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Monday, November 15, 1999
Denis the Menace
GAUTHIER PAYS PRICE FOR HITTING BUT HE CAN'T WAIT TO RETURN
Denis Gauthier obviously missed that high school science class where they explained Sir Isaac Newton's Laws of physics.
You remember the one that goes something like, "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction."
We know it more informally as, "what goes around, comes around."
Well, it has come around for Denis Gauthier.
In his quest to become the NHL's undisputed No. 1 hitman, the inevitable has finally caught up to Gauthier.
Those punishing hits, the ones that make highlight reels, ultimately inflict as much damage on the hitter as the hittee.
The hitter, Gauthier, is out of the Flames lineup with a shoulder injury that had him second overall in hits, and first overall in hits-per-game in the NHL.
He's sitting on the sidelines chomping at the bit to get into the Flames' next two games in Phoenix and Anaheim to resume his quest for the Hitman title. And, more importantly, help shore up a Flames defence depleted by the loss of himself and veteran Steve Smith.
"I'm not sure when I can play but I know I'm excited to get back and take a run at that title," said Gauthier, who separated his shoulder during the recent six-game road trip and has been frustrated in working it back into playing shape.
Gauthier knows he is paying the price for playing the hitman role popularized by the likes of Bryan Marchment and Darius Kasparaitis.
"Guys like that are often injured so obviously there are going to be some repercussions to the way I play," says Gauthier.
"If you are going to hit, you are going to get hit. People want to get back at you, so you are going to get some crosschecks and hits which cause broken bones , dislocated shoulders, MCL injuries ...
"It's all part of my game and I am well aware of it.
"I just have to keep my body strong to make sure I minimize those situations."
That Gauthier has blossomed into one of the game's premier hitmen is no surprise. He earned his reputation even before he came to the NHL in an unforgettable one-man wrecking crew assignment against the Swedes at the world junior championships.
But in moving to the pros, Gauthier has had to learn how to tame his wild hitting game into one more controlled, yet just as lethal.
He's managed to time his hits better, minimizing the amount of plays he gets caught out of position trying to bury an opposition forward into the boards, or send him sprawling head over skates at the blueline.
Oh sure, he still leads the league in hits on the boards, and perhaps even on wayward linesmen, but Gauthier is on target more often than not.
The league stats that keep track of hits has become his personal bible.
"When I got injured, I was second overall behind Kyle McLaren of Boston," cites Gauthier from that bible of hit-ology, whose Ten Commandments are all, 'Hit, or be Hit.'
"He had 64 hits in 13 games and I had 56 in 11 games. I was No. 1 in average and No. 2 in total hits with three games less played.
"Those are my goals -- I want to be the No. 1 hitman in the league this year. Last year, I only played 56 games and I was only 40 or 50 hits behind the leader, who had played 20 more games.
"Until I got hurt, I was definitely where I wanted to be. I want to be No. 1.
"I am going to come back and I am going to try and make up this ground. I'm not going to start running around on the ice. I will be patient, but I want to get back on top where I think I should be."
The team certainly misses his physical presence.
"Believe me, other teams are aware of when he's on the ice ... that they are going to pay a price," says head coach Brian Sutter.
"He's good at what he does -- he gets other teams thinking."
Thinking of getting hit, of course, detracts from one's ability to think about creating a scoring chance. You get the picture.
With Smith out another six weeks, Gauthier would like to rush his recovery, originally estimated at up to six weeks.
"Smitty's injury does make me want to try to come back and I thought I'd be getting more pressure from the team, but the coaches are aware with the way I play, anything less than 100 percent won't be good for me," he says.
"The classic example was me playing in Atlanta, where I didn't tell them I was injured and I looked pretty much like an idiot out there, trying not to get hit or hit. It ruined my game, so I have learned my lesson and I'll be ready to go at 100 percent when I'm ready."
And Gauthier has learned Newton's Law.
But more importantly, he's learned another lesson in school that has stood him in good stead in the NHL.
And that is: It's still better to give than to receive.
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