Garrett Stafford - Cleveland Barons - American Hockey League [AHL] - California Kid (page 2)- On MLN Sports Zone

Cleveland Barons

California Kid
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Stafford's first stop was three years of junior hockey in Des Moines, which is about as anti-SoCal as you can get.

He spent his last two years of high school living with a host family in unfamiliar settings to pursue his hockey career. Many 16-year-olds are barely able to commit to a part-time job, let alone a move halfway across the country.

"I knew from the time I was 14 that I wanted to do this," Stafford said. "I needed to get more exposure if I wanted to get a college scholarship. I wanted to play hockey at Harvard for as long as I can remember."

The Harvard thing might not have worked out, but he continued heading east to play for the University of New Hampshire. His four-year college career culminated his senior year when the Wildcats made the 2003 NCAA championship game before finally losing to Minnesota.

Even being the leading scoring defenseman on an NCAA runner-up wasn't enough to get drafted. Stafford had several things going against him.

First of all, he doesn't have the typical size that the ideal NHL defenseman prospect has. His six-foot, 190-pound frame doesn't seem that big when teams already have guys going six-four and around 240 pounds.

Garrett might not be the prototypical defenseman in terms of size, but seems to have the general image requirements down.

He sports the perennial three-day-old beard to go with the reoccurring black eye or some other sort of trauma to the face. Think the Russians from Miracle meet the Brawny guy (not the sissy new one, but the original old school lumberjack.)

Stafford also specializes in being an offensive defenseman. He's always been known for his ability to create opportunities either on the power-play or five-on-five. Not that he has any glaring weaknesses, but his offensive skills may have made some teams question his abilities at the other end of the ice.

"He's always put up points at every level," Barons head coach Roy Sommer said. "He makes his plays, and you can't teach those kinds of great instincts. Right now, we're just working on polishing his defensive skills."

Stafford began his post-collegiate career with a tryout for his hometown Kings. However, he was let go by Los Angeles and had the same result from a tryout with the Dallas Stars.

"I don't know how you have a kid like that in your backyard (Los Angeles), and you let him get away," Sommer said. "He'd practiced with them while home on breaks in college. They had plenty of looks at him, but they must have felt he was missing something in his game."

His journey continued as he was brought into the San Jose Sharks' camp and was assigned to the Barons at the start of the year with an amateur tryout contract.

Garrett signed a professional contract on October 17, 2003 and wasted little time showing he could play on the AAA level. He put three points on the board against Syracuse on October 21 and followed that up with another multi-point game versus San Antonio.

Stafford's drifting officially ended on December 9 when the Sharks signed him to an official NHL contract. He has continued to impress with outrageous offensive numbers for a defenseman.

His 16-point January (three goals, 13 assists) in 15 games earned him AHL Rookie of the Month honors and a spot on the PlanetUSA team for the AHL All-Star Weekend in Grand Rapids. Two-thirds of the way through the season, he was leading all AHL defenseman in points. He is also near the top of the rookie leaderboard in points and assists.

While making the Kings' organization would have given him a chance at playing in his hometown, Stafford knows how fortunate he has been to come so far so fast in the Sharks' system.

"It's frustrating, but everything happens for a reason," he said. "I couldn't be in a better situation than I am now."

Besides, it can't be that far of a trip from Los Angeles to the Bay area.

"It's just a short flight," a grinning Stafford said. "To have a chance to play for a California team someday is exciting. My family has been traveling across the country for six or seven years now to watch me play."