The Province
December 19, 1999
By Ed Willes

The plan, according to Marc Crawford, wasn't to run a job-training program disguised as an NHL team this year.

Sure, the Canucks wanted to take a look at Steve Kariya and Artem Chubarov early on, and maybe call up Matt Cooke and Zenith Komarniski when the season was underway.

But nine rookies, eight of whom played their first NHL game this season? That really wasn't in the Crawford blueprint, or the blueprint of any coach who's keen on employment.

"It's not very often you get an opportunity to do this,'' the Canucks bench boss said. "Then again, it's not very often you want an opportunity to do this.''

Crawford and a bemused group of Canucks veterans, however, have watched a seemingly limitless supply of beardless youths make their way into the team's dressing room this year. The resulting lineup has trouble producing wins, but at least it's eligible for day-care subsidizes. Ba-da-boom. On a more serious note, the major concern of the Canucks trainers is no longer knee injuries. It's acne.

"It's exciting for me to see them playing in their first game with their parents watching,'' said Mark Messier. "It's also interesting now that I'm the same age as their parents.''

That's a good one too, Moose.

And lest you think we exaggerate, consider the following:

On Saturday night, the Canucks' lineup against the Dallas Stars featured seven players whose NHL experience added up to 126 games heading into this season. In the 1987-'88 season, between Canada Cup, the regular season and playoffs, Messier played in 105 games by himself.

Want more? The Canucks have dressed 12 players who came into this year with less than 50 NHL games in their career. In one game, their lineup featured six rookies. In a two-week period, Jarkko Ruutu played his first NHL game. Then Harold Druken. Then Ryan Bonni. Brad Leeb, who was sent back to Syracuse Saturday, followed a week after Bonni. And sometime this season, Bryan Allen will also play his first NHL game.

"(Leeb) came in late from the airport for one of our practices,'' said Canucks defenceman Murray Baron. "We look up and all of a sudden there's this new guy on the ice. We go, 'Who's that kid?' Then he's playing the next game.''

"It's fun to see,'' said Alexander Mogilny. "It's like seeing a young woman. It makes you feel younger. At least that's what I've read.''

Well, maybe fun isn't exactly the word, especially for a team that had one win in their last 12 games before Saturday's tilt with the defending Stanley Cup champs. But the youngsters bring something a little different to the table, even if the veterans aren't sure what that is or if they like it.

Baron talks of the difference in comportment between the Canucks rookies and the rookies of his day. The Kamloops product broke in with a Philadelphia Flyers team in '89-90 that featured Mark Howe, Dave Poulin and a host of other no-nonsense veterans. Suffice to say, he didn't spend a lot of time freely offering his opinion.

"I wouldn't say a word,'' Baron said. "I had so much respect for those guys and I knew my place. I don't want to say it's bad now. But it's different. These guys enjoy the experience so much more. There's no such thing as hazing. The only way we can get them is the rookie dinner (where first-year players pick up the tab, usually obscene, for a team party) . That's all you have over them.''

Mogilny doesn't waste his time trying to tell the younger generation about the days when you had to fly commercially and get by on $250,000 a season. Like Baron, he knows things are different now. Not better. Not worse. Just different.

"It's like talking about dinosaurs,'' Mogilny said. "No one really wants to hear about it.''

You begin to understand that as you get older. That puts Mogilny in select company on the Canucks.



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