Got it from the Amerks' Facebook page, and I'm not sure if it's for Rochester then or for Florida. Someone else can post the link, as I have to leave now. It's a two-way contract, I can at least say that much.
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"...and ultimately it doesn't matter."
Here's the article I wrote about Oreskovich last week.
Quote:
The Rochester Americans have a lineup that is making the rest of the league turn heads and realize this Amerks team is nowhere near the same team they faced last season. The addition of players like Chris Taylor, Graham Mink, Mike York, Jamie Johnson, and Jeff Taffe are an offensive threat against every team they’ll face.
The Florida Panthers are currently talking with Victor Oreskovich about signing a contract, a player who could turn out to be a big surprise. I was going to wait until after I knew he was signed but it sounds like things are going well so hopefully I don’t jinx the process.
My guess is that he’s offered a two way NHL deal with the Florida Panthers. I have absolutely nothing to base that on except from what I’ve learned about the kid. The Panthers are still under the 50 player limit to NHL deals so there’s a chance for him.
Victor Oreskovich playing for the Rochester Americans during a preseason game against the Syracuse Crunch on 9/29/09
The native of Oakville Ontario was drafted 55th overall in the second round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft by the Colorado Avalanche. In the 2004 draft the Florida Panthers had drafted David Booth 53rd overall, two spots ahead of Oreskovich. History has proven that draft order does not always mean anything (Mike Funk was drafted 43rd in 2004) but it puts into perspective where he was in that draft year.
Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin were drafted one and two that year.
He was invited to the Florida Panthers training camp where he played well in a couple of games for them and impressed the coaches.
“He’s a good skater, big body, brings a lot of energy. We’re very pleased with him,” is what Benoit Groulx said about Oreskovich after the Amerks 4-2 win over the Syracuse Crunch.
Victor started gaining the attention of professional scounts in 2002-03 when he played for the Milton Icehawks of the Ontario Provincial Junior Hockey League (OPJHL). During that season he scored 28 goals with 47 assists for 75 points in just 49 games. Following the 2002-03 season he received the B.J. Munro Award as the top NHL prospect.
The next season (2003/2004) he went on to play for the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL where he played in 58 games scoring 11 goals with 26 assists.
Oreskovich attended Notre Dame in 2004 to earn a degree in finance as well as to play college hockey. He played in 37 games his first season scoring one goal and getting two assists. His second season he only played in nine games but had two goals and one assist.
Like a lot of kids in Canada he has loved hockey all of his life and things just weren’t working out well at Notre Dame. “A lot of things at Notre Dame weren’t going that great. I was a young guy and a little impatient, college hockey is tough for younger players,” he said.
Victor only stayed at Notre Dame for two years saying, “I jumped to juniors to jump start my pro career and it worked out.”
He played two seasons with the Kitchener Rangers, the second season being the most productive. He scored 28 goals, had 32 assists, and played in 62 games during the 2006/2007 season. He also played in five playoff games that season and registered two goals.
After that season he was looking to make the jump to the next level. “I signed with Colorado after my last year in Kitchener but at that time i had a couple injuries and lost my passion along the way. I went to my second training camp with Colorado and retired that fall (2007).”
On September 17, 2007 he was assigned to the Lake Erie Monsters but did not report and was suspended by the Avalanche at which point he retired from hockey.
After he retired he went back to Notre Dame to finish school and graduated with a degree in finance. While Victor was at school he says, “That fire came back. I just started really missing the game and I really wanted to try and make a comeback.”
Pete DeBoerWith a renewed passion to play hockey again Victor had the perfect opportunity to try and get back into the game through Pete DeBoer, his coach when he played for the Kitchener Rangers and current coach of the Florida Panthers.
Victor understands how fortunate he is to get a second chance saying, “Pete was awesome. Just to give me the opportunity to come back meant a lot to me. I’m really fortunate to get another chance, a lot of guys wouldn’t be that lucky.”
From a young players perspective, I asked him what he thought of playing for someone who had previously coached in the juniors and is now coaching in the NHL. He said, “I think Pete is a great coach, he really knows what hes doing and more than anything he’s a great motivator. I really loved playing for Pete. Sometimes pro coaches might not understand the younger guys coming into pro whereas Pete has that perspective of what younger guys can and cannot handle and just how you have to handle certain players differently.”
Oreskovich assisted on a short handed goal against the Syracuse Crunch on Tuesday night with a minute left in the second period. Watching him play you would never think that he had taken two years off from playing professional hockey.
Victor may have lost the passion to play hockey a couple of years ago but he’s certainly fired up to play again and it’s shown on the ice. What if a career playing hockey doesn’t work out? He’s already graduated college and is armed with a finance degree from Notre Dame.
The only person in Rochester that can throw a punch is Duco and we're not letting him leave.
Considering Duco was one of the last forwards to be cut, I'm thinking that as the season progresses and people get injured you're going to be a little disappointed.
He was at ND and both he and the team had a terrible year, so he ran out on his scholarship and left for Kitchener. He had a good year in the OHL, but got hurt at some point (a knee, I think, and maybe one other time). He saw a sports psychologist over the course of that year as well, I'm not sure why. Probably the same motivation crap.
He had a good training camp (I remember noticing him while attending), and was headed for our AHL affiliate after signing a contract. He didn't like that, apparently, and decided to "retire" and go finish his degree at ND. I can't find an article to corroborate this, but I think he got hurt again in camp, and didn't want to rehab again.
It was pretty basic prospect crap, but I felt Oreskovich didn't treat the organization well. He was just lazy. But then, maybe he's grown up some. I still have some sour grapes for him though after wasting my team's pick and ditching instead of toughing it out.
He's got talent and size, and I had pegged him as a guy to watch and that I expected to make the NHL, so that makes it even more irritating. I'll be curious to see what he does for you guys.
He was at ND and both he and the team had a terrible year, so he ran out on his scholarship and left for Kitchener. He had a good year in the OHL, but got hurt at some point (a knee, I think, and maybe one other time). He saw a sports psychologist over the course of that year as well, I'm not sure why. Probably the same motivation crap.
He had a good training camp (I remember noticing him while attending), and was headed for our AHL affiliate after signing a contract. He didn't like that, apparently, and decided to "retire" and go finish his degree at ND. I can't find an article to corroborate this, but I think he got hurt again in camp, and didn't want to rehab again.
It was pretty basic prospect crap, but I felt Oreskovich didn't treat the organization well. He was just lazy. But then, maybe he's grown up some. I still have some sour grapes for him though after wasting my team's pick and ditching instead of toughing it out.
He's got talent and size, and I had pegged him as a guy to watch and that I expected to make the NHL, so that makes it even more irritating. I'll be curious to see what he does for you guys.
Wow, that's really ****** of him. I don't blame you for holding a grudge. Kind of reminds me of Jiri Dopita and the nonsense he pulled.
He had a good training camp (I remember noticing him while attending), and was headed for our AHL affiliate after signing a contract. He didn't like that, apparently, and decided to "retire" and go finish his degree at ND. I can't find an article to corroborate this, but I think he got hurt again in camp, and didn't want to rehab again.
Or maybe by getting injured again, the thought crossed his mind, "what if I don't make it in professional hockey, what do I have?" With an unfinished degree (from a sensational University), and not enough OHL action to earn the money to pay for Canadian University, he would have found himself in a tough position.
Injuries can bring things into perspective for a person. If he decided he felt earning a degree was a good thing for him personally, then why hold a grudge on him? Because he wasted "your team's 2nd round draft pick?" You act as if he's a piece of meat, when in fact he's a human being who's free to make his own decisions on what he wants to do with his life. You can't force someone to have a passion for the game and force them to be miserable while they try to make your team's 2nd round pick have the most value it can.
Quite frankly, I find it absolutely ridiculous to hold a grudge against a player for stepping away from the game for personal reasons. Same crap went on with Stefan Legein when he stepped away from the game for a time.
Or maybe by getting injured again, the thought crossed his mind, "what if I don't make it in professional hockey, what do I have?" With an unfinished degree (from a sensational University), and not enough OHL action to earn the money to pay for Canadian University, he would have found himself in a tough position.
Injuries can bring things into perspective for a person. If he decided he felt earning a degree was a good thing for him personally, then why hold a grudge on him? Because he wasted "your team's 2nd round draft pick?" You act as if he's a piece of meat, when in fact he's a human being who's free to make his own decisions on what he wants to do with his life. You can't force someone to have a passion for the game and force them to be miserable while they try to make your team's 2nd round pick have the most value it can.
Quite frankly, I find it absolutely ridiculous to hold a grudge against a player for stepping away from the game for personal reasons. Same crap went on with Stefan Legein when he stepped away from the game for a time.
Professional sports players have a job because we pay to see them, so I think at some level we're allowed to judge them. I found it selfish to just leave like that. You say it was smart. It was probably both. Like I said, I just have some sour grapes for him -- I don't hate him, I just don't like the way he acted because it screwed my team and us fans by extension.
Furthermore, I can't imagine a team spending a 2nd rounder on a guy without interviewing him, seeing what his commitment level was, etc. It would follow then that he wasn't exactly forthcoming in said interviews. But that's just speculation.
Like I said, I'll be interested to see what he does.
Professional sports players have a job because we pay to see them, so I think at some level we're allowed to judge them. I found it selfish to just leave like that. You say it was smart. It was probably both. Like I said, I just have some sour grapes for him -- I don't hate him, I just don't like the way he acted because it screwed my team and us fans by extension.
Furthermore, I can't imagine a team spending a 2nd rounder on a guy without interviewing him, seeing what his commitment level was, etc. It would follow then that he wasn't exactly forthcoming in said interviews. But that's just speculation.
Like I said, I'll be interested to see what he does.
P.S. anybody want Salei back?
Speculation on my part.... He probably had a case of the NHL. He was told he was a great player, went to college, that didnt work out, went to the juniors, went to an NHL camp, had hoped or probably expected to make the team but didn't. So rather than pout in the AHL he said screw hockey, retired, got his degree and probably realized he loved the sport.
And then DeBoer is coaching an NHL team, calls his old coach and gets back into it.
