Demitra Looks To Future, Not Past

"...I like what we've become and what we've accomplished, but I'm most excited about what we have in store in the future. In this business you can only look ahead; it is the only thing you can alter". - Rover forward Pavol Demitra on his club's outlook for the rest of the RHL15 season.






Iqaluit, NU (CP)

If you ever spend any time with Pavol Demitra, prepare to have your ear talked off. Demitra is an avid conversationalist, willing to discuss anything from the weather (he enjoys the cold winters in Iqaluit) to his native Slovakia (he fancies his team's chances in the Olympic hockey tournament with their improved goaltending). One thing, however, he spends little time dwelling on is the past. Demitra is one of the key figures in the brief history of the Rovers, but you wouldn't know it by speaking with him. His singular focus is the task at hand, which is staying in touch with the conference-leading Kitchener Mounties and then winning in the playoffs. "I like our team", Demitra stated after practice. "We've got a good group, one that can challenge for the King's Cup".

Demitra knows personally what it takes to get there and what it takes to win it. He came to Baffin Island in a trade with the SnowDogs just prior to the start of RHL12 as a player who already had King's Cup experience, having won a Championship with the Chicago Gargoyles in RHL9. He responded to the challenge of playing with the second year club by leading them in scoring. A year later in RHL13, the Rovers were hoisting the King's Cup themselves, with Demitra leading the team in goals and playing a pivotal role. After coming within one win of repeating as champs in RHL14, Demitra, now the franchise leader in goals, assists, and points, again sees the opportunity to make a run at another King's Cup. That is something he'd much rather talk about that his past accomplishments. "Don't get me wrong; I've very proud of my time as a Rover", Demitra said of his reticence towards discussing past achievement. "I like what we've become and what we've accomplished, but I'm most excited about what we have in store in the future. In this business you can only look ahead; it is the only thing you can alter".

What the Rovers can accomplish this season is yet to be determined. Chasing the front-running Mounties all season and in a dog-fight with the Capones and Sockeyes for seeding, the Rovers have been playing well, but not to their full capacity. Demitra sits second among Rover forwards with an underwhelming six goals and twelve assists in twenty-eight games; significantly below his point-per-game clip since joining the team. He knows that as well as the team is playing now, they will need to step it up in order to achieve the final goal. "We've been winning games, that is the most important thing. But to win in the playoffs, we'll need more. I believe we each have more to give. Our line [Murray and Frolov] has more to give. The other forwards have more to give. If we each give everything, we won't be ashamed of our ultimate result".

Demitra sees the arms race unfolding in the Champs conference and is unfazed as the Sockeyes and the Vampyres have made major additions to their clubs. "We added our players during free-agency", Demitra points out. "Ekman and Korolyuk have been go-to guys all season. And Chris [Pronger] has been excellent for us on defense. If we need something else during the course of the season, I have faith that the club will go out and get it".

Right now all Pavol Demitra needs is to see the effort put in each and every game. If he continues to see the work, he is confident that the outcome will be favourable more often than not.

Day 55-56: Weekend Trip Gains Split

Former Sockeye Martin Gerber practices before downing his old club 2-1.




Iqaluit, NU (CP)

A pair of weekend games saw the Rovers earn a 2-1 home victory over a hard-charging Sockeyes team, while dropping a 4-3 decision in Saskatoon to the ever-dangerous Funboys.

The Sockeyes rolled into Iqaluit riding a four game winning streak, a run which started after a 3-3 draw with the Rovers during their last meeting. After a scoreless first period in which the Rovers outshot the Sockeyes 16-7, Saku Koivu broke through late in the second with the first goal of the game. South Edmonton held that lead through two periods until midway through the third when Jeff Halpern was sprung on a shorthanded breakaway by Sean Hill. Halpern roofed his shot glove-side on Evgeni Nabokov to tie the game at 1-1. The Rovers ended regulation having outshot the Sockeyes 35-25.

In OT, Martin Gerber was whistled for a questionable slash on Sockeyes forward Brendan Morrow. Morrow was pushed heavily into Gerber, who retaliated with chop to Morrow's calf. The Rovers, however, would pick up their netminder as Nils Ekman took a pass from Jeff Halpern in the neutral zone and skated in to beat Nabokov with a wrister from the high slot, giving Baffin Isle the 2-1 OT victory. "I'm just glad that the guys overcame my mistake", Gerber said after the game. "I was very surprised and disappointed to get penalized on that play. I took a hard hit and let my frustration get the better of me. I didn't want to let the guys down".

"You knew this game meant a lot to Marty, it being his former team", Ekman said. "I'm just glad I could get him the win. He was awesome again for us". The win was a big one for Baffin, as they kept pace with the Capones, who earlier in the day had downed the Roadkill 4-2, and pulled four points clear of the Sockeyes. "It was a four-point game, no doubt about it", Stringer said after the win. "You have to win those when they come up on your schedule. They're playing very well right now, so we have to hold them off as best we can. Hopefully we take this strong play into Saskatoon tomorrow".



Andrew Ference talks to reporters after scoring the winning goal. "We needed that one.. big time".







Saskatoon, SK (CP)

That night the Rovers flew to Saskatoon to tangle with the Funboys. Martin Baldwin's group has been up and down all season, but just when an over-anxious critic is ready to write them off, they rise again. A win over the third-place Rovers was something they were looking for to keep within hailing distance of the fourth-place Sockeyes.

The Funboys drew first blood at the halfway point of the first as former Rover Eric Desjardins's point shot found its way through a maze of legs to beat Martin Gerber for a 1-0 lead. Then, three minutes later, an Alexander Frolov sighting was reported. Frolov took a lead pass from Chris Pronger and with a burst of speed around the outside of all-star defender Scott Niedermayer, swooped in from the left on Funboys 'tender Michael Leighton and beat him with a nasty stop deke back around Leighton's right pad. The goal was just Frolov's second of the season, and he emphatically slammed the glass in celebration after tying the affair at 1-1. "That was a highlight reel marker, and one we see from Alex everyday in practice", Stringer said of the Frolov tally. "I just hope he can build on it in the coming games".

Kris Draper and Peter Schaefer exchanged quick goals at the midpoint of the second period, and Jeff Halpern scored in his second straight game in the opening minute of the third period to give the Rovers a 3-2 lead. However, it was not meant to be as Pavel Datsyuk scored in the eighth minute and then Andrew Ference beat Gerber from the slot as the trailer on a long 3 on 2 rush. "That was a defensive breakdown right there. There was no support coming back from our forwards and Ference was able to drift into the slot and take the pass with nobody on him. That can't happen against good teams", Stringer said of the winning goal.

The win drew the Funboys to within four points of South Edmonton for fourth place, while the Rovers failed to break their second-place tie with the Capones, who now have two games in hand on the Rovers. Baffin now has two days off before their next pair of games, a home date with the Roadkill and a road contest against the Spectres.

Day 52: SEL@ROV review

A Lethbridge defenseman sweeps more Rover goals out of the net from behind Selects goalie Marc Denis.

Iqaluit, NU (CP)

The Rovers scored two power-play goals to cruise to their third straight win, a 4-2 decision over the Selects. Kris Draper opened the game on the power-play in the first period, only to see Fredrik Modin equalize less than a minute later. Goals by Glen Murray, his tenth of the season later in the first, and Adam Hall, his second in the second, put the Rovers up 3-1. Marian Hossa answered later in the second, but Nils Ekman scored another power-play goal in the third for the insurance marker. Chris Mason won his second straight game, stopping 15 of 17 shots.

The Rovers now enter a stretch of two days off, two days on for the next two weeks. After an off-day today, the Rovers will have two rest days breaking up three back-to-backs against the Sockeyes and Funboys, the Roadkill and Spectres, and the Wicked Ale and StrapHangers. Starter Martin Gerber is expected to be in the nets at home against South Edmonton.

Day 50: ROV@WIC review

Rovers forward Kris Draper relaxed before the game by playing a little soccer, then scored two goals to sink the Wicked Ale.

St. Pete's, FL (AP)

Kris Draper scored both goals for the Rovers and Chris Mason stopped 19 of 20 shots in a 2-1 win over the host Wicked Ale last night. Pulling into St. Pete's the day after a long flight down from a home win against the Funboys, it would have been very easy to simply go through the motions against the last-placed Wicked Ale. With a single win in their previous ten games, St. Pete's can be easy to overlook. However, their results belie the offensive talent on their side, and the coaching staff knew that they'd have to get a full effort to get two points. The coaches wanted a quick start from the team, but based on the first period of play, you'd have to think that most of the Rovers were still on the plane. The Ale jumped out to an early lead on a goal from Todd Marchant and put the pedal down, outshooting the Rovers 10-3 in the frame. "We came out real flat in the first", Stringer said. "I had cautioned the guys that we needed to start fast, but nobody had legs early. They really took it to us".

After a verbal beating in the lockerroom at the intermission, the Rovers came out with more purpose in the second. Kris Draper scored on a breakaway, intercepting an attempted D to D pass from Vladimir Malakhov at the Rovers blueline and going in alone to finish with a quick snapper high glove-side on Ale netminder Jocelyn Thibault, at the seven minute mark and again early in the third on a nifty deflection of a Nils Ekman shot from the half-boards. From that point, backup Chris Mason and the rest of the defense shut the door, allowing just ten shots in the second and third periods combined after yielding ten in the first period alone.

The Ale began to show some frustration late in the game with the Rovers defensive shell. With three minutes remaining, Pierre Turgeon drove Eric Brewer head-first into the boards with a vicious check from behind. Turgeon was assessed only a minor for boarding. Then a minute into the Rover power-play, Mathieu Dandenault blatantly cross-checked Glen Murray in the face while the two were battling for position in the front of the net. Dandeneault was given a five-minute major for cutting Murray, who required stitches on the bench to close the gash in his lip. "They really took liberties tonight late in the game", Stringer said after. "I was impressed with Robyn jumping in and defending our guys [Regehr was given a roughing minor at the end of the Dandenault exchange], but we'll play them again in the future. This will be remembered by our guys".

With the win, the Rovers pulled to within one point of the Capones, who dropped a 2-1 decision to the Sockeyes, for second place. The Capones still have a game in hand. The Rovers now have an off-day before hosting the Selects. Martin Gerber is expected to be a game-time decision in that contest, but if he is unable to go, Mason will look for consecutive wins for the first time this season.

Day 49: FUN@ROV review

"There's one for the highlight reel right there", said Sean Hill after the game of his breakaway goal into an empty net.

Iqaluit, NU (CP)


The Rovers returned to some home-cooking following a winless two-game mini-trip through Edmonton and Albany with a 4-1 win over the visiting Saskatoon Funboys. Scoring once in each period with goals by Halpern, Korolyuk, and Demitra, and then a final empty-netter by Hill, the Rovers were matched in effort all night by the Funboys, who just couldn't beat Martin Gerber when they needed it the most. Gerber did leave the game mid-way through the third with a bad back, but Chris Mason held the fort for the victory. "We've got a few games coming up, so Mason will definitely start in St. Pete's tomorrow night and we'll see what happens when we host Lethbridge".

The Rovers flew out to St. Pete's immediately after the game to prepare to tangle with the Wicked Ale.

Day 47: ROV@STR review

Former Rover Ed Belfour was in a fighting mood against his former team.

Albany, NY (AP)

The Rovers concluded their two game mini-road trip in Albany last night, and despite outshooting and playing very hard in the corners, it was an ex-Rover that stole the spotlight. Ed Belfour stopped all 36 shots he faced, giving the StrapHangers a 1-0 win over Baffin. Sergei Samsonov tallied the lone goal of the game during the game's opening shift, the only one of 22 shots that would allude Martin Gerber on this night. "Eddie was huge for them tonight", Stringer said after the game. "Our boys really brought it, but he was fantastic. You just have to tip your hat and move on".

The Rovers now return home and rest up before kicking off a stretch of three games in four nights, starting by hosting the Funboys, travelling to St. Pete's, then returning home to host the Selects.

The Amazing Disappearing Frolov

There hasn't been much celebrating for Alexander Frolov this RHL season.

Iqaluit, NU (CP)

Coming into this, his second full RHL season, much was expected of Alexander Frolov. He played admirably as a rookie in RHL13, but was used sparingly in RHL14. While sitting, he practiced and trained so that he could take advantage of the opportunity that he knew would eventually come his way. And that opportunity did arrive, when in RHL15 he was promoted to first-line duty alongside team scoring leaders Pavol Demitra and Glen Murray. "I was very excited to play with Pavol and Muzz", Frolov said of the pre-season. "They were leading the team to the Kings Cup when I was a rookie, and they are the franchise leaders in so many areas. It was an honour to skate with them". The Rovers won all four of their pre-season games, though Frolov managed only one assist over that span. Little was thought of it at the time, as nobody on the team really stepped up offensively either.

When the season started, it was expected that the top unit would shoulder the load while the second trio of Kris Draper flanked by newcomers Nils Ekman and Alex Korolyuk would try to take off some of the pressure by contributing when they could. As the season progressed, however, it was the second line that carried the club, as Ekman and Korolyuk developed instant chemistry while Draper did the dirty work on the line and covered defensively, not to mention chipping in a few points himself along the way. Journalists around the league were taking notice of the offensive woes on Baffin Isle, as Frolov was consistently being cited as an underachiever in other markets. "Maybe he started reading those press clippings and was squeezing the stick a bit too much", coach Stringer said of his young winger. "It's real easy to get down on yourself when things don't go right".

As Demitra and Murray worked their way out of scoring slumps, Frolov continued to struggle. While the Rovers went on an impressive 14 game unbeaten streak to shoot to second place in the Champs conference, Frolov shot blanks. To his credit, he has continued to shoot the puck as urged by the coaching staff. He sits third on the team with 62 shots on goal, behind Murray and Demitra respectively, though his single goal leaves him with an astonishing shooting percentage of 1.6%.

As the 1/3 mark of the season passes, the coaches are trying their best to help Alex break out, including shuffling the lines. In South Edmonton, Frolov skated with Draper and Ekman while Korolyuk joined Murray and Demitra. Frolov only saw eight minutes of ice time in that game, but the experiment will last at least through the StrapHangers game tonight. The coaches say that he will return to the top line eventually, although they admit that they need to find a way to get in on the ice more. Through 21 games on the top unit, he has been averaging a mere 14.5 minutes of ice a night, as compared to 23.1 for Murray and 17.8 for Demitra.

As for the future, Stringer was adamant that while Frolov hasn't been playing well lately, he is definitely in the long-term plans for the club. "You don't give up on a player like Alex Frolov after twenty games", Stringer said of the notion that he'd deal away his young talent. "Every time I approach a team around the league in trade talks they start out asking for the same guys, and Frolov is always the first or second name out of their mouths. You don't dump a player that is so heavily sought after. Every team knows the talent is there, and it's just up to us to help Alex kick this dry spell. He's going to be an all-star for us for years to come".

"I will continue to work and must not get down", Frolov said for his part. "If the work is there, the results will come".

Day 46: ROV@SOC review

Alex Korolyuk pausing before the game to enjoy a delicious apple, which no doubt helped him to score a power-play goal against the Sockeyes later that evening.

Edmonton, AB (CP)

Playing the first of back-to-back road games, the Baffin Island Rovers knew that they had to bring their best effort to get past the much-improved South Edmonton Sockeyes. A 3-3 tie in front of a hostile crowd still leaves many questions unanswered, but it does tell the Rovers that they can still compete at the top while the teams around them accelerate their arms race.

The Sockeyes were debutting two new defensemen in Phillipe Boucher and Darryl Sydor, and were looking to make a statement about their new roster to the rest of the Champions Conference. To that end they came out of the gate with both guns blazing, outshooting the Rover 10-2 in the first period and scoring the only goal on Patrik Elias's seventh marker of the season. The Rovers weathered the storm and emerged in the second period to score early, on a Glen Murray tally, and late, with a Jokinen deflection, to take a 2-1 lead into the third. They increased their lead to 3-1 on the PP early in the period as Alex Korolyuk made a nifty dangle in front of the net. From that point, however, penalties were their downfall. The Rovers gave the Sockeyes four third period PP opportunities (10 overall in the game) and they capitalized twice on goals by Morrison and St. Louis. Martin Gerber played well throughout the game in his return from injury, stopping 28 of 31 shots, while Evgeni Nabokov turned aside 18 of 21 for South Edmonton.

The Rovers left the arena immediately after the game to fly to Albany to visit the StrapHangers tonight. Chris Mason should be ready for the contest, though he will likely dress only as the backup.

Day 43: 500@ROV review

Kovalev also tried to take out Hedberg later in the game.

Clearly ornery from their recent travails, the 500s came to Baffin Island looking for blood. The Rovers just weren't expecting it literally. The 3-1 500s win was not without controversy. With backup Chris Mason between the pipes, Indy wanted to get an early jump on their rival. They got that, when recently-acquired Alexei Kovalev pulverized Mason with a vicious check as he and defenseman Cale Hulse were driving to the net. Kovalev was apparently mad over being hacked by Mason minutes earlier, an act that got Mason a two-minute minor penalty. "He didn't let up at all. Hulse let him go at the last minute, but he [Kovalev] didn't turn. He just creamed Mason. How could it have been viewed as not intentional?", questioned Stringer after the game.

Already without starter Martin Gerber, third-string 'tender Johan Hedberg entered the game, getting his first action of the year. He played admirably, allowing three goals on 27 shots against, but was outdueled by Chris Osgood, who stopped 25 of 26 shots, allowing only a late marker by Nathan Horton. "We've got two days off now, and that should be enough time for Marty [Gerber] to get back for the Sockeyes game. Chris may be ready then as well, or maybe not..."

Day 41: ROV@ROA review

Gerber (center) helps guide a group of Rovers fans to the correct gate at the Davey Allison Memorial Auditorium.

Back from the holiday break and fresh off their 3-3 tie against Guelph, the Rovers posted a 2-0 road shutout over the Roadkill last night. Waterloo came out strong and did not relent, outshooting the Rovers 40-31 and controlling the play all evening, but strong net play by Baffin combined with two early goals in the first period saw the Rovers keep pace with the Capones in a second-place tie. Former Rover Roman Cechmanek was keen to defeat his former club, but goals by Regehr and Halpern were enough to get the win. Martin Gerber stopped 29 shots before leaving the contest midway through the third period with back spasms. Chris Mason entered and made 11 more saves to preserve the shutout. "Marty tweaked his back coming across the crease", Stringer said after the game. "We'll give Mase the start against the 500s tomorrow night and by then Marty should be good to go against the Sockeyes".

Notes: - assistant captain and original Rover Sean Hill made his contract demands known to the club over the weekend, demanding a $4M salary to re-sign with the club before free agency opens. The Rovers have not responded publicly to the demand, but are unlikely to acquiesce.