DETROIT – Ziggy Palffy has been back 17 games now, but only in the last two or three has new coach Bill Stewart seen vintage Ziggy.
That Palffy’s timing was off for missing training camp and the season’s first 32 games became a tired excuse for Palffy’s lack of production and failure to spark the team upon his arrival. But in the Stewart era, Palffy is getting it together. He has three goals in the last three games after going eight games without one.
“I think he’s right where he should be right now,” said Stewart, whose Isles face the Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena tonight. “You could see the quickness in his feet and lateral movement now when probably as little as a week ago it wasn’t there. Now you could see he’s thinking at his level and he’s reacting to pucks that would normally handcuff people.”
It’s about time. Despite the recent goal production, Palffy has totaled six in 17 games. Prorated over 82 games, that amounts to 30 goals. The Isles didn’t make Palffy the $26 million man to be a 30-goal scorer.
Palffy got off to a zippy start, with two assists in his dramatic debut and a goal in his second game. But he tailed off, missed some slam-dunk chances, didn’t produce on the power play (remember, he didn’t play a single game with Bryan Berard this season) and the team suffered as well. The Isles are 3-11-3 since Palffy’s return.
“The first couple of games was emotion and that’s the way it is for guys coming back in that situation” Stewart said. “I think he’s back to where he should be. He’s only human. When you miss three months of a season, that’s tough. But now I look for great things from Ziggy.”
“He’s playing much better, in much better shape,” said linemate Robert Reichel, who has simply been a much happier camper since the coaching change. “He wasn’t the same but he’s come through and finally he’s the same player he was last year. It took time.”
Palffy isn’t quite ready to stamp himself all the way back. “It’s only two, three games, I’ve been good so it’s too early to say,” Palffy said. “It’s 17 games and I’m getting better and better. I couldn’t expect to come in and be as be good as last year.”
Certainly, Palffy’s start has paled in comparison to Pavel Bure’s in Florida, where the Russian Rocket has exploded for seven goals in five games. The Isles offered Vancouver the unsigned Palffy for Bure straight-up in November. Some thought it would be a poor trade for the Isles, thinking Palffy was a comparable player at nearly half the price.
“How many assists does he got?” asked Palffy, who was told just one. “I’m a different player. I try to pass the puck and find the guy. That’s the way I am.”
Palffy, who has 10 assists and 16 points, seems rejuvenated since Stewart reunited him with Reichel and put Bryan Smolinski on left wing. The trio had a bang-up end to the 1996-97 season but were inexplicably broken up in 1997-98.
“It’s a pretty dominant line,” Stewart said. “I like their chemistry. They really work the puck well together. They seem to be having fun out there, that’s for sure.”
Palffy was particularly a non-factor on the road. He didn’t score a goal in nine away games until Saturday, when he netted two in the 9-2 Ottawa disgrace. “It’s a different game at home, more offensive,” Palffy said. “On the road you play more defensively.”
Now it’s time for Palffy – not Stewart – to carry the club. “Maybe when you get your superstar back, you let up as a team,” Stewart said. “You look for him to do everything. It was a transition period for everyone. Now he’s back on his game.” *
Stewart was still stewing over Saturday night’s 9-2 no-show in Ottawa that ended a 2-0-1 run since the coaching change. “I don’t really give a [bleep] what happened four games ago because that’s how we were taking it right now,” Stewart said. “I saw a team full of themselves because of what happened in the prior eight days.”
G Tommy Salo gets the nod over 0-5 Felix Potvin tonight. Stewart said Salo could play again tomorrow in Boston. “I’m here to win games,” Stewart said.
Stewart expects his coaching record at season’s end to be .500 or better. “I don’t expect this team to be a below-.500 team,” Stewart said. “I’d be very surprised if it was.”