Making the Cut, Episode 8: The Grey and the White

Last week, it was "Hockey Night In Vernon" once again. The game was marred by a moment where #27 Harkins felt the need to slash #54 Dickenson in the head. The event seems doomed to be forever known as "The Harkins Incident." At the end of the show, a trio of players (#10 Woods, #18 Kivell and #23 Nault) was cut. Who will be cut tonight?

The show opens for real on Day 8. We are told that it's finally "last chance time" for the Black Aces. They will be split into two squads and play a game among themselves to impress the coaches. Twenty will be chosen to play a game against the Elite squad. For those not chosen, it's essentially over.

For the Elite squad, it's "Skills Testing" day. For this fun event, #57 Jefkins is suddenly healthy enough again to compete. Jefkins has earned the ire of several of the Black Aces, who know that he's been well enough to go out and have beers, but claims to be too sick to participate in grueling workouts. They joke that since sick and injured players cannot be cut, they should pretend to be sick until the last cut. Ha! Jefkins, they're on to you!

Sports psychologist Diane Sinclair thinks the players need to focus on their own games and not worry about the injured players. She calls it a lack of mental toughness, being distracted, and looking for excuses. Sorry, Diane, you're way wrong on this one. First off, I believe the comment was partly made in jest. Secondly, people abusing the rules and preventing others from getting a fair shot are very much a valid point of concern.

OK, back to the tests. Throughout the tests, #57 Jefkins is terrible and falls repeatedly. He's getting discouraged. #27 Harkins isn't a lot better. He has plenty of excuses and is clearly outclassed again.

Here are the results of the tests:

• fastest skaters are #46 Dubois, #38 Lauzon and #54 Dickenson.
• fastest backward skaters are #52 Hubbauer, #22 Demone and #11 Brown.
• stickhandling is won by #52 Hubbauer, #9 Boucher and #3 Lavallee.
• hardest slapshots are from #2 Jacob, #54 Dickenson and #16 Little.

The winning number for the slapshot competition was 96 MPH… not bad at all.

The overall best scores are from #52 Hubbauer, #53 Drouin and #11 Brown. These three plus the winners of the Physical Tests of two weeks ago (#9 Boucher, #47 Choiniere and #22 Demone) are rewarded with a BBQ at former-NHLer Ryan Walter's place. Hall-Of-Fame defenseman Denis Potvin drops by, and the two exchange stories about their playing days.

That's pretty much it for the Elite squad this week as focus shifts to the Black Aces.

Profile: #20 Michael Mole

Goalie Michael tells the story of when he was six he went to the rink and was scared by the Zamboni. Cute. He talks about his love of the Leafs and having always wanted to be a pro (well, maybe after he got past that Zanmboni thing) but this is probably the lamest profile yet. Let's get back to hockey.

Players are split into Team Grey and Team White. Coaches encourage them to "play within the whistles" and "give it everything you got." In case they weren't revved up high already, Coach Mike Keenan comes in to tell them that, "It's Game 7." Ah, clichés can be so motivating, can't they?

Play starts, but as these guys have never played together before, it's pretty bad hockey. I see lots of missed passes as play is sloppy and disjointed. It's also kind of chippy. Not surprisingly, the first period ends without a goal, but a couple of soft goals from #25 Flammino and #15 Goulet in the second period put team White ahead 2-0. #20 Mole is tending net for Team Gray. It's rarely good news to be the subject of a Player Profile, is it?

Early in the third period, #39 Levy is nailed into the boards head first and he's hurting. They check to see if he's all right to continue and I think his day should be over. When asked what the date is, he replies, "I never know what the date is!"… and they buy it! Next time, let's be a little surer, OK?

Team Grey closes the gap as #8 Hay scores from the point, but #51 Cheyne counters quickly from the top of the circle. It's 3-1 for Team White. Then, an exciting play - #24 Periard is tripped from behind while on a breakaway - penalty shot!! Periard executes a nice deke to make it a one-goal game.

Apparently, if the game ends in a tie there will be overtime, and the announcer is really excited about this prospect. Why they'd worry about it I don't know, final score is immaterial, this is a tryout! Thankfully that folly is avoided - even though Team Grey pulls the goalie, there is no further scoring.

The players are told they will hear the results of the coach's evaluations tomorrow morning. It looks like another sleepless night for the Black Aces. Also, #57 Jefkins confides that when he came to this camp he told his dad, "I'm not coming back home unless I'm in the top six!" I expect there will be a "Room To Let" sign at the Jefkins' house next week.

In the post-game War Room, the coaches are asked to give their top five players from the Black Aces. #41 Strom, #10 Woods, #18 Kivell and #64 Mizzi are some of the more popular choices. Coaches are then asked to name their top player. #24 Periard and #65 Zajankala are mentioned twice. #18 Kivell and, surprisingly, #20 Mole also get votes.

Sports psychologist Diane Sinclair chooses #14 Weir. When prompted, she says that several of the players have been in to see her through the period of the camp. Some want success very badly, but fear failure.

At last it's Day 9 and the Black Aces are bused to the rink to learn their fate. This week, there are two white helmets sitting on the table.

Besides the eight players mentioned above, twelve more are selected to play against the Elite team. I note that #28 Tessier, #39 Levy, #48 Leveille and #67 Fortier are among those chosen.

These 20 will play against the white helmets this afternoon. They are told, "This will be your last chance to earn a white helmet." For the rest, the experience is pretty much over.

And there we have it. The white helmet remains on the table as a tease. No one is cut and no one is promoted.

Next week: The chosen twenty play the Elite squad… and it gets rough.

And also next week, there's a line-up change here at RNO as my shift is over and Paris Cosby returns to resume the recapping task.

In The Mail: It was pointed out to me that a couple of errors were made regarding #54 Lou Dickenson. First off, his father is not from the Bahamas but from the nearby nation of Turks and Caicos. Then in the next week I spelled his name wrong - and there's never an excuse for that. Corrections noted, and my apologies.

Secondly, no one could explain the NHL lockout any better than I did, so I guess we'll let that description stand. Senseless, isn't it?

If you have any comments on this series - or my attempts to recap it - drop me a note at the eAddress below!

Brian is an unemployed/retired programmer from Toronto. He can be reached at uncle_bto@rogers.com.

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