Holik brings some much needed leadership and presence to the Atlanta dressing roomm.

Holik well schooled
in team success
By Jerry Burke | NHL.com
Sept. 2, 2005

Bobby Holik and the Atlanta Thrashers both view the 2005-06 season as one of opportunity.

For Holik, the new season is a chance to shake off the doldrums produced by two successive losing seasons with the New York Rangers in which he seldom had a defined role.

For the Thrashers, the NHL's return to the ice will see Atlanta ice one of the League's youngest, most dynamic lineups.

And after his signing with the Thrashers on Aug. 2, Holik and the Thrashers will be looking to make those opportunities realities together.

"This is the biggest free-agent signing in the history of the Atlanta Thrashers," Bruce Levenson, one of the team's owners, told reporters as Holik tugged on a Thrasher jersey with his familiar No. 16 on the back.

Holik, 34, is a unique player, one who is relentless defensively, strong on faceoffs, an opportunistic scorer, physical, has a mean streak and is totally unafraid with speaking his mind.

Those attributes worked wonderfully during Holik's 10-seasons with the New Jersey Devils when Holik emerged as the center for the famed "Crash Line" with Randy McKay and Mike Peluso, a fourth-line combo that played an important role in the Devils' first Stanley Cup in 1995. Over the intervening years, Holik left fourth-line status behind him and moved into a prominent role with the Devils, often centering the club's first or second lines, while being a staple on special teams as well.

The New Jersey experience left Holik with Stanley Cup rings from the '95 and 2000 seasons. He left the Devils as a free agent, signing with the Rangers in 2002-03, ironically in a season when New Jersey would win a third Cup.

"We don't think we could have signed a better player for our team," said Thrashers GM Don Waddell. "I think we are satisfied at that position now. Patrik Stefan has done a great job defensively. He's one of our smarter players. This will take pressure off him offensively and make him better. I feel good about our team down the middle."

In many respects, Holik is an extension of his coach. During Jacques Lemaire's tenure in New Jersey, Holik was a dedicated disciple of Lemaire's system and emphasis on team goals over personal success.

"Jacques Lemaire said when a team fails, no individual is successful," Holik said after signing with the Thrashers. "When a team is successful, all the individuals are successful."

Thrashers coach Bob Hartley, who stymied Holik's bid for a third Stanley Cup in 2001 when coaching the Colorado Avalanche against the Devils, already has a fan in Holik.

"I've seen Bob Hartley's teams," Holik said. "What I saw was intensity, dedication to the team, sacrifice of the individual to the team cause. Those things, the more you think about it, probably made me decide.

"I didn't sign three years ago (with the Rangers) because I enjoy statistics. I enjoy winning," Holik continued. "You sacrifice statistics for the team. Those things brought me success. The biggest factors were the way the coach coaches the team and the way his teams play and that was good enough for me."

The Thrashers have achieved some individual success over the last few seasons. Dany Heatley won the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year in 2001-02 and was also the MVP of the 2003 NHL All-Star Game. Ilya Kovalchuk, a dynamic offensive player, won a share of the Maurice Richard Trophy after tying with Calgary's Jarome Iginla and Columbus' Rick Nash for the 2003-04 goal-scoring title with 41 goals.

Now, the Thrashers are looking for team success and are counting upon Holik to lend not only his experience, but his leadership abilities to the cause.

Holik said he learned from the older Devils when he was breaking in and he'll try to lead the Thrashers by the examples he saw when he broke into the NHL.

"Scott Stevens and Claude Lemieux were great leaders and helpful when I broke in, but when practice started we competed as much as we could to be better than the other guy. That's the pressure you want within a team. The coach can only do so much. It has to come from the team. Scott Stevens meant so much, not just as a teammate, but as competitor. He brings his enthusiasm every night. Scott is the player I learned the most from, he and Claude Lemieux. I'll try to bring that with me to Atlanta. It helped me tremendously throughout my career. The players in Atlanta will be better off for it."

Thrashers GM Don Waddell, for one, can't wait to see Holik's impact.

"The leadership of our team is drastically changed with the addition of Scott Mellanby last year and Bobby Holik this year," Waddell said. "We haven't had that kind of leadership. Bobby has won the Stanley Cup and that's what this game is all about. When he talks to a player, the respect is automatically there."