Fedoruk fed his Lunch Again!

You likely caught the highlights of Rangers tough guy Colton Orr knocking out Flyers bruiser Todd Fedoruk Wednesday night.
The former Rocket has taken a beating this season.
Not only was he knocked unconscious in last night’s tilt, but had to have reconstructive surgery on his face after a fight October 27th against Minnesota’s Derek Boogaard.
Fedoruk played 62 games in Kelowna from 1996-1998 before being shipped to the Regina Pats because of off-ice problems which included a drinking problem. He later would get help for alcoholism.
After this latest setback, Fedoruk isn’t sure when he will play again.
“I feel good," he said. "I got a good rest last night. Everything came back, everything was positive, all the tests and stuff like that. I feel good today and I am glad to be back in Philly."
Fedoruk admits he’s fighting a little more tentative after his scrap with Boogaard earlier this season.
“It is just a matter of time until I get back to my style," he said. "I am not really worried about it, but being tentative, you have to put yourself out there and when you change your style a little bit you leave yourself vulnerable and that's what happened to me last night. I am not worried about it. I will get back on track. I have had worse things done to me than this."

What # did Fedoruk wear when he was with the Rockets?
19.
That jersey has since been worn by Chuck Kobasew, Bryan Randall, J.J Hunter, Paul Hurd, Justin Keller and now Dylan Hood.

Remember Kevin Reinholt?
The Rockets number one pick from the 2003 Western Hockey League bantam draft is now 20, can you believe it?
Reinholt played 87 games with the Rockets from 2003 to 2006 before being dealt earlier this season to the Calgary Hitmen where he played just 13 games before being released.
Reinholt spent the rest of this season with the Sherwood Park Crusaders of the A.J.H.L and is now in Fort McMurray working as a pipe fitter.
The Tofield, Alberta product is considering University next year, possibly at the U of C.

Looking back at his hockey career, Reinholt can blame bad timing for his lack of success at the W.H.L level.
When he came to the Rockets in 2004, the team was stacked with solid defenseman in Josh Gorges, Shea Weber, Brett Palin, Kyle Cumiskey and Mike Card.
Sure he learned a lot by watching these guys, but he rarely played, and when he did was injured because of a bad shoulder that would continuely pop out.

The injuries hampered his development.
You wonder as a 16 year-old if it would have been better for him to play a year of midget before making his mark with the Rockets one year later?
Hindsight eh!
Reinholt would score just one goal over his major junior career, against Prince George.

Kevin was a lovable guy during his time with the Rockets. Always available for a chat, he was as kind hearted as they came, and even though he was 6’2 and 215 pounds, he never could play the tough man’s game.
He was just too sweet of a guy.

I spoke to Chris Ray’s Mom Roxanne today and it looks like the overage forward will be letting his injured shoulder heal completely, meaning he won’t be joining another team for the remainder of the season.
Chris suggested at the awards banquet he may be interested in joining the Victoria Salmon Kings of the East Coast League for the remainder of the season, but now that looks doubtful.
Had Ray chosen to play for the Salmon Kings he would have joined former Rocket Kiel McLeod, who is the captain there.

I had a heated argument Monday with a buddy of mine that said Marc Habscheid would have done a better job with this group of Rockets this season had he been behind the bench.

While ‘Habby’ was a great motivator, I am not sure even he could have turned this team in a better direction than Truitt did because of all the youth.
I will admit Habscheid wouldn’t have let players off the hook, youth movement or no youth movement.
I remember Habscheid having some frank discussions with players at the front of the bus on many occasions. These were onesided conversations where Habscheid did all the talking and the player was doing all the listening.
A one sided conversation I remember had Habscheid grilling then overage forward Jan Fadrny about his commitment to the team during the late stages of the 2001 season.
Fadrny, a draft pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins, was picked up by the Rockets from Brandon early that season and was as good as they came when he put his mind to it.
Fadrny had 32 goals and 77 points in 56 games with the Rockets that season, but had to continually be pressed by Habscheid to play hard, especially in the defensive zone which didn’t interest Fadrny in the least bit.
He’d give it to Fadrny at the front of the bus, threatening him that if he didn’t play hard he’d go directly to Penguins GM Craig Patrick and out-him on his terrible work ethic.

Whether it was true or just intimidating tactics it worked.
Fadrny had 7 points in 6 playoff games that season before the Rockets fell victim to the Seattle Thunderbirds in the opening round.
If only Fadry had Habscheid with him 24-7, he’d likely be playing in the NHL right now.
He had all the skill in the world, but didn’t have the motivation or the heart.

I can still see him now, riding his stick ‘Tiger Williams style’ when he scored 2 goals and had 2 assists in his first game back in Brandon in December of 2000.

It was his first game back in Brandon since the trade, and Fads was loving it in the spotlight.
All Habschied could do was look on in disgust, shaking his head from the Rockets bench.
No matter how much trouble Fadrny was about to get into with his coach, the centre ice antics were well worth it to him.
Let just say since that day, I have never seen a Rockets player ride his stick like that, and likely never will.