A THOUSAND MEMORIES
Sens’ Legwand looks back
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. David Legwand has completed the full circle of National Hockey League life.
When the Ottawa Senators centre first broke into the NHL in 1999 and 2000 with the Nashville Predators, he was the wide-eyed teenager trying to take it all in, while veterans Tom Fitzgerald, Bob Boughner and Cliff Ronning showed him what the big-league world was all about.
Now, the skate is on the other foot. As Legwand prepares for the 1,000th game of his career Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning — No. 999 came here Friday against the Florida Panthers — he has become a seen-it-all 34-year-old veteran, lending advice to the team’s youngsters, including 19-year-old rookie centre Curtis Lazar.
“He likes the older guys around, too,” says Legwand. “( We’re) going to help him through the first couple of years of his career, and the ups and downs and twists and turns that he’s going to go through.
“That’s the exciting part for me, too, helping guys around the rink and showing them how to be a pro- fessional on the ice and off the ice, and doing the right things.”
Legwand, who signed a two-year, $6-million deal as a free agent in the summer, went into Friday’s game with two goals and four assists.
He was originally drafted second overall by Nashville in 1998 and spent 14 seasons in Tennessee before being traded to his hometown Detroit Red Wings last spring.
He remembers, as if it were yesterday, the first game of his NHL career. After his Plymouth Whalers were eliminated in the Ontario Hockey League playoffs in 1999, he got the call to make his NHL debut.
“It was at home against New Jersey, and they were going for the all-time (single-season) road-win record,” he said. “I’m a little bit of a history buff on hockey, so that was neat. My first faceoff was against Bobby Holik, and New Jersey had all those (Stanley) Cup-winning teams in those days.”
His first goal came against Glenn Healy in Toronto, and the other career highlights include an early Christmas present in 2000 — beating New York Rangers goaltender Kirk McLean for the first penalty shot overtime goal in NHL history on Dec. 23, 2000.
He also took pride in trying to establish a hockey footprint in a non-traditional hockey market. In the old days, before the salary cap, the Predators were at a major disadvantage.
“That was different,” he said. “Having grown up in Detroit and then going to Nashville, where hockey wasn’t the thing to do and the team wasn’t very good. Our payroll was $20 million, Detroit’s was $84 million. We were underdogs, fighting for our lives.”
Senators coach Paul MacLean says Legwand is part of the group that provides necessary leadership for the relatively young team.
“He’s a veteran guy,” said MacLean. “Chris Neil shows it in a different way than Chris Phillips does, and David Legwand shows it in a different way than they do. It’s important to have that mix of veteran players that can go up and down your lineup and help.”
The more Legwand plays, the more he appreciates the opportunities he has had.
“When you’re younger, you don’t quite understand,” he said. “I’ve been fortunate to have played for a long time and been healthy for a long time. It’s an honour and a privilege to be part of the group that has played that many games in the league.” BOROWIECKI SITS OUT: Hardhitting defenceman Mark Borowiecki, who is nursing a groin injury he suffered against St. Louis, sat out Friday’s game. “He had a good (morning) skate (Friday), but he still had some discomfort,” said MacLean. Chris Phillips, who had missed the previous three games with an undisclosed injury of his own, took his spot in the lineup.
Mika Zibanejad remained a healthy scratch — for the second straight game — and Milan Michalek returned in place of Colin Greening.