When Jonathan Quick went down with a long-term groin injury during the Los Angeles Kings' season opener, Jeff Zatkoff was supposed to be next up. 19 straight appearances later -- and sporting an 11-6-1 record -- Peter Budaj has surprised everybody. Well, almost everybody.
Dusty Imoo has seen Budaj through the bad -- he went 0-9-6 in 2014-15 with the St. John's IceCaps -- to the good -- the Slovakian won 42 games with the Ontario Reign last season. Imoo was Winnipeg's goaltending development coach two years ago, before being hired for the same position by Los Angeles last season.
Sheng Peng: Are you surprised at all by how well Peter is performing with the Kings?
Dusty Imoo: No. I've always believed in Budes. I felt he was in a really good place in his game. And he just needed the opportunity.
SP: You've seen Peter through his winless season in St. John's to last year's revival in Ontario to now. Has his game evolved from his time in Colorado and Montreal or did he simply find himself mentally?
DI: You'd have to ask Peter. I don't want to try to take too much credit.
All I can say is from the time that I got him in the Winnipeg system to now, we've worked on things, but I think in general, the biggest thing for him is he needed to start a new chapter. In his life, in his game. And not think about what he had did up to that point.
We all go through times where we lose it a little bit. So for him, a re-start, a re-focus, try to re-earn everything. That's the biggest difference.
I don't think he's changed his game all that much. He's just revitalized himself. He treats himself almost like a young guy again, trying to earn every day. Every day is a new day to keep earning his keep.
There are a lot of people out there, still...in the media who feel he's a secondary option. Just filling in or whatever. But I think that's helping him in a sense. Keeping him hungry.
SP: Peter said recently, “Every time I start thinking about the future and playing for the future, it’s wrong. You’ve got to play for the next game.” That mental focus is something you've helped him with and it seems to have unlocked so much for him.
DI: Yeah, I would agree. Like I said, more than tweaks in his game or style changes, that was the biggest thing that's helped him achieve success. He's treating it [in LA] like he did last year [in Ontario].
Each day is a new day to try to prove to himself. I tried to help him with that.
Because your mind can think of so many things ahead or behind. Think of the past...I used to be this or that. But that stuff was really messing with him.
I think that's been the biggest part of his success is just living for the moment. Just try to be good each and every day.
SP: You've mentioned that you helped "center" Peter's state of mind in Ontario. Specifically for him, how did you achieve that? Or how do you help goalies achieve that focus on the moment in general?
DI: I use my personal experiences. Not always the good ones. Some failures of mine. Some good stories that helped me keep my career as long as I did. Even though my path changed and I had a family to take care of and all these different little things.
The biggest key to helping people with that kind of stuff is they have to believe you. They have to feel you're not just reading something out of an Anthony Robbins book.
You'll have to ask each and everyone of them. Whether it be Hellebuyck, Hutchinson, Budaj, Campbell, or whatever. But I think that's why they respond.
When I say you have to do this or think this way, especially experienced guys, they ask inside, "Why do I have to?" It's a natural thing, to question.
I think once they believe you and believe what you're saying has some validity, that's where you kind of see some progress.
I think Budes believes in me and what I tell him. I think it's helped.
SP: Can you share one of your stories that you tell the goalies you're working with?
DI: For the younger guys, I go back to when I was ranked really high. I was the top goaltender in the Draft. I thought I was "it." I thought I was the man.
And a team or a coach doesn't see what you see and you don't get the playing time. And then you start to sulk. Or let things get to you.
The next thing you know, 30 years later, you're looking back. And your whole path changes because...of yourself, basically.
It took some time, but I learned to take responsibility for some of the things over the course of my career. It's now helped me, I guess, in my coaching.
When you're in the moment, you think this coach, this scenario, the situation is the cause of the problem. Whereas lots of times, it's yourself.
Like when the organization decided to send Jonah to Manchester [on Wednesday]. I talked to him today. I remember getting sent somewhere. I always used to take things in the negative way. Like someone doesn't want me. As opposed to simply taking advantage of the next opportunity. (HockeyBuzz Note: Kings prospect
Jonah is Dusty's son.)
But if you don't have someone to sometimes guide you through that, your own mind can play tricks on you.
SP: Can you talk more about what happened to you during your Draft year?
DI: The first Central Scouting rankings of that year, I was the top goalie of [1987-88]. That's when I went to the New Westminster Bruins.
I changed my mind from going to college to the WHL and New Westminster. The coach, he didn't think what everybody thought I was, maybe I was too small. They had a 20-year-old there.
I look back, I played like 30 games, but to me, I was not liked. As opposed to just playing those 30 games great, I would probably still would have been drafted in the first or second round.
But instead, as the year progresses, you're up and down. You go through the Draft [undrafted].
And the next year, I get traded. Had to re-find myself. Took me that whole next year. Went through that Draft.
My third year in the WHL in Lethbridge, I was the top goalie in the WHL, on the All-Star team. Myself and Trevor Kidd. Trevor got drafted in the first round and I went through all 12 rounds. The top goalie in league. (laughs)
You start to question, What's going on? You just keep fighting and learning and battling. You learn from those experiences. I think that's helped me with coaching.
SP: Something that's special about Peter is his durability. I'm not talking about the physical part of it, but the mental. We saw last year in Ontario how he could play game after game at a high level without much rest. (Note: Budaj played 73 of Ontario's 81 regular season/playoff games last year.)
We'll seeing it now in LA. Talk about Peter's mental strength, what allows him to go back-to-back-to-back?
DI: He is really good at preparing himself. Everyday, he's good after practice, he's good before practice. He really treats himself properly, physically and mentally.
And also, as time went on with him, he's learned to focus on the things he could control.
When he was at St. John's, he did all the same things, but was having trouble because he was focusing on all kinds of things that he couldn't control.
He's learned to be a little more "go with the flow." They call me up, great, or I'm here, great. But I'll keep doing the same thing, day after day. And he's good at that.
I think that really helps him be able to go back in the net night after night.
Mentally, he's got a good handle of it now. He's not too high, not too low.
SP: Speaking of that mental toughness, Peter took some pointed criticism from Darryl Sutter after a loss three weeks ago to Anaheim. Knowing Peter, did he simply just shrug off the criticism?
DI: Yeah, now he's able to do that. Hopefully based on some of the stuff we talked about.
You can't control those things, what people say. All you can control is going out to the next practice, the next day, and try to be better.
Not try to be better because the coach says you're bad, not try to be better because the fans don't think you're good or whatever. Just try to better because that's why we play the game. We love playing the game because we want to be good at it. We want to win hockey games. That's fun.
It's not like you're shrugging off what the coach says. Coach is trying to get you going or whatever. When I say you don't listen him, I don't mean you don't listen to the coach.
You don't take it to the heart, that it hurts your feelings, your ego.
SP: Everybody at this level is really talented, so generally, that mental strength is what seems to separate a good goalie from an average one. What do the best starting goalies all share mentally, that they're able to keep a high standard of play with a heavy workload and all the pressure?
DI: I think the key thing is what I just said. You have to be able to not take the bad stuff or good stuff, to not hold it too close to your heart.
Sometimes, when you start reading the stuff that's good, you start to get too high. That's when you see guys fall off.
You have to keep going business as usual.
Those top goalies, like Carey Price is a great example...you can tell he doesn't get too high or low about things.
SP: Who's a better goalie at this point, you or Bill Ranford? (Note: Because of injuries, 46-year-old Imoo was forced to back up at a couple of Reign games this season.)
DI: I haven't seen Billy play. But I think he doesn't do it nearly as much as I do. He's a little bit older. I don't know. But every time I talk to him after he does it, it sounds harder and harder. He sounds in more pain each time.
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