Youth Will Be Served He’s Schutz - And He Scores Big Praise From Hockey Experts

He’s worn the label since the day he pulled on the shirt.

Can’t Miss.

Derek Schutz is the complete package of size, skill and intelligence uncommon in a recently turned 17-year-old rookie.

There’s a lot to handle for an 11th grader from Yorkton, Saskatchewan, pop. 16,000. Heading into tonight’s decisive playoff game with the Portland Winter Hawks, he and the Spokane Chiefs have generated attention that borders on adulation.

The Chiefs have caught a wave of community pride and support for coming back from three games down in their first-round Western Hockey League playoff. Tickets for tonight’s Game 7 were snapped up in 3 hours Monday morning.

The game is on TV.

Spots for the broadcast were reportedly sold in a matter of hours, a strong hint that, down the road, the club is in for more live television exposure.

Schutz one day will captain the team in the center of all this. He’s referred to as the next Trevor Linden, a comparison to the Vancouver Canucks’ 6-4, 210-pound, 25-year-old star.

The good news is that Schutz (it rhymes with shoots) doesn’t buy it, at least not too loudly. He may in fact be the next Linden, but he defers the talk with a first-year player’s humility.

To hear him tell it, he’s got a lot to do just being Schutz.

As the fifth pick of the WHL bantam draft two years ago, Schutz had a reputation to uphold at 14.

At 15, he played two games with the Chiefs as an affiliate player, centering a line with veteran wingers Jeremy Stasiuk and Kevin Sawyer - rarified air for a kid borrowed from his midget team.

“I was with Sawyer and Stasiuk so I wouldn’t get hurt out there,” Schutz said. “They watched out for me.”

He felt the step up then; he’s feeling it now.

“When they give you a tug here,” he said, “you go flying. Back home, you can usually shrug it off. Strength is the biggest adjustment.

“I’m not that strong and I’m not that strong of a skater,” added Schutz, who scored 10 goals with seven assists in 70 regularseason games. Those aren’t startling numbers, even for a 16-year-old, but they are encouraging given the ice time he’s shared with a load of veteran forwards.

With a veteran, team Schutz has had the luxury of making a gradual impact. After centering the fourth line, he was bumped up in the Portland series to the second line with Jason Podollan and Jan Hrdina.

It’s a big step for a player in his 16-year-old season.

“With Jan and Jason, I’m not the offensive threat,” he said. “I’ve always been a pretty good fore-checker. I like getting into the corners, going after the puck.”

Schutz is strong enough, confident enough, secure enough to detail his weaknesses, to play a role and bide his time. He feels his stride is choppy, that he has to lengthen and smooth his skating style. His wrists, he said, aren’t that strong, so he has to come in close to shoot.

The shot will get longer. Marlene and Lyle Schutz raised a family with an athletic orientation. Their oldest son Scott, 21, is trying out for the Canadian national volleyball team.

“His brother is like 6-5 and 220,” said Chiefs coach Mike Babcock. “Derek will get bigger. He’ll go away for the summer and come back a year older. It’s amazing what that does for confidence. He’ll be a dominant player in our league by next January.”

Schutz, who’s eligible for the NHL draft next year, is already being groomed for the Chiefs’ captaincy, although Babcock is purposely vague when pinpointing just when.

“Maybe when he comes back as a 19-year-old,” the coach said, knowing that the NHL team that drafts Schutz may have earlier plans for him.

There’s no time like now to be assertive.

Schutz said he’s not surprised that Portland has played this series so tough. “Their top two lines are working hard,” he said. “Isbister (Brad) and Zednik (Richard) are playing well. They’ve stayed away from fighting - they’ve used pretty good discipline - so we haven’t been able to get anything going that way.

“Everybody has picked it up in the playoffs, which surprises me a little bit. Back home, by the time playoffs rolled around, everybody was tired. A playoff game in this league is faster than a regular-season game.”

A strong student, he’s taking chemistry, algebra/trigonometry and English at Ferris High School.

“You take homework on the road, but it’s not very often that it really gets done,” he said. “After a big win, you really don’t want to do homework. You get home from a road trip at 5 o’clock in the morning and do it without going to sleep.”

Jay Bertsch, one of the Chiefs’ alternate captains, picked up on the remark.

“Trevor Linden,” he said, needling Schutz, “still thinks like a rookie.”

Schutz won’t deny it. A kid gets lost in a strange town.

“I don’t have a car here, but I use my roommate’s,” he said. “I was taking Graffer (Kris Graf) home one day. We had no clue where we were. I live on the South Hill, he lives way out off Sprague. It took an hour to find his house. I finally dropped him off and had to find my way back home. That was another hour.”

The drive usually takes 30 minutes.

“We got there,” Schutz said. “That’s the big thing. I was a little lost my first three months. I was homesick. It was tough, leaving home. I’m used to it now.

“I don’t get lost any more.”

Maxwell charged

Lethbridge coach and director of operations Bryan Maxwell was charged with two counts of common assault for his role in a March 26 incident that involved WHL referee Brent Reiber.

Police also charged Maxwell, the former Spokane coach, with one count of uttering a threat to cause death or bodily harm. Maxwell’s assistant, Reid Williams, was also charged with one count for uttering a threat.

Funeral Thursday for Blair

Funeral service for Wayne Blair, former president of the Spokane Americans youth hockey organization, is scheduled Thursday at 1 p.m. at Riplinger Funeral Home, 4305 N. Division. Blair, 60, died of a heart attack Monday. He was the former general manager of the Spokane Flames, now Braves, Junior B hockey team. He was a longtime Spokane Chiefs off-ice game official.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 color photos

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: THE DEREK SCHUTZ FILE Hometown: Yorkton, Sask. Birthdate: 3-5-79 Size: 6-2, 170 Position: Center