The Austrian Assassins

The original Austrian Assassin was a man by the name of Gavrilo Princip. At the age of 19 Gavrilo was a member of the young radical group dedicated to the separation of the Austrian Hungarian Empire. Gavrilo Princip and several comrades decided on a violent separation via the assassination of the country's leader — Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Ferdinand's death started the cascade of events the started World War I.

The plot to kill the Archduke took place on June 28, 1914 in the city of Sarajevo. Princip was a member of seven assassins who lined a parade route. The thought was one of the seven would have a good opportunity to fry Franz. The first would-be assassin with the first name of Mohamed failed to take the shot as the Archduke's car rolled by. I guess suicide bombing was not on the menu in those days.

The second would-be assassin hurled a grenade at the royal's car. Forgetting that grenades have a delay the hand-bomb did not go off under the Archduke's ride but blew up beneath the next car in the procession. This guy was something else. Fearing capture he ran to a nearby river, took a cyanide pill, and then jumped into the river to ensure he would die. There were several problems. The poison was bad. The capsule simply made this guy vomit. Also, the river was 4 inches deep. Theoretically deep enough to drown in — but not this time. This guy was such a loser. In the matter of minutes he tried to kill the archduke, and himself twice, and failed at all three.

With the commotion of the failed grenade attempt the archduke's car sped away. The extra speed and commotion saw the other five conspirators give up. Princip decided he was hungry and took a side street off the parade route and ended up at cafe to have a sandwich. Meanwhile the Archduke thought he should visit the hospital to check on the people who had been hurt by the exploding grenade that had been meant for him. His genius driver made a wrong turn down a side street on his way to the hospital. Unfortunately for the duke and fortunately for Princip the driver turned down the same street where Princip was eating his bologna & cheese on rye. Trying to back up the driver stalled the car. Princip walked up to the car. He extracted his concealed pistol, and shot twice. He killed both the archduke and his wife.

In hockey terms Gavrilo scored a garbage goal.

Yesterday, Thomas Pöck was claimed off waivers by the New York Islanders. Pöck was being transferred from the roster of the New York Rangers to Hartford Wolf Pack. Because of his age he needed to pass through the waiver system. This exposure opened him up to any other team desirous of his services. It is a fair bet that Pöck sticks on the Islanders NHL roster. To place him on their AHL affiliate in Bridgeport would require him to pass through waivers again.

Over his 4 year pro-hockey tenure Pöck has earned the moniker — The Austrian Assassin — in Hartford. Thomas has killed no archdukes. The only thing which Pöck has killed is many offensive opportunities for the Wolf Pack. Thomas has a strong penchant to lose a bit of concentration while on the offensive side of the blueline. The amount of pucks which have slipped off his stick-blade and slid into the neutral zone — especially in critical game situations — is stunning. The effect on many fans was like taking a spoiled cyanide pill.

Pöck played close to 200 regular season games with the Pack. He never dogged it on the ice. But he was never a defensive presence. At times he was an offensive presence. He certainly has the skating speed to break out of the defensive zone and lead the rush. He has the skill to jump up into the play in the offensive zone and make a play. But it was the lack of defensive ability around his own net, and the blue-line blunders which confined Pöck be an AHL player in the Rangers organization.

Thomas may get a legitimate shot to be an NHL regular in the Islander organization. I hope he does well. For an un-drafted player coming from the hockey empire of the University of Massachusetts Pöck has acquitted himself well.

As the original Austrian Assassin was only 19 years old when he killed the archduke thus making him too young to receive the death sentence. He died in prison of weakness due to malnutrition. For the second Austrian Assassin being in the Islander organization may suffer a fate worse than Gavrilo Princip.