On a quiet Monday night in August, the Canadiens made a goaltending announcement, but it wasn’t the one everyone’s been waiting for.
While Carey Price remains unsigned, GM Pierre Gauthier made a notable minor league move, sending netminder Cedrick Desjardins to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for fellow stopper Karri Ramo.
Just three weeks ago, the Habs had inked Desjardins to a new one-year, two-way deal. Last season, he and veteran Curtis Sanford formed a topnotch tandem in Hamilton, with the 24-year-old leading the AHL in goals-against average and ranking in the top 10 in several other categories.
Ramo, 24, spent the 2009-10 campaign in the KHL after several years of bouncing around between the NHL and AHL. He put up notable numbers in 44 games with Avangard Omsk, going 21-17-4 with a 2.11 goals-against average and .913 save percentage.
On the flip side, the native of Asikkala, Finland hasn’t had as much success on this side of the pond. He’s posted 11-21-10 totals in 48 NHL games, to go with a 3.35 goals-against and .895 save percentage. His best season in the AHL came in 2006-07, when Ramo appeared in a North American career high 45 games, recording a 3.13 goals-against and .903 save percentage.
The 6-foot-2, 201-pound Ramo was originally the Lightning’s sixth round pick (191st overall) in 2004.
Why trade Desjardins?
Initial reaction from both many was flat out curiosity. The Canadiens aren’t particularly deep in goaltending prospects and Ramo is already committed to the KHL for the upcoming season.
While the No. 1 spot in Montreal was out of reach, there was a belief that Desjardins’ resume in the Habs’ system would likely earn him a call-up this year. A chance, he says, is all he’s been waiting for.
“I’m human and when I heard that [Jaroslav] Halak was traded to St. Louis, I thought that might be my chance,” he told Radio-Canada.ca. “I thought maybe I’d get to battle for the backup spot but when the team signed Alex Auld and Curtis Sanford, I had a feeling my plan had changed.”
In Tampa, the opportunity is greater behind Mike Smith and Dan Ellis. And in trading Desjardins, there’s an opening with the Bulldogs. Robert Mayer will be the benefactor, Donald Beauchamp, the Canadiens’ VP of Communications, told RDS. Mayer made his pro debut with the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL in 2009-10.
“We did it as a favour to Cedrick Desjardins because Curtis Sanford and Robert Mayer will be our goaltenders in Hamilton this season,” said Beauchamp. “When his contract in Russia is up, Ramo will be an NHL-experienced goaltender for our organization.”
That’s the company line. Could more moves be on the way? With this team, you never know.
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