SAN JOSE, Calif. — They are two words no hockey player wants to hear about himself: “healthy scratch.”
Might as well say: “complete loser.” That’s how it feels to be the player deemed not worthy to suit up when the body is sound.
The healthy scratch gets a line drawn through his name on the lineup sheet and a seat in the press box with the ink-stained wretches. That’s no way for a rugged hockey player to live, and John-Michael Liles hated every minute of it when that was his life not too long ago.
But it might turn out that time away from the action, in the coach’s doghouse, was one of the best things to happen to Liles. The likable Indiana native took a good, hard look at his career, and with the help of some outside advisers, believes he arrived at some deeper truths, and perhaps moved past the initial urges to blame others for his plight.
Liles enters tonight’s Game 2 of the Western Conference quarterfinals with San Jose playing probably his best hockey of the season. He scored the first of Colorado’s two goals in its 2-1 victory Wednesday night. But just about three weeks ago, Liles was the dreaded healthy scratch, a $4.2 million player and no game to play.
“Sometimes, you’ve got to take a step back and re-evaluate,” Liles said. “This time, it set in. This time, it hit home. A lot of times, people can point fingers, but sometimes it’s about accepting responsibility. A lot of times in sports, you see people want to deflect blame, but I don’t think that’s who I am.”
Liles declined to name the handful of people who counseled him, but said there were some he hadn’t talked to in a long time.
“They were a couple of people I don’t normally talk to a ton about the game, people I played with when I was younger and one or two people outside the team,” Liles said. “Sometimes, when you hear something from some people who you don’t talk to regularly, it might register in a different way.”
Liles said he began to focus more on one area — his skating, instead of how many points he should have, what his plus-minus should be, or how many minutes he should be getting. For a smaller defenseman, at 5-feet-10, 185 pounds, it was his wheels that got Liles to the NHL from the obscurity of Zionsville, Ind.
“For me, it’s about using my skating,” he said. “That’s what I’ve been trying to do for the last month and a half, and just be competitive all the time.”
Liles earned respect in the Avs’ dressing room by not pouting about coach Joe Sacco’s frequent benchings.
“He battled through it,” captain Adam Foote said. “He’s playing with a lot of confidence right now. When he’s skating like that and being creative, making plays, it really helps our team.”
Foote was one of the people within the organization who talked more than usual to Liles during his tough times.
“Just to pump his tires,” Foote said. “We’ve all been there when maybe things aren’t going your way, but he’s really played well for us the last dozen games and stepped it up. I think he’s got it straightened out.”
That Liles is feeling looser in the dressing room again was evidenced by a parody of teammate TJ Galiardi after practice Thursday. A frequent needler of just about everyone, Liles hammed it up over Galiardi’s “bravery” in playing with a 14-stitch cut Wednesday night.
“He’s got an impression of just about everyone on the team,” Galiardi said. “We’ll get him back.”
Adrian Dater: 303-954-1360 or adater@denverpost.com and
It’s showtime
Avalanche defenseman John-Michael Liles, a healthy scratch at times this season, has picked up his play lately:
April 4: Scored the overtime winner in perhaps the team’s biggest victory down the stretch, a 5-4 decision over San Jose at the Pepsi Center.
April 6: In a huge shootout victory over Vancouver, Liles helped the Avs get the extra point by coming from behind and breaking up two Canucks breakaways.
Wednesday: Liles scored one of the Avs’ two goals in their 2-1 victory over San Jose in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.
Spotlight on Joe Thornton: The pressure only increases for the Sharks’ first-line center. Thornton failed to score a point in Game 1, making his career playoff point total 53 in 77 games.
