| | Who can tell how many sleepless nights Harold Druken will have because of his hockey career?
The 20-year-old Druken, a rookie center for the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL, has established himself as one of the best prospects in pro hockey this season. Druken had 31 points in his first 31 games with Syracuse and was plus-11, among the AHL rookie leaders in both categories. His play had earned him a taste of the NHL with parent Vancouver, which thrilled him, his friends and family -- save for one detail.
|  | | Harold Druken celebrates his first NHL goal in his second game for the Canucks. |
Druken grew up in Newfoundland, which is 4½ hours ahead of Vancouver. Television games from British Columbia aren't exactly in prime time. Still, Druken is a big enough story in Newfoundland to warrant the late nights, or early mornings.
And what's even better is that he looks like the real thing.
"Harold can become a great player, not just a good one," said Crunch coach Stan Smyl, a former NHL winger.
Druken is 6-feet, 205 pounds, which isn't huge but certainly big enough to compete. Plus, he's got some great skills.
"He's a gifted player and he knows it," Smyl said. "He's very creative with the puck, has good hockey sense, moves and speed."
At age 14, Druken left his home in St. John's, Newfoundland, to attend Noble and Greenough, a prep school outside of Boston. He then played junior in the Ontario Hockey League for Plymouth and Detroit before beginning his pro career this season.
In seven games with the Canucks, Druken went 1-2-3 and was plus-4. "I was a little bitter," he admitted when Vancouver sent him back to Syracuse. "I want to be in the NHL, but at the same time, I didn't expect to be there at all this year. So, when I came back down, I was excited to be with the guys here again."
The Crunch has not played in St. John's yet this season but is scheduled to be there next month, and Druken has mixed feelings about making that trip. "Obviously, I'd rather be in the NHL then," he said. "But I'll take it day by day until it comes. I know I have a lot of fans (in St. John's), and it would be good to see them."
The way Druken's career is going, there might not be that many more chances for anyone to see him in the AHL.
Notes from the IHL
Grand Rapids got Michel Picard back from Edmonton, where he got into just two games and was pointless. Even though Picard was gone for a month, he was still the Griffins' leading goal scorer with 14 when he returned. He scored twice in his first game back, a 3-1 victory over the Chicago Wolves.
It was an all-David performance when Kansas City beat Houston, 5-4. The Blades got a goal from David Vallieres, two goals from David Ling and two more from Dave Chyzowski.
So, Cleveland's Jock Callander tied Len Thornson's all-time points mark at Cleveland with an assist, giving him 1,382 career points. But, the Lumberjacks lost the game, 5-3, to Utah. That snapped Cleveland's seven-game winning streak. Callander was pointless in a 7-2 loss to the Grizzlies the very next night, and now Cleveland is off on a five-game road trip.
Has anyone ever seen Utah goalie Rich Parent and Houston goaltender Frederic Chabot in the same room together? They started the week with virtually identical stats. Both had played in 26 games and both were 16-7-3. Chabot's goals-against was 2.16, Parent's 2.18. Chabot's saves percentage was .921, Parent's .920.
Notes from the AHL
When the Red Wings assigned defenseman Jiri Fischer to Cincinnati for conditioning, that put four former first-round draft picks together on the Mighty Ducks defense. The list included Fischer, Maxim Kuznetsov, Jesse Wallin and Vitaly Vishnevski.
Hartford had never given up more than six goals in a game in franchise history, then gave up seven in both of its first two games after the New Year. That prompted center Mike Harder to say, "I don't think we're Y2K compliant."
When Saint John ran out of available goaltenders, it activated Rick Poirier, a policeman from nearby St. Stephen, New Brunswick and brought him along as backup goalie on a road trip to New England. Poirier got to play in a blowout loss at Worcester, giving up the goal that allowed Jim Campbell to complete a hat trick.
Defending Calder Cup champion Providence lost at Springfield, 14-2, and the Bruins underwent a few changes. Providence brought up John Spoltore from Louisiana of the ECHL and activated defenseman Bob Beers, who is the Boston Bruins' radio color analyst. The P-Bruins also fired director of operations Ross Brooks, the former Boston goalie.
Springfield's Eric Healey almost had his left hand amputated by a skate blade in a game at Worcester. Healey underwent emergency surgery to reattach a tendon, artery and nerve and doctors held out some hope that Healey's career could eventually be salvaged.
Philadelphia's Mike Maneluk had an almost impossibly hot stretch in which he scored 18 goals in a span of 15 games. Only four AHL teams have more shorthanded goals combined than the six Maneluk has on his own.
Notes from other leagues
The Ft. Worth Brahmas of the Western Pro League have embarked on their longest road trip of the season. It was supposed to be 13 games long, but three games were rescheduled, and it is down to 10 games.
Ohio (UHL) goalie Johnathan Forest faced 51 shots on back-to-back nights. He split the two games, beating Fort Wayne by 2-1 before losing, 5-2, to Muskegon.
Peoria and Toledo of the ECHL were tied, 1-1, after two in a recent game. By 10:28 of the third period, Toledo had a 4-1 lead. Then Peoria came back to tie the game on goals by Trevor Baker, Tyler Willis and James Desmarais. Joe Rybar got the game-winner in the shootout to give Peoria a 5-4 victory.
Bill Ballou covers professional hockey and baseball for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. | |
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