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The Tortured Soul Of Darcy Tucker
By Earl McRae
In the emptiness and silence of the late afternoon, Darcy Tucker, tears forming in his eyes, sits at a glass-topped table in a secluded corner of the Chateau Laurier Hotel's lobby, and he is the aches and pains and scars of all the hard dreams of a father he loves, but could never please, and still can't.
Darcy Tucker's body is the 15 years stigmata of striving for the respect of Dale Tucker and he knows it will go on for as long as he plays hockey; there is no satisfying the father to whom expectations for his son have no terminus.
A lump of a scar pokes through his left eyebrow. Scars cross each eyelid. Scars cross beneath his nose. Scars criss-cross his chin preventing his full growth of goatee. A scar adorns the back of his head. He has broken the orbital bone of his right eye. He has broken a big toe three times. He has broken his foot. He has broken his wrist. He has broken his thumb. He has broken his nose. He has broken his front teeth and had them replaced many times.
Dale Tucker, farmer, was only a boy of 18 when his first son was born, and he was tough then and he's tough now, and Darcy Tucker, who loves and respects his father, says he owes all that he is and hopes yet to be to his unforgiving, demanding father.
Darcy Tucker is his father; the father who owns a cattle and grain farm near the Alberta hamlet of Endiang where Tucker, 27, grew up with his only sibling Dwight, four years younger, and he says: "My dad is the most competitive person I ever met. I had a very strict upbringing from both my parents. My dad, he'd just as soon as"--his voice trails off--"as look at you.
"He always set the bar high for me. He never gave out compliments, just what I did wrong. If I didn't do my chores on the farm as a little kid, I'd get my ass kicked. Literally. If I dropped a bail of hay I was carrying, he would give me a swift kick in the ass and say 'Get up.'
"He coached my hockey teams from when I was five to 14. We used to have some bad fights in the car on the way home." A smile plays on his lips. "One time, I guess I was about 10, he was upset over how I played. He knew I could play better and we got into an argument. He stopped the car, threw me out, and made me walk.
"My parents taught me never to give up on anything. Nose to the grindstone. You can tell that by the way I play. I know I'm a throwback to the way hockey used to be played. The game has gone soft. Players now run and hide behind somebody.
"The media says our series with the Islanders was full of cheap shots. It wasn't cheap shots, it was just good, tough, old-fashioned hockey. It sickens me, these broadcasting guys on TV who were once players in the league crying about all the cheap shots, and yet they were the same guys who used to slash and knee people."
Darcy Tucker's incessant quest for respect does not include only his father, but the referees and the media. "Look, I know it's part my fault. I'm treated like the kid who cried wolf too many times. I tried to draw penalties out of desperation when I first came up because I didn't get to play much. It's hard to shake that reputation. But, in Toronto, the media calls me Sideshow Bob and that's wrong. They make me sick. I'm not that at all.
"My junior coach, Don Hay, described me best. He said 'This is a guy who brings his hard hat and lunch bucket and comes to work. I'm just a hard-working farm boy. You can never take that out of me. My favourite meal is steak and mashed potatoes with my mother's banana cream pie for desert."
Suddenly, a small boy comes over to the table in the hotel and asks if Darcy Tucker will sign his Leafs pennant. When Darcy Tucker was 8, his father drove him to the town of Hanna where Lanny McDonald of the Calgary Flames was signing autographs at a jewelry store. It was Darcy Tucker's first autograph and he has never forgotten the thrill. Now, he takes the boy's pen and signs. "There you go, son," he says gently, touching the boy's arm.
He watches him go, and then: "I'm a very caring person. I care deeply about everything I do. If you're good to me, I'll be your life-long friend. But, if you cross me, you've crossed the wrong person. My dad is the same way."
Suddenly, a memory brings the tears to his eyes. "I always get a lump in my throat when I think of it, but the saddest day for me was when my parents sent me away to play bantam in Red Deer. I was only 15. I rode my bike to school, I was too young to drive. For the first couple of months, I was so homesick I cried every night."
But, it was part of the price of fulfilling Dale Tucker's dream. When the son eventually made the Kamloops Junior A team of the WHL, there'd be no riding a bike anymore; the proud father bought him a new Pontiac Tempest car.
"I loved that car, I had it for three years," says Darcy Tucker who, one season with Kamloops, scored 64 goals with 73 assists in 64 games; played on three Memorial Cup champions, scoring the winning goal in two of the deciding games; and was a member of Canada's gold medal junior team in 1995.
His voice softening: "I know I'm not the best player, but you won't find a more competitive player than me. I play cards and board games with my wife, and I love my wife, but there's no way I'm going to lose to her or let her beat me.
"I'm a very nervous person, emotionally. My wife says my worst habit is biting my fingernails. I do it constantly. She hates it. I wear my emotions on my sleeve, and sometimes it's a detriment to me and the people around me. I want to win so bad, it hurts. When we lost to New Jersey in the play-offs last year, it was devastating. I went to a place in the dressing room to be alone and cried."
Darcy Tucker and his wife Shannon have a three-year old daughter Owynn, an 18-month old son Cole and a three-year old German Shepherd named Tracker.
"Do you know," he says, "that if you have been lying dead for a long time in your house, your pet dog would sit beside you and let itself starve to death, but, if you had a cat, it would eat you? You can't trust cats."
Tucker, Wilkie Combine For a Fatherhood Tie
By Tom Jones
Darcy Tucker and David Wilkie have been best friends for seven years. You rarely find one without the other. They were even traded to the Lightning together -- on Jan. 15, 1998. Both are 24. Both come from the western part of the continent. Heck, their biographies and statistics are on consecutive pages in the Lightning media guide. But they may have carried this friendship thing a little too far. The two had daughters born less than two hours apart Thursday night. Wilkie and his wife, Jackie, celebrated the birth of their second child when Mackenna Grace (7 pounds) was born at 7:15 p.m. At 8:54, Tucker and his wife, Shannon, celebrated the birth of their first child, Owynn Faith Victoria (6 pounds, 7 ounces). "We've done everything else together, so why not this?" Tucker said. "When we got pregnant, we called (Wilkie and his wife) and told them. Two weeks later, they called us, and David said, "You're not going to believe this.' " Even though Wilkie's daughter was born two weeks early, Tucker and Wilkie think it's possible their children were conceived on the same night -- in the same hotel. "I'm pretty sure my wife got pregnant at (Tucker's) wedding," Wilkie said. "I know my wife got pregnant the night we were married," Tucker said. Either way, the women had different labors. Jackie Wilkie was in labor for 51 hours and Shannon Tucker was in labor for about 17 hours. "It's amazing," Tucker said about his daughter. "To look at something so little, and it's like looking at yourself is just amazing."
Tucker has that picked-on feeling
By STEVE SIMMONS -- Toronto Sun
You stand beside Darcy Tucker, who is hunched over and carrying his left arm in a sling and, for the first time you, realize how small he really is.
How small he seems on the day after the night before.
There is no scowl on his face, no menacing grin, just a sense of anger and, moreso, of sadness.
He never saw Daniel Alfredsson coming, was completely focussed on the puck and the task. He never saw Ottawa score the winning goal that shouldn't have been, never knew until he had been helped from the ice and into the dressing room that there hadn't even been a whistle blown. That the Leafs were trailing 3-2 in the best-of-seven series.
"I just wonder," Tucker said yesterday, "if they stood two feet from the boards and had their head rammed into the boards, one of these guys who make the decisions, how would they feel?
"They don't have the luxury of being that way, so it's very disappointing."
Very disappointing still that the right call wasn't made at the right moment. Very disappointing that with hindsight and enough replays to make a case, that the National Hockey League still didn't have the appropriate courage to acknowledge its own mistake one complicated day later.
The mistake that cost the Leafs a game and probably cost Darcy Tucker what's left of his season.
The mistake that may finally have ended this patchwork of a playoffs for the forever wounded Leafs. A two-minute penalty that could have changed everything.
GILMOUR LOOK
The Leafs book lists Darcy Tucker at 5-foot-11 and 185 pounds, but he is neither that tall nor that heavy. The sling aside, he has that look Doug Gilmour used to have in Toronto at about this time in the playoffs.
The look of someone who can't afford to take off any more weight, the look of someone who plays big even if his body doesn't support it. The look, until Friday night, of someone who refused to be defeated.
The same way a Maple Leafs team without Mats Sundin, without Dmitry Yushkevich, without Jyrki Lumme and Karel Pilar and Mikael Renberg and Garry Valk -- and have we missed anybody? -- has refused to be defeated in the series with Ottawa.
But strange how things turn out. Strange that Darcy Tucker, a heart-and-soul guy if he is on your team, a despicable miscreant if he plays for the opponent, wound end up injuring his own team by reputation, if nothing else.
"I guess they (referees) say they don't look at the number on the back, but I'm trying to figure out if that's Steve Yzerman getting hit like that, what happens?" Tucker said.
'I GET ABUSE'
"Just like the other night, he goes in, goes under, hits (Chris) Pronger, just like what happened with me and (Mike) Peca. I get abuse for it and I am called a dirty player. He does the exact same thing and he is just trying to protect himself.
"I'm a little sick and tired of all the crap coming out in the media and the referees and politicians in the league, and they know who they are (and) have seen all the crap and making sure it is known to the referees that make sure you watch Tucker ... don't call anything that is borderline.
"I should have the same rights as Steve Yzerman or Jaromir Jagr. What happens if I break my neck on that play? I could have been two or three inches away from that if my head goes into the boards. Then what is it? A 20- or 30-game suspension?
"But nothing, not even a review because I break my shoulder ... You would hope they didn't make the call because of my number on my jersey. I pray they didn't do that because that's opening up a whole new can or worms ... Is it because it's me? Why is that? There should be no numbers or faces on people out there."
Tucker knows the kind of hockey player he is, knows what has made him successful. He doesn't apologize for any of that, and he even wonders why he has made any attempt to conform to what others want him to be.
His shoulder is dislocated, a bone is apparently broken and his ribs were smarting long before the hit by Alfredsson. The pain, though, doesn't come as much from the broken bone as it does from the playoff circumstance.
"It's just disheartening," Darcy Tucker said, shaking his head. "It will be hard to take if we lose (because of this)."
Tucker escapes league punishment
Toronto forward won't be suspended for hit on Hecht
TIM WHARNSBY
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff was still steaming yesterday.
On Monday, after his team had downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2, he was angry because one of his forwards, Jochen Hecht, had been injured when hit by Leafs veteran Darcy Tucker.
Ruff had difficulty swallowing the fact Hecht will miss two weeks with a sprained left knee, while Tucker will be in the Leafs' lineup when they play the New York Islanders at the Air Canada Centre tonight.
Ruff charged that Tucker intended to hit Hecht knee on knee, and that he also threw an elbow at Hecht's head during the confrontation.
The National Hockey League reviewed the Tucker-Hecht collision, but termed the incident "a hockey hit." As a result, Tucker will not be disciplined.
"That really bothers me," Ruff said. "I disagree with it. They agreed that his elbow grazed the head, and to me, that's a shot to the head. When you're going after somebody's head, you've got intent to hurt. Don't tell me the knee is accidental after that. He knew exactly what he was doing and should pay a price for it.
"Maybe Jochen needed to be carried off the ice, and then that's a suspension. That's sad, but maybe that's what it is."
The Tucker-Hecht incident occurred midway through the third period when Sabres forward Mike Grier flattened Tucker coming out of his own end. Grier lost his stick on the play and went to the bench.
Tucker was enraged, and because Grier was gone, he took out his anger on Hecht, who was coming across the middle with the puck. Tucker was not penalized for the hit, but Hecht was nailed for a high-sticking retaliation penalty when he went after Tucker.
"It makes us angry, but there's nothing we can do about it," Sabres co-captain Daniel Brière said. "The only positive is that Tucker is going to play golf and we're going to the playoffs."
Tucker, 31, has come a long way in the past two seasons to shed the Sideshow Bob nickname he was saddled with because of his reputation as a dirty player who takes dives and lets his emotions get the better of him.
Tucker leads the Leafs with 24 goals this season, which equals his career best total, but he hasn't scored in 16 games.
This was the second controversial incident involving Tucker in the past 11 days. On March 25 in Montreal, Tucker narrowly missed the head of Canadiens forward Alex Kovalev with an elbow late in the game. When Kovalev regained possession of the puck, Tucker went at him again, but Kovalev was ready and caught Tucker with a high elbow.
After each Leafs game at the Air Canada Centre, Tucker usually returns home to unwind by reviewing the game tape. He saw nothing in his actions of Monday that was out of the ordinary. He was surprised when informed of Ruff's postgame rant, during which Ruff called Tucker's hit "a cheap shot" worthy of a suspension.
"I was shocked when I heard what was said," Tucker said yesterday. "I don't think I did anything in the wrong. Things like this happen in the game of hockey and people don't like it. But it happens 35 times a season where a player runs into somebody and they get hurt."
The Leafs have one game remaining with the Sabres, on Easter Sunday, April 16, in Buffalo. It's safe to speculate that Tucker will be a target for the Sabres and their fans.
"I always look after my own battles," Tucker said.
"I don't need anybody to stick up for me. I play the game as hard as I can every night. That's the way I am."
Darcy too tuckered for worlds?
BUFFALO -- Darcy Tucker's banged-up body might prevent him from representing Canada at the upcoming world hockey championship.
While Tucker's handlers have been contacted by Hockey Canada concerning an invite to the tournament, which runs May 5-25 in Riga, Latvia, the Maple Leafs forward is not ready to commit at this time.
Among his many bumps and bruises are the sore ribs he has been playing with, an injury he first suffered midway through the season.
"I'd love to wear the Canadian jersey, but it depends on how I feel physically," Tucker said last night after the Leafs' 6-0 loss to the Buffalo Sabres.
"It's a decision I'll have to make down the road.
"I'm definitely not going to take someone else's job if I'm not healthy. It wouldn't be completely fair."
Tucker would not identify his health issues, but it is known that he is contemplating undergoing a number of medical procedures once the regular season ends tomorrow against the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Air Canada Centre.
Defenceman Bryan McCabe also is being considered, but don't expect him to accept.
McCabe has endured a a long season, especially after being part of Team Canada at the Turin Winter Olympics in February.
While the veteran defenceman would not comment when asked about the world championship last night, Team Canada assistant general manager Mike Barnett understands the plight of those players who competed at the Olympics.
"We realize it is a different year because of the Olympics, so we're not putting any pressure on the guys who were in Turin," Barnett said yesterday.
Meanwhile, Leafs defenceman Aki Berg has accepted an invite to represent Team Finland.
His decision comes as no surprise, especially since he is expected to retire from the NHL during the off-season and move his family back to his native Finland, where he will play in the Finnish elite league.
"I'm pretty sure I'm going to go there (to live), but you never know," Berg said.
MATS SAYS NO THANKS
Mats Sundin, captain of the Olympic gold-medal champion Swedes, already has turned down an offer to play at the worlds.
Goalie Mikael Tellqvist received an invitation from the Tre Kroners yesterday, but wants to see how his lower body injury -- believed to be a knee problem -- holds up before making a commitment.
The end of Darcy Tucker's best season is near and he hates that fact.
He hates that he has numbers -- more goals than ever before -- but almost certainly no playoffs to be part of.
He hates that he has found a certain respectability this deep into his career and yet there is no Stanley Cup to hope for.
He hates that the only maple leaf he can wear next month will come in a colour other than blue and white, if he chooses to play for Canada at the world hockey championship.
"I'm getting too old to care about how many goals I get or how many points I score," Tucker said, sitting at his locker in the Maple Leafs dressing room, typically wearing a bruise under his left eye and a welt with stitches just beside it. "When you're a kid, you think a lot about your own goals. You count them. They mean something.
"I don't imagine I ever got into this game for personal success. It's great to score some goals. But you don't get remembered for scoring 150 goals as a player. Mediocrity isn't anything.
"There are a lot of players who haven't done well in their careers and end up winning a Stanley Cup and they're remembered a lot more than guys who have above average careers. You never see yourself being in this position (out of the playoffs). We've had some great teams here in Toronto. We've had some pretty good playoff teams, teams that were this close."
Just not now. Not this year. Who knows when again?
When you're like Darcy Tucker, and you always seem to find a way, sometimes the wrong way, you remain optimistic when there is little to believe in with five games to play. You remain optimistic that the kids are going to be all right and the team that you love was beaten this season more by circumstance than by design.
When you're like Tucker, and you know only one speed -- full throttle -- you don't stop to recognize that while you're out there busting your butt some of your friends and teammates aren't doing the same.
This hockey season has been Tucker's personal coming out party, a jump from Sideshow Bob, or The Pest as Pat Quinn called him yesterday in retrospect, to something no one ever thought possible before.
"He has shown, basically in my mind, the signs of leadership," Quinn said. Quinn said it with a straight face. He didn't ask for Lindy Ruff's opinion.
Quinn said it because it's true. "It has been a continued growth for him," the coach said. "He's a more mature player. He's in better control and makes good decisions. He's gone from The Pest to a good, solid player."
At 31 going on 21, depending on the day, Darcy Tucker is growing up. You see it in his deportment, his play, but even more than that in his popularity. He is, in a town that forever adores the banger and the crasher, suddenly the most popular Maple Leaf. Tie Domi has moved into the love him or hate him phase of his career. Mats Sundin always has left fans wanting more no matter what he has accomplished. Ed Belfour was never warm and fuzzy enough to be adored.
All that opened the door of favourite to the unlikely Tucker. Popular with fans. Immensely popular with female fans.
"It's weird, eh," he said of his admirers, especially women. "They must need glasses or something. I mean, look at me. I look really good right now, don't I?
"I think I have a pretty good graph of (my popularity). I'm a big hockey fan, too. I enjoy the community. I enjoy being around the people of Toronto. This is my home now, I'm going to live here after my career is over. You meet a lot of people along the way who are huge fans and seem to appreciate what you do."
In Tucker's case, they appreciate not only what he does, but how he does it. The National Hockey League guide has him listed as being 5-foot-11 and weighing 178 pounds.
The truth?
"Maybe 5-10, maybe 170 pounds." And then he pauses: "Soaking wet."