I came across this essay, “On Running Away,” in the fall of 1969 when I was a senior in high school. It was in a book of 25 essays called, “The Edge of Awareness.”
This particular essay had a big impact on my life. After graduating from high school I yoyo-ed up and down the east coast with my thumb for about a year and a half, and then – in the summer of 1976 – I spent nine weeks with my girlfriend hitch-hiking from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, up the West Coast to Vancouver, and then across Canada to Niagara Falls & back down to Philadelphia. And there were other adventures after that that I can trace to this essay.
(Even now, as I write this, my wife and I are on a cargo ship from Baltimore, MD to Hamburg, GE. In the face of myriad uncertainties during the planning and preparations, I smiled inwardly as I recalled the essay and the author’s reference to the Churchill quote.)
I lost my own copy of the book decades ago, but then found a used copy on Amazon a while back. When I re-read it after so many decades, I got the same thrill I got when I read it the first time almost 50 years ago. I gave it to my wife to read, and she said, “I can see why guys like you would like it.”
So I painstakingly copied the essay into a Word document, and I am posting it online so that some of you might draw the same inspiration that I drew from it.
Enjoy!

On Running Away, John Keats, 1965
Ralph and I considered the possibility of police pursuit. We briefly debated the advisability of disguises. We decided that the wisest course was to try to postpone pursuit. To that end, we would tell our parents that we had each been invited by the other boy's family to spend the summer in Michigan. We made our secret plans, and one afternoon, shortly after high-school graduation, we uttered our little lies and headed for the railroad yards. That evening, while our families were no doubt discovering that neither owned a summer camp in Michigan, we were already far from our comfortable New Jersey suburb, rattling west across America. Our object was to get to China to join the American Volunteer in its aerial combat against the Japanese.
Two weeks later America was still rattling past, but now there was not a tree or house in sight. We slid the boxcar door wide open at dawn to see a vast prairie, pale gold in the east, dark in the west. Mountaintops shone above the shadows as they caught the first light. We were lonely, stiff from sleeping on a jittering wooden floor, cold, and tired of eating canned dog food. I have a clear memory of that morning in the morning of my life, now more than a quarter century ago. I can see in the mind's eye those empty distances, and feel again the emptiness inside me. I am certain that Ralph was as fearful as I that day, but we did not admit our misgivings to each other. That would have been as much an admission of failure as returning home.
As we sat in the open doorway, watching the day brighten and the Rockies draw slowly nearer, I reflected on the recent past. No small part of the charm of running away from home lay in the presumption that the world was full of dangers. Naturally, we were eager to encounter them. Nothing was more pleasant than to imagine returning home as bronzed soldiers of fortune, bearing interesting scars and laden with the gifts of a grateful Chinese government. En route to the wars we would, of course, slay the usual number of local dragons. We were not running away from life but into it. We were sure that what we had left behind was lifeless. Our New Jersey suburb was pudgy with Buicks and Packards; a thing of clean linen, toothbrushes, electric razors, the once-a-week sound of the maid running the vacuum cleaner, and the empty conversations of soft-bellied people who worked in offices and played bridge and went to Bermuda in the spring.
Our own view of ourselves, now that we rode boxcars and rolled our own cigarettes, was that we were tough. We wore blue denims, and soot from the coal-burning trains was ground into our denims and our skin. Our adolescent stubble always seemed to be three days old. The men we met were, for the most part, illiterates. The only woman we had seen on the trains had been a moron who was the chattel of a man who offered her to us for a dime each. One of the boys we met was a male prostitute bound for Los Angeles. Two of the men in the gondola ahead of us looked to be thieves. There was no question about it: we were seeing Life. Unfortunately, it only too closely resembled the one we had left.
I could not help thinking, as we clacked along, that we knew the two thieves at home. One was a member of the Rotary; the other, a minister's son. How was the man with the moron different from the parents who haunted summer hotels in the perpetual hope of selling their unattractive daughter into matrimony? One of our high school classmates had been established in a New York apartment by a successful businessman. The difference between that boy and the one headed for Los Angeles was that the one moved in wealthier -- I almost said better -- circles. I have said that Ralph and I were inwardly fearful, but I should make clear that what we secretly feared was that life would prove not challenging but merely dull. In fact, we were finding it not only dull but dirty.
There were perils, but they were largely mechanical. For instance, one of our fellow passengers, an elderly nondescript, had made the mistake of dozing in the sunlight near the forward edge of a boxcar roof. When the cars banged together as the fast freight began to brake, clattering down the long hill into Cheyenne, the first sudden lurch tossed him forward, off the roof and under the wheels, instantly bisecting him. One night when Ralph and I sheltered from the rain in a sort of cave formed by overhanging boards piled on a flatcar, we narrowly escaped a similar fate when the load shifted as we rounded a curve. Stupidity, we realized, was lethal. But where were the unknown dangers with which the world was supposedly replete? Specifically, where were the toughs and murderers who, in the public mind, so thickly populated the hobo jungles and the Hoovervilles?
We met none. The well-fed burghers of our hometown, to whom the Depression was more of a nuisance than a catastrophe, regarded the scarecrows of the Hoovervilles as dubiously as a French marquis might have looked on a Parisian mob in 1790, but they were wrong. At least in the West, the hobo jungles were merely unofficial public campsites tenanted by a slowly changing population of migrants down on their luck. Feeling a need for governance, these men formed their own. Many were veterans of World War I, and in camp after camp a former sergeant was elected or appointed leader. He greeted new arrivals, assigned them huts or sleeping spaces, and explained the rules: No fighting, thieves get beat up, you keep your place clean. And remember, try to bring back something for chow. Everyone brings something for chow.
In the America of those days everyone understood everyone else's problem, because it was also his own. If a man could not find work in one town, he tried another. Having no money to spend on transportation, he thumbed rides (which those who had cars were glad to offer), or he hopped a freight (while brakemen looked the other way). The people on the road were not derelicts. The derelicts, then as now, lived in Skid Rows in our cities. All the men and boys on the road, however modest their abilities and backgrounds, were looking for work. Some were bindle stiffs, who had known nothing all their lives except stoop labor, moving forever from harvest to harvest. Others were genuine hobos -- men who could work at nearly any trade, but whose free choice it was to hold no job long. All hobos said they intended to settle down someday, but not just yet. There was still a lot of country they wanted to see first. With rare exceptions, we met none but friends. Perhaps it is true that in good times no one takes to the road but the bad, but in our bad times we met virtually none but the good.
Ralph and I had looked for jobs wherever the trains stopped on our way through the Midwest, and while we found none, there were always housewives who would put their cares aside to consider ours. They would give us make-work so that we should not seem beggars. We would wash the windows, or whitewash the henhouse, or clean the yard or the rain gutters, and while we puttered, the woman would prepare us a meal. Often as not they would give us a package of food to take to the train. In small towns everyone knew the train schedules, and sometimes we would be told, "Gracious, there is some work I do want done, but you boys won't have time for it before the train leaves, so why don't you just sit down and I'll try to find something in the icebox."
It was disappointing to be welcomed everywhere, when it was so important to learn whether we could make our unaided way through a violent world. Of course, we heard that the railroad detectives were the sadistic enemies of the tramp. We heard that they loved nothing more than to beat a defenseless man insensible and toss his body on an outbound freight. The most famous of these detectives was one Green River Slim. Alas, we never saw a yard detective, and Green River Slim turned out to be just as imaginary, and as ubiquitous, as that other great American whose name was found chalked up on a thousand boxcars (and who would later go to war) -- Kilroy.
In retrospect it is clear to me that Ralph and I were the only people of our acquaintance on the road who were dangerous. We were looking for trouble; everyone else was looking for work. Our ambition was to kill Japanese for fun and money, and meanwhile prove to the world how tough we were. Nobody seemed to view us in just this light except, perhaps, a toothless old wreck, with breath like a vulture's, who accosted us outside a Skid Row bar in Chicago.
"Want to see how hard you can hit?" he asked us. "Gimme a quarter, I'll let you hit me. See can you knock me out."
He followed us for nearly a block, pleading, promising not to hit back, flattering us, and finally, when he saw it was of no use, cursing. Looking back on it, I think we fled from him.
Novelty, rather than true discovery, entertained us to the foothills of the Rockies. It would be years before we learned the truth of Montaigne's remark that the traveler must take himself wherever he goes. Yet I do remember that our first sight of those mountains seemed a mockery; I remember the feeling of emptiness they created inside me. In themselves they were an enormous fact, and consideration of one fact led to a consideration of others. One was that no one wanted us to do anything for him except leave town; people were glad to help us on our way.
Another was that we had nothing to offer anyone except manual labor, which was not in demand, or our money, which was. We had left home with two hundred dollars between us, all saved from the unearned money our families had allowed us. It had cost us thirty dollars to purchase blankets, denims, work shoes and sufficient dog food to carry us to South Dakota. Canned dog food recommended itself to us as the cheapest comestible to be had. It constituted a balanced diet, and was rather tasty -- at first.
The meals donated by housewives were occasional banquets, but as the train rolled farther west and the towns thinned out, dog food became our staple, and it seemed that we might have to consume another hundred and seventy dollars' worth of it if we could not immediately find a ship for China. I now suspect what caused my feeling of emptiness was a premonition that one could not live without money, but that no one could earn money save at the loss of one's freedom. The world seemed a jail.
In the high Rockies, two boys boarded our train. They were Louis Wang, a Chinese-American of Fresno, and Phillip Benoff, a Russian-American from Los Angeles. They had gone adventuring to the East Coast and now were returning to California: Phil to join the Army and Louis to join a gambling house where he would run a dice table. We told them of our plans, and they decided to come along with us instead. In that moment we became an army, and the world brightened considerably. Changed by the alchemy of a dream, the mountains' vast sterility was transformed into magnificence. We would sort the facts of life to suit ourselves. Crossing the Pacific would be no problem. Everyone knew that boys could get jobs as wipers to work a passage. Boys had been running away to sea for centuries. We had only to find a ship that needed four wipers.
Before it was over, we must have walked the docks of every port of the West Coast -- including those of minor fishing towns. "Were we members of the Union?" No. "Let's see your identification papers." We had none.
"Do you have passports?" Passports?
We went to the union offices. "Buddy, we've got 3,000 guys on the bench, and every single one of them is an Able Seaman."
Ralph and I, blue-eyed and blond, went to the Scandinavian shipping companies, saying, "Ay an Swade. Ay yust want ship home." And they laughed and said they were sorry.
We persisted until someone finally told us the truth about the American Volunteer Group. It seemed that the volunteers had been carefully selected by the United States government from its ranks of Army, Navy, and Marine Corps pilots. We went to the recruiting offices, only to be told that we would need at least two years of college credits to qualify for the aviation-cadet programs. At this point, we all went to Fresno with Louis to think things over.
College was out of the question for Louis and Phil, but Ralph and I had only to ask to go, and our parents would send us. In Fresno, I began to see the fallacy of our position: our confidence in ourselves had all along been based on the assumption that we were different from other men: not on the slightest feeling of identify with mankind. This could not be helped; we were what our first eighteen years made us. At any moment we could have walked out of the shacks of the hobo jungle to the nearest Western Union office, and hours later been dressed in decent clothes, sitting down to the best dinner in the best hotel of whatever town it was, while a hotel clerk booked reservations for us on the next Pullman headed for Newark, New Jersey. The difference between us and all others was, as Smollett would say, wholly matter-money. In the back of our minds we had always known this, and it was the source of our strength and the source of our great weakness; it made us hold something back in our relationship with others; we were never identifying with them; thus, a barrier, built of dollars, shut us off from the kindness of Midwestern housewives, and from Louis and Phil. We and the other people on the road were of different tribes.
I do not mean to say that I worked all this out in so many words at age eighteen, sitting at the bar of a tacky one-story gambling house in Fresno, watching Chinese playing fan-tan and Americans shooting craps. I simply mean that I was then dimly but uneasily aware of what I am now saying. I remember that we did wonder aloud whether going back home to college would not be an admission of defeat, but that we rationalized our way to the view that the only path to war in the Chinese skies led through two years of college followed by an aviation-cadet program. This decided, we broke what had been a summer-long silence and wrote our first letters home.
The immediate answer was a large check, which we expected, and the utterly demoralizing news – which we had not expected – that our parents, confident that we would get over our silliness, had already entered us in college for the fall term. In those days not many colleges demanded College Entrance Examination Test scores, but all of them had vacancies and most were willing to pretend that the customer was always bright.
Our parents’ casual certainty about us was infuriating. We therefore determined upon one final gesture that would restore to us something of our romantic view of ourselves as hard, tough men. Louis Wang had a motorcycle. It he would let us borrow it, we would ride it east and send it back to him. Ralph’s father owned a manufacturing concern (Ralph showed Louis the company letterhead) and Ralph would have the shipping department crate the motorcycle and send it back.
Oddly enough, Louis agreed. Perhaps he was intrigued by our idea of driving across the continent without stopping except for gasoline. We all wondered if anyone had done this before; if it really could be done; if so, in how little time. So Louis showed us how to start and stop the thing, and we bought a pillow in a five-and-ten-cent store to wire onto the back fender to form a seat for the one who would not be driving. It would not take us long to learn how to drive it, Louis said. We shook hands and went blasting out of Fresno forever.
We raced furiously to Sacramento; scuttered over the mountains and into Reno with our backsides beginning to turn black and blue. We sped across the salt flats; paused for gasoline, coffee and a bottle of whiskey at a Wyoming town where all three were sold at the town’s one store. Our headlights, at ninety miles an hour, suddenly illuminated white-faced Herefords wandering across an open range in Montana, and we went off the road to avoid them, shouting and scattering gravel and cattle; somehow wobbled back onto the road again and out of the herd. We gradually drew closer to what we believed were the lights of a town, shining far ahead in the clear Western distances, only to realize at last that, in our grogginess, we were creeping nearer and nearer to the tailgate of an enormous, brightly lighted trailer truck. We drank black coffee at the next gas pump; coffee laced with whiskey. We also fell asleep while rounding a curve in Iowa. I remember seeing a shower of sparks, and eventually realizing they were caused by the foot peg grinding along the pavement while the centrifugal force and an unbanked curve were keeping us alive. I shouted at Ralph to stop trying to show off, and he woke up suddenly, caught himself, and swerved back to our own side of the road.
Eighty hours after leaving Fresno we were streaking along the new Pennsylvania Turnpike at night, chased by police. They did not arrest us. They merely wanted to tell us the road was not yet open; that a thousand yards ahead was a place where the first bridge would be, when it was built. When we reached New Jersey we slept for two days, and it was some days later before the swelling left our hand and arms and the bruises faded from out buttocks.
Then, having nothing better to do, we went to college. We hated that. The boys and girls who went to college were nothing but tame kids who would unquestionably evolve into bridge players who made nonconversation. They joined fraternities, cheered at the games, did their homework, earned their grades, went to the dances and swung and swayed with Sammy Kaye; while we, in our arrogant innocence, looked derisively upon all this from an outside world. We were different. We were 6,000 miles by boxcar and motorcycle apart from them. We knew it, and they did, too. Just to be sure they knew, we always rolled our own cigarettes on campus and dressed in our own sooty denim pants.
Looking back on it now, it seems odd to say that we felt such a difference between ourselves and the collage children, particularly when I have already said that we, in a formless way, had begun to suspect that the artificial differences between one man and another are inconsequential when compared to the real similarities that unite them. Moreover, Ralph and I were now back among our own kind. Why, then, the studied insolence of the Bull Durham and the dirty Levi’s?
I suppose, now, that the pose and the costume were our own way of saying to other collegians, You know nothing about it. We would sit in economics class, and the others would brightly chatter with the young doctoral student who was our instructor, and I would slump back in my chair with my hands in my pockets, angry and silent, hearing nothing of this footless patter of cyclical depressions. Instead, I would see in my mind’s eye a filling station door open, and the woman in a man’s coat and hat emerge, a scarf wrapped around her nose and mouth to keep out the driving dust; she would wad another protective rag around the nozzle of the hose and the opening of the gas tank to put two dollars’ worth of gasoline into a wretched jalopy crowded with an empty-faced family of spindly children and bearing on its roof rug-wrapped bundles and the flat steel web of a cheap double bed, and hear the man ask whether, instead of paying with money, he could stay and work for two days.
An ad hominin approach to Economics 201A was not a certain path for success in the subject, but I cared nothing for the course and less for the grade. The feeling grew on me that no one in college, including the smug young instructors with the Phi Beta Kappa keys, knew what the devil he was talking about; that they were all playing at an intellectual game that insulted the dignity of experience.
This was not a feeling I could put into words at the time. I had only the unexpressed knowledge, sitting silent inside me, that there was no place for me then, or perhaps ever, in any world I did not make for myself. Indeed, in retrospect, this seems to have been the cardinal lesson of our summer’s trip. It will be seen that Ralph and I failed to make our dream come true: that our first young research for the stuff of life proved only that we were not at home in either the suburban or the proletarian worlds. Nor were we at home in the academic world. In fact, we would never be at home in any patterned world. No one ever is. No matter how much we share with all mankind, each of us is bitterly alone. Our true distance from our neighbor begins to yawn when we at length discover the unexplored darkness within ourselves, and begin to understand that he who travels farthest and fastest into this darkness must travel alone; and that the ultimate destination of every traveler is always himself.
It was just this sense of the void within us that our trip had given us; it was our first urgent command to get to work and fill the void; our summer trip provided us with our first inkling that our claims to identity would be entirely determined by our experience of ourselves.
In this sense, I can say that some part of me, now and forever, answers to the sounds of a train whistling lonely in the night, and to the deep tones of foghorns in the mists of the Northwestern coast. Some part of me is still the boy sweating at unloading watermelons from a truck in Portland; I am still shivering atop a cattle car in the winds driving through the snow-covered high passes. There is still in whoever I am the wink of campfires and the sight of the drunken man jumping across a fire and someone hitting him with a railroad spike and him falling into the fire. I can still see the lights of San Francisco and of Alcatraz from Coit Tower, and the delicate faces of the Chinese girls that Louis found for us. I have a memory of walking the dock in the rain of Seattle, and of sleepless nights in the fumigated cots of flophouses run by the Gospel Mission; of the Western wastelands creeping past and a hawk swooping on a gopher. Most clearly, I can see the faces of hopeful men who would never know anything other than disappointment, and the burst of spray against the rocks and among the tidal pools of Monterey. I remember lying on rattling floorboards at night, wondering whether I would wind up in jail, or whether any girl would ever want to marry me, and if I would ever see my family again. I have many memories, and if I am not sure yet what all of them mean, I am nonetheless certain that whoever I am is whatever my memories have made me; that I am becoming whatever I can find out about myself.
Nagging at my mind is Churchill’s remark that “without a measureless and perpetual uncertainty, the drama of human life would be destroyed.” I suppose that each of us, in his own way and at this own time, ventures as far as he chooses to dare in search of himself. Amy Lowell wondered, “Christ! What are patterns for?” They are largely for the timid; for those who find them comfortable. It seems to me that an adventure must be defined as an undertaking whose end it is impossible to know.
That is why I applaud the youthful dramatis, the would-be adventurer, who breaks the pattern, who with mounting excitement writes the farewell note and slips out the window at dead of night to set off afoot for the railroad yards to board a freight bound for California. I believe I know how he feels. More important, I know that he is not running away from something so much as he is running toward something: toward life; toward himself; toward an end that cannot be known.
I wish him well. His chances of finding what he seeks are never good, but they are at least better than the chances of those who stay at home, placidly accepting the patterns they never made, or choose.

The end is nigh! The end of the 2016-17 hockey season that is. Yes as leagues around the world end their seasons we get to take one last look at the year that was for the Canucks prospects. As this year’s crop of prospects cart off to gyms and golf courses this summer, we get to wait eagerly in anticipation for training camp in the fall to see if any of these players can impress us and the management. Plus we have a whole new crop of rookies after the draft to follow next season.

Utica Prospects:

Cole Cassels (C 85th overall 2013)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
6	5	11	66

Cassels concludes his second pro year on another disappointing note. The hope for the Hartford native was that he would have a breakout year, since his first season was a difficult one. Cassels scored a mere eleven points in sixty-six games, a better season than his previous one in which he scored seven but still a poor performance by any metric. The son of Andrew Cassels, the expectations of Cole was high, as he helped propel the Oshawa Generals to the Memorial Cup and gained fame after being reported as the one responsible for shutting down Connor McDavid. But that was two years ago and since then Cole has been seemingly unable to adapt to the pro game. It is important to note that offense has never been Cassels’ strong suit, he’s always been a defensive center, but if he wants to ever make it to the next level. Utica never made the playoffs this season so we didn’t get the chance to see if Cassels could become his Memorial Cup self. Cassels is only 21, so he still certainly has time to find his game, but he will have to put in work if he wants to prove he belongs in the AHL and beyond.
Jordan Subban( D 115th overall 2013)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
16	20	36	65

Subban had another very good season in terms of offense. He matched his exact point totals as his first pro-season, which says that at the very least he’s consistent. It was a year of milestones for the young Ontario native, earning his first ever AHL all-star game appearance, and also getting called up by the Canucks, although he never did get into the lineup. Subban is clearly a gifted offensive defenseman, but according his defense still needs work, which is rather disappointing seeing as that is his position. Defense is a position that does tend to take longer to develop so all hope is certainly not lost for Subban, with the Tryamkin situation he might be the closest to securing a roster spot as he’s ever been but he will need to work hard and set his sights on suiting up for the Canucks for one game at least.
Andrey Pedan (D 63rd Overall 2011, acquired by Canucks via trade in 2014)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
5	5	10	52

Pedan had somewhat of a late resurgence this season. He didn’t match his point totals last season, but he did increase his scoring and contributed at key moments in the Comets valiant but ultimately futile late season push for the playoffs. Pedan lead the Comets in total penalty minutes with 100, bringing some sandpaper to the lineup. This is not the first time Pedan has hit the 100 PIM mark as he was consistently above 100 in juniors, he very much plays a tough style. Pedan was a pending RFA but the Canucks elected to re-sign him, so Andrey will be returning to the organization next season. Given the departure of Nikita Tryamkin, Pedan’s size and toughness might give him a huge advantage and I certainly wouldn’t be shocked if he is the defenseman that makes the team next season.
Joe Labate (LW 101st Overall 2011)
With Comets

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
6	10	16	38

With Canucks

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
0	0	0	13

All things considered, this was a pretty good year for Joe Labate. Up and down between the NHL and AHL, Labate got his first taste of NHL action and made the most of his opportunities. While he was kept off the scoresheet for the Canucks in his first season in the NHL, he brought some much needed jump and physicality and looked good in the extremely limited role he was given. Additionally at the AHL level, Labate performed decently, notching sixteen points in less than half a season. Standing at 6’5 Joe has clearly used his greatest asset to his advantage, his size. The Minnesota native will be definitely in the mix for a permanent roster spot come training camp next season, and it will be interesting to see what’s next in the career of one of Vancouver’s most intriguing prospects. He is an RFA coming into this post season so the Canucks will have to work out the details of a new contract if they plan on re-signing him but given his extended look with the Canucks it is most likely the case that he will be retained by the team.
Mike Zalewski (LW Undrafted, signed by Canucks in 2013)
With Comets

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
5	13	18	54

With Canucks

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
0	0	0	1

It has been a difficult season for Mike Zalewski. Injured for some of the season, Zalewski did not perform all that spectacularly. The 24 year old will most likely not be re-signed to an NHL contract by the team, but could easily be offered an AHL contract as he has shown to be a decent AHL player but is likely too old to have a realistic shot at becoming a full-time NHL player, although he did get called up by the Canucks, marking the third season that Zalewski has played at least one game in the show.
Alex Grenier (RW 90th Overall 2011)
With Comets:

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
17	28	45	69

With Canucks:

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
0	0	0	3

Grenier played another good season. He lead the Comets in scoring for much of the season , but ended up finishing 3rd, behind Curtis Valk and Darren Archibald (neither of which are under NHL contracts). Still it was another good season for the 25 year old, who is showing that he can be an effective player at the AHL level. Grenier also got the honour of being chosen to his first ever AHL all-star game which I’m sure was fun for him. This is the first time that Grenier will be a full unrestricted free agent, so the team must decide what to do with him. A 1 year 2 way deal might be best, but I could see the team offering him an AHL contract instead or allowing him to walk entirely. Grenier is now almost safely in AHL lifer territory, as he has shown that while he can be an effective player in the 2nd tier, his skill set has not been able to transfer to the NHL level.
Jake Virtanen (RW 6th Overall 2014)
With Comets:

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
9	10	19	65

With Canucks:

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
0	1	1	10

Virtanen’s season could not have gone much worse. The 6th overall pick was sat for long periods in the NHL before finally being sent down to the AHL where he produced a worrying 19 points. Needless to say Virtanen has been disappointing so far, and while I’m not going to beat the long dead horse about who we should have picked instead of him, I will say that as first AHL seasons go, you can’t get much worse than what Virtanen did. If I can try to be positive for a bit, while Virtanen didn’t produce many points, Utica was a team that was for a large part devoid of any real scoring talent. Grenier, Valk and Archibald were the team's best forwards and players like Megna and Chaput who were originally brought in to help the team ended up with the Canucks because of injuries. Virtanen plays a game that is in large part complementary, he doesn’t necessarily make plays, but he can finish them if he is given the linemates around him. Unless he has an absolute monster of a training camp he should absolutely be back in Utica next season, this time hopefully with some better scoring talent. It is too early to give up on Virtanen, but for the sake of the team and Jake let’s hope he can figure his game out.
Michael Carcone (RW Undrafted signed 2016)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
5	13	18	61

Michael Carcone had a tough first season. Another invitee to the Young Stars tournament the 20 year old impressed the team brass enough to be offered a 3 year entry level contract. His first year as a professional hockey player wasn’t spectacular points wise, but it certainly wasn’t a terrible start, especially towards the end of the season where Carcone seemed to put up the most points. Carcone will presumably be a member of the Comets next season where hopefully his talent will continue to grow.
Evan McEneny (D Undrafted, signed 2013)
With Comets:

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
8	15	23	64

With Canucks:

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
0	0	0	1

McEneny sure came out of nowhere eh? He was so unknown before this that I actually forgot him in my first two write-ups…. Oops. Forgetting him was my bad, but McEneny getting called up by the Canucks and playing his first NHL game was all on him. The 22 year old undrafted defenceman had a breakout season with the Comets, finishing the year 10th in scoring and winning the Ian Anderson award for most improved player. He also earned a call-up with the Canucks during the height of the mumps epidemic that took Vancouver by storm, getting to play in his first NHL game which is obviously the biggest win that a prospect can have. With the unexpected departure of Nikita Tryamkin, a spot has opened up on the blue line full time and it is no doubt that McEneny will be on the shortlist to potentially fill that hole. McEneny is currently contractless and is an RFA but given the strides he has taken this year it is most likely that he will be signed to another contract.
Ashton Sautner (D Undrafted, signed 2015)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
0	5	5	47

Sautner was another player that I missed entirely in my previous lists In fairness however, he hasn’t exactly had a ton to report about this season. The undrafted d-man was signed out of junior and was seen as an interesting gamble for the organization. The 22 year old Saskatchewan native saw a dip in point production in his second AHL season from 11 points to just 5. Honestly I don’t recall ever seeing Sautner play anywhere so I really don’t have a baseline for the type of player he is but even in junior, minus his overage season he never really put up the points so he is a more defensive defenseman. I’m beginning to sound like a broken record at this point but as a D prospect a potential spot has opened up with Tryamkin leaving so this could be a golden opportunity for Sautner and while I don’t think he has much of a chance to make the roster out of camp, there has been a pattern of young defensive prospects coming out of nowhere in training camp and making the team so anything is possible. Sautner has one more year on his current deal so at the very least he should be helping a hopefully much improved Utica blue line next season
Thatcher Demko ( G 36th overall 2014)

Wins	Losses	Games Played
22	18	45

Save %	Goals Against Average	Assists
0.907	2.68	5

In my opinion Thatcher Demko was the Canucks best prospect this season. While he got off to a rocky start in the beginning of his first pro season which is more than understandable, he absolutely rocked it in the last quarter and dragged the rotting carcass of the Utica Comets within one win of the playoffs. Coming into the season it was expected that Demko would have a somewhat light start to his pro career, learning the ropes from the veteran Richard Bachman. While that was the case in the beginning, he had to take over the starting position first with an injury to Bachman, then with the injury to Jacob Markstrom late in the season. The Markstrom injury came at a critical time as the Comets were still in the hunt for a playoff spot with a month or so left to go, and since Bachman had to suit up for the big club in Markstrom’s absence it was up to Demko to try to keep the ship afloat. Given this huge role, Demko didn’t just rise to the occasion, he absolutely ran the show, going 13-3-0 in 16 starts with 0.935 sv%. While Utica’s quest for the playoffs was ultimately fruitless, Demko should be proud of how he played and every fan of this team should be ecstatic about this young man’s play. With the uncertain contract situation of Ryan Miller, it is very possible that Bachman becomes Markstrom’s full time backup next season meaning that Demko could be taking the reigns for the Comets. If this scenario does occur, we could also see Demko get his first NHL start next season if we have another goalie injury.
Nikolay Goldobin (LW/RW 27th overall 2014, acquired via trade 2017)
With Barracuda:

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
15	26	41	46

With Comets:

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
4	0	4	3

With Canucks:

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
3	0	3	12

One of the newest Canucks prospects, Goldobin was acquired at the deadline from the Sharks for Jannik Hansen. The first round pick in 2014 began his Canucks career with the big club, suiting up for his first game against the LA Kings and made a great 1st impression scoring in his first game. The young Russian is known for his creativity and goal scoring ability and before being traded to the Canucks lead the Barracuda in scoring. Goldobin contracted some sort of respiratory illness early on with the team during the epidemic that swept the team mid-March and was out for quite bit. Goldy as he prefers to be called finished his NHL season scoring 2 more goals while playing with the Sedins then was sent down at the end of the Canucks season to help the Comets with their push. He continued to show his AHL dominance with the Comets when he had a 2 goal night in back to back games ending his very short stint with the Comets with 4 goals in 3 games. Goldobin should be in the running for a permanent roster spot come September.

Alaska Aces

Mackenze Stewart ( Fwd/ D 186th overall 2014)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
6	7	13	70

Stewart ended his 1st full pro season with a career high in points, not just at the pro level, but also in junior. The young Stewart who has played both forward and d has never really been known for his scoring ability but his numbers this year suggest improvement at the very least. While Stewart has one of the more interesting stories in hockey, not playing until the age of 12 and being deaf before that, many people are still confused why the young Calgarian was offered an ELC but clearly the organization sees something in him. Stewart also had over 100 penalty minutes, which is on par with his usual play style as a tough guy. It is unclear where Stewart will be next season as the Alaska Aces are officially folding but he will most likely be returning to the ECHL wherever the team decides to put their new affiliate.
Michael Garteig (G Undrafted, Signed 2016)
With Aces:

Wins	Losses	Games Played
11	8	22

Save %	Goals Against Average	Assists
0.906	3.11	1

With Comets:

Wins	Losses	Games Played
0	5	8

Save %	Goals Against Average
0.897	3.01

Michael Garteig has finished his first pro season pretty averagely. The undrafted free agent put up okay numbers with the Aces and not very good numbers with the Comets, although the he did not play many games with the Comets. The 25 year-old Prince George native is an RFA this season so the Canucks must decide whether they will retain him, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he is retained as he seems like a pretty decent minor league goalie.
Yan-Pavel LaPlante (LW 62nd overall 2013, signed 2016)
With Comets:

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
0	1	1	13

With Aces:

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
9	11	20	38

This is really starting to look bad on my part, LaPlante is the THIRD prospect that I missed entirely in my previous check ins, and for that I do sincerely apologize. Laplante, a former 3rd round pick was signed as a free agent at the beginning of the season after putting up an impressive 65 points in 63 games in his final junior season. The 22 year old native of Ste. Martine Quebec put up okay numbers at the ECHL level and was not much of a factor in the limited role he played with Utica. At his current pace LaPlante is not making any top prospect lists, but hopefully the winger can make the AHL squad next season.

CHL

Guillaume Brisebois (D 66th overall 2015)
Regular Season:
With Charlottetown Islanders (QMJHL)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
10	37	47	61

Playoffs:
With Charlottetown Islanders (QMJHL)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
0	4	4	13

Guillaume Brisebois has had a career year with the Islanders, nearly doubling his previous point totals in juniors. Mind you this could be in part because this is the first time he has played for a competent team, as in the previous years his Acadie-Bathurst Titan was not a very good team. One of the most impressive things about Brisebois was the fact that he was captain of his junior team and 18, and that leadership ability has apparently carried over since he was named captain of the Islanders as soon as he got there via trade. This is incredibly impressive, a player almost never becomes the captain of a team upon arriving. As I had mentioned in my previous write-up as well, Brisebois was one of the final cuts for Team Canada at this World Juniors which is another huge check mark on the young defenders resume. Brisebois will most likely be heading to the AHL next season where he will hopefully help better the Comets. Brisebois’ Islanders went deep into the QMJHL playoffs, losing in 5 games to the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada in the third round. Given how Eddie Lack ended up panning out for Carolina, Brisebois is looking like a very good return in that trade. Brisebois might actually be my darkhorse candidate to make the Canucks next season, although I will admit it does seem like a longshot. Nevertheless, a fantastic season for the Quebec native.
Dmitry Zhukenov (C 114th overall 2015)
Regular Season:
With Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
18	47	65	64

Playoffs:
With Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
6	15	21	17

Zhukenov capped off an already impressive season with a dominant playoff performance, putting up 21 points in 17 games and sitting himself in the top 5 in QMJHL playoff scoring. The 20-year old Russian has really turned heads in this playoffs, and is looking like he could materialize into something. It would be nice to see Zhukenov join the Comets next year, and help bolster a rather thin forward core, although there are rumours that Zhukenov may be heading to his hometown team, Avangard Omsk in the KHL. While it would be nice to keep Zhukenov in North America, we will almost assuredly retain his rights, so he might actually be better off developing in the KHL for a while, especially if it is deemed that he will be returning to junior once more.
Carl Neill (D 144th overall 2015)
Regular Season:
With Sherbrooke Phoenix (QMJHL)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
10	36	46	36

With Charlottetown Islanders (QMJHL)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
3	20	23	31

Playoffs:
With Charlottetown Islanders (QMJHL)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
2	9	11	13

Carl Neill had a good season, putting up over a PPG pace in the regular season. The offensive defender did well with his new team, the Charlottetown Islanders, and they went far into the playoffs. While his offensive numbers seem promising, the Canucks clearly don’t feel the same way as it has been reported that the Canucks will not be pursuing an ELC for Neill and he will be re entering the draft. This seems like an odd move, while Neill’s age do undercut his numbers somewhat, he might be a longshot type prospect that could potentially reap huge rewards. While in my opinion losing Neill isn’t exactly a monumental loss, it is rather perplexing why the organization wouldn’t take a flyer on him, especially given that the team does have some contract spaces available. It was recently announced that Neill has committed himself to Concordia University, so it would appear that he is deciding to focus more heavily on his future outside of hockey.
Tate Olson ( D 210 overall 2015)
Regular Season:
With Prince George Cougars (WHL)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
7	19	26	67

Playoffs:
With Prince George Cougars (WHL)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
1	1	2	6

Olson finishes his 2016-17 season with 26 points, which is a dip in production from his last season in which he had 47 points in 65 games, a career best. It was still the second best junior season for the Regina native. Olson must have been disappointed with his early exit from the playoffs as his Prince George Cougars were one of the best regular season teams in the WHL and were expected to make a much deeper run into the playoffs. It is rumoured that Tate Olson will not be signed by the Canucks and will be returning to the draft. While it would have been nice to see if Olson could have progressed in the AHL. The team clearly didn’t feel that Olson was going to be NHL material, and to me, an outside observer, Olson seems like a one-season wonder.
Cole Candella (D 140th overall 2016)
Regular Season:
With Hamilton Bulldogs (OHL)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
3	17	20	65

Playoffs:
With Hamilton Bulldogs (OHL)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
0	0	0	7

0 goals and 0 assists for 0 points in 7 games with Hamilton Bulldogs (OHL) Playoffs
This season was an unspectacular one for Candella. Scoring 20 points in 37 games last season, Candella was coming into the season with high hopes, with the team surely excited to see what the youngster could do with a full season and another year under his belt. Needless to say, tying his previous point total in almost twice as many games was not the direction Candella nor the team wanted to go. His Hamilton Bulldogs were a good regular season team, but got bounced in a hard fought game 7 against the Kingston Frontenacs. Candella’s struggles continued into the postseason where he went pointless. It too early to give up completely on Candella, but he will have to really step his game up if he wants to prove he’s worth a contract spot
Jakob Stukel (LW 154th overall 2016)
Regular Season:
With Calgary Hitmen (WHL)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
23	30	53	70

Playoffs:
With Calgary Hitmen (WHL)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
0	1	1	4

Stukel’s Calgary Hitmen made a late season push and made the playoffs, and Stukel definitely helped with that tallying 13 goals and 17 assists in his final 35 games. This marks a good end to what was a kind of unspectacular season for the young Surrey native. Stukel and the Hitmen were swept out of the playoffs in the first round by the Regina Pats. Despite his strong finish Stukel’s 53 points were less than last season when he totalled 57, and while that is not a huge dip it is never good for a prospect in junior to put up less points then the year before. Stukel however from what I can tell is a streaky scorer and has been for his whole career, so it isn’t all that surprising that he would have a bit of a dip. All in all, Stukel hopefully will continue to improve with time and we can hope to see the speedy winger make the Comets in the coming seasons and bring a bit more BC flair to the AHL
Rodrigo Abols ( C 175th overall 2016)
Regular Season:
With Portland Winterhawks (WHL)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
0	1	1	2

With Acadie-Bathurst Titan (QMJHL)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
18	32	50	52

Playoffs:
With Acadie-Bathurst Titan (QMJHL)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
5	6	11	11

Abols had an okay season for an overager. The Latvian native was drafted after impressing the management the year before at the Young Stars tourney. Abols’ Titan had a suprisingly good season given their relatively poor standings last season and swept the Quebec City Remparts in the first round before losing in a tight 7 game series against the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. Abols put up a PPG in the playoffs and finished his season 5th in playoff scoring on his team. Abols will be turning pro next season as he is now too old for the CHL, that is if the Canucks sign him to an ELC. With how long they’ve seemingly had their eyes on him and his 6’4 frame, he will most likely be signed and begin next season in Utica.
Brett McKenzie (C 194th overall 2015)
Regular Season:
With North Bay Battalion (OHL)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
29	38	67	67

Brett McKenzie most likely finished his junior career on a high note. The 7th round pick might have been the surprise of the season registering an impressive 67 points in 67 games, leading his Battalion in scoring. Unfortunately for McKenzie, the Battalion missed the OHL playoffs finishing with a record of 24 - 44, just two points out of the Niagara Ice Dogs who clinched the final playoff spot. The Comets announced that McKenzie had been signed to an amateur try-out shortly after the conclusion of his season, however he was released several days later, without playing a single game. Strange, but a learning experience for the young man nonetheless. It was also announced that McKenzie was a finalist for the OHL MVP, which is a huge honor. McKenzie will likely be heading to Utica, but he is still eligible for one more year of junior should the team decide that is the best place for him.
Jalen Chatfield (D Undrafted, signed 2017)
Regular Season:
With Windsor Spitfires (OHL)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
8	20	28	61

Playoffs:
With Windsor Spitfires (OHL)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
0	2	2	10

One of the newer Canucks prospects, the 21 year old Michigan native was signed to a three year ELC as a free agent, which will begin next season. Billed as a strong defender in his own zone, Chatfield has been lauded for his excellent hockey IQ and defensive awareness. He’s a very defensive minded player, who so far in his career has little in the way of offensive output. This defensive styled game and lack of scoring has lead some to compare him to Chris Tanev. Chatfield plays for and co-captains the stacked Windsor Spitfires which includes Sens Prospect Logan Brown, Habs prospect Mikhail Sergachyov and top prospect in the 2017 draft Gabriel Vilardi. While the Spitfires originally lost to the reigning Memorial Cup Champion London Knights, because Windsor is the host location they got one more chance for the cup as they auto qualified for the final 4 round robin. In the round robin, the Spitfires, who were the only team that was eliminated previously pulled off a stunner and qualified for the finals, beating out the top WHL team in the Seattle Thunderbirds and the top QMJHL team in the Saint John Sea Dogs. In the finals they went up against the very good Erie Otters led by Dylan Strome and despite being the underdog Chatfield and the Spitfires won the Memorial Cup on home ice in a thrilling 4-3 victory. Chatfield will most likely be joining the Utica Comets next season where he will hopefully help bolster its blueline, but with his recent success in the Memorial Cup and some uncertainty on defense means that it might not be outside the realm of possibility that the young defender could find himself on the main roster come Fall.
Zack MacEwen (C, Undrafted, signed 2017)
Regular Season:
With Gatineau Olympiques (QMJHL)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
31	43	74	66

Playoffs:
With Gatineau Olympiques (QMJHL)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
6	3	9	6

Another late FA signing, MacEwen had a very good overage season with the Olympiques. The big bodied Charlottetown native put up a career best 74 points and 65 games and then was very good in the playoffs scoring 9 points. The Olympiques were taken out in 6 games in the first round at the hands of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. MacEwen was since signed to an ATO with the Comets but didn’t see any action. I would expect MacEwen to start in the AHL next season, but his unique skill set of scoring ability plus physicality and toughness makes him an intriguing prospect down the stretch.
Olli Juolevi ( D 5th overall 2016)
Regular Season:
With London Knights (OHL)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
10	32	42	58

With Finland (WJC)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
0	2	2	6

Playoffs:
With London Knights (OHL)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
3	5	8	16

If you can say one thing about Olli Juolevi, it’s that he’s consistent. The Finnish defender put up the exact same number of regular season points (42) as last season with just one more game played. The 5th overall pick in 2016 finished 8th in team scoring and 3rd in defensive scoring behind Victor Mete (Canadiens 4th round pick) and Evan Bouchard (Eligible in 2018) all well missing several games while playing for Finland. His consistently stellar play continued into the post-season where he contributed some key goals for the Knights who looked poised to take it all again this season but were taken out at the hands of the Erie Otters in a game seven that required OT. Juolevi really did have a very good season and was a source of stability on the Knights, and proved to be a player who could step up in the playoffs finishing 6th in playoff scoring. With new holes cropping up in the Canucks blue line Juolevi may very well have his shot to jump up to the big league next season, although I think I speak for most fans when I say that I hope if Juolevi does make the team, it’s because he actually earns it. There is no need to rush Juolevi, though unfortunately due to the rather annoying CHL age limit rule, since Juolevi was drafted by the Knights and not loaned through the import draft like many European players, Juolevi is still too young and thus ineligible for the AHL. This means that it is either Canucks or back to the juniors for Juolevi.

NCAA

William Lockwood ( RW 64th overall 2016)
With University of Michigan:

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
8	12	20	30

Lockwood seriously cooled down in the last chunk of the season, totalling only an additional three points in the last eleven games. Still, the Michigan native’s season was a success, putting up 20 points in 30 games as a freshman. The young winger will be returning to Michigan again next season where hopefully he will continue to grow and develop as a player.
Adam Gaudette (C 149th overall 2015)
With Northeastern University

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
26	26	52	37

Gaudette had nothing short of a monstrous season. The 5th round pick played fantastic for Northeastern this season and got his name including in a lot of top prospect lists, with many insiders singing his praises including Pierre McGuire. The young centre didn’t have much attention coming into this season, but now is seen as one of the Canucks top prospects and as a source of optimism in the future. He found chemistry with one of the top college free agents Zach Aston-Reese and the two had a phenomenal season. The Massachusetts native has reported that he will be returning to Northeastern for a third season, after which hopefully the Canucks will get a deal done.
Brock Boeser (RW 23rd overall 2015)
With University of North Dakota

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
16	18	34	32

With Canucks:

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
4	1	5	9

What a year for Brock Boeser. The 2015 first round pick had many fans excited after an incredibly promising first college season. While Boeser had a worse season points wise this year and missed some time due to a wrist injury fans were elated when Boeser signed his entry-level contract after North Dakota was eliminated in a thrilling double overtime and played his first NHL game that same day against his home-state Minnesota Wild. And what an incredible debut it was with Boeser scoring his first NHL goal in front of friends and family in what was arguably the play of the year for the Canucks. Placed on a line with Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi, Boeser looked great scoring 3 more goals (including a pair on the Canucks painful powerplay) and noticing one assist. This brief audition has left most fans including myself wanting more, and we will surely all be waiting with anticipation to see what Boeser can do next season.
Griffen Molino (C Undrafted, signed 2017)
With Western Michigan University

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
15	18	33	40

With Canucks:

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
0	0	0	5

One of the newest Canucks prospects, fans were surprised when the relatively unknown Molino was signed to a 2 year contract and even more surprised when it was announced that he would draw into the main roster right away, burning off a year of his contract. With fans not knowing what to expect Molino played five games in what was essentially an audition for the team. In those five games the Michigan native looked good, bringing some blistering speed and tenacity to the lineup. While he was kept off the scoresheet, he certainly didn’t look out of place in his brief stint. Molino should be one of the many forwards who are in the running for a spot on the big club next season and while the 23 year old is not a lock for the lineup, he should at the very least provide some offense and speed to the Comets next season.

Europe

Lukas Jasek (RW 174th overall 2015)
Regular Season:
With Ocelari Trinec (Czech)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
0	0	0	16

With Frydek-Mistek (Czech 2)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
9	19	28	30

With HC Trinec U-20 (Czech U-20)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
0	3	3	2

With Czech Republic (WJC)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
0	0	0	5

With Czech Republic (International Jr.)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
1	1	2	10

Playoffs:
With Ocelari Trinec (Czech)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
0	1	1	4

With Frydek-Mistek (Czech 2)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
3	3	6	8

With HC Trinec U-20 (Czech U-20)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
4	10	14	6

Lukas Jasek might be the strangest prospect in the Canucks system. The Czech forward has played in 3 separate leagues this season. HC Ocelari in the Czech League division 1, HC Frydek-Mistek in the Czech League division 2, or HC Frydek-Mistek in the Czech U-20 League. Jasek’s time with Trinec Ocelari was unsuccessful, going pointless in the 16 game stretch before he was loaned to Frydek-Mistek in the 2nd league. From what I can tell, Frydek-Mistek is a men’s league, so Jasek’s 28 points in 30 points is actually very impressive considering he is still a teenager. Jasek also spent time, albeit briefly with the U-20 version of Frydek-Mistek. Jasek also represented the Czech republic in the World Juniors. Honestly I simply don’t know enough about the Czech league to really understand if Jasek’s numbers are good or not. Hopefully he does head over to North America soon so we can actuallIt way get a sense for the type of player he is. Utica would be the perfect place for him since if I am correct in assuming that the Czech 2 league is a men's league, he already has experience playing against men. It was recently announced that Jasek had signed a contract with Tygri Libernec and thus we will have to wait for at least another year to see Jasek in North America. At very least hopefully Jasek can stick on Libernec’s roster for the whole season as they are in tier 1.
Anton Cederholm (D 145th overall in 2013)
Regular Season:
With Rogle BL (SHL)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
0	0	0	8

With AIK (Allsvenskan)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
2	5	7	33

Playoff Qualification:
With AIK (Allsvenskan)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
0	3	3	8

One of two Canucks prospects playing in the Allsvenskan Cederholm certainly is not an offensive defenseman. He has only put up one more point since our last check-in, scoring a single goal in 17 games. Cederholm’s team the AIK failed to qualify for the playoffs. Anton is currently on loan from the Comets to the SHL and since he has one year remaining on his contract it is possible that he returns to the Comets but it’s far more likely that he is loaned out to a European league once again.
Jonathan Dahlen (C/LW 42nd overall in 2016, acquired via trade in 2017)
Regular Season:
With Timra IK (Allsvenskan)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
25	19	44	45

With Sweden (WJC)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
5	1	6	7

With Sweden (International Jr.)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
9	4	13	17

Playoffs:
With Timra IK (Allsvenskan)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
4	2	6	4

Timra IK J20 (SuperElit)

Goals	Assists	Points	Games Played
5	2	7	4

It would need to take a mighty fine player for Canucks fans to feel better about the painful but necessary trade of the much beloved Alex Burrows, and Jonathan Dahlen looks to be that player. The son of former NHLer Ulf Dahlen, Jonathan, a 2016 2nd round pick by the Ottawa Senators has a ton of upside. Playing in the Allsvenskan, Dahlen is putting up fantastic numbers and has fans very excited for the young swede in the future. Dahlen had a great season, and was one of the better players for Sweden at the World Juniors as well. Jonathan recently signed his ELC and will be attending pre-season with the Canucks, where many fans will get a good look at the 19 year old. Dahlen will surely be competing for a spot on the opening night roster, and while he may decide to stay in the AHL or go back to Sweden should he not make the team next season, the young forward looks to have a bright future ahead of him. A stellar pick-up by the Canucks.

It was about 2:20am on March 14th, 1937, while driving on a dark, almost deserted highway just outside of Kitchener, Ontario, when Mr. Copeland, a bank clerk from the nearby town of Brantford, stumbled upon the crime scene.
A sedan was stopped on the side of the highway, half on the road and half off, the driver’s side door open. Mr. Copeland became concerned, so he pulled over and got out of his vehicle. He walked around the side of the sedan, and about five feet away Mr. Copeland discovered the body of a man sprawled on his back in the muddy ditch. He immediately notified police.
The body of the man was immediately transported to the hospital, where it was there discovered that he had been shot through the heart with a 32-calibre bullet. He was identified as 29-year-old Dick Hewitt. Dick was the proprietor of his own taxi-cab business, and former hockey player for the city league, was popular and well known around Kitchener. He had run and owned his taxi business, which included five cars, for about seven years.
Lawrence Burleigh Hewitt, or Dick as he was known to his friends and family, was born May 19th, 1907 in Woodstock, Ontario to James Burleigh Hewitt, and Mollie Deeton. The family moved across the border to Illinois when Dick was still a baby, but their time there was quite short, when tragically, Dick’s father James died in 1916 at the age of forty-four. Dick was just nine-years-old at the time. The family moved back to Canada, but it was only six years later when James would also lose his mother, who passed way in 1922 when she was forty-nine-years-old, sadly leaving Dick an orphan at the age of fifteen. He was then taken in and raised by his paternal grandparents.
Four years prior to his death, in 1933, Dick married Della May Gabel, and they settled in Kitchener, where they had two daughters. Janet and Helen were both still toddlers when their father was murdered.
THE NIGHT OF THE MURDER: MARCH 13th, 1937
It was a Sunday night, and Dick was relaxing at home with his wife, Della, and his close friend, Bernard McGinnis, in their apartment on King St. E, in Kitchener. They were listening to the hockey game that was being broadcast on the radio, the Toronto Maple Leafs were playing against Chicago. At about 10pm, the telephone rang, interrupting the fun. Dick left the room to answer the telephone. The radio was playing the game loudly, so Bernard did not hear any of the conversation that occurred on the telephone in the other room.
According to Bernard, Dick had returned a few minutes later, and announced that he had to go pick up a taxi fair, because the driver he had working for him that night was already out on a call. It was not unusual for Dick to get calls for a fair and leave for a bit while his friends were at his house. “I’ll be back in five minutes,” he’d said. Then he put on his coat and walked out the door of his home, never to return.
THE INVESTIGATION
At the post-mortem, physician’s estimated that the man had died at shortly after midnight on March 14th. He appeared to have been killed by a single bullet, with the wound indicating he had been shot from above, likely while on his knees. The police described it as “execution style”, and stated they believed his hands were raised at the time he was shot. There were no powder burns on his skin, or his clothing, from the gunshot, indicating the gun had not been held close to his body when it was fired.
Police ruled out robbery as a motive immediately – more than $17 found in Dick’s pockets. He was believed to have been shot where he was found, due to the lack of bloodstains found in his car. They found other potential evidence inside the vehicle, but without more information it was not of much use. A number of cigarette butts were found inside the car, and were thought to be significant as Dick did not smoke. A woman’s handkerchief was also found inside the vehicle.
There was no sign of a struggle at the scene. The keys to Dick’s car had been found near his hands, the light switch had been turned on, and the battery was dead. According the records for the car kept for his taxi company, when compared to his car odometer, he had travelled 67 miles that could not be accounted for.
The police were unable to trace the telephone call that had initially lured Dick out of his house prior to his death. With robbery ruled out, it was widely believed that it was likely connected to his murder, but without knowing who had made the call, the police could not be certain.
When the story of the murder broke, tips started coming in quickly. A passing motorist came forward, and said that he had seen Dick’s car at around 11pm, with a man at the wheel, presumably Dick, and an unknown man and woman standing outside the car.
A man who lived near the crime scene claimed that around the time of the murder, he had seen a mysterious vehicle with it’s lights out pull into his driveway. A man got out of the vehicle, checked something on it with a flashlight, then got back in his vehicle. He turned head back towards Kitchener, in the same direction from which he’d come.
SUSPECTS
Police for a time stated they believed that Dick’s death was a gang killing, but no evidence ever seemed to materialize that supported that theory, or completely ruled it out.
Interestingly, the rumours around town, that persisted for years after the murder, was that the reason it was not solved, and never would be, was because the police had been involved in covering it up, and were possibly involved in the murder itself.
During that time period, the police were accused of drunkenness, gambling, theft, and misconduct, including harassing the public. The chief at the time of Dick Hewitt’s murder in 1937 was William Hodgson, and just three years later in 1940, he was dismissed from his duties after an internal probe was completed.
It’s not hard to see why that rumour might have gotten started, and persisted as time exposed the corruption of the local police. While the Dick Hewitt case was investigated by the OPP, it was with the assistance of the local Kitchener Police, who also would have been the first to respond when the murder occurred.
In 2005, Dick Hewitt’s granddaughters received an intriguing letter in the mail that contained information that supported this theory. The letter came from a woman whose uncle had been a close friend of Dick Hewitt’s. He had passed away in 1991, but before he did, he had told his niece some information about his friend’s murder. It apparently implicated someone in the police department. Who that was has never been revealed publicly, as his involvement has not been proven, but his identity was apparently known or suspected by more than one person and kept quiet for many years.
What are your thoughts? Was the murder somehow gang related? Was Dick’s murder covered up and/or committed by someone in the police department? Were the man and woman possibly seen with Dick prior to his murder involved, or was the mysterious vehicle seen in the area connected? Perhaps he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and saw or overheard he should not have?
So many questions were left unanswered. Where was he during the approximately two hours between when he left his home, and when he was murdered on the side of the highway, and he had apparently travelled more than 60 unaccounted for miles? Was the call he received connected to his murder?
Personally, I think that the fact that no one ever came forward to say they had called him for a ride at that time leads me to believe it very possibly was. It would be interesting to know who in the police department was believed to have been involved, and why they were suspected, because none of the (very little) known evidence really seems to point in that direction. With the police force being so corrupt at the time, it’s really hard to say what might have been done to hide evidence or throw suspicion though.
SOURCES:
Ancestry.com
The Ottawa Journal - Mar 15, 1937; Mar 16, 1937
The Niagara Falls Gazette – Mar 16, 1937
The Stouffville Sun-Tribune – Mar 18, 1937
The Waterloo Region Record – Mar 14, 2015
http://www.taxi-library.org/canada/hewitt-l.htm

Niagara Falls needs no introduction. Located on the US-Canadian border, it is a top tourist destination.
Peak tourist season in Niagara Falls is between June and August. The namesake city of Niagara Falls in Ontario, Canada, where the Falls are located has a number of attractions for every age group.
You can enjoy pristine views of the Niagara River, Niagara Gorge and Niagara Falls from Niagara Parkway, the main boulevard in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
A Tour of Niagara Region – Niagara Falls Tours
You can arrive in Niagara Falls, Ontario by train, car or plane. Visitors to Toronto or Niagara Falls, USA, can spend a day in Niagara Falls, Ontario with Niagara Falls Tours.
Once famous as a honeymoon destination, Niagara Falls in Canada has been developed to attract families. There are many waterparks, nature and wildlife reserves and parks, amusement parks, museums, parks, jet boat rides, shopping, and eateries that will keep kids occupied and happy.
Niagara Falls Tours – The Most Popular Stops
One can expect to visit some or all of the below attractions with any of the Niagara Falls Tours:
Hornblower Niagara Cruises Niagara Whirlpool Journey Behind the Falls (at Horseshoe Falls) Skylon Tower Clifton Hill Queen Victoria Park Botanical Gardens and Butterfly Conservatory Scenic drive on Niagara Parkway Viewing of Niagara Falls Floral Clock Queenston Heights Park Tour of Niagara-on-the-Lake, a 20-minute drive from Niagara Falls, Ontario Winery Tour Whitewater walk Niagara Falls Illumination (part of an evening tour)
Niagara Falls Day Tour – Best of Niagara Falls Tours
This roughly 9.5-hour trip is a comprehensive tour of Niagara Falls and neighbouring Niagara-on-the-Lake.
It has pickups from Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton and other local areas. Click here for more details.
Niagara Falls – A Romantic Destination
You can surprise your loved one with a trip to Niagara Falls. Book a private Niagara Falls Tour where you can visit places ideal for couples. A suggested itinerary would include:
Lunch/Dinner at Skylon Tower or Sheraton Fallsview Restaurant with Niagara Falls as a backdrop Hornblower Niagara Cruise Shopping Picturesque Niagara-on-the-Lake and winery tour Visit a casino for some entertainment and gambling Pamper yourself at a spa. Niagara Falls illumination and fireworks (please check schedule). Helicopter tour of Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls – Plan Your Vacation Today!
Anyone who has been to Niagara Falls will tell you that it is a must-see place. You have the chance to witness firsthand the power of nature when you visit Niagara Falls.
Niagara Falls Tours can be booked by families, solo travellers, colleagues, large groups, small groups or couples.
Niagara Falls was part of the Underground Railroad that helped slaves flee USA. You can visit some of the historic places such as Lundy’s Lane, Fort Erie and more.
The Niagara Falls Evening Tour is perfect for viewing the Falls Illumination and fireworks at nighttime.
There is a lot to see and enjoy in Niagara Falls, so start planning your trip to Niagara Falls today.

Verified? (This bot cannot verify AMAs just yet)
Date: 2012-05-15
Link to submission (Has self-text)
Link to my post

Questions	Answers
Are you hiring? I'd love to move to Canada.	Absolutely, We are looking for several positions and if you are sincerely looking for a job, message me :)
Does being a Casino Manager makes you keep your distance from gambling?	AMAZING question, It actually makes it worse. I had never gambled a day in my life until I took that position. It is the same across the board. Never met another manager that doesnt gamble.
Will you quit this job if you had given the choice?	I could not ask for a better job. Excitement every single day. Learing to control personal demons such as gambling and alcohol is always a fighting battle given the situation.
You are 100% right. U of Waterloo in Ontario conducted a study and they concluded that "casino employees exhibited rates of problem gambling that were over three times greater than rates that past studies have found in Ontario’s general population." -Link to uwspace.uwaterloo.ca.	I know my stuff ;). It's a weird feeling.
What do you play, and wht stakes do you play ? Also.. Does your entire salary go straight back to the casino after payday?	I like to play 1$ slots and blackjack for the most part. On blackjack my average bet is probably 60-75$. My salary does go back, but a portion of it does. I am pretty good at controlling myself, gets better by the year.
How is your daily routine in the casino?Do you get any perks?	They pay my cell phone bill. I get paid any expenses you could imagine. I get free tickets and merchandise all the time. Golf passes dinners etc.
Have you ever caught someone counting in blackjack?	Several times. With the security features we use, shuffle machines and cutting off 2-3 decks from the back, it's nearly impossible. Hell we will even teach you how to do it if you'll stay a while ;)
How did you get into the Casino business?	I applied to become a dealer, years ago. I just worked my way up. Its an amazing business.
Ever had somebody die on your floor? Or at least horribly injured?	Yes 2 people have died, one from a massive stroke, and another from a heart attack. We have had at least 25 heart attacks since I have worked there.
Do heart attacks happen more often when people win big or lose big?	There has never been a direct correlation between winning/losing big and our patrons having heart attacks.
Interesting. Thanks for the response.	Anytime :) I cant believe the responses already!
Statistically, you have the best chance of surviving a heart attack in a casino. The average response time drops from like 15 minutes in your home to something absurd like 30 seconds.	We are very quick to react. This and we have first aid training as well as AED on site.
What the highest single bet you have witnessed?	Here in Alberta, the maximum per spot on blackjack is 1000. I did witness a total table wager( by one player) Of 15,000. This was after he split 6 times and doubled once. He won evry wager on that hand.
Whats the luckiest person/win streak you have seen? (Not just 1 win but someone winning for a while or doing something crazy and it working)	I watched someone win 24,000 on a slot machine. I reset his machine and he won 24,000 the next spin. I had the machine investigated by AGLC and all was well. He was 80 so I don't think he could cheat. Lol.
Do Casino's pump high levels of oxygen into the gambling areas, if so is that allowed? Have you ever caught anyone having sex or masturbating in the Casino? Do the Slot Machines ever get tampered with by cheaters? What is the penalty for tampering with slot machines?	No we do not pump oxygen into the casino, It is not allowed. I had to fire an employee for masturbating in the customer bathrooms. Slots are rarely successfully tampered with, but it does happen quite often. The penalty is a fine and up to jail time. You can get in a LOT of trouble for trying something that is nearly impossible, like cheating a slot machine No problem :)
How...did you catch the guy spanking it? I fear to know yet I must ask for I can't think of a logical, sane way you caught the dude.	I walked in to the washroom to check on the status of the last cleaning, and I caught him beating it with the stall door open... he forgot to lock it. was very obvious and he didnt even try to deny it.
Nobody forgets to lock the door when they are wanging it.	He was off shift in 45 mins too... just couldnt wait.
It isn't illegal, what can the casinos do?	We reserve the right to remove any patron at any time for any reason.
Do you still have to cash their chips if you kick them out?	If they did not steal them, then Absolutely.
What is the best and worst part of your job?	The best is seeing a person win big. The worst is seeing someone leaving in tears and me knowing they are broke and have kids.
Have you ever cut someone a break?	Several times.
You've seen everything, have you seen Casino with Robert DeNiro in it and how accurate is that film?	I have seen it, and I have yet to see a movie that ACTUALLY portrays a real casino whatsoever.
Most movies don't portray anything realistically.	Good point. Casinos seem to be reallly far off though.
What about Croupier with Clive Owen.. good film..	Cant say ive seen it. Will watch.
What's the most desperate attempt to cheat in a casino you have ever seen?	A guy in the middle of a hand, did not agree with the way a dealer "flipped" their hole card so he took his bets off the table (approx 1400$) and tried to pocket them before we could count what he had bet. He then tried to replace his bets after we asked with about 800$. It was very very easy to catch the amount that was originally on there. Cameras/pit boss/dealer all agreed to the exact amount. He was later found trying to cash out $600 in chips (after losing) lol.
That actually sounds pretty clever. He should have just gone for a smaller amount though.	It wasnt bad. But he was on a high limit table with a lot of people watching
Any pranks you or your employees pulled?	Yup, I am known as the prankster. I like to send new employees looking for left handed roulette balls or polish for the blackjack shoes. After they waste an hour or so I tell them. And they are laughed at by patrons and employees. Its all in good fun. Never had a complaint.
What happens to a cheater once you found them out? Is it just a case of the cops getting called straight away?	I review the situation, and If I deem it cheating, a review is sent to AGLC and the patrons information gathered along with a police investigation. They will be prosecuted.
Do you catch cheaters? What were some cleveinvolved cheating schemes?	I have caught cheaters, almost always at blackjack and threecard poker. The most common way they cheat is called "pressing". Having a partner distract the dealer for a second while they use slight of hand to add chips. Some people are very good at this, so good its tough to see on camera even.
To be clear.. what they do is when they have a good hand, someone distracts the dealer and the guy with the good hand attempts to increase his bet? What do you do when you catch something like that?	We ban them Immediately. And other casinos recieve the memo an do the same.
Have you ever caught prostitution going on in the casino? What is the process of banning someone? Do they get put into a system? Do you have a banned wall?	Yes we catch dirty prostitutes all the time. The ban process is easy. We take what info we have on them, take a recent photo from a surveillance screenshot and then post it to the banned wall :)
How is the security in the casino? Edit: no i'm not planning a robbery...	The guards are pretty well trained. Also we have over 200 cameras. You are on camera within 1 KM of the casino. Also, all doors locked with special proxy cards that only have access to certain rooms, depending on position.
ONE KILOMETER? Are you kidding me? This is very secure, oh my.	Cant tell if sarcasm. Detector is broken.
No sarcasm. This blows my mind. I always thought you guys have over the top security, but such a radius around your casino is mind blowing :). Great AMA btw, thanks for your time!	I love the response im getting! This is awesome!
What is the process in working your way up from dealer to casino manager? How long did it take, what kind of background did you have prior to becoming a dealer? Also did you have to take any classes or anything like that either at an outside school or a company school to teach you all the ins and outs of the job? Did you ever think you'd be doing this or just sort of fall into it? What kind of responsibilities do you hold? I saw in your other posts that you mention throwing out people masturbating on the clock, helping people with gambling addictions and catching cheaters, but what is an everyday entail for you? I imagine you have to be a man with many hats (VIP guest liaison, worker ally, eyes for the bosses etc) Also last question I swear, what do you think of organized cheaters and the exposure they are getting such as Bringing Down the House/21 or the History Channel show on Breaking Vegas?	It took me 4 years to get where I am. Went from dealer to pit boss to pit supervisor to games manager. I haven't taken any special courses really. Some training sessions but that's about it. You need to have the gift they say. As for responsibilities. I am in charge of running every department when I am on shift. And I am in charge of all the money. The movies have not done anything except make us money. People come in all the time thinking they will count cards and win, and we smash them.
In my expeirence, the 'Summon Technician' button rarely works. Thoughts?	In my casino, it is attended to immediately. We are the only casino that I am aware of that does this.
Are employees allowed to gamble in the casino where they work? Or is just the manager that is allowed - I noticed you say you gamble off the clock. I live in England and am sure this is against nearly all casino policy.	Only waitresses and guest services may gamble in our casino. No gaming worker is allowed to gamble in their own casino in alberta.
Any moral qualms sometimes?	Never, Its a persons choice on what the wish to gamble.
Give it a few more years.	I've got over that a long time ago. During my dealing days.
a follow up, sorry for that.. How do your co-workers react to yout gambling, does this make it awkward in any way?	Actually, I tend to go to different casinos with my co-workers, awkwardness is never an issue.
Since you know a lot about security and cheating, do you know any loopholes in your or any other casino?	Our casino is very secure. Some of the other casinos on the other hand..
For example?	That I can't really disclose. Although. It's quite funny which one is the worst. I will leave it at that. I'm sure that comment alone will help some people.
Many years ago my mom had a gambling addiction. We werent sure how severe it was, we just thought she would go to the casino and have some fun and risk $200 or so. The casino hooked her in with the whole VIP treatment and rewards as an incentive to come back. One weekend she lost all her life savings ($300,000) It impacted our family a lot, as we were pretty much broke after she lost all our money. Even to this day we havent recovered, i missed out on college to work instead and been on my own since. My mom whos supposed to be close to retirement age is still working to support herself. I know casinos are for entertainment, but more often than not stories like this happen. How do you feel when a family is affected deeply because of gambling problems?	Honestly that is the only hard part of the job. But after the years, I've become mostly desensitized to it.
Have you ever seen Ocean's Eleven? Did you just laugh and laugh and laugh?	Not a fan of those movies :(
Have you ever been to Montecarlo? Do you think there are many differences between the european casino scene and the US/Canadian scene?	Never been to Montecarlo, but from everything I have learned about it, It is very similar to our casinos in Canada (barring a few different table games). They have a lot of the same slot machines and their security is VERY high.
So, do you get hookers?	Not once in my life.
Is there a certain amount of time that people are allowed to gamble before some sort of intervention takes place? (e.g. can't gamble for more than 24 hours straight, etc.)	Our casino is only open for 17 hours at a time maximum. That is the law in this province. But under certain circumstances, we do offer help to people we notice becoming chronic gamblers.
What Kind of help do you offer out of interest? I get that the human factor is probably the reason its offered as the business side must actually like chronic gamblers.	We offer councelling (not directly, but sources) and different programs such as VSE. VSE= Voluntary Self Exclusion. You will be excluded from gaming in ALL of Alberta. If caught in gaming facilities you can be arrested.
Favorite Ice cream flavor?	Vanilla for the most part. Although I do like neopalitan.
Have you ever caught your employees stealing chips? Edit: i cant spell.	I try to hire employees that I trust with the chips so that I dont have to worry about them. It has never happened to my knowledge.
You mentioned that you try to hire employees that are trustworthy with the chips etc. Do you have to run any criminal history checks, bankruptcy checks etc before you hire people? Do you use continuous shuffle machines to deal blackjack or do you deal from a shoe? If from a shoe, how many decks? How do you combat card counters? What is the food chain like? Here we have Dealers < Floor managers < Pit Bosses < Duty managers < Casino manager. Where do you fit in? How do the high rollers rooms work? Can someone walk in and flash cash to get in or do you need to gamble a certain amount first? What perks do high rollers get?	Yes background checks and credit checks are run on ALL employees. We offer both continuous shuffles and shoes We use 8 decks and cut 3 off the back, as well as use a shoe cover. Very hard to count cards like that. In our casino I would be considered 2nd in line. High rollers are treated very well. Comped tabs etc. free trips to shows and all that jazz.
Have you ever seen a man eat his own head?	Nope!
Ever seen a card cheat get his hand smashed by a ballpeen hammer ?	Never had to use violence for a cheating patron. Drunk patrons on the other hand....
Great AMA! You answer almost everything!	Thanks! I try to answer everything, I know i miss stuff but you guys comments lots! hard to keep up!
Here's my question: How do your responsibilities differ from a Pit Boss? Are you in charge of the food and alcohol people, too? How much time per shift do you spend on the floor and how much time do you spend interacting with individual guests?	I am in charge of all departments when I am on shift. Pit boss is strictly in charge of the pit. I am always on the gaming floor interacting with guests. Its the best part of my job :)
Any suicides? I live near Niagara Falls and we hear stories all the time of people who blow it all in the casinos and take a dive over the falls.	Yes unfortunately. :(
Are you from Edmonton by chance? If so care to comment why CH is still allowed to play in the poker rooms after being caught ripping off casinos with his bad beat scam?	Not from edmonton, but I do know who you are talking about. It is the discretion of the casinos. He should be banned but they have failed to file charges.
They are still aware of what he did and as a pretty frequent player it sort of sucks having to sit at a table with someone you know was using dealers to set up bad beats....	You play at yellowhead?
How does the casino decide what background music to play? do you hate those songs now?	I ususally pick it. I pick it depending on the majority of the crowd. (old people = classic rock, young people = new music.) We have lots of playlists it doesnt really get too bad.
I notice a lot of times my favorite slot machines are removed from the floor and never to be seen again. Do you guys store them in a basement or sell them to other casinos? Recycle them for parts?	Machines are regulated by AGLC, they send us new ones and take old every week.
How long does training for croupier last? Are there opportunities for college students?	Training is usually a month long. Its easier to get a job as a dealer if you are young. Young people seem to learn a lot easier.
What is the longest you've seen a customer play a machine? Any 24-hour slot machine marathons?	Open to close 4 days in a row. (17 hours a day)
What is your coin-in on an average Saturday night? Biggest New Year's Eve coin-in you can remember? What's the average toke rate?	Over 1.5 million. Best tip rate for a week was 30 ish.
How much do you make? What's your educational background? Edit: saw that you can't answer how much you make. So how'd you get into the job?	I walked in an applied for dealer. They loved my attitude and hired me on the spot.
So you were hired as a dealer and then moved up in the ranks? Sounds like a sweet job and a managerial position involving actual job duties.	Absolutely.
Just curious (and maybe you don't know)-- how exactly is the software sold for the newer digital games? Order "Three of Game A, three of game B" and remain stuck with it? Order them configured one way, but the software can be replaced for a token sum? If so, is it an in-house operation, or a "vendor service has to be called? They can load any firmware specced as compatible with the box? I notice there's always one or two machines in a bank of (physically) equivalent units which have an unpopular game (like the one which starts belting out Dean Martin songs at 600 decibels in attract mode) so they sit relatively unused, but they never change them. Is it laziness, cost, or technical limits?	I dont deal with the digital games sorry!
The Ontario Lottery Corporation is in the process of rolling out an online casino. From an industry persepective, what are your views on online casinos? Is the software designed to give you gains but take back once you win-loss ratio is too high?	Online casinos (legit ones) Run by pretty much the same stats as a real casino. Same odds of winning almost exactly.
Can you see why kids love Cinnamon Toast Crunch?	Its magically delicious, or wait.. damn lucky charms
What's a good starting job to get at a casino that will eventually get you into a managing position?	Dealer is the absolute best.
Thanks for the swift response.	No problem.
Just in case you are still answering at all...what's te stupidest/seemingly impossible thing you've seen/heard of a dealer doing? Most awesome/badass?	I had a dealer deal a full table of blackjack entirely fucking backwards. I almost pissed myself no joke.
If some patron is winning a lot of money, would you kick them out? Say for instance a guy is playing Blackjack and went from 1000 dollars to 100000 dollars and wants to continue playing. He is literally just owning the table winning 9/10 hands. Would you kick this guy out or let him keep playing?	Nope, its good in house advertising to have big winners :)
Not sure if this was asked already, but is there really oxygen pumped into the casinos like people say there is? Or is it just the shiny lights and excitement that will keep you going all night?	No oxygen pumped in. Its the lights and atmosphere.
What was the most someone won in one night?	1.1 million dollars.
If I were looking to move to Vegas, how difficult do you think it'd be to get a decent paying job working in the casinos? I have a friend who moved there and is looking for a roommate, but I'm nervous about taking the step without a job lined up.	As long as you have a good head on your shoulders and the motivation, its pretty easy to get into the business.
What''s your salary roughly?	Thats actually the only thing im not willing to disclose. Sorry pal.
Who is your favorite porn star?	Hootie McBoob.
Do casinos usually offer part-time jobs as croupiers?	Always have part time positions open. Especially for weekends.
I saw that you didn't like Ocean's Eleven, but how did the guys get all those hooker flyers into the vault?	Lol your guess is as good as mine ;)
1) How's the pay? 2) You already mentioned that you worked your way up from a dealer. Is there much higher that you can go? 3) How has the economic downturn affected business?	The pay is great You can go to managing a whole casino, given time Business has actually gone up. Alberta isnt very effected by it.
How often do you feel like De Niro?	Every day.
Are there or have there been times when you know someone is cheating or doing something "unethical" but you just can't get the evidence? If so, do they still frequent the casino? do you feel like they do it on purpose to piss you (the casino) off because they know that you know?	I dont need evidence, if someone is suspected of cheating they are gone. AGLC backs us 100%
I live in vegas and recently a guy robbed a casino and stole like 100k of chips, whats the process of making sure he isnt able to cash those chips in. (He was wearing a mask) So does the casinos like remake all new chips or what?	We track our 100$ chips very carefully. when people cashout 100 or more, we know about it. If we dont see them playing, we watch that person closely.
What is the best way to get a room comped for a weekend (I always seem to get Sun-Thur offers)? What is the average bet / hours required of play (assuming black jack)? Is it true you should expect 30% of your losses returned in the form of comps?	I wouldnt count on getting 30%, maybe 5-10%. Average bet should be about 50-60$
Lots of questions have come up about players cheating, but what about the house? I know people who have seen casinos get busted for rigging games. I have certainly played at blackjack tables where the dealers seemed to have an uncanny ability to predict hands, I even once had a dealer reveal a blackjack without using the little peek thing. Dealt, asked for insurance (with great intensity), told us we should have taken the hint and flipper her card. Have you seen any cheating by the house or have any reason to think it happens?	Never have I seen cheating by the house. I guarantee it doesnt happen in any legit casino in Canada. There are inspectors at all times. I truly believe that it doesnt happen. As a dealer myself I could "predict" my handsquite often. Because you do it so many times in one day you are bound to get it right.
How many bones have you witnessed being broken? or families ruined because of gambling everything away? a lot or a ton?	Maybe 5 broken bones, probably 50 families :(
Have you ever felt the need to tell some poor old folks: "Take your welfare checks home." ?	Nope, they usually play small just to pass the time. They are very nice.
How prevalent is patron on patron theft? For example, leaning over and grabbing a few of someone else's chips while they're not looking, or tapping their stack with a drink (which happens to have tape on the bottom) or things like that?	Doesn't happen very often chip wise. But it does happen if people leave credits in a machine, drop money on the ground, or leave money in an ATM. We will hunt the patron down and force them to pay back the money.
Why do Asians gamble so much and where the hell do they get all of that money?	I dont want to speculate where they get it..
What would be the best way to go about robbing a casino?	Not trying ;). No one gets away.
What do you do with underage kids or kids with fake IDs? do they ever show up?	Kick them out and file a report. If they have fake ID, file it with the police.
I went to the casino for my first time last week. Slots are boring as shit. Do you recommend a black jack guide to get the hang of things? Thanks.	Always good to go in knowing basic strategy. check out wizardofodds.com.
How much do you earn on average yearly?	Cant disclose that :(
What's your take on Scorsese's 1995 "Casino"? :D:D.	Would watch again.
Did you read the novels by Mario Puzo about the inner workings of a casino? Would you say that they are accurate?	Not yet, in process.
What's your favorite Canadian province besides Alberta?	Ontario.
My question is why did you use a combination of Photoshop and real-life obfuscation for your badge? Carefully torn and placed pieces of pink and black tape, then some kind of 1990s-era Photoshop airbrushing around the perimeter...	I was looking for something quick. And I never really used a site like this. I know, I suck.
What are your thoughts on the Martingale method of gambling on Red/Black in Roulette? I have had moderate success waiting for a run of 4 of one colour, then betting $25 on the opposite colour, then doubling each time until I win.	Its a very bad system for the most part. you risk a lot to win a little.
How often do customers claim the dealer misheard/misinterpreted what they said to do? E.g.. the customer was playing blackjack, didn't want to hit, but the dealer misheard them and dealed them a card, which caused them to bust.	5 times a day at least. I usually give them the benefit of the doubt.
Are there any games that people can beat long run other than bj?	You can't beat BJ in the long run. There is no way to make money.
Since Counting cards isn't illegal, if you catch someone do you still black ball them and tell all the other casinos?	No. Unless they actually cheat, they aren't black balled.
What is the craziest thing you've seen?	I answered this a little further down bud.
Have you ever seen a guy eat his own head?	Hasn't happened to date..
Have you seen a live unicorn?	Nope, it was dead.
What's the largest sum of money you've seen someone lose in one day?	100K on blackjack.
So you admit that you are a liar? EDIT: I do believe this means you have to forfeit your casino to me.	Rules are rules I guess :(
Have you ever seen a queen in her damned undies, as the feller says?	Once back in 06.

Last updated: 2012-05-19 15:36 UTC
This post was generated by a robot! Send all complaints to epsy.