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| John Carlson |
Thunder Bay, Ont.- The players have all returned to the lakehead of Lake Superior and the Timberwolves are ready to embark on their fifth training camp in Thunder Bay after a successful 2010-11 season which saw them take the eventual CCHL Cup champions six games in their series.
>>>"We were pleased if not surprised with our season last year," said Timberwolves general manager Blake Wendt. "I'd be lying if I thought we were positioned to make a move to go that deep in the playoffs. But I thought we were good. So with success comes higher standards, and we're looking to take this thing further and go the distance."
>>>Evidence of the higher standards are clear on the Thunder Bay blueline. It is all too possible that the top two pairings will feature players that did not play for the Timberwolves last season.
>>>Hockey guru's around the league believe that newly acquired Marc Staal and rookie, John Carlson will be huge minute-munchers. Followed by Niklas Kronwall who was picked up from Hamilton and fellow bruiser, Dion Phaneuf or even Jordan Leopold who played sparingly in a reserve role for the Timberwolves. The third pairing looks like a dog fight between fellow Swedes, Carl Gunnarsson (last season's team rookie of the year) and Douglas Murray paired with one of Anton Volchenkov or Phaneuf or Leopold. The odd man out being longtime Timberwolf, Nick Schultz.
>>>"Our depth on the blueline is like nothing we've had before," said Wendt. "Alot of these guys that are so far slotted as three's or reserves could easily play as one's or two's on other teams. But the injury bug is a nasty reality in this game, and we unfortunately have to prepare for the worst of it."
>>>In goal there is no question who owns the net. Henrik Lundqvist will again play the vast majority of time. The question will be, can rookie James Reimer knock off Brian Elliott for the backup job? Reimer has been stellar throughout rookie and prospect camps this summer and was brought in last season to clearly push Elliott and cause a stiff competition in net.
>>>Up front, the change is up the middle. Marc Savard has still not been cleared for contact after suffering a concussion from a devastating hit from Craig Rivet of Copenhagen during the playoffs. Losing the primary setup man for two-time 50-goal scorer, Marian Gaborik is a huge loss. The opportunity now is to see if sophmores John Tavares or Matt Duchene can step up in that role. Or does newly named captain, Patrick Sharp move off the wing?
>>>The trade of Ales Hemsky in the Kronwall deal likely means Rick Nash moves from the left side to his preferred right wing. Does he leapfrog Gaborik on the top line?
>>>The emergence of Milan Lucic suggests that the burly BC-native will garnar top-six minutes on the left wing. Likely second line. That spot is all but his to lose.
>>>Bottom six lines are a crapshoot right now. The trade of Mike Fisher leaves the pivot to either newly acquired Shawn Horcoff or Derek MacKenzie with the darkhorse being Blair Betts or possible games from Savard. On the wings, there could be a fight between Antti Miettinen and Taylor Pyatt on the left side. The right side belonging to Mike Knuble, if either one of Miettinen or Pyatt can't knock him down.
>>>"Competition at mulitple spots makes for an outstanding camp," remarked head coach Craig Hartsburg. "Makes things fresh and nobody gets relaxed. As a coach, you want 100% effort all the time. That's not always possible. Especially at this time of year when guys are just trying to get their legs back. But competition kind of forces it."
>>>Training Camp officially opened on Saturday for player physicals. With sixty players, including all non-NCAA prospects in, this is the busiest day of the year for team trainers and physicians.
>>>Sunday will be dedicated to one-on-one player meetings, conditioning drills and dryland drills. Full contact, on-ice training camp begins on Monday through Saturday, October 1st.
