He doesn’t shout about it, but then, that’s not really his style. The Devils’ Arron Asham is quietly making the most of his chance to do more than muck and scrap.
Asham, an Ojibway Native Canadian, has been one of the Devils’ bright lights in their first five games of the season, notching three points in those games. One of Lou Lamoriello’s wiser free-agent signings of the past few summers, Asham was brought in to add regular-duty grit to a lineup that needs it.
But there’s also the chance for Asham to do more. Playing with Zach Parise and Dainius Zubrus, he’s getting the chance to look more like the player who had 96- and 92-point seasons in the junior league for the Red Deer team coach Brent Sutter had not yet bought.
“I haven’t been pigeonholed before, just not getting a regular chance. I’m getting one here, so I’ll take it,” the 29-year-old former Canadien and Islander said. “When I get the puck, I think I make decent plays.”
He makes smart plays, percentage plays, money plays, the ones that keep possibilities open instead of risking turnovers. Asham’s career best of 34 points with the 2002-03 Islanders seems ready to be surpassed
“Time on the power play and a regular shift, that’s all you could ask for,” said Asham, who caught Lamoriello’s eye while playing four seasons with the Islanders, and playing hard against the Devils.
The native of Portage-la-Prairie, Manitoba, Asham says he’s proud of his heritage. He sports a tattoo of a chief on his shoulder.
“My uncle does rain-dances and powwows. He’s big into that,” Asham said.
For now, the Devils are pleased enough with the frequency of Asham’s more conventional scoring celebrations.
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It took Martin Brodeur four starts to record his first victory of the season, but he still allowed five goals on 17 shots in Saturday’s 6-5 triumph in Atlanta.
“I thought Marty fought it a little bit,” Sutter said. “Hopefully getting a win for him will get him going. He wants to give us the level [of proficiency] he has in the past. There are some reasons for it that he has to work on to make himself better.”
Brodeur agreed he was not at top form Saturday.
“I’m definitely not happy with the way I played,” he said. “I definitely need to be better if we want to succeed.”
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The Devils visit Pittsburgh on Wednesday, the Flyers on Thursday and the Islanders on Saturday.