HARTFORD, Conn – When Scott Tanski roofed a shot under the crossbar to win his second practice-ending shootout in three days last week, he was mobbed by virtually all of his Connecticut Whale teammates, many of whom leaped into the plexiglass to try to get at the personable curly-haired redhead.
“It might have been my new stick,” a smiling Tanski said of his latest skills competition victory. “I like to keep it light in practice, and I know the guys knew I hadn’t had a goal yet, so when I win the shootout, it’s pretty special. We’d won a few games, and I just go to practice and try to have fun and work on a lot of things, though a shootout isn’t my specialty. I’ll leave that to Newbs (Kris Newbury) and Zucc (Mats Zuccarello) because they have some pretty moves. I don’t think too much, just think, ‘Shoot the puck,’ and I was lucky to squeeze a few in there. It must be some confidence with that new stick.”
Tanski soaked in all the adulation, though he would have preferred if he had been celebrating during a game. But as hard as the hard-working rookie right wing had tried, he just hadn’t been able to register his first goal as a pro, though he had come close on several occasions.
Two nights earlier, Tanski stood inches outside the crease and screened Hershey Bears goalie Branden Holtby to help defenseman Pavel Valentenko’s laser from the left point find the net for the tying-breaking goal in a 4-2 victory. Holtby, who had been run over by a hard-charging Tanski earlier in the game, objected that the feisty right wing had interfered, but the goal stood. Tanski had only one assist, a bunch of hard hits and loads of agitation to show for his first 20 games in the play-for-pay ranks, but when reminded Aaron Voros and Chris McKelvie scored their first goals of the season before and after Valentenko’s first winner of his life, Tanski broke into another wide infectious smile and said, “I’ll be joining them in the next game.”
Well, Tanski proved to be the latest edition of Kreskin when he got credit for the Whale’s first goal in a 4-1 victory over the Providence Bruins on Friday night, when defenseman Jared Nightingale’s shot hit off his leg and trickled through goalie Anton Khudobin only 6:13 into the game. The goal was originally credited to Nightingale, which would have been his first of the season, but later changed when it was learned Tanski had got a piece of the puck while stationed where he likes to be, on the doorstep of the goalie causing a distraction.
Tanski’s goal would have been the winner if Zach Hamill hadn’t scored shorthanded early in the third period, as Chad Johnson earned the No. 1 star with another strong game, getting 22 of his 28 saves in the first 40 minutes as the Whale was on the way to going 7-for-7 on the penalty kill. But Tanski was just happy to get off the scoring schneid.
“I just tried to stay positive, and it felt good to score,” Tanski said. “I had (a team-high) three in the preseason, but I knew it was a different ballgame in the regular season and what I’m here for. If I can chip in whenever I can on the score sheet, it’s going to help the team. (On Friday) our line (with McKelvie and Jordan Owens) got the first two goals and kind of gave us a kick-start, which was definitely a plus for the team.”
Tanski has had a chance to play for the Whale thanks largely to the persistence of Gordie Clark. The New York Rangers’ director of player personnel was interested in inviting Tanski to training camp the past two years but was overruled, so the undrafted wing went to the Columbus Blue Jackets’ camp and played in a prospects tournament in Traverse City, Mich., that included the Blueshirts.
“I didn’t play against the Rangers, but they definitely saw me,” Tanski said. “I knew there was interest, so when my agent told me in the summer that the Rangers were interested, I knew there was something there because they had tried to get me to camp the past two years.”
Then the day before the Rangers opened camp Sept. 16, Tanski was preparing to leave on a road trip with his Carleton University team in Ottawa, Ontario, when he got a call saying he had four hours to pack his bags and catch a flight to LaGuardia Airport in New York. The Rangers had sustained several injuries and defections during and after finishing second in the prospects tournament, and needed a few more healthy bodies for the start of camp in Greenburgh, N.Y.
“I had tried to get Tanski in to camp twice before, but it didn’t work out,” Clark said at the Whale’s preseason game at Quinnipiac University in Hamden. “When (Rangers assistant general manager) Jeff Gorton called saying he needed a few players, the guy that I thought of was Tanski. I knew I could rely on him to come in and play hard.”
So with Tayler Jordan having been injured and Randy McNaught and Jordan Hickmott opting to attend school rather than Rangers camp, the SOS went out to Tanski, who was stunned but delighted to finally get a chance to join the Blueshirts.
“When I got off the ice, my coach (Marty Johnston) asked me what I thought about going to Rangers main camp,” Tanski recalled. “I was just supposed to come to Whale camp, so he said I’d better talk to my agent. I was a little shocked because my mind was really focused on coming to Connecticut and getting some preseason games. I was ready physically and had done all I could, but mentally I was thinking somewhere else, so I had to switch off right away and go buy a suitcase.”
Tanski made Clark look good with his tenacity and grit, while having to work hard to get through the legendary training camp skating tests of Rangers coach John Tortorella.
“I’d been to Columbus camp for two years so I kind of knew what to expect having gone to one main camp,” Tanski said. “But nothing can really prepare you for Torts’ camp. I just told myself to do my best and don’t try and think too much about it because if you’re constantly thinking so much about what’s going to happen, what’s going to happen, then you’re not prepared for what you need to do.
“So every day I just tried to put my best foot forward, and if it doesn’t work out, then it doesn’t work out. But I knew if I showed my best, I’d have a chance.”
In Whale camp, Tanski had the three goals, dozens of solid checks and even stood and offered high-fives to teammates as they took the ice before each period. It’s something usually reserved for veterans, but the rookie wanted to try to show his intensity and what it meant to be in camp.
The Whale appreciated Tanski’s gung-ho attitude and signed him and the equally energetic Owens to AHL contracts two days before the start of the season. Tanski’s success was similar to a year earlier when Kelsey Tessier earned a contract after showing well as an invitee to the prospects tournament and then continuing his good work in Whale camp. Tessier ended the season receiving the Seventh Player Award/Unsung Hero Award on a vote of the media.
Tanski and Owens have played together most of the season with McKelvie and now fellow rookie Tommy Grant, who got the winner last Friday night off the first of two assists for both Owens and Nightingale. After getting 53 goals and 80 assists in 219 games with the Brampton Battalion of the OHL the past four seasons, Tanski has only the one goal and one assist in 23 games with the Whale, who had a four-game winning streak stopped by the defending Calder Cup champion Binghamton Senators on Sunday, but still lead the Northeast Division by three points over Adirondack.
But Tanski’s main job is to help the fourth line provide energy and strong forechecking on the opposition’s defense to try to wear them down, as the Whale did Saturday night, when they scored a team record-tying five power-play goals in the third period to rally to beat Springfield, 6-3.
“He’s going to give you a consistent effort, he does all the little things and he plays a pretty hard-nosed, straightforward game,” Whale coach Ken Gernander said. “He provides energy and forechecking and is a physical guy, and whenever the situation arises, I know he’s trying to do the right thing that’s being asked of him. He doesn’t take short cuts or improvise to lighten his burden. He does what he’s asked.”
Tanski said he knew what to expect in the pros after watching many of his teammates play in AHL games he attended, with the Hamilton Bulldogs being so close to Brampton. He and some other Whale players have had to step up since veteran center John Mitchell and rookie left wing Carl Hagelin were called up by the Rangers, though the Whale was bolstered by the return of right wing Andre Deveaux last Thursday.
“I’ve just tried to focus on what got me here,” Tanski said. “I haven’t tried to do too much, and while I haven’t put up tons of numbers, I think our line has been effective on most nights, getting the puck in and laying on bodies. I feel more and more comfortable each game, so there’s no reason we can’t maybe chip in on the score sheet a little bit more regularly.
“But that comes with confidence and comes with chemistry that I think me, Owens, Grant and McKelvie have on any night. Hopefully in the next 20 games, I can get a few more goals, but wins are the most important thing, and we’ve been getting those and I’m happy with that.”
Now, that’s always cause for a major celebration.
By Bruce Berlet
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