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Gene Hackman playing the role of fictional football coach Jimmy McGinty told his players in The Replacements, "you men are being given what a lot of people would die to have: a second chance." His speech was meant to instill confidence in his team as they came off a tough loss. It seems as though some of the Devils players have taken a similar message to heart during the early goings of this young NHL season.
Just over a month ago, two Devils were the spotlight of a Deviling the Details season preview article: Pete Sykora and Adam Henrique.
By now, everyone is well aware of Sykora’s improbable comeback. What goes unnoticed by those not watching the Devils is the overall emergence of his game on both sides of the puck.
Sykora’s impressive offensive performance during the preseason was what earned him a spot on the Devils’ roster. His defensive abilities have undoubtedly granted him a permanent spot on the active roster, even after the Devils fully heal as a team.
With Travis Zajac and Jacob Josefson still recovering from serious injuries, the Devils have desperately needed other players step up and role-players to expand their game further. Sykora is just one of the many players who have answered the call and have been such a vital part in the Devils’ early season success, a stark contrast to the team that took to the ice a year ago.
Sykora, a former two-time 30-plus goal scorer, hasn’t lit up the score sheet to the tune of even a 20-goal pace, but has three goals on the year. His goals, coincidentally, have all come off a set-play from an offensive zone faceoff where center Patrik Elias wins the draw back and Sykora one-times the feed to the right side of the net. Sykora has also added 6 assists to his points total over the first 18 games of the season.
A player who has been even more impressive for the Devils than Petr Sykora is Adam Henrique.
Earlier this season, Henrique was thrust into not just the starting roster, but the Devils’ top line when Josefson went down with a broken collarbone suffered in the 5th game of the season versus the San Jose Sharks.
While Henrique was sent down to Albany for what General Manager Lou Lamoriello called a better opportunity before the Devils’ weekend set with the Sharks and Penguins, he returned to the Devils following the training stint a different player.
Before his brief re-focusing stint, Henrique averaged a mere 12 minutes of ice time, and amassed no points during his first 3 games this season. Since then, he has averaged at least 5 minutes more of time, including significant time on both special teams units.
With that added ice time, Henrique has also given the Devils yet another offensive threat which comes as great relief while Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk find their scoring touches. Henrique registered his first NHL goal against the Philadelphia Flyers and then two nights later, registered his first multi-goal game including another first: his first game winning goal in a thrilling game against the Winnipeg Jets.
In his 12 games since being recalled from Albany, Henrique has put up 4 goals, 7 assists and is a plus-1. He also had an assist on Parise’s shorthanded goal against Buffalo last Wednesday, and has a pair of assists on the power play, including David Clarkson’s tally Saturday night which proved to be the game winner.
Henrique, as is the case with any player, is not subject to mistakes including some errant passes and defensive lapses. His other contributions, both on the attack as well as matching up defensively against some of the league’s best and holding his own, more than make up for the errors which the rookie has made.
As the Devils approach the end of the first quarter of the season, they’ll take the continued successes and contributions of Henrique and Sykora as they await Parise to hit his scoring stride coming off missing nearly an entire season.
Even after Travis Zajac returns to game-form, expect Henrique to be a major factor on the top two lines as long as he can keep up his solid performances. Sykora will also be a strong candidate to remain on the top two especially considering how he has returned to his old form with line mate and good friend, Patrik Elias.
Crosby Comes Back
Finally, on an unrelated hockey note, congrats to Sidney Crosby on his return Monday night. I mention this for two reasons, 1) concussions suck and as much as I can’t stand to hear about him day and night on various hockey programs, I love rooting against him and the Penguins and 2) shamelessly hoping that by accident people will search his name and come upon my blog. But folks, can we stop comparing this comeback to the one that happened over a decade ago?
Mario Lemieux’s return to hockey and the Pittsburg Penguins was truly monumental. For those not familiar, Lemieux retired from hockey in 1997 after undergoing numerous back surgeries, and four years after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in ’97, but three years later, Lemieux returned to the Penguins where he would play until the 2005-06 season. Lemieux used that last season to quite literally pass the torch of the Penguins to Crosby.
So before we bronze Crosby’s skates from Monday’s game, let’s remember people have suffered worse than a concussion and returned.
