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Tuesday, September 28, 1999
The hardest part
Final cuts carve the heart right out of hockey hopefuls
Flash ... "Welcome the NHL."
Flash ... "Your services are no longer needed."
Flash ...
It's final cut day. The words associated with the process reflect its brutal nature. Cut, chopdown, getting the axe ...
Men who have been the best at what they do their entire lives face, some for the first time, a rejection that can cut right to the soul.
When head coach Brian Sutter makes those phone calls today to set up those private meetings in his office, he'll be crushing dreams and making others come true.
Most players go through this ritual final paring down of the rosters at some stage.
For rookies like Daniel Tkaczuk, getting this close only makes that final rejection hurt that much more.
Two years ago, Tkaczuk was a first-round draft pick ticketed for stardom. He'd just come off the ice after an exhibition game against his boyhood idol -- the Great One, Wayne Gretzky -- when he got the word -- 'You're not good enough.'
"Playing against Gretzky was like being on Cloud Nine," recalls Tkaczuk. "I thought I played a pretty good game that night and after the game they called me in and told me another year of junior was the best thing for me.
"At that time, it didn't sink in until I was on the plane and saying to myself, 'What just happened?' It happened so quick."
It will happen quick today for an expected four or five Flames.
Sutter, GM Al Coates, scouts and assistant coaches huddled yesterday to determine who will comprise the team's 23-man roster.
Injuries to Jason Wiemer and Cale Hulse and the contract impasse of Jarome Iginla have created opportunities for players like Tkaczuk, Steve Begin, Travis Brigley, Rico Fata and Oleg Saprykin to crack the lineup.
Others, like 33-year-old Pavel Torgajev, are fighting to stay and earn a contract.
"It's one of toughest things you go through as a hockey player," says Tkaczuk of cut day.
No one has faced more pressure than Tkaczuk in attempting to justify his first-round selection, sixth overall in 1997.
That was the year the Flames passed on eventual Calder Trophy winner Sergei Samsonov of Boston to select Tkaczuk, who has failed to earn a job here in his first two camps.
This camp has been his best, but even his job is at the mercy of the coaches.
"You always want to prove you are the player they drafted," says Tkaczuk.
"I have a lot to prove because guys were taken after me, like Sergei, and you feel you have to outperform the other guys. But I have to remember I'm a different player and Calgary drafted me for reasons that are different than why Boston selected Sergei."
Still, while Tkaczuk might get a better look because of his draft position, the job of making the team must still come from on-ice performance.
"It was very important for (management) to see some signs of definite improvement in my strength and conditioning," he says.
"They realize now that I can play at that level with some effectiveness."
But whether that is enough for Tkaczuk to make the team also is dependent on the Flames needs.
Similarly, Saprykin, another first rounder, has a chance to stay -- if he signs a contract. Coates said yesterday the team wants to sign him.
But for others, today will be about disappointment.
And rejection, which begins with that little flashing message light ...
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