Monday, December 8, 2003

More articles in the AHL On-The-Beat Archive

Darcy Verot

Written by Jana Spaulding

 It takes a lot to make Portland Pirates forward Darcy Verot nervous.

Keeping Springfield Falcons high-flying twins Peter and Chris Ferraro in check? Piece of cake.

A match-up against any of the American Hockey League's tougher players? Bring it on.

Taunts and threats from fans on the road? Hey, it just means he's doing his job.

The thought of teenage suitors lining up in the not too distant future to court his 12-year-old daughter? Now that can make even one of the AHL's most notorious pests positively quake in his skates.

"She's at that age where she likes to talk on the phone and visit her friends," Verot said with a laugh about pretty preteen Ashlyn. "She's not quite there yet, but she is definitely aware of everything going on around her. It will be tough, no doubt about it."

Verot brought more baggage with him than the average player when he joined the Portland Pirates in the off-season, following a year with the Saint John Flames. The scrappy center's in-your-face, no-holds-barred style endears him to few among opposing players or fans. Add a hard-fought season series and bitter rivalry between the Flames and Pirates, and Portland wasn't exactly looking to welcome him with open arms.

For Verot though, the only concern was how the move, his second in as many seasons, would affect his family.

"Ashlyn is probably the one with the toughest job," he said. "She has to deal with a new school and all of that, but luckily she has a great personality and a great attitude. She meets and gets along with kids pretty easily so the adjustment for her has been pretty easy. She was fired up, and after the first day of school she absolutely fell in love with the place and the people around here."

Pirates fans though were slow to warm to the inimitable forward, and for even the most well-adjusted kid, hearing people, let alone the hometown fans, jeering your dad can't be easy. But for the Verot family, which includes wife Nicole and 14-month-old daughter Addison, it was good for a few laughs around the dinner table.

"There were comments in the crowd the first couple of games, and it was something we all kind of laughed about a bit at home," Verot said. "In a sense, we enjoyed it a bit because we knew it meant when I played against this team last year, I was doing my job well. Ashlyn knows it's a job, and she knows how I am at home, how I am with her and that it's two different things. She's been around it for a while now so she knows what I have to do to keep my job."

Verot plans to do more than just keep his job. Let go after the Calgary Flames ended their affiliation with Saint John, he carefully considered the options before deciding to join the Washington Capitals organization.

"I thought it would be a good fit and hopefully would give me an opportunity to play up," Verot said. "That's still anybody's goal, no matter how old they are -- a chance to get called up."

Also a goal for Verot is the chance to put down some roots. Largely unwanted following a junior career in his native Saskatchewan, he hooked on the lowest rung of the professional hockey ladder, signing with the Lake Charles Ice Pirates of the WPHL. Looking to take the next step, Verot then signed with the Wheeling Nailers, parlaying the brief stint with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins' ECHL affiliate into three AHL seasons with the Baby Pens. Despite being a fan favorite and enjoying minor celebrity status in northeast Pennsylvania, Verot found himself out of the Penguins' plans and out of job following the 2001-02 season before landing with Saint John last season.

The life of a journeyman is tough on any athlete, but the added pressure of a family makes it all the more difficult. Despite signing only a one-year deal with the Capitals, Verot hopes his stay with the organization will be a long one.

"You want to establish some roots, and with a 12-year-old, she's at that stage where she starts making life-long friends," he said. "But we know what we're in, we know the business and it's just something that we deal with."

For the first time in his career, Verot also finds himself dealing with expectations of being more than just the resident agitator. Pirates' head coach Tim Army hopes with time, he will grow into a Michael Peca type of player - infinitely irritating to play against but also capable of chipping in his share of goals.

"The best compliment I can pay him is that we're a much better team when he is in the lineup," said Army. "He's got two goals and an assist--he hasn't finished in a lot of situations--but I think he's provided us with a good offensive tempo. The more we work in practice, the more he works to get shots and get to the net, and I think his offensive numbers will improve. I really like his complete game."

"I've really enjoyed my time here so far," said Verot. "From top to bottom, everyone has treated me with a lot of class. The coaching staff here does everything they can to get everyone ready to step into that situation. It's a great environment to learn in, and hopefully myself and some other guys get that opportunity along the way."

The hardened fan familiar only with Verot's well-earned reputation might question his optimism. Not blessed with great speed or enviable offensive skill, he nonetheless outlasted a majority of his current teammates in the Capitals' preseason training camp, drawing cautious praise from the organization's brass who predicted Verot could be recalled at some point during the season as an "energy guy."

In the meantime, he is content to help turn the tide in Portland, where the Pirates have struggled in the early going of the season. After a rocky start, the jeers once heard at the Cumberland County Civic Center have turned to cheers, and the personable Verot has quickly become a fan favorite.

"I go out, work hard and stand up and play hard for my teammates," Verot said of his often-maligned style which has quickly earned the admiration of both his Portland teammates and fans alike. "If they see that and want to respect that, I don't know, but that's who I am and I'm not going to change who I am. I'm sure over time, they'll respect that."

During a recent "Skate with the Pirates" team event, Verot was surrounded by autograph seekers as soon as he stepped on the ice, leaving teammate Mike Pudlick to deliver Addison Verot to her father after he was unable to get across the ice to retrieve her from wife Nicole.

"The people around here have been great," Verot said. "Obviously, there were some hard feelings, but that's an aspect I think they enjoyed, too - they enjoyed having someone to root against. It was fun for me to come here when I was with Saint John and hear people rooting against me. That's part of the game, but it's fun to have some of those people who were rooting against me last year, root for me now."

Verot was beginning to find his stride when a hand injury suffered during a fight with Providence's Brendan Walsh stalled his season. He is expected to be out for several weeks after undergoing surgery.

"Sitting around thinking about it in the operating room afterwards, you just realize it really couldn't have happened at a worse time," Verot said of the injury. "When a team loses a few in a row, that's when you have to pull together as a group and work through it together. I want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. When I'm on the shelf, I'm not helping out the solution too much."

The one bright side of the ill-timed injury will be extra time to spend with his family during the holiday season.

"Holidays for the first couple of years were a frustration because we couldn't be around our families," Verot said. "My wife comes from a big family and they spend a lot of time together around the holiday season - likewise for my family - so we'll do a little reflecting about what we're missing at home."

It might be a stretch for fans around the AHL to picture Darcy Verot spending Christmas Eve wrapping dolls or assembling dollhouses, but it is likely that the Verot girls will not be the only ones getting into the spirit of the holidays.

"We try to make it as enjoyable as we can for the kids," he said. "Whether it's guys from the team or people from the community, we'll try to get as many people over as we can and just have fun and make some good memories out of it. It will be fun to watch Addison rip through some gifts in the morning and all of that. We'll use up a couple of rolls of video tape. It will be tons of fun."