Komisarek article

[Habs77]

No assumptions for Komisarek

Sophomore defenseman focused on elevating his game

(12/09/2003)  

MONTREAL – Though Mike Komisarek might be the face of the Canadiens’ future on the blue line, he’d prefer if his chickens hatched before anyone started counting them for him.  

“It doesn’t matter what happened last year,” stressed the 21-year-old at the dawn of training camp, his third with the club since being taken seventh overall in the first round of the 2001 draft. “Everyone’s off to a fresh start and everything has to be earned, especially for a young guy like me. Nothing’s going to be handed over to us. It was stressed by Claude [Julien] that the format of this camp is going to be very competitive. There are going to be three even teams, and everyone’s going to be fighting for those [starting] spots.”  

It would be easy for the casual observer to question what the fuss over Komisarek – propagated hand-in-hand by the fans and the media – is all about, especially if the only thing considered were his nondescript numbers from a season ago. In his 21 games as a rookie, Komisarek registered a single assist and a minus-6 rating while averaging 16:41 of ice time, totals that were hardly remarkable in any regard.  

And then, of course, there are those who have seen him play.  

Listed at a whopping 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, Komisarek is the biggest of the 54 players in camp, and has shown during his brief NHL run that he is far from reluctant to use that size to his advantage. A late cut at the Canadiens' 2002 training camp (in a surprise move, in June of last year Komisarek walked away from a University of Michigan team that had made the Frozen Four two years running), his time in Montreal was preceded by 56 games in Hamilton, the club’s AHL affiliate. It was there that his on-ice toughness evolved prior to his eventual NHL debut.  

"That's where Mike really has to improve," then-Bulldogs coach Claude Julien told SportsTicker last October when asked of Komisarek’s willingness to throw his weight around. "I think that's why Montreal sent him down. He needs to get more comfortable on a regular basis. There's times where you'd want him to get a little more physical and he's capable of doing it.”  

"You don't want to be running around looking for that big hit," Komisarek explained in the same article. "You want to play your position well and anytime you have a chance to use your checks you do it. But I think you don't want to have the mentality of always looking for that big hit because guys are so skilled here, they move the puck so well, you'll get caught pretty quickly and the puck will end up in your net."  

Under the guidance Julien – whose career path roughly followed his own – Komisarek improved his physical game in an intelligent manner and emerged as a force that tallied 30 points (five goals and 25 assists) and 79 penalty minutes in the regular season. Returning to the Bulldogs for the playoffs following the premature end to Montreal’s season, the defenseman put his budding NHL pedigree on display, registering six points (a goal and five assists) and a team-high plus-11 rating in 23 games, helping lead Hamilton to the seventh game of the Calder Cup Final. His 60 postseason penalty minutes were topped on the squad only by Benoit Gratton’s 73.  

“That was great,” recalled Komisarek of his Calder Cup pursuit. “Being a young player in that environment – that playoff intensity – was a great experience. We really bonded well as a team. We had a great group of guys, and a great group of players. We seemed to peak at the right time, and though things didn’t work out in the end, we definitely gave it our best shot.”  

Though the Bulldogs fell a game short of capturing the AHL Championship, the Canadiens are hopeful the leadership and exceptional play shown by Komisarek throughout the former team’s postseason will continue to develop in Montreal this year. If such is the case, the Canadiens should be markedly improved on the blue line, especially with the possible return of Sheldon Souray after a year’s absence and the expected continued excellence of Andrei Markov, the club’s best defenseman a season ago.  

Komisarek, despite his potentially rosy future, is uncomfortable making any kinds of assumptions, and prefers to remain humble in assessing what might be in store for the campaign ahead.  

“I’m a better player, I guess, this year than I was last year,” he conceded. “But I’ve worked hard and I have bigger and better expectations of myself this year. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”  

As for whether part of those expectations involve an increased role among Montreal’s defensive corps, the native of West Islip, NY, offered a diplomatic response.  

“As a player I’m not really worried about that,” he explained. “I’m just coming into camp knowing I worked hard and paid the price this summer, and I just have to come here and put my best foot forward and show the type of player I am. I have to do my best and everything else will take care of itself.”  

And so it is that while it seems just about everyone is putting a whole lot of stock in Mike Komisarek, Mike Komisarek would prefer to go about his business and prove those believers right. Asked for his thoughts on his fairly prominent presence in the team’s marketing for the upcoming season, the NHL sophomore seemed momentarily incredulous.  

“I haven’t seen any of that stuff, to be honest,” he admitted, blushing slightly. “That stuff is great, but you know, that’s not going to change my mentality or my attitude in terms of what I need to do. That’s not going to help me make the team or earn a starting spot.”  

Assuming that starting spot is earned, it’s a safe bet Komisarek won’t be relinquishing it anytime soon.

[Zowpeb]

I love this kids attitude. Sounds like he has a great work ethic and a strong will to succeed. Confident but not cocky.

Of course with all the PR training these guys get you have to take it with a grain of salt...but I think he's going to be a star in this league for sure.