ST. PAUL, Minn. – Somewhere in upstate New York, there’s a car sitting on a dealer’s lot with Adam Gaudette’s name on it.
Actually, we don’t think Gaudette has ordered vanity plates, so his name isn’t literally on the car. But it’s his: a brand new Dodge Challenger, a throwback to the classic muscle cars his dad adored when Gaudette was growing up around Boston.
It’s the first car the 22-year-old has owned, but he has not driven it because two days after it was ordered, Gaudette was recalled Oct. 16 from the Utica Comets as an emergency fill-in for injured centre Jay Beagle. Two weeks after that, veteran Canuck centre Brandon Sutter also went down.
The National Hockey League is the ride Gaudette is really enjoying, and he wouldn’t trade it for his new car.
“My dad likes the old classics like the Mustang and those types of cars,” Gaudette said this week. “Those were just the cars I was attracted to as well. I’m not even worried about that right now. I’m just going to leave it until I figure out what to do with it. I don’t need it right now.”
It may be a while before Gaudette gets back to the American League.
Like his car, the centre is a bit of a throwback, too.
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Sure, he’s the reigning Hobey Baker Trophy winner and led U.S. college hockey last winter with 30 goals and 60 points in 38 games for Northeastern University in Boston. But 16 games into his trial with the Canucks – plus another five he had last spring after turning pro – Gaudette has yet to score in the NHL.
What has kept him in the Canucks lineup, besides the long-term injuries to Beagle (broken forearm) and Sutter (shoulder), are a lot of other things: Gaudette’s ability and eagerness to check and work on Vancouver’s fourth line, his versatility and hockey IQ. His teachability.
“I think everybody wants to be the guy to score and get points and be on the top line, but not everybody’s going to be like that,” Gaudette said before getting an assist, his third NHL point, in the Canucks’ 6-2 loss Thursday against the Minnesota Wild. “That’s something I understood right away. I knew it was going to be a lot different for me coming from the NCAA to the NHL.
“You know, I’m not worried about the scoring right now. Once I get one, hopefully it will start rolling. Every game, every shift, I just feel more and more like I belong out there. I feel more comfortable and feel like I’m doing the right things. Obviously, it’s a little frustrating that the puck’s not going in the net for me, but I’m getting my chances, so I’m not worried.”
Beagle is about another two weeks away — it may be Christmas before Sutter plays again – so it could soon become a greater challenge for Gaudette to retain his playing time.
But clearly he has earned the trust of Canucks coach Travis Green, who has been gradually increasing the rookie’s ice time and played Gaudette a season-high 16:05 against the Wild.
“I think he’s improving every week, really,” Green said. “He’s holding his own. Would I like to see some production? Yeah, I would. So would he. But I’m not worried about it. Sometimes that takes some time.
“In the end, we need him here. We’ve got two big centremen out. He’s a detailed guy. We have yet to see where his ceiling is offensively, but he’s showing he can do a lot of little things, little details in his game that allow him to play. And he works.”
Although the Canucks went 1-3-2 on their latest six-game odyssey, the road trip was a kind of victory tour for Gaudette. His parents travelled from Boston to Detroit for the opener, and the Canucks’ visits to Boston, Buffalo, Manhattan and Brooklyn featured Gaudette cheering sections of family, friends and some old hockey teammates.
Last week in Boston, where a year ago Gaudette became a local hero with an MVP performance in the prestigious Bean Pot tournament that Northeastern won for the first time in 30 years, the player figures he had 150 people there to see him help the Canucks’ beat the Bruins.
“There were a lot of roots heading back to Boston,” he said. “It was nice being on the East Coast for all these games that my parents got to make. I got to see them a little longer than I thought, which is nice.
“I think I’ve learned a lot since I got called up and I’m getting better every game. I wouldn’t say that this (time in NHL) is an experience I’m trying to enjoy; I feel it’s more my job now and I’m just trying to stick around and make an impact. It’s not like I’m here and just along for the ride.”
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