He was invited back for another season because the Boston Bruins
knew Mark Recchi would be the least of their worries.
Coach Claude Julien worries, though. Recchi makes him.
"We certainly would like to see a 41-year-old not have to
play as much," Julien said, "but at the same time, he's just showed
what kind of player he really is . As much as you can give him,
he'll take."
Stolen, with a second-round draft pick, from Tampa Bay at
last season's March 4 trade deadline for defenseman Matt Lashoff
(currently in the American Hockey League) and Martins Karsums
(recently "loaned" to a team in Russia's KHL), Recchi re-signed for
one year over the summer, with the Bruins looking to retain his
character, experience and all-around know-how, while Recchi sought
the third Stanley Cup of his 21-year career.
Boston didn't see Recchi averaging more ice time than last
year, or playing center, or killing penalties, or ranking third on
the team's scoring list. The B's never thought they'd have to let
Recchi average 20 minutes over a three-game, four-night stretch on
the West Coast.
All those duties called, though, and Recchi answered.
"Obviously, when you have injuries like this, you're asked to
step up," said Recchi, who stepped from wing to center when the B's
found themselves without Marc Savard and Patrice Bergeron at the
same time. "You hope you have it in you. You just don't want to let
your teammates down. That's the biggest thing. You don't want to
let the organization down, or your coaches. They're asking you to
do something, and you want to step up."
Recchi, with 9 goals (including a team-leading 6 on power
plays) and 27 points heading into the weekend, certainly hasn't let
anyone down. He has, in a way, shown some of his younger teammates
up: Julien wishes more Bruins would look at the oldest, smallest
(he's only 5 feet 10, 195 pounds) skater on the team, and try
harder to be like him.
"More than anything else, what you want to see rub off on
other players is a certain amount of pride when you put the jersey
on and go out and compete," the coach said. "When (Recchi) goes out
there, he doesn't care how old or young he is. He's competing hard.
He wants to win as many battles, as many games as he can.
"Those are the kind of examples your young players should be
looking at when we're going through certain times like this."
Bergeron, for one, has been suitably inspired.
"Rex is awesome," said the 24-year-old center, a frequent
linemate of Recchi's this season. "Yeah, he's got a lot of
experience, but he's still playing great hockey. He fills any hole
in the lineup, any role."
Less than two weeks from his 42nd birthday (Feb. 1), Recchi
is one of five Bruins to play all 48 games so far. The NHL's active
leader in games (1,538), assists (915) and points (1,469) —
Teemu Selanne (595) is the only guy in the league with more goals
than Recchi's 554 — knows it may not be easy to maintain his
current pace, but also doesn't doubt he'll do it.
"I'm sure playing 17 games in 29 nights in March, I might
feel it," Recchi said. "But that's a long ways a way, and we'll
have a good (Olympics) break before that.
"I haven't felt the schedule yet. To be honest with you, I
feel good. Hopefully, I can keep it going."
