Maple Leafs development camp notes: Wickenheiser coaching prospects

TORONTO – You can’t help but do a double-take.

Sure, you’ve seen Hayley Wickenheiser in many a uniform adorned with maple leafs, but those garments have always been red and white, not blue and white.

Yet the ponytailed coach you happen to be following into the Toronto Maple Leafs’ MasterCard Centre practice pad is indeed the most accomplished player in women’s hockey.

One year removed from her no-brainer induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame, Wickenheiser is taking another baby-step toward getting involved in the men’s game as a coach.

She was brought in this week by new Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas and director of player development Scott Pellerin to guest-coach Leafs hopefuls at development camp, which runs through Saturday.

“We thought it would be a good addition to have her come to camp here, and we’re excited to have her. She’s obviously a Canadian icon,” Pellerin says, “and we’re looking to learn from her too.”

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The 39-year-old Wickenheiser, who becomes HHOF eligible in 2019, served in the same role for the Edmonton Oilers in the 2017 off-season. She believes it’s only a matter of time before we see a woman behind an NHL bench.

“Whoever that would be would have to be competent enough to do it, would have to have the experience and knowledge of the game and also want to be in this environment. It’s a different environment, and it’s male-dominated, so you have to be comfortable being around these guys,” Wickenheiser told the Edmonton Journal at the time. (The Maple Leafs will make their golden guest coach available to reporters on Thursday.)

“Certainly being around the NHL would be something I’m interested in. I’ve been around it a lot through my career. I’ve been to two [Hockey Canada] development camps and trained with players and been around a lot of coaches so I know the environment. I also know that it’s a lot of work to get there, too.”

Meet the third-best Rasmus in the Draft

Tuesday brought us our first look at Toronto’s 29th-overall pick in a Maple Leafs uniform.

Undersized puck-moving defenceman Rasmus Sandin is a ball of optimism, eager to meet the other prospects and soak in as much knowledge as he can. He also has grand designs for a trip to the Eaton Centre.

“It’s one step closer to the best league in the world,” says the third-highest Rasmus selected in Dallas. “It’ll be a fun week.”

Sandin excelled in his OHL rookie year with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, but Dubas believes the Swede is still two years away from making the jump to the North American pro game.

The prospect has one more season on a pro contract with Rogle back home, the same team for which older brother Linus plays. His intent prior to the draft was to go back overseas, but that decision — the Soo, Rogle, or the AHL Marlies — has been pushed to the backburner until September.

Sandin feels lucky to have fellow Greyhounds defenders Noah Carroll and Mac Hollowell (“a friend from the beginning,” Sandin says) in camp with him.

Following camp, Sandin will vacation with his family for four days in Florida, then take his Leafs homework back with him to Sweden and start training. He’ll fly back for Canada in July for the 2018 World Junior Summer Showcase in Kamploops.

The dream here would be for the first-rounder to build his strength and acceleration and eventually grow into a Travis Dermott type.

“If he ends up where Travis is at this point, we certainly would be content if the comparison came true,” Dubas said at the draft. “But he’s his own person and player.”

Here comes more Matthew Barnaby

Matthew Barnaby Jr., a 20-year-old centre, was invited to camp as part of the undrafted group after wrapping his second consecutive season as the leading scorer for CCHL Pembrooke.

“I’ve been a Leafs fan for a while, so it was a pretty easy answer for me to come here,” says the 6-foot-2 Barnaby, who has committed to Lake Superior State University. “As I get taller, I think my game is starting to progress.”

Barnaby recalls Dad shoving his baby feet into a pair of skates at six months of age and is happy to talk about his “unbelievable memories” growing up around NHL rinks and borrowing stars’ sticks to practice with his father.

“Oh, man. I think I was on skates before I could walk. Just having my dad pull me around out there,” recalls Barnaby.

“I was scared of Darius Kasparaitis in Pittsburgh. I didn’t like him too much. Just a big, scary guy. Whenever I saw him in the dressing room, he would scare me, so I wasn’t too fond of him as a young kid.”

The younger Barnaby still talks hockey with his proud dad daily. The best piece of advice he’s received from the man with 834 games and 2,562 PIMs on his resume?

“Work ethic trumps talent nine times out of 10,” Barnaby says. “You might not be the best guy there, but you can always outwork him.”

Either this or the army

Rare is the elite prospect who hails from Tel Aviv.

Sudbury Wolves forward David Levin wasn’t selected last weekend, so he was understandably disappointed to become the first OHL first-overall pick in 14 years (since John Hughes in 2004) to go undrafted.

But an invite to Leafs camp keeps his improbable dream alive.

Levin’s father, Pavel, was a soccer player who learned of hockey in Latvia, but when Pavel began raising a family in Israel, heat was abundant and ice was scarce. Needing a job, Pavel opened a roller hockey rink and began training his sons, sans skates.

At age nine, David asked his parents if he could move to Canada to play the game on ice.

“They said I was too young. I had to grow up. Three years later I asked them again, and they said, ‘Yeah, you can try,’ ” Levin recalls. “I’m only 18 years old and I have a lot ahead of me, so I’m going to keep working hard and see where I get.”

The kid doesn’t have much of a choice. Back home in Israel, mandatory military service awaits.

“When you’re 18, you have to join until you’re 21. So if I go back, my career is over. I have to stay here,” David says. “It’s better to be here than in the army.”

One-Timers

Development camp was trimmed from 60-plus players in 2017 to 46 this year…. Barnaby isn’t the only NHLer’s son at camp. Defenceman T.J. Fergus, son of former Leaf Tom, was invited after a four-year OHL run with stops in Erie, Hamilton and Barrie…. Defenceman J.D. Greenway, a third-round pick in 2016, is the younger brother of impressive Minnesota Wild power forward Jordan Greenway…. 2018 second-rounder Sean Durzi made the biggest leap of any skater in the draft, according to North American Central Scouting. Pellerin says his confidence with the puck sticks out…. Goalie Joseph Woll has elected to participate in the U.S. National Development Team Program…. Barnaby on his dad’s infamous clip of singing along to Shania Twain’s “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” in the penalty box: “I haven’t seen that yet. I don’t know if I want to see that.”

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