FanHouse Ed Belfour

Aside from helping lead his team to the postseason for the first time in franchise history, Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Steve Mason has an opportunity to take home some serious hardware at the NHL's award ceremony in June. After being named as one of the finalists for the Calder Trophy as the top rookie, the 20-year-old Mason is also a nominee for the Vezina Trophy as the league's top goaltender. Joining Mason as finalists are Boston's Tim Thomas and Minnesota's Niklas Backstrom.

According to John McGourty of NHL.com, the only players to win both the Calder and Vezina in the same season are Tom Barrasso, Ed Belfour, Tony Esposito and Frankie Brimsek.

Many hopes and dreams will be realized when the NHL Entry Draft gets underway this Friday. Thousands of kids and young adults have been waiting for the day that some NHL team (even the Florida Panthers) calls their name and brings them down to put on their new sweater.

Not every talented hockey player, however, will hear their name called during the draft. Due to teams' prejudices (the player is too small!), a lack of scouting, or just a lack of skill, many kids will not be drafted by an NHL club, and their NHL dreams may be shattered in the process.

Being passed over in the draft, however, is hardly a death sentence. Teams are always looking for more talent, and a little perseverance and a lot of production in the lower tiers of hockey can go a long way for a non-drafted player.

Take Ed Belfour and Curtis Joseph. These gentlemen were two of the better goalies of our era, and were never drafted by any NHL club. Not even a sniff! If teams can miss the boat on two very adept netminders, you know they are passing over a lot of other quality players.

The list of undrafted NHLers is surprisingly large, and should give hope to any kid who doesn't get drafted this year.

One of the great and distinctive things about the NHL is the artwork that goaltenders are allowed to adorn themselves with. Not only can the goaltenders dress themselves up in an array of fancy colors, but they are allowed to express their personality with artwork on their helmets. While other leagues, especially the NFL (No Fun League), refrain from any uniform discrepancies that would detract from the norm, the NHL has always allowed the goaltenders to express themselves, and most of them take advantage of the artistic freedom.

Chris Osgood, on the other hand, prefers his plain old boring unpainted cage. Zzzzzzz ...

"It's tough to paint -- I don't think it would ever stay on," Osgood said. "I've had it painted but it just chipped off all the time. I wear that style because I can see better out of it than I can out of the new ones - I tried wearing those a couple of times and I just couldn't get used to them just because I feel I can't see down."

"I could paint it," Osgood said. "But I like it the way it is now. I used to get guys bringing me masks all the time with (Wizard of Oz) kind of stuff on them but I just like the way it is, just plain and simple."

If a goalie's mask is a portal to his personality, Osgood must be a pretty boring, low-key kinda guy.

In any event, we're pleased to bring you a new gallery highlighting some of the league's best goalie mask designs. From Ed Belfour's classic hawk design, to Mike Smith's tribute to Garth Brooks, goaltender masks run the whole gamut of personal tributes to team loyalty to flights of fancy. Let's be thankful that Gary Bettman hasn't killed that aspect of our favorite sport.

Sorry, No Photos

What a strange and winding road hockey's taken Mr. Ed Belfour on in his 20-year pro career.

He grew up in a small agricultural town outside of Winnipeg and played high school hockey at 15 with the Carman Cougars. After graduating, it was off to join the 'Junior A' Winkler Flyers, where Belfour played one season, was named the league's top goaltender and, well, he was on his way.

Belfour was never drafted into the NHL because he was a small-town kid way, way off the radar until he was 21 years old. That year, he went to the NCAA with the University of North Dakota, was a first-team WCHA all-star and led UND to the national title.

A little more than a year later, he was starting with the Chicago Blackhawks and he won the Vezina Trophy in his second NHL season (1990-91), just five years removed from Winkler.

At this point, he's the third most winningest netminder in NHL history, trailing only Hall of Famers Patrick Roy and Martin Brodeur.

And, now, at age 42, he's apparently off to Leksand, Sweden, to try and push that team back into the country's elite division.

Belfour's taking some heat from the peanut gallery for playing past his "best-before date," but I find it tough to get too down on a guy whose competitive fires still burn.

Besides, the one thing that's been woefully underreported so far is the fact that Eddie the Eagle had a pretty nice season last year in South Florida (aside from a barfight or two), and especially down the stretch after he took out Alex Auld, when he was one of the top 10 or 15 goaltenders in the NHL. Belfour posted a 14-5-4 record in his final 23 starts with the Panthers, which included a 2.70 goals-against average and .908 save percentage.

He's far from washed up and, quite likely, will be well worth the money he'll receive in Sweden.

And after where he's been, why not head out on another hockey sojourn? At the very least, he'll be a hit in the foreign press.

Ed Belfour, who managed to hold down the Florida Panthers #1 goaltending job at the age of 42, thinks he deserves a nice pay hike.

Florida Panthers goalie Ed Belfour said Friday that he wants more money. He would like to sign another one-year contract with the Panthers, but if it doesn't work out, Belfour, 42, is confident he can be a starter somewhere else in the NHL.

"I'm definitely a No 1 goalie," Belfour said. "I'm motivated to come back and be the No. 1 guy. I think my health is there."

Belfour believes he is worth considerably more now that he has proved his durability. He earned a base salary of $750,000 last season as part of an incentive-laden deal.

"My base was low because I had back surgery," Belfour said. "Throughout my career, my base was a lot higher. . . . I proved that I was durable and I'm not going to play for that kind of money this year, that's for sure."

Ahh, talk about living in the past. Of course he was worth more!! Eddie, you USED to be young, spry, and a great goaltending.

Now? Not so much ...

Yes, Belfour did better than Bald Alex Auld, putting up a 90.2SV% compared to Auld's cringe-inducing 88.8% mark. Yes, Belfour was a bargain at $750,000 for a 50+ game goaltender, but how does he think he'll get more elsewhere?

Fact: Belfour's SV% was still 31st among qualified goaltenders. Given that there are 30 NHL teams, Belfour is not going to be an improvement in many other places.

Fact: Belfour is 42, has a creaky back, and isn't getting any younger, more agile, or healthier.

Fact: Belfour is a belligerent drunk who parties way too often and gets himself in trouble with the police. Not many teams want to put up with the off-ice problems Eddie is bound to have.

If the Panthers aren't willing to give him a raise, Belfour will be very fortunate to get $750,000 and a position from any other NHL club. Whatever Belfour thinks of his self-worth, he'd be smart not to alienate himself from the Panthers, who might be the only club willing to give him a decent contract.

At least he didn't demand ONE BILLION DOLLARS!!! Although, that would have been much more interesting ...

With the Toronto Maple Leafs bungling the Mats Sundin negotiations in their usual style, a new suitor has entered the bidding for Mats' services.

Who? His old club, Djurgarden IF. (If that isn't Swedish for "Beer Garden", I'm going to be disappointed)

Stockholm-based newspaper Expressen reports that Djurgarden IF of the Swedish Elite League has offered the Leaf captain a one-year contract. No financial terms were disclosed, but sources tell TSN that the deal - offered a couple of weeks ago - is worth just over $1 million.

When asked about the chances of Sundin returning to his old club, his Swedish agent Claes Elefalk maintained that they are not planning on negotiating on anything other than a two-year extension with the Maple Leafs.

"It's impossible," Elefalk told Expressen Sunday night. "We are now negotiating a new contract with Toronto. If we can't agree, then Toronto can exercise their option clause on him. We're still trying to negotiate a two-year deal."

The article did not include 30 straight minutes of laughter, coughing, and more laughter from the agent.

$1million for Mats Sundin? Are you serious?

We know that many European players, especially the Swedes and Russians, have used the 'play at home' card in their negotiations to scare NHL clubs into giving them more money and more years on their contract. Nicklas Lidstrom played the "I want my kids to have a Swedish education" card beautifully against the Red Wings, scoring a very lucrative contract for himself.

Now, does anyone believe Mats Sundin is about to head home for herring and Swedish meatballs? Especially for the paltry sum of $1mil a year? If anything, Sundin seems to be one of the more North Americanized Swedish players in the NHL. We know he loves partying with Ed Belfour at frat houses, which is an experience he just couldn't quite get back at home.

Given how productive Sundin still is, and how many other NHL clubs would want to have him, I wouldn't expect Sundin back in the Swedish Elitserien for a long, long time.

See also: Mats Sundin is Tragically Hip.
Sundin Runs Mouth, Leafs Lose Anyway.

A couple of Florida Panthers got their off-season started in style, partying into the wee hours of Monday morning and ending up with a trip to the Miami-Dade County jail.

Goaltender Ed Belfour and winger Ville Peltonen "were at Nikki Beach around 1 a.m. when they were asked to leave for disorderly conduct. When the pair refused to leave, an officer responded to the scene."

This is where it gets good:

As the officer approached the men, Belfour got into a fighting position, and the two got into a scuffle, which forced the officer to taser Belfour.

Belfour, no stranger to the police blotter, had recently had an on-ice meltdown, so his off-ice meltdown is unsurprising, if not predictable. As for Peltonen, his on-ice demeanor (just 34 minor penalties, no majors, no misconducts in 247 career games) makes him something of a surprise participant in the tomfoolery -- it's good to see Eddie the Eagle's veteran leadership rubbing off on one of the younger (though not young) guys.

Belfour was charged with disorderly intoxication and resisting arrest without violence, while Peltonen was booked on criminal mischief charges. There's no word on what bail was set at, though as long as it was less than $1 billion, Belfour would have presumably had it covered.

Ray Whitney's game-winning overtime goal against the Florida Panthers last night kept the defending Champion Hurricanes' playoff chances alive, albeit on life support. The goal also officially eliminated the Panthers from playoff contention. But it wasn't necessarily the result as much as how the two teams got to it that had the Kitties fuming afterwards.

After Florida defenseman Bryan Allen was whistled for tripping 'Canes center Eric Staal on a questionable call in overtime, Panther netminder Ed Belfour lost it (clinical term) and started skating around while doing his best pantomime of a dive (though if we were playing charades, I'd have probably guessed "high hurdling" or something). The result was a two-minute minor for Belfour for bad acting unsportsmanlike conduct, a two-man advantage for Carolina and a two-point win on the Whitney goal moments later.

After the game, the Panthers were still steamed at the call(s) and the way they believe the Hurricanes play the game.

"We've got to get five or six guys to dive every time you touch them," Panthers captain Olli Jokinen said in reference to Carolina's Eric Staal hitting the ice on Allen's penalty.

"He embellished it as much as he could," said Allen. "It's embarrassing the way they play the game. They're looking for the easy way out, taking dives and looking for the cheesy call."

The teams have one more meeting left this season -- Saturday night in Raleigh -- and you can bet that nothing would make the Panthers happier than hammering that final nail into the Champs' coffin (though chances are the 'Canes will already be dead and buried by then). Just ask Jokinen, who added, "[Carolina] has stolen so many points from us, we have to ... make sure they don't go anywhere. I'd rather see Tampa and Atlanta make it than this team.''

UPDATE: CasonBlog answers my rhetorical question with one of his own.