Ice cheX
08-31-2007, 02:52 PM
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=headline colSpan=2>Charlotte's Jamieson looking to bounce back (http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=336494)</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 4px">Brian Compton | NHL.com correspondent </TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 4px" vAlign=bottom align=right>Aug 31, 2007, 10:00 AM EDT</TD></TR><TR><TD class=blckTopBord style="PADDING-TOP: 2px" colSpan=2><TABLE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 5px" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=40 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>http://cdn.nhl.com/images/upload/2007/08/jamieson_dusty_194x270.jpg</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 3px; PADDING-LEFT: 3px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 3px; PADDING-TOP: 3px">Former Montreal Canadiens (http://www.canadiens.com/) prospect Dusty Jamieson is looking forward to
returning from a concussion he suffered
that kept him out of Charlotte's lineup for an extended period of time last year.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>For Dusty Jamieson, the 2006-07 campaign is one he’d rather soon forget.
The former fifth-round pick of the Montreal Canadiens (http://www.canadiens.com/) had notched hat tricks in the team’s first two games of the season and was well on his way to enjoying his third straight 30-goal season with the Charlotte Checkers. But on Dec. 1, his season came to a screeching halt. Being the solid two-way player that he’s become in Charlotte, Jamieson was the lone man back on a 2-on-1 in a game against the Pensacola Ice Pilots. The next thing he knew, Jamieson was involved in a collision against the boards, his opponent’s skate cracking his helmet.
“I remember everything leading up to it,” Jamieson recalled. “It was a 2-on-1 and I was back checking. The guy just cut, and his skate just caught my helmet. I was a little numb for a few seconds and I remember getting to my knees and going to the bench. It wasn’t that bad, and I thought I’d be out for maybe a week or two.”
It was much longer than that, as doctors experienced problems figuring out exactly what was wrong. At first, the thought was Jamieson suffered your average concussion. In the end, though, it was neck trauma that kept Jamieson out of the lineup until April. He returned for the final game of the regular season and the Kelly Cup playoffs. The Checkers were swept in the South Division semifinals by the Florida Everblades.
“Last year was the most frustrating year I’ve ever had,” Jamieson said. “It was unbelievable. I’ve had injuries before, but you have a target date for when you’re going to get back and play, or you can play through it. But this injury was just awful. I hated the whole season. To miss that much was tough, especially after the start I had.” Checkers head coach Derek Wilkinson was frustrated by the injury, too. On more than one occasion, Wilkinson was under the impression that Jamieson was returning to the lineup. In fact, Jamieson even participated in a day-of-game skate about a month after the collision. But setbacks prevented a comeback.
“It was frustrating on him,” Wilkinson said. “There were a couple of times when he was there at the day of the game skating and ready to play that night. He just couldn’t get past the neck injury. But it’s exciting to have him back. He’s one of the very few guys who has the fans on the edge of their seats every time he touches the puck. It’s not usual to have guys at our level who can do that.
“It was just a freak play,” Wilkinson said of the injury. “He was back checking on a play and the forward lost his edge and kind of slid into the goalie, and Dusty went over top of him. As they crashed into the boards, the forward’s skate came down and hit him on the helmet. I think at the end of the day, it was part concussion, but more neck trauma than anything. It was hard to diagnose at the beginning.”
What isn’t hard to diagnose is what a healthy Jamieson can provide for a Charlotte team that is hoping to improve on last season’s 42-27-3 record. In 2005-06, Jamieson potted 30 goals and 31 assists in 62 games. The year before, he went 31-22-53 in 56 contests.
“He’s got that game-breaker ability,” Wilkinson said. “There are few guys that have been at our level as long as he has and have that. It’s truly a unique skill that he has, to be able to break a game at any point in time. Not a lot of teams have that luxury at our level. If he’s in the lineup, he’s a guy that other teams have to focus on.”
You better believe that Jamieson is focused on returning with a vengeance. He’s back on the ice with a clean bill of health and is eagerly anticipating what will be his sixth season in the Queen City. Once training camp begins, Jamieson says he will play the same way he’s always played.
“As a hockey player, you can’t play cautious because you’re going to get hurt,” Jamieson said. “As a hockey player, there’s no one that hasn’t been hurt before. You’ve just got to go back in with the mindset that it was a fluke thing. It’s over and you’ve got to move on.”
Still, Jamieson was upset that he missed so many months of action and was unable to give Charlotte’s offense a spark. In a way, he feels as if he owes the Checkers. That’s why he turned down offers to play in Europe this summer.
“Obviously, I wanted to give Charlotte the chance to get me,” Jamieson said. “They’ve been great to me here and they came through and offered me something that was good. When you like it somewhere, you don’t really want to leave because it might not be better. I’m not going to ruin something that’s been great to me. I love it here. It’s been awesome.”
“Europe is always an option with his skating and his ability to score goals,” Wilkinson said. “But we talked to him and the big thing was that we wanted to make sure he was comfortable with playing. I think this is where he wants to be, and we love to have him. We’re expecting him to become the player that he was before again. He’s got to get some bumps in camp and get going again, but I think he’ll be back to where he was before.”
Plus, had Jamieson signed in Europe, the chances of him getting another chance with an American Hockey League club were basically zero. Jamieson last appeared in the AHL in 2005-06, when he notched one assist in four games for Binghamton. The 26-year-old has not given up on his dream to get promoted.
“As a hockey player, you always want to move up and better yourself,” Jamieson said. “If I get off to a great start, I would love to go up. If it happens, it happens. I can’t really worry about it. I’ve been here for a long time and I’ve been treated well. I just want to get off to a good start and stay healthy and just help the team out.”
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
returning from a concussion he suffered
that kept him out of Charlotte's lineup for an extended period of time last year.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>For Dusty Jamieson, the 2006-07 campaign is one he’d rather soon forget.
The former fifth-round pick of the Montreal Canadiens (http://www.canadiens.com/) had notched hat tricks in the team’s first two games of the season and was well on his way to enjoying his third straight 30-goal season with the Charlotte Checkers. But on Dec. 1, his season came to a screeching halt. Being the solid two-way player that he’s become in Charlotte, Jamieson was the lone man back on a 2-on-1 in a game against the Pensacola Ice Pilots. The next thing he knew, Jamieson was involved in a collision against the boards, his opponent’s skate cracking his helmet.
“I remember everything leading up to it,” Jamieson recalled. “It was a 2-on-1 and I was back checking. The guy just cut, and his skate just caught my helmet. I was a little numb for a few seconds and I remember getting to my knees and going to the bench. It wasn’t that bad, and I thought I’d be out for maybe a week or two.”
It was much longer than that, as doctors experienced problems figuring out exactly what was wrong. At first, the thought was Jamieson suffered your average concussion. In the end, though, it was neck trauma that kept Jamieson out of the lineup until April. He returned for the final game of the regular season and the Kelly Cup playoffs. The Checkers were swept in the South Division semifinals by the Florida Everblades.
“Last year was the most frustrating year I’ve ever had,” Jamieson said. “It was unbelievable. I’ve had injuries before, but you have a target date for when you’re going to get back and play, or you can play through it. But this injury was just awful. I hated the whole season. To miss that much was tough, especially after the start I had.” Checkers head coach Derek Wilkinson was frustrated by the injury, too. On more than one occasion, Wilkinson was under the impression that Jamieson was returning to the lineup. In fact, Jamieson even participated in a day-of-game skate about a month after the collision. But setbacks prevented a comeback.
“It was frustrating on him,” Wilkinson said. “There were a couple of times when he was there at the day of the game skating and ready to play that night. He just couldn’t get past the neck injury. But it’s exciting to have him back. He’s one of the very few guys who has the fans on the edge of their seats every time he touches the puck. It’s not usual to have guys at our level who can do that.
“It was just a freak play,” Wilkinson said of the injury. “He was back checking on a play and the forward lost his edge and kind of slid into the goalie, and Dusty went over top of him. As they crashed into the boards, the forward’s skate came down and hit him on the helmet. I think at the end of the day, it was part concussion, but more neck trauma than anything. It was hard to diagnose at the beginning.”
What isn’t hard to diagnose is what a healthy Jamieson can provide for a Charlotte team that is hoping to improve on last season’s 42-27-3 record. In 2005-06, Jamieson potted 30 goals and 31 assists in 62 games. The year before, he went 31-22-53 in 56 contests.
“He’s got that game-breaker ability,” Wilkinson said. “There are few guys that have been at our level as long as he has and have that. It’s truly a unique skill that he has, to be able to break a game at any point in time. Not a lot of teams have that luxury at our level. If he’s in the lineup, he’s a guy that other teams have to focus on.”
You better believe that Jamieson is focused on returning with a vengeance. He’s back on the ice with a clean bill of health and is eagerly anticipating what will be his sixth season in the Queen City. Once training camp begins, Jamieson says he will play the same way he’s always played.
“As a hockey player, you can’t play cautious because you’re going to get hurt,” Jamieson said. “As a hockey player, there’s no one that hasn’t been hurt before. You’ve just got to go back in with the mindset that it was a fluke thing. It’s over and you’ve got to move on.”
Still, Jamieson was upset that he missed so many months of action and was unable to give Charlotte’s offense a spark. In a way, he feels as if he owes the Checkers. That’s why he turned down offers to play in Europe this summer.
“Obviously, I wanted to give Charlotte the chance to get me,” Jamieson said. “They’ve been great to me here and they came through and offered me something that was good. When you like it somewhere, you don’t really want to leave because it might not be better. I’m not going to ruin something that’s been great to me. I love it here. It’s been awesome.”
“Europe is always an option with his skating and his ability to score goals,” Wilkinson said. “But we talked to him and the big thing was that we wanted to make sure he was comfortable with playing. I think this is where he wants to be, and we love to have him. We’re expecting him to become the player that he was before again. He’s got to get some bumps in camp and get going again, but I think he’ll be back to where he was before.”
Plus, had Jamieson signed in Europe, the chances of him getting another chance with an American Hockey League club were basically zero. Jamieson last appeared in the AHL in 2005-06, when he notched one assist in four games for Binghamton. The 26-year-old has not given up on his dream to get promoted.
“As a hockey player, you always want to move up and better yourself,” Jamieson said. “If I get off to a great start, I would love to go up. If it happens, it happens. I can’t really worry about it. I’ve been here for a long time and I’ve been treated well. I just want to get off to a good start and stay healthy and just help the team out.”
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