ESPN.com - NHL - This time, Belfour can't<br>just shrug off his troubles

COMMUNITY
	Letters to Editor Send a letter
BACKSTAGE
	The Magazine ESPN Radio


		ALSO SEE Stars goalie Belfour arrested on assault, resisting charges

ESPN.com
NFL

Friday, November 3
This time, Belfour can't
just shrug off his troubles

By George Johnson
Special to ESPN.com

Eddie Belfour has always protected his space. At the workplace. Away from it. By wielding his stick, by flapping his gums, and now, police say, by slamming a security guard against a wall at the toney Mansion on Turtle Creek Hotel.

Belfour's history has always been that he lashed out at what he considered unfair intrusions. He has invariably been wary, hostile, mistrustful, felt underappreciated. It's surely part of what drives him professionally.


	Ed Belfour spent his Wednesday morning with Dallas law-enforcement officials.

The book on him as a goaltender has always been to get in his face, jostle him, piss him off. Do that, the scouting reports said, and he'll crack.

This post-Stanley Cup Eddie was supposed to be a different guy, though. More mellow. Wised-up. Less furious with life. Belfour had, we were all led to believe, finally learned how to deal with all those intrusions.

How he handles the intrusions sure to surround him in the upcoming months will go a long ways in determining whether or not the Dallas Stars have what it take to repeat as Stanley Cup champions. Yes, the Stars are deep and talented. But -- and no offence intended to anyone here -- they ain't winning any Stanley Cup with some guy named Manny in the nets.

No one knows how long Belfour will be away from the team. That's up to the league, and the law. But when he does return, he's going to be under a microscope far more penetrating than any he's had to deal with before.

Belfour is going to be asked questions. He's going to have to undergo alcohol counseling. His life can't help but be strained. Belfour is divorced, but how do you explain to your two kids being found intoxicated with a woman at a hotel -- a woman who says she felt threatened by you.

That kind of comment can be interpreted a variety of ways. These are issues he can't just yell away, or fly off the handle about, or storm out of in a huff. These are issues that must be dealt with -- far more telling than a Claude Lemieux butt-end or the Red Wings' power play or the impact Ray Bourque will have on the Avalanche.

Belfour's Mace-ing after a scuffle with a guard at the hotel early Tuesday morning is just the latest in a series of public-relations nightmares for the NHL, which has already been through Kevin Stevens' charges of soliciting prostitution and possessing drug paraphernalia and Marty McSorley's caveman-like clubbing of Donald Brashear.

And now Ed Belfour, the Eagle, shackled in leg irons, no less. Charged with assault and resisting arrest. The question still remains: What was he doing there the night before a game?

No, he wasn't scheduled to be the starting goaltender. But a flu bug had been running through the team. Or what if starter Manny Fernandez twisted an ankle or pulled a groin in the pregame warm-up? A major part of being a professional is being prepared at all times. From what has been gleaned of the situation early Wednesday morning, Belfour's idea of being prepared is slightly askew.

To Ken Hitchcock's credit, while Belfour tried to sluff off the incident, the Stars coach wasn't quite so willing to put it all down to a lark; to a boy's night out.

"Accountability issues are very important to this team," Hitchcock said pointedly, following a 3-3 OT tie against Vancouver on Wednesday night. "Eddie has to be accountable. To you (media). To us. To the players. To himself."

Clearly, Belfour's mutterings of "It's only a misunderstanding ..." as he was led out of Lew Sterrett Justice Center in Dallas after being released on a $500 bond make it clear he hasn't come to grips with that concept quite yet. Hitchcock said as much.

"This isn't a 'misunderstanding'," he replied tersely. "This is a big mistake."

Bigger, probably, than Ed Belfour cares to admit to himself right now. He's let himself, the 'new' Eddie, down. He's let his organization and his buddies down, too. The next few weeks are going to be crucial to the fortunes of a team, as well as an individual player.

Ed Belfour has always seemed to be a ticking time bomb. He surely can't blame us all for anticipating the next detonation. So we'll be watching, waiting, wondering, our curiosity more voracious than ever before.

Whether he can stand it or not.

The rest of the West
In the Yuruba dialect of Nigeria, Iginla translates into "big tree." Fitting, because Jarome Iginla is just now starting to put down NHL roots. During a whirlwind three years pro, Iginla -- that guy the Flames traded Joe Nieuwendyk for -- has been called both Iggy Pop (based on his goal-scoring exploits) and Iggy Flop (based also on his goal-scoring exploits).

Now, at 22, he may finally be Iggy Top.

"I watched Theo when he was here," says Iginla. "He had that 'I'll show you' attitude. Game in and game out, he pushed himself. And the results are obviously there for everyone to see.

"It's a mindset. So, I don't just want to be a player in this league. I want to be a star."

With the NHL's longest point-scoring streak just ended, the shy, unfailingly polite, ever-smiling kid appears to be on his way. Playing with more power and purpose than anyone can remember, he scored 12 goals and piled up 26 points during a memorable 16-game run, which tied a franchise best set by Gary Suter and later tied by Gary Roberts. Along the way, Iginla earned Player Of The Month honors.

It seems almost comical to look back now, but just a month ago, over beers and chicken wings at a late-night Phoenix eatery, the Calgary press corps was hashing out whom the Flames might relinquish to fetch a lot at the trade deadline.

The name that made the most sense was Iginla's. He and coach Brian Sutter were often at odds. Sutter is one who feels Iginla requires constant badgering. He sees the unfulfilled promise and it irks him, mightily. He's demanded Iginla be more wired, more driven, more often. It's a day-to-day challenge to him -- pulling more out of his young charge. Yet there have been concerns that Sutter's method of extraction might wind up ruining a potential gem.

"People say I'm too tough on Iggy," snorts the ever-combatitive coach. "Well, Iggy should be tougher on himself. He's played really well during this last month or so. But he's got to continue at that level. He's got to want that every single day."

Mention Sutter's tough-love philosophy to Iginla and he merely shrugs. This kid is seemingly incapable of saying a harsh word about anyone.

"Brian's an intense guy, we all understand that," he responds. "Nobody enjoys being yelled at but Brian's got my best interests at heart. He just wants me to be a better player.

"Well, that's what I want too."

Iginla, diametrically opposed to Sutter, feels he's most effective when not wound up tighter than the insides of a Titleist.

"This whole streak, I've been relaxed, and it's done wonders for me," he claims. "I haven't been gripping my stick too tight. If you go out there hoping to get a point, feeling you HAVE to get a point, you just psyche yourself out. It becomes too big a burden in your mind.

"I read a lot of self-help books and they're always stressing that. If you relax, and just let it happen everything just seems to ... happen. The streak was fun. I'm thrilled to have tied those guys. I wish it could've gone on and on. But there's an end to everything."

And, of course, a beginning.

While opinions on how Iginla has been handled, everyone connected with the Flames or around the team is genuinely happy at Iginla's success.

"He is," says the team's local play-by-play TV voice Grant Pollock, "such a sweet kid."

Iginla can't remember his parents ever being together during his formative years. His mom, Susan Schuchard, earned money by delivering singing telegrams, waitressing and working as a employment officer, among other things. She and her parents raised Iginla.

His dad, Elvis, is a lawyer in Edmonton. He changed his name from Alvis to Elvis after arriving in Canada from Nigeria.

"No, it wasn't because I was a big Presley fan," said the elder Iginla. "Although he's a bloody good singer. I don't collect Elvis memorabilia. I don't see him walking down to the corner convenience store."

Which triggers a wonderful story of a late November game in Edmonton -- Iginla was raised in the city's St. Albert suburb -- when Jarome stood bolt upright on the bench 30 seconds into a game against the Oilers. His line, by the way, wasn't up or even on deck at the time.

"Iggy," asked then-assistant trainer Brian Pataffie, "what's the matter?"

"Omigosh!" wailed Iginla, "I forgot to leave those tickets for my dad (at the will-call booth)."

Which prompted Pataffie's now-classic reply:

"Well, I've heard of Elvis leaving the building but I've never heard of him not being able to get in."

Don't fret about Elvis. But what about Elvis' kid? With a stellar streak just behind him, a newfound maturity and confidence, he's primed to enter the building where all the NHL stars hang out. And doesn't plan on leaving anytime soon.

Quick hits

Flames' coach Brian Sutter, on the have/have-not disparity of the Avs acquiring both Ray Bourque and Dave Andreychuk for the stretch drive and (most likely) playoffs: "This is just another example of small market versus big market. Oh well, it's another bullet in our gun to go out and beat teams that try to buy championships."

In Bourque's Colorado debut the next night, the Flames were promptly dismembered 8-3.

Ever since the Sharks dispatched veteran goalie Mike Vernon to the Sharks, they've heard the carping that Steve Shields isn't up to taking them far into the playoffs -- or even into the playoffs, for that matter.

"I just ignore it," Shields told the San Jose Mercury News, when asked about trade speculation. "People are just assuming. I'm not really focusing on that."

If Shields can maintain his current .914 save percentage, it'll be the second highest ever by a San Jose goalie, outstripped only by the .921 Shields himself had a year ago.

If the Ducks fail to make the playoffs, they can look back at blown leads as a primary reason: Their 4-3 OT loss to the Rangers on Wednesday was a cruel reminder -- they surrendered the tying goal with 1:20 left and allowed Brian Leetch to waltz in through the slot half a minute into OT.

During one forgettable seven-game stretch against conference opposition they gassed five two-goal leads to lose or tie games.

Quote of the week:
"I'm not a scout, but it's something they obviously needed. There really wasn't anybody there that fit into that Claude Lemieux role." -- Oilers captain Doug Weight, discussing Colorado's acquisition of Dave Andreychuk.

George Johnson covers the NHL for the Calgary Sun. His Western Conference column appears every week during the season on ESPN.com.


		ESPN INSIDER Copyright 1995-2000 ESPN/Starwave Partners d/b/a ESPN Internet Ventures. All rights reserved. Do not duplicate or redistribute in any form. ESPN.com Privacy Policy. Use of this site signifies your agreement to the Terms of Service.