Confirmed with Link: Wick back to Switzerland

[Buckleys]

Maybe I was just imagining this, but I could have sworn i read a few months ago he was willing to sign a two-way contract and give it one more shot. I also remember reading he was a little frustrated because Clouston wouldn't give him much opportunity. Which is true. Would have been nice to see him get line mates that weren't Winchester and Lessard, I remember him hitting two posts on two separate shifts he got with Spezza.

Either way, was getting passed on the depth chart, wish they could have just given his rights to a team willing to give him a legit shot for future considerations.

Good Luck to him, anyway.

[SpezDispenser]

He should have given it another year in NA. Who the heck knows what could happen, a summer of weight training and he could have lit up the AHL and got another call up to the NHL. After that happens, you take that opportunity and run with it, if it doesn't work out next year, then you leave. Whatever I guess, just think he had one final opportunity left in him.

[Icelevel]

even though it didn't look good for him, he was improving and probably would have got a good chance in the A with lots more ice time in a good situation wih KK coaching him. He actually looked decent in the few mins he got in ottawa.
If this was mostly Wick's decision then that's pretty disappointing that he would give up on his supposed dream after one year.

[PKC*]

The writing was on the wall...he wasn't able to earn one-way deals like Greening and Condra. And with the new draft picks coming in to the system, the addition of Filatov, a vet signing here or there, quite frankly, there's just no room.

I'd imagine the guy would have been the 15th-18th forward for this team, on the depth chart.

[dsg89]

i am also a bit disappointed and dont understand his decision 100%.

Thought he is trying at least another year. I am still believing he could have made it with a bit of luck. He new from his Red Deer times it will be tough...hope he can at least has a strong season in Switzerland.

[The Waffler]

Meh, he didn't really do much here anyways.

[HappyDude]

I knew it. This goes to show, dont put too much stock in international championships

[Synthetek]

Annoyed. He never got a chance being buried on the 4th line, thanks Clouston... ****ing jackoff.

[WasTeD]

The tale of Roman Wick:

Titled "Mr.Congeniality" by the hockey news in their pre-draft guide, Roman was drafted in 2004 out of Switzerland

Roman Wick then played 2 seasons in the WHL putting up respectable numbers, looking like a decent prospect.

Roman Wick dissapears back to Switzerland for 4 more seasons leaving those of us who knew about him unclear on whether he was still in our future plans / still a prospect of ours at all!

Roman puts up a good showing at the Olympics and NHL teams take notice but Sens still own Roman's rights.

Roman comes over to give North America 1 more shot.

Roman fails.

Good luck in Switzerland

[mcnorth]

If he doesn't crack the Sens line-up last season and this - he won't crack any NHL line-up... ever.

Like a few other Bingo skill guys, would have liked to have seen CC give them a chance to try the NHL in a situation where they could show their stuff.

[petelevi]

Originally Posted by Buckleys

Maybe I was just imagining this, but I could have sworn i read a few months ago he was willing to sign a two-way contract and give it one more shot. I also remember reading he was a little frustrated because Clouston wouldn't give him much opportunity. Which is true. Would have been nice to see him get line mates that weren't Winchester and Lessard, I remember him hitting two posts on two separate shifts he got with Spezza. Either way, was getting passed on the depth chart, wish they could have just given his rights to a team willing to give him a legit shot for future considerations. Good Luck to him, anyway.

I have the same recollections and also remember Tim Murray intimating that Wick wasn't used properly when he came up to the NHL. My personal feeling is that he 1) realised he didn't have what it took to be a top-end NHL player, 2) saw four one-way RW contracts ahead of him (Alfredsson, Neil, Condra, and presumably Butler), 3) watched Ottawa draft three RW's (Zibanejad, Noesen, and Pageau), 4) he turns 26 in December and hockey careers are short--there's more money to be made in Kloten, especially as a returning Calder Cup champ.

It's too bad. I like Wick and I think he could have been a useful player, but I don't begrudge him wanting to go home and build financial security for himself.

[Xspyrit]

Good luck Roman


Drafting wise, we can add another bust to our 2002-2007 magical drafting


2007 Entry
Draft Num. Round Player Pos Drafted From GP G A Pts PIM
2007 Entry 29 1 Jim O'Brien C U. of Minnesota [WCHA] 6 0 0 0 2
2007 Entry 60 2 Ruslan Bashkirov L Quebec Remparts [QMJHL]
2007 Entry 90 3 Louie Caporusso F St. Michael's Buzzers [OPJHL]
2007 Entry 120 4 Ben Blood D Shattuck St. Mary's (Minn)

2006 Entry
Draft Num. Round Player Pos Drafted From GP G A Pts PIM
2006 Entry 28 1 Nick Foligno L Sudbury Wolves [OHL] 269 46 55 101 175
2006 Entry 68 3 Eric Gryba D Green Bay Gamblers [USHL]
2006 Entry 91 3 Kaspars Daugavins L Riga (Lavtia) 1 0 0 0 0
2006 Entry 121 4 Pierre-Luc Lessard D Gatineau Olympiques [QMJHL]
2006 Entry 151 5 Ryan Daniels G Saginaw Spirit [OHL]
2006 Entry 181 6 Kevin Koopman D Beaver Valley Jr B - [KIJHL]
2006 Entry 211 7 Erik Condra R Notre Dame [CCHA] 26 6 5 11 12

2005 Entry
Draft Num. Round Player Pos Drafted From GP G A Pts PIM
2005 Entry 9 1 Brian Lee D Lincoln Stars [USHL] 132 4 16 20 73
2005 Entry 70 3 Vitali Anikeyenko D Yaroslavl-2 (Russia)
2005 Entry 95 4 Cody Bass C Mississauga IceDogs [OHL] 34 2 2 4 34
2005 Entry 98 4 Ilya Zubov C Chelyabinsk-2 (Russia) 11 0 2 2 0
2005 Entry 115 4 Janne Kolehmainen L SaiPa Lappeenranta [SM-liiga]
2005 Entry 136 5 Tomas Kudelka D ZPS Zlin Jrs. (Czech.)
2005 Entry 186 6 Dmitry Megalinsky D Yaroslavl Lokomotiv [Russia]
2005 Entry 204 7 Colin Greening L Upper Canada College (Cdn high school) 24 6 7 13 10

2004 Entry
Draft Num. Round Player Pos Drafted From GP G A Pts PIM
2004 Entry 23 1 Andrej Meszaros D Trencin Dukla [Slovak] 460 42 133 175 341
2004 Entry 58 2 Kirill Lyamin D CSKA Moscow [Russia]
2004 Entry 77 3 Shawn Weller L Capital District Selects (EJHL)
2004 Entry 87 3 Peter Regin C Herning Bluefox (Denmark) 141 17 31 48 34
2004 Entry 89 3 Jeff Glass G Kootenay Ice [WHL]
2004 Entry 122 4 Alexander Nikulin C CSKA Jr. (Russia) 3 0 0 0 0
2004 Entry 141 5 Jim McKenzie R Sioux Falls Stampede [USHL]
2004 Entry 156 5 Roman Wick R Kloten [Swiss-A] 7 0 0 0 0
2004 Entry 219 7 Joe Cooper R Miami University (Ohio) [CCHA]
2004 Entry 251 8 Matt McIlvane C Chicago Steel [USHL]
2004 Entry 284 9 John Wikner L Frolunda Jrs (Sweden)

2003 Entry
Draft Num. Round Player Pos Drafted From GP G A Pts PIM
2003 Entry 29 1 Patrick Eaves R Boston College [H-East] 370 70 62 132 139
2003 Entry 67 2 Igor Mirnov F Moscow Dynamo [Russia]
2003 Entry 100 3 Philippe Seydoux D Kloten [Swiss-A]
2003 Entry 135 4 Mattias Karlsson D Brynas IF Gavle [SEL]
2003 Entry 142 5 Tim Cook D River City Lancers [USHL]
2003 Entry 166 5 Sergei Gimayev D Cherepovets Severstal [Russia]
2003 Entry 228 7 Will Colbert D Ottawa 67's [OHL]
2003 Entry 260 8 Ossi Louhivaara F KooKoo Kouvola [Mestis]
2003 Entry 291 9 Brian Elliott G Ajax Axemen [OPJHL] 142 0 1 1 0

2002 Entry
Draft Num. Round Player Pos Drafted From GP G A Pts PIM
2002 Entry 16 1 Jakub Klepis C Portland Winter Hawks [WHL] 66 4 10 14 36
2002 Entry 47 2 Alexei Kaigorodov C Magnitogorsk Metallurg [Russia] 6 0 1 1 0
2002 Entry 75 3 Arttu Luttinen L HIFK Jr. (Finland)
2002 Entry 113 4 Scott Dobben W Erie Otters [OHL]
2002 Entry 125 4 Johan Bjork D Malmo Jrs [Sweden]
2002 Entry 150 5 Brock Hooton R Quesnel Millionaires [BCHL]
2002 Entry 246 8 Josef Vavra L Vsetin Jr. (Czech)
2002 Entry 276 9 Vitaly Atyushov D Perm Molot [Russia]


Total = 1698 NHL Games for 47 picks


PS : Sorry for the long post

[PeterSidorkiewicz]

Massive blow to our team hotness level, nothing else really affected.

Can't blame him, I can't imagine too many Swiss people ever wanting to leave their own country.

[Brassknuckles]

I don't blame him at all. He's gotta do what's best for him at this point. He only has so many years left to maximize his earning potential as a hockey player. If he has another great tournament with the Swiss and his club team, maybe someone gives him a 1 way deal, but I doubt it. He'll always be a Calder Cup champion.

[EastCoastSensFan]

It was clear he wasnt in the future plans of the team

He would have had to like lead the AHL in scoring to get back into are top 6 plans.

[koreaboy]

its really hard to blame him for doing this. you listen to yorkie talk about the swiss league and you get the sense its a great league to play in. easy working conditions, good pay, good fans, hockey isn't too tough, short season. why toil for years here riding busses in the AHL making $75K when you can stay at home and make a lot more and play MUCH easier hockey. and be a star, probably. the guy never struck me as someone who could make it here. a poor man's peter regin. and at this point even regin's career is looking shaky.

[CanadianHockey]

Originally Posted by sensjersey11

I don't blame him.

Look at all the guys who got 1-way contracts ahead of him on the depth chart. The writing was on the wall, IMO.

Good player, just didn't work out. I wish him well in Europe, he deserves it.

This.

He got a lot of hype from a good Olympic tourney, but there's a reason he never made the jump.

Edit- To clarify, he didn't make the jump because he's not talented enough to play a significant role in the NHL, and naturally would prefer to stay home and play a bigger role in Switzerland. Similar to the Mattias Karlsson situation a few years back.

No ill will toward these guys at all.

[Icelevel]

why not play one more year here and then go to switzerland? It's not like he wouldn't get a deal there next year if things didn't change in ottawa is it?
In the meantime he could have actually found out if he had what it took to make it in the nhl instead of barely trying. (one year in the A is barely trying)
I'm not sure i like him anymore. no motivation. see ya.

[koreaboy]

Originally Posted by BWP

why not play one more year here and then go to switzerland?

because he can make way more money over there for a far less punishing schedule and not have to ride busses all year. he can also see how many young forwards we have here now and do the math. this is a no brainer, really.

[Bruiser]

Hurting the rep of Euro's again; if you aren't handed an opportunity then just bolt back to Europe. Wick must have not wanted to be an NHLer bad enough to do what it takes to be one. It's unfortunate the amount of Euro prima donas that are unwilling to make the sacrifices and ride the buses in the AHL to become a pro.

I do however give credit to the Euro's that actually pay their dues and do what it takes to play in the NHL. However many would rather try and develop in Europe than to go through the grind of the AHL, they lack mental toughness.

Good luck to Petterrsson; he is a few years away from being an NHLer so hopefully he handles the AHL grind better than Wick and actually stays if he isn't given an opportunity right away.

\end rant

[koreaboy]

i don't think its about a lack of mental toughness. i think its a human being making a rational decision for himself and his career. roman wick is not good enough to be an NHL player. i think he knows that. he's very lucky that he has the option of a league in his home country that will pay him a better salary and that plays a style of hockey more suited to his talents. you can't blame him for that.

if he was a NA kid he probably wouldnt have the option of going home to europe and he'd toil down in the ECHL or the UHL. only the very very best players in the world make it to the NHL. i don't blame anyone for not making it and then making a choice to play at home for good money.

[Xelace]

Originally Posted by Buckleys

I also remember reading he was a little frustrated because Clouston wouldn't give him much opportunity. Which is true. Would have been nice to see him get line mates that weren't Winchester and Lessard, I remember him hitting two posts on two separate shifts he got with Spezza.

This.
I know players aren't given ice time, they have to earn it but it with those line-mates, it isn't an easy task to produce offense.

Sad to see him go, but completely understand why he did.

[The Great Below]

Originally Posted by Bruiser

Hurting the rep of Euro's again; if you aren't handed an opportunity then just bolt back to Europe. Wick must have not wanted to be an NHLer bad enough to do what it takes to be one. It's unfortunate the amount of Euro prima donas that are unwilling to make the sacrifices and ride the buses in the AHL to become a pro.

These Euro's trying to break in only have a few years of earning power.
A career is so short and injuries happen so can't be riding the buses for a couple years when good money can be made over seas.

Wick made 55K in the AHL last year... when he can make around 500K in Europe it just does not sound logical to hang around in NA.

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

Nooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!

**** you Clouston.

[Ishdul]

How could anyone blame Clouston? Wick wasn't even doing much in the AHL, especially during the playoffs.