Tomas Jurco hopes fresh start with Hawks reignites his career

Tomas Jurco came to the NHL as something of a YouTube sensation, with his quick hands and hockey imagination on display in a variety of jaw-dropping highlights from his days in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

But that trick-shot stuff doesn’t always fly in the NHL, and then-Red Wings coach Mike Babcock wanted to see him play a more physical style befitting his 6-1 frame. And Jurco did what he was told. Or, at least, he tried.

“My first year with Babs, if I wanted to stay in the league, I had to do whatever it took to stay in the league,” Jurco said. “[I had] a two-way deal. I had to change my game a little bit. This is the NHL, and you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to stay in the league.”

It never panned out for Jurco in Detroit, a promising rookie season a distant memory as he spent most of this season as a healthy scratch after recovering from offseason back surgery. But as the newest Blackhawks forward — acquired Friday for a third-round draft pick — he’s hoping that skill will be more valued, and that he can bring back some of that offensive flair he showed in juniors.

“It’s been a tough couple of years for me in Detroit,” Jurco said. “This is a fresh start for me, and I’m very excited for it. … I wasn’t progressing in the last year or so, so I think this is a great time to push my game to another level.”

Jurco will be thrown right into the Hawks’ playoff push on Sunday against the rival St. Louis Blues. He’ll skate on the third line with Marcus Kruger and fellow Slovak Marian Hossa, with whom he played in the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

Another Slovak, Richard Panik, parlayed a trade to Chicago into a career turnaround, going from a minor-league afterthought in Toronto to a top-line player on pace for a 20-goal season. Jurco, who had dinner with Panik when Detroit in town last month, is hoping for a similar resurgence after watching 16 of the last 21 Red Wings games from the press box.

“I think [Panik] is a good comparable when you think of the opportunity [and] what he went through,” Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “Sometimes it’s showing patience with the young guys. We talk a lot about certain guys, the change of addresses at that stage — they’re still high picks and there’s a lot of potential there. He’s played some NHL games, so it’s not like he’s new to our league. So maybe there’s something there.”

Jurco was an early second-round pick for Detroit in the 2011 draft, and quickly showed flashes of potential with eight goals in 36 games as a rookie in the 2013-14 season. But he had just seven goals in the next two seasons combined, and fell out of the lineup entirely this season. But he’s only 24 years old, and that skill and creativity is still in there somewhere. The Hawks hope they can coax it out of him.

Jurco does, too.

“We’ll see what’s going to happen,” Jurco said when asked to describe his game. “I’m trying to play fast and add a little skill.”

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