Tiny, but tenacious
‘I don’t like to lose,’ Pageau says
He’s an old-school kind of player, J.G. Pageau. So why wouldn’t he turn to an old family remedy to heal a cut and swelling under his right eye?
“My mom gave me a poultice and it worked pretty good,” said Pageau, the Ottawa Senators centre from Gatineau. “She put a tea bag on there so it wouldn’t swell.”
Worked like a charm. Following the Senators’ 3-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs Thursday, the area beneath Pageau’s eye looked nasty, but a day later the swelling was gone and the cut diminished.
What never seems to diminish is the reverence for the 20-year-old Pageau in the eyes of the organization. The incident that caused the cut was typical Pageau — the little centre battling along the boards with Toronto’s Nazem Kadri, who was becoming increasingly annoyed by Pageau’s persistence (he also had Kadri’s number in the faceoff circle — 82 per cent overall to Kadri’s 46 per cent).
As Pageau and Kadri got, David Clarkson of the Maple Leafs ripped Pageau’s helmet off his head, and Pageau wound up being gouged by his own helmet. Clarkson received an unsportsmanlike penalty, but Pageau got a double minor and the Leafs went on the power play — where Kadri scored.
Senators general manager Bryan Murray was amazed, first by the non-call against Kadri, but moreover by yet another head-turning performance for Pageau, a Senators playoff hero in the spring (with his hat trick versus the Montreal Canadiens) who didn’t mind slumming it in the rookie NHL tournament a couple of weeks ago.
“Our best player was Pageau,” Murray said Friday, reflecting on his team’s play versus the Leafs. “I said, ‘how is this possible?’ He seems to be one guy that’s fighting like crazy to be on this hockey team.”
While fans turned out (though not in huge numbers) to watch the top line of Jason Spezza, Bobby Ryan and Milan Michalek, they likely went home talking about the little pepper pot trio of Pageau, Shane Prince and Andre Petersson. Pageau and Petersson had four shots on goal each and Petersson scored a goal. Pageau, as usual, was the centre of attention.
“He’s playing with a couple of young guys, and that line’s a pretty good line, it tells you lots about him,” Murray said. “How hard he plays, how smart he is, how competitive, he’s the one guy that gets into a scrum with one of the better players from Toronto because the guy is frustrated playing against him.”
The Senators were especially impressed with Pageau’s ability to win faceoffs in his own end, the kind of savvy skill usually associated with veteran NHL centres.
“His hockey IQ is really high, we know that,” Murray said.
“(Assistant GM) Tim (Murray) said it better, ‘he’s just a guy that finds a way to play against good players on the other team and comes out on top quite often.’ And that’s really the key.”
‘NUISANCE’ IN CIRCLE
Spezza, the new Senators captain, said he first recognized Pageau’s faceoff ability when Pageau was in his first Senators camp as an 18-yearold, fourth-round pick. Unheralded.
‘We played intra-squad his first training camp and I noticed him being a bit of a nuisance on faceoffs,” says Spezza, laughing. “That’s how I recognized him the first time around.
“Those little guys are tricky sometimes,” Spezza says. “They get in there with their little short sticks, and they’re low (to the ice).”
Spezza, like Erik Karlsson and others, has already anointed Pageau as a member of this team. And why not? He clearly will be. AHL Binghamton will have to do without him.
“I like his tenacity on the puck, I like his attitude,” Spezza says. “He wants the puck all the time, you can tell he’s hungry to make plays happen. As a young guy, you can tend to be passive and watch the game too much, and he lets the game come to him. He’s got that offensive instinct, seems like he’s in the right place at the right time.
“The only way have success when you’re that size is to be gritty.”
Of course, Pageau recognized that years ago in minor hockey.
“I don’t like to lose, so I try to give everything I have — in the game and even in the practice,” Pageau said. “All the sacrifice that is needed, I’m ready to do it. If it will help the team, I’m ready to do anything.”
At 5-9 and about 170 pounds, Pageau feels compelled to outwork larger players, “show I can play here.” As for his growing acumen in the faceoff circle, Pageau has learned tips from Spezza and knows a good faceoff percentage can help him stay in the lineup.
Kadri might be seeing a lot more of Pageau this season.