Earlier this week, when the Islanders were heaping praise on Mathew Barzal for standing up for Matthew Schaefer by slashing Mason Marchment after the Columbus winger stuck a knee out to trip the rookie, my mind wandered back to a conversation I had nearly two years ago with Barzal.
At the time as now, the narrative of Barzal taking a leadership role was circulating. He told me, in so many words, that he was sick of it.
“I feel like people have been saying that for years now,” Barzal said then. “I try to lead on the ice. Try to just be myself off the ice. … I think the guys in this room know hockey’s a big part of my life. I’m a student of the game. I’m kinda getting tired of the whole, ‘Can he be a leader?’ I just try to be me.
“I feel like I take this game really seriously. Hopefully that just allows guys to see that, hey, out on the ice early, working out, just little stuff. I don’t come to the rink every day and try to consciously think I need to be a leader.”
