Word reached us earlier in the week that Tyler Pitlick will not be attending Team USA’s “tryout camp”, and was met with a lot of hand-wringing among Oilerdom. A couple of explainations were put forth, with many of them nicking Pitlick because he spurned NCAA hockey in favour of the CHL this past offseason. The hole in this theory rests with Jack Campbell’s selection to the team. Gone are the days where the American team was as close-minded as the Ruskies, they’re pulling the best talent from wherever they can find it.
While it’s hard to take initially, there are a lot of factors at play here that may benefit Pitlick and Team USA in the long run.
Pitlick is off to a decent start with Medicine Hat, but results have been a tad underwhelming. We had been led to believe that young Pitlick would immediately get to work dominating WHL competition. A slow October gave way to a better November yet he was passed over by a couple of curious selections, filling out Team USA’s 29 man camp roster. With as many as six returning forwards from last year’s Gold medal winning team, Pitlick was in tough to crack this roster to begin with. The newcomers to the selection camp are of similar stature to Pitlick and will bring the tenacity and speed that was a hallmark of last year’s entry. Also along for the ride in what may be a case similar to Jordan Schroeder is 5’6” Rocco Grimaldi who is eligible for the 2011 entry draft.
If Team USA had used the same style of selection camp that the Canadians are fond of, there is little doubt in my mind that Pitlick would have been among the names called. I have to say I’m a fan of the Americans’ camp (minus the lack of goaltending competition) because the coaching staff have fewer players they have to focus on before making a decision. However Pitlick is not on this roster, which leaves him in Medicine Hat for a lenghy duration, possibly minus two of his star teammates.
Unlike Pitlick who did not make the selection camp roster, Anaheim’s 2010 first rounder Emerson Etem is vying for a spot. Selected two spots before Pitlick, Etem possesses that effortless speed that the American brass has been fond of in recent years. While speed isn’t exactly a weakness of Pitlick’s game, it can’t be called a strength either. A flashy scorer with some grit to his game, Etem could fill multiple roles for the American squad. This leaves a hole in the Hat’s top-2 lines, especially if Etem is suiting up for Team USA come boxing day.
Another traning camp invite went to Canadian Linden Vey, the leading scorer for the Tigers. Vey has been on fire early this year and would be considered a huge loss to Medicine Hat over the Christmas break. I don’t know much about Vey other than he’s been around the Dub for what seems like forever. He’s bounced around quite a bit but has found a home on Medicine Hat’s top line. He’s a year older than both Pitlick and Etem and has the offensive game to crack the Canadians’ final roster if he has a good camp and catches some instant chemistry with similarly skilled players.
All this means that Tyler Pitlick could be missing two key teammates in Medicine Hat and might be looked upon to fill the void. This is a great chance for us to get a better idea of what Pitlick can bring in the WHL. If he’s able to step up in the absence of Etem and Vey it’ll mean that Pitlick is on track at becoming a Top-6 guy at the NHL level. If the Tigers falter without their two stars it’ll be on Pitlick that most of that blame falls. Time to see if the move from NCAA hockey was worth it.
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