VERSTEEG
Is Kris Versteeg of the Providence Bruins the Most Improved Player in the AHL in 2006-2007?

Dan HICKLING
MLNSportsZone.com

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - 11.22.06 - If the American Hockey League is the primary hothouse for nurturing hockey talent, then right wing Kris Versteeg might well be its prize-winning begonia.

Overlooked and under worked last year in his late season cameo with the Providence Bruins, Versteeg was considered little more than a spare part during last year’s brief playoff run by the Peebs.

This year, among more heralded young names like Krejci, Kalus, Karsums, and Walter, the rookie left wing has surged past them all to lead the Peebs in scoring.

Without question, the undersized 5-10, 175 lb.native of Lethbridge, Alberta, is the most improved puckster in Little Rhody.

Heck, he might be the most improved player in the entire AHL.

Maybe an budding offensive dynamo was there all along, just waiting to blast its way out.

If so, hardly anybody knew it, except for perhaps Boston Bruins assistant General Manager Jeff Gorton who stole him in the fifth round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.

“If you look at him,” said Gorton, “coming in last year [after finishing his junior career], the way [Boston defenseman Andrew] Alberts did the year before, he saw what it is to be a pro. He knew what to expect when he came back [this year]. He was that much further ahead.”

Versteeg came to Providence last March after winding up a solid, but unspectacular junor stint with the WHL’s Red Deer Rebels.

Not one to pile up the points in junior, racking up less half a point per game over four seasons, Versteeg chipped in two goals and six assists in 13 games with Providence.

Keeping up with the increased speed of the pro game wasn’t a problem. Matching muscle with the big boys was.

“Last year, I was weighing in at about 160,” said Versteeg. “And really, my whole junior career, I couldn’t push any more weight than that. I had been working out, then, but I guess my body wasn’t mature.”

Even so, the Bruins liked what they saw in him, liked him enough to sign him up for the next three seasons. It is the sort of commitment that little guys rarely got in hockey’s pre-lockout days (PLD).

“I think it’s helped him just being around the pros,” said Gorton, who okayed the deal. “Even being part of the playoffs, what little that was, was good for him. It gave him an edge.”

A small edge, perhaps, but Versteeg was determined to make something big, namely his physique, out of it.

Enlisting the aid of a personal trainer, Versteeg packed on 20 pounds of rippling upper body bulk over the summer.

He used to be small. Now he was merely short.

“I feel a lot stronger out on the ice,” he said. “That definitely helps me, especially in the corners. Last year when I’d get pushed off the puck a little bit easier. Now I can hold on to the puck and make plays a little bit easier than last year.”

Not that Versteeg was now ready to rip the Providence phone book in half. Now, though, he could protect himself from opposing defensemen intent on mugging him in the rink’s mean streets.

 “[Physicality] is obviously not going to be his strength,” said Gorton. “But any kind of strength he can add to his body to help him not get pushed off the puck, will give him more opportunities to get the pucks out, and keep it alive in the offensive zone. It’s a credit to him the way he’s played.”

The results were noticeable from the get-go. His eye-popping assists on goals by Kalus and Pascal Pelletier were one of the few moments to write home about in the Peebs season opening 7-2 drubbing at Portland.

Since then, Versteeg has kept right on dishing, and finishing, too: His chances, his checks.

“He’s a crafty little kid with the puck. He sees the ice. He has good hands. And if he tries, he’s actually good in his own zone. There’s not much he doesn’t do well. He’s getting an opportunity to play with good players. And he’s making the most of it.”

Versteeg’s shirt size may have expanded, but not his hat size. The self-effacing youngster is quick to credit his teammates for his own new-found success.

“I’m also playing with good guys,” he said, “and that makes the game easier. They make you look a lot better than you probably are.”

Better, maybe, but not bigger. He did that himself.