the flying moose
07-24-2008, 01:35 AM
http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/20080723142558/local/news/the-cupboard-half-empty-or-half-full.html
The cupboard -- half-empty, or half-full?
Written by Citizen Staff
Wednesday, 23 July 2008
IN STORY NEWS
The cupboard -- half-empty, or half-full? - Just 17, and with only 51 WHL games under his belt, Justin Maylan will be given every opportunity to play as the first-line centre on a Prince George Cougars team that will be young for the 2008-09 season.
Just 17, and with only 51 WHL games under his belt, Justin Maylan will be given every opportunity to play as the first-line centre on a Prince George Cougars team that will be young for the 2008-09 season. (Citizen file photo)
Cougars GM looks ahead to training camp
With a month to go until the Prince George Cougars open training camp, it’s time to fire up the summer hot stove.
The recent historical perspective is that the Cougars, it is painful to recall, missed the playoffs last season -- the third time in five campaigns, in fact, without post-season hockey. In a mid-season re-evaluation, Cougars general manager Dallas Thompson jettisoned all the older players he could find homes for, leaving Prince George fans to watch the youngest team in the Western Hockey League ride the rollercoaster through the last two months.
Camp opens Sunday, Aug. 24, and a relatively quiet summer means many questions remain about 2008-09 -- some of the questions about the players who are here, others about puzzle pieces being sought, the ghosts who may still be introduced.
“We’re going to be young again, and we know where the holes are and where we have to find somebody to fill those holes,” said Thompson.
“If that happens before training camp, great, if not we’ll continue to look.”
Here are the main issues facing the Cats:
Who will comprise this team’s top line?
Dana Tyrell is a lock. Does he play with Alex Poulter? Justin Maylan? Dale Hunt? One of the imports? Does Brad Reige ride shotgun?
“Dana is going to be Dana. He’ll go to (Tampa Bay’s) camp and come back and join us before the season, hopefully,” said Thompson.
“The imports (Jerome Flaake and Marek Viedensky), we want to see them and how they adjust. Justin did very well when he got put in a very senior role right off the bat, so it’s open for him to be the first-line centre.
“But I’m not going to answer that question, the players are with how they work and how well they play. If it turns out we don’t have the people to take those roles, then we have more work than we think up front. We sure believe, with what we have coming back, that we can get that done.”
Are all the returning forwards safe?
Of course not. Not after missing the playoffs -- very few should be safe.
“Well, obviously we expect more from some guys we have -- Parker Stanfield needs to take another step, and the Colorado Rocket (Poulter) needs to take another step,” said Thompson, pointing to Poulter’s 16-goal season -- and the fact only five of those came after Nov. 6.
Translation -- many of the depth players from last year’s forward group have to have a good camp to remain.
Where will the defence help come from?
Projecting the team’s top three blueliners, the answer comes down to Cody Hobbs, Garrett Thiessen and 17-year-old sophomore Art Bidlevskii. All three are game, but would likely be slotted as workable, dependable 4-5-6 types on an upper-end team.
So it should go without saying that Thompson’s main focus is on upgrading the defence.
“There’s a hole on the back end yet, and we still have two 20-year-old spots open,” said Thompson, who is working the overage market in one of those years when there appear to be fewer quality extra pieces floating around the league.
“I don’t want to have to put those guys (Thiessen, Hobbs or Bidlevskii) in those spots. I’d like to get another defenceman in somehow, whether it’s a 20-year-old or not, to ease the pain there, and even then we’re going to probably need more help. We’ve been working on that for quite awhile because we know we need somebody, and we’re still pursuing. We’ll see if we can get that through recruiting or through a trade, and hopefully we have something between now and that first weekend of exhibition games.
“Some of these guys are going to get thrown into the fire and we’ll know right away where they are at, too.”
Import Patrik Magnusson, 20, will not be back for a second tour of duty after signing a pro contract in his native Sweden.
“We’re facing a few growing pains back there. With what we have coming back, if we can add one 20-year-old for sure back there... and I think we have a couple of young guys who can play back there. Hopefully Tyler Kizuik and Bruin McDonald, at 16, can come in and not just have spot duty, but actually play. With where we are as a team, we’re going to want those guys to come in and play and not sit around and watch.”
Which brings us to...
How many 16-year-olds will make it? Seven? Eight? 10?
Listening to Thompson and team scouts talk about the recent drafts, this team is stocked with 1992-born talent -- but there isn’t room for every much ballyhooed prospect to be a WHL player here this season.
“We have seven (1992s) signed right now, but we’re not going to carry seven,” said Thompson.
“We’ll probably keep three or four, somewhere in there. That will be one of the most interesting battles in camp, no question, because there are jobs to be won.”
The marquee freshman should be local product Brett Connolly, a centre who led the Cariboo Cougars to within a few minutes of a berth in the national midget championship. Connolly was the team’s first-round pick, 10th overall, in the 2007 bantam draft.
“I’m excited about Brett, and I know he’s putting a lot of work in this summer to be ready, and then you go down the list to people like Brock Hirsche and all the guys who have played games for us already,” said Thompson.
“Nick Buonassisi, Greg Fraser, Bruin McDonald, Justin Faux, those guys -- and we have guys who aren’t signed who could come into camp and really turn some heads, like Logan Sceviour. Fraser could be a surprise at the 16-year-old age group, but all those guys are eager to come in and earn a spot on the team.”
How many games will Kevin Armstrong play?
45? 50? 72?
The Cougars added the 20-year-old netminder, who started the season’s opening game a year ago at CN Centre for the Spokane Chiefs, for a bantam draft pick a few weeks ago, and addressed a major concern that was sure to cause headaches behind a blueline with big holes.
“Armstrong is hungry -- he wants to be a pro, and this will be a good situation for him,” said Thompson.
Armstrong split regular season duties last season with Dustin Tokarski, en route to a Memorial Cup title, but will be the clear-cut go-to guy for the Cougars. And if the Cougars, who will still be young, are going to make the playoffs, and do so with the present blueline corps in place, Armstrong will have to be a gamestar on most nights.
The other impact of that trade is on the development of the goalie of the future. Ian Curtis is the heavy favourite to be the backup, while the move had to come as bad news for Joel Danyluk and Alex Wright, the other contenders.
“To put Ian Curtis into the starting spot, and let him be the guy, with only 19 games under his belt, was unfair,” said Thompson.
“I called Ian, and I don’t think he was really surprised, but in the long run it will be better for Ian. It will make him fight for his starts instead of being there as one of two green guys. From the beginning of training camp, the battle is going to be on to earn starts. The other guys still have a shot, and maybe they’ll prove they are an asset we can move. The door is open. Don’t forget that we ran into goaltending injuries last year, so having depth is not a bad thing.”
Marc Boulanger, the Red Deer product who was supposed to come to camp last year and fight for the backup spot, has been dropped from the team’s list.
Are the imports coming?
The Cougars added the rights to forward Jerome Flaake, the first German player tabbed by the franchise in the CHL import draft, and Slovakian centre Marek Viedensky a month ago. Both, Thompson said, will be at camp.
“I think they’ll both be fine, and everything (with paperwork) seems to be rolling OK,” said Thompson.
Should Drew Schoneck rent or buy?
The head coach of the Cougars enters the final year of his contract, as does assistant Wade Klippenstein, and the challenge tossed his way is to prove he can teach young players. Schoneck had success guiding a veteran team in his first season, taking the Cougars to the conference championship, but this type of team is a completely different ball of wax.
“We’ve talked about that, and everyone knows where they are at,” said Thompson.
“We’re OK with them going into the last year of their deals, and we want the best out of everyone.”
-- The Cougars have a new trainer in place, and he goes by the nickname of Chico.
Chris Linder was not retained, so the team has hired Ramandeep Dhanjal, who worked for the RBC Royal Bank Cup champion Humboldt Broncos last season. He starts work in early August. Dhanjal has been working with Hockey Canada this summer, and has been overseas with the women’s national program.
The cupboard -- half-empty, or half-full?
Written by Citizen Staff
Wednesday, 23 July 2008
IN STORY NEWS
The cupboard -- half-empty, or half-full? - Just 17, and with only 51 WHL games under his belt, Justin Maylan will be given every opportunity to play as the first-line centre on a Prince George Cougars team that will be young for the 2008-09 season.
Just 17, and with only 51 WHL games under his belt, Justin Maylan will be given every opportunity to play as the first-line centre on a Prince George Cougars team that will be young for the 2008-09 season. (Citizen file photo)
Cougars GM looks ahead to training camp
With a month to go until the Prince George Cougars open training camp, it’s time to fire up the summer hot stove.
The recent historical perspective is that the Cougars, it is painful to recall, missed the playoffs last season -- the third time in five campaigns, in fact, without post-season hockey. In a mid-season re-evaluation, Cougars general manager Dallas Thompson jettisoned all the older players he could find homes for, leaving Prince George fans to watch the youngest team in the Western Hockey League ride the rollercoaster through the last two months.
Camp opens Sunday, Aug. 24, and a relatively quiet summer means many questions remain about 2008-09 -- some of the questions about the players who are here, others about puzzle pieces being sought, the ghosts who may still be introduced.
“We’re going to be young again, and we know where the holes are and where we have to find somebody to fill those holes,” said Thompson.
“If that happens before training camp, great, if not we’ll continue to look.”
Here are the main issues facing the Cats:
Who will comprise this team’s top line?
Dana Tyrell is a lock. Does he play with Alex Poulter? Justin Maylan? Dale Hunt? One of the imports? Does Brad Reige ride shotgun?
“Dana is going to be Dana. He’ll go to (Tampa Bay’s) camp and come back and join us before the season, hopefully,” said Thompson.
“The imports (Jerome Flaake and Marek Viedensky), we want to see them and how they adjust. Justin did very well when he got put in a very senior role right off the bat, so it’s open for him to be the first-line centre.
“But I’m not going to answer that question, the players are with how they work and how well they play. If it turns out we don’t have the people to take those roles, then we have more work than we think up front. We sure believe, with what we have coming back, that we can get that done.”
Are all the returning forwards safe?
Of course not. Not after missing the playoffs -- very few should be safe.
“Well, obviously we expect more from some guys we have -- Parker Stanfield needs to take another step, and the Colorado Rocket (Poulter) needs to take another step,” said Thompson, pointing to Poulter’s 16-goal season -- and the fact only five of those came after Nov. 6.
Translation -- many of the depth players from last year’s forward group have to have a good camp to remain.
Where will the defence help come from?
Projecting the team’s top three blueliners, the answer comes down to Cody Hobbs, Garrett Thiessen and 17-year-old sophomore Art Bidlevskii. All three are game, but would likely be slotted as workable, dependable 4-5-6 types on an upper-end team.
So it should go without saying that Thompson’s main focus is on upgrading the defence.
“There’s a hole on the back end yet, and we still have two 20-year-old spots open,” said Thompson, who is working the overage market in one of those years when there appear to be fewer quality extra pieces floating around the league.
“I don’t want to have to put those guys (Thiessen, Hobbs or Bidlevskii) in those spots. I’d like to get another defenceman in somehow, whether it’s a 20-year-old or not, to ease the pain there, and even then we’re going to probably need more help. We’ve been working on that for quite awhile because we know we need somebody, and we’re still pursuing. We’ll see if we can get that through recruiting or through a trade, and hopefully we have something between now and that first weekend of exhibition games.
“Some of these guys are going to get thrown into the fire and we’ll know right away where they are at, too.”
Import Patrik Magnusson, 20, will not be back for a second tour of duty after signing a pro contract in his native Sweden.
“We’re facing a few growing pains back there. With what we have coming back, if we can add one 20-year-old for sure back there... and I think we have a couple of young guys who can play back there. Hopefully Tyler Kizuik and Bruin McDonald, at 16, can come in and not just have spot duty, but actually play. With where we are as a team, we’re going to want those guys to come in and play and not sit around and watch.”
Which brings us to...
How many 16-year-olds will make it? Seven? Eight? 10?
Listening to Thompson and team scouts talk about the recent drafts, this team is stocked with 1992-born talent -- but there isn’t room for every much ballyhooed prospect to be a WHL player here this season.
“We have seven (1992s) signed right now, but we’re not going to carry seven,” said Thompson.
“We’ll probably keep three or four, somewhere in there. That will be one of the most interesting battles in camp, no question, because there are jobs to be won.”
The marquee freshman should be local product Brett Connolly, a centre who led the Cariboo Cougars to within a few minutes of a berth in the national midget championship. Connolly was the team’s first-round pick, 10th overall, in the 2007 bantam draft.
“I’m excited about Brett, and I know he’s putting a lot of work in this summer to be ready, and then you go down the list to people like Brock Hirsche and all the guys who have played games for us already,” said Thompson.
“Nick Buonassisi, Greg Fraser, Bruin McDonald, Justin Faux, those guys -- and we have guys who aren’t signed who could come into camp and really turn some heads, like Logan Sceviour. Fraser could be a surprise at the 16-year-old age group, but all those guys are eager to come in and earn a spot on the team.”
How many games will Kevin Armstrong play?
45? 50? 72?
The Cougars added the 20-year-old netminder, who started the season’s opening game a year ago at CN Centre for the Spokane Chiefs, for a bantam draft pick a few weeks ago, and addressed a major concern that was sure to cause headaches behind a blueline with big holes.
“Armstrong is hungry -- he wants to be a pro, and this will be a good situation for him,” said Thompson.
Armstrong split regular season duties last season with Dustin Tokarski, en route to a Memorial Cup title, but will be the clear-cut go-to guy for the Cougars. And if the Cougars, who will still be young, are going to make the playoffs, and do so with the present blueline corps in place, Armstrong will have to be a gamestar on most nights.
The other impact of that trade is on the development of the goalie of the future. Ian Curtis is the heavy favourite to be the backup, while the move had to come as bad news for Joel Danyluk and Alex Wright, the other contenders.
“To put Ian Curtis into the starting spot, and let him be the guy, with only 19 games under his belt, was unfair,” said Thompson.
“I called Ian, and I don’t think he was really surprised, but in the long run it will be better for Ian. It will make him fight for his starts instead of being there as one of two green guys. From the beginning of training camp, the battle is going to be on to earn starts. The other guys still have a shot, and maybe they’ll prove they are an asset we can move. The door is open. Don’t forget that we ran into goaltending injuries last year, so having depth is not a bad thing.”
Marc Boulanger, the Red Deer product who was supposed to come to camp last year and fight for the backup spot, has been dropped from the team’s list.
Are the imports coming?
The Cougars added the rights to forward Jerome Flaake, the first German player tabbed by the franchise in the CHL import draft, and Slovakian centre Marek Viedensky a month ago. Both, Thompson said, will be at camp.
“I think they’ll both be fine, and everything (with paperwork) seems to be rolling OK,” said Thompson.
Should Drew Schoneck rent or buy?
The head coach of the Cougars enters the final year of his contract, as does assistant Wade Klippenstein, and the challenge tossed his way is to prove he can teach young players. Schoneck had success guiding a veteran team in his first season, taking the Cougars to the conference championship, but this type of team is a completely different ball of wax.
“We’ve talked about that, and everyone knows where they are at,” said Thompson.
“We’re OK with them going into the last year of their deals, and we want the best out of everyone.”
-- The Cougars have a new trainer in place, and he goes by the nickname of Chico.
Chris Linder was not retained, so the team has hired Ramandeep Dhanjal, who worked for the RBC Royal Bank Cup champion Humboldt Broncos last season. He starts work in early August. Dhanjal has been working with Hockey Canada this summer, and has been overseas with the women’s national program.