NHL & Minor Leagues » Also doch: Fleury wird ein Hawk

Speaking of Fleury.... hier ein Interessanter Bericht über 2 nicht ganz einfache

NHL-Spieler:

Probert: From problem pugilist to example of recovery
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By Terry Frei
Special to ESPN.com

Trouble has shadowed them with the tenacity of a dogged, tireless checker. One is playing, professing to be clean, happy and rejuvenated -- both personally and professionally. The other is in a substance abuse rehabilitation program after seeking help and deciding it couldn't wait until after the season.

Bob Probert, who served jail time for smuggling cocaine into the U.S., has been sober since 1994.
This is about Bob Probert, the one-time NHL poster child -- and child was the right word -- for irresponsible immaturity; and Theo Fleury, the diminutive Rangers winger whose poster image has come off of some bedroom walls in the past few weeks.

Neither is a "hero," but at least they have decided to confront their demons.

Probert has fought them off, at least for the time being, with the acknowledgement that the battle is ongoing.

Fleury is in a wrestling match.

In his tenure with the Red Wings, Probert had an alcohol problem and several times was charged with driving under the influence. He was caught trying to carry cocaine from Canada into the United States, and served a prison term. The NHL placed him on inactive status for the 1994-95 season after he was involved in a motorcycle accident and tests showed alcohol and cocaine in his system.

He scored 29 goals in his second full season with the Wings, but that isn't what you know him for, is it? If the Screen Actors Guild contract covered appearances on those "Best Fights" tapes, his cut would be prodigious. And his fights weren't limited to the ice, spilling over into at least one barroom incident. He lived so hard, it was more likely he would be dead at 35 than still playing in the NHL.

That's why it's such a surprise that Probert not only is still in the league at 35 but is a solid third-liner for the Blackhawks, with seven goals and 18 points through 69 games for Chicago (and, oh, yes, he has 89 penalty minutes). Those aren't glittering numbers, and it's open to debate whether the Blackhawks' mediocrity is the major reason he still can be on the roster. But he can be an unrestricted free agent in the offseason, and if he isn't back with the Hawks, he'll be back in the NHL with somebody.

"I'm definitely getting a chance to play this year, and I'm picking up some points," Probert says, flashing that gap-toothed smile. "I hope I still have some gas in the tank. I definitely think I can play at least another year."

Probert says he hasn't had a drink -- alcoholic, at least -- since 1994. He and his wife, Dani, have four children, and he says fatherhood has helped transform him.

His hands and shoulder are banged up. But his usefulness as a player means he doesn't have to fight every night, or even be an intimidating force, to stick around.

Chicago coach Alpo Suhonen uses Probert as an agitator -- in terms of stirring it up, not necessarily dropping the gloves -- and an energy generator.

"I believe I have shown I can do more than fight," Probert says. "This year, I haven't had a lot of scraps out there and I've been picking up some points. Alpo's philosophy is that he feels offense wins games and he's not big on firing up a team with fights."

Also, the era of the young heavyweights feeling a need to challenge Probert as the final entrance exam seems to be over. ...sad, but true

"I think it's past that," he says. "I've had my share of bouts in the league, over 3,000 penalty minutes, so maybe guys are letting me off the hook a little bit."

He has earned it. He is walking and skating evidence that, regardless of the reprehensible nature of actions in the past, a life can be straightened out.

Fleury should be taking notes, even as so many seem to be willing to rationalize his problems as beyond the control of individual responsibility.

We all have heard the stories about his rough childhood in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. His father was an alcoholic. His mother was addicted to Valium. He was teased about his height, about his hand-me-down wardrobe, about his family, about everything.

His first major junior coach at Moose Jaw of the Western League in 1984-85, Graham James, later was found to have betrayed the trust parents and the hockey system placed in him. James moved from Moose Jaw, to a Winnipeg junior A team, and then to the Swift Current Broncos and Calgary Hitmen of the WHL. In 1996, Sheldon Kennedy stepped forward and convincingly accused James of sexually abusing him while both were at Swift Current. James pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 3½ years in prison.

So Fleury's first coach wasn't a role model.

Fleury overcame a fearsome skate cut to his arm that came perilously close to ending his hockey career at age 13, and he has battled Crohn's disease throughout his career.

The Rangers winger is a good guy -- engaging, funny, and worthy of admiration for becoming an elite player despite a stature more suited for sports writing. So let's hope Fleury gets clean and comes back to the NHL. More important, may he get his life back on track.

But "poor Theo" pity isn't appropriate. Only one man is responsible for this, in the final analysis. That's Theo Fleury. If he doesn't get straightened out, he is just another punk, wasting talent he has honed with spunk and hard work. He will have pulled a $21 million joke on the Rangers, and he will deserve nothing but contempt.

Fleury's battles with substance-abuse problems have been an open secret in the NHL, including the fact that he sought treatment last summer as well. He even brought up his problem in a meeting with teammates before this season. The New York media's responsible conduct in not splashing Fleury's summer treatment all over the papers was praiseworthy, and a magazine's December report that it had "learned" of Fleury's offseason stint in an NHL treatment program was almost funny under the circumstances.

But Fleury later succumbed to the temptations. Now it's up to him. He is worthy of help and support, but to make anyone or anything responsible for his actions -- at least from now on -- does him no favor. That was true with Probert, whose actions were far more reprehensible, and it is true with Fleury.

Terry Frei of The Denver Post is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. His feedback email address is ChipHilton23@hotmail.com.

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In Antwort auf:
Chicago coach Alpo Suhonen uses Probert as an agitator -- in terms of stirring it up, not necessarily dropping the gloves -- and an energy generator

Wo ist unser "energy generator" ? Where is he ?

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GEGEN:Ausländerbegrenzung, Helmregel, Visierpflicht, Spielerlizenzbegrenzung, autom. Spieldauer nach 5, autom. Sperre nach Spieldauer, Abschaffung des 2-Linien-Abseits...
Kurz: gegen die DEL !