| kristianhay | 03-05-2012 11:11 PM |
Zack Kassian since the trade: 3GP 1G 1A 2P 16 hits 8 shots +- 0 ATOI = 11:30
Cody Hodgson since the trade: 4GP 0G 0A 0P 3 hits 8 shots +2 ATOI = 16:50
CoHo with 3 points in his last 17.
:fullofwin:
Good article on Kass as well! Quote:
MacIntyre: Canucks' Zack Kassian forced to grow up fast
Zack Kassian looks so much a man among men it is easy to forget how young he is — even for the big brother who helped raise him.
“A lot of times, people don’t realize he’s just 21,” Mike Kassian said Monday. “People look at him like he’s a man, but he’s still a boy. And sometimes he does boy things. With the things that happened, he had to grow up really quickly.”
You wouldn’t have known any of this from watching Zack Kassian play Saturday night on Hockey Night in Canada as the big power forward from little Kingsville, Ont., had one goal, an assist, seven hits and helped drag the Vancouver Canucks back into their game against the Buffalo Sabres.
His 21st birthday was six weeks ago.
Kassian could still be playing junior hockey in Windsor.
This is his first professional season. His minor-league apprenticeship lasted all of 30 games with the Rochester Americans.
Last week’s shock trade for Cody Hodgson brought the Sabres’ prospect to the Canucks. He may never leave the National Hockey League.
Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said Monday that the team’s pro scouts believed the 2009 first-round pick would be a top-six forward in the NHL.
“How long that’s going to take him, I’m not quite sure,” Vigneault said.
Apparently, 2˝ games. Vigneault promoted Kassian to the second line from the fourth on Saturday and Kassian, Ryan Kesler and David Booth dominated physically. Booth and Kassian scored in the third period before an empty-net goal secured the Sabres’ 5-3 win.
Kassian, whose boyish thing Monday was arriving late for practice, skated with Booth and Kesler, and the line will likely stay together for tonight’s game against the Dallas Stars. Skewed only a little by Kassian’s 230-pound frame, the trio average 6-2 and 215 pounds and have the power, size and skill to become a modern-day Legion of Doom.
“At least I can keep up in the weight department at 220,” Booth said. “When you have speed and skill and size, that’s pretty hard to defend. With the way guys train ... if [Kassian] dedicates himself over the next couple of years, there is no limit for him.”
Kassian has dedicated himself to hockey pretty well so far.
His dad, Mike Sr., died of a rare heart abnormality when Zack was eight. A mother of four, Shirley Kassian ran a cleaning business to support her family. Her husband had worked at the Chrysler plant in Windsor.
“My mom is an unbelievable person to be able to do what she did,” Zack said. “When I look back, it was crazy how she was able to do it all. I feel very grateful. If it wasn’t for her and my siblings to look out for me, and for my older brother to be a father figure, I probably wouldn’t be where I am today.”
Shirley Kassian visits later this week to help Zack settle in Vancouver. Amber, 24, the younger of Zack’s two sisters, is flying in from Alberta.
Mike Jr., 32, who works in sales for Spirol Industries, which supplies components for manufacturing, hopes to visit Vancouver in the spring. The eldest Kassian child is Stephanie, 34. Zack is the baby.
“Growing up without a father, but being very family oriented, we always did things together,” Mike said in a telephone interview. “There was so much family support. We had grandparents’ help, and my mom, my older sister, aunts, uncles, teachers, everyone.
“I always worried about my younger siblings. How were they going to grow up? What was life going to be like for them [without dad]? What would other kids say? But I think that bump in the road and that terrible situation for Zack also gave him courage and made him a stronger person.”
The Kassian kids all get checked annually to make sure they’re not developing the same heart condition that afflicted their father.
“Right before my draft, all the NHL teams that were interested in me made me go do heart scans and those crazy things,” Zack explained after practice. “I do get checked every year, me and my whole family, and everything is good.
“What happened to my father was a fluke. You can’t live scared and wonder if it will happen to you. You’ve got to move forward. It was a very rare disease.”
Mike Kassian spent a lot of time with his little brother. Instead of going out with friends on the weekend, he’d hang out with Zack. Mike said it never felt like a sacrifice.
But Shirley joked in an interview a couple of years ago: “I blame Zack that I don’t have any grandchildren because [Mike] is always with him. He’s always been there for him, always a phone call away, makes sure he has everything. He says: ‘Don’t worry mom, I’ll take care of him.’ ”
Although nothing can compare to the loss of his father, there have been other bumps along the way for Zack. Two year ago, he was suspended 20 games for targeting the head of an Ontario League opponent, and a scuffle outside a Windsor bar resulted in an assault charge that was dropped when Kassian agreed to a fine and community service.
“Some of the things that happened were definitely tough,” he said Monday. “But there’s no choice but to learn from them and move forward and mature as a person.”
Asked about this season and how much his life has changed, Kassian said: “It’s flown by, to be honest. My time in Rochester, I don’t even remember it that much now. I’m just trying to take it a day at a time and trying to get better each day. If you’d asked me a year ago about being on the Vancouver Canucks, I would have laughed. It’s an awesome opportunity.
“I’ve just turned 21. I still have a lot of things to learn. I’m going to be a sponge and try to learn things as soon as possible. But saying that, it takes time and years in this league to fully mature.”
Imagine then, the player Kassian could become.
| |
