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President's Letter |
On Dec. 31, 2005, Chris Kunitz of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks skated toward the St. Louis Blues’ net having already scored two goals earlier in the game and flicked a backhander past goalie Curtis Sanford for the game-winning tally in the shootout. Kunitz would repeat his game-winning feat on Jan. 19, putting another backhander past the Ottawa Senator’s Dominik Hasek for the win. You might think that he likes the National Hockey League’s new way of breaking a tie game. And you’d be right. “It’s a lot of fun to be out there in front of all the fans,” says Kunitz. “Even if you’re in another team’s rink and they’re booing, it just kind of brings a smile to your face, because they’re all there watching and waiting on what you’re doing.” His shootout triumphs are the result of some introspection (not a word normally associated with hockey) on the part of the NHL after a prolonged lock-out, which caused the cancellation of the entire 2004-05 season. While that may have hurt Kunitz’ pocketbook, the soul-searching on the part of major league hockey resulted in rule changes rewarding skills players, which has been a real benefit to the Hobey Baker Award finalist. “The new rules have helped players who can skate play in the league, and that has helped our coaching staff put me on a line to contribute,” says Kunitz. In addition to instituting the shootout, other rule changes include a crackdown on fight instigation, a zero-tolerance officiating policy for interference, hooking and holding/obstruction as well as a reduction in the size of the goaltender’s equipment. The new emphasis on skills combined with the experience he gained on the ice with the team’s minor league affiliate Cincinnati Mighty Ducks has helped make Kunitz a solid NHL player. During the course of last season, Kunitz scored a total of 47 points on 19 goals and 28 assists for Anaheim during the regular season. As a member of the Ducks’ starting line during their playoff run, Kuntz scored three goals and five assists as the Ducks defeated the Calgary Flames and Colorado Avalanche before falling to the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference finals. “Since he’s been back with our group, he’s taken a role that I don’t know if we could ever have expected,” said Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle in an interview with Slam! Sports (Canada). “He’s fit into an offensive role, he’s an energy player when called upon and he’s been solid defensively. He’s become an everyday player on our hockey club this year. We look to him to provide that energy and provide that offence and still be strong defensively, and for the better part he’s done that” Kunitz’ success has meant living the life of a professional athlete, which for a member of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks means playing games from Phoenix to Calgary, and Buffalo to San Jose. “I think it’s just a lifestyle that you get used to, although it’s not as easy in the beginning,” says Kunitz. “You just get yourself into the mind-set that you’re away from home, and you need to do this, this and this to get ready. We stay in really nice accommodations, so it’s not like we’re roughing it.” Kunitz recently signed a 2-year deal to continue skating with the Mighty Ducks.
“I was really fortunate to score in Toronto, which is 45 minutes from where I live now. Both my parents were there, my in-laws and youngest brother,” recalls Collins. “My wife, unfortunately, was in Connecticut where she works full-time as the manager at a women’s shelter for battered and abused women, so she couldn’t make it.” Collins began his journey toward that first NHL goal by signing with the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League. He played five games with the Griffins in 2002, then skated a full season with the team in 2002-03. He was signed by the Bridgeport (Conn.) Sound Tigers, the Islanders’ AHL affiliate, and has played the last two seasons with them. This past year, he was called up twice by the parent club, making his NHL debut just two days before his first score. In Collins’ own words, the Sound Tigers last season were “fairly streaky. We had a bad rash of injuries, and the Islanders had some injuries, so we lost some guys to call-ups, so it was a bit of a grind early in the season.” Collins certainly did his part for the Islanders’ organization. In addition to getting called up to the home club, he played a crucial role in the Sound Tigers’ season. He scored a total 21 goals and 48 assists in the regular season and added four goals and two assists in the playoffs. In February, Collins set the all-time scoring record for Sound Tigers with his 137th and 138th points in a 4-1 home win over the Providence Bruins. Like so many professional athletes, Collins is aware of the vagaries of the many factors that impact his career. Fortunately, he has options both on and off the rink. “I don’t have just hockey to fall back on, having studied business administration, which I feel real fortunate about,” says Collins. “If I was a bettin’ man, I’d see myself prolonging my career over in Europe.”
Roach ended this past season with the Zürcher Sports Club Lions, based in Zürich. The ZSC Lions play in the Nationalliga A, which is the top tier of Switzerland’s main professional hockey league. So if you’re not multilingual, you need to rely on the translation function of various Web browsers, which return such tantalizing bits of information as “Zurich makes fire of the back with Roach” and “Andy Roach as head of orchestra.” Despite Roach’s globe-hopping, the play that assures his place in the record books of the NHL happened during the St. Louis Blues home opener on Oct. 6, 2005, when Roach scored on a power play against the Detroit Red Wings’ Manny Legace. While an NHL goal is certainly a career achievement, Roach’s most enduring sports accomplishment probably took place in the 2004 International Ice Hockey Federation’s World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic. Roach lifted the United States Men’s National Team to the bronze medal with the game-winning goal in a 1-0 shootout victory against Slovakia. Until that win, the men’s team was not assured of a place in the Olympics. While at Ferris State, Roach compiled 129 career points with 42 goals and 87 assists in 138 games. Roach, who was selected Ferris’ Most Valuable Player in both the 1995-96 and 1996-97 seasons, presently owns the distinction of being the Bulldogs’ all-time top goal scorer among defensemen and is second in career points. Last season, Roach skated for Lausanne HC of the Swiss National League. He spent the previous five seasons in the German Elite League, including the last four with Adler Mannheim. Roach played in the IHL with three different teams the San Antonio Dragons, Long Beach Ice Dogs and Utah Grizzlies. Earlier this season he was also with the AHL’s Peoria Rivermen. In addition to playing overseas for Zurich and Lausanne, Roach has skated for the Krefeld Penguins in the German Elite League. Rob Collins photo credit, Rich Stieglitz, Sound Tigers. Andy Roach photo courtesy of St. Louis Blues. Chris Kunitz photo courtesy of Anaheim Mighty Ducks. |
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