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Being Captain America, and other assorted stories. . . - JKortesi81 - 06-15-2020
Being Captain America
By Ron Thompson, The Buffalo News
It’s a story I’ve written before for The Buffalo News. Joe Kurczewski, the SHL’s living legend, has been at this for quite some time. Every now and then I get sent to do an article on what Buffalo’s favorite son has been doing in his career. Through these pieces, I’ve gotten to know Joe over the years and he’s much less “Hockey Royalty” to me than he is “South Buffalo”. The United States were making the Medal Rounds of yet another IIHF tournament, so my editors thought it’d be a great time for me to catch up with the Captain of Team USA.
Thanks to some fantastic flight delays, I got to the tournament the day of the Gold Medal game. Team USA was running a light practice before they were going to face Czechia, who has been clamoring for a Gold Medal as a country for what seems like eternity. I walked into the Team USA locker room, figuring I’d have to wait a bit to talk to the players. But when I entered, there was the man that has been known as “Joe K” for some time now, sitting at his locker, the C on his freshly laundered jersey hanging over his head.
He looked up at me and smiled, “Hey Ron, I heard you were coming!”. I asked him why he’s in the locker room and not practicing with the team. That’s when he showed me the bruises. “I get the old guy rest days now. They wouldn’t let me on the ice.” His legs look like they had been through a war. These battle scars were the result of a hard fought win against Germany in the Round Robin section of the IIHF, a 4 shot block performance from the man who used to be much more concerned with scoring the goals instead of preventing them. There was only one question that was on my mind, and I had to ask it.
“How much longer can you keep doing this?”
He laughed. “It’s a fair question. This is my 24th straight IIHF tournament. That’s what I was thinking about before you walked in. I’ve pretty much come full circle. In Season 30, I was a fresh faced rookie, didn’t even have an SHL team yet, and I was told do what I’m doing now. Play on the 4th line, don’t give up goals, and set an example. I hear two different meanings to that now. Before, I was young and cocky. 17 years old with all of the piss and vinegar kids have at that age. I took it as a slight, like I wanted to show the world what I could do on the big stage. But it was Sterling Knight, the old USA vet, who put me in my place and told me that it was just as important to do what I was doing. Goals aren’t the end all be all. Now, at 41 years old, I know how important it is to go out and block shots. Show these kids that if I’m the one out there throwing my body on the line, they should be too. It gets them going.”
“That still doesn’t answer just how long you can keep doing it.”
“That’s because I don’t know. I still played a good role on this team, and with how far I’ve helped this team come since I first joined us, I’ll admit, it’s hard to let it go.”
He makes a valid point here. For those who have no idea about Joe K’s history with the IIHF, allow me to remind you. As he said, he joined as a pure rookie in Season 30. At the time, USA was a mess. The IIHF that we’ve come to know over the years really formed in Season 21. There was an IHF before it. From Season 21 through Season 30, the USA underachieved, only winning 2 bronze medals in Season 24 and Season 27. They were a bit of a laughingstock in international play, as their large pool of players to choose from for the squad apparently means you’re supposed to win all of the time. That wasn’t the case. After one season, management for Team USA resigned, and all of a sudden Joe K stepped up to run the team. He lead them to the Gold Medal in Season 31 with the likes of Geoffrey Allen, Knight, Barney Stinson, and Jack Burton, just to name a few. They would win the Gold twice more under his watch, in Season 34 and Season 40. He left management not too long after, but the foundation and the ground work that was laid had led to Team USA winning 2 more Golds, 2 Silvers, and last year’s bronze. He helped Team USA become the dominant world power it always should’ve been.
“But you’ll have to excuse me Ron, I have a date with an ice bath. We can talk more after the game tonight.”
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Walking into the Team USA Locker Room after the Gold Medal game was understandably like night and day from earlier. When I walked in earlier, the locker room was pristine, not a hair out of place. Walking in now, it’s a mess. It’s covered in champagne. Most of the team has left to go celebrate, except for Joe K, who’s once again sitting in his locker. His newest Gold Medal is around his neck and he’s still in his jersey, smiling.
“It’s about time you got here” he said, grinning. “I figured you’d be out partying with everyone else, I didn’t expect you to be here.” I retorted. “I’m too old for that. Let the younger ones handle that. My bed sounds much more appealing.”
Team USA went out and dominated Czechia, 5-0. Joe K didn’t have any points, but one play did stand out to me. With a minute to go in the game, and the final score a formality, Alex Winters wound up for a shot and there was Joe K, diving in front of it to block the shot. A shot that didn’t matter and it wouldn’t have changed the outcome of the game. I had to ask him about it.
“You just play until the final horn man. No easy buckets. I’ve always played hockey the same way, I’m not changing it now. I told you, I’m out there to be a different kind of example for these guys now. Blocking shots is better than taking shots for me nowadays.”
I had to ask him the question that’s on everyone’s mind. “So is this it? Do you go out on top? Inquiring minds want to know.” He leaned back in his stall, kicked his feet out, and said “No. I didn’t want to jinx it before the game, but I wanted to tell you that if we won the Gold Medal, I’d like to have the chance to defend it again. It’s hard enough winning Gold, it’s so special to defend it. I love this country and playing for it. I love these guys on this team. McScruff, Foxy, Manius, Lil Nicky, Williams, Serpe, Cainer, just all of them. I look forward to this all season. I want to have at least one more shot to go out there and go to battle with my boys when I feel I can still make a difference.”
“So you don’t think six Gold Medals are enough? Did you know that you just became the player with the most Gold Medals in IIHF history?”
“Actually, I didn’t know that. That’s really cool. Six Gold Medals as a player is so crazy. It’s crazy to even consider that I’ve scored the most goals in IIHF history too. I knew about that record, because I got to pass Esa. Honestly, my time left playing is very short, we all know that. I can’t have the Esa like career, we’ll probably never see it again.”
Ah yes, the goals. Kurczewski has had quite the IIHF career on the ice as well. His career totals come in so far at 256 international games played, and that’s only counting the round robin games. He has 86 goals, which is an IIHF record, to go along with 88 assists for 174 points. He’s amassed 349 Hits and 56 shot blocks as well. However, this was the first tournament since Season 31 that he’s failed to score at least one goal. With some young Americans in the pipeline, does the veteran feel he should step aside?
“I’m realistic about my future.” He says. “I can only hold off the next great American players like Bobby Lane and Phineaus Gold for so long. I give them credit, they’ve respected me and haven’t caused a ruckus about how they should be playing over the old man. In fact, I think I can say it now. Even if Team USA wins the Gold again in Season 54, and we will, it’ll be my last season donning the Red, White, and Blue jerseys. I do feel bad about taking their spots up, when perhaps they could be performing better offensively than I. But, I also feel I earned this, to stick around for a little longer. It’s tough. I’m going to miss the international game very much so. It still doesn’t get the respect it deserves.”
“What about stepping away from hockey in general?”, I ask.
“That’s a discussion for another time.”, the veteran says. “I hope I gave you enough material for your article so far, but if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to have to finally shower and head out of here. Thank you for coming Ron, it’s good seeing you. I’ll see you during the season.”
We shook hands, and Captain America walked off, still wearing his record 6th Gold Medal.
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That was where the article was supposed to end. However, my bosses at The News decided I should do a follow up with Joe K during the season too, and release it all at once. It didn’t make sense to me, but I also don’t get paid to make those decisions. As a result, I find myself in New Orleans, walking into the Smoothie King Center to talk to an old friend.
Walking up to the league’s relic, I could tell that he just looks, well, tired. Most SHLers have this sort of glazed over look on their face midway through the season. Joe K has been the player/GM of the Specters since their inception in Season 46, and the spooky boys have yet to play a single game without him. His role is similar to that on Team USA. 3rd liner who’s there more to prevent goals than score them. He’s playing on a line with 2nd year player Thomas Vanice and SHL Rookie phenom Mitchell van der Heijden, both of whom the team has very high hopes for. It’s hard to get much more ice time when you have a lot of SHL Superstars on your forward lines, and the Specters’ Top 6 can go head to head with the best of them in the league. New Orleans, as of press time, is on a 10-0-1 winning streak, and they climbed to the top of the Western Conference standings, after a slow start to the season when they were without standout defender Charlie Serpe for six games, as he was forced to serve out his entire punishment when his appeal failed. Once back in the lineup, the Specters found their groove and have been one of the SHL’s best teams since. They’re the only West team to have single digit regulation losses, and they find themselves in a playoff spot while still having games in hand on all of the playoff contenders, including a whopping 5 games in hand with Edmonton. Kurczewski currently sits at 10 points (4G, 6A) on the season, a far cry from the 60+ point seasons of yesteryear.
“You look exhausted!”, I say to him. He laughs, and responds with “I’m old, what else am I supposed to look like nowadays?”. He makes a good point. When you’ve had a 20+ season SHL career, you probably should look tired. I ask him how he feels the season is going.
“I have no complaints, honestly. I know we got off to the slow start, but we weren’t a complete team without Serpe. We’ve shown since that we’re playing very good hockey, and should be considered a force to be reckoned with this season. Playing in the West is much harder than the East, and it takes more of a toll on you. We don’t get the easy games against Tampa or Toronto, that’s for sure. Every night is a fight over here. You can’t sleep on Minnesota, or they’ll beat you. Like they did to us earlier this season actually. I’m excited for how this is going to play out.”
“Is the Challenge Cup on the horizon for you guys then?” I bait.
“I can’t answer that right now. We have a very good chance at it. We have a really good team all around, and we have the best goaltender in the league. If he gets hot, anything is possible. There isn’t a team in the league that we couldn’t beat in a Best of Seven series. But we have to make the playoffs first.”
“How about your own personal play? Do you feel it slipping away?”
“No, it’s not that. I can still score if I needed to but that’s not my role here. Sure, 10 points isn’t specifically the best thing ever, but I’m really happy playing with my young line mates and really teaching them the ins and outs of the game, challenging them to be better. We’ve played a lot better as the season has gone on.”
“What would it mean for you to win a Challenge Cup with the team you built from the ground up?”
“Everything. There’s another universe out there where we won 3-4 Cups already. We’ve been that good and so close for so long. The fact that we don’t have a Cup win already shows you how hard it can be. Winning a Challenge Cup with New Orleans is the last piece of my puzzle, that’s for sure. It’s all I have left. It’s tough knowing that there’s only one shot left at it, but I feel like we’re in a good position to make a run at it.”
His comment didn’t past my brain. “One shot left at it? What does that mean?” I ask him.
“Ah I shouldn’t have said that. But yes, this is my last shot to win the Cup with New Orleans. Unfortunately, the SHL is very stupid, and unlike the IIHF or the SMJHL where we’re allowed to use 4th lines, the SHL limits us to 3. As a result, I’m going to be the odd man out here next season. We have Velveteen Dream ready to come up and take my spot, and we can’t send him down again because of waivers and things like that. So yes, this is the last season that Joe K will be a New Orleans Specter. And man, it sucks to say that.”
“Not as much as it’s going to suck for me to write. Does this mean you’re retiring then?”
“Yeah, I guess I can announce my retirement. It’s obviously been coming for a little bit now, so this isn’t like a shock to anyone, but what I don’t know is when exactly it’ll be.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I still feel like I could be able to play in this league in Season 55 and be effective. If I make it clear that Season 55 is my final season, I’m able to do something I haven’t been able to do in forever: play for another team. Be an actual free agent. Sure, I’ll be a very solid 3rd liner, and I’ll do whatever role is asked of me, and hopefully I can experience being in a new SHL locker room, and get to know a good group of new guys before I step away for good. But if nobody is interested in signing me, that’s okay too, and I just won’t play. I’m okay with my decision.”
“Where else would you want to go play?”
“I don’t get to do free agent destination articles ever, so I think I’m going to save that for a later date. Chances are nobody is going to need me anyway, but it’s fun to dream while I can. This ride was incredible, and the SHL gave me so much on and off the ice. I hate that I’m finally at my own personal rainbow bridge, but it’s time to go. Hopefully I’ll be able to ride for one last season. If not, I think it’s been a good ride.”
There isn’t a really good ending for me to tie up this story. The news of Joe Kurczewski finally retiring is something that’s going take a bit for me to digest. You always knew it’d happen, but you never really knew when it was coming. Stick taps to a fantastic career, and let’s hope we get one final season out of the future Hall of Famer. It was a pleasure to cover his career, and it’ll be fun to see if we get just a little bit more out of someone who’s been a big part of this league for 24 seasons now. I’m Ron Thompson, and thanks for reading.
RE: Being Captain America, and other assorted stories. . . - bk1689 - 06-15-2020
First
RE: Being Captain America, and other assorted stories. . . - Chevy - 06-15-2020
Whoaaaaaaaaaa
RE: Being Captain America, and other assorted stories. . . - Zoone16 - 06-15-2020
Now that's some bombshell news right there.
RE: Being Captain America, and other assorted stories. . . - mastersheep - 06-15-2020
American legend.
RE: Being Captain America, and other assorted stories. . . - bluesfan55 - 06-15-2020
i don't think you can call me a "rookie phenom" judging by the stat sheet
RE: Being Captain America, and other assorted stories. . . - slothfacekilla - 06-15-2020
Stick taps to a legend, glad I could share the sim ice with Joe K.
RE: Being Captain America, and other assorted stories. . . - Leoben - 06-15-2020
I've had four players in the span of this guy. Even teammates at one point.
Legend. Congrats on a great career.
RE: Being Captain America, and other assorted stories. . . - Rancidbudgie - 06-15-2020
End of an Era. Proud to have played with you, against you, and for you. You were the first and only GM to contact me when I joined the site, and took a flyer on me in the 6th round. You were always there to talk shop when I needed to. I'm sure there are many more on this site with similar stories about you. Congrats on the incredible career Joe
RE: Being Captain America, and other assorted stories. . . - Huck24 - 06-15-2020
It's been an honour sharing the ice with a legend. Let's make this last season for Joe K and NOLA count!
Let's go Specters!!!
RE: Being Captain America, and other assorted stories. . . - Scrufdaddy - 06-15-2020
God Fucking Bless
RE: Being Captain America, and other assorted stories. . . - Avakael - 06-15-2020
The very last warrior of S31. Much respect.
RE: Being Captain America, and other assorted stories. . . - _Blitz_ - 06-16-2020
Holy shit, you're actually retiring.
Congratulations on an amazing career, Joe.
RE: Being Captain America, and other assorted stories. . . - Nictox - 06-16-2020
I know we all joke about you being old, but I will miss the old guy in the locker room who gave out candies.
Congrats on the legendary career Joe.
RE: Being Captain America, and other assorted stories. . . - bluesfan55 - 06-16-2020
Kurczewski retiring is something I kind of can't believe. You've played such a big role in me sticking with the league as a whole and Kurczewski is arguably the first name most people think of when they think SHL. Congrats on the outstanding career. First-ballot HOFer for sure.