Mark Maloney on Kentucky sports

Jarrod Skalde directs a drill at the Ice Center. (Maloney photos)

Nine years after the Kentucky Thoroughblades left Lexington for Cleveland, two of the T-blades are back in town to conduct a week-long hockey camp.

The SK8 With Skalde camp, at the Lexington Ice Center, features one-time T-blades captain Jarrod Skalde, along with the 1998 MVP of the American Hockey League, Steve Guolla. Also coaching on the ice is Dave Bailey, Skalde’s assistant with the Central Hockey League’s Bloomington (Ill.) PrairieThunder.

The camp, split in groups of 10-and-under and  11-and-older, continues through Friday, 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Between the two groups, about 40 skaters are taking part.

Two “skills camp” sessions also are scheduled, 2-4 Saturday afternoon and 10 a.m.-noon on Sunday.

We caught up with the T-blades dynamic duo Wednesday.

Jarrod Skalde, left, and Steve Guolla at the Lexington Ice Center.

“I think it’s gone terrific,” said Skalde, who is about to enter his third season as coach of the PrairieThunder. “It’s great to see all these kids out here, some for the first time playing hockey, putting equipment on, and others that have been playing for a while. They’re doing terrific. It’s great to see kids getting better right in front of your eyes every day. We’re three days in now and some kids have made huge, huge improvements.”

This is the first of what Skalde and Guolla hope will be an annual event. Lexington horseman John Sikura, a hockey enthusiast and native Canadian, encouraged the pair to give the camp a try. Skalde said this initial camp is a break-even situation financially so, with growth, he hopes to turn a profit in the future. Money is not the primary motivation, though.

Said Guolla, who scored 100 points for the 1997-98 T-blades and now plays for Tappara, in Tampere, Finland: “Old Thoroughblades back in town — trying to help the growth of hockey and have a good time, help show off the skills that we’ve known growing up in Ontario. … We’ve got a wealth of knowledge. We want to pass it on down here and we’re very approachable to that aspect. If anybody wants to call us or talk to us, we’re happy to deal with it.”

Skalde, Guolla and Bailey all have sons participating in the camp — Skate Skalde, 7; Tyler Guolla, 6; and Cooper Bailey, 11.

Skalde’s wife, Erin, is working with campers on the dry-land portion of the sessions.

Skalde’s 12-year-old daughter, True, is visiting Jarrod’s sister in Paris — France, not Kentucky. Guolla also has a son and a daughter at home in Michigan – Braden, 1 1/2, and Katelyn, 4 — in the care of Guolla’s wife, Lori.

Skalde and Guolla have been regular visitors to Lexington since their Thoroughblade days, always staying with John and Angie Sikura at their Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms.

“I can’t believe we didn’t think of this earlier,” Skalde said of the camp. “I talked to Johnny Sikura this summer. Sort of became ‘lets’ just try it out,’ and I’m really happy with the way it’s turned out.”

About Skalde …

Jarrod Skalde

Skalde joined the T-blades for 23 games in the 1997-98 season, finishing with five goals and 15 assists.

The next season, over 54 games, Skalde totaled 17 goals and 40 assists.

Following a 17-season playing career in the pros, Skalde now coaches the PrairieThunder, who move to the CHL this season from the International Hockey League.

Skalde played 115 games in the National Hockey League, with the Chicago Blackhawks, Atlanta Thrashers, New Jersey Devils, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, San Jose Sharks, Dallas Stars, Calgary Flames and Philadelphia Flyers. He also played in the AHL and IHL, as well as teams in Switzerland, Sweden, Slovenia and Japan.

He won championships with Oshawa of the Ontario Hockey League and Orlando of the IHL.

Click here for Jarrod Skalde’s career statistics:

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=4991

About Guolla …

Steve Guolla

Guolla netted 22 goals and 22 assists in 34 games in the T-blades’ inaugural season. He followed that with a 100-point season — 37 goals and 63 assists over 69 games. He finished his tour in Lexington with 53 games in the 1998-99 season, when he totaled 29 goals and 47 assists for 76 points.

After leading Michigan State to the Frozen Four in 1992, Guolla embarked on a professional career that included 205 games in the NHL. He finished with 40 goals and 46 assists during his time with the San Jose Sharks, Tampa Bay Lightning, Atlanta Thrashers and New Jersey Devils. He went on to play in Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Finland, skating for Tappara Tampere last season.

Click here for Steve Guolla’s career statistics:

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=2070

(Well, TWO T-blades are coming back)

Jarrod Skalde, who once captained the American Hockey League‘s old Kentucky Thoroughblades, will lead a pair of hockey camps in Lexington this summer.

Skalde will be assisted by the only player to have a Thoroughblades jersey retired, Steve Guolla.

The “SK8 with Skalde” camps will include a youth hockey session, Aug. 2-7, and a skill development camp, Aug. 7-8. The camps will take place at the Lexington Ice Center, which was the T-blades practice facility when Rupp Arena was not available.

The youth camp, held in conjunction with the Bluegrass Youth Hockey Association, will be divided between  ages 10-and-under and 11-and-older. The younger group will be on the ice 10-11:30 a.m., with off-ice training from noon until 1 p.m. The 11-and-older campers will have off-ice training 10-11 a.m., with ice drills from noon until 1:30 p.m. Drinks will be provided, but campers should bring their own lunch.

Cost of the camp is $300 until July 15, $325 thereafter.

Cost of the skills camp is $100 through July 15, $125 thereafter, and is limited to age 14-and-over.

Skills camp sessions will last from 2-to-4 p.m. on Aug. 7 and 10 a.m. until noon on Aug. 8.

Payment by cash or money order should be mailed to:

Jarrod Skalde
c/o Michael Poth
BYHA Development Coach
4617 Thornwood Circle
Lexington, KY 40515

Skalde can be reached by phone: (309) 275-8777, or by e-mail: jarrod@PrairieThunderHockey.com.

Jarrod Skalde

Lexington was home to the Thoroughblades for five seasons, beginning with the 1996-97 campaign. The team was the top minor-league affiliate of the San Jose Sharks.

Skalde joined the T-blades for 23 games in the 1997-98 season, finishing with five goals and 15 assists.

The next season, over 54 games, Skalde totaled 17 goals and 40 assists.

Following a 17-season playing career in the pros, Skalde now coaches the Bloomington (Ill.) PrairieThunder of the International Hockey League.

Skalde played 115 games in the National Hockey League, with the Chicago Blackhawks, Atlanta Thrashers, New Jersey Devils, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, San Jose Sharks, Dallas Stars, Calgary Flames and Philadelphia Flyers. He also played in the AHL and IHL, as well as teams in Switzerland, Sweden, Slovenia and Japan.

He won championships with Oshawa of the Ontario Hockey League and Orlando of the IHL.

Click here for Jarrod Skalde’s career statistics:

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=4991

Steve Guolla

Guolla netted 22 goals and 22 assists in 34 games in the T-blades’ inaugural season. He followed that with a 100-point season — 37 goals and 63 assists over 69 games. He finished his tour in Lexington with 53 games in the 1998-99 season, when he totaled 29 goals and 47 assists for 76 points.

After leading Michigan State to the Frozen Four in 1992, Guolla embarked on a professional career that included 205 games in the NHL. He finished with 40 goals and 46 assists during his time with the San Jose Sharks, Tampa Bay Lightning, Atlanta Thrashers and New Jersey Devils. He went on to play in Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Finland, skating for Tappara Tampere last season.

Click here for Steve Guolla’s career statistics:

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=2070

Zach Parise

Now one week less than a year until the opening of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games, Zach Parise and Angela Ruggiero are among those hopeful of representing Team USA in hockey.

Parise, 24, is a winger for the New Jersey Devils and a native of Minneapolis. He has represented his country in six international competitions, but never an Olympics. He’s played in three World Championships, two Junior Worlds and one U-18 Worlds, helping Team USA win U-18 and (2004) Junior titles.

Ruggiero, 29, has played in every Olympics since women’s hockey became a medal event. Named top defenseman in the world six times, she helped Team USA to Nagano gold in 1998, Salt Lake City silver in 2002 and Torino bronze in 2006. Her cumulative stats: three goals, seven assists, 32 penalty minutes and a staggering plus-minus of +24.

Angela Ruggiero

She’s also played in eight World Championships and leads Team USA in international games played.

Two different players aiming for two different U.S. hockey rosters on two differing stages.

Since NHL players came into the Olympics in 1998, six different teams have played in the three gold-medal games.

The women’s game, however, has been dominated by Team USA and Canada.

Parise, whose father Jean-Paul played 14 seasons in the NHL and was a key figure in helping Canada (yes, Canada) witn the 1972 Summit Series over the Soviet Union, is having a career year.

Parise in action

Going into Thursday night’s game against Tampa Bay, Parise was tied for second in the NHL with  34 goals and was fourth with 69 points. His goals, points, assists (35), power-play goals (11) and plus-minus (+22) all are career highs — with more than seven weeks to play in what is his fourth NHL season. Oh, and the Devils lead the Atlantic Division.

No surprise here: Parise learned the game from his dad, who settled in Minneapolis and became an American citizen after playing for the North Stars. Zach was practically raised Canadian, though, spending countless hours playing pond hockey. The Parise house was adorned with hockey pictures taken during his father’s career.

“I think Minnesota is the closes thing to the (hockey) passion of a Canadian city,” Parise said. “In the Minnesota high school tournament, they’re selling out the Xcel (Energy) Center, 20,000 people. They love the game there.” 

Ruggiero, on the other hand, began playing at 7 when her father enrolled her in a Pasadena, Calif., youth league. A boys’ league that lacked players.

“They needed to field some teams back in the day,” said Ruggiero, whose teammates included her brother and sister. “So my dad brought me to the rink. And the L.A. Kings brought in (Wayne) Gretzky the year after I started playing, so that really created an explosion in some of these non-traditional hockey states that I benefited from.”

Ruggiero on ice

A native of Harrison Township in Michigan; introduced to hockey in California; played prep-school hockey in Connecticut (Choate Rosemary Hall); college hockey in Massachusetts (Harvard); trained with Team USA in New York (Lake Placid, for the 2002 Games) and now doing so in Minnesota (Blaine Residency Program, for the ’10 Games), Ruggiero is a living melting pot of state pride. When asked where she’s from, Ruggerio answers “I’m from all over America.”

The U.S. men are in an Olympic pool with Canada, Switzerland and Norway. The women are grouped with Finland, Russia and China.

Both Parise and Ruggiero say Canada is the team to keep an eye on. How could they not with men’s stars such as Sidney Crosby, Dany Heatley and Ryan Getzlaf? Or with women’s standouts Hayley Wickenheiser, Jayna Hefford, Caroline Oullette and the goalie tandem of Charline Labonte’ and Kim St. Pierre?

After that, perhaps Russia, but “I don’t think you can overlook any team that’s going to be there,” Parise said. Ruggiero says the women also will have to be alert to Sweden, which recently beat Canada in the Four Nations Tournament.

As for Team USA, Parise bit when asked: if you were general manager of the team, who would you pick for a starting six?

“I might get myself in trouble here. … (Ryan) Miller’s having a great season in Buffalo there, in the nets, but (the Islanders’ Rick) DiPietro’s always there, too. … I think you put (Chicago’s Patrick) Kane, (the Rangers’ Scott) Gomez, and I would put Dustin Brown (of Los Angeles) there, too. Then maybe (Montreal’s Mike) Komisarek and (Detroit’s Brian) Rafalski on point.”

Others mentioned during the conversation included Peter Mueller of Phoenix, Patrick O’Sullivan of Los Angeles, Drew Stafford of Buffalo and Chris Drury of the Rangers.

As for himself, “I think I’m more of a third-liner,” Parise said.

“I’ve always wanted to play in the Olympics. I’ve always wanted to represent my country. It made me think about it a little more-so (when) we went to Vancouver at the beginning of January. You can tell, already, the excitement that’s there. You can see the buildings going up and it’s really going to be a great place to have it. I just hope I’m there to play.”

With Wisconsin’s Mark Johnson taking over from Ben Smith as coach of the U.S. women, Ruggiero thinks several Badgers could join him in Vancouver. She’s particularly high on goalie Jessie Vetter, while also mentioning Hilary Knight, Erika Lawler and Meaghan Duggan. Minnesota freshman twins Jocelyne and Monique Lamoureux could be in the mix.

For her part, Ruggiero said, “to be able to play in a fourth Olympics and, hopefully, win a gold medal, getting back to the top of that podium, means everything to me. It is the reason why I’m still playing.”

Eight years after Lexington lost its American Hockey League franchise and five years after the East Coast Hockey League’s one-season debacle here, how many players from those teams would you guess are playing today in the National Hockey League?

As someone who greatly misses having local pro hockey, I try to keep tabs on the players who passed through horse country on their way to the big time. And a few who didn’t make waves here.

For example, New Jersey defenseman Johnny Oduya is the younger brother of T-blades enforcer Freddy Oduya.

I also track the progress of the first Bluegrass Youth Hockey League member to go on to the NHL, as a first-round draft pick. Who could that be?

While you ponder that mystery, let’s get back to the earlier question.

There are 18 former T-blades and one player from the Men-O-War in the NHL today. FIVE of the 19 are goalies — further evidence of the influence of the late, great goalie coach, Warren Strelow.

The goalies include: Johan Hedberg (Atlanta); Miika Kiprusoff (Calgary); Vesa Toskala (Toronto), and Evgeni Nabokov (San Jose). Nabokov reverted to his given name after going by the Americanized-version ”John” in Lexington.

The fifth goalie is the lone Men-O-War grad in the NHL, Mike Smith (Tampa Bay). Smith notched his first pro win, shutout and goal — all in the same game — in Lexington.

Two current NHL captains came up through Lexington.

Towering defenseman Zdeno Chara wears the “C” for the Boston Bruins, while Ray Whitney dons an “A” for the Carolina Hurricanes.

Chara is among seven T-blade defensemen still in the league. The others: Dan Boyle (San Jose); Rob Davison (Vancouver); Jason Strudwick (Edmonton); Filip Kuba (Ottawa); Scott Hannan (Colorado), and Andy Sutton (N.Y. Islanders).

Whitney is among seven T-blade survivors at forward, along with: Shean Donovan (Ottawa); Ville Peltonen (Florida); Eric Boulton (Atlanta); Matt Bradley (Washington); Mikael Samuelsson (Detroit), and Jonathan Cheechoo (San Jose).

Harry Bricker holds the same position with Philadelphia Flyers as he had with the T-blades, equipment manager.

As for the youth-league player who became a first-round draft pick, that’s Phoenix Coyotes forward Vik Tikhonov. The 28th overall pick this year, he is the grandson of legendary Soviet coach Viktor Tikhonov. Vik skated in Lexington as an 8-year-old, when his dad, Vasily, was an assistant coach with the T-blades in their first (1996-97) of five seasons here.

With no pro team left to inspire and encourage local youths, Lexington won’t be producing another NHL player soon (if ever).

Thanks for the memories, boys.