Alumni in the Pros -- Feb 2006

It's a new month!

27 January 2006
[portlandpirates.mostvaluablenetwork.com]
[q]Shane Hynes is close to returning from a knee injury suffered during the November 18 game against the Lowell Lock Monsters in Lowell.[/q]

Earlier the site had said two to three more weeks.

[tsn.ca]

Phoenix gets Steven Reinprecht and struggling goalie Phillipe Sauve in return from Calgary, which could open the door for Lenny to be back at the NHL level soon.

Chris '03
http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=153298&hubname=

Phoenix gets Steven Reinprecht and struggling goalie Phillipe Sauve in return from Calgary, which could open the door for Lenny to be back at the NHL level soon.

Canucks announcers Tuesday night said that Phoenix management raved about Lenny (the announcers butchered his name pretty badly!!). I think you're right as Sauve doesn't look like a great NHL backup. There have been a lot of rumors about Comrie and CuJo getting blown out soon if Phoenix decides to rebuild. Maybe Lenny will get more of a chance than it might seem.

Chris '03
http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=153298&hubname=

Phoenix gets Steven Reinprecht and struggling goalie Phillipe Sauve in return from Calgary, which could open the door for Lenny to be back at the NHL level soon.

He will be there very soon. Sauve is utterly worthless and probably the worst goalie in the NHL and as a Flames fan am turning cartwheels that he's done. When Phoenix is out of the playoff race at the deadline, I think Joseph will be moved to one of the teams looking for a goaltender (Edmonton, Vancouver, Colorado, Toronto). Either way, LeNeveu is already ahead of Sauve on the depth chart and he'll be ahead of him in the lineup as late as next season.

I watched a little of the AHL Allstar game last night. I heard Vesce was going to be in the lineup, first time I spotted him on was when he made a beautiful cross ice pass that lead to the first Planet-USA goal. Looks like he's making quite and impression. GO Ves!

calgARI '07
He will be there very soon. Sauve is utterly worthless and probably the worst goalie in the NHL and as a Flames fan am turning cartwheels that he's done. When Phoenix is out of the playoff race at the deadline, I think Joseph will be moved to one of the teams looking for a goaltender (Edmonton, Vancouver, Colorado, Toronto). Either way, LeNeveu is already ahead of Sauve on the depth chart and he'll be ahead of him in the lineup as late as next season.

Phoenix should dismantle soon like St. Louis. They're in 11th place, 7 points out of the playoffs.............schedule isn't that tough but tough enough that they probably can't make that up. CuJo hasn't played consistently well since early to mid December. I think that St. Louis got pretty good value from Carolina for moving Doug Weight early (in the final year of his contract). There are several teams that are very strong where a goaltending bandage could really help.

Doug Murray's icetime has headed further south. Other SJ defensemen without tons of NHL experience are getting more icetime. Not sure if this is due to his speed (Comrie got by him in the Phoenix game which led to a score) or perceived lack of offense (at least so far). Here's the recent trends:

Feb 1st (SJ wins 6-4 vs. Anaheim)
Doug Murray 9:25 (26 NHL career games)
J. Gorges 19:22 (20 NHL career games)
R. Davison 14:36 (120 NHL career games)
S. Hannan 25:56 (~ 400 NHL career games)
K. McLaren 25:45 (>500 NHL career games)
T. Preissing 20:10 (111 NHL career games)

Jan 30th (SJ loses 3-2 in OT vs. Dallas)
Doug Murray 8:49
J. Gorges 25:41
R. Davison 18:19
S. Hannan 30:18
K. McLaren 25:01
T. Preissing 15:16

Jan 28th (SJ loses 6-2 vs. Phoenix)
Doug Murray 15:14 (Doug was -2)
J. Gorges 20:42
R. Davison 15:17
S. Hannan 25:48
K. McLaren 22:51
T. Preissing 14:40

Doug Murray 12:20
J. Gorges 15:55
R. Davison 7:51
S. Hannan 22:48
K. McLaren 22:48
T. Preissing 17:10

This is armchair analysis, no doubt. But even if you look over a longer period of time you'll note that Doug's ice time has gone from 15-20 minutes down to 9-15 minutes. If anyone's seen Doug in action I'd be interested in your views - there's certainly no negative press other than a play or two over the last few games. Good news is that I'm not sure that there's someone who ranks nearly as high on the depth chart down in the AHL that is a threat to take his spot.

we all knew that they would have to trade someone, i was kind of hoping it would be lenny. he needs a stronger team in front of him.

Tonight Doug Murray (again) scored his 1st NHL point! Doug got the second assist on a goal by Scott Thornton.

(Hopefully it's not a false alarm again this time!)

Cool, he was also +2 and played 15 minutes. He is now tied with Dan Ratushny with 1 NHL point (though Dan accomplished the feat in 1 game).

Actually, if I'm not mistaken, Doug and Dan are the only Cornell players to suit up in the NHL??????? Perhaps I'm missing someone from the 60's or 70's but I can't find it on hockeydb.com.

RatushnyFan

Actually, if I'm not mistaken, Doug and Dan are the only Cornell players to suit up in the NHL??????? Perhaps I'm missing someone from the 60's or 70's but I can't find it on hockeydb.com.

Huh?

RatushnyFan
Cool, he was also +2 and played 15 minutes. He is now tied with Dan Ratushny with 1 NHL point (though Dan accomplished the feat in 1 game).

Actually, if I'm not mistaken, Doug and Dan are the only Cornell players to suit up in the NHL??????? Perhaps I'm missing someone from the 60's or 70's but I can't find it on hockeydb.com.

Do you mean Cornell defensemen?

Because, just off the top of my tired head, Cornellians in the NHL include:
Ken Dryden
Joey N (Age, I need spelling guide help here )
Kent Manderville (The Pittsburgh Penguins, and I also believe the Whalers/Carolina Carpetbaggers, excuse me, Carolina Hurricane organizations).
Brad Chartrand

At least a couple of alums have had steallar rookie seasons. In fact, this new article lists the top ten alltime best rookie seasons. Two are by Cornell alums (a pretty easy guess which two). Not a bad percentage.

[sportsillustrated.cnn.com]

Rita
Do you mean Cornell defensemen?

Sorry, yes, I meant the d-men only. I've seen Joe play quite a bit. To Rita's list we'd have to add Pelletier, Lenny, Ryan Hughes, etc. Haven't had many d-men in the NHL though that I can see.

Didn't PC Drouin get in a game or two?

Yes, he had a cup of coffee with the Bruins.

A few other non-defensemen who played in the NHL - probably listed here in decreasing number of games:
Brian Hayward, Darren Eliot, Brian McCutcheon, Larry Fullan.

Dartmouth/ECAC alumni doing well:
[Q]At St. Louis, rookie Lee Stempniak scored two goals and got the winner in a shootout for the second time this week for the Blues.[/Q]

Murray got his first NHL point last night, assisting on a Scott Thornton goal. He finished +2 on the night, but the sharks lost to the wild 3-2 in the shootout.

If only someone had thought to mention that last night.

Haha...my bad. The sudden flurry of activity in this thread distracted me!

Can Murray's first point be discussed enough? The boy deserves lots of mention. I'll have to give the Doug Murray Bobblehead a good shake today! Go Dougie!!!!

Cornellians in the NHL: [www.tbrw.info]

Might be a tad out of date.

Excellent list...missing Underhill from 2004 (i think), and only 2006 reference is Leneveu. Tredway's entry is strange with no games played. Didn't he get called up for a playoff game and never play in the regular season? Also, Jason Elliott sat on (near?) the bench as emergency goalie for Detroit during one Stanley Cup drive. I know he never saw the ice, so I am not sure if this counts. I also wonder if that was enough to get Jason's name on the Stanley Cup?

Trotsky
Cornellians in the NHL: [www.tbrw.info]

Might be a tad out of date.

[graphics.fansonly.com]

PDF of the media guide. Page 75.

Underhill got called up and played one game for the Blackhawks in '03-'04 when they had their top four goalies hurt.

Anyone know exactly what "NHL All-Stars (First Team)" means exactly? I'm guessing that Joe has made a few All-Star teams in his tenure but he's not listed (only Dryden is). So did the NHL use an All-Star system similar to All-Maericans back in the 70's? Or am I just missing something?

nshapiro
Tredway's entry is strange with no games played. Didn't he get called up for a playoff game and never play in the regular season?

Per hockeydb.com, Brock played in one playoff game in 1982 for the L.A. Kings but didn't register a point.

Our friend needs to update this in TBRW. Kind of like updating the fact that Dan Ratushny, likely the most dominant defenseman in Cornell's history, is not listed as playing for the Canadian world junior team in '90 and '91 or as having been a big contributor to Canada's 1992 Olympic team.

I know, I know........the day job gets in the way.

RatushnyFan
...Dan Ratushny, likely the most dominant defenseman in Cornell's history...

While no one can argue with updating the TBRW data base to reflect Ratushny's achievements, some (Hyla and I, for instance) might disagree with the above assertion.

I was hoping to spark a debate. Who then?

RatushnyFan
I was hoping to spark a debate. Who then?

Well, let's just say I bought the special #14 jersey with Lodboa's name on it. That and a look at the player list of the late 60's and early 70's should give you some ideas.

5'9", 175 lbs, 134 points in 3 seasons (no freshman got to play back in the good old days, right?). Scored some points in a few minor leagues ......... but why didn't he get anywhere near the NHL?

RatushnyFan
5'9", 175 lbs, 134 points in 3 seasons (no freshman got to play back in the good old days, right?). Scored some points in a few minor leagues ......... but why didn't he get anywhere near the NHL?

Few college players got to the NHL back then: Angotti, Berenson, Tony-O, Dryden, Magnuson and Morrison from Denver, and very few others.

The WHA, by the way, was intended as a NHL competitor--like the AFL was to the NFL before the Super Bowl and merger. Gretzky played in the WHA a few years before his Edmonton team joined the NHL. Something in the back of my mind keeps telling me Dan was injured, perhaps in that season with the Cougars in the WHA. But that's far from certain.


Here, for what it's worth, is the all-time NCAA tournament team named in 1997: Tony Amonte, Lou Angotti, Red Berenson, Bill Cleary, Tony Hrkac, Paul Kariya, Bill Masterton, John Matchetts, John Mayasich, Jim Montgomery, Tom Rendall, Phil Sykes, Chris Chelios, Bruce Driver, George Konik, Dan Lodboa, Keith Magnuson, Marc Behrend, Ken Dryden, and Chris Terreri.

Lodboa's third-period "natural" hat-trick broke a 3-3 tie with Clarkson to give Cornell the 1970 championship and complete the perfect season. The second goal was scored with Cornell two-men-down.

Lodboa was a forward his entire career except for his junior and senior years at Cornell, where he ran the offense like Bobby Orr. He was very fast but could hit hard. Harkness called him the finest college player he'd ever seen.

Al DeFlorio
Lodboa's third-period "natural" hat-trick broke a 3-3 tie with Clarkson to give Cornell the 1970 championship and complete the perfect season. The second goal was scored with Cornell two-men-down.

Lodboa was a forward his entire career except for his junior and senior years at Cornell, where he ran the offense like Bobby Orr. He was very fast but could hit hard. Harkness called him the finest college player he'd ever seen.

To show that there are some appreciative Colgate fans, while stopping at a Mobil station leaving Hamilton, a fan came up to me, in my Lodboa jersey, to say that he saw that game and that it was the nicest short-handed goal he'd ever seen. Obviously he wasn't a current 'gate student and to top it off, he commented how nice it was for McCutcheon to get the winning goal.

Bâby scores a goal
[www.chicagowolves.com]
[q]Chicago regained its advantage, 3-2, when the squad broke into the offensive zone, three-on-one. Stewart skated all the way in with the puck after taking control of it in the neutral zone and slipped it beneath the stick of a Knights defenseman and onto the tape of right wing Stephen Bâby, who put the puck away from outside the crease at 7:37 of the third period.[/q]

The Portland Pirates web site reports that [q]Shane Hynes is on place to be back in late February from a knee injury...[/q] The Pirates forwards have been hit hard with injuries this year and are using d-men up front here and there. They shelled Yann Denis last night, chasing him after two periods.

I hope this is only temporary for Doug, especially in light of his recently decreasing playing time.

2/6/06
From ESPN.com: Sharks coach Ron Wilson shuffled his lineup, scratching rookies Marcel Goc and Doug Murray while playing rookies Steve Bernier and defenseman Matt Carkner, who made his NHL debut and picked up his first point -- as well as the penalty that led to Langkow's power-play goal.

Well, Wednesday I'm going to my first Sharks game this season so I really hope Wilson puts Murray back in the lineup.

He's out (day-to-day) with a minor injury

[www.mercurynews.com]

strange to say, but I'm glad it's "just" an injury and not a demotion.

I was at the Sharks game on Saturday; Doug had several shifts in the first period, but nothing for the rest of the game. Since he didn't do anything stupid on the ice, I wondered if he might have some sort of injury that was keeping him out the rest of the game. At least I saw him play for a few minutes (~4:29 if I remember right).

KenP
strange to say, but I'm glad it's "just" an injury and not a demotion.

Completely agree. His ice time has been inconsistent over the past week and a half [www.nhl.com]:

Game Opp G A P +/- PIM PPG SHG Sh Sh % Shft TOI PPP 
Feb 4, 2006 ANA  0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 0.0 9 4:46 0 
Feb 2, 2006 MIN  0 1 1 2 0 0 0 1 0.0 19 15:36 0 
Feb 1, 2006 ANA  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  15 9:25 0 
Jan 30, 2006 DAL  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  16 8:49 0 
Jan 28, 2006 PHX  0 0 0 -2 0 0 0 0  26 15:14 0

I thought the great game against Minnesota would get him back on the ice because it certainly seemed like a demotion after the Phoenix game.

atb9
24 is the devil

I know he hardly has any even strength goals, but that's a bit strong.

mgl11
He's out (day-to-day) with a minor injury

[www.mercurynews.com]

Just a little bit more from the SF Chronicle [sfgate.com]:

[Q]Murray missed his first game after playing in 28 since his promotion Dec. 1. The team said Murray is nursing an upper-body injury, as his right wrist has been wrapped in ice recently.[/Q]

atb9
[ His ice time has been inconsistent over the past week and a half [www.nhl.com]:

Game Opp G A P +/- PIM PPG SHG Sh Sh % Shft TOI PPP 
Feb 4, 2006 ANA  0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 0.0 9 4:46 0 
Feb 2, 2006 MIN  0 1 1 2 0 0 0 1 0.0 19 15:36 0 
Feb 1, 2006 ANA  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  15 9:25 0 
Jan 30, 2006 DAL  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  16 8:49 0 
Jan 28, 2006 PHX  0 0 0 -2 0 0 0 0  26 15:14 0

I thought the great game against Minnesota would get him back on the ice because it certainly seemed like a demotion after the Phoenix game.

A key factor in the variation in ice time is that the Sharks were often dressing seven defenseman. In the Minnesota game they only played six.

Doug cracks the top 20 rookie defensemen list per TSN (ahead of Josh Gorges). I guess they forget to tell the coach about how to allocate ice time. [www.tsn.ca]

Another article in the San Fran Chronicle indicated that Doug won't suit up again prior to the Olympics.

Yeah, I was at the game on Wednesday and was disappointed to see him out.

With his 15th goal of the season, Nieuwendyk ties Michel Goulet for 22nd alltime in NHL scoring.

The road ahead:

19. 560 Guy Lafleur
20. 556 Johnny Bucyk
21. 549 Ron Francis
22. 548 25

Dianne 99
I was at the Sharks game on Saturday; Doug had several shifts in the first period, but nothing for the rest of the game. Since he didn't do anything stupid on the ice, I wondered if he might have some sort of injury that was keeping him out the rest of the game. At least I saw him play for a few minutes (~4:29 if I remember right).

Probly happened when he hit the Ducks player against the boards. Didnt see him much after that.

Lenny was not listed on the line-up card last night for San Antonio, does anybody know what happened to him. Is he hurt or is he riding the pine in Phoenix?

Here are some comments from INCH on college players in the pros. Nice mention of Doug.

11 College Alums Who've Impressed in the NHL This Season

• Shawn Horcoff, Edmonton: The former Michigan State All-American is the Oilers' leading scorer with 16 goals and 42 assists and has arguably been his team's most valuable player

• Brian Gionta, New Jersey: Ex-Boston College Smurf entered the year with 37 goals in 166 career games. Through 58 games this season, he's scored 33 times

• Erik Cole, Carolina: The Hurricanes' other Eric (Staal) gets most of the attention, but the Clarkson product paces the Eastern Conference's best team with seven game-winning goals and a +15 plus-minus rating in addition to his 54 points

• Tim Thomas, Boston: Once a Vermont goalie, Thomas has propped up the Bruins' once-sagging playoff hopes. He leads the NHL in save percentage (.930) and ranks fifth in goals against average (2.17)

• Keith Ballard, Phoenix: Don't let his -15 plus-minus rating fool you. The ex-Minnesota standout is among the highest scoring rookie defensemen, and respected broadcaster John Davidson says Ballard is destined for a long, productive career

• Ryan Miller, Buffalo: We should be watching the NCAA's all-time shutout king playing for the U.S. team in Torino, but a thumb injury kept him off the roster. The Michigan State star ranks seventh in GAA (2.25) and sixth in save percentage (.923)

• Doug Murray, San Jose: The rearguard who put the big in Cornell Big Red has one assist in 28 games, but has earned raves for his work in the defensive zone and his punishing hits.

• Dany Heatley, Ottawa: Think the former Wisconsin prodigy has benefitted from a change of scenery? Maybe the NHL's seventh-ranked scorer (34 goals, 37 assists) has benefitted more from playing alongside Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza

• Craig Conroy, Los Angeles: The pride of Potsdam, N.Y., Conroy's m.o. was that of solid, two-way forward. He's still valuable in that regard, but with 55 points in 59 games, he's well on his way to eclipsing his career best of 75 points set with Calgary in 2001-02

• Brian Rolston, Minnesota: See Conroy's story above, and just change the statistics to match those of the former Lake Superior State Laker. Rolston has been on a tear since Thanksgiving, with 48 points in 40 games for the offensively challenged Wild.

• Andy McDonald, Anaheim: Talk about a breakthrough — the Colgate product, who's finally healthy after battling assorted injuries, scored a career-high 30 points in 2003-04. He's already got 34 assists this season to go along with a career-best 19 goals

Since Dana Antal isn't on Canada's roster for the Olympics, this isn't precisely an alumni issue, but Cornell women's head coach Melody Davidson is in charge of things for Canada over in Torino, in case people had forgotten. Davidson's team went undefeated in group play, outscoring Italy, Russia and Sweden by a combined score of 36-1. They'll play the loser of this afternoon's USA-Finland matchup in the semifinals on Friday.

(And, making realistic assumptions, will play the USA in the gold medal game on Monday.)

jmh30
outscoring Italy, Russia and Sweden by a combined score of 36-1.

The biggest surprise of the Olympics is that this didn't trigger a post from Bill lamenting that they lost the shutout.

Iggulden scored a hat trick in a losing effort last night, giving him 18 goals on the season so far. Iggulden scored three goals in a span of under 10 minutes, with PP goals at 19:33 of the 1st and 6:37 of the 2nd, and an even strength goal at 8:56 of the 2nd, but Cleveland fell to Houston, 6-4.

Iggulden: 13 career goals/34 total points in 110 career Cornell games. Yet 18 goals and 37 points in 54 AHL games this year. Wow. Pretty impressive (other than the -11 on a clearly defensively challenged team).

Got a chance to see Charlie Cook '05 play for the Philadelphia Phantoms tonight. (I had the high bid on tickets he contributed to yesterday's silent benefit auction for the Cornell Club of Greater Philadelphia's scholarship fund -- one of several generous donations from Charlie ... thank you.)

Boy, does he look comfortable and assertive now. They're giving him plenty of time on the power play. He got an assist tonight in a 5-4 OT shootout loss to Manchester.

He had been finding his way into box scores all season, with 2 goals and 12 assists in just over 40 games. And he's still leading the Phantoms by a mile in +/-.

Here's what Hockey's Future said about Charlie a month ago:

"Another rookie who has made an impressive contribution to the [Phantoms] is 23-year-old Cornell product Charlie Cook. A defenseman who plays a finesse-oriented game similar to that of [Clarkson product Randy] Jones (though he is two inches shorter and 10 lbs. lighter than his defensive counterpart), Cook has provided the Phantoms with a rather surprising blend of steady defense and offensive production from the blue line." [ [www.hockeysfuture.com] ]

Yup, based on what I saw tonight, that nails it.

Busy night for Leneveu last night. San Antonio won 4-3 after the shoot out, despite being outshot 53-20 through regulation and OT. Lenny stopped 50 of 53 shots through OT, and then 4 of 5 in the shoot out.

Lenny had yet another outstanding performance in goal today stopping 38 of 41 in a 4 to 3 shoot out win. Lenny made saves on all five of the chances in the shoot out. Lenny is sizzling right now, maybe he is coming into his own and deserves another shot in the NHL. Are you hearing me GRETSKY?

Brian
Lenny had yet another outstanding performance in goal today stopping 38 of 41 in a 4 to 3 shoot out win. Lenny made saves on all five of the chances in the shoot out. Lenny is sizzling right now, maybe he is coming into his own and deserves another shot in the NHL. Are you hearing me GRETSKY?

We just gotta get Janet to place some money on him.

Brian
Are you hearing me GRETSKY?

Hockey names can be tough.

From the Portland Pirates web site: [portlandpirates.mostvaluablenetwork.com] [q]Shane Hynes is done for the year as he suffered a set-back in his recovery.[/q]

Not a Cornell alum, but Brett Nowak, who played at Harvard, is retiring from the AHL at age 24 following surgery for testicular cancer. Hopefully he maintains a clean bill of health now. It's always a shame to see someone's athletic career end when it's not on their terms.

[www.syracuse.com]

David Harding
From the Portland Pirates web site: [portlandpirates.mostvaluablenetwork.com] [q]Shane Hynes is done for the year as he suffered a set-back in his recovery.[/q]

That's sad news. I wish Shane the best of luck in his off-season rehab. I sure hope he can come back at full strength next year and that he stays in the Ducks' organization.