Higgins Skates From Smithtown to the NHL

Four NHL teams in less than one year, some will say, is better than no professional hockey career at all. But for Chris Higgins, a Smithtown native, it has been a roller coaster of sorts from his dream team with Montreal, down to New York to play for the Blue Shirts, back up to Canada to join Calgary and his final stop last month with the Florida Panthers, where he signed a one-year, $1.6 million deal.

Higgins, now 27 and entering his eighth season of professional hockey, took a slight spill as one of Montreal's most reliable players to being non-existent with the Rangers last season, a major factor in him being dealt to Calgary midway through the year.

But before he was saying his goodbyes in New York and before he had the freedom to choose his own destiny this past off-season, there was a time when Higgins was living the proverbial dream, playing for the team he rooted for as a boy.

The Higgins family was intrigued when NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman walked to the podium to announce who the 14th overall selection was of the 2002 NHL Draft. Sitting in the stands at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, they figured Montreal would pass on him.

Fresh off a Hobey Baker Award nomination and two seasons at Yale, not to mention a solid prep career at Avon Old Farms in Connecticut, Higgins was a prize for whoever snatched him in the first round.

Lifelong Habs fans, Chris and his father Robert hoped the storied sports franchise north of the American border would pick him. They figured it was too good to be true. Any team would do at that point.

Odds were against Higgins since Eric Nystrom, the son of legendary New York Islanders player Bobby Nystrom and a fellow Long Island native, was taken 10th overall by Calgary. What were the chances two Long Island guys would go in the first 15 selections? Then the unthinkable happened. Higgins became a Canadian.

"It caught us by surprise thinking that Montreal would be interested," Robert said. "We didn't even plan on going up [to the draft]. Going there, I'm telling myself, 'Boy, now I have to root for another team.'

"It's beyond a dream. Suzanne [his wife] couldn't even speak. When they came up to get us to go downstairs and meet with the team's people, I couldn't get down the stairs. I was in shock."

As it turns out, Higgins would be joining Long Island native and friend Mike Komisarek in Montreal. He was drafted in 2001 with the 7th overall pick.

But Higgins's love of hockey started on the ponds of Smithtown, where he would skate for hours, pretending he was one of many talented old-time Montreal players.

That fascination stemed from Robert, a captain in the FDNY's Engine Co. 231 in Brooklyn. He was attracted to the team because of a table hockey game his father bought the family when he was younger.

"My older brother always took the Rangers," Robert said, who played hockey at St. Bonaventure College and on the FDNY team for 15 years. "Montreal was my team. I watched them on TV. They won Stanley Cups pretty consistently back then. I was so attracted to the organization."

Hockey has always been a family affair for the Higgins bunch. Kevin, Chris's younger brother by a year and a New York City police officer, played at St. Anthony's and for one season at Avon Old Farms. He is currently a member of the NYPD team as well. Their younger brother Rob, who is in high school, plays PAL hockey.

Higgins attended St. Patrick's in Smithtown until eighth grade and called Avon Old Farms home for the next four years. He never attended a public school in his hometown. As a youngster, though, he played on some of the top youth squads around, learning a great deal from Aleksey Nikiforov, a former Russian Elite League player and a heralded private instructor based in Hauppauge.

Nikiforov was in attendance when Higgins scored his first career goal in a 4-3 overtime win over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden in 2005.

"My professional instinct said, 'This kid has potential,'" said Nikiforov, who began working with Higgins in 1991 and has coached a handful of players that have made it to the NHL, including Alexei Yashin and Alexei Kovalev. "He is a very strong skater, has good hands, is quick and has a rapid release. He also has confidence to win one-on-one battles and go to the net."

That, plus hundreds of hours of work with his father and Nikiforov over the years have helped make him the player he is today. Robert, however, was the one, who for years would take his son to Miller's Pond in Smithtown and teach the basics.

"He was hard on me," Higgins said. "That's something you don't want to hear when you're young."

From 2003-2005, he played two full seasons with the Hamilton Bulldogs, the Canadians' AHL affiliate. He made his NHL debut in two games during the 2003-2004 season, but they were short stints amidst a rising presentation in his two minor league seasons that saw him score 21 and 28 goals, respectively. By 2005-2006, Higgins was a full-time NHL player.

The second game that season, the Habs flew into New York for their showdown against the Rangers – always a brilliant battle of two Original Six clubs.

"Being a rookie, we didn't think he'd dress for that game," Robert said.

At exactly 15:00 of the first period, Higgins took a pass from Thomas Plakanec and put his first career goal past Rangers' goalie Kevin Weekes.

"We jumped up and the Ranger fans were like, 'What the hells is going on here?'" Robert said. "Once we told them, they were a little more understanding. It was another piece to the whole dream package."

"I was just hoping to play a solid game and not look terrible in front of my family," Higgins recalled. "I was pumped up to be playing at Madison Square Garden. Seeing everyone after the game, everyone being so happy was special."

His welcome-to-the-NHL moment came 15 minutes prior to the goal when he lined up against Jaromir Jagr. He was teetering on that threshold of being a fan, in a realm where now thousands are fans of his own now.

"I was so excited and terrified at the same time," he said.

He finished his rookie season with a respectable 23 goals and 15 assists. He also scored the 1,000th goal at the Bell Centre against the Islanders on March 28. Higgins scored 22 and 27 goals the following two seasons, but took a dive in 2008-2009 with a shoulder injury, forcing him to suit up for just 57 games.

In June 2009, Higgins was dealt to his hometown Rangers for Scott Gomez, Tom Pyatt and Mike Busto. He stayed in the Big Apple for 55 games, scoring six goals and never getting into any rhythm in head coach John Tortorella's system.

"I was completely pumped," said Higgins. "I always wanted to play for [the Rangers] at some point in my career. It just happened earlier than I expected."

Then it was on to Calgary, where he finished out last season and played 12 quick games, ironically alongside Nystrom.

Last month, Higgins inked the one-year deal with Florida, where he will be the second-line left winger behind David Booth.

"Booth and Higgins on the left side, that's pretty good," Panthers general manager Dale Tallon told Sporting News. "He'll be a top-six forward on our team. He wanted to be here. Look at his history, with three 20-goal seasons in a row. He had a tough year last year. He wants to bounce back and show his worth. I think he'll be a wonderful asset for our team."

The Panthers will use Chicago's stance on how to run a team, especially with the Blackhawks winning a Stanley Cup last year. Higgins was attracted to that situation.

"Obviously I'm very excited," he told Sporting News. "It's a great opportunity to come down and prove myself again."

Like the Panthers, Higgins will try to reinvent himself as a name again in the league.

"We've come a long way from Miller's pond," Robert said.