If you find yourself in the vicinity of Little Caesars Arena in early September and happen across a confident fellow striding purposefully toward the facility, say about 6-foot-4, 200 pounds, you might just be crossing paths with new Detroit Red Wings goalie Cam Talbot.
Talbot is arriving in Hockeytown as a man on a mission to make the Red Wings goal crease his personal property.
“Absolutely,” Talbot, 36, declared. “That’s one of the reasons why I chose to sign here. There’s gonna be the competition no matter what between three three or four of us.
“I feel healthy and good even at my age.”
Signed to a two-year, $5 million deal as a UFA, Talbot is coming off a solid season with the Los Angeles Kings. While posting a .913 save percentage and 2.50 GAA, he was also earning the Pacific Division nod for the NHL All-Star Game.
“I played 54 games last year, made an All-Star appearance,” Talbot said. “I still feel like I got a lot to give.
“That’s one of the biggest reasons why I wanted a two-year deal to come in and try to help a team win and still come in and compete for starts. That’s a big factor for me coming in.”
Red Wings Have Four NHL Goalies
Detroit GM Steve Yzerman was also signing NHL veteran Jack Campbell as a free agent. He and Talbot will join holdovers Alex Lyon and Ville Husso in the battle for goaltending spots with the Red Wings.
On the surface, there seems little to choose between the four puckstoppers. They’re all journeymen, with not much in the way of steady success on any of their NHL resumes.
A year ago, Talbot found himself in a similar scenario as he was joining the Kings.
“They had a guy (Pheonix Copley) that that had played a bunch the year before, but they signed myself and David Rittich and it was kind of a healthy competition to start the season,” Talbot explained. He’d win the net and play the majority of the games for LA.
“Overall I’d say my season went as well as I expected it to go,” Talbot said. “I just wanted to go in there and after a down year in Ottawa, prove that I could still be guy, and I thought I was able to do that.”
Can he do it again? That’s Talbot’s plan.
“I’m at the stage of my career where I’m not ready to just mail it in yet,” Talbot said. “I still don’t want to give up starts, I still want to compete for starts.
“I still want to compete for the playoffs and I still want to win a Stanley Cup.”
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