“I’m Sorry”
Pavelec Apologizes for DUI Charge
Everyone’s sorry when they get caught. They put on the sad face, slump their shoulders a bit, and give a heart-wrenching apology. And Jets’ goalie Ondrej Pavelec is no different. So let’s not give the Pavaholic (too soon?) a hard time – he fessed up to his crime… eventually.
“On May 26, 2012, I was involved in a traffic accident in the Czech Republic. There were no injuries. Police arrived at the scene and I agreed to a blood alcohol test. On June 12, my attorney appeared in court on my behalf and submitted a plea of guilty at the first proceeding.”
Yup, the words of a man owning up. There were no injuries and an attorney took care of the rest. As if Pavelec is just saying, ‘Move on, guys!’
When I first read that Pavs was sorry I figured he was talking about his .906 save percentage from last year – second worst amongst starting goalies. Only Chicago’s terrible Corey Crawford managed to post a weaker save percentage. Pavelec also owned the league’s worst goals against average for a starting goalie – a less than stellar 2.91.
Sure, Pavs uses his 6’3” frame to work both sides of the net and he’ll only be 25 when the ’12-’13 season starts. Despite some poor numbers last year, there were also spectacular saves and the sky remains the limit for his potential as a starter. For now, however, that’s as much Pavelec-spiked Kool-Aid as fans should drink.
Last season only six goalies made over 2000 saves (Pekka Rinne, Cam Ward, Mike Smith, Miikka Kiprusoff, Ondrej Pavelec, Jonas Hiller), and only two of them made the playoffs (Rinne, Smith). This tells us that a goalie facing this much rubber doesn’t have a very good shot at making the playoffs – because teams giving up this many shots possess anemic offenses. The Predators and Coyotes overcame their offensive deficiencies with top-end defense and stifling goaltenders. If the Jets have playoff aspirations they’ll have to follow suit. The quickest road for the Jets to the playoffs is for Pavelec to play like elite Vezina-caliber netminders Rinne and Smith. For the cap hit that Pavelec just signed on for, it’s time for him to put last season behind him and start putting up better numbers.
Wouldn’t it be nice if Pavelec publically apologized for last year’s save percentage and goals against average?
Pavelec had this to say, “I want to sincerely apologize to our fans, the Winnipeg Jets organization, and to my teammates for any embarrassment this has caused. I’m truly sorry for letting you all down.”
The Jets reply?
“The Winnipeg Jets Hockey Club would like to state we have now confirmed the details surrounding Ondrej Pavelec… The organization was deeply disappointed to learn of this information yesterday and is fully aware of the seriousness of this matter.”
Are we talking about the drinking and driving – or the goaltending?