When you look back at the history of Slovak hockey, elite goaltenders have been few and far between. There used to be a common joke: Slovakia had A-level forwards, B-level defensemen, and C-level goalies.

One notable exception during the Czechoslovak era was Vladimír Dzurilla. At the 1976 Canada Cup, he stole the show and stunned the North American audience by shutting down a roster of Canadian stars. Due to the Iron Curtain, he never got a chance in the NHL, but he was on their radar. Dzurilla collected medals at World Championships and Olympics, and to this day, many consider him the greatest Slovak goalie ever.

Breaking into the NHL wasn’t easy for Slovak netminders. Ján Lašák and Rastislav Staňa only had brief stints despite success in international play. Peter Budaj was the first to stick, carving out a solid career with the Colorado Avalanche and eventually backing up Jonathan Quick with the Los Angeles Kings. He ended with 368 NHL games and is now a respected goalie coach with the Anaheim Ducks.

But the biggest breakthrough came from the smallest guy.

Jaroslav Halák, listed at under six feet tall, was passed over repeatedly at the 2003 NHL Draft despite backstopping Slovakia to a surprise silver at the U-18 World Championship. NHL teams doubted his size. The Montreal Canadiens took a flyer on him in the ninth round and it paid off.

Fittingly, Halak learned of his selection while in line at a McDonald’s.

“They told me I could go in the second or third round,” Halák recalled. “I watched the first five rounds, didn’t hear my name, so I turned it off. Then I went to McDonald’s with some friends for ice cream before in-line hockey game. While I was in line, an unknown number from the U.S. called. It was my agent. He told me Montreal took me in the ninth round. I said thank you, hung up, and went back to my friends.”

From a young age, Halák was obsessed with goalie gear. What he called “knight’s armor.”

“I’ve wanted to be a goalie since I was three or four. Most kids dream of scoring goals, but I always wanted to stop them. I loved the equipment the pads, the mask, it was like a different world to me.”

Halak fought his way through Montreal’s system, eventually going toe-to-toe with the highly touted Carey Price. In 2010, Halák cemented his place in Habs lore with a magical playoff run. Splitting starts with Price, the Slovak stole the headlines and series against Sidney Crosby’s Pittsburgh Penguins and Alex Ovechkin’s Washington Capitals, knocking out two Cup favorites with jaw-dropping performances.

Montreal’s Cinderella run ended in the conference finals against the Philadelphia Flyers, but Halák had already made his mark. The Canadiens chose to build around Price, trading Halák to the St. Louis Blues, where he formed a formidable tandem with Brian Elliott. Together, they captured the William M. Jennings Trophy, both as ninth-round picks.

Few sub-six-foot goalies have had Halák’s impact in the modern NHL after 2000s. His technique made him appear bigger than he actually was.

“He looks way taller than he is because he plays nearly upright, which no one else in the NHL does,” said Ján Lašák, Slovakia’s national team longtime goalie coach. “Most goalies crouch and stay low. Halák plays tall and challenges the shot. It’s unique.”

Halák didn’t have a personal goalie coach until he was 16. His development took off when he started working with Roland Melanson, who taught him to hold his stance longer and maximize his size in net. “There weren’t many goalie coaches back then,” he said. “The first one who really taught me to hold my stance and stay up as long as possible to look bigger was Roland Melanson. He worked with me during camps run by my agent, that was even before I got drafted by the Montreal Canadiens,“ Halák recalled.

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He spent three-and-a-half seasons with the Blues, never replicating his 2010 playoff magic, then had brief stops with the Buffalo Sabres and Washington before landing with the New York Islanders, where he had arguably the best stretch of his career.

In 2014–15, Halák became a fan favorite at Nassau Coliseum, setting a franchise record with 11 straight wins, earning an All-Star nod, and finishing the season with 38 victories, still an Isles single-season record. He led the Islanders to the playoffs, narrowly losing a seven-game series to Washington.

He also faced his toughest challenge there. Despite leading Team Europe to the final at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, playing lights-out for a roster cobbled together from Slovakia, Germany, and Switzerland, Halák found himself demoted in Brooklyn. Thomas Greiss took over the No. 1 job, Jean-François Bérubé was in the mix, and Halák was sent to the AHL at 31.

“That didn’t break me, it motivated me,” Halák said. “I wanted to prove I still belonged in the NHL.” And he did. Halák bounced back to reclaim the Isles’ crease the next season, then joined the Boston Bruins, where he formed a steady tandem with Tuukka Rask.

Ironically, his brilliant NHL career never translated to international medals, much like his compatriot Marián Hossa. Halak came closest at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, where Slovakia led Finland 3–1 in the bronze medal game after two periods, but fell apart in the third and lost 5–3.

“I still think about that game,” Halák admitted. “We took bad penalties, gave up a fluky goal — (Kimmo) Timonen just flung it from the blue line and it deflected in. That was the turning point. Like trying to stop an avalanche.”

Halák’s other great chance came in Boston’s run to the 2019 Stanley Cup Final, where they lost in Game 7 to St. Louis, his former team. “You picture yourself lifting the Cup… and then it slips away,” he said.

He later had stints with the Vancouver Canucks and New York Rangers, where he wrapped up his NHL career in 2022–23. He played just 25 games that year, but won seven straight starts a club record for a backup.

Halak finished with 295 career wins, five short of the 300 milestone that haunted him for two years. “I’ve come to terms with it,” he said. “Would’ve been nice to hit 300, but I’m proud of 295. It was a good career.”

He made one final push in the Carolina Hurricanes’ training camp in 2023, but refused an AHL assignment. That’s when he knew it was over.

Still, the numbers speak for themselves: 581 games, 295 wins, 53 shutouts, two Jennings Trophies. No Slovak goalie has come close.

Jaroslav Halák didn’t just overcome the odds, he redefined them. He’s remained humble throughout his career. Even today, if you ask him whether he’s the best goalie in Slovak hockey history, he just smiles and says: “I’ll let others decide that. I’m proud of what I achieved and the name I made for myself in the NHL. For an underestimated kid from (the Bratislava neighborhood of) Petržalka, I’d say that’s pretty good.”

Photo © Eric Bolte-Imagn Images.

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