DO YA KNOW ODUYA?
Blackhawks defenseman Johnny Oduya considered each question with almost as much poise and patience as he handles the puck with an opponent bearing down on him. His main message? All he wanted to do after he was acquired from the Winnipeg Jets was fit in and contribute. So he doesn’t quite know what to make of all the adulation that has come his way since he made his Hawks debut Feb. 29.
‘‘I don’t know,’’ Oduya told the Sun-times. ‘‘My answer is always the same: This is a good team. They were good long before I came here.’’
But the Hawks have been even better since he arrived.
Their need for an experienced defenseman was evident. They missed Brian Campbell, and everyone knew they were counting too much on youngsters Nick Leddy and Dylan Olsen.
Oduya’s acquisition didn’t come with much fanfare, but the depth of his impact deserves it.
‘‘I knew that he was a good player when we traded for him, but I didn’t know he was going to be this effective on our team,’’ forward Patrick Sharp said. ‘‘He’s another great puck-moving defenseman back there. He provides an offensive edge to our team, and our record speaks for itself since we’ve picked him up.’’
That would be 12-2-4.
Johnny’s story
Oduya’s road to the NHL was definitely an interesting one. He’s one of several players in the league with African heritage, having been born to a Swedish mother and a Kenyan father.
Oduya, 30, grew up in Sweden while his father, a journalist, moved back to Kenya. He followed in his older brother Fredrik’s footsteps.
‘‘My older brother played hockey, so I started playing when I was 6 or 7,’’ Oduya said. ‘‘I was always hanging around the rinks and fell in love with the game.’’
Fredrik died in a motor-vehicle accident last summer. Oduya declined to talk about it, but it’s apparent how much Fredrik means to him.
‘‘Anybody who has an older brother, especially playing hockey, you look up to them,’’ he said. ‘‘He was always around showing you things as you grew up.’’
Fredrik was drafted by the San Jose Sharks in 1993 but never played in the NHL. He had a toughguy reputation, which he earned early on when he left home at 16