Size isn’t everything for Toby

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/02/2016 (3523 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

RALEIGH, N.C. — On the day of his 600th NHL game, Toby Enstrom, as he always does, downplayed the occasion.

The 31-year-old Swede has spent his entire career in North America with the Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets franchise and over his nine NHL seasons, has proven to be a pretty durable player.

That’s even more important, given he’s just 5-10 and 180 pounds and plays the league’s most dangerous position in the modern era — defence — where pucks are flying and there always seems to be some monster forward stalking you into a corner.

“I hear that a lot and also (did) when I came into the league, that I’m not the biggest guy but I think the game is changing, too,” Enstrom said Tuesday. “Look back at the game 15-20 years ago. For me, it wasn’t to show everybody else I could play, it was more for myself.

“I wanted to show myself I could make it in this league and I’ve been grateful for the teammates and everyone who’s been around me that has helped me out a lot, especially in the beginning. They took good care of me and believed in me.

“It has turned out all right.”

Enstrom, through 56 games of the Jets’ season, is the team’s plus-minus leader at plus-13 on a team that’s minus-19 in the goal department.

Sure, he doesn’t shoot enough — just 41 shots on goal so far this season — but he does so much in other areas, such as Tuesday, when he played 25 minutes 49 seconds in a 2-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. Only his defence partner, Dustin Byfuglien, played more in the game.

Enstrom, an eighth-round draft pick in 2003, didn’t come to the NHL until he was 22.

Now at 31, he’s a pretty polished product.

“You have to keep in mind my first views of him were that Atlanta stretch where they were one of the most dynamic offensive teams, and I’m not sure by design, but when you coach him you come to appreciate the other side of the puck with him, his defensive game, his stick, his reads, his ability to escape heavy hits,” said Jets coach Paul Maurice.

“He’s not a big man. And he never gets to a puck second. He’s in the corner quick and his transitions out of the corner and his puck movement and the fact he’s survived at his size and his willingness to go into those corners first and get pucks — a real, real bright player.”

Enstrom’s durability didn’t apply to his face so much on Tuesday.

The battle of the team’s last couple of games has left him with three or four stitches under his right eye and a bruise under his left.

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Maybe special marks for the occasion?

No. And in true Enstrom form — to downplay as much as possible — he wondered aloud with the Jets’ staff if they could just take the mention of his Tuesday 600-game milestone out of the game notes.

“It’s only a number, but it means you’re getting older,” he laughed on Tuesday morning. “It’s great. I came into the league nine years ago and I’ve been around great teammates and great coaches and staff and overall two great organizations that have been giving me a chance to play in the league.

“So I’m grateful for everything Atlanta gave me back in the days and for what Winnipeg’s been giving me so far.”

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca