This is the Bulin we know and love
The early returns on a $27 million investment didn't have anyone hurrying down to Rush Street to hoist a few in celebration.
"Yeah, he started slow. But think about it," Chicago Blackhawks coach Trent Yawney said in his goalie's defense. "New team. New city. New expectations. New contract. If that isn't enough to handle at once, throw in all the increased traffic due to the new rules, the smaller equipment, the goalie modifications, the year lost to the lockout &
"This isn't exactly an easy season for anyone to be switching addresses."
Especially a goaltender.
"That's a lot of [bleep] in one heap."
Our last pre-lockout memory of Nikolai Khabibulin was of him being crushed underneath a mound of Tampa Bay Lightning teammates in the St. Pete Times Forum as fireworks exploded, and Florida, for a brief moment in time, could lay undisputed claim to the title: Hockey Central.
That was 18 months ago.
A far cry from the latest image we had of him until, oh, maybe two weeks ago: a man fighting against the present, struggling not to buckle under the weight of propping up a franchise in disrepair.
"I don't know how to explain it," said a member of the media who follows the Hawks on a regular basis, "other than to say he just didn't look & right."
If the Bulin Wall wasn't ready to fall, there certainly appeared to be more than a few cracks in need of attention.
"I didn't feel nervous," Khabibulin argued. "I didn't feel overwhelmed. It's not just me. There are 16 new guys on this team. That's a big turnover. Maybe people expected good things too quickly. I don't know.
| “ | You have to grow together. You don't just snap your fingers. In Tampa, we were lucky. It all came together so quickly. ... That doesn't happen all the time. ” | |
| — Nikolai Khabibulin on his transition in Chicago |
"You have to grow together. You don't just snap your fingers. In Tampa, we were lucky. It all came together so quickly. The first year I was there, we didn't make the playoffs. The third year, we won the Stanley Cup.
"That doesn't happen all the time."
The reigning Stanley Cup-winning goaltender was brought in at no small expense to plug the dike, help resurrect a once-proud tradition, put people back in the pews at the United Center, get fans in the City of Big Shoulders to stop talking White Sox and Cubs and Bears and Bulls long enough to remember the glory days of hockey. The days of Hull and Mikita and Pilote and Mr. Goalie. Hell, even of Iron Mike and J.R. and Cheli and Eddie the Eagle.
Understand, Chicago owner "Dollar" Bill Wirtz isn't exactly famous for splashing the cash; some disgruntled South Siders will argue he makes Jack Benny look like Jay Gatsby throwing a lavish party in West Egg.
But the signing of Khabibulin, for an average that's closing in on $7 million a season, was supposed to send a signal, no, a beacon, to alienated fans in the Windy City and a skeptical league alike that Chicago was serious about being a competitive entity in this newfangled "My NHL."
Defensively, the Blackhawks were, frankly, a mess. Only Pittsburgh leaked more goals in 2003-04. Khabibulin was supposed to provide an instant solution to the problem.
"Maybe he felt under the gun because of the contract," Yawney conceded. "I really don't know. You'd have to ask him that. What I do know is that Nik's a proud person. Maybe he was trying too hard to please, instead of just going out and playing. Maybe his confidence took a bit of a dip.
"Lately, he's loosened up a little and it's showing in his play."
If not officially back from the dead (no one's going to mistake them for Ottawa or Detroit just yet), the Hawks at least have won five of their last seven starts, creeping ever closer to the .500 mark and something resembling respectability in the Central Division.
During this desperately needed run, with the team now out of town as the circus makes its annual stop at the United Center, Khabibulin has five wins in seven tries.
The stats -- 7-11, a 3.41 goals-against average and .873 save percentage -- are still far from Vezina Trophy-like, even in a style of game more conducive to the Edmonton Oilers in their Gretzky-Kurri-Messier-Coffey-Anderson heyday. But it's obvious the acrobatic Ukrainian is beginning to rediscover his form.
"You could see him starting to come around," Yawney said. "He started practicing better, sharper. But it's like heading off to the driving range.
"You can go out on the range and hit four buckets of balls straight down the middle, 300 yards. Then when you tee it up with your buddies the next morning, you hook the first shot off into the parking lot.
"You've got to take it off the range and onto the course. Same thing here. You've got to take it out of practice and into the games. This guy has been a great goalie for a lot of years. We knew it was only a matter of time.
"We're starting to see that Nikolai Khabibulin now."
The Nikolai Khabibulin Tampa fans couldn't bear to see walk away. The same Khabibulin who was spotted underneath that mass of happy humanity 18 months ago, raised to the very summit of the hockey world.
"Blackhawk fans have always had goalies they could relate to," Yawney said. "Glenn Hall. Tony Esposito. Eddie Belfour. Those guys became idols around here. When we signed Nik, we knew he could be a goaltender in that mold."
He's certainly starting to validate that kind of faith. In a town that now boasts a World Series championship team, with the bats and gloves and stickum packed up for the season, sports fans might start singing: "Take Me Out To the Wall Game."
The Bulin is back.
"Becoming a successful team is a journey," said Khabibulin, shrugging as if he, at least, never harbored the slightest doubt.
"And sometimes, there's a little pain involved in getting where you want to go."
George Johnson of the Calgary Herald is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.
