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Scouts new right away that Bulis had something special.


Jim Hammett, now the Colorado Avalanche's chief scout, was coming off another strong season, one year removed from a championship, with his minor-hockey British Columbia Hockey League Kelowna Spartans when he received an interesting call in the summer of 1994 from a Czech player agent. Would he be interested in a promising 15-year-old Czech player who wanted to learn the North American game?

"Jan Bulis had something special," Hammett recalled. "He was a fantastic skater and he just wanted to be a player. You could tell he really had the enthusiasm. He couldn't speak a word of English and wanted to learn. I remember picking him up to take him to English lessons and all he ever wanted was Big Macs!

"Jan had a great work ethic and you could tell he liked being on the ice," Hammett continued. "He always had a permanent grin on his face. For him to be a leader in the dressing room is no surprise to me."

Hammett said Bulis was a leading candidate to be chosen No. 1 in Canada's junior draft.

"The Calgary Hitmen went No. 1 and the Barrie Colts were No. 2," Hammett said. "Both were considering him, but Calgary took Boris Protsenko, who later got drafted by Pittsburgh, and Barrie took Jan. Barrie coach Bert Templeton was very happy to get him."

Bulis was the Washington Capitals third choice, 43rd overall, in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft. He went back to Barrie for one more junior season, in which he scored 42 goals and had 61 assists, then joined the Capitals the following season. He played only 17 minor-league games in his first three seasons while working his way into the Capitals' lineup.

Bulis played parts of four seasons in Washington before being traded with Richard Zednik and a No. 1 pick for Trevor Linden, Dainius Zubrus and a No. 2 pick at the 2001 trading deadline.

He had his best scoring totals during the past two NHL seasons, putting up 16 goals and 24 assists in 2002-03 and 13 goals and 17 assists in 2003-04. But he had his most productive season in years in 2004-05 with his hometown Pardubice HC, notching 24 goals and 25 assists in 45 games. Now 27, Bulis also used his matured body to do some banging, collecting 113 penalty minutes after an NHL career more attuned to winning a Lady Byng Trophy.

Bulis said that is part of his maturity and also preparation for taking a leadership role with the Canadiens, something the team believes it needs from him.

"I think that's what the coach is looking for," Bulis said. "I'm beginning my fourth year here and we have young guys coming up to join the club. I have to be here, helping out with the leadership because a lot of veterans have left."

"We are depending a lot more on Bulis to contribute and show his leadership qualities," confirmed Canadiens coach Claude Julien. "It doesn't have to be verbal, but it has to be on the ice and in how he performs.

"He's playing on our third line with Radek Bonk and Niklas Sundstrom and they've given us a line that can play a complete two-way game for us. They can score some goals for us while playing well defensively against the opponent's top line. So, Jan has that responsibility. There's times he needs to produce and he's done that early this season and there's times he needs to do a great job penalty killing and he's been doing that."

Julien was referring to the Canadiens' first goal of the season when Sundstrom and Bonk set up Bulis in the 2-1 victory over the Boston Bruins. Bulis has incorporated the Canadiens' traditional heartbreaking of the Bruins and grinned at the recollection.

"When you play for Montreal, you've got to beat the Bruins," he grinned. "It was funny. I talked to the coach and he said he wanted to play us together from the start of training camp, but it didn't happen until the last couple of games. We always played with somebody else. Bonk is a big guy who brings a lot of offensive tools, compared to my center two years ago, Joe Juneau, who was more of a defensive guy. I'm looking forward to this. I think we can get better every game. Sundstrom helps out defensively as well."

"I like the mix of Bulis and Bonk, speed and smarts, and on the right side is a guy, Sundstrom, who can really make plays," Julien said. "He made a nice play on Bulis's first goal of the season against Boston. We have a good mixture there."

Bulis said playing in Europe last year was good preparation for the new NHL rules.

"There's definitely more room to get open now. I got used to that last year, playing in Europe," he said. "We already had the rules like that in Europe. It's going to be tougher for the guys that didn't play last year, or didn't play last year in Europe. It's easier for me and I'm finding I have more time to do everything.

"Last year was the first year that I played without a red line because it was my first year playing in Europe in a long time and my first year playing pro in the Czech Republic," Bulis continued. "You get used to it after a couple of games. It was hard for us, the first six or seven games. Milan Hejduk and I played together and we couldn't get used to it right away, but after six or seven games, we got into it and it was no problem."

Bulis has become enamored of the city of Montreal and well-versed in its hockey history.

"We see them, all great veterans, all the time in the halls here at the Bell Centre and in the stands behind our bench," he said. "The Hall of Famers are sitting up there with the owners. It's like the old times. It's really something. If a player has the chance to enjoy playing here in Montreal for a few years, it's one of the great parts of this opportunity.

"Not just to me but to everybody, Montreal is the No. 1 hockey city in the world. I was thinking the lockout was killing people here, no hockey for a year. This city has been great for me. We have a full house every night. All anybody thinks about is hockey, hockey, hockey and my job is to give it to them. We have to get on a winning note and make the playoffs."



Bulis can often be found in the middle of the scrum in front of the net.