News & Features

Troops host Barrie to open 1999-2000 campaign
The Battalion will kick off their second season on September 24 with a home game against the powerful Barrie Colts. The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds will come to the Bunker on September 30 and the next night will see Brampton’s first road game of the year, against Jason Spezza and the Mississauga IceDogs at the Hershey Centre.
Other notable dates on the schedule include:
October 1 – first inter-divisional game of the year, against the Erie Otters;
October 11 – Brampton will once again host the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors on Thanksgiving Monday (game time: 2:00 p.m.);
October 14 – Jason Spezza makes his first visit to the Bunker as a member of the Mississauga IceDogs;
October 22 and 24 – the team’s first road trip of the season, featuring games in Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie;
November 6 – the Battalion visit Maple Leaf Gardens to take on St. Mike’s;
November 26 – Brampton journeys to Ottawa for their first meeting of the season with the defending Memorial Cup champions;
December 5 – the team plays host to the Belleville Bulls, defending OHL Champions;
December 31 – Mississauga comes to the Bunker for their traditional New Year’s Eve clash (game time: 3:30 p.m.) with the Battalion. This will be the final OHL game of the century;
January 2 – Brampton plays its first game in the year 2000, at home against the Peterborough Petes;
January 6 – the Oshawa Generals visit the Bunker; Read more »

A lot of people know about the Soo Greyhounds and their history of having good teams and being able to win games at just the right time. What people don’t realize is the fact that a lot of very good players got started in Sault Ste Marie. Wayne Gretzky and Charlie Simmer are both prime examples. Also, there were some players that didn’t quite make it into the NHL but still had tremendous junior careers (Ralph Intranuovo). I’m here to take a look at some of those former players and talk about their careers in the Sault.

Let’s start with Wayne Gretzky. “The Great One” spent one season with the Greyhounds and it was a magnificent one. Gretzky played with the Greyhounds as a 16-year-old and led the team in scoring with 70 goals and 182 points (holds OHL record for most assists, 112, and points, 182, by an OHL rookie). He was also the 1st Greyhound player to have his jersey retired.

Wayne Groulx was probably the second best Greyhound player ever behind Gretzky. Groulx spent 4 seasons with the Greyhounds and led the team in scoring in all 4 seasons. Groulx sits tied for second with Dale McCourt on the OHL’s all-time list for career points (477), just 2 points behind Stan Drulia.

Charlie Simmer, who was a member of the Los Angeles Kings Triple Crown Line, spent some time in the Sault also. He was a fan-favorite and was depended on to score during his only year with the team (1973-74). He scored 45 goals and 99 points in his only season in a Greyhounds uniform.
Read more »

The Nashville Predators have a nice dilemma as training camp approaches — oo many defensemen battling for too few roster spots.

The Preds were unsuccessful in their efforts to bring Lance Pitlick to Nashville but it will hardly have a major effect on them. While they are still considering going after another free agent defenseman, the Predators have the luxury of having a system of defensemen waiting in the wings. Smart trades by General Manager David Poile and good drafts allowed Nashville to immediately become deep at defense. The Preds think enough of their young defensemen to allow veterans John Slaney, Jamie Heward and Rob Zettler to all move on.

The Preds should have one space open or perhaps two for the baby Preds. Six players are expected to challenge for the spot. Here’s a snapshot at each player and their odds of making the team:

Craig Millar- He’s technically not a prospect but he might as well be. He had problems staying up with Edmonton and the deep Nashville system wont make it any easier for him this time around. The Preds like his solid style of play and love his size. Still young and developing and has the best chance to join Kimmo Timonen as the young guns of the Preds defense corps. The seventh defenseman spot is his to lose.
Read more »

Who would have thought the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League would go from last place in 1997-1998, to being the 1998-1999 AHL Calder Cup champions. Against all odds the Bruins came together and were the winningest team this season breaking benchmark records in the process. With a championship under their belts, the players of the Providence Bruins enter this seasons training camp with more confidence in their abilities than ever before. The Bruins brass are confident in their youth and recently released veterans Ken Baumgartner and Dave Ellett to make room for the talented youngsters.

Nick Boynton
In the festive spirit of Ray Bourque’s 20th anniversary of being drafted, Defenseman Nick Boynton, was selected by the Boston Bruins with their first pick, 21st overall, from the Ottawa 67s of the Ontario Hockey League. The former CHL +/- Award winner, has exceptional vision and intelligence with and without the puck, and had the 2nd hardest shot among defensemen at the 1997 prospects skills competition (89.2 mph). The 6’2″, 210 lb. native of Etobicoke, Ontario finished last season with 11 goals and 48 assists for 59 points with 83 pim in 51 games. Boynton captained his Ottawa team to the Canadian Major Junior Hockey championship, the Memorial Cup, and was named the MVP in that tournament!

Matt Zultek Read more »

With all due respect to Mats Sundin, Sergei Berezin, Steve Thomas and Dimitri Yushkevich, the Toronto Maple Leafs MVP this past season was goaltender Curtis Joseph, hands down. Cujo helped to give the team the confidence to play an up-tempo, hard-skating offensive game, knowing that he would be back in the nets to bail the team out. Cujo did bail the team out on numerous occasions, as his greatest asset seemed to be the ability to come up with the “big save” when the Leafs needed it most. Curtis Joseph will be 32 heading into the 99-00 season, and should have several good seasons left.

However, there is little question that the Leafs need to develop a young goaltender for “beyond the Cujo years”. The Leafs retain the rights to three young goaltenders, Marc Robitaille, Francis Larivee and Jamie Hodson. Robitaille played the 98-99 season with St. John’s, after being signed by the Leafs as a free-agent out of Northeastern University. Larivee started out the season in St. John’s but his stock has fallen somewhat. Jamie Hodson just may the goaltender that the Leafs are “grooming” to be that future #1 guy.
Read more »

In every sport, there is one day that is both filled with anticipation and dread – Draft Day. This is the day that players hope that the major league teams will feel that they are good enough to join their organization.

For the NHL, the 1999 Entry Draft was held in the FleetCenter, home of the Boston Bruins. Otters Tim Connolly, Sean Dixon, Ryan Lee, Jason Baird and J.F. Perras were hoping that their names would be called at the Draft. There was no question that Connolly would be drafted, as he was slated to go high in the First Round. After that though, it was anybody’s guess when and where in the Draft the other Otters would go.

From Waterloo, Ontario, Sean Dixon is a second year defenseman for the Otters. While not an offensive defenseman, he has been a steady player on the blueline. In the two years with Erie, Sean has only scored 2 goals and 20 assists in 113 games. In spite of his lack of scoring, Sean’s play has been noticed. Twice he has played for the Ontario Under-17 Team at the 1997 and 1998 International Hockey Championships, held during the Christmas holidays in Kitchener, Ontario, where Team Ontario won gold medals. Dixon has also excelled off the ice, winning the 1997-98 Otters Scholastic Player of the Year, sharing it with fellow draftee, Tim Connolly.

Draft Day was a pretty exciting day for Sean, as it did live up to expectations. “Just to sit in the stands and stare down at all the NHL logos and personnel, and to know that you are a part of it, is a pretty amazing feeling in itself,” stated Dixon.
Read more »

Detroit’s scouting staff waited more than five hours at their draft table watching as other teams selected their future players. Having traded their previous picks throughout the 1998-1999 season , Detroit broke ( in fact smashed ) an NHL draft record by not making a selection until the 120th overall pick. Rumors had the Wings attempting to get back into the first round but nothing ever came of those. Clubs knew the talent level in this draft was high and with the salary structure way out off kilter, other teams were not listening to many offers.

In the end the Red Wings stated that they wanted to find one NHL player in this draft if possible. Judging by earlier drafts, this was an imposing task to say the least. Looking back at drafts as early as 1983, players taken 120th overall or later had less than 10% chance of ever playing in the NHL as a regular. In fact, only about 8 players a year on average ever make it more than a year or two if taken after the 120th pick. For Detroit to find one of these “diamonds in the ruff “, the scouting staff had better done their homework.

Traditionally, the Detroit Red Wings draft what they consider to be safer players. They look for skaters that have great character and maybe less upside. The 1999 draft was a bit different however. Jim Nill, Detroit’s head scout said, “We went for the home run…. we were looking for the next Pavol Demitra.”
Read more »

The Rangers are a team known more for using their “big bucks” rather then their “brain trust”, but times seemed to have changed at the 1999 NHL draft as the Rangers decided they were going to try and swing for the fences. After acquiring Pavel Brendl with the fourth selection many people thought the Rangers were done, but they were just warming up. After completing the deal with Calgary GM AL Coates the night before, the Rangers nabbed a kid whom they had been watching since early November, Moose Jaw Warriors forward Jamie Lundmark. Though the price was heavy the Rangers might just be able to look back and say they got the steal of the draft for the second year in a row.

Read more »

Imagine yourself back on that little league field with your new team. Or on the ice for the first time with your midget team. The coach’s are watching, instructing, teaching. Your heart has been pounding from the moment you woke up that morning, anticipating the excitement, the competition that awaits you. The unknown: Will you make the grade?

Now imagine yourself going halfway around the world possibly to a country where you speak precious little of their native language. You are accustomed to being a “big fish” and you are now thrust into the “big pond” with other big fish. It is your first touch with an NHL franchise, YOUR NHL franchise, and you are wondering: Will I make the grade?

The Toronto Maple Leafs entrust a big part of their future to a very capable man, Chris MacDonald. “My role is a little difficult to define”, says the very personable man, who is also Queens University’ hockey coach. “I can best explain it as coordinating the Toronto Maple Leafs’ prospects’ adjustment to the NHL. Not only on the hockey level, but acclimating them to the city, to the organization, to each other.” He works hand-in-hand with Leafs’ assistant GM Anders Hedberg, creating a “comfort zone” to players who largely represent the future of the franchise.
Read more »

The Soo Greyhounds 1998-99 season was a very successful one. They won 10 straight games and improved their point total from 1997-98 by 23 points. The 1999-2000 season looks to be a good one as the Greyhounds have 16 returning players. At the draft the Greyhounds also added 19-year-old left-winger Brent Theobald. He was acquired in a trade with the Missisauga IceDogs at the draft.

The Greyhounds are in a good position because most of the teams in the division are losing a lot of players. The Plymouth Whalers for example are possibly losing the likes of Harold Druken, Adam Colagiacomo, Paul Mara and Robert Holsinger.

In goal the Greyhounds are in very good shape because Jake McCracken is definitely coming back and Jason Flick may be back as one of the Greyhounds three overages. McCracken will be looking to bounce back from an off-year where he didn’t play his best hockey. Flick, if he does come back will be looking to repeat his tremendous performance from last season. Remember though, it’s not a guarantee that he is coming back.

The defensemen on last season’s club were pretty good. The problem is two of last year’s defensemen (Dan Passero and Rob Mulick) are candidates for the three overage spots on this year’s team. However, they did have five other strong defensemen.

Read more »