As a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs the last three seasons, Kyle Wellwood was often criticized for his conditioning shortcomings. It was a chicken-and-egg kind of thing. What came first, injuries or the lack of fitness? He suffered a string of injuries all related to conditioning including three surgeries to repair sports hernias. limited Wellwood's playing time and effectiveness.
A real shame because he was a standout as a Junior and a terrific puck handler, As a 17-year-old, Wellwood scored 118 points for the Belleville Bulls. As a result the Leafs picked him in the sixth-round of the 2001 Amateur Draft.
Over the summer Cliff Fletcher put Wellwood on waivers, effectively saying that the Leafs had had enough of his soft approach to conditioning. It was clearly a wake-up call and in interviews Wellwood acknowledged that he had gotten the message. Many Toronto fans couldn't understand why the Leafs had given up on such a young player.
He was quite fortunate that the Vancouver Canucks were willing to give him a chance and picked him up and his $1 million contract.
On the weekend Canuck coach Alain Vigneault told reporters that although Wellwood's conditioning has improved since the team picked him up on waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs early this summer, it is "still not NHL caliber." Wellwood has pretty much been given a shape-up-or-ship-out ultimatum by the Canucks. He is going to be re-tested after the first four pre-season games and there has to be an improvement.
I wonder if Kyle will ever get it? He is about to jeopardize a job that pays in excess of $1 million for a half year of work. As a fan it drives me insane.
