I felt like the former Blackhawks goalies weren't getting any love they deserved for their randomness, so I'm working in Jocelyn Thibault to this edition of Random Blackhawks Spotlight.
Need a refresher or never got to see Thibault play? Here's what he looked like in the net:
He was athletic and had that paddle down style like Eddie Belfour.
Let's take a look Thibault's career:
How did the player join the Blackhawks organization?
Thibault joined the Hawks via trade on November 16th, 1998. The full trade was: CHI trades Jeff Hackett, Eric Weinrich, and prospect Alain Nasreddine (current interim Head Coach in NJ) to MTL for Jocelyn Thibault, Dave Manson and Brad Brown.
This was not the most famous trade Thibault was involved in; he was a part of the Patrick Roy trade in 1995.
Hackett was playing at a high level with a track record of .916 SV%, .927, .917 his previous 3 seasons (1995-98) but started the 1998-99 season with a rough first 10 games.
He was subsequently traded as the Hawks dealt the 30-year old Hackett for a younger model in Thibault who was 24 at the time.
Why this player stood out for me?
I liked Hackett a lot but admittedly was excited at the thought of a younger, skilled goaltender out of Montreal, QC – which used to the goalie factory back in the day.
Thibault was a former #1 pick (10th overall in '93) and the Hawks and with the Hawks in the post-Roenick and Belfour era, I knew the Hawks would need a steady goalie back there.
Thibault's best season came in 2002-03, where he was an All-Star thanks to his 2.37 GAA, .915 SV%, and 8(!) shutouts.
One of his worst seasons is when he gave up a league-leading 180 goals against in 2000-01.
Still, he was a solid Hawk during his 5-year tenure in Chicago with 137 wins and 28 shutouts over 321 games.
Lastly, a fun stat I found thanks to Wikipedia, "Thibault has the distinction of being the winning goaltender of the last game at the Montreal Forum, Maple Leaf Gardens, and the Capital Centre."
Neat.
Where is the player now?
Thibault has been very busy on the Hockey Ops/Business side of things; from owning franchises to currently holding the position of GM for the Sherbrooke Phoenix in the QMJHL.
With a decade of coaching and managing, could Thibault find himself in the NHL in a similar position one day? It's very possible and something to keep an eye on.
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