Small Wonders

Phoenix Coyotes center Daniel Bri�re has been fudging his height since junior hockey, even before Frank Bonello, the director of NHL Central Scouting, told Le Journal de Montr�al that Bri�re was too small to be a high draft choice. ( Bri�re is listed at 5'10", admits to being 5'9" and seems to be 5'8".) He was selected 24th overall in 1996, and he looks at a clipping of that Journal story whenever he needs motivation, which has been infrequent this season considering that his 26 goals through Sunday not only led the Coyotes but also ranked 19th in the NHL.

The player who has won the most Stanley Cups (11) could have moonlighted as a jockey—the Montreal Canadiens' 5'7" Henri (Pocket Rocket) Richard—but Bonello was neither being cruel nor necessarily wrong when assessing Bri�re. He was merely voicing an NHL axiom: Big players have to prove they can't play. Small players have to prove they can.

This rule of thumb has been upended by the Tom Thumbs of 2001-02. Bri�re, who was waived through the league early last season and is on a two-way contract—he earns $725,000 in the NHL but will get only $50,000 if he's sent to the minors—has proved he's more than a water bug who can work the power play. Chicago is the city of broad shoulders and a small right wing, 5'9", 160-pound first-liner Steve Sullivan, a waiver discard by the Toronto Maple Leafs 2� years ago who had scored 52 goals in 146 games in his second stint with the Blackhawks. When the New York Rangers have been at their most effective this season, Lilliputian wingers Theo Fleury (5'6") and Mike York (5'10") have bookended 6'4" center Eric Lindros. Many of the Canadiens could eat an apple off 5'9" forward Oleg Petrov's head, but through Sunday he was Montreal's second-leading scorer, with 21 goals. Two other little guys, Edmonton Oilers center Mike Comrie (5'9�") and Boston Bruins wing Sergei Samsonov (5'8"), were first and second, respectively, on their clubs in scoring.

"In the NHL the odds are stacked against small players," says Sullivan. "It's a big man's game because they can do exactly what small players can, plus they're stronger. Big guys might get lots of opportunities to show their talent, but we might have only one chance. I hope kids can look up to some of the small guys having success and keep following their dreams, the way I looked up to Fleury when I was in juniors."

He looked up. Just not that high.

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