Tambellini begins scouting for Worlds
TSN.ca Staff
3/26/2003
Steve Tambellini has caught a break as he prepares to assemble Canada's team for the upcoming men's world hockey championship in Finland.
Unless the New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens pull off a miracle to catch the New York Islanders in the Eastern Conference, Tambellini - Canada's general manager - already knows which 14 teams won't make the NHL playoffs, a change from recent years when playoff races went down the final weekend.
Tambellini, the director of player personnel on Canada's Olympic champion team last year, is close to contacting his first crop of players for the April 26 to May 11 tournament in Helsinki, Turku and Tampere.
"What we've done throughout the year, not unlike what we did last year with the Salt Lake team, is identify our `A' players for every NHL team," Tambellini said Wednesday from Vancouver. "So now that we're much clearer on who the non-playoff teams are, we can start speaking to them."
Tambellini has been holding regular conference calls with the rest of his Canadian staff, which also includes Jim Nill of Detroit and Don Maloney of the Rangers.
Tambellini, also the vice-president of player personnel for the Vancouver Canucks, says he'll probably wait until the end of the NHL's regular season to announce his first group of players.
"The difference with this year which is wonderful is the fact the first round of the playoffs will be over prior to the start of the world championships," Tambellini also points out. "There are going to be great teams knocked out in the first round."
The latest any first-round seven-game series should go is April 22, leaving Canada time to fly in a few more bodies before the preliminary-round opener against Belarus in Turku on April 26. Canada also faces Latvia on April 27 and Sweden on April 29. Then comes three more games in the qualifying round from May 2 to May 6, followed by the medal round starting May 7.
First things first, however. Tambellini needs to name a head coach. When Wayne Fleming left the Canadian Hockey Association to join Ken Hitchcock's staff in Philadelphia last summer, the CHA decided not to have a permanent head coach.
"You'll see an announcement probably within the week," Tambellini said of his choice to coach this year's team.
There's some good talent available among the non-playoff teams, including forwards Jarome Iginla of Calgary (currently nursing a shoulder injury), Dany Heatley of Atlanta, Daniel Briere of Buffalo, Jeff O'Neill of Carolina, Steve Sullivan and Eric Daze of Chicago, Ray Whitney, Andrew Cassels, Geoff Sanderson and rookie Rick Nash of Columbus, Greg Johnson, Scott Walker and Scott Hartnell of Nashville, Anson Carter of the Rangers, Daymond Langkow, Shane Doan and Mike Johnson of Phoenix, and Patrick Marleau and Alyn McCauley of San Jose.
Available on defence would be Jay McKee of Buffalo, Robyn Regehr of Calgary, Patrice Brisebois of Montreal, Andy Delmore of Nashville, Brad Ference of Phoenix, and Kyle McLaren and Brad Stuart of San Jose.
In goal, last year's Hart and Vezina Trophy winner Jose Theodore will surely be asked. He was a standout for Canada at the 2000 world tournament in St. Petersburg, Russia. Also available would be Roberto Luongo of Florida, Martin Biron of Buffalo, Marc Denis of Columbus, Jamie Storr of Los Angeles and Dan Blackburn of the Rangers.
Tambellini will soon find out if he can reverse the recent trend of many Canadian NHLers saying thanks but no thanks to the invite. Last year around 60 players refused invitations from GM Lanny McDonald.
"I think overall there's a good feeling and I expect a good response," Tambellini said.
Will Tambellini use his trump card? He could remind many of these players that getting experience at the international level will be an important consideration when Wayne Gretzky and his staff - which will probably once again include Tambellini - select Team Canada for the 2004 World Cup and the 2006 Olympic team for Turin, Italy (if the NHL is in the Olympics again).
"It's a fair question, because decisions when you come to that level of play with best on best, are based on performance and some experience," Tambellini said. "You can look back to the players that did come to play for us in the last three world championships that made a difference on those teams, such as Ryan Smyth and Eric Brewer, and the people that have stood out such as Jarome Iginla being a late invite to the (Olympic) camp.
"It's another chance to not only play for your country but also prove that you can play on a different level."
Canada hasn't fared well in recent tournaments, losing in the quarter-finals two straight years and placing fourth in St. Petersburg in 2000. Canada's last medal was a gold in 1997.
Cheers,
Aquaman