Top 10 Unsung Heroes: Matt Hendricks (2)

Photo credit:Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports

6 years ago

From time to time during a season in which the Edmonton Oilers have struggled and under-achieved, fans and media-types have asked if maybe losing a glue guy like Matt Hendricks has contributed to what we’ve seen unfold so far. Contributed? Yes. Has the absence of the hustling Hendricks been the most significant factor? No. That would be a reach. Big picture, when the Oilers decided to cut Hendricks loose and move on, it was the right decision at the right time.

Hendricks said as much last summer before catching on with the Winnipeg Jets. After 214 games with the Oilers over parts of four seasons, Hendricks saw the writing on the wall in Edmonton. No beefs. No regrets. He said so during an interview before he even knew where, or if, he was going to play again. Honesty, be it in approach to the game or understanding and accepting a role, is one of the common traits of players on this Unsung Heroes list. It’s what makes them what they are. Team-first guys like Hendricks.

Matt Hendricks

Center — shoots L
Born Jun 17 1981 — Blaine, MN
Height 6.00 — Weight 209 [183 cm/95 kg]

Drafted by Nashville Predators

Round 5 #131 overall 2000 NHL Entry Draft

BY THE NUMBERS

Season	Age	Tm	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	S	S%	TOI	ATOI	FO%
2008-09	27	COL	4	0	0	0	1	13	5	0.0	34	8:30	0.0
2009-10	28	COL	56	9	7	16	1	74	63	14.3	519	9:16	39.8
2010-11	29	WSH	77	9	16	25	-2	110	113	8.0	882	11:28	53.8
2011-12	30	WSH	78	4	5	9	-6	95	97	4.1	946	12:07	53.6
2012-13	31	WSH	48	5	3	8	-6	73	54	9.3	563	11:43	56.8
2013-14	32	TOT	77	5	2	7	-11	112	102	4.9	981	12:44	54.0
2013-14	32	NSH	44	2	2	4	-5	54	53	3.8	508	11:33	53.8
2013-14	32	EDM	33	3	0	3	-6	58	49	6.1	473	14:19	54.1
2014-15	33	EDM	71	8	8	16	-14	76	103	7.8	934	13:09	49.5
2015-16	34	EDM	68	5	7	12	2	82	62	8.1	900	13:14	55.4
2016-17	35	EDM	42	4	3	7	-3	29	42	9.5	451	10:45	56.9
2017-18	36	WPG	43	4	7	11	-2	21	35	11.4	409	9:31	50.0
4 yrs		EDM	214	20	18	38	-21	245	256	7.8	2758	12:53	54.5
3 yrs		WSH	203	18	24	42	-14	278	264	6.8	2391	11:47	54.9
2 yrs		COL	60	9	7	16	2	87	68	13.2	553	9:13	39.3
1 yr		NSH	44	2	2	4	-5	54	53	3.8	508	11:33	53.8
1 yr		WPG	43	4	7	11	-2	21	35	11.4	409	9:31	50.0
Career			564	53	58	111	-40	685	676	7.8	6618	11:44	53.2

Playoffs

Season	Age	Tm	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	S	S%	TOI	ATOI	FO%
2009-10	28	COL	0	0	0	-2	0	5	0.0	59	9:52	66.7
2010-11	29	WSH	0	0	0	-2	4	1	0.0	64	9:09	50.0
2011-12	30	WSH	1	1	2	-1	6	22	4.5	225	16:05	56.0
2012-13	31	WSH	0	0	0	-2	0	3	0.0	74	10:32	40.0
Career			1	1	2	-7	10	31	3.2	422	12:25	52.9

WHY HE MAKES IT

Mar 3, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Edmonton Oilers defenseman Adam Pardy (6), goalie Cam Talbot (33) and center Matt Hendricks (23) celebrate win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center. The Oilers defeated the Flyers, 4-0. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Simply put, Hendricks emptied the tank during his time with the Oilers. He gave the team what he could and what it needed during his tenure. On the ice, that meant hustle and effective work on the penalty kill and in the face-off circles and standing up for teammates when he got a chance to play. Off the ice, Hendricks provided a professional approach to preparation and an experienced voice in the room. He was an example and a conscience that demanded his teammates answer to each other. Honesty.

That trait, honesty, came out yet again in an interview with Mark Spector after the Ottawa Senators cut ties with Chris Neil, a hard-nosed role-player cut from the same cloth as Hendricks. “I would say it’s 99 per cent sure I won’t be back,” Hendricks said. “Kind of the same type of thing as Chris. With the young guys and the experience (the Oilers) have to gain, it’ll be hard for me to get into the lineup. It’s hard to have a fourth-line guy who is good in the room and stuff if I’m going to be sat out every night. I totally understand it, but it’s not going to work for either side. If this team’s going to be good they need to get their young guys experience. I get it.”

It turned out, of course, that Hendricks caught on in Winnipeg. It should surprise no one he has provided the Jets with the same kind of moxie he showed with the Oilers. “For me, he has already made the players around him better,” Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice said during pre-season. “He has completely embraced the role of the bottom-six forward guy, that role player. So he practiced differently than some of our young, bottom-six guys who still practice like they did when they were on their No. 1 line in junior or on their college teams. They do everything as hard as they can and practice is where they drive the pace.”

THE FINE PRINT

Late to the NHL – he was 27 by the time he broke into the league with Colorado in 2008-09 – Hendricks stuck around and earned his keep on the ice in the bottom six by banging bodies, being sound defensively, blocking shots and doing whatever it took. Speaking of same, Hendricks might best be remembered around here for a slapshot he blocked against the Dallas Stars. A shot that busted his protective cup. It hurts just to watch it.

That sack-rattling slapper aside, what epitomizes Hendricks for me is the scrap he took with hulking Erik Gudbranson of the Florida Panthers, who came looking for retribution for a hit Hendricks threw in a previous game on Aaron Ekblad. Hendricks was suspended for three games for taking Ekblad coconut-first into the end boards. When Hendricks’ suspension was done, Gudbranson was waiting for him in his first game back.

So, while I don’t think the Oilers would be significantly better than they are right now if Hendricks, the only player in franchise history to be voted the Unsung Hero three times, was still here – he can’t play goal and he can’t fix the special teams by himself — I think it’s fair to say that most contending teams have a player or two of his ilk in the line-up or in the press box waiting to step in. Do the Oilers have that player right now?

This series of various Top 10 lists will focus on the post-1990 Oilers – the players who haven’t played on a Stanley Cup winner in Edmonton.

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