| Author |
shushu
Joined: 26 Feb 2019
Posts: 197
19 Mar 2019 04:44 |
|
| Message |
|
|
|
PHILADELPHIA - Their last names follow them to every rink: Lemieux, MacInnis, Turgeon. Its a blessing and a burden for nine sons of former NHL players who are all expected to be taken in the first four rounds of the draft this weekend. Theres Sam Reinhart, son of Paul; William Nylander, son of Michael; Kasperi Kapanen, son of Sami; Ryan MacInnis, son of Al; Brendan Lemieux, son of Claude; Ryan Donato, son of Ted; Daniel Audette, son of Donald; Dominic Turgeon, son of Pierre; and Josh Wesley, son of Glen. "Its just awesome to see that other players sons are being able to make it because theres a little bit of pressure that comes with playing with the name on your back," Brendan Lemieux said. "And its not very easy, especially when youre playing minor hockey, to do it when your dads there and people see you different just because of who your dad is." So many of these young men shared similar experiences along the way, getting a taste of the NHL lifestyle at practice rinks and in locker-rooms. "I felt like I was kind of born into hockey with my dad," Dominic Turgeon said. "At that very young age I promised myself, thats what I want to do with my life." Along the way, these nine prospects took varying paths. Some followed in their fathers footsteps as closely as possible, while others wanted to do their own thing. "Its just the father-son relationship: that DNAs there," NHL Central Scouting director Dan Marr said. "Sometimes they play opposite styles: Tie and Max Domi, Ryan and Al (MacInnis)." Sam Reinhart, whos expected to be a top-five pick in Friday nights first round, is a centre whereas his father spent 10 NHL seasons as a defenceman. Sam was born six years after Paul retired and didnt really model his game after him as much as naturally pick up some tendencies. "My dad never really taught me a skating side of the game, and I think thats just kind of the way I picked it up and I hear it has been similar to his," Reinhart said. "Ill take that." Kasperi Kapanen, who spent the first 12 years of his life in North America as Sami played for the Carolina Hurricanes and Philadelphia Flyers, considers his dad the biggest influence on his hockey career as his teacher, mentor, trainer and No. 1 fan all at the same time. At one point, Sami and Kasperi were teammates for KalPa Kuopio in Finland, which made him think twice. "Its kind of weird if he has the puck on the ice and youre with him and yell out, Dad!" he said. "And you think about it for a second like, Whats going on?" Kapanens goal is to become at least as good a pro as his dad, if not better. Thats a high bar for Ryan MacInnis, a centre who doesnt have the blistering shot his dad, a Hall of Fame defenceman. Marr told MacInnis to expect questions from interviewing teams about how fast he can shoot. "I have no idea," said MacInnis, who hasnt tested his shot with a radar gun. Ryan MacInnis does have some of his dad in him, or at least the defensive awareness. And scouts watching notice the bloodline. "When you watch him wind up, he has a very similar style of wind-up," said Ross MacLean of the scouting service ISS Hockey. "The mechanical structure of it is very, very similar. Its certainly nowhere near the velocity or the heaviness that his father had, but that might come as he continues to mature." William Nylander, who played youth hockey in the United States before his family moved back to Sweden, will likely need time to mature. He was just five or six years old when Michael played for the Washington Capitals and invited Nicklas Backstrom over to their house. Lemieux still has good relationships with some of Claudes former teammates, including now-Colorado Avalanche vice-president Joe Sakic and coach Patrick Roy. When Brendan met with the Avalanche, Roy kept quiet and let the rest of his staff do the talking. The pre-draft interview that surprised Lemieux was with the Detroit Red Wings, who his father spent years tormenting as an agitator extraordinaire. Lemieux didnt think it would be a legitimate interview, especially with one of Claudes biggest rivals, Kris Draper, in the room. "I thought they were going to walk in, make a few jokes," Lemieux said. "They were extremely professional, they barely brought it up. I tried to joke about it, they werent even budging. They were extremely serious. I was really impressed. Id have no problem playing in Detroit after that interview, for sure." Thats if the Red Wings want a carbon copy of Claude Lemieux. Brendan knows the game has changed since his father sunk the Stanley Cup to the bottom of the familys pool in 2000 but doesnt want to deviate much from how Claude played. "I think I can still bring that maybe a little bit of old-school sandpaper to a power-forward type role," said Lemieux, who admires Dallas Stars pest Antoine Roussels game. "I think a lot of teams are looking for that edge." Ryan Donato hopes a team is looking for a two-way centre in the vein of Jonathan Toews or Patrice Bergeron. Ted Donato, who will be his sons coach at Harvard next season, mentored Bergeron during his final season with the Boston Bruins, which gave his son someone else to model practice habits on. As far as off-ice habits, Ryan might want to be like his dad. "One of my favourite (stories) was when Ray Bourque got up to go to the bathroom, I guess he took his shoes off for a second and my dad got two lobsters and put them in his shoes and he came back and he put his feet in his shoes and there were lobsters in there," Donato said. Daniel Audette, more of a passer than Donald, who scored 260 goals in his NHL career, has a favourite story about his dad that hell probably tell friends this weekend. "On his draft day when he was 19 years old, he didnt get drafted — he was in the last rounds and he was getting mad," Daniel recalled. "He was throwing chairs in the back of the rink. He really wanted to get drafted, I guess." Finally the Buffalo Sabres took Donald in the ninth round in 1989. Daniel wont have to wait nearly as long, as hes projected to go in the first three rounds. The same goes for Dominic Turgeon, who wants nothing more than to be just like Pierre. "He loves to protect the puck down low," Turgeon said. "Thats what I do all the time in the offensive zone, really use my body to my advantage and drive the puck to the net." But with the name Turgeon comes expectations. Its true for all nine prospects, whether they like it or not. Still, there are plenty of benefits, like making scouts look twice because of the pedigree. When they do, more often than not they can tell theres some extra polish. "They grew up around the game," Marr said. "I think thats the advantage that they have. Ryan MacInnis, hes a professional athlete at 17 years of age, but his hockey sense and his hockey IQ, you can see thats what hes got from his dad, the way he plays the game." --- Follow @SWhyno on Twitter. Sneakers For Cheap . "Opinion: Womens World Cup is the best Soccer of the year," Hanks tweeted to his 8.73 million followers on Friday. "Hey FIFA, they deserve real grass. Put in sod. Wholesale Sneakers Shoes . In the late match, Shinji Okazaki scored two goals to pace Mainz to a 3-2 victory at Werder Bremen. Goals from Milan Badelj, Maximilian Beister and Hakan Calhanoglu ended Hamburgs two-match losing run and kept Hannover winless in seven games. http://www.sneakersuksale.com/ . Rico dove horizontally to meet Andoni Iraolas precise long cross from the right to score his second league goal of the season in the 33rd minute. Two minutes later, Aritz Aduriz netted Bilbaos second when he raced forward and pounced on a poor clearance by Villarreal defender Mateo Musacchio, sending a low shot rolling past goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo. Sneakers Sale Uk . The Spanish champions decision not to sign a defender during the January transfer window may have backfired after Valencia took advantage of a lethargic, uninspired effort by its hosts at the Camp Nou, where former Spain coach Luis Aragones -- who previously coached the Catalan side -- was honoured after his death on Saturday. Wholesale Sneakers For Sale . Lineup news, Fantasy tips and more in Scott Cullen’s Statistically Speaking. HEROES Blake Comeau – The Penguins winger had a hat trick in a 4-3 overtime win against Toronto. The man in charge of the NCAA selection committee insists a win in November is worth the same as a win in March. Dont believe him? Check out the seeds slapped beside these conference champions: --A 4 for Louisville of the American Athletic. --A 4 for Michigan State of the Big Ten. --Yet another 4 for UCLA of the Pac-12. --A 7 for New Mexico of the Mountain West. Oh, and dont forget that 8 for Kentucky, which had the ball and a chance to beat Florida, the NCAA tournaments top overall seed, in the waning seconds of the SEC title game. Only Virginia, which wrapped up the ACC tournament Sunday to back up its regular-season title, seemed to get a significant bump from the conference tournaments that polish off resumes of teams before the start of Americas favourite office pool -- March Madness. Ron Wellman, chair of the NCAA selection committee, said the Cavaliers, considered a 2 or 3 on most mock-ups, "continued to impress us throughout the year." Asked to explain the mediocre seed for a team like Louisville, the defending national champion that has won 12 of 13 and rolled through the AAC tournament, Wellstone explained the committee looks at the entire resume, not just March. "We look at the total body of work, everything they did from November to March," he said. "Every time we scrubbed that seed, Louisville ended at the same place every time when compared to the people above them." The people above them in the Midwest region, which shapes up as the toughest, include top-seeded and undefeated Wichita State, No. 2 Michigan and No. 3 Duke. Yes, thats three of last years Final Four teams. The national semifinals are April 5 in Arlington, Texas. On the 1 line in the West was Arizona, which stayed there despite falling in the Pac-12 title game to UCLA. The Bruins are a 4, same as Michigan State and Louisville -- their fellow power-conference champions. "They pass everyones eye test," Wellman said. "Theyre playing as well right now as anyone in the country. If you look at the last three or four weeks, they probably wouldve been seeded differently. When you look at the entire season, then its a little bit different." Of course, the numbers are just that -- numbers. In an era of one-and-done, superstar coaches and unending parity, the real drama starts after the brackets are out. Thats why Warren Buffett had no problem paying the insurance premium against a $1 billion payoff for anyone who fills out a perfect bracket. "Theres more good teams and less great teams," said coach Bill Self of second-seeded Kaansas.dddddddddddd "The difference between a 2 seed and a 7 or 8 seed is as narrow as its ever been." The last four bubble teams in this years draw were 12th-seeded North Carolina State and Xavier, who play in the First Four on Tuesday, and 11th-seeded Iowa and Tennessee, who play Wednesday. Left out of the tournament was SMU of the AAC -- a team almost all the experts had securely in the bracket. But not the folks in the conference room, who couldnt overcome the Mustangs strength of schedule: 129. "When I saw Louisville, I kind of figured that they didnt have a lot of respect for our conference," said coach Larry Brown. "But we only can blame ourselves, thats the way I look at it." The committee handed out only seven at-large bids to mid-majors after they took 11 in each of the last two seasons. The Big 12 led all conferences with seven teams, though winning the conference didnt move Iowa State past the 3 line. Other conference titles that didnt change much: --St. Joes was the champion of the six-bid Atlantic-10 and got a 10 seed while the team the Hawks beat, VCU, was seeded fifth. --Providence went from the bubble to Big East champion and was seeded 11th. Meanwhile, Kansas lost in the semifinals of the Big 12 but remained a 2 seed because of its ranking in the RPI -- No. 3. The Jayhawks have to get through the first weekend without centre Joel Embiid, out with a back injury, but could face a third-round game against Mountain West champs New Mexico. "Off the top of my head, I cant remember exactly what the conversation was about New Mexico," Wellman said. "I can tell you the conversations about New Mexico were very positive." In the West, Arizonas second game could come against eighth-seeded Gonzaga, which lost its second game as a No. 1 seed last year, or No. 9 Oklahoma State, which has one of the nations best players in Marcus Smart. The nations top scorer, Doug McDermott (26.9 points per game), is on the other side of that bracket with No. 3 Creighton. On Virginias side of the East bracket is one team nobody wants to play come tournament time -- No. 4 Michigan State, which hadnt won back-to-back games since late January, but strung three together to win the nations second-toughest conference. "You dont get many teams that are talented, have inside and outside, show toughness, are together, have great chemistry," coach Tom Izzo said. "Ive said three times in my career that I thought we were good enough to get to a Final Four. I thought this team was next in line." ' ' '
|
|
Search
