Hawks' Khabibulin says he ready for challenge

Nikolai Khabibulin showed up at Blackhawks training camp Friday not wanting to make any waves about having to "compete" for the No. 1 goaltending job with Cristobal Huet.

But Khabibulin admitted he was surprised on July 1 when the Hawks signed Huet to a four-year, $22.54 million contract as a free agent.

"Obviously, when things like that happen it's kind of surprising, but it's out of my control so I'll just go along with it," Khabibulin said.

"I'd like to think that players should play and managers should manage. My job is to play a game. I'm part of the organization, I have a Blackhawk on my chest, and that's all I care about now."

There is speculation from all around the NHL that general manager Dale Tallon is looking to trade Khabibulin and rid the club of the final year on the goalie's contract at $6.75 million.

Tallon has publicly denied a desire to trade Khabibulin, saying he is looking forward to starting the season with what he feels are two No. 1 goalies.

"There's no No. 1 or No. 2," Tallon said. "The best goalie is going to play that night. We want a chance to win every night, and those two guys give us a good chance to do it. If they coexist and work hard and compete for a job, we'll be fine."

Having Khabibulin come in with a good attitude is what Tallon hoped would happen, although the entire situation could blow up if Huet wins the majority of playing time.

"It's not going to help him if he pouts and doesn't play well," Tallon said in reference to Khabibulin. "Regardless if it's here or somewhere else, he's got to play well. It's the last year of his contract, but I know Nik. He'll compete hard."

The trade rumors are nothing new to Khabibulin, who was involved in plenty of them approaching the trade deadline last February. There was talk after that deadline that the Ottawa Senators were very close to pulling the trigger on a deal for Khabibulin, only to be scared away by the last year of his contract.

"It's been after July 1, it's been before July 1, it's been last year, the year before, so I'm kind of used to it now," Khabibulin said. "It doesn't bother me as much as four or five years ago. It's part of the game and whatever happens, happens.

"I think the older you get, the better you deal with things like that."

Khabibulin turns 36 in January and has largely been a disappointment since signing a $27 million free-agent contract in 2005 that at the time was the largest in franchise history.

Khabibulin is 65-72-17 with the Hawks with his best save percentage being .909 last season.

"I think it's been a combination of everything," Khabibulin said. "I probably didn't play my best, but at the same time we've got be honest. We can't say that the teams here were championship caliber either, so it's really hard to judge any particular player."

Khabibulin's immediate plan is to put the pads on Saturday at the first official training camp practice and go from there.

"I think it's going to be a competition and I'm up for that," Khabibulin said. "It wouldn't be my first choice; I like to play a lot of games, but it is what it is. I have to be ready when it's my turn to play."

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