Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Khabibulin’s season to begin on IR

Nikolai Khabibulin

Edmonton Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin, right, from Russia, looks at the puck as Calgary Flames’ Tom Kostopoulos tries to swat it past him during first-period NHL hockey game action in Calgary, Alberta, Wednesday, April 6, 2011.(AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jeff McIntosh)

AP

Nikolai Khabibulin’s contract year is off to a shaky start - on the injured reserve.

The Edmonton Oilers sent along word that the netminder considers himself day-to-day as he continues to recover from hip surgery, which he underwent in April 2012.

Recent history indicates that this is far from a jarring loss for the team; Copper & Blue’s Ryan Batty even describes it as a blessing in disguise. His Edmonton numbers have ranged from mediocre to terrible aside from a surprising hot streak that began the 2011-12 season.

Some abstract thinkers will point out that “The Bulin Wall” has generated some of his best work during contract years, though.

He won a Stanley Cup in his final season with the Tampa Bay Lightning, posting a sterling .933 save percentage in the playoffs. That run convinced the Chicago Blackhawks to shell out a big contract, but the Russian goalie didn’t perform well until he usurped fellow highly paid underachiever Cristobal Huet in 2008-09.

Perhaps he can pull a rabbit out of a hat one more time, but for now, the Oilers will roll with Devan Dubnyk and Yann Danis. Most Edmonton fans won’t urge management to rush Khabibulin back, either.