DALLAS | Joe Pavelski continues to defy the laws of time. Even at the age of 39, the Stars striker continues to collect practically a point per game. Before the Canadian's visit on Tuesday evening, the NHL's second-oldest player had collected 34 points in 35 games.
“It’s the game we love to play. I feel blessed to still be able to do this at my age and at this level. I still have a lot of fun,” he said at the end of the morning training session in the Stars’ locker room.
AFP
It has now been 20 years since the American was selected by the San Jose Sharks. A common 7th round pick, by the way. He never thought he would play for so long. It must be said that during the 13 seasons that he played in California, Pavelski had the opportunity to rub shoulders with Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau, two other models of longevity.
“I was very happy. When you get into a league, it's important to have good veterans to support you. From my first game in Worcester I had Mathieu Darche with me, he said. Then in San Jose there were the Marleaus , Thornton's, [Jonathan] Cheechoo, [Mike] Grier, [Rob] Blake. These are people you can learn a lot from.”
Unconditional love
Obviously, to last the whole time. You have to be filled with unwavering passion.
“I had the pleasure of managing Thornton and Jaromir Jagr at the end of their careers. “I am always amazed by their hard work and the time they put into their preparation,” said Stars coach Peter DeBoer.
“At this point in their careers, all of these players have earned enough money to not have to put themselves through this workload year after year,” he continued. It's the love for this game that drives her. You can't just enjoy scoring goals. You also have to love the less pleasant things: practicing every day, being away from your family a lot, traveling all the time.”
It also requires a fair amount of intelligence to keep up in a time when the game has never been so fast and at an age when athleticism is slowly declining.
“It takes passion and a good woman. Or, in Jaromir’s case, a good blonde,” DeBoer said, drawing laughter from the audience.
A role model for Slafkovsky
In Pavelski's case, nothing can be said about the woman, but her hockey IQ is undisputed.
“My style helps,” Pavelski admitted. One of my strengths has always been the ability to read the game, react accordingly and get to the payout areas.
And over the years, he has become a master in the art of setting up in the slot to block shots or jump on rebounds. Martin St-Louis, who a few weeks ago had kind words for Dave Andreychuk, his former teammate who is also a specialist in this field, drew a parallel between the two.
“Not in terms of size or skating. But they are two dangerous players near the goalie paint. They have good hockey.”
With his physique, this is certainly a role model that Juraj Slafkovsky could follow.
“You try to take elements from several players. And St-Louis realized that Slaf can be dangerous near the opposing goalkeeper and that he can develop it further. You see he's been there more this year and when he's there he's tired.