Important season for Jackets

It’s Season Six for the Columbus Blue Jackets and an important one for the franchise.

Since debuting in the NHL in 2000-01, the Blue Jackets have yet to play in the Stanley Cup Playoffs; but last season’s 35 wins was a franchise record and the Blue Jackets won nine of their final 13 games to end the season on a positive note.

The Blue Jackets also boast one of the League’s most exciting players in left wing Rick Nash and a number of other former first-round picks like defenseman Rostislav Klesla, goalie Pascal Leclaire and forwards Nikolai Zherdev, Alexander Picard and Gilbert Brule are all poised to take on more responsible roles with the team this season.

Well, maybe not Zherdev this season. Training camp opened without the unsigned winger, who may opt to remain in Russia if he can’t come to an agreement with Columbus.

The Blue Jackets will have Sergei Fedorov around for a full season in 2006-07 and the signing of veteran Anson Carter should give the offense another boost.

In the tough Western Conference, the Blue Jackets will need their best season yet to compete for a playoff spot. It also is going to be a season where Columbus will need its young players to make some concrete contributions in order to make that initial visit to the postseason.

Brendan Morrow concentrating on play, not pay

No one would question Brenden Morrow’s commitment to the Stars.

But that alone might not be enough to keep him in Dallas past this season, in the NHL’s salary-cap era.

Since breaking into the league with the Stars in 1999, Morrow has earned praise for his take-no-prisoners style of play and his sense of personal responsibility for the team’s fortunes.

After a particularly ill-timed late penalty that allowed Colorado to force overtime and ultimately win Game 3 in their first-round playoff series, Morrow sat distraught with a towel buried over his face. Moments later, he was telling anyone who asked that he blamed himself for the loss.

He still does. And the 27-year-old winger still wants to be a Star next season, but negotiations for a contract extension have reached a point where they might soon stall and be put away until next year.

Negotiations between general manager Doug Armstrong and Morrow’s agent have heated up over the past two weeks, Morrow said, but both sides do not necessarily expect anything to get done before the season.

“It would be nice to get it over with and not have to worry about it during the season, but from my side there’s not a big rush,” said Morrow, who set career highs last season in assists (42) and points (65) and led the team in plus-minus rating (plus-30).

Morrow does not want to get bogged down by the uncertainty of his future. Instead, he has more concrete plans for what happens on the ice. He wants to cut down on penalties — as a bang-and-grind player, he skates the NHL’s increasingly fine line between being physical and being penalized — and increase his offensive production.

“I got myself in a little bit of trouble [with penalties],” Morrow said of the 2005-06 season. “I’m still going to play physical, but I need to be able to play closer to that line of what’s legal and what’s not.”

Morrow has 120 goals and 149 assists in 451 games with Dallas, but also has 756 penalty minutes, including a career-high 183 last season.

Being in a contract year will provide an extra iota of motivation for Morrow, who will become an unrestricted free agent if a deal isn’t done by next July.

He currently makes $2.05 million a year — and might command $4 million to $5 million on the open market — but the Stars just re-signed Jere Lehtinen for $4 million per year. That makes it hard to imagine Morrow making much more in Dallas.

If the Stars decide there is no chance of re-signing him, Morrow could be traded, a possibility both the player and the GM acknowledge.

“We won’t let this go on much longer,” Armstrong said. “We’ll figure out if there’s a way to get it done in camp or we’ll wait until next year. Our goal right now is to sign him and if we don’t get him signed, there’s always possibilities.”

Dallasstars.com

Gretzky wants a gritty Coyote team

As a player, Wayne Gretzky used uncommon skills to become the most prolific scorer in NHL history.

But as the coach of the Phoenix Coyotes, Gretzky wants to see grit as well as grace. He expects his players to skate. He also wants them to hit.

That was Gretzky’s message as the Coyotes opened their 10th season in the desert Friday with a full-squad workout in Glendale Arena.

“There were nights (last season) when I felt like maybe we got physically outmatched, and not because guys weren’t trying to be as physical as possible, but we were not quite as strong as some of the other teams,” Gretzky said. “There were liberties taken at times that I wasn’t very pleased with. We went out and addressed that. We’re much stronger and a much more physical hockey team.”

Looking to add a physical presence, the club acquired five veterans over the summer, led by three-time all-star defenceman Ed Jovanovski. The Coyotes also added forward Georges Laraque, one of the NHL’s most feared enforcers, forward Owen Nolan and defenceman Nick Boynton, as well as Jeremy Roenick, a nine-time all-star centre whose recklessness made him a fan favourite during his first tenure with the Coyotes.

“I think that has to be the mentality that becomes our identity, that there’s no game that we’re going to get outworked or out-hit,” Roenick said.

The Coyotes hope the new approach will put them back in the playoffs after a four-year absence. They finished 12th in the Western Conference last season, 14 points out of a playoff spot.

Gretzky had his first look at his fortified roster Friday morning. Outside, the temperature approached 38 C. But it felt like mid-winter as the Coyotes went through drills to prepare for their exhibition opener against Edmonton at Winnipeg Sunday night. It’s the first time the Coyotes have played in Winnipeg, their former home, since they departed after the 1995-96 season.

On Friday, Gretzky put Roenick on a line with captain Shane Doan and Mike Comrie. Doan and Comrie shared the team lead with 30 goals apiece last season. Roenick scored only nine goals in 58 games with Los Angeles last season but is vowing to jump-start his career.

“I think we all bring something a little different,” Roenick said. “It’s a nice creation.”

Gretzky said he has not decided on his other lines or his defensive pairings.

Roenick, who lives in Paradise Valley, helped lead the Coyotes to four consecutive playoff berths from 1997-00. He signed a one-year deal that could be worth US$1.5 million with incentives.

Gretzky said he believes Roenick can score 25 goals this season.

“The key is to stay healthy,” Gretzky said. “If we can keep him healthy and he can play 80 games, I expect good things out of him.”

Health was a problem for the Coyotes last season. A knee injury sidelined winger Ladislav Nagy, perhaps their most gifted player, for the season’s final 29 games. He still finished the season as the team’s assist leader, with 41.

The Coyotes had a brief injury scare Friday when a deflected puck hit Jovanovski above his left eye. He sported a red welt after practice but said he didn’t expect to miss any ice time.

“It’s always scary when you get hit in the face,” Jovanovski said.

Jovanovski said his vision was not affected – literally or figuratively.

“We have to see the big picture and the prize that we’re after, and that’s the Stanley Cup,” Jovanovski said. “That’s got to be our vision.”

-TSN

A look at the Islanders and Teddy Nolan’s thoughts @ TC

Ted Nolan’s three squads are named after the men who combined on the goal that brought the first Stanley Cup to Long Island. The groups are named Team Henning, Team Tonelli and Team Nystrom. Nolan watched from the stands on Day One to get an overview of his players. Here’s what he had to say about the team’s first day in Yarmouth.

“Every camp I’ve been to I try not to hop on the ice the first day. I like to stand back and evaluate and see what you have to work with. You can see who the leaders are and how the veterans respond and how the young kids react to certain things. Training camp is about evaluation and looking at some of the areas that need to be improved.

“Today I looked at the leadership. A few guys stuck out in my mind including (Shawn) Bates, (Miroslav) Satan and (Alexei) Yashin. They were all talking and helping on the ice. Yashin also impressed me with his conditioning. Satan was scoring from everywhere. Bates was getting everyone involved.

“We want to develop a family atmosphere here. We want to care for one another. No one’s going to win a game by themselves. That’s why we want to build a team. We want to make sure players are here to support one another and know their roles.”

On the ice the players went through a combination of breakout and odd-man rush drills. There was little to no contact with emphasis on getting the players’ legs back in shape and getting a feel for each other. “It felt like a European practice out there today,” said Satan. “A lot of passing, a lot of shooting. It wasn’t too hard the first day, but it was nice to get back on the ice.”

Some players such as Jason Blake tried out new skates, which can be fairly uncomfortable the first day or two. “My feet are going to be hurting today,” said Blake. It certainly didn’t look it, as Blake was flying around the ice like his old self. Also noticeable for his energy and quickness was second-year d-man Chris Campoli.

It’s a thrill to see Bryan Trottier back in the family in such an important role. Trottier, who met with every prospect individually prior to leaving for Yarmouth, will be here each day, monitoring and developing all of the young players in the Islanders’ system. In short time, it’s evident that Trottier, Nolan and GM Garth Snow have formed a close bond.

Asked by a reporter if he was excited to be part of a rebuilding situation, new Islanders defenseman Brendan Witt politely interrupted his interrogator. “Rebuilding? No, I don’t think you can say that. This team is filled with veterans. There are a lot of great young prospects knocking on the door, but we have a lot of talent and experience so I don’t look at it as rebuilding. The team I was on in Washington at the start of last season, that’s rebuilding.”

Rangers want to prove last season was no fluke

Training camp begins for the Rangers Thursday as the veterans report for physicals. Long gone is the day where training camp was a six-week marathon of conditioning, the time spent knocking off the cobwebs of an idle Summer.

I can remember, as a youngster, my father taking me out of school for a day of watching the Toronto Maple Leafs at training camp in Peterborough Ontario. Leafs coach, George ‘Punch’ Imlach spent most of the sessions standing mid ice, blowing his whistle and barking out commands as his squad of hopeful Leafs huffed and wheezed their way around the ice. Stops and starts for the most part typified the creativity of camp.

Certainly a far cry from Tom Renney and his staff’s highly-coordinated, up-tempo training camp. A player at today’s Ranger training camp will find the movement and pace difficult to maintain if the Summer was spent in the idle manner of the old days.

With the nature of the business that is hockey today in all reality there would look to be very few spots available for opening night. Free agency, salary commitments, waiver rules and roster limitations for the most part will rule out many training camp surprises. Glen Sather and his management staff have done a thorough job of scouring the globe for talent and there is very little left to chance. But that being acknowledged there will be a couple of interesting things to watch as camp gets going.

In goal the Rangers look to be in pretty solid shape with both Henrik Lundqvist and Kevin Weekes returning. However, both will be pushed as returning to the Ranger fold is Stephen Valiquette. Valiquette has spent the past two seasons in Russia.

Acquired during the purge of March ’04 from Edmonton in the Petr Nedved deal, the 6-foot-6, 217-pound 29-year old Valiquette will force some competition into the goaltender mix.

The Rangers’ first pick in the ’04 draft, Al Montoya has some lingering issues from offseason shoulder surgery and will likely not be much of a factor during this camp, as a result.

Gone from last season’s blueline are Tom Poti and Jason Strudwick. New to the mix are Martin Richter, Karel Rachunek — both whom have toiled in Europe for the past couple of seasons — and Aaron Ward.

Ward, one of the leagues premier shot-blocking defensemen has been a three-time Stanley Cup winner and will bring further personality and grit to the club. Top amateur pick from the ’05 draft, Marc Staal is likely another year away, but will be worth keeping an eye on.

The game today warrants puck moving defenseman who will support the offensive rush. This year’s top draft choice Bobby Sanguinetti certainly showed no hesitation during rookie camp joining the rush, but he is young and will return to junior for further seasoning.

Camp will determine whether Thomas Pock’s development has warranted an opportunity for him to play a part in that role at the NHL level.

Up front, the acquisition of Brendan Shanahan via free agency from Detroit is a tremendous addition. Shanahan, sought the Rangers out, expressing a true desire to play on Broadway. His on and off ice presence will be significant. Shanahan’s addition will to a certain degree fill a void left by the departed Martin Rucinsky.

Last year’s club was led by the dominant play of Jaromir Jagr. It will be worth observing the evolution of the locker room now that the personality and play of Shanahan has been added to the mix. Jagr is coming off offseason shoulder surgery and will likely see limited time during training camp.

With Dominic Moore’s departure, there will be an interesting battle for the fourth center ice spot. Jarkko Immonen, who was recalled late last season from Hartford, would seem to be the leading candidate. The issue with Immonen will be whether he is quick enough to handle the speed of NHL play.

I would keep an eye on Brandon Dubinsky. Dubinsky had a great rookie camp and has the size and determination to be a factor.

With Jed Ortmeyer expected to be out of the lineup until mid-season due to pulmonary issues, Nigel Dawes will have an opportunity to compete for a spot. Dawes is a crafty left-handed shot who scored 35 goals for Hartford last season and has been a winner wherever he has played.

Finally it will be a big camp for Hugh Jessiman, the Rangers 1st pick in the ’03 draft. Jessiman has been a bit of a project, but has showed signs of moving up the depth chart. A good camp will not likely mean a spot on the Ranger roster, but a good competitive camp will further the big winger’s advancement.

EXPECTATIONS

Last year’s Rangers success was a most pleasant surprise to all involved. Gone is the day where the Blueshirts were a bit of a laughingstock in the NHL. When nothing is expected it is certainly easy to surprise. This years Ranger cast will enter the season with greater expectation. That means the club is headed in the right direction, and it will all begin with a good competitive training camp.

So let’s drop the puck and get at it. It should be fun!

Msg.