Devils’ Corkum dedicates series to Bears’ Walsh Former UM star scores vs. Avs

Former University of Maine winger Bob Corkum was back in the lineup for the New Jersey Devils in their Stanley Cup final series against Colorado Tuesday night and he has dedicated the series to University of Maine coach Shawn Walsh, who is recuperating from stem cell transplantation in his battle with kidney cancer.

Corkum scored a shorthanded first-period goal to tie the game 1-1 Tuesday and, during an interview between the first and second periods, he told ESPN’s Al Morganti that he dedicated the goal to Walsh.

Walsh, who is staying with his brother Kevin and sister-in-law Leslie in Annandale, Va., had gone for a walk between periods but was told of Corkum’s comments by his sister-in-law.

“That meant so much to me,” said Walsh, who had talked to Corkum earlier in the afternoon and offered him encouragement.

“Bobby is a great person. He is the epitome of what college is all about. He came to Maine as a young 17-year-old kid and he left as a man,” said Walsh who pointed out that Corkum is paying for the plane ticket to fly his former teammate and college roomate, Dave Wensley, to Maine from Vancouver for the reunion weekend from June 30-July 2.

Corkum took a game-high six shots on goal Tuesday night in New Jersey’s 2-1 win that evened the series at 1-1.

Corkum had played in six of New Jersey’s 19 Stanley Cup games but it appears he could be a regular the rest of the series since Randy McKay is sidelined with a broken hand. He had one assist.

“I’ve thought a lot about Shawn and the battle he’s going through. He has called me a couple of times the last few weeks, especially when I wasn’t playing, and he told me to keep my head up and keep working. He was so positive. He has been a real inspiration to me,” said Corkum Tuesday morning.

“To go through as much as he has and to be so positive is remarkable. He’s a fighter and he’s a big part of why I’m here today. He’s the coach who has made the biggest impact on my life. My prayers are with him and I’m dedicating this series to him,” added Corkum.

Walsh said “so far, so good” when asked about his recuperation from the stem cell transplantation, which occurred 13 days ago at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Md. Kevin Walsh was a perfect match and donated his stem cells in the hope they will mature and destroy the remaining cancerous tumors in Shawn’s chest.

“When Bobby scored his goal, I felt a lot better,” said Walsh, who has walked for as long as 22 minutes and actually hit golf balls with his brother the other day.

Walsh has been cleared by doctors to attend the alumni weekend provided everything progresses well. He was discharged from the hospital on Sunday.

Corkum, who has made his niche as a defensive specialist and top-notch faceoff man, had practiced as the right wing on a line with point-producers Bobby Holik and Scott Gomez. Center Holik was New Jersey’s fourth-leading playoff scorer with 14 points (6 goals, 8 assists) and left wing Gomez was seventh with 12 (4 & 8).

However, he saw quite a bit of time with Holik and Sergei Nemchinov Tuesday night and played 14 minutes, 15 seconds.

The 33-year-old Corkum had averaged 91/2 minutes of ice time in his six previous games and was used as a checking-line center and penalty killer. But he took more of an offensive approach as evidenced by the game-high six shots on goal.

“I’m still going to take care of the defensive side of the game first, especially against such a high-powered team as Colorado. But it’s very exciting,” said Corkum. “I’ll hang in the offensive zone a little longer to try to create shots but we can’t have the three of us get caught below the goal line because that could lead to an odd-man situation [rush].”

Corkum, who has never been beyond the second round of the playoffs with any of his six NHL teams, was looking forward to Tuesday night’s challenge.

“As an athlete and a competitor, this is what you want. You want to be the guy who has the puck on his stick. You want to play a significant role and make an impact. You want to contribute to a big win and, down the road, a Stanley Cup,” said Corkum, who was appearing in his 57th career NHL playoff game.