The “goaltending shuffle” seems to be a dance the Havoc know well, as this has been an extremely eventful season for the team in regard to their situation in net. With Mark Sibbald’s departure in mid-December, the Havoc have had four different goalies filling the roles of starter and backup (Corey Milan, Steve Briere, Matt Hache, and Kevin Beech). Even for a league with incredibly high turnover rates such as the SPHL, four goaltenders in just two months is excessive. It is certainly fair to say that the lack of stability between the pipes is a big part of what’s been keeping the Havoc hovering around sixth place in the SPHL standings. On February 13 the Havoc made another move toward settling the netminding question by placing Matt Hache on waivers. This was to make room for Mark Sibbald’s return to the roster on the 14th when he was activated from suspension. The Havoc organization has been quiet about what caused Sibbald to take his leave in the first place, or how it worked out that he came back to the Rocket City, but he is back nonetheless. In an article on the team’s website dated February 13, head coach Randy Murphy stated that he expected that the combination of Mark Sibbald and Kevin Beech would “bring some stability to our play in net.” Perhaps Sibbald returned to Huntsville for some stability of his own as he played for three different teams in the Central Hockey League during his time away. After two and a half years with the Havoc, three teams in two months must have felt like an awful lot. Nearly two weeks after Sibbald’s rejoining the team, however, it doesn’t seem like the Havoc’s troubles are over. They haven’t won a game since their 3-0 shutout against Pensacola on February 12, with Sibbald playing in 3 out of the 4 games since (Kevin Beech got the nod on Valentine’s Day). Slumps happen to even the best teams and Sibbald has been extremely productive in goal for the Havoc in the past. The 27-year-old Ridgeway, Ontario native was voted the SPHL 2010-11 Goaltender of the Year, and the Havoc hope to see that level of play again soon – preferably in time for playoffs, considering they are currently in seventh place in the SPHL standings. Some other recent transactions made by the team were Gabriel Boutin-Gagnon being traded to the Mississippi RiverKings in return for future considerations on February 3, Nick Wheeler being waived on the 14th, and Jeff Hazelwood being loaned to an ECHL team in Las Vegas on the 22nd. The Havoc will go on the road to take on Knoxville on Friday night before returning to Huntsville to host Knoxville on Saturday night.
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