A Bittersweet Ending : Ducks’ Corkum Is Sad Injury Cut Short His Season, but He’s Glad to Finally Show He’s a Quality Center

The first few days were restful, almost blissful, for Mighty Duck center Bob Corkum.

But when the realization finally hit that his finest NHL season had ended eight games before it should have, Corkum felt only pain.

Waves of depression swept over him a few days after he underwent surgery March 28 to repair a ruptured tendon in his right foot.

Sitting on the couch, watching daytime television in his Anaheim Hills home, the cold, hard facts became apparent.

He would not add to his points total of 51 (23 goals, 28 assists), which led the team at the time of his injury. He would not help the Ducks advance to the Stanley Cup playoffs. He simply would not skate again this season.

Corkum has gone through all manner of emotions since injuring the tendon that controls the foot’s up-and-down motion in a March 27 collision with Philadelphia’s Mikael Renberg.

He still feels sadness that he couldn’t finish the season but also elation that he established himself--at long last--as a quality NHL center.

Slowly, happiness is winning out.

“This year has been the best year of my life,” Corkum said. “It’s tough, but I’m glad if this had to happen, this was the right time. At least I showed management and the guys on the team what I’m capable of. (But) I hoped I could play all 84 games.”

When he thinks of all he accomplished, how he underwent a career revival this season, he can smile. Temporarily, at least, he can forget about the crutches and the cast on his right leg.

There is so much for Corkum to be thankful for.

A year ago, he was stuck in a no-win situation as a fourth-line center for the Buffalo Sabres, wondering whether it was time to quit hockey and get a real job.

Now, he can look back fondly on the best of his five professional seasons. It came to an end in maddening fashion, but what happened before that sure beat the alternative Corkum faced in Buffalo, or even Rochester, N.Y.

At the end of last season, John Muckler, Buffalo coach and general manager, told Corkum he would either be traded or sent to the Sabres’ minor league affiliate. There was a logjam at center in Buffalo, and that’s the way Muckler preferred to handle the situation.

But the Ducks tossed Corkum a lifepreserver, making him their 14th pick in the expansion draft last June.

Forwards Steven King, Tim Sweeney, Troy Loney, Stu Grimson, Terry Yake and Jarrod Skalde were drafted ahead of him, but Corkum wasn’t overly concerned with proving himself to Duck management.

“I was ecstatic,” Corkum said. “It was everything I hoped it would be.”

No longer would Corkum be saddled with two brutes for linemates. No longer would he sit and grow stiff for as long as 10 minutes between shifts. No longer would he face Muckler’s wrath for not producing during those infrequent chances.

The Ducks needed his skills desperately.

“I was hoping he could do for us what Joel Otto does for Calgary,” said Jack Ferreira, Duck general manager.

What Ferreira sought: a physical, dependable, all-around player who could score and yet stop opposing centers with a grinding, suffocating defensive style.

Two seasons ago, Ferreira watched Corkum play in the American Hockey League playoffs for the Rochester Americans.

“He was really good, really dominated a couple of the series,” Ferreira said. “I always had him in the back of my mind. Last year, having been with Montreal scouting the pros, I thought he fit the mold of the perfect third-line center who could go head-to-head with any of the top centers in the league.”

The Sabres, loaded with quality centers such as Dale Hawerchuk, Pat LaFontaine and Bob Sweeney, didn’t offer much chance for Corkum to blossom. He played in 68 games last season, centering a line with tough guys Gord Donnelly and Rob Ray on the wings.

Corkum had six goals and four assists; Donnelly had 11 points and 221 penalty minutes; Ray had five points and 211 penalty minutes.

With the Ducks, desperate for goal-scoring and strong defense, Corkum was highly valued.

“I always had the feeling he could do the job of being a defensive guy,” Ferreira said. “To put up the numbers--I think he wants to be a 30-goal scorer next season--that was just something that happened.”

A turning point, according to Ferreira, was an elbow injury that sidelined veteran center Anatoli Semenov in mid-December. Somebody had to step into the void, and Corkum leaped at the chance.

“Some guys you put into the situation where they’re allowed to play, allowed to grow and make mistakes (really develop),” Ferreira said. “I don’t think there was ever a night when he came to the rink and had to worry about his ice time.

“He established himself. He knew he was going to play a lot.”

Quality ice time, so absent in Buffalo, propelled Corkum in Anaheim.

So many burdens were lifted this season, it’s hard to know where to start.

In Buffalo, he never knew how many shifts he would get, or even if he would play.

“I’d be sitting on the bench eight to 10 minutes at a time,” Corkum said. “I’d be all tight and cold. Then Muckler wonders why you haven’t produced anything. I was thankful to play 68 games last year. I realized how much more ice time I needed.”

Then there were his linemates. Nothing against them personally, you understand, but Corkum despised his role as a member of the Sabres’ goon line.

“They did the majority of the fighting,” he said of Donnelly and Ray. “We went out there playing against other teams’ tough line. I always worried, ‘Is somebody going to run me from behind? Cross-check me across the face?’ ”

Corkum had no such concerns this season, playing on one of the Ducks’ top three lines all season.

“I didn’t have to worry about the cheap stuff,” he said. “Just go out and play my game.

“The biggest thing was that it was fun this year. The whole year was a blast.

“There were times (last season) I almost gave it up. What the hell do I need this for? I have my degree (from Maine). I don’t need to be beating my head against the wall. This year was fun. Easier to play and a lot more fun.”

Rehabilitation will soon consume Corkum’s life. He is expected to be in a cast until later this month and to resume staking in June. There’s every reason to believe he’ll be fit in time for training camp.

“I think better days are ahead,” Corkum said. “I’m playing with a lot of confidence. If we get (Paul) Kariya in there, and he’s the passer everyone says he is, that should help. I’m definitely not satisfied. I feel I can score more and contribute more to the success of the team.”