Taste of the Big Time
By Matt Kalman
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The start of the 2005-06 season figured to pack a lot of excitement for Adam Pineault.
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The Holyoke, Mass. native was set to play for the Moncton Wildcats of the QMJHL under new head coach Ted Nolan (the former Buffalo Sabres mentor who once won the Jack Adams Trophy as the NHL’s top head coach). And the Wildcats are scheduled to host the Memorial Cup in the spring, a tournament they could very well win.
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But before focusing on his duties as a major junior player, the 19-year-old Pineault headed for Columbus, Ohio, where competed at the Blue Jackets’ training camp.
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A groin injury prevented the former Boston College forward from skating much during veterans’ camp, but he got a feel for how he matched up during the Blue Jackets’ rookie camp. When the veterans arrived, Pineault was still able to benefit – even though he wasn’t able to play.
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“It was unbelievable,” the Blue Jackets’ second-round pick (46th overall ) in the 2004 Entry Draft told hockeyjournal.com a day after he returned to Moncton for a second season on Wednesday. “Sitting around with guys like Rick Nash, Adam Foote, hanging out with them and kind of learning from them too.”
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The 6-foot-1, 193-pound Pineault also accomplished a major career goal when he signed a pro contract with Columbus.
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“That’s something I’ve been working on my whole life, to sign a pro contract,” Pineault said. “To get that out of the way, (now I can) come up here and just worry about playing hockey, having fun and winning the Memorial Cup. That takes a lot off your shoulders.”
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A self-described power forward, who models his game after Philadelphia Flyers forward Keith Primeau, Pineault said the No. 1 thing he’s going to work on this year is his skating. He already proved his goal-scoring ability with a 26-goal season last year for the Wildcats.
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Along the way, it won’t hurt to have Nolan as a mentor as Pineault tries to make the next step in his career.
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“(Nolan’s) an intense guy,” said Pineault, who’s joined on this year’s Moncton roster by Milton, Mass. native Keith Yandle. “He’s up here for one thing, he wants to win. And he’s not going to take anything from anybody, and if you don’t play good, you don’t play. So everybody here is trying to play their best.”
