Halak Gets The Blues

Jaroslav Halak was arguably the key factor in the success of the Montreal Canadiens this past post-season. His goaltending contributed to the elimination of both the top-seeded Washington Capitals and the defending Stanley Cup champions the Pittsburgh Penguins. For a brief while, Halak's name even became synonymous with the word STOP, and sports stores all over Montreal began selling stop signs printed with his name on it.
So you'd think the Habs, grateful for Halak's help in the 2009-2010 Cup run, would protect their greatest asset for the season to come. Clearly, that wasn't the case.
It was announced today that Jaroslav Halak was traded to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for forwards Lars Eller and Ian Schultz. Rumour has it that ever since their elimination by the Flyers, the Canadiens managing team barely kept in contact with their starting goalie, and Halak was informed of his trade via a phone call from head coach Jacques Martin.
Habs fans are understandably outraged, as they credited Halak with the team's playoff success. But this isn't the first time the Montreal franchise has given a player the cold shoulder with little or no explanation. Earlier in the year, the team bought out forward George Laraque's contract and asked him to stay away from the team until the end of the contract. Laraque was officially let go from the team on June 15, 2010.
As for Halak's departure from the Canadiens, most see it as a mistake on the part of the team. While Lars Eller has shown some potential to be beneficial to the Habs, the loss of Halak will most likely injure the team rather than strengthen it.