Miroslav Satan wasn't a man without a country. In fact, his
country, Slovakia, gave him a spot on its Olympic team last
Tuesday, despite the fact that Satan was a man without a hockey
team.
Fortunately for the 35-year-old veteran of 13 mostly
productive NHL seasons, the Bruins have been a team without enough
goal-scorers for the first half of 2009-2010, so Satan is about to
get busy. The B's signed the unrestricted free agent winger to a
one-year contract worth a reported $700,000, and he practiced with
them for the first time on Sunday.
"I think it makes sense for the team, and for me, also," said
Satan, whose up-and-down 2008-'09 season included a stint in the
minors for salary cap reasons, followed by 17 playoff appearances
with the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins. "It's a good
situation."
A 17-goal scorer in 65 games before Pittsburgh had to farm
him out late last season (the Pens had acquired Bill Guerin and
Chris Kunitz at the trade deadline), Satan has almost always been a
20-goal scorer (six seasons between 22 and 29 goals), has
occasionally hit for more than 30 (three seasons), and once hit 40
(1998-99, with Buffalo) in a career that took him from Edmonton to
Buffalo to the New York Islanders before he landed in Pittsburgh
last year. Highly recommended by Bruins assistant general manager
Jim Benning, who once worked in Buffalo's front office, and by
countryman Zdeno Chara, the Bruins' captain, Satan has also been
dogged by his reputation for indifference to defense and occasional
lapses in intensity.
With the first half of the season closing tonight, and Boston
averaging only 2.5 goals per game to date, the B's are willing to
take their chances - and pretty confident the odds aren't so
stacked against them.
"Generally speaking, you're not going to get a perfect player
on the free agent market at this time of year," Bruins general
manager Peter Chiarelli said. "He's been more of a one-dimensional
player over the course of the career, but . I watched all his
playoff games, and he was above average on the defensive side of
the puck. We really looked at that.
"We weren't getting him for his defensive capabilities; we're
getting him for his offensive capabilities."
Unable to land what he considered a suitable offer during the
off-season, Satan worked out on Long Island, skating several times
per week. Occasionally, he'd talk to Chara, a friend for the past
decade or so.
"He told me he would like to be in the NHL again," Chara
said. "That was his first choice, so I'm glad he signed here."
Away from game action since June 12, when he and the Pens won
Game 7 of the Cup finals against Detroit, Satan and his new
employers figure it'll take a week, give or take, before he's ready
to play.
"I was kind of expecting a week, at least, to get back" into
game shape, Satan said. "It's going to depend on how I feel in
three or four days. It might change. It might be shorter, longer, I
don't know."
Chiarelli is certain Satan will be hungry.
"He's highly motivated," the GM said. "I know he wants to
play in the league next year. And I'll tell you what: He's been a
world class player his whole career, and he took a significant pay
cut (Satan's salary last year was $3.5 million) to join our team.
I've got to hand that to him."
The next prize Satan can win is a medal in the 2010 Games at
Vancouver, but he also wanted to play someplace where he could win
another Stanley Cup ring. Halfway through the NHL season, and
roughly six weeks before the Olympics, Satan thinks he found the
right spot.
"I think this is a team with a chance to go deep in the
playoffs," he said. "I think, the way the team is built, they can
use a player like me. After thinking about it for a while, I wanted
to get back and play ockey again.
"I like the way this team is playing, and I think I can be
useful here."
