A column dedicated to John Nygren

This column is dedicated to the late John Nygren, one of the University of Maine’s premier hockey fans. The NEWS’ display advertising manager died last week of cancer and will be deeply missed by all who knew him.

The personable Nygren, the possessor of a great wit, divided his winter weekends between Maine hockey games and ice fishing trips.

He was an extremely knowledgeable hockey fan who loved to talk about the game, its intricacies, and the Maine team.

I did not know John as well as I would have liked. We shared a lot of hockey talk and swapped a lot of jokes. He was the type of individual who brightened up the day with his sense of humor.

John, this column on one of your favorite sports, hockey, is dedicated to you:

Mike Golden had everything going for him.

He had just finished his senior year at the University of Maine as a Hobey Baker Award finalist. Golden had 31 goals and 44 assists in 44 games while leading the Bears to their first ever NCAA Tournament Final Four berth. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound Reading, Mass., native went on to sign with the NHL’s New York Rangers, who obtained his rights in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers. Edmonton had drafted Golden in the second round.

Everything has gone downhill ever since.

Two days before his first Rangers training camp, Golden broke his ankle and it eventually required surgery.

He came back to notch 12 goals and 10 assists in 36 games for Denver, the Rangers’ International Hockey League affiliate.

Last season, he played again in the IHL with Flint (68 games, 13 goals, 33 assists) and wound up severing a tendon in the front of his leg when a teammate accidentally cut him with his skate during practice.

The severed tendon required surgery this summer and infection also set in. Golden underwent five surgical procedures in all.

He missed all of training camp, reported to Binghamton of the AHL, was subsequently sent to Albany of the IHL and is now in Milwaukee on loan to the Vancouver Canucks organization.

He is currently sidelined because of a sprained left ankle, which has not regained its proper strength due to the immobilization caused by the surgical procedures this summer.

Golden has no points in five games with Milwaukee.

“I think if I took the rest of the season off to rehab my ankle and tendon and had an entire summer to get back into shape, I’ll be fine,” said Golden. “But I’m in the last year of my contract and I’ve got to produce. Regardless of what percent I can play at, I’ll come back and try to play well. That’s the only way to be guaranteed a contract for next year. There isn’t a lot of security going into a training camp without a contract.”

The 25-year-old Golden’s dream has always been to play in the NHL and he said, despite the string of bad luck, he feels it is still a realistic goal.

“I wouldn’t still be in this game if I didn’t think I could play in the NHL,” said Golden. “The day I determine that I’m a career minor leaguer is the day I get out of the game. I’ve got my (political science) degree now and I’d like to get my master’s degree.”

Golden said the severed tendon and atrophy has temporarily cost him his biggest asset: his speed.

“Right now, I’m still a step behind where I was before the injury,” said Golden. “I realized that when I got the puck and couldn’t break away from people. When you don’t have something that you consider your bread-and-butter, it’s a frustrating situation. I’ve just got to play the best that I can with what I have, so to speak. I’ve got to find a niche.”

Golden is hopeful that the step he lost will return in due time. “With a hard summer of rehab, I think I can get that step back,” he said.

He is living with former Bear teammate Jack Capuano and called Milwaukee the best “minor league setup I’ve been in.”

Larry Pleau, the Rangers director of player development, said Golden “has to prove himself as a prospect.”

Brian Burke, Vancouver’s vice president and director of hockey operations said, “We haven’t written off Mike Golden and neither has New York. As a college player, we felt he was explosive and dangerous at all times offensively as well as being conscientious defensively. We think he can help us at that level right now.”