PATRICK KANE: “He’s a little guy, but he’s a rock.”
Sabres prospect Gerbe won’t be shortchanged
by John Vogl -- News Sports Reporter
Updated: 05/06/08 10:30 AM
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- Nathan Gerbe led the nation with 68 points in 43 games this season, including 35 goals.
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Jeff Gerbe flew through the front window as his car flipped down the highway. While doctors in the hospital worked to treat his severe head injuries and internal bleeding, Gerbe’s family agonized over his fate. There was a chance he wasn’t going to live.
Gradually, Gerbe regained consciousness and began to recover. Doctors told the budding junior player he would never play hockey again, but merely getting through the day without headaches was a more pressing concern. Years of intense therapy strengthened Gerbe and his determination.
Now, eight years after the accident, he is studying kinesiology at Michigan State. He puts on his skates once in a while, and it’s almost like old times for the Gerbe family.
Nathan Gerbe, Jeff’s younger brother and the most intriguing Buffalo Sabres prospect in years, loves those gatherings. As he looks at his long list of accomplishments — a national championship, Most Valuable Player of the Frozen Four, runner-up for best collegiate hockey player, member of Team USA (and that’s just during the past month) — it fails to measure up to Jeff recovering from his accident.
“It’s great to still be able to go home and hang out with him in the summer because you always think back, ‘That’s a moment where you can’t have him anymore if it goes the other way around,’ ” Nathan Gerbe said. “It was just a huge eye-opener for me to see something
[like hockey] taken from him so quick. For him to bounce back and create a new life in school and excel in that at Michigan State, it’s something special for me to look upon and it’s a huge inspiration for myself.”
With the inspiration from his brother and the skill that runs in the family, Gerbe is at a place few have reached. The last month has been a storybook, starting with his success at Boston College and ending with an invitation to train with the United States world championship team.
“Obviously, winning the Frozen Four is the highlight of the month, year or career there so far,” Gerbe said last week in Maine after a Team USA practice. “This is another highlight of mine, to be able to compete for your country again. . . . It’s definitely been a fun couple weeks.”
Now comes the hard part. The 20-year-old must decide whether to sign with the Sabres and begin his professional career or return to Boston College for his senior year. To Gerbe, it’s not a big dilemma. On one hand, he wins. On the other hand, he wins again.
“Right now I’m 50-50,” said Gerbe, who added there has been little contact with the Sabres. “I would like to see what happens when I talk to them. I think it would be nice for a new challenge. Going back to school would also be fun. There’s definitely positives to both sides. I just have to get ready to make a good decision here.
“I’m pretty open. I like to hear both sides. I’ll probably go back to school and have a sit down with our coaching staff. I haven’t been able to do that yet. I think it would be good to hear what they have to say.”
Led nation with 68 points
If the Sabres reach a deal with Gerbe, they will get a dynamic player and person. The forward led the nation with 68 points in 43 games this season, including 35 goals. He was at his best during the Frozen Four, with five goals and three assists in two games to lead the Eagles to the NCAA title.
“Everyone saw him in the Frozen Four, the type of impact he can have in a game, how dynamic he is,” Sabres and Team USA forward Drew Stafford said. “It’s obvious that every-one’s going to bring up his size and everything, but the way that he plays, the amount of heart that he has when he plays, it’s pretty fun to watch.”
Stafford did, in fact, bring up what everyone brings up: Gerbe’s size. Actually, it’s his lack of size. There’s no getting around it, Gerbe is small, and not just compared to hockey players. When the U. S. team held a skate with its fans in Maine, a few kids asking for Gerbe’s autograph were taller than he was.
Gerbe is just 5-foot-5 and weighs 165 pounds.
“Everyone talks about his size,” said USA forward and South Buffalo native Patrick Kane, who played world juniors with Gerbe. “He’s a little guy, but he’s a rock. When you’re out there playing with him, it’s like he’s not even little. He’s really strong on the puck. He’s got some skill, too.”
The question is whether Gerbe’s skill can overcome the size discrepancy in the NHL. Of course, that was the question before he excelled with the U. S. under-18 team. It was also the question before he excelled in college.
So far, no matter the level, Gerbe has yet to come up short.
“I think the thing that stood out with him was first and foremost his competitiveness,” said Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier, who selected Gerbe in the fifth round of the 2005 draft. “He’s a fearless player. He’s not a big player, but he’s a little like the Energizer bunny. He gets knocked down, he gets up, he keeps going. He’s very strong for his size. I think that what we’ve seen over his time at BC is a continual development of the skill level.”
Big, competitive family
If Jeff Gerbe gets credit for inspiring Nathan during the past few years, the whole Gerbe clan gets credit for turning him into the fun-loving and competitive person he is. Joe and Terrie Gerbe had six children, three boys and three girls. They turned Oxford, Mich., a small town about 40 miles northwest of Detroit, into their sports battleground. Nathan, the youngest of the group, was always striving to keep up with his big brothers and sisters.
“It creates a lot of character in the house,” Gerbe said of the big family. “You’re always fighting over things, always complaining, someone’s always crying, especially in sports. We’re all competitive. Going out on the pond to play hockey, you don’t want to lose, or if you want to play basketball in the neighborhood, you don’t want to lose, or soccer in the front yard, you just don’t want to lose against your siblings. I think that’s where you create your competitive nature.”
Having a large family also sent Gerbe searching for ways to stand out. He does it with a personality that draws people near. He is levelheaded and funny, and he belts out Rascal Flatts country songs in the dressing room to keep everyone entertained.
“I love singing around the guys and stuff,” he said. “I just like creating energy with the team.”
Regier said there’s something wrong if a person who has Gerbe’s talent, determination and personality can’t make it in the NHL because of his size. There are players of similar stature who have succeeded — Daniel Briere, Martin St. Louis, Brian Gionta and Theo Fleury, to name a few — and Gerbe looks at them for guidance. He also is glad the Sabres have a history of using small, fast skaters like Briere and Derek Roy.
“They’ve got a lot of small guys, and they’re not afraid to give them a shot,” Gerbe said. “It’s definitely a lucky chance for me. They have a good system there, and they do well to develop players.”
Gerbe held his own in his first game against NHL talent, scoring once and adding an assist in Team USA’s 5-1 exhibition win over Sweden last week. He showed his world-class speed when he buzzed past Swedish defenseman Magnus Johansson of the Florida Panthers in a race for a loose puck. It may sway Gerbe to see if someone so small is ready to make the big-time.
“The amount of skill he has, he’s there already,” Stafford said. “It’ll be interesting to see whenever he gets a shot what he does with it.”
