A year ago, Marek Svatos was in a place he didn’t want to be.
Hershey, Pa., is a wonderful town to raise a family, a place of lush parks and clean streets. The money made from Milton S. Hershey’s simple chocolate recipe has practically funded the entire town’s infrastructure.
But for a young, single hockey player with talent, Hershey was a terrible place to be. A few months after being a hero for the Avalanche in the 2004 playoffs, Svatos was living a minor-league life. The pay was lousy, the bus rides long. Meal money was small. There was no nightlife, unless the all-night drive-through at Wendy’s is considered.
“It was pretty tough, especially at first,” Svatos said. “Of course, I wanted to be in the NHL. But there was a lockout. So, I was happy to still be playing. But you dream about being in the NHL, not the minors.”
For Svatos, the only Hershey he sees anymore is on a little brown wrapper at the supermarket checkout. The Slovakian right wing scored his team-leading 11th goal of the season and added two assists Friday night in Colorado’s 5-0 victory at Columbus. In 22 games with the Avs, Svatos has nearly two-thirds as many goals as he scored in 72 games with the Hershey Bears last season.
Two of the goals came in a recent win at Phoenix. Afterward, the greatest hockey player ever, Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky, called Svatos a “tremendous player.”
A year before, words from Svatos’ own coach weren’t as kind.
When Svatos was assigned to Hershey during the lockout, the Avalanche and Bears thought a 40-goal, 100-point season was a realistic expectation. He didn’t come close.
Svatos was given a three-game suspension early in the season for flipping a puck at a linesman after a penalty in the Bears’ opener. He seemed to lack effort on the ice at times. Bears coach Paul Fixter, now an Avalanche pro scout, wasn’t happy with Svatos’ play or his attitude.
The Bears missed the playoffs. Some pointed the finger at Svatos, whose 18 goals and 46 points were underwhelming. Svatos admits his statistics weren’t great but doesn’t think he had a bad attitude.
“I heard that, but I don’t think so,” he said. “I wanted to do as well as I could. We didn’t play well at times as a team.”
Avalanche defenseman Brett Clark was a teammate of Svatos’ in Hershey and the team’s captain. His theory is that it can be easy to lower oneself to the level of competition in the minors, and that was the case with Svatos.
“I actually think it’s easier to play in the NHL than the minors,” Clark said. “A lot of guys want to try and make a name for themselves against (talented) players. Everybody is so professional here, in the right position all the time. You don’t have to worry about other guys not doing their jobs.”
Svatos does not think the year in Hershey was a total waste of time. He managed to stay healthy for the first time in a couple of seasons, after recurring shoulder injuries. And he played well at times, especially toward the end of the season.
“I think it helped playing most every night, just playing a lot of games,” Svatos said. “I could have played better, but I think I learned some things that help me now.”
Back on track
Entering training camp, there was doubt as to whether Svatos would even make the Avalanche.
He pulled a groin muscle in camp, keeping him out of a couple of preseason games that are so important for youngsters looking to make an impression. He also missed the season opener in Edmonton.
Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville said Svatos had disappointed the organization with his play in Hershey, saying nothing was guaranteed about his role with the team.
But Svatos wasted no time in turning things around when he was activated. He scored the winning goal at Dallas in the second game of the season, and got a hat trick in the next against Calgary. He scored a goal in the next game, against Nashville. Three games, five goals.
“He’s had the hot stick for us a lot this year,” Quenneville said. “He’s got skill, and one thing I like is he isn’t afraid to go to the net. He’s scored a few of his goals on rebounds in front. He hasn’t been just a perimeter player.”
Svatos has played mostly on a line with Pierre Turgeon and Steve Konowalchuk. He seems to have developed chemistry with the veteran Turgeon, one of the best setup men in league history.
“He’s always moving, trying to get open to get the puck. That makes things easier for the guy passing the puck,” Turgeon said. “He’s got very good speed, but he knows how to find open spots for himself. That’s not easy to learn. I think he’s going to get better and better. He’s been fun for me to play with.”
Long journey
Svatos was born June 17, 1982, in Kosice, Slovakia. His father, Miroslav, coached one of his son’s first hockey teams. Today, his father works in a factory in Slovakia and has yet to come to the United States to see his son play a game.
“I hope to arrange that to happen very soon,” said Svatos, whose mother, Renata, also has not visited. “I talk to them on the phone, but they don’t speak any English and it’s hard to just have them come.”
Svatos did not speak English when he first came to North America, either. He left home at 18 to play in British Columbia for the Kootenay Ice of the Western Hockey League. In two seasons at Kootenay, Svatos scored 61 goals in 92 games and helped the Ice win the Memorial Cup championship in 2002.
“When he played his first game with us, he was a little older (18) and we put him with the rookies, and he wasn’t all that happy to be with them,” Ice general manager Jeff Chynoweth said. “We thought, ‘Boy, oh boy, how good is this guy going to be?’ And in his first game he played for us, he went around (goalie) Brent Krahn, who was Calgary’s first pick in the (2000) draft, and scored a brilliant goal. We went, ‘Oh, boy, we’ve got something special here.’
“Marek was one of our best players, and it’s great to see him having success. I’m not surprised. He’s a very tough kid. He’ll play with pain, and do it with a smile on his face. For a small guy, he has no trouble getting to the tough areas.”
In the 2001 NHL draft, Avalanche chief scout Jim Hammett asked Chynoweth about Svatos and got a glowing report. But the Avs didn’t think Svatos would be available after the fifth round, and the team had no sixth-round pick. The earliest the Avs could get him, after their earlier targeted picks, was at No. 227 overall, in the seventh round.
“They were just crossing their fingers he’d be available by then,” Chynoweth said.
“I know another scout from another team who was quite mad his team didn’t take him before that. I’m sure he’s still upset now.”
With more highly publicized rookies, such as the Penguins’ Sidney Crosby and the Capitals’ Alexander Ovechkin, having good seasons, Svatos is a longshot to win the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year. But at the pace he’s scoring – one goal every two games – it wouldn’t be out of the question.
“I’m not thinking about that,” Svatos said. “I’m just focusing on the next game, the next shift, the next shot. So far, it’s been good for me, and I’d like it to stay that way.”
VANCOUVER AT COLORADO
7 tonight, ALT
SPOTLIGHT ON ANSON CARTER
A former Avs prospect, Carter has bounced around the league in recent years. The Canucks are his sixth team since the 1999-2000 season. Carter is off to a decent start, with 13 points in 23 games. After scoring 20 or more goals in four of five seasons, however, Carter has only 22 goals in his past 111 NHL games.
NOTEBOOK
* SURGERY FOR KONOWALCHUK? The news does not appear to be good regarding Avs left wing Steve Konowalchuk and his injured wrist. The Avalanche said it will know more about his condition today, but early indications are he injured tendons in his wrist and could require surgery. His injury could be similar to the kind that plagued Paul Kariya in his one season with the Avalanche.
* ABBY IN NET: David Aebischer, coming off a 5-0 shutout of Columbus on Friday, will start tonight. Alex Auld is expected to start for Vancouver – starter Dan Cloutier is out with an injured knee.
* TURGEON DOUBTFUL: Avalanche center Pierre Turgeon is doubtful to play because of a groin injury. He did not practice Saturday, and Avs coach Joel Quenneville said there is only a small chance he could play.
Staff writer Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-820-5454 or adater@denverpost.com.
