THN Archive: Smaller Stars Briere, Cammalleri Flourished After NHL's Obstruction Crackdown

The NHL has evolved over the years to allow players of all sizes to flourish – and in this cover story from THN’s June 7, 2010 edition – Vol. 63, Issue 26 – we analyzed a number of the league’s smaller competitors, including then-Canadiens star winger Mike Cammaleri and current Philadelphia Flyers GM Daniel Briere.

(This story is from THN’s 76-year Archive, which you can have full access to when you subscribe to our magazine.)

In the story, written by senior writer Ken Campbell, we acknowledge the reality that you need a mix of big and small players, but turning away players less than six feet tall does your franchise a disservice.

“You can’t have 15 smaller, skilled guys, but before maybe you had one,” Briere told Campbell. “Today you have three or four. I think more and more, you need a few more of those guys, guys who can jive and bring speed and agility to your lineup. You need those guys now more than before the lockout.”

“The best example (of the need for size balance) is…the Philadelphia Flyers, ” added Cammalleri. “Everyone wants to talk about the physicality of their team, but I think their skill has been their biggest attribute and Briere and (Claude) Giroux and Richards are just making plays. That’s a telling thing right there. If the Philadelphia Flyers have guys like that who are leading their team, you can see there’s a little bit of adapting going on in the league.”

The speed of the NHL game has steadily increased over the years, and many smaller players are blessed with it. And 13 years ago, Briere saw the obstruction crackdown open the door for smaller players.

“One of the biggest differences for me is when there’s a loose puck in the corner and I’m 15 or 20 feet away, seven or eight years ago the battle to get there was just as tough as the one you had to fight for the puck once you got there,” Briere said. “Now, they’re not allowed to touch you on the way there and that’s where the smaller, faster guys have an advantage. They can get there quick and players know they can’t interfere, they can’t hook you, they can’t put their stick in your stomach and let you drag them to that battle.”

Ultimately, the NHL game now is more about skill and speed than it arguably ever has been. That’s made for a more entertaining product, and smaller NHLers deserve a lot of credit for that evolution.

“These (smaller) guys are getting a break because you can’t sled it anymore,” then-Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said at the time. “You can’t hook and you can’t tie up and you can’t beat somebody to death in front of the net. Those days are gone and I think that helps the smaller players.”

RISE OF THE LITTLE GUYS

By Ken Campbell

Vol. 63, Issue 26, June 7, 2010

MONTREAL – You’d have to think Napoleon Bonaparte would have really liked this year’s playoffs. Can’t you just picture the little fella sitting on the couch eating his fois gras, his tiny feet dangling off the ground, yelling at the Montreal Canadiens, “He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat!” or something like that?

(Full disclosure: First of all, we’re well aware Napoleon was 5-foot-6 or 5-foot-7, which was average height for the time, but we’re just trying to capture the spirit of the thing here. Secondly, the writer of this piece is 5-foot-6 on a good day, has frequently been accused of having ‘little man syndrome’ and has often been referred to as “a little s–––” by Bobby Orr.)

As the NHL game continues to evolve post-lockout, the smaller, skilled players are finding a more prominent place in the action than they’ve had in years. And it was no more prevalent than in this year’s playoffs when the vertically challenged were leading their teams and scoring big goals.

Midway through the conference finals, the top 12 playoff scorers in the NHL averaged just under six-feet and 195 pounds, which is certainly not diminutive by any stretch of the imagination, but isn’t considered large by hockey standards, either.

Among them were Mike Cammalleri (5-foot-9), Mike Richards (5-foot-11, pffft), Daniel Briere (5-foot-10, pffft again) and Patrick Kane (5-foot-10, come on). And if you believe Briere, Richards and Kane are actually as tall as they’re officially listed by the league, you probably also could be convinced the Florida Panthers attracted an average of 15,000 fans per game this season.

On average, players are shorter and lighter now than they were before the lockout. In 2003-04, the average height was 73.34 inches (a tad over 6-foot-1) and weight was 205.01 pounds. This season, players measured up at 73.11 inches and tipped scales at 202.74.

According to the NHL’s team-by-team roster listings, the heaviest squads in the league this season were the St. Louis Blues, with an average weight of 208.9 pounds, and the Atlanta Thrashers at 208.6. Neither team made the playoffs and their average weights are almost a full 10 pounds heavier than the far more skilled Detroit Red Wings, who averaged 198.9 pounds.

Overall, the Columbus Blue Jackets are the biggest team in the league with an average height of 73.8 inches and an average weight of 206.9. They didn’t make the playoffs, either, and generally speaking, the bigger, heavier teams were the ones on the outside of the post-season looking in this year. Of course, that doesn’t explain the travails of the New York Islanders, who are the shortest (average height of 72.4 inches) and lightest (197.5 pounds) and one of the worst teams in the NHL.

That’s not to say that undersized players didn’t have a place in the NHL during the dead-puck rugby era. After all, a 5-foot-9, 180-pound Martin St-Louis won the scoring championship and was named league MVP in 2003-04, a time that represented the height of the rodeo action in the NHL. But there is little doubt the way the game has opened up and continues to do so has not only enhanced the entertainment value, but also the fortunes of players who were once ignored because they weren’t six-feet tall and 200 pounds.

“You can’t have 15 smaller, skilled guys, but before maybe you had one,” Briere said. “Today you have three or four. I think more and more, you need a few more of those guys, guys who can jive and bring speed and agility to your lineup. You need those guys now more than before the lockout.”

That should come as music to the ears of Jeffrey Skinner, who leads a group of talented but small players available in this year’s draft. As is almost always the case, the top tier of potential first-rounders is filled with behemoths, but the 5-foot-10, 187-pound Skinner was ranked 25th overall in THN’s annual Draft Preview. He was one of only two players to score 50 goals in the Ontario League this season and he outscored the consensus No. 1 pick, Taylor Hall, by 10 goals.

Jaden Schwartz, 5-foot-10 and 180-pounds, was a dynamic player in the United States League and is ranked 30th. Five-foot-10 Jordan Eberle became the first-ever junior player to play for Canada at the World Championship and Jordan Weal, at 5-foot-9 and 162 pounds, scored 102 points for a terrible Regina Pats team. The Nashville Predators recently signed 5-foot-8 offensive dynamo Linus Klasen. Just type the guy’s name into YouTube and check out some of his goals.

There was a time when players – even that talented – would have been buried deep in the draft because of their size. But teams are far more willing to take a chance on them now and are stepping up to take them sooner. The Chicago Blackhawks have been vindicated time and again for their decision to take Kane first overall in 2007 and last year, the Vancouver Canucks took 5-foot-8, 175-pound Jordan Schroeder in the first round and he scored 15 points in 17 regular season and playoff games in the American League.

“I’m glad for all those guys that they’re getting the high draft picks,” said Cammalleri, who was taken 49th overall in 2001. “We all had to suck it up.”

Few people sucked it up more than Cammalleri’s teammate Brian Gionta. Back in 2000 I was in the Boston College weight room and I noticed that Gionta could squat more weight than any other player on the roster, one that included future NHL defensemen Brooks Orpik, Rob Scuderi, Mike Mottau and Bobby Allen.

As it turns out, Gionta was onto something. One reason why the smaller guys are so effective now is the way they work out in the offseason. Because they no longer have to run the gauntlet to get to the puck, they can actually concentrate on doing what it takes to increase their speed and making it more difficult to knock them off the puck. That necessitates more work on the legs and core of the body.

“I train just as much as I used to before, or even more, but I do a lot less upper body now,” Briere said. “The concentration is in the core area and in the legs because I realize that, especially for a guy of my stature, being strong on your feet is a lot more important than having big arms and a big chest. Everybody is going toward that more and more. That’s where all your power comes from.”

Players of all shapes and sizes know they’re in for a battle once they get to the puck, but the biggest difference in the game now is the little skaters can get there without having to use up all their energy. When a small player now has a burst of speed and tries to jump on a loose puck, one of two things happens – he either gets there and has the time and space to do something with it because he has left the checker in his wake, or the slower player gets his stick on him and goes to the penalty box for two minutes to feel shame.

“One of the biggest differences for me is when there’s a loose puck in the corner and I’m 15 or 20 feet away, seven or eight years ago the battle to get there was just as tough as the one you had to fight for the puck once you got there,” Briere said. “Now, they’re not allowed to touch you on the way there and that’s where the smaller, faster guys have an advantage. They can get there quick and players know they can’t interfere, they can’t hook you, they can’t put their stick in your stomach and let you drag them to that battle.”

Small players are often smarter on the ice because they have to be. They’re often faster because they have less bulk to carry around. And they’re often more skilled and can do more with the puck because there’s less distance between their hands and the puck. All of those things are boons in today’s NHL. Perhaps it’s simply a matter that speed and skill are at such a premium now that players who fit that profile will naturally find themselves having more success.

“Speed kills now, that’s the name of the game,” said six-foot, 188-pound Canadiens winger Dominic Moore. “When you look at teams that are successful now, they have tons of forwards who can skate and you can’t teach that. Speed can be just as intimidating, maybe even more intimidating, than size. I don’t think it’s necessarily a small thing; it’s a speed thing. If you have that, you’re good to go.”

And we haven’t even touched on Sidney Crosby and Pavel Datsyuk, two of the most complete players in the league. Between them, they have three Stanley Cups, four Lady Byng Trophies, two Selkes, a Hart, Pearson, Art Ross, Rocket Richard and more than 1,000 points. Yet neither is six-feet nor more than 200 pounds. In many ways, they typify the new smaller player. Both are sublimely talented, almost impossible to knock off the puck and have a ton of passion for the game.

And the diminutive don’t play weak, either. Anyone on the receiving end of a Richards hit will have a hard time believing he’s considered a small player.

Of course, players like Crosby, Datsyuk and Richards probably would have found a way to make an impact in the NHL even if the average height and weight were more like the NFL or the NBA. But the interesting thing is the gifts that smaller players possess are now more prominent than they’ve been for a long time.

Can you imagine a time when the Boston Bruins would have even considered using a player of Marc Savard’s stature as their No. 1 center? That any team would have picked a talented shrimp such as Kane when a behemoth such as James van Riemsdyk was available? That a team would have made a five-year, $11-million annual commitment to two players who average 5-foot-8 and 178 pounds, the way the Canadiens did with Cammalleri and Gionta last summer?

“The best example is the team we’re playing against,” Cammalleri said during the Eastern Conference final. “It’s the Philadelphia Flyers. Everyone wants to talk about the physicality of their team, but I think their skill has been their biggest attribute and Briere and (Claude) Giroux and Richards are just making plays. That’s a telling thing right there. If the Philadelphia Flyers have guys like that who are leading their team, you can see there’s a little bit of adapting going on in the league.”

Back in the 1920s, the average height and weight of a player was 5-foot-9 and 172 pounds. Eddie Shore, who was 5-foot-11 and 194, was considered a huge man. With an average height and weight that is three inches and 30 pounds heavier now, we’re not about to go back to those days, but the biggest difference between now and the pre-lockout days is the fact there is less bias when it comes to players of under-average size.

The success of Cammalleri and Briere and Steve Sullivan has opened the doors for other players. Now scouts are paying more attention to petite players and urging their GMs to take them in the draft. In turn, those players are getting opportunities that were never afforded them before. And they’re taking advantage of them by proving they can create their own time and space with their speed and skill, and that, in turn, prompts NHL teams to give more and more of those players a chance.

But it comes down to the new NHL, which was about the only positive thing to come out of the lockout. In making success more dependent on skill and speed, the league has opened up a whole new world.

“These guys are getting a break because you can’t sled it anymore,” said Flyers coach Peter Laviolette. “You can’t hook and you can’t tie up and you can’t beat somebody to death in front of the net. Those days are gone and I think that helps the smaller players.”

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