Not a soul in the NHL could question the New Jersey Devils' hockey
acumen when it comes to their NHL affairs, but AHL observers have
found plenty of fodder surrounding the Devils' AHL doings with which
to quibble over the past six seasons.
But those criticisms may just cease if Lou Lamoriello can filter the
Devils' NHL success down to their farm system, and steps that have
been taken over the past six months may once again make the Devils
the model for player development.
For going on close to 15 seasons, the Devils have assembled and re- assembled with meticulous care an NHL unit that can serve as a
blueprint on how to build an organization from the ground up.
As well, the Devils hold a reputation for taking care of their
personnel, both financially and in regard to quality-of-life issues.
It is not a coincidence that no less than the likes of Martin
Brodeur and Patrik Elias eschew riches elsewhere to remain in North
Jersey playing under the discerning eye of Lamoriello, the Devils'
jack-of-all-titles.
With a sparkling new arena on the way for 2007-08 in downtown
Newark, N.J. and another crop of promising young talent (for
starters, goaltender Jordan Parise and forward Stephen Gionta,
siblings to a pair of current Devils regulars) on board, the Devils
look to be in good shape for several years again, particularly if
Brodeur continues to hold up under his staggering workload.
But the Devils' AHL operation has been in tough for the past six
seasons, an ugly stain for an otherwise model organization.
During the 1990s, the Devils used the AHL to churn out talent in a
way that had not been seen since the Habs and the old Nova Scotia
Vees were cranking out the names like Larry Robinson and Yvon
Lambert during the 1970s.
However, since the 1990s drew to a close, the Devils' AHL picture
has been nothing short of an embarrassment. A talent pipeline that
once pumped out Brodeur, Elias, John Madden, Sergei Brylin, Colin
White and Brian Gionta along with a slew of talent now playing
elsewhere in the NHL has slowed considerably in recent years.
Playoff experience for the youngsters?
The Devils' AHL affiliate has played all of five postseason games
since the turn of the millennium, none of them since April 19, 2000.
For that matter, even playoff races have been rare for the Devils'
AHL charges. Last season, the Devils' AHL team, Albany, went 25-48-4- 3, good for dead last in the Eastern Conference.
So, few tears were shed in Albany when the Devils departed after
last season, leaving in tatters a once-proud New Jersey-Albany
marriage that dated back to 1993.
Needing a new AHL affiliate, the Devils bought the former Lowell
Lock Monsters and set up shop just outside of Boston. This new set- up means that the Devils can now run their AHL operation entirely as
they see fit. As Lowell's owners, any shortcomings this year in
Lowell will fall squarely on the Devils' shoulders.
One such change this season is a new head coach, Kurt Kleinendorst,
who has spent the past five seasons on the Devils' scouting staff. A
downright pleasant, hockey-savvy and positive sort, Kleinendorst
will embark on his first AHL head-coaching job this season and has
the tall order of healing the festering wound that the Devils' AHL
side has endured for so long.
Former NHLers Kevin Dean and Chris Terreri will serve as assistants
to Kleinendorst.
Before entering the scouting ranks, the Minnesota-born Kleinendorst
accumulated coaching experience with the Devils (as an assistant) as
well as in the ECHL, the former IHL and in the United Kingdom. Twice
in his coaching career Kleinendorst has won coach-of-the-year
honours, once in the ECHL and once in the UK, where he also won a
championship.
"That's an understatement [that Albany struggled]," Kleinendorst
acknowledged when asked about the Devils' AHL situation in recent
seasons.
Kleinendorst believes that a New Jersey-Albany divorce proved best
for all parties involved.
"It ended up toward the end being a bad marriage. I think that
everybody that was involved knew that it probably was a good idea to
break ties, not just for us, but for the ownership [in Albany]."
Owning the Lowell franchise and running things the New Jersey way
should yield dividends, Kleinendorst states.
"We're in a good situation because we are the ownership, and we do
own the team. We've been able to go in and make some improvements to
the facility, the locker room and just do everything that we can do
so that we don't have any excuses."
What needs to change with the Devils' AHL picture?
"I don't know that we have to change the overall culture,"
Kleinendorst said, "but I think that there are some things that I've
been made aware of that we feel that we need to do a little
differently. "I'm not going to say 'better,' but 'differently.'"
One of those things would be building a winning culture.
"Obviously, we've got some work to do. Our top priority is
development. Every American League team is there for a purpose
[development] and nobody would tell you differently."
But development goes hand in hand with winning, says Kleinendorst.
"I think that my philosophy is that we can accomplish [development]
and at the same time win enough games to feel like we've had a
successful season as well."
"You want to develop a winning attitude."
To that end, the Devils picked up Justin Papineau, a forward not
incapable of a 30-goal season, from the New York Islanders
organization while reliable veteran AHL defenceman Mike Mottau
headed over from the Peoria Rivermen.
Lamoriello is not stopping at the AHL level, either.
The Devils this week again reached into the till and this time took
a much more unconventional step, purchasing a majority ownership
stake in the ECHL's Trenton (N.J.) Titans. Located just one hour
south from what will be the Devils' new home in Newark, the Titans
play in the 7,605 Sovereign Bank Arena, an AHL-calibre building.
Very few NHL teams own their ECHL affiliates, and ties between NHL
and ECHL teams can sometimes be rather limited in scope. But the
Devils are all about structure, and this move now gives the Devils a
very structured baseball-style developmental chain.
Whereas Lowell will serve as the Devils' AAA affiliate, a place
where they can develop their top prospects and house their first- recall players, Trenton will serve as the Devils' Double-A
affiliate, an even more nurturing environment for grooming diamonds
in the rough.
The Devils can utilize their new ECHL affiliate as a means of
affording ice time to young prospects who are very rough around the
edges and might otherwise be lost in the AHL shuffle. Stashing a
fifth goaltender in the organization in the ECHL can also be a move
that allows a young netminder to receive a heavy dose of regular
game action.
Off the ice, the move is an excellent move for the Devils,
particularly given that they battle the Philadelphia Flyers for the
loyalties of hockey fans in the state of New Jersey. Located in the
centre of the state, Trenton is something of a rough north-south
dividing line between Philadelphia fans and New Jersey fans (to say
nothing of those with Rangers loyalties).
For now, at least, Trenton will remain an ECHL centre, but certainly
it could make for an attractive AHL port should the Devils'
excursion into Lowell not work out in the long-term. Lowell
averaged 3,635 last season, fourth-worst in the AHL, and the Devils'
deal in Lowell as it stands at the moment only extends the Devils'
AHL presence in Lowell through the 2007-08 season.
AHL loses long-time Hartford hockey player
Sad news came out of Hartford this week with the passing of long- time Hartford hockey writer Jack Lautier. Just 53 years old, the
long-time Bristol (Conn.) Press hockey writer lost his battle with
lung cancer this week.
One of the decent men of hockey, Lautier knew of what he wrote. In
addition to the role of devoted hockey dad and the sort of travel
that it entails, Lautier also stayed active, playing the game on an
amateur basis. Lautier provided Canadian-style passion for the game
and some New England-style fervour to a state that has had its
hockey ups and downs over the years.
Lautier carved out a niche as a treasure trove of all things
Hartford Whalers and wrote a number of books during his 30 years of
professional writing. After the Whalers departed Hartford, Lautier
covered the Wolf Pack.
Lautier brought with him to the AHL his NHL-style sensibilities and
the perspective of age. His story-telling made for many a good tale
about a Whalers team that has seen its memories slowly begin to fade
away over time.
Lautier leaves behind a wife and two sons.
Mandatory visors debut
Thursday afternoon's Lowell-Philadelphia tilt in Voorhees, N.J.
opened the AHL's preseason slate. The low-key affair also marked the
debut of the AHL's new rule making the use of visors mandatory.
Both teams iced rosters with a decidedly youthful slant to them for
the afternoon affair, so mandatory visor use was nothing new for a
collection of players fresh out of the CHL and the NCAA.
But there was a learning curve for one old-time AHLer. The last time
that defenceman John Slaney donned a visor prior to this season, he
was wearing Cornwall blue, red and white with the old OHL Royals
back in the 1991-92 season.
Said Slaney, "I know what the whole concept is, to be safe, but as
much as you don't think that it takes [your vision] out of play, it
actually does take your vision out of play because it's something
that you haven't been used to wearing."
Philadelphia's Stefan Ruzicka, who spent time in the OHL wearing a
visor, was tagged with a 10-minute misconduct for not having his
visor in the proper position.
More rules
In a move that could hardly be considered surprising, the AHL
announced a trio of rule changes this week that will keep it in step
with the NHL.
Player sticks will now be allowed a maximum curvature of three- quarters of an inch, an increase from the previous one-half inch.
During shootouts, the home team can opt to shoot first or second.
Finally, teams must request stick measurements prior to the shootout
beginning. Unsuccessful challenges will result in the team making
the challenge lose its next shootout opportunity. If the challenge
is successful and an opponent's stick is illegal, the guilty team
will lose one attempt. The law-breaking player will also sit out the
rest of the shootout.
AHL referee to try Europe
Movement between the AHL and European hockey is nothing new. Players
and coaches have been making such a move for decades.
But according to HockeyRefs.com, a web site dedicated to all things
officiating, former AHL referee Bob Langdon will be heading over to
Denmark this season for a brief stint in November.
HockeyRefs.com also reports that Langdon will do a mix of AHL and
UHL games this season and will head off in January to train for a
career as a police constable.
AHL Remembers Bailey, Bavis
It has been a classy move on the AHL's part in recent years to make
honouring the memories of Ace Bailey and Mark Bavis a regular
occurrence. The two Los Angeles Kings scouts, who both had solid AHL
ties, were among the victims of United Airlines flight 175 in the
September 11, 2001 attacks.
In what seems to have become an annual tradition, the AHL has made
sure in recent seasons to remember the two each September.
Bailey, a native of Lloydminster, Sask., carved out an long pro
career with Boston, Detroit, Washington and Edmonton. The tough
winger also spent a season with the Hershey Bears. The always
outgoing Bailey was no stranger to AHL rinks via his scouting work.
Along the way, Bailey was a part of seven Stanley Cup-winning teams.
A Massachusetts product, Bavis spent two seasons in the AHL in the
early- to mid-1990s with the Providence Bruins and the old
Fredericton Canadiens. Among his teammates in the AHL were Peter
Laviolette, Brian Savage, Turner Stevenson and Donald Brashear.
The memories of the pair now live on through charitable
organizations.
The Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston has received much of
the proceeds through the Ace Bailey Children's Foundation. More
information on Bailey's foundation can be found at
http://www.acebailey.com.
The Mark Bavis Leadership Foundation provides annual grants in the
range of $1000 to $5000 US to youngsters to be used for school
tuition and other extracurricular activities. More information on
that organization can be found at
http://www.markbavisleadershipfoundation.org.
Notebook
The Rochester Americans have finally named an assistant coach to
replace the departed Doug Houda. Moe Mantha, who spent time as an
AHL coach with the Anaheim organization and lost a job in the fall- out of the Windsor Spitfires' off-ice scandal last season, will step
behind the Amerks' bench to work with incumbent head coach Randy
Cunneyworth.
After a quiet summer, the Grand Rapids Griffins finally struck,
signing AHL sniper Jeff Hamilton. Last season with Bridgeport,
Hamilton poured in 24 goals over just 39 regular-season games.
The Griffins also picked up grizzled centre Kip Miller, a former
Griffin. Last season with a bad Chicago team, Miller went 19-40-59
with the Wolves.
Send all comments and questions to patrickwilliams@canoemail.com.
