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Having a Hecht of a season[/size]
By Randy Schultz | Special to NHL.com
January 14, 2004
"He may not be known around the National Hockey League yet, but Jochen Hecht is certainly becoming well known in Buffalo. And before this is all over, Jochen is going to become well known around the NHL."
Those comments about Hecht were made by Scott Arniel, an assistant coach with the Sabres. Arniel, in his second season as an assistant in Buffalo, has seen a lot of great talent come and go during his professional hockey career as a player and coach. But he admits that Hecht is one of those players who has caught his immediate attention.
"Jochen has got size (Hecht is listed at 6-1, 191-pounds)," Arniel said. "He's a complete player. We didn't know how good he would be defensively. But he is certainly doing his job in that department. He's got the hands. He's good around the net. He's good at making plays. He's just a good, all around player. We've juggled him on different lines when he first got here.
"But last year Lindy (Ruff, head coach of the Sabres) put him on a line with J.P. Dumont and Daniel Briere and they just seemed to click. They've been one of the best lines we've had. He's quite a talented player."
Hecht, a native of Mannheim, Germany is in his second season with the Sabres. He came to Buffalo from the Edmonton Oilers on June 22, 2002 in exchange for the 31st (from the Atlanta Thrashers) and 36th (from the Nashville Predators) selections in the 2002 Entry Draft.
Hecht was originally the first choice of St. Louis, the 49th player taken overall, in the 1995 Entry Draft. The 26 year-old forward came to North America for the 1998-99 season with the Worcester Ice Cats of the American Hockey League.
In 49 regular-season games last year with Buffalo, Hecht scored 10 goals and 26 points. Those numbers came despite being missing 20 games with a concussion and 13 more with a wrist injury and a bruised knee.
"It is the worst season I've ever had as a professional hockey player," said Hecht, who played five seasons with Mannheim in the German League as well as the German Olympic Hockey Team in the 1998 Winter Olympics.
Hecht didn't begin this season much better, breaking his arm early in the 2003-04 season. By that point Hecht had enough and superstition set in. When he returned to the Sabres lineup, Hecht changed his uniform number from 71 to 55, the first number he had when he came to North America.
Despite all of the injuries, Hecht is glad to be in the NHL, and his play reflects the delight. In 28 games, he had four goals and 17 assists and was a plus-11.
"It has been a dream of mine to play in the NHL since I was little," Hecht said. "But I never really seriously thought about it until I was much older. I knew you really had to be good to play in the NHL. But when I got to be 15 and 16 I played on some of the National Teams for the European and World Championships on the International Level. That's when I realized that I was playing against other players who might someday be playing in the NHL. So I began to think more seriously about playing in the NHL.
"Today I'm here and I'm very happy."
Hecht will be the first one to tell you that the play in the NHL is much different than that played in German Leagues.
"The game is totally different," said Hecht. "The ice surface is much smaller in North America. The game is much more physical over here as well. There is much more dumping in and chasing the puck too."
Hecht also found that there is a difference between playing in the AHL versus the NHL.
"The guys in the National Hockey League are much bigger and stronger than in the American Hockey League," Hecht said. "And they are much more experienced in hockey at the NHL level than in the minor leagues. The players are faster and move quicker in the NHL. Everything is so much faster in the NHL."
One of Hecht's biggest thrills in his NHL career has been being teamed with Dumont and Briere.
"It's fun to be out there with them," Hecht said. "Everybody has a lot of creativity on the line. This is the first time in my career that I've been with guys that I've really clicked with like this. Earlier in my career I switched lines so much, I really didn't have time to click with anybody.
"Usually when you put a line together these days in the NHL, they go for two or three games. And then all of a sudden it drops. But that hasn't happened that much with our line. We've just clicked when we began and we're still clicking."
Hecht wasn't always a left winger. He admits that it hasn't been a big adjustment making the switch from center to the left side.
"It's a bigger problem going from a wing to center," he said. "You have to play more defense when you're a center. You always have to be the first guy back. I'm not the strongest guy on the ice, but I've learned how to protect the puck as a winger. I've learned how to position myself better as a winger. I know where to go and what to do."
One of the best things Ruff ever did was putting Hecht on a line with Briere and Dumont.
"There is no doubt that Jochen has been playing a much better game since joining up with Briere and Dumont last season," said Ruff. "In fact, he has been really playing like a bull. And last year, Jochen was having one of those seasons where he was out with injuries. He just seemed quite frustrated."
It's been difficult to find many bright spots for the Sabres this season, but the Briere, Dumont and Hecht line may be the brightest.
"Whether you like it or not, the French guys like playing together," continued Ruff. "There was instant chemistry when we put Daniel together with J.P. This is the best I've seen J.P. play. He's playing the gritty, battle it out in the corners style of hockey we've always been expecting from him. Daniel is a natural play maker. And Jochen just seems to be the right fit right now to play with the other two. All I know is that these guys seem to have the right chemistry together.
"But how long they remain together remains to be seen."
Briere, who arrived in Buffalo last March in a trade with the Phoenix Coyotes, also knows the value of Hecht to the Sabres.
"Jochen is a big part of this team," Briere said. "At the beginning of the season, everybody talked about Miro (Satan), Chris Drury and myself as carrying the offensive load on this team. But people forgot about J.P. and especially about Jochen. Jochen is so strong on the puck. And when he's battling in the corners, he'll have two guys on him and we don't have to jump in there and help him out. It actually will free one of us up.
"Somehow he makes the plays. He manages to keep the puck for that extra second which helps us get open. That's huge for J.P. and myself, especially when it comes to chemistry on a line. I think Jochen is very good defensively. He's very smart on the ice."