The return of "Western Beef"
Oct 20, 2004 17:46:44 GMT -5
Post by M. Beaux-Eaux on Oct 20, 2004 17:46:44 GMT -5
19-10-2004
Mathias Brunet
La Presse
Kyle Chipchura could well restore the reputation of "Western Beef" in the eyes of Canadiens fans. At least the beginning to his season is making management happy.
These "Western Beef", they were the Habs' first round choices, the majority very physically imposing young men, products of the WHL. Canadiens management at the time, consisting of Serge Savard and André Boudrias, liked them a lot.
From 1986 to 1992, the Habs picked five players from the West in the first round: Mark Pederson, Lindsay Vallis, Turner Stevenson, Brent Bilodeau and David Wilkie.
Of the group only Turner Stevenson has had a long career. He rendered good service to the Canadiens organization, but without ever scoring more than ten goals in a season. Vallis played only one game in the NHL, Bilodeau none.
These first round choices disappointed the partisans of the Canadiens so much that they've forgotten the subsequent draft picks. Boudrias, today with the New Jersey Devils, succeeded in unearthing during this period an impressive number of talented players, among them Benoît Brunet, Jyrki Lumme, Lyle Odelein, Andrew Cassels, John LeClair, Éric Desjardins, Mathieu Schneider, Peter Popovic, Sean Hill, Patrice Brisebois, Craig Conroy, Brian Savage, Oleg Petrov, Valeri Bure and Craig Rivet.
For eight years, the Habs had never turned to a player from the West in the first round. But things changed this year when they claimed Chipchura, a 6 foot 3 inch and 204 pound giant, with the 18th selection.
"The past is the past", says Trevor Timmins. "We have built a new scouting team over the past few years and we are not superstitious. We held Chipchura in very high regard. His name appeared in the top ten most talented players of this draft according to our evaluations."
Since the beginning of the summer, Chipchura, compared to a young Trevor Linden by Brian Burke, the ex-GM of the Canucks, impressed the team's management. At the rookie camp in September he showed uncommon maturity for an 18 year old player. Not only did he produce on the attack, but he was reliable on defense and aggressive in the corners against players mostly older than him.
"He was our best prospect at this camp (in which Andrei Kostitsyn also took part)", Timmins affirms. "He has the gift of always making the right play at the right time. And he played in spite of a knee injury, which I was unaware of during the tournament."
Chipchura continued his momentum on his return to the WHL with the Prince-Albert Raiders. He has already tallied 13 points, including five goals, in only 11 games, in a league which is definitely less offense-minded than those in Quebec or Ontario. "What's more, he plays on a club which insists on a very defensive style of play and his linemates are not hyper-talented", Timmins elaborates.
Chipchura was the top ranked North-American player for the first six months of the 2004 draft season. But his ordinary offensive production in the regular season (only 48 points, including 15 goals, in 64 games) scared many scouts.
"We were not at all anxious", says Timmins."We knew that a groin injury had slowed down his progress. Once healed from this injury, in the spring, he was one of the best players on the Canadian Under-18 WJC team. We had accumulated tons of information about him. In his last year in bantam, he was by far the best prospect for the WHL, and he ended up being the first choice overall. He is a character player with talent. Some think that he will have to improve his acceleration, and that's true, but his speed is already very adequate."
- www.cyberpresse.ca/sports/article/1,154,1881,102004,819359.shtml
*
Chip-chip-chura!!!
Mathias Brunet
La Presse
Kyle Chipchura could well restore the reputation of "Western Beef" in the eyes of Canadiens fans. At least the beginning to his season is making management happy.
These "Western Beef", they were the Habs' first round choices, the majority very physically imposing young men, products of the WHL. Canadiens management at the time, consisting of Serge Savard and André Boudrias, liked them a lot.
From 1986 to 1992, the Habs picked five players from the West in the first round: Mark Pederson, Lindsay Vallis, Turner Stevenson, Brent Bilodeau and David Wilkie.
Of the group only Turner Stevenson has had a long career. He rendered good service to the Canadiens organization, but without ever scoring more than ten goals in a season. Vallis played only one game in the NHL, Bilodeau none.
These first round choices disappointed the partisans of the Canadiens so much that they've forgotten the subsequent draft picks. Boudrias, today with the New Jersey Devils, succeeded in unearthing during this period an impressive number of talented players, among them Benoît Brunet, Jyrki Lumme, Lyle Odelein, Andrew Cassels, John LeClair, Éric Desjardins, Mathieu Schneider, Peter Popovic, Sean Hill, Patrice Brisebois, Craig Conroy, Brian Savage, Oleg Petrov, Valeri Bure and Craig Rivet.
For eight years, the Habs had never turned to a player from the West in the first round. But things changed this year when they claimed Chipchura, a 6 foot 3 inch and 204 pound giant, with the 18th selection.
"The past is the past", says Trevor Timmins. "We have built a new scouting team over the past few years and we are not superstitious. We held Chipchura in very high regard. His name appeared in the top ten most talented players of this draft according to our evaluations."
Since the beginning of the summer, Chipchura, compared to a young Trevor Linden by Brian Burke, the ex-GM of the Canucks, impressed the team's management. At the rookie camp in September he showed uncommon maturity for an 18 year old player. Not only did he produce on the attack, but he was reliable on defense and aggressive in the corners against players mostly older than him.
"He was our best prospect at this camp (in which Andrei Kostitsyn also took part)", Timmins affirms. "He has the gift of always making the right play at the right time. And he played in spite of a knee injury, which I was unaware of during the tournament."
Chipchura continued his momentum on his return to the WHL with the Prince-Albert Raiders. He has already tallied 13 points, including five goals, in only 11 games, in a league which is definitely less offense-minded than those in Quebec or Ontario. "What's more, he plays on a club which insists on a very defensive style of play and his linemates are not hyper-talented", Timmins elaborates.
Chipchura was the top ranked North-American player for the first six months of the 2004 draft season. But his ordinary offensive production in the regular season (only 48 points, including 15 goals, in 64 games) scared many scouts.
"We were not at all anxious", says Timmins."We knew that a groin injury had slowed down his progress. Once healed from this injury, in the spring, he was one of the best players on the Canadian Under-18 WJC team. We had accumulated tons of information about him. In his last year in bantam, he was by far the best prospect for the WHL, and he ended up being the first choice overall. He is a character player with talent. Some think that he will have to improve his acceleration, and that's true, but his speed is already very adequate."
- www.cyberpresse.ca/sports/article/1,154,1881,102004,819359.shtml
*
Chip-chip-chura!!!
