At least for the next few weeks, rookie Peter Budaj has to hold down the fort – and the net. But the task of being the Avalanche’s No. 1 goalie during a crucial stretch of the schedule probably is no more daunting than being a 17-year-old sitting in a classroom at St. Michael’s College School in Toronto.
Six years ago, Budaj was a rookie with the St. Michael’s Majors of major junior’s Ontario Hockey League. After arriving from his native Slovakia, he dived into hockey as a St. Michael’s selection in major junior’s “import” draft and into classes at the Roman Catholic boys school in Toronto.
“I spoke a little bit of Eng- lish,” Budaj said Saturday after the Avalanche’s practice at the Family Sports Center. “I had learned it back home, but it’s so different when you come to a country where it’s spoken. But that was the good thing about going to school – I had to learn quick. I had tutors who tried to help me, and I finished high school there, so it was really good for me.”
Budaj, who will be in the Avalanche net this afternoon when Colorado faces Calgary at the Pepsi Center, played three seasons with St. Michael’s and went to the Avalanche in the third round of the 2001 entry draft. By then he was far more comfortable – both on the ice and on the street – in Toronto.
Back in Slovakia, his mother, Lubica, is a pediatrician, and his father, Jozef, is an anesthesiologist.
“My grandfather wanted me to be a doctor, too,” he said with a laugh. “It’s not that I don’t like medicine, but it’s not my passion.”
Hockey is.
“When I was young, I said I wanted to be a goaltender and I wanted to play in Canada,” he said.
“I’m very thankful that my parents sacrificed a lot so I could play, and I can’t really express what I feel for how much they did for me.”
After signing with the Avalanche, Budaj spent the past three seasons with the AHL’s Hershey Bears – including the lockout season, when he almost certainly would have been on the NHL roster as David Aebischer’s backup. The Avs didn’t much hide the fact that they thought Budaj was more sound fundamentally than Aebischer, and the trade of the Swiss goalie to Montreal for the injured Jose Theodore has shoved Budaj into the No. 1 job – at least temporarily.
Today’s 1 p.m. game will be his fourth start since the new year, and he brings in a 2.66 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage.
“I like David,” Budaj said. “He’s a great guy, and he’s a good buddy. It’s unfortunate that this is part of the job. … But they have to do what’s best for the team, and they think this trade is going to help us win the Stanley Cup.
“It’s a nice feeling to be the guy right now. I know Jose is going to come back, but I’m just going to try to fill the spot and do the best I can and help this team win hockey games.”
Budaj’s solid play for Slovakia in the Winter Olympics raised his profile and perhaps made the Avalanche more comfortable placing him in such a high-pressure role.
Slovakia was 5-0 in pool play before losing to the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals.
Budaj was 2-1 with a 2.01 goals-against average, and one of his wins came in a 2-1 victory over the United States.
