First-round pick of the Quebec Nordiques in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, Jocelyn Thibault played 586 games during his 15-season NHL career. He played for the Nordiques, Colorado Avalanche, Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Blackhawks, Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabers, scoring 238 wins. He coached the Avalanche goaltenders for two seasons and now owns the Sherbrooke Phoenix in the QMJHL. He has agreed to work with the NHL.com team to deal with hot issues in front of the League’s 32 nets.
They are probably many on the hockey planet to have watched closely the game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Nashville Predators on Thursday.
And it wasn’t to see the homage, albeit successful, to PK Subban. It was no doubt to see how Yaroslav Askarov would fare in his very first NHL start. Believe me, it’s not yesterday that the Russian goalkeeper has been talking – and salivating – recruiters and leaders of the big league.
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I remember seeing him play for the first time at 16 at the World Under-17 Challenge in Saint-Jean, New Brunswick, when I was general manager of the Sherbrooke Phoenix. Already at that time, we could speak of a phenomenon: two years before his draft, many had his eye on him.
When we saw him in goal, we were all freaked out and NHL scouts were already convinced he would be a first-round pick. It showed in 2020 when he was claimed 11th overall.
If you watched the game against the Canadians – a 4-3 loss – you probably noticed some similarities between his style and that of his fellow Russians Andrei Vasilevskiy, Igor Shesterkin et Alexander Georgiev. Generally, it is quite easy to identify Russian goalkeepers by their movement, the quality of their footwork and their outstanding athleticism.
What I particularly like about Askarov, and what has been obvious over the past few years, is that he is always stable when the throws are released.
As mobile as he is, he knows when to plant his feet to face the threat. He works a lot in shuffle, that is to say he moves laterally with short and sharp movements which limit the faults in his wall. In good French, it is disgusting in this aspect! His athletic abilities also allow him to get out of his technique to make saves when he needs to – we saw it when he executed the splits two or three times at the start of the game against the Habs.
Video: NSH@MTL: Askarov sans complexe devant Harris
From this point of view, I see a lot of similarities between his game and that of Vasilevskiy. One of the big differences, however, is that I feel Askarov is playing small in his net. He’s 6-foot-4, but sometimes it looks like he doesn’t use it. On the other hand, he is only 20 years old and weighs only 180 pounds, compared to Vasilevskiy’s 220 pounds.
He also showed in this first game that he was not lacking in confidence by not hesitating to get out of his net to play the puck, and by performing a few feints as well. He could perhaps have kept himself from a little embarrassment at times – especially on the play which led to the goal of Kirby Roof – but when a goalkeeper is skilled in puck handling, a team should not deprive themselves of it.
Over a full season, the good shots will outnumber the blunders. And those blunders are going to happen less and less often as defenders get to know their keeper’s tendencies and habits. You will therefore understand that he showed a bit of audacity in his very first game behind this defensive brigade.
With this first experience, Askarov will probably return to the American League soon, and that’s okay. The Predators have an excellent goaltender in Hair in Saros and they have no reason to rush things with their young hope. It’s a good thing he’s transitioning to the American League after seasons in which he played very few games in the KHL.
The perfect environment
One thing is certain is that the Predators did not hesitate to send him into the fray in a rather impressive environment. The Bell Center was noisy, especially after the speech delivered by Subban.
Contrary to what one might think, it can be a good thing for a goalkeeper even if these are quite stressful times. The first time I played in the NHL was at the former Boston Garden when I came to relieve Stéphane Fiset after a period. That was when the Bruins fielded Raymond Bourque, Adam Oates, Cam Neely and company.
I still got away with it. Afterwards, goaltending coach Daniel Bouchard pushed hard for me to get a start at Chicago Stadium rather than Hartford, precisely because the lackluster atmosphere in Hartford meant that it was more difficult matches to play.
All that to say that it’s not bad to put a young goalkeeper in more emotional situations. It’s even better than sending him into the fray for a sleepy match.
The leaders of the Predators had done their homework, and suspected that Askarov was sufficiently equipped to meet the challenge of Montreal. They weren’t wrong.
*Comments collected by Guillaume Lepage, NHL.com journalist
