Meet Peter

Twenty-five games into the 2016-2017 season, one goaltender has played in 23 contests for the LA Kings. That's about standard giving the recent history of the team. What isn't so standard is the name of the goalie.

Last season Peter Budaj was thrilled to get a professional tryout with the Kings after not being able to win a single game in 19 attempts for the Winnipeg Jets' American Hockey League Affiliate. He defied odds to win the starting job for the Ontario Reign during the 2015-2016 campaign, and was named the AHL's top goaltender at the end of the season. After signing a one-year contract extension over the summer, he expected to pick up right where he left off.

However, an injury to Jonathan Quick, arguably one of the best goaltenders in the world, in the first period of the Kings' first game, changed the scenery for Budaj. The scenery was further changed a week later when Jeff Zatkoff, slotted to back up Quick for the season, also suffered an injury, rendering Budaj first in line for the temporary throne.
Budaj's 23 games played puts him second only behind Edmonton's Cam Talbot, who has played in 24 heading into Monday's contests, and his numbers aren't too shabby. With Budaj in net, the Kings have a record of 12-7-0-2, backstopped by a .909 save percentage and 2.23 goals against average.
Born in Slovakia, Budaj hails from Banska Bystrica, the same small town that produced former King, Michal Handzus. Budaj happened to catch a hockey game between Russia and Canada when he was around three years of age, and knew then that he wanted to be a goaltender.
"I never wanted to be a player, I always wanted to be a goalie, since I was a kid. I saw it on TV, Russia vs. Canada, and I told my dad I wanted to play goalie," Budaj remembers. "My dad said 'okay,' and I think he just thought it was something cool the kid liked. I kept going at it and my parents sacrificed a lot, driving me to the rink every day."
Having an older brother who also played hockey was helpful, as the two would practice together, and, even now, still work out together during the summers. Peter's older brother, Jozef, played in a Slovakian hockey league, and was the first in the family to come to North America to play hockey when he played Junior hockey in Montana.
It was difficult to follow the NHL from Slovakia when he was a kid, but Budaj managed to sneak off at night, after telling his parents he was going to sleep, to watch NHL highlights once a week.
"I'm sure they knew when I was young, but it makes me feel cool that I was able to trick them," says the 34-year-old with a chuckle.
Budaj found idols in Martin Brodeur, Patrick Roy, Mike Richter, and even remembers watching current Kings goaltending coach, Bill Ranford, as he played for the Oilers and Team Canada.
"It's very cool," says Budaj about now having Ranford as a goaltending coach. "It's great and sometimes we joke about that, that I used to watch him. It's kind of cool to be here and have a goalie coach that you saw when you grew up."
Ranford has already tweaked a few things about Budaj's game, including getting the 6'1" 196-pounder to play his position more aggressively.

The first major break in Budaj's hockey career came during the summer when he was 16 and playing on the under-16 Slovakian National Team. At the same time, the under-18 team was playing some exhibition games against Team Canada, when both under-18 Slovakian goalies suffered injuries and the coach took Budaj to play replace them. Budaj, who wasn't expecting to play at all, played both exhibition games and did well.
That story sounds familiar, doesn't it?
It was at that time that Budaj met his agent, who immediately put into motion plans to bring him to Canada to play Juniors, which he did the following season. It was always Budaj's intent to play hockey in Canada, but when the opportunity came up, it was a difficult decision for the family, being that Mom and Dad couldn't accompany their 16-year-old son across the pond.
"It was a big decision for my parents," recalls Budaj. "Now, me being a parent, I don't know if I would be able to do that. It must have been so hard for my parents, but everything worked out great."
In 2001, three years after coming to North America, Budaj was drafted by the Colorado Avalanche, and ended up playing nine seasons in the Avalanche organization, including six seasons in Colorado, where he met his wife, Taylor. In 2011 Budaj began his three seasons with the Montreal Canadiens before being traded to Winnipeg and subsequently waived and sent down to the minors.
"A year and a half ago I didn't have a contract, I walked in here on a PTO as a fifth or sixth goalie, it was definitely a challenging time," admits Budaj, who now has two sons, Peter (6), and Michael (20 months) to think about.
At present time, Budaj and his family are doing just fine - thriving, in fact - in their new environment. Not only is Dad able to play the game he loves at the highest level every day, but Peter Junior is following closely in his dad's footsteps, playing on a Jr. Kings team.
Budaj says that when he learned his son wanted to play goalie just because his dad does, Dad quickly shut that option down.
"Don't do anything because I want you to do it, do it because you have the passion for it," Budaj senior told his son, no doubt wise words for anyone pursuing a new endeavor.
This idea is also one that Budaj is maintaining with Michael, who will be two years old in February, and wants to be just like his dad and older brother. The plan is to keep Michael off the ice as long as possible - not rush him at the age of two like many do - until he is older and develops his own excitement for the game.
Something that most people probably don't know about Budaj is that he enjoys classical music and plays the violin. Music actually runs in his family as his father played the violin and his mother played the piano. Budaj hasn't picked up the instrument in close to five years, but thinks that if someone put a violin in his hand, he might be able to crank out a few tunes.
"Music is great, I think there's too much of computers right now. I keep saying it, but you see my kid with an iPad and an iPhone just playing games and stuff, it's the 21st century - but sometimes just the music, the creative side, is cool too," Budaj declares.

The future may be uncertain for Budaj, but just as he did at the age of 16, he plans on making the most of his unexpected opportunity.
"I feel great physically, thank God, that's the big thing. I try to stay healthy and take care of my body, that's important, especially after seeing two guys go down, you never want to see that, it's always tough," Budaj states. "You never want to go into the net when somebody gets hurt, it's very unfortunate.
"On the other hand, it's an opportunity for me to showcase myself and still show everybody that I can still do this and I still have a passion for the game and want to do this. It's a big blessing."
Budaj admits that he came into training camp the last two years with a 'whatever happens, happens' mentality, and with the intention of enjoying himself. He also knows that the last couple of months have been a gift - one that doesn't present itself often in life.
"It's pretty amazing and I'm very thankful."
Being that Budaj has lightened a big injury blow to the Kings, the feeling is probably mutual.