St. Louis – Kyle Cumiskey looks young – really young. Officially, he is 20, but he doesn’t look old enough to get into an R-rated movie without a parent or guardian.
“He’s the youngest looking National Hockey League player I’ve ever seen,” said Avalanche television analyst Peter McNab. “If somebody hadn’t told me, I might have guessed he was a Bantam player.”
Cumiskey, called up by the Avalanche from Albany of the American Hockey League on Thursday, is used to such observations.
“Guys have given me a hard time about it my whole career,” said Cumiskey, a 5-foot-10, 187-pound defenseman. “That’s all right. I can take it.”
Cumiskey was the last player off the ice Sunday morning at the Scottrade Center, where the Avs lost 2-0 to the St. Louis Blues the night before. For any NHL rookie, that is standard. Former Avs goalie Patrick Roy once left the ice early as a rookie with Montreal – with the veterans – and was given a tongue-lashing by defenseman Lucien DeBlois.
Cumiskey is savvy enough to know he has a lot of dues-paying ahead if he is to make it as an NHL regular, and he was just thrilled to be able to be on the same ice as teammates such as Joe Sakic – who was a rookie with Quebec in 1988 when Cumiskey was 2.
“It’s a big honor to be here,” Cumiskey said. “To be called up is a big compliment.”
The soft-spoken Cumiskey has yet to play in a game, and it remains to be seen whether he will today in Nashville, Tenn., against the Predators. As one might guess, he won’t rock the boat if he doesn’t. He still is having a hard time believing the phone call he received from Albany coach Joe Sacco late Wednesday night. Be on the first flight out to Denver the next morning, Sacco told Cumiskey. He was going to The Show.
“I didn’t sleep too much that night,” Cumiskey acknowledged.
Cumiskey figures to collect an NHL paycheck at least the majority of this week. Veteran Patrice Brisebois remains sidelined with a back injury, and Cumiskey’s presence gives Colorado the usual allotment of seven defensemen.
What kind of player is Cumiskey? The native of Abbotsford, British Columbia, sees himself as a John-Michael Liles type of defenseman, someone who can skate with the puck and produce at the offensive end. He played some with the Avs in the preseason and was one of the final cuts in training camp.
He beat out more senior defensemen at Albany, such as prospects Johnny Boychuk and Jeff Finger, in getting the call-up.
“I’ll just try to learn as much as I can here and enjoy it, however long it lasts,” Cumiskey said. “If I get in the game, I’ll just try to look at it as another hockey game. It’s the same game, just another level.”
Staff writer Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-954-1360 or adater@denverpost.com.
