Good. We go to the last step. The famous “Combine” is a meeting bringing together the best hopes for the draft in July. With some exceptions. Physical exercises, different tests to better judge the physical form.
And, there will be the quiz.
That is to say the moment when a skater presents himself in front of certain recruiters and the decision makers of an organization. Jeff Gorton, Kent Hughes and Martin Lapointe have done their homework over the past few months. Now all you have to do is get to know the one you want better at the amateur players’ auction.
Today, Shane Wright has an appointment with the Canadian staff.
He will be questioned on a host of subjects in order to get a better idea of the young man’s character and personality. The players that the CH have spied on in recent weeks will follow, in particular Juraj Slavfkovsky, Logan Cooley, Simon Nemec, David Jiricek, and will undoubtedly be added to the list some members of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, in particular Nathan Gaucher, Quebec Remparts, Maverik Lamoureux, Drummondville Voltigeurs, Tristan Luneau, Gatineau Olympiques.
With so many draft picks, now is a good time to tap into the local market too often overlooked by the old regime’s decision makers.
Can these meetings with amateur hockey hopefuls influence decision-makers? Alain Chainey, when he worked for the Anaheim Ducks, had already told me that sometimes it can influence the evaluation of a skater.
Alain still remembers the Ducks interview with Nail Yakupov, the player ranked first in the 2012 auction. The organization’s decision-makers did not extend the interview in order to obtain relevant information. They quickly understood that this was not the player the team wanted.
Organizations sometimes set traps to find out the athlete’s reaction.
The Canadian knows the value of Wright and the other candidates.
Hughes and his group have an idea of the player they will select.
But, sometimes, the interviews with the skaters reserve small surprises.
The series of Mc and Mac
Mc and Mac’s series will inevitably attract attention.
In the offices of the National League in Manhattan, it is hoped that the Rangers eliminate the Carolina Hurricanes, tonight in Raleigh. Can we dream of a quadrangle pitting the defending champions against the Rangers, a team playing in the most important market in the league and then the Colorado Avalanche and Nathan MacKinnon against Connor McDavid, the best player on the planet, and the Edmonton Oilers, who do not forget, are also betting on a super player in Leon Draisaitl?
If Rangers reach the Eastern Conference final, then there will be another duel, but this time the clash will involve two Russian goalkeepers:
Igor Shesterkin and Andrei Vasilevskiy. On the occasion of the first year of a new agreement with the American networks, the National League cannot wish for a better scenario. Unless the Hurricanes play spoilsport.
Holland’s bet
Ken Holland won his bet. He could have upped the ante on Jacob Markstrom’s case, but he chose to walk away. He decided to rely on Mike Smith, a 40-year-old goalkeeper. Holland has therefore been faithful to his philosophy concerning goalkeepers: not to spend too much on a goalkeeper and above all not to claim a goalkeeper in the first round and plug the gaps with what the market offers. During his years in Detroit, he always maintained this policy…
Summary of the week: can we expect changes at the Florida Panthers? Bill Zito relaunched this dealership with significant modifications, but its main assets missed their mission. It didn’t work last year although the Panthers had fought a solid battle against the Lightning, but this season it’s an acknowledgment of failure in many aspects. Jonathan Huberdeau, Alexander Barkov, Aaron Ekblad, the big guns on the roster just didn’t produce. The evaluation made by Zito and his main lieutenants will have a major impact on the next administrative and salary decisions…
That Corey Perry continues his career and finds a buyer, it’s confirmed that the veteran still has a few good seasons ahead of him. That Joe Pavelski gets multimillion-dollar deals despite his age is because he tops his team’s scoring list, or at least holds a position among his team’s top five forwards. But for Joe Thornton, maybe it’s time to hang up the skates…
Barry Trotz says he’s not ready to make a decision on where he will pursue his career next year. I suspect he wants decision-making powers in the transfer of staff and in the daily operations of the organization and not only at the level of the ice…
Au goodbye, Peter!
Pierre Rinfret and I had decided to share a few moments on Saturday and Sunday mornings on 91.9 sports. A meeting where we talked about hockey, players, leaders, decisions taken by the authorities, in short, everything related to the sport he loved so much.
Each week, we conversed, for several minutes, on the phone, we commented on the events and we prepared the two weekend shows. Pierre was a beast of the radio. He liked to talk and the show was just his particular style.
He was a unique character as described by all who knew him. He spoke loudly, he was sometimes noisy. Not everyone liked it, but Pierre Rinfret had great qualities. He was a born communicator, he was also a man of great generosity. He was also the friend of the athletes. He knew how to communicate with them, how to become a friend, a person in whom we had great confidence.
From Pete Rose to Gary Carter, from Doug Gilmour to José Théodore. He was an endearing character.
He bravely fought cancer.
Goodbye, old man…