Dwayne Roloson is playing like a rookie goalie, and the Edmonton Oilers couldn't be happier.
Roloson's travels have taken him around the NHL and to the Stanley Cup finals once before. He was a backup with the 1999 Buffalo Sabres, but now is the workhorse for the Oilers, who have made it the championship round largely because of him.
The road to Edmonton began in early March when Minnesota, for whom Roloson made the All-Star team in the 2003-2004 season, signed No. 1 goalie Manny Fernandez to a multiyear extension and then traded Roloson to the Oilers for a conditional draft pick and a first-round pick this year.
PHOTO: AP
Roloson overcame a shaky start to help the Oilers clinch the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference. In the playoffs, he has played in all 17 games with a goals-against average of 2.22 that has carried the Oilers into the finals for the first time since 1990.
That didn't seem possible when he lost his first three games with the Oilers before earning his first win against his former Minnesota teammates on March 14.
"It was tough, but at the same time I had a talk with [Edmonton coach Craig] MacTavish and I told him I had only played three games since January and it was going to take me some time to play the way I know how to play," Roloson said Saturday. "He said, `We've got 20 games and that's all we have to worry about, to get the playoff spot.'"
While getting ready for today's Stanley Cup finals opener against the Carolina Hurricanes, the 36-year-old Roloson was taking nothing for granted. He acted as though practice was still new to him, going through repeated drills with goalie coach Pete Peeters as the Oilers trained at the New York Rangers' training facility.
"To have a guy that is as receptive as Rolie, at the level that he's at right now, is a great example and great role model to everybody," MacTavish said. "He's a sharp guy and he reads his game very well and knows the things he needs to work on."
That is probably the only parallel that kind be drawn between Roloson and Carolina rookie netminder Cam Ward.
The 22-year-old Ward rose quickly to prominence when he became the second goalie in NHL history to win his first seven playoff starts. He has slowed somewhat, losing three of five starts over one stretch and even giving up some playing time to Martin Gerber -- the Hurricanes' former starter.
Roloson has emerged from comparative obscurity to get within four games of his first Stanley Cup title after a well-traveled 12-year career.
He is one of the few Oilers with Cup finals experience, though he got his by sitting on the bench behind Dominik Hasek for Buffalo in 1999. Prior to that, he shuttled between Calgary and St. John of the American Hockey League from 1994-1998, and had another AHL stint with Worcester in 2000-2001 before landing with Minnesota the following season.
Whether or not it is the product of the curvy path his career has taken, Roloson's even-tempered personality has won over his teammates.
"Everything kind of rolls off his back, whether you're up by four goals or down by two or three goals," said defenseman Chris Pronger. "He's been a wall back there for us. He's making the saves you need to make in order to win the games. That's all you ask of a goalie. He's playing well enough for us to win."
Roloson's next task will be to slow down the Hurricanes' power play, which has scored at a 26 percent clip (22 goals in 85 opportunities) in the playoffs. Edmonton will have had eight days off by the time the puck is dropped on Monday, but Roloson was confident the Oilers have maintained the right frame of mind.
"Obviously right now it's something that you've got to be able to enjoy, but at the same time you've got to worry about what you're going to do and that's to win four hockey games," he said. "That's all we're focusing on right now."
They play fewer minutes and score fewer goals than they typically have during their long NHL careers.
Not that Doug Weight and Mark Recchi feel much like complaining these days.
The Carolina Hurricanes acquired both players in midseason trades, though they weren't looking for stars or 40-goal scorers. Instead, they needed complementary pieces for one of the league's top teams, players who could provide depth and veteran savvy without disrupting chemistry for a deep playoff run.
Now, with the Hurricanes preparing to face Edmonton in the Stanley Cup finals, the deals are paying off.
"There's countless times where if you go back through the playoffs these guys have contributed in a big way," Carolina coach Peter Laviolette said Saturday. "Whatever we've asked of them, they've done it and been key factors in these playoffs."
Weight, a 15-year veteran acquired from St. Louis in January, proved that in Thursday night's 4-2 win over Buffalo in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals. He had the tying third-period goal to go with an assist, giving him two goals and 11 assists in 18 playoff games.
Recchi, a 17-year veteran acquired from Pittsburgh less than an hour before the trade deadline in March, has added five goals and five assists.
This is Weight's first appearance in the Stanley Cup finals, while Recchi is in his first finals appearance in 15 years.
It's been the perfect infusion for a lineup led by rising star Eric Staal and do-everything captain Rod Brind'Amour, giving the Hurricanes enough depth to offset the midseason loss of US Olympian Erik Cole (broken neck) while providing plenty of scoring options.
"I'm not going to say it was easy," Recchi said. "They had a great hockey club. We just wanted to make sure things kept going smoothly. It took us a while for both of us to find our niches and Coach to find places for us and figure us out. But it's been great ever since.
"We're going to do whatever we can to help this club get to the level we need to."
It's a substantial leap forward for both players, who went from playing for teams at the bottom of the NHL standings to one of the league's best. Contending squads sought after both players to shore up their rosters for the playoffs, but the Hurricanes managed to get both while giving up only prospects or players who were regular healthy scratches.
Both players waived no-trade clauses, a clear sign that they liked the Carolina's chances. "I came in and just didn't want to disrupt anything," Weight said. "These guys were a great team before, and I told everybody I'm here to fit in and become a cog in the wheel."
Both made key plays in the tough series with the Sabres. With Carolina trailing 3-1 at home in Game 5 of a 2-2 series, Weight found Recchi from behind the net for a short putaway that gave Carolina some needed momentum in a 4-3 overtime win.
Weight then bounced back from a devastating mistake: his boarding penalty set up Daniel Briere's winner in overtime of Game 6 to tie the series. He promised to make up for it, then erased that sick feeling in his stomach by tying it early in the third period of Game 7 before Brind'Amour's goal put the Hurricanes ahead to stay.
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