by Marj Roden
Over most of Milan's rookie season, I simply observed him, either from the stands at Saskatchewan Place (as I got re-assigned to cover the Saskatoon Blades of the WHL, so that was where I was most of the season) or from television highlights. That, and after the inital blunder I made when I first met him, I felt it would be better for me professionally to figure out how he plays on the ice.
All of the boasting that the mainstream media has done on Milan is definately with reason. For starters, he could already read plays well, and because of that, he was racking up the points in his rookie campaign. Reading the play, or being able to predict what is likely going to happen on the ice during a game situation, is a skill that takes a long time to hone.
Sometimes it seems to those of us who don't play to be a really easy thing to do, but think about it...when we, as observers, are watching the game, do we have to worry about some 200 pound guy bearing down on us, preparing to squish us into the boards like a bug on a windshield? I think not...because most of us are either sitting comfortably in our living rooms watching a game on television - be it on Hockey Night in Canada, CTV Sportsnet, ESPN, TSN, or any other such channels - or else sitting in the stands at a hockey game gulping down a cup of hot chocolate.
Another trait that Milan posesses is his ability to handle the puck. Recently, I interviewed a goaltender friend of mine by the name of Tyler MacKay. He used to play with the Saskatoon Blades, but was then traded to the Spokane Chiefs this fall. I asked Tyler who some of the more "annoying" forwards were that he'd had to deal with in the Western Hockey League, and at the top of that list was Milan Kraft. Although most people might take it as an insult that someone finds them "annoying", in the game of hockey, if someone you play against calls you this, you take it as a compliment.
I could get into this further, but at the moment, I cannot. I shall continue this later on.
If you have any comments, e-mail me at [email protected] or at [email protected]
