Nazem Kadri burned hot and fast at Toronto Maple Leafs camp this year, subjected to daily progress reports from management and media that — to people in the other five Canadian NHL markets — bordered on the ridiculous.
The Cody Hodgson coverage wasn’t far behind in Vancouver though, as media kept the flame of his making the Canucks roster alive, despite the fact he was coming off a major back injury and missed most of training camp.
In Edmonton, the debate over whether Taylor Hall would stick was almost nonexistent. But seven games into a goalless rookie campaign, you can hear the drumbeat in the distance as us talking heads rev up the "Should he stay or should he go" talk, with NHL Game No. 10 scheduled for next Tuesday in The Big E, and Hall stuck on one point.
Located right in the geographical middle of this debate, Manitoba Moose head coach Claude Noel went off the other day, when our friend Gary Lawless of the Winnipeg Free Press asked for Noel’s take on Hodgson’s production: one goal in his first six American Hockey League games.
"The problem is we have no patience in sports today. We want it now," Noel said. "We want Cody Hodgson to be the player he was in junior at the pro level and we have no patience to wait. Everybody wants it now. Is there time for development? Is there time for growth? No. We want it now.
"I’m patient. He’s patient. But no one else is. We live in a world where everyone wants it now."
It should be said that there are no signs from inside the Oilers organization — or the Canucks — that they are demanding immediate production from their respective No. 1 drafts. And the Leafs, after some typically windy rhetoric from on high, did exhibit patience in sending Kadri down.
So it is the media that Noel has issues with, and by extension, the fans.
The Canadian hockey public requires daily reports on your team’s young stars — particularly during training camp — and we’re paid to deliver them. But when those stars aren’t shining, what are you going to write or say?
Talk radio exacerbates that formula big-time, with three days spent recently in Edmonton on whether Hall should go back to junior. If he could go to the AHL — at 18, he can not — then fine. Have that debate.
But sending him back to junior, when the Oilers are in full rebuild, and he’s coming off of back-to-back MVP awards at the Memorial Cup? If Hall chips in two off of the defenceman’s keester Thursday in Columbus, are we still having this debate?
"I think I’m improving as the days go by. My last two games have been, you know, pretty good," he said before another goalless effort in Calgary Tuesday. "It’s all about a comfort level. You come from junior, where you’re able to do whatever you want. When you come here, you have to use your teammates, the goalies are so much better.
"People, they may judge you on your rookie season. But at the end of the day it’s not about what your rookie season is or anything like that. It’s about what you do in your prime."
Hodgson has one goal and is minus-3 in six games with the Moose. Hall has one assist and is minus-4 in seven games with Edmonton. Kadri leads the Toronto Marlies with 3-4-7 in six games, with a plus-1 rating.
Kadri had his breakout game on Saturday, with two goals and four points. Hall and Hodgson are still awaiting theirs.
"More and more everyday I feel better," Hodgson said. "Every time I’m out there."
"It may not be what he wants, but for me this is the perfect place for (Hodgson)," Noel said. "This is where patience can happen. I’m not looking at Cody Hodgson and saying you have to have so many goals and be this and be that. Let’s just play and play responsible and work hard and find ourselves. I think it’s better here (AHL) than there (NHL). Because up there you get micro-managed by everybody.
"Look at Taylor Hall. No goals. When is he gonna get that goal? Now he’s feeling the pressure of the world on him."
The pressure of the world? You’d never know it, talking to Hall.
"You kinda tune it out and make sure you’re doing the right things when you come to the rink," he shrugs. "It’s all about the process, not about what you’re doing right now. I know I’m going to be a good player down the line."
On that, we can likely all agree.
