Flyers prospect Giroux will fit well in the new NHL

Thursday, December 11, 2008

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Flyers prospect Giroux will fit well in the new NHL

By Brian Bohl in Sports

Issue date: 12/11/08

PHILADELPHIA- Claude Giroux skated down the ice and was in perfect position near the right circle to slam linemate Boyd Kane's feed past the glove of the opposing goalie.

The goal capped a three-point night for Giroux, who could be the Flyers' best prospect. Next month will mark his 21th birthday, though the right winger could be playing in the Wachovia Center with the big club shortly.

But even more impressive for Giroux was his second assist when the teenager sent a no-look pass to Kane in the slot, helping the AHL's Philadelphia Phantoms post a 6-3 win over the Hartford Wolfpack (Rangers affiliate) Friday night.

Just three months ago, Giroux struggled to make those crisp passes or display the scoring touch that enticed the Flyers to draft him with the 22nd overall pick in 2006. The Hearst, Ontario native didn't impress coach John Stevens and his staff in training camp when given the chance to make the season-opening roster.

After playing in two NHL games before a brief five game stint with the Phantoms last season, the Flyers decided to literally send Giroux across the parking lot.

The Wachovia Spectrum shares a parking spot with the Flyers home arena, with the 41-year-old arena serving as the Phantoms home. The building, set to be demolished after this season, once housed the Flyers and NBA's 76ers. Now it is home for budding stars such as Giroux, who is using the demotion as motivation.

Giroux registered 12 goals and 12 assists for 24 points through 26 games in his first full professional season. Playing wing on a line centered by Phantoms captain Jared Ross and flanked by Kane, the 5-11,180-pound forward said he is finding a comfort level.

"With the Flyers, I didn't play like I wanted to," Giroux said. "I didn't work hard. Obviously, I didn't deserve to make the team but I learned from that and I'm just trying to work hard and maybe have a chance soon."

John Paddock went 36-23-6 as the coach for the Ottawa Senators last season before going back to his roots in the AHL. The 54-year-old took over the Phantoms head coaching duties this season and said Giroux has improved nearly every facet of his game since the first game.

Paddock, who has led three different franchises to Calder Cup championships, coached future NHL star Jason Spezza at the start of his minor league career and is hoping Giroux can translate his skills to the next level.

"He's a real intelligent player," Paddock said. "He's very skilled and competes like crazy. He just needs to get used to the pro game. To be in the NHL, there's an experienced factor and [players] are a little bit stronger. But he's a really good player."

Giroux scored 125 goals in 187 games in juniors, registering 321points for the QMJHL's Gatineau Olympiques. Yet he struggled in October, scoring two goals in eight games with just one multi-point game and a minus-five rating.

Since then, Giroux has racked up seven multi-point games, including a career-best three-point effort against the Wolfpack last week.

"The first five games, he wasn't a really good player for us for what we expected," Paddock said. "Expectations are high for him. He puts pressure on himself, so he had to adjust to understand that our league is a very hard league to play in. But he's such a character guy that when he realized that, he picked up his game up and he's been one of the better players in the league."

Giroux's improved play could mean another stroll across the street to help the Flyers make a potential playoff run. Philadelphia entered Tuesday sixth in the Eastern Conference. Joining a big-city team for a stretch run would complete the hockey journey for a player born in a town with a population of less than 6,000, where Giroux said he started playing when he was four or five years old.

"I'm trying to control the things I can control and if they think I'm ready to make the step, I'll make the step," Giroux said. "If not, I'll play the whole year down here. It's all about them. If it was [up to] me, I'd love to be there right now. But if they think I'm not ready, then I respect their decision."

"Traditionally, we have targeted bigger, more physical players," Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said to the team's website in 2007. "But Claude was a player high on our list. We view him as an excellent blend of skill and smarts, and a player with a very competitive attitude and a definite desire to win.

"Basically, he's the perfect player model for the new NHL."

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© Copyright 2008 ~The Chronicle

WRHU Claude Giroux Audio Report: Originally aired Dec. 9, 2008

All pictures by Brian Bohl

Hofstra Chronicle Islanders Report

Section Toolbar: Homepage News Sports B-Section Editorial/Op-ed Features

Just because the rink is cold doesn't mean you play in the basement

By Brian Bohl in Sports

Issue date: 12/11/08

UNIONDALE, NY- Five losses in the past six games put the Islanders in the Eastern Conference cellar just two weeks after the club was one period away from beating the talented Pittsburgh Penguins to climb back to. 500.

But on that night on the eve of Thanksgiving, Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby showed why they are two of the best players in the NHL, completing the comeback that ignited the Islanders freefall. Coach Scott Gordon's team has surrendered 98 goals through 28 games an

d is batting Toronto to become the first team to allow 100 goals this season.

An army injury continues to sideline Kyle Okposo, the Islanders 2006 first-round pick and one of the few players who actually can be considered part of a "youth movement" the Islanders have embellished to shrug off responsibility for what will most likely be another playoff-less campaign.

Mike Sillinger's return from a hip injury means the Islanders have three forwards older than 35 playing on the top two lines, joining Bill Guerin and Doug Weight has the other two veterans who should be traded if only to give them the chance to contribute to a contender instead of wasting their golden years in a half empty Nassau Coliseum.

But before ignoring the final 54 games, there is hope that the franchise can build towards the future. Blake Comeau was expected to be one of the main beneficiaries of first-year coach Scott Gordon, who replaced Ted Nolan. Gordon was touted as the perfect man to bring out the best in young players, which resulted in a successful run as an AHL coach.

Comeau didn't profit from the move initially. Gordon and GM Garth Snow demoted the 22-year-old to minor league Bridgeport. Instead of sulking, the forward tailed 19 points in 19 games, including four goals to get the call up to the big league club.

In his three games with the Islanders, the team's 2004 second-round pick has played with the same confidence he demonstrated as a Sound Tiger. Comeau has logged more than 10 minutes of ice time in all his contests and scored his first NHL goal since March 24 when he found the net against the Flyers at the Wachovia Center Tuesday night. His presence might energize a unit that is only two points better than the league's last-place team.

"It's a good group of guys in here," Comeau said. "We want to learn from our mistakes and not have it come back and affect us for the next game."

With Okposo and Frans Nielsen rehabbing their injuries, 2008 first round pick Josh Bailey and Comeau could be the only two forwards worth watching. Should Snow move Guerin, Weight, Sillinger or any other veteran at the trade deadline, Comeau might even be expected to play 17-20 minutes per game to replace the departed production.

Comeau showed flashes of potential in his first full NHL season last year, recording eight goals and seven assists for 15 points in 51 games in 2007-08. The 6-1 right-winger never put up gaudy goal totals in his five seasons with the WHL's Kelowna Rockets, though his two-way ability and hitting prowess made him the 47th overall draft pick four years ago. That physicality was on display in first game with the Isles this year, as Comeau racked up three hits against the Thrashers. He has been credited with four hits overall since getting the call up.

"A big part of my game is being physical," Comeau said. "I can't take anything for granted. I have to play physical every night and earn my spot in the lineup every night

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© Copyright 2008 ~The Chronicle

Section Toolbar: Homepage News Sports B-Section Editorial/Op-ed Features

Deficit delays beach dredge

By: Brian Bohl

Posted: 12/11/08

When the Army Corps of Engineers started work on a $5.7 million project in January to dredge Jones Inlet in Point Lookout, civic and government leaders said the undertaking was just the opening salvo in a long-term effort to combat coastal erosion and protect property.

But New York's budget deficit could delay the start of the $120 million storm damage reduction project that would protect waterfront homes against flooding in Point Lookout and neighboring Long Beach, Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg (D-Long Beach) said.

A large-scale storm damage reduction project would extend the benefits of the dredging project to Long Beach and Lido Beach. Donald Cresitello, the Army Corps of Engineers' project planner for the Long Beach study, said the primary purpose of the Point Lookout undertaking was to expand passageways for boats to navigate safely, with the coastal fortification an ancillary benefit.

Cresitello said a storm damage reduction project differs from simple dredging in that it calls for the implementation of new groins, which are jetties that extend from the shore to curtail erosion. It also would help block water from extending into Point Lookout's nearly 600 houses along the Great South Bay.

"The plan we have on the books looks at building dunes, rehabbing existing groins and add new groins in the Point Lookout area," said Cresitello, who added that $40 million of the $120 million would be allocated for Point Lookout. "Basically, your primary benefit is the reduction of damages from wave attacks and erosion."

But experts said erosion-control measures are not one-time fixes. Like roadwork, any type of dredging requires occasional touch-up work, though there are provisions for repairs in Jones Inlet.

"A maintenance-dredging permit is good for 10 years, so that allows them the time to do the project once and possibly if it needs some more work, to come back at a subsequent point in time if in fact it's needed," said Bill Fonda, a New York State Department of Environmental Conservation spokesman.

Weisenberg joined with State Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) to help acquire state funding for the Point Lookout dredging project after water came within 10 feet of some of the hamlet's 600 houses following a nor'easter in 2007.

Another influx of private money might not be as readily available. Army Corps of Engineers officials said storm damage reduction project construction could start within two or three years if the funding comes through-something lawmakers said is questionable in the current economic climate.

Weisenberg said Nassau lawmakers would like to secure financing for the plan but said he is not optimistic about acquiring funding as the state tries to slash an expected $12.5 billion deficit projected for 2010.

With Democrats controlling both houses of the state Legislature and the governor's office for the first time since the New Deal, Weisenberg said it's possible the plan could be approved if state finances improve, though he also said that is a long shot.

"We're not talking about beach restoration or anything else," Weisenberg said about the state government. "Any money that was laying around is gone. No one is going to give you $100 million and say 'go fix the beach.'"

Joe Olha, the Army Corps of Engineers' Jones Inlet project manager, said Point Lookout's beaches were replenished with 640,000 cubic yards of sands during a project that stretched from Jan. 13-March 3. The venture also removed sand by a jetty in the inlet, clearing the way for boats to navigate the area safely. Jones Inlet connects the Great South Bay to the Atlantic Ocean.

Herb Abbe, the president of the Point Lookout Civic Association, said the dredging project was a positive first step that will be nullified without the benefits of a storm damage reduction project.

Abbe, who called the Jones Inlet work a "band-aid" for the long-term erosion problems, said residents who live on Parkside Ave. and adjacent Ocean Blvd. are worried about flooding if nothing is done.

"The dredging of the inlet was fairly successful and while we've lost a lot of the sand already because of the nor'easters and storms, the trick is still the storm damage reduction project," Abbe said. "It's going to give us a continuous dune and extend the jetties, and with that, we hope to have better protection in terms of getting rocked by Mother Nature."

Lillian Hess Tanguay, an associate geology professor at Long Island University-C.W. Post, said unlike some other public works projects, the need to continually infuse funds to maintain coastlines makes it a prime candidate to be passed-over for other endeavors.

By putting the dredged sand just west of the inlet, on the eastern end of the barrier beach, Hess Tanguay said the government can have a relatively inexpensive means of providing sand that needs to be reapplied constantly.

"One of the problems politicians have with beach replenishment as a fix for beach erosion is that as soon as they do a dredging project, a few storms come, and the sand is moved," she said. "But they aren't really spending money if they just take the dredge material and dump it close by. It's a lot cheaper to dump it there."

While politicians will try to find funding for public works projects when the new Legislature meets for the first time in January, planning officials said the details for a storm damage reduction project are being finalized in a re-evaluation report.

"We would then move into plans and specs before construction," Cresitello said. "This would be contingent on federal and non-federal funds."

Abbe said local lawmakers came through before and is hopeful a deal can be reached, but added the community is realistic about a modified timetable that could start in the next decade.

"We're optimistic, but with the financial crisis and the budgetary constraints that face the federal government and state and local governments as well, I don't think it's going to happen in the immediate future," Abbe said.

Cresitello said delaying storm damage reduction measures would put the safety of beach-goers and residents at risk.

"You run a general risk of loss of beach and dune through continued erosion and possible damage to public infrastructure as well as life-safety issues."

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© Copyright 2008 ~The Chronicle

Point Lookout Follow Up Story Part I

Point Lookout Follow-up Part II

Med School to use Jets' former home

Section Toolbar: Homepage News Sports B-Section Editorial/Op-ed Features

Med School to use Jets' former home

By Brian Bohl in News

Issue date: 12/11/08

Barbed-wire fences still surround Weeb Ewbank Hall, which once was a bustling center of activity as the Jets headquarters before the NFL franchise moved out in August. Vacant parking lots and padlocks on the doors have turned the north campus-based building into a dormant facility.

But that will change in 2009. The University's top priority for the year will be converting the 35,000-square foot building into the home of the medical school, which will welcome its first incoming class in September 2011.

New conference rooms, faculty offices and an anatomy lab will be part of the building's overall makeover, Joseph Barkwill, the University's vice president for facilities and operation said. Request-for-proposals for design and engineering firms will be going out later this week.

Medical school faculty and administration officials could move into the building by August 2010, according to the preliminary timetable. The request-for-proposals will allow the University to hire an architect who can create a design that will allow the University to garner accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education.

"By accreditation requirements, the building has to be operating one year prior to the first class being admitted into the program," Barkwill said.

An economy in recession has forced many universities and for-profit companies to scale-down or halt renovation and construction endeavors. Yet Barkwill said the Jets facility renovation and a redesigned rec center are projects that will move ahead as scheduled. University officials also said that a struggling financial market could be advantageous.

"Universities like us, we don't plan for one year," Barkwill said. "With the economy, we are looking at deferring some projects. We know we're going to do the Jets facility and we already have the design in place for the rec center.

"On the flip side, one of the benefits is that construction and architecture firms need work and will be more competitive in pricing. So, we want to take advantage of it. We are going to put them out for bid and see if we can get favorable pricing. If we can, we'll move forward with it."

Other construction and renovation projects for the University include:

n The design is in place for the renovated rec. center, where the north end will include four rooms. The University will expand the weight room that ties into the current weight room and build a pilates and a multi-purpose room. Upstairs, the conference room will be taken out and the entire space will be turned into a room for cardio exercise equipment. A new track will also be constructed along with a redesigned lobby.

"We anticipate that if we get bids in February or early March, we'll either start in May or September," Barkwill said. "We don't want to take down the facility for any appreciable amount of time."

He also said the Plant wants to start and complete before one of the semesters and to try not to have it in the middle of the semester. "We can do more work in the summer than we can in the winter. It will be 12 months if we get two summers in there or 15 months if we get only one summer in," he said.

n With the Jets gone, Barkwill said there will be refresh work in Colonial Square this summer, which is scheduled to include general maintenance, a new paint job and new furniture in some of the living quarters.

n The lounges in all the towers will be refurbished by the end of the summer in 2010.

n The indoor athletic bubble and adjacent fields in the complex will be leased out at night, with the University athletic department still using the facilities during the day.

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© Copyright 2008 ~The Chronicle

Project with Jesse Webster