Steen makes strong showing

Leaf prospect impresses in camp ‘He looks a lot like his dad:’ Quinn

Alexander Steen remembers showing up for his first day of school in Berlin as a 12- year- old kid from Winnipeg who didn’t know a word of German.

“ I didn’t know anything,” said the Maple Leafs’ prized prospect. “ They just threw me into a room, closed the door and told me, ‘You have to learn German.’ ”

Steen’s indoctrination into the NHL is unlikely to be so harsh. Not only do the Leafs have him rooming with Mats Sundin in his first training camp, but there’s talk that Steen might even start the season as one of the captain’s wingers on the No. 1 line. The Leafs have been impressed with Steen and his early performance in camp. He’s been playing centre in intrasquad games, displaying good speed and a willingness to go to more punishing areas of the ice. For a 21- year-old, Steen plays a remarkably responsible two- way game and is often the first forward back in his zone.

“ He’s a guy that has impressed a lot of us in our organization on how he thinks, how he handles himself, how he positions,” said coach Pat Quinn. “ He can skate and he seems to have some genes like his dad. In fact, he looks a lot like his dad out there the way he plays and his dad was a heck of a player.” The Leafs should be so lucky to have Steen turn out like his father Thomas, the longtime captain of the Winnipeg Jets who scored 817 career points in 950 games and forged a career as one of the top two- way players of his era. Steen says people in Sweden, where he has lived since he was 15, tell him all the time that he plays just like his father and he takes it as a compliment.

“ Back home, everybody compares me to my dad and I can see that,” said Steen, whose father is now a European scout for the Minnesota Wild. “I think the only difference is that he was a little more defensive and I’m a little more offensive, but other than that, we’re pretty similar.”

Having Steen emerge as a bona fide NHL player would lend credibility to the Leafs’ muchmaligned scouting department. Aside from selecting Steen 24th overall in the 2002 entry draft, Toronto also got Matt Stajan 57th and impressive defence prospect Staffan Kronwall 285th. To have three players drafted just three years ago in their lineup would be a very good showing.

Steen will get a close look in Toronto’s pre-season games, starting Sunday against the Ottawa Senators. Quinn said that’s when the Leafs will likely move him to the wing to see how he performs. With Sundin, Jason Allison, Eric Lindros and Stajan already down the middle, the Leafs are set at centre but need depth on the wings. Steen maintains that shouldn’t be a problem since he played the left side much of last season with MoDo of the Swedish Elite League.

Steen has come into camp with the mindset that he’s going to be in the opening- night lineup, but he’s also wary of setting himself up for a disappointment if he’s a late cut.

“ I’ve set up my own goals for this camp and I know what I’m capable of doing,” Steen said. “ You’ve got to have the mentality that you want to make the team and work for that. Obviously, you have to earn a spot on this squad — it’s an unbelievable roster — and it would be an honour to be on this team. Either way, I know I have a lot of hard work ahead of me.” Quinn maintains that no matter what happens, they will not set Steen up to fail.

“ Most of us project that he can play in the National Hockey League,” Quinn said. “ We don’t know how soon. It might be now and the bottom line will be, can he help our club?”