2010-11 PRE-SEASON CALDER TROPHY PREVIEW

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Thunder Bay, ON- The wave of youth has reached the Lake Superior northshore. A movement that began when owner/general manager, Blake Wendt took over a struggling hockey franchise from Hoboken, New Jersey in 2006. That franchise would eventually be moved to the Northwest Ontario and the hockey hotbed of Thunder Bay, Ontario.
>>>What Wendt took over was an organization that was hemorrhaging at every level. Finances were in the gutter, the fanbase was non-existent in Hoboken, and there was no future star players on the horizon.
>>>The moves were swift, the house was cleaned and the stockpile of draft picks was acquired.
>>>The 2009 Entry Draft has and thus far will be the point at which the Thunder Bay Timberwolves were completely turned around. Coming off a season that only produced nine wins, Wendt made moves throughout the season to position the Timberwolves well in the draft.
>>>First came the trade of defenseman, Alex Edler to Springfield for their first round pick. That pick would eventually end up a lottery pick that by sheer luck became the first overall pick. The Timberwolves own pick ended up being fifth overall after finishing dead last in the league. That pick would end up being flipped to Budapest with prospect Jamie McBain, for the third overall pick.
>>>The first overall selection in 2009 was John Tavares from the OHL's London Knights. A pick that Blake Wendt had no hesitation in taking, and didn't. Making the announced pick a day prior to the start time of the Entry Draft.
>>>Now, for the first edition of the 2010-11 Pre-Season Calder Trophy Preview...
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>>>JOHN TAVARES (Centre), Thunder Bay Timberwolves:
>>>Tavares will make his long-awaited CCHL debut centering the Timberwolves second line with Simon Gagne and Ales Hemsky on his wings. He is considered a franchise player, but will be given nothing in Thunder Bay. "Tavares is an elite talent," said Wendt. "But he is still a rookie and will have to earn everything here like every other player. We expect he will and will strive to be everything he was in junior. A dominate player throughout his pro career."
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>>>TYLER MYERS (Defense), River Cities Renegades:
>>>Myers is expected to have an immediate impact on the Rens blueline. "At minimum we see him as a top four d-man and he could find himself paired with Duncan Keith on the top pairing if the chemistry is good," said Renegades general manager, Chris Kash. "He will see time on the power play and on the penalty kill. Myers should easily average twenty minutes a game for us. Looking ahead, we see him as a franchise defensemen along with Keith. Myers is the best of a deep group of young d-men in our system, along with Roman Polak, and prospects like David Runblad, Dylan McIllrath and Cody Golobeuf."
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>>>MATT DUCHENE (Centre), Thunder Bay Timberwolves:
>>>Taken third overall in the 2009 Entry Draft, Duchene is expected to start the season on the Timberwolves fourth line with Antti Miettinen and Colby Armstrong. Depth at centre for Thunder Bay forces the club to put the versitle pivot in a position to have to earn ice-time. But Wendt is confident that the Haliburton, Ontario-native will earn that time. "Duchene isn't a fourth liner. But he is better suited for that role than any of our other options right now. " Duchene is likely to rotate between the fourth line and second with Tavares throughout the season. Marc Savard is cemented as the top centre with Marian Gaborik and Patrick Sharp, and Mike Fisher isn't likely to move from the third line with Milan Lucic and T.J. Oshie.
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>>>VICTOR HEDMAN (Defense), Winnipeg Ferrets:
>>>The Ferrets, a team that has always taken a "defense first" approach, were thrilled to be in a position to draft Victor Hedman, a defenseman projected to anchor Winnipeg's defensive corps for the next decade. By all accounts, he is a special player. The likes of which do not come around very often.
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>>>JAMES VAN RIEMSDYK (Left Wing), Dayton Musicmen:
>>>At 6'3", 200 lbs, vanRiemsdyk has the pro-size to go along with an impressive resume at every level of hockey prior to the CCHL. The Middletown, New Jersey-native honed his skill-set with USA Development Program in Ann Arbor, Michigan prior to a very successful two years at the University of New Hampshire, where he was over a point-per-game player. With Nikita Filatov being sent to the minors for Dayton, it looks like initially that vanRiemsdyk will being fighting with Ryan Malone for second line minutes, but looks to fall no further than the Musicmen's third line.