Bet on this gamble paying off

By AL STRACHAN -- Toronto Sun One player, who had a 13-year National Hockey League career with three teams, says that when it comes to commitment to his team, Dmitri Khristich ranks dead last of all the players he has known.
It is a widely held sentiment. On one occasion, when Khristich was playing for the Los Angeles Kings, an infuriated Rick Tocchet confronted him between periods.
"I know I'm not the best guy in the world along the boards," Tocchet said, "but at least I'm trying. You're doing nothing out there. You have to be better than that."
Khristich's reaction was to start flossing his teeth. At that point, had it not been for the intervention of some teammates, Tocchet would have punched him.
So that's the bad side of Dmitri Khristich, the total free agent the Leafs somehow found a way to pay for. He's definitely a project.
But there is also a good side. He's an extremely talented player and he can make a substantial contribution when he wants to.
The Leafs took a gamble by acquiring him, but they're not doing so because of stupidity or laziness. They looked into his background; they heard the stories and they checked them out.
General manager/coach Pat Quinn even asked Khristich about his reputation in a face-to-face meeting on Wednesday. It seems that most of the problems arose when Khristich was with the Kings and was unhappy with his situation there.
Khristich simply said, "I don't know," when asked yesterday about the nature of his problems in Los Angeles, but insisted that in Boston, "the guys were fine and we were together."
Let's face it. Problem-free point-a-game players aren't forming mobs and banging on the doors of hockey teams. If a guy like this is available in late October, there has to be a skeleton in the closet somewhere -- and not just on a contractual front.
But the Leafs have determined that the squad they had hoped to put together this season didn't quite develop because too many players, such as Kris King, Fredrik Modin, Derek King and others, didn't live up to expectations.
So Quinn has done what he said he would do if that turned out to be the case. The self-imposed budget has been adjusted and the necessary moves have been made.
The Leafs took a calculated risk with Khristich and have a number of reasons to expect it to work out.
For one thing, there is a substantial core of Russian players in Toronto and as a result, Khristich, a Ukrainian, will be exposed to serious peer pressure.
For another thing, Quinn is the ideal coach for someone like Khristich who has the ability to make substantial offensive contributions without ignoring his defensive responsibilities.
Igor Korolev, who is the acknowledged leader of the Russian contingent in the dressing room, doesn't expect any problems with Khristich. The two haven't spent any real time together but the NHL society of players from the former Soviet Union is fairly closed. Players don't have to know each other to know each other.
"He's a quiet guy," Korolev said. "I know of him as a person and he's a pretty good guy."
He, too, feels that Khristich's problems in Los Angeles could have been peculiar to his situation. "Each coach looks at a guy differently," Korolev said. "One coach might say a guy is working hard but another one says he's not. It gets to be a personal opinion.
"He was very good in Boston the past couple of years. He was a big part of their team, a big part of their power play and his line was the top line. I don't say he's tough, but he's in the right position. He's a good stick-handler and he's very good on his skates."
With that many attributes, the Leafs simply felt that the pros outweighed the cons. They have, as has been pointed out before, decided that they have a real chance to win the Stanley Cup this season if they can get just a little better in some key areas.
Khristich gives them the opportunity to get a lot better and, as a result, he was worth the gamble.

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