Rochester D & C: LeNeveu to stay

For Your Information:

From [www.democratandchronicle.com]

Cornell goalie plans to return for junior season

By Leo Roth
Democrat and Chronicle

(April 14, 2003) — BUFFALO — Cornell star goaltender Dave LeNeveu, who lost out on a national title and the Hobey Baker Award this weekend in Buffalo, said he expects to return for his junior season.

LeNeveu, who led the NCAA with a 1.14 goals-against average and led Cornell to its first Frozen Four berth since 1980, was a second-round pick of the Phoenix Coyotes last year.

“Cornell University is a great institution and our coaches and team are great to be a part of,” LeNeveu said. “It’d be a very difficult decision for me to walk away from that. At this time, I’m coming back in the fall. I have no reason to think otherwise.”

The only thing that would alter LeNeveu’s thinking is if Phoenix guaranteed him playing time in the NHL, and that’s not very likely since they are deep at the position and most scouts feel LeNeveu could still use another year of college hockey.

Returning would give LeNeveu another shot at the NCAA title and the Hobey Baker. LeNeveu, the nation’s top goalie, was beaten by Colorado College’s Peter Sejna, the nation’s top scorer, for the honor.

“We definitely hope to have Dave back,” said Cornell coach Mike Schafer, who graduates seven seniors from a 30-5-1 team that lost to New Hampshire 3-2 in the NCAA semifinals.

“Even Ryan Miller (Buffalo Sabres), when he won the Hobey two years ago, came back for a year because he needed to get bigger and stronger and improve his game.”

Meanwhile, Big Red senior forward Sam Paolini of Greece has hired local agent Steve Bartlett in hopes of landing a pro contract.

“I definitely want to continue to play hockey,” said Paolini, winner of the Hockey Humanitarian Award. “I love the game too much to stop. Hopefully, something will work out and they find some teams interested in me. It would be a case of where the best fit is.”

The Buffalo Sabres made it known they’re interested in selecting Minnesota freshman winger Thomas Vanek high in the first round of the June NHL entry draft. Vanek, who once played for the Junior Amerks, led the Golden Gophers to a repeat championship by scoring the winning goals over Michigan and UNH, finishing the season with 31 goals and 31 assists. He’s rated the third best draft-eligible North American player by Central Scouting.

> "At this time, I’m coming back in the fall. I have no reason to think otherwise.”

A lot can happen in 5 months, but that direct quote is sweet, sweet music.

I believe LeNeveu would benefit from returning for another year. Naturally, I am not at all biased.

Don't wanna be the pessimist but .... all this really means is that the season just ended and that Phoenisx hasn't yet come knocking throwing wads of cash and other offers at him. Lenny comes aross as not being one to count chockens before they hatch. The scout that was sitting behind us in Buffalo said that he knew Phoenix was going to offer Lenny "a heck of a lot of cash" over the summer. the way it was said he more or less implied that Lenny would be crazy not to sign .... and I'm sure he's been arpund long enough to get a feel for all this contract and signing stuff.

It is nice to know that Lenny has the best of intentions, but anything can happen yet. Who knows how he'll react when faced with a huge lump of cash and who can say with certainty that if they were in the same boat that they'd turn down the money and the chance to prove themselves at a higher level?

That's a little hard to believe.

Phoenix doesn't have a heck of a lot of cash. They let Tony Amonte go for a song simply because they couldn't pay his salary. Now, his salary is not the same as a freshman goalie, but nevertheless.

If there's one position where Phoenix is deep it's at goalie. Of course they could move Boucher in the off-season and probably wouldn't get to much for him either, but that still leaves Lenny third or fourth in line.

Note that this could all be wishful thinking on my part, too.

JH

Hey ... I'm not disagreeing. I am only repeating what I heard. Hopefully the scout was wrong. Anything could happen tho. I'm certain that the supposed big bucks flashed in front of a rookie wouldn't even begin to compare with Amonte's salary.

I have caught on tv a few speculations in the NHL post season from various broadcasters that Pheonix might be looking to make some goaltending changes after not making the play-offs. Their post season play last year was mostly attributed to the strong goaltending of Sean Burke. Since Boucher's numbers this past season weren't exactly stellar who knows what the organization will do (or attempt to do)?

After Burke, it really looks like LeNeveu is their best goalie. Burke doesn't have much left in him, and I wouldn't be surprised if they are knocking on LeNeveu's door the second Burke decides to retire.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Burke is still a good goalie and will probably keep his starting job. Boucher is an excellent goalie and Bierk had an unexpectedly outstanding year. Plus, you've got Pelletier putting up great numbers in Springfield. All three of the Coyotes' goalies could probably find a job starting somewhere in the NHL, so expect them to move at least Boucher. Pelletier would probably get called up before Lenny got a shot. There's just no room for Lenny in the big club, and if it's the AHL fighting for ice time with JMP or playing every game for Cornell and making (hopefully) another championship run, it should be a no-brainer for everyone. I mean, he is only 19 years old.

Age is exactly right, but to take it a step further, Phoenix will not be paying him a lot of money to sign if they're just going to have him sit on the bench on the AHL (or NHL) level. The only reason to pay someone to leave early is because (a) he's ready and needed on the NHL level or (b) they think he can learn more on the AHL level than in college (which would necessitate him playing a significant number of games in the AHL, which he would not, unless they move a couple of goalies).

After Burke, it really looks like LeNeveu is their best goalie.

He may be their best potential goalie, but he's not among their top NHL goalie, yet. Rick DiPietro was a #1 overall, was much older, was more experienced, and it still took him more than a year to just make the parent club and, late in the second year, he still isn't the go-to guy.

Phoenix could certainly make him an offer he couldn't refuse, but I don't particularly see that as a logical move for them. Not when they can get another free year of development from a program that would be tremendously incentified to further develop his body and skills.



Post Edited (04-15-03 11:12)

DiPietro wasn't much older or more experienced. He was barely 19 when he played in the NHL, after 1 season at BU.

It almost always takes a couple of seasons for college goaltenders to even make the NHL. Here's a list of college standouts and how many years it took to get 30 games in an NHL season.

		School	Yr	NHL	time
Robb Stauber	Minn.	1989	1993	4 years
Ed Belfour	NoDak	1987	1991	4 years
Garth Snow	Maine	1993	1997	4 years
Mike Dunham	Maine	1993	1999	6 years
Parris Duffus	Cornell	1992	-	-
Marty Turco	Mich.	1998	2002	4 years
Jason Elliott	Cornell	1998	-	-
J-M Pelletier	Cornell	1997	-	-
Tim Thomas	UVM	1997	-	-
Ryan Miller	Mich St	2002	-	-
Rick DiPietro	BU	2000	-	-

Belfour, Duffus, JMP, Miller, and DiPietro all left school early. It took Duffus 5 years to get his 1 game of NHL play. Thomas played in 4 games this year, 6 years after he thought he'd replace Patrick Roy. Miller got in 15 games this year, 1 year removed from his last college season, DiPietro played in 20 games the year after he left, and 10 games this season, 3 years removed.

You just don't see college goaltenders go to the NHL without minor league seasoning. DiPietro was the closest, due to the buzz created by him being the #1 overall pick. He wasn't good that year with the Islanders or the IHL team.