Carrick learns life on the edge
D-man raised in Chicago (not a Hawks fan) skates on fine line for precious ice time
CHICAGO— Connor Carrick, the Maple Leafs defenceman, grew up loving hockey in the Chicago suburb of Orland Park. But he never cheered for his hometown Blackhawks.
Which is not to say he didn’t support his local heroes. He found a dose of childhood admiration for the White Sox. And Carrick has extended family members who sold concessions and programs in the concourses of many Chicago sports venues — from Soldier Field to Wrigley Field, respective homes of the Bears and Cubs. But somehow a love of the Blackhawks was never bred into his blood.
“They weren’t on TV,” Carrick pointed out, hearkening back to the short-sighted bad old days of Chicago hockey, when then-owner Bill Wirtz insisted on a local TV blackout.
That era of small-thinking arrogance, of course, coincided with a dark-ages Blackhawks team that missed the playoffs nine times in 10 years when Carrick was in his formative years. So maybe it’s no surprise that Carrick emerged as an NHL-loving 12-year-old with a burgeoning collection of sweaters from franchises based in other cities. He had Colorado Avalanche jerseys bearing the names and numbers of Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg. He had an Atlanta Thrashers-Ilya Kovalchuk model, and a Chris Chelios-Team USA number.
“I couldn’t tell you anybody from those (Blackhawks) teams,” Carrick said. “I don’t have any memories watching. I couldn’t.”
The moral of the story is that it’s better to be on TV every night. And this season Carrick, to his considerable chagrin, hasn’t always had the privilege. A healthy scratch 18 times in Toronto’s first 49 games, the 23-year-old defenceman has at times struggled to keep his place in the pecking order, even though he’s a rare right shot among a defensive corps not lauded for its depth.
All that said, when Carrick arrived at the United Center on Wednesday for the Maple Leafs’ only annual game in the Windy City, he was at a relative high point. For one thing, he dressed for his ninth game in the last 10.
He’d scored a goal in Saturday’s 4-3 win over Ottawa and registered a season-high four shots on goal in Monday’s 4-2 loss to the Avalanche. Which is not to say Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock wasn’t publicly cautioning Carrick to keep honing his craft on the less glamorous side of the puck.
“There’s two parts to it. There’s the part you guys watch, the scoring chances, and the part I watch — the scoring chances against,” Babcock said, speaking of Carrick. “OK? Not only do you have to be able to play with it, you’ve got to be able to play without it.”
Such is the basis for Carrick’s occasionally lengthy stays in the press box this season. And such is the quandary in which the Maple Leafs find themselves regarding a youngish defencemen of Carrick’s ilk. Toronto is desperate for credible help on the back end now. And a player like Carrick — playing in just his 150th NHL game Wednesday night — probably won’t be fully formed for some time yet. So for all Carrick’s obvious potential — and Babcock pointed back to the spring of 2016, when Carrick led the Amer- ican Hockey League in playoff scoring by reeling off 18 points in 15 games for the Marlies — the coach also wondered aloud if the team’s timeline will ever match up with Carrick’s developmental curve.
“He was a star (in the AHL) . . . (but) you bring him up and you say, ‘Who is this guy?’ It takes him two, maybe three years to get back to being what they’re capable of being. You’ve just got to hope they’re not on someone else’s team when that happens,” Babcock said. “You’ve got to get ’em to that light at the end of the tunnel quicker.”
Exactly where he currently resides in the aforementioned tunnel, Carrick isn’t sure.
“I wish I knew the answer. I’ve felt some growth of late. The goal is to make it as permanent as possible and to continue it,” said Carrick, who’ll be a restricted free agent at season’s end. “The NHL game — there’s certain players who are talented enough that they kind of override some of the (growing pains). And then there’s other guys, you’re waiting for your opportunity, and you’re trying to create that growth. Coaches aren’t going to give it to you. At the same time, as a player, you’ve got to believe you can do it. I’ve always had that belief that I could transfer that player from the American League (to the NHL).”
He’s not the only one trying, of course. Kasperi Kapanen, the 21year-old winger, was playing his first NHL game in more than a month after being called up from the Marlies, where he’d put up 22 points in 27 games this season.
“Part of it is just making sure our players are ready when they arrive — overripe,” Babcock said, speaking of Kapanen. “We wanted Kappy to play 20 minutes (a night in the AHL). We didn’t want him to play 10 (in the NHL). We wanted him to put his time in and get way stronger like he has, and become a better player. We think that’s the key to success long term.”
Kapanen’s insertion in place of Matt Martin, Babcock said, was intended to bring “speed” to the lineup — hardly a novel idea in an ever-faster league. Carrick’s game, too, is based on superior skating coupled with puck-moving IQ. And confidence. One of the keys to staying on the positive side of the coach’s ledger — one of the keys to staying on TV every night — involves believing you belong.
“(Confidence) can be fleeting. I think the skill of it is to understand what a confident version of yourself looks like, and what that player does, and then continue to do it even when you’re not confident,” Carrick said. “I think as a player, when you start to stick to the outside, you’re not skating as well, you’re not as aggressive to go back and get a puck because it doesn’t feel as good on your stick, you’ve got to get rid of all that. I think if you wait to always feel good in this game … if you’re going to wait until you feel 10 out of 10 every night, this league will pass you by. It’s not going to wait for you to feel special.”
The game won’t wait. And as Babcock suggested Wednesday, neither will the Maple Leafs.