NHL: Who's On First? No, Who's in Net?

Dropped in on Rookie training camp this week at the Coyote's practice facility, and not only were the rookies skating, but there were a fair number of the veterans skating on the other rink as well. And who was in goal? Sean Burke, an unsigned free agent apparently just hanging around, although encouraged by Bobby Smith to do so.... and Nikolai Khabibulin, wearing his Long Beach Ice Dogs practice jersey. The word is circulating that Nikky had lunch the other day with Wayne (The Great One and the new boss), and we are hoping this is a sign from the hockey gods that Khabby's contract signing is not far away.

On the rookie side, Robert Esche, Patrick Desrochers and Pierre-Luc Therrien interchanged in net, with Escher looking to be the leading candidate to back up Khabibulin once he is signed. The fight for the job will most likely be between Esche and Desrocher. Esche has already been quoted as saying, "When it comes to hockey, if it's between me or him, I am going to make sure it's me." Competitive and aggressive, Escher doesn't like to lose, whether it is a hockey game or a roster spot.

Rookie Camp Report

Rookie camp opened on August 31st, with more turmoil in the front office than there is on the ice with young prospects fighting for a spot on the team. The sale of the team is still pending, the new arena project has been bogged down in nasty local politics and sloppy financial reporting, and rumors are circulating thick and fast about what kind of changes Wayne Gretzky will make once he takes over the operation of the team.

Top prospects this camp include Kirill Safronov, drafted by the Yotes in the 99 NHL Entry draft, with other notable performances early on by Robert "Franczy" Francz and Dan Focht.

Veterans were also skating this week, including JR, Captain Tkachuk, Lumme, Numminen, and newcomers Joe Juneau, Brad May and Landon Wilson. Even unsigned Greg Adams, Sean Burke and Khabibulin were around. Pretty amazing, so many veterans skating a week before camp even opens. The only two no-shows have been unsigned Trevor Letowski and wing Louie DeBrusk. Also skating with the team were Valley residents Michel Petit and Oilers center Doug Weight.

Getting Ready for Wayne

Gretzky hasn't moved into the front office out on Bell Road just yet, but he's already beginning to surround himself with experienced hockey people of his own chosing. Early this week, the hiring of Cliff Fletcher was announced. Fletcher has signed a five year deal to help Wayne run the team, and will has arrived in Phoenix to start getting ready for training camp, which opens for the veterans this week. Fletcher spent the last two seasons as senior advisor to Tampa Bay Lightning GM Rick Dudley. He will serve as Gretzky's top assistant once Wayne and majority investor Steve Ellman take control of the team this month.

The purchase of the club is to be completed before the start of the upcoming 2000-2001 season. It is expected that Fletcher will enter into contract talks with Khabibulin and Claude Lemieux sometime in the near future.

Fletcher's hire has raised questions about the future of present GM Bobby Smith, who has two years left on his contract and is on record as saying that he will not work for someone new above him. Gretzky stated in the Arizona Republic that yes, Bobby Smith will report to Fletcher on a daily basis, and that that was how decisions were going to be made.

Bye bye Bobby, bye bye? I'm keeping my fingers crossed.