Canesluver
03-31-2003, 08:11 AM
Admiring adjectives for Vrbata
Canes teammates, coach see plenty of potential in young Czech player
By LUKE DECOCK, Staff Writer
RALEIGH -- Everyone on the Carolina Hurricanes seems to have his own comparison for Radim Vrbata. Josef Vasicek says Vrbata reminds him of Martin Havlat. Jan Hlavac says Vrbata reminds him of Milan Hejduk.
And coach Paul Maurice, while extolling Vrbata's virtues after a game, stopped himself from getting carried away by saying, "Wait a second. We're not talking about Michael Jordan here."
Such is the enthusiasm for the 21-year-old right wing the Canes acquired from the Colorado Avalanche for Bates Battaglia on March 11. With five goals in his first six games with the Canes, Vrbata has shown the potential to challenge Jeff O'Neill next season as the Canes' top goal-scorer.
At the least, based on his performance with Carolina, he'll be expected to produce like Czech countrymen Havlat, who has 23 goals for the Ottawa Senators, or Hejduk, who has 44 for Vrbata's former team.
Vrbata scored in his Carolina debut, and the next night, as well. But it took only one moment, in his second home game, for expectations to skyrocket.
On March 18, in a 6-5 loss to the Ottawa Senators, Tomas Kurka passed the puck across the ice toward Vrbata, crossing the blue line on the right wing.
The pass was off target, and rather than try to control it, Vrbata waited for it to bounce off the boards, then one-timed it -- an absolute laser -- over Patrick Lalime's glove into the upper right corner of the net.
"I thought Lalime wouldn't expect it," Vrbata said afterward.
Lalime wasn't the only one. No one in the building was expecting it.
There have been Canes who have scored spectacular goals, but there was always the feeling that there was a bit of a happy accident to it.
Vrbata is the first player the Canes have had who can score a goal like that on purpose, slotting a bouncing puck into a tiny space while on the move.
"It's exciting to watch," Maurice said. "A guy like that, you give him a little more room on offense."
Vrbata grew up in Mlada Boleslav, a town about a half-hour outside Prague that is home to a huge Skoda automobile factory.
He left there at 18 to play junior hockey in Canada, spending three years in Quebec before making the jump to the NHL with Colorado last season.
He was the NHL rookie of the month in February and finished with 18 goals in only 52 games.
Vrbata started out the same way this season, but a prolonged slump made him expendable.
"At the beginning of the year, everything was going in," Vrbata said. "Then it turned and I couldn't find the back of the net. I wasn't playing as much as I would like, and with the stars there, it's difficult to get power-play time."
After six goals in the first 18 games this season, he dropped down the lines and ended up a healthy scratch in January.
That's why tonight's game against the Montreal Canadiens is a critical one for him. Hampered by an upper respiratory infection that caused him to miss two games, Vrbata was a nonfactor in Saturday's 3-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres.
He has been given more opportunities in Carolina. With them come more responsibilities.
In Colorado, when the power play went 0-for-6, effectively losing the game, the spotlight went elsewhere.
Here, after an 0-for-6 night with Vrbata manning the point -- a Maurice experiment that may not resurface next season -- it shines on him.
That's a difficult adjustment, but not nearly as hard as going from one of the NHL's best teams to one that has plummeted to worst.
His brother was planning to come over from the Czech Republic for the playoffs. That trip has been canceled.
"When the trade happened, I just had to change my mind-set," Vrbata said. "For me as a hockey player, though, this is a better place for me to be."
Of all the players the Canes have acquired for the fan favorites traded away this season, Vrbata stands out.
Defenseman Bruno St. Jacques has been a pleasant surprise but is still basically a prospect. Winger Pavel Brendl is a project, although he struggled with a knee injury upon his arrival in Carolina.
With all three, it's easy to forget how young they are.
Vrbata's girlfriend, Petra, for instance, is hoping to enroll at N.C. State next year. Vrbata himself seems happily ensconced in West Raleigh
Eye on the Hurricanes
Kurka, Hlavac out; Brendl practices: Another day, another injury. Tomas Kurka is out tonight with a hip flexor injury. The Canes were hoping Jan Hlavac could return after missing 13 games with a broken finger, but Hlavac has ruled himself out. "I'm not going to play for sure," he said. Hlavac has targeted a Wednesday return at Pittsburgh. ... Damian Surma was reassigned to Lowell (AHL) on Sunday, a formality. Surma has been practicing with Lowell since injuring his shoulder in his NHL debut March 18, but he could not be sent down officially until he was healthy. ... Pavel Brendl returned to practice this weekend for the first time since his March 25 knee surgery.
Canes teammates, coach see plenty of potential in young Czech player
By LUKE DECOCK, Staff Writer
RALEIGH -- Everyone on the Carolina Hurricanes seems to have his own comparison for Radim Vrbata. Josef Vasicek says Vrbata reminds him of Martin Havlat. Jan Hlavac says Vrbata reminds him of Milan Hejduk.
And coach Paul Maurice, while extolling Vrbata's virtues after a game, stopped himself from getting carried away by saying, "Wait a second. We're not talking about Michael Jordan here."
Such is the enthusiasm for the 21-year-old right wing the Canes acquired from the Colorado Avalanche for Bates Battaglia on March 11. With five goals in his first six games with the Canes, Vrbata has shown the potential to challenge Jeff O'Neill next season as the Canes' top goal-scorer.
At the least, based on his performance with Carolina, he'll be expected to produce like Czech countrymen Havlat, who has 23 goals for the Ottawa Senators, or Hejduk, who has 44 for Vrbata's former team.
Vrbata scored in his Carolina debut, and the next night, as well. But it took only one moment, in his second home game, for expectations to skyrocket.
On March 18, in a 6-5 loss to the Ottawa Senators, Tomas Kurka passed the puck across the ice toward Vrbata, crossing the blue line on the right wing.
The pass was off target, and rather than try to control it, Vrbata waited for it to bounce off the boards, then one-timed it -- an absolute laser -- over Patrick Lalime's glove into the upper right corner of the net.
"I thought Lalime wouldn't expect it," Vrbata said afterward.
Lalime wasn't the only one. No one in the building was expecting it.
There have been Canes who have scored spectacular goals, but there was always the feeling that there was a bit of a happy accident to it.
Vrbata is the first player the Canes have had who can score a goal like that on purpose, slotting a bouncing puck into a tiny space while on the move.
"It's exciting to watch," Maurice said. "A guy like that, you give him a little more room on offense."
Vrbata grew up in Mlada Boleslav, a town about a half-hour outside Prague that is home to a huge Skoda automobile factory.
He left there at 18 to play junior hockey in Canada, spending three years in Quebec before making the jump to the NHL with Colorado last season.
He was the NHL rookie of the month in February and finished with 18 goals in only 52 games.
Vrbata started out the same way this season, but a prolonged slump made him expendable.
"At the beginning of the year, everything was going in," Vrbata said. "Then it turned and I couldn't find the back of the net. I wasn't playing as much as I would like, and with the stars there, it's difficult to get power-play time."
After six goals in the first 18 games this season, he dropped down the lines and ended up a healthy scratch in January.
That's why tonight's game against the Montreal Canadiens is a critical one for him. Hampered by an upper respiratory infection that caused him to miss two games, Vrbata was a nonfactor in Saturday's 3-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres.
He has been given more opportunities in Carolina. With them come more responsibilities.
In Colorado, when the power play went 0-for-6, effectively losing the game, the spotlight went elsewhere.
Here, after an 0-for-6 night with Vrbata manning the point -- a Maurice experiment that may not resurface next season -- it shines on him.
That's a difficult adjustment, but not nearly as hard as going from one of the NHL's best teams to one that has plummeted to worst.
His brother was planning to come over from the Czech Republic for the playoffs. That trip has been canceled.
"When the trade happened, I just had to change my mind-set," Vrbata said. "For me as a hockey player, though, this is a better place for me to be."
Of all the players the Canes have acquired for the fan favorites traded away this season, Vrbata stands out.
Defenseman Bruno St. Jacques has been a pleasant surprise but is still basically a prospect. Winger Pavel Brendl is a project, although he struggled with a knee injury upon his arrival in Carolina.
With all three, it's easy to forget how young they are.
Vrbata's girlfriend, Petra, for instance, is hoping to enroll at N.C. State next year. Vrbata himself seems happily ensconced in West Raleigh
Eye on the Hurricanes
Kurka, Hlavac out; Brendl practices: Another day, another injury. Tomas Kurka is out tonight with a hip flexor injury. The Canes were hoping Jan Hlavac could return after missing 13 games with a broken finger, but Hlavac has ruled himself out. "I'm not going to play for sure," he said. Hlavac has targeted a Wednesday return at Pittsburgh. ... Damian Surma was reassigned to Lowell (AHL) on Sunday, a formality. Surma has been practicing with Lowell since injuring his shoulder in his NHL debut March 18, but he could not be sent down officially until he was healthy. ... Pavel Brendl returned to practice this weekend for the first time since his March 25 knee surgery.