Alumni in the Pros -- Feb 2006

[jkahn]

[quote atb9][  His ice time has been inconsistent over the past week and a half http://www.nhl.com/players/gbg/20052006/8468114.html:

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.[/quote]
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.

[RatushnyFan]

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.  http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=154226&hubname=

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

[KeithK]

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

[Trotsky]

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

[French Rage]

[quote 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).[/quote]

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

[Brian]

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?

[cth95]

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

[Josh '99]

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.)

[ugarte]

[quote jmh30] outscoring Italy, Russia and Sweden by a combined score of 36-1.[/quote]The biggest surprise of the Olympics is that this didn't trigger a post from Bill lamenting that they lost the shutout.

[DisplacedCornellian]

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.

[RatushnyFan]

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).

[Hillel Hoffmann]

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." [ http://www.hockeysfuture.com/article.php?sid=8245&mode=threaded&order=0 ]

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

[DisplacedCornellian]

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.

[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?

[French Rage]

[quote 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?[/quote]

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