Rookie Tournament at El Segundo

[AnneDVM]

Crodge2k and I attended the Friday games at El Segundo.  Unfortunately, we missed seeing both Lenny and Underhill play, although Lenny was dressed for the game.  And I must say he did a snappy job opening and closing the door to the bench!  Other fans reported being extremely impressed by both goalies.  They had never heard of Underhill before, so to them he came out of nowhere.  Unfortunately, the goalie who played Friday night for the Kings got a shutout, and the fans expected that he would probably get to start the championship game.  There is a good chance that Underhill could play for the Manchester Monarchs this year, which would make attending one of his games feasible for those of us in the Boston area.

Murray was exactly as Philip reported--well-positioned but too slow.  In the first period, he did make an amazing diving block to make up for the fact that he couldn't get to the attacker in time.  Somehow he dove in front of the guy, then managed to come up with the puck.  The fight was not a surprise, as there were at least 4 fights per game.  Everybody was skating fast, hitting hard, and very short-tempered.  Murray managed to keep himself away from trouble in the first period, but then seemed to progressively become more involved in the altercations.

Dustin Brown from Ithaca looked great for the Kings and the fans were really excited about his prospects.  Lanny Gare (UNH) was a tryout for the Mighty Ducks, and we thought he looked quite good.

[jtwcornell91]

AnneDVM wrote:
The fight was not a surprise, as there were at least 4 fights per game.  Everybody was skating fast, hitting hard, and very short-tempered.

Was there also an element of showing off one's fighting skills for the N?  (The few North American pro hockey games I've attended in recent years all seem to have featured pointless staged fights.)

[Jeff Hopkins \'82]

Well, I don't think there are as many staged fights in the NHL as there used to be John.  However, if you ever go to a NHL pre-season game, you'll find they're even chippier than the regular season, for the very reason you guessed.  It's all rookies trying to make an impression.

JH

[crodger1]

Agreed, John.  The fights that we saw were generally short lived and more aimed at showing a willingness to go a round or two but not actually follow through on it (neither person wanted to risk a serious injury at this point I am sure).

Murray, with no facemask or faceshield, looks pretty intimidating.  He also seemed slightly bulkier (could be working out, could be pads).  Watching him drop the gloves and get ready to have at it was kind of entertaining, though, because the length of the posturing period was slightly too long with each fighter trying to induce the other to throw the first punch.  I honestly can't recall who won the fight really because one took the other off their feet too quickly and I was still fumbling with the camera (no pictures worth sharing I am afraid).

[jtwcornell91]

I think there was only one NHL game counted in my small sample (I can't recall if there was a boring fight at my last--and I do mean last--Blackhawks game, or just bored/boring spectators waiting for a fight).  But clearly they haven't got the memo down in Corpus Christi.

[DeltaOne81]

The CHL is very goony. The NHL and AHL are much more reasonable. Can't speak for anything else.

[pfibiger]

Ok, in the end, Phoenix beat LA 3-1. Underhill started for LA, and gave up 2 goals and the 3rd was an empty netter. It sounds like he still played pretty well, hopefully well enough over the tourney to get an offer from the monarchs or their ECHL team.

Onto the SJ-Anaheim game. These notes were posted here:
http://www.sjsharks.com/sharks/news/20030908-1063076534.htm

For the second consecutive night, the Sharks took the early lead, this time thanks to a power play goal by defenseman Doug Murray. The Swedish rearguard received a pass from center Tomas Plihal and sent a low wrist shot past Ducks goaltender Eddie Ferhi. Eleven penalty calls later, the Sharks left the ice with a 1-0 lead at the intermission.

.In addition to his goal, Murray also tallied an assist (on Gorges' goal) and a fighting major for a "Gordie Howe Hat Trick". . .

[ugarte]

I am very encouraged by the news on Underhill and Murray (and Baby, from Traverse City. http://www.atlantathrashers.com/View.aspx?CID01=0142617b-7f9d-4c7e-9a6d-d4cd487d558b ).   Underhill still seems like a longshot, but I like Murray and Baby's chances to make the show.

[qwerty]

I'm a big fan of this quote at the end of the article about the sharks game.

"In addition to his goal, Murray also tallied an assist (on Gorges' goal) and a fighting major for a "Gordie Howe Hat Trick". "

[Will]

qwerty wrote:

I'm a big fan of this quote at the end of the article about the sharks game.

"In addition to his goal, Murray also tallied an assist (on Gorges' goal) and a fighting major for a "Gordie Howe Hat Trick". "

That's our boy. :-D

[pfibiger]

Looks like today Underhill was cut from the Kings training camp, and was assigned to the Manchester Monarchs. Seems like a step up from the Pee Dee Pride to me ..

http://www.lakings.com/news/news_detail.asp?id=1004

[ugarte]

Philip Fibiger '01 wrote:

Looks like today Underhill was cut from the Kings training camp, and was assigned to the Manchester Monarchs. Seems like a step up from the Pee Dee Pride to me ..

http://www.lakings.com/news/news_detail.asp?id=1004

What do people know about Chouinard, since Underhill will be competing with him for ice time?

Edit:  Used hockeydb to answer my own question.  The entry shows him to be someone once VERY highly regarded that fell out of favor, but appears to have regained his game.  http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php3?pid%5B%5D=29641

And can someone give me the English for "Cataractes," please.  I can't imagine that his old team was named after a disease, but I also can't guess as to what it does mean.



Post Edited (09-22-03 10:57)

[jtwcornell91]

big red apple wrote:
And can someone give me the English for "Cataractes," please.  I can't imagine that his old team was named after a disease, but I also can't guess as to what it does mean.

Waterfalls?

[Greg Berge]

The English for "cataracte" is "cataract."  It means a steep waterfall.

[melissaa]

As expected, Dougie has been reassigned. see link below ....

http://www.sjsharks.com/sharks/news/20030922-1064264960.htm