Austrian Raffl giving NHL a shot with Jets

By: Ed Tait Posted: 10:11 PM CDT Friday, Sep. 18, 2015

One by one they peel off their hockey armour and then stand in front of the television cameras and assembled media throng.

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One by one they peel off their hockey armour and then stand in front of the television cameras and assembled media throng.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/09/2015 (3700 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

One by one they peel off their hockey armour and then stand in front of the television cameras and assembled media throng.

Some look like they shave every other week. Others look like they should be high school freshmen. All have the bright eyes of youth chasing their NHL dream.

Then up steps left-winger Thomas Raffl, the 29-year-old Austrian sporting a Duck Dynasty starter beard, a couple of sleeves of tattoos and the carved-in-stone physique of a decathlete. He’s chasing his dream, too, even though he is 10 years older than some of the Winnipeg Jets prospects.

JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Thomas Raffl (left) and Chris Thorburn during group 01 practice at Day 1 of on-ice training camp Friday at the MTS Iceplex in Winnipeg. — JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Thomas Raffl (left) and Chris Thorburn during group 01 practice at Day 1 of on-ice training camp Friday at the MTS Iceplex in Winnipeg.

Yes, Raffl might be a dark horse to crack the roster, but his story is one of the most compelling at training camp. A fixture on the Austrian national team since 2007 — he was the captain last spring at the worlds — Raffl has spent the last nine years playing pro in Austria and Sweden.

He took leave from playing with Salzburg this season to come to Jets camp — they were impressed with his game at the worlds in May — after the club offered him a professional tryout deal last month.

“From Europe it’s always hard,” said Raffl on why it took so long for him to get this opportunity. “I didn’t get drafted and I would have tried it earlier if there was chance. My agents have been trying over the past couple of years. I’m just glad it showed up now and I can take a chance.

“The most interest (from NHL teams) came after the world championship. I talked to my agents right after that and there was interest from a couple of teams. We had been discussing it all summer long and nothing really particular came out of there, but four weeks ago the invitation came from the Jets.

“It made me proud and it made me work even harder. I’m happy to be here.”

Raffl does have the physical tools to grab attention: he is 6-4, 215 pounds and last year had 53 points in 52 games in Austria. There’s an NHL connection, too, with his brother Michael having spent the last two years with the Philadelphia Flyers.

“Obviously we’ve been talking during the summer,” said Thomas. “We’ve been working out together. The only advice he gave me was keep working hard. He thinks I’ve got a chance at it and now it’s on my shoulders.”

Raffl said he hopes to make an impression as a player who is strong on the puck and defensively responsible and “I’m going to be that guy that does everything for the team to win.

“I need to show I’m the right guy that fits on the team, that fits in that group. It’s not that I come here and have to be unbelievable in front of the net. The team has a lot of guys that are good in front. I have to be an overall good player and show the team I can be successful.”

He also said he would be open to a two-way deal if he could earn it, and a deal could be worked out with his Austrian club.

“Obviously I’m not here just for a one-way,” he said. “I would take a two-way, too. I want to have a chance at it. I want to be playing in the NHL. It’s a dream. I’ve had it since I was a kid and if I have a chance now, I might as well use it.”

Raffl’s biggest challenge in such a short camp will be to prove he can play an NHL-style game. Where he might fit on the organizational depth chart is a discussion the club likely won’t have until he takes some shifts in exhibition games.

But first impressions can be lasting.

“So,” began Jets coach Paul Maurice. “First look at Thomas: real good hands, real good shot, strong on the puck and he’s played a lot of pro hockey because he’s in the right spots and he figures that out.

“I’m really interested in seeing, actually even the scrimmages, because it’s a completely different style of game the NHL, how he uses those things when he’s going to play some in exhibition games.

“I really like some of the things he does. Some of his game is at an NHL quality, but we’ll have to see how… it all fits together.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPEdTait