Golden boy Halischuk looking for one more win
Matt Halischuk has a chance to complete a rare hat trick today.
The Kitchener Rangers will compete in the championship game of the 2008 MasterCard Memorial Cup against the Spokane Chiefs (4:40 p.m. Eastern on Rogers Sportsnet and RDS) and a win would give Halischuk another championship to go along with the World Junior and league titles that he already has.
Halischuk said that he had high hopes for this season but even he’s surprised at the amount of success that he has enjoyed.
“At the beginning of the year we got off to a great start as a team and we wanted to win the OHL and we did that,” Halischuk said. “The World Juniors is just one of those experiences you never forget so it’s great to be in another position like that again.”
Halischuk scored the winning goal that gave Canada its fourth straight World Junior title last Christmas in the Czech Republic. He had at least one point in all but one of the Rangers’ seven game OHL Championship Series win over the Belleville Bulls. In the tournament semi-final on Friday, Halischuk (as well as linemates Justin Azevedo and Nick Spaling) finished one shy of the tournament record with a five-point performance in a dominant win over the Bulls.
“What do you say about him? He’s one of the best kids I’ve had the pleasure of coaching on and off the ice,” Rangers’ coach and GM Peter DeBoer said. “He’s a consummate team guy. I was talking with (New Jersey Devils’ coach) Brent Sutter the other day singing his praises about what a valuable guy I think he’s going to be for Brent and how he fits in to the way Brent plays and the New Jersey Devils play. He’s just been a pleasure to coach for two years.”
Shawn Matthias and P.K. Subban of the Belleville Bulls and Claude Giroux of the Gatineau Olympiques also came into the tournament with the opportunity for World Junior and Memorial Cup wins, but Halischuk is the only remaining member of Team Canada still playing in the tournament.
Halischuk said that he drew on his World Junior experience to help prepare for this tournament is hopeful of another victory.
“We ended up going to quarter final and semi-final over in Europe and we had a Game 7 here and a Game 7 last week, so I think we’re prepared for that and hopefully can come out with the same result,” said Halischuk, who had 16 goals and 32 points in 20 playoff games with the Rangers.
Halischuk spent his first two seasons with the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors before coming to the Rangers at the start of the 2006-07 season. He blossomed under the tutelage of DeBoer and assistant coach Steve Spott.
“It was great to be in St. Mikes; I learned a lot,” Halischuk said. “Getting a chance to come to a city like Kitchener and play in front of these fans and with this coaching staff has probably been the turning point in my career so far so hopefully I can just keep going here.”
As good as Halischuk has been on the ice, his teammates say that he is a treat to be around off the ice as well.
“Matt Halischuk is a pretty spectacular man,” Rangers’ captain Matt Pepe said. “He’s pretty humble. I don’t think he even knows how good he is and how much he brings to this team on and off the ice.”
Pepe said that his team was beaming with pride when Halischuk scored the World Junior winning goal and would love to see him do it again in today’s Memorial Cup championship game.
“He’s just been so consistent for us all year and he is a great leader and he makes everyone better around him,” Pepe said. “It was an honour to watch him score that goal during the World Juniors and he’ll go down in history. I don’t know how many times you will see that goal every Christmas and remember that.
“He’s a pleasure to have played with for the past couple years. I hope that I don’t get too far away from him in our hockey careers.”
Photo: Aaron Bell / CHL
