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The junior prospect is compared with Penguins' Mario Lemieux and Lightning's Brad Richards.
By DAMIAN CRISTODERO
© St. Petersburg Times, published June 21, 2001
Rick Dudley has been around the game long enough to know that Mario Lemieux's name is not one to be dropped frivolously.
So when the Lightning general manager said this week that junior prospect Jason Spezza reminded him of the legendary Penguins star, Dudley added an immediate qualifier:
"He's a long way from being Mario Lemieux."
But Dudley qualified a qualifier:
"He's got the same kind of puck skills. Obviously, the finished product may be a little different. But he's got magical hockey sense, magical vision and magical hands."
It's been a magical ride for Spezza since he burst onto the scene as a 15-year-old center for the OHL's Brampton Battalion and was runner-up for rookie of the year behind future Lightning player Sheldon Keefe.
The next season, Spezza became the fourth 16-year-old -- Wayne Gretzky, Eric Lindros and Jay Bouwmeester were the others -- to play for the Canadian Junior Team. His first assists made him the youngest player to get a World Championship point.
Last season Spezza had 116 points on 43 goals and 73 assists in 56 OHL games for Mississauga and Windsor. The 6-foot-2, 214-pounder is rated by NHL Central Scouting as North America's No. 1 prospect headed into this weekend's draft at National Car Rental Center in Sunrise.
But the 18-year-old, whom Central Scouting calls "a potential franchise player," is a mock drafter's nightmare. He has lost his position as the consensus first overall pick to Russian wing Ilja Kovalchuk. And speculation is he may fall out of the top five.
Spezza said it doesn't matter.
"My main concern is to play in the NHL, whether I'm picked No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 or No. 300," he said at the prospects luncheon during the Stanley Cup final.
"Right now I have less information than you do. It wouldn't be appropriate for me to say anything. I don't know what's going on."
How did Spezza seemingly fall so far so fast? It was a combination of factors.
Most recent was a subpar playoff. Spezza had four goals and nine points and was minus-4 in nine games as Plymouth eliminated Windsor in the Western Conference semifinals. Spezza was outplayed by Plymouth's Michael Weiss, whose draft status went through the roof.
There was Spezza's much-publicized trade demand, which forced lowly Mississauga to send him to Windsor in November for four players and two draft picks. It made Spezza seem difficult.
And questions about his character arose after Spezza was caught in a Windsor casino with a fake ID and was fined $70.
"That's something I put behind me," Spezza said. "It's a lesson I learned, and there wasn't much made of it."
Much more was made of his trade request from Mississauga, his hometown team.
The episode was contentious. Spezza offered to play while IceDogs owner and former Bruins coach Don Cherry worked a deal. But then-Windsor coach Rick Vaive refused, so Spezza sat for almost three weeks.
"I've talked to Don a few times since the trade, and he seemed to understand where I was coming from," Spezza said. "Nothing against Mississauga, but you could sense the difference (in Windsor). There was a winning attitude."
Dudley and Lightning scout Jake Goertzen see that attitude in Spezza. They agree his playoffs weren't great but said that had as much to do with the Spitfires playing better opponents than any of Spezza's shortcomings.
"Spezza has the best vision of anyone in the draft," Goertzen said. "He has you on the edge of your seat all the time when he's in the offensive zone. Even when you're watching, you don't see those plays developing in the offensive zone, so he's incredibly smart in that way."
Said Dudley: "He just took a kicking because on two teams he was the only thing they had."
Spezza has some things to learn. Goertzen said he sometimes leaves his work ethic in the locker room, his face-offs need work and his skating is good but not great.
That said, Dudley reminded: "He's still a special talent; there's no doubt about that."
Special enough for the Lightning to draft?
If Kovalchuk is taken first and Spezza second, Tampa Bay likely would take Russian center Alexander Svitov with the third pick. But if Spezza is available at No. 3, the Lightning will have a debate on its hands.
There's no debate Spezza is talented enough to play in the NHL next season.
"I can tell you he's a 6-3 Brad Richards," Dudley said, referring to Tampa Bay's rookie star, who also came straight out of juniors. "If you don't like that, well, go ahead."
There Dudley goes, name dropping again.