=========================================== Out there by the casino, with the lit video poker machines humming, Las Vegas Rebels coach Rob Pallin sat at a wood table, stirred the sugar and cream into black coffee and
fanned several sheets of paper. He clicked a ballpoint pen and he wrote down names of skaters and diagrams and ideas how to get this Rebels team on the right track..... ===========================
By Lee Samuels
Las Vegas -- "It all starts at the net, then you work out to the defenseman," Pallin said.
He paused, taking a sip of hot coffee from a paper cup. "We get good play from the goalies, we get the
defense down, we get the power play going, we get the kill team working, we're going to do pretty well. We've got some snipers, that's for sure...."
It's amazing that Pallin, who will share the bench with Pete
Ricciardo this winter, will go into a new season without a single returning skater.
All of Pallin's hot-shot scorers, tricky playmakers and defensemen are gone.
And there are some out of town coaches who cannot
wait to get into Las Vegas and take a crack at this new Vegas team.
One coach said he has his team bus on "high idle." That's how anxious he is to get his skaters into town.
However, this Rebels
17-and-under midget major team is highly energized, is working hard on the ice, has decent size and should be able to take care of itself phyiscally and at the same time win some games.
Maybe, win a lot of games.
For sure, the Rebels have some explosive skaters. Anthony Greener is particuarly tough around the net. He likes to rough it in the crease area where he can attack with a variety of shots which include a wicked, low-riding
backhand. He should be one of the top scorers on the team.
"Anthony Greener sure scored a lot of key goals for the Las Vegas Flames last season," said one of the rink dads, Harry Long at practice on Saturday
afternoon.
Winger Kurt Long adds extreme muscle to the top line; center Ryan King looks like he will have a career-best season; Bill Policano has the size and the grit to be a force at left wing.
Conrad Trimbath
has scored goals at every level he has ever played. Nick Jackson likes to work in the slot area where he can do damage; Adam Ricciardo has been in many high-pressure games; Brandon Young will work at right wing and Anthony
Marinello has speed and firepower.
That's a pretty solid three lines of offense.
The defense includes some premier players: Ryan Krametbauer is being compared to some of the great Western midget major defensemen
including Ian Drummond of the San Diego Jr. Gulls and Teddy Bancarz of the L.A. Jr. Kings.
Krametbauer is 6' 1", about 170 and is left-handed. He practices at at very high level, blazing quick, hard accurate passes
and he takes extremely hard shots on net. He'll be perfect in a power play situation, which is something that Pallin and Ricciardo will discuss this coming week.
Jeff Root will be the enforcer. He is a tremendously solid
defensemen who will eagerly take on incoming attackers; Sammy Micco is a gifted physically strong defenseman and all of those will be working with David Hutzler, Danny Kaminski and Ryan Bowman.
Brandon Rial, who played
for Larry Sanford's elite AAA Tour Rebels 17-and-under bantam team at the NARCH Nationals, and Chris Gahan, are the goalies.
Can it all work - a Vegas team without a single returning skater from Pallin's super great teams?
"It can work," Pallin said. "It'll take time to smooth it out, get the right line combinations going. It's
a new team; it looks like it's going to be an exciting team and we're getting close to the first game."
Las Vegas opens action Friday, August 29. The Rebels head to the annual Hockeyfest at the Glacial Gardens in
Lakewood where an old nemises, the San Diego Jr. Gulls, awaits....
8.19.03 Memorial Service For Frank Salgado on August 23....
Wife Lisa Salgado said today a special Memorial Service for her husband Frank will be held at the LDS Church, 5601 Lone Mountain Road (East of the Los Prados Country Club entrance) on Saturday, August 23, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm.
Beginning at 11:15 am, there will be a special Rememberance which will include family members and guests speaking about Frank.
Frank was a long-time popular hockey figure in greater Las Vegas, coaching many youth
ice teams and a large number of city skaters.
More recently, Frank was the trainer for coach Pete's AA Las Vegas Flames midget majors.
Frank's two young sons, Caleb and Nico, also play youth hockey.
8.17.03 AARON BACA TO AAA LITTLETON HAWKS THIS FALL
Littleton, Colorado -- After a series of intensive skates and a starting field of 65 skaters, Las Vegas' hard-working Aaron Baca today made the AAA Littleton Hawks midget major ice team for 2003-04.
"I'm a Hawk now," said an excited Baca, who skated for AA Las Vegas Flames midget majors last winter.
Baca was on Colorado ice on Saturday. His first two calls were to his two previous coaches: Coach Pete
Ricciardo of the L.V. Flames and to the head coach of the AA Boulder, Colorado, Wolves where Baca played two years ago.
"I thanked coach Pete for his help getting my game prepared for this level of play," Baca
said. "It's the right thing to do, to thank coaches who really work hard and get you to the next level."
Baca said he will live with a Colorado family for one month, then his Mom, Lili, will relocate from Las
Vegas. Baca will go into his senior year of high school, most likely at Hyland Ranch H.S.
"Right now at practices we're doing flow drills, 1 on 1s and some scrimmages at the finish," Baca said. "But the
coach said by Sept. 2 it's going to get much more serious - three-mile runs, for examples and some pretty intensive work on the ice.
Littleton skates in the Rocky Mountain District where AAA Dallas Jr. Stars won the
regional title last winter. In Colorado, Littleton will have two brutal rivals - the Pikes Peak Miners and Team Colorado.
"I know there are three, maybe four (Colorado) Outlaws on the roster; one of the goalies
from Littleton is back and some other very skilled skaters. I'm still learning all the names."
Baca is 5'9, 150; born 11-24-85.
Baca's first major road trip will be to St. Louis in early October.
LAS VEGAS' MAX MALEEV TO S.D. JR. GULLS MIDGET MAJORS
Winger Max Maleev, after a week of practices, will join Rob Neumann's San Diego Jr. Gulls midget major team.
Maleev skated the last three seasons in
Moscow, first with Team Dynamo 86s and more recently the Moscow Wings 86s.
"Those are top 86 teams in Russia," Neumann said. "You have to be a pretty skilled player to get onto those rosters."
Maleev said it was usually "brutally cold" in Russia, with outside temperatures dropping to -30 degrees.
"Russian hockey is more precise than that played in America," Maleev said. "When I was
with the Moscow Wings 86s, we had specific plays and routes to take. It's somewhat different in the states but I like it."
Maleev buzzed about in the 3 on 3s this past summer at the Santa Fe Stations Ice Arena in
Las Vegas. He is quick skater who can shake loose for attack runs during a game.
He is 6' 0," 170 and his birthdate is 6-29-86.
ALSO -
Cody Morin, who skated for coach Rob Pallin's AAA Las Vegas Outlaws last winter, will suit up for the powerpacked Phoenix Polar Bear Jr. B team this autumn. Morin, who lives in Phoenix, will be a center on a top line....."Hey, I'm excited," said his father Joe. "My wife and I will be able to see Cody play all season....."
Report dates
- At this moment, defenseman Eddie Del Grosso of Las Vegas is on his 24-hour drive to join the St. Louis Eagles Jr. A.....Jason Allen is on I-15 South today to report to the AAA L.A. Jr. Kings midget majors....Spike Neely leaves August 22 for the Fairbanks Ice Dogs Jr. A....Nate Rein to Central Minnesota Blizzard Jr. A on Sept. 12.
In Canada - Josh Jasek, Adam Naglich, Justin Johnson, Jeff Hajner and Alex Redmond of Las Vegas are all at conditioning camps and will report to their BCHL main camps next weekend...
More from Aaron Baca:
He said he was "absolutely stunned" to learn the recent death of long-time hockey coach Frank Salgado of Las Vegas. Aaron: "He was the trainer for the Flames last season. He was kind, considerate and always willing to help anyone with the usual aches and pains that go with the game. He is going to be greatly missed...."
8.10.03 Rob Pallin Set to Coach AA Las Vegas Rebels Chisholm, Minn.,
August 10 - Rob Pallin, here on vacation with his parents, said today he is set to return to the bench and coach the AA Las Vegas Rebels 17-and-under midget major team for 2003-04.
"I'll be home on Monday - that's
when the famous Pallin boot camp will be beginning," he said on Sunday afternoon.
"As soon as we announce the roster we are heading for the hills of Palo Verde for some long-range running. I'm a believer in
total condititoning which will also include some sprint-work. But I'll be out there running with them too....
"I just want to work with this group of skaters and see where we are, on the ice, one month from now.
"I know they are eager, they want to win and so do I."
Pallin and Pete Ricciardo will be both on the bench. Pallin said Ricciardo will focus on the three attack lines; Pallin will work on the structure of
the Rebels defense including goal-tending and on speciality units.
"Pete and I have a lot of on-ice work to do, right away. I want to start with our defensemen. That's important. However, many games are decided on
power plays and penality kills," Pallin said. "I'm a real believer in that."
Pallin has been extremely successful as head coach of three Las Vegas midget major teams including the AA Las Vegas Mustangs
which won 60 games and went into the U.S. Nationals two years ago.
Last winter, Pallin's AAA Las Vegas Outlaws were the first city team ever to be rated nationally in the Midgetaaa.com Top 25.
The AA Rebels will
open action Labor Day weekend, heading into the Hockeyfest at the Glacial Gardens in Lakewood, Calif.
Then then Rebels will host the 'Vegas Fall Classic' Sept. 26-28 and will play four times including three games against
AAA midget major teams including the AAA L.A. Jr. Kings.
