This n' That - Jan 2011

~
I'm overdue for one of these "random thoughts, observations and tidbits" pieces so I'll make good on that now. The following is just a collection of things that I've noticed over the last while from various levels of hockey as well as some opinions on topics of the day.

This n' That

~
I've been sick for the last handful of days and so I've been stuck at home (skipped a pretty entertaining Edmonton vs Saskatoon game yesterday) spending most of my time reading or watching things online. When that happens I find all sorts of things that get my mind going.

Here's a few thoughts that I've had bouncing around inside my cranium the last few days.

Schremp on TPS Tonight

Rob Schremp's tenure with the Oilers is officially over. And both parties agree that it's the best solution. I just spoke with Schremp who is excited for his new opportunity, not only to play, but to skate with some young talent on the Island. NY has to keep him on their roster after picking him up, if they tried to send him to the minors, the Oilers would have first crack at him. Schremp will be a guest on The Pipeline Show tonight, we're just not sure of the time, but the show airs from 7-9 PM MST. If you're in the Edmonton area it's the TEAM 1260. If not you can listen online at www.thepipelineshow.com. Feel free to send an email to pipeup@theteam1260.com and we might read it.

Schremp Watch Begins

The Oilers provide plane tickets for 5 players on Sunday, and placed Theo Peckham on injured reserve, just after beating the Canucks 5-4 at Rexall Place to wrap up the pre season.

Edmonton returned Jordan Eberle to Regina, while Devan Dubnyk, Taylor Chorney, Kip Brennan and Rob Schremp were assigned to Springfield. Schremp is the only player who must clear waivers to reach the farm.

Will a team like the Islanders take a chance on his offensive skills? Or how about Minnesota, head coach Todd Richards coached Schremp when the forward put up 53 points in 69 games with Wilkes-Barre. Based on his pre season you would likely say 'no', as other than against Tampa in Winnipeg Schremp didn't really stand out, but a guy like Richards knows his potential, and Minnesota is trying to play a more offensive style this year. Or is it more believable that he'll get through the waiver process - other teams will be doing the same thing with their own players - and start the year with the Falcons. Will he be the first call up? With Rob Daum he may get off to a fast start, but there are players ahead of him, still with the team that will make their way to Springfield (if they get through waivers) when the Oilers are healthy. Or will be play out his days as an Oiler in Springfield
and then look to sign elsewhere next season.

As for Eberle this is the right move for the Oilers and that's why most media members predicted it. He can dominate in Regina (until they trade him to a contender at the deadline) and help Canada try to win it's 6th straight gold medal at the World Junior Championhip being played in Regina and Saskatoon this year. I wouldn't have been against him getting even a game during the regular season, and if the numbers weren't stacked against him he probably would have. But that might mean losing a player, remember the Oilers picked up Steve Macintyre through the process last year.

The Oilers still have 17 forwards battling for 14 spots with notables such as Gilbert Brule, Ryan Stone, JF Jacques and Liam Reddox hoping to stick with the Oilers out of training camp for the first time in their careers.

Schremp Signs New Deal

~
The Pipeline Show has learned that the Edmonton Oilers have come to terms with prospect forward Rob Schremp on a new 1-year, two-way contract.

Schremp, a 1st round pick (25th overall) in 2004, is entering his fourth professional season. To date he has appeared in 7 NHL games and has collected 3 assists. In 2008-09 Schremp scored 7 goals and 42 points in 69 games with the AHL Springfield Falcons which followed a 23 goal, 76 point campaign the year before. The New York native appeared in the 2008 AHL All-Star game.

The former OHL standout will arrive in Edmonton in a week's time and report to main camp with the Oilers. This year Schremp will have to clear waivers before he can be re-assigned to the Falcons should he fail to stick with the big club out of training camp.

Wednesday Re-Set

~
The Pipeline Show is taking a 2-day golf trip to Jasper starting at 5:00 AM on Wednesday, about 4 hours from now so... this will be brief.

Last night on the program we started things off by discussing several hot topics including young David Musil and the situation that was created when he and his family moved back to Canada. We also talked to A.J. Jacubec about that same subject at the end of the show. You can hear our opening segment and that interview with A.J.

Next up was an interview with an old buddy of Millards who just so happens to be a scout with the Nashville Predators - Rick Knickle. Knickle talked about the Preds and their strategies when it comes to scouting and drafting, what he values in a player, some examples of players he's zeroed in on and also touched on players currently in the system. You can hear that Nashville update here.

The WHL's Prince George Cougars have a new coach in Dean Clark, new uniforms and a new outlook on life as they prepare for the 2009-10 season. Wade Klippenstein is the Assistant GM for the Cougars and he walked us through the changes and explained how the team and the community have a renewed sense of hope. Here is the link to the Cougars update.

The final guest on the program is an always popular one with Oiler fans; Rob Schremp. With coaching changes at all levels of the Edmonton system it really is a clean slate for a lot of players, the least of which being Schremp. The former 1st round pick answered a lot of questions from fans who wanted to know everything from off season training, why he doesn't shoot more to possibly playing in Europe. You can be sure he's not sitting around relaxing this summer like in the photo from a London Knights softball game (see above). Hear the Schremp interview here.

Of course we played Bad Ass Trivia as well, this week's questions seemed to have a theme but the callers couldn't quite figure it out.

Farm Report

With 11 games to go in Springfield and 7 to go (both entering play Saturday night) for Stockton, it seems as good a time as any to find out how the future is shaping up for the Oilers with their minor league teams.

In Springfield the overall stats don't paint a very good picture. Not one player is even close to being a point per game player. Only 3 who have played a decent amount of games are on the good side of the plus/minus rating - Ryan Stone +3, Stephane Goulet +2, and Jake Taylor +1 - Stone was a late season addition, Goulet has only played 18 games, and Taylor was injured for all but 28 contests this year.

But for the sake of the future, let's take the last 18 games (heading into Saturday )into account, as that's when current head coach Rob Daum has been behind the bench. Since Daum took over, the birds are 5-9-4. They have picked up 6 points in their last 4 games, but that was after a 6 game losing skid where they were outscored 26-12 during the stretch.

As far as individuals go, the Falcons top 3 scorers this year, haven't exactly caught fire under Daum. Ryan Potulny leads the team in goals and points with 29 and 47 respectively and has just 11 points in 18 games since the coaching change. Ryan Stone is a little better with 14 points in 19 games. While Rob Schremp, who started with a 3 point game and 8 in the first 10 for his new coach, has just 11 in his last 18, and zero points in Springfield's last 4 games.

So who is benefiting from Daum behind the bench? Charles Linglett who Springfield traded Carl Corrazini for in February has 13 points in his last 14 games. The 6.02, 215 pound Montreal product has certainly agreed with his change of scenery and new coach. Linglett had just 9 points in 37 games with Peoria before the deal. D-man Taylor Chorney has 9 points in the 18 games with Daum calling the shots, and 6 points in the 8 games during the month of March, but he's also -4 in 18 games, adding to his team leading -25. Chorney's D partner since Daum replaced Jeff Truitt has been Cody Wild, and while his 6 points in 18 games are earth shattering, when you consider he had just 9 in 31 games before the change, you can see Wild is agreeing with Daum's coaching philosophy of getting his blueliners more active.

Maybe the biggest bright spot for Springfield this year - you might say the only one - is the play of Devan Dubnyk. The first round pick from 2004 has 17 of Springfield's 21 wins and has faced more than 1700 shots while earning a save percentage over 90.

As for Stockton, the Thunder are battling for a playoff spot in the Pacific division. Their top gun this year has been Ryan Huddy who has 29 goals and 66 points. Saturday night was Garet Hunt bobblehead night. The 6.0, 200 pound slugger has racked up 230 penalty minutes in 56 games, a number that leads the ECHL in his rookie season. Like the Falcons, Stockton has struggled to score goals, they're 19th out of 21 teams with just 190 goals, but they have received good goaltending from Andrew Perugini. The goaltender who earned a minor league contract after a great rookie and main camp with the Oilers, has 19 wins, a goals against average of 2.76 and a save percentage of .911 in 33 games. Numbers that might earn him a promotion to the AHL for next season.



So to review, both minor league teams can't seem to score but are bailed out more often than not by goaltenders. Is it a statement of how poor the Oilers prospects are? Or that the system is still a little green? I'd say a little of both, but it should be cause for concern for the Oilers brass.

Top 5 Tuesdays: Prospects Who Need to Move

The NHL trade deadline can be a stressful time for most players as they worry about having to uproot their families and head to a different city. For some though... a trade might be just what the doctor ordered to get a new lease on their hockey life.

Here's 5 guys we think would benefit from a trade because the future doesn't look bright where they are:

5. Benoit Pouliot - 4th overall, 2004

Taken 4th overall by Minnesota back in the Crosby Lottery draft of 2005, Pouliot was considered to be a bit rough around the edges but just scratching the surface of incredible potential. So far he's been a disappointment with the Wild and only pretty good on the farm. In the three seasons since leaving Sudbury for the pro game, Pouliot has appeared in 51 NHL games and has 14 points to his credit. At 6'3 and nearly 200 lbs he's got good size and the skills are obviosuly there but perhaps he'd benefit from moving to a team that is more willing to live with mistakes defensively as long as the offensive creativity is present. No one has ever confused Minnesota with being anything but a defence-first organization.

4. Cory Schneider - 26th overall, 2004

His brief 8-game NHL stint this year was a disaster but with only 5 losses in 28 AHL games, the former Boston College keeper is proving that he's a goalie to watch for. Schneider's biggest problem is that he's got one of the best goalies in the NHL ahead of him in Vancouver. It's a great problem to have if you're the Canucks but it's got to suck for the almost 23-year-old who knows he'll never get to play as long as Roberto Luongo is around. It might not be the best thing for the Canucks to trade him but for Schneider and his NHL career... clearly it would.

3. Alex Picard - 8th overall, 2004

2004 was one of the first drafts where I was able to really view a lot of the players in person during the season leading up to that June and Picard was a guy I liked from the first time I saw him. It was at Canada's summer WJC camp in Calgary and the first thing that stood out was his hunched over skating stride that was an exact replica of Ryan Smyth. Picard looked pretty much like a can't miss kid and I wasn't surprised at all when the Blue Jackets took him inside the top 10. Since then it's been crazy for the former Lewiston Maineiac. Really average numbers on the farm in Syracuse and only 2 points in 58 NHL games, it's not hard to imagine Columbus being willing to toss him into any sort of package at the deadline.

2. Kenndal McArdle - 20th overall, 2005

Like I said on Monday, this is a guy that it's very hard not to cheer for. I actually think he'd be an interesting fit here in Edmonton where there are obviously holes on the left wing. McArdle has speed, size, toughness and at the junior level he could carry his own weight offensively. He's also best friends with Gilbert Brule so there is some instant chemistry there too. As a pro he's really struggled with injuries; a broken jaw and ankle last year kept him to just 36 games. He appears to have been passed by others in Rochester so the Panthers might find him to be expendable now.

1. Rob Schremp - 25th overall, 2004

No doubt about it, the most hotly debated prospect in Edmonton over the last five years is losing ground to others in the system. The Oilers have a number of players his size that aren't hampered by the lack of the one trait the organization covets -speed. He's produced well in the AHL, enough that another NHL team might be willing to give him a chance that the Oilers don't seem to be either willing or able to do. Moving him to another organization might be healthy for Oilers coach Craig MacTavish too who earlier this season revealed that he was obviously fed up with the questions and the attention that Schremp generates.

Falcons Fall In Fiesty Affair

Scoring goals really hasn't worked for the Falcons lately, so it seemed team decided to try and pound their opponent into submission Sunday night. Against Binghamton, 4 separate scraps broke out in a 6:20 span of the first period, but it wasn't enough as for the second straight night the Oiler farmhands let a 3rd period lead slip away and lost 2-1.

Three minutes into this one, Hans Benson laid a big hit and danced with AHL heavyweight Jeremy Yablonski. According to hockeyfights.com the Meadowlake Saskatchewan product has 86 pro fights, and dropped the mitts for the 18th time this season with Benson. I'd have to give a slight decision to Yablonski after seeing the video evidence, but you can judge for yourself.



As you see in the clip, 2 minutes later Guillaume Lefebvre went with Matt Carkner and I thought it was a draw. 3 and a half minutes after that, Colin McDonald and Neil Petruic had possibly the shortest fight I've ever seen, but still earned 5 minutes each. And finally, newly acquired Ryan Stone and Zach Smith threw the skin hammers less than a minute later, and Stone won this one fairly handily. We'll ask him about the scrap Tuesday night when he joins us on TPS.

As for the rest of the game, it was scoreless until 2 minutes into the 3rd when Ryan Potulny beat Martin Gerber on a power play goal set up by Rob Schremp and Cody Wild. It was Potulny's 3rd in 3 games since being assigned by the Oilers, and gives him 22 on the year.

However Ottawa's farmhands stormed back with 2 goals in less than 2 minutes to steal the win and stop Springfield from snapping it's 6 game losing skid. You can hear some post game audio here.

The birds hit the road this week with 4 games in 5 nights, starting in Manchester Wednesday and ending in Toronto Sunday.

Better Effort Same Result For Falcons, Oil Kings Lose Royal Rumble With Wheat Kings

For the first time in 7 games, Springfield outshot it's opponent, and while they kept it close against Hartford Saturday night, they leave the rink with the same bad taste in their collective mouths as their previous 5 games.

Springfield fired 9 shots at Wolfpack netminder Matt Zaba in the first, but couldn't beat him. On the flip side Hartford had just 4 shots, with Vladamir Denisov beating Devan Dubnyk with a shorthanded 60 footer to put the home side down 1-0. Springfield came out firing in the 2nd, pounding the Wolfpack on the shot clock 16-2, but managed to score only once. Colin McDonald picked up his 4th in what has been a disappointing campaign for a guy who was hoping to regain the scoring touch he lost while attending Providence. McDonald's tally came just over a minute into the period to tie things at 1. About 4 minutes later though, Hartford struck back with a power play goal from Artem Anisimov, one of just 2 shots the visitors had in the 2nd. However Springfield used a 2 man advantage to pull even, Ryan Potulny snapped in a rebound for his 21st on the season and second since being returned by the Oilers, and the top goal scorer on the Falcons sent his team to the intermission even steven.

Despite another shot advantage in the 3rd, Springfield couldn't get the go ahead goal, and watched Hartford use more special teams to put this one away. Former Calgary Hitmen sniper Brodie Dupont scored his club's second short handed goal of the game and it proved to be the game winner.

For the second straight night, Rob Schremp, Ryan Potulny and J.F. Jacques formed a trio. Schremp and Potulny combined for a goal and assist, as well as 11 shots on net, while Jacques chipped in with 4 shots of his own, however the line was a combined -3. The best line for the home side was Guillaume Lefebvre, Tyler Spurgeon and Colin McDonald, who were plus 3 with 3 points. Devan Dubnyk had an obvious off night, despite stopping a 3rd period penalty shot he was beat 3 times on 16 shots, including getting beat once on just 2 shots in the middle stanza.

As for the Oil Kings, they took one on the chin in that great junior hockey city of Brandon, Manitoba. Brandon smoked Edmonton 6-1, with Columbus Blue Jacket draft pick Matt Calvert picking up 5 points. Edmonton took way to many penalties as Brandon went 3-10 with the man advantage. The Oil Kings were without 6 regulars including Torrie Jung who was still woozy after taking a Jesse Dudas slap shot to the mind Friday night. The Kings called up goaltender Laurent Broissent and forward Devin Ballness to fill out the roster. With Edmonton's loss and Prince Albert beating Regina, it means the Raiders and Oil Kings are tied for 8th in the east.
(Photos springfieldfalcons.com and oilkings.ca)

Wednesday Reset

Well it was an interesting 2 plus hours on The TEAM 1260 last night. We took over from Corey Graham after the post game show and covered quite a bit of ground in the world of prospects on The Pipeline Show.

We kicked things off with Sam Cosentino from Rogers Sportsnet, breaking down the skills competition at the Top Prospects game and looking ahead to the game on Wednesday.

From there we spoke with Andy Baggot of the Wisconsin State Journal about the season so far for the NCAA Badgers and other contenders in the WCHA including a suddenly surging North Dakota, a slumping Minnesota and the perennial powerhouse Pioneers from Denver.

After playing Bad Ass trivia and giving away a Dean Youngblood T-shirt courtesy of Mad Brothers, we spoke with Oilers prospect Rob Schremp who was ripped by Craig MacTavish Sunday morning. Both Guy and I don't have a particular problem with what MacTavish said about Schremp, but mostly with who he said it to. What did Schremp think? Hear for yourself, and also check out Guy's theory about MacTavish at the end of the interview.

Also in the 2nd hour we spoke with Nathan White from the St. John Telegraph Journal about the mega trades in the QMJHL and who is challenging Rimouski to be at the Memorial Cup, and lastly we welcomed Louis Leblanc from the Omaha Lancers to the show as our 2009 draft prospect performer of the week. The Montreal product is heading to Harvard next year and is currently ranked 23rd by ISS.

If you missed it live you can 'click the archive' where you can hear all the interviews from last night's show as well as a complete library from every show we've done since we went on the air back in 2006!



Just a note that TPS won't be airing next Tuesday, the Oil Kings play and so do the Oilers so following the Kings game, Corey Graham will take over with the post game show. I'm going to take advantage of it and head out to Golden for a few days of skiing at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort. I hear it's a great hill that gets tons of fresh snow regularly (100 cm last week) I can't wait to hit the powder. It's also the home of former TSN Edmonton reporter Ken Chilliback. He runs a bed and breakfast there, and I can tell you from experience it is a terrific place to stay. Thankfully we have satellite TV there so after I'm done with the powder on the hill, I can kick back and watch hockey.

Wednesday Re-Set

Last night on The Pipeline Show marked the beginning of World Junior Championship Month on the program. We'll really start gearing up our preview coverage next week after several teams have been formally announced but we got things started on Tuesday.

Regan Bartel, voice of the Kelowna Rockets, filled us in on three players we should expect to see in Ottawa; Jamie Benn (pictured) and Tyler Myers for Canada and possibly Colin Long for the American entry. We also discussed the noticeable difference for these three already drafted players than what Luke Schenn went through last year prior to the same event when he was already under the spotlight. Plus more on other Rockets players like the Bloodoff brothers and Kyle St. Denis (pronounced St. Dennis and not with the french accent as I had assumed). You can hear all of that interview with Regan here.

The Edmonton Oil Kings were red hot heading into Medicine Hat riding a 4-game winning streak but were stopped dead in their tracks by the Tigers. We spoke with play-by-play voice A.J. Jacubec about the fact Edmonton has yet to beat the Tigers in 13 meetings since being resurrected last season. Also, will Tomas Vincour play in the WJC for the Czech Republic? A.J. gave us the answer.


In our weekly NCAA segment we went way up North to Alaska to speak with Anchorage Seawolves Head Coach Dave Shyiak. It's an interesting dynamic that he and the Seawolves have compared to the rest of the NCAA based simply on geography. We also spoke about the challenegs his program faces when it comes to recruiting and how exactly it ended up that Alaska has 3 Europeans on the roster! Hear that interview here.

We also played a special discussion that Dean and I had with Hall of Fame netminder Grant Fuhr in which he talks about his experiences playing in the WHL for the Victoria Cougars. The WHL travel, finally making it to the NHL, winning that first Cup and memories of his first win and shutout... you'd be surprised what he does and doesn't have vivid recollection of. A treat to speak with a true Oiler great.

Speaking of goalies, Andrew Perugini gave us the low down on his rookie season thus far in the ECHL. The Stockton Thunder are only so-so but Perugini has been a bright spot this year. How hard has the transition from OHL to ECHL been? Are the Oilers communicating with him and the rest of their prospects in California? How are he and Bryan Pitton getting along sharing the workload? You can hear his thoughts in the archive from last night.


Finally, Dean Millard was able to join in for the final segment and we were able to discuss Rob Schremp's recall to the Oilers, the upcoming Team Canada WJC camp roster, Torrie Jung and Tomas Vincour with the Oil Kings as well as the ridiculous ranking of nearly unbeated Air Force in the NCAA polls. Rounding out the segment was a recap of the 2009 Draft Prospect Performers of the Week as well as Flaming Hot / Flaming Not.

A big show indeed!

Farm Almanac - Nov 28

Yesterday, my compadre Dean Millard had an interesting post about how the Edmonton Oilers are calling up the wrong players to cure what ails them in the NHL. I do NOT disagree with him, let's get that clear right up front. However, today I'm going to play Devils Advocate and take the other side of the issue just for poops and chuckles.

You might call Dean the Chewie to my Han Solo, he'd obviously prefer that I use the 'ABBA blonde and redhead' analogy, but suffice to say that when it comes to prospect related stuff, most of the time we agree.

But if I'm going to try and shoot down his 'time to call up Schremp, Brule, Potulny' theory I'll do so by saying this: They might be hot in Springfield but even by AHL standards the top Oiler prospects are extremely... average.

Let me explain.

I've been looking into some stuff, what Dean likes to call 'research', and have discovered that if you took the top scorer from each of the 29 AHL clubs, Springfield's Rob Schremp would rank 14th for points per game (1.12) and 18th for overall points (18). I don't really like going simply by points because not all teams have played the same amount of games... so can we agree to just go with Pt/G.?

Notable names atop their team list who are scoring at a higher rate than Schremp thus far in the AHL season include Bobby Ryan (ANH) (1.36, 19 points in 14 games) and... well, not anyone else that jumps off the sheet at you. Matt D'Agostino (MTL) is cruising along at a 1.25 Pt/G pace, Cal O'Reily (MIN) is at 1.35 Pt/G, Chris Minard (PGH) 1.42 and league leader Keith Aucoin (WSH) is at 1.48 Pt.G.

Portland is an intersting team to look at. Scoring leader Mark Mancari was recently recalled by the Buffalo Sabres thanks to his 25 points in 14 games (1.79 Pt/G) yet behind him are two rookies who really do look like something a NHL team can be excited about: Nate Gerbe and Tim Kennedy who have 22 and 21 points respectively or 1.29 and 1.24 Pt/G scoring rates. But they are leading the division so perhaps that's not exactly a fair comparison for the Falcons.

In second place in the Atlantic Division is Providence who Springfield trails by a single point and recently thrashed 5-1. The Bruins have 3 players with more points than Schremp including Johnny Boychuk, a long forgotten bust pick originally belonging to Colorado. But Providence has played one game more than Springfield and three more than Schremp.

Remember Danny Syvret? He's still outscoring everybody in Springfield these days too.

My point is, no one outside of an Oiler fan is likely to look at the AHL stats and come away thinking 'wow, the Falcons have a few guys who really should be in the NHL right now'.

To their credit, the Falcons' best players are hot right now and none more so than Schremp who has 8 points in the last 4 games. Ryan Potulny has 7 in that same span while Gilbert Brule has 5 and Slava Trukhno has 3.

It's a good thing they have stepped up their production recently; I did this little exercise a few days ago and there were only 2 or 3 teams in the league with a top scorer who had less points than Schremp, meaning instead of 18th he would have been 26th or so.

Bryan Lerg (pictured) has been watching former MSU teammates like Kennedy in Portland and Justin Abdelkader in Grand Rapids get lots of opportunity and have produced as a result. Lerg must have been wondering if he signed with the right organization considering he was right alongside those two players last year at Michigan State scoring at a near identical pace. Lerg has been back and forth to Stockton a couple of times but has managed 5 points in 7 games with the Falcons (5th best Pt/G on the team).

To make a long story short, or at least a little shorter, I do agree with Dean that the time has come for the Oilers to look to the farm for some offensive help. Tim Sestito has been sent back to Springfield, Liam Reddox can follow suit. Schremp and Potulny have been a formidable pairing so far and neither (according to EDM cap expert Rick Olczyk) have to clear waivers to come up so there is nothing standing in the way.

Something has to change. Craig MacTavish has tried just about every line combination mathematically possible but has still not found the spark his team needs. Schremp is hungry, Potulny isn't going to hurt.

It's time to try something new but the Devils Advocate in me can understand why it hasn't been a slam dunk decision before now.

Prospect Notes: 2008 1st round pick Jordan Eberle had 2 goals and 2 assists in the ADT Canada-Russia Challenge earning Player of the Game honors in Swift Current... Tim Sestito was the third Stockton Thunder alum to play in the NHL when he suited up against Los Angeles on Wednesday. The first was defenceman Bryan Young two years ago while Liam Reddox joined the group last season... Andrew Perugini is impressing with his play in California for the Thunder. He currently has a .925 save percentage and 2.64 goals against average which rank 15th and 10th best in the ECHL... Swede Linus Omark is just shy of a point per game having 24 points in 26 SEL games with Luleå. The 21-year-old leads his team in scoring and is tied for 9th in the entire SEL... When Sweden released their 2009 WJC roster earlier this week one noticeable omission was 2007 and 2008 veteran Johan Motin. Motin was chosen by Edmonton in 2008 in part because of his impressive record at international events... Schremp's 17 assists in 4th best in the AHL while Potulny's 10 goals ranks 11th...

The Farm Almanac

As I mentioned in the Springfield update on Friday afternoon, I spoke with Falcons Head Coach Jeff Truitt at length earlier that day and got a synopsis of how things have been going thus far in the early season.

First off, an update on the status of Gilbert Brule who was hurt a week ago in a game against the Providence Bruins. The Vancouver native, (born in Edmonton, raised in B.C.), was involved in what coach Truitt described as not being a dirty hit.

"We reviewed the tapes, there was a hit but it wasn't a dirty play at all," the coach said, "It just caught him in a bad spot just below the knee cap so it's bruised but no structural damage."

"He's got a bruised knee and he skated yesterday and today just lightly and we'll see how it reacts," said Truitt, "He's going to skate again tomorrow and then with the rest of the week here we think we'll get him back again next weekend."

The Falcons played on Friday night, the first of a back-to-back weekend set but are then off until Halloween so Brule (pictured in CLB last year) will have plenty of time to rest, especially considering the fact that the team has several healthy scratches able to take his spot.

I asked Truitt if he was able to tell what the strength of his team was this year even though the schedule had only a handful of games ticked off of it.

"It's our speed and our skill," he stated, "I'll put our character on top of that too because in our first two games we had to come up with big second halves or big third periods to get the wins. We got the win in Hartford and then had to come from behind to get an overtime point in Providence. Our guys never gave up and that was a great sign of our character and we've been building off of that."

In speaking with Rob Schremp earlier in the week, he made a point of how key the recent victory over Manchester was and Truitt also points to the Hartford win as being important for the same reason; both divisional opponents posed major problems for the Falcons last year.

"To go in there and get the two points on opening night in Hartford really sets the tone for the year," agreed Truitt.

The road win in Manchester this year was something the Falcons failed to accomplish at all in 2007-08.

Line combinations have been juggled as is the case normally in an AHL season, especially early on as the coach seeks to find chemistry and rotate as many players through as possible. Rookies will often play every third or fourth game unless they have immediate success simply for the fact that others have paid their dues by going through the same thing in previous years.

Kyle Brodziak barely played in the first half of his rookie AHL season, Liam Reddox spent all of his in the ECHL and even Rob Schremp was a healthy scratch at times in Wilkes-Barre.

"We're getting closer [to set lines] but we still have juggled lines to try and find the right fits," Truitt said. "We really like our Guillaume Lefebvre, Tim Sestito and Carl Corazzini line as our all-purpose line; Tim's got a couple of goals for us already this year so not only can they provide a good defensive game but offensively they can get something done too. They've all good good speed and grit on that line which is good, and that's been a constant here for the last few games."

Last season Slava Trukhno got out of the gate very slowly and it wasn't until late February that he started to pack on the points. Once he got on a roll he was hard to stop and put together a 3-week stretch that raised serious expectations for this new year. So far, Trukhno has delivered.

"He's very strong on his skates, he's more confident in his abilities and of course his skill has always been there but how he uses that skill in tight around the net and his willingness to take a defenceman wide and things like that have really come to the forefront," Truitt explained, "You can see that he's really taken a step forward; he's wanting to get inside of a defenceman to the front of the net and he's been rewarded this year by a lot of good plays in tight to the net."

There is no question that Trukhno (left) will be a fixture in the top 6 for Springfield from now on unless something unexpected and dramatic occurs to his performance level.

Colin McDonald has been bumped back to the fourth line for the last couple of games but Truitt insists that fans of the former Providence Friar shouldn't read too much into that.

"It's nothing against Colin that he's playing there it's just that the other night [in Manchester] we decided to put Stephane Goulet up there on a scoring line and he responded really well," the coach explained, "Colin is a really big part of everything and he'll get his opportunities as well. He's been there before in the early part of the season, the only time he hasn't been is in Manchester, and that line flourished the other night and in practice that line has been pretty good so we just wanted to keep that going."

The line combination in question saw Ryan Potulny in between Schremp on the left side and Goulet on the right wing.

The continual line mixing can be tough on players but I asked the coach if it's also tough on he and his staff knowing that it's often a delicate balance trying to keep everyone happy and morale up.

"What it does is add a healthy competition, not only in games but in practices and that makes everybody better," he countered, "There are a lot of bodies here and that's fine because it creates a good atmosphere for guys to perform in practice. We flip flop things in practice as we start firming up line for when games get closer and that competition is good for everybody."

Cody Wild, who was scratched to make room for Josef Hrabal's AHL debut on Friday, has been good but is not immune to rookie mistakes.

"You can just tell that he's got an offensive flair, he likes to jump into the rush and he's certainly been a contributor with the team," said Truitt, "It's a learning process no doubt and coming out of college to the American League is obviously an adjustment for him. We've had him in to watch tape and he's learning, it's part of the education and the process a first year player has to go through but he's been a good student so far."

I asked Truitt if he'd offer up a couple names of players he'd consider to be pleasant surprises thus far but those he chose he admitted aren't really shocking choices.

"I wouldn't say that I'm surprised but Taylor Chorney has been really good," he began, "His confidence with the puck and his all around game, he's obviously a highly touted guy and deservedly so. He works extremely hard, sees the ice, moves pucks really quick but having him in rookie camp for a bit he's not really a surprise because he's a great player. We've had him with Theo [Peckham] or Jake Taylor and he's been really good every night."

"Devan Dubnyk has come up big for us in a couple of games and has taken the work load and run with it here," Truitt mentioned.

"It's nice to have a guy like Brule here... Schremp, who has bought in right away and has done a great job... Corzazzini and Lefebvre who have added a really workman like attitude and professionalism, Spurgeon has been great and Reddox pretty good too..."

Last year was a growing year for Ryan O'Marra who didn't initially adjust well to the minor leagues but according to his new head coach, he's been a much different player in the early going this season.

"With Ryan, the games that he's played, he came up with a big shot block for us against Providence one night and is doing an outstanding job for us," Truitt praised, "We're seeing little things along the way that are adding to him. He's another great student of the game, always asking questions to get better. I've been really impressed with Ryan and how he's appraoched things to this point and I don't expect anything different. He's going to be a big part of this club and we're going to give him that ice time to develop and get better. He's stronger this year, you can see that in the make up of his body, I just think it will take a little bit of repetition for him before he takes off this year but he'll get that opportunity here for sure."

Some fans have been wondering where Mathieu Roy has disappered to. His name doesn't appear on the game notes the Falcons release as either an injury or a healthy scratch but it appears that has just been an over sight. According to Truitt, Roy is with the team but simply can't play right now.

"Matty hasn't played yet because of his wrist [injured in the NHL pre-season fight against Calgary]," Truitt updated, "He's here but he's still sore and with so many defencemen here there is no use rushing it so... I think it'll be another week."

Finally I had to address the outright snubbing of my recent on air suggestion to Truitt that Tyler Spurgeon should be named as his captain. In fact it was Tim Sestito who got the nod with Ryan Potulny and Jake Taylor getting the A's... I demanded an explanation.

"Well..." he chuckled, "[Spurgeon] is a young player. There is no doubt that Tim Sestito, just by his nature, has grabbed this team with its identity and has done a great job. Jake Taylor is an older defenceman for us although he's not a veteran of the league he can still help our younger guys on the back end. Ryan Potulny has won championships and that's what we want out of our leaders."

"There were lots of guys... like Reddox, McDonald or Spurgeon who could all be a part of that as well, " Truitt added, "[Spurgeon] is a natural leader anyway, I know he's well respected in the room, and we're not expecting just three guys to lead. Spurgeon is infectious because of his work ethic and enthusiasm for the game. It wasn't a matter of his character flaws because there are none."

The choice was made by Truitt and his coaching staff and as I quoted him saying earlier, leadership and character are not qualities that the farm team is lacking so it would have been extremely hard to make poor choices for the lettermen.

Farm Fodder: The Falcons will now play three consecutive games agaisnt the Lowell Devils (NJ) beginning Saturday and ending with back to back games next weekend... The Springfield power play (15.2%) ranks 20th, the PK (77.5%) is 27th in the 29 team league... G Devan Dubnyk's 3.20 GAA ranks 27th in the AHL while his .906 save percentage is 21st on the list... LW Slava Trukhno had 5 points in the first three games but has just 1 point in the last three... LW Rob Schremp has 5 points in 4 games, hitting the score sheet in each game he's appeared in so far... C Ryan Potulny has 5 points so far, all of them goals... D Theo Peckham, born November 10th 1987, is the youngest player on Springfield's current roster... D Josef Hrabal recorded an assist in his first official game in North America... The Falcons have been outshot in every one of their first 6 games by a collective total of 198-154, an average of just over 7 shots per game...

Schremp Responds to Rumors of Trade Demand

In light of yesterday's unconfirmed reports that prospect Rob Schremp had asked for a trade from the Edmonton Oilers, The Pipeline Show did some digging to gauge the accuracy of the rumor.

Schremp, one of the last players cut from NHL training camp, has appeared in 3 of Springfield's 5 games after a late start due to a death in the family. The New York native has picked up 3 assists to begin the new campaign.

The forward needed no encouragement to talk about the quality of the AHL club this year as the abundance of talent means several players are healthy scratches on a nightly basis.

"There's a lot of depth here this year and guys have battled every night for a job," he said, "We've got the ability down here to have a really good team. We have a lot of youth and now we just have to mature a little bit together but when we do we're going to have a sick team!"

Yesterday the Falcons sent forward Bryan Lerg to ECHL Stockton simply to get him some playing time as competition for an AHL spot is keeping players out of the line up who deserve to play. Lerg has only dressed for a single game thus far and to hear Schremp describe him, it's certainly not because the rookie has done anything wrong.

"We have four guys in the stands who could be playing but what do you do?" Schremp said. "It's a good thing and a bad thing; it's hard for the guys sitting out but for the management and staff I mean, look at our team... you get a guy who plays poor one night and the next night you could have Lerg come in and he's not exactly a plug or just a guy you throw in - Lerg can make a difference."

"[Lerg] is going to go down there and play his ass off," Schremp predicted, "I talked to him last night after I heard the news and he wasn't down. He had a pretty good attitude about it because he understands and he just wants to play. I bet he'll be back here in no time."

As is normally the case during the early parts of the AHL year, rosters and line combinations in Springfield have been very fluid. Schremp has played with several different line mates including Ryan Potulny, Gilbert Brule and Slava Trukhno and he mentioned that there was definite chmistry there.

"It's going good, it's been fun and we have a lot of good guys here and a lot of upside," he said.

Sound to you like a frustrated player who has demanded a trade? Me neither but to make it official, I asked if there was any truth to the buzz that he'd made the request.

"Yeah, who the [heck] said that?!" he immediately responded. "That's bull[loney]! I even talked to Pat [Morris] this week but I never said anything about a trade, [heck] no."

Suffice to say that the player vehemently denied making any such demand and I confirmed the same from the Oilers end as well.

Schremp did opt to make one change this past off season when he parted ways with long time agent Scott Norton. Pat Morris is now Schremp's agent, a move which the player explained was due to recommendations from friends rather than as a slight to Norton.

"I'm just trying to change things up, a change in direction," Schremp said, "Pat's a big agent and he's got a lot of big NHL guys. He's got a lot of my buddies, [Corey] Perry and [Danny] Syvret, and they talk very highly of him. You talk to your buddies about how they deal with their agent and sometimes it's time for a change."

"Scott was good and he worked hard," Schremp insisted, "He was a good agent and he works hard for his guys but sometimes things just don't work out and after two years in the minors... you just have to change your ways a bit you know?"

"He never did me wrong though," he added.

Some outsiders may have viewed that the changing of representation and failing to crack the NHL roster were evidence of a disgruntled employee but clearly that's not the case. For a brief moment it appeared as though there was a two-horse race between Schremp and Gilbert Brule for the final roster spot but then came the arrival of tough guy Steve MacIntyre and the writing was on the wall. Still, Schremp took the high road and has dedicated himself to working his way back to the NHL.

"They obviously wanted more toughness and they got a hell of a guy for that because he's a monster!" said the 22-year-old of MacIntyre, "He deserves it, he's had a hard fight to get to where he's at. It's obviously tough because it was the last cut and when he came in, I went out but I'm glad I got to know him a bit, he's a really good dude and he deserves what he gets."

Lastly, this passed summer the London Knights threw a team of alumni together and went overseas to play a 7-game tour against some European pro teams. Schremp was joined by Oilers Sam Gagner and Marc Pouliot. I was always curious to know how he became involved considering the closest Pouliot ever got to being a former Knight was losing to London in the 2005 Memorial Cup. That fact wasn't lost on Schremp and the rest of the Knights in Europe who found it in their hearts to give Pouliot the gears.

"We gave him a lot of grief about it!" Schremp laughed. "I don't think he put that jersey on with a lot of pride, I think he had a pissed off face every time he pulled it on!"

The exhibition tour was meant as a tune-up for training camps and quickly got the players in game shape.

"It was full out, there were like three fights, one game a couple of guys took runs at Sammy [Gagner]," said Schremp, "You think it's just August hockey and then there's a bunch of fights and it's like it's mid-season already."

Last summer there was some discussion that Schremp was eyeing European options and with the Knights tour now under his belt, I asked him if there was some interest on his part to explore those options even more now.

"Not really, no. I'm not interested right now," he said. "It's cool to go over and see because guys talk a lot about Europe and what it's like and you want to see it first hand but in now way was I like 'man I want to play here!'. I want to play in the NHL."

So if you're keeping score at home... although he does have a new agent, Schremp has not demanded a trade, he has big expectations for the Falcons this year and is still happy to be part of the organization.

(uncredited photos courtesy: Springfield Falcons and a drunk fan in Europe... no, really.)

Selling Schremp Short?

If Rob Schremp was paid by the amount of opinions people have of him, he wouldn't need hockey. He would simply live on a pile of money, in a house made out of dollar bills.

Before he was drafted 25th overall by the Oilers in 2004, there was a lot of talk about him around the junior hockey world. Was he too cocky? Was he too skilled to pass up? Did he work hard enough? Did his immense skill outweigh his lack of defensive awareness? Since he was drafted, those same questions have been asked, but now it's mostly by Oilers fans and observers of the copper and blue.

Of those players drafted ahead of Schremp, 7 have played more than 150 games in the NHL. Alexander Ovechkin (245), Evgeni Malkin (160), Andrew Ladd (157), Rostislav Olesz (190), Travis Zajac (162), Wojtek Wolski (162), Andrej Meszaros (246). There are 2 players knocking the door of 150 games, and 4 players who were drafted after Schremp who have surpassed the milestone. All the while Rob Schremp has played in just 3 NHL contests.

So is the lack of NHL time the player's responsibility in this case or the team's? I think it's 90 per cent Schremp. Until this past summer he hasn't put in the time or work to become a pro player, although last summer he was recovering from a serious knee injury. The other 10 per cent is certainly on the team though. Last season in a call up from Springfield, Schremp received a paltry 2 games, playing 3:12 in one game, and 10:42 in another.

This season he has said all the right things off the ice, and tried to do all the rights things on frozen water. He still makes mistakes as young players do, and has only produced stat wise on the power play and in the shoot out, but has looked better than at any other training camp in the past. It still isn't likely to earn him a full time job with the Oilers to start the season but you have to think if he's called up, he'll play more than 13 minutes and change over two games.

I have heard various opinions about Schremp over the past few years, ranging from "he should be playing with the big club..." to "he should be playing with another club...." But do the Oilers really want another Dan Cleary on their hands? A player who scored a ton in junior, bounced around the NHL, before becoming a productive player with the Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings this year, 5 years after the Oilers decided he didn't fit into their plans and they bought him out.

I'm not saying Schremp will round out his game like Cleary, but this is a contract year for him, and despite his ability to crack the Oilers line up in the 4 years since he was drafted, I still think he deserves another deal at the end of the season. If J.F. Jacques earned one, Schremp has.

ROB TYCHKOWSKI, who is the Oilers beat writer for the Edmonton Sun, made a nice potential comparison for Rob Schremp the other night in the press box. Robert Nilsson. A player the Islanders gave up on to get Ryan Smyth, who is now an exciting player with the Oilers. I agree with Ice T...Schremp has the ability to bite the Oilers in the butt with another team, if they give up on him.

(uncredited photos courtesy London Knights and the Edmonton Journal)

The Roster Battle: 'At the end of the day'

I've gotten a few emails and comments suggesting that the series of articles here at Coming Down The Pipe! this month won't be complete unless I offer up some sort of prediction or conclusion. I didn't really plan on doing that, I wasn't trying to make an argument for or against any of the 5 players I profiled, I was simply trying to point out the pros and cons each guy brings to the Oiler table.

So I'm going to offer a summary of a sort. A head-to-head comparison ranking which will hopefully satisfy you readers.

I'm going to rank the players in 8 categories that I'll briefly describe, the player I feel best fills the category will be ranked highest. Simple enough?

SPEED - Fairly straight forward category to start with. Of the players vying for a roster spot, here's how I seem them coming in:

1) Brule - by a landslide
2) Jacques
3) Potulny
4) O'Marra
5) Schremp - long been the biggest knock against him.

OFFENSIVE UPSIDE - A combination of best playmaker, top sniper, etc... simply, who could be expected to put up the most points this year.

1. Schremp - most might come on the PP but they don't ask when, just how many.
2. Potulny - had 2 fewer AHL goals than Schremp in 20 fewer games.
3. Brule - has really struggled offensively as a pro
4. Jacques - sooner or later something will go in off his back... right??
5. O'Marra

SIZE & PHYSICAL PLAY - Again, pretty self explanatory. Looking at throwing the body, dropping the gloves and generally playing an in-your-face style of game.

1. Jacques
2. Brule
3. O'Marra
4. Potulny
5. Schremp

DEFENSIVELY SOUND - Who can the coach put on the ice and feel confident that the opposition isn't going to treat like Team Pygmy in basketball?

1. Potulny - 44 NHL games, +2 and known for 2-way ability
2. O'Marra - exceptional at taking draws, projected to be 2-way NHLer
3. Brule - take his career minus-27 rating with a grain of salt... it was Columbus
4. Jacques - NHL sample size is small considering ice time but -17 ain't great
5. Schremp - might not be as big of an issue anymore but still last in this group

EXPERIENCE - At the NHL level or as a pro, who's got more playing time under his belt?

1. Brule - 146 in the NHL leads this pack by a mile
2. Potulny - 44 NHL games and almost 100 more on the farm.
3. Schremp - two full years in the AHL but has barely made a scratch in the show
4. Jacques - injuries have limited his GP since turning pro
5. O'Marra - rookie last year splite time in the AHL and ECHL

PRESSBOX IMUNITY - By this I mean who is going to be least affected by long stays in the pressbox as a healthy scratch?

1. Potulny
2. Jacques
3. Brule - needs to play to get confidence going
4. Schremp - better off being The Man in the AHL than sitting in Edmonton
5. O'Marra - Few have more to prove after last year

CONTRACT POLITICS - Who's contract situation is most likely to help his cause of staying in or making the NHL?

1. Potulny - needs waivers to go down
2. the rest of them are waiver exempt and can be reassigned freely... although Brule is just 14 NHL games away from crossing that line.

4th LINE FIT - Who best fills out the job description of a stereotypical 4th line player? (energy, grit, speed, hitting and defensively reliable)

1. Jacques - Ding! Does the first 4 out of the 5 exceptionally well
2. O'Marra - still has to prove that he's committed to the hitting but has shown the ability
3. Potulny - can play any position, any role and will do it gladly but is limited physically
4. Brule - has everything you need to be an elite checker except arguably the mindset
5. Schremp - none of those traits are regularly associated with him

Final tally...

Schremp - Placed 1st in only 1 category but last in 4. (average rank: 3.75)
Brule - Tops in 2 categories worse than 3rd only once. (average rank: 2.375)
Potulny - best in 3 categories and only 4th once. (average rank: 2.125)
Jacques - tops 2 times, never last and never 3rd. (avergae rank: 2.500)
O'Marra - last 3 times but would have been lower with more players (avg rank: 3.5)

My conclusion to this experiment is that trying to predict the future like this is dumb. Too many variables are not accounted for; will Jacques be 100% healthy? Will Schremp's intense summer training and preperation be enough or not? Can Brule accept being a 13th forward? Can Potulny adjust to new teammates, coaches and system quickly enough? Will there be injuries to any of these 5 or to the rest of the NHL roster that frees up more spots? Are there trades still to come?
There are so many questions that won't be answered until training camp begins that trying to determine end results a month ahead of time is borderline pointless. I started this series with the intent of showing why several players were in the mix and I think I've done that.

But predictions are fun and practically demanded these days so if you want my predictions here they are:

1) Edmonton will begin the season with 3 goalies
2) They will successfully push Mathieu Roy through waivers leaving 7 defencemen and only 1 vacancy up front as the 13th forward.
3) Ryan O'Marra will last longer than last year but eventually be given a top-6 role in Springfield and play on the Falcons PK this year.
4) J.F. Jacques will be one of the last players cut from camp and sent to Springfield "for conditioning after not being able to train to a full extent over the summer".
5) Edmonton will take advantage of the small window of opportunity remaining and send Gilbert Brule to the farm where he will play on the top line and rediscover his scoring ability.
6) Rob Schremp will impress but be the last player cut. He'll have the inside track on being recalled first should a forward spot open up due to injury or when one of the 3 goalies is moved.

Leaving the defensively reliable, pressbox imune, waiver eligible, positionally versatile, utility man Ryan Potulny as the 13th forward to start the year.

The End.
Now... can camp start already?

The Roster Battle: The Fan Favourite

I've been covering the Oilers prospects since 2002 and I can say without hesitation that when it comes to young players who can polarize the fanbase there hasn't been anyone like Rob Schremp.

He was drafted back in 2004, became a dominant OHL player over the next two seasons, turned pro with a so-so debut but took his game to a new level last year finishing inside the top 10 of AHL scoring. For some that's a career path that indicates a somewhat late bloomer making the adjustment one level at a time. Others see Schremp as a player who will just be another in the long line of junior stars who fail to stick in the NHL (see Peter Sarno and his back-to-back +120 point OHL seasons).

Schremp got his OHL start with the Mississauga IceDogs and in his 16-year-old season he finished second in team scoring with 26 goals and 74 points. A 17-year-old Patrick O'Sullivan led the IceDogs that year with 81 points. A dispute between Mississauga's brass and Schremp's agent led to a much publicized trade demand and the beginning of the "bad attitude" labelling that the player is still trying to shrug off.

The London Knights gladly took Schremp on and the already talented squad became a powerhouse for the next 3 seasons. The Fulton, NY product was a key player during London's record breaking season in 2004-05 and the Memorial Cup title that year as well. Schremp's six points in the year-end tournament was second only to Corey Perry's seven as the host team downed Sidney Crosby's Rimouski Oceanic in the final.

The 2004 Draft pundits were equally split on Schremp's worth. ISS considered him a sure-fire top 5 pick citing him as the 3rd most talented player available behind Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Malkin. Redline Report wasn't nearly as supportive and were leading the charge when it came to the "Schremp has attitude" critiques.

In August of 2004 I conducted a nearly hour-long phone interview with Schremp for a feature I was doing at Hockey's Future. Schremp was training in Chicago with other players who share the same agent, LA Kings forward Dustin Brown being one. The purpose of the interview was simple; find out one way or another exactly what kind of kid this was and put the attitude to the test. Schremp spoke candidly and didn't shy away from direct questions. I'll admit I baited him a few times, (asking him about being benched in the OHL playoffs for example) just to see what reaction I would get. You can read that feature here.

I'm a big fan of Stephen King, the author most identified with classic chillers like Carrie and IT while his best work is more often the source material for movies like The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile and Stand By Me. I remember reading a review that someone had given to King's The Dark Tower series which was short but memorable: "The world is divided into two groups; those who love The Dark Tower books and those that haven't read them yet."

When I hear people say that Rob Schremp has attitude problems I always think about that book review. Those who believe Schremp has an attitude problem haven't taken the time to talk to or get to know the guy. I've talked to coaches, teammates and trainers both past and present and have yet to have a single person describe Schremp to me as a problem. Not one. Period.

Now before this turns into a full fledged love in... Schremp is not perfect.

He's charismatic and engaging, walking the line between confident and cocky. When he was younger he was impulsive in what he said in interviews and on the ice he wasn't much different. One night he borrowed a gulp of water from the opposition goalie's bottle. He's kayak-ed down the ice after socring a game winning shootout goal. In a playoff game he lost his cool and, depending on who you ask, either fired the puck at the other team's bench narrowly missing the coach or else he slapped it at them harmlessly along the ice. This audio-less Youtube video popped up showing Schremp apparently attempting to gut a Kitchener Rangers fan:



But what it didn't show was that the fan had gobbed on Schremp as he was leaving the ice. The end result just gave the critics more fuel to add to their fire.

Schremp eventually turned pro and spent 2006-07 with the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. He had 53 points in 69 games which isn't bad considering he was a healthy scratch upwards of half a dozen times that year. It was a learning year for Schremp who had believed he would stick with the Oilers out of training camp. A late season knee injury kept him out of the playoffs and also kept him off the training schedule that he'd need to follow before reporting to Edmonton for a chance of making the team in 2007-08. He was cut again and spent all but 2 games in Springfield with the Falcons where he notched 76 points in 78 games.

Rumors of a potential European option surfaced but were quickly shot down by Schremp and agent Scott Norton. Norton's comments seemed to indicate a level of expectation by agent and player alike that Schremp's minor league days are now behind him and with the depth of the Oiler roster in May, the speculation that a trade around the draft became popular discussion.

However, Schremp was not dealt and has instead dedicated himself to a rigorous off-season training schedule in advance of this coming September's NHL training camp.

The question becomes: Is this the year Rob Schremp makes the Oilers out of camp?

Going back to the scenario I outlined here where there are two forward spots available, you have to believe that Schremp's chances are very good.

Why Schremp will make the team: After two years in the minors he has adapted his offensive game well enough that he was the go-to guy at the age of 21. He's done everything that's been asked of him at the minor league level including making an adjustment to LW, a position he'd never played before last year. It may have taken him a little longer than Oiler fans had hoped but Schremp has proven that his offensive abilities were not left in London.

The knock on Schremp the hockey player has always been two-fold; 'not fast enough' and 'doesn't compete hard enough'. If after this full summer of dedicated workouts under the care of the team's fitness coach and several Oiler veterans Schremp isn't in the best shape of his life then something is wrong. Captain Ethan Moreau recently told listeners to Bob Stauffer's Total Sports that he was impressed with the effort Schremp was putting into getting ready for the year. Coach Craig MacTavish also said he'd heard good things about the player's progress.

In conversations I've had with Schremp he's indicated his belief that the strength and conditioning work he's done in California will address his speed. During his July 8th appearance on The Pipeline Show Schremp made his ambitions for the season crystal clear when he said "Enough screwing around, I want to play in the NHL... I don't want to be a minor league player anymore." If he can show that same desire and drive on the ice then he'll be one step closer.

Why Schremp will not make the team: Three things stand in the way of Schremp and the NHL; Politics, competition and himself. He can only control the latter and as previously described, he seems to be doing his best to prepare this summer.

The competition will definitely be fierce hence the reason I'm doing this little series. As I outlined in the prologue, I see it as a 5-man race for 2 spots so Schremp cannot afford to slack off during practices and will have to contribute in the exhibition schedule not matter who is on his line. Andrew Cogliano, Sam Gagner and Kyle Brodziak all made the team out of camp last year and all, at some point, played alongside non-scorers and still found a way to impress.

By politics I mean contract status. Schremp is entering the final year of his entry-level deal and is still waiver-exempt... which weighs the scale against him. If the battle is tight, if Schremp hasn't clearly distanced himself from the others vying for the job, the team can send him down without risk and historically that's what they've done.

Finally, the last hurdle in Schremp's way is simply convincing the organization that making the team as the 13th forward, not playing every night but practiving every day in a NHL environment with NHL players is better than playing a ton in the AHL. It's a tough sell because most NHL execs I've talked to feel playing is better than watching. It could be a case where Schremp is sent down to the Falcons where they know he'll be the top dog, play 1st power play and bide his time waiting for a hole with the Oilers to open that gets him a recall.

There is no question that Oiler fans want to see Schremp on the team sooner rather than later. In a recent poll on our show's website Schremp was the runaway pick by fans when asked to name their 13th forward. No surprise really, he's always been The Fan Favourite.