Morning Skate

The first session of training camp just ended, with three of the four teams going through fast paced drills. Everyone looks good at this point, full of energy, flying up and down the ice. Hard to pick anyone out at either extreme -- Hugh Jessiman looks like he'd rather be somewhere else, although that is probably me reading something into him that might not really be there.

The most interesting thing are the lines. Ryan Callahan is centering Martin Straka and Petr Prucha. We noted yesterday that Marcel Hossa will be with Jaromir Jagr and Scott Gomez on the Blue Team, and that Chris Drury will be with Brendan Shanahan and Sean Avery (we'll confirm that later today when those teams take to the ice for the first time). The fourth line of Blair Betts between Ryan Hollweg and Colton Orr is also together.

Behind those lines of returning NHLers are the young guys who are pushing for jobs, and they seemed to be lined up in a certain pecking order as well -- the ones with the best shot at the NHL are together, that's Brandon Dubinsky centering Alex Bourret and Nigel Dawes, and the guys who seemed destined for Hartford are together, that being Jessiman, Artem Anisimov, and Dane Byers. The defense does not seem to be paired up in any particular way. Some members of the Green Team were out on the ice too, while the big boys -- Jags, Shanny, Gomez, Drury, Avery, et.al. -- were in the workout room riding the bike.

I asked J.J. Daigneault about a couple of player we thought would be in camp. Mike Busto was removed from the participation list because of a poor showing in Traverse City -- but he will be in Hartford camp later this month. David Kveton did not earn an invitation based on his Traverse City performance and has been sent back to the Czech Republic, even though he doesn't have a team to play for there. More later...

Comments

[imitation]

Callihan is playing center, instead of Straka?

[Colorado Mark]

Thanks Dubi! I don't know why the Busto move (sounds like a dance track) was bugging me so much, but I was dying to know. He must have really not played very well since there seems to be an odd number of D-men. Kveton being sent back to Czech republic with no where to play seems odd as well. Wouldn't it make more sense to have him in the Hartford camp and find a Junior team to play for (as Jess suggested would take a lot of wrangling, but still).

I'm hope you're reading in to things about Jessiman. I am hoping he shows something in camp this year.

[Jeff]

Intersting...Callahan centering Straka and Prucha. Maybe they are worried about Straka's shoulder holding up, so they want Cally to have some experience at center in case it's needed...

Hmm...verrry interesting.

[Andrew]

Colorado Mark, don't get your hopes up on Jessiman. He's going to be a bust for sure. We just have to move on and go forward with the players that we have instead of crying over the guys we didn't take in that draft year. This is a very talented team and I'm sure no one in the organization has any plans for Jessiman to be with the big club at all this season. He's way down on the depth chart and will be gone as soon as his contract runs out. I forsee a long AHL career for Mr. Jessiman where he will bounce from team to team.

[Ola]

How safe is the info that Callahan is centering that line?

Like, if a coach told someone he is the center its 100% safe, but if he took faceoffs it just might be him practising faceoffs.

I am a little suprised to see Callahan at center thats all.

BTW, thanks a zillion for the great coverege, you guys are the best. I will be a subscriber till the year I die!!! :)

[wolfgaze]

GUYS!

Please don't read into the training camp lines too heavily... Just because they are experimenting with some combinations doesn't mean that you're going to see Ryan Callahan centering our 3rd line on October 4th... Not happening...

[Colorado Mark]

Andrew, I dont think my post mentioned anything about seeing Jessiman on the Rangers this year OR "crying" over who we didn't take that year. My comment was simply stating that I am still pulling for Jessiman to become a better player. I don't buy the "he's going to be a bust for sure" comment either. He's been under contract for two years and he's progressed each year. Is he as high on the depth chart as a high pick should be? No. Are you (or anyone else) able to say that without a doubt his NHL future is a complete bust. No to that as well. He's an intriguing figure, with size, some hands and some grit. I think he could have a good year in Hartford. He may not earn a contract after all, but it's still too early to give up on him.

[Jameson]

Cally sure has the energy to play center. Straka's getting older and he was never a natural center to begin with, winger is his position, it'll probably be better to keep him there. Not to read too much into the line combo's from the first day either, but two things that intrigue me about them:
a) Callahan is probably mature enough now, and the coaching staff recognizes it, to have more responsibility. Centering a line is big because of faceoffs and added defensive responsibility.
b) Putting Hossa with the 1st line and making the 3rd line Straka-Callahan-Prucha and the 4th line Orr-Betts-Hollweg scares me a little because this tells me Renney is probably going to be leaning towards these guys being the guys that are in the starting lineup rather than maybe Aniseminov, Dawes, and/or Dubinsky being on the team right out of camp.

[Ola]

Jameson- Everything else aside that comes with playing center, whats really tough for a winger to do is take the puck up ice when the other team is collected defensivly.

It would be tough for a winger on all NHL teams, but Renney also wants his center to go low and take the puck up ice more then just about any other coach in this league, besides maybe Deroit and STL with Murray.

Our entire gameplan resolves from our LW pusing back the other teams defensemen's -- hence the reason Renney love fast LW's like Straka and Prucha, and the org constantly drafts LW's like Dawes and moved Korpikoski from RW to LW when he got here, and moved Prucha from RW to LW and tryed to move Callahan... When the LW have bolted out of our zone there is allot of ice to skate on in the neutral zone, Renney doesn't want us to try to hit the LW to get a fast break, he wants a controlled transition play, and its here the center comes to play.

Having centers who can transport the puck is A & O in our system, having fast LW's and RW's who can win battles along the board is important, we without a center that can transport the puck we can't play like we do. I think that where a big reason for why we went out so hard for Gomez and Drury, its a very vital position for us.

I love Callahan as a player, but I hardly see these mentioned aspects as a strength in his game. I would be really suprised if Callahan ended up as a center when playing for Renney...

[Jess]

I for one do not read a lot into Cally being used as a center in training camp. For now it helps Cally become more of value for the team, it protects the injury prone Straka some protection and gives other teams a lot to think about when possibly facing a line that has 3 centers.

As for Kveton his being sent back to Europe clearly is a sign that he is no longer viewed as a legit NHL prospect anymore. Kveton has to blame himself along with those who "advised" him as he never made up his mind as to where to play last season.

Busto also needs to blame himself as it is not the kid who had a breakout season for the Kootenay Ice last year. For now I am going to chalk it up to a case of stage fright.

[Sam]

Andrew, I can't wait until you look like a fool for your thoughts on Jessiman. He missed an entire season during a key time in his development. He also went through a rigorous summer workout routine on and off the ice i hear. What will you say if he makes the team midway through this year??

[Jess]

Sam

Jessiman is another who made some poor judgments regarding his own development. He is at least another year or more away from the NHL sorry