"I was thrilled that Hartford was happy in having me back and excited to be able to come to terms where both sides were completely satisfied." So are the words of the newly resigned Pack center Mike Ouellette who signed a one way AHL deal Tuesday with the Hartford Wolf Pack.
It's been quite a ride for the Kamloops, British Columbia native. Ouellette had a highly successful college career at Dartmouth where he played with future Wolf Pack teammate Hugh Jessiman. He played four seasons in New Hampshire where he amassed 58 goals and 80 assists for 138 points in 136 career games. When he finished his time in the Ivy League, Ouellette was the school's all-time leader in career games-played and fifth in career points. Even with all his college success, he went undrafted by the NHL. He didn't give up on his dream of making professional hockey his career.
Ouellette was eventually signed to an Amateur Tryout agreement by the Springfield Falcons and made it onto the ice two days later against Albany on April 13, 2006. It took two more days before he was able to register his first AHL point when he notched an assist against Portland. Despite his best efforts at the time for the Falcons, he was not signed to a permanent contract.
However, Springfield's loss became the Wolf Pack's gain. The 6'1" 190 pounder felt he, "wasn't at his best when I arrived at my first (Wolf Pack's training) camp," and wound up signing his first professional contract to play with the Ranger/Pack's ECHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers. In his first circuit in professional hockey Ouellette finished third on the team in assists, tied for fourth in points and first in plus/minus at plus-15.
His resolve never wavered as the young man came back for his second training camp more focused and ready because he knew what to expect. " I felt like I had a great camp and came back in top shape and made, what I thought was a much better impression. I came in motivated and able to show my strengths. 'G' (Head Coach Ken Gernander) said he noticed the improvements." Ultimately though he wound up being sent back down to Charlotte. However his stay there was brief. After only six games and a slow start by the Pack the team decided to swap out Jordan Owens and Mark Lee for Rangers 2004 second round draft pick Bruce Graham and of course, Ouellette.
"I was disappointed in going to Charlotte, but decided to make the best of it." Ouellette recalls. "I had a goal of scoring a point a game and I got close to that and wanted to emerge as one of the top players in the league and get my confidence where I thought it should be."
Gernander recalls what motivated him to bring the 26-year old up to Hartford. "I just remembered him from training camp. He was one of the better conditioned athletes when he came to training camp. He was one of the last cuts. He was very responsible defensively. He was a two-way center who could take draws and kill penalties and do a lot of things. He had enough skill that if you put him with good players, he could get the puck from them and get it back to them."
“I came back and had more power and more stride and ready to compete and looked at it as a chance to rediscover my offensive abilities.” Ouellette says.
“This year, (the start of the ’07 - ’08 season), maybe we didn’t have quite as high expectations for him but he turned some heads in training camp so we called him up and he fit right in and played hard from start to finish and never relinquished his spot on the team.” Gernander said.
In his first AHL season Ouellette put up 13 goals and 13 assists (26 points) in 69 games and started to find his offensive skills as the season wore on and his comfort level and confidence grew. His most memorable goal came in a key game late in the season against Providence. What stood out most for Ouellette was the goal came against stand out rookie goaltender Tuukka Rask. “I was so happy because I scored from high above the circle and it tied up a key game late. Earlier in the year I wouldn’t even have gotten the shot off. To score that goal meant a lot to me.”
Of his college and now professional teammate, Jessiman said, "He's battled through situations. I like his character and drive and it's shown through this past year. After he was sent down he battled back and became a key player for the team and a lot of us counted on him. I love having him as a teammate."
Ouellette became the team’s key defensive zone face-off specialist and spent the season doing the unglamorous “dirty work.” His impressive attitude, hard work and dedication made him an integral part of the team and a fan favorite.
At his exit interview after the team lost to the Portland Pirates in the play-offs, Gernander and Pack General Manager Jim Schoenfeld told him that he should continue to develop his offensive game. Ouellette says, "In fact, Assistant Coach J.J. Daigneault made a particular point of it as part of what I needed to do to reach the next level."
When the season ended Ouellette became an unrestricted free agent. Despite receiving inquiries from teams in Europe, he felt that Hartford was his best path to fulfill his dream of playing in the NHL.
Gernander says, “It’s still too early to tell if he’ll make the NHL. (He’s) displayed certain talents and abilities and obviously (he has) to continue to build on and accentuate those.”
Ouellette is disappointed that he won't be traveling with the Rangers for the team's training camp in Europe because of limited space and will have his third camp with the Wolf Pack. It hasn't dissuaded him. He's determined to make this a break out season. "My goal this year is to be an AHL All-Star." Ouellette said. There's no doubt that he will give it a great effort and if his past is any indication of his future, he might just make it.
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Ouellette commented on his former Dartmouth and current teammate Hugh Jessiman. “Hugh is a great teammate who has a tremendous amount of pressure on him being a first round draft pick. He’s had his ups and downs but I think he’s going to put it all together. He’s also one of the most loyal guys I know. He’s always had my back and helped me in the transition to the AHL and even helped me more once I got here.”
In a conversation with Jessiman, the #12 pick overall in the 2004 draft said that he is in California training with "a guy who trains Chris Chelios and a number of other NHL'ers." Jessiman is motivated to get to the NHL this coming season. "I want to be in top shape for camp and then show them that I'm ready and win a job right out of camp. If they decide to send me to Hartford, then I'm going to make my play on the ice force them to call me up like they did with Cally (Ryan Callahan) and Dawesy (Nigel Dawes)."
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NY Rangers former second round draft pick (number 33 overall) from 2002, Lee Falardeau was resigned by the Checkers to play a fifth season in Charlotte.
(Mike Ouellette photo courtesy of Chris Rutsch via Hartfordwolfpack.com)
The last 20 games of the season always seem to be quite precarious. With the combination of call ups to New York, new guys in from Charlotte, and new guys coming in on ATO’s from juniors and college, it always seems hard for the team to find consistency.
Last season Mike Ouellette was that consistency. His timely goals, PK work, and his face-off prowess made the team very enjoyable through a time when, as stated, the usual dynamics make the hockey tough to enjoy.
His hat trick in Lowell late March was a great fun to watch.
I'm glad he is back.
It would be a great story if he could earn a 2 way contract this season — at least with some team.
Posted by: dmd | July 17, 2008 at 10:08 AM