News and Notes from The Rock

By Kevin Kelly
Goaltender Mike Minard, still stinging from his loss of a job with the St. John’s Maple Leafs, has decided to report to the Memphis River Kings after all. Minard, who was the St. John’s Maple Leafs MVP in 2000-01, had been witholding reporting to Memphis because he thought he hadn’t been given a fair look by Toronto management at the Leafs training camp. He had been hoping to be loaned to another team in the AHL by Toronto but was sent to Memphis instead where Leafs management decided to have Sebastien Centomo and Jamie Hodson in St. John’s rather than Minard. (It looks now that it will be Centomo and Mikael Tellqvist battling for Leaf net supremacy this season.)

>From this reporter’s perspective, Memphis fans will be very happy to have Minard patrolling their nets. Minard appeared in the 2001 AHL All Star Game and off the ice, he is one of the best I’ve met. Need proof? He was named AHL Man of the Year (the Yanick Dupre Award) in 2001 for his contributions to community. St. John’s loss will defintely be Memphis’s gain, and all Leaf fans wish the best for Mike. Who knows? Maybe Minard may be back someday on the Rock.

Speaking of comebacks, Dmitri Yakushin, who played in his native Ukraine last season after three years in St. John’s, has finally gotten his work visa straightened and should be in town soon. However, the diplomatic wrangling means Yakushin is not medically cleared to play and won’t play the Leafs first game in Wilkes-Barre Scranton.

Newfoundland notes:

Congrats to Ryan Clowe of St. John’s, who played his first NHL exhibition game for the San Jose Sharks against St. John’s native Harold Druken and the Vancouver Canucks. Clowe is expected to play with the Cleveland Barons this season. Other Newfoundlanders in the AHL include Jeff Sullivan of the Saint John Flames and John Slaney of the Philadelphia Phantoms.

Leafs Scuttlebutt

The Telegram says that Chris Chartier may be groomed to take over for Nathan Dempsey on defence. Big shoes to fill, yes, but I think Chartier is up to the challenge. He is a former WHL Best defenceman (his final year in Prince George)and he has the talent to be the Leafs offensive defenceman. (Yes, he did have only 15 points in 65 games last season, but watching him play, one can tell the potential is there) Don’t count out Allan Rourke either to step up and make some noise on the Leafs blueline.

With the loss of Bobby House and Don Maclean, the Leafs may be hard pressed for goals. It means some pressure for Bob Wren, but with Paul Healey and Alexei Ponikarovsky around, at least it won’t be totally up to Wren to provide offensive spark. Junior grads Brad Boyes and Nathan Barrett are also expected to dent the twine, but may need some adjustment to the AHL level. Josh Holden may help as well, but I think this could be the year for Luca Cereda. He looks in great shape and may be ready to take over the reins on offence that Leaf fans have been hoping for. If not, he will be at the very least, a decent defensive forward.

St. John’s fans may want to pick up a Chicago Black Hawks jersey if you can find one. Three former fan favorites of the Blue and White, Nathan Dempsey, Shawn Thornton and Ryan VandenBussche are all fighting for roster spots with the Hawks this season.