WJC II - Stoll, Getzlaf, Meszaros

Treasure Hunting, the Hockey Edition

By Rob Aquino

01/12/06

The 2006 World Junior Championships are over and a hearty congratulations to Canada for an underdog gold medal winning performance, their second title in a row. Last year Canada assembled a roster that experts put outrageous pressure on to win gold - which they did - bringing such accolades as “best junior team of all time.” En route to a perfect 6-0 record, they outscored their opposition 41-7. This year the team was relatively unheralded and at best even money to even earn a medal. USA got the lion’s share of publicity, but as it turned out the team never gelled (no doubt due to their horrible uniforms – I digress: how hard would it be to dress the USA in vintage 1980 Olympic sweaters? Aside from being visually superior, I’d have to think it might actually attract a little media attention in the States) they were a bust and finished fourth.

Canada had a lack of “star” power in this year’s tournament but used a punishing team-oriented attack spearheaded by tournament all-star and general agitator (as well as Philadelphia Flyers’ first round pick in 2005) Steve Downie to dominate from start to finish, culminating in a 5-0 whitewashing of the dynamic Russian team (led by Evgeni Malkin, whom I would expect to be seen profiled in this column next year playing alongside Sidney Crosby in Pittsburgh).

As I mentioned in last week’s column, this tournament needs to be fully televised in the United States. With the specialty programming now offered through cable, there aren’t many good excuses why at least the medal round couldn’t be shown somewhere. While fully understanding that hockey is viewed in dramatically different terms in Canada as opposed to the States, last year’s final game between Canada and Russia attracted over three million Canadian viewers. With a little marketing (…ahem…1980 Olympic uniforms) I would think some fledgling US cable broadcaster wouldn’t mind taking a chance.

For the second week in a row, we’re spotlighting recent World Junior participants now playing in the NHL, and ones to keep an eye on in the coming weeks. One in particular has “arrived” and if he’s flying under your league’s radar, snap him up – the other two are projected future stars for you to monitor in the coming weeks…

Jarret Stoll, Center, Edmonton Oilers

Center is often a hard position to “break in” in fantasy terms – by this I mean that many fantasy leagues are set up so rosters have half the centers as wings, therefore the centers you usually have are the “stars” of the league – i.e. it’s easier to take chances on wingers since you have to fill more slots. Sometimes a “new” or hot/upcoming center is harder to spot.

Melville, Saskatchewan’s Jarret Stoll is rapidly stepping up into that category for the Oilers. Stoll has the classic scorer’s pedigree: in his final three years in the Western Hockey League for the Kootenay Ice, Stoll scored 109 goals in 180 games, culminating in two Memorial Cup championships, in 2000 and 2002 – he also starred in the World Juniors his final two seasons, winning bronze and silver medals for Canada. He was selected by Edmonton in the 2002 draft (after having been originally drafted by Calgary two years earlier, but failing to come to terms) and assigned to Hamilton in the American Hockey League where he put up decent but not overwhelming totals in his first professional season, notching 21 goals and 54 points. Finally he “graduated” to the big club in 2003-2004 where he put up modest totals of 10 goals and 21 points.

Expectations this season – his second in the NHL – were high but not overwhelming. Edmonton made no less than two high profile acquisitions last summer in defenseman Chris Pronger and center Michael Peca – perhaps this took the heat off of the other young Oiler centers as both Stoll and Shawn Horcoff have flourished. Stoll started off the season slowly, with only two goals in his first 14 games, but began to put up points on a regular basis starting in early November. He had 18 points in a terrific December which helped propel Edmonton up near the top of the most competitive division in the league. Overall his numbers suddenly look quite strong: in 42 games he has 14 goals and 26 assists for 40 points. His 143 shots are in the league top 20 and overwhelmingly tops on his club, showing aptitude to get into scoring situations. He’s getting time on the power play, netting 22 of his points in extra-strength situations.

Jarret Stoll is Edmonton’s leader in ice time for forwards this year and will be counted on to lead them into the playoffs. Stoll has only approached point-per-game status for the season in recent weeks and thus may still be available on the wire for a pickup – grab him if he is.

Ryan Getzlaf, Center, Anaheim Mighty Ducks

Another Saskatchewan native, Anaheim’s Ryan Getzlaf was a two-time World Junior participant and member of the soon-to-be-historic 2005 Canadian gold medal junior team, lining up with Jeff Carter (making noise with the Philadelphia Flyers this year) and Andrew Ladd (selected fourth overall by Carolina in 2004 - currently injured but has four goals in seven NHL games). He was drafted in the first round by Anaheim in 2003 as a potential team building-block center – a good mix of offence and grit. For example, last year, in his final junior season with the Calgary Hitmen, he scored 29 goals and logged 102 penalty minutes in only 51 regular season games, then added 17 more points in 12 playoff games.

He set up perhaps unfair expectations this preseason after scoring seven points in as many games – after scoring seven points in 16 regular season games he was sent down to Portland (Maine) of the American Hockey League to work on his game. Making the direct step from major junior to the National Hockey League is not an easy one and perhaps Anaheim thought Getzlaf would benefit from some relatively lesser competition and working his confidence back up. Seems there are some smart Ducks in Anaheim’s front office as Ryan simply tore up the AHL while he was there – in a mere 17 games he vaulted to fifth in league scoring with a fantastic 33 points, averaging a shade under two per game. Anaheim needs help in the goal scoring department (currently hovering around the bottom 10 in terms of goals per game) and recalled Getzlaf this past week – he responded by scoring a goal in his first game back against the Kings.

For the same reason that Stoll might be overlooked, Ryan Getzlaf is likely not ready to step into your fantasy lineup today – the overall center position is too deep. However, he has made it clear this year that the American Hockey League is beneath him – he’s ready for the NHL. If he can ride the confidence he undoubtedly gained in Portland into his latest foray back into the NHL, he could energize the Ducks into an exciting young squad. I wouldn’t currently recommend for shallow leagues but keep a close eye on him – for keeper leagues or deep leagues with bench room, with Getzlaf you could end up with a pleasant surprise over the final half of the season.

Andrej Meszaros, Defense, Ottawa Senators

As my SportsBlurb.com colleague John Franco notes this week, Slovakian native Andrej Meszaros has flown under the radar this year, both in the league overall and on a team otherwise chock full of megastars. I’d noted Meszaros three weeks ago as someone to keep an eye on but I feel he warrants a longer look. In a seemingly historic year for rookies, his is a name you don’t often hear but he stacks up against any of the bigger name rookies in terms of talent. He was the youngest player to play in the 2002 World Juniors in the Czech Republic, and created a buzz in Slovakia as their top NHL prospect which culminated in him being selected by Ottawa in the first round of the 2004 draft.

Thus far in his first pro season Meszaros hasn’t exactly lit up the scoresheet, but for a defenseman – and especially a rookie blueliner – his point totals are very respectable. To date he’s totaled 17 points, but has come on strong as the season has progressed – in December he scored nine points in 14 games. The good news is that he has long been projected by scouts to be an offensive defenseman, and I would expect the points to come in time for him. He recently went through a streak of 13 games in which he scored a point in 11 of those – I see this consistency as a great sign of his overall game.

Meszaros projects to be a top defenseman for years to come and has wisely worked on the defensive aspects of his game first, most notably reflected in his fantastic +26 rating thus far, which as of January 11^th is second in the league and tops among all defensemen. While I wouldn’t expect him to end up in the top 20 for defense scoring, I do expect him to improve on his point total in the second half as he becomes more confident in his abilities on the highest stage. Andrei Meszaros is absolutely recommended for all keeper leagues (and especially all combination stat leagues) as he could develop into one of the top 10 overall defensemen in the entire league by next season.

Feedback can be sent to robaquino@sportsblurb.com.

WJC I - B. Campbell, Ekman, Cammalleri

Treasure Hunting, the Hockey Edition

By Rob Aquino

01/05/06

The Winter Olympics start late next month in Turin, Italy. Once again the hockey event will be played by professionals, which has happened since Nagano in 1998, and inevitably after the tournament begins, someone you know will complain. Perhaps even you will complain. People will complain about how they miss the “good old days” of the Olympics when they used to be for amateurs (except, you know, those countries that always used pros).

For all those pining for this brand of international hockey – it’s not gone. And in fact it happens every single year in a tournament lauded by those who watch it, attended in record numbers in certain hockey hotbeds, and is utterly and completely ignored in the United States. It’s the World Junior Championships, and is held every winter for two weeks after Christmas. It matches the very best players in the world under the age of 20 against each other in a short and exciting tournament for the considerable honor of national hockey pride. This year the tournament is being held in British Columbia, Canada, and was completely sold out eight months in advance.

Of course if you’re living in the good old USA, you have a better chance of seeing the world championship of mud-wrestling superstars playing poker than merely a tournament pitting the next crop of NHL superstars against each other. Even the usually great Center Ice package deigns to show merely a handful of games (USA games only, of course), which is better than nothing, but it’s not enough - this tournament gets a horrible treatment from the American sporting world. Go ahead and ask the next 20 people you talk to about the World Juniors and I’d be surprised if any of them have even heard of it.

Many times in history the World Juniors have been a platform for teenagers to shine on the world stage for the first time. The 1978 tournament in Montreal welcomed a young Wayne Gretzky for the first time, and it took him a total of one game to register his first hat trick. He ended up leading the entire tournament in scoring that year with 17 points in six games (Canada took the Bronze that year as the Soviet Union won their fifth consecutive tournament, on the way to seven straight). The 1988 tournament first all-star team consisted of forwards Alexander Mogilny, Sergei Fedorov, and Theoren Fleury. In 1993, Peter Forsberg gave the world a glimpse of what the Quebec Nordiques were soon to see when he obliterated the previous record and scored 31 points in seven games. Last year’s first all star team at the World Juniors included two players we have profiled here: Dion Phaneuf and Jeff Carter, as well as rookie sensation Alexander Ovechkin and Bruins regular Patrice Bergeron. Carter and Phaneuf made the first all star team two years in a row. And, in 2004, Sidney Crosby became the youngest player in World Juniors history to score a goal. At age 16. I once scored a killer goal against my friend Brian at age 16. In a parking lot. Using a tennis ball. The World Junior Championships are the equivalent of taking the very best college football players playing in this week’s bowl games, and forming an elite group of eight teams, then letting them play an elimination tournament. You think that wouldn’t interest a few people in this country?

This week’s spotlight shines on a few players who have used a successful World Junior Championships to put them on the hockey map, and are seeing some success in this NHL season…

Brian Campbell, Defense, Buffalo Sabres

I’ve held off on Campbell for a few weeks, as I had seen a lot of inconsistency in his play, but his continued production is now warranting a profile. Brian Campbell came out of the Ontario Hockey League known as an outstanding offensive threat from the blue line. Even though in his final season playing with the Ottawa 67s he won the “most outstanding defenseman” trophy for the league, there was never a doubt that his game was generating points – in 1999 he led his team with 87 points in 62 games, with 12 more in nine playoff games. His elite play earned him a spot on the Canadian World Junior team and in helping the Canadians to a silver medal finish in Winnipeg he earned first-team all star honors. Campbell’s final award that year was being named Canadian Hockey League player of the year.

Upon completion of his junior eligibility he joined the Sabres’ farm team in Rochester and rode the I-90 shuffle between Rochester and Buffalo for the better part of three years before becoming somewhat of a regular in the 2002-2003 season. Campbell’s two previous full seasons in Buffalo could hardly be considered successes, both with the team failing to make the playoffs and Campbell scoring a total of 30 points in 118 games.

This year started off as more of the same, with only two points in his first eight games. The turning point seems to be when coach Lindy Ruff revamped the Sabres’ power play and installed Campbell as a key component. They caught fire and since late November the Buffalo power play has consistently been in the top five in the league. Since the beginning of November, Campbell has notched 15 points on the power play and 21 overall in just 29 games. If you are in a points-only league, Brian Campbell is a worthy addition and one that may have slipped below the radar in many leagues due to his slow start. If you’re in a combination league, take this into consideration – Campbell will get the majority of his points on the power play and at this point is below-average at even strength. One major caveat with Campbell is his horrible -12 efficiency rating. Campbell is a relatively small defenseman – listed at less than six feet and 190 pounds – and often is caught in his own zone when faced with an aggressive forechecking team.

Nils Ekman, Winger, San Jose Sharks

Ekman was a key component of the 1996 silver medal Swedish team at the World Juniors in Boston. He was a decent scorer in the Finnish league, leading his team his first season with 24 goals in 50 games. Since coming to North America, however, Ekman has been notable in that he’s been the property of four different organizations in total, first being drafted by Calgary and finally two years ago being dealt to San Jose after two partial seasons with the Lightning. In 2003-2004 Ekman put together a surprisingly tremendous season – finally getting the chance to play a full slate of games, he potted 22 goals (including four shorthanded) and 55 points while adding a fantastic +30 rating, good for fifth in the league. Expectations were fairly high heading into this season for Ekman.

Yet from a statistical point of view, after two and a half months his season was a disaster: in 29 games he was a -2 with only 9 points; only once getting points in consecutive games and that being in early October. So after starting off the season so poorly, what’s given ol’ Nils the kick in the knickers to put him in the scoring column in four consecutive games? Playing with Joe Thornton and Jonathan Cheechoo on the top line – it may be as simple as that.

I wouldn’t expect huge total numbers from Ekman no matter what – he’ll be 30 this year which makes it not extremely likely for him to suddenly transform into an elite scorer. However, as we’ve pointed out many times in this column, your production is often tied dramatically to your linemates. If he continues to play with the Sharks’ two best players, he will get points, as he’s shown a scoring touch in the past. Ekman’s low season totals thus far will keep him off most teams’ radars so if he’s available he’d be worth grabbing now in hopes that he remains on that top line.

Mike Cammalleri, Center, Los Angeles Kings

Mike Cammalleri has shown a scoring touch at every level – a suburban Toronto native, he starred at the University of Michigan, scoring 52 goals in his final 70 games there. He missed time his final year to star in the World Juniors in Pardubice, Czech Republic where he became a(nother) silver medal winner. Cammalleri led the entire tournament in scoring in 2002 with 11 points in seven games for the snake-bitten Canadian program.

Cammalleri is suddenly emerging as a potential force in the NHL, and is likely another example of how last year’s lockout actually helped the development of a number of young players (see also Jason Spezza, Thomas Vanek, and Eric Staal among others). After parts of two seasons with the Kings, Cammalleri spent all of last year with the Manchester Monarchs, the Kings’ affiliate in the American Hockey League, where he led the league in goals with 46 and was second in points with 109.

This year – which will doubtless end up being his first full year in the NHL – he has already surpassed his previous career NHL point totals. As of Wednesday he has 15 goals and 29 points in 40 games, and has been extremely productive in the past few weeks with nine points in the past seven games; only once in that span has he failed to register a point. The Kings have shaken up their lines a bit and Cammalleri has found himself playing with a host of linemates, but most notably he’s had time with Pavol Demitra which immediately makes him more valuable. In his last game against Dallas he registered a season-high of just under 23 minutes of ice time, including starting the overtime period, proving that the coaching staff has great faith in him. Mike Cammalleri has a great future in the NHL and by season’s end may be considered one of the better young centers in the league.

Feedback can be sent to robaquino@sportsblurb.com.