Intestinal fortitude

Dineen forged impressive career despite debilitating illness

More in this column: * Nash coming along nicely * Avs can't put it all together * Rumor mill * Worth noting * Shameless plug

Kevin Dineen told his Columbus Blue Jackets teammates that it would be his last game just before taking the ice Sunday against the Buffalo Sabres.

Then he went out and played hard like he always did. Once more, with feeling.

I have had an anonymous long-distance bond with Dineen for many years, forged through an unfortunate illness that we share and a childhood neighbor with the same name.

I saw Dineen play for the first time in January of 1984 at the MECCA Arena in Milwaukee, Wisc., during Team Canada's pre-Olympic warmup tour against Team USA. His name jumped out at me because the Dineen family across the street in Brookfield, Wisc., had a 4-year-old son also named Kevin.

Three years later, after his third NHL season with Hartford, Dineen was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease, a debilitating inflammatory bowel disorder that I was diagnosed with at age 10, on April 21, 1985.

The connection was sealed. I was a fan for life.

Dineen was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease in 1987 after returning from Europe. He has taken Azulfidine, Prednisone and Asacol over the years to manage his symptoms, and has been in good health for two years. But he wasn't always so lucky.

There were missed games along the way. He was hospitalized for 10 days in 1988 while playing for Hartford and again while with Philadelphia in 1993. He once had a colonscopy in the morning and went out and scored two goals for the Whalers that night. Now that's toughness.

"I guess I tricked them for a long time being able to play with that damn thing," Dineen said. "For the most part, compared to most of the people I've talked to with Crohn's, I've been very fortunate. But I know that it sure is a debilitating thing to have and I've been on the lucky side."

From a distance, I admired his grit. I loved that he cold play the game at such a high level while fighting this chronic illness. I respected his passion for the game. I loved that he could score, pass, skate and fight. Few players of the past 20 years offered up such a total package. And he always played hard.

Growing up in a hockey family with former NHL player Bill Dineen as his father, as well as brothers Gord and Peter who also played in the NHL, there was no other way to play. His father taught him to make an impact on every game in one way or another and to always outwork his opponents.

"It's a flattering reputation to have that you play the game only one way," Dineen said. "For me, that was the only way I could play. I think I learned early enough that I had limited talent. You could say that's not true because I scored 350 goals, but I've also looked at some of the highlights over the years and there were a lot of Ronnie Francis tap-ins, beleive me."

"He had great skills," Francis told the Columbus Dispatch. "People forget. He's a very underrated player. He was the ultimate combination of ability and determination. I'm extremely proud to say I played along side of him."

Dineen is one of just eight players to score 300 goals and record 2,000 penalty minutes, joining Mike Foligno, Dale Hunter, Scott Mellanby, Gary Roberts, Brendan Shanahan, Rick Tocchet and Pat Verbeek. The great Cam Neely, thought by many to be the prototypical power forward, scored 395 goals in 726 games, but only amassed 1,241 minutes in the sin bin. Dineen had longevity that few other scrappers can claim. At 5-foot-11, 190 pounds, he may lack the size we associate with a power forward today, but he never backed down from anyone.

In his final game, Dineen was reunited on a line with old Whalers teammates Andrew Cassels and Geoff Sanderson. He suffered a cut over his eye and spent his last shift in the penalty box after goading the Sabres' leading scorer, Chris Gratton, into matching minors with 1:46 left in the game. The wily veteran took Buffalo's best player off the ice as it unsuccessfully tried to rally from a 3-2 deficit.

"That was the right way to end it," Blue Jackets enforcer Jody Shelley said. "He ended it in the box, with blood pouring out of his eye. That's the way it should be."

For the game, Dineen played 11:22, racked up six penalty minutes and got off two shots. As a reward, he was named the game's first star after word got out that it would be his final game.

"Dino was probably the ultimate warrior in the game," Blue Jackets head coach Dave King said. "People talk about guys like Busher Jackson, Eddie Shore, or more modern guys like Mark Messier and Scott Stevens as guys who just play hard and compete hard every night. Those guys have maybe had a few more honors thrown their way throughout their career, but in terms of his competitiveness, Kevin Dineen is right up there with those guys. In 20 years of playing hockey, he's never really changed very much in terms of his intensity."

Dineen finished his career with 355 goals, 405 assists and 2,229 penalty minutes in 1,188 games for Hartford, Philadelphia, Carolina, Ottawa and Columbus. The high points included being the first Whalers player voted to start in the All-Star Game in 1988 and scoring the last goal in Hartford history on April 13, 1997, on assists from Cassels and Sanderson.

But those who played with him or coaches him will remember him for the quality of person he was, something reflected by his receiving the Bud Light Man of the Year Award in 1990-91 and being named a three-time finalist (1995, 2001, 2002) for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.

"It was a real joy because you learn a lot from a guy like Kevin Dineen," King said. "You can look at ability, you can look at skill, you can look at talent and all the other apparent things, but Kevin is a classic example for every coach that you can't overlook heart. This guy is a real good example for all the kids who play real hard and maybe aren't as polished as other kids."

Dineen plans to stay with the Jackets in some sort of player development role, but he wants to take two weeks to relax with his family before making another career decision.

"Kevin Dineen has played the game of hockey with tremendous passion, determination and courage throughout his career and has been a great ambassador for the NHL for 19 years," Jackets general manager Doug MacLean said. "He has provided valuable leadership and been a consummate professional on our hockey club the past three years and I'm proud that he will remain a member of the Blue Jackets organization."

He and wife Ann, daughters Hannah (8), Emma (5) and son William (2) will split their time between their homes in Bexley, Ohio, and Lake George, N.Y.

Whatever he decides to do in his life, you can expect Kevin Dineen to attack with his gloves off, squeezing every ounce he can out of his talent.

Nash making steady progress in rookie season

With Dineen out of the mix, more focus will be placed on No. 1 overall draft pick Rick Nash. The Jackets are pleased with Nash's progress so far and aren't panicking that he hasn't scored a goal since opening night.

"We think he can help our team," King said. "So far he's helped us every night. We've been pleased with that. Obviously we'd like to see him finish some chances and score a few more goals for us, but you are just looking for that continuous indicator that the player is doing well and making progress."

Nash had one assist in 10:44 of ice time in Thursday's 5-2 win in St. Louis, but has just one goal and four assists this season with a minus-7 rating. The Jackets have kept Nash on a line with Mike Sillinger and Grant Marshall, opting to expose him to both excellent playmaking and checking with his veteran linemates. The youngster has also benefitted from living in the same apartment complex as Cassels and Jamie Allison.

"He's not one of those cocky guys who comes in and thinks he can do it all," King said. "Rick is a very, very quiet young man. He is a very polite young fellow, but when he goes out on the ice he is really competing in the effort areas of the game. You can see him making plays when he knows he's going to get crunched. So when the veteran players see that, it creates instant respect. It's easy to respect a youngster who is really trying like that, so he really has the dressing room behind him."

Avalanche of issues

Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg and Milan Hejduk have combined for 41 points, while the rest of the team has only 57. Stay-at-home defenseman Adam Foote is fourth on the team in scoring with eight points, while youngsters Alex Tanguay (one goal, four assists) and Steve Reinprecht (no goals, three assists) have struggled badly so far. Tanguay had a disappointing season last year (eight goals and 23 assists in 44 games) after scoring 77 points and having a plus-35 rating in 2000-01. His name has popped up in trade rumors lately, most often being linked to the New York Islanders for their own underachieving winger, Brad Isbister.

Isbister would give Colorado the true power forward it has been missing since losing Adam Deadmarsh to the Kings in the deal for Rob Blake in March, 2001. Sakic would benefit greatly from having a banger on his line after having played with fancy skating and stickhandlers Hejduk and Tanguay for most of the past three years.

Bob Hartley loves to tinker with his line combinations, but even an accomplished mad scientist likes to eventually find some solution. The only thing that has worked so far has been to play Forsberg on left wing with Sakic, a move that limits the team's depth on the rest of the forward lines. And while Chris Drury sure would look good centering the second line right now, Vaclav Nedorost played well in the pivot in Wednesday's 5-2 loss to Ottawa with fellow Czech Republic native Radim Vrbata playing on his right wing.

"I don't think it's too hard to beat us right now," Forsberg told the Denver Post. "Teams are coming in here and playing good, solid games on us, and we're not."

Colorado is 0-3-3 at the Pepsi Center and is currently ranked 10th in the Western Conference, meaning it would miss the playoffs if they started Friday. With talent like that, it's hardly time to panic in Denver, but until Patrick Roy gets healthy and the power play finds its groove, the Avs' road could resemble a mogul field at Winter Park.

Rumor mill

While the Sharks were able to close the gap with Evgeni Nabokov quickly, the same can't be said for their negotiations with Brad Stuart. The budding young defensive star returned to his offseason home in Calgary this week when San Jose general manager Dean Lombardi decided he wanted to put contract talks on hold for awhile. ... Marc Savard is going to get traded one of these days -- honestly. While his name keeps coming up in trade rumors, Flames general manager Craig Button isn't going to give away this talented player for nothing. Despite being labeled a malcontent by some in the Calgary organization, Savard has great offensive skills and can still be a force in the NHL if he ever dedicates himself to conditioning ... As mentioned above, the Isles could deal Isbister if their struggles continue, but Jason Wiemer and Dave Scatchard are having their names brought up by inquiring general managers, too. ... The Blackhawks made it known this week that Bob Probert is available, as it appears his career in Chicago has come to an end. It's doubtful that teams will offer very much for a tough guy whose offensive skills have diminished significantly in the last few years. ... Four or five NHL teams are interested in defenseman Jiri Slegr, according to his agent, J.P. Berry, but a Russian League team has a a standing offer for him in nothing pans out soon. ... Sandis Ozolinsh, Dmitri Yushkevich, Igor Ulanov, Valeri Bure and Viktor Kozlov all could be dealt by Florida, as general manager Rick Dudley may opt to trim payroll. All five make more than $2 million and none fit into Mike Keenan's disciplined system especially well.

Worth noting

Byron Dafoe was asked to play for Canada in the Deutschland Cup, but agent Bryant McBride advised him against doing so for fear of injury. ... The Ottawa Senators may follow lead of the Dallas Stars and New York Islanders by hiring Ice Girls to clean the ice shaving around the goals and boards during stoppages in play. With how the Sens are struggling to draw fans, maybe the lure of seeing scantily clad, shovel-wielding women will drive the men of Ottawa indoors during the long winter. It's worth a shot. ... Calgary goalie Levente Szuper became the first Hungarian to make an NHL roster when he was called up this week. With Roman Turek out for a couple of weeks with a broken finger, Szuper was recalled from Saint John to back up Jamie McLennan. But he was in Hungary at the time of his recall, attending his grandmother's funeral. He huddled with his family and decided to leave Budapest on Sunday to fly to New York where he met the team on Monday morning. After flying to Hungary on Friday and turning around to make it back to North America on Sunday night, Szuper guessed he spent 35 hours travelling during a four-day stretch. ... Each of Blue Jackets center Tyler Wright's two career hat tricks have been compiled a unique way: one even-strength goal, one short-handed goal and one power-play goal. And as Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal noted, Wright's two three-goal games are one more than Doug Weight, Keith Primeau and Jarome Iginla have each tallied in their much more prominent careers. ... Columbus sold out 58 straight games at 18,136-seat Nationwide Arena, but then had three non-sellouts in a row during a recent homestand. ... Leafs winger Gary Roberts hit the ice with his teammates last Saturday for the first time since having shoulder surgery, but he won't return to game action until January. ... Penguins left wing Martin Straka made an impressive return on Wednesday, getting two assists in Pittsburgh's overtime loss to Florida. Playing with Alexandre Daigle and Jan Hrdina, Straka had good jump and provided a needed offensive boost to a team that had been relying almost exclusively on its top line for scoring. ... Jeff Jilsson had an assist Thursday against the Predators, but the Sharks could send him down to AHL Cleveland if he doesn't cut down on mistakes and improve his offensive production. ... Former Vermont Catamounts players are enjoying good seasons thusfar. Flyers left wing John LeClair has eight goals and four assists, while Lightning right wing Martin St. Louis has surprised with nine goals and 11 assists. Not to be outdone, Bruins goalie Tim Thomas finally broke into the big show, and has compiled a 2-0 record with a 2.52 goals-against average and a .928 save percentage. ... The AHL stepped in to put the kibosh on the Houston Aeros' plan to hold a "Guarenteed Fight Night" for their Nov. 14 game against the Milwaukee Admirals. The Aeros planned to offer a free ticket to their next Thursday night game if there wasn't at least one five-minute fighting penalty during the game. Kudos to Sam Rosen and John Davidson for giving the business to the Aeros for this idea on Thursday's Flames-Rangers telecast on MSG. Said Davidson: "That's one of the dumbest ideas I've ever heard."

Shameless plug

Todd McFarlane is best known to sports fans as the guy who bought Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball for $2.7 million. But he is also a co-owner of the Edmonton Oilers and an all-around sports junkie.

His comic book empire has a devout legion of fans and a few years ago he decided to expand his lineup of figurines into the sports world. The NHL versions have been out for a couple of years now and the third series has just gone on sale.

The amazingly lifelike figurines offer action captures of the game's top players. Series 3 features Alexander Mogilny making a quick stop, Chris Osgood stacking the pads, Joe Sakic in full stride, Mark Messier readying for a faceoff, Mike Modano carrying the puck up ice, Olaf Kolzig diving for a glove save, Pavel Bure driving to the net, Roman Turek clearing the puck and Scott Stevens lunging for a pokecheck.

The fourth series is scheduled to be released early next year and will feature Jarome Iginla, Mike Richter, Jocelyn Thibault, Tommy Salo, Brendan Shanahan, Ron Francis, Jeremy Roenick, Ryan Smyth and Ilya Kovalchuk.

Jon A. Dolezar covers the NHL for CNNSI.com.

Got a comment, question or scoop for Jon? Click here.

 

Related information

Stories

Burning Questions: What's with all this strike talk? NHL Power Rankings: Week 5 Inside the NHL: The Bruins' Blueliners CNNSI.com's Darren Eliot: Trouble in Toronto CNNSI.com's Jon A. Dolezar: Belfour heads list of overpaid players Week at a Glance: Devils don't need offense to win

Multimedia

Visit Video Plus for the latest audio and video