As a professional hockey goaltender, Jason LaBarbera has a multitude of miles on his body, both in terms of the physical punishment he has taken as a puck-stopper and actual time spent on highways and skyways across North America. In 14 years at the pro level, he has played 511 regular-season games for 10 different teams in three different leagues.
On July 1, the first day of the National Hockey League free agency period, LaBarbera found out that his next stop would be Anaheim. That day, the Ducks signed him to a one-year contract worth a reported $750,000.
LaBarbera, a product of the Prince George Minor Hockey Association, has lived the dream of so many young players across Canada and around the world: he has played at the upper echelons of the game - including 182 regular-season contests in the NHL - and has been paid millions of dollars to do it. Without a doubt, countless folks would gladly trade their nine-to-five jobs for his occupation, lifestyle and bank account. Really, who wouldn't want the glamour of being a pro athlete?
But is it all glamour? No, it's not, and LaBarbera - with the sacrifices he has made and the near-constant upheaval he has experienced over the years - deserves all the perks that come with protecting the nets from the world's best shooters.
LaBarbera, 34, is the living definition of a journeyman goalie. In his first season as a pro, 2000-01, he played one game for the New York Rangers and split time between the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League and the Charlotte Checkers of the East Coast Hockey League. Three teams in one year, and it was a sign of things to come.
From 2001 to 2005, LaBarbera was a star for the Wolf Pack. His was so dominant for Hartford in 2003-04 (34-9-9 record, 1.59 goals-against average) that he won the AHL's top goalie and most valuable player awards.
By the 2005-06 season, LaBarbera was a member of the Los Angeles Kings organization and divided his time between the Kings and their AHL affiliate, the Manchester Monarchs. He spent 2006-07 with the Monarchs, put up stellar numbers (39-20-1 record, 2.20 goals-against average) and was again named the AHL's best goaltender. The next season saw 'Labs' make his longest run in the NHL: 45 games with the Kings, during which he posted a 17-23-2 record and a goals-against average of 3.00.
LaBarbera started 2008-09 with Los Angeles but was traded that December to the Vancouver Canucks, who needed a backup for Roberto Luongo. That summer, LaBarbera signed a free-agent contract with the Phoenix Coyotes and he stayed with the Desert Dogs in a backup role for four seasons - his longest stretch with the same pro club.
Last summer, the Edmonton Oilers picked up LaBarbera as a free agent but he played just seven games for them before being shipped to the AHL's Oklahoma City Barons. The Oilers later traded him to the Chicago Blackhawks, who needed some goaltending insurance when they ran into mid-season injury problems. He never actually played a game for the Hawks and ended up finishing the year in the AHL with the Rockford IceHogs, where he went 15-15-2 and took the team on its longest winning streak of the season.
Imagine being in LaBarbera's skates for a moment. Imagine being on the move from team to team and, a lot of the time, practicing and not playing. Imagine having to say goodbye to so many friends and teammates along the way and adjusting to new teammates and surroundings. Imagine the mental and physical strain.
LaBarbera knows he is fortunate to have made a career out of the game he loves and he wouldn't want to be doing anything different. At the same time, he admits the lifestyle does take its toll.
"Obviously it's a great life but it's also a stressful and difficult life at times too," he told The Citizen from Calgary, where he lives in the off-season with wife Kodette and their two sons, five-year-old Ryder and three-year-old Easton. "There are times where you're like, 'Do I really want to keep doing this?' but when you're given the opportunities that you're given, you can't turn those down. You do everything you can to make sure you're ready and try to give yourself the best chance you can with those opportunities. I mean, you can only do this for so long. It's not like you can do it until you're 60. I was talking to a buddy about it - your window of opportunity is so small, you have to take as much advantage of it as possible."
For LaBarbera, the low point of his career path came this past season. While he was happy to be getting lots of work in the Rockford crease, he barely saw his wife and kids for six months.
"That part for me was probably the hardest out of anything that I've had to go through," he said.
The good news for LaBarbera is that he'll now get a shot to be back in the NHL and back on the West Coast with Anaheim. If things work out, he'll be much closer to home. And if he sticks with the Ducks, who need a mentor and some competition for young goalies Frederik Andersen and John Gibson, he'll have a legitimate shot to have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup.
With the perseverance and dedication LaBarbera has displayed at all levels of hockey, what a perfect reward that would be.
