Wednesday, Sep. 23, 2009

Veteran defenseman trying to win spot

Sydor, 37, is in camp on a tryout basis

ST. LOUIS -- He's already won two Stanley Cup rings as an integral part of championship teams in Dallas and Tampa Bay.

However, it was Darryl Sydor's performance in the 2000 finals against New Jersey when his team lost that helped carve out a special space in playoff hockey lore.

It's exactly the type of play that may illustrate why the St. Louis Blues are contemplating making the 37-year-old veteran a permanent part of their defense corps this season.

Sydor was trying to check New Jersey's Scott Gomez along the boards when the two banged knees. Sydor went flying hard into the boards and crunched his ankle so bad that he couldn't make it back into his skates.

At that point Sydor began crawling along the ice toward the front of the net, trying to get his body in front of a shot. The officials finally stopped play and Sydor had to be helped to the dressing room.

"He basically crawled back into the play on all fours trying to block another shot," said then-Dallas general manager Doug Armstrong and now the assistant GM with the Blues. "That just sort of surmises what it means to Darryl. He's a true pro, he plays with pain and he doesn't look for excuses.

"He looks for solutions."

That night, Sydor was looking for another championship and pain wasn't an option.

"I was trying to be a little bit too aggressive and sprained my ankle pretty good," said Sydor, a teammate of Wayne Gretzky's when the 1992-93 Los Angeles Kings reached the finals. "I tried to get back in the play and I probably hurt it more trying to get back, but I just wanted to be out there to help out."

The Blues are looking for help with a young defense corps that boasts plenty of promise but not a lot of veteran experience.

Mike Weaver is the old man of the group -- and he's only 31 while never playing more than 58 games in an NHL season. Barret Jackman is 28 with six full seasons in the league.

There's also Carlo Colaiacovo (25), Roman Polak (23) and Erik Johnson (21), with 19-year-old Alex Pietrangelo also pushing for a spot.

"It's definitely a young defense, but having a guy like Syd on board will help with that," Blues goalie Chris Mason said. "Handling situations and certain pressures, bad games ... I think he'll be good for the mental side of the game as well as on the ice for the guys. He's got so much experience."

But just being a veteran with extensive experience and great leadership qualities won't keep pucks out of the net.

"At the end of the day, you have to be a player on the ice to get that done," Armstrong said. "I think Darryl shown that he can still compete at this level."

Blues coach Andy Murray said Sydor's hockey resume sets him apart from other contenders.

"I think we all knew how Darryl would play coming in here, and he's kind of played that way," Murray said. "Now we have to determine if that's enough, and what the leadership factor is."

Sydor has been on the ice for four goals, and Murray said only the one coming on a Sydor turnover was a true checkmark against him.

"Two of the goals here at home against Dallas, he had nothing to do with them," Murray said. "The one was definitely his."

Sydor is old enough to have played games against the Blues at the old St. Louis Arena before it was torn down. He was once part of a stellar Dallas defense corps that included Derian Hatcher, Sergei Zubov and Richard Matvichuk and also helped Los Angeles, Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay reach the Stanley Cup finals.

Sydor has skated in 1,244 games and racked up 98 goals and 499 points. Now he's in training camp on a tryout basis, trying to earn employment with the Blues.

"I think I've done OK," Sydor said when asked about his training camp performance with the Blues. "I'm still working hard. When you come into the league, you have to earn a spot as a young kid and even though I'm older, I still have to earn a spot."

He's also old enough to remember the days when NHL players came to training camp to get in shape.

Now they do that in the month before camp opens because they realize how precious each roster spot can be.

"Obviously you're coming into camp now in great shape, you have to or else you're hurting yourself," Sydor said. "You only have two days and then you've got a game. It's just knowing you're body, knowing when to push it and knowing when to rest it."