Draft's No. 1 selection is special on ice and off

Sporting News, The, July 1, 1996 by Larry Wigge

The nickname fits 6-foot-2, 200-pound defenseman Chris Phillips perfectly. Ice. A cool, calm but calculating force on skates. That describes the top pick in the NHL entry draft last Saturday.

"He definitely doesn't melt when things get hot," Oilers general manager Glen Sather says. "Coming from near Edmonton, we saw a lot of him. He's big and strong, but the key thing with him are the intangibles--he's a real character player. And his leadership is evident every time he's on the ice.

"We tried all sorts of trade possibilities, players, draft choices, everything, to move up from six to the No. 1 pick to get him. But the Ottawa Senators knew what kind of special asset they were getting."

The NHL also has gotten something special. There is no drug scare with Phillips, as we see in other sports. No DWI, no abuse of a girlfriend. He might not melt under pressure on the ice, but the story about how he and his sister, Jennifer, have taken care of their parents since he was 10 is a real tear-jerker.

Eight years ago, Phillips' mother, Carol, was partially paralyzed when a virus attacked her spinal cord. Two years later, his father, Garth, was rendered 90 percent blind, a victim of diabetes.

"Chris and Jennifer were just kids," Carol Phillips says. "They both had to grow up very quickly and take responsibility."

Responsibilities on the ice are a breeze when your parents are counting on you off it. Mom needs help with the housework, so Chris cooks and cleans. Dad had to quit his job as a truck driver.

At 16, Phillips could have helped his draft status by leaving home and going to a bigger city, but he elected to stay in Fort McMurray, Alberta, a city 275 miles north of Edmonton with about 36,000 residents. Last year, he moved to nearby Prince Albert to finish his junior hockey training--and scouts everywhere took notice.

"He may look like he's cool and calm outside," Garth Phillips says of his son, "but there's always a whole lot of churning going on inside him. That's the way he plays; he's always thinking about what he can do for his team."

On the ice, Phillips patterns himself after Blackhawks defenseman Chris Chelios. "I like the way he plays physically. I like the way he uses his skills offensively to help the team when he needs to. But what I like most is his leadership."

Leadership isn't something you can teach. You can talk a lot about it, but few have it. Phillips has it.

After doing countless interviews, Chris Phillips quietly leaves Kiel Center in St. Louis after the draft, pushing his mother's wheelchair. His father follows with a hold on Chris' belt loop.

You never know what can happen," Phillips says. "It makes you think a little bit about what's really important in life. What happened to my parents isn't something I'd wish on anyone. But I think it helped make me a better person."

With Phillips' selection, a defenseman has beet taken first overall in three consecutive drafts for the first time. Ed Jovanovski was first by the Panthers in 1994 and Bryan Berard first by the Senators in '95.

"We look at the draft and figure most of the good teams come up with 2.5 players who can play in the NHL each year, and if you hit.300 you're doing quite well," Senators general manager Pierre Gauthier says. "But if you get three average players, you're not really helping yourself. With all of the skills and intangibles Phillips brings to us, we feel we've already hit a home run. Chris is a player who we can build our foundation on for 12 to 15 years."

Gauthier says the Senators don't have Phillips penciled into their lineup, however.

At 18," he says, "Chris might need another year in junior hockey."

Wait a minute, Pierre, mon ami. Phillips says he plans on making the Senators--this year.

Is that right?" Gauthier says. "I thought we had two years to work on a contract. But this young man is so special ... if he says he's going to make our team this year, then coach Jacques Martin had better start revising his defensive pairs."

Pens-manship

We often talk about how one trade or one good draft choice can make a team a contender. The trade that came closest to doing that on draft day was between the Penguins and Stars: defenseman Sergei Zubov to Dallas for defenseman Kevin Hatcher.

On the surface, the deal seems to be a bad one for the Penguins. Though Hatcher is bigger at 6-4, 225 to Zubov's 6-1, 200, Zubov is much more skilled.

"It was a trade of two very different animals," Islanders G.M.-coach Mike Milbury says. "Personally, I think Zubov can do more things than Hatcher offensively. ... I have to believe there's something wrong in Pittsburgh, with the chemistry, for them to trade Zubov after just one year."

Chemistry?

"I heard Mario Lemieux hated Zubov--and wanted him out of there right now," Flames coach Pierre Page says.

Insiders in Pittsburgh say Zubov was scared of Lemieux and acted like he was under orders to pass the puck to Mario all of the time. Look for him to go to Dallas and spark the Stars' power play, something Hatcher failed to do in two seasons.