Late bloomer expected to reach mark Tuesday night It can be as capricious as the flip of a coin. Talent matters most, of course, as far as determining the arc of an NHL player’s career. But so does health, the quality of his teammates and the fickle decisions made by coaches and executives.
Capitals forward Mike Knuble, who expects to play in his 1,000th NHL game on Tuesday when his team hosts the Nashville Predators, learned that lesson long ago. At age 26, during his fourth full pro season, he finally earned a regular spot with the New York Rangers.
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That 1998-99 team struggled, but Knuble played in all 82 games and scored 15 goals. It was a breakthrough. And then it wasn’t. New York lost Wayne Gretzky to retirement and needed to make a splash in free agency the following summer.
“Suddenly you kind of got buried,” Knuble remembered last week. “You got knocked back down.”
Late the next season he was dealt to the Boston Bruins for Rob DiMaio, a veteran forward who upon learning of the one-for-one trade asked, “And for who else?” Knuble had to start all over again.
“I think as a player you can go in a cycle,” Knuble said. “You go, ‘Give me the opportunity and I’ll play well,’ and a coach says, ‘Play well and I’ll give you an opportunity.’ You just go around in a circle like that.”
It took longer yet. Knuble adjusted to life in Boston, but in his first two full seasons there he combined for 15 goals and saw limited time on special teams. There was nothing to indicate that a player who would turn 30 before the 2002-03 season would score at least 21 goals each of the next eight years. At 353 games played, Knuble was just hoping he could make it to 400 before the expected NHL lockout. That meant a guaranteed pension.
But Knuble never lost confidence in himself as a player. He believed he could succeed in a larger role. He just wasn’t sure that chance would ever come. But an injury to a teammate early the next season suddenly thrust Knuble onto a line with star center Joe Thornton and veteran winger Glen Murray. That quickly became one of the NHL’s best combinations. Knuble finished with 30 goals and 21 assists and hasn’t looked back since.
“They changed my career,” Knuble said.
This year has been a different story. Knuble has just three goals through 31 games with the Caps, and while he still sees power-play time under new coach Dale Hunter, he’s also primarily playing on the fourth line. It’s not an ideal scenario for a player whose contract is up after the season and who turns 40 on July 4.
“There’s so many young guys on this team, and he has to shoulder the whole load of being the main veteran guy,” teammate Brooks Laich said. “But Mike’s such a good teammate in that aspect. … If he’s not playing and other guys are getting minutes he think he deserves, he still keeps his mouth shut. He still works hard in practice. There’s a reason the guy is going to play 1,000 games. It’s because he’s a true professional.”
