Jets too busy to stage a prospects camp

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/07/2011 (5516 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The missives from various NHL prospect development camps have been coming hourly since early July.

An example, courtesy of a tweet from Tom Gulitti, the New Jersey Devils beat writer for The Record, reporting from Day 1 of the camp on Monday:

‘Palmieri can’t put puck between Kinkaid’s legs. Wedgewood makes right-pad save on Kelly Zajac. Red wins shootout 2-0.’

It’s not exactly worthy of a giant headline, but every team holds a summer camp like this to keep tabs on the players in the system. All of which has had a lot of Winnipeg Jets fans — obviously anxious to see anybody on skates — asking about the who, what, where and when of a local prospects camp.

Here’s the thing: The Jets won’t be holding one this summer.

It’s not that they didn’t want to, a team spokesman said, but with the move of the franchise from Atlanta and all the other items on the to-do list, staging a prospects camp on short notice would have made a logistical nightmare.

HOCKEY MATH: Those of you who love crunching numbers and studying statistics should be all over the Corsi Ratings, developed by former NHL netminder Jim Corsi. He devised a formula to determine a player’s impact while on the ice that goes above and beyond the plus-minus rating by monitoring the goals, shots, blocked shots, etc. during five-on-five situations.

Without getting into a complicated math discussion — hey, it’s summer — the last Corsi Ratings from the 2010-11 season featured just one Atlanta Thrasher/Winnipeg Jet: defenceman Dustin Byfuglien, who finished 15th with a +260 Corsi Rating.

The top five were: 1. Ryan Kesler, Van. (+337); 2. Ryane Clowe, S.J. (+322); 3. Jonathan Toews, Chi. (+322); 4. Duncan Keith, Chi. (+306) and 5. Christian Ehrhoff, Van. (now Buff.) (+279).

WORTH NOTING: The Calgary Hitmen have hired Dan Bonar, a product of Deloraine and a member of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame, as their head scout. The former Portage Terrier/Brandon Wheat King played in 170 NHL games, all with the L.A. Kings, and has spent the last eight years with the Hitmen as a Manitoba regional scout and travelling scout.

CAPS DEALING? Keeping that rumour mill churning. It seems the Washington Capitals may need to trip some payroll after adding Roman Hamrlik, Joel Ward, Jeff Halpern and Tomas Vokoun in free agency. The Caps are now said to be $1.8 million over the $64.3-million salary cap, prompting rumours — and mentioned in Caps owner Ted Leonsis’ own blog (tedstake.com) — of a possible deal.

The two most-often mentioned names? Left-winger Alexander Semin ($6.7 million) and defenceman Mike Green ($5.25 million).

QUOTABLE: Interesting take from Florida Panthers chief operating officer Michael Yormark on hockey in Sun Belt cities, courtesy of Jay Greenberg of ESPN.com.:

“We have spent money in the past and it didn’t buy us anything because we didn’t make the right decisions. We are going to make them now,” Yormark said. “Our hockey operation is as good as any in the league and is cleaning the slate to move forward.

“We’re losing money, no question about that, but that can be turned around very quickly. We have a very successful entertainment venue. Ancillary revenues are strong. A lot of pieces are in place that can make us successful.

“We just need more fans at higher ticket prices, which we cannot raise, having not made the playoffs in 11 years.”

Yormark credited the new ownership in Tampa Bay, described Carolina and Nashville as “solid” and said Phoenix and Dallas need stable ownership.

As for Atlanta’s move: “Atlanta got to the playoffs one year and couldn’t build momentum,” he said. “That’s what happened. It doesn’t mean hockey is dying in the Sun Belt.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @WFPEdTait