Oilers’ Kassian rises from on-ice, off-ice crashes

But Canucks, Habs made right calls in trading him away, writes Ben Kuzma

As the Edmonton Oilers prepared to bid farewell to Rexall Place last April, the corridors were crowded with legendary alumni telling tall tales of the glory days.

Zack Kassian then emerged as the locker-room doors slid open. No heads turned. Nobody paid attention. They should have because Kassian looked and sounded different.

The franchise’s legendary Hall of Famers rightfully commanded the spotlight that day, but one should have shone on the transformed winger, too. He was lean, clean and spoke with a refreshing frankness about bottoming out and climbing back up.

There was no anger in his tone, no pointing of fingers and the fleet-footed, confident and game-winning-goal guy you see today in the Stanley Cup playoffs is a reflection of the clarity he presented.

The 26-year-old Windsor, Ont., native finally had a foundation on which to build a better life because what came before was destroying it.

We know Kassian was under the influence on that fateful early Sunday morning in Montreal on Oct. 4, 2015 when a car he was travelling in hit a tree.

We know the driver was reportedly a 20-year-old female and another passenger was an 18-year-old girl. We know Kassian fractured a foot and his nose and was placed in Stage 2 of the NHL’s substance-abuse and behavioural-health program for two months and suspended without pay by the Canadiens.

We know about the waivers and the one-year, show-us life-preserver contract from the Oilers. We just didn’t know how he would handle it all.

“It’s sad to say, but I needed something bad like that to happen,” Kassian told me that day at Rexall Place. “People can tell you what they want and try to do whatever they want to help you, but it’s one of those things you have to go through yourself.

“Sadly, I had that car accident and it really changed my life. I went away and had time to think.”

Which, of course, makes you wonder if it couldn’t have turned out differently for Kassian in Vancouver.

Coaches Alain Vigneault, John Tortorella and Willie Desjardins tried to point him in the right direction on the ice.

Kassian had a career-high 14 goals and 124 penalty minutes in 2013-14, a season that started with an eight-game suspension for a Sept. 21 incident in Edmonton. He swung his stick and broke the jaw of Sam Gagner which led to then-Oilers’ rookie head coach Dallas Eakins calling it “a disturbing play by a disturbing player.”

How did Kassian respond? “He can think what he wants — good for him.” Kassian then appeared to mock Gagner when he returned with a protective shield and it made you wonder if something was amiss, something that went beyond gamesmanship.

Tortorella refused to play Kassian in the top-six mix because there was a trust factor with his understanding of the game. The winger would make a brilliant play, then cough up the puck on the same shift.

“He doesn’t have a clue what to do in certain situations,” Tortorella lamented. “Does he have an upside? Absolutely. There are some things that are really intriguing about him, but he’s going to go through the process and we’re going to try and do it the right way because we feel that is what’s best for him.”

The Canucks believed the trickle-down effect of Kassian becoming a better player would naturally transcend to him becoming a better professional. But his name kept popping up in trade rumours. They would come to fruition when he was dealt to the Canadiens.

Kassian entered Stage 2 of the league’s program because he had violated Stage 1, which mainly involves counselling and there is no loss of pay or suspension. But even that was a window on his troubled world and the Canucks lost faith and patience that Kassian could be everything he talked about.

The fact his actions now speak louder than words is more than about winning games. He’s finally winning at the game of life.