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Friday, November 3, 2000
Look for action on the Island
By Al Morganti
Special to ESPN.com
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Believe it or not, training camp is upon us. It's like getting woken up from a nap a half hour too early. Hockey season already? You might be a little slugglish, but you gotta get up. So, here are a few things I think might perk you up for training camp.
|  | | DiPietro is aggressive with the puck, which could anger opponents. |
1. Ricky don't lose that ego
The Islanders will get in a free-for-all brawl protecting rookie goalie
Rick DiPietro.
With all the words written about DiPietro -- and his cocky style -- you can bet a
few forwards will be taking some runs at the kid as he comes out to handle the
puck. And you can also bet that general manager Mike Milbury will issue orders to protect
DiPietro.
If it gets wild enough, will Milbury come down from the press box and
start beating the opposing forwards with his shoe?
2. Oilers will like slick Comrie
The Edmonton Oilers will gush over forward Mike Comrie.
There will be a lot of behind-the-scenes issues with this story. Comrie,
19, is the highly regarded prospect out of Michigan. The deeper story is that the Oilers
only have until next June 1 to sign him -- or they lose him as a free agent.
The Oilers and other NHL clubs were put in that position because of the
recent ruling in which Devils' prospect Mike Van Ryn was awarded the status of an
unrestricted free agent when he left college to play Junior hockey in the OHL. Van Ryn
eventually signed with St. Louis.
The Oilers will be getting lots of pressure from local media to get the
kid signed. And the fact that the Oilers are under a totally new regime will make that
more probable as new GM Kevin Lowe will now carry the same clout as Glen Sather.
Making it more interesting, Comrie's agent is Rich Winter.
Just as an aside, the OHL has recently closed part of that Van Ryn
loophole, making it impossible to make such a jump as a 20-year old from college, and
two other Junior leagues are considering the same measures.
3. Sharks' anniversary season won't be boring
San Jose GM Dean Lombardi and coach Darryl Sutter will be
under intense pressure from the first day of camp -- and very quickly here will be
rumors about signing Eric Lindros.
Right from training camp, the 10th anniversary of the Sharks will be eventful. The Sharks came into this week with more than half a dozen key players still not under contract, including their best player, Owen Nolan -- along with starting goalie Steve Shields and key components such as Patrick Marleau, Marco Sturm and
Marcus Ragnarsson.
Though their history is colorful even beyond their popular teal uniforms,
they have never had a winning regular season. It is time again to be bold, so expect
the Sharks to start sniffing around about Lindros.
Teams such as the Kings, Blackhawks and the front-running Maple Leafs -- along
with Tampa Bay -- have had some interest. Until this point, the Sharks have had no
official interest, but some time during camp that could change.
4. Canucks' road show in Sweden
You want a made-for-success prelude to a first season in the NHL? How
about the Canucks scheduling a 12-day stint in Sweden which should do nothing but
benefit Henrik and Daniel Sedin?
These two guys will be under a huge microscope, as will GM
Brian Burke. The Canucks, who have not made the playoffs since 1996,
have moved on from the Mark Messier era, and some success better come quickly.
5. Sayonara Samsonov?
Somebody in Boston is going to ask to follow the route of Ray Bourque and
demand a ticket out of town -- and it won't be a minor character. Start with the fact that GM Harry Sinden is moving upstairs to serve as only president, and Mike O'Connell will take over as GM with a game plan
to prove himself just as tough as Sinden.
The trio of guys in contract squabbles are Joe Thornton, Anson Carter and
Sergei
Samsonov. Figure the Bruins to settle with Thornton and Carter, but Samsonov
is a likely candidate to get stuck in the mess. The Bruins certainly don't want a mess
such as the one which led to goalie Byron Dafoe's nasty absence last season, so Samsonov is likely to get shopped through the training camp.
Other training camp fodder
Free agent goalies Garth Snow or
Sean
Burke will wind up in Ottawa, while the other lands in Pittsburgh. ... By the
middle of training camp, it will become even more clear that Bobby Smith is out as the
GM in Phoenix, with Cliff Fletcher already in place to take over and call the shots
with Wayne Gretzky. Two of the first shots will include the signing of Claude Lemieux
during camp, and efforts to trade either Jeremy Roenick or Keith Tkachuk to the Islanders. ... The Florida Panthers will look like Cup contenders in the preseason, with Igor Larionov providing some locker-room stability. There will also be a wave of stories concerning the ability of Trevor Kidd to co-exist with Roberto Luongo as the two goalies -- and it will be
hard to believe any of those stories. ... In New York, Theo Fleury will have a
magnificent training camp, lead the league in preseason goals, and Mark Messier will get
the credit for literally scaring Fleury back into the realm of a premier player. ... The
Flyers will realize that Eric Lindros is not so easy to replace on many levels, not the least of
which is the appearance of a very large and bright spotlight on John LeClair from Day 1
of training camp. LeClair will try to get by with phrases such as 'he's just another
player', but with Lindros gone he is THE player and will catch a lot of the heat if things go
wrong. ... Boyd
Devereaux will prove he's battle ready when he takes a big hit in Detroit.
Al Morganti covers the NHL for ESPN.
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