Demitra is unable to shoulder the load

Transcription

1 Demitra is unable to shoulder the load By Elliott Pap, Vancouver Sun September 9, 2009 The Vancouver Canucks will be down at least one top-six forward when they open regularseason play Oct. 1 in Calgary. Veteran winger Pavol Demitra revealed Tuesday he will not be ready after off-season surgery for a torn rotator cuff in his left shoulder. "I saw the doctors Monday and right now, we've got another six weeks to go," said Demitra, 34. "That's where we are. I am not supposed to get hit for another four or five weeks. I am shooting for the middle of October, but you never know." Demitra was injured May 2 in Game 2 of the Chicago Blackhawk playoff series when he tried to staple Blackhawk defenceman Brian Campbell to the end boards. He did not play again, the team announcing at the time it was an upper-body problem. According to Demitra, doctors found two tears in the rotator cuff, one in front and another in the back. They also discovered bone chips. He was told the recovery period would be five to six months. "It's tough, but I'm glad they fixed it and hopefully my shoulder gets stronger," added the Slovak. "My legs are feeling great. Everything is feeling great except my shoulder. It's not strong enough and I'm shooting, like, 75 per cent." Meanwhile, new Canuck defenceman Mathieu Schneider is also rehabbing from a torn rotator cuff and he, too, is uncertain if he'll be ready for Oct. 1. Schneider was injured late last season while playing for the Montreal Canadiens. His surgery was to his right shoulder. "It's still too early to tell," said the 40-year-old, a former Mike Gillis client who signed with the Canucks Aug. 28. "Until I get into a full contact scrimmage or game, you can't tell. So far, nothing has led me to believe I can't be ready but, at the same time, I don't want to be playing at 80 per cent on Oct. 1. "Obviously I don't want to rush anything. I've been skating and shooting and I feel really good so that's the first step. The second step is to ease my way into contact." Schneider said he had no intention of retiring despite the surgery. The Canucks will be his ninth team in a 20-year career. epap@vancouversun.com

2 Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun Canucks hopefuls skip school to pursue their NHL dreams By ELLIOTT PAP, Vancouver Sun September 8, 2009 VANCOUVER School s in for many but it s out for Vancouver Canuck prospects Evan Oberg and Kevin Connauton. The two young blueliners both left U.S. college programs during the off-season to join the Canuck organization and pursue their NHL dream. Oberg, 21, bid farewell to Minnesota-Duluth after two years while Connauton, 19, waved so long to Western Michigan following his freshman campaign. Neither has a regret. It s a dream come true, especially to sign with the team you grew up watching and stuff, said Oberg, who agreed to a free-agent contract in April. I always thought I could finish school at any time so I took advantage of this opportunity. There was a lot to think about, noted Connauton, a third-round pick last June. I had a good time at school and obviously they were a big part of the reason why I was drafted. At the end of the day, I had to look at where I d develop better as a hockey player. It was a tough choice but I m pretty happy I made it. Canuck management has been desperately trying to shore up the team s long-term depth chart on defence. Recent second-round picks Yann Sauve and Taylor Ellington are still considered hopefuls, but they haven t reached the blue-chip stage like forward Cody Hodgson or goalie Cory Schneider. Oberg, destined for the Manitoba Moose, and Connauton, headed for a final junior season with the Vancouver Giants, are trying to peck their way into the order. One day, they may be the replacements for Sami Salo, Willie Mitchell or another member of the Canucks 30-something defence corps. After skating for two days at UBC, Oberg and Connauton will take a further step tonight in Edmonton in a game against the University of Alberta Golden Bears. On Thursday, they ll meet the Oiler prospects. I m pretty excited to get into a game situation, said Oberg, billed as an offensive defenceman. I feel a lot more comfortable in games. Everything happens more fluidly and it s what we do. I think everybody is anxious to get started.

3 Oberg is from Forestburg, Alta., about two hours from Edmonton. He was a Canuck fan growing up but isn t certain how that came to be. I don t know, he said. I think Pavel Bure was my idol back then. Connauton admitted to fighting the nerves a bit Monday as the entire Canuck organization, including owner Francesco Aquilini, filled the Father Bauer rink to watch the prospects. The crowd was down Tuesday and so was the tension. A full crowd for a practice was kind of intimidating and I was a little bit nervous the first day, said Connauton, a native of Edmonton. You re under a bit of a microscope being at a camp like this but you just have to play your game and not be worried about making mistakes. So far, things are going pretty smoothly and I m looking forward to the rest of the week. I love it here. Captain Roberto Luongo practised Tuesday at UBC with goalie coach Ian Clark but did not play shinny with his teammates, who were skating one rink over. Usually shinny hockey is more for developing bad habits than anything else, said Luongo. New Canucks Mikael Samuelsson and Andrew Raycroft were among the pros skating Tuesday on their own at UBC. Single game tickets for the Canucks regular season go on sale Saturday at noon. The team had a 97-per-cent renewal rate on its season tickets, which it capped at 17,000. epap@vancouversun.com Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun Players fit and ready, so why all these exhibition games? Comment: It's greedy sure, but also plain stupid By Tony Gallagher, The Province September 9, 2009 Anyone who saw the pace of the Hockey Canada orientation camp intra-squad game in Calgary last week could tell you that 95 per cent of those players could be ready to start the NHL season in less than a week, maybe sooner.

4 And if the stars of the game are in great shape at the end of August and thoroughly ready to roll, you can bet that the lesser lights are even more prepared. They are even more closely scrutinized by their employers and even more keen to close the gap between themselves and the stars. NHL players take such good care of themselves, they're all but ready for action as soon as somebody says go. So why does the season not start until the first week of October? Why will this NHL preseason last so long again, even though the Olympics has caused it to be shorter than normal, believe it or not? It is one of the dumbest things this league does and despite everyone's griping, they do it every year. You could start training camp Sept. 20 this year and begin the regular season at exactly the same time it's going to start this year and not hurt the product one bit. In a non-olympic year, you could push the whole thing back an entire week and not start camp until Sept. 27. Dragging everyone -- players, management, and particularly the paying customer -- through all these preseason games with just 10 NHL veterans in many cases is nothing more than abuse of everyone concerned. It's greed of course, but it's stupid, too. You could shorten the preseason, run the same number of regular season games and keep everyone fresher for the playoffs. That would renounce greed because they would forego some preseason revenue. They could play fewer exhibitions and more regular-season games (same number total) thereby keeping more people happy with the schedule by putting teams in every city every year and generate the same revenue or more. Yet, they persist in these unwatchable games, forcing their season-ticket holders to pay for this crap the players don't care about. Yet the season-ticket holder is under pain of losing his or her tickets if they don't comply. The owners do it because they can. Why not at the very least give the fan more regular-season games for the same money? The players would at least have to be dressed and interested. Instead, endless games against the closest geographical team is the rule of thumb for this banality. The Canucks are one of the worst offenders this year -- dragging the players up to Terrace, and I'll let you figure out how thrilled they are at this prospect on your own. Sure it's nice for the people in this small community, but come on, nine exhibition games? Other than greed, what possible explanation could there be when you already know who's going to be on the team? When asked about the issue, every player in Calgary agreed the preseason is a joke but didn't particularly want to go on the record. Not so Chris Pronger. The all-star Flyers defenceman wasn't the least bit concerned, first rubbing his fingers together as he spoke to indicate it was all about money. "They do it because they can cut us [the players] out of the money," says Pronger. "And they play so many because they only have to have 10 veterans dressed so there are all kinds of guys

5 who won't be in the league out there. It allows them to play more. It's crazy. This comes up every year and nothing changes. In a way, they have to pay us because the money goes into revenue, but everyone knows it's way too long." The Canucks lead the league's parade of pillage this year going up to Terrace but dragging the Islanders with them to make it even more of an AHL game than it otherwise might have been. And the people there thought they actually won that contest. Then Canuck fans will be treated to home and home affairs involving the Canucks and Anaheim, San Jose, Edmonton and Calgary, the four closest teams to this city. Thank heaven Atlanta and Tampa are so far away. Copyright (c) The Province Gregson the man News Services September 9, 2009 Longtime NHL referee Terry Gregson was named Tuesday as the league's senior vice-president and director of officiating. The 55-year-old, who held the league's senior officiating manager post for the past four seasons, replaces Stephen Walkom, who is returning as an on-ice official. Gregson spent 25 years as an NHL referee before retiring in He blew the whistle for 1,427 regular-season games and 158 playoff games, and officiated eight times during the Stanley Cup final. He was an executive with the NHL officials' association from 1982 to Copyright (c) The Province Demitra crushed by shoulder injury That's how long winger is away from playing; Hodgson could take spot By Jason Botchford, The Province September 9, 2009 Pavol Demitra will soon be 35 years old and although he may have replaced Markus Naslund on Vancouver's whipping post, he isn't ready to follow the former Canucks captain into retirement. "I feel I have a lot of hockey left in me -- I feel great," Demitra said. "Everywhere is great. Everywhere but my shoulder."

6 It's the shoulder he ripped apart while trying to prove something to someone back in the second round of the playoffs when, out of character, he took a long run and exploded at full speed into Chicago Blackhawks defenceman Brian Campbell. The injury hasn't exactly anguished Canucks fans and followers, even after Demitra revealed Tuesday he will miss the start of the NHL season and is at least six weeks away from playing. Instead of sweating the loss of his point production, people started counting up the cap room the Canucks can theoretically save if Demitra is placed on the long-term injured reserve list. And it's true, the Canucks should get some cap relief out of this and it's something they desperately need right now. They can also use Demitra. And they need him more than many people realize. It's easy to condemn Demitra for not giving enough. He just doesn't have that fire, edge or the willingness to forage in corners which can make it so easy for fans to love a player. He doesn't play the type of game that makes you pound your fist, or buy a jersey. It's just not in his makeup, which should have become clear the minute he finally did what people wanted and hit someone. "I saw it all the way and I tried to hit Campbell so hard and he moved just as I hit him at full speed," Demitra said. "It was awkward. My shoulder just gave out. I felt it pop out. "I finished the game. But I tried to take a shot and my shoulder popped out again. I knew then there was something wrong." At first, the team was hopeful some rest would be enough. But on May 20, nine days after the season ended, Demitra had surgery and it was worse than first thought. "I tore my rotator cuff in the back and the front," he said. "In the surgery, they were supposed to just repair a tear in the front but they found one in the back and they found a couple chips from the bone. They had to fix everything." Mathieu Schneider had similar offseason surgery and is hoping to be cleared to start the season with the Canucks. Demitra met with a doctor Monday in Vancouver and learned he's out for Oct. 1. He was told to stay away from contact for the next five weeks. It likely means he won't play until the third week of the season. Without him, the Canucks are down considerably in the skill department. Despite his critics, Demitra put up 53 points in 69 games last year. That's an average of 0.77 points per game. Not bad for a second liner, barely trailing higher-priced talent like Anze Kopitar (0.8), while beating Scott Gomez (.75) and Olli Jokinen (0.75).

7 Demitra gets labelled streaky and injury prone. He's missed an average of 16 games for the past five years. It can be frustrating for fans. But his production with Ryan Kesler in the final 32 games of last season was a revelation. With Mats Sundin, they became a line that mattered, one that made a difference. Kesler may have learned a lot talking to and playing with Sundin but on the ice it was his chemistry with Demitra which got him most of the 15 goals and 32 points he put up in those final 32 games. "It's amazing what playing with the right guys can do," Kesler said. "Being put with the right guys, I was able to show what I can do. Mats showed me how to take my game to another level and [Demitra] helped make it possible." Demitra wasn't far off Kesler's production, notching 28 points of his own in that 32-game run. "That's what makes this injury tough," Demitra said. "I wanted to pick up where we left off. It's tough with a shoulder. I don't want to hurry it and get crushed again and hurt it again." Demitra will be skating on his own for most of training camp and the preseason. In his place the likely beneficiary is Cody Hodgson, who coincidentally is trying to recover from an injury of his own. Demitra's rehab means Hodgson is just about a lock to make the team to start the season. He doesn't have to worry about pressing and that's important as he's recovering from a back injury and needs to be cautious until fully recovered. The Canucks will be able to give Hodgson a look in a prominent top-six role in games that matter during the first two weeks of October. jbotchford@theprovince.com Copyright (c) The Province Oberg really like Raymond Defenceman follows same path toward big league By Gordon Mcintyre, The Province September 9, 2009 So far Evan Oberg is right on schedule, if following in the footsteps of Mason Raymond is the goal. Like Raymond, Oberg spent two years with the Camrose (Alta.) Kodiaks under the tutelage of highly regarded junior. A coach Boris Rybalka; like Raymond, Oberg then spent two NCAA seasons with the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs; now he hopes to contribute at the AHL level with

8 the Manitoba Moose, just like Raymond did before joining the Vancouver Canucks full time last season. And that, of course, is Oberg's ultimate goal, the reason the undrafted defenceman decided to turn pro in the first place and accept the Canucks' free-agent offer last spring. Interestingly, for two guys who grew up four hours apart in Alberta towns and whose hockey lives have been so similar, Oberg and Raymond have barely said hello to each other, so Oberg hasn't had a chance to pick Raymond's brain. "It's interesting," Oberg said on Tuesday after Canucks prospects skated then had dryland training. "But, no, I never even met him until I came to Vancouver this year after I signed." Considered a late bloomer, Oberg joined the Moose late last season and played 16 games (0-1-1, minus-3, 14 PIM), but he'd dropped to 165 pounds by the time he arrived in Winnipeg. He's beefed up his 6-foot-1 frame to 180 pounds for prospects camp. "I had a bit of a chance to see Evan in Manitoba, he came in at the end of the year," Moose coach Scott Arniel said. "He's been talked about as being an offensive defenceman and we'll get to see that in the next couple of days." Arniel will see it close up he'll be the bench boss as the prospects (12 forwards, seven defencemen and three goalies) play tonight against the CIS's Alberta Golden Bears and tomorrow night at Leduc, Alta., against Oilers prospects. "[Oberg] skates well, moves well, he's a good first-pass defenceman," Arniel said. It'll be a homecoming of sorts for Oberg, who grew up east of Red Deer, Alta., in the village of Forestburg, about three hours from Edmonton and Leduc. After an injury-plagued freshman season, he scored seven goals and had 27 points in 43 games for Minnesota-Duluth last season. The Canucks weren't the only club to pursue Oberg, but they are the club he grew up cheering for especially Pavel Bure. He knows the situation, that with the deep, veteran-laden defence corps the Canucks have signed to one-way contracts that he'll be vying for a spot in Manitoba. "This was a dream come true," the 21-year-old said. "I couldn't pass it up and I couldn't be happier. "I'll just come here, do what I do and hopefully they like what they see." gordshockey@hotmail.com

9 Copyright (c) The Province Luongo hopes this October a good month Olympic camp, more ice time could be cure By Jason Botchford, The Province September 9, 2009 October isn't exactly Roberto Luongo's favourite month. He's often joked it's one he'd like to skip. For whatever reason -- and there are many theories -- he has struggled out of the gate for most of his career. Last season was no different. He started 4-4 with a 3.39 goals-against average and a.886 save percentage. "You think about it and I try to pinpoint what it could be," said Luongo Tuesday after his first workout in Vancouver since signing a 12-year, $64-million-US extension. "It's hard. Because last year, if you remember, I had some great games and stats in the preseason. But it didn't carry over." This summer, Luongo adjusted his schedule and got on the ice two weeks earlier in an effort to see if he can't make the start to this season different. "Hopefully that will make the difference," Luongo said of his extra work. If his experience at the Olympic orientation camp was any indication in August, the added ice time may have paid off. In the camp scrimmage, Luongo stole the show by making 17 saves on 17 shots in the first period. "I was really surprised. It was awesome and a great atmosphere. It was a really intense game," Luongo said. "Going into the game I didn't know what to expect. Once I got a couple saves under my belt, I just started feeling it. It was great to get into the zone like that in August." The Canucks captain played just 31/2 preseason games last year and the organization will consider giving him one or two more games this year. Maybe some more games will be the tonic he needs for his early season woes. "The reality is there are ups and downs to an 82-game schedule and if I'm going to have to have downs like that, I'd rather they come in October than at the end of the season," said Luongo. Copyright (c) The Province Canucks' Demitra still hurting By HOSEA CHEUNG, SUN MEDIA

10 The Canucks will be starting their season in October with at least one player on the injured reserve. Pavol Demitra will miss at least six more weeks after undergoing shoulder surgery at the end of last season. "The shoulder is not quite strong enough yet," Demitra said yesterday at UBC, where he skated by himself in the morning. "I started skating the last two weeks back home in Slovakia and day by day it's getting better." The 34-year-old forward, who will make $4 million this season, had to get his left shoulder fixed after tearing both his front and back rotator cuff. He added the doctors found some chips in the bone. "It's tough but I'm glad they fixed it, and hopefully my shoulder gets stronger and gets ready for our season," he said, noting that he can only take wrist shots right now. "I was shooting like 75 per cent, but it's feeling fine to be on the ice." Meanwhile, Roberto Luongo also took to the ice yesterday with goaltending coach Ian Clark prior to the prospects camp at UBC. He didn't join the rest of the Canucks, who were skating at an adjacent UBC rink, saying, "Usually shinny hockey is more for developing bad habits than anything else." "It's tough but I'm glad they fixed it, and hopefully my shoulder gets stronger and get ready for our season." Gregson to replace Walkom Eric Duhatschek CALGARY Globe and Mail Update Last updated on Tuesday, Sep. 08, 2009 It was less than two weeks ago, at the Canadian men s Olympic orientation camp, that Colin Campbell, the NHL s vice-president and director of hockey operations, stopped by the press box for a chat. First question: Who would replace Stephen Walkom as the NHL s senior vice-president in charge of officiating? Ron MacLean, answered Campbell, to laughs all around. As it turned out, the NHL opted for a safer, more conventional choice than the popular Hockey Night In Canada host (and frequent critic of league referees). The NHL promoted Terry Gregson to replace Walkom, who resigned last month so that he could go back to on-ice duties as a referee. Gregson had been the league s senior officiating manager for the past four seasons, or the de facto No. 2 man in the officiating department.

11 Gregson brother-in-law of former Minnesota Wild general manager Doug Risebrough joined the league s front office in 2005, after a 25-year career as a referee. In all, Gregson worked 1,427 regular-season and 158 playoff games, including appearances in eight Stanley Cup final series. He also served as an executive with the NHL Officials' Association from 1982 to In a prepared statement, Campbell described Gregson as an excellent on-ice referee (who) has worked with Stephen Walkom for the past four years and is very familiar with the standard of officiating that has proved so successful. With Terry moving into this role, we are looking forward to a seamless transition." For his part, Gregson said that he was pleased to have played a part in the positive direction the game has gone since 2005 and am excited at the opportunity to continue. The standard has been upheld and will be upheld." NHL PROMOTE GREGSON TO SR. VP AND DIRECTOR OF OFFICIATING TSN.CA STAFF The NHL have promoted Terry Gregson to the position of Senior Vice President and Director of Officiating. Gregson, who has spent the past four seasons as the League's Senior Officiating Manager, will immediately take over for Stephen Walkom who is returning to on-ice duties as an NHL referee. "Terry Gregson was an excellent on-ice referee, has worked with Stephen Walkom for the past four years and is very familiar with the standard of officiating that has proved so successful," said NHL Senior Executive Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell said in a statement Tuesday. "With Terry moving into this role, we are looking forward to a seamless transition." After a 25-year career as a referee, Gregson joined the NHL's front office in "I am pleased to have played a part in the positive direction the game has gone since 2005 and am excited at the opportunity to continue," Gregson said in a statement. "The standard has been upheld and will be upheld."