There was some discussion here a couple of days ago about the value of players developing in a winning environment.
Though Jared McCann and Ben Hutton have been released from the practice roster with the Utica Comets and Cole Cassels won't be joining the Comets for the Calder Cup final, I still think there's plenty of good sense behind this concept.
Take a look at undersized and undrafted Tyler Johnson of the Tampa Bay Lightning—a player who "knows how to win" despite his apparent physical limitations.
Johnson leads all playoff scorers in both goals (12) and points (21), though he was held off the scoresheet in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday night.
Here's his list of accomplishments:
2008: WHL MVP and Memorial Cup champion with the Spokane Chiefs
2010: Gold medal with Team USA at World Junior Championships
2012: Calder Cup with Norfolk Admirals
It's within the realm of possibility that he adds a Stanley Cup and/or a Conn Smythe Trophy to that list before the next two weeks are out.
Johnson's Lightning made a classic mistake in Game 1, trying to sit on a one-goal lead against a team that seems to be able to stage comebacks at will. Tampa Bay hadn't lost in the entire playoffs when they scored first, so they were sticking with a program that had been working for them—and that worked just fine against the New York Rangers.
But the Blackhawks are a different breed—which brings me to Exhibit B.
Chicago didn't get bailed out last night by Toews and Kane. It was 20-year-old rookie Teuvo Teravainen and former Arizona Coyote Antoine Vermette who saved the day.
Teravainen's goal came through a ton of traffic, but he wasn't worried about the shot getting blocked or the play going back the other way. He just went for it—because he's picked up that mentality from his teammates.
“I haven’t been a part (of this team) for many years but I knew this is the team who can do that any time," he said after the game, from
Cam Cole at the
Vancouver Sun. "We just fight back, play harder and get it back.”
The ease with which the Blackhawks were able to take over the game when it counted makes me think this could be a short series. But I also think Jon Cooper's a smart coach, and he has been able to make adjustments when needed throughout the playoffs.
The Lightning have only lost two games in a row once in these playoffs—after they had built a 3-0 lead over Montreal. They also lost Game 1 against both the Red Wings in Round 1 and the Rangers in Round 3, so it's not like this is unfamiliar territory. They may not have enough to ultimately beat the extraordinary Blackhawks for the championship, but I think they'll win Game 2 on Saturday.
That was my long-winded way of saying that I do think the Canucks prospects are gaining tremendous experience this spring with their long playoff runs. A Calder Cup win for the Comets would be a great springboard towards the pros for the Comets' group of young players that (other than Nicklas Jensen) is showing a lot of promise.
I remember fleeting moments of excitement like this surrounding the Manitoba Moose years ago, but minor-league success is not exactly the hallmark of the Canucks organization.
Thinking about the Calder Cup also had me musing on last spring, when we watched Willie Desjardins take his Texas Stars all the way to the championship before the Canucks hired him as their next coach.
Is it a bit ironic that a coach who was known for his development of players at the junior level with Medicine Hat and in the AHL with Texas doesn't seem especially keen to add youngsters to the Canucks? Maybe it's such a novelty for him to finally have fully-developed NHL players at his disposal that he can't resist the opportunity to use them?
I took a look at his roster from last spring to see how many of Willie's players from last year have made the jump to the NHL.
Here's the link.
His leading scorer last year was Travis Morin, a now 31-year-old journeyman whose scoring tough has not translated at all to the NHL. He has 13 games of big-league experience, six of which happened this season, and just one assist to show for his efforts.
The second-leading scorer was 30-year-old Mike Hedden, who moved on to play in Finland last season. In third place was the first youngish player, 23-year-old Brendan Ranford (nephew of Bill), but even he's hardly a blue-chipper—just 5'10" and chosen in the seventh round by Philadelphia in the 2010 draft. He stayed with the Stars again this year.
The younger players that became familiar from the Dallas team this season pop up further down the stats page. Curtis McKenzie's a good-sized 24-year-old left wing who played 36 games in Dallas this year. Brett Ritchie's a second-rounder who's just 21 and played his first 31 NHL games this season after one full year in the minors.
On the blue line, twenty-three year old defenseman Patrik Nemeth saw 22 games with the big club, while Jyrki Jokipakka (a seventh rounder!) got 51 games and 2011 first-rounder Jamie Oleksiak got 36.
The Stars are in the midst of revamping their blue line and trying to get younger on the back end. Sound familiar? If their process is any example of what the future might hold in store for the Canucks, the story seems to be that while Calder Cup champs can be integrated at the NHL level, it'll take a little time.
The Comets seem like they have a little more high-end firepower than the Stars did, with players like Sven Baertschi and Cory Conacher who already have NHL experience. I'm excited to see how it all translates next season.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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