SPORTS

 

‘Bulin Wall falls GOWMN sy s:sictens:

O.. how the mighty have fallen. It was just four years ago that Nikolai Khabibulin was the
world’s best goaltender when he led the Tampa Bay Lightning to victory in the Stanley Cup
playoffs against the Calgary Flames.

Back in 2004, the Lightning had all the markings of a dynasty in the making.
Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Brad Richards, Khabibulin and a number of other
prominent players had the look of a highly entertaining, running-and-gunning team that could
lead the NHL into a new era in the United States. They had everything: the best group of
forwards in the league, an exciting mix of defensemen and the game’s top goalie.

Then the lockout happened. The entire 2004-05 season was wiped out and the Lightning
never got a chance to defend their championship. Before the league resumed play, Khabibulin
had parted ways with Tampa Bay and signed an astronomical (yet market value), four-
year, $27-million per season that made him the NHL’s highest paid goalie. The last game
Khabibulin would play for the Lightning was the game they won the Stanley Cup. In fact,
Khabibulin wouldn’t receive his Cup ring for a full two years after Tampa Bay’s victory.

In Chicago, Khabibulin went from one of the best teams in the NHL to one of the
worst. The Blackhawks had made the playoffs only once since 1998 and weren’t expected to
improve, despite their impressive upgrade in net. Their prospects were still years away and
they had no impact players to speak of and their ensuing record reflected that.

Before long, Khabibulin’s play suffered. The Blackhawks continued to be bad and
much of the blame was heaped on his shoulders. Expectations for his play were sky high, and
when the Blackhawks failed to win, those expectations couldn’t possibly be'lived up to.

Today, the Blackhawks are one of the league’s top up and coming teams. They
have a number of the NHL’s best young players. The only problem is that with so many
good young stars, you have to pay them handsomely to keep them. And with Khabibulin’s
monstrous salary and sub-par play, he became an albatross to management. Now 35, the
Blackhawks have just waived Khabibulin, who cleared waivers fast. What that means is that
Khabibulin’s two-year tenure with Chicago has come to a premature end. The writing was
on the wall when back in July, Chicago signed star stopper Cristobal Huet to a four-year pact
worth an average of $5.6-million per year.

The future is currently up in the air for Khabibulin. While he’II still be paid his full
salary, ensuring that putting food on the table won’t be an issue in the near future, he has no
team to play for. At 35, Khabibulin’s best days are most likely behind him, and there are very
few teams that would take a risk on his advanced salary. That leaves Khabibulin’s options
limited, and there is speculation that he might flee to the newly formed KHL, or Kontinental

Hockey League (Kontinental? Learn to spell, Russia).

Khabibulin’s fall from grace is a testament to just how quickly one’s
fortunes in the fast paced NHL can change. Literally less than four years ago, Nikolai
Khabibulin was on top of the world, with the Stanley Cup in one hand and a fat contract in the
other one. Now, he can’t find a job.

Tf

 

 

U of Ottawa boasts Olympian in their midst
Q and A with student Rhys Hill on his experience at the Beijing Olympics

By Anna Rocoski, The Fulcrum (University of Ottawa)

 

18

Qo (CUP) - The University of Ottawa is lucky enough to call an Olympic athlete
one of its own.

Fourth-year student Rhys Hill competed for Canada at the 2008 Beijing Games in the
K-4 1000 m kayaking event, which features four-person kayaks. Hill’s team finished ninth in
the 10-team final.

Beijing was Hill’s first Olympic experience. To get there, he had to work his way
through bantam, national, junior, and senior international kayaking events, and he is
determined to continue working hard to push his way to the top of more international events,
including future Olympics, and the World Cup of canoeing and kayaking.

In addition to training for multiple international events, Hill is studying human resource
management at the U of O and he hopes to eventually earn a degree in business.

Fulcrum: What got you into kayaking instead of a mainstream sport like soccer or hockey?
Hill: I just started when I was about 10 years old. It was a summer camp and you would go
kayaking from 9 to 12 in the morning and it was just fun for me to do as a kid. I went with
my sister for the first year, and every weekend there were local regattas and we would go to
those. I just started racing there and liked it.

F: How many hours a week do you train?

H: [I train at] 10 paddling sessions a week. This is when we are on the water in the summer
in Florida. Each one of these sessions is about an hour-and-a-half to two hours, and then we
do races and stuff three to four times a week. It averages out to be 20 to 25 hours a week

in total. During our short off-season we still train about the same [amount] just doing other
sports such as cross-country skiing.

F: How does competing in the K-4 1000 compare to kayaking solo?

H: It’s a different feel. What you’re trying to do is be perfectly synchronized with the other

Pn