OK, let's just call a spade a spade --
I like writing about Zac Dalpe
.
The 31-year-old forward is someone I met in 2008-09 when he was a freshman at Ohio State. He's a great guy who has gutten it out in the sport, going from a hotshot second-round pick who figured NHL stardom -- or at least a long NHL career -- was in his future to a steady veteran who plays to support his family and for the love of the game.
He's played in 10 different NHL seasons but has just 152 games at the highest level in that span, always riding that line between AHL standout and NHL grinder. It's a weird spot to end up in, but he's brought his lunchpail each day.
Which is why I also think he's been such an important player for the Blue Jackets over the last 11 games. It's no secret the situation the Blue Jackets find themselves in a situation no one wants to be in -- after four straight playoff appearances, the Jackets had to sell at this year's deadline and are also banged up. Missing veterans and leaders like Foligno, Jenner, Savard, Werenski, Nyquist and Nash is like cutting the heart out of a team.
It's no fun to go into each game undermanned and on a losing skid in which it feels like everything is going wrong. But Dalpe has brought it each night while also trying to fill some of the leadership void left by the recent moves and injuries.
"I think it's very important," Dalpe said. "I think at my age, it's huge to pull the rope in the direction the team and the organization wants it to be pulled in. So yeah, it's unfortunate we're in the spot we're in, but I think there's lots you can learn from this for sure."
As for stepping up into a leadership spot, Dalpe said, "I think I'm getting more comfortable. I'm not a guy that's played 500-plus games, but I think I've seen enough in my career to help the young guys along. I'm not very vocal in the dressing room here because you have (Seth Jones) and (Michael Del Zotto) and Cam Atkinson, but if I feel like I can teach some guys the right way to play, then that's what I'll do."
There are many forms of leadership a team can follow. Such players as Atkinson and Jones have been some of the top players in the league -- the former a 40-goal scorer, the latter a perennial Norris Trophy candidate -- so there's plenty for the CBJ youngsters can learn from those guys.
But Dalpe's story might be a little more relatable for the players trying to grind their way to a bottom-six role in the NHL on a full-time basis, especially for those players who suited up with Dalpe in Cleveland, where he was named captain of the Monsters this year.
On top of that, Dalpe and his wife Cassandra are expecting their third child -- all boys -- in the near future as well. This is a guy playing for pride -- his own and his family's -- and it's been fun to see. To watch Dalpe get a pair of goals in the past few games has been pretty cool.
"I think it's deserved that he gets rewarded with a goal," head coach John Tortorella said after Monday night's game.
Couldn't agree more.
