Belarus

Is Belarus the new Sweden ?


Asked your's truly  to then Belarus National team coach  Glen Hanlon in 2008.


Hanlon smiled and diplomatically answered '' We're not there yet ''


I sometimes wonder though , if, looking back on it now, Glen's perspective has shifted on the program he left in 2009 to now head the Slovakia National team.


Especially considering the way he left.


In 2009 the BHF ( Belarus Hockey Federation ) decided to part ways with Hanlon in what was considered '' internal matters '', Hanlon simply announced to the press he had resigned .
Hanlon had raised a team from the obscurity of bottom divisional rankings to 8th worlwide. A rise that fans, players and media largely attributed to Hanlon's chemistry with the National Team's veteran core.


A resignation they all took as a sign that Hanlon had had enough of the internal politics within the federation.


Hanlon was replaced by Mikhail Zakharov who also left the program after an injury riddled team underperformed in Vancouver.


Zakharov said to the press at the time.


'' Despite the fact we had allot of injuries, our defence didn't play up to par and we looked lost out there ''




One thing is for sure, it hasn't been an easy road to the NHL for the Belorussian exports.


Following the public spat that trailed the relationship the Kostitsyn's had with Mikhail Grabovski, the headlines inevitably followed prospect Mikhail Stefanovich, highly touted with the Maple Leafs who eventually left North America to a lucrative contract in the KHL after ending up in the ECHL despite a prolific junior career in the Q.


The stories look the same for Sergei Kukushin, Konstantin Zakharov and players like Konstantin Koltsov and Vladimir Denisov, all picks who saw mild interest from their draft teams before falling through to the KHL.


An ex Montreal scout.


'' People often don't understand the mentality of players from poor Russian sphere countries like Belarus.
These guys know that they'll make money from about 21 to 35 years old if they are lucky, and spending 3 years in the AHL is almost like throwing a million or 2 out the window for them they estimate they can make in the KHL. In a country where a doctors monthly salary is 400 to 1000$ A mill is allot of money. ''


'' Take the example of Konstantin Koltsov, even Andrei Kostitsyn threatened to leave Montreal if they decided to send him to the minors in 2007 ''


'' When you evaluate the contract situation of Andrei Kostitsyn, Sergei Kostitsyn and players like Ruslan Salei who will be 39 come 2012. Maybe the Belarus thing was more of a temporary swell, the way Latvia was with Irbe and Ozolinsh. ''




Definitly not Sweden.

Oleg Petrov Interview

Q - When you left the NHL I assumed you would be one of the first guys on the KHL bandwagon, It's actually your second year in the Moscow area after an almost 20 year exile, that's allot of time !

A - (Laughing) Mytishchi is a bit like Laval so can I call it the Moscow area ? Actually there had been allot of change since I left, my first years back in the KHL were in Kazan and since I didn't renew my association with them last year we decided to move into a more ''multi-national'' area. My wife is Canadian so the fact we're in a more english -friendly environment now is important.

Q - Second season for Atlant, how are you meshing with the club ?

A - They have World-Class installations and a fantastic coaching staff, you could say it was an easy transition from my previous clubs, but the fact I'm closer to home I think magnifies all the good aspects of playing here. But don't get me wrong, when it comes to professional hockey in Europe, whether you're in Switzerland or Russia the teams go out of their way to make you feel at home.

Q - You had a taste of both, how do you gauge the KHL's progress vs the NHL ?

A - It's still another game here compared to North America, the differences go beyond the product that both leagues put on the ice. The format is different at every level not just the width of the rink. I think that the KHL offers a great product and that fans, players as well as owners are happy with what we're offering.

Q - When you left the NHL, you were in your early 30s, would finishing your playing career so close to where it began something you've considered ?


A - We have a pretty young team, and I think that being part of this veteran core is great because the roles are well defined. I doubt I would ever go back to Switzerland or anywhere else, especially closing in on 40. I mean there are always offers and different opportunities in this game, but I think I'm done moving the family from one spot to another.

Q - You're putting up fantastic numbers this year for someone closing in on 40


A - I think that beyond age, the most important thing for an athlete in today's game is the amount of preparation and motivation that goes in your play. I've kept in shape and most importantly, I've kept my motivation .

Q - The KHL has some good caliber stars who had an impact in the NHL like Jagr, Yashin, Radulov and a few others, last year's top scorer was Marcel Hossa who had difficulty in North America but adapted very well to the KHL how do you explain this ?


A - My opinion is that to have success in the KHL, you need a good skillset and Marcel, like his brother has dominant hockey skills. It can be maturity too, maybe Marcel would be putting up good numbers in the NHL if teams had been more patient.

Q - There is still a sense of disbelief over the Radulov situation back in the NHL

A - People forget the amount of players even until recently who left to go play in North America, there was allot of controversy when Malkin left, but like the NHL is happy to have Malkin, we are happy to have Radulov

Q - You and Jan Bulis still talk about Montreal ?


A - The NHL is still a recent memory for Jan, we have players like Bykov, Zyuzin, Obsut who also played in North America. There are only good memories of course.

Q - Back to the NHL, I remember you and Andrei Markov being very close playing in Montreal, do you guys still keep in touch ?


A - It has been hard for Andrei the last two years as he is recovering from a serious injury, we've never really lost touch. I hope he gets better. Of course now that he speaks English and has the Canadian citizenship he might not make Team Canada in Sochi. I will be sad for him(laughs).

Niederreiter is not a dirty player but ...

Preseason will always be preseason.

You'll see a fair bit of rookies overachieve and of course you'll have a fair bit of underachievers.

Anyone remember those famous training camps where the Habs kept hoping Ron Hainsey would prove to them he was a better investment on Bell Center ice than Francis Bouillon ?

Well don't worry, after signing for 5 years with the Thrashers a few seasons ago, you would've been relieved the Habs never got on the Hainsey bandwagon. Hainsey is having a horrendous camp this year.

But then again, did you expect the Thrashers would ice a contender ?

Back to Nino. And to Habs fans who had the chance of seeing him the preseason, I have a feeling this kid not only overachieved, he might be a better investment than Tavares if you assume that this kid is for real.

Easy to say Niederreiter's attempt at a blind side hit on Cammalleri was enough to make the Habs forward blow a gasket, and of course we've all seen the countless replays of what Cammalleri  did.

But I don't blame these guys for what happened.

It was clear from the start of the whole sequence that referee Michel Cormier had front court seats to the entire sequence.

Was it a perfect opportunity to apply the new rules when it comes to the NHL's new found weariness to blindside hits ?

Sure it was !

But refereeing will never be the NHL's strength.

Try controversy

Lost Prospect Tracker

Cameron Cepek

Born Jan 12 1988 -- Huntington Beach, CA / Height 6.02 -- Weight 181 -- Shoots R

199th Overall / 7th Round in 2006

Prospected to be : California born, Rugged defenceman with passable skillset

Ended up being : Bounced around a few NHL camps including the Canadiens and Red Wings

Last Google Trace : Prince George Cougars, Lake Erie AHL in 2009

Loic Lacasse

Born Apr 23 1986 -- Granby, PQ / Height 6.02 -- Weight 175 -- Shoots L

181st Overall / 6th Round in 2004

Prospected to be : Back-Up goaltender, Good speed and reflexes

Ended up being : Ignored despite good statistics

Last Google Trace : Playing in France, doing well

Oskari Korpikari

Born Apr 5 1984 -- Oolu, Fin / Height 6.02 -- Weight 205 -- Shoots L

217th Overall / 7th Round in 2003

Prospected to be : Big Defenceman with stellar puck presence

Ended up being : Unwilling to move from home

Last Google Trace : After a long stint with Karpat ( Finnish elite league ) ended up signing last summer with Blues Espoo ( Also Finnish Elite League ).

Mark Flood

Born Sep 29 1984 -- Charlottetown, PEI / Height 6.01 -- Weight 190 -- Shoots R

199th Overall / 7th Round in 2003

Prospected to be : Size and some offensive skills

Ended up being : Signed to an entry level deal by the Blue Jackets in 2004

Last Google Trace : Brief NHL stint with the Islanders, on roster with the AHL's Manitoba Moose so far this year.

Why did Fischer fail ?

Standing on the podium in Vancouver, draft day 2006 ready to call the name of their first round pick, they knew.

The Habs knew that the name they had written down on their selection sheet was going to be a long term project, one of those high risk, high reward players.

Fischer had arrived there with quite a pedigree, '' Mr. Hockey '', First team All-State, and a few other honors.

'' Drafting American kids high in the States High School system was a bit of an off the chart things to do at the time, Toews and Kessel were playing in a great system and scouts had been following them for years, but most scouts did their heavy picking in the WHL and OHL, the kids coming out of those leagues were more in line with what the coaches wanted, they were tough, big and fast. ''

A Colombus Blue Jacket scout at the time looked on perplexed, as the kid who was making his way down the isle at pick number 20 was definitely one of those guys you're surprised to see get up this early.

'' The interview with this kid left you with a feeling he was seeing the whole combine as a joke, but at that time some scouts interpreted that as bravado, we didn't. We take our job seriously. ''

Inevitably, Fischer arrived at the podium and following a few handshakes and cap fitting, left for his family and friends who were waiting for him, now a Hab.

Timmins at the time said ( to Hockey's Future ) :


We would have happily taken Fischer at 16, but we took a calculated risk. We looked at the teams that would be picking before us and we didn’t think they would choose him. Throughout the year, you get an idea of who people like. You take notice of who is in the rink.”

His first season with the Gophers would also include a quick stint with the National development program where he was evaluated for a stint with the Junior National team. An evaluation that would not see him selected but at that time, team USA was considered deep on defence.

This scenario would be a precursor to the rest of Fischer's career

An important part, when it comes to understanding Fischer's drop off, is Gopher's coach Don Lucia, who would mentor Fischer throughout his entire stint in the NCAA. Hockey observers as soon as 2007 would start questioning Lucia's methods and development abilities.

Garth Snow ( Islanders GM ) :

Okposo was an important player for us, and we quickly realized that the program there was an absolute mess. Kyle wasn't getting better, to many of our guys, he was regressing. We were angry, the whole point of putting these kids through US Colleges is to take advantage of the schedule there to help them improve and develop, and quite frankly the coach bears a huge part of that responsibility.

It didn't help that his teams would perform poorly during the collegiate schedule,  Fischer's appearances at Habs development camps would raise questions on how by 2009 Fischer had not only failed to fill up his impressive frame, but start to even regress when it came to the availability of his offensive arsenal.

An ex-Hab scout : 

Development camps always end with a meeting where we have the coaching staff explain to the rookie what we want him to work on for the year ahead. I remember someone from conditioning coming out and telling me that he just photocopied last year's notes and gave them to David, 

Fischer would continue his run with the Gopher's, making appearances at Habs rookie development camps along the way.

But come the summer of 2010, it was clear to Habs brass that Fischer had not panned out according to plan.

He was released only to make a brief appearance at the Canucks rookie development tournament that pitted the Canucks rookies against those of other teams.

To one Canuck broadcast observer :

He looks lost out there.

Only the future knows what's in store for David Fischer going forward, one thing is clear, for now it won't be in a Habs jersey.

Training Camp 2010-2011

Going into the rookie evaluation camps and training camp this year has been an intrinsically educational experience for me as I can really get a feel for doctrine variations between the 3 coaches I have had a chance to observe over the last few years.


Claude Julien's approach to training camp was one deeply rooted in execution and speed, Guy Carbonneau didn't give his camps a real rhythm  until you hit the exhibition schedule and Jacques Martin on his side seems to put an emphasis on '' On-Ice '' scenarios and strengths.


Needless to say I haven't seen guys skate so fast this early on in a long long while.


The rookie conditioning camps were a bit of a bore overall, with youngsters Avitsin and Leblanc the real focus for Habs brass. Leblanc was coming off a great season in the US Collegiate system and an electric start to his career in the QJMHL, arriving in camp you could quickly see that although a few of his gauges indicated NHL ready when it came to work habits, hockey Smarts and grit, his speed and overall strength are far from NHL ready.


Avtsin was another thing altogether. Big, fast, strong on the puck with almost Kovalevian flashes of greatness at times, but if you expect this kid to back-check on a regular basis, you haven't sold the idea to him yet, which is definitely something that Jacques Martin will be pitching to the Hamilton staff once Avtsin starts skating at Copps Coliseum.


Other youngsters like Subban, Pacioretty, Palushaj, Weber and Schultz have been participating with a more evaluative mindset, you could feel they were observing roster-spot rivals, mainly gauging and comparing their summer conditioning and readiness to others.


Once real camp started conditioning was the main talk on the press-bench.


Lapierre is faster, actually, they all look faster ! Plekanec's already stellar speed was complimented by improved action on the backcheck with wider and stabler strides, a trend I've seen with a few players this year. Summer training puts an emphasis on reinforcing the groin, hamstring and a few other areas when it comes to skating but skating coaches have also taught players to adapt their skating to enhance natural fluidity which puts players less often in a vulnerable position.


'' These are pro-Athletes, they've been strengthening their bodies all their lives. There has been an evolution in training over the last ten years and it's easier for us to detect weaknesses in ligaments and muscles and not only correct the issue, but also act on a more preventative basis by correcting and minimizing stress in their motions. ''


My Evaluations so far ( Will add more as camp continues ) :


David Desharnais :


I won't bore you with the obvious size discrepancy we've all noticed when Desharnais skates to the bench and happens to stop right next to Ryan O'byrne, we get it, he's small, the issue here is how small, the answer, you've got it ... VERY small. at 5'6 ( generously on skates ) Desharnais's speed is so important to his game that once a shift over-extends or  a few hits happen to complicate his shift you're sitting there wondering if this guy really has a fighting chance on a Habs team already littered with forwards on the petite size.


+ : Speed, skillset and mindset
- : Durability over a grinding NHL season ?


PK Subban :


So how do you call him ? Subbanator, Subbie, Subbs, Subbomb ? PK Subban inaugurated rookie camp with enough grit, speed and confidence to make you believe that ... well ... that he shouldn't be in rookie camp. As the physical evaluations went on, PK once again dominated the result sheet under Andrei Kostitsyn's uncomfortable stare ( That's right PK beat Andrei at the vertical straight line jump among other things ) PK still has his shortfalls when it comes to choosing his moments to join the rush and when to hover around the blue line.  PK is listed at 5'11' on the Press kit, but some websites have him at 6'0, which is the same height as Jaroslav Spacek. He looked a fair bit smaller than Spacek from where I stood but then again, Is Spacek really 6'0 or 6'1 ... I should have walked around with a measuring tape ...


+ : Speed, Offensive instincts and solid grit
- : Defensive decision making, hate saying it but needs to be a bit less selfish with the puck


Louis Leblanc :


Louis Leblanc is one of those guys that the coach spends very little time repeating stuff to ex : 


Muller : Hard ahead, skate around the net, take the puck, rush, deke shoot, GO
Leblanc : ( Woooosh, he's gone does the drill effortlessly ... )


Muller : Hard ahead, skate around the net, take the puck, rush, deke shoot, GO
Pacioretty : Around the net ? ( pointing with his stick )
Muller : GO !!!! GO !!!! GO !!!!


Louis is fast and one of those guys that just doesn't stop working, he's a player who will own whatever part of the ice he's working in, give him the front of the net, he's not going to budge, give him the corner, sorry guy, the puck is his. One of my main worry when watching this kid ( and he's still very much physically a kid ) respond to the fanbase and media-circles around him. The pressure is high and very much palpable. In one episode, Leblanc was talking to me about his summer training regimen right after a relatively quiet and relaxed 15 minute  Pacioretty interview, it was made clear to me from the start I had exactly 3 minutes to do this before he'd be whisked away to his next appointment. Leblanc felt a bit overwhelmed, let's hope this doesn't take Latendressian proportions ... Who am I kidding, you all know it will ... 


+ : Relentless grit, skills, mindset and on-ice leadership qualities
- : Size makes you wonder how Louis spent his summer, in 1 year since his draft year, he doesn't look that different weight-wise.


Gabriel Dumont : 


Gabriel Dumont has been a revelation for me this training camp, at 5'9 and a tad over 180 pounds Dumont is one of those guys who will pick and chose the way he uses his speed and make it count. There is nothing about Dumont that spells quit, he won't stop to see what's happening around him, as far as he's concerned, he is what is happening out there and that makes him a player impossible to hate. Unfortunately like allot of the diminutive forwards this camp, you tend to clump them in the same category of small guys with speed that can't really match up against big defenceman on the forecheck and big forwards on the backcheck.


+ : Pure scoring forward, fearless grit, an uncanny nose for the finishing move that takes 0.0001 second to make.
- : You can already imagine Zdeno Chara's mouth watering at seeing this guy going for the puck near the boards

Andreas Engqvist :

I wonder sometimes what the discussion was in Gainey / Gauthier's office when the name Andreas Engqvist came up.

Gauthier : Tell me about Engqvist.

Scout : Well he's not much of a scorer, I mean ... he's not really fast, he's big though.

Gauthier : Ok so can he speak french ?

Scout : A few words, but ....

Gauthier : BRING HIM TO ME !

Ok, I'm probably tired, but yes, I heard him say '' HOHOHO UN PEU '' which qualifies as being bilingual right ? right ...  No seriously Engqvist is one of those rare guys who'll make you look for the Q key on your keyboard when talking about a hockey player, but all grammatical follies aside, it is true, Engqvist is big, very big and to my amazement pretty good on skates, good enough to make you look twice, he will battle where the battle happens and won't back down from physical play, one of those players who has allot of fun making small offensive players miserable. he's got defensive hockey sense and knows how to use it to drive you mad. A Jacques Martin type of player.

+ : Hockey brains, Size and Execution

- : Not the most motivated offensive guy you'll meet, one of those '' good without the puck '' guys. has skills though, but kind of Andreas Dackell like ...

Hope you enjoyed the read ... I'm off !

Weber & Camp

Yannick Weber has never been one for grandstanding predictions when it came to the way he evaluated his future in the NHL. `` I have a job to do every night I’m on the ice, my only concern is doing it well ``

But where does that leave us in pre-camp predictions?

Weber arrived on Habs fans radar at a peculiar moment in the team’s history, former Hab Mark Streit was wowing fans with his thunderous and accurate slap shot, and inevitably comparisons started raining in when scouting reports praised Weber’s quarterbackish qualities on the power play.

`` I understand that people like to compare players especially that Mark is from Switzerland and we both have strengths on the Power play but I want to work hard to move beyond that comparison``

I had time to review a few Trevor Timmins interviews I had done at the end of the 2009 development camps and at that time I came out of it thinking that at 5’9, right handed, fast and an OHL QB scoring machine, it was like I had just asked Trevor what would be the opposite of Ryan O’byrne (who is also right handed).

So in the grand scheme of things where does that put Weber coming out of training camp?

Probably on the prime recall list if another defenseman goes down, but with Hamrlik, O’byrne, Spacek, Gill and Gorges guaranteed a starting spot and the Habs adding Alexandre Picard, count playoff rookie sensation P.K Subban to be a favourite coming out of camp.