Philadelphia
Daily News - December 4, 1996
Philadelphia
Daily News - December 4, 1996
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there is one thing Rod Brind'Amour is known for, it's hard work,on
offense and defense. Which makes it hard to explain how he woke up
yesterday morning with a minus-13 next to his name, the worst
plus-minus figure in the entire National Hockey League.
``I don't worry too much about that,'' Brind'Amour said yesterday as the Flyers prepared for tonight's visit to the New York Rangers. ``The goals I've been on for have pretty much been ugly goals rebounds and deflections. I'm not doing anything different defensively . . . There have been some fluky bounces, and a few have been my fault.''
Brind'Amour allowed that toward the end of team captain Eric Lindros's 23-game groin-injury absence, Brind'Amour, like many Flyers, might have been guilty of ``pressing, trying to do too much.''
``When you're having trouble scoring, and you're frustrated, maybe that carries over a little to the other end,'' he said.
Coach Terry Murray -- who gave Brind'Amour the captain's ``C'' while Lindros was out -- thinks Brind'Amour was pressing during that time, but he also thinks the ugly plus-minus is deceptive.
``I might be as much to blame for that as anybody,'' Murray said. ``I've had him with a lot of different people on that line. A lot of those goals, when you look at them, Roddy was doing his job just fine, and there was a breakdown somewhere else.''
Notably, Pat Falloon (minus-9) and John Druce (minus-7) have seen extensive playing time on the second line with Brind'Amour, but have been scratched a lot lately, and are not scheduled to play tonight. Murray likes his current Brind'Amour grouping, with Dale Hawerchuk and Trent Klatt, but earlier, when Hawerchuk played with a bad hip, he too had some bad defensive moments, and helped add to Brind'Amour's minus total.
Brind'Amour has seen dozens of linemates come and go. It took three years to build a stable top line around Eric Lindros; Brind'Amour, in his sixth Flyers season, has never been on a line that lasted more than a month or so.
There were a few years when he and Kevin Dineen were constants, with an ever-changing left-wing cast. Now, it seems he and Hawerchuk will play with whichever right wing has Murray's confidence. Klatt is playing well right now, but two months ago he was left exposed in the waiver draft, so you have to wonder if he's a long-term solution.
``It'd be easier if you had the same guys all the time,'' Brind'Amour said. ``There's a little bit of inconsistency. But it's been that way every year.''
When the Flyers defeated Vancouver, 4-3, Sunday, Canucks captain Trevor Linden sprained a knee and ended his streak of 482 sucessive games, the longest in the NHL. Brind'Amour tonight will mark 266 games since he last sat down, with an elbow problem, back in the 1992-93 season. That now is the league's third-longest streak, after former Flyer Mark Recchi (406) and Edmonton's Doug Weight (282).
Brind'Amour attributes the streak to dumb luck. Murray, the kind of coach who loves to talk about body-fat percentages and lactic-acid buildup, sees him as one of the best-conditioned athletes in team sports. In fact, Murray felt that during Lindros's absence, he might have taken advantage of Brind'Amour's conditioning, using him more than was advisable for Brind'Amour's mental and emotional freshness.
``His recovery time is excellent. He comes off from a shift, sits down on the bench and is ready to go,'' Murray said. ``You could compare him to any player in the National Hockey League -- he has tremendous recovery.''
Murray shaved a few minutes a game off Brind'Amour's total toward the end of Lindros's absence, and coincidentally or not, Brind'Amour's play improved, particularly his goal-scoring. Five of his nine goals have come in the last eight games.
Brind'Amour, who would like to play all 60 minutes, disputes the idea he has been more focused in a slightly smaller role.
``I like to play a lot. I think I play better the more I'm out there,'' he said. ``I don't think I've ever been satisfied with how much I've played. You want to be out there in every situation -- power play, penalty killing, the last minute.''
Brind'Amour is always mentioned in Flyers trade rumors, but he never leaves. He now has the longest continuous tenure on the team, having arrived from St. Louis in September 1991. Right now, he is the franchise's 13th all-time scorer, with 405 points in 402 games. By season's end, he ought to be in the top 10, and could catch No. 9, Rick Tocchet, who took 531 Flyers games to score 462 points.
By season's end, Brind'Amour ought to have his plus-minus back in shape, as well.