JT-FREE MINICAMP ZONE: Day 1 - Hamonic, de Haan, Trivino, Chynoweth and a missing assistant
7:00 pm - Your News and Notes from Day 1 of minicamp…
Player of the Day (aka Let’s Start Over-hyping…): Travis Hamonic. The Western Hockey League defenseman does look good, we cannot deny. Heck, he’s better than that Chynoweth kid from the West looked at his age - and Deano was a first-rounder! Hamonic, an Islanders second round pick in 2008, will play one more year of junior, sign a three-year deal by next spring and - if his development keeps pace - may only need one season in the AHL.
Missing Assistant: First-year assistant coach Dean Chynoweth joined Scott Gordon on the ice for both sessions today. They were joined by Bridgeport head coach Jack Capuano, goalie coaches Sudarshan Maharaj and Mike Dunham (who split the two practices) and development chief/local legend Bryan Trottier. Missing was a second NHL assistant. John Chabot was not there, likely a sign he is not returning. The Islanders had no comment.
Among those watching the workouts from the Iceworks perch were Garth Snow, Ryan Jankowski, Ken Morrow, Eric Cairns, GM assistant Kerry Gwydir, scouts Chris O’Sullivan and Toby O’Brien and Bridgeport assistant coaches Pat Bingham and Matt Bertani.
Here Comes the Moening: Rugged forward Travis Moen gets a three-year deal from Montreal. Got it. Next! (That’s an inside joke, if you follow my occasional cameos in Comments).
The Other First-Rounder: 12th overall pick Calvin de Haan conceded that the presence of his heralded Oshawa buddy enables him to practice his craft without pressure. “I’ve always flown under the radar,” the defenseman said. So much, that he had no idea he’d go 12th. “My family and I were sitting by the Islanders table at the draft,” said de Haan. “When they made those trades, everyone - including us - was buzzing about what they were going to do. Then they called my name and my heart stopped.”
Trivino Pays The Way: As NCAA players, Islanders prospects like Aaron Ness (Minnesota), Rhett Rakhshani (Denver) and Corey Trivino (Boston University) can only attend minicamp if the Islanders don’t pay for them. I asked Trivino, “How does that work? Do you just give your Mastercard number to the Islanders?” He said, “Yeah, pretty much. Well, we give our parents’ credit card number.”
Trivino, with Ness and Hamonic the Islanders’ trio of 2008 second rounders, said he will wait for the Islanders’ guidance on if he should ever leave college early. “It’s important for me to know what they think,” he said. “I won’t leave college unless management thinks I’m ready. If I ever do, it will be to play with the best of the best. For me, the ideal is that if I ever leave school, it will be because I’m in the best position to play in the NHL.”
With BU buddy Colin Wilson in Nashville, Trivino moves up coach Jack Parker’s depth chart. “We lost 5 of our top 6 forwards,” he said. “But we’re still going to be good. Our D corps is very stable. I have some tough shoes to fill, but the opportunity is incredible.”
You’ll Need a Wristband on Sunday: The Prospect Minicamp scrimmage on Sunday is open to the public. However, Islanders PR sent out this release today: “Due to capacity limitations and the overwhelming level of interest, a limited number of wristbands will be issued for admission on July 12. Wristbands will be issued starting at 9:00 am and fans are encouraged to arrive early as admission will be granted on a first-come, first-served basis. Fans must have a wristband in order to gain access to the rink to watch open practice.”
Saturday Schedule: Group 2 (Josh Bailey’s) skates from 10-11 am, Group 1 (you-know-who’s) goes on at 11:30 am. Media availability around 1:00 pm. Point Blank reports after and, if warranted, during.
I have a handle on the storylines and the questions you want addressed. Camp has 5 more days. I’ll get to all of it. Commments. Tavares talk continues below.
27 Responses to “JT-FREE MINICAMP ZONE: Day 1 - Hamonic, de Haan, Trivino, Chynoweth and a missing assistant”
Please Wait
I think this is a good indication just how long the rebuild will take. Most of these players are 3 or 4 years away from being ready. Be patient (fans and Snow/Wang). Don’t expect much in 2009/10 or 2010/11.
Isn’t it odd that the Islanders don’t have both assistants in place by now? You would think you’d want the guy working with the team as soon as possible.
Having watched Hamonic and Niemi in the WHL this season, hands down Hamonic is the better prospect.
I am very encouraged about the core of young players under the Isles’ prospect list … We can’t forget that the Isles also have some solid young core players in Okposo, Bailey, Comeau, Bergy (sure a sr. member of the youth corps) … then some good quality up and coming prospects like de Haan, Harmonic, Trivino, Martin, Katic, Ness, Figren and Rakhshani.
I’m under no illusions that all these prospects are going to pan out … but that is why it’s so important to stock up… the rest is in the hands of the development staff.
Johnny T put it perfectly … he’s but one piece to the core of good young talent … albeit a center piece … next season will probably be a bottom 5 finish once again … after that … we can talk playoffs.
Last year at this time we did not have a head coach. G. Gilbert was fired by Burke recently, any chance he gets the job?
isles fan i think you got something there! gilbert would make a great asst coach has roots here and is very good with young players hope gordon reads your post…..good call
Great coverage, Chris! I can’t remember the last time I was so hockey pumped in July!
odd that chabot’s status wasn’t known before now. i like that guy. he seems like coach material.
montreal in a couple years.
snow/gordon is really taking shape now.
I would like to put out there tonight that today is a very tough day for someone who has been absent for a while but who i hope some of you recall, if not here, from greg’s blog. It’s CINCY, who was and is a voice of reasoned thought and passion for this team from the start. Today he lost wife Bonnie - who I loved to call bon bon- and IS an absolute angel. Cincy and I go back even before there were the islanders. Once there were, we grew up with them, and we have taken different paths but share a love for this team that I know touched that beautiful bonnie too. Anyway, here’s to them.
I’m thinking my best thoughts for Cincy, Bonnie and all who love them!
I was there today and surprised by the Japanese kid. He got the wheel! de Haan looked good.
#9 - please send Cincy my best. He and I were among the original commenters on Logan’s blog and I always enjoyed discussing things with him. I wouldn’t wish something like that on anybody, and he should know we’re pulling for him.
I like to put Jesse Joensuu, Matt Martin and David Ullstrum in the same category.. They are our prospects with size… I know Joensuu is a bit older so his development may be a bit further along.. But I was wondering, who has the best offensive skills/upside? and who has the best skating ability?? Can anyone compare them as far as skating, hands, offensive skills, etc??
I didnt get to see as much of Joensuu last year as I wanted to.. How is his skating and offensice touch??
@#1…That is too long. If they do not dramatically turn this team around in 3 years, KO and JT will bolt. Other teams with good GMs turn it around much faster.
Dose, please pass on that my thougths and prayers are with Cincy and his family. I am pretty sure I remember his comments back from the Ask Alan Hahn days.
Hamonic (like last year), was invited to the tryout camp for the Canadian under 20 world junior team….
Calvin DeHaan also invited…
Early word has DeHaan having a good chance to make the team, but Hamonic having much less of a chance.. But something tells me, don’t count Hamonic out, especially if they need a defensive D-man.
Much depends on if players like Tyler Myers and Alex Pietrangelo make their respective NHL clubs, or if they play another year of juniors… If they make the NHL club, bye bye world juniors (that happened to Josh Bailey last year)…
World Junior tournament is a great step forward, and a confidence booster for any prospect..
Off the top of my head, Aaron Ness and Blake Kessel have a shot at USA squad. Kessel made last years team.
David Ullstrum made Sweden’s team last year. I’m not sure if he has another year of eligability left.
Wow. Wristbands at 9am? Is it really gonna be that crazy? Last year I walked right in.
Thx for the updates - would also love to hear any impressions about the two goalies just drafted.
Robert - From what I saw of Joensuu last year he seems to have pretty good hands for a guy his size, but definitely needs to work on his skating. I was impressed and am looking forward to see what kind of progress he’s made
when will aaron ness be ready?
I have a question that I would love to see you address in one of your upcoming threads on this minicamp coverage - how does the wreckers skating look in comparison to what you remember from last year?
Any chance Mike Sillinger stays with the organization in some kind of coaching capacity be it Bridgeport or even the big club? I think he would be a great influence on the young group.
i am so upset that our team mgt is always so POOR.
A question for Chris Botta:
I know that they say that de Haan needs a year or two (at least) in the minors to get bigger and stronger, but as the Islanders have shown that they’re not afraid to put their kiddies in the NHL lineup as soon as they’re drafted (i.e., Baily, Okposo), do you think there’s ANY chance that de Haan could make the big club this season, or is it a fait accompli that he will be sent down?
My feeling is that he can learn just as much at the NHL level as he can in the lower leagues, and what the heck, the team isn’t going anywhere for a while anyway, so why not keep him here. I’d also be curious to know how many of the eleven guys chosen ahead of him will start right out in the NHL. I’m pretty sure that at least the top three will.
Hey, that was funny. Ugly me, starting out that sentence with “I’m pretty…!”
Sure.
Chris, can you look into and reveal a bit more about the new training staff? Can you learn what they’re doing differently from what was done last off-season? The Isles cannot afford to have the man-games lost to injury as they had last year. Thanks!
CB - Can you fing out some info for us about Princeton Alum defenseman Brett Westgarth who signed with the Isles (depth signing)? He’s not at prospect camp … apparently he’s nursing injuries.
His brother Kevin of the LA Kings talked about his brother’s size, speed and physical play on Kings TV … Go figure …
dose pass on my condolenses to Cincy … I remember him as a reg on Loggie’s blog.