Cristobal Huet

{{Infobox ice hockey player

| name = Cristobal Huet

| image = Huetblackhawks09.jpg

| image_size = 230px

| caption = Huet with the Chicago Blackhawks in November 2009

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1975|9|3}}

| birth_place = Saint-Martin-d'Hères, France

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 0

| weight_lb = 205

| position = Goaltender

| catches = Left

| played_for = Brûleurs de Loups
HC Lugano
Los Angeles Kings
Adler Mannheim
Montreal Canadiens
Washington Capitals
Chicago Blackhawks
HC Fribourg-Gottéron
Lausanne HC

| ntl_team = FRA

| draft = 214th overall

| draft_year = 2001

| draft_team = Los Angeles Kings

| career_start = 1994

| career_end = 2018

}}

Cristobal Huet ({{IPA|fr|kʁistɔbal ɥɛ}}; born September 3, 1975) is a French former professional ice hockey goaltender who is a goaltender coach for Lausanne HC of the National League (NL). He previously played for HC Lugano and HC Fribourg-Gottéron and within the Chicago Blackhawks, Los Angeles Kings, Montreal Canadiens, and Washington Capitals organizations in the National Hockey League (NHL). He is the first French netminder and second French-trained player overall (after Philippe Bozon) to play in the NHL. He currently co-hosts hockey TV show, Le Repas d'équipe, with fellow French-born Swiss former player Laurent Meunier on MySports.

Huet won the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010, and became the first Frenchman to win the Stanley Cup as a player. He was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2023.

Playing career

=Amateur=

As a youth, Huet played in the 1988 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a team from Grenoble.{{cite web|url=https://www.publicationsports.com/ressources/files/439/Joueurs_Pro.pdf|title=Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA|year=2018|website=Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament|access-date=2019-01-26|archive-date=2019-03-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306085544/https://www.publicationsports.com/ressources/files/439/Joueurs_Pro.pdf|url-status=dead}}

=HC Lugano=

Huet played for HC Lugano from the 1998–99 season to 2001–02. His career took a significant turn in these years. He won the National League A Championship in his first year, and reached the European Hockey League final four the next year.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}

=Los Angeles Kings (2002–2005)=

Huet was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings as their seventh-round pick, 214th overall, in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft. He played for the Kings in the 2002–2003 and 2003–2004 seasons. He was traded to the Montreal Canadiens in a three-team deal that sent Mathieu Garon to Los Angeles and Radek Bonk from Ottawa to Montreal. During the 2004–05 lockout Huet played for the Adler Mannheim in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. He led the team to the finals, where the Eagles lost in three straight games to Eisbären Berlin.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}

=Montreal Canadiens (2005–2008)=

During the 2005–06 season, Huet eventually won the starting job in goal for the Canadiens at the expense of José Théodore, who was subsequently traded to Colorado in exchange for goaltender David Aebischer. He also won the Molson Cup in February 2006. He won the Best Defensive Player award from the NHL during the first week of March, ousting goaltenders such as the Ottawa Senators' Ray Emery and the New Jersey Devils' Martin Brodeur, with a 3–0–0 record and a 1.67 GAA. For the second time of the year, he was named NHL Best Defensive Player on April 3 with a 3–0–0 record, a 0.65 GAA and 0.979 SV%, ousting goaltenders Martin Brodeur, Calgary's Miikka Kiprusoff and Detroit's Manny Legace.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}

On April 23, in his first NHL playoff start, Huet starred in a 6–1 win against the 2nd seeded and eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes. Huet stopped 42 of 43 shots in the contest to put the Canadiens up 1–0 in the seven-game series. Two days later, Huet recorded his first overtime playoff win, when the Canadiens beat 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 spot in the series, and who would later go on to win the Conn Smythe Trophy.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}

The Canadiens re-signed Huet in the 2006 off-season to a two-year deal at $5.75 million total, earning $3 million the first season and $2.75 million in the second year.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}

On January 13, 2007, Huet was announced as one of the three goaltenders of the Eastern Conference All-Star Team in the 55th NHL All-Star Game in Dallas. A month later, however, he suffered a left hamstring injury that caused him to miss most of the final two months of the season. In his absence, the Canadiens struggled, and the team missed the postseason.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}

File:Cristobal Huet caps 2008-03-09.JPG in March 2008]]

=Washington Capitals (2008)=

On February 26, 2008, Montreal Canadiens general manager Bob Gainey traded the French netminder to the Washington Capitals for a 2009 second-round draft pick.{{cite news| url=https://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/nhl/2008-02-29-capitals-devils_N.htm | work=USA Today | title=Cristobal Huet stops 'em all in debut game for Capitals | date=2008-03-01 | access-date=2010-04-30}} The Canadiens decided to trade Huet because of highly touted prospect, Carey Price. In Washington, he took over the starting position from Olaf Kölzig, pushing incumbent backup Brent Johnson to the pressbox, and his exceptional play helped lead Washington to secure a playoff berth, where they lost the opening round series against the Philadelphia Flyers in seven games.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}

=Chicago Blackhawks (2008–2010)=

On July 1, 2008, the first day of unrestricted free-agency, Huet agreed to terms on a new 4-year contract with the Chicago Blackhawks worth a total of $22.4 million or $5.625 million per season.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}

Following the signing, Blackhawks general manager Dale Tallon announced the team would enter the season with a tandem of Huet and Nikolai Khabibulin. Unable to win the starting job over Khabibulin to start the season, Huet found himself on the bench more often than not. Gradually, he earned back his playing time and both alternated every game for almost 3 months until Khabibulin went down with a groin injury in early February. The tandem, however, earned praise around the NHL. A second Khabibulin injury in early February thrust Huet in the spotlight once again, and he was named the NHL's 3rd star of the week for Feb 15–21, posting a 3–0–0 record and allowing just five goals on 72 shots. In the end however, Khabibulin was named the playoff starter for the Blackhawks, and they defeated the Calgary Flames in the first round as well as the Vancouver Canucks in the second round.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}

Huet made his next appearance for the Blackhawks during game three of the 2009 Western Conference Finals, where he was called to replace an injured Khabibulin.{{cite news | first=Len | last=Ziehm | title=Wings win 3–2 in OT, put Hawks in 2-hole | date=2009-05-20 | newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times | url=http://www.suntimes.com/sports/hockey/blackhawks/1582551,CST-SPT-hawk20.article | access-date=2009-05-25 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090523175636/http://www.suntimes.com/sports/hockey/blackhawks/1582551,CST-SPT-hawk20.article | archive-date=2009-05-23 | url-status=dead }} He made six saves, and allowed the Blackhawks to collect an overtime win. With Khabibulin still recovering from a lower body injury, Joel Quenneville named Huet the team's starting goaltender for the fourth game against Detroit.{{cite news|title=Khabibulin out, Havlat in for Game 4 |date=2009-05-24 |newspaper=Miami Herald |url=http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/hockey/hockey-wires/story/1063842.html |access-date=2009-05-25}}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} Huet allowed five goals on 21 shots, and was temporarily replaced by Corey Crawford.{{cite news | first=Rick | last=Gano | title= Hossa, Zetterberg push Wings to verge of finals | date=2009-05-24 | work=Yahoo! Sports | url =https://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/recap?gid=2009052404 | access-date = 2009-05-25 }} During the final game of the series, Huet stopped 44 shots en route to a 2–1 overtime loss.{{cite news | first=Ross | last=McKeon | title=Wednesday's Three Stars: Hip, hip, Huet. Nice try, anyway | date=2009-05-28 | work=Yahoo! Sports | url =https://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Wednesday-s-Three-Stars-Hip-hip-Huet-Nice-tr;_ylt=Ape4QXSYxBENDHlRO.B2grZ7vLYF?urn=nhl,166411 | access-date = 2009-05-28 }}

For the first time in his career, Huet started a season as the undisputed number one goaltender, but as the 2009–10 campaign wore on, Antti Niemi eventually replaced Huet as Chicago's starter going into the playoffs. Huet played only twenty minutes in the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs, which the Blackhawks won with Niemi in net and with an overall playoff record of 16–6.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}} With the Hawks victory, Huet became the first native of France to get his name engraved on the Stanley Cup.

File:Cristobal Huet, ZSC Lions-Fribourg-Gottéron, 02.11.2010.jpg

=Fribourg-Gotteron (2010–2012)=

On September 27, 2010, Chicago loaned Huet to HC Fribourg-Gotteron of the Swiss National League A in order to stay within the salary cap.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}} In his first year with Fribourg-Gotteron, Huet played in 41 games but struggled in the second half of the season, accumulating a 2.84 goals against average as the team finished 8th. Fribourg qualified for the playoffs only to be swept by HC Davos. The following season he improved to a goals against average of 1.99 in 39 games, third best in the league that year. The team defeated HC Lugano in the quarterfinals in 6 games but lost to SC Bern in the semifinals in 5 games. Huet's loan and his contract with the Blackhawks expired when the playoffs ended, thus making him a free agent.{{cite web|url=http://versus.stats.com/nhl/story.asp?i=20100927193230221990408&ref=hea&tm=&src= |title=Blackhawks send G Cristobal Huet to Swiss team |access-date=27 September 2010 }}{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

=Lausanne HC (2012–2018)=

File:NLA, Lausanne HC vs. Genève-Servette HC, 26th September 2014 27.JPG

Huet signed a 4-year deal with Lausanne HC of the National League B. His first season in Lausanne was a success, as the team won the National League B title and went on to win promotion to the National League by defeating SC Langnau in the qualification round.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}

=Retirement from the French national team=

In May 2017, Huet played at the 2017 IIHF World Championship, in Paris, representing France. He played his last game at the final round robin game of France, against Slovenia, with a win, and ended with a standing ovation, retiring with France's Team Captain Laurent Meunier. Team France (Les Bleus) did not advance to the medal round, but was not relegated.{{cite news |url= http://sport.francetvinfo.fr/hockey/hockey-sur-glace-cristobal-huet-clap-de-fin-391681 |title= Hockey sur glace : Clap de fin pour Cristobal Huet |author= Leo Anselmetti |date= 15 May 2017 |publisher= France TV Sport |language=fr}}{{cite news |url= http://www.lalsace.fr/actualite/2017/05/14/battue-par-les-tcheques-(5-2)-la-france-au-bord-de-l-elimination |title= La France ne verra pas les quarts de finale |author= Benoît Lagneux |date= 14 May 2017 |publisher= L'Alsace |language=fr}}

Career statistics

=Regular season and playoffs=

border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="width:90%; text-align:center;"
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff" \| ! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" \| ! colspan="10" bgcolor="#e0e0e0" \| Regular season ! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" \| ! colspan="8" bgcolor="#e0e0e0" \| Playoffs
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! Season ! Team ! League ! GP !! W !! L !! T !! OTL !! MIN !! GA !! SO !! GAA !! SV% ! GP !! W !! L !! MIN !! GA !! SO !! GAA !! SV%
1994–95 \| Brûleurs de Loups \| FRA \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	— \| 7	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1995–96 \| Brûleurs de Loups \| FRA \| 25 \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	— \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1996–97 \| Brûleurs de Loups \| FRA \| 28	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	— \| 11	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1997–98 \| Brûleurs de Loups \| FRA \| 29 \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	— \| 12	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1998–99 \| HC Lugano \| NDA \| 21	—	—	—	—	1275	58	1	2.73	— \| 10	—	—	628	18	1	1.72	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1999–00 \| HC Lugano \| NLA \| 31	—	—	—	—	1886	50	8	1.59	— \| 13	—	—	783	29	0	2.22	—
2000–01 \| HC Lugano \| NLA \| 39	—	—	—	—	2365	77	6	1.95	— \| 18	—	—	1141	39	2	2.05	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 2001–02 \| HC Lugano \| NLA \| 39	—	—	—	—	2313	107	4	2.78	— \| 1	—	—	60	3	0	3.00	—
2002–03 \| Manchester Monarchs \| AHL \| 30	16	8	5	—	1784	68	1	2.29	.922 \| 1	0	1	30	4	0	8.08	.778
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 2002–03 \| Los Angeles Kings \| NHL \| 12	4	4	1	—	541	21	1	2.33	.913 \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2003–04 \| Los Angeles Kings \| NHL \| 41	10	16	10	—	2199	89	3	2.43	.907 \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 2004–05 \| Adler Mannheim \| DEL \| 36	—	—	—	—	2001	93	1	2.79	.915 \| 14	—	—	850	40	2	2.82	.919
2005–06 \| Hamilton Bulldogs \| AHL \| 4	0	4	—	0	237	15	0	3.79	.862 \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 2005–06 \| Montreal Canadiens \| NHL \| 36	18	11	—	4	2102	77	7	2.20	.929 \| 6	2	4	385	15	0	2.33	.929
2006–07 \| Montreal Canadiens \| NHL \| 42	19	16	—	3	2286	107	2	2.81	.916 \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 2007–08 \| Montreal Canadiens \| NHL \| 39	21	12	—	6	2278	97	2	2.55	.916 \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2007–08 \| Washington Capitals \| NHL \| 13	11	2	—	0	771	21	2	1.63	.936 \| 7	3	4	451	22	0	2.90	.909
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 2008–09 \| Chicago Blackhawks \| NHL \| 41	20	15	—	4	2351	99	3	2.53	.909 \| 3	1	2	130	7	0	3.23	.910
2009–10 \| Chicago Blackhawks \| NHL \| 48	26	14	—	4	2731	114	4	2.50	.895 \| 1	0	0	20	0	0	0.00	1.000
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 2010–11 \| HC Fribourg–Gottéron \| NLA \| 41	12	21	—	1	2461	120	4	2.92	.888 \| 3	0	3	155	11	0	4.24	.810
2011–12 \| HC Fribourg–Gottéron \| NLA \| 39	23	10	—	0	2322	83	6	2.14	.912 \| 11	4	5	694	28	1	2.42	.910
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 2012–13 \| Lausanne HC \| NLB \| 36	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	2.33	— \| 13	—	—	—	—	—	2.67	—
2013–14 \| Lausanne HC \| NLA \| 45	19	20	—	2	2649	91	1	2.06	.929 \| 7	3	3	407	16	0	2.36	.922
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 2014–15 \| Lausanne HC \| NLA \| 37	16	13	—	0	2158	67	7	1.86	.931 \| 7	2	4	447	11	0	1.48	.941
2015–16 \| Lausanne HC \| NLA \| 46	17	22	—	2	2768	112	1	2.43	.910 \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 2016–17 \| Lausanne HC \| NLA \| 40	23	15	—	0	2404	99	7	2.47	.919 \| 4	0	4	261	13	0	2.98	.908
2017–18 \| Lausanne HC \| NL \| 21	7	12	—	4	1104	64	1	3.48	.886 \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" \| NDA/NLA/NL totals ! 399 !! — !! — !! — !! — !! 23,705 !! 928 !! 46 !! 2.35 !! — ! 74 !! — !! — !! 4576 !! 168 !! 4 !! 2.20 !! —
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" \| NHL totals ! 272 !! 129 !! 90 !! 11 !! 21 !! 15,261 !! 625 !! 24 !! 2.46 !! .913 ! 17 !! 6 !! 10 !! 987 !! 44 !! 0 !! 2.68 !! .918

=International=

File:Cristobal Huet Quebec 2008.jpg

border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" ID="Table3" style="text-align:center; width:40em"

ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! Year

! Team

! Event

! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |

! GP

! W

! L

! T

! MIN

! GA

! SO

! GAA

! SV%

1992

| France

| EJC B

| 3

| 1.62

| .929

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1993

| France

| EJC B

| 6

| 2.29

1995

| France

| WJC B

| 7

| 2.14

| .899

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1997

| France

| WC

| 3

| 101

| 12

| 0

| 7.13

| .793

1998

| France

| OG

| 2

| 1

| 0

| 120

| 5

| 0

| 2.50

| .925

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1998

| France

| WC

| 1

| 5

| 3

| 0

| 36.00

| .400

1998

| France

| WC Q

| 3

| 2

| 1

| 0

| 180

| 7

| 0

| 2.33

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1999

| France

| WC

| 1

| 0

| 1

| 0

| 60

| 6

| 0

| 6.00

| .714

1999

| France

| WC Q

| 3

| 1

| 180

| 10

| 0

| 3.33

| .897

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2000

| France

| WC

| 4

| 1

| 2

| 1

| 239

| 11

| 0

| 2.76

| .892

2001

| France

| OGQ

| 3

| 1

| 0

| 2

| 179

| 5

| 0

| 1.68

| .952

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2001

| France

| WC D1

| 4

| 2

| 1

| 240

| 9

| 1

| 2.25

| .886

2002

| France

| OG

| 3

| 0

| 2

| 1

| 179

| 10

| 0

| 3.36

| .884

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2002

| France

| WC D1

| 5

| 4

| 1

| 0

| 299

| 5

| 2

| 1.00

| .938

2004

| France

| WC

| 4

| 0

| 3

| 1

| 198

| 17

| 0

| 5.19

| .851

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2005

| France

| OGQ

| 5

| 3

| 1

| 299

| 5

| 2

| 1.00

| .957

2008

| France

| WC

| 5

| 2

| 3

| —

| 250

| 15

| 0

| 3.60

| .911

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2011

| France

| WC

| 6

| 1

| 5

| —

| 282

| 16

| 0

| 3.41

| .913

2012

| France

| WC

| 5

| 3

| 2

| —

| 299

| 18

| 0

| 3.61

| .882

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2013

| France

| OGQ

| 2

| 1

| —

| 122

| 5

| 0

| 2.44

| .909

2013

| France

| WC

| 5

| 1

| 4

| —

| 266

| 16

| 0

| 3.36

| .902

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2014

| France

| WC

| 6

| 2

| —

| 369

| 16

| 0

| 2.60

| .902

2015

| France

| WC

| 5

| 1

| 3

| —

| 288

| 10

| 1

| 2.09

| .923

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2016

| France

| WC

| 5

| 1

| 3

| —

| 276

| 14

| 0

| 3.05

| .884

2017

| France

| OGQ

| 3

| 2

| 1

| —

| 179

| 4

| 0

| 1.33

| .944

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2017

| France

| WC

| 4

| 1

| —

| 249

| 10

| 0

| 2.41

| .899

bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! colspan=3 | Tier I senior totals

! 59

! —

! 3181

! 179

! 1

! 3.38

! —

bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! colspan=3 | Tier II senior totals

! 28

! 16

! 7

! 3

! 1678

! 50

! 5

! 1.79

! —

Honours

French Elite League Champion with the Brûleurs de loups of Grenoble, 1997/98
Albert Hassler Trophy (Most Valuable Domestic Player in the French Elite League), 1997/98
Jean Ferrand Trophy (Most Valuable Goaltender in the French Elite League), 1996/97 and 1997/98
Swiss National A League Champion with HC Lugano, 1998/99
European Hockey League Final Four with HC Lugano, 1999/00
Jacques Plante Trophy (Best GAA in the Swiss National A League), 1999/00 and 2000/01
Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award (Best Save% in the NHL – National Hockey League), 2005/06
Nominee for Bill Masterton Trophy (Awarded to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey.), 2005/2006
NHL Defensive Player of the Week 3–5–06
NHL All Star Team roster – 2007
Nominee for NHL All Star team – 2008
NHL 3rd star for January 2008
NHL 3rd star of the week (Feb 15–21 2009)
NHL 1st star of the week (Dec 14–21 2009)
NHL 2010 Stanley Cup Champion (Season 2009–2010)
Inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2023{{cite web|url=https://www.iihf.com/en/news/40893/iihf_honours_international_mix_for_hall_of_fame_23|title=IIHF honours international mix for Hall of Fame '23|last=Podnieks|first=Andrew|author-link=Andrew Podnieks|date=9 December 2022|website=International Ice Hockey Federation|access-date=11 December 2022}}{{cite news|title=Le Grenoblois Cristobal Huet entre au Hall of Fame|date=9 December 2022|newspaper=Le Dauphiné libéré|language=fr|location=Grenoble, France|url=https://www.ledauphine.com/sport/2022/12/09/le-grenoblois-cristobal-huet-entre-au-hall-of-fame|access-date=14 June 2023}}

References

External links

{{Ice hockey stats |tsn=2311}}
[http://www.hockeygoalies.org/bio/huet.html Cristobal Huet biography, including game-by-game results, at The Goaltender Home Page]
[https://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/players/3062/ Cristobal Huet at Yahoo! Sports]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20071008171940/http://www.habsblog.com/2006/09/20/cristobal-huet-receives-roger-crozier-award/ Cristobal Huet receives Roger Crozier award]

{{succession box | before = Dwayne Roloson | title = Winner of the Crozier Award | years = 2006 | after = Niklas Bäckström}}

Category:1975 births

Category:Living people

Category:Adler Mannheim players

Category:Brûleurs de Loups players

Category:Chicago Blackhawks players

Category:French ice hockey goaltenders

Category:Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) players

Category:HC Fribourg-Gottéron players

Category:HC Lugano players

Category:Ice hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics

Category:Ice hockey players at the 2002 Winter Olympics