The Leafs will get an every-night commitment from Stempniak that they didn't see in Steen and Colaiacovo.
One thing we can be relatively certain of regarding the Cliff Fletcher-Ron Wilson tandem in Toronto is that they don't like soft players.
Sure Kyle Wellwood had talent and he's shown it from time to time in Vancouver, but he was hockey's version of the Stay-Puff Marshmallow (see original version of Ghost Busters if you can't quite grasp the analogy here) while in Toronto and it didn't take Fletcher-Wilson all that long to realize it.
One could say the same about Carlo Colaiacovo who clearly got the don't -let-the-Mr. Softee-truck-door-hit-you-in-the-backside speech from Wilson when the coach commented on the deal that sent the oft-injured defenceman and Alex Steen (no great physical player himself) to St. Louis for Lee Stempniak.
Now don't get the idea that Stempniak is the second coming of Cam Neely, but being a top-six forward for St. Louis, in terms of hockey skills, doesn't hurt and he does have a little grit to his game.
Understand he's not a "me" guy and might even be a little media shy by centre of the universe standards, but this native of West Seneca, a first-rim suburb of Buffalo, NY, has what Leafs management -- even if that management changes this week -- wants: a guy who knows there is a price to be paid for making and then staying in the NHL.
You could say a number of good things about the two most recently-departed Leafs, but showing an every-night commitment to simply keeping a place in the line-up would never be high on the list.
When you are in your sixth NHL season and are more noted for injuries than performance (one point so far this season) what else can you say about Colaiacovo? Steen was in his fourth season and on a team where ice time was there for the taking, he was an occasional healthy scratch en route to posting four goals in 20 games. Hardly an "attaboy" performance for a first-round draft pick who should be at the top of his game by now.
Colaiacovo pretty much endorsed his own softness when after being informed of the trade told the media: "The first thing that went through my head was how great I've had it here in Toronto. How good it's been to me. How everyone in this organization has been good to me.
"I'm really going to miss that."
Is there a better way of saying that under past administrations that detested the ideas of ever admitting a draft mistake Colaiacovo got used to the idea of never really being asked to perform like a first-round pick, injuries or not? Could you say all that much different about Steen?
Stempniak is a different kind of player.
You could see that earlier this month when he returned home with the Blues to play the Sabres in HSBC Arena. He had a goal and an assist in St. Louis' 4-3 loss. They weren't flashy plays and his team didn't win, but they were the kind that coaches appreciate because the player worked hard to get them. The Blues fell behind by three early in that game, but Stempniak kept working and the Blues kept coming. Had that game lasted another three minutes, the outcome might have been different.
Stempniak is that kind of player. He wasn't a first-round player, he was a rink rat, growing up in the hallways of the town rinks that now hang his sweater inside. When he wasn't skating, he was working in the pro shop, sharpening skates and even pouring coffee in the concession stand just to make a few more bucks for ice time.
He played for a local junior-level team and for a local high-school team in his formative years and parlayed that hard work and some academic ability into a scholarship to Dartmouth College. It wasn't so much that he was a Rhodes Scholar candidate that he went to Dartmouth, it was more a case of combining hockey (which he wanted) with a college education (which his parents demanded). He took his best offer, which was also his only hockey offer and headed for Dartmouth in part because the school promised him a chance to play right away. Little did they know that they had no competition.
Nothing dramatic happened there either, but he did play well enough -- team captain and two All-America seasons to get noticed by Eastern scouts working the college ranks -- that the Blues drafted him in the fifth round in 2003. It's not exactly a throw-away pick, but then it's not anywhere near Colaiacovo or Steen territory either.
He was "a prospect" and not necessarily an NHL prospect, but he took the assignment to Peoria in the AHL as an opportunity to both prove his worth and improve his game and he did both. His strong two-way play, coupled with a smart (not natural, just learned) touch around the net earned him a promotion to a bad St. Louis team.
He worked hard there as well and after a period of learning and adjustment, he put up 52 points, including 27 goals (best on the team) in just his second season there, his first full one with the team.
It was a little tougher in his third year (13 goals and 38 points) but even having gone through a prolonged scoring slump on a team that had difficulties generating any kind of offence en route to the bottom of the NHL standings, the work ethic has been good and the points this season were once again starting to come.
Stempniak might not be a long-term solution for the Leafs what with free-agency coming his way at the end of next season, but then neither was Colaiacovo or Steen and given the fact the Leafs will be looking for some production now and even more cap room down the road, it's a decent pick up for Fletcher-Wilson.
They get a player who tries every game and though pros are supposed to do that, some do it a little better than others. His two stints at the World Championships (2007 and 2008) reinforce that. He also comes back to help out his defence, something not always seen by Leafs fans all that often again this season.
Stempniak is one of those players who works to survive and when you factor in desire, talent and that no one ever said he was soft, well, it becomes one of those two-for-one deals that actually make sense.
Maybe not over the long term, but then long-term went out the door when Colaiacovo and Steen were sent packing. Anybody care to say they will be missed?
