Norris Point's Hynes could turn out to be a draft dark horse

Sports scene -

Six years ago, just before the NHL lockout, the Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup with nary a player under six feet tall.

Except for Martin St. Louis and Dan Boyle - one a dynamic, high-scoring forward liberally listed at 5-9, the other a slick puck-moving, power-play quarterback, standing about 5-10 on the blueline.

Since that lockout, which if nothing else, opened up a game that had been reduced to a staid, clogged marathon of ice chess, more and more smallish players have found their way to the NHL, And no one's talking about the height and weight of Mike Cammalleri, Patrick Kane, Mike Richards and Brian Gionta anymore.

Somewhere, Ernie Godden, Dale Derkatch and Steve Tsujiura, mini-mes who put up big junior numbers, but never got much of a shot at the NHL, are smiling.

But while big-league clubs are open to the thought of employing little hockey players, rare is a team that has more than two or three under six feet, and even more uncommon is a smallish skater who isn't an impact player.

Yes, it's still a big man's game, but the door is creaking open to the little guys, giving would-be pros like Brandon Hynes a glimmer of hope.

Hynes remembers "watching the playoffs five or six years ago, and the majority of the guys were over six feet. There was one guy under 5-10, St. Louis, and he's still there."

Hynes, from Norris Point on the province's west coast, is the 122nd North American skater listed by Central Scouting for the NHL Draft.

Considering that list doesn't include Europeans or goaltenders, chances are Hynes won't go until late in the draft, if at all. This even though he's coming off a superb sophomore season with Victoriaville, where he tied for fourth in QMJHL goal-scoring with 41 tallies, and 16th overall with 75 points.

Problem is Hynes stands 5-8 3/4 - "we call it 5-9" - and weighs 175 pounds. While he's reportedly a darty little right-winger, isn't overly fast.

Truth is, if this was five years ago, a black line would be drawn through Hynes's name.

But this is 2010.

"I think I've proven I can play this game," he said.

Hynes has met with a number of NHL clubs, including the Chicago Blackhawks and Montreal Canadiens, who invited him to their draft combine last month. The Toronto Maple Leafs have contacted Hynes's agent, Alain Roy, several times.

His stock dipped a bit this spring with a poor playoff, when he scored just two goals in 13 games. But he was playing with a high ankle sprain.

"I was at 80 per cent for the semifinals," he said. "But you don't have a choice. It's the playoffs."

Size isn't the only issue with Hynes. Skating is an area of concern.

"He's got good hands, he passes the puck smart, he knows the game," NHL Central Scouting's Chris Bordeleau told NHL.com, "but he doesn't have the speed he needs to compete at the next level.

"You have to have superior speed in order to compete at the next level. It's going to be tough for this kid."

But Hynes does have his supporters.

TSN.ca's Scott Cullen has him listed among "productive sleepers" ranked lower than 50th, and The Hockey News has Hynes fifth among its Top Five Draft Sleepers.

"... Has great hands and a goalscorer's mentality ... is more quick than fast, as he lacks the extra gear needed to star at the highest level ... is quite undersized for the NHL game, so he needs to prove capable of withstanding the pounding in the pros," says the THN scouting report.

Hynes came up through the Gros Morne Minor Hockey Association, playing high school hockey in Grade 8, and making the provincial under-15 team as a 13-year-old. He also played his first three games of major midget hockey with Western Kings at 13.

In terms of uncovering hockey players, Norris Point might be off the beaten path. But as a young lad, there was no better place to find available ice than nearby Rocky Harbour Arena.

"I lived with my skates on," he said. "I put them on when I was five, and I never took them off.

"It's easier to find ice time in a small town. You could go to practice early and get on the ice and stay late after practice because you were never pressed for time.

"You could rent an hour of ice, and stay on twice as long. We were never kicked off."

Hynes figures to put in a stressful day today. He's not sure whether to bury his face into the computer, or go for a flick at Big Falls near Cormack. Nothing like a few hours on the salmon river to relieve stress, he figures.

And while he's trying to land a fish, maybe somebody in Los Angeles will decide to reel him in.

rshort@thetelegram.com