The Long and Winding Road

Some players take an interesting path to find their way to the NHL.

Take Boston Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas, whose journey to the top was anything but easy.

From 1998 until his final call-up to the Bruins in 2006, Thomas played in five different leagues; the ECHL, IHL, SM-Liiga (Europe) four times, the AHL, and Elisterien (Europe).

While Jerry D’Amigo hasn’t taken exactly the same route (RPI college, Toronto Marlies), he has gone through a turbulent year.

Starting the season at Toronto Maple Leaf training camp, D’Amigo was sent down to the AHL Marlies, but after a not-so-productive year, has been loaned to the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL.

Asked if he was upset upon hearing the news of his demotion, D’Amigo said he realized it was for the best.

“I was there [AHL] the whole season and it just surprised me what happened,” he said after Friday’s game against the Plymouth Whalers.  “I had to take it with a positive.  They [Toronto] had a meeting with me and told me we’re doing this to help you out.”

But hearing the words “loaned”, “sent down”, or anything of the like has to be a blow to a professional hockey player’s ego, no?

“Ya I think it is,” said head coach and general manager of the Rangers, Steve Spott.  “If you know Jerry, he’s a very proud young man.  He wants to be a pro and wants to be a Toronto Maple Leaf.  I think there’s 24 hours of pain, but I think tonight [Friday] was great for his confidence, seeing what this building can provide.”

What it provided was a standing ovation for D’Amigo, and he responded with a goal and an assist.  And at the time of this writing, he’d contributed two goals and four points in his first two games.

According to D’Amigo, one of the Toronto GM’s gave him the news of his demotion to the OHL, and things specifically to work on for the rest of the season.

“I think the thing they really harped on was my skill level; that I had a lot of it I just wasn’t producing enough and that’s what I need to do here,” he said.  “I need to be a high end player where they rely on me to score so that’s what I’m going to try and do.”

Spott backed up his forward sentiments saying he received a call from Marlies coach Dallas Eakins to discuss their plans and expectations for D’Amigo.

“Our job now is to try assist in his development.” Spott said.  “That’s kind of the mandate here; allow him to run a little bit and try and find that passion and confidence in his offensive game.”

The intriguing part about this move by the Maple Leafs is that you don’t have to look very far for a similar situation to compare it to.

Last season, the Leafs gave forward Dale Mitchell a chance to succeed with the Marlies.  But after only two goals and three points in nine games, they sent Mitchell down to the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires to see if he could rejuvenate his game.

He did just that, scoring 43 points in 32 regular season games, and 17 points in 19 playoff games, en route to a second straight Memorial Cup title.

Now it’s not guaranteed that D’Amigo will succeed in the OHL, however, he has the skill set, patience, and hockey smarts to do so.

He is however, contrary to speculation, looking forward to the challenge.

“It’s been a roller coaster ride,” he said laughing.  “Leaving college and going to [Leafs] training camp was a tough process and I’m learning as I go.  It’s just one of those things where as a hockey player you have to battle through it and keep on going, not look back, move forward and play your best every game.”