Hedjuk fills scoring gap for Colorado Avalanche

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 1999

By Lucas Aykroyd

Who needs Joe Sakic?

Well, actually, there would be plenty of takers around the National Hockey League if the Colorado Avalanche put their longtime captain on the market.

But the point is, right winger Milan Hejduk is doing his best to make up for the scoring deficit resulting from Sakic’s absence from the Colorado lineup since 26 November with a rib cartilage injury. With Peter Forsberg still rounding into game shape after a six-month layoff due to shoulder surgery, Hedjuk’s firepower becomes even more important.

The 23-year-old native of Usti-nad Labem, Czech Republic leads the Avalanche with 18 goals in 31 games this season. That tops his 14 tallies in a full 82-game schedule in 1998-99, his rookie season. Partnered with last year’s Calder Trophy winner, Chris Drury, the smooth-skating Hedjuk is demonstrating his strong playoff performance (6-6-12 in 16 games) was no fluke. The two are neck-and-neck in the overall Colorado scoring derby, with 29 points apiece, but Hedjuk has more than twice as many goals as his American linemate.

EuroReport spoke with Hedjuk after he fired the overtime winner in a 3-2 Colorado triumph over the Vancouver Canucks at GM Place on 12 December. Despite his excellent personal statistics, Hedjuk focused attention on his team’s recent improvement (7-4-0 in the last 10 games).

“So far it’s getting better and better, but we need more wins,” Hedjuk said. “We are starting to win on the road, so we play with more confidence and it will probably help us in our home games. We seem to feel better in our new building [the Pepsi Center] than last year at McNichols Arena.”

Hedjuk showed maturity in his perspective on the injury problems that have nagged the Avalanche all season long. Joe Sakic is no Joe Blow, but as Hedjuk pointed out, nobody is indispensable.

“Joe is a great player, and we miss him a lot like any team would,” said Hedjuk. “But that’s hockey. What can you do? You just have to play and do your best.”

That kind of effort has already propelled Hedjuk past a couple of veteran NHLers on the Avalanche’s all-time franchise scoring list. His goal against Vancouver ranks him ahead of Walt Poddubny and Gaetan Duchesne, who had 75 and 76 career points with the Quebec incarnation of the team. Sitting at number 48 on the list, Hedjuk now has such names as Jamie Hislop and Steve Duchesne in his sights.

Growing up, Hedjuk idolized Vladimir Ruzicka, a longtime Czech star and NHLer of the early 1990s (Edmonton, Boston, Ottawa). But according to Avalanche assistant coach Bryan Trottier, Hedjuk is forging his own identity as a hockey player.

“We’re very excited about the way Milan’s playing,” said Trottier, a four-time Stanley Cup winner with the New York Islanders in the 1980s. “He loves to have fun out there and he concentrates on his job all the time. There’s not much more you can ask from a guy. He’s got a terrific talent and he’s using it well.”

Trottier wouldn’t bite when asked if Hedjuk’s slick offensive approach reminds him of Mike Bossy, the three-time Lady Byng Trophy recipient who graced Trottier’s wing from 1977 to 1987. “Not a lot of similarities. Milan’s got a knack for scoring goals, but he takes a lot of pride in all areas of the ice, as all great players do. But when it comes to making comparisons to Mike Bossy or Guy Lafleur or Maurice Richard or Jari Kurri…for me, it’s just fun watching them all play.”

If Hedjuk blossoms into a consistent scorer like any of those Hall-of-Famers, Colorado won’t need to think about entering a rebuilding phase for many years to come.