VRBATA’S LAST STAND
Florida final NHL stop for ex-Canuck
Ask Radim Vrbata what’s next and he’ll greet the question with a warm, peaceful smile. “I think I’ll just be a dad,” he said. It’s not as easy as it sounds, especially with three young kids who’ll be transitioning to Czech life. But Vrbata played for Bob Hartley as a rookie. Everything must feel like cake after that. This will be Vrbata’s final year in the NHL, ending a 16-season career during which he was like the league’s red fox.
Quiet and unassuming on the surface, the 36-year-old used a mix of creativity, a great shot and puck skills to viciously attack defences, ripping them apart more often than not. In 1,050 games, he’s put up 622 points, which translates to a 49-point season average, right on the edge of first-line production.
Not bad for a seventh-round pick in 1999. His most productive season, as it turns out, was one of the two he spent in Vancouver, when he put up 63 points. It makes you wonder how many he could have had in his career if he didn’t spend nearly half of it with the Coyotes.
But Vrbata said he has no regrets as he took time Tuesday to wistfully look back on an impressive run, recalling what it was like to be a rookie in 2000-01.
“I was young and fast,” he said, laughing in a nod to the reality he’s neither now. “But it was a different game back then. When we go out for dinners with the younger guys, I keep telling them (how different it is).
“(Back then), there were one or two younger guys on every team and everyone else was old. Now it’s the other way around.”
Vrbata said he feels lucky he was drafted by a Colorado Avalanche team that was stacked with an array of gifted offensive veterans. None of them had more of an impact on him than Joe Sakic, who was his first roommate.
“It was so important to see how those players carry themselves and how normal they can be for superstars,” he said. “Just to see how they handle everyday stuff was important.”
It’s an interesting point of view and one that should resonate in Vancouver where an increasing number of people seem to want the Sedins to retire after this season.
In the end, this will go down as one of Vrbata’s toughest seasons. He actually thought last year was going to be it, but he was so good in Arizona, where he put up 55 points, that he couldn’t walk away.
But the Coyotes moved on without him and he ended up with the Florida Panthers. It looked like a wonderful fit at first. He put up 10 points in his first 12 games playing mostly on a line with Vincent Trocheck. But injuries and age caught up and opportunities for ice time dwindled.
“I’m not happy about it, but what can you do?” Vrbata said. “Five years ago, I think I’d be going more crazy. But now, in my situation, I know where I am in my career.”