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“What I’ve seen, from being in the business a long time, is that you need a bit of luck,” said Thane Campbell, MacIntyre’s agent. “And he hasn’t had the luck that some of the other guys have.”

The Detroit Red Wings took MacIntyre in the fourth round of the 2001 NHL draft, but the arrival of Jimmy Howard soon helped to undercut his ascent up the organizational ladder. He joined the Manitoba Moose, Vancouver’s American Hockey League team, one season before Cory Schneider arrived.

But I wasn’t ready to [quit]. My wife wasn’t ready to do that, so that was nice. She’s very supportive

MacIntyre has worn the uniforms of a dozen teams as a professional. And last year, after an abbreviated stay in the KHL, he returned to North America to restart his drive back to the National Hockey League.

The only problem? The NHL had locked out its players, causing a traffic jam of prospects through the lower rungs of professional hockey. There were no vacancies. Nobody called him back for a month. MacIntyre had to face the possibility that his career had ended.

“I had people very close to me kind of dropping that hint,” he said. “I’m not saying anything bad about them. They weren’t saying I should. They were just kind of curious, you know? Nobody calling me from anywhere in North America was humbling.”

He thought about those hints, too.

“But I wasn’t ready to do that,” he said. “My wife wasn’t ready to do that, so that was nice. She’s very supportive.”

Finally, as the NHL lockout crept to a close in January, he got a call from the Reading Royals in the ECHL. A month later, he jumped to the Toronto Marlies in the AHL. And by the end of the season, he even appeared among the black aces when the Leafs played the Boston Bruins in the first round of the NHL playoffs, filling in at practice.

“He’s an uplifting guy to talk to,” Campbell said. “He seems to be always in good spirits, and he’s never complaining about what could have been. He’s looking at the positive and saying, ‘What might be?’”

MacIntyre had a team-best .931 save-percentage in 21 appearances with the Marlies last season. (Robin Lehner, the Ottawa Senators prospect, led the AHL with a .938.)

In June, the Leafs signed him to a one-year deal that will pay him US$250,000 if he plays in the AHL, and US$600,000 in the NHL, according to CapGeek.com. MacIntyre was not listed among the 14 players the team released from training camp on Tuesday — making him the third goaltender left on the roster, behind Reimer and Bernier, with six exhibition games left to play.

MacIntyre might have won his relief appearance on Monday. He made a series of stellar saves, including a quick glove stop on Maxime Talbot in the second period. But he had a lapse in concentration in the third period, allowing a shot from just inside the blue line to sneak inside the post, and ultimately lost in a shootout that lasted seven rounds.

“I’m not complaining when I say that I’ve been in the minors for 11 years,” MacIntyre said. “I’m thankful. I know a lot of people who would love to be doing this. I’m still thankful to be where I’m at.”

National Post LOADED: 09.19.2013

717351 Toronto Maple Leafs

Ottawa Senators’ Bobby Ryan, Toronto Maple Leafs’ Randy Carlyle leave bumpy relationship in the past

Lisa Wallace, Canadian Press | 18/09/13 6:35 PM ET

OTTAWA — Bobby Ryan is the first to admit that he and Randy Carlyle had a tumultuous relationship. But he also knows his former head coach made him a better player.

Senators name Jason Spezza as Daniel Alfredsson’s replacement for captaincy

Ryan, now with the Ottawa Senators, played under Carlyle for parts of five years with the Anaheim Ducks. Carlyle is now coaching the Toronto Maple Leafs and the two will face each another in a pre-season game in Ottawa on Thursday.

The 26-year-old Ryan, acquired in a trade from Anaheim July 5, is anxious to make a name for himself with the Senators and isn’t interested in dwelling on the past. When asked about his relationship with Carlyle, Ryan said it may have been misunderstood.

“It wasn’t a bad relationship, it just wasn’t a great one,” said Ryan. “That’s all it was. He’s a tough coach and I still really do owe him quite a bit for becoming the player that I am and that isn’t lost on me one bit.”

Ryan first arrived in Anaheim as an eager 20-year-old looking to live up to his second-overall selection in the draft. But after just four games in the NHL, he was sent down to the American Hockey League and ended up playing just 23 games with Anaheim. Over the next 3 1/2 years, Ryan and Carlyle had their share of disagreements.

Looking back, Ryan admits he may not have had the emotional maturity to deal with Carlyle.

Some believed the animosity between the two became so bad that it played a factor in Carlyle being fired after just 24 games in the 2011-12 season.

“I get sometimes he was a little too hard on me and that was just being young and not taking things the right way that’s all it was,” said Ryan. “I don’t think it was any reason that he was let go or anything like that. I just wish I hadn’t taken things so personally when it came across. That’s all it was. I truthfully don’t think he had anything but the best intentions for me in his mind.”

Known for his abrasive style, Carlyle isn’t one to mince words. Ryan described him as demanding and tough, but in the same breath said he was fair and that he “wants to get the best out of you.”

“I probably took things a little too personally, but I’ve gotten older and a little more mature,” said Ryan. “We are not going to say hello or anything, but it certainly won’t be something where I’m aiming a puck at the bench that’s for sure.”

When asked about Ryan, the Leafs coach also chose to leave any ill will behind the two in the past.

“I think Bobby was a young kid that had a different body make-up from what he is now,” said Carlyle. “He put [in] a lot of time and effort, and it’s a tribute to him to get himself in the type of condition that he is now versus where he came out of junior.”

He called him a “very talented young player.”

“He’s a player that’s dangerous as soon as he steps over the blue-line in the offensive zone,” he said. “He can score from all areas, and he’s got a tremendous amount of reach and skill. He’s an offensive weapon that we’ll have to deal with, and Bobby’s growing into a pretty mature hockey player both on and off the ice.”

If anyone understands the rift between Ryan and Carlyle it’s Toronto’s Joffrey Lupul, who had his own share of difficulties with Carlyle while playing in Anaheim. Lupul doesn’t anticipate Carlyle’s presence to play a part in Ryan’s performance.

“I’m sure he’s got enough motivation,” said Lupul. “He was traded, playing for a new team in a hockey market now. He’s probably quite a motivated player this year.”

As for Ryan, he’s looking forward to playing his first game in front of home crowd fans, by all indications, have been anxiously awaiting his debut.

“I’m looking forward to getting it out of the way,” he said. “The excitement’s been building in the city and for myself for a long time. Hopefully we can reward them with a good game.”

Ryan has only played in the Canadian Tire Centre once in his career so he expects it may take some time for him to get comfortable.

“You’re always supposed to feel comfortable at home,” said Ryan. “If I can get a couple games here and start to build that comfort level here in this building it’s important if you’re going to play 41 games in this building.”

With files from Stephen Whyno in Toronto

National Post LOADED: 09.19.2013

717352 Toronto Maple Leafs

Winnipeg Jets, GM Kevin Cheveldayoff agree to contract extension

Canadian Press | 18/09/13 | Last Updated: 18/09/13 6:17 PM ET

WINNIPEG — The Winnipeg Jets are giving general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff the same security they give their star players as he tries to turn the team into a playoff contender.

Jets confident their goalies will take them to playoffs

The club extended Cheveldayoff’s contract through the 2017-18 season on Wednesday, a much longer deal than head coach Claude Noel was given in the off-season. His contract will expire at the end of next season.

“We couldn’t have a more capable guy leading our team for the long-term so we’ve extended Kevin back to his original term of five years,” Jets co-owner Mark Chipman told a news conference. “I believe he and his family are deserving of that and I also believe the fans of our organization are deserving of knowing where we’re going and how we’re going to get there.”

Cheveldayoff was originally named to the position in June 2011 as the Jets relocated to Winnipeg from Atlanta. In his two seasons so far, the Jets have an overall record of 61-56-13 and missed the playoffs both years.

Cheveldayoff spent two seasons as assistant general manager of the Chicago Blackhawks before joining the Jets.

He also spent 12 seasons as general manager of the Chicago Wolves, guiding the American Hockey League club to four league championships during his tenure.

Chipman was effusive in his praise of his GM, whom he got to know pretty well when Chipman’s True North Sports and Entertainment operated the AHL’s Manitoba Moose.

“I’ve known him for many, many years prior to bringing him on board, as a general manager over the course of many, many board meetings with the American Hockey League.

“I think over the past couple of years I’ve learned that we probably underestimated his abilities.”

The two clearly share the philosophy that the Jets have to build by retaining a core of strong players and adding talented draft picks.

During the off-season they signed everyone they said they wanted to keep to multi-year agreements, This year, some of their draft picks look like they have matured enough to join the team.

The Jets have added a few players outside the draft but there have been no blockbuster deals that had the potential to turn around their fortunes in the short term.

“I think the real challenge is to resist the opportunity to try and accelerate this at a great cost,” said Cheveldayoff, a native of Blaine Lake, Sask. “We’re trying to create some stability, some foundation within this organization.”

Still, the pressure to make the playoffs has only increased this season. The Atlanta Thrashers made the playoffs only once, in 2007.

The excuse of outside influences also no longer seems to apply. In their first season there was the move from Atlanta and their second season was disrupted by the lockout.

Their travel schedule has improved but the Jets have moved from the Southeast into what looks like a much tougher division in the Central, where they must compete with Stanley Cup champion Chicago.

Other division rivals St. Louis and Minnesota also made the playoffs.

In the Southeast last season, only Washington made the playoffs, after the Capitals passed the Jets in the runoff for the spot during the stretch.

And, despite insisting Wednesday it is their expectation that they will make the playoffs, Chipman seemed in no rush to take action if that should not happen.

“This is going to be a difficult year and I think we’re all very aware of that,” he said.

“We’re going to be playing in a very difficult division and I think we all think our team is better. But I wouldn’t say that I could tell you 12 months from now that I’m any less convinced that we’re on the right path here.

“I think it will prove itself out over many years.”

National Post LOADED: 09.19.2013

717353 Toronto Maple Leafs

Toronto Maple Leafs’ Drew MacIntyre knows he’s not making the team, but is thankful anyway

Sean Fitz-Gerald | 18/09/13 | Last Updated: 18/09/13 6:17 PM ET

TORONTO — Dressing-room attendants were hurriedly filling and zipping bags of equipment all around Drew MacIntyre as he spoke near his stall. Not an hour before, the 30-year-old journeyman goaltender was being cheered loudly inside the Air Canada Centre, but it was quiet now, and he was contemplative: “I just want to enjoy it.”

Leafs hopeful tells father-in-law Tim Leiweke — 'in the nicest way possible' — not to make decisions on his hockey career

He was one of the last players left inside the room.

“I want to enjoy the moment,” he said. “I know I’m not making this hockey team, but I’m thankful to be here.”

On Monday night, MacIntyre, who was almost frozen out of the game last season, made a relief appearance for the Toronto Maple Leafs in their second game of the pre-season. He stopped 13 of the 14 shots he faced against the Philadelphia Flyers in regulation, drawing praise from Leafs coach Randy Carlyle and a spotlight on the television broadcast.

If the central narrative of the team’s training camp is a focus on which goaltender will be No. 1 and which will be No. 2 on the depth chart when the season opens next month — a battle between James Reimer and Jonathan Bernier — the story of the potential No. 3 is a worthy note.

“What I’ve seen, from being in the business a long time, is that you need a bit of luck,” said Thane Campbell, MacIntyre’s agent. “And he hasn’t had the luck that some of the other guys have.”

The Detroit Red Wings took MacIntyre in the fourth round of the 2001 NHL draft, but the arrival of Jimmy Howard soon helped to undercut his ascent up the organizational ladder. He joined the Manitoba Moose, Vancouver’s American Hockey League team, one season before Cory Schneider arrived.

MacIntyre has worn the uniforms of a dozen teams as a professional. And last year, after an abbreviated stay in the KHL, he returned to North America to restart his drive back to the National Hockey League.

The only problem? The NHL had locked out its players, causing a traffic jam of prospects through the lower rungs of professional hockey. There were no vacancies. Nobody called him back for a month. MacIntyre had to face the possibility that his career had ended.

“I had people very close to me kind of dropping that hint,” he said. “I’m not saying anything bad about them. They weren’t saying I should. They were just kind of curious, you know? Nobody calling me from anywhere in North America was humbling.”

He thought about those hints, too.

“But I wasn’t ready to do that,” he said. “My wife wasn’t ready to do that, so that was nice. She’s very supportive.”

Finally, as the NHL lockout crept to a close in January, he got a call from the Reading Royals in the ECHL. A month later, he jumped to the Toronto Marlies in the AHL. And by the end of the season, he even appeared among the black aces when the Leafs played the Boston Bruins in the first round of the NHL playoffs, filling in at practice.

“He’s an uplifting guy to talk to,” Campbell said. “He seems to be always in good spirits, and he’s never complaining about what could have been. He’s looking at the positive and saying, ‘What might be?’”

MacIntyre had a team-best .931 save-percentage in 21 appearances with the Marlies last season. (Robin Lehner, the Ottawa Senators prospect, led the AHL with a .938.)

In June, the Leafs signed him to a one-year deal that will pay him US$250,000 if he plays in the AHL, and US$600,000 in the NHL, according to CapGeek.com. MacIntyre was not listed among the 14 players the team released from training camp on Tuesday — making him the third goaltender left on the roster, behind Reimer and Bernier, with six exhibition games left to play.

MacIntyre might have won his relief appearance on Monday. He made a series of stellar saves, including a quick glove stop on Maxime Talbot in the second period. But he had a lapse in concentration in the third period, allowing a shot from just inside the blue line to sneak inside the post, and ultimately lost in a shootout that lasted seven rounds.

“I’m not complaining when I say that I’ve been in the minors for 11 years,” MacIntyre said. “I’m thankful. I know a lot of people who would love to be doing this. I’m still thankful to be where I’m at.”

National Post LOADED: 09.19.2013

717354 Washington Capitals

Adam Oates on Tom Wilson: ‘I would like to keep him around us’

By Katie Carrera, Updated: September 18, 2013

Tom Wilson is settling in with the Capitals quite well this preseason. He’s one of the few prospects with a stall in the main dressing room at the team’s practice facility in Arlington. He helps run warmup drills ahead of preseason contests. And he carries himself as a veteran, who has been taking part in training camps for years, not a rookie looking to make the jump to the NHL.

If Coach Adam Oates has his way, Wilson will take that step this season.

“I like what I see in Willy enough that I would like to keep him around us, but obviously that’s going to be George’s call,” Oates said Tuesday night after the Baltimore Hockey Classic. “We’ll talk about it a lot. The one thing we definitely don’t want is to hurt his learning curve, because he looks like he’s going to be a very good hockey player.”

Where Wilson, 19, will play this season is the single biggest question the Capitals face in training camp. He’s not eligible to play in the American Hockey League because of his age agreement between the NHL and Canadian junior leagues, so if Washington opts not to keep him, Wilson must return to playing against his peers in the Ontario Hockey League.

There is every indication that Wilson, listed at a whopping 6-4, 217 pounds, has progressed beyond dominating teenagers as a do-everything forward for the Plymouth Whalers. He can hold his own against NHL players, as he proved in his three-game stint with the Capitals during last year’s playoffs, and has looked confident through two preseason games.

“I think I’ve just got to come in every day and work hard,” Wilson said. “The Caps have a pretty deep lineup and there’s a lot of great players. I’m just trying to learn everything I can and use it any way I can.”

The Capitals are right to weigh the decision carefully, though. While Wilson offers the exciting potential of a budding power forward, someone they project will develop into a top-six winger, there is no prescribed formula for determining whether a prospect is ready for the NHL full time.

“There’s obviously situations where teams regret their decisions and there’s teams that thought they made the right decision,” Oates said. “I remember Joe Thornton in Boston. They kept him the whole year, they barely played him they just kept him under their thumb and made sure good things [happened] and he’s turned into be a fantastic hockey player.”

At the start of training camp, General Manager George McPhee said he would want to make sure there was a significant role for Wilson in Washington, so that the winger can continue his development. Spare-change minutes or sporadic time in and out of the lineup likely isn’t an ideal situation.

“Is six or eight minutes a game going to be enough?” McPhee said. “I’m not sure that that would be the way to go, but some players have done it and grown. That’s part of it.”

In cases such as Wilson, NHL teams are able to give a player a trial of sorts in the regular season. Prospects are able to play nine regular season contests, but appearing in a 10th would burn a year on their entry-level contracts. Asked if that would be a possibility, McPhee didn’t sound inclined to let the decision process drag on into October.

“I’m not sure we’d want to do that. I’d like to pick the team,” McPhee said. “It’s an artificial deadline, but we’ll see. We should know over the next three or four weeks.”

Should the Capitals opt to bring Wilson aboard this year, they will need to shed salary. Wilson carries a salary cap hit of $1,294,167, a figure that includes up to $200,000 he’s eligible to earn in performance bonuses, according to Capgeek.

That’s nearly double the available space Washington has under the $64.3 million salary cap. While McPhee would have several options at his disposal to make up that room, it’s possible he could opt to thin the group of forwards, seeing as 14 players appear to have claims on an NHL roster spot.

Regardless of what it would entail to keep Wilson in Washington, this is an opportunity for the Capitals to address a team need. Wilson’s blend of skill and sandpaper is something no NHL team can have enough of. Oates believes that injection of grit would be an important, necessary asset for the Capitals, even if Wilson is still learning on the fly.

“We need what he brings. We’ve got some smaller guys in certain positions and he’s a big, strong guy. That will always help,” Oates said. “Every team wants a power forward. Every team. He’s skating around out there, you think of Jarome Iginla in Calgary, when I played with Cam Neely — the same type of guy. Willy looks like he has the potential to be that type of guy. Brouw’s that type of player for us. Ovi’s a physical guy. He skates good, he can be physical. Like I said, we don’t want to hurt him, we don’t want to slow him down but those are rare commodities in the league.”

Washington Post LOADED: 09.19.2013

717355 Winnipeg Jets

Chipman shows faith in GM with two-year extension

True North boss likes 'long-term' plan

By: Gary Lawless

Posted: 09/19/2013 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Chipman, True North's chairman, and the entire Jets organization has the benefit of revenue certainty. The fan base is locked in and sponsorship partners contractually obligated to the team for years to come.

This financial foundation allows the Jets to do things in the manner of their choosing, which has been slow and steady. "Deliberate," in the words of Chipman.

No trying to cut corners and paying foolish prices today that could haunt a franchise down the road. Cheveldayoff has been able to work his plan without pressure from ownership.

Cheveldayoff's moves have all been predicated on what is best for the long term. Sometimes this rubs fans the wrong way, but the Jets are gambling it will one day reward their followers with a championship.

This protection from the whims of an anxious owner or clamouring fans has allowed Cheveldayoff to take the Jets franchise from one without a plan nor hope and turn it into an organization with both, and quickly.

Quietly and deliberately he's made the Jets a franchise that can be looked upon as one with purpose and patience. They're not a winner today but the pieces are being put in place to ensure that in the future.

Rebuilding a franchise isn't easy or quick. There's no magic bullet. Cheveldayoff said from Day 1 that he would draft, develop and retain his assets and that's what he's done. He's instilled confidence in his owner and the result of this work motivated Chipman to cement the relationship between his GM and the Jets for a longer period.

Having watched Chipman operate the Manitoba Moose and now the Jets for well over a decade, it's not a surprise he extended Cheveldayoff.

Look at the track record within True North. CEO Jim Ludlow along with vice-presidents Craig Heisinger, Kevin Donnelly, Norva Riddell, John Olfert, Dorian Morphy and Robert Thorsten have all been with the organization since its inception or shortly thereafter.

Chipman hires what he believes are good people, lets them do their jobs and retains them.

Why would Cheveldayoff, his most important hockey employee, be any different?

Chipman will operate the Jets as he sees fit and with little regard for the opinions of outsiders.

Wednesday's hue and cry over extending a GM with lots of time left on his contract and no playoff appearances to show for his work didn't get much of a rise out of Chipman.

"Everyone wants instant gratification. Of course we'd like to get to the playoffs. It's a clear objective. But this is a tough league and you can't cut corners," said Chipman.