UKRAINIAN PRO HOCKEY UPDATE
by Ihor Stelmach
Blues Power Forward
Ah, so this is how the West is won. The Colorado Avalanche, after trying Theo Fleury in 1999 and adding Ray Bourque last year, went one giant step further this past regular season by acquiring star defenseman Rob Blake from the Los Angeles Kings.
The San Jose Sharks, not to be outdone, pulled off a major deal by adding Teemu Selanne from Anaheim.
The St. Louis Blues had to do something - and it had to be big. Despite all their talent and all their success in the regular season, this is a franchise that has been starving to make some noise in the playoffs. Enough with watching the really meaningful games in 3-D - Denver, Dallas, Detroit. It's time to seriously live it.
"We were committed to doing anything we could to put our club in a better position to go for it, and I think we accomplished that," said Blues' GM Larry Pleau.
Many would agree St. Louis got an awful lot closer after acquiring power forward Keith Tkachuk from Phoenix for Michal Handzus, Ladislav Nagy, prospect Jeff Taffe and a first-round draft pick. Pleau flirted with the idea of adding Eric Lindros, but Philadelphia wanted more than he was willing to offer (center Pierre Turgeon) and the Blues preferred Tkachuk anyway. Unlike Lindros, who could be one hit away from retirement, Pleau knows what he's getting in the 6-foot-2, 225-pound Tkachuk.
"St. Louis was going for the big one, and they got it," said Coyotes' Coach Bobby Francis. "They acquired an excellent hockey player who's really going to help them."
Tkachuk said the trade was bittersweet. "I wanted to stay and win a Cup, but I'm going to a better situation," he said. "I'll definitely miss it here (Phoenix), but the Blues are committed to winning and they have some great players."
With injuries having sidelined three of the Blues' other top players (Chris Pronger, Al MacInnis and Pavol Demitra), it's no certainty the gateway to the Cup will pass through St. Louis. But if they get healthy, watch out. And get healthy they did, as the Blues gained the Western Conference final round of this year's Stanley Cup playoffs, matched up against the aforementioned Colorado Avalanche.
In Tkachuk, the Blues greatly improved their power play, toughness and traffic in front of the opposition's net. The two-time 50-goal scorer, who had 35 goals and 44 assists for 79 points in 76 regular season games, adds an element GM Pleau said St. Louis was lacking. "We needed to change the personality of our team," he said.
So did the Coyotes, it turns out. They also had to trim Tkachuk's $8.3 million salary, which he's assured to make for at least the next two years after he becomes a restricted free agent again next summer. "(A trade) was inevitable, if not now, then at some point after the season," he said. "Obviously, (Phoenix) is having financial trouble or I don't think they would have made this deal."
While Phoenix didn't get a headliner in return for Tkachuk, the deal wasn't a straight salary dump. Nagy, 21, is a skilled winger who could develop into a 30-goal scorer. Taffe, a 20-year-old center, is a prospect in his second year at the University of Minnesota.
But the key for the Coyotes is Handzus, 24. He's considered one of the best young two-way centers in the game, and some scouts feel he'll blossom into a star. "You have to have two top centers to compete in this league, especially in the west," said Coyotes' GM Cliff Fletcher.
So now Phoenix has Jeremy Roenick and Handzus. But Roenick can test unrestricted free agency if he isn't re-signed by July 1. By unloading Tkachuk, Phoenix now has the cash to entice Roenick into staying, but there's no guarantee that will happen.
And if they don't, there's another team out west that's more than willing and able to add a star player to keep up with the Joneses. A team, say, ready to hop across the free agent checkerboard and yell, "King me!"
Can you imagine J.R. (Jeremy Roenick) in Hollywood?
Reborn Bondra at home in D.C.
Peter Bondra would like to make one thing perfectly clear: He never wanted to leave the Washington Capitals. Oh, there was the little matter of that trade he demanded last summer, but that, he said, was a complex issue.
"Why would I want to leave?" asked the Capitals' born-again sniper. "I never said I hated Washington. I grew up in Washington. I love it in Washington."
And Washington is where Bondra, who turned 33 last February 7, remains. In fact, he re-emerged as one of the league's top scorers with 45 goals and 81 points playing in all 82 of his team's regular season games. Compare these numbers to his 21 goals over 62 games in 1999-2000.
His return to form enabled Bondra to join a group of players that truly made 2000-2001 the best comeback season the National Hockey League has ever seen.
How can we make such a claim? Two words: Mario Lemieux.
Other top comeback candidates (listed alphabetically) include:
Bondra, meanwhile, never wanted to uproot his family. What happened was this: Bondra met with Washington GM George McPhee after last season to discuss his future. He'd just completed his worst offensive season since his rookie campaign in 1990-1991 and had one year left on his contract, at which point he'd get his first crack at unrestricted free agency. To him, signing an extension following a poor year made no sense.
"I said, 'If you're going to trade me, do it now,' " Bondra said. "I am a family man and I wanted to get my family established in another city."
There was a time, not so long ago, when Bondra could have run for mayor in Washington and won hands down. From 1994-1995 through 1997-1998, no player in the NHL scored more than his 184 goals. Philadelphia's John LeClair was second with 178, and Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr was third with 176.
Twice Bondra led the league in goals, but slipped to 31 in 1998-1999 and then 21 in 1999-2000, a year in which knee and shoulder injuries limited his effectiveness.
"You try to tell yourself to just play through it, but sometimes it doesn't work out that way," Bondra said. "I think when you're hurt you hesitate sometimes. Hockey is a game of inches and if you hesitate, sometimes what was there disappears."
What also disappeared was Bondra's enthusiasm for the game. The more he struggled, the harder he tried. And the harder he tried without success, the more exasperated he became.
"Peter has very high expectations for himself," said Washington Coach Ron Wilson. "Rather than just relax and let the game come to him, he tried to force the issue and it just ended up compounding the frustration."
Bondra worked harder than ever last off-season with the hope of getting back on track. And while one would imagine the return of Mario Lemieux would have made Jagr the odds-on favorite to win his fourth straight scoring title (it did), Bondra seriously challenged for the Rocket Richard goal-scoring trophy (Bondra finished fourth with his 45 goals).
Wilson admitted his one concern entering this past season was Bondra's presence being a distraction to the team, but that was certainly not the case.
"He embraced the team game," Wilson said. "He scored 52 goals my first year and, though that tied him for the league lead, he's a better player now. I don't have to hide him against other team's best players ... I play him in every situation."
Coach Wilson hopes to have that option for many years to come...
And he will ... The Capitals put many rumors to rest once and for all by signing right-wing Bondra to a four-year deal potentially worth about $18 million. It is actually a two-year deal with the Caps having options on the next two at an annual average salary of $4.5 million.
Bondra scored a hat trick in a 5-4 win over Toronto the day the deal was publicly announced.
"I grew up here, I want my kids to grow up here and maybe I'll retire here," he said.
The signing was rumored, but still came as a surprise. A very pleasant one at that - for all parties involved.
(Thanks to Bob McManaman and Mike Brophy of The Hockey News for quotes on Keith Tkachuk and Peter Bondra, respectively.)
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, May 27, 2001, No. 21, Vol. LXIX
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