Monday, June 29, 2009 111
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com SrTn
Willing his way to the NH L
By MARK BURNS afterwards, the now ex-Wolverine
Daily Sports Writer grabs the same bucket of pucks.
Positioning himself on the face-off
The bench door opens at Buc- dotin the left circle, Palushaj shoots
caneer Arena, home of the Des at the far side corners of the net
Moines Buccaneers, and out skates until, finally, coach Regg Simon has
a 15-year-old carrying a bucket of to kick him off the ice.
pucks. He glides over to his usual But if it were up to Simon, he'd let
spot betweenthe center hash marks, the Northville, Mich. native keep at
about 12 to15 feet from the net. it all night.
He pours the bucket of pucks onto When Palushaj arrived in Des
the ice and zeroes in on his target. Moines in the summer of 2005,
The youngster fires away at the four Simon quickly realized he had
corners of the net, concentrating on acquired a special young player.
his quick release and keeping his "Desire - he has an intangible
head up. After a few rounds, then not many players have," Simon said.
15-year-old Aaron Palushaj skates "I've never been around a kid who
a few laps around the freshly resur- was legitimately the first one on the
faced ice rink. ice and legitimately the last one off
After about 30 minutes, his team- everyday.... If I had to hedge abet on
mates and some of the coaches someone who was going to will their
trickle onto the ice. A strenuous way to the NHL, it would probably
two-hour practice soon follows. But be him."
On Apr. 3, Palushaj came one
step closer to proving Simon right.
Palushaj signed a contract with
the Peoria Rivermen, the Ameri-
can Hockey League affiliate of the
NHL's St. Louis Blues.
Palushaj sat down with Michigan
coach Red Berenson prior to mak-
ing a final decision - one that would
mean forfeiting his final two years
of NCAA eligibility.
Berenson has historically been
opposed to players leaving the Uni-
versity early if they are not ready for
the next level. But Palushaj said the
two are still on "good terms," even
after his premature departure from
the maize and blue.
"He was disappointed, but you
don't just leave to play in Peoria,"
Palushaj said. "It's a chance to play
in the NHL and play for St. Louis. He
understands where my heart's at."
A SELF-MADE FAMILY
For the past few weeks, Palushaj
has been stationed in St. Louis,
training with the Blues' strength
and conditioning coaches to
become stronger and improve his
skating. But Palushaj wouldn't real-
ly consider that work - especially
with an opportunity to impress the
St. Louis coaching staff at the Pro-
Orientation Camp which begins on
July 8.
Working 30 to 40 hours a week as
a 12 year-old - that's real work. Just
tell that to Tom Palushaj, Aaron's
father.
In 1972, the elder Palushaj emi-
grated from his native country of
Albania to the United States. Aar-
on's mother, Rita, had traveled to
the United States just three years
earlier.
As a teenager, Tom endured long
hours to support his family of 11. He
and his brothers eventually became
entrepreneurs in the restaurant
industry, opening Archie's in Livo-
nia and the Lyon Grill in South
Lyon.
"They're a self-made family, and
it's agoodhome,"Simonsaid."Aaron
probably grew up with inspiration
around him all the time."
LIGHTIN'GTHE LAMP
Natural goal scorers have a dis-
tinguishing attribute about them -
the puck always seems to find their
stick and eventually the back of the
net.
A soft touch around the crease,
an endless array of moves that leave
netminders scratching their heads
and an uncanny ability to score any-
where in the offensive zone makes
them a goalie's worst nightmare
See PALUSHAJ, Page 12