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Sput
09-13-2006, 09:57 AM
Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Hunter on his way back
by JIM SWANSON, Citizen Sports Editor

NHL camps giveth, and NHL camps taketh away.

The Prince George Cougars got tremendous news Tuesday when the agent for Eric Hunter called Cougars general manager Dallas Thompson to inform him the left-winger is returning to the WHL, perhaps as soon as today.

The jubilation was tempered by word that two veterans, Nick Drazenovic and Jesse Dudas, had suffered fractures at NHL camps and will be lost to the Cougars for up to a month each.

“It’s great news on Eric, we’re very happy,” said Thompson, whose team plays host to the Kamloops Blazers at CN Centre tonight (7 p.m.). Hunter isn’t expected to be in the lineup.

“I got two bad phone calls in a row, so to finally get a good one was nice.”

That Hunter, who could not be reached for comment Tuesday, was returned so quickly can only be a good omen for the Cats, who were expecting a drawn-out process where Hunter and his agent angled for a pro deal. That Hunter is not signed, or even invited to the camp of the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack, is a strong indication he’ll spend a fifth season in the WHL — though it is possible, and has happened to others before, that Hunter could sign a contract at any point and be immediately airlifted to the pros.

The Rangers have Hunter’s rights until next summer.

“I don’t know any of the details yet, about how things went in camp or with the contract, but I’m told he’ll be back (today),” said Thompson.

“I haven’t talked to Eric, haven’t talked to New York, just to his agent briefly.”

Last season, a breakout campaign, Hunter scored 40 goals, a career-high, and put years of injury problems behind him by playing in 71 games. His agitator style contributed to 125 penalty minutes, but it was clear that Hunter learned how to find the line on ill-advised penalties under first-year coach Mike Vandekamp.

Getting his best player back will lessen the pressure on Thompson to retool a forward group that was developing gaping holes because older players simply aren’t producing offensively.

“I was happy, for the most part, with what our guys did (at the exhibition tournament in Saskatoon, winning three games), and especially with Dana Tyrell, Prab Rai and Dale Hunt,” said Thompson.

“I’ve said this before, we’re looking for those other guys to do something, those in that 19-year-old age group. If we have a younger guy who is going to do the same thing, we’ll take the younger guy.

“I think they’re starting to get it now. It’s been up to them all along. We’ve had three games, we have three more, and then we’re going to get down to our roster.”

Dudas, an 18-year-old defenceman who missed most of last season with a leg injury, playing just five games for the Cougars and none after Christmas, had surgery on Monday for a broken knuckle, and the minimum timeline for his return is three weeks. Dudas was in camp with the Columbus Blue Jackets, who drafted him in the sixth round this summer.

Drazenovic, who scored a goal in the NHL rookie tournament in Traverse City, Mich., broke a rib on the weekend, and will be out at least three weeks. Drazenovic’s NHL rights belong to the St. Louis Blues.

“The surgery went well for Jesse, and it’s one broken rib for Nick,” said Thompson, noting that playing in the season-opener next Friday against Seattle, at CN Centre, is out for both players.

The Cougars expect to play out their remaining exhibition games, including Friday in Kamloops and Saturday in Kelowna, without their other NHL campers.

Reliable information on the NHL rookie tournament in Traverse City is tough to come by — there are internet sites that are less than professional, less than trust-worthy — but none of the Cougars taking part are having a world-changing impact.

Starting with Hunter, he did not record a point for the Rangers, seeing time on left wing.

Defenceman Vladimir Mihalik, playing for the Tampa Bay rookies, had one assist, helping the Lightning rookies to a 3-2 overtime win over Hunter and Co. In the scraps offered up on scouting sites, Mihalik has been lauded for his physical play, getting in a fight with Detroit’s David Jarram, but criticized because of skating deficiencies that allowed fleet-footed forwards to blow by him on the outside. That knock has followed the six-foot-seven blueliner since he was the Lightning’s first-round pick two years ago.

Drazenovic scored a goal for St. Louis in the first game for the Blues rookies, but was held pointless after that. Dudas didn’t make it to the scoresheet in any manner.

Ty Wishart (San Jose Sharks) and Evan Fuller (Vancouver Canucks) are the other Cougars in NHL camps.

n Vandekamp had not decided how to use his 22-player roster for tonight’s game, but was leaning toward starting overager Scott Bowles in goal, then letting Real Cyr go on Friday and rookie Jordan White on Saturday. The goalies will each get full games, rather than splitting them.

n It’s a sign of the challenges of imports — rookie defenceman Patrik Vrana, a Czech whose English is limited, hasn’t been able to get much translating help since Slovakian Vladimir Mihalik is away at Tampa Bay training camp. So rookie winger Steven Kajic, a Kelowna product who speaks some Croatian, has been doing his best and spent a few minutes trying to communicate proper diet issues to Vrana outside the team dressing room on Tuesday.

Beaner
09-13-2006, 03:37 PM
Good news for the Cougars, but a bit surprising that Hunter and his agent couldnt come to an agreement on a contract for him.

I'm quite surprised that they didnt get it done with the new rules in place for Rookie contracts.

Sput
09-13-2006, 04:07 PM
Maybe it will put a bigger burr under Hunter's saddle and he'll play above expectations.....just to show the Rangers that he IS worth a shot.