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King of the castle Thrashers' Stefan finally living up to advance billingPosted: Friday November 29, 2002 11:30 AM
It didn't come easy. Then again, it rarely does for No. 1 overall draft picks. Patrik Stefan was one season away from joining Alexandre Daigle and Brian Lawton as the biggest top-pick busts. The 1999 NHL Entry Draft hasn't exactly been a bonanza of talent looking back three years hence. The early part of the first round featured thus far lackluster players like Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Pavel Brendl, Tim Connolly, Brian Finley, Kris Beech, Taylor Pyatt, Jamie Lundmark and Branislav Mezei. Edmonton's Mike Comrie has been the best pick of that draft, and the Oilers nabbed him with the 91st overall pick, late in the third round. Stefan stuck with the Thrashers in their inaugural season following two impressive years with the Long Beach Ice Dogs of the IHL. Three mediocre seasons were dotted with injuries and a motivational trip to the minors. In fact, at this time last year, Stefan was playing for the Chicago Wolves after being demoted to the AHL on Nov. 27. Atlanta bumped Stefan to left wing in an attempt to jump start his offense, but he bounced back and forth between the outside and the pivot for the remainder of the year once he was recalled to the big club. With 22 goals and 57 assists in 197 NHL games coming into this season, it was definitely a make-or-break year for Stefan. And though Atlanta has struggled to a 6-14-1-1 record, its first-ever draft pick is finally establishing himself as a top-line player. After playing with Ilya Kovalchuk and Slava Kozlov for the first handful of games this year, Stefan has found a permanent home centering 2002 Calder Trophy finalists Kovalchuk and Dany Heatley. Skating with fellow top two draft picks Heatley (second overall in 2000) and Kovalchuk (first overall in 2001), the 22-year-old Stefan is the elder statesman on a line in which the average age is below the legal drinking age of 21. "My all-around game is just getting better each game, not only offensively, but defensively, too," Stefan said. "Me and Ilya and Dany are starting to understand each other more and know where we'll be at any time. That's huge. When you know where your guys are, it's much easier for you and your linemates." Knowing where your guys are is a luxury, but knowing who your guys are is a big first step. The first edition of the Thrashers started out as a mishmash of castoffs and the team used 43 different players that year. Only eight of the original team members are still in the NHL just three years later, with such memorable names like Sergei Vyshedkevich, Martin Prochazka and Eric Bertrand falling by the wayside in a hurry. "The first year the team really didn't know each other," Stefan said. "We were playing on different lines all the time trying to get some good lines together. It was tough. But all of these things that happened maybe make me a better player now. Maybe it's better to go through the tough times first and then work your way up to be better and better and get to the top at some point." Stefan gained 10 pounds of muscle in the offseason and his game appears to have turned a corner, though he has a ways to go to hit the top of his potential. Always a deft skater and nifty stickhandler, Stefan has been more assertive on the ice, using his speed and size at both ends of the rink. He still has the talent to be a 70-point player who can also play solid defense, but you have to walk before you can run. "Patrik has turned into a really good player," head coach Curt Fraser told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution earlier this month. "He came in way too young and was expected to contribute right away because we were an expansion team. That's a lot of pressure. But he kept the right attitude, even when we sent him down to the minors last season." The 6-foot-2, 210-pound center is emerging because of his willingness to buy into a total team game. Stefan is no longer getting rid of the puck too quickly in the offensive zone, nor is he shying away from contact on the backcheck. "Others may have doubted Patrik, but we really didn't," Waddell said. "He just had to stay healthy and get experience. When you are the top pick, everyone judges you on the numbers you put up. I heard about it. I'm sure he did, too." Stefan grew up in Pribram, Czechoslovakia, idolizing Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux from reading stories about them and seeing highlights of their play. He followed local legend Jaromir Jagr as he made an impact as a youngster with the Penguins. And once the NHL became more popular and accessible in what was then the Czech Republic, Stefan started modeling his game after Peter Forsberg and Mike Modano. Fans who saw him play in his first three seasons may laugh at him mentioning those names, but his desire to become a two-way center is absolute and he is making great strides in his fourth season. The player I view most similarly to Stefan is fellow Czech pivot Robert Lang, himself 6-foot-2 and 180 pounds. The two were teammates with Sparta Prague for a time during the 1996-97 season, where the 16-year-old Stefan was playing alongside the 26-year-old Lang for the country's best-known team. "I had just come into the league, so it was a big thing for me to see guys like that," Stefan said. "I can't compare to him [now] because I just started. I don't think you can really compare players to players, because everybody has different styles and plays on different teams. I can't really compare myself to anybody. He's just been huge the last four or five years putting up goals and being a huge part of Pittsburgh and now Washington. I don't think I can compare to him yet." Actually, Patrik, you can. Lang recorded 80 points in his first 201 NHL games over parts of five seasons for an average of .398 points per game, while Stefan averaged .401 points per game in 197 games over his first three seasons. Lang broke out with 44 points in 1998-99, while Stefan is on pace for 51 points (including 29 goals) this season. "Everyone forgets he's still just 22," Thrashers general manager Don Waddell told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution earlier this month. "Unless you are a special talent like Dany Heatley or Ilya Kovalchuk, it takes four or five years for a draft pick to develop." It certainly looks like Stefan will closer to the four years end of that scale. With eight goals and six assists, Stefan's offensive game has improved by leaps and bounds. He has been the Thrashers' been all-around player over the past three weeks, during which time they have gone 5-5 after a 1-9-1-1 start. Fraser walked into an otherwise empty locker room nearly 45 minutes after Thursday's 7-4 win over the Rangers and shook hands with Stefan, awarded the game's No. 1 star for his two-goal performance. No words were exchanged between the two, but nothing needed to be said, really. Everything is falling into place this season for Stefan. He even married his wife Carolyn at Konopiste Castle in the Sazava River valley about a half hour south of Prague this July. Yep, some guys just always seem to get the fairy tale ending. Jon A. Dolezar covers the NHL for CNNSI.com. Got a comment, question or scoop for Jon? Click here. |
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