Tuesday, October 21, 2003

By Dejan Kovacevic, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Rico Fata invests no energy in analyzing the aftermath of the mammoth trade between the Penguins and New York Rangers a few months ago.

"Really, I don't think about it," he said yesterday after practice at Mellon Arena. "Besides, that's tough to follow. There were eight players involved. That's quite a few guys to keep track of, you know?"

Stands to reason, then, that Fata will ignore the statistical evidence that shows he has been the most productive player in the deal. Better, even, than Alexei Kovalev, the only player in the exchange of any significant reputation.

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Fata has 17 points in 31 games since coming to the Penguins Feb. 11, including two goals and two assists in four games this season and a tie with Mario Lemieux atop the team's scoring list. Kovalev has 15 points in 29 games with the Rangers, including just two assists -- one on an empty-net goal -- in the first five games this season.

Off the ice, the gap is wider. Fata has been embraced in Pittsburgh to the extent that the Penguins made him a focal point of their marketing campaign. Kovalev, by contrast, has been criticized by his coaches and blasted by the New York media, one columnist writing in the past week that his play has been so "perplexing" the Rangers should have asked the Penguins for an owner's manual when acquiring him.

It might be tempting for Fata to crow about some of that, if only because of the rueful terms that widely were used to describe the Penguins' return in that trade. But, in keeping with his naturally reserved, respectful manner, he consistently has shied away from being measured against Kovalev.

"Alexei Kovalev is an elite player in this league, a truly great player, so it's hard to think about or even fathom anything like a comparison to him," Fata said. "I mean, you can look at the stats and do your own thing, I suppose, but I just can't think of it like that. All I can think about is myself and doing what I can to improve my game."

The Kovalev trade has dimmed as a topic of conversation in the Penguins' circles, perhaps mostly because the other three players acquired -- Mikael Samuelsson, Joel Bouchard and Richard Lintner -- are gone. The same doubtless is true of the $4 million in cash the team received from the Rangers.

But Fata's gradual emergence into a contributor grows as a topic by the day.

"Rico's become an important part of this team," Penguins coach Eddie Olczyk said. "It's good to see a guy take the opportunity he's been given and be rewarded. He brings energy and his great skating ability, and he's been producing, which takes some of the pressure off Mario and Marty Straka up front. If we can have Rico's line going for us, that's a really important part."

Fata was moved to what he believes is his natural position of center at the start of training camp, and he responded by winning the job in the middle of the second line. And that unit, with Ryan Malone and Aleskey Morozov on the wings, has become more of a factor with each game.

That was best evident in the 4-3 upset of the Detroit Red Wings at Mellon Arena Saturday, when Fata scored twice, including the sensational game-winner at 11:31 of the third period. Using his world-class speed to streak through the neutral zone, he caught a long lead pass from Malone just outside the Detroit blue line and burst behind defensemen Chris Chelios and Jiri Fischer. Never slowing, once he reached the right circle, he whipped a wrist shot to the short side over the glove of Dominik Hasek.

Fata acknowledged getting calls from family and friends during the weekend to gush about the goal.

"It probably didn't sink in until the next morning," he said. "He's such a great goalie. Maybe I was just lucky, or maybe he wasn't expecting me to shoot from that far out. It has to do with confidence, too. If I don't have confidence that I can get a shot past him from there, I probably would try a different play. But I feel like I have the confidence now, and I owe that to the coaches here."

Fata, 23, was a first-round pick of the Calgary Flames in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, but he split time between the NHL and minors in each of his five professional seasons before this one, managing only two goals and five assists in 73 total games with the Flames and Rangers. The primary knock was that he never slowed down long enough to make his speed matter.

The Penguins have addressed that at both ends. Offensively, Fata has been instructed by Lemieux and the coaching staff to vary his speed to keep defensemen guessing and to give him more time to use his teammates. Defensively, he has been ordered to adopt more of a stop-and-start style. Previously, he had been swooping in circles while in the Penguins' zone rather than concentrating on a firm assignment.

"It was huge for me coming here," he said. "Right from my first day, I was given every opportunity to succeed, and I'm grateful. I was told to be as creative as I possibly can within the team structure, and that's great because that's how I played when I was growing up. Having them show that confidence in me means so much. Just being in the NHL means so much."

More, no doubt, than revisiting old transactions.

"My focus is on staying here. Unless you're Mario Lemieux or Peter Forsberg or Joe Sakic, you're always fighting to prove yourself at this level. That's all I'm trying to do."

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