The all-underrated team

January 25, 2007
Jim Kelley
Sportsnet.ca

You want intensity in the all-star game? Well, maybe inviting a few of the 'all-underrated' would help.

(...)

Left Wing: Brian Rolston, Minnesota; Chris Kunitz, Anaheim; Tomas Holmstrom, Detroit; Andrew Brunette, Colorado

Like Perreault, the NHL finally got around to recognizing Rolston is a complete player after 12 rock-solid years in the game. He has a great sense of the game, a solid commitment to two-way play and a rocket of a shot. He had a career high 34 goals last season and should better that mark this time around. He's also a team leader of the highest order.

After surviving two waiver claims and two demotions to the minors, Kunitz came into his own with the Ducks in the playoffs last spring. He's gotten better this season and now plays on the No. 1 line. Holmstrom should be beyond this level given his overall talent, but he's often overshadowed in Detroit because of his methodical but winning play. Brunette has kicked around through Washington, Nashville, Atlanta and Minnesota but the seventh rounder has found a home in Colorado He's a below-average skater, but has great two way instincts and compensates for a lack of speed with smarts.

Honorable Mention: Ethan Moreau, Edmonton; Ville Nieminen, San Jose

Nieminen Likes The Road

February 22, 2007


The San Jose Sharks season long eight-game road trip is down to two contests. The first is tonight as the second of back-to-back affairs, with the Chicago Blackhawks serving as the opponent. It also marks a homecoming of sorts for three Sharks who played for the Blackhawks – Ville Nieminen, Mark Bell and Curtis Brown.

San Jose currently stands 3-3 on their trek and can still bring home an impressive 5-3 mark if they play as they did in the second and third periods of the Washington contest. The 3-2 shootout victory snapped a three-game losing streak for San Jose.

“Obviously, the trip didn’t start like we wanted,” said Nieminen. 

San Jose was on their way to a fourth consecutive loss, trailing 2-0, when Mike Grier stepped up and created some offense.

“Last night, we came back together after being down 2-0,” said Nieminen of San Jose accounted for three unanswered tallies. “Mike Grier made a great play to Rissmiller. It probably was a turning point for the last 20 games.”

One never knows what will spark a club, and if an 8-0 loss jump-started a big run earlier this campaign, a stellar offensive play when the team looked down and out could result in another run.

The Sharks know that things won’t get any easier in the final quarter of the season (the Sharks have 22 contests remaining).

“The games won’t get any easier,” said Nieminen. “It is a challenge each and every night and we need to win a lot of hockey games.”

San Jose knows if they play their game, they can not only catch Anaheim, but go into the postseason playing their best.

“We want to make sure we have a good start to the playoffs,” said Nieminen. “You want to be healthy and riding all the horses you’ve got. You want a good feeling and the confidence that you have a really good chance.”

BACK-TO-BACK TOGETHER
San Jose will be playing their second game in as many nights, but so will the Blackhawks who fell 4-2 in Detroit on Tuesday. 

Nieminen doesn’t mind the road or even the back-to-backs.

“Road trips are the best thing in hockey,” said Nieminen. “You get together with the boys and chat about life and hockey. There are no worries except for playing hockey and being on time.”

Blues send Guerin out west

By Jeremy Rutherford
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
28.02.2007


A busy Tuesday at Scottrade Center began when Blues coach Andy Murray walked into a room and alerted reporters that the club was preparing to trade Bill Guerin.

Where? For who? No one knew.

A half-hour later, it was announced that Guerin was headed to San Jose for a conditional first-round draft pick, left winger Ville Nieminen and University of Minnesota freshman Jay Barriball.

The much-anticipated deal might not have measured up to the potential of the four high draft picks the Blues got from Atlanta for Keith Tkachuk. But the club was thrilled with the package it received for Guerin, who made it known recently that his desire was to play in the postseason. Advertisement

"Billy came to us through his agent a few weeks ago and asked that if the Blues make the playoffs, he wanted to be a part of it," Blues President John Davidson said. "If not, he would like to play in the playoffs (for another team).

"There were plenty of teams very interested in Billy. There were fewer teams interested in Keith because of his contractual situation ($5.7 million salary compared to Guerin's $2 million). We feel that both players are going to real strong organizations. And we feel real strong that what we got back is something that we can really work on."

The first-round pick acquired in the Guerin deal is conditional. The selection originally belonged to the New Jersey Devils, but was sent to the Sharks in a trade earlier this season. If New Jersey makes the playoffs this season, the Blues will use the pick this summer in the Devils' slot. If the Devils don't make the playoffs, the Blues will get San Jose's first-round pick in 2008.

New Jersey (84 points) is essentially a lock to make the playoffs, which means the Blues will probably have 11 picks in the draft, including three in the first round and eight in the first four rounds.

That puts the focus now on Blues assistant GM and director of amateur scouting Jarmo Kekalainen, whom Davidson said Tuesday is close to signing a three-year contract extension.

"I think we're a fortunate scouting staff to get an opportunity like this," Kekalainen said Tuesday.

The Guerin trade and the potential Kekalainen extension weren't the only news the Blues made Tuesday. The club also re-signed forward Jamal Mayers and traded defenseman Dennis Wideman to Boston for forward Brad Boyes.

Mayers, the longest-tenured Blue, signed a three-year extension worth $4 million.

"We had six teams that called us (about Mayers) and offered us something significant," Davidson said. "With Jamal, when you think of his role with this club, he's got a lot of speed, he's tough. What I'm getting at is ... he's not a top two-line forward, but he's a real good third-line forward. And if we allow him to go, we would need more than one person to replace him."

The Wideman trade was a bit of a surprise. Signed as a free agent by the Blues in June 2004, Wideman made quite an impression on the club in the last 1½ seasons. But the chance to get Boyes, 24, was too good to pass up. He has just 13 goals this season, but had 26 goals and 69 points with the Bruins last year. He is a former first-round pick - by Toronto in 2000.

"It's a good trade for both teams," Davidson said. "Brad Boyes adds offense to our club, which is needed. In our mind, he's a top-six forward. We have solid depth on the blue line and this gave us an opportunity to find somebody up front."

Nieminen, 30, doesn't add much offense, but the Blues like him. He had one goal and one assist in 30 games this season for the Sharks. Nieminen will be an unrestricted free agent after the season.

"He's a pesky forward who has some good size to him," Davidson said. "We want people in the lineup for us to compete the rest of the way. He's a person who competes."

Barriball, 19, was a seventh-round pick of the Sharks in last summer's draft who is playing at the University of Minnesota. As a freshman, Barriball leads the Golden Gophers in scoring with 16 goals and 20 assists in 35 games.

"He's a dynamic player," Minnesota coach Don Lucia said Tuesday. "Not very big (5 feet 8, 165 pounds), but he's kind of one of those guys that plays fearless for his size. I don't think San Jose was thrilled to have to give him up, but that was part of the price they had to pay."

Likewise, the Blues weren't thrilled to part with Guerin, who led the club with 28 goals and 47 points. But it's a deal that made sense for both sides for the immediate future of Guerin and the long-term future of the Blues.

"It's tough, but in the same line, I'm excited to be going to San Jose," Guerin said. "I'm excited about going there and playing in the playoffs and competing for a Stanley Cup."

New start for Blues' Nieminen

By Jeremy Rutherford
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/08/2007


On Jan. 29, 2000, Ville Nieminen played his first game in the NHL. He was in the starting lineup for the Colorado Avalanche, who were in town visiting the Blues.

"I remember listening to the national anthem and I was looking at the guys right next to me," Nieminen recalled Wednesday. "I saw Adam Deadmarsh and Peter Forsberg, two players that I admired a lot. You can't really remember anything ... that's how big of a memory it is."

Seven years and seven teams later, Nieminen is still thrilled to be in the NHL. He came to the Blues from San Jose in the trade for Bill Guerin, and although he's been fairly quiet through three games, the club is familiar with what the 29-year-old forward can provide. He's a pesky player who helped the Avalanche win the Stanley Cup in 2001, netting four goals and six assists in 23 games in the playoffs.

In 2003-04, Nieminen had four goals and four assists in 24 playoff games for the Calgary Flames, who lost to Tampa Bay in the finals.

"You could not ask for a better growing ground than Colorado," Nieminen said. "But I felt my best (hockey) was in Calgary. Since then I haven't played a lot. I've been playing more like 10 minutes a game. I'm not a very big fan of looking back. I want to look through the windshield; that's going to help me in my career when I think like that."

Blues forward Martin Rucinsky played with Nieminen last season in New York, where he had five goals and 17 points in 48 games before the Rangers traded him to San Jose.

"He plays tough, he works hard and he can score some goals as well," Rucinsky said. "He's the kind of player you need down the road. When he's playing his game, he's very, very effective."

Nieminen will be an unrestricted free agent after the season, and the Blues have said they're not ready to commit to anyone for the future. "I came here with the mindset that this is probably my last opportunity to earn a spot here for next season," he said. "That's my No. 1 priority ... well, my No. 2 priority. My first priority is to win hockey games."

Player Focus: Q&A with Ville Nieminen

By Chris Pinkert | St. Louis Blues Online
March 9, 2007


Veteran forward Ville Nieminen joined the Blues on Feb. 27, just hours before the NHL trade deadline, in a deal that sent Bill Guerin to San Jose for Nieminen, a first round draft pick and prospect Jay Barriball. Nieminen recently took a few minutes to sit down with St. Louis Blues Online to introduce himself to Blues fans. Blues forward David Backes, who was standing nearby, chimes in occasionally with his own comments.
Ville Nieminen played his first NHL game in St. Louis as a member of the Colorado Avalanche on Jan. 29, 2000.

STLOUISBLUES.COM: What was the first thing that went through your mind when you were told that you had been traded to the Blues?

Ville Nieminen: A trade is so shocking. After the phone call, you always settle down for awhile and start to look at the situation and go from there.

STLOUISBLUES.COM: Blues President John Davidson said you’d make a great addition to the Blues because you are a guy that works hard and comes to play every night. How do you describe yourself as a hockey player?

Nieminen: A competitor. I put winning in front of everything. I’m an energy guy [that’s there to] provide some spark. I [always] want to be remembered as a good teammate.

STLOUISBLUES.COM: There’s a Ville Nieminen fund for youth hockey in Finland. Every time you score a goal, a group of 30 people contribute money to the fund. How did that come about?

Nieminen: I’m not scoring many, so the fund is pretty broke right now. In previous years, we had a good season, but this year, we have to find other ways to find money.

STLOUISBLUES.COM: If you weren’t playing hockey, what would you be doing today?

Nieminen: Probably be a firefighter…or a lumberjack.

David Backes: (chiming in) Driving the zamboni.

STLOUISBLUES.COM: What’s your best golf score?

Nieminen: 84.

STLOUISBLUES.COM: And that’s on 18 holes, correct?

Nieminen: 84 in 18 holes? No (laughing). 102 holes.

Backes: That’s not a very good score.

STLOUISBLUES.COM: You played on some great teams with some great players, like Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Patrick Roy and Joe Thornton. What can you take away from playing with guys like that?

Nieminen: That’s another way to look at it. I’ve been in many places and I’ve been fortunate (enough) to meet a lot of good hockey players. You learn, you learn from everybody.

STLOUISBLUES.COM: Andy Murray said the other day that when he was coaching in Los Angeles, everyone on the Kings bench hated to play against you. What is it like to be the most hated guy on the ice?

Nieminen: (Laughing). Just the LA Kings? You know, on gamedays, I still get my two hour nap and at night, I get eight hours of sleep. It doesn’t bother me.