Warren:
No worries when it comes to defence
Against one of the greatest players in the world, Evgeni Malkin, Mark Borowiecki stepped up. He didn’t slip up.
Sadly, Borowiecki’s mother, Cynthia, did have an accidental slip — she fell on a patch of ice near the family garage and broke her arm on the day of Mark’s first home game as an NHL defenceman for his hometown Senators.
“Tough timing,” said Borowiecki, 23, of Kanata, standing in the Senators dressing room a day after Sunday’s 2-1 shootout loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
While Borowiecki would have scripted a different outcome, and certainly wished his mother could have been there, he otherwise enjoyed an impressive home ice debut in his fourth career NHL game and second start this season. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound Borowiecki, who looks like a middleweight, but hits like a heavyweight, sent an array of Penguins crashing to the ice or into the boards, including two massive hits on Pittsburgh’s top goal scorer, winger James Neal.
“That’s my game. I’m going to play to my strength,” Borowiecki said. “They told me to be physical. Be hard. I know that’s what I’m here to do, to play like. I’m just doing my job.”
One minute a rookie is watching players like Malkin, Neal and Sidney Crosby on TV, the next thing he knows he’s facing them oneon-one for the first time. It can be daunting. Borowiecki has a credo: “no respect for anyone.” Not that he means lack of respect in a derogatory way, but young players have to guard against being so awed by a superstar player that he gives him too much room.
One thing the rookie defenceman noted about the likes of Crosby and Malkin — their ability to make plays in full flight.
“It’s not so much the top end speed, it’s how fast they go and still have full control of the puck,” Borowiecki said. “Those guys can go full out and still make plays. I definitely noticed that.”
And yet, in the first period, the player aptly nicknamed “BoroCop” was able to launch himself at Malkin and knock him off stride.
‘That’s my game. I’m going to play to my strength. They told me to be physical. Be hard. I know that’s what I’m here to do, to play like. I’m just doing my job.’
MARK BOROWIECKI
Senators defenceman
Senators general manager Bryan Murray noted Borowiecki’s ability to close the gap on Pittsburgh’s top players. Head coach Paul MacLean loved the defensive play, the 12 bodychecks in two games, plus shot blocking on penalty kills.
The tale of the scoresheet for Ottawa’s No. 74 against Pittsburgh: plus one, with 18 minutes, 27 seconds played, seven hits, one giveaway and two blocked shots. Yes, the hard-nosed Borowiecki, drafted in 2008 (fifth round) by the NHL team down the street from his Kanata home, comes as advertised. Tough. Physical. Classic team guy. Basically willed himself from the local Jr. A level with Smiths Falls into the NHL, via Clarkson University.
His willingness to compete, says Murray, is “out of sight.”
MacLean was so pleased with the physical element Borowiecki provided against Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay, he is considering using Borowiecki and fellow rookie Patrick Wiercioch in the same lineup against the Washington Capitals Tuesday (Andre Benoit would be the odd man out). Wiercioch sat the past two games while Borowiecki got some work.
Gradually, Murray has developed a deep stable of defencemen, including three on the ice Sunday from this region: Marc Methot of Ottawa, Benoit of St. Albert and Borowiecki.
“We’re getting more and more local,” says Murray, a native of nearby Shawville who has shown a genuine interest in drafting and developing players from this region. “They have to be able to play but it’s nice to have guys like that, there’s a real meaning for them to play here.”
Down the road, there are more defenceman coming, including the road from AHL Binghamton, where 6-4 Eric Gryba has taken huge strides with the B-Sens and is said to be NHL-ready, as needed.
Jared Cowen, who so impressed with Ottawa last season, will likely miss this entire truncated season following hip surgery, but will slot back into a top four spot next season. The club also has high hopes for Mike Sdao, a 6-foot-4 D-man with Princeton, drafted in 2009.
Short term, veteran pickup Mike Lundin could return from his broken finger in a couple of weeks time to add some experience. Murray is still considering adding another defenceman via trade.
A few years down the road, as the prospects mature, the Senators envision a large, physically imposing defence corps, with Erik Karlsson, of course, dancing among the giants.
By then, Wiercioch, the puck mover, and Borowiecki, the bone-rattler, will likely have settled into the group, and Mrs. Borowiecki will be recovered from that nasty fall that made her miss Mark’s first regular season game at Scotiabank Place as a Senator.
Like her son, Cynthia is a team player. She insisted her husband, Tom, go to the game to watch Mark play. With his dad, Mark’s girlfriend and some pals from Clarkson in the house, it was a night Borowiecki won’t soon forget.
“It was definitely pretty special for me, but I tried not to think about it too much,” Borowiecki said. “It’s got to be all business for me every day.”