Palazzo rehabbing, notes

From Daily News of Thursday, July 12

One of these days, Justin Palazzo will be able to get a skate boot over his
left foot again.
If you’re a hockey player preparing for your third WHL season, that’s a good
thing.
“It didn’t really hurt at all,” Palazzo, a Kamloops native who plays for the
Prince Albert Raiders, said Wednesday of a problem with his left ankle that
flared up about three weeks after the end of last season.
“I just couldn’t put my skate on my foot — that could be a little bit of a
problem — so I had to get it taken off,” he said.
It turned out to be a cyst on a ligament in the ankle.
The 6-foot-3, 205-pound Palazzo underwent surgery June 21 in Prince Albert.
He later returned to Kamloops and has since discarded his crutches.
He now is undergoing physiotherapy and has already started thinking about
training camp.
Palazzo, who turned 18 on Jan. 25, has played two full WHL seasons but
hasn’t really become what the Raiders thought he would when they selected
him with the 17th overall pick of the 2004 bantam draft.
He knows that and is hoping that more experience and maturity will hold him
in good stead next season.
“It will be my third season,” he said, “so I know what to expect. There
won’t be any surprises . . . so I have to contribute a lot more.”
Last season, he said, was “up and down.”
“We had a young team so there were a lot of learning experiences,” Palazzo
said of a team that went 27-39-3-3 to finish fourth in the East Division and
then was bounced from the playoffs in five games by the Brandon Wheat Kings.
Palazzo, who had seven points and 117 penalty minutes in 59 regular-season
games, dressed for only one playoff game.
“I didn’t see eye to eye with (head coach Peter Anholt) at times,” Palazzo
said. “Apparently there were other guys who could do the job better.”
That’s what Anholt thought?
“Yeah” is the response.
But you didn’t think so?
“Of course not,” Palazzo said.
Anholt, whose contract wasn’t renewed, is the only head coach Palazzo has
known with the Raiders.
“It was good . . . interesting, but good,” Palazzo said of his time with
Anholt. “He’s an old school kind of coach. But he’s the fourth all-time
winningest coach. He knows what he’s doing.”
The Raiders replaced Anholt with Bruno Campese, the former GM and head coach
of the BCHL’s Penticton Vees. During his trip to P.A. for surgery, Palazzo
met the new coach.
“I have a couple friends who played in Penticton,” Palazzo said.
“Apparently, he’s same kind of hard-nosed coach (as Anholt). He seems like a
great guy . . . real fair . . . big on fitness.”
Palazzo was excited when told that the Raiders had hired Craig Bedard as an
assistant coach. An elementary school teacher in Osoyoos since 1992, Bedard
was on Campese’s staff with the Vees for three seasons.
“(Bedard) was my coach at under-17s. So that’s good,” Palazzo said.
He also likes the fact that former NHL defenceman Dave Manson will continue
to work with the Raiders.
“He played 15 years in the NHL so he definitely helped me quite a bit,”
Palazzo said. “He’s a great guy.”
For now, Palazzo will work on regaining the strength in his left ankle.
Then, in early August, it’s off to Regina for a few sessions with renowned
power-skating instructor Leeanne Davis. And then, before you know it, he’ll
be in Prince Albert for another training camp.
“I’ve got three weeks left in town before I go to Regina,” he said. “I’m
just going to get back in shape.
“The time is flying by.”
JUNIOR JOTTINGS: The Raiders’ hiring of Bedard meant former WHLer Kris
Knoblauch was dropped from their coaching staff after one year. Knoblauch
played in the WHL with the Red Deer Rebels, Edmonton and Kootenay Ice, and
Lethbridge Hurricanes before spending four years with the U of Alberta
Golden Bears. . . . Bedard was the head coach of B.C.’s team at the 2007
Canada Winter Games and Team Pacific at the 2006 world under-17
championship. . . . Former Kamloops Blazers D Scott Ferguson has signed with
Ingolstadt in the DEL, Germany’s top league. He played with the AHL’s
Worcester Sharks last season. Jason Holland, another former Blazers
defenceman, is on the Ingolstadt roster, as is former Seattle Thunderbirds C
Glen Goodall, who holds the WHL record for career games played (399). The
head coach is former Medicine Hat Tigers coach Ron Kennedy.

Former Medicine Hat D David Cooper, once a first-round pick by the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, has signed with SG Pontebba in Italy’s Serie A. He spent last season with Rödovre in the Danish Elitserien. . . . Former Prince George Cougars head coach Lane Lambert has been named head coach of the Nashville Predators’ AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee
Admirals. Lambert, an assistant in Milwaukee last season, replaces Claude
Noel, who now is an assistant coach with the Columbus Blue Jackets.