Quote:
Originally Posted by Hondaracer
(Post 7303959)
having Ballard on D gets us closer to winning a cup than Grabner on any forward position
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Keith Ballard's feathers refuse to be ruffled
Confronted with adversity, defenceman reveals positive attitude and sense of humour
The day after Keith Ballard was viciously twisted like a pretzel by Milan Michalek last week, you wanted him to be fired up, and expected him to call out the Ottawa forward for a cheap, chicken crap play.
Instead, he told jokes.
When Ballard was a healthy scratch earlier in the season, you wanted him to vent and express frustration he wasn't in the lineup and Aaron Rome, a journeyman NHL defenceman, was in his place.
Instead, he said Rome was the right decision. He was convincing, too.
When Ballard's minutes hovered around 14 because he was a $4.2 million fifth defenceman, you expected him to complain.
Instead, he couldn't be happier.
What gives with this guy?
Through all the issues he's been confronted with this year -hip surgery, a concussion, the flu, healthy scratches, a diminished role and now a knee sprain -he's handled it all faultlessly. He's never seemed down, angry, frustrated or disappointed. And there's a good reason.
"You want to know why? It's because there is a special feeling coming to the rink every day, knowing you have a great chance to win every night," Ballard said. "You don't have that in very many places. For me, who's never been around that, it's awesome. I love it.
"For me, the last thing I'm concerned about is playing an extra two minutes. It's not my concern. There's more important things than how many minutes I play. All good teams, there are players taking less and playing less to keep teams together."
Minutes are one thing, but what about when he was benched after playing a few games upon returning from a concussion?
"I didn't deserve to play when I sat out. It was really good for me," Ballard admitted.
Clearly, few players are this honest.
Ballard is expected to miss another three weeks with a knee sprain. He's already missed 11 games, a big number when you consider he missed only 13 in the past five years combined before the offseason trade to Vancouver. The good news is he should be back in plenty of time to play his first-ever NHL playoff game.
It looked brutal what Michalek did to him. But it seemed to barely faze Ballard who joked about the frightening picture which made the rounds showing his knee bent backward in an unnatural position.
Is this guy for real?
If it's all an act, give him an Oscar.
Just ask Chris Tanev, who Ballard took under his wing when the rookie defenceman arrived. In Tanev's first game with the Canucks, Ballard never seemed further than five feet from him. A good distance to fill his ear with both instruction and humour.
"Not only was he talking to me about systems, he kept telling me to stay calm and he's always keeping things light on the bench," Tanev said. "He's a really good guy and one who has helped me a lot, taking the pressure off.
"Even when I make a mistake, he's joking. He's saying I'll get it next time. We'll be better."
Ballard said it's just another part of the job.
"He kept coming back to the bench saying 'sorry for this, sorry for that.' I kept telling him it's okay, these things happen," Ballard said. "Don't worry about it because over 27 shifts in a game you can't worry about a puck that rolled up on you or if you gave me a bad pass.
"When I was younger, the guys who I played with were always like that and I know it made a big impact. The guys I played were so good at making me feel comfortable and I want to do the same thing for the young guys now."
Ballard thinks the Canucks can weather this run of injuries. Already without Ballard and Alex Edler, the Canucks appeared to lose Dan Hamhuis too after he was left dazed by a Ryan Getzlaf hit Wednesday.
"Most teams, I don't think, could handle losing even a guy like Alex, but look at what's happened to us. Dan and I have been out. Christian (Ehrhoff) has been out and you don't question whether we can survive," Ballard said.
"We don't have a defence where we lean on one guy or just two guys. We do it by committee. Alex and Christian have carried us on the offensive end while Dan and Kevin (Bieksa) are playing those tough minutes against other teams top lines.
"Myself and others have been filling in where needed.
"If it gets to the point when everyone is healthy, it's a tough problem to have but it's a good problem to have. What it means is there will be players out who don't deserve to be sitting. But that's what you play for, to be on the best team possible.
"I'm not into seeing how many minutes I can play. I'm having a blast this year."
jbotchford@theprovince.com
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