Leaf of the Day - Mar 12-15, 2009 - Darcy Tucker

Mar 12-15, 2009 - Darcy Tucker

I'm more than a little flu-ridden and was probably taking tomorrow off anyway, so I think I'll let Darcy take us through the weekend.

Darcy Tucker was not a player I was terribly fond of when he was with Tampa Bay.  I can't think now who it was that he used to have run-ins with (Steve Thomas, maybe? That would have got him in my bad books....), but every time you played Tampa, he was right in everybody's face and just drove you nuts.  When the Leafs traded downy-soft Mike Johnson and prospect Marek Posmyk (remember him?  He was supposed to be a big deal) to get Darcy late in 1999-2000, I was less than impressed.

Once he got here, though, Tucker showed a lot more offensive prowess than I ever thought he had and brought a really good two-way game along with his usual dose of sandpaper.  He was fearless, too.  The Leafs came up against Jersey one year that Tucker was there and the first thing he did was run Scott Stevens.  Not one to pick his spots.

He was really coming into his own in 2001-02 - he'd scored a career high 24 goals and 59 points while putting together a plus-24.  Really heady stuff.  Then, in the playoffs against Ottawa, he was run by Daniel Alfredsson and broke his shoulder blade.  (Someone really needs to talk to Sens fans about their definition of 'heroic' - it needs work.)  Darcy came back against Carolina, as did many of the injured Leafs, but he really couldn't play.  His shot was gone.  Darcy had been a guy who could beat you from the top of the circle and now he couldn't even raise the puck.

This continued through the rest of 2002-03.  Darcy only scored 10 goals, and if the 10 shots travelled 100 feet between them, I'd be surprised.  He got all of them by mucking in the crease.  By 2003-04, he seemed to have finally recovered and could wire it again.

Tucker, as his best, was right on that fine line that separates intensity from being totally out of control.  He got the name "Sideshow Bob" from the NY-area press for the times he crossed it.  When he got the helter-skelter look, it was time to look out.  He was also a guy who simply bled blue and white, and you need that in a room.

That wild-eyed look appeared a lot less in his last couple of years here.  Darcy focused more on offensive hockey and hit career highs of 28 goals and 61 points in '05-06 followed by 24 goals in just 56 games a season later.  He found a real niche working the one-time shot off to the side on the power play.  It might have given him a third of those goals.

With the increased self-control, though, came a fading of the fire that so defined his game.  As he became more well-behaved, he lost a bit of the edge that he had.  The last season in particular, there wasn't the same bang for the buck he'd always brought.  It's a shame, because the Leafs have really missed that intense presence.  There's nobody really in that role now.

After being bought out, he moved to Colorado, where his season hasn't been what people would have hoped for.  His body might just have had enough.  There's only so much you can wring out of a small frame.

Darcy's stats:

WHL West First All-Star Team (1994, 1995)
Canadian Major Junior First All-Star Team (1994)
Memorial Cup Tournament All-Star Team (1994, 1995)
Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy (Memorial Cup Tournament MVP) (1994)
Dudley ``Red'' Garrett Memorial Award (Rookie of the Year - AHL) (1996)

- Traded to Tampa Bay by Montreal with Stephane Richer and David Wilkie for Patrick Poulin, Mick Vukota and Igor Ulanov, January 15, 1998.
- Traded to Toronto by Tampa Bay with Tampa Bay's 4th round choice (Miguel Delisle) in 2000 Entry Draft for Mike Johnson, Marek Posmyk and Toronto's 5th (Pavel Sedov) and 6th (Aaron Gionet) round choices in 2000 Entry Draft, February 9, 2000.
- Signed as a free agent by Colorado, July 1, 2008.

the HHOF take on Darcy:

Born in Castor, Alberta, Darcy Tucker was a junior star with the powerful Kamloops Blazers where he scored 116 goals his last two years. The feisty youngster helped the club win the Memorial Cup in 1992, 1994, and 1995 and was named to the Canadian Major Junior First All-Star Team in 1994. In 1994 and 1995 he was placed on the Memorial Cup all-star team and WHL West First All-Star Team and was named the MVP of the 1995 Memorial Cup.

The industrious forward was chosen 151st overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. A gold medalist with Canada's World Junior team in 1995, Tucker played three games for the club in 1995-96 but spent the bulk of his time with Fredericton of the AHL. After scoring 93 points in 74 games he was the recipient of the Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award as the league's top rookie.

Tucker went on to play parts of three seasons in Montreal before being dealt to the Tampa Bay Lightning in January 1998. Upon his arrival with the Bolts, Tucker went on to score 21 goals during the 1998-99 season and played the better part of the 1999-00 season before being dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the latter stages of the season.

During the 2001-02 season the former Kamloops junior established at the time a career high in goals with 24 and points with 59 and continued to be one of the Leafs hardest workers. Over the next few seasons, Tucker continued to add grit to the Leafs' line-up and he again record a 20-goal season in 2003-04. After sitting out the entire 2004-05 season due to the NHL lockout, Tucker returned to the Maple Leafs in 2005-06 to record a new career high in goals (33) and points (61). His career high point totals with the Maple Leafs would never be matched however, as his club struggled to find their way back into the NHL playoff picture. Tucker's sub-par 2007-08 season led to his contract buyout by the Maple Leafs. Days later Tucker was signed as a free agent by the Colorado Avalanche.

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