For some, big ice equals bigger results

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2004

By Lucas Aykroyd

April 30, 1990. Theoren Fleury is breathless, angry, and frustrated as he chases Sergei Makarov around the sprawling ice surface of the Eisstadion Allmend in Bern, Switzerland. Two weeks earlier, these Calgary Flames teammates were bounced out of the NHL playoffs in a six-game first-round loss to the Los Angeles Kings. Now, Fleury is wearing the Canadian maple leaf and Makarov the CCCP logo of the Soviet Union as the two compete against each other in the medal round of the 1990 IIHF World Championships.

Fleury is unhappy for several reasons. His team, boasting the likes of Steve Yzerman, Paul Coffey, Doug Gilmour, and Al MacInnis, is being completely dominated by the Soviets, and the final score will be 7-1. What really peeves him right now is that Makarov, the soon-to-be Calder Trophy winner with 86 points in his rookie season, went goalless with six assists versus the Kings. Yet now, the 31-year-old Russian is skating like the wind, scoring and setting up great plays with ease.

As Fleury and Makarov slash at each other, the diminutive Canadian forward snaps: “Why the @#$#@ didn’t you play like this in the playoffs?”

It’s a common complaint about some players that they perform better at the IIHF World Championships than in the NHL playoffs. And the North American media is quick to make value judgments about those guys. Often, the players are accused of lacking various essential body parts. They’re held up as trade bait. If they’re European, it’s often suggested that they were more interested in winning a gold medal for their homeland than in getting the Stanley Cup for their NHL employers.

But at the same time, when North American players travel to Europe to participate in the Worlds, the same journalists will point out that “it’s a completely different game on the international ice surface” and make allowances for the North Americans in terms of how they make the adjustment to the 200-by-100-foot sheet.

Wouldn’t it be more fair to accept that some players of whatever nationality are simply better on the big ice because their skill set is better suited to that style of hockey?

If you’re a small player, a fast player, a more cerebral than physical player, a player who prefers to stickhandle rather than dumping in the puck, or a combination of these and other elements, why should it be surprising that you prosper more in the international environment than if you’re constantly being bashed and rubbed out along the walls by 6-5, 230-pound defensemen on a 200-by-85-foot surface?

To put things in perspective, we’ve seen plenty of vaunted NHL power forwards that look pretty silly when they can’t get their bearings in international hockey, whether it comes to skating, passing, shooting or even bodychecking.

Here are five NHL players currently participating in the 2004 IIHF World Championships that get bigger results on the big ice:

Michael Nylander, Sweden: Nylander was touted as one of the most offensively gifted players in the world when the Hartford Whalers originally drafted him in 1991. However, the nifty centerman has often struggled in the NHL playoffs, and that was especially true during his early years in Calgary. Yet he was named the Best Forward at the 1997 IIHF World Championships in Finland, and the crowds in Gothenburg, Sweden consistently cheered his elegant dekes and pivots during Tre Kronor’s 2002 bronze medal run.

Daniel Briere, Canada: Can you imagine how many points this 5-10, 179-pound wunderkind would score if the NHL adopted the big ice surface? With the Drummondville Voltigeurs as a junior star in 1995-96, Briere became just the fourth player in QMJHL history to lead the league in goals, assists and points (163). He’s never going to win an NHL scoring title, but when you watch him bursting around defensemen and setting up Dany Heatley as he’s done the last two years at the IIHF World Championships, it’s impressive.

Martin Rucinsky, Czech Republic: In the NHL, Rucinsky ranks somewhere between a journeyman and a star. He’s played for seven different NHL franchises, and he’s never scored more than 28 goals or 60 points in one season. Yet put him in a Czech uniform at the Worlds, and what’s criticized as perimeter play in North America becomes a discriminating eye for detail in Europe. Rucinsky’s stick skills and skating are world-class, and that’s why he was named a tournament all-star after the Czech gold medal runs in both 1999 and 2001.

Petteri Nummelin, Finland: Many NHL fans only know Nummelin as that guy who was supposed to jumpstart the Columbus Blue Jackets power play in 2000-01, but finished with just four goals and 12 assists in his lone NHL campaign. Yet the swift-skating defenseman is a mainstay on the Finnish national team, and that goes no matter which other Finnish NHL blueliners are available. Nummelin, 31, won the Swiss League scoring title with 57 points for Lugano in 2002-03, the first defenseman to accomplish that feat since Ron Wilson in 1985. Nummelin was named a tournament all-star at the IIHF World Championships in 2000 and 2001.

Miroslav Satan, Slovakia: Satan is a legitimate NHL star who usually leads the Buffalo Sabres in scoring. Yet when he suits up for Slovakia, a whole new deceptive offensive dimension enters into his game. He’s almost impossible to shut down. Put simply, Slovakia would not have won its first silver (2000), gold (2002), or bronze (2003) medals at this tournament without him. The 29-year-old from Topolcany ranks right up there with Mats Sundin and Saku Koivu in any serious discussion about who’s been the best forward at the Worlds in recent memory.

So did Makarov and Fleury make up? Sure. Makarov gave his gold medal to Fleury as a souvenir after the 1990 tournament.