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Thursday, September 9, 1999
Rocky can take it
Heavyweight's chin is like steel again after recovering from concussion
Right on the kisser.
Smack.
It was that punch Rocky Thompson feared most.
No longer.
Eight months after being knocked out in a fight, suffering a concussion and inner ear problem, Thompson waded into training camp the only way he knows how.
Straight on with fists flying.
First day, first fight.
Tough guy wannabe Fredrik Oduya, a 6-ft. 3-in., 230-lb. pugilist of some renown from the minors, tackled the heavyweight champ.
Thompson knew it was coming -- for the past couple of seasons he was the challenger looking to dethrone Sandy McCarthy as the Flames heavyweight.
But this was more than a challenge for a job.
It was about Thompson proving to himself and the Flames management and coaches, that he could still play the role.
He needed to take that first punch to prove to himself there would be no lingering effects from last season's injury.
"I was happy I got hit in the fight by Freddie but I felt great," said Thompson. "I've got the new mouthguard and helmet and I took the punch good. I have no repercussions from that."
It was no surprise that Oduya took on Thompson on Day One. He wants his job. The best way to get it is to knock him out.
Thompson was ready.
"I wasn't really in a rush to get that first fight," said Thompson. "I'm confident in the way I fight and I know every year I've come back from whatever injury I've had. I've been in the boxing gym and taking shots in sparring so I felt really confident going in.
"I assumed something might happen but I was prepared for it, and I'm not shy. Some people after a concussion may be a bit tentative with punches coming at them. I felt fine and was happy the way I handled it. He got a quick start but I was able to come back and was happy the way I handled it."
Most observers scored it a draw. Not enough for Oduya to win a job. Thompson retains the title.
If yesterday was any indication, there won't be a rematch. Flames coaches put Oduya on Thompson's team, the only real way to avoid the two doing battle again in scrimmages.
That didn't stop Oduya from dropping the gloves again.
He took on East Coast League tough guy Jody Shelley, winning a decision but taking a cut to the face in the process.
But the most interesting thing about Oduya -- he's Swedish!
Those same yellow-jerseyed pacifists who draw the scorn of Don Cherry for their unwillingness to back up their play with their fists.
Not Oduya.
This is no fair-haired Swede, figuratively or physically.
His dad is from Nigeria, his mom Swedish.
Oduya, who played last year in Orlando of the IHL and briefly with Saint John, left home at age 16 to play hockey in Canada.
He's the un-Swede.
"Maybe I play tough because I'm half Kenyan," he laughs. "I played tough growing up in Sweden, and it's easier to hit over there because everyone skates with their head down and guys are smaller, so it's easier to play a physical game.
"Being an enforcer has been my role ever since I was 17, so it's not a big deal. It's a small part of the game but you have to worry more about playing than fighting."
Oduya is right, of course.
Teams can't afford enforcers anymore. They have to be able to play.
So as much as the Thompson-Oduya bout was about pugilist supremacy, (don't leave out Wade Belak just yet) this job is also about proving you can play.
"I don't want to go out looking for some guy to prove I can fight," says Thompson.
"I've shown to the coaches over the past couple years that I can fight and am willing to fight. One thing I haven't proven is that I am able to play with these guys, and that's my main focus this camp.
"That's something I worked on all summer, whereas in the past maybe I was working in the boxing gym to sharpen up my skills for that. This summer I was in skating drills for two months.
"I want to be better to make it tough for them to get rid of me. I think they're going to want to keep me, and I'm going to keep working my butt off so they keep me here."
Thompson took the first challenge by proving he can still play the enforcer role.
But now the real battle begins.
He has to prove he can play.
SLAPSHOTS: Defenceman Denis Gauthier pasted little Martin St. Louis into the boards at centre ice after a player set up St. Louis with a suicide pass down the middle. St. Louis was clearly rattled, his legs wobbly but the tough little guy still managed to get the puck out and shoot it into the zone, before stumbling off the ice. He didn't miss a shift ... At 6 ft. 2-in, John Tripp towered over Mike Jefferson, who is generously listed at 5 ft. 10-in, but the little guy landed an early punch to cut Tripp before taking a long range pummeling of his own. Other scraps included former Hitmen Brent Dodginghorse holding his own in a battle with Rene Corbet ... Goal of the day had to go to Flames 1999 first-rounder Oleg Saprykin, who worked a pretty give-and-go with Jefferson, one-timing a pass in the high slot over the glove hand of goalie Andrei Trefilov ... Give player-of-the-game to former first-rounder Daniel Tkaczuk. He scored twice, the second when he fired a wrist shot from the slot.
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