by Barry Stagg
Newfoundlanders on the attack in the AHL
American Hockey League statistics that are published weekly in The Hockey News. Several young Newfoundlanders are toiling away at various sites in the National Hockey League's top development league. Ottawa Senators draft choice, Chad Penney is putting in time in his rookie season with the Prince Edward Island club operating out of Charlottetown.
Penney has a chance to play himself onto the Ottawa roster if he can show the same promise and skill that many of the star rookies with the parent club have shown this year. Alexander Daigle and Alexei Yashin are showing that they will be stars before too long. While the Ottawa club is in perpetual turmoil at the management level, the on-ice product appears to be developing well and along the same lines as the expansion New York Islanders of the early 70's.
Down in Portland, Maine, John Slaney is running up good offensive statistics on the blue line for the Pirates. Portland is in its first year as a farm club for the Washington Capitals. Slaney is in a position where he has to convince the Washington management that he has what it takes to play in the big leagues. The jitters that shuddered through the entire Washington roster in the early going is an indication that a fellow with the tenacity and talent of Slaney has a good chance to be in Washington by mid season.
In St. John's, the Maple Leafs are running away with first place in their division and they are fighting it out with Portland and Adirondack for top spot in the whole league. Newfoundlander, Todd Gillingham is the lone Newfoundland representative among the regulars for the St. John's club. However, a name out of the recent past stood out for me when I went through the St. John's statistics in December. Andy Sullivan, a tall play-making centre from the Southern Shore was listed as having put in two games with the club and had accumulated an assist. Sullivan was a star in the Newfoundland Senior Hockey League in the early 80's and many a pundit wondered out-loud why Sullivan had not made the jump to professional ranks. Andy Sullivan is getting a little past the point where he can make a career out of professional hockey, but certainly it is heartening to see that he got the opportunity to play a few games at the professional level as St. John's fills spots opened in its roster due to injuries in Toronto.
One name that is conspicuously absent from American Hockey League rosters this year is that of Dwayne Norris. Norris is Quebec Nordiques property and played for the Halifax Citadels in the last half of last season. Norris has been loaned to the Canadian Olympic club this year and his name pops up from time to time in the game summaries as the Olympic team winds its way toward the Winter Olympic tournament. Norris is another fellow who, like John Slaney, must convince National Hockey League management that he can make the leap all the way to the big rinks. With a good performance in international tournament play, Norris may get the opportunity to earn his National Hockey League stripes with Quebec or he may provoke the interest of other clubs which are struggling along with little or no offensive talent. The few games that I saw Norris play last year showed me that he is a creative forward who would not look out of place alongside some of the better play making centres now patrolling the lanes in the NHL.
This year's crop of outstanding young professional hockey players from Newfoundland serves as an inspiration for all of those youngsters struggling through the minor hockey ranks both in Newfoundland and elsewhere. Many youngsters playing in Ontario have the same sort of links to Newfoundland as baseball stars Rob Butler and Rich Butler. Newfoundland parents chasing the elusive dollar have landed in Ontario and their off-spring from time to time are able to cut a wide and impressive swath through the minor hockey ranks. More and more of these young fellows will be joining the ranks of their brethren who make the jump to major junior hockey and the professional ranks directly from Newfoundland. I will keep an eye on as many as I can.
Until next month be proud, be prosperous.