Fuck the Sens, check this guy out

It's been a busy week for me, personally. I've been writing some freelance stories for the East Ottawa Star, trying not to get too caught up in the stream-of-consciousness style that blogging tends to lure writers into. You know, not just re-posting other people's work, but actually calling people, and talking to them. (It's more difficult than it sounds).

The editors there do a lot of legwork for their freelancers, and last week, I was presented with the opportunity of speaking with Orleans native Erik Gudbranson, a 6' 3" defenceman from the Kingston Frontenacs.

Captain Canada

Forget Ryan Smyth, they should call this kid Captain Canada. Since January, he's played in three tournaments representing both Ontario and Canada in international competition.

In January, he competed in BC as captain of Ontario's U17 team. And as you can see, they won the big trophy.

In April, he took off to Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead, Minnesota to compete in the IIHF U18 championships. No hardware from that one - a fourth place finish, losing the bronze medal game in a shootout to Finland.

Of course, any time Canada doesn't win gold in international hockey competitions, something is amiss (I don't know wtf is wrong with the Olympics these days). The IIHF U18's happen during the OHL playoffs, meaning many of Canada's best 17 year-old players are unable to travel and compete.

Luckily, there's another tournament held in the Czech Republic and Slovakia that made everything right--and Erik was there, of course. The Ivan Hlinka memorial tournament (for 18 year-olds and younger) is considered the truer test of international hockey strength because it occurs in the depths of summer, when all are free to compete. As a result, Canada won gold (of course).

(FYI: Ivan Hlinka was one of the first and most dominant Czech hockey players. He briefly coached in the NHL and was tragically killed in 2004.)

But we didn't just win, we cream 'em. Canada won every game they played (and maybe even some they didn't) from the preliminaries all the way to the finals. These Canadian goal-scoring robots (I suspect) beat their opponents by a combined score of 40-7. In the final, they put Team Russia to shame with a 9-2 massacre.

Draft ready

Erik is pegged by some to go early in the first round of the 2010 NHL draft. He was recently featured on NHL.com as a North American player to watch for the draft.

But there's more to the story than a solid young defender making it big. Check out the youtube vid.



In a world of overpaid and overly sensitive "stars", this guy seems to have the right ideas and the right values. I'm looking forward to following this native Ottawan and proud Canadian's career develop over the next few seasons.

More stories on Erik (by friend of the blog, and huge Sens fan, Dan Plouffe):

Captain Gudbranson wins U17 worlds for Ontario

Gudbranson will play for Canada at Ivan Hlinka tourney

PS: When I was interviewing Erik and he referred to his coach in Kingston as "Dougie", I almost spit. I'm no Leafer, but even I would call him Mr. Gilmour. Apparently, Killer's cool with it.

Wiercioch cut from Team Canada

Sens prospect Patrick Wiercioch was among the final cuts for Team Canada's 2009 World Junior Championships roster. Unfortunately.

And that's all there really is to say about it. Maybe he'll turn his disappointment into motivation and become the next Bobby Orr. That would be sweet.

EDIT: The Sens' official site has a bit more on Wiercioch, including a scouting report from Al Murray, head scout for Hockey Canada. The good news is that Murray's criticism of Wiercioch is all on thing that he can improve with relative ease, namely his physical conditioning and his confidence:

"For his first time involved in the program ... you're never sure what to expect when you come into that," Al Murray, Hockey Canada's head scout, said as Team Canada assembled at the Bell Sensplex for media photos and interviews. "He looked a bit tentative, then seemed to get a little bit more comfortable as the week went along."

With a little bit more physical strength, Murray believes Wiercioch could be a part of the team Hockey Canada sends to the 2010 WJC in Regina and Saskatoon.

"He needs to gain more strength so he can handle the physical battles," Murray said of Wiercioch, the Senators' second-round pick in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft at Scotiabank Place. "When you're playing against the best players your age in the world, you've got (have) a lot of physical strength on some of the those guys.

"As the week went on, he got more comfortable in the offensive situations, better in his positioning, used his stick well and I thought he handled himself very well. We're anxious to see him here again and if he's not in the National Hockey League, I think he's got a real good chance to be a part of our program."

Wiercioch invited to Canadian junior camp

The Senators' second-round pick in 2008, Patrick Wiercioch, has been invited to the Team Canada world junior selection camp. He is among 14 defencemen invited to the camp, along with 20 forwards and four goaltenders. Wiercoch is the second-youngest defenceman invited, and is one of two with an Ottawa connection: Tyler Cuma plays for the 67s. Here's the listing of defencemen, or click here for the full list.

1. Keith Aulie
2. Tyler Cuma
3. Ryan Ellis
4. Cody Goloubef
5. Travis Hamonic
6. * Thomas Hickey
7. Kevin Marshall
8. Tyler Myers
9. Alex Pietrangelo
10. Brendan Smith
11. Jared Spurgeon
12. * P.K. Subban
13. Colten Teubert
14. Patrick Wiercioch
    * - denotes returning player.

In other World Juniors news, 2007 draft choice Jim O'Brien is on the USA Hockey World Junior Championship roster.

ADDENDUM: As a commenter said, there are two other Sens prospects will be playing in the tournament, both for Sweden: defenceman Erik Karlsson (1st round, 15th overall, 2008) and forward Andre Petersson (4th round, 109th overall, 2008).

WC08: Canada loses final to Russia

In the gold-medal game, Canada gave up two two-goal leads to lose to Russia in overtime by a final score of 5-4. Canada wanted to become the first team to win gold at home in twenty years, and Russia wanted to end their thirteen-year gold drought at the World Championships.

Dany Heatley scored a goal and an assist in the game, extending his tournament-leading points total to 20. He also won the tournament's most valuable player award, but didn't look to enthused. It was obvious he was more upset about the loss.

Although Jason Spezza didn't get any points in the final, his play had improved over the course of the tournament--possibly as his injury became less of an issue.

The final statistics of the Sens' five players in the tournament:

Dany Heatley (CAN): 9GP, 12G, 8A, 20P, 4 PIM, +13, 40 SOG, 16:07 AVG TOI
Christoph Schubert (GER): 6GP, 1G, 2A, 3P, 12 PIM, -2, 11 SOG, 19:36 AVG TOI
Jason Spezza (CAN): 9GP, 1G, 2A, 3P, 0 PIM, +5, 8 SOG, 10:36 AVG TOI
Kaspars Daugavins (LAT): 6GP, 0G, 0A, 0P, 0 PIM, -1, 6 SOG, 7:50 AVG TOI

Martin Gerber (SUI): 3W, 2L, .879 SP, 3.15 GAA, 1A

WC08: Heat continues to be on

Photo from IIHF.com. Used without permission.

Dany Heatley's torrent pace at the 2008 World Championships has continued through the past three games, and he's now got 13 points in the six games played. Jason Spezza, meanwhile, continues to struggle, and his demotion to the fourth-line was not without warrant. Team Canada clinched first place in their pool with a perfect 6-0 record, good for 18 points (three per regulation-time win), and the playoffs begin with a quarter-final rematch with the Norway. Canada barely beat Norway 2-1 in round-robin play.

Dany Heatley: 6GP, 9G, 4A, 13P, 4 PIM +10, 27 SOG, 15:17 TOI
Jason Spezza: 6GP, 1G, 1A, 2P, 0 PIM, +5, 6 SOG, 10:31 TOI

Christoph Schubert, meanwhile, continues to lead his German squad from the back-end, and he's second on the team in average ice time per game. He's also got more points than Spezza, although he is getting significantly more ice time. The Germans finished with a 2-4 record, not good enough for the playoffs, but good enough to steer clear of the relegation round.

Christoph Schubert: 6GP, 1G, 2A, 3P, 12 PIM, -2, 11 SOG, 19:36 TOI

On the Switzerland team, Martin Gerber hasn't been playing as many games as Jonas Hiller and third-stringer Ronnie Reuger are getting some extra playing time. He's still got the team's best numbers, though, in all categories. When Russia and Switzerland play tomorrow in quarter-final play, count on Gerbs getting the start.

Martin Gerber: 3W, 1L, 0G, 1A, 1P, .912 SP, 2.25 GAA

Kaspars Daugavins and his Latvian squad fared about as well as Schubert's German squad, which was likely surprising to many. They finished with two wins (over Slovenia and Norway) and four losses, and stay in the first division of the IIHF.

Kaspars Daugavins: 6GP, 0G, 0A, 0P, 0 PIM, -1, 6 SOG, 7:50 TOI

EDIT: For some reason I wrote that Daugavins was on Slovenia. He's on Latvia. I changed the article so it was right... that's why mainstream media has fact-checkers and proofreading, I guess.

WC08: Another two games, another six points for Heatley

Photos from IIHF.com. Used without permission.

If Dany Heatley is always going to play this well for Team Canada, maybe the Senators should drop the colours black and gold from their uniforms and just run with red and white.

After four points in his first game against Slovenia, Heater kept his pace with another four against Latvia on Sunday, May 4, and then added another two--both goals--against the United States on Tuesday, May 6. He continues to lead the tournament with 10 points in three games, featuring six goals including two game winners and four assists.

It can't hurt to be playing alongside Rick Nash and Ryan Getzlaf, though. I wonder if we could lure either of those guys from their respective teams... I doubt it. Jason Spezza got his first point in the tournament with an assist on Martin St. Louis' goal against Latvia.

With the three wins, Canada has clinched first place in Pool B and will play whoever finishes second in Pool C, which features Finland, Slovakia, Germany, and Norway. If my math is correct, Canada will be playing Slovakia is the Slovaks beat the undefeated Fins tomorrow, but if Finland wins then Canada would be playing Germany.

Heatley (CAN): 3GP, 6G, 4A, 10P, 13 SOG, 4 PIM, +7, 14:54 AVG TOI
Spezza (CAN): 3GP, 0G, 1A, 1P, 2 SOG, 0 PIM, +3, 12:15 AVG TOI

Speaking of the Germans, they would win the head-to-head tie-breaker thanks to a 4-2 victory over Slovakia on Monday, May 5. Christoph Schubert--who, for the record, is playing defence in the tournament--finished the game with an assist and four shots on goal in 20:18 in ice time. He finished even on the night because his assist came on a powerplay.

Schubert (DEU): 2GP, 0G, 1A, 1P, 6 SOG, 0 PIM, -1, 21:23 AVG TOI

Then comes Martin Gerber, who improved his tournament record to 2-0 with a 2-1 victory for Switzerland over Belarus. He stopped 22 of 23 shots on net, surrendering a goal to only Konstantin Koltsov of the Belarussians. His goals-against average and save percentage are right up there with the tournament leaders, and given his knack for stepping it up in the Suisse jersey (we all remember when he shut Canada out in the 2006 Olympics), he gives another reason for the Sens to switch the uniforms to red and white. And he's even got an assist, which puts him among the 10 Swiss players who've recorded at least one point.

Gerber (SUI): 2-0, 1A, 2GA, .959 SV%, 1.00 GAA

Finally is Sens prospect Kaspars Daugavins, whose Latvian squad stayed away from a relegation playoff by beating Slovenia on Tuesday, May 6. Snoop Dauggy-Daugg hasn't done much in the way of offense for his team, with no points through three games, but he's probably just waiting until the time is right. Wait and see. Also in Daugavins' favour are the wicked-awesome Latvian uniforms, whose simplicity really goes to show that you don't need crazy designs to make nice jerseys (I'm talking to you, RBK designers. And you, Buffalo Sabres designers).

Daugavins (LAT): 3GP, 0G, 0A, 0P, 5 SOG, 0 PIM, -1, 12:45 AVG TOI

WC08: Heatley kicks Slovenia's ass

(AFP/Timothy A. Clary)

In Canada's opening match against Slovenia, Dany Heatley scored three goals and added an assist en route to a 5-1 ker-smooshing of the small south-central European republic. He assisted on the first goal, scored the second--which turned out to be the winner--as well as the fourth and fifth goals. Heatley is now Canada's all-time leading scorer in the annual World Championship tournaments after surpassing Marcel Dionne. As a Sens fan, I hope he doesn't score any more after this year due to consistently long playoff runs for the Senators.

The story of the game might have been Slovenian goaltender Robert Kristan, who faced 65 shots on the night, including 31 in the second period alone.

Anze Kopitar, the only Slovenian to ever play in the NHL, scored the only goal on Canada goaltender Cam Ward.

I didn't actually see the game, so I don't know how well Jason Spezza did. He didn't get any points, but that doesn't necessarily mean he played poorly. Watch SportsCentre for highlights.

Canada's next game is Sunday afternoon at 3:30 versus Latvia. It should be another win for Canada, but will be exciting nonetheless--apparently a lot of Latvian fans made the trip across the ocean to see the tournament.

WC08: Heatley, Spezza head to World Championships

Turns out Steve Yzerman brought a few Sens players in to play on the Canadian World Championships in Halifax/Quebec City, and they're not slouches: Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza were named to the roster. (I guess Spezza's knee injury wasn't or isn't too serious.)

Seriously, though, this team is stacked. Here's the roster:

Goal: Mathieu Garon, Pascal Leclaire, Cam Ward

Defence: Jay Bouwmeester, Brent Burns, Dan Hamhuis, Ed Jovanovski, Duncan Keith, Steve Staios

Forwards: Jason Chimera, Shane Doan, Ryan Getzlaf, Dany Heatley, Chris Kunitz, Jamal Mayers, Rick Nash, Derek Roy, Patrick Sharp, Jason Spezza, Martin St. Louis, Eric Staal, Jonathan Toews, Ray Whitney

Why the hell isn't Chris Phillips on his way? Maybe he said no. But if Ryan Getzlaf is headed, you've got to expect Chris Pronger was invited, he must have said no, too.

I was looking for the other team rosters, but was unable to see more Sens players who've been named. I imagine that if they're feeling up to it: Martin Gerber (Switzerland), Daniel Alfredsson (Sweden), Christoph Schubert (Germany), Andrej Meszaros (Slovakia), and Anton Volchenkov (Russia). Playing in the tournament can be good or bad (hopefully no one pulls a Dominik Hasek and gets injured), but it'll be fun to be able to watch some Sens players playing into May again this year.