Drive-By Body Pierce Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 Manny Malhotra is hoping another NHL club will take him on once the window opens on July 5. Photograph by: Arlen Redekop Arlen Redekop , PNG It’s up to Manny Malhotra to persuade an NHL club that he can still perform on the ice, but there is no question that any new employer will be getting a consummate leader and a veteran player who was a large but under-acknowledged part of the Canucks’ best-ever season two years ago. Malhotra, 33, was shut down by GM Mike Gillis just nine games into the past lockout-shortened season due to concerns that a serious eye injury suffered in March 2011 was putting him in danger on the ice. But Malhotra said at the time he didn’t agree with the decision and — now a pending unrestricted free agent — intends to pursue his playing career with another NHL club when the signing window opens on July 5. “I love the game, I enjoy going to the rink every day, the camaraderie of being around the guys,” said Malhotra. “But there’s also that realization that, a career being as finite as it is, to have someone else say your time is done before that passion is burned out… As far as my will and desire to play, it’s there as much as ever. This is what I love to do and I want to do it as long as I can.” Pittsburgh winger Tanner Glass was on the Canucks’ team in 2011-12 and saw first hand the influence Malhotra had on the dressing room. “I think that year we had a lot of things go right, a lot of leaders, a lot of people had career years, but Manny was right up there as one of the biggest reasons we went as far as we did and had the success we did,” said Glass. “Obviously, his on-ice contributions were huge, his face-offs, his penalty killing, his leadership on the ice. But in the room he was very outspoken. He was almost like a fourth coach. He was kind of the general. Between periods he was the one reiterating what the coach was saying or what the captain was saying.” Gillis cited concerns for Malhotra’s safety in a game where heavy bodies collide at high speed near rock-hard boards. But Malhotra says he has no such concerns. “I don’t feel vulnerable or afraid going into any situation, like a corner or seeing the puck in open ice,” he said. Malhotra doesn’t like to talk in specifics about the level of vision in his damaged left eye, but said the challenge of coping with the deficit has become less of an issue over the two years since the accident. He said the vision in the eye has improved somewhat over time and he’s learned to adjust to the reduced sight. “Definitely, I had to get used to the vision I had,” he said. “But according to my recent doctor it is sharpening up. It is getting better.” What on-ice attributes can Malhotra bring to a team? One thing that didn’t suffer after his injury was a face-off proficiency that puts him at or near the top of the league. But his role diminished and so did his ice-time post-injury as former head coach Alain Vigneault didn’t see him as the same shutdown player and dropped him down to the fourth line, though still using him as a primary penalty killer and key face-off man. Last season Malhotra’s ice-time fell to an average of 11:07 per game, down from 12:20 the previous season and 16:09 pre-injury in 2010-11. Malhotra wants an opportunity to show he can get back to a shutdown role. “That would be ideal,” he said. “Knowing that I have that responsibility of going against so and so every night, is what I do best. But I’m a realist and I know I have a lot of questions to answer, both verbally and most importantly in my play. “I’m not assuming or expecting anyone to offer that job right away, but to get an opportunity to work my way into that position is what I’m going to have to do.” Malhotra has been working out in the gym and on the ice with a training company that caters to Vancouver-based pro hockey players. It’s run in part by Jeff Tambellini, a Canucks teammate that magical 2010-11 year. “When we lost Manny during the drive it was a big hole, but on the ice was only half of it,” said Tambellini. “There are a lot of parts of that team that are really special, but people don’t know how strong the leadership was from the group and he was probably the guy that got the least credit for it. “He’s been working hard, he looks great on the ice. Whoever takes a chance on this guy is going to get a big piece for their team.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 I'm sure someone will pick him up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TACIC Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 Good leadership, good offence and good defence. Who wouldn't want that? Good luck to him, one of my fav players and i even model my faceoffs after him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henrik Kesler Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 Oh man. Gillis is going to look like an idiot on this one if he returns to anything close to pre-injury form. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outsiders Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 good luck Manny great leadership. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGER SINGH Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 Manny for Selke!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apples Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 Hopefully someone picks him and watch Manny score 20 goals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ice orca Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 Oh man. Gillis is going to look like an idiot on this one if he returns to anything close to pre-injury form. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaches Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 I sure hope someone picks him up. Favorite player in the league. Good player and even better person. Of course, I wouldn't mind if he retired and became one of our assistant coaches either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOMapleLaughs Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 He can still play, but yup there's risk. Good luck to him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aGENT Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 I really wish the guy luck but I can't help but thinking his vision's not as good as he say's/would like it to be. He wouldn't be the first guy to be unfairly cheated out of doing what he loved and attempting to force himself in to a role he's no longer fit for. Hopefully I'm wrong and I hope even more that a terrible play/injury doesn't prove me right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kubrick Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 It'd be nice to see him hoist the cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkeeterHansen Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 Good leadership, good offence and good defence. Who wouldn't want that? Good luck to him, one of my fav players and i even model my faceoffs after him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOMapleLaughs Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 good offence and good defence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonfruits Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 malhotra was not the same player post injury no matter how people wanna spin another gillis hating session i wish all the best for him but he wasn't good enough to play on the team the whole doing it for his safety reason from gillis was just a way to get him on ltir Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TACIC Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 Mike Gillis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rampage Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 Manny could have helped the team when things started to go to sh!t. I know offensively there wasn't much there but in the room I think the team took a big hit when they shut Manny down. On the ice just look at the faceoff numbers after he was gone, it seemed like we were always chasing the puck. Hope he gets another chance with another team. Gillis handled it in such a stupid way. Good luck Manny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gurn Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 What always got me was the Canuck doctors said he was good to go, and despite no medical training Gillis shut him down. So if Gillis won't take the team doctors word should he not replace those doctors with others that he will believe? In fact were I a doctor and some former player, agent, turned gm with no medical degree crapped on my decision regarding Manny being fit to go, I'd leave the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jägermeister Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 What always got me was the Canuck doctors said he was good to go, and despite no medical training Gillis shut him down. So if Gillis won't take the team doctors word should he not replace those doctors with others that he will believe? In fact were I a doctor and some former player, agent, turned gm with no medical degree crapped on my decision regarding Manny being fit to go, I'd leave the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOMapleLaughs Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 Maybe he should have a chat with Chris Pronger. He sustained a similar eye injury, came back thinking, "Well, i'm Chris Pronger. Being able to see out of this eye or not, nobody can touch me." He was touched alright. After all, he's Chris Pronger, and plenty of players wanted to take a big piece out of him. Amassive concussion was sustained, he's out of the league, wakes up with headaches almost everyday, has a miserable family life now and has actually contiplated suicide at points post-career. He says he has no regrets though. Really? The only reason Manny hasn't been KO'd yet is because he doesn't have Pronger's reputation. Players have been letting up. But if he starts playing more important minutes in more important games, what makes him think that he won't eventually be taken out? He is rolling the dice and that is insanely dangerous. Good luck, Manny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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