Not always smooth skating for players trying new roles

Sidney Crosby isn’t alone when it comes to his familiarity with another position. Several of his teammates have stories, too, many of them funny.

Thirteen months ago, with three forwards injured, the Dallas Stars made an unconventional move: They shifted 6-foot-7, 255-pound Jamie Oleksiak from defense to forward.

Oleksiak had occasionally skated as a forward in the USHL and OHL, even with the Texas Stars in the AHL. But never did the Penguins defenseman think his services would be needed in an NHL game.

Nevertheless, Oleksiak tried it, did his best to keep things simple, and, all considered, held his own.

“I didn’t get scored on,” Oleksiak said. A box score would confirm that. Oleksiak was neither on the ice for a goal scored or allowed. He tallied a hit and no shot attempts in 4:44.

“I would just get the puck and chip it in or chip it out,” Oleksiak said. “Kept it pretty simple.”

But Oleksiak had some rocky times, too, as former Stars coach Ken Hitchcock would give Oleksiak opportunities here and there to play with the offense.

“There was one time where I went in on the forecheck a little too hard,” Oleksiak said. “Playing against Minnesota, maybe. The goalie went out to play the puck. I went right at him and he dipsy-doodled around me, I totally blew a tire. I thought I blew out my knee, honestly.”

Probably like many of his fellow defensemen, Jack Johnson started out playing forward in Pee Wee hockey, around age 11.

Then, Johnson had a realization.

“I wound up switching to defense because I got on the ice more,” Johnson said. “I guess I never looked back.”

Well, except for a handful of times in college.

At Michigan, Johnson convinced the Wolverines coach, Red Berenson, to occasionally let him kill penalties as a forward.

Johnson said he and Andrew Cogliano would instruct teammates to flip the puck to the neutral zone and they would do the rest, taking off for short-handed breakaways.

“In college, you could outskate everyone,” Johnson said.

Derick Brassard grew up in Hull, Quebec, about 10 minutes outside of Ottawa. He wasn’t always a center.

When Brassard was younger, he actually wanted to be a goaltender.

“I think that’s a phase when you’re younger,” Brassard said. “Everyone wants to be a goalie. Everything is cool, the mask and everything. Then you realize it’s kind of a [crappy] position.”

Brassard must’ve learned the hard way that having hunks of frigid, vulcanized rubber hurled at you by opposing players could make for a tough day at the office.

The same way Jake Guentzel — now 5-foot-11 and (bulked up this offseason to) 180 pounds — determined that maybe winning physical battles along the boards wasn’t for him.

When Guentzel was 9 or 10, he said he tried his hand playing defense.

It didn’t go well. An opponent chopped Guentzel and broke his wrist. Guentzel went home from the hospital with his arm in a cast.

It took him about four seconds to find something else to do on the ice.

“I don’t think I’ve played it since,” Guentzel said. “Not a fun day. Not going back.”

Daniel Sprong came to that conclusion, too, although the lesson didn’t involve any broken bones.

When Sprong was younger, his coach tried him on defense for a couple of tournaments.

Had anyone tracked Sprong’s Corsi or goals-for percentage, they might have been nauseous.

“Oh, I was the fourth forward out there,” Sprong said. “When you’re that young, you can get away with it.”

Sprong also said his coaches would have something of a rotation going for goaltender.

While he would never shirk his responsibilities in the crease, Sprong said he wasn’t making those in charge of the team rethink the depth chart.

“I hated playing goalie,” Sprong said. “Never liked it one bit. In street hockey or on the outdoor rink, I would go in nets when it was my turn, but it’s not something I would nominate myself for.

“I like scoring goals. It was a pretty easy decision for me.”