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Tipped Off
02-27-2005, 04:55 PM
Look at "the future" section of this articlefrom the Everett Herald...

Silvertips' Baranka is full of surprises
Slovakian defenseman has made an impression on and off the ice

By Nick Patterson
Herald Writer


EVERETT - It's a good idea to pay close attention to Ivan Baranka. You never know when he might surprise you.

Not necessarily with those instances when the Everett Silvertips defenseman unleashes his rocket slap shot that has opponents diving out of the way in self preservation, or those occasional moments when he streaks out of his own end with the puck on a weaving run through the opposing defense.

No, Baranka's more likely to surprise you during those moments when the soft-spoken Slovakian flashes his wit.

When the Silvertips conduct team meetings, it may come as a shock that it's Baranka - the same individual who little more than a year ago had difficulty stringing together a coherent sentence in English - who usually breaks the tension with a well-timed one liner that sends the room into hysterics.

"He's actually very funny," Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. "It's definitely a dry sense of humor. It's pretty subtle and he can blow it right over your head if you're not paying attention."

Baranka's sense of humor - or more accurately, his willingness to display it in a foreign land - is an indication of how comfortable Baranka has become both playing and living in North America.

And it's a good thing, too. If he continues on his current track, Baranka will be plying his trade in North America for a long time.

The Player

When listing off Everett players who stand out on the ice, Baranka isn't near the top. He doesn't have the stickhandling flair of an Alex Leavitt or a Zach Hamill. He doesn't produce the bonecrunching hits with the regularity of a Mitch Love or a Michael Wuchterl. His numbers are modest - going into this weekend's play he was ninth among Silvertips in scoring with 20 points (seven goals, 13 assists).

But when it comes to dependability, there's nobody better than the 19-year-old Baranka.

There's an opposing player heading into the Everett zone one-on-one with a head of steam? No problem. He's certain to end up pinned against the boards by Baranka as another Silvertip sweeps in to collect the puck. Need an initial pass on the breakout to get out of trouble? Baranka is the guy who can thread the needle and put the puck right on a teammate's blade.

"He's an amazing hockey player, the best hockey player I've ever played with," said Everett defenseman Cody Thoring, who's taken regular shifts alongside Baranka this season. "It's incredible learning from him. He doesn't say a whole lot, but just watching what he does is incredible."

Baranka has all the physical tools. At 6-foot-2, 185 pounds, he has the size and strength to hold off opposing teams' top forwards. He's one of the best skaters on the team. And of course, there's that shot that when it finds the net, looks like it wants to burn a hole right through the back of the webbing.

More importantly, Baranka has the mental tools, too. He's an intelligent player who's perceptive about the game - he's been known to sit behind the coaches on bus rides home and correct them as they evaluate tape from the game. He also has the mental fortitude where he rarely makes a mistake.

All those qualities prompted the New York Rangers to select him in the second round of the 2003 NHL Draft, and it's those qualities that make Baranka perhaps the team's best all-around player.

"He's very steady," Rangers coach Tom Renney said. "He doesn't get rattled and has a mature game. We like the way he passes and shoots and we feel he defends positionally well. We'd like him to add a little firmness and weight so he can play with a little more force in his own end. But having said that, we think he'll be able to contribute in all areas down the road."

The Adjustment

It's September 19, 2003. The Silvertips are playing the first game in franchise history at Kamloops, and Baranka is looking like anything but a future NHL player. He's having a hard time staying on his skates, his errant passes are going straight toward opposing players and at times he appears lost on the ice.

Fast forward to today and one would never believe it's the same player wearing the number 33 jersey. Baranka oozes confidence when he's on the ice and at times seems a man among boys.

With European players often a crapshoot in the Western Hockey League, the Silvertips are thrilled with the way Baranka, the franchise's first ever pick in the Canadian Hockey League Import Draft, has fit in.

"We felt we'd have a lot of forwards, but we were going to be lacking in skill level on the back end," Everett general manager Doug Soetaert said about selecting Baranka second overall in the 2003 Import Draft. "So we decided to move ahead and take Ivan with our pick and we're pretty happy for it, that's for sure."

But it hasn't always been easy for Baranka, especially at the beginning. There was the adjustment to the smaller rinks and more physical style of hockey in North America. There was learning to exist in a new culture. And, of course, there was the language barrier.

"It took probably a month, a month-and-a-half," Baranka said about the adjustment period. "I used to learn English in school (in Slovakia), but it's not American English. I couldn't catch those words and I thought, 'This is going to be a huge problem.' I could say something, but I couldn't understand anything."

Baranka met that challenge head on. In addition to his English classes back home, he also enrolled in an English class at Everett High School. Now he converses as if he's spoken English all his life.

"The only thing the average hockey fan can try to compare it to is going to Russia," Constantine said of Baranka's adjustment. "You don't know a thing your coach is saying or your teammates are saying, you have no idea where you're supposed to be on the ice, you're living in a foreign country. It's almost impossible. But I thought he adjusted remarkably quick from my experience with European players."

The Drive

There's one thing that drives Baranka, that prompts him to take extra classes to speed up his grasp of English, that causes him to immerse himself in North American culture in an attempt to feel more comfortable. Ever since he first strapped on skates in his hometown of Dubnica in Slovakia at the age of 4, Baranka has dreamed of the NHL.

Sports and hockey have always been a big part of Baranka's life. His father, Milan, played handball at the top level in the former Czechoslovakia. His older brother, Micheal, was a former hockey star himself, once playing on a line with Minnesota Wild star Marian Gaborik for the junior national team before having his career derailed by injury.

And being reared in such a competitive family played a key role in the development of Baranka's single-mindedness. Everything Baranka does, both on the ice and off, is done with the purpose of bringing him closer to fulfilling his NHL dreams.

"I always wanted to play in the NHL," Baranka said. "It's the best league and has the best players, so I want to be there."

To that end, he does everything he needs to further his goal. He's among the hardest-working Silvertips, both on the ice and in off-ice workouts. And he stays out of trouble when away from the rink.

"To me he's a fantastic young man," his host parent, Parker Fowlds, said. "He's a mature 19. I think he has his head on straight and he knows what he wants. Hockey is his life."

The Future

If hockey is Baranka's life, the NHL is his future.

The Silvertips are more or less resigned to losing Baranka after this season, even though he has one year of WHL eligibility remaining. He signed a professional contract with the Rangers prior to this season, and conventional wisdom says he's ready to take the next step into professional hockey.

"He's not very far (from being an NHL player)," Constantine said. "He's probably got to touch up a little bit of his ability to have defensive fundamentals in his game every night. But once he buttons down those fundamentals, it's just going to be opportunity.

"I don't think he's quite polished enough to be a No. 1 defense on an NHL team, meaning a guy who quarterbacks the power play and things like that," Constantine added. "But he's definitely not the type of guy who's only going to be a checking, goonish, defensive-oriented player. He's much more than that. So he fits somewhere between the second-best and fourth-best defense on an NHL team."

Baranka will probably spend a season or two with New York's American Hockey League affiliate in Hartford, Conn.

And who knows? With the way the Rangers are rebuilding, if the NHL gets going again, Baranka may be called upon immediately. Especially if the Rangers decide they need to inject a little humor.

"I like to make people laugh. Just look at me and you can laugh," Baranka said with a self-effacing cackle.

Just don't be shocked. Baranka's full of surprises.

aknarab
02-28-2005, 10:37 PM
as sad as it is going to be watch him leave, i can't be anymore excited for him. Baranka is one hell of a player, and he belongs in the NHL, whenever they decide to play again :burningma