On D with Charlie Huddy
On D with Charlie Huddy
By Bob Cunningham
Nov 5, 2000, 06:57
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| ©BBS |
It’s one thing to be a decent NHL defenseman for a few seasons; quite another to be one for life. But that’s what it seems like as far as Charlie Huddy is concerned.
A veteran of five NHL Stanley Cup championship teams (by contrast, Wayne Gretzky has won four), Huddy’s career is winding down these days. After nine glorious seasons as an ingredient in the Edmonton Oilers incredible reign of success in the 1980s, and three more in Los Angeles—which included yet another Stanley Cup Finals appearance—Huddy completed his 13th season in the NHL in 1995 as a second-line defenseman for the Buffalo Sa-bres, his current team.
The ‘95 season wasn’t a great one by Huddy’s standards—he scored only seven points in 41 games, and the Sabres were bounced from the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs by Philadelphia—but one thing continues to ring true: Huddy is and always has been a quality NHL defenseman.
“For me, it’s important to concentrate on the job I’m paid to do. I really try to keep it simple,” he says. “My focus is on containment and trying to create turnovers to get the puck to our wings.”
Sure, it’s a pretty simple formula. But if it ain’t broke….
He teaches, too
“I try to work with the younger guys as much as I can, if they’re willing to let me tell them some things,” he says. “I do believe it’s very important to be a teacher of the game when you can.”
That may be part of the reason Buffalo picked Huddy up along with Alexei Zhitnik in the controversial (to LA fans) Grant Fuhr trade.
Huddy’s career has been brilliant at times, and respectable always. He’s not the type to do any one thing exceptionally well, but instead attempts to fulfill all aspects of the position satisfactorily. A steady-Eddie, if you will.
“Yeah, I think some guys try to establish themselves in a certain way, but for me I just wanted to play,” Huddy reasons.
Scanning Huddy’s lengthy career, and the team as well as individual success he has enjoyed, the conclusion is that you have to play on a good team in order to last as long as Huddy has.
“Well, I’ve been fortunate to play with guys like Gretz and Jari Kurri and Mark Messier,” Huddy explains. “But that didn’t affect my attitude toward my job on the ice, which is to play as hard as I can all the time.”
At 6’ and 210 pounds, Huddy is big enough to pound away in the corners and, sticking with his basic philosophy, he’ll do so when the occasion merits it.
“But you have to be able to get out after the man with the puck,” he adds.
Communication a key
Huddy emphasizes communication with his fellow defensemen as well as other teammates. Many a goal has been scored because of a brief letdown by the defense—most of which are caused by miscommunication, or a lack of it.
“I’m not a real vocal guy, but we talk out there. You have to make sure everything is accounted for,” Huddy says.
Especially in his prime, Huddy excelled at turning opposition turnovers into points. His best season individually was his first full year in the NHL, with Edmonton in 1982/83, when he tallied 57 points (including 20 goals) in 76 games.
But that’s not to say he has grown worse with age. On the contrary, he has rounded his game so that he’s more effective at both ends. The sacrifice has been in his scoring statistics only. And there has been little sacrifice in terms of team success.
“He’s the type of guy you have to have to be a winning hockey team,” said former Kings assistant coach Cap Raeder, now filling a similar role in Boston, in 1993. “Who knows where we’d (have been) without Charlie.”
The burly, 36-year-old Huddy has a hard time identifying why his career has endured nearly three times longer than the average NHLer’s.
“There’s a lot of luck involved, that’s for sure. I’ve been fortunate not to have a lot of serious injuries in my career,” he says. “I try to keep myself in good shape in the offseason. I work hard because I realize that’s what I have to do if I want to continue to play.”
There certainly is some luck involved when you can play at least 50 games in every season (except the lockout-shortened ‘95 campaign, which totaled 48 games) for as long as Huddy has. But the best ones make their own luck.
“Work hard all the time. It’s tough to explain it any other way.”
— Bob Cunningham
This first appeared in the 10/1995 issue of Hockey Player Magazine®
© Copyright 1991-2001 Hockey Player® and Hockey Player Magazine®
