Diamond in the rough?

by pbadmin
on

As previously stated, the Toronto Maple Leafs have had much luck in the later rounds of previous Entry Drafts – especially with players from eastern Europe. Some current Leafs including Sergei Berezin, Tomas Kaberle, and Daniil Markov were acquired in this way. On October 28th, I was fortunate enough to watch a Leaf prospect who just might turn out to be another “diamond in the rough.”

The Maple Leafs drafted defensemen Lubos Velebny in the 7th round of the 2000 NHL Draft. Last year he played with Zvolen Jr. of the Slovakian Junior League. He also played in 7 games with Zvolen in the Slovakian Elite League. As reported earlier in Hockey’s Future, Velebny participated in the Leafs’ Rookie Tournament this fall. At the conclusion of the Rookie Camp, it was reported that Velebny had been sent back to his junior team in Slovakia.

On October 24, 2000, I received a post on my guest book that Velebny was, in fact, playing for the Waterloo Black Hawks in the United States Hockey League (USHL), a junior league similar to the Canadian Hockey League. The United States Hockey League however is a league where players can retain their US college eligibility. I live about 45 minutes from Rochester, Minnesota, home of the USHL’s Rochester Mustangs. I was lucky enough to find out in time that the Black Hawks were playing the Mustangs on October 28th .

The Black Hawks beat the Mustangs 6-2 that night with Velebny picking up a goal and an assist to go along with 4 PIMs. Velebny looked very good, but you can see he is still trying Read more»

Habs’ Draft Pick Shasby Turning Heads

by Chris Boucher
on
Matt Shasby was the Canadiens’ 5th round pick, 150th overall in the
1999 NHL Entry Draft. He’s built in a similar mold to three other Habs’
draft picks. Ron Hainsey, Chris Dyment, and Ryan Glenn. All of who play
in the US College ranks. Although Shasby’s name has not been mentioned
in the same breath as Hainsey and Dyment, his early season success is
beginning to merit some attention.

Through 4 games Shasby has already doubled his goal output of a year
ago. In fact, he scored more goals in an October 14th game against
Michigan (2) than he did the entire 99-00 season. After 6 games he has 2
goals and 2 assists, compared to 1 goal and 8 assists in 32 games last
season.

As a 17 year-old he was selected to be a member of the USA Hockey
Development Program. This is a program which has turned out defensemen
Brooks Orpik, David Tanabe, and Doug Janik. Unfortunately Shasby had
already committed to Lincoln of the USHL. This decision likely slowed
down his development, as he missed out on some of the best coaching
available in the US, and a possible trip to the World Junior
Championships.

Matt attended a Pro Conditioning camp in Minnesota during the
off-season. This camp allowed Matt the opportunity to develop a
conditioning program to increase his strength, and push his weight up to
196 Lbs.

Earlier this season he was selected as the top defenseman in the Nissan
Classic Hockey Tournament, which took place the weekend of October 13th.
He was also named to the All-Tournament team; An incredible achievement
consider Read more»

Size Doesn’t Matter

by Chad Cranmer
on
Igor Larionov was considered by many people to be the best playmaker in the
world not named Wayne Gretzky during the 1980’s when he was centering the
famed KLM line on the Soviet Red Army team. Generously listed at 5’11” and
only weighing 170 pounds, Larionov managed to put together a brilliant
international career before finally playing in the NHL in 1989 as a
29-year-old rookie. If he was an 18-year-old rookie today, he might not
have been given a chance to play in the NHL. With the trend in the NHL
towards big bodies, he probably would have been considered too small.
Many general managers today would rather take a 6’4” 215 pound center with
limited skills than a 5’ 9” 165 pound center who can skate and handle the
puck. The thought is that you can’t teach size, but you can’t teach skills
that a player just does not have the physical tools for, either. Players
like Theo Fleury, Pat Verbeek, and Larionov have proven that small players
can be top line NHL players.

If you look at some of the most feared body checkers in the game in the last
decade, most of those players are not huge. Vladimir Konstantinov weighed
190 pounds. Mike Peca is not much bigger. Chris Chelios is listed at 6’1”
186 pounds, and yet he has sent more than his share of opponents to the
trainer’s table. “Terrible Ted” Lindsay, one of the toughest men ever to
play the game was only 5’ 10” and weighed 160 pounds! Compare them to the
passive 210 pound Larry Murphy or Mario Lemieux, who weighed 220 pounds, and
you have Read more»

Interview with Jordin Tootoo

by pbadmin
on

Preface: Once in a while a player comes along that is special. People
take notice. Imagine a player that takes no prisoners, slashes through
the opposition and breaks down the myth that a small player just can’t
make it in a big man’s game. Suppose this player also had the raw
skills and strength to show well on the international stage. Meet
Jordin Tootoo of the Brandon Wheat Kings, of the Western Hockey League,
Canada.

JA = John Agar, JT = Jordin Tootoo

JA: Thanks Jordin for helping us out at Hockey’s Future and reporting
on hockey’s future which I think you are going to be a big part of. I
have seen some very good things over the last few years; heard a lot
about you. A lot of people want to know about you, so we are very
grateful for your participation.

JT: Thanks John, for having me here too.

JA: Now Jordin, you were born in what year?

JT: I was born in 1983. February 2nd.

JA: So that puts you in what draft year?

JT: 01. 2001.

JA: Is that this year?

JT: Ya.

Read more»
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