Stick trim turns Vukojevic’s game around
Shorter stick boosts defenceman’s on-ice confidence
KITCHENER — You don’t mess with another man’s hockey equipment. It’s kind of an unwritten rule in the dressing room.
But that didn’t stop Kitchener Rangers coach Jay McKee and assistant Dennis Wideman from cutting a couple of inches off the stick of defenceman Michael Vukojevic about a month back.
The hack job was done with good intentions.
“Something was going on (with Vukojevic),” said McKee.
After studying game videos, the two former NHL defencemen noticed that their sophomore rearguard was mishandling the puck on a regular basis.
“He even mishandled a puck on a breakaway,” said McKee.
Upon closer inspection, the skipper noticed something familiar. Vukojevic’s elbow was up and he was losing the puck in his skates. McKee went through a similar issue when he played in the Ontario Hockey League for the Niagara Falls Thunder more than 20 years ago.
Thunder coach Chris Johnstone trimmed his twig and McKee’s game changed for the better. So the Rangers’ boss did the same thing for Vukojevic and the results have been dramatic.
“He has been exceptional since that change,” said McKee. “It’s amazing. His puck handling has improved.”
So has his shot, positional play and, maybe most importantly, his confidence, which is way up. NHL scouts are noticing too and Vukojevic’s draft stock is on the rise after a lukewarm start to the season.
The Oakville native has been one of the team’s best blueliners in the past month and was a force yet again in Friday’s 4-3 win over Owen Sound at the Aud.
Nick McHugh split the Attack defence with about five minutes left in the game to break a 3-3 tie as the Rangers won their seasonhigh fourth consecutive game.
Greg Meireles put the home side up 1-0 in the first but Owen Sound answered with a pair of second period tallies from Nick Suzuki and Brady Lyle before Joseph Garreffa potted the equalizer to knot the game 2-2.
Rookie Reid Valade scored his first OHL goal on a nice feed by Alexey Lipanov — who had three helpers — to give the Rangers the lead in the third but Owen Sound came right back off the blade of Aidan Dudas.
As for Vukojevic, he was caught off guard when presented with his shortened stick, which now reaches the bottom of his chin when he’s off skates.
“I came to the rink one day after school and he (McKee) called me into his office and told me,” he said. “I said, ‘oh, you’re cutting it down?’ And he said no, we already did. It was all new to me. I was like ‘what’s going on.’”
Vukojevic hated the change, at first. But, after a few practices, things improved.
“I noticed a difference,” said the six-foot-three defenceman. “My puck handling is better and my shot is more accurate. When you’re confident with the puck, you’re confident to make more plays and to do more things. You trust yourself just a little bit more.”
The Rangers look to keep their winning streak going Saturday in Saginaw before wrapping up the weekend in Windsor Sunday.