Posted by Pierre LeBrun
CHICAGO -- There's no truth to the rumor Kyle Wellwood has a twin brother filling in for him right now and playing a two-way game on the third line for the Vancouver Canucks.
Wellwood confirmed to me today it is indeed him filling that role in these playoffs.
For anyone who followed his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs, it's nothing less than stunning to see how effective he has become as a checker this spring with the Canucks.
"Kyle obviously has had a strong progression this year," Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said today at the team's hotel. "He's very dependable at both ends of the rink. I think that probably has something to do with the fact this probably was going to be his last opportunity, his last kick at the can. He got himself in pretty good shape and he's a good player."
But come on, coach, a third-line checker?
"Obviously when we got him, it wasn't for his dependability defensively, but he's a smart guy and smart players find ways to get it done, and that's what he's doing," said Vigneault.
This is very much a late-season development. As recently as February, Vigneault made Wellwood a healthy scratch. In mid-October, Wellwood was waived by the Canucks after a nightmarish training camp in which he showed up out of shape. He had also been waived by the Maple Leafs in June and scooped up by Vancouver.
"Toronto didn't want me to play and then you get picked up by a team, they give you a shot, but then they don't have room for you," Wellwood said today. "I was just hoping to get games in. It didn't matter if it was minor hockey or junior, I just wanted to play again."
There were rumors he was headed to Russia or somewhere in Europe before injuries to Rick Rypien and Pavol Demitra opened the door again in Vancouver. The Canucks put him through re-entry waivers, where any NHL team could have had him for half his $997,500 salary. He then stayed with the team for good.
"You know, it was a hard time and I'm fortunate I got to stay in Vancouver and now I'm part of the team," said Wellwood.
The skilled forward has centered a line with Mason Raymond and Steve Bernier in these playoffs, although Raymond has been bumped up to the second line with Demitra's current injury and Taylor Pyatt is now on his left wing.
Third-line center Kyle Wellwood. Who would have ever thought it? Certainly not him.
"I think I had to change my game to fit this team and the style of play," said Wellwood, who put up 100 points (41-59) in his final year of junior six years ago. "I think anybody who gets traded and things like that, that's the hardest adjustment is that every team has their philosophy on what wins games because of their personnel. So you have to adjust and fit into that."
Wellwood said he's just used his offensive instincts and applied them defensively.
"I've always been a positional player and scorer," he said. "That's the reason why I've always been a power-play player. I can position myself in the right places to make things work. Defensively, it's kind of the same thing, it's just you got to work harder and you can't cheat. Cheating gets goals; when you're not cheating, it's frustrating not scoring, but you know the other team is just as frustrated because it's not fun always having to beat a guy instead of getting easy openings."
Wellwood showed his offensive promise with the Maple Leafs in 2006-07, putting up 42 points (12-30) in only 48 games. He was penciled in as a first-line forward going forward and Toronto had high hopes for him. But then injuries began to dog him, most notably a pair of sports hernia surgeries that completely derailed his career. They limited his ability to work out and stay in shape. Now, he's finally 100 percent after a long battle to get healthy.
"At the start of the year, I was still worried about it, but now it's nice because I can do all the workouts and I don't have to warm up extensively before games and practices and things like that," said Wellwood, who has four points (1-3) and is a plus-2 in seven playoff games.
"Everybody who has had groin problems, they either get over it quickly or it seems to linger for years. I'm glad I'm finally over it, but it was a long couple of years."
The 25-year-old had a career-high 18 goals in the regular season, but only nine assists. He was also in and out of Vigneault's doghouse. This is the best he's played in a Canucks uniform. From the get-go, he's had a powerful supporter in the media: none other than Don Cherry. The "Hockey Night in Canada" legend has several times backed Wellwood during his "Coach's Corner" segments this season when many people had written the player off.
"I think everybody wants to have Don Cherry on their side," said Wellwood. "He's a colorful guy. He seems to get it right, even though he seems initially wrong and you don't know what he's talking about. He always ends up on the good side of things somehow. He's got a pretty good talent at reading things."
Boring Canucks?
The topic du jour since Tuesday night's Game 3 win by the Canucks has been their boring, defensive approach.
"I think it's exciting," Canucks winger Alexandre Burrows tried to say with a straight face today. "It's like a pitcher in baseball. If he keeps throwing that fastball, people will like it. But once he throws that curveball, the hitter can't hit it. I like it. That's what we're going to try to do tonight. Play a high-percentage game. Even if it's boring, I don't really care."
OK, we're not sure about the baseball analogy, Alex.
"I like the curveball, I like the changeup, I like when the hitter is not able to hit the ball. That's what we'll try to do tonight," said Burrows.
Wellwood didn't try to spin it when asked for his reaction to people who believe the Canucks play a boring style.
"I would agree with them," said Wellwood. "As a creative offensive player, sometimes it's even frustrating for me to dump it in every time and make sure the puck is on the outside and things like that. But we're here to win and that's the idea of the game. You got to score, and we've been scoring a lot, too. So I don't see an issue with it."
Oh, brother
Wellwood was excited today about his 19-year-old brother, Eric Wellwood, and his Windsor Spitfires team being one win away from the Ontario Hockey League championship title.
"He said he can't sleep," said Kyle Wellwood. "It's my hometown, too. It's been a hard year with the layoffs and everything in that town. For them to maybe win the championship would be great."
ESPN.com Stanley Cup playoffs blog
