur, who had a 3–0–0 record and a 1.67 GAA. For the second time this year, he was named NHL Best Defensive Player with a 3.70 GAA and 0.979 SV%, ousting goaltenders Martin Brodeur, Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff, and Detroit's Manny Legace.

Huet defeated the 2nd seeded and eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes in his first NHL playoff appearance. In the seven-game series, Huet stopped 42 of 43 shots in the competition to send the Canadiens up 11-0. Huet won his first overtime playoff victory when the Canadiens defeated the Hurricanes 6–5 in double overtime to take the lead 2–0 in the series. However, Huet and the Canadiens lost the next four games and the series in goaltender duels with rookie Cam Ward, who had taken Martin Gerber's starting position in the series and who would later win the Conn Smythe Trophy.

In the 2006 off-season, the Canadiens signed Huet to a two-year contract worth $5.75 million, up from $3 million in the first year and $2.75 million in the second year.

In the 55th NHL All-Star Game in Dallas on January 13, 2007, Huet was announced as one of the three goalies. However, a month later, he sustained a left hamstring injury that forced him to miss the majority of the season's first two months. The Canadiens failed in his absence, and the team did not make it to the playoffs.

In a 2009 second-round draft pick, Montreal Canadiens general manager Bob Gainey traded the French netminder to the Washington Capitals on February 26, 2008. Because of the highly awaited outcome, Carey Price, the Canadiens decided to leave Huet. He took over Olaf Kölzig's starting position in Washington, boosting veteran Brent Johnson to the pressbox, and Washington lost to Philadelphia in seven games, where they lost the first round series against the Philadelphia Flyers in seven games.

Huet reached an agreement with the Chicago Blackhawks worth a total of $22.4 million or $5.625 million per season on July 1, 2008, the first day of unrestricted free-agency.

Following the signing, Blackhawks general manager Dale Tallon declared that the team would start the season with a combination of Huet and Nikolai Khabibulin. Huet was more likely to win the starting job over Khabibulin this season than not, and he'd be a regular contributor to the football team. He recovered his playing time and the two teams alternated every game for almost three months until Khabibulin went down with a groin injury in early February. The pair, on the other hand, has received acclaim around the NHL. Huet was recalled as the NHL's 3rd star of the week for the second week after suffering a second Khabibulin injury in early February, when the team's third star of the week for the second week in a row from 3–0–0 to 72 shots allowed just five goals on 72 shots. Khabibulin was still the playoff starter for the Blackhawks, and they defeated the Calgary Flames and the Vancouver Canucks in the first round, as well as the Vancouver Canucks in the second round.

Huet appeared for the Blackhawks again in game three of the 2009 Western Conference Finals, where he was brought on to replace a strained Khabibulin. He made six saves and helped the Blackhawks win in overtime. Joel Quenneville named Huet the team's starting goalie for the fourth game against Detroit, despite Khabibulin's recuperation from a lower body injury. Huet allowed five goals on 21 shots, and Corey Crawford was temporarily suspended. Huet lost by 44 shots in the final game of the series, resulting in a 2–1 overtime loss.

Huet started his season as the undisputed number one goaltender in Chicago, but Antti Niemi later traded Huet for Chicago's starter as the 2009–10 season came to an end. Huet played only 20 minutes in the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs, which the Blackhawks won with Niemi in net and a total playoff record of 16–6. Huet became the first native of France to have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup after winning by the Hawks.

In order to keep within the salary ceiling, Chicago loaned Huet to HC Fribourg-Gotteron of the Swiss National League A on September 27, 2010.

Huet played in 41 games in his first year with Fribourg-Gotteron, but in the second half of the season, the team lost by 2.84 goals against average, finishing eighth in last year. Fribourg qualified for the playoffs, but HC Davos shocked them. He increased to a goal against an average of 1.99 in 39 games, the third highest in the league this year. The team defeated HC Lugano in the quarterfinals in six games, but lost to SC Bern in the semifinals in 5 games. Huet's loan and his deal with the Blackhawks came to an end during the playoffs, making him a free agent.

He returned to the National League after failing to join an NHL team and signed a four-year deal with Lausanne HC of the National League B. The team won the National League B title and advanced to the National League National League by beating SC Langnau in the qualification round, marking his first season in Lausanne.

Huet competed in the 2017 IIHF World Championship in Paris in May 2017, representing France. He played his last game in the final round robin game of France, against Slovenia, who won and ended with a standing ovation, ending with France's Team Captain Laurent Meunier. Team France (Les Bleus) did not progress to the medal round, but it was not disqualified.

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