CrashingTheGoalie

by Ron Spence

These are hard times.

My nephew – a carpenter – was recently laid off from his job in Victoria. He and his wife have a new baby, and they bought a new truck on friday and he was jobless on monday.

Here in Thailand, things are getting really bad. Food prices have been escalating, while wages have been going down. It’s not looking good.

So, in this context, you can’t really feel that sorry for Jeff Cowan.

He’s being paid $700,000 to play in the American Hockey League. After that it’s $40,000 per season in the AHL, Europe, or looking for a job in the real world.

His chances of making it back to the NHL are remote to none.

courtesy of pjstar.com

Both the Canucks and Cowan had thought that he had at least one more NHL year left. They signed him to a two year contract 1 1/2 years ago.

But, last autumn the Canucks found themselves strong at the fourth line  grinder level, so Cowan was sent to the minors.

In this process, he wasn’t picked up by another NHL club which could have claimed him off of the waiver wire.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, he wasn’t even kept in Vancouver’s stable – Manitoba – but loaned to the St. Louis AHL team in Peoria.

“I’m not happy with being sent down to the minors, not happy at all,” Cowan said  when he arrived in Peoria. “No one is happy when that happens. It’s a new experience for me. I had a tough season last year, and Vancouver picked up Hordichuk and said they wanted to go with some youth. They told me there were too many veterans already in Manitoba, and that they didn’t want a situation where older guys would have to rotate in and out of the lineup.”

St. Louis was willing to take him as Cowan had played for Blues’ coach Andy Murray when they were both with the Kings.

Cowan was further slighted when he had to wait two weeks before he could play – because of immigration hassles.

But, the veteran remained positive:

“So I came down here, and it’s a chance to help some younger guys develop in Peoria, get some work done. I’m here now. And I’m here to help this team. I’m not going to worry about anything else.”

Cowan, 32, arrived in Peoria with nine years of NHL experience and 47 goals, 81 assists and 695 penalty minutes.

Since joining the Rivermen, he’s played in 33 games, has 2 goals and 5 assists, 46 penalty minutes and is -6 (This is on a team with a respectable 20-16 record and an identical goals for and against average.).

Cowan isn’t the Rivermen’s go to tough guy.

Eric Neilson has had 12 tilts, Curtis Fraser 9, Ryan Reaves and Tyson Strachan 5, and Cowan 4.

Cowan isn’t using fighting as his hopefull path back to the NHL, as there are 90 AHL players who have had more fights that Cowan so far this season.

But, he’s still game.

His four tilts [see videos] have been against Adam Keefe, Peter Vandermeer, Aaron Downey, and Francis Lessard. Three of the four are in the AHL’s Top 2o most active pugilists, and Downey would be, but was called up by Detroit.

Cowan’s willingness to battle has impressed many in Peoria.

The Journal Star’s Dave Eminian wrote [on November 17]:

I have always believed, and continue to believe, that professional hockey players are the toughest athletes in sports.

Exhibit A today is Peoria Rivermen winger Jeff Cowan. It’s a jolt to see him right now, but there is a picture of him on my Cleve’s World sports blog (pjstar.com) this morning that you need to see so you can understand what he’s doing for the team.

So here is Cowan, an NHLer, a 32-year-old guy, not even playing for a farm team that belongs to the NHL club with whom he is contracted. Yet he fights for these Rivermen, and for the Blues organization. Cowan took a puck in the face during Friday’s game at Quad City. He thinks his nose was broken, from that mishap. It left him with a black eye (his right eye). On Saturday, 3 seconds after the opening faceoff, he dropped his gloves and fought [against Adam Keefe, 2nd in the AHL with 17 fighting majors]. Broken nose, black eye,  and still he was ready and willing to fight. That fight left him with another black eye.

And Sunday in Rockford? Right in there, mixing it up. You have to respect Jeff Cowan for this today. And his teammates are no doubt glad he’s on their side.

Kimble29 wrote:

“Amen to that! Total respect and Kudos to Jeff Cowan. I can’t imagine coming from an NHL club in Vancouver and being sent to Peoria! Would most people be motivated to even suit up?! I doubt it! No matter what else happens this season this guy has earned my respect ten fold! Good job Jeff Cowan!! I hope you can get back to the NHL soon but while you are here, I for one am enjoying watching you play! Thanks! Thanks for posting this Dave!”

Bryan added:

“Jeff Cowan is one of the toughest guys in all of hockey.”

Cowan is a long way from the toughest guy in hockey.

And you can see how far that he’s fallen from the background pictures and noises of the fight videos – linked above.

“I’m trying to lead by example,” Cowan continues. “I’m not where I need to be yet. I don’t know why it’s not there yet. But I can do more, and this team will really see the difference in me once I get it going … And I will get it going.”

Will Cowan get it going? Probably not.

He’s not much of a fighter, and his few goals and poor plus/minus are far from assets.

Cowan’s situation brings out mixed emotions.

You can feel sorry for a guy who jetted between games and is now riding the bus.

But, he’s being compensated with $700,000 this season.

Still, it’s no way in end a dream – in Peoria, Illinois.