EchoBlog

It is nearly impossible not to notice Al Iafrate on the ice, particularly when he's moving. The speed is astounding, even for a National Hockey League defenseman. When you add deft manipulating of a hockey stick, it is a combination that can leave heads shaking.

Unfortunately, Iafrate's 6-foot-3, 220-pound body has taken a beating over the past seven seasons -- and his psyche too. Most, though not all, of the damage and pain was experienced and evident in the 6 1/2 seasons Iafrate spent playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The second half of last season was spent with his current employer, the Washington Capitals, who sent established players Bob Rouse and Peter Zezel to Toronto for Iafrate on Jan. 16.

Tonight Iafrate and the Capitals will play at Maple Leaf Gardens for the first time since that day.

Advertisement

"I believe he not only can be one of the better defensemen in the league but one of the better players in the league," Capitals Coach Terry Murray said recently. "We have to be very careful with how we handle Al Iafrate. He wears his heart on his sleeve."

There are two books on Iafrate. The on-ice edition played more than 50 NHL games before he was 19 years old, had two all-star game appearances before he was 24 and two 20-plus goal seasons. He also had major knee surgery. The off-ice edition includes two absences from the Maple Leafs and one from the Capitals because of personal problems. They include a messy divorce, after which a teammate began seeing his ex-wife, and then a paternity suit.

"First of all, he's a very sensitive individual and an insightful person," said Rick Curran, Iafrate's agent. "Secondly, he's a lot more aware of what's going on at times than people give him credit for."

Advertisement

Growing up in suburban Detroit, Iafrate always wanted to be a professional hockey player. The Red Wings were his team from the time he started skating at age 5.

At 17, when most teenagers have the normal adolescent concerns, Iafrate was playing for the U.S. Olympic Team. That 1984 squad had to follow the Miracle on Ice group of 1980 and was buried under the snow and expectations in Sarajevo.Fourth Pick in Draft

Iafrate didn't go home to Livonia, Mich., afterward. He went to Belleville, Ontario, to join the Bulls of the Ontario Hockey League, one of three Canadian junior circuits. He only played 10 games, as the season was ending.

The Maple Leafs, who had not had a winning record since 1978-79, finished 18th -- and out of the playoffs -- that season. So they chose Iafrate with the fourth pick in the draft -- the highest an American has been taken by the franchise.

Advertisement

"It's a lot to deal with," Iafrate said of that period. "When you're 17 and away from home, it's kind of hard. But it's something you get used to. Right after that, I turned pro and I was right in the fish bowl, man, right in Toronto.

"It's a great hockey town, Toronto. It's just too bad. . . . The city is a tough city to play in. Everyone knows in the middle of the summer who you are and where you go. . . . Some people like that. I guess when you're 19 or 20, it's pretty neat and all, having people recognize you. But you get sick of that after a while."

There were some good times in Toronto. Goalie Ken Wregget, just two years older, was breaking in during Iafrate's first season. They were roommates and friends. In the early years, they used to spend hours after practice at the Gardens, fooling around on the ice, honing puck-handling skills and trying tricks you can't get away with in practice. "He's sort of a Harlem Globetrotter with a stick and puck," former Maple Leafs general manager Gord Stellick said of Iafrate.

Advertisement

But there was little joy in Toronto, and the trade simply was the last chapter of a trying tale. When he was 19, Iafrate married Melissa Weber, whom he dated in high school. But he also showed up for his second training camp 20 pounds overweight and departed briefly when management criticized his extra baggage.

He lost the weight and gained some stats and stature as the Maple Leafs reached the Norris Division finals in 1985-86 and then again the following year. In '87-88, Iafrate had a career-high 22 goals and 52 points and played in his first all-star game. But his marriage was breaking up and he left the team for most of a month in 1988-89.

"I'm sure he needed someone to talk to and I wasn't there," said Wregget, who was traded that season to Philadelphia.

Gary Leeman and Iafrate once were friends too, but that dissolved when Leeman began seeing Melissa. Iafrate withdrew from his teammates. Still, he had a career high in points (63) in 1989-90 and went to the all-star game again.

Advertisement

But that March, he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. This type of injury normally takes a year to heal, but Iafrate was back by October. The Leafs were dreadful, however, and the only numbers Iafrate was posting were penalty minutes.

"I think you're a little more on edge, a little more protective," he said. Before he was injured, Iafrate "used to take the puck, go down the boards, see three guys cutting me off and I'd cut right to the net, headfirst, thinking, 'There's no way they are going to stop me.' Then all of sudden, you blow your knee out -- three 'scopes and a reconstruction. That humbles you a little bit. You realize you're human."

Last November, during a practice in St. Louis, Iafrate was served with a summons in a paternity suit. Again, his personal life spilled onto the ice. By that time, management was unhappy about his recovery time from his injury. Trade rumors began. Tom Watt replaced Doug Carpenter as coach and demanded a more cautious style from a player who once referred to himself as the "human highlight film." The Leafs finally traded him.

Advertisement

"He can act really mature and really immature," Stellick said. "With Al . . . when he's on an up, he's as good as any defenseman in the league, or you can sit down and have an amusing and intelligent discussion about anything.

"I like the guy. But he was a classic case of somebody taken in the under-age draft who was rushed and wasn't ready."

The Capitals were hoping a change in scenery would solve the lingering emotional and physical problems. But in 30 regular season games last year, Iafrate had just six goals and eight assists with a startling 124 penalty minutes.

Then the emotional ghosts reappeared. Iafrate was excused from practice and the first playoff game, and sought help. He returned for the second game and the rest of the playoffs. He had the winning goal in Game 1 of the division finals against Pittsburgh, and wound up finishing the series despite a cracked heel suffered in Game 1.

Advertisement

So he went back to Livonia and moved into his own house.

"This was the first summer he lived totally alone," Alice Iafrate said with a tone of a mother looking at freshly cut apron strings. "I sort of let him go. I'd sneak over once in a while. He's 25, but his father still thinks he's got to tell him what he wants him to do. I think Al had a relaxing summer. I know he worked hard. People would tell me they saw him out running."

But don't think his mother and father Al are not in touch with their son. Alice Iafrate peppered a reporter with questions about what people in Washington thought of her son and the up-in-the-air status of several players' contracts. She has left pots of spaghetti in her son's refrigerator after sneaking into his new house. And she is not sure if all the emotional problems are solved. 'Have to Deal With It'

Advertisement

Iafrate came to camp in great shape and with the best tan. He spent the summer working out and going to the beach. He learned to play the guitar and rode his two Harley-Davidsons.

"They {the past difficulties} are all things you have to deal with," he said. "You can't ignore something or act like nothing happened. You have to deal with it. . . . You can't get too uptight when things are going bad. You can't get too high when things are going really well. You need that happy medium. It's easier to say, though. I can be an excitable person. If Metallica {a heavy metal rock group} comes out with a new CD, I'll be the happiest guy in the world for a week."

Iafrate's face lit up with a huge smile at that notion.

And Iafrate gives a small burst of a smile when he talks about his daughter, Meg, who lives in St. Louis with her mother, the woman who filed the paternity suit. Iafrate said the suit has been settled.

Then, like a light bulb, the smile turns off. "It's a hard situation," he said. "I'm not there like an every-day father, so that can cause a tense situation. But I've got to deal with it."

Another delicate situation surfaced last week. A court in Whitby, Ontario, convicted a 47-year-old man of assaulting his 51-year-old wife after accusing her of having sex with Iafrate, a family friend, according to Assistant Crown Attorney Paul Bellefontaine. Iafrate, who was not called to testify about the June 4, 1990, incident, declined to comment on the case. But he is likely to be questioned again by reporters in Toronto.

Iafrate managed to chuckle at the thought of the attention he would get, knowing he'll be back in Washington a day later, where few recognize him.

"I love that," he said. "If you go somewhere, whether it be a restaurant or a party or a bar, you're not going to be judged. People don't know who you are. You walk into a place in Toronto and someone's talking about a move Cam Neely put on you five years ago. I mean, that's something you try to forget."

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uK3SoaCnn6Sku7G70q1lnKedZK6zr8eirZ5no6W8s8DSaGhycWFkfnF7j3JmopmWp661sYyfmKysXaK8t7XNoGSfqp%2BjwW7DyK2fZqCZqMGwvthmpp9lpKq%2Fo8HLnqWcnV9lgKWwxXKYnmWWbn52eZOemXJlaZaCo3mUbJxubpJng3qEw2xm