Raising our Game

As the summer break ends for the American League hockey, players and other personnel will make their return to their respective clubs to gear up for the 2008-09 season.

This is the scene for the Manitoba Moose, who soon will don their jerseys, grab their hockey sticks and head out on the frozen pond of the MTS Centre, ready for another season and a renewed pursuit of the Calder Cup. Players like Mike Keane and Cory Schneider, fresh from a rest period, will no doubt be hungry for another taste of shinny.

The time off that many members of the Moose had, however, does not extend fully around the club. Management has been hard at work assembling a squad who will once again be serious playoff contenders.

Perhaps no one on the summer staff has been busier than Moose general manager Craig Heisinger. Craig, or “Zinger” as he is often called, spent much of the summer working to fill spots in the team’s roster that were left vacant by the departures of the likes of Drew McIntyre and Maxime Fortunus to other franchises. Throughout the season, Zinger’s role will continue in this fashion as players get the call to the parent squad, the Vancouver Canucks, and trade opportunities arise.

It’s become a way of life for Zinger and his staff in Manitoba, since the Moose twinned up with the ‘Nucks, dating back to the time when the club joined the AHL following the collapse of the International Hockey League. Back then, Zinger’s crew was pretty solid, running as an independent team. On the odd   occasion, an NHL crew would pick up a player like Johan Hedberg or Scott Thomas, especially as their playoff season drew closer.                                                                               

Now, a player could be called up to the big leagues with only a moment’s notice. Since the end of the NHL lockout, names such as Alex Edler, Jannik Hansen, Kevin Bieksa and Mason Raymond had their names appear as often on plane tickets as they did on hockey cards.

The adjustment period, Zinger admits, took some getting used to, following the Moose’s migration north from Minnesota following the 1994-95 season. The relationship now is extremely solid, to the point that the Moose chose to stay with the Canucks for the final year of their current affiliation agreement (Zinger and co. had the opportunity to exit the deal following the recent general manager switch in Vancouver). Heisinger also feels that the Moose franchise enjoys more independence than any other AHL team.

The arrival of the IHL team, as many recall, also came after the departure of the Winnipeg Jets, who moved to Phoenix prior to the start of the 1995-96 season. Zinger had been with the franchise, to that point, for many years as an equipment manager (a role he kept when he came on board with the Moose franchise). As would be the case for anyone growing up in Winnipeg at the time, Zinger relished the opportunity to work with the hometown team, but the experience for him wasn’t one that kept his jaw permanently dropped.

“I wasn’t star-struck,” he says.

Getting to the big leagues wasn’t simply putting in a job application at the NHL level. Much like the players who he interacts with on a daily basis, Heisinger’s road to the pros began in the junior ranks. After playing as a kid growing up in Winnipeg, Zinger moved over to the behind-the-scenes side of the game, first with the Winnipeg South Blues and later with the Winnipeg Warriors. After spending some time with the now defunct club, Heisinger made the first, and thus far only move of his career to another city as he became equipment manager with the Brandon Wheat Kings. Zinger would stay there for a few years before getting the call to the NHL.

Through it all, Zinger continued to stay close to home. With a young family of four, it was important for Heisinger to find work in Winnipeg, while also maintaining his career choice.

Once the Moose became more established in Winnipeg, Zinger’s career began to evolve as well. Though he loved his work as an equipment manager (a role he’d still love to have, though he enjoys his current paycheque a bit more), a promotion to assistant general manager came his way as he began to take on new responsibilities with the club. The next step up to the level of being the team’s general manager soon followed, as he took office prior to the 2003-04 season.

Through his time behind the big desk in the Moose organization, Heisinger has been both an asset to the Manitoba club and the parent Canucks. While several players, such as Michael Grabner, came to the Moose after being drafted or signed by Vancouver, Zinger has been extremely pursuant when it comes to signing players for Manitoba. Among these players is forward Alexandre Burrows. Burrows, as it may surprise some to learn, was never drafted into the NHL. Heisinger, however, saw potential in the Quebec native and brought him into the Manitoba fold. Now,
the grinder is considered one of the more
consistent players on the Vancouver roster.

It is because of Heisinger’s ability to add an extra touch of scouting and signing capabilities that he has not only been
held in such high regard in Manitoba,
but in Vancouver as well.

“I think Craig Heisinger’s been doing a great job,” says new Canucks general manager Mike Gillis. “I think Craig has really good insight and is a very hard-working guy. It is my intention to continue to include him in all the decisions that we’re making and give him a bigger role.”

With such high praise from an NHL executive, one would expect that an offer could be on the table in the future for Zinger to return to the big league in the future; and while he would never say never on such an opportunity, Heisinger does not see himself moving from the Manitoba Moose anytime soon.

“My heart’s in Winnipeg,” he says.

Moose season now open

Winnipeg’s population of die-hard hockey fans have waited long enough – shinny is now back in full swing at the MTS Centre.

This year, the Manitoba Moose continue their pursuit of the Calder Cup with an assortment of new players. Here’s a look at just a few of the fresh faces:

Jason Krog – Krog’s name is well known in AHL circles. Last season, he had one of the most dominant seasons in the history of the A, leading the league in both goals and points, while picking up both regular season (Les Cunningham Award) and post-season (Jack A. Butterfield Trophy) MVP nods while leading the arch rival Chicago Wolves to the Calder Cup.

Mark Cullen – The pride of Virginia, MN comes to the Moose after being well-travelled in the AHL, having previously played for the Houston Aeros, the Norfolk Admirals, the Philadelphia Phantoms and the Grand Rapids Griffins. The former WCHA first-team all-star has 32 games of NHL experience under his belt, tallying 32 points.

Karl Goehring – Minnesota native (Apple Valley), Goehring has spent most of his pro career in the AHL, appearing for Syracuse, Wilkes-Barre, Norfolk, San Antonio and Milwaukee in his near 250-game career, posting a 104-103-20 record. Goehring joins Manitoba after eliminating the club from playoff contention last season.