Monthly Archives: July 2009
2:45 pm – John Tavares jumped on the ice, put down his left foot, and then his right just like everyone else. He skated as 1-of-20 in Group 1 from 11:00 am until noon at Islanders Prospect Minicamp today.
Besides his obvious skill, the only eye-opener of the one-hour drills session was when he accidentally high-sticked fellow 2009 first round pick Calvin de Haan across the nose and near the eye. (Said de Haan, “My first thought was, ‘Oh crap, this isn’t good.” He’s fine). In line drills, Tavares centered Matt Martin and Rhett Rakhshani.
The first overall pick faced a media scrum for 5 minutes at 1:45 pm that included John Liu of TSN, cameras from News 12 and SNY, Post writer Dan Martin and Newsday journalists Arthur Staple and Greg Logan. A pretty good crowd for a Friday hockey practice in July.
“I want to be treated like everyone else,” Tavares said. “I’m here to learn just like everyone else. I just want to be a hard-working guy.”
Tavares looked good. de Haan had this insight when asked about his former Oshawa teammate’s skating. “He’s not the worst skater, believe me,” said de Haan. “He makes up for it with everything else. You know, with players like that, they’re (critics) always going to find something to pick on.”
Later, de Haan added, “John makes you a better player. He pushes you at practice to make you better. He’s a great teammate.”
Scott Gordon said he didn’t pay any extra attention to Tavares on the ice at his first Islanders workout. “Right now, he just wants to fit in and be one of the guys,” said the head coach. “This is a great opportunity for him to get a feel for things before training camp.”
Liu of TSN told Tavares that his jerseys and T-shirts were out-selling those of his future teammates at the shop in Iceworks. The 18-year old phenom looked a bit embarrassed, then said he was thankful for all the support in Islanders Country. “It makes me feel a little more comfortable, a little more at home,” said Tavares.
Comments. Non-John stories later today and all weekend.
12:05 pm - Richard DiPietro, Sr. said today that his son Rick is “doing extremely well” and would be with the Islanders when training camp opens in Saskatoon in mid-September. He could not comment on a timeline for his son’s return to the lineup, but painted an extremely optimistic big picture.
Mr. DiPietro wasn’t sure if his son would be ready to start skating in August (as projected by the club), but called the improvement in his son’s surgically-repaired knee “night and day” compared to last season. He also reported that Rick’s hips – operated on by Dr. Marc Philippon in the summers of 2007 and 2008 – were “no longer a factor. In fact, they are stronger than ever.”
Richard DiPietro was a visitor at today’s opening of Islanders Prospect Minicamp, which featured the debut of John Tavares and 2009 draft pick goalies Mikko Koskinen and Anders Nilsson. Rick DiPietro, the goaltender, is getting married to his longtime girlfriend Cassie next Saturday.
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Funny how all this prospecting turned out. Ten weeks ago, I thought that by the end of the 2009 NHL Draft the Islanders would have more selections than they’d need. Figured after John Tavares they’d continue to re-stock the prospect pool with a few highly-ranked forwards and defensemen, maybe take a goalie with one of the third round picks.
But noooooooo. The Islanders traded some of the picks they acquired when moving down in 2008 to move up in 2009 to take defenseman Calvin de Haan. Then they took goaltenders with the first picks in the second and third rounds. Surprising, because they had holes everywhere and taking goalies back-to-back seemed unnecessary.
So where does that leave the Islanders? With a scoring phenom in John Tavares. With a good-not-great prospect pool. Still with gaps on the depth chart at forward and defense. And with all eyes on de Haan to see if Ryan Jankowski and his staff got that one right.
Make no mistake: the Islanders have improved their developmental roster since 2006. But have they come far enough? Still seems like they have a strong base of many solid young players, as opposed to an impressive list bursting with top-tier prospects.
Here are our lists of the top prospects in Bridgeport and in junior, college and Europe. These always seem to result in some heckling from the crowds. Last season, we got some guff about excluding Max Gratchev, Shea Guthrie and Simon Lacroix on our lists and the Islanders ended up not even signing them. Time will tell if the Islanders made a mistake.
TOP 10 JUNIOR, COLLEGE OR EUROPEAN PROSPECTS
1. Calvin de Haan
(Frankly, considering the price, the Islanders’ praise and his selection at 12, he has to be).
2. Aaron Ness
3. Corey Trivino
4. Travis Hamonic
5. Kirill Petrov
(Not attending Prospect Camp because his KHL team has workouts at the same time; may be on this list for years).
6. David Ullstrom
(Terrific SEL playoff, committed to NYI camp).
7. Rhett Rakhshani
8. Matt Martin
(Good 3rd/4th line intangibles prospect still unsigned, likely headed back for one more year in Sarnia. This week gives him another chance to make an impression).
9. Kevin Poulin
10. Anders Nilsson
Worth a Mention: Blake Kessel, Jason Gregoire, Matt Donovan, Casey Cizikas
TOP PROSPECTS IN BRIDGEPORT
Note: If you are cross-checking this list with the official team website, note that almost half the players currently listed as “In The System” are either not playing in Bridgeport this season or are no longer NYI property. Among those departed or playing elsewhere: Jeremy Colliton, Kurtis McLean, Jamie Fraser (best of luck in Minny, Jamie), Peter Mannino, Mike Iggulden and the traded Ben Walter. The site’s roster also does not include the acquired LIer Tony Romano or the “depth” signings like Mark Flood.
1. Mikko Koskinen
(Considering where they took him, the Islanders’ praise and that he’s almost 21, he has to be).
2. Jesse Joensuu
3. Trevor Smith
4. Mark Katic
5. Justin DiBenedetto
(The ultimate wild card begins his NHL pursuit in earnest this season).
6. Robin Figren
(One way or the other, this year you’re going to learn what Figren is…or is not).
7. Andrew MacDonald
8. Joel Rechlicz
(Yes, the Wrecker probably has a better chance of playing in the NHL again sooner than many of those above him on this list, but we like him as the gritty-gutty underdog).
Worth a Mention: Dustin Kohn, Tomas Marcinko, Tony Romano, Mark Flood, Matt Moulson
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A Note to Readers about Prospect Camp Coverage: For blow-by-blow accounts of every goal scored in every drill or scrimmage at Iceworks over the next 6 days, this will not be the place to be. I’ve been to many of these and I won’t go ga-ga every time a kid throws a hit or gets a few points in a game. Unfortunately, Cinderella stories rarely emerge long-term from these camps. Of course, I hope one does.
Instead, my focus will be on de Haan, Koskinen, Ness, Trivino, Cizikas, Josh Bailey and many of the top prospects and their development. And I imagine I’ll write a few dozen more stories about that Tavares kid. I hope you’ll stay with Point Blank through it all. Don’t forget to check out all the blogs in the Country. First group hits the ice tomorrow at 11:00 am.
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A snapshot of the blessed young career of John Tavares shows two World Junior Championships, league scoring titles, shattered records and numerous other personal achievements. But if the 18-year old phenom needs adversity to learn from, all he has to do is remember the pain of losing in the Ontario Hockey League playoffs two months ago.
Tavares was acquired to help lead the London Knights of the OHL to the Memorial Cup, the national title of Canadian junior hockey. Instead, London ran into a powerhouse Windsor team and lost a bitter 5-game series.
“That one’s going to stay with me a while,” Tavares said on Wednesday after the formal hoopla of his introductory press conference at the Coliseum. “The loss was a big, big disappointment. I went to London to win a championship and we fell short against Windsor. They were a great team but of course we still have that pride that makes us think we were the better team.
“That’s the way it goes sometimes. Windsor earned it. Not everything in life is easy and pretty.”
The rival Spitfires, coached by former NHL tough guy defenseman Bob Boughner, shadowed Tavares throughout. They game-planned specifically around him. In a crucial Game 4 overtime victory for Windsor by a score of 5-4 in London, Tavares was kept off the scoresheet.
The Islanders’ first overall pick is accustomed to the in-his-face treatment. “Ever since I was a kid in peewee,” said the teenager, “I’ve had teams following me all around. You have to take it as a challenge and realize it opens up ice for your teammates. With experience, I hope to be able to do that for the Islanders. Against Windsor…just didn’t get the job done.”
Tavares believes he’ll learn from the growing pain of falling short.
“I was only with the Knights for a few months, but we were a close-knit team and the disappointment is as strong as if I played my whole junior career there,” said Tavares. “It’s part of the education, I guess. I took a lot from the experience of winning two golds with Team Canada. I’ll learn from this loss, too.”
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POINT BLANK Q & A
Windsor GM Warren Rychel
In search of a different angle the day after John Tavares’s debut in New York, I called up Warren Rychel, the former NHL tough guy (1,422 PIM in 406 games) and current GM of the Memorial Cup-winning Windsor Spitfires. Rychel was very complimentary of Tavares and shared his insights on Taylor Hall and on fighting in hockey.
So how did your team stop Tavares in the OHL Western Conference Final?
It would be wrong to say we stopped him. You don’t stop Johnny T. As far as I’m concerned, he’s the deadliest scorer anywhere in the world who’s yet to play an NHL game.
Anywhere? A prospect somewhere else? Any of the guys in Sweden? KHL?
Anywhere. Opportunistic, that’s the word I’d use for John.
Okay, so how did you contain him?
He was our focus from the beginning of the series and before every game. We knew we weren’t going to keep him completely off the board. He’s just too good. The key for us was to stop him from running it up on us. We played London late in the year and we were trying to set a record for most victories in OHL history. Johnny T just dominated us and that was that.
We needed a more realistic approach. Because of the work of our players and coaching staff, Johnny did not have that breakout, superstar performance where he just blew our doors off. He scored, but we kept him somewhat in check. A lot of the credit goes to (Windsor centers) Adam Henrique and Scott Timmins, who did a fabulous job battling with him.
Did you try to intimidate Tavares?
Can’t be done. Teams and players have been trying to intimidate John since he was 12 years old! It’s never worked. You cannot intimidate him.
What about the team toughness factor? The Islanders currently don’t have a true enforcer and the rest of the conference has bulked up.
Well, I’m sure you know my position on that issue. Both (Windsor coach) Bob Boughner and I were fighters in the NHL. We believe in it 100%. Enforcing creates a safe environment for your skill players. And this is a business, too. Let’s face it, most of the fans absolutely love it.
Bringing in a top fighter who can play a bit is a must, whether it’s for John Tavares or anyone else. You’ve seen what’s happening around the NHL with teams beefing up. I thought the Islanders should have considered our guy for their system, Richard Greenop. (Note: the 6-4, 230-pound enforcer signed a three-year deal with Toronto on July 3). Needs some time to develop, but he’ll be a good one.
Around the time of the draft, so many Islanders fans were looking for a ranking of Tavares, Steven Stamkos and (Windsor’s likely 2010 first NHL pick) Taylor Hall. Who’s the best?
Impossible to say. All three are incredible young players, but they bring something different. I already told you what I think of Johnny’s scoring. Stamkos has amazing instincts, an ability to make plays you don’t see very often.
Our guy Taylor skates better than maybe anyone you’ve ever seen. I’ve been around the game a long time, and I’ve seen few like him. I can’t tell you how many times he comes back into the defensive zone, out-skates an opponent and takes the puck back. He’s a special player who’s going to have a great NHL career. They all are.
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Go to the State of the Union area, find the Islanders logo, and click Play for my radio spot for Seth. We discuss the Tavares press conference, the Islanders’ accessibility to their fans, unrestricted free agency and the August 4 Lighthouse Project hearing.
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5:30 pm - Garth Snow acknowledged to Point Blank and Ira Podell of the AP this afternoon that he “made a few calls” about the availability of UFA Alexei Kovalev before the forward signed with Ottawa. Makes you wonder how the NYI thought a moody 36-year old Russian would have fit in their rebuilding plans. Also makes you wonder about all that talk of not wanting UFAs to take away icetime from younger players. (To be clear, that’s a philosophy we call BS on. How many roster spots for potential Grade A talents are we talking about?). The positive side: there may not be much left, but the Islanders are shopping. A trade also remains a possibility. Comments on UFA.
4:10 pm - Just spoke on the phone with Pat Brisson, who knew I was tracking him down to explain his comment to Logie that there were things he wanted to “explore” in finalizing an Entry Level contract for John Tavares. Pat wanted to make clear there was no story here, nothing to be alarmed by.
“Nah, the only thing we have to explore is when we actually want to get the contract done,” said Brisson, who arrived in Uniondale too late for the press conference but will have dinner with Tavares tonight before leaving New York.
“Once we start, the deal won’t take long. I’ve been the agent on four out of the last five of these (Brisson is also the agent for former first overall picks Patrick Kane, Erik Johnson and Sidney Crosby). The CBA doesn’t really give you any room to do much else. It will get done. It’s just a matter of when.”
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