Highest-paid Driller bides his time sitting on the pine

Written by Norm Cowley

Sunday, 13 December 1998

Nikki Vignjevic remained on the field for almost an hour after Friday's Edmonton Drillers soccer game at Skyreach Centre. He ran sprints, he jogged, he jumped over chairs, and he ran some more. "For fitness," Vignjevic explained. "I didn't play today." Vignjevic, who carries the highest-priced ticket on the Drillers' $350,000 salary budget, barely got on the field during the game. He was only used on Edmonton's two power plays and didn't leave the bench to kick the ball on re-starts -- a job he previously handled all the time -- yet still contributed an assist with a nice pass on Todd Rattee's first of two goals. The Drillers also scored a season-high 14 goals and 28 points against the Buffalo Blizzard without using their most creative offensive player. Go figure. And he wasn't even complaining about it. Vignjevic even interrupted his post-game workout to politely sign autographs and answer a reporter's questions. "That's nice," he said about the Drillers' offensive explosion Friday. "I'm not frustrated. The coach can't change anything." Edmonton head coach Ross Ongaro had gone back to the same lineup which had played well during the one game Vignjevic missed late last month to play in a qualifying tournament in Europe. Vignjevic had had a poor first quarter in the Drillers' previous game. The Drillers rallied for an 11-9 victory over the Philadelphia Kixx and then levelled the unsuspecting Blizzard 28-12 Friday with the same combinations up front. That means Vignjevic will be sitting again when Sunday's game with the Kansas City Attack begins at Skyreach Centre. "There's a lot of time; there's a lot of games," said Ongaro. "Nikki's got to come and win his job like everyone else does. Highest-paid means nothing to me. If you can't do it on the field and somebody else is doing it better, then he'll play. "Nikki's a professional and he knows what he has to do," Ongaro continued. "He knows he has to produce goals. If he would have played Friday, maybe we would have scored more points. I don't know. "But the team that was on the field Friday, the lines that were together, produced and did well. Now we have another game (tonight) and we'll see if they can do it again. When Nikki gets his chance, I'm sure he'll be ready." Vignjevic, who has scored only two goals among his nine points this season, admitted that he's patiently waiting for his chance to play regularly again. "The next game," he said. "The next couple of games. It's a long season. I'll take my chances again." Ongaro admitted that it's a nice problem to have -- trying to find a spot on one of his three forward lines for, potentially, the team's top offensive player. It helps that he doesn't have team owner Wojtek Wojcicki down his throat about the situation, either. "I'm not about to be a crazed owner who goes down there and says, 'What am I doing paying this guy for you to sit him on the bench?' " Wojcicki said. "That's up to the coach. He has his reasons." * DRILL BITS HOT ATTACK -- The Kansas City Attack, 4-7, will roll into town for tonight's contest with the Drillers on a three-game winning streak after knocking off the St. Louis Ambush 19-17 on Friday night in St. Louis. The Ambush were the second-winningest team in the NPSL with seven wins. Meanwhile, Edmonton (6-4) has won four consecutive home games. Game time at Skyreach Centre is 6:05 p.m. BETTER LINEUP -- Since the Drillers swept the Attack in back-to- back games in late November at Skyreach, Kansas City has added defender Wes Wade. Wade was sidelined after having arthroscopic knee surgery in October. "He's a big-time player," said Edmonton head coach Ross Ongaro. "He's a defenceman, he's a midfielder, he's a target man. He can do it all and he'll be on the field probably 70 per cent of the game." Kansas City has also traded veteran forward Bo Vuckovic to Detroit since they last played here. Detroit has lost all three games with Vuckovic in the lineup while KC has finally turned its season around. DON'T COUNT ON IT -- The offensive fireworks by the Drillers in Friday's 28-12 victory over the Buffalo Blizzard were fun to watch but don't expect to see more of the same tonight. "You never know," said Ongaro. "It all depends. Kansas City and us, historically, have been very low-scoring games. Both teams like to sit back in a zone and pick their chances when they're going to attack and they'll finish their chances on re-starts." IT'S ABOUT TIME -- While the Drillers have some killer road trips -- often playing three games in as many days -- their opponents are usually well-rested when they arrive in Edmonton. Kansas City, which had to travel Saturday after playing Friday night in St. Louis, will be an exception. "This is probably the first and only time -- ever - - that we've had a team come in and play us when they're a little bit tired," Ongaro said.