Quick note to all to say thanks for the calls and well wishes as I have had to deal with personal and family matters over the past couple of weeks…

Perron Sticks With St. Louis

I have to admit, this one surprised me. At the begining of the season when camp opened, there was little doubt to me that Jonathan Bernier was going to return, and David Perron was another that I figured would be back by October, November at the latest. That wasn’t to be, as the St. Louis Blues announced they were keeping the former MAINEiac forward for what could be the rest of the 2007-08 season.

The popular question that I have received of late is why Perron stuck and Bernier didn’t. I am not in the decision making process with how these teams operate and inject youth into the system, but from witnessing patterns of GM’s and organizations for a number of years, the answer is pretty simple: forwards graduate quicker than any other positional player. The reasons for that is numbers needed for the position (i.e. 12 forwards versus 6 defense and 2 goaltenders can dress on any given night), and front line guys with multiple tools (vision, passing, shooting, physical, speed, size) generally get longer looks much like Perron did. Goaltenders tend to mature at a slower pace, much by design. Most netminders move on from junior to a couple seasons in the minors, then progress in a back up role in the NHL before eventually taking the reigns. Being a goaltender is much more mentally demanding, which is the reason why in most cases they are brought along more slowly.

St. Louis is trying to rebuild itself under new ownership and direction, and needs to compete in the NHL’s Central Division, arguably the most exciting division in the league at this point. After a couple of bad seasons, the Blues are looking to the future. Perron was the perfect fit for them at the right time. Willingness to learn, effort to put behind it, the tools to work with, positive results on the scoresheet, and a bright smiling face would put any player like him in position to make the team, and that is exactly what he did.

Bernier’s is going to have his day, and as I have outlined in the column before, it’s not a bad thing that he’s back. Sure, Jo may disagree when he picks up his junior level paycheck, but most great goaltenders that played in the NHL really don’t burst onto the scene and have any success with regularity until the ages of 23-25, (that is the ones that don’t get rushed). GM Dean Lombardi isn’t going to be swayed to throw him in between the pipes in any sort of a hurry, and although Bernier would love to have a few extra Greenbacks in his wallet, the third contract he signs in his career will surely more than offset the deficit in his rear pocket now.

Can’t help be proud of David and his accomplishment, and although it would have been a huge shot in the arm for the MAINEiacs if he returned to Lewiston, it’s time to look ahead and play with the cards that have been dealt.

File This Under ‘Moronic’

In a story that is getting considerable play up north, a match between the Niagara Falls Thunder Novice AAA team and the Duffield Devils in a tournament in Guelph, Ontario ended in a bench clearing brawl between the two teams. According to the intital report in the Globe And Mail, the Thunder took exception to the cheap shots the Devils displayed in Duffields’ 8-1 blow out of Niagara, and at the end of the match, emptied the bench. One Niagara coach allegedly spit on a Duffield coach, the police had to be called in to break up the fracas, and likely charges are going to be filed against coaches on both clubs, as well as player suspensions.

In a follow-up column in the Globe and Mail, the assistant coach from the Thunder who spat at the Devils coach was more or less forced to resign as a result of his actions, which is as it should be. Any coach at any level engaging in that kind of activity shouldn’t be allowed to participate in the game, period.

Just the idea of 8 year-old kids engaged in this sort of conduct is enough for anyone to do a double take at what is going on with the game and the adults involved with it. Sure, it’s one incident, not enough to blow out of proportion and say that the game of hockey is going to hell. The question I have is, what are the coaches thinking here? Regardless of how it all started during the course of the game, it’s how it ended up. It takes two to dance and both coaching parties decided it was time to do the “salsa”. It’s idiots like these guys that give the game a big black-eye at the amateur level, and will no doubt have parents rethinking if they want to subject their children to that kind of atmosphere.

Hockey is an emotionally charged game. The higher the level, the more emotion gets funneled into it. Eight year-olds getting the sticks up, roughing up other players and ultimately brawling isn’t what this game needs.

offthepost@lewistonhockey.com