With Cheech stomping a mudhole on poor Dunc Wilson in yesterday's contest (which is still open to your votes), we'll move right along to the 2x7 seed of utterly forgettable goalies on the ice but their masks stood out on their own.
If you blinked in the earlier parts of last decade you probably missed both these back-ups, so let's take a quick look back at their careers and see which lid moves on to the second round.
Fair warning: you may see names like Messier and Cloutier after the jump. My apologies for ruining your Wednesday.
Alfie Michaud
The 1999-2000 season was another largely forgettable campaign for Vancouver, one in which their 83 points placed them just outside the top eight in the conference. The roster was lead by familiar names like Naslund, Bertuzzi and Mogilny with Messier and Cassels sprinkled in along with smaller contributions from Steve Kariya and Harold Druken to Darby Hendrickson and Artem Chubarov. There was a similar conga line in net where Potvin, Snow and Weekes manned the pipes but thanks to injuries auditions were handed out to to Corey Schwab and the 5'10'' Michaud. Though never drafted Michaud was a stand-out player in the NCAA (University of Maine) and played half a season with the Moose before Vancouver called. Michaud would never start a NHL game but appeared in relief for Weekes during a 4-1 loss against Phoenix and a week later relieved Schwab during a 6-1 loss to St. Louis. Hence his career line - 2 GP, 1L, .815 SV% and 4.35 GAA - is a notable train wreck. He would bounce around the minors for the next few seasons (Kansas City, Manitoba, Peoria and Worcester) and was finally released in 2002. The Michaud experience, however, is not dead as he currently plays in the Danish premier league with Sønderjysk. Do you smell some relevant Danish trivia coming?
Michaud Trivia: Michaud holds the Danish shutout record of 360:58 without letting in a goal.
Michaud Mask Gallery: Michaud's mask predominantly featured a surly looking bear from his collegiate days (Maine's team is the Black Bears). He affixed the Canucks logos to the sides of the mask when on the Moose. [1] [2] [3]
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Peter Skudra
Skudra started his career in Pittsburgh in 1997-98 and would play three years for the Pens backing up Tom Barrasso and Jean-Sebastien Aubin (sheesh, there's a name I haven't typed in many moons). He split 2000-01 with Boston and Buffalo before landing in Vancouver at the start of the 2002 season to back-up Cloutier. He went 10-8-2 that year with a .907 SV% and a 2.42 GAA. He also came on in relief of Cloutier in the playoffs when the Red Wings started blowing him up with Skudra not fairing much better (check out the box cars on this bad boy and try and ignore that Todd Warriner played 19 shifts in a playoff game). Skudra returned to back up Clouts the following year, but it was clear by March that Marc Crawford preferred Alex Auld as insurance. Skudra would never play another NHL game after a 4-4 tie against the Blues in March 2003. He subsequently left the NHL for the now defunct Russian Superleague where he played for four teams before retiring in 2007.
Skudra Trivia: Via Wikipedia, he played one season of the now defunct Roller Hockey International league for the Oklahoma Coyotes. The league also included the likes of Tiger Williams, Jose Charbonneau, Darren Langdon and Manny Legace.
Skudra Mask Gallery: Skudra originally wore the prototypical white mask until January 2001 when he debuted his new Canuck-themed one in a game against the Leafs. The mask featured the colors and markings of the Canucks orca logo, creating the appearance of Skudra's face coming out of the whale's mouth. [1] [2] [3] [4]
