So we only have reports from 2 people who attended? Come on, some other posters had to have been there...
I had planned on going, but my wife had a horrible, terrible, no good, very bad day-I had to stay home and soothe the savage beast. Please, more info from those who went.
As was mentioned in a previous post, SH went into detail on how things played out from the draft through free agency. Said that we didn't get that #1 center for lack of trying, just couldn't get a deal swung. Were looking at Vermette, but once he filed for arbitration the issue was dead. Not looking at anyone else at this time, but they keep track of teams cap space, and possible options every day.
Hitch pretty much handled things the rest of the time.
Likes all the kids in rookie camp, especially Voracek and Mayorov. Also mentioned how well York is playing. Said he was talking to Steve Mason, and York's name came up. Hitch said that he told Mason not to worry because York was still 4 years or so from being a threat.
Hitch absolutely loves Brassard. Says Derrick eats, sleeps, and drinks hockey 24/7. Working out hard with the other guys that are in Columbus. Not guarenteeing he makes the club, but is confident he will. Also likes Voraceks chances. One person asked about our PS shooters and one of the things Hitch said was that Voracek was the best PS guy in his league last season, at 60% success rate. Said that will be a consideration in keeping him here. Also said Brass was a good PS guy.
Hitch also loves Sesstito, and Dorsett. Says that with the guys that we picked up, and when those 2 are ready to make the jump, we will be one of the most feared teams in the league. Said both of them don't wait for trouble, they go out and look for, and make trouble. Between them last season had 60 fights in the A. Best thing about them, though, is that they also have loads of skill. Just waiting for it to mature.
Talked again about how to build a team. I went into this in length after the meeting at the end of last season, so I don't want to repeat it here.
Hitch was a scream. Lot's of humor last night. Seems like a guy that is really happy with what he is being given. Said the most fun for him is building a team. Winning is good, but the winning comes from building the team.
A fan asked Scott what the worst thing was that happened in free agency, and he answered "Hossa signed with Detroit". Then Hitch added "Thank God we only play them 6 times this year". Someone also asked about beating Nashville. Hitch said that we are just going to have to get "ugly" and "nasty", with them, and muck it up on the ice with them. Then the team that comes out of the game with someone left standing will win. He was being funny, but said that it seems with them that no matter how well we play against them we somehow find a way to lose. Said, obviously, that needs to change.
Quote:
anyone ask about invisible ownership? stable?
Someone asked if we could have a Q/A with Priest. He was there and said that they would try and set it up. Also said ownership is committed to providing what is needed to improve the on-ice product.
What I got out of this was that it sounds like we should have a team that is extremely fun to watch. They aren't promising play-offs, but did promise that no one will out compete us. Said we still have a ways to go to catch up to some other teams skill wise, but that we are ever so close with a lot of our young guys.
Well, if you have any specific questions let me know and I will try and remember if they were addressed. This went for 2 hours, so a lot was said.
I like the dialog on Vermette. Depending on the results of arbitration, we might still be able to make a play. Cross your fingers for a 4+ deal from an arbitrator (unlikely, but cross the fingers)
Let me add on what I said about not promising us the play-offs.
Their goal is to make the play-offs, but more importantly build a team that can go deep into the play-offs. Hitch said that we had a lot of catching up to do, and that we made significant strides this year and added needed pieces. Said, though, that all but a few other teams also improved, so we are still catching up. Big thing for him was our young guys maturing. Said that is when we make the big jump in the catch up department. Says adding big name FA's shows desperation. Says we have the needed assets in the system, and now we have quality players here that we can plug the young guys in around that will help them succeed. Did not have them before.
Also said Modin is healthy as a horse now, and Norrena is now more comfortable with his role as a back-up, but that they need to have a schedule for playing Freddie to keep him sharp.
Also said Modin played a huge part in getting Husilius to sign here.
Interesting. Can anyone say PP specialist? Mark Streit II?
Actually, that's exactly who Hitch referred to him as a similar player too. Said Wilson's problem (and Streit's) is that he just isn't a big enough D'man even strength. I think he said that Streit was like -25, even w/ 65 pts.
Didn't get to finish last night, so here goes. Fire did a nice job covering prospects (Hitch's stuff), I'll talk about Howson & other notes.
Trying not to just drink the kool-aid, but I thought Howson (& Hitch) were extremely candid about what they've done and what expectations are. As Fire said, no playoff promises, just a more competitive team. A team that will not be outworked.
Howson said they wanted #1 center & PPQB, but they weren't available. No one said that what we got fills that need. It was refreshing.
Okay, I thought it was really interesting, so I'll post his view of the last month. Extremely candid.
1. Thought going into draft was to move the #19 pick all along. They were ready to do the deal for Ryan Malone. Malone balked, then his agent & dad were hired by TB, and that was gone. Multiple inquiries out for other #19 options. Discusssion w/ Holmgren yielded Umberger deal. Holmgren said he had better offers than #19. They sat on that a couple of days. Day of draft, Philly wanted another pick as well. Howson settled on 4th/3rd swap as it ended. Howson said it was a chess game throughout. I kind of think he wasn't sure about the other picks, but knew he needed to get the deal done. He was really candid about this.
2. #6 pick was open for offer for #1 center( or another eye opening offer). Marleau was mentioned. SJ wouldn't do it, so they took the pick.
3. We made substantial offer to Atlanta for the #3 pick, but the wouldn't take it.
4. Get this, early draft day we offered 6 & 37 for #5 to NYI. They balked. The CBJ team reconvened and discussed Filatov (RUSSIAN!) further and they then unanimously agreed he was a #2 or #3 pick talent (9 pts in WJC, vs. Stamkos 7 pts), and we would take him if there. CBJ said no when NYI called back, and let NYI/Tor to the deal for #5. You can sense Howson knows he put his ass on the line in making sure Filatov comes to US. He said CBJ had 3 interviews w/ Filatov before drafting him. CBJ talked to Zherdev once prior to draft (midnight night before).
4. Torres for Brule. Proven NHL top 9 player for unproven skill. Howson had Torres w/ him in Edmonton. Says Raffi is game changer, whether through a hit or goal. Said 2-3 games in Edmonton's SCP run were won on Torres plays, one was on a clean hit that put player out of game. Both H&H were grinning like cheshire cats as this was mentioned.
5. Offers made to Commodore & Redden at 12:01 on July 1. Commodore was priority target 2 months ago. They love his leadership, competitiveness and shut down skills. Redden was more complicated. They knew by that evening they weren't going to get him.
6. Hitch made interesting comment about older players. He said older players look for known situations/comfort. Hitch coached Redden in Worlds & Olympics. But NYR has an assistant that Redden has 7+ years experience playing for. That was important to him. Brendan Morrison was the same. CBJ made and offer for more money and longer term than he signed in Anaheim. But BM has a long relationship with Burke, so he went with comfort.
7. CBJ talked to Hainsey's agent night of day 1. They were told that they had offer for longer term and more money than CBJ were comfortable with.
8. Day 2 began with call from NYR wanting to move Backman. No interest here. At some point Tyutin's name came up and we had much interest. Seems we had much respect for his 218 hits last year. Negotiation & deal struck.
9. Nothing but positives about Nik Zherdev. Wish him the best. Definite concern about what they were going to do with him after next year. Comment was that team can only have so many people with long term deals, and Nikki probably didnt fit our profile of who we wanted to lock up.
10. Replacing Z's scoring was next priority. Huselius was target. Hitch & Modin recruited him. Anders Ericksson even put in a plug for us. Oh, btw, Luke Richardson spoke to Redden on our behalf as well.
11. Peca finishes this phase of moves. Is a #3 center and locker room leadership.
That's about it on Howson's view of the roster change. I'll post more observation of Hitch's discussion in a bit.
I was also there, someone asked if the Jackets would tender any offer sheets for RFA's. Howson said there might be a chance if the right player came along but it was highly unlikely to happen this year. He said he likes to keep his draft picks for future trades etc. Offer sheets costs the teams lots of picks if they are accepted. On Brassard, Hitch said they have given him hours of tapes on Zetterberg and Datsyuk and told him to "play like them"! I also did not hear anything about Jimmy Howard.
8. Day 2 began with call from NYR wanting to move Backman. No interest here. At some point Tyutin's name came up and we had much interest. Seems we had much respect for his 218 hits last year. Negotiation & deal struck.
This is not much of a surprise IMO, but it is interesting. I'd wonder if we would try to move Backman again considering we weren't interested in him in the first place.
The Luke Richardson and Anders Erikkson plugs are simply cool. They raise a couple notches on my All-time Jackets list for that.
Hitch spoke at length about moving forward. I think he really likes the core he has. As we know, with him it's all about competitiveness, which he generally defined as being relentless, hard on the puck and wanting to stick up for teammates.
My notes:
They frankly spoke of Umberger as a #2 center who will have chance to compete on #1 line. Since he's played behind Richards & Carter, he's used to being #3, and thus playing against other's #1. Big challenge for RJ is different mindset required.
They referred to Tyutin as top 4 dman. and Backman as top 6, with PP experience. No kool-aid here.
Hitch spoke of Backman more than once as experienced PPQB. He was Sweden's PPQB in worlds. Clearly he sees that as a role for him.
He spoke of them having the core team competitiveness and allowing the younger skilled players to grow within that framework. Lots of references to Carter & Richards growth in Philly
Unquestionably Voracek, Brassard and Russell are future skills studs in his eyes.
He spoke very highly of Russell more than once. He really believes in Russell's future as an offensive d-men. He sees the skill.
Says Brassard is hockey junkie, (like Fire said), and only needs to mature to be a force. But maturity is not teachable and it will take time.
They've turned 1/3 of this team over in last 3 months. Hitch is excited about this. Training camp will be different this year. There will be a team of guys who will be on the team, working together to build chemistry. And there will be a team of prospects on another sheet of ice. Younger guys will earn chance to go play with big boys. Comment on Aaron Rome and where he fit in; Hitch says "He'll practice with the younger guys for one day, then go join the big boys." Big laugh.
To reiterate what Fire said earlier, Hitch believes we will compete this year. He says we will not be outworked. Against most teams that will result in more Wins than losses. If other team works as hard as you it comes down to skill. And we are reliant in those games on how the younger guys come along. But clearly he believes most games are winnable with work.
Hitch spoke honestly about post trade deadline play (5-10-2, I think he said). He said our guys just did not have the extra gear that good teams need to win in playoff stretch. He said there were games we would lose that they'd get to room and there was nothing to say. The guys played as well as they could, they just didnt have the extra gear. Indicated this club will have that competitive gear
Claude Noel will be in charge of PP this year. Agnew will handle post game press radio commentary
Hitch seemed pretty excited about next year. He has the big strong veterans and larger body's he likes to play smash mouth hockey. And I don't mean fights necessarily, but if they happen, hey. He loves the size coming up in the prospects, mentioned Dorsett & Sestito a couple of times as Boll type players with great hands.
His comment on how we beat Nashville was the last question of the night. He said that it would get messy. That's the only way to kill the beast. It would be ugly, and at the end of the night somebody wouldnt have the stomach for the fight. (And I dont think he meant his team). You can see that's he's looking forward to that night.
Well, that's all I remember for now. All in all a very entertaining night. I still don't know if we have a playoff team, but I do believe Hitch has the players he needs to play his style game. And he believes it. I think I'm a pretty good judge of character. These guys are sincere, not selling snakeoil. They know they need to win. This is the way they are going about it. I, for one, was sold that these guys know what they are doing. Guess the next 10 months will show it.
Negotiation & deal struck.
