Not Every Prospect Makes It -- Here's Why One Didn't

Every hockey player in the world wants to play in the NHL. Zdenek Bahensky was no different. Drafted in the third round (#73 overall) in 2004 by the Rangers and first overall by Saskatoon in the CHL import draft, Bahensky spent three years in North America trying to make his dream come true. But now he goes home to the Czech Republic to play for the team he grew up with, Litvinov, after bouncing between Hartford and Charlotte last season on an AHL contract. Bahensky blames his coaches.

"I spent last year in the minors," he told reporters in Czech. "I had no luck. The coaches didn't have the trust in me. When you miss the trust and you don't play regularly, it's very hard. I started in Hartford but then I had to go to the ECHL. It's not easy in the lower American leagues. You can't break in by yourself. Some coaches don't like European players. Some didn't make it to the NHL and blame the guys from here. They're Americans and they sometimes show their feelings. The Europeans have green light in the NHL, not so much in the minors."

Bahensky will never get back to North America if he thinks that was why he failed to reach the NHL in the Ranger organization. In the first place, both of his head coaches last season did make the NHL -- Jim Schoenfeld was a star defenseman, and though Derek Wilkinson only played a handful of games in each of four seasons in Tampa, there was never a European goalie playing ahead of him. The truth is, as those of us who saw him play in the WHL, in Ranger training camp, and in Hartford know, that the talented winger never appeared to be 100% committed to playing as hard as he could in leagues where it takes at least 110% commitment to get ahead.

"I attended eight Rangers camps," Bahensky said. "All of them -- rookie camp, entry camp, pre-season camp. I had the chance to meet Ranger stars, and it was certainly a great experience. I told to myself I'll go back to Europe for some time. But I'm still thinking about the NHL." Perhaps a tour of duty in Litvinov will help him learn the intangibles necessary to give it another try. "Hockey in the Czech Republic is somewhat different from America," he said. "But I got used to it quickly. I just had to realize I'm playing on a wider rink where you need to skate more."

To be fair, bouncing between Hartford and Charlotte was difficult for the newly married Bahensky last year, who was almost always apart from his wife and infant daughter. "I moved six times, switched hotels very often," he said. "The family was with me for a short while, it was impossible to make it longer." Thanks to DaTeL for translating the article in Hokej.cz on Bahensky. From Denik Sport, here is a tidbit from Jaromir Jagr after a recent Team Jagr exhibition game vs. Team Elias, a 13-10 win for the Jagr-meisters:

In the opening minute of the second period, with the game tied at 4-4, Jagr scored. But two minutes later, Elias evened it up again. "It wasn't in the script," Jagr quipped. Jagr had three assists along with the goal. Petr Prucha had a goal and an assist. Former Ranger Jozef Balej scored four goals for Team Elias. Also participating were former Rangers Martin Rucinsky, Petr Sykora, Karel Rachunek, and Marek Zidlicky. "Twenty-three goals!" marveled Jagr. "It was a blast for the spectators. They saw the two best Czech teams in action. At the end, our better conditioning showed. No wonder, because we work out hard twice a day. I would say harder than in the NHL."

Also from overseas comes another translation, this one very rough from Babelfish, of an interview in Russian with Henrik Lundqvist. There is not much of substance in it. He says that he has no time to be disappointed about the loss of fellow Swede Michael Nylander. "If you want to acquire someone," he said, "then you have to lose someone else. Michael is an outstanding player, but this is hockey. Movement is inevitable. My turn to change clubs may come, although everything suits me in New York." He also talks about the rigors of playing in the NHL, and curiously, he addresses the question of being called an offensive nickname in North America that translates directly as "animal" or "beast" -- we know of no such nickname.

In other news today, to close the loop on the Michael Peca story, even though he has agreed to a contract with Columbus, he still has to pass a physical exam to make it official, according to the Columbus Dispatch. That the Rangers made the right decision is confirmed by Peca's comments to the Toronto Sun in which he expresses regret about not being able to help the Leafs compete for the Stanley Cup -- no regrets about the Rangers. But will this story truly end? Scott Burnside at ESPN wonders whether Peca will eventually land in New York at the trade deadline if lowly Columbus decides that it wants to dump his lame duck contract at that time. In the Montreal area, TSN reports that two-time ex-Ranger Alexei Kovalev was in a motorcycle accident but did not sustain injury -- at least it wasn't an airplane crash.

Finally -- admit it, there have been times where you’ve seen headlines with the word "Rangers" in it that caught your eye, only for you to find out it was the Texas Rangers. Once when I was in England at a time when Neil Smith was Ranger GM and on the hot seat, there was a huge headline that read, "Rangers Sack Smith" -- that turned out to be the Glasgow Rangers soccer club firing longtime manager Walter Smith. Well, a Daily News headline today claims that the Rangers made history yesterday, and even though it was the Texas Rangers again, it's worth noting this time -- they scored an unprecedented 30 runs in a 30-3 rout. What would Jagr think about that kind of score?

Comments

[Cuch]

Sounds like Bahensky has some maturity issues to conquer.

[baron34]

Dubi, that "Rangers" headline thing gets me all the time, especially in the offseason when the Texas Rangers get more ink here in NY than our own hockey team.

Maybe now that the NY team is on the upswing, it will change.

I remember after the '94 Cup season, we dominated the sports pages through the summer. Players were appearing on Leno and Letterman, and the media was doing stories on the travels of the Cup as it traveled around the world.

Then came Bettman's lockout... talk about biting off your nose to spite your face.

[roc]

Does anyone else think there is at least one more move to make before the season starts?
And Please forgive me for not showing faith in the Ranger prospects. I have gotten my hopes up with these guys so many times and am scared at this point. All I want to do is win!

[DaTeL]

Good one, Dubi. I believe Jagr would something along the lines of "What? Texas Rangers play handball? They have to be good!"

[Buck]

Ok, so what's Henrik's nickname..... (Beast / Animal?) sounds like someone has been hitting the Putin Punch ;-)

[Tags]

I don't know what's gotten into Dubi, but he's made some really out-there comments during this Peca affair.

Let's see, is it possible that Peca told the paper he regretted not being a Leaf, but didn't say anything about the Rangers because:

a) He was talking to a TORONTO newspaper
b) Last year he PLAYED for the Leafs

?

Did Peca run over your puppy or something, Dubi?

[elsie]

I won't defend Bahensky's finger-pointing and Euro-backgorund excuse, but I do worry about prospect development in Charlotte. Not a knock on Wilkinson, just that the organization is so less focused on those guys. Seems like Kozak's best month as a pro were his time with McClelland in Memphis and the first games back Charlotte (til his next injury).
Baseball teams have tiers of minor leagues and oversee their prospects at every level.
The Devils and Flyers put 2d level kids at Trenton, close enough to oversee.
Charlotte (and Memphis) are darn far away

[Andrea]

Maybe the Russian interviewer was bringing up a name the Fishsticks dancing girls called him? That's the ONLY time I recall ANYone saying something nasty about the King ("czar" in Russian, so that's not it....)

[imitation]

roc they will have to make moves if Sather is going all the way for the Cup. Jess says it will be with Chicago, plus there are other rumors. But whether it's before the season or camp is hard to predict.

[Vince Accardi]

When you don't have the success you expect it's easy to blame everyone else before yourself.He's a kid he didn't work out good luck to him.We have alot of great young talent comming up let's focus on them and not the ones that didn't make it.My check has been deposited for my three year script,when can I expect my first Blueshirt Bulletin?

[checker fan]

elsie,

We might see your point if, Helminen,Jessiman, Girardi, Pock, Montoya, Potter, Liffiton, Taylor, Weller, Labarbera, Falardeau, Lee etc.etc.etc. Had not all been here in Charlotte and gone on to success at either the NHL/AHL level. We have never seen a NHL team send so many 1st/2nd round picks to a team in the ECHL like the Rangers do. To us it is more the kid then the team or coaches. Wilkinson should be on your payroll!

[ant]

Who translated this from russian lol You always such prudent?
– But perhaps this is bad? (it smiles.)

Lol Henrik is it now.Dubi if u need a russian translater im here for you.I promise i wont call Henrik It

[Dubi]

Tags -- if you saw my poor little puppy hobbling around on three legs after what Peca did to him, you'd understand. Actually, he already made his comments about the Rangers yesterday, and it was to a Columbus paper, not a New York paper. My thesis is that Sather let him dangle to make sure he was committed to the Rangers' cause and declined to make him an offer when he saw his public response -- these latest comments fit right in with that thesis, and I think Sather made the right move here.

I'm not looking it from Peca's point of view -- he needed a contract, he needed to know where he was playing, etc. etc. All valid. But from the Rangers' point of view, they needed to see commitment to the team ahead of all that on the priority list, and they didn't see it. Peca has had locker room problems before, including conflicts with his coaches and teammates in Long Island -- it was perfectly valid for Sather to test him out rather than jumping in head first.

[Dubi]

Vince -- First issue of the new season and of your subscription is due out in mid-September. Everyone is already working on it -- the writers should have their stuff in by Labor Day, and it will take another week to get everything ready. Thanks for your support!

[Dubi]

ant -- If you see anything in there that is worth getting a better translation of, please go ahead and do it. The "animal" thing is weird, though -- I checked on other translations besides that before posting, and I couldn't find any alternate translations.

[Phill]

Dubi, was I seeing things or are you featured on Mark Messier's Ranger Biography?

I was watching the T.V. the other night and I glanced up and could've sworn I saw your name, but I could be wrong.

[Dubi]

Yeah, that was me, one of the talking heads on #11 Mark Messier. I also got a few quotes in on #2 Brian Leetch and #35 Mike Richter before they stopped calling me in for interviews.

[ant]

Dubi is there the same interview in russian because that beast part is confusing me but what confuses me more is why hank answered.We call him a king (Korol or czar in russian).Beast really has non to do whith this thats why i wonna see russian interview maube ill understand better

[david]

Hey Checker Fan, I am in agreement with you. The Checkers have been great for the system. But you forget to name the one former Checker who has played the most NHL time for the Rangers -- Dale Purinton.

[sk]

Dubi, ant,

you are right, that BEAST thing is indeed weird. Here is a quote from the original interview (hope it comes out using correct encoding):

– Говорят, в НХЛ вас прозвали Зверем. Не обидно?
– В Америке обижаться бессмысленно. Как прозвали, так прозвали, если приклеилось – то на всю карьеру. Хотя не понимаю, почему меня прозвали именно так.

it is obvious from this quote that there's something "lost in translation" here. I wasn't able to find anything that even remotely resembles "Beast" when translated. Except, maybe "King of beasts", that has both "King" and "Beast" in it and therefore could have been used - but that'd be quite a long shot too as I've never heard Henrik being called that. He's just The King :)

Link to interview in Russian: http://www.sportdaily.ru/issue.aspx/539/15078/ho

[jimbo51]

guy's, he's a goalie, who knows what goes thru his head

[angry]

Although I fundamentally agree with Elsie's point, it's damn nice to see a Checker fan on the board.

[angry]

FYI - could the Lundquist insult be some phonetic equivalent of "Hank?"

[david]

The whole Memphis thing -- where Kozak went -- is not really an official affiliate. The guy that coaches there used to play for Sather in Edmonton. A couple years ago he asked if he could send one of his kids to Ranger camp for the first few days. Sather asked him to return the favor last season by assigning Kozak there -- as he was having problems in Charlotte. So the Riverkings are an official unofficial affiliate. This is the way Schoenfeld explained it to me.

[asdf]

Im going up to see the Rangers play in toronto in November anybody know where I can get cheap tickets

[angry]

Mike Richter on Sports on 1 tonight, probably not for 15 minutes or so...

[Jess]

Zman

First off let me say that Dubi posted about him during his time in the WHL is accurate as here is a case of a player who had a ton of talent BUT did not always take his game to the next level all the time.

When he wanted to, Bahensky could dominate a game by himself as I watched him totally destroy a Portland Winterhawk team (with Dubinsky and Sauer).

But in the next game he was totally invisible and played like a 4th liner. It was a shame because clearly here is someone who had a world of talent and could have (no check that SHOULD HAVE) been an NHL player.

Instead of working out during the off-season he was a model (and from what I was told very good at it) and in my mind that conflict of what to do with his life is why instead of talking about him making the Rangers, we will never see him playing as a Blueshirt.

From a personal standpoint I am sad to say all this, as Zman was also one of the nicest kids to talk with. Always polite with a "thank you" for anything I wrote about him.

I wish him well and hope he is happy with his choices but I am saddened to see such a talent be wasted. That is one of the bad things about my role with the Blueshirt Bulletin as every year I see someone who could have been a player not realize the gift he is tossing away.

David

No offense but for an "unofficial" there was a press release issued by the Riverkings 3 years ago when they signed on to be a Ranger affiliate.

This is one of those EOOCC (Edmonton Oilers Old Cronies Club) stories as the Riverkings/Ranger relationship is due to the head coach of the Riverkings Kevin McClelland was one of the Oiler enforcers (he holds the Oiler record for most PIMs during a playoff run at 75).

The CHL also lists the RKs as a Ranger/Wolfpack affilate.

Elsie

I think something was lost in the translation but I will also say that the Rangers are limited to just 8 players allowed with the Checkers and really they have sent a much higher level of prospects than any other NHL team (as also said by the Checker's fan) so the problem is not Rangers but that the ECHL is not really a developmental league since only 1/3rd of the roster can be from an NHL team.

Checker's fan

Welcome and please come again

[david]

Memphis, Jess, no offence taken. As I said, this is how Schoenfeld explained it to me.

[Anthony]

I can't say that I agree with Burnside's take that Peca might be a mid-season acquisition. If Slats were going to do that, he probably just have signed him now. I can't help but wonder if Sather is leaving a few fishnagels available in case he needs/wants another center around mid-season and a certain superstar is still unsigned and gets a yen to play again. If you are going to gamble on a veteran center, grab for the brass ring and hope that Peter Forsberg likes what he sees in the Rangers. If not, turn the kids loose! I just hope the kids don't get stuck on the fourth line with Betts skating on the third line. If that is going to be the case, go get a veteran (preferably one who is solid on faceoffs and PK)and let him sit on the fourth line.

[Anthony (Abev)]

So true with every time I see the "Rangers" in a score. The knee-jerk reaction is always "Wait, the Rangers played tonight?"

[Godot]

Forsberg?? Now talk about injury prone. I think his career is pretty much through.

[Lynkx]

Rangers preseason tickets on sale for those of you who havent been to the homesite yet. (I know I log on there like 23 times a day, I'm waiting with baited breath.)

[Lynkx]

Correction: They're on sale Monday, Aug 27. The excitement of pre-season alone got to me.