Taking Center Stage

The center of attention during last fall’s Mighty Duck training camp was rookie Espen Knutsen, a flashy Norwegian with long, flowing blond hair and the nickname, “Shampoo.” Knutsen played 19 games for the Ducks, was banished to the minors and eventually returned to play in Sweden.

This year, the young center to watch has nondescript short brown hair and his nickname is “Fargo,” because he grew up across the river from Fargo, N.D., in Moorhead, Minn., and sounds as if he just popped out of the movie.

But the good folks in Moorhead probably won’t be seeing much of Matt Cullen, their 21-year-old favorite son, until the off-season because in the National Hockey League substance slams style into the boards every time. And while Knutsen was known mostly for his fancy skating and nifty passing, Cullen is known mostly for his work ethic and smart play.

“To be very honest, Matt has always been very good at making plays and handling the puck, but he has always worked exceptionally hard, too,” said Terry Cullen, his father and coach at Moorhead High. “He always has been driven and he’s used that drive and intelligence to make the most of what he has.”

Last year, Cullen found himself standing in the dressing room next to players such as Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne and was more than a little bit awe-struck. “I was dumbfounded at first,” he said.

He had been impressive in training camp, but when the season began, he temporarily forgot what had brought him so far so fast and his performance deteriorated.

“Last year, I was in the frame of mind that I was so happy to be here I just didn’t want to do anything to screw it up,” he said. “But you can’t play with an attitude like that or the first thing you’re going to do is screw up.”

On Jan. 5, he was demoted to Cincinnati of the American Hockey League . . . and it was the best thing that could’ve happened.

“When I went down to the minors, I decided I was just going to play and try to make things happen and if I made a mistake, then I made a mistake,” he said. “It’s not the end of the world. It helped me a lot because when I came back up with that same attitude, I made some mistakes, but I did a lot more good things that really mattered.

“It’s all confidence. There’s no reason you can’t do the same things in both places. It was just that I didn’t think I could up here. Going down there, getting so much ice time, playing and not worrying about anything else, it was great for me.”

And not bad for Cincinnati. In just seven games, Cullen scored 11 goals.

“He was just on fire when he was down there,” said Mike Leclerc, who has skated often in exhibition games this year on a line that included Cullen and right wing Jeff Nielsen. “He was up here for a short while, but after he was sent down, he lit it right up. Everything he touched went in the net. He was there two weeks and he was named rookie of the month.”

Cullen was back in Anaheim on Jan. 20 and finished the season with six goals and 21 assists in 61 games with the Ducks. During that time, he’s done little to displease his coaches or those in the front office who decided to draft him out of St. Cloud State in the second round (35th overall) of the 1996 NHL Entry Draft.

“I don’t remember much of him from last year,” said first-year Duck Coach Craig Hartsburg. “When you’re coaching, you concentrate on your own players. But from what video I saw last year, he looked like a guy with speed who works hard. Just a good young player, with a lot of potential.

“Now, I’d have to say that ‘potential’ word is gone for him. He’s going to be a good player for us. He’s got great skills and speed and he’s shown he can play both ends. He competes very hard in our end, gives a good, honest effort. He’s one of the guys I’m not disappointed in defensively so far. And he wants to work hard every day.”

Cullen is so obsessed with improving, he endures a great deal of flak from teammates, who make fun of his devotion to workout regimens and nutritional concerns.

At 6-1 and 195 pounds, he decided his percentage of body fat was too high. So he bought some books, reduced the amount of fat intake in his diet and has lowered his body-fat level to 6.7%.

“The guys give me a hard time because I’m into nutrition, but I think it’s helped me a lot,” he said. “You get used to eating good stuff after awhile and you don’t even think about stuff like cheeseburgers and fries. I’ve lost a little bit of weight and I feel lighter and quicker on the ice.”

In the off-season, Cullen is home inspiring his brothers, Mark, 19, and Joe, 17. They work out together--sometimes doing as much as four hours of leg work in a day, according to their father--and it seems to be paying off for all three. Mark will be a freshman on scholarship at Colorado College and Joe will be in Ann Arbor, Mich., for his senior year of high school so he can play with the U.S. National Team.

“Let’s say on a Monday, which is like a medium day,” Cullen said, describing a typical day in the off-season, “we’ll go golfing in the morning to wake up, then we’ll run 15 minutes of agility quick-feet drills, then do 10 minutes of 30- to 60-yard sprints and then three 100-yard sprints for endurance. We’ll take a five-minute break and do explosive one-legged and two-legged jumps. Then we’ll go into the weight room for about two hours and then afterward we’ll play basketball.

“It’s helped us all. Heck, those guys are going to pass me soon.”

At the moment, hardly anyone is passing Cullen on the ice.

“All of sudden, speed is my best asset,” Cullen said, smiling. “I get a chuckle out of it. I don’t know how it happened in two years. Maybe it’s chasing Paul [Kariya] in all those drills.”