If the regular season or the 2010 Winter Olympic games were not enough proof for you, then I truly hope you have been tuning in to these 2010 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.

You are witnessing the evolution of a prime time netminder.

After a rough opening to each series heading into these Eastern Conference Finals for the Montreal Canadiens, one man has been there to bail his club out on a constant basis.

Jaroslav Halak was born on May 13, 1985 in Bratislava, Slovakia.

The Montreal Canadiens drafted Halak in the 9th round, 271st overall during the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. He was drafted in similar fashion to San Jose Sharks netminder Evgeni Nabokov, who was also a ninth round selection.  Like Nabokov, Halak has made the most of his time as an NHL goaltender.

Currently he is the catalyst to the Habs fantastic, Cinderella story playoff run as they are trailing the Philadelphia Flyers two games to one in their best of seven Eastern Conference Finals series.

For Halak, the dream began at the age of 17 where he played for Bratislava of the Slovakian junior league. The very next season he made the jump to the Slovak Extraliga where he appeared in 12 games for HC Slovan Bratislava. He put up amazing numbers in his 12 games posting a 1.66 goals against average and a .942 save percentage.

It was time for Halak to make the jump to North America.

In 2004-05 Halak was part o the Lewiston Maineiacs of the QMJHL where he appeared in 47 games for the junior team. He posted a record of 24-17-4 with a 2.78 goals against average and a .913 save percentage.  Numbers that would reflect the start of a promising future for number 41.

Adapting to the North American style and ice surfaces, which are quite different when compared to European rinks and league style, did not take long for Halak.

From the QMJHL to the ECHL, Montreal was allowing Halak the proper time to develop as a player. His numbers improved from his QMJHL season, and before he knew it, Halak was part of the Hamilton Bulldogs, the Montreal Canadiens AHL affiliate.

The 2006-07 season with Hamilton would see Halak’s numbers improve even more. He appeared in 28 games for the Bulldogs with a record of 16-11.  However, Halak posted a spectacular 2.00 goals against average and an outstanding .932 save percentage.

On February 15, 2007, after an injury to goaltender Cristobal Huet, Halak was called up to the main roster.

Halak appeared in his first NHL game on February 18, 2007. He stopped 31 shots in a 3–2 road win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Prior to his call up that year, he had the lowest goals against average in the AHL with Hamilton.

On March 20, 2007, Halak had another thrilling thirty save performance helping the Montreal Canadiens defeat the Boston Bruins 1–0. The Slovakian netminer earned his first career NHL shutout and just a few weeks later, on April 2nd, 2007, he earned his second shutout of the season and in his career, also against the Bruins.

As the 2006-07 season came to an end, it was the great play of Halak that helped Montreal fight for a playoff spot with Huet out of commission.

Halak would also play for Slovakia during the the 2007 Men’s World Ice Hockey Championships.

In 2007-08, Halak had been assigned to the Hamilton Bulldogs for the majority of the season. That year, ex-GM Bob Gainey felt the time had come for Carey Price to shine in Montreal. Huet would be traded for a 2nd round pick during that years trade deadline forcing the team to once again call up Halak.  This time, it was permanent.

Halak took over full-time as the Canadiens backup, but it wasn’t long until Montreal saw just how important Halak would be for the organization. He started his first playoff game on April 30, 2008 against the Philadelphia Flyers (a 4–2 loss) after sub-par performances from Price, who once again took over the following game.

In February 2010, at Vancouver during the Winter Olympics,  Halak started as goaltender for the Slovak national team. He stopped 36 of 37 shots in a preliminary round game victory against a strong Russian team. Halak and his Slovak teammates finished 4th overall in the Olympics after losing against team Finalnd. Halak started all the games for his country during the Winter Games.

Upon finishing up at the Winter Games, the Canadiens reached out the VP of Player Development Greg Kates to designate Halak the starting goaltender for the Canadiens.

Thanks to his outstanding lay this year with the organization, Halak was named the Montreal Canadiens’ Molson Cup Player of the Year for the 2009-10 season. In the sixth game of the first round of the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Washington Capitals, Halak stopped 53 shots to set a club and league record for a regular-time playoff game, leading the Canadiens to a 4-1 victory. Montreal made a bit of history as they overcame a 3-1 deficit to come back and defeat this years Presidents trophy winners in seven games.

In the semi-finals, the Canadiens eliminated the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins from the playoffs, also in seven games. The Canadiens won the decisive game 5-2, and Halak was chosen as that games first star.

Now, a likely candidate for the Conn Smythe trophy if Montreal can find a way to beat the big, bad Philadephia Flyers in the Eastern Conference Finals, it remains to be seen but the Habs have a potential star netminder for many years to come; barring a contract dispute.

Halak is an RFA at the end of this season, as well as Carey Price.  GM Pierre Gauthier will have decisions to make come off-season, but for right now Montreal is strictly focusing on it feeling a little like ’93.

Not bad for a ninth round draft pick, eh?