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OTTAWA — Kitchener Rangers diminutive dynamo Justin Azevedo was passed over in the two previous NHL entry drafts, so he decided to stay away this time and enjoy the weekend with some buddies in cottage country near Midland, Ont.
Azevedo, the 2007-08 Canadian junior player of the year, was hopeful that there would be a team willing to take a chance on him this time around, but he wasn't about to allow the potential of another draft disappointment take away from a day of fun on the golf course.
"I was on the third hole and heard my phone ring in the golf cart," Azevedo said, when reached on his cell phone. "I must admit I got a little nervous when I heard it ring. But it was my agent [Joe Resnick] and he had good news."
The good news was the Los Angeles Kings selected Azevedo in the sixth round, 153rd overall. Other teams like the Calgary Flames also were interested in Azevedo, but Kings general manager Dean Lombardi and his scouting staff jumped in first.
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"When you're in the later rounds of the draft, you're looking for a player that has one side of the game and you hope the other side develops," Lombardi said.
"He has an unbelievable amount of heart and character. Guys like that you never can count out."
At nearly every stride of his career Azevedo has been counted out because of his small 5-foot-7, 183-pound frame. He certainly is proof that good things can come in small packages.
Rangers GM-coach Peter DeBoer, recently hired as the Florida Panthers head coach, was criticized for drafting the undersized Azevedo 14th overall at the 2004 OHL draft. Back then, he was generously listed at 5-foo-7 and 160 pounds.
The detractors must have forgotten what smaller, big-hearted players such as Derek Roy and Mike Richards did for the Rangers in their successful run to the 2003 Memorial Cup title.
DeBoer was confident that Azevedo was the type of talent who played bigger than his size and a player who possessed tremendous hockey sense.
"When you see how successful Derek Roy has been [with the Buffalo Sabres], you think, 'I could be like that,'" Azevedo said. "Even [Richards], he brought the [Philadelphia] Flyers to the Eastern Conference final. They are outstanding and they work hard every night. It would be nice if I could do something like that."
The Kitchener fans called Azevedo the Wizard from West Lorne (near Chatham, Ont.) for his magic with a hockey stick this season. The fourth-year forward already won the OHL scoring championship, the league championship with his teammates and the Red Tilson Trophy as the league's most valuable player as well as Canadian junior player-of-year honours.
"He's amazing," DeBoer said. "As small as he looks on the ice, he's even smaller when you see him off the ice. But he's got the heart of a lion. He just refuses to lose."
Azevedo was overlooked in the past two NHL entry drafts. But after he was beset at different times by a serious ankle injury, hernia surgery and pneumonia in his three previous seasons, he enjoyed a breakout year this season.
He scored 43 goals and 124 points in 67 games and was the first Ranger to win the scoring title since Dwight Foster in 1976-77. In the postseason this spring, Azevedo produced a remarkable 14 goals and 48 points in 25 games.
Azevedo, born on April Fool's Day 20 years ago, has a plan this summer to make the half-hour drive daily from West Lorne to St. Thomas for workouts to be ready for Kings' training camp.
"I have been waiting for this opportunity," he said. "I can't wait to show them what I can do and I'll do everything I can to prepare."
