Card of the Week: Martin Gerber gets "Wally Pipped"

     For years sports fans have been told the story of New York Yankees first baseman Wally Pipp! Wally Pipp was a .300 hitter and one of the stars of the Yankees of the 1920's. At the start of the 1925 season Pipp got off to a rather slow start, and found himself being replaced in the lineup on June 2, 1925. The man who replaced Pipp, was Lou Gehrig. The story would go that two games later when Pipp was due to play again he came down with a headache and relinquished his spot to Lou Gehrig. Gehrig would go onto to play 2,130 consecutive games at first base for the Yankees thus ending Pipps tenure as the starting first basemen in New York.

     Fast Forward to the 2005-2006 NHL Season and Martin Gerber. Having joined the team via trade from Anaheim in the middle of the 2004 season. Gerber looked prime to take over in net the following year. However, a season long lockout changed his plans as he returned to Europe for the canceled 2004-2005 NHL Season. As the lockout was ended Gerber returned to Raleigh and claimed the net as his own going into the 2005-2006 season. The net was his to maintain with a young rookie named Cam Ward set to back him up when needed. Gerber played exceptionally well during the regular season leading the team to a then record 38 wins as a goalie. The team claimed the Southeast Division Crown and skated into the playoffs with 112 points. With a solid season behind them and the playoffs in front it looked like Gerber was set to own the net for the foreseeable future in Raleigh

With the Montreal Canadians taking the first two games vs the Carolina Hurricanes then coach Peter Laviolette decided to make a change and go with Ward, and as the old saying goes the rest was history. Ward led the team to the 2006 Stanley Cup and the once goalie of the future in Carolina became expendable as he signed with the Ottawa Senators in the offseason.

When it comes to the 2005-2006 season Gerber gets shortchanged. It was his stellar work in net that put the Hurricanes in the position to make the playoffs and compete as he posted a .906 save percentage. The Upper Deck Card pictured is the one from the same season as it shows Gerber making a textbook butterfly save in net! These days Cam Ward gets revered as a hero in Raleigh, and much like Wally Pipp, Gerber is a mere afterthought however, if it was not for Gerber's hard work during the season Carolina would have never been there for Ward to clean up.

As for the current Canes they sit with their backs against the wall as they trail the Boston Bruins 0-2 and return home tonight after giving up 11 goals in 2 games in Boston. While there is no need to remind people it is in fact a seven game series the team MUST bring their A game if they want to send this series back to Boston. Thanks for reading and Redvolution


The Caniac Collector




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