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**cinch** · September 27, 2003, 20:14

I think you mean Tuomo Ruutu, Pekka. Jarkko is in the Vancouver system, I think...

Rookies to watch:

This is Ales Hemsky's year, I tell you! He's been preparing himself for a while, and he's ready to make the big leap to stardom! I can feel it.

Also, for the Oilers: If Jani Rita can make the squad, he should be able to put up some decent numbers. Dude can skate, and he's got good hands. Alexei Semenov will certainly be a force to be reckoned with on the Oil's blue line. He's big, tough, and he's has one hell of a mean slapshot.

As for other teams:

Calgary's Jordan Leopold should be able to make some waves this year. There's no doubt the kid's talented, we'll just have to see if he can translate that into productivity.

Carlo Colaiacovo might just be able to make a difference in Toronto this year. But I hope not.

That's all I can think of at the moment.

**Pekka** · September 27, 2003, 20:21

cinch, omg that's one HORRIBLE mistake

Considering Tuomo Ruutu played for my favourite team here in Finland

.. yeah, I'm tired, that's it..

I'm not that sure of Rita though.. he's good, but .. somehow I just don't consider him a real star material.
Semenov is good though. I'll sure watch him closely.

I don't know Colaiacovo or Hemsky though.. but thanks for the heads up. I'm interested about the new Russian and Czech guys.. they're usually pretty good too, at least one Russian rookie is usual a new born star.

**Pekka** · September 27, 2003, 20:26

But look for Ruutu.. I think because he is a rookie and a young guy, it might take this first season for him to really grow into the level he can play, but can become one of the great ones if his head holds and he stays healthy. He's the kind of center, that he can dominate the ice. He can slow the game down, or make the pace faster. That's a sign of experienced player. That'll take at least few seasons there I guess, but he can do it. He is pretty fast, he's aggressive, he's just the kind of player I like.

**Sava** · September 27, 2003, 20:47

Re: Rookies to watch out in NHL

Originally posted by Pekka
Look carefully after Jarkko Ruutu, the new center for Chicago Blackhawks. He's very good, he's still very young and just had a bad knee injury at the end of the last season, but he's very talented and you can expect lots from him. I figure it'll take at least this first season for him to grow there to the NHL style of hockey, but he can be the next big thing.

What about others, are there any other rookies we should look closely?

FINALLY A FINN GIVES ME INPUT ON RUUTU. THANK YOU PEKKA!

**Pekka** · September 27, 2003, 20:51

I'm not sure if you are trashing me or not

Anyway I meant Tuomo, not Jarkko.

**Ben Kenobi** · September 27, 2003, 21:22

Brandon Reid for Vancouver.

He's very fast, and played a few games for Vancouver at the end of last year.

Just needs to get a bit stronger.

As for Jaarko, he's a good checker for Vancouver, but he'll never be a superstar.

**Sava** · September 27, 2003, 23:18

Originally posted by Pekka
I'm not sure if you are trashing me or not

Anyway I meant Tuomo, not Jarkko.

no dude, I was asking in the other thread for a heads-up on Ruutu from a Finn (seeing as he's from Finland and all) but nobody gave me anything. THANK YOU PEKKA!

I hear Ruutu was a very popular guy in Finland. He looks good on the Hawks so far. Unfortunately, not many others do.

The Hawks can't score... and just lost to St. Louis 3-1 in another preseason game. They've only won one preseason game.

DIE BILL WIRTZ YOU PIECE OF ****!

**cinch** · September 28, 2003, 00:15

This reminds me:

Pekka:

Do you know anything about Tony Salmelainen? He's been impressive in the Oilers' last two training camps, but he just hasn't been able to squeeze into the lineup yet. He looks to be a potential upper-tier speedster/scorer, though... Do you know of him?

**Pekka** · September 28, 2003, 06:55

cinch, Salmelainen, hmm.. I haven't ever heard of him. That's kind of weird, since I watch hockey very closely here. Or at least I can't now think of how he have played in here.

Sava, ah ok, I missed that thread

.

Ben Kenobi, I agree, he'll never be a true star.

**cinch** · September 30, 2003, 20:36

On a related (and terribly sad) note:

One of the NHL's up-and-coming not-quite-a-rookie-anymore-s, Dany Heatley, was involved in a near-fatal auto crash last night.

********************
And just like that, it all changes.

Until Dany Heatley drove his Ferrari into a wall Monday evening just before 11 p.m., his gravest concern was whether the Atlanta Thrashers, his National Hockey League team, would make the playoffs in the upcoming season.

Heatley was — is — arguably the NHL's brightest rising star, a player who, at age 22, is on the cover of EA Sports' NHL 2004 video game. He finished ninth overall in league scoring last season and put on a virtuoso show at the 2003 NHL All-Star Game, scoring four goals. The trade publication, The Hockey News, recently put Heatley on the cover, hailing him as The New Face Of The NHL. A year from now, when Heatley's first contract expires, the Thrashers were preparing to open up the vault to get him signed to a new deal.

Now?

He faces an uncertain future and any number of criminal charges, stemming from the accident, which occurred after he lost control of the car rounding a curve on a two-lane road in Atlanta's Buckhead neighborhood.

Worse, much worse, was the fact that his teammate Dan Snyder, a 25-year-old from Elmira, Ont., was in critical condition, following surgery for a skull fracture. Snyder was thrown from Heatley's car after it struck a wall going around 130 km/h, according to police estimates, or more than twice the posted speed limit.

Life suddenly intruded on sport, as it sometimes can; as it did to a Calgary Flames' defenceman named Robyn Regehr more than four years ago.

In the summer of 1999, Regehr was behind the wheel of his 1976 Chevy Nova, driving home after a day of waterskiing on Lake Blackstrap in north Saskatchewan. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a 1986 Ford Tempo crossed into his lane and rammed his car, head on, at high speed. The accident, which killed two young men in the Tempo, fractured Regehr's legs and for a time, looked as if it would put his NHL career in jeopardy.

Regehr eventually recovered from his injuries and worked his way into the Flames' line-up.

The question was put to him Tuesday: In the context of Heatley's accident, how long did it take Regehr to overcome the effects of his injuries, physical and psychological?

"I can't really say that, all of a sudden, I woke up one day and stopped thinking about the accident anymore," answered Regehr. "It'll be the same for both these guys, Dany and Dan. They're going to have to take some time and sort everything out. There's a lot of complicated emotions that happen through something like this. It's not just the fact of them being professional athletes either. Anyone can go through something like this — when something tragic happens in their life or they have to deal with some very unfortunate circumstances.

"What really helped me is the tremendous support I received — from fans all over Western Canada, to my family and friends, who visited me in the hospital and really helped me with what I was going through. I'm sure both Dany and Dan will be getting lots of support, especially emotionally, from family and friends. That's something that will help them both."

Off the ice, Heatley is a quiet and well-liked, emerging player. Born in Freiburg, Germany, where his father Murray played professionally, he grew up in Calgary and split the summer between the Stampede City and Madison, Wisc., where he attended the University of Wisconsin for two years.

As a college freshman, Heatley played on the same Wisconsin team as Calgary Flames' centre Steven Reinprecht, then a senior and now a close friend. Heatley and Reinprecht played mostly on the same line last spring on Canada's gold medal-winning men's world championship team. Heatley made the tournament all-star team and scored seven goals in nine games.

In short, Heatley was on top — or getting close to the top — of the hockey world.

Reinprecht described Heatley as, "a special kid. Anybody who's ever seen him play realizes the ability he has. We got along real well. We hung out off the ice. It's really unfortunate. I pray that him and Dan are going to be okay."

A handful of high-profile NHL players have been involved in fatal or near-fatal car collisions over the past 30 seasons. In Feb., 1974, Buffalo Sabres defenceman Tim Horton died after losing control of his sports car, while maintaining speeds of 160 km/h, on the QEW near St. Catharines.

Eleven years later, Philadelphia Flyers' goaltender Pelle Lindberg, then 26, slammed his car into a one-metre-high cement wall in front of a schoolhouse in Somerdale, Pa. after failing to negotiate a turn and died as a result of brain injuries sustained in the accident.

In May, 1999, Steve Chiasson of the Carolina Hurricanes was killed when he drove his pickup truck off the road following a season-ending party at a teammate's home. Chiasson's blood-alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit of 0.08 in North Carolina.

Additionally, the Boston Bruins' Craig MacTavish, then 25, pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide in the Jan. 25, 1984, death of Kim Radley, 26, of Newfield, Me.

Regehr, who has a bright future in the game after recovering from his injuries, suggested both Heatley and Snyder would be feeling "many different emotions" in the immediate aftermath of their accident.

"I can tell you," said Regehr, "the last thing they're probably thinking about now is the hockey."
*****************************

Man, if he was drunk... what stupidity...

I hope Snyder recovers fully.

**Ben Kenobi** · October 1, 2003, 00:12

One of the NHL's up-and-coming not-quite-a-rookie-anymore-s, Dany Heatley, was involved in a near-fatal auto crash last night.

At least it sounds like he will pull out of it. Very sad.

**Ben Kenobi** · October 1, 2003, 03:27

Announcement

Rookies to watch out in NHL

Rookies to watch out in NHL

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