Changing on the fly: four players in the conference finals have remade their games to ensure career longevity—and team success

Sporting News, The, May 24, 2004 by Kara Yorio

In the playoffs, every team has to make adjustments, and, in turn, some players do as well. The 2004 playoffs have spotlighted players who have made adjustments in their games so they could contribute to their teams in the best way possible.

Four of them--Lightning winger/center Dave Andreychuk, Sharks winger Vincent Damphousse, Flyers winger-turned-defenseman Sami Kapanen and Flames center Craig Conroy--had to change their mind-sets as much as their approach on the ice.

"The league is filled with guys like that," says radio analyst and former NHL defenseman Bob Beers. And that's what it takes, Beers says, if aging players want to keep contributing.

Dave Andreychuk, Lighting

Three years ago, the Lightning wanted Andreychuk, but it didn't want the player who had carved a long and illustrious career scoring goals.

"Dave and I talked about what we were looking for that summer before we signed him," Lightning coach John Tortorella says. "This is a Hall of Famer we're talking about--a Hall of Famer because of goal scoring turned into a checker now. I have a tremendous amount of respect for what he's doing for this club in really transforming his game to help this team continue to try to compete."

Says Andreychuk, 40: "I was put in a little different role. I take pride in it, in checking a little bit more than I have in the past. But I still have to be accountable for my goals."

For Andreychuk, the all-time leader in powerplay goals and a consistent 20-goal scorer over his career, and the rest of the players who changed their games, the biggest adjustment was mental.

"He bought into a system," Beers says. "(He isn't) the go-to guy anymore. In Toronto with Doug Gilmour, he was a force. They were the go-to line when they needed a goal. He's not going to score 50 goals anymore. Not many people are....

"Dave had to alter his game as he gets older. In order to play here, he has had to evolve. He has become an unbelievable penalty killer; he's taking defensive zone faceoffs. He has become an all-around player."

No longer focusing on scoring, Andreychuk is about positioning and keeping the puck out of his own net. He still gets to use his scorer's instincts, driving to the net and planting himself in front, but defense is his main responsibility.

In his new role on the third line, Andreychuk remains vital to the Lightning's success, making the little plays that go largely unnoticed. He has handled his new role with class and without complaint, showing his young teammates how to be a professional. They hope to repay him by ending his tenure as the player with the most games in history without a Stanley Cup.

Vincent Damphousse, Sharks

Earlier this season, Damphousse was playing on the fourth line, an unfamiliar spot. Sharks coach Ron Wilson says he was trying to rest Damphousse for the playoffs.

At the time, Damphousse was not playing well. He had moved from center to wing and adjusted to the differences there--more starts and stops, more work along the boards. He had sacrificed ice time. After being second on the team to Teemu Selanne in scoring last season and averaging 19:09 a game, this season he averaged 17:08 in ice time. He was still second in scoring on the team, this time to Patrick Marleau, but Alyn McCauley had become the second-line center, averaging 16:50 in ice time.

For Damphousse, the change wasn't easy.

"That's something that's difficult," Damphousse, 36, told the San Jose Mercury News in March, discussing his new role. "I have a lot of pride. I try to (play) at a certain level. But I understood this year that some of our guys were playing so well, they deserved more ice time. As a team it's important that these guys were recognized for playing well, and I got a little less when I wasn't playing well."

When the playoffs arrived, the reduced playing time, including that stint on the fourth line, seemed to leave him fresh for the games that matter most, and, like Andreychuk, he has led by example off the ice. Damphousse has won a Cup (with the Canadiens in 1993), so he not only patrols Marleau's wing, he also tells his teammates what it takes to win.

Sami Kapanen, Flyers

Kapanen is a speedy little winger by trade, but injuries and a lack of confidence in rookie defenseman Joni Pitkanen have put Kapanen on the blue line this postseason. He has handled the transition well, but it doesn't sound like he'd get much sympathy if he complained.

"As long as they're playing, as long as they know what's expected of them and know they're going to be playing, the position they're being asked to play is not that big of a deal," Flyers G.M. Bob Clarke says. "The majority of players will do whatever it takes to win."

Kapanen, 30, is part of that majority, saying that in these playoffs his biggest concern is his team "getting four wins" in each round. He has maintained his low-key demeanor, never seeming flustered when playing up front or on the blue line. In a journal entry on the Flyers' website, he wrote he was nervous about playing defense against the speedy Lightning, but he had to remember to keep it simple.