Islanders Czech Out Reichel

Islanders Czech Out Reichel
By David Feete, Senior Citizen

As luck would have it, and I've seen luck work in some mighty strange ways in my day, Robert Reichel met Marty McInnis in the Toronto airport on March 18th, 1997.
I say this meeting was strange because, hours before, Reichel was traded from Calgary to the Islanders for McInnis, minor-league goaltender Tyrone Garner, and a sixth-round 1997 draft pick. Stranger still was the fact that this all came to pass only because the Czech-born Reichel was held up by immigration, tryin' to get a work permit. Strange that two young men, their destinies intertwined, aged a mere 25 and 26, would meet like this -- passing like ships in the night while going to play for their new teams, swapped like a couple of baseball cards.
More importantly in my neck of the woods, was the question of whether the move was worth all the fuss. The general consensus around my quiet retirement community was: Why? (Y'all should understand, there ain't a powerful lot to do around here besides watch hockey games, unless you're into shuffleboard, golf, or backgammon. That leaves us without a heck of a choice).
Not many of the old fools around here, (m'self included) really thought this Islander team was going anywhere. Those of us who still have all our mental faculties thought it 'twas another "building year."
But back to the topic at hand -- We didn't really think Marty McInnis was ever going to bring anything great to the team. No disrespect intended, he's a potent penalty killer, good defensively, and faster on his skates than a French tank runnin' away from the German army.
But he was pretty much expendable. 20 goals, 22 assists, and a minus-6 ain't exactly setting the world afire. He hadn't shown that he's capable of scoring more than 20 a year, and that minus-6 was mighty disturbing because of Marty's reputation as a solid defensive player. Four short-handed goals were his most impressive statistic, as far as I am concerned.
Losing McInnis was not the end of the world. The immediate concern was what in the Sam Hill kind of player is Reichel? We all remember when he had back-to-back 40-goal seasons in '92-'93 and '93-'94, when he was just a young pup and the future looked a-mighty bright. But he slumped during the strike season, what we refer to around here as the '95-'95 season. And then he went cryin' back to Europe when he couldn't get the contract he wanted. Made people 'round here think he might be some kind of a mental case.
He's been dormant this year too, sixth on the Flames in scoring, fewer goals than McInnis. But the Isles insist that he's "a highly skilled player who needed a change of scenery," so therein lies the gamble.
Worse yet, he's a little guy. A little guy with big skills, to be sure, but a little guy nonetheless. Kinda scary thinking of little 5'10", 185-pound Robert Reichel taking a beating from 6'4", 236-pound Eric Lindros, or 6'1", 205-pound Mark Messier. Even seeing him go against 5'11" 172-pound Doug Gilmour will be scary, because Gilmour is insane.
You can also understand why a bunch of irritable Islander fans, who think it's still 1982, would be hesitant to get a small, skill-oriented European center after the Martin Straka fiasco last year. Straka is also a Czech. For those of you who don't know, 5'10", 178-pound Straka came over in from Ottawa in a three-way deal involving Toronto, and basically disappeared as completely and mysteriously as Amelia Earhart.
The popular theory is that he vanished 'cause a little guy from Europe couldn't handle being a top-flight center in the rough, tough, mean Atlantic Division. The Islanders ended up letting him go to Florida in the waiver draft and got nothing in return. They got Reichel and Straka for the same reason -- to act as set-up guys for Zigmund Palffy. Palffy is a Slovak. I guess in the name of world peace, they keep trying to get the Czechs to get along with the Slovaks, even though they can't even live together in the same country these days. Strange that the Islanders would choose this forum to promote inter-cultural harmony.
Well, when you look at the early returns, it looks like Reichel fits in real nice. Not that you can tell much from two games, but he did get a goal and two assists in his debut, a 7-4 win against Florida. He also played real admirable in a 3-3 tie with Philadelphia on March 22, when the Islanders overcame a 3-0 first-period deficit. The line of Reichel, Palffy, and Bryan Smolinski seems to be working out fine.
Will Reichel be able to stand up to the daily punishment of the Atlantic Division? Will he re-discover the scoring punch of his youth? Will Reichel and Palffy serve as a great example of friendship and brotherhood, bringing their warring countries to a new golden age of love and prosperity? Will they ever make a denture adhesive that is strong enough for you to just bite right into an apple like they do on the commercials? Stranger things have happened.