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Monday, October 4, 1999
He can do it all
Bonk awesome in opener; Sens hope he keeps up the intensity
It's something you might see him do more now. Radek Bonk scored 42 goals as a 17-year-old in the International Hockey League and some of them looked like the beauty he scored Saturday night on Philadelphia's John Vanbiesbrouck.
Bonk was out killing the end of a penalty to Shaun Van Allen early in the first period when Flyers defenceman Dan McGillis misplayed the puck at the Ottawa blue line. It hopped over his stick, Bonk got a step and he was gone.
The shot was decisive. Top corner. As it turned out, it was game over as the Senators went on to shut out the Flyers 3-0 in the regular-season opener.
That's what a lot of people will remember from Game 1 of the Senators regular season. What was less evident, but more important, was that Bonk spent a good portion of the night going head-to-head with Flyers captain Eric Lindros.
The Big E was second in the league last year in the faceoff circle, but Bonk held his own, winning 12 of the 23 draws he took Saturday night.
LOTS OF ICE TIME
Bonk played 18 minutes and 56 seconds, the most of any Senators' forward. He wound up +1 on the evening, Lindros, -1. Lindros managed but one shot.
"(Bonk) gave us a really big game," said Senators coach Jacques Martin, who faces the challenge of squeezing that kind of solid, two-way game out of the big centre every night. "That's a question we ask. How can you bring this out? Part of it is maturity. He seems to play better when he has an assignment. He seems like the kind of player who has more concentration and focus the more responsibility you give him.
"What he has to develop in his game is on certain nights, against certain teams, when there's not a big difference in (the other club's) lines, he has to have the same motivation and focus."
With Alexei Yashin suspended, Bonk has said he is looking forward to the opportunity to get more minutes and more time on the power play. This could be one of those situations where a player just needs room to grow. Given the chance, he can expand his game and his presence to fill the available space.
DOUBLE ROLE
That's not to say Bonk is going to pick up all of Yashin's slack. An outstanding offensive season for Bonk would be 25 goals at this point, an increase of nine over last year. That helps chip away at the shortcomings caused by Yashin's absence.
Bonk has made the decision to shoot more this year.
"I shot it a lot in the 'I' and I scored a lot of goals," he said yesterday after the club practised in suburban New Jersey.
"I don't think I've been shooting the puck enough. I'm not going to look to pass all the time."
The other thing is if Bonk's defensive game continues to grow in its dominance, if he keeps limiting the other team's top player -- like he did against Lindros -- that means the Senators have to score fewer goals to win.
"It always feels good when you play against the other team's top line and you don't give them anything, you shut them down," said Bonk. "Maybe you score a goal on them and win the mini-game inside the game. When you wind up helping the team win, it feels good.
"Saturday night was a good game for us as a whole team. When the team is going good, it's easy for you to get going."
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