TwoBits
01-15-2008, 11:28 AM
http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=112559&Itemid=564
An opportunity for leaders to emerge (0)
(Sports) Monday, 14 January 2008, 23:42 PST
JIM SWANSON, Citizen Sports Editor
Dana Tyrell can see the ‘C’ on Greg Gardner’s jersey, and he respects the wisdom of his team’s 20-year-old captain.
But Tyrell knows his name is at the top of every list when folks talk about who is going to lead any potential resurgence for the struggling Prince George Cougars.
That’s a lot of responsibility to heap on the shoulders of an 18-year-old, regardless of his impressive pedigree. Tyrell has national junior team experience -- some of it positive, some of it motivating -- and has survived the scrutiny of his draft year.
Yet something indicates helping the Cougars turn this season around is the biggest challenge Tyrell will face in his hockey career. In fact, it may be an impossible one -- but one he’s ready to tackle.
“There are still guys I look up to in the dressing room, but my role has changed -- I’m expected to provide more leadership,” said Tyrell, a second-round draft choice of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who was given that challenge by general manager Dallas Thompson when the GM christened this as “Tyrell’s Team” following the massive changes at the deadline.
“The coaches want me to be more of a leader. I read that in the paper, but this is about all the veterans... we have to show the younger players how to handle this league and win hockey games.”
Tyrell admits he had trouble getting his head back in proper airspace after he was cut by the national junior team for the world tournament. As a member of the summer version of Team Canada that obliterated the Russians in the Super Series, Tyrell had a headstart in making the team, and the news took him by surprise.
The ‘old Dana’ appeared in Saturday’s 5-2 loss to the Kelowna Rockets. Tyrell scored a power-play goal that tied the game in the second period, and there was no mistaking the extra bounce in his step that came from the confidence of scoring one goal.
“Everybody has their ups and downs, and sometimes the points don’t come the way you want them to,” said Tyrell, his team’s leading scorer with 36 points, including a team-high 17 goals, in 39 games.
“I talked to people about (being cut by Team Canada) and they told me to forget about it and move forward, but that can be easier said than done. It’s a learning experience and I have to use it as that.”
Justin Maylan, the 16-year-old forward at the centre of the Evan Fuller-Ty Wishart trade with Moose Jaw, is among the young players who wants to help fill the void left when five 19-year-olds, none of whom showed consistent leadership characteristics this season, were lopped from the roster at the deadline.
“I’d like to be a leader among the young guys, but I want to learn from Dana and Gardner,” said Maylan, who scored his first goal as a Cougar on Saturday -- both his WHL markers have come against the Kelowna Rockets.
“We’re starting to get more together as a team, that’s a goal. We don’t want to give up on making the playoffs. This is a young team, the coaches and the GM know that and they understand, they’re being patient. The amount of ice I’m getting, I’m overwhelmed but I’m loving it. This will help my career, and I’ve learned a lot.”
As head coach Drew Schoneck takes his team into a game tonight against the Portland Winter Hawks, the worst club in the standings, he knows the leadership of the team will develop through ice-tested battles.
“Getting wins will be huge for our team, for our psyche,” said Schoneck.
“We have to establish a better brand of hockey on home ice. The leadership of this team is an important thing -- we had an opportunity to trade Gardner at the deadline for more youth, and we kept him because he’s a big part of our dressing room. We want our 20-year-olds to guide our next wave of leaders, and we’ll see how that emerges. We’re seeing guys stepping up already. We have an extra ‘A’ floating around right now, we have to make a decision on that at some point.”
The Cougars and Hawks will also meet Wednesday, the eighth home-ice doubleheader at CN Centre this season.
n The Prince Albert Raiders fired general manager Donn Clark on Monday, giving the GM duties to head coach Bruno Campese.
Clark had been on the job for eight seasons, and was told prior to Christmas that the community-owned team would be making the change, but was asked to stay on board through the trade deadline.
GAMEDAY
PRINCE GEORGE -- It’s a meeting between the two worst teams in the WHL, which means there’s only one way to describe it -- this could turn as ugly as Allan Bristowe in a grad dress... The Cougars have lost six in a row, the last two coming on the weekend to the Kelowna Rockets. The Cougars, now the youngest team in the WHL at 17.682 years of age, were crushed 11-1 on Friday and rebounded to put pressure on the Rockets on Saturday, eventually losing 5-2. Justin Maylan had his first Cougars goal in that contest, and Ian Curtis faced 41 shots... With the Cougars 15 points back of Kamloops in the slow chase for the last Western Conference playoff spot, there should be a moratorium on Cougars personnel talking about the playoffs unless they sweep the Hawks. There are but 29 games remaining, and the Cougars are 4-10 in doubleheader games, without a single home-ice sweep. The Cougars have been swept three times and just once have they won the opening game of a doubleheader (Dec. 28 against Chilliwack). In the first game of doubleheaders, the Cats are 2-5; in the second game, the same 2-5. The overall home record is 7-13-1-0... The penalty kill has given up 70 goals in 43 games, a league-worst 71.5 per cent. On the power play, the Cats are eighth overall at 19.6 per cent... Kalvin Sagert, a fifth-year defenceman, has the worst plus-minus in the WHL at minus-27. Second-worst? Stefan Elliott of the Saskatoon Blades -- he’s a former Cougars first-round pick traded for Devin Setoguchi in 2006, is minus-26. Centre Tyler Swystun of Portland, taken in the first round by the Cougars in 2003, is seventh-worst at -22. If you’re a part of the Cougars scouting team, that has to hurt.
PORTLAND -- The Winter Hawks have lost three in a row and five of their last six. The lone win? A 3-1 defeat of the visiting Cougars on Jan. 6, what would be the final game Ty Wishart, Evan Fuller, Jesse Dudas, Tommy Tartaglione and Morgan MacLean would dress for Prince George. Goaltender Jordan White, who played for both the Cougars and Spruce Kings last year, stopped 41 shots for his first-and-only win this season... The Winter Hawks have more of the Cougars’ first-round picks on their roster than the Cougars do. Tonight marks the first time Swystun (sixth overall, 2003) will play in a city he spurned three years ago before being traded to Medicine Hat for Brett Robertson. Swystun, five-foot-11 and 185 pounds, wears No. 7 and is serving as captain. Ryan Kerr, it is well-known in Cougarland, was the first-overall selection in 2004 by the Cougars, and he was with Lethbridge before the Hawks added him this year. The defenceman has one assist and 56 penalty minutes, and Swystun, now a 19-year-old who was a depth player on the Tigers’ WHL title team last spring, has an evenly-split 24 points and is minus-22 in 43 games. Kerr won’t play in the games because of a shoulder injury -- he’s hurt both his shoulders this season -- and the Hawks will also be without overager Kevin Undershute and rookie defenceman Lee Morrow, who also have shoulder problems... Richard Kromm is the head coach, taking a post that Mike Williamson held for seven seasons. The Hawks and Williamson couldn’t agree on a contract over the summer... The Hawks are 2-17-0-0 on the road, the worst mark in the league by a long mile... The Winter Hawks have the third-worst penalty kill in the league at 77.6 per cent (57 goals against in 43 games), and really struggle on the power play, a WHL-worst 11.3 per cent rate (25 goals in 43 games)... The Hawks are winless in two shootouts, while the Cougars have won the two they’ve been in this season.
Hope it's a good game tonight. They now need to see how it feels to win.
An opportunity for leaders to emerge (0)
(Sports) Monday, 14 January 2008, 23:42 PST
JIM SWANSON, Citizen Sports Editor
Dana Tyrell can see the ‘C’ on Greg Gardner’s jersey, and he respects the wisdom of his team’s 20-year-old captain.
But Tyrell knows his name is at the top of every list when folks talk about who is going to lead any potential resurgence for the struggling Prince George Cougars.
That’s a lot of responsibility to heap on the shoulders of an 18-year-old, regardless of his impressive pedigree. Tyrell has national junior team experience -- some of it positive, some of it motivating -- and has survived the scrutiny of his draft year.
Yet something indicates helping the Cougars turn this season around is the biggest challenge Tyrell will face in his hockey career. In fact, it may be an impossible one -- but one he’s ready to tackle.
“There are still guys I look up to in the dressing room, but my role has changed -- I’m expected to provide more leadership,” said Tyrell, a second-round draft choice of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who was given that challenge by general manager Dallas Thompson when the GM christened this as “Tyrell’s Team” following the massive changes at the deadline.
“The coaches want me to be more of a leader. I read that in the paper, but this is about all the veterans... we have to show the younger players how to handle this league and win hockey games.”
Tyrell admits he had trouble getting his head back in proper airspace after he was cut by the national junior team for the world tournament. As a member of the summer version of Team Canada that obliterated the Russians in the Super Series, Tyrell had a headstart in making the team, and the news took him by surprise.
The ‘old Dana’ appeared in Saturday’s 5-2 loss to the Kelowna Rockets. Tyrell scored a power-play goal that tied the game in the second period, and there was no mistaking the extra bounce in his step that came from the confidence of scoring one goal.
“Everybody has their ups and downs, and sometimes the points don’t come the way you want them to,” said Tyrell, his team’s leading scorer with 36 points, including a team-high 17 goals, in 39 games.
“I talked to people about (being cut by Team Canada) and they told me to forget about it and move forward, but that can be easier said than done. It’s a learning experience and I have to use it as that.”
Justin Maylan, the 16-year-old forward at the centre of the Evan Fuller-Ty Wishart trade with Moose Jaw, is among the young players who wants to help fill the void left when five 19-year-olds, none of whom showed consistent leadership characteristics this season, were lopped from the roster at the deadline.
“I’d like to be a leader among the young guys, but I want to learn from Dana and Gardner,” said Maylan, who scored his first goal as a Cougar on Saturday -- both his WHL markers have come against the Kelowna Rockets.
“We’re starting to get more together as a team, that’s a goal. We don’t want to give up on making the playoffs. This is a young team, the coaches and the GM know that and they understand, they’re being patient. The amount of ice I’m getting, I’m overwhelmed but I’m loving it. This will help my career, and I’ve learned a lot.”
As head coach Drew Schoneck takes his team into a game tonight against the Portland Winter Hawks, the worst club in the standings, he knows the leadership of the team will develop through ice-tested battles.
“Getting wins will be huge for our team, for our psyche,” said Schoneck.
“We have to establish a better brand of hockey on home ice. The leadership of this team is an important thing -- we had an opportunity to trade Gardner at the deadline for more youth, and we kept him because he’s a big part of our dressing room. We want our 20-year-olds to guide our next wave of leaders, and we’ll see how that emerges. We’re seeing guys stepping up already. We have an extra ‘A’ floating around right now, we have to make a decision on that at some point.”
The Cougars and Hawks will also meet Wednesday, the eighth home-ice doubleheader at CN Centre this season.
n The Prince Albert Raiders fired general manager Donn Clark on Monday, giving the GM duties to head coach Bruno Campese.
Clark had been on the job for eight seasons, and was told prior to Christmas that the community-owned team would be making the change, but was asked to stay on board through the trade deadline.
GAMEDAY
PRINCE GEORGE -- It’s a meeting between the two worst teams in the WHL, which means there’s only one way to describe it -- this could turn as ugly as Allan Bristowe in a grad dress... The Cougars have lost six in a row, the last two coming on the weekend to the Kelowna Rockets. The Cougars, now the youngest team in the WHL at 17.682 years of age, were crushed 11-1 on Friday and rebounded to put pressure on the Rockets on Saturday, eventually losing 5-2. Justin Maylan had his first Cougars goal in that contest, and Ian Curtis faced 41 shots... With the Cougars 15 points back of Kamloops in the slow chase for the last Western Conference playoff spot, there should be a moratorium on Cougars personnel talking about the playoffs unless they sweep the Hawks. There are but 29 games remaining, and the Cougars are 4-10 in doubleheader games, without a single home-ice sweep. The Cougars have been swept three times and just once have they won the opening game of a doubleheader (Dec. 28 against Chilliwack). In the first game of doubleheaders, the Cats are 2-5; in the second game, the same 2-5. The overall home record is 7-13-1-0... The penalty kill has given up 70 goals in 43 games, a league-worst 71.5 per cent. On the power play, the Cats are eighth overall at 19.6 per cent... Kalvin Sagert, a fifth-year defenceman, has the worst plus-minus in the WHL at minus-27. Second-worst? Stefan Elliott of the Saskatoon Blades -- he’s a former Cougars first-round pick traded for Devin Setoguchi in 2006, is minus-26. Centre Tyler Swystun of Portland, taken in the first round by the Cougars in 2003, is seventh-worst at -22. If you’re a part of the Cougars scouting team, that has to hurt.
PORTLAND -- The Winter Hawks have lost three in a row and five of their last six. The lone win? A 3-1 defeat of the visiting Cougars on Jan. 6, what would be the final game Ty Wishart, Evan Fuller, Jesse Dudas, Tommy Tartaglione and Morgan MacLean would dress for Prince George. Goaltender Jordan White, who played for both the Cougars and Spruce Kings last year, stopped 41 shots for his first-and-only win this season... The Winter Hawks have more of the Cougars’ first-round picks on their roster than the Cougars do. Tonight marks the first time Swystun (sixth overall, 2003) will play in a city he spurned three years ago before being traded to Medicine Hat for Brett Robertson. Swystun, five-foot-11 and 185 pounds, wears No. 7 and is serving as captain. Ryan Kerr, it is well-known in Cougarland, was the first-overall selection in 2004 by the Cougars, and he was with Lethbridge before the Hawks added him this year. The defenceman has one assist and 56 penalty minutes, and Swystun, now a 19-year-old who was a depth player on the Tigers’ WHL title team last spring, has an evenly-split 24 points and is minus-22 in 43 games. Kerr won’t play in the games because of a shoulder injury -- he’s hurt both his shoulders this season -- and the Hawks will also be without overager Kevin Undershute and rookie defenceman Lee Morrow, who also have shoulder problems... Richard Kromm is the head coach, taking a post that Mike Williamson held for seven seasons. The Hawks and Williamson couldn’t agree on a contract over the summer... The Hawks are 2-17-0-0 on the road, the worst mark in the league by a long mile... The Winter Hawks have the third-worst penalty kill in the league at 77.6 per cent (57 goals against in 43 games), and really struggle on the power play, a WHL-worst 11.3 per cent rate (25 goals in 43 games)... The Hawks are winless in two shootouts, while the Cougars have won the two they’ve been in this season.
Hope it's a good game tonight. They now need to see how it feels to win.