Perseverance pays off for Auld

MONTREAL - There is a tattoo that runs from the inside of Alex Auld's(notes) right wrist to almost the crook of his elbow, Latin taken from his family's coat of arms.
Virtute et Constantia, it reads. In English: by virtue and constancy.
"By courage and perseverance," the Canadiens' new goaltender explains of football jerseys
the meaning of the ink, needled beneath his skin following the 2006-07 season.
Auld had suffered a season-ending knee injury that February. He hadn't enjoyed a good year with Jacques Martin's Florida Panthers, having won only seven games and lost 13 with a tepid .888 save percentage.
"It was a tough time for me," Auld admitted yesterday during a talk beneath his Brossard dressing-room nameplate. "I wanted to see the words of my family motto that summer when I was working out."
The two qualities have been the foundation of Auld's well-travelled, eight-season NHL career, a challenging journey that brings him to the Canadiens -his eighth NHL team and 11th professional squad in less than a decade.
The 29-year-old product of Thunder Bay, Ont., has arrived under no false pretence, having signed a one-year, $1-million free-agent contract on July 1. Auld will support Carey Price(notes), the Canadiens' uncontested No. 1 goaltender since Jaroslav Halak(notes) moved on to St. Louis.
But Auld very much likes his situation and sees great value in his role, which is not unlike one he's played in other jerseys.
"I have the opportunity to work alongside a tremendous young talent," he said of Price.
"He's a great goalie and will continue to improve. Obviously, there's a lot of pressure, especially the position we play in a city like this.
"I want to help (Price) in any way I can. I want to push him. I want to play; I know he wants to play. We can work well together. I've been in positions where I've played a lot and haven't played much, and still been able to fulfill a role and contribute. That's what I'm looking to do -to help this team win and put the team first."
The two netminders have been getting to know each other a little the past few days in camp, not an easy matter since they've been on different training rosters.
"I'm a big believer that a relationship between two goalies is important," Auld said. "You can't force that, it just has to develop. We both have the same sort of easygoing mentality, we're both competitors, we both want to win and push each other. I think it's a perfect mix."
Montreal brings Auld back to Canada, having made Vancouver and Ottawa stops along the way. He adds Florida, Phoenix, Boston and, last year, both Dallas and New York Rangers to his goaltending passport.
Auld says he jumped at the Canadiens offer, which arrived shortly after noon on July 1 while he and his wife, Melanie, were in an Ottawa hotel room.
They were watching the free-agent frenzy on TV when his agent called, Martin Biron(notes) having just signed with the Rangers.
A free-agent netminder can size up the landscape pretty quickly, with few jobs on the market. Less than a half-hour after the signing window opened, Canadiens GM Pierre Gauthier made his pitch to Pat Morris, Auld's agent.
"It was nice to feel wanted," the goalie said. "There was no need to take much time or play hardball, this was a good fit."
For at least a few reasons.
"I wanted to go to a good team with a chance to win. The Canadiens fit that bill," Auld said.
He was familiar with Martin, his GM and coach in Florida, and Canadiens goaltending coach Pierre Groulx, then the Panthers video coach who would strap on the pads in practice when No. 1 Ed Belfour regularly decided he would stop pucks only in games.
And Auld liked what he'd heard about Price from coaches who have known the 23-year-old both on and off the ice.
"There's enough gap between Carey and myself in age. We're in two Chicago Bears jersey
different spots, so that's good," he said. "Having history with people in the organization is a good thing, too. And I've loved playing in Canada. I love the accountability every night, that the fans and media demand perfection or close to it."
Auld was born to Bob and Susan Auld in Cold Lake, Alta., but grew up from age 5 and played all of his minor hockey in Thunder Bay when his parents returned to their hometown.
Bob Auld was a helicopter test pilot for the Canadian armed forces, stationed for a brief time in Montreal. He once was at the controls to fly prime minister Pierre Trudeau during Quebec's 1970 FLQ crisis.
Father drove his son to Montreal this summer to help him get settled, relating stories and suggesting places to live.
"Then my dad laughed and said: 'Maybe not. That was 40 years ago,' " Auld said, grinning.
He had been given his first pair of pads at age 12, finding in the 4 a.m. darkness what he says remains his favourite Christmas gift, elaborately displayed with a new stick.
That was 1993, the year the Canadiens won their most recent Stanley Cup, a "pretty special run and a big win" that Auld remembers well.
Yesterday, a factory-fresh pair of pads beside him, he proudly displayed his new Canadiens mask. Designed by Marlene Ross of Brockville, Ont., it's the latest in an NHL collection he says is growing too large because he's kept every one.
With an airbrushing of the Montreal Forum, it features the Canadiens' first logo -a C on a maple leaf -and three goaltending legends: Patrick Roy, with his famous 1993 Stanley Cup wink; 1970s icon Ken Dryden; and 1950s trailblazer Jacques Plante.
"There's a lot of history with this organization," Auld said. "I wanted to pay tribute to the great goalies who have had their numbers retired in Montreal. This is a pretty cool way to start."
He's travelled thousands of kilometres to get to this Brossard dressing room, his first NHL game played for Vancouver in Dallas as an emergency call-up on Jan. 23, 2002. Auld has only vague memories of it, beyond a problem with the ice before the opening faceoff that brought out the Zamboni and heckling teammates who added to his stress.
The Canucks won 4-2 that night, and Auld doesn't even recall that it was Markus Naslund's(notes) goal on which he earned an assist.
He played a career-high 67 games for the Canucks in 2005-06, traded to Florida that June in the deal that brought Roberto Luongo(notes) to Vancouver; Luongo has only played for the Canucks since that trade, Auld has dressed for seven NHL clubs.
Montreal, he hopes, is more than a pit stop, saying: "I'd love to find New Orleans Saints jersey
a place I can settle down and play awhile. But I just want a place where I can play and win. That's what's so exciting about this situation.
"It's great to move your family to a new place -a great city, a great team with a great group of guys, a team that's had success. You want to be part of all that."