 |
Tuesday, April 8
Updated:
April 11, 2:54 PM ET
Pivotal players: Roberts & Handzus
By Lindsay Berra
ESPN The Magazine
Gary Roberts
Toronto Maple Leafs
GP: 14
G-A-P: 5-3-8
+/-: -2
PIM: 10
Playoffs:
94 gp, 23-52-75, 280 PIM
|
|
Michal Handzus
Philadelphia Flyers
GP: 82
G-A-P: 23-21-44
+/-: +13
PIM: 46
Playoffs:
23 gp, 0-5-5, 16 PIM
|
|
Gary Roberts' leg-pumping, hard-checking, slightly-maniacal style of play has been described by Leafs' head coach Pat Quinn as 'hell-bent." Last season, Roberts carried the Leafs on his battered shoulders into Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, and paid for his efforts with two offseason shoulder surgeries that left him unable to lift his arms for months.
Roberts has played only 14 games this season. After returning from his surgeries, he suffered a groin tear that sidelined him for another 11 games. It is safe to say that he'll be a little rusty in Round One against Philadelphia, but it is also safe to say that Roberts will do nothing short of everything he can. He will throw his body around unmercilessly and will go until that body fails him. Roberts is one of the few players in the league who can play with that sustained level of tenacity without getting out of control. He is a master of the edge.
In 30 playoff games with the Leafs, Roberts has 30 points. In 94 total playoff games, he has 75 points, a torrid 0.79 points-per-game pace. He plays hurt, and often compensates for his injuries with mental toughness and actually plays better despite his ailments.
The Leafs will need Roberts, or at the very least a Roberts mentality, against Ken Hitchcock's gritty Flyers. It may take Roberts a few games to work out his kinks, to become comfortable handling the puck again, to be ready to throw his 36-year-old body around. In the past two years, the Leafs have gone as far into the playoffs as Roberts has been able to haul them. This year, they may have to do more of the pushing themselves.
|
|
The Phoenix Coyotes expected Michal Handzus to be a superstar, so the 15-30-45 numbers he put up last year were a little subpar. But Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock remembered the 25-goal performance Handzus turned in three years ago in St. Louis. He remembered the reputation Handzus had established as a hard-working, two-way center and Hitch thought, "Hey, this guy is right up my alley."
In Philly, Handzus does it all -- he kills penalties, he plays the power play, he wins face-offs, he shadows opponents' top scorers, he scores goals himself. His 23 goals (nine of them game-winners) and 44 points are good enough to place him fourth in scoring on the Flyers.
Due to rampant injuries in the Flyers' lineup, Handzus has played with nearly ever winger Hitchcock can muster up. He settled in with left wing Radovan Somik and right wing Donald Brashear on a "checking line" and regularly drew the toughest matchups against the opposing team's best lines and regularly generated offense. Now, he centers right wing Mark Recchi and left wing John LeClair. "I think what makes him a good player is that everyone who goes and plays with him plays well," says Hitchcock. "I don't think that's an accident."
Against the Maple Leafs, Hitchcock will look to Handzus to contain top Leafs center Mats Sundin. Sundin is 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds, but size will not be an issue -- Handzus is 6-foot-5 and 220. But Handzus also is a plus-13, which means Sundin will have to play some defense, too, if he doesn't want to get caught on his heels with Handzus heading the other way.
|
The Magazine's Lindsay Berra can be e-mailed at lindsay.berra@espnmag.com.
| |
|
