Jason LaBarbera took a pay cut to play for the Anaheim Ducks and he's quite OK with that.
Whatever it takes to get back to the NHL.
The 34-year-old goaltender had the night off Friday, sitting in as backup to Frederik Andersen against the Arizona Coyotes. It was a well-deserved break for LaBarbera, who came in as an injury replacement and stopped 49 of 54 shots the previous two games to help the Ducks earn three of a possible four points.
LaBarbera arrived in Anaheim on Sunday after traveling all day from Norfolk, Va., where he'd played the previous two nights for the Norfolk Admirals. On just four hours sleep he stepped out onto the ice that night, expecting to be the backup for John Gibson, but Gibson suffered a groin injury in the pre-game warmup and LaBarbera was told he'd be starting against the Avalanche. Playing his third game in three nights he beat Colorado 3-2 while making 16 saves then turned in a solid 33-save effort Tuesday in a 3-2 overtime loss to the New York Islanders.
"It's been an interesting ride for sure, especially because I'd played the two nights before and I was exhausted," said LaBarbera.
"I used to play [three straight games without a rest] all the time in the minors when I was younger and had to do it last year when I was in Rockford, but not like that," said the 34-year-old Prince George minor hockey product. "Not after flying all day and not expecting to get in the game like that, it was a bit of a shocker. But as the backup you always have to be ready."
LaBarbera signed a one-year $750,000 contract with the Ducks over the summer and now that's he's back in the NHL his paycheques just got smaller. A revenue-sharing clause between the owners and players requires all players to pay 15 per cent of their wages into an escrow fund, which will be adjusted at the end of the season based on how much hockey-related revenue the teams take in.
"I'm on a one-way contract and it's kind of funny because I actually lose money getting called up," said LaBarbera. "The taxes are higher in California and in the American League I don't have to pay escrow. But it's still nice to be back here, playing with the top players."
LaBarbera is no modern-era version of Gary 'Suitcase" Smith, but he's certainly been around the block in 15 pro seasons since his WHL days with the Portland Winterhawks and Spokane Chiefs. Drafted in the third round in 1998 by the New York Rangers, he's also played for L.A. Kings, Vancouver, Phoenix and Edmonton. Since the start of the 2013-14 season he's played for five teams.
LaBarbera, who turns 35 in January, tops the age spectrum with the Ducks and the Admirals. Having joined the Ducks organization in the off-season he's still trying to get his bearings and get to know his teammates. He endured another coast-to-coast trip three weeks ago when he was called up to the Ducks to serve as Andersen's backup to allow Gibson to get some game action in with the Admirals.
LaBarbera makes his off-season home in Calgary, where he and his wife Codette are raising two boys, Ryder, 5, and Easton, 3. While his future with Anaheim remains uncertain, with Gibson expected to miss six weeks, LaBarbera hopes to still be with the Ducks when they travel to Calgary to play the Flames Nov. 18. They play in Vancouver two nights later.
"I've kind of been flying solo for the last year, just with the travel and being up and down, not really knowing what your role is and where you stand," LaBarbera said. "Being away from the family is tough, I haven't seen them in two months."
The Ducks started the day Friday one point ahead of the Canucks for first place in the Western Conference and are a consensus favourite to go far in the playoffs this season. Their top two forwards -- Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry -- were out with the flu and missed Tuesday's game.
"They're a younger team than they were last year and obviously anytime you've got world-class players like Getzlaf and Perry it makes things easier on everyone else," said LaBarbera. "It was a weird dynamic in the room Tuesday, especially in the first half of the game, and everyone was wondering what they were supposed to do without them around, but we kind of figured it out."
LaBarbera has six full AHL seasons behind him. He's a two-time winner of the AHL's most outstanding goalie award and in 2004 with the Hartford Wolf Pack was the league's most valuable player. In five games this season with the Admirals he has a 2.80 goals-against average and .898 save percentage.
"I've found over the years the difference between the American League and the NHL is the top guys in the NHL are so much better than the guys in the AHL, but the bottom half of guys in the NHL are just as good as as the guys in the American League," he said. "But those top guys make such a difference, especially on power plays. The American League has good players but you're not facing guys like [John] Tavares, Getzlaf and Perry."
