If everything goes as Oilers coach Tom Renney says it will, Nikolai Khabibulin will be in net for Edmonton Thursday against the Tampa Bay Lightning. It will be the first time Khabibulin plays at the Tampa Bay Times Forum since Game 7 of the 2004 Stanley Cup final.
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"I hope they give him an ovation," St. Louis said. "I'd clap."
"Oh, yeah, I definitely would," Lecavalier said of putting his hands together. "He's a big part of Tampa and its history with the Lightning. He definitely deserves it."
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"It seems so long ago," St. Louis added, "especially after a year like this year. I appreciate that year so much with what we've gone through last year, getting this far and not winning it, and this year. It seems so long ago and I owe a lot of that to Habby."
"He's one of those goalies that stole games," Lecavalier said. "I hope the fans give him a nice welcome back. He was a huge part of our team. He's a great goaltender and a great guy. I think the fans definitely will treat him well."
Thought this was interesting. We'll see if he actually plays tomorrow.
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"It's still All In to me dammit." - Felonious Python
I hope no one boos him or anything like that. I didn't exactly like how his agent handled the negotiations(not telling Feaster what Chicago's offer was) but he helped change the franchise from bottom feeder to a cup winner.
my dad reminded me before that he hadnt played in forever and just saw it was in fact game 7 the last time. Ill boo him. **** him, he left for the money. He spurned us for cash, we tried to keep him around. Sometimes circumstances are different, not this, he just left us. Just like any player that helped my team win a cha,pionship, ill always appreciate him. And if the team lets him go, im mad at the team, but this was on him being selfish.
my dad reminded me before that he hadnt played in forever and just saw it was in fact game 7 the last time. Ill boo him. **** him, he left for the money. He spurned us for cash, we tried to keep him around. Sometimes circumstances are different, not this, he just left us. Just like any player that helped my team win a cha,pionship, ill always appreciate him. And if the team lets him go, im mad at the team, but this was on him being selfish.
If Feaster had divided the pie a bit better, we might have been able to keep him, but damnit, you know how much he loves pie.
my dad reminded me before that he hadnt played in forever and just saw it was in fact game 7 the last time. Ill boo him. **** him, he left for the money. He spurned us for cash, we tried to keep him around. Sometimes circumstances are different, not this, he just left us. Just like any player that helped my team win a cha,pionship, ill always appreciate him. And if the team lets him go, im mad at the team, but this was on him being selfish.
Only only one being selfish is you. Your acting as if the franchise owns him, he did what was best for him. Who wouldn't want more money and he got us a cup, so settle the **** down and be grateful.
Khabibulin gets a certain level of vitriol that Sean Bergenheim does not.
Who remembers when Khabibulin was traded to TB? Where had he been playing? Because it wasn't Phoenix.
He was in a contract dispute and held out for almost 2 seasons. He was in the IHL for a season then I can't remember if he went back home or not until he was traded to Tampa. He and Roli both came back into the NHL in 00/01, Khabi near the end of that season.
On finally returning to play in Tampa: It feels good. It brings a lot of good memories, so I'm pretty excited. It's just nice to be back, and from the memories standpoint to be back and see everything. It's just a good feeling overall.
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On the Tampa Bay area as a hockey market: I would say it's a warm climate but I had a lot of fun here. The fan base was pretty good, especially once we started winning and more people got on board. I think it was a fine place to play, and in the playoffs it was pretty crazy, as loud as any building in the league if not one of the loudest.
