Scout
09-26-2008, 10:19 AM
Minnesota Wild have decision to make on Colton Gillies
If forward doesn't make team, he must return to junior hockey
By John Shipley
Colton Gillies is one of those born leaders; it's one reason the Minnesota Wild traded up to take him 16th in the 2007 NHL entry draft.
He was captain or alternate on the under-17 and under-18 Canadian national teams, and when his junior team in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, ran out of healthy defensemen, he volunteered to move to the blue line. If he doesn't like what he sees from teammates, he'll let them know.
And when the locker room is in desperate need of a pep talk, Gillies isn't afraid to start one — even if it's by proxy.
"I like to talk in the locker room, as much as possible," he said Thursday. "Even if no one's talking, I'll tell an older guy, 'Say something to fire us up.' Then he'll say something, and I'll back
(Getty Images)him up: 'Yeah, that's right! Let's do that!' "
Someday Gillies will be doing that in the Wild locker room, but right now ...
"Right now," he explained, "I'm trying to lay low and hopefully make the team."
That's a tall order for a 19-year-old, but the Wild are taking a long, hard look at the 6-foot-4, 190-pound winger because they think he can contribute this season and, if Gillies doesn't make the big-league roster, he must return for his fourth season of junior hockey.
Asked Thursday if there's more for Gillies to learn in juniors, coach Jacques Lemaire rubbed his face and thought a moment.
"Not a lot," he said. "Not a lot."
Lemaire plans to take another long look at Gillies tonight in Chicago when the Wild play their second exhibition game against the Blackhawks.
"I like what he does on the ice," Lemaire said. "He's a good skater, he plays a physical game. He's fast, quick for his size. He has a presence. We'll have to work on his shot, around the net, his hands so he can get some points.
"But I'm very pleased the way he's playing right now."
Although Gillies is eligible to play for the Wild, NHL rules prohibit him from playing for the team's minor league affiliate in Houston. The rule is in place to protect Canada's three major junior hockey leagues, which fear the NHL would simply raid their ranks and stock their own minor league teams.
So the Wild face the same decision with Gillies as they faced with James Sheppard, who made the team at 19 out of training camp last season. He played in 78 games, mostly as a checking center, scoring four goals.
"We had an unbelievable group of guys, whom I still talk to at least once a week, probably seven or eight guys," Sheppard said of his Quebec Major Junior Hockey League teammates. "So it was actually kind of sad not having another year with those guys. But for my hockey career, this was the best place."
It appears that way for Gillies, too. He was in Wild camp last season, just a few months removed from being drafted, but looks like a different player. Always mature for his age, he now shows that presence on the ice, and it's easy to see why.
In 58 games with the Saskatoon Blades last season, he was 23-24—47 with 97 penalty minutes and 14 power-play goals. In the World Junior Championships in Czechoslovakia last winter, he had one goal in seven games for gold-medal-winning Team Canada.
"I can see that he's more mature than last year. I can see it myself, I can see a difference," Lemaire said. "It could be the competition that he played in, the big tournaments. You're playing against the top players, so you've got to get going."
In fact, Lemaire already has made up his mind on Gillies, though he declined to jump the gun on general manager Doug Risebrough.
"We'll take a decision early on him, I guess, to see if he'll go back or stay, and my boss decides that," Lemaire said. "Me, my decision is made. I made my decision already, but the boss is the boss."
Does he care to make his decision known?
"After the boss," Lemaire said. "Whatever he says, that's my decision."
Scout
If forward doesn't make team, he must return to junior hockey
By John Shipley
Colton Gillies is one of those born leaders; it's one reason the Minnesota Wild traded up to take him 16th in the 2007 NHL entry draft.
He was captain or alternate on the under-17 and under-18 Canadian national teams, and when his junior team in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, ran out of healthy defensemen, he volunteered to move to the blue line. If he doesn't like what he sees from teammates, he'll let them know.
And when the locker room is in desperate need of a pep talk, Gillies isn't afraid to start one — even if it's by proxy.
"I like to talk in the locker room, as much as possible," he said Thursday. "Even if no one's talking, I'll tell an older guy, 'Say something to fire us up.' Then he'll say something, and I'll back
(Getty Images)him up: 'Yeah, that's right! Let's do that!' "
Someday Gillies will be doing that in the Wild locker room, but right now ...
"Right now," he explained, "I'm trying to lay low and hopefully make the team."
That's a tall order for a 19-year-old, but the Wild are taking a long, hard look at the 6-foot-4, 190-pound winger because they think he can contribute this season and, if Gillies doesn't make the big-league roster, he must return for his fourth season of junior hockey.
Asked Thursday if there's more for Gillies to learn in juniors, coach Jacques Lemaire rubbed his face and thought a moment.
"Not a lot," he said. "Not a lot."
Lemaire plans to take another long look at Gillies tonight in Chicago when the Wild play their second exhibition game against the Blackhawks.
"I like what he does on the ice," Lemaire said. "He's a good skater, he plays a physical game. He's fast, quick for his size. He has a presence. We'll have to work on his shot, around the net, his hands so he can get some points.
"But I'm very pleased the way he's playing right now."
Although Gillies is eligible to play for the Wild, NHL rules prohibit him from playing for the team's minor league affiliate in Houston. The rule is in place to protect Canada's three major junior hockey leagues, which fear the NHL would simply raid their ranks and stock their own minor league teams.
So the Wild face the same decision with Gillies as they faced with James Sheppard, who made the team at 19 out of training camp last season. He played in 78 games, mostly as a checking center, scoring four goals.
"We had an unbelievable group of guys, whom I still talk to at least once a week, probably seven or eight guys," Sheppard said of his Quebec Major Junior Hockey League teammates. "So it was actually kind of sad not having another year with those guys. But for my hockey career, this was the best place."
It appears that way for Gillies, too. He was in Wild camp last season, just a few months removed from being drafted, but looks like a different player. Always mature for his age, he now shows that presence on the ice, and it's easy to see why.
In 58 games with the Saskatoon Blades last season, he was 23-24—47 with 97 penalty minutes and 14 power-play goals. In the World Junior Championships in Czechoslovakia last winter, he had one goal in seven games for gold-medal-winning Team Canada.
"I can see that he's more mature than last year. I can see it myself, I can see a difference," Lemaire said. "It could be the competition that he played in, the big tournaments. You're playing against the top players, so you've got to get going."
In fact, Lemaire already has made up his mind on Gillies, though he declined to jump the gun on general manager Doug Risebrough.
"We'll take a decision early on him, I guess, to see if he'll go back or stay, and my boss decides that," Lemaire said. "Me, my decision is made. I made my decision already, but the boss is the boss."
Does he care to make his decision known?
"After the boss," Lemaire said. "Whatever he says, that's my decision."
Scout