Jamie Tardif's Call-up

Drafted in the fourth round of the 2003 NHL entry draft, Jamie Tardif's NHL aspirations seemed quite realistic.  At 6 foot, 205 lbs he possessed the size that scouts look for in a player, and the skill level seemed to be there as well.  Unfortunately, things haven't turned out quite the way Tardif planned as he has become somewhat of an AHL journeyman, spending the last seven seasons in the minor league.  Though he has been somewhat of a consistent scorer throughout his minor league career he has never put up the outstanding numbers that typical NHL call-ups produce.  Additionally his plus/minus ratio could be higher for someone who is not a star caliber point scorer, as he is more of a "three zone" player.  Despite playing for so long without ever getting called up to the big league for even one game, Tardif has put his work in both on and off the ice, and kept a positive attitude.  All of Tardif's hard work paid off two weeks ago when he finally got called up to play for the Boston Bruins.  After injuries to some of the Bruins' regulars, most notably Shawn Thornton's concussion, Coach Claude Julien and General Manager Peter Chiarelli decided to pull Tardif up as insurance.  Tardif made his first NHL appearance on February 5 against the Toronto Maple Leafs, his childhood favorite team.  When interviewed post game Tardif said, “I’ve been waiting for a chance at this for a while, I’m going into my eighth year pro, here, so I’m just fortunate. At the same time, I [was] excited, go- ing back to my hometown of Toronto, definitely very exciting."^  Tardif would appear in just one more game, a rivalry matchup with the Montreal Canadiens in which he had one shot on net, before being sent back down to Providence.  Though his stay in the NHL was short-lived, Tardif will remain positive, and hopefully we will see him back in action with the big club for end of the year call-ups.

^Prospect Update
References:
hockeydb.com
bruins.nhl.com
Photo from ECHL.com