Kyle Calder is sitting in a dressing room in the Staples Center, rubbing elbow pads with some of the best young stars in the NHL because he had been selected to play in a showcase appropriately called the Young Stars Game during the All-Star weekend.
“Pretty cool, man,” the shaggy, understated Blackhawks left winger said in his customary short, quiet way. “It makes you feel good about yourself. The fact they’re acknowledging you is great.”
Funny thing about Calder playing in the Young Stars game: Everyone describes him as old school.
Tough along the walls. Tough against the backboards. Tough in front of the net. All the dirty work.
“That’s what I have to do during a game,” Calder said.
Calder has done it better than any left winger on the Hawks’ top line since maybe Steve Larmer. Skating with Alex Zhamnov, who will play for the World team in the All-Star Game on Saturday, and captain Tony Amonte, Calder has 16 goals and 41 points in 55 games. A couple of those were game-winners. Six came on the power play. He’s a plus-8. He’s a plus, period.
Not bad for a former fifth-round draft pick from 1997 who had five goals last season and just one the season before that, leaving many to doubt whether Calder would make it.
And that includes Calder himself.
“There was some doubt,” said Calder, who scored in the Young Stars game, “but I’ve been given the opportunity.”
And he has done it against the opponent’s top line and top defenseman because he plays with Zhamnov and Amonte.
“He’s playing against the best players in the world, not every night, but every shift,” said Hawks coach Brian Sutter, who will assist Detroit’s Scotty Bowman behind the World All-Stars’ bench Saturday. “Is he deserving? You bet. Absolutely, he’s deserving. It would’ve been outrageous if he hadn’t been here. He’s as big an impact player for a young player as anyone.”
Certainly, Zhamnov appreciates the way his hard-working left winger fights for the puck and delivers it so he and Amonte can operate in the offensive zone.
“He’s not a very big guy (5 feet 11 inches, 180 pounds), but he’s very strong in the corners,” Zhamnov said. “He can fight for the puck along the boards very well. That’s why our line has success. He’s young, but he’s a big part of our team.”
Calder might be helped by another 15 pounds, considering all the battling he does. But Sutter doesn’t want Calder to put on any weight. He only wants one thing.
“I want to be able to find more guys like Kyle,” Sutter said.
