Luc Robitaille is throwing a fit in one corner of the dressing room, Sean Avery is ripping teammates in another. Joe Corvo is growing quiet and sullen again, and Andy Murray is telling grown men they can’t wear baseball caps to practice.
Welcome to Mattias Norstrom’s world.
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Norstrom is the captain of a Los Angeles Kings team in the middle of a playoff race despite the absence of its top four offensive players. It is a team also missing another big defenseman in Aaron Miller and filling the void at most positions with kids and journeymen.
Murray’s exacting coaching style has received much of the credit. Left wing Alexander Frolov is on the verge of stardom. Goaltender Roman Cechmanek turned around an awful season to help the Kings gain ground in the standings.
But the Kings say Norstrom’s contribution as a hard-hitting defenseman and soft-spoken conscience has been critical to keep this improbable season from melting away.
“Ultimately, he is the leader of the room,” teammate Trent Klatt said. “That’s where the tone is set.”
Norstrom, 32, does most of it merely by showing up.
But when he arrives every September from his native Sweden, he sets the standard on strength and conditioning tests. Before being sidelined the first month of the season with a rib injury, Norstrom had missed seven games in the previous five years. He led the team in hits each of those seasons and his playing style never wavers.
When something needs to be said, it is done privately, without mini-cams or notebooks around. The topic can be anything from player disputes to the looming labor battle.
When the brash Avery shook things up last month by saying the Kings lacked toughness after a loss in Phoenix, it was Norstrom who sat him down and explained why that wasn’t the best approach. Avery, who played with the mighty Detroit Red Wings, could have looked at the Kings’ one trip to the Stanley Cup finals in 37 years and told Norstrom to pipe down.
“I understand now there can be consequences for the things I say,” Avery said.
When Robitaille, a future Hall of Famer, torched Murray for benching him in back-to-back games during the middle of a 14-game winless streak, Norstrom talked to teammates and made sure the issue did not become a distraction. Robitaille returned, scoring goals in his next four games, and the incident went away.
Corvo arrived at training camp as Norstrom’s new defense mate. He also was facing an October trial date and multiple assault charges stemming from an arrest when he was in the minors.
Bruce Boudreau, Corvo’s coach at Manchester, said Corvo always was quiet and difficult to reach. Norstrom started a dialogue that helped open up the brooding Corvo, whose big shot from the point has given him added playing time on the power play.
“I think that had a huge impact on the way Joe has responded,” Klatt said.
Said Corvo: “We don’t talk about many things off the ice, but it is the example he sets that has helped me the most. He has helped me better understand the game. When that happened, a lot of things started to fall into place.”
Especially with a coach who has as high a profile as Murray in the dressing room. Some think Murray’s hands-on approach to every facet of the product can stunt leadership among players.
But Norstrom says his relationship with Murray is strong because of a mutual respect.
Norstrom remembers his first season in the NHL as a part-time player with the 1993-94 Stanley Cup champion New York Rangers. The coach was Mike Keenan, the captain was Mark Messier. The Rangers hadn’t won the Cup in more than 50 years.
“There wasn’t anybody tougher on the guys than Mike Keenan,” Norstrom said. “And Mark Messier is the greatest leader in the history of sports. How did they keep it together? There was a respect each man had for the other. It’s that kind of respect Andy and I have.”
And it’s the kind of respect the Kings have for their captain.