Stopping Forsberg? Some nights it's not in the cards

Sporting News, The, Nov 20, 2000 by Larry Wigge

It was late in the Eastern Conference finals, and I was talking about nastiness and skill with Devils right winger Claude Lemieux. He clearly was enjoying the conversation.

As I'm talking to the guy some call the most hated player in the NHL, I ask him, "If you could be anyone else in hockey, who would it be?"

"That's easy. Peter Forsberg," Lemieux says. "I could still be mean and nasty, but if I had all of the skills that he has, I might have won five or six Stanley Cups by now.

"I can only dream of skating like Peter. Either that or buy some rocket-powered skates."

When Forsberg is on his game, he is dominant. This season he had 10 goals and eight assists while leading the Avalanche to a 12-2-3 start.

"Peter is the best all-around player in the NHL, bar none," Coyotes center Jeremy Roenick says. "He's a competitor. He's the ultimate warrior. His hands are electric. He's one of the smartest players on the ice, and he knows where everybody is. He always makes the right play, and he even makes the plays you don't think he can make.

"He's so fast on his feet and so powerful. And he's mean. The guy is so talented, he's disgusting to watch."

Avalanche defenseman Ray Bourque says: "He's a coach's dream. The more crucial the time in a game or a series, the tougher he gets. I think sometimes he's able to flip on a switch in his mind and be at a different level than everyone else."

Coach's dream, yes. And an opponent's nightmare, too.

"For me, an agitator is somebody who controls the emotion of the game," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock says. "And Peter definitely controls the emotion of the game for them."

Forsberg's relentless combination of skill and nastiness was a reason the Avalanche won a Stanley Cup in 1996. Some, however, have criticized him for not being a force in the playoffs the last two seasons.

Still, Forsberg's resume is ridiculously impressive for an athlete just 26. In addition to winning a Stanley Cup, he has won an Olympic gold medal for his native Sweden, and his image was put on a Swedish postage stamp.

What's left? Being his team's best player on the way to capturing another Stanley Cup, that's what. And the way Forsberg started this season--despite missing training camp because of an ankle injury--has some Avalanche fans wondering whether the dominant one is back.

"The crackdown on obstruction is key," Forsberg says. "There is definitely more space out there, more room to operate. Opponents can't hand-check you anymore. They have to play you honestly."

And many can't slow Forsberg down without doing it illegally.

"Some of the stuff he does is just ridiculous," Stars defenseman Derian Hatcher says. "Jaromir Jagr is big and strong like Forsberg, but Jagr doesn't fight back if you play him tough like Forsberg does.

"I think he's the toughest player in the game to play against."

Hitchcock similarly raved about Forsberg after the Stars bounced the Avalanche from last year's playoffs.

"The only thing that stopped Forsberg is that he ran out of gas when they double- and tripleshifted him, and he wasn't able to use his speed, plus his strength," Hitchcock says. "I remember one time he kept the puck in our end for 40, maybe 50 seconds, and we couldn't get the thing away from him. His ability to knock Derian Hatcher on his butt while giving up 40 pounds shows how he can completely control and dominate a game."

One of Forsberg's attributes is his ability to be used in any game situation. He's a player with skill and talent who occasionally goes maniacal.

"Boy, he gets a really strange look in his eyes," Hitchcock says. "It's like the same steely glare that Mark Messier always gets, and you don't want to be anywhere near him."

Lemieux is one of a select few players who has played on the same line as Forsberg, then moved on and played against him on another team. So he perhaps has a better appreciation of Forsberg's skills than most others.

"(After seeing) a Michael Jordan or a Wayne Gretzky, you think you've seen it all," Lemieux says, "and then Peter shows you something entirely new.

"It's the way he creates space, uses space. It's the way he sees the ice. It's the way he picks up speed even after he picks up the puck. And it's the meanness, the nastiness."

Forsberg merely smiles. He knows you have to get in his space to slow him down. But this season that's even more difficult with the way referees are calling the game.

If he is really on his game, it won't matter. Forsberg will be out there in suspended animation, watching the rest of the hockey world go around him in slow motion.

TSN's Power Poll

Rk. Team            W-L-T-OL

 1. Colorado        12-2-3-0
 2. St. Louis       11-2-3-0
 3. Ottawa          9-3-4-0
 4. Phoenix         9-3-5-6
 5. San Jose        10-3-2-0
 6. Dallas          8-4-2-1
 7. Buffalo         8-4-1-1
 8. Detroit         9-5-1-1
 9. Pittsburgh      9-5-2-0
10. Toronto         9-6-2-0
11. Vancouver       8-5-3-1
12. Los Angeles     9-6-4-0
13. Nashville       6-4-5-1
14. N.Y. Islanders  6-6-2-1
15. N.Y. Rangers    8-7-0-0
16. New Jersey      6-7-3-0
17. Philadelphia    6-7-4-0
18. Edmonton        9-8-2-0
19. Anaheim         8-7-3-2
20. Boston          6-8-2-1
21. Carolina        4-6-3-0
22. Calgary         5-9-3-1
23. Washington      3-8-4-1
24. Montreal        5-10-2-0
25. Columbus        5-10-1-1
26. Chicago         5-9-1-2
27. Atlanta         2-5-5-0
28. Tampa Bay       5-8-1-1
29. Minnesota       4-10-3-0
30. Florida         1-6-4-3