Could an Olympic gig be in the offing?
Nov 13, 2009 - 04:30 AM
By Shawn Cayley
As far as developing quality National Hockey League players goes, the town of Whitby has a lot of be proud of.
From Gary Roberts to Joe Nieuwendyk to Keith Primeau and brother Wayne up front to Adam Foote and more recently Paul Ranger on the blue-line, plenty of talent has emerged from Whitby in the past.
With the first three having all retired from the game in recent years and the others either on the downside of solid careers, or in Ranger's case not even playing due to personal reasons, Whitby's James Neal has jumped to the forefront in representing these parts at hockey's highest level.
The 22-year-old is in his second season with the Dallas Stars and though he recently missed a couple of games due a pulled groin, Neal has developed into perhaps the Stars' most complete forward. He led the team in goals (9), was second only to Brad Richards in points and first with a plus-seven heading into last night's action.
What's more is that Neal seems to be avoiding that dreaded sophomore slump. Coming off a 24-goal rookie campaign, Neal picked up right were he left off in the early going this season.
Through 15 games prior to his injury, Neal, a former second round pick of the Stars, enjoyed five multi-point games, a pair of two-goal games and an overtime game-winning goal Oct. 28 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Apparently he enjoys playing the team he grew up watching as in their only meeting against the Leafs last season Neal scored his first NHL hat trick in front of friends and family at the Air Canada Centre.
Talk about performing under pressure.
Should this impressive play continue, perhaps a bigger stage awaits Neal in the not-so distant future.
Could he be a candidate for the Canadian Olympic team in February?
At least one connected hockey person thinks he's played his way into the conversation as TSN's Pierre McGuire placed Neal's name on his 'Watch List' last week, 100 days prior to New Year's Eve announcement of the roster.
While that is only one man's opinion, and Neal certainly has a very steep hill to climb considering the depth of talented Canadian hockey players, simply being mentioned among those that will be charged with trying to reclaim Olympic goal for Canada is impressive and it speaks volumes of the strides Neal has taken to establish himself at the NHL level.
Chalk another one up for Whitby.
Shawn Cayley's column runs every other Friday.
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