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Thursday, September 23, 1999
Hnot yet
Flames waiting for Domenichelli to demonstrate offensive skills
They can find the identity of Jack the Ripper, cures for all sorts of diseases and afflictions and disorders.
Seems they can find anything these days.
So why can't somebody, anybody, in the name of humanity, find Hnat Domenichelli?
Surely you remember him? The skinny guy with the silent H in front of his name? The key Calgary component in the March 5, 1997 trade that shipped Steve Chiasson to the Whalers? Personable, thoughtful fellow, loaded with -- in the hockey vernacular -- tremendous offensive upside?
Well, he has been lost without a trace this training camp, as was the case in the two previous camps, a regular Amelia Earhart for the '90s. A mystery. An enigma.
The Hockey News Ultimate Pool Guide chose him as the Flames' 'Sleeper Pick' this year.
So far, the sleep has been deep.
On a team starving for offensive sustenance, with Fleury gone and now Iginla unsigned and Wiemer on a wonky wheel, Domenichelli continues to fight for employment -- and right now, isn't winning the battle. Kids like Saprykin and Tkaczuk have stolen the thunder. Travis Brigley's put in a bid. Marc Savard is new and a shoo-in.
"This," says coach Brian Sutter evenly, "is a big weekend for Dom, as it is for a few others trying to make this team.
"We've left the door open -- wide open -- for him. He's a lot like Cory Stillman; they're similar players. It took Cory a long time to understand how to play at this level. I call it 'getting it'. Well, he still doesn't `get it' all the time.
"Dom's the same. He has to learn how to consistently make a difference. There's lots in the toolbox, plenty in the gas tank. But he, and a few others, are running out of time. We know his skill level. We'd like to be able to bring him along. But we also have to win games. He has to show us."
Domenichelli is likely to get another two pre-season chances to show them and finally stick with the big club out of camp. But so far, in three exhibition games: No goals, no points, three shots.
"No numbers," sighs Domenichelli.
"I don't know why, but I lose my confidence in camp. September just isn't my month.
"When I get here, I see 50 guys and when I don't play I wonder why. And self-doubt begins to creep in. I worry. In contrast, when they call me up during the season, I don't get all tied up in a knot -- I know I'm here for a reason -- and I just play. And things go better.
"I don't want to be babied or coddled but it's tough.
"I can understand what they're thinking: 'This is a perfect opportunity for Hnat to win a place on this team and he isn't doing it.' Brian says I have to earn a spot and he's right. That's fair. But I don't care if you're a hockey player or a sportswriter or work in a bank, if you feel secure at your workplace, you do a better job.
"Sure, we're professional athletes, well paid and high-profile. But that doesn't mean we aren't fragile people, like anyone else."
At 23, Domenichelli is at a critical juncture in his pro hockey career. In 64 games on call-ups to the Flames, he has 15 goals and 29 points to show. A helluva lot of 23-year-olds loaded with "potential" suddenly evolve into 28-year-old career minor leaguers, never to be seen again.
"I want to stay here," he stresses. "I want to justify the faith that Coatsy had trading for me."
In the two games, or 120 minutes of hockey left to him, he must make an emphatic on-ice statement to that effect. Training camp is a time for aspirants to make themselves noticed, playing to their strengths. Domenichelli's strength has always been scoring points.
"If they don't keep me, if they don't think I can help during the regular season, it'll be time to move on. This camp, I think I've come and worked hard every day and done what they said. In the past, that may not have been the case. Maybe I got disinterested. But I don't think that's an issue this time.
"They'll either keep me and work with me, or something will happen. If I can't crack the lineup now, in my third camp here, well, the writing will be on the wall."
This weekend, it's up to him. Either he's good enough, or he's Hnot.
"One of four things can happen: I make the team; They don't protect me in the waiver draft and I get picked up; They send me down; They trade me.
"I know what I want to happen. But sometimes you don't get what you want.
"By Sunday, things will be a lot clearer."
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