What was his name again, Babcock?

You probably don’t know much about Hurricanes' defenseman, Anton Babchuk. In fact, many hockey fans don’t even know who he is. But, if you're a Hurricanes fan, you know him well. He has become a huge fan favorite throughout the Caniac nation. 

Listen to this. In the last 34 games of the regular season, following the all-star break, Anton amassed 24 points, scoring 12 times during that period. Extrapolate that over an entire season and that would be 30 goals!  Not only that, but on the entire season, he potted 9 power-play goals, (tied for 8^th in the league), 4 game winners, (tied for 4^th), and his 16 goals earned him 5^th overall in that category. In addition, he was a plus 13 on the season and was instrumental in the Canes charge to the play-offs, averaging close to 20 minutes per game down the stretch. Have I got your attention yet? 

Anton’s story is interesting. He was drafted by the Blackhawks in the first round in 2002, 21st overall.  That was the year that Joni Pitkanen was drafted 4^th by Philadelphia and Cam Ward 25^th by the Canes. He had all of the tools, size at 6’5”, toughness, mobility, and a booming slapshot, clocked at over 100 mph!  But something was missing. Questions mounted around his mental toughness, concentration, and ability to think the game. 

The Hawks finally gave up on him in January, 2006 and shipped him to the Canes for Danny Richmond. (Danny who?) He joined the Canes and immediately made an impact, stepping in for some injured D on the Canes blueline. He was an intriguing addition, bringing size and offence to an offence-challenged Canes defence, but he was still clearly a “project.”  When the injured Canes blueliners returned to action, Anton was asked to take a demotion to the farm in Albany, where he would eat up minutes and hone his skills. The plan was to bring him back to the big club in 2006. But Anton balked initially, something which did not endear him to the Canes boss man, Jim Rutherford (JR) .  JR was so miffed that he elected not to sign Anton (he was a restricted free agent) the following season , tried unsuccessfully to trade his rights, and he ended up being banished to Avangard Omsk in the Russian Superliga. Any idea where Omsk is? Let me tell you, if your choice is Raleigh or Omsk, it's no contest!  Little tidbit. Omsk is where Jaromir Jagr played this year. Bet he wants to come back to North America, too.

Anyway, it turned out to be a great move for Anton. He had the opportunity to play in all situations - regular shift, power-play, and PK, logging big minutes.  Reports filtering out on his overall play were encouraging. So, this past summer, when the Canes were looking to strengthen their D, I thought of Anton. I guess great minds think alike.  JR was looking to change the complexion of the Canes defence corps to a bigger, more mobile cast, and had made great strides in that direction adding first, Joe Corvo, at the trade deadline last year, and then, Joni Pitkanen, in the Erik Cole deal. His next move was to re-sign Anton to a one-year deal, a move that flew under the radar at the time, but one I was very pleased about. Anton’s season started slowly but the eventual move by Paul Maurice to team him with Pitkanen was the catalyst.

 So, why the interest in Anton Babchuk right now?  Well, simply put, if the Canes hope to challenge the Bruins in this series, the power-play will be a key part of the Canes arsenal and it will be players like Anton who need to make a difference.  He seemed out-matched in the series against New Jersey but this is a new day and an opportunity for Anton to show hockey fans around the league what he is capable of. Watch this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98Wb87eYxGg&feature=related

Remember the name, Anton Babchuk. That’s spelled B-a-b-c-h-u-k.