Eric Lindros: Purveyor of Doom

Eric Lindros: Purveyor of doom
By Stan Fischler
Oct 30, 2001, 07:13

©BBS

Like many journalists, I had heard Eric Lindros horror stories. From Junior days, there were tales of his overprotective mother. And, of course, there was Eric’s Francophobia—resulting in his decision to renounce Les Nordiques as his team of choice. Others said he was an introvert, a difficult interview and, not surprisingly, a spoiled brat.

All of these were impressions delivered before I had ever met Eric Lindros in person.

Our first meeting was about a year-and-a-half ago at New Jersey’s Brendan Byrne Arena. Eric had agreed to a live, impromptu interview between the first and second period of a Devils-Flyers game. It had been an especially mean match, with Lindros and New Jersey’s captain Scott Stevens hurtling smashing bodychecks at one another. Philly was losing the game and Eric was—for the moment, at least—losing the checking battle.

“The way things are going on the ice,” my SportsChannel producer whispered over my headphones, “don’t be surprised if he stiffs you.”

It is not uncommon for athletes to forget about a live interview if they are experiencing difficulty on the field, or in this case, the rink. Certainly, Lindros owed me nothing. So I braced for a no-show.

But the period ended, and sure enough Eric was there; on time, cooperative and eloquent, at that. He showed me a lot of class with his insights.

Nor was it the only time he would impress me. Twice this season I asked him aboard for interviews at the Spectrum. Again I was warned by Philadelphia TV people that he might not show, and not to be surprised. I didn’t have to hold my breath. On each occasion he arrived more punctual than most, eager to chat and as perfectly amiable as anyone could imagine.

To say that I had become a Lindros fan would be a slight exaggeration, but I was certainly impressed with the Flyers captain as both an athlete and as an individual. Despite his relative youth, he has assumed his club’s mantle of leadership and led them to first place in the Atlantic Division, and a rare Flyers playoff berth.

Because of his total value to the team, Eric is a serious candidate for the Hart (MVP) Trophy and has emerged as the NHL’s youngest marquee talent. If Bettman, Inc. has been searching for an heir to Wayne Gretzky, it may well have found one on Broad Street, at the center of Philadelphia’s “Legion of Doom” line.

Just prior to the season’s end, Lindros fielded questions from journalists in all parts of the continent during an NHL-sponsored, league-wide conference call. Here is some of that interview.

During the last three years you have probably gotten tired of watching the playoffs from afar. Do you think the trade with Montreal is what will put you over the top?

I think our depth has improved dramatically with Eric Desjardins back on the point. He is on (ice) every other shift. He is playing close to the top of his game. That had really been a big factor, having another real quality defenseman back there. With Gilbert Dionne, he is a real character. He is a lot of fun in the dressing room. He is great off the ice (and) he is playing well on the ice. He may not be scoring right now, but he certainly is being very effective in the role he is playing. And John LeClair, I don’t even need to touch base on that at all. It is incredible how well he has performed and how things have been going. Yeah, I do think this trade has us into a position where we can compete with the best teams knowing every night we have a chance to win.

As far as the line, I really enjoy it. I have two big wingers to play with who have the speed to go to the net. I don’t have to be as physical—you know, forechecking and taking the body as much. I think I haven’t been running around with my head cut off quite as much as I had in the previous two years. That has been great. It really helped me improve in other aspects of my game.

Our skills are improving. We are just taking every day as a new day and just going out and having some fun with it.

With the Canadiens, John LeClair wasn’t producing as much offensively, and he’s mentioned the pressure of playing in Montreal. Is he more relaxed, and could that be a main reason for his success?

Well, the climate here is a little different as far as the media pressure goes. Anytime that you are playing in Montreal or Toronto or the big Canadian cities, there is a different element that has to come into play. Down in Philly, we have a pretty relaxed environment in comparison to those cities, and I have to agree that maybe could be a factor. 

But are you surprised by him?

He can’t miss. He can’t miss right now. He is playing so great, it is just incredible. I have the best job in hockey right now. I can find two guys on the ice. I have got two to look for, and I only have to find one. Generally, with the quick pass, I have got a real good scoring chance.

In your first couple of years with the Flyers, you didn’t seem ready to step into a leadership role. You seemed more content with being part of the team. Now you are the youngest captain in the NHL. Do you think that your role has changed?

I am not the Flyers. I am not changing at all. I am improving. Our team is improving. We are all getting better together. When we step on the ice, it is not (just) me. I am playing with two great players right now on the line. We’ve got great goaltending in the pipes. We have great defenseman. I don’t think I really changed that much. I think I have improved as a player, but I am really happy with how strong our team is in other aspects.

But are you comfortable with your leadership role?

Again, I really haven’t changed that much. I think that with every game you learn something. You might learn more and more about how the game is played—little things—just running with a guy like Craig MacTavish. I don’t see everything. I don’t know everything. And he has certainly been through it all, and having guys like him around keep (us on) an even keel. I think that has helped quite a bit in terms of everybody’s development as leaders, not just someone who might wear the captain’s C.

You’ve stayed healthier this year. Is that simply because you have bigger linemates and maybe you have toned down your aggressive game a little bit?

I think so. If the hit is there, it is there. Gordie Howe told me not too long ago that it is great to go out and play physical—do your job that way—but pick your spots. When the (chance to) hit is 50/50, maybe you just take your check. (But) when it is 95 percent, go right at it—do your thing and you will accomplish more from it.

So I think that with the other two big guys that I am fortunate to play with, we spread (the physical game) out. It is not one guy or two guys. It is all three of us that really get a chance to bump and grind and to control the puck along the boards. And I think our skills are improving because we are not concentrating on being the forechecker. We spread it out.

You’ve been on a monstrous hot streak. Is that due strictly to your “Legion of Doom” linemates?

It is a combination of everything. Certainly we have been on streaks before. Playing with Brent Fedyk and Mark Recchi a couple of years ago, we really had gotten on a hot streak, but we didn’t have the team that we have now. I really look at the (overall team) depth, and really compliment the moves that have happened here. (As for) points, there are a 100 plays that happen before a goal goes into the net. A lot of times it is a great transition play by our defenseman stepping up. (Or) throwing the puck off the glass on a line change and catching the other team. There are a lot of things that happen prior to a goal being scored. It is not just a couple of guys, it is everybody.

There has been a fairly remarkable amount of turnover in personnel as this season has progressed. Do you have any observations about the job that Terry Murray has done in blending it together?

Well, he has done a great job. I think with the changeover in personnel, everyone is starting to have a really good grasp on the system that we’re trying to play every night. We are learning every day in practice. We are learning on the videotape. And that is to his credit.

Can you be a little more specific about the little things that are improving in your game, and what impact, if any, Coach Murray has had on the way you play?

The little things. Picking up our checks coming through the neutral zone was something that we (work on). We are learning faceoffs. We always have a game plan for every faceoff that sets what we want to accomplish from a won draw—or a draw that we lose, what we want to do to defend against the rush. “Holdups”—you know, trying to give our defense time so that they can get back there and make the good play to get out of the zone, which in turn helps us have some scoring chances. Those are the little things.

As far as Terry and my game personally, well, at the start of the year, I was playing all right. I wasn’t playing all that great, but he has always had his lines of communications open to me. He has always been real honest with me. He knows—I know—in my heart when I haven’t performed as well as I can, and he has always been there to back it up. You can’t hide anything. When things aren’t going well, he always wants to know what is going on; to see if everything is all right. He really looks after all the guys.

Are the Rangers as good or as formidable an opponent as the team that won the Stanley Cup last year?

I don’t see why not. I mean, they still have all the key elements that they had last year. They are a real strong hockey club.

With the next round of expansion in the near future, what are your thoughts about hockey in Arizona?

First of all it’s awfully warm out there. We found that out on a road trip. I think hockey is really (taking off) around the States. It has been great. Even with The Lockout, as much as it was a real disturbance to our league, I think it helped the other leagues—the other pro leagues—really get some attention; attention that (they) deserved because it is really good hockey that’s being played. As far as expanding out into Phoenix—I don’t know what to say. That would be terrific. I would really enjoy playing there.

Do you think expansion will be good or bad for the League?

I think that with expansion, more and more players that might not have a chance (otherwise) will get a chance to play. And they are improving things with the goals being down this year. I think it is a real credit to the talent of the defensive players. I think it is a whole lot tougher these days to get a good forecheck with the way that trap is set up, the way the goaltending has been. I just wouldn’t point out, say, that the goals are down and (say) the talent pool is low. I think quite the opposite.

I think the game is improving, and there aren’t the weak teams where you can go in and grab seven or eight points as an individual. I think it has really improved in that respect.

You came into the league with so many expectations. Has there ever been a point where those expectations have gotten to you, and changed you in any way?

Well, I just turned 22. I plan on being in the game a long time. Certainly coming in because of the way I was treated, things started to heat up a little bit, but I don’t think I have changed all that much. I still love the game. I will always love the game. Some days are better than others. But just having the chance to go out and play is what I enjoy the most. And now that we have such a strong team everybody shares it.

Everybody has that same feeling—that fun feeling where everyday in practice it is a challenge. It is something that everyone is enjoying. We are having competition with the goaltenders. We are playing. We are supposed to be grown men, mature guys, but in our hearts we are kids having fun, playing a game that we love.

This first appeared in the 07/1995 issue of Hockey Player Magazine®
© Copyright 1991-2001 Hockey Player® and Hockey Player Magazine®

Rod Langway: Back to the Grind

Rod Langway: Back to the grind
By Tom Worgo
Oct 30, 2001, 07:10

©BBS

Rod Langway rested comfortably against a wooden bench in the Richmond Renegades locker room, clutching a huge ice bag to his swollen right knee. Langway had just finished back-to-back playoff games. But his quest wasn’t to capture Lord Stanley’s Cup for the Montreal Canadiens or Washington Capitals. It was to win the Riley Cup for a minor league hockey team in the East Coast Hockey League.

The hard truth is that the ECHL is pretty much the lowest level of the minors. And Langway’s playing in a league that isn’t quite at Slapshot level, but isn’t so far removed from it, either.

But wherever you play, an injury is an injury—and some of the pain showed on his face.

It wasn’t the first time Langway played hurt this season. He had a groin injury back in March, about the time his knee first began acting up. Were the injuries a surprise? Well, some struggles are to be expected when you haven’t played competitive hockey for more than two years.

“It’s pretty tough for someone to play in back-to-back games when you are 37 years old,” says Langway, who last played in the NHL on February 21, 1993.

This season, he was in and out of the Richmond lineup before playing in nine of the Renegades 17 playoff games. On this night, he played about 6 1/2 minutes, which covered nine shifts.

So how did the grand old man of the ECHL look? Well, first off, he looked different. Langway—earning $310 a week—wore a helmet. In his 15 NHL seasons—plus the time he spent in the old World Hockey Association—Langway never wore headgear.

A defensive Gretzky

Favoring his aching knee, he played the most in the final period. He killed some penalties, gave the first-line defense some rest and attempted to block two shots. On one dive, he stopped a slapshot. Even at 37, Langway still showed some of the superb defensive abilities that made him a two-time Norris Trophy winner in 1983 and 1984.

“Langway was the same as Wayne Gretzky, but in a defensive mode,” says Craig Laughlin, Langway’s former Washington teammate. “In the ECHL, he knew what the guys were going to do before they did it. Everybody in the league was in awe of him. He killed the penalties with the best of them. The way he pinned a guy to the boards…it’s an art. He doesn’t let the guy back into the play.”

Langway wasn’t expected to play in the Riley Cup finals, but when Richmond defenseman Jay Murphy broke his arm, Langway suited up.

“He was really playing hurt, and he shouldn’t have been out there,” says Richmond coach Roy Sommer, also 37, but a month older than Langway.

Langway is the Renegades only future NHL Hall of Framer. But that didn’t make things any easier this night.

“Probably at about 11:30 PM, or midnight, I might not be able to walk,” he explained. “It’s tough because of the swelling in my knee. When you are on the bench, it swells up. You get sharp pains in there. It’s all part of the game.”

These are the words of a warrior whose best playing days, admittedly, are behind him.

“My doctor told me not to skate anymore. It takes a lot out of you. You don’t have that one step to make a quality play and you get scrambling around. My skating is OK, but I have a tough time skating backwards to forwards.”

This particular game was all part of his entry back into the hockey world, and it was Laughlin who talked his good friend into lacing up the skates once again. Laughlin is a part owner and GM of the Renegades.

Why did Langway heed Laughlin’s words? He wanted to get a little exposure as a player and then join the corporate side, running hockey schools and setting up new ice rinks. Besides, retirement bored him.

“It got me off the couch,” says Langway of the comeback. “You can only play so much golf and relax. I started watching hockey again and had the itch to get back. I feel like I’m 25 again.”

A PR thing?

“I had to shake my head a couple of times when I saw him out there,” said Sommer. “I didn’t think it was for real. A guy who was a Norris Trophy winner and seven-time all star playing at this level. If I was a bystander, I would think it was a PR thing. But when he hopped on the bus to Charlotte, I saw how sincere he was.

“We were on a Northern swing through Wheeling and Hershey and all these towns he’d never seen before. I watching the warm-ups (in Hershey) and these guys king of stopped and were looking at him (wondering) ‘Is this for real?’”

But Langway hopes his real future is in the coaching ranks. “It’s something I always thought about,” Langway says. “I won a Stanley Cup and was fortunate to have played with Montreal. It’s still the highlight of my playing career. I was 20 years old. Some of these guys (in Richmond) are 21 to 25 years old and just out of college. The big thing with them is just to see the ice, move the puck and don’t try to do too much. A lot of the kids get nervous.

“You just try to make them relax and make the quality plays; have them make the easy passes instead of the ones that don’t work. I think I have helped.”

For now, Langway will focus on youth hockey and ice rinks. Starting in July, Langway and Laughlin begin running six hockey schools in the mid-Atlantic area. The two will travel from one camp to another, teaching the youngsters.

Later this year, several new rinks will open. One in Richmond, one in Dale City, VA and another in Rockville, MD. Langway will be part of the venture’s management group. They expect to open rinks next year in Manassas, VA and Baltimore, MD.

Creating a hockey hotbed

“I want Rod to be involved in all the rinks and schools. I don’t think (the mid-Atlantic) area ever had this opportunity before,” Laughlin says. “I think we can develop hockey to the highest level it’s ever been. My goal is to get the area to be a hockey hotbed, like the places everybody talks about—Canada and Boston.”

“Myself and Craig,” adds Langway, “we are pretty well known in those areas, and in the hockey world. We are in a great situation. Hockey is booming from Florida to Pennsyl-vania. There’s good opportunity to make a business of it. Hopefully, I will get really deeply involved in it and make a good living by doing it. We are going to run the rinks and get involved in owning them.

“It’s an investment type of deal with our names on it. The business end of it, I don’t know too much about right now. I will be involved in some capacity. I think in five to 10 years you will have some quality players coming out of that area.”

The business end of hockey is something new to Langway. In the mid-1980’s, Langway set up a hockey school in his home town of Randolph, MA. “It was only a two-week program,” Langway says. “I did it to return the favor. That area allowed me to develop into a decent hockey player.”

One other time, Langway appeared at a Washington Capitals hockey camp in the 1980’s. “I didn’t even get paid.”

But which dream is stronger, giving back at hockey school or moving ahead in the coaching ranks?

“If a hockey organization wants to get me involved, I’d probably just do it for a year and see if I enjoy doing it,” says Langway.

He’s definitely made an impact on the Richmond team, especially with the defenseman. “He gives the younger players a little more motivation,” says Sommer. And even with his aching knees, Langway’s comeback has to be considered a raving success—the Renegades having captured the Riley Cup title.

Since he’s come back to hockey, the Hockey Hall of Fame will just have to wait a few more years for Langway.

Tom Worgo is a free-lance writer in Maryland.

This first appeared in the 07/1995 issue of Hockey Player Magazine®
© Copyright 1991-2001 Hockey Player® and Hockey Player Magazine®

Keith Tkachuk: You can hear him coming

Keith Tkachuk: You can hear him coming
By Sam Laskaris
Oct 29, 2001, 20:30

©BBS

Keith Tkachuk has that choir boy look. Nice, innocent—the kind of guy any girl would love to take home to mother. But throw some hockey equipment on the Winnipeg Jets captain and he instantly transforms into a terror on blades.

Tkachuk, who turned 23 in March, is already regarded as one of the top power forwards in the National Hockey League, a 6’2”, 210-pound left winger who can punish opponents in any number of ways.

Last season he led the Jets in scoring, collecting 41 goals and 81 points. And what makes this accomplishment even more significant is that Tkachuk managed to achieve those totals while also chalking up a whopping 255 penalty minutes. In fact, enforcer Tie Domi was the only Jets player who spent more time in the sin bin (347 minutes) than did Tkachuk.

“The scary thing about Keith is that he’s only going to get better,” says Domi. “He’s still got a lot to learn and (has to) mature more. But he’s going to be a great player for a long time.”

Tkachuk is in his third full season in the NHL. He joined the Jets in February of 1992, after helping the United States to a fourth-place finish at the Olympic Games in Albertville, France. Winnipeg had selected Tkachuk in the first round, 19th overall, of the 1990 Entry Draft.

They call him “Walt”

Tkachuk is not related to former New York Rangers forward Walt Tkaczuk (note the different spelling), who played 14 NHL seasons before retiring in 1981, but that hasn’t prevented his teammates from nicknaming him “Walt.”

There’s another NHL player, however, whom Tkachuk prefers to emulate—Boston Bruins rugged right winger Cam Neely.

“When I was in high school, I watched Cam Neely play,” says Tkachuk, a native of Melrose, MA. “Just by watching him I (knew I) wanted to be like him. I didn’t get to a lot of games, but I watched him on TV all the time.”

Not surprisingly, Tkachuk was a Bruins fan.

“I really liked the Bruins style of banging,” he says. “It was just fun watching the big black and gold bullies. And watching Cam play, he was everything I wanted to be.”

Well, sometimes you get what you want. When Tkachuk broke into the NHL, he too steamrolled his way to a reputation for toughness. “When you first get into the league you want to get some respect (from the opposition) and earn some respect from your teammates,” he reasons. “I had to go out and crash and bang and, when the opportunity was there, get into the odd scuffle.”

Since Tkachuk is as valuable a scorer as he is a physical presence, the Jets would like to see him maintain his aggressiveness while cutting down on his penalty minutes. After all, you can neither score nor bang when you’re in the box.

“He should probably show a little patience sometimes when he gets hit,” says Winnipeg center Thomas Steen. “He likes to retaliate.”

But don’t get Steen wrong for chiding the young winger; he’s a big Tkachuk booster. “He’s still a young guy,” says Steen. “But he’s growing into a Mark Messier-type of player. He’s very hard to stop in front of the net.

“He’ll be a great leader for this team for some time.”

Steen, who is in his 14th NHL season, all with Winnipeg, says the Jets have never had a player like Tkachuk. “He’s a force all over the ice. Even in the defensive zone, he does the job. We’ve had big forwards who were good forecheckers before, but not the type of player Keith is. There aren’t too many guys like him in the league.”

The few names that do come to mind are Neely, Kevin Stevens, Rick Tocchet and Brendan Shanahan. All of whom, like Tkachuk, can strike fear into an opponent’s heart.

“They know when Keith Tkachuk is coming,” notes Steen. “They can hear him coming. He’s like a train.”

The Olympic line

Earlier this season, Tkachuk was playing on a line which looked more like a runaway train. Alongside Russian center Alexei Zhamnov and Finnish right winger Teemu Selanne, this international trio—dubbed The Olympic Line, because each player represented his country at the 1992 Olympics—comprised what was then arguably the NHL’s top line.

“They can all be the best player in the world at their position when they’re playing,” boasts Jets GM (and, until recently, coach) John Paddock. “There’s nothing they don’t have when they want to play. They’ve got a sniper (Selanne), a great playmaking and skilled goal-scoring centerman, and a player who will be one of the best power forwards in the game for the next 10-12 years. They have everything.”

Obviously not a subscriber to the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” theory, Paddock broke up the hot-scoring trio in mid-March. When Igor Korolev joined the Jets from St. Louis, he was teamed up with former Russian teammate Zhamnov and left winger Dallas Drake. Nelson Emerson was switched to center with Selanne and Tkachuk.

Paddock said the move wasn’t a message to anyone, just an attempt to spread the wealth. “We (were) just trying to get a little more balance, and trying to get some of our other forwards producing more.”

And it’s hard to argue with the results: Zhamnov soon had a five-goal game against the Kings, while Emerson notched a goal and four assists in another tilt in which Tkachuk registered two shorthanded goals.

As one would expect of a team-oriented captain like Tkachuk, he took the line change in stride. “I think we need a little more balance, and John obviously (thought) that too. I don’t mind.”

Besides, things changed before, and they may well change again. As for The Olympic Line’s brief moments of brilliance, Tkachuk credits his linemates.

“First of all, Alex Zhamnov is just playing tremendous hockey. Anybody can play with him right now and he would make them better. Put any guys with him and they’re going to produce. And Teemu is Teemu. He’s flashy, he’s got that great speed, and he’s collecting goals. Alex is going to set him up every time, and Teemu is going to put them home.”

Even after the big break-up, the trio still found themselves sharing some power play time. Paddock had Zhamnov playing the point while Tkachuk, Selanne and Korolev comprised the forward line.

Zhamnov, who played against Tkachuk in the Olympics, wasn’t going to dwell on the fact that the captain was taken off his line.

“I’m not the coach,” said Zhamnov, who helped the Russians capture the Gold at Albertville. “I don’t think much about it. If the coach thinks we need to play together, we’ll play together. If not, we’ll play on two lines.”

Proud to wear the ‘C’

Tkachuk is one of only a few NHL players who were drafted out of the US high school ranks. After completing his secondary school studies he joined Boston University, but only for one season. After that, he opted to leave school and join the American national team program.

The Jets are obviously delighted Tkachuk turned pro earlier than originally expected.

“He’s got all the skills,” says Selanne. “He’s got power, he can skate and he can score goals. He’s a very important player. I’ve been with the team three years, and it’s been a pleasure playing with him.”

Though some eyebrows were raised when Tkachuk was named Jets captain at the tender age of 21, Selanne says he wasn’t surprised.

“He can win games for the team sometimes just by himself when he’s playing his best hockey,” says Winnipeg’s flying Finn. “And he’s a big leader here. He wants to show all the players that he cares about this team.”

Tkachuk is proud of wearing the C.

“It’s quite an honor,” he says. “It shows a lot of confidence from the coaches in me, and that makes me play a lot better. Being one of the youngest guys (on the team) makes it tough, but I’m getting a lot of help from the (other) guys. The biggest positive I have about being captain is that I can hopefully go out and lead by example on the ice. Inside (the dressing room), it will take care of itself.”

Though Tkachuk is expected to remain the team’s captain for some time, it’s uncertain whether the Jets will still be in Winnipeg. A deadline of May 1 has been established to see if government officials are willing to financially assist the franchise in the construction of a new arena, which Gary Bettman has said is a necessity if Winnipeg is to keep its team. Speculation has the Jets moving south of the border—where Tkachuk will be an All American drawing card—possibly to Minnesota.

“There are a lot of rumors going around, but we don’t know what’s going to happen,” says Tkachuk. “It’s out of our control. You just have to go out and do your best. It’s very important to our lives whether we’re going to stay in the city or not, but we just have to go out and try to win some hockey games.”

If he had a vote, Tkachuk would want the Jets to stay put.

“I love Winnipeg,” he says. “It’s a great town. The fans are great. People are great. But we need a new building to generate some money for the team. That’s something they have to work out, and like I said, it’s out of our control.”

Performance matters now

What is in control of the team’s players is their performance on the ice. Despite Tkachuk’s individual success, Winnipeg has yet to win a playoff series in his time with the club. The Jets didn’t even earn a post-season berth last year, and are in danger of missing the playoffs again.

“If you look around, we’ve got the talent,” says Tkachuk. “We just have to put it together. Whether we’re missing a player or two is not up to me to say. That’s the management’s job. We’re pretty happy with the guys we’ve got. We just have to put it together and work as a team.”

Management did make a few moves at the trading deadline, adding forwards Mike Eastwood (from Toronto) and Ed Olczyk (from the Rangers), and defenseman Greg Brown (from Pittsburgh). Out of the Winnipeg mix are forwards Tie Domi and Mike Eagles, and defenseman Igor Ulanov.

Like other Winnipeg players, defenseman Dave Manson also speaks highly of the club’s captain, ranking him high among the league’s power forwards.

“If not first, he’s second or third,” says Manson. “He’s definitely in the top three. He’s young, he’s a leader and he’s already proven himself in the NHL. He doesn’t take (bull) from anyone, and that’s the bottom line.”

Manson doesn’t agree with the suggestion that Tkachuk would be even more well known if he were playing elsewhere, even though Winnipeg is far from being a major media market.

“If we won the Stanley Cup then he’d get more recognition,” says Manson. “But he’s got a lot of recognition now throughout the league. You ask any other team, and they’ll say they’ve got to stop him.”

Which has so far been about as easy as stopping that runaway train.

This first appeared in the 06/1995 issue of Hockey Player Magazine®
© Copyright 1991-2001 Hockey Player® and Hockey Player Magazine®

Motivation: The Mental Minute with Justin Su’a

In Defense of Fighting in Hockey

By Chris Faircloth

“I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out.” As an employee at an ice rink, and a hockey player myself, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that joke.  It’s no secret that a fair amount of fighting takes place in ice hockey at its professional levels.  As a result, fighting is often the first thing that comes to mind when one mentions the sport.  This has long been a topic of controversy and debate, yet the rules on fighting have remained fairly consistent throughout the sport’s history.  Though like any issue, there is gray area – I argue on behalf of fighting’s place in the sport.

First off, a common misconception is the belief that fighting is allowed in hockey.  Fights are not allowed, in fact, fisticuffs is expressly outlawed in the rulebook.  The difference is, rather than subject our offenders the the authority of the police and file assault charges, we make them sit in a box for five minutes while their team suffers – or if you’re playing in the same beer league as myself, you’d be suspended for the next two games – and your team suffers for five minutes.

The main response from hockey fighting’s advocates to those who call for the elimination of fights from the sport is that without the possibility of having to fight as a deterrent, the number of “cheap shots” will rise, leading to a rise in injuries.  Basically, that means when a player is not allowed to fight the opposing player he has taken exception with, he is more likely to take out his frustrations during the play – in the form of: elbows, slashes, cross-checks and hits from behind.  To put it even more bluntly – when you run the risk of getting beat up by a player or his teammates, you tend to play a cleaner game.

At it’s professional levels, there are players known as enforcers.  Enforcers are paid to protect the team’s star players.  Everyone has heard of Wayne Gretzky, but what about Dave Semenko?  He was the Edmonton Oilers’ enforcer, and Gretzky’s bodyguard back in the 80s.  Players knew that if they messed with “The Great One” there would be hell to pay.  Semenko’s play had a large role in creating the space for Gretzky to score all those goals.

While some critics would argue that hockey and its players are more barbaric than other sports and their athletes, I’d argue that they are more honorable.  Hockey players settle differences with their fist, on the ice – not with Twitter insults over the internet.  Held in higher regard than the rulebook, hockey players play by “the code” – an unwritten, yet widely known set of conventions that govern violence in hockey.  This code is hockey’s own unique system of policing itself.  The rules are mutually agreed upon by the players, and enforced by, well, the enforcers.  To break the code is to lose respect in the eyes of your fellow athletes, a fate far worse than a two game suspension.

By now, anyone who is not intimately involved with hockey is surely confused.  Even though books have been written on all the intricacies of hockey’s code, I’ll see if I can outline some of the more common conventions, as they pertain to fighting.

The most common, and recognizable, convention of hockey fighting is the removal of the protective gloves worn by players because the hard leather or plastic padding on the glove would increase the damage inflicted the blow.  Wait a minute, doesn’t common sense tell us that the best way to win a fight is to inflict the most damage possible?  Sure, but would you want to get hit it the face with that same gauntlet?  Of course not, I guess the driving moral behind the code is a rule we all already know – treat others the way you’d like to be treated.

That’s all well and good, but what does all this code talk have to do with whether or not fighting should be banned from hockey?  I guess the point is to show that next time you see replays of a hockey fight on television, know that there is much more going on than the rock em’ soc em’ commentary coming from the talking heads on screen.  Those two athletes, those warriors, are putting it all on the line for their team, they are sticking up for their teammates, they are honoring tradition, but at the end of the day – they are just doing their job.

Chris Faircloth is a student at the University of North Carolina – Wilmington.

What makes Fedorov such a great skater

By Robby Glantz

©BBS

I was watching a Detroit Red Wings game recently and I was particularly focused on their star player, Sergei Fedorov. I was interested in trying to understand what makes him so dangerous and explosive on the ice. On might think that because Fedorov is just flat-out faster than everyone else, the opposing team simply has to give him room to operate.

However, what I have discovered is that while his straight-ahead speed is imposing (he regularly vies for the title of fastest skater at the NHL all star skills competition), it is actually the speed and fluidity with which he performs his lateral maneuvers that is perhaps his most lethal weapon. In fact, it is this fundamental that the Europeans, in general, seem to perform with much more regularity, speed and effectiveness than we do here. Therefore, this month’s column is dedicated to helping you improve your side-to-side moves.

Forward Lateral Moves
Forward lateral moves in games are used either to elude the defender or to keep them off balance. They can also be used when making a fake, or simply to generate more speed or momentum. Most players use the Crossover Technique to make a lateral move, which is accomplished by first crossing over to one side and then quickly back to the other.

Fundamentals: To improve your crossover lateral moves, it is important that you learn to take them to the side, rather than in a direct, straight line (of course, this does not mean that you simply go side-to-side. You still need to maintain your forward speed, as well). To accomplish this, you should try to think of this maneuver as having three separate parts.

The first part is the crossover maneuver itself, where the outside leg comes over the inside leg and begins to take your momentum to the side.

The second part is the crossing under, or pulling motion of the inside leg against the ice (forming the letter “C” with your legs), which should give you even more speed to the side.

The third part comes when you spring off the inside edge of your crossover foot (the outside foot) as far to the side as possible, landing on the inside edge of the other foot (the one that was pulling under the body). This third aspect of the maneuver will be the fundamental that you will most likely have trouble with. It is very difficult to center all of your body weight over the inside edge in order to get that power to jump to the side. And yet, this is a vital element of the lateral maneuver, and one that can only improve with plenty of practice.

Another excellent lateral maneuver is the side-to-side move without using a crossover, which I like to refer to as Lateral Jumps. This is a move at which the Russians, Finns and Swedes, in particular, excel. However, it is a fundamental that, over the years, has almost been ignored in North American training.

I had the opportunity to see the great Mats Naslund (now back with the Boston Bruins) perform this move up close when I coached him in skating techniques in Sweden last year. It is an incredibly effective move because the defenseman have no idea which way the skater intends to go. In fact, this move can often times work better than the crossover technique, because when you crossover you are fairly committed to going in the direction that you cross, while with the Lateral Jumps you can switch directions much more rapidly.

Fundamentals: To improve your lateral moves without the use of a crossover, you must gain the ability to center your weight directly over one foot—planted firmly on an inside edge—so that you can attain maximum thrust to the side from that pushing foot. For this move to be effective in a game situation, you should already have a good head of steam. (Of course, it is important that you practice this maneuver at slower speeds when first attempting it). You then quickly jump to the side from one inside edge to the other without losing that forward speed.

The first step of the Lateral Jump technique is to roll the ankle of your outside foot inward to grip the ice with a strong inside edge, centering all of your weight over it while bending at the knees. The second step is to then spring off of that foot as far to the side (not up!) as possible, landing on the inside edge of the other foot.

Wide Base vs. Narrow Base

When we talk about the Forward or Backward Stride, we often discuss how important it is that you start with your feet in a narrow base in relation to your body. That is because these are straight line maneuvers, and starting with your feet too wide will actually take your momentum to the side.

That is exactly the point we are trying to make with regard to the side-to-side moves discussed above. Which is to say, you should make sure that you jump to the side with your feet slightly outside your shoulder line; this gives you better balance, and the lateral mobility needed for generating speed when making explosive shifts and fakes out to the side.

Robby Glantz, power skating coach for the Los Angeles Kings, Swedish champions Malmö, and the German National Teams, conducts skating programs throughout North America and Europe.

This first appeared in the 05/1995 issue of Hockey Player Magazine®
© Copyright 1991-2011 Hockey Player® and Hockey Player Magazine®

EASTON SPORTS TO HIT THE ROAD ON DREAM CRAZY TOUR

Easton Sports today announced the Dream Crazy Tour, offering baseball, hockey and lacrosse players the chance to be national ambassadors of their sport. Easton is accepting video auditions atwww.easton.com/dreamcrazy until Monday, April 11, 2011.

“We’re looking for people who can truly embody their sport in a way that has never been done before,” said Chris Zimmerman, president of Easton Sports. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for entrants to travel the country representing their sport and for Easton to be personified by true sports lovers.”

From April through December, the ambassadors will travel across the U.S. and Canada, discovering, celebrating and sharing the beauty of sport through their eyes. Filming at key sporting events, the group of three will be visiting players, tournaments and families and anything else sport related that they find along the way.

Applicants must submit a short video audition with a maximum length of 1:30 and be willing to be based in the Los Angeles area. Videos can be submitted via YouTube or can be directly uploaded at www.easton.com/dreamcrazy.

For more information, please contact us at HockeyPlayer.com.

About Easton Sports

Easton Sports is a developer, manufacturer, marketer and distributor of baseball, softball, hockey, and lacrosse equipment for both sports professionals and enthusiasts.  Easton Sports focuses on its ability to innovate and create products of unmatched quality and performance including the No. 1 bat in the College World Series®, Women’s College World Series®, Little League World Series®, and Slow-Pitch Softball, as well as the No. 1 stick and No. 1 glove in the National Hockey League.  Headquartered in Van Nuys, Calif., Easton Sports employs more than 1,200 people worldwide and maintains facilities in Utah, California, Mexico, Canada and Asia.  For further information, please visit the company online at www.eastonsports.com.

On defense with Chris Pronger

By Bob Cunningham
Oct 23, 2001, 18:14

Chris Pronger was the second player taken in the 1993 NHL Draft, mainly because the Hartford Whalers felt the 6’6”, 215-pounder had the tools to become another Paul Coffey.

At Peterborough, Pronger tore up the Ontario Hockey League, tallying 139 points in 125 Major Junior games. And with his extraordinary size, the Whalers believed they had the type of player who could dominate at both ends of the ice.

But Pronger is human. He entered the NHL last season and, by his own admission, was less than himself in his first few weeks at hockey’s highest level. He knew he belonged in the NHL, but simultaneously believed he needed to crawl before walking.

“I was a little hesitant because I didn’t know what to expect,” says Pronger, who indicated that his reluctance to showcase his own skills caused him to endure a less-than-ideal first half of his rookie campaign. “Once I started to relax, I began to play better.”

The common error many young defensemen, and even some forwards, make is to play scared. Rather than concentrating on aspects of the game that will help their team win games, these intimidated youngsters work instead at avoiding stupid mistakes that lead to losing.

It applies at any jump in level, whether it be from Juniors to the NHL or from the 10-and-11 year-old division to the 12-to-13 class.

Confidence a “must”

“You don’t want to be cocky, but you definitely have to be confident in what you’re doing out there,” Pronger says. “When you’re a young player, or a rookie, bad games are a given. What you have to do is learn how to work your way through it.”

Pronger played in 81 games last season, amassing 30 points along with 113 penalty minutes. Those numbers are certainly nothing to be ashamed of, but Pronger knows he’s capable of much higher production. And he entered his sophomore season bent on reaching the level Whalers management had in mind when they picked him ahead of Paul Kariya and Jason Arnott, among other promising youngsters.

“I believe your first priority should be to take care of your own end first,” he says. “But when the (scoring) opportunities are there, you have to go after them. In my rookie year, I didn’t feel as confident as I would have liked on the offensive end. There was no reason for me to think that way.”

Still, Pronger did have a positive effect on his new team. The Whalers allowed almost 60 fewer goals last season than they did in 1992-93.

“I did a lot of work on the basics. I worked hard to help out at both ends, especially in the second half of the season,” he recalls. “I worked a lot on foot speed.”

The frantic pace of the NHL leaves most rookies in awe. Pronger said that he thought he had a grasp of the Bigs until he played in his first NHL game.

“Not only is the tempo so much faster, but everybody gives 110 percent on every shift of every game,” he says.

That’s a feeling most players experience whenever they’re promoted to a new level of the game; it’s not a scenario that’s restricted to the NHL.

“It’s kind of like a little cycle,” Pronger adds. “You reach a level and there comes a point where you can take a shift off now and then and it won’t hurt you. Then you go to the next level and you realize you can’t do that.”

Size vs. smarts

Pronger’s game is often keyed by using his size, but he feels that playing smart is much more important than playing big.

“Size has some advantages. Being a rookie, I used my size to help out sometimes,” he says. “I could use my reach to poke check the puck away if I got beat to the side. I mean, you’re not very often going to run a big guy over.

“But playing smart is what you have to do. Get in the right position to begin with, and that guy won’t get around you. Then you don’t have to rely on your reach.”

Another trait Pronger says aids in the “breaking-in” period for a young defenseman is intensity. Pronger cautions against all-out aggression, and is instead in favor of a win-or-nothing approach. Winning, says Pronger, is always the most important thing—at any level.

“I’ve never been too happy when we lost. If we don’t win, I’m not a good guy to be around. Sometimes, that doesn’t win you too many friends.”

It’s a tough balance to maintain—keeping the intensity to win while understanding that a level head is required to effectively contribute to the team despite a lack of experience. And to balance aggression with intelligence.

And it can be murder defensively, where individual mistakes always seem to catch the spotlight. With forwards, the play is more team-oriented. Mistakes result in missed opportunities—which is preferable to outright goals against.

But by the looks of things, Pronger’s all-out approach to winning should carry him through this difficult period of adjustment.

— Bob Cunningham

This first appeared in the 04/1995 issue of Hockey Player Magazine®
© Copyright 1991-2011 Hockey Player® and Hockey Player Magazine®

Hockey Meal Plan

Kirk Muller

By James Baxter

©BBS

Under the blazing hot glow of the arena’s mercury lights, Kirk Muller has always lurked in the shadows. The man Montreal Canadiens brass admits may be the least appreciated player in the National Hockey League has made a career for himself in those shadows.

Muller is probably the best player never to win a major NHL award. And it’s nothing new, either. Junior hockey accolades were also sparse for the player selected second overall in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, perhaps because of who went first—Mario Lemieux. But even since then, little has changed.

Until this season.

As an NHLer, Muller has been a dominant scorer, but never the dominant scorer on his team. The same holds true for his defensive play. Like Doug Gilmour of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Muller can rule at both ends of the ice. However, one key difference is that Muller rules with a 6’, 205-pound frame, allowing him to throw devastating bodychecks along the way—something the slight Gilmour usually leaves to his teammates.

Fans and hockey gurus agree that Muller may be one of the “greatest good players” ever to play the game. He has played in six All-Star games, but has never been selected as a post-season All Star. While he has the respect of his peers, there have been few accolades and no NHL awards.

“It really doesn’t bug me,” says Muller, his war-torn shoulders shrugging gently. “I just want to play as much as I can, when I can. I love this game.”

It is this affable, “just-put-me-in, coach” approach that has endeared Muller to the ever-demanding fans in Montreal. His effort and desire to win are beyond reproach, and Muller was an integral force in bringing a 24th Stanley Cup to the Montreal Forum in 1993.

Yet somehow, under the oppressive fan- and media-magnifying glass that is Montreal, Muller is one of the few Canadiens players who has found a shadow on the Forum ice. Muller is far from anonymous in Montreal; he’s just underappreciated. But, until now, Muller said he preferred to just be one of the team rather than be singled out—one way or another.

Third fiddle?

“It definitely helps that Patrick (Roy) is the real star here,” says Muller, who would not go as far as to say that the notorious French media who roam the rafters in hockey’s “shrine” can make life miserable for Montreal players they choose to excommunicate. “And when it’s not Pat, it’s Vince (Damphousse). I’m not really even second fiddle here, I guess,” jokes captain Kirk.

“The media here can be quick to make you a star and just as quick to take it away,” observes Muller. “They have always treated me well.”

Indeed, Muller was the team’s Molson Cup winner in 1992-93, which is based on three-star selections made by the media throughout the year. He simply doesn’t get much ink or air time otherwise.

The fact that Muller generally escapes the praise or wrath of the fickle local media is of little concern to the 29-year-old Kingston, Ontario native. What does matter to Muller is that his dogged play and selfless nature hasn’t been overlooked by his teammates and coaches. His leadership and hard work made Guy Carbonneau, the Montreal captain and three-time Selke Trophy winner (as the NHL’s best defensive forward) expendable, and the Canadiens dispatched the aging and moody Carbonneau to St. Louis over the summer.

The truth was that Muller had begun taking over from Carbonneau the day he arrived in Montreal in a trade that sent Stephane Richer and Tom Chorske to New Jersey. Unlike many players from US-based teams who complain when traded to a team in Canada, Muller was genuinely thrilled. This was in stark contrast to Carbonneau, who was threatening to bolt the Canadiens at his first free-agent opportunity. While Carbonneau’s defensive play was spectacular in the Canadiens run to the ‘93 Cup, it was Muller who was clearly working the hardest—next to Patrick Roy, of course.

Last season, Muller suffered a massive separation of his left shoulder during the first game of the exhibition season and reinjured it seriously while trying to return to the ice too quickly. In the end, Muller—an ironman who had previously missed only six regular-season games over a nine-year NHL career—sat out just eight games, and played in pain for nearly half the year.

Selfless inspiration

“I definitely came back too quickly,” says Muller, somewhat sheepishly. “It was a very serious injury. It was also my first real injury of my career, and I think I pushed too hard and did a lot of damage. It really didn’t get better until February, and is only now really getting back to what it was like before.”

But Muller’s selfless attempts to return to the ice proved inspirational to the rest of the team, especially the younger players. The Canadiens ultimately decided that it was time for Muller to assume the role of top dog among the players.

“Personally, I know we’ll miss (Carbonneau) and I was sad to see him go,” says Muller, who was named the team’s new captain just days before Training Camp One opened last August. “Carbo is a great hockey player, not just a great defensive hockey player. We will miss him on the ice and in the room.”

Homage paid and received, Muller looks at the challenge ahead and the team he will have to lead into battle. “We have a great, young team,” says the captain, noting that Brian Bellows is the only player on the squad who’s over 30 years old. “We have a lot of young guys and some of them are going to have to step up and come through with big years for us.”

Coach Jacques Demers isn’t so sure he can count on his younger talent, so he has put Muller, Damphousse and feisty veteran winger Mike Keane on notice. “I don’t know precisely what he told Vince and Mike, but he told me to expect to play between 30 and 35 minutes per game,” says Muller, who carried a similar workload under coach Jim Shoenfeld in New Jersey. “I’ll have one of the top two lines to center, as well as the power play and some penalty killing. I can’t wait.”

Muller’s boyhood hero was Philadelphia’s hard-nosed Hall-Of-Fame captain Bobby Clarke. And Muller, who considered himself nothing but a scorer in minor hockey, credits having been drafted by an expansion Junior team, the Guelph (Ontario) Platers, for making him one of the best two-way players in the NHL.

“For the first few years (in Junior), I was one of the only guys they had up front. I had to do everything. The coaches were also the kind of guys who believed that the game needs to be played hard at both ends of the ice. They taught me to put as much emphasis on the defensive aspects of my game as I did on the offensive end.”

A chance to be like “those guys”

That fits right in on St. Catherine Street, where the motto “From failing hands to thee we pass the torch. Be it yours to hold high” is prominent in the Canadiens locker room. It’s an inspirational message written just beneath the faces of every Canadiens player or coach who now dwells in the NHL Hall Of Fame. A few of the faces, Bob Gainey’s in particular, seem to have an extra impact on Muller, especially just before games.

“Every one of those guys was a great hockey player,” says Muller, quietly noting that the best measure of greatness is the number of championships they won. “Each one had a great talent and gave a lot to this team. What Jacques (Demers) has given me is a chance to be like those guys (on the wall).”

If his own playing duties were not enough, Muller has taken on the task of helping former linemate John Leclair to emerge as the Canadiens “other” center. Leclair, a bruising product of the University of Ver-mont, emerged as a potential star in the Montreal roll toward the 1993 championship. However, his development as a Cam Neely clone stalled last season, and Demers decided that Leclair’s future was at center rather than on the wing. Relearning a position at the NHL level is never easy, notes Muller, so he decided to help Leclair in any way he could.

“We need Johnny to have a big season for us to be successful,” says Muller. “In my mind, he is one of the two key elements in whether we will have a good year. The other is some of our rookies have to come through. Turner Stevenson and Brian Savage do, in particular. I wouldn’t be much of a captain if I didn’t do what I could for the guys on the team.”

Does that mean he is ready for the spotlight?

Muller pauses, and then answers, “Sure.”

With his “Bleu, Blanc et Rouge” number 11 coming out of the NHL shadows, Muller is preparing himself for life at center stage…er, ice. He spent the summer and most of the recent NHL lockout learning to speak French. Though never one to shun the cameras before, Muller now seeks them out, especially when it is time to face up to a bad game. He still squints a little when he emerges from the shadows, but he knows it is time for him to face the heat.

“This is what a player should dream of,” says Muller, allowing himself to enjoy saying “captain of the Montreal Canadiens.”

“A player should want to—should strive to—be asked by his coach to step up and take on these responsibilities.”

Special players like Muller always do.

This first appeared in the 04/1995 issue of Hockey Player Magazine®
© Copyright 1991-2011 Hockey Player® and Hockey Player Magazine®