The Fan In Van Podcast & Blog - Matt Lee

So I’m watching the Pittsburgh/Montreal game on CBC this evening and I see that ex-Canuck backup Dany Sabourin replaced star netminder Marc-Andre Fleury after yet another questionable game for the French Canadian. And as I’m watching Sabourin make some pretty amazing saves it brings back a ton of memories that I had of Sabourin, who started in only six contests last season with the Vancouver Canucks.

To be quite honest, when I was watching Sabourin, he made a handful of great saves, especially in the last few minutes of the third period, the overtime and shootout. I mean, let’s think about this logically; how did Dany Sabourin, who was placed on waivers only one year ago, turn into a good goaltender? Was it the year he spent with Roberto Luongo, or just a case of him being a late bloomer? Here’s a guy who was drafted by the Calgary Flames in the 4th round in 1998 and was given up on by the Flames and toiled in the minors for five more years before playing in his first-ever NHL game. Of course, Canuck fans remember that Sabourin didn’t even get his first NHL win until last season, but flash forward to the present and it’s somewhat surreal to see the very same Sabourin replace Fleury and shine, keeping his team in the contest until Andrei Markov, the eight Montreal shooter, tucks the puck underneath Sabourin, who up until then had been completely flawless.

Let’s relive Dany Sabourin’s Top Five Moments:

5. Sweet Irony: Sabu landed in Vancouver as a waiver wire pickup from the Pittsburgh Penguins. Sabourin, who was deemed expendable by the Penguins with the acquisition of Jocelyn Thibault at backup, learns the ways of the goaltender through the best in the game, Roberto Luongo. After a somewhat bittersweet season with the Canucks, Sabu signs once more with the Penguins in the offseason, replacing Jocelyn Thibault, who was not offered a contract by the Penguins for his losing record.

4. During the Vancouver Canucks jersey unveiling, a fan was shown wearing a dark Vancouver Canucks jersey with the #35 and Sabourin on the back. The fan is greeted with both cheers and laughter. I think fans are laughing at him and not with him.

3. Dany Sabourin, having played in four games which all resulted in losses (6-0, 6-0, 5-3, 2-0) starts in a game against the heavily favoured Buffalo Sabres, at the time the best team in the NHL. Still looking for his first win, Sabourin stops 33 pucks, forces the game into a shootout and robs Danny Briere with a magnificent glove save.

2. Dany Sabourin gets his first-ever NHL win with a gutsy effort versus the Anaheim Ducks on February 20th. Sabourin astoundingly stopped 38 shots for a 4-2 win over the eventual Cup champs. Trevor Linden offers the French-Canadian the game-winning puck, something which was about seven years overdue. LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEWn8p8qMsI

1. Dany Sabourin enters the second overtime of Game Five of the Stanley Cup Western Semifinals against the Anaheim Ducks after Roberto Luongo has a case of “stomach problems”. With the Canucks on the brink of elimination in the second overtime, Sabourin fends off the Anaheim attack, making five beautiful saves in four minutes of play and saving Dave Nonis of requiring triple bypass heart surgery. LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0p6BDDEkmtg For highlights of tonight’s shootout, you can probably find it on Youtube.