Canucks prospect has the hunger

Door open for Sweatt to crack Vancouver lineup with Kesler missing By Jim Jamieson, The Province September 11, 2011

Last season, as a rookie pro, Bill Sweatt showed enough at rookie camp, made it to main camp

and got into three NHL preseason games, scoring no points and going minus-3.

The Chicago-born winger also showed NHL wheels and a strong two-way work ethic.

A year later, he's hungry for more - a lot more.

With centre Ryan Kesler (hip surgery) likely to miss an indeterminate number of games at the

start of the season and winger Mason Raymond sure to be out with a fractured vertebrae, the

door is open wider in the top-six forward group than you might expect from a team that got to

Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final.

Certainly, players such as Cody Hodgson, Chris Higgins and free agent signing Marco Sturm are

in the queue for those second line jobs, but Sweatt will be looking to show at the Young Stars

prospects tournament here that he intends to be a serious contender.

"I just want to show I've improved and learned the pro game and can play at this level," said

Sweatt, 22. "Hopefully I can go into main camp and have a really good camp and hopefully

make the team off the bat this year."

Sweatt, originally a secondround pick of Chicago in 2007 but signed as a free agent by

Vancouver last summer, had a good rookie pro season with the Canucks' Manitoba Moose AHL

team. He had a typical slow start, but came on and finished second on the Moose in scoring, both

in points and goals (19-27-46 in 80 games) to the now departed Sergei Shirokov.

"I didn't know what to expect, it was my first year pro," said Sweatt. "Then we went on a long

road trip, like seven games in 10 days. It was like a battle. I kind of got my wind and started to

score some goals, got some points and kept going from there. I improved my offensive game and

my defensive game. I'm just trying to take that momentum into this season."

Sweatt, a 6-foot, 190 pounder who played four seasons at Colorado College, credits Claude Noel,

his coach with the Moose, for working with him on his game.

"Winnipeg was a great organization and Claude is a great coach and he taught me a lot," said

Sweatt. "He broke down my game with me and I tried to do everything he said.

Sweatt feels his game is more pro ready now - on both sides of the puck.

"I think working on having more patience with the puck, maintaining possession, trying to get

everything on net," he said. "Last year a lot of my goals came from just being in front of the net,

sticking your nose in there, tips, pucks going off of you, rebounds at the net front. Defensive

zone was just around the boards, getting help or chipping it out to they can go on a rush."

But Sweatt said he's not going to get too caught up in being one of the vets here.

"I think I just go out there and concentrate on playing hard, working hard," he said. "If you have

the intention you should be scoring two goals a game because I'm the older guy and I was there

last year and you don't it really gets to you mentally. Just go out and work hard and do the little

things right, and see what happens."

SCHEDULE

YOUNG STARS TOURNAMENT SOUTH OKANAGAN EVENTS CENTRE PENTICTON

SUNDAY

4 p.m. - Calgary Prospects vs. San Jose Prospects

7: 30 p.m. - Canucks Prospects

VS. EDMONTON PROSPECTS MONDAY

4 p.m. - Canucks Prospects vs. Calgary Prospects

7: 30 p.m. - San Jose Prospects vs. Winnipeg Prospects

TUESDAY

7: 30 p.m. - Winnipeg Prospects vs. Edmonton Prospects

WEDNESDAY

4 p.m. - Canucks Prospects vs.

San Jose Prospects 7: 30 p.m. - Calgary Prospects vs. Edmonton Prospects

THURSDAY

11: 30 a.m. - Canucks Prospects vs. Jets Prospects

All games available on Canucks.com

Young D-man brings the offence

But Connauton has been working on skating backwards to improve defence By Gordon McIntyre, The Province September 11, 2011

Kevin Connauton knows one thing for sure as the Canucks' Young Stars tournament gets

underway today in the Okanagan: No matter what, he'll be playing hockey in his sixth city in six

years this season.

"I've kind of thought about it a few times," the defenceman said, "but I don't think it's a negative

thing."

It's not - it's more a testament of the 21-year-old Edmonton native having taken the next step up

year after year.

His sojourn started when he left Edmonton to play in the Alberta junior league just 11 kilometres

up the road from his hometown.

The next season he was off to Kalamazoo to join Western Michigan of the CCHA, then it was a

season in Vancouver with the Giants, where he broke Jon Blum's franchise goals record and

Brent Regner's points record as he led the WHL in scoring for a defenceman.

Last season he played for the Manitoba Moose and this season he'll be in Chicago wearing the

sweater of the AHL's Wolves.

"I've met a lot of good people, bouncing around from team to team, and I'm excited about this

year," he said. "Obviously, it'll be either Vancouver or Chicago, those are two pretty good

choices."

Connauton has obvious offensive ability. "He's got skills you can't teach," as Canucks assistant

GM Lorne Henning put it.

Connauton's numbers with the Giants were 24-48-72 in 69 games, and plus-4. He's a good skater,

sees the ice well and makes a crisp and quick breakout pass.

But his play in his own end has always been his Achilles heel.

He struggled for long stretches with the Moose last season, scoring 11 goals and recording 12

assists in 73 games and going minus-11, followed by a minus-2 playoffs.

"I was up and down last season," Connauton said. "I started off pretty strong, but I hit a few

speed bumps there near the end of the season.

"You've got to face adversity and just move forward. Overall, I think it was a pretty positive first

year as a pro."

He spent this summer on the ice working on his backward movement.

"His foot speed is 10-fold what it was a year ago," said Dave Babych, the former Canucks

blueliner who oversees the development of young defencemen.

Eligible for the 2008 NHL draft, Connauton was overlooked.

Heading into the 2009 draft he wasn't ranked in the top 200 North American skaters, but the

Canucks, seeing something others didn't, took him 83rd overall.

This year he'd like to show them more, starting with consistency.

"You don't want to go into camp preparing for that [returning to the AHL for more seasoning]

obviously, but I don't think another year playing in the minors is a negative thing, especially at

my age," Connauton said.

"I think I'm on the right path, but obviously there's still room for improvement."

FIVE TO WATCH

Last year goalie Eddie Lack and defenceman Chris Tanev stood out like men among boys at the

Canucks Young Stars tournament. Before that, it was Cody Hodgson and Cory Schneider

playing heads and shoulders above their prospective peers.

Who will it be this time around? Bill Sweatt and Kevin Connauton are featured on this page and

on A69, so here are five others, in no particular order, to keep an eye on in Penticton:

Yann Sauve: This D-man has never lived up to his hype since Canucks picked him 41st overall

in 2008, and he fell behind last year after getting hit by a car prior to training camp. But Canucks

brass still have high hopes for the 21-year-old.

Nicklas Jensen: This year's firstround pick (29th overall), Jensen is 6-foot-3 and still putting on

pounds at 187. He's a couple of years away from a legitimate shot at making the NHL, but

should be able to excel at this tournament.

Jordan Schroeder: Lots of ink went to describing how the Canucks had "stolen" Schroeder in the

2009 draft, getting him at No. 22 after pegging him a top-10 pick. But his first pro season at

Winnipeg last year was a disappointment. He needs to do special things with the puck if, at 5-

foot-8, he's going to make hockey his career.

Anton Rodin: A second-round pick in 2009, behind Schroeder and ahead of Connauton, Rodin

has stayed in Sweden until now. Gifted, but small, like Schroeder he needs to excel offensively.

David Honzik: After Lack, there's zilch depth at goaltender in the organization. Honzik was a

third-round pick in June, the Canucks grabbing him ahead of higher-rated goalies still available,

and he's just 18. But he's 6-foot-2, 207 pounds and, on Saturday at least, looked sound

positionally.

MacTavish happy back on bench

Two years as TV analyst made ex-Oilers coach eager to get back inside game By Gordon McIntyre, The Province September 12, 2011

The Okanagan holds fond memories for Craig MacTavish.

He has a summer home in the valley, he recently competed in a triathlon past the vineyards that

line the hills and overlook the lake, and on Sunday night he was back behind the bench for the

first time in more than two years.

Six teams enter the 2011-12 season with new head coaches, but only one hired someone who had

been a permanent head coach in the NHL before and it's not MacTavish, who was fired by the

Edmonton Oilers after the 2008-09 season, after eight years at the helm.

There was a time MacTavish would have been snapped up by some NHL club or other, as would

have Marc Crawford and Ken Hitchcock.

But the trend in today's NHL is toward hiring younger coaches who have excelled in the AHL

and who, general managers feel, relate to today's young NHL players.

"You look at the job that young coaches have done, guys like Dan Bylsma [in Pittsburgh]," the

53-year-old MacTavish said. "Sometimes the perception is these young guys are connecting at a

higher level than the older, more experienced coaches.

"Success is always in vogue."

MacTavish did a pretty good job as an analyst on TSN during his twoyear forced hiatus from

coaching, but it wasn't something he had a passion for.

In fact, he took what he called a curiosity tour of Russia last year to explore coaching options in

the KHL before the Canucks rescued him by offering him the head job coaching in their new

minor league affiliate, the Chicago Wolves.

What could be better than being back coaching and doing it in Chicago?

Being in the NHL, of course. That being the goal, coaching the Canucks' AHL farm team isn't a

bad way to go about it: The last four coaches of the Manitoba Moose, including Alain Vigneault,

are all NHL head coaches now.

"I took the job with TSN a little reluctantly, I really wasn't too enthused," MacTavish said before

Canucks prospects took on their Oilers counterparts in the Young Stars tournament at the

Penticton Events Centre. "But it forced me to stay in touch with the game at a level I'm not sure I

would have done had I not been forced to prepare for a lot of those nights.

"I wasn't idle. I did a lot of different things. Last year I did a lot of scouting [of NCAA schools].

I watched a lot of hockey. It kept me busy.

"But at the end of the day I want to be on the inside rather than on the outside like you folks [the

media]. I want to be in the trenches more than commenting on it and I was anxious to get back."

He's about 14 pounds lighter than the 195 pounds that was his final playing weight, back when

he was the last player to go lidless in the NHL.

Owner of four Stanley Cup rings and a recent MBA from Queen's, MacTavish has a form of

cancer that's been in remission for almost two years now.

He looks great and says he feels the same.

"You know what?" he said. "The goal for me is just to really enjoy my year this year, that's my

goal.

"You probably don't believe that, you probably think I'm more ambitious than that. I'm really not.

"I'm not looking toward the next move, I just want to get back and teach the game."

Good prospects for Czech prospect

Goalie benefiting from specialized coaching, improved fitness level By Jim Jamieson, Province Reporter September 12, 2011

The way David Honzik played in Victoriaville's playoffs last season, he was getting comparisons

to NHL star Pekka Rinne - who gave the Canucks more than enough trouble in the second round

of last spring's NHL playoffs.

Canucks goaltending coach Roland Melanson actually doesn't agree with the comparison.

He says the 18-year-old Czech netminder reminds him stylistically more of Carey Price - the

young star he worked with in Montreal a few years ago.

Both are big bodies - 6-foot-3 - and although Price had some struggles up until last season, you

know Honzik could do a lot worse.

"There is some resemblance in his game to Carey Price, the way he tries to combine both the

butterfly style and the standup," said Melanson on Sunday before the Canucks prospects took on

the Oilers prospects in the opening game of the Young Stars tournament at the South Okanagan

Events Centre.

"He's very patient. He's got good legs, he's a big man. He's one of those guys that have been able

to adapt playing on top of that blue paint. It's going to be interesting. this is a tough tournament

for a goaltender, a lot of scoring chances."

Honzik was scheduled to start against the Oilers.

Honzik, a native of Milevsko, Czech Republic, said he's benefiting from the regular goaltending

tutelage he didn't receive in the Czech Republic. He made the move to North America and the

Quebec Major Junior League last season.

"I didn't have really goalie coach (in the Czech league)," said Honzik. "I had goalies practice

once or twice in a week. Here, I practise my style more. In junior every day we have goalie

practice for half an hour. I'm just improving and improving."

Melanson first worked with Honzik at the Canucks July rookie camp. He liked what we saw, but

made a point of pushing Honzik to get to a better fitness level.

"When I had him in July, we talked about things he could improve on," said Melanson. "One was

conditioning. He was in good shape, but we need to be in pro shape now. He addressed that and

we're seeing better scoring in his testing. The pro game at that position demands a lot of hard

work and young kids need to be able to adapt to that."

A few eyebrows were raised when the Canucks took Honzik ahead of where he was ranked,

selecting him at 71st overall.

But the Canucks' liked his size - and potential to get a lot better.

They liked how he battled through a tough first half with Victoriaville and got steadily better,

culminating in an excellent playoffs.

"Our scouts saw the potential when he came over and made the adjustment to hockey and living

over here and then was real good in the second half," said Canucks assistant GM Lorne Henning.

Honzik, who had a GAA of 3.54 with Victoriaville and a 17-12-1 record, is working with

Melanson to fine tune his game.

"It's a little bit different from my goalie coach in juniors, who wanted to challenge me a lot," said

Honzik, whose favourite hockey players growing up were Dominik Hasek and Patrick Roy.

"Rolly doesn't want me to [change a lot], he wants me to work in my crease, but it's not going to

be a big change."

Mac T not sheepish in Wolves' clothing

Former Oiler head coach eager to help Vancouver farmhands pursue NHL

dreams By Elliott Pap, Vancouver Sun September 10, 2011

For the past two hockey seasons, out-of-work coach Craig MacTavish sat on the TSN panel

offering his opinion on matters around the NHL. So was there a moment when MacTavish, the

freshly minted Vancouver Canucks' farm team coach, realized he had to get back behind a

bench?

"There were a lot of those moments," MacTavish quipped Friday as the Canucks kicked off their

prospects training camp with fitness testing and medicals at Rogers Arena.

"It was a little bit challenging at the start at TSN. It's a completely awkward thing they do: look

into a camera with nobody there and start yelling."

MacTavish, 53, will now be yelling from behind the Chicago Wolves' bench in the American

Hockey League. He opted for this gig after failing to secure an NHL job with either the

Minnesota Wild or Winnipeg Jets.

"I really felt if I was was going to continue to coach, I had to coach somewhere," MacTavish

explained. "It was fun at TSN, but I'm an insider by trade and I prefer to work from the inside.

I'm really envisioning this year as a real fun year. I think most coaches view themselves as

teachers and I think this is maybe the purest form of that I've had in my coaching career."

MacTavish's resume includes three seasons as an NHL assistant and eight as the head man of the

Edmonton Oilers.

In all eight of those, he spent countless hours dreaming up ways to beat the Canucks, a bitter

Northwest Division rival. Now he's on their side.

"I can't say I've got fond memories of the Canucks," chuckled Mac T.

"Anyway, it's all in the competitive spirit of playing the game. You know, yesterday's

adversaries are today's teammates. I'm thankful for the opportunity the Canuck organization has

given me and I look forward to working with them."

NO SWEATT: Winger Bill Sweatt is in his second Canuck camp, but his older brother Lee, who

was a Canuck farmhand last season, isn't camping anywhere. Lee, 26, stunningly retired this

summer shortly after signing a deal with the Ottawa Senators. Lee played three games for the

Canucks last season and scored a goal against Nashville in his first outing.

According to Bill, Lee simply lost his desire to remain a professional player.

"He was just a little bit tired of the whole thing," said Bill.

"He got married this summer and went to China for his honeymoon for two weeks. I talked to

him when he came back and he was just, like, you know, 'I want to skate, I want to have fun, but

I have no desire to work out.' If you have that kind of feeling, I don't think you should be trying

to play pro hockey any more."

Lee Sweatt, who has an economics degree and MBA, plans to become an investment manager

for Wells Fargo in Colorado Springs.

HOW SWEDE IT IS: If and when Anton Rodin makes the Canucks, he will be given an

opportunity - or be ordered - to buy the veterans a very expensive meal at the team's annual

rookie dinner. For now, they appear to be taking it easy on the young Swede.

"I had a dinner with all those [Swedish] guys a couple of days ago and it was refreshing and

good to know what's coming," Rodin said.

So who paid for the dinner? "It was at Daniel Sedin's house, so it was good," he replied, smiling.

QUOTABLE: "There may be various levels of behavioural issues, but we welcome all fans." -

Craig MacTavish, on whether Canuck prospects on the Chicago Wolves will be given a hard

time by Chicago Blackhawk supporters.

City begs team for more

By Tony Gallagher, The Province September 11, 2011

One shouldn't be surprised given the continuous reaching of government into our wallets to

sustain its inefficiency, but the laughable reports on the Stanley Cup riot and the ideas they have

spawned have reached new levels of greed.

The recommendations have led to the mayor's office considering a request to the Vancouver

Canucks to do more and kick in some cash for policing to help contain potential difficulties in

the future.

These reports, rather than finger mayor Gregor Robertson, the understaffed Vancouver police

and the charter of rights which has so crippled prosecutions in many areas since it came into

being, blame everyone including the hockey club when in fact this franchise is already pouring

money into both city and provincial coffers at an alarming rate. Two nights of adequate police

presence and some resolve from those men in blue was all that was needed, yet on the one night

the politicians blow it, they're looking to cover their butts by asking the Canucks to pay.

And we say "two" nights here because the same thing might well have happened had Vancouver

lost Game 7 of the Chicago series. But evidently the report commissioners of all stripes had

already forgotten that Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini went to the papers himself, unsolicited,

the night before that Chicago Game 7 and made a public plea for everyone in the city to behave

themselves and act responsibly, win or lose. But evidently that's not enough for these report

types whose chief role seemed to be to spread the blame around to as many different areas as

possible, thereby essentially making nobody responsible. And now the mayor intends to ask the

hockey club to help pay for policing. Talk about the easy way out.

Take a look at how much the Canucks already contribute. The reports all concluded the crowd

downtown that night was liquored up. So the Canucks draw 150,000 people into town (at the

city's invitation, not the Canucks) who are drinking. That means they're buying booze at the B.C.

Liquor Stores, which means they're paying taxladen scandalous prices, thereby pouring hundreds

of thousands of dollars into provincial coffers on this night alone. In fact, the Canucks draw

people into town who eat and drink on 44 to 58 nights a year and generate hundreds of thousands

of dollars in tax revenue based on liquor tax and GST alone. And that patronage helps allow the

city to charge these businesses the outrageous property taxes they do. Yet the Canucks should

pay for policing? Why? Do they ask bike shops for money to police the "critical mass" fiasco

that happens every year? But the Canucks are a successful business and it's always open season

on success for Robertson and his ilk.

This franchise generates so much tax revenue for the varying levels of government it's hard to

identify them all. Rogers Arena pays a hefty property tax to the city, and remember, not one

penny of public money went into its construction, as Arthur Griffiths can ruefully testify. The

employees all pay city, provincial and federal taxes, and in the case of the players themselves,

that turns out to be one helluva whack of money. People driving to the games pay thousands a

year in the various fuel and carbon taxes. They generate huge revenue when they park, thereby

allowing the city to tax parking lots at outrageous rates. Those taking the SkyTrain or Canada

Line fill up the sucker and help pay for it, particularly their contributions by riding in non-peak

hours after games when the trains would normally run empty. Fans come to games from out of

the city, out of province and out of the country and pay hotel taxes and eat meals here and shop

while they're in town because of the hockey club. And that's just the fans, never mind all the

visiting players, management, trainers, NHL execs, officials and media types who come in, some

on lavish expense accounts.

Mayor Moonbeam should also be aware that hockey fans frequently spend on the homeless who

assail them as they head to and from the rink on game nights, many of those fans taking time to

chat, visit and in some cases befriend a few of the lonely souls they meet.

But evidently the millions this franchise generates for all levels of government in this city,

province and country isn't enough. The hockey club must do more. Always more.

Canucks in the Peach City

The Province September 11, 2011

No, it's not a mirage. Men are skating around the ice in Penticton, trying to impress the overlords

in the Canucks organization.

Yes, we know it's hot, and it's not even mid-September.

Follow all the action from the Okanagan as our Jim Jamieson and Gord McIntyre are there for

the Youngstars tourney all week.

Read their stories, and their blog posts, at provincesports.com. And drop in to our 24/7 live chat

at theprovince.com/ canucks, where both Jamieson and McIntyre will stop by with updates from

the rink.

On the junior hockey front, readers in the Lower Mainland should find a Vancouver Giants

pocket schedule inside today's Province.

And at provincesports.com this morning, fan blogger Brian Wawryshyn, who runs the blog

bclionsden.ca, serves up his take on Saturday's Lions-Argos game. Wawryshyn pulls no punches,

whether it's about the on-field action or what happened at the tailgating. Check it out.

Key injuries may open door for top

prospects

Kesler hip surgery, Raymond's broken back, means big minutes to go around

on second line By Ian Walker, Vancouver Sun September 10, 2011

The biggest news out of the opening of the Vancouver Canucks prospects training camp on

Friday really didn't come from Rogers Arena at all.

It came from the NHL's plush offices in downtown New York, where the league is holding its

annual Players Media Tour.

Ryan Kesler may not be ready for the start of the season. And while this shouldn't come as too

much of a shock to anyone following his recovery from hip labrum surgery, his comments to

nhl.com had a trickle-down effect. One was felt 4,000 kilometres west in Vancouver, where 30

of the Canucks' top prospects gathered for testing before travelling east to Penticton for the five-

team Young Stars Tournament.

Take Jordan Schroeder, for example. Unless the former firstrounder forgets how to tie his skates

between now and then, there's no way he's not getting an invitation to the main camp. Once

there, it doesn't hurt that the natural centre can also play on the wing. Speaking of which, Mason

Raymond's broken back is expected to keep him out until possibly November.

Point being, there's bound to be some big minutes to go around with two-thirds of the Canucks'

second line missing for the entire pre-season, at least.

"I want to make this team, who doesn't?" said Schroeder, who was selected with Vancouver's

first pick (22nd overall) in 2009. "It's a big goal and lofty goal, but with injuries I hope I can turn

some heads and make their decisions difficult."

A star by age nine, Schroeder went on to graduate as the alltime leading scorer with the

American world junior team, before excelling as a rookie with the University of Minnesota

Gophers.

Since then, things haven't gone so well. The Gophers were terrible in his sophomore year,

finishing the season with a losing record for the first time in more than a decade. And although

he came into his first pro camp talking a good game, the 5-8, 175-pound speedster failed to live

up to his own expectations.

Schroeder went without a point in three games in the inaugural Canucks Young Stars

Tournament and was among the first cuts from the main camp. He had a pedestrian 10 goals and

28 points in 61 games in his rookie season in the AHL, with a high-ankle sprain forcing him to

miss 16 games midway through the year.

"I wanted to go in and dominate and, obviously, it didn't happen," said Schroeder.

"And you're sitting there wondering why I'm not scoring or producing points? But I think I

figured some things out to produce more and be more effective this time around."

Schroeder isn't the only Canucks prospect looking to benefit from a vet's misfortune. Bill Sweatt

finished second on the Moose in team scoring, with 19 goals and 46 points in 80 games, and

could be one player who could fill Raymond's void. Last year, he was somewhat of a revelation

for the club, who signed the free agent to a threeyear, $2.7-million deal last summer.

"You never want to see guys get hurt - especially Mase, with his back, like that's scary - but

when those things happen you try to take advantage of it," said Sweatt, who was the 38th overall

pick by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2007 entry draft.

"A couple of guys are going to be gone during the start of the season and that's going to be an

opportunity for me."

The similarities don't end there. Schroeder and Sweatt are both Americans who went the college

route and were high draft picks. Oh, and they're both still waiting to make their NHL regular-

season debuts.

"I try not to think about that a whole heck of a lot," said Sweatt, 22, a native of Elburn, Ill.

"Sometimes it can get frustrating, but you'll drive yourself crazy thinking about it. I knew I was

going to probably spend a year in the AHL, and I did that and I feel I developed all areas of my

game so I'll have a better shot this year."

Heading up the prospects is Craig MacTavish, the new head coach of the Chicago Wolves, the

Canucks' new AHL affiliate. His hiring, in essence, represents a clean slate for the 30 players at

rookie camp. That's not to say he doesn't have expectations for players such as Schroeder and

Sweatt.

"I expect them to be high-level players and ready to compete for NHL jobs," said MacTavish.

"To varying degrees, with all these players, we're trying to bridge a gap of where they are in their

own personal development and get them to an NHL level.

"Some have a big gap, some have a very small gap and some are trying to bridge that gap

through training camp this year."

Ironically, Schroeder's best game as a Canuck just happened to be his last.

The native of Prior Lake, Minn., scored a beauty top shelf off a feed from Brendan Morrison in a

4-1 exhibition win over the Anaheim Ducks a little more than a year ago. It did little good. The

next day, he was off to Winnipeg.

But there was a lesson to be learned in it all.

"My game definitely has to change," said Schroeder. "Not everything, but aspects of it. I still

want to keep my skill and the ability to make plays, set up goals and scoring, but at the same

time I know I've got to add other aspects, winning one-on-one battles, going into the corners,

going into the dirty areas."

Canucks winger reflects on 9/11 anniversary

By Jim Jamieson, The Province September 11, 2011

Today's 10-year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks will cause a lot of people to reflect on

their memories of that day and Chris Higgins is no different.

Higgins is from Smithtown, a small community on the north shore of Long Island and less than

an hour's drive from Manhattan, where two airliners slammed into the World Trade Center on

Sept. 11, 2001.

The day particularly hits home for the Canucks winger because his father, Robert, is a New York

firefighter and was a first responder that day.

"It just makes you appreciate that you still have your family around, because a lot of people

don't," Higgins, 28, said after an informal precamp skate at UBC. "It's a tough holiday for a lot of

people. Those who've lost relatives, lost friends, I can't imagine what they're going through. You

hope they can make it through the day."

Although his father came through that day unharmed, Higgins had to wait several hours before

he got word that his father was OK.

Higgins was recruited to play hockey at Yale University and was in his first week at the Ivy

League school in New Haven, Conn., when the 9/11 terrorist attacks occurred.

"I was coming back from Spanish class and my roommates were watching TV in the room," he

said. "It was a crazy, surreal experience. You don't expect to see that in New York City ... 40

minutes away from where you lived your whole life - and my old man being a fireman."

After some anxious hours, Higgins got word about his dad.

"The phone lines were dead, I couldn't get in touch with anybody, it was my first week at Yale,"

he said. "I kind of felt pretty isolated up there. I finally got in touch with my uncle later in the

day and he told me everything was all right."

Sauve now keeps head up on and off the Ice

By Elliott Pap, Vancouver Sun September 10, 2011

A year ago, Vancouver Canuck farmhand Yann Sauve missed the team's prospects camp for a

very good reason - he was hit by a car in Vancouver on the eve of camp and suffered a

concussion. He didn't play again until just before Christmas. "Every time I go across the street, I

always look to both sides," Sauve said Friday. "I don't even check if the light is on, I just always

check both sides. Here they won't stop if you're crossing the street, I guess." Upon his return, the

21-year-old defenceman wound up playing eight games for the Victoria Salmon Kings of the

East Coast League, 39 with the Manitoba Moose of the American League and five with the

Canucks.

Ex-Canuck quits hockey to invest time

elsewhere

By Jim Jamieson And Gordon McIntyre, The Province September 11, 2011

When Bill Sweatt's older brother Lee announced his retirement from pro hockey in the summer

shortly after signing with Ottawa, it raised a few eyebrows. Both brothers were signed by

Vancouver before last season and defenceman Lee, 26, scored his first NHL goal in his first

game (the winner) when he was called up in midseason for three games. The Canucks didn't re-

sign Lee, but it looked like he'd carry on with the Sens.

But Bill, who's 23 on Sept. 21, explained:

"He just was a little bit tired of the whole thing," said Bill. "He got married this summer and he

went to China on his honeymoon for two weeks and I talked to him when he came back and he

said I want to skate and have fun but I have no desire to work out. If you have that kind of

feeling I don't think you should be trying to play pro hockey. We both went to college and he

gave it four years, one here and three over in Europe."

Lee, an honours student at Colorado College, where he earned a degree in economics and then

added an MBA online while he was playing in Europe.

"When he was in college he worked for a guy, a vice-president at Wells Fargo in Colorado

Springs," said Bill.

"He's going to be an investment manager for them starting in October," said Bill, who added:

"He's probably giving a lot of the guys on the team a ring to see if they want to invest their

money with him."

RODIN READY FOR NHL

Swedish winger Anton Rodin, 20, the Canucks' second-round pick in the 2009 entry draft, is

looking forward to his first taste of North American hockey after playing the last two seasons in

the Swedish Elite League. He's also hoping he's solved some shoulder issues that bothered him

last season.

"I've been seeing a chiropractor here in Vancouver and it's really helped," said Rodin. "On the

ice I don't feel a thing. In the gym is where it kind of hurts sometimes. I have to control it but it's

getting a lot better."

Rodin, a 6-foot, 180-pound Stockholm native, came to Vancouver about three weeks ago and

said he already is feeling comfortable in Canada. A big help was a recent dinner at Daniel Sedin's

house with the other resident Swedes: Henrik Sedin, Alex Edler and Mikael Samuelsson.

"It was good," said Rodin. "It's refreshing to know what's coming and all that."

REMEMBERING COACH

Brad McCrimmon and new Canucks minor league coach Craig MacTavish were rookies together

in Boston, cracking the Bruins lineup in 1979-80.

"I spent a few years with Brad with the Bruins," MacTavish said. "I knew him well."

Coincidentally, before he was hired to coach the Chicago Wolves, Mac-Tavish took a trip to

Russia to explore coaching possibilities.

McCrimmon was one of 43 Lokomotiv team members who died in the Russian plane crash last

week.

MacTavish, 53, who's been on a TSN panel for two years since being fired in Edmonton after

eight seasons as the Oilers head coach, said felt a need to get back into the game.

"When I got out of it I was a little burned out so I needed a little time to recharge and one year

turned into two years pretty quickly," he said. "I sniffed around a few NHL jobs this year but

never really landed anything. Then Mike called and I've had a familiarity. We played together [in

Boston] and I've had him represent me a few times as a player."

Kesler taking his time By QMI Agency

Vancouver Canucks centre Ryan Kesler, recovering from hip surgery, doesn't expect to be ready

for the regular season.

"To be honest, right now if you ask me if I'll be ready for the start of the season, the way I feel

right now I'd say no," Kesler told NHL.com Friday.

"I'm going to take my time and be smart about this, make it right."

Kesler played hurt during the playoffs last spring before having surgery July 25. Recovery was

expected to take up to 12 weeks.

Kesler has been skating but won't be with the Canucks when training camp opens next week.

Positives hard to find for Canucks in 7-2 loss

to Oiler prospects

By Ian Walker, Vancouver Sun September 12, 2011 5:41 AM

PENTICTON - The Vancouver Canucks prospects' 7-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers prospects at

the Young Stars Tournament at the South Okanagan Events Centre on Sunday wasn't all bad.

They did limit the five-team event's marquee player, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, to just one assist.

But other than that ... "It was just a bad game, way too many turnovers, high-risk plays and odd-

man rushes," said Canucks winger Bill Sweatt. "We were just outworked for most of the game."

Take into consideration Vancouver's first line of Sweatt, Jordan Schroeder and Anton Rodin

spent last year playing pro while the Oilers' top line of Nugent-Hopkins, Curtis Hamilton and

Kristians Pelss played in the WHL, and well, it only make matters worse.

Then there was goalie David Honzik, the Canucks' thirdround pick this past June giving up six

goals. Honzik was replaced by free agent Karel St. Laurent with about five minutes left in the

second.

Not that he should shoulder all the blame. Vancouver was outshot 11-1 at one point in the second

period and 37-24 overall. "It's tough for Dave and Karel, they were working their butts off and

we didn't give them any help," said Schroeder. "Dave hangs his head there at the end, but we're

the ones who let him down."

Darren Archibald opened the game's scoring for Vancouver while Schroeder notched his first in

four tournament games with two minutes left in regulation.

BACK IN THE SADDLE: The game was a homecoming of sorts for Craig MacTavish. The

Canucks prospects head coach was last behind the bench with the Oilers, who fired him

following the 2008-09 season.

"And they're staying at our hotel," said MacTavish, who spent eight years with Edmonton,

leading the team to the Stanley Cup Final in 2006. "I don't know whether to go left or right a lot

of times when I walk in there."

Hired to coach the Chicago Wolves, the Canucks new AHL affiliate, the 53-year-old knows full

well he faces a steep learning curve. Two years might as well as be a lifetime considering the

improvements in the flow of the game.

"Even the first game I coached in New York, I couldn't believe the speed difference from sitting

in front to standing on the bench," said MacTavish, following the team's morning skate. "I'm sure

I'll be just looking to get the lines out correctly, but it comes back quick."

BLOOD LINES: Canucks assistant coach Newell Brown will have a close eye on the Edmonton

prospects this week, what with son Adam on the team. The undrafted 20-year-old goalie

accepted an invitation last month and is one of three netminders the Oilers have at the

tournament.

Brown - who is slated to get the start against the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday - is expected to

return to the WHL's Kelowna Rockets, where he will be one of their three overage players.

"He's worked a long time for the opportunity, so that is great to see as a father," said Newell

Brown. "He knows he'll have to make a big splash to get an invitation to main camp, but they

only have four guys so there is some interest. The head scout also lives in Kelowna, so it helps

they're very familiar with him."

Thinking back . . . and looking ahead

By Ed Willes, The Province September 12, 2011

Empire Field is no more, we're just two weeks away from the opening of the new B.C. Place and

the Buffalo Bills are undefeated. If that isn't reason enough to celebrate, here are the Monday

morning musings and meditations on the world of sports.

- Six weeks after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, I was in New York to cover the ALCS between the

Yankees and Seattle Mariners. I couldn't forget the images from those three days if I tried.

The morning of Saturday, Oct. 20 was bright and clear in midtown. By the time I made it to the

perimeter around Ground Zero, there was an acrid, grey fog over the south end of Manhattan and

my eyes were burning.

This was six weeks after the attacks.

I walked past St. Paul's Chapel, which was opened in 1766 and is the oldest public building in

Manhattan. Relief workers received treatment there in the hours after the towers came down. On

the church grounds there was still a billboard covered with messages and pictures: If you've seen

Person X please call us. Person Y please call home.

There's also a graveyard next to the church with headstones which dated back over 300 years.

Those headstones were still covered with the ash and soot from the attacks.

That night was the benefit concert at Madison Square Garden. Some 20 Boston-area firefighters

were staying at my hotel in midtown and were on their way to the show when I left for the

ballpark. People started clapping when they walked through the lobby.

The first act that night was David Bowie and Paul Simon, who sang Bowie's "Heroes."

I still get chills every time I hear that song.

- As difficult as it is to wrap your mind around hockey these days, the Young Stars tournament in

Penticton bears monitoring for Canuckophiles.

The issue isn't the NHL club. It's the Canucks' farm team and protected list and, right now, there

are a lot more questions than answers among the Canucks' prospects. Cody Hodgson remains the

most intriguing player of the bunch, but who knows what he can provide? College free agent

Chris Tanev was a major find last season. Beyond those two, like we said, a lot of questions.

The good news is the Canucks have the luxury of developing their kids because their NHL team

is stocked. That means there's no rush for an Anton Rodin, Eddie Lack or Yann Sauve but,

somewhere along the line, they have to start pressing for NHL work.

This offseason the Canucks brought Marco Sturm in at $2.25 million to compete for a job on

their first three lines. An efficient organization should be able to fill that spot from within for a

lot less money.

- This summer, NFL fans watched nervously as the league and the Players Association seemed to

be headed toward a work stoppage.

Yeah, right. As if that was going to happen.

The Big Show started this week and, clearly, it hasn't missed a beat. Sunday's games offered a

fascinating blend of up-andcoming teams and new stars to complement the perennial favourites

and established names. Is Matthew Stafford the real deal in Detroit? Is Baltimore as good as they

looked? Is this the year for the Eagles?

There are 32 NFL teams and, each week, it seems like there are a similar number of storylines in

play. It remains the most compelling theatre in sports and, with $9 billion hanging in the balance,

there was no frickin' way the league was going to shut down.

Now the NBA, that's another story.

- Finally, the B.C. Lions have now won three straight and elevated themselves from terrible all

the way up to mediocre. There have been some encouraging signs in those three wins - the

defence hasn't allowed a touchdown; Travis Lulay has been productive; and their kicking game

with the ageless Paul McCallum is the best in the CFL.

But add it all up and it doesn't mean a thing. Over the last three years, the Lions have enjoyed

some success against the CFL's ne'er-do-wells. But they've yet to prove they can run with the

league's big dogs - namely Calgary and Montreal - in games that matter.

In the end, it isn't the quarterbacking or the defences that separates the Stampeders and Alouettes

from the rest of the league. It's the coaching of John Hufnagel and Marc Trestman.

There was a time when Wally Buono gave his teams that kind of edge, but until he beats a

Hufnagel-coached team or a Trestman-coached team, Leos' fans have every right to be

suspicious about their guys

As luck would have it, the Lions' next two games are in Calgary and in Saskatchewan. If they

come out of those two games 6-6, by all means, plan the parade.

But if they get beaten in Calgary again, it will just be the same-old, same-old ...

Painkillers, sleeping pills had Boogaard

hooked

Late NHL enforcer couldn’t beat lethal addiction despite offers of help,

distraught brother says

10 Sep 2011 The Vancouver Sun BY MICHAEL RUSSO Mcclatchy Newspapers

Two years ago, in August, Ryan Boogaard had a disturbing phone conversation with his older

brother.

“ He was just out of it. He wasn‟t Derek,” Ryan said. “ I had no idea what was going on. I hung

up, immediately called my parents and said, „ There‟s something wrong with Derek.‟ ”

The same introverted Derek Boogaard was observed at the Minnesota State Fair around the same

time. Out to model the Wild‟s new third jersey, the funloving enforcer looked sluggish and

unhappy.

“ A month later,” Ryan said, “ we found out he was hooked on painkillers.”

It would be an addiction Derek Boogaard would never beat. On May 13, he died from a toxic

mix of alcohol and the powerful painkiller oxycodone.

As the NHL season neared in 2009, the disturbing phone calls kept coming.

On Sept. 20, Derek swallowed some pills. Disoriented, he dialed friends to try to find his way

home. A Metro Transit police officer found Derek asleep in his car on the side of a Twin Cities

road. The officer took Derek home, but when he awoke, he had no idea what happened.

Boogaard‟s ex-fiancee called his family. Ryan was home in Regina at a training course for the

RCMP when his mother, Joanne, called.

“ I just couldn‟t believe what I was hearing, and that‟s when I remembered how Derek told me

about Fridge‟s abuse issues,” Ryan Boogaard said.

“ Fridge” is another NHL enforcer, Todd Fedoruk, who became close with Boogaard while they

both played for the Wild two seasons before. Fedoruk has battled alcoholism and drug abuse for

15 seasons; as luck would have it, he was playing for Tampa Bay, which was in Regina to play

an exhibition game that same night.

“ I went downstairs to the dressing room and waited for the players to come off the ice,” Ryan

said. “ After the game, the team was walking by and I just said, „ Fridge, I need to talk to you.

I‟m Derek Boogaard‟s brother.‟ He came outside and I told him what my mom had told me. I

asked, „ What do we do?‟ He said we had to get Derek help, but that Derek had to accept it and

want to get help for himself.”

The next morning, Ryan Boogaard flew to Minneapolis. At the crack of dawn, Sept. 23, Ryan

and Derek were on a plane bound for Los Angeles, where Derek entered rehab — for the first

time.

But Derek Boogaard, one of the NHL‟s most intimidating fighters at 6-8, would never defeat his

biggest opponent.

With training camps a little more than a week from opening across the NHL, many are still

trying to come to grips with how it is possible Derek could die from alcohol/ painkiller toxicity

mere hours after getting out of rehab for a second time.

Aaron Boogaard, the younger brother of Ryan and Derek who still lives in the Minneapolis

apartment where Derek died, faces charges for giving Derek a non-prescribed, illegal painkiller

the evening before he died and flushing the remaining pills down the toilet after he died.

Ryan Boogaard, 27, now an RCMP officer in Saskatchewan, says Derek never could overcome

his addiction.

“ Derek, he never really ... he never really admitted to having a problem,” Ryan said, talking

about the grief the close-knit family feels. “ He‟d always be telling us, „ I‟m doing good. I‟m

doing good.‟ Derek really never got past that first step.”

If Boogaard had got to that critical point, Fedoruk said, “ He‟d still be with us. That‟s one of the

things with the disease of addiction. It‟s ultimately out to kill you.”

“ I guess I just look at it like I was born with it,” said Fedoruk, 32, who is trying out for the

Vancouver Canucks. “ When I first found drugs and alcohol, it did something for me that nothing

else really did for me. I fell in love with it at an early age.”

Fedoruk was sober from 20 to 24, then relapsed on and off for six years before seeking help from

the NHL/ NHL Players Association‟s Substance Abuse and Behavioural Health Program — the

same program Boogaard was in — in April 2010.

“I had got right back to where I was,” Fedoruk said. “I knew all too well what was wrong with

me, and I was just self-destructing and going down a path where I knew what the final result

was. I knew I couldn‟t do it alone. I just wish Derek got to that same place. He didn‟t. He was

always in pain. He took the pills we all do. I remember always saying to him, „ Be careful with

those things, man.‟ ”

Ryan Boogaard, Fedoruk and others hope players learn from Derek‟s death the dangers of

painkiller abuse.

“As players, at times you think you‟re indestructible,” said ex-Wild winger Andrew Brunette,

who signed with Chicago July 1.

The Boogaard family believes Derek became addicted after shoulder surgery in April 2009. After

years of fighting 20 or 30 times a year, especially in junior hockey and the minors, he dealt with

pain for years.

“He had a herniated disk in his back,” Ryan said. “The doctors told him, „ When your career is

done, you‟re going to have to get this fixed, because it‟ll affect you for the rest of your life.‟

“For a fourth-line guy trying to stick in the NHL, he couldn‟t afford to take a year off. So he took

pills. And ... I know his hands were always hurting. They were clubs. They weren‟t even shaped

like hands any more.”

Boogaard also relied on the sleep-aid Ambien for years. During the 2009 trip to rehab, Ryan

said, “ The doctors told us, „ You combine Ambien and painkillers, you‟re getting hooked.

There‟s no doubt about it.‟

“ I‟m telling you, there is a lot of prescription pill drug abuse in the NHL. I have a real close

friend of mine who plays in the NHL. He told me a story where he had his wisdom teeth pulled,

and right away one guy called up and said, „ Can I have your painkillers?‟ ”

Because of the privacy in the NHL and NHL Players Association rehab program, teammates

didn‟t know why Boogaard disappeared for a month in 2009. Everybody was told he had a

concussion, “ and Derek was embarrassed and ashamed. He didn‟t want anybody to know,” said

Ryan, who believes that the only person on the Wild who knew his brother was in rehab was

general manager Chuck Fletcher, who helped arrange the trip to Los Angeles with agent Ron

Salcer.

Some teammates have privately said Boogaard would ask for Percocet and Ambien on plane

trips, and because they didn‟t know of his addiction, they‟d just give them to him.

“ This gets back to the education,” Brunette said. “ When they come around and talk to each

team in training camp, there needs to be a complete awareness of what these things can do, that

we can‟t be giving them to teammates or going out and drinking with them.”

NHLPA spokesman Jonathan Weatherdon said Tuesday that the union has spent much time

during its summer meetings with players stressing these dangers. “ We hope what Derek went

through will be an eye-opener,” Weatherdon said.