Hide Article Text (OCR)
ucat ry opctiat,could he be Next One?By Randy TurnerSports Reporter ___KITCHENER * They’re already starting to compare the kid to Gretzky, Lindros or Lemieux -big shoes to fill, indeed,But, just so you know, Jason Spezza’s shoe size is 131/2.Only 16, the wonder boy from Brampton could be on the verge of becoming the youngest-ever member of Canada’s national junior team -younger than any prodigy who’s come before.Pucks and microphones seem to follow him everywhere at the junior team’s final selection camp, With a smile that seems to come to him as easily as the game itself, you’d think Spez-za was born in the spotlight, already poised beyond his years.Yesterday, as members of the media queued up to interrogate the Next One, the New One - whatever you want to dub the 6-foot-3 centreman - Spezza turned to Team Canada publicist Andre Brin and said, Just point me.” The kid even speaks in made-for-TV sound bites, with the same unassuming modesty that oozed out of Gretzky.“There’s a real long way for me to go,” Spezza insisted yesterday. “I’m only just getting started now. The comparisons have been made, and it’s quite an honour, but I have to work on my game in order to reach those levels.” Quaint, yes?Yet Spezza’s sheer talent on the ice belies his “aw, shucks” attitude. This is a young man who, at the tender age of 15, tallied 22 goals and 71 points for Brampton’s expansion OHL club last year, leading the team in scoring.So far this season, Spezza has 12 goals and 38 points on a dreadful Mississauga Ice Dogs club owned by none other than Donald S. Cherry, the architect of an OHL club that won all of four games last season.Although certainly not as prolific as either Gretzky or Lemieux, Spezza’s uncanny ability to attract and bury any pucks within his significant reach has scouts already declaring him the certain No. 1 selection of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft.Still, Spezza wasn’t even invited to the junior team’s summer camp, and his presence in Kitchener hasn't been without critics, whq charge the kid -while obviously a potential superstar -simply isn’t ready for the world.So then Spezza goes out in his first intra-squad game Monday night, scores once and adds two assists.And when Team Canada head coach Claude Julien was asked yesterday if the Spezza hype was being overblown, he replied; “What people are making him out to be, that’s exactly what he is.” In fact, with each passing day, Spezza - along with fellow 16-year-old Jay Bouwmeester, a hulking 6-foot-3 defenceman from Edmonton - appearsto be one giant stride closer to representing Canada at the World Junior Championships in Sweden later this month.“Some people have asked me if (NHL players) Manny Malhotra (Rangers) and Mike Ribeiro (Montreal) coming back raised the bar for the 16-year-olds,” Team Canada’s chief scout, Barry Trapp, said. “Just the opposite.These two 16-year-olds, with their performance, have raised the bar for the 18 and 19-year-olds.”So it’s tempting, of course, to liken Spezza to the greats of today, just for measurement’s sake. But at least one great one from the past - his agent Bobby Orr - wants no part of that debate.Everyone tries to get me to compare him to this great player or that great player, but I won’t do it,” Orr toldThe Hockey News in September. “He’sJason Spezza and he has a chance to be a special player.”But you wouldn’t necessarily know that by talking to Spezza himself.“I can't read the press clippings and believe what I hear because as soon as you start thinking you’re good, your game will probably decrease,” he said. “And there’s always something you can improve on.“I was given a God-given talent and I’m thankful for that, and I just have to go out and improve on that,” Spezza added, “I can’t really rest on my laurels. I haven’t really Jane anything yet with my hockey career and there’s so, so much more to do.”But it’s growing quite obvious, even to the skeptics, that the young phenom from Brampton will soon embark on a journey most Canadian boys his age can only dream about.Like Jason Spezza said, “Just point
Newspaper Details
, ,
Mon, Jan 01, 0001
Page 0
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
