Netherlands: Daniel Sprong

[kopecky82]

Does anybody know whether Daniel Sprong has said he will represent the Netherlands or not? He's projected to be a first rounder this year. I understand he moved from the Netherlands specifically for hockey when he was young be cause he was so dominant, but his dad played hockey in the Netherlands, and whether he represented the country or not I'm not sure, but I would think Sprong would be more likely to play for the Dutch?

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[3 Minute Minor]

Does anybody know whether Daniel Sprong has said he will represent the Netherlands or not? He's projected to be a first rounder this year. I understand he moved from the Netherlands specifically for hockey when he was young be cause he was so dominant, but his dad played hockey in the Netherlands, and whether he represented the country or not I'm not sure, but I would think Sprong would be more likely to play for the Dutch?

You're underestimating the machine that is Hockey Canada.

He's been trying to get Canadian citizenship so he could represent Canada for a while, not sure if he's been successful yet.

Only problem is, if he chooses to represent Netherlands, he'll pretty much never play for them because of the scheduling of lower IIHF events always conflicting with NA schedules.

 

[Urbanskog]

The Netherlands, I hope. They need him more than Canada does.

Only problem is, if he chooses to represent Netherlands, he'll pretty much never play for them because of the scheduling of lower IIHF events always conflicting with NA schedules.

Depends. If his team is unable to make the playoffs, he can make it.

 

[3 Minute Minor]

Depends. If his team is unable to make the playoffs, he can make it.

Can you name any NHLers who do it on a regular basis?

 

[Urbanskog]

Can you can any NHLers who do it on a regular basis?

Those lower-tier teams rarely even have NHL'ers, but Zubrus was there this year since the Devils failed to advance to the PO's.

 

[3 Minute Minor]

Those lower-tier teams rarely even have NHL'ers, but Zubrus was there this year since the Devils failed to advance to the PO's.

first time he went since the lockout year and never went before that. That's why I said on a regular basis. He's missed the playoffs many times in his career but Lithuania was hosting and he's near the end of his career so it was a nice story for him.

Kopitar hasn't gone in years either and his dad is the coach.

Alexei Ponikorovsky was rarely in the playoffs and never played for Ukraine in a World Championship.

Thomas Vanek rarely gets to play for Austria and only played in D1 once time. Grabner only played in 1 World Championship.

 

[Urbanskog]

first time he went since the lockout year and never went before that. That's why I said on a regular basis. He's missed the playoffs many times in his career but Lithuania was hosting and he's near the end of his career so it was a nice story for him.

Kopitar hasn't gone in years either and his dad is the coach.

Alexei Ponikorovsky was rarely in the playoffs and never played for Ukraine in a World Championship.

Thomas Vanek rarely gets to play for Austria and only played in D1 once time. Grabner only played in 1 World Championship.

That has more to do with the willingness of those players to represent their respective countries. Kopitar, however, plays in an elite team that regularly makes the playoffs which sadly prevents him from playing in the WC.

 

[3 Minute Minor]

That has more to do with the willingness of those players to represent their respective countries. Kopitar, however, plays in an elite team that regularly makes the playoffs which sadly prevents him from playing in the WC.

That is your opinion, you have nothing to back up that claim.

Kopitar/LA weren't in the playoffs in '09. In 2010 they were a 1st round exit and he would have been too late for the tournament, unlike the top group that often gets players from teams eliminated in the first round.

Over 50% of the NHL makes the playoffs. If he decides on Netherlands over Canada the odds of him actually being available to play are slim, there are dozens of examples if you look close enough.

 

[Urbanskog]

That is your opinion, you have nothing to back up that claim.

Kopitar/LA weren't in the playoffs in '09. In 2010 they were a 1st round exit and he would have been too late for the tournament, unlike the top group that often gets players from teams eliminated in the first round.

Over 50% of the NHL makes the playoffs. If he decides on Netherlands over Canada the odds of him actually being available to play are slim, there are dozens of examples if you look close enough.

Eh, if they are available for the tournament and refuse to go there, doesn't that tell something about their willingness?

During Kopitar's NHL career, he has always represented Slovenia whenever he had the chance, except for 2009. Not sure what was the reasoning that time.

 

[3 Minute Minor]

Eh, if they are available for the tournament and refuse to go there, doesn't that tell something about their willingness?

During Kopitar's NHL career, he has always represented Slovenia whenever he had the chance, except for 2009. Not sure what was the reasoning that time.

It's because they aren't always available but you fail to grasp it.

For example, in 2009 the last day of the NHL season for the LA Kings was the first day of the World Championships D1 Group A tournament (April 11th). By the time he gets there they would be 2 games into a 5 game tournament.

The lower divisions are much earlier than the top group and NHL players often can't even make it to the top group.

 

[kopecky82]

To me, I think this can be related to Wojtek Wolski. He was born Polish, and moved to Canada for hockey, and he decided to rep Canada and not Poland. I think it's a bit of a betrayal on the national pride side of things, as Sprong, from what I can tell, has no actual direction relation to Canada other than the fact he lives and plays hockey there. He even shows his pride of being Dutch on his Twitter page, if it means anything.

Also, there were a couple of other Dutch players in NA last year who couldn't represent because of scheduling and playoffs. Mike Dalhuisen, Jamie Schaafsma, Mitch Bruijsten. Maybe it's because he probably would never be able to play for the Netherlands that he would represent Canada?

 

[3 Minute Minor]

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/juniors/why-islanders-sprong-wont-play-in-tourneys/

Other elite juniors vying to be first-round picks in the 2015 NHL entry draft have been able to flash their skills in high-profile international age-group tournaments. It might have been the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge last season. It might have been the Ivan Hlinka under-18 tournament in August. For the top European teams and the U.S. development team, there’s the U-18 Five Nations tournament in the Czech Republic in February. Then there’s the main pool of the IIHF world under-18s that will be played in Switzerland in April.

Daniel Sprong of the Charlottetown Islanders will be the only one who won’t have skated in any of them. It’s not that he’s a right winger without a country, just that the country of his birth doesn’t send a team to any of those tournaments.

The Netherlands will be sending a team to the IIHF’s under-18 Div. II, Group A to compete against the likes of Croatia, South Korea, Great Britain and tournament host Estonia this spring. Sprong, 17, would even be a candidate to play for the Dutch against those clubs in Div. I, Group B of the men’s worlds in Eindhoven. But that’s not going to happen.

It’s a touchy subject for Sprong, whose family moved from Amsterdam to Montreal 10 years ago. He doesn’t want to seem any less proud of his heritage, but it’s clear he has no intention of suiting up for the Dutch in any of these tournaments. If he did play for Holland, it would jeopardize his eligibility to play for his adopted homeland. “I have an application in for [Canadian citizenship] but I have no idea where that’s standing right now,” he says. “That’s with my lawyer and agent, and I try not to focus on that.” Sprong hasn’t needed to play in any international tournaments to establish his place in this draft class. His rookie season with the Islanders was more than enough to make him a player of interest for NHL scouts: 30 goals and 38 assists in 67 regular season games. He even raised his game in the playoffs—though the Islanders were swept by defending Memorial Cup champion Halifax, Sprong picked up four goals.

Because Sprong meets the residency requirement and played his youth hockey on this side of the Atlantic, he doesn’t count as an import with the Islanders. Still, his birthplace is a key part of his story. The reason his parents crossed the Atlantic was so he could pursue a hockey career. He had run out of challenges in youth hockey in Amsterdam. That in itself wouldn’t be surprising considering that the Ice Hockey Federation of the Netherlands lists only 1,194 boys playing in age-group leagues, from tykes through juniors. What was surprising was the timing of the Sprongs’s decision: Daniel was only seven years old when the family moved.

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A career move for a second-grader: That would seem a thin branch for a family to crawl out on, but the Sprongs were a hockey family when Daniel was in diapers. “My father [Hanni Sprong] had been with the national team as a player,” Daniel says. “Before we came over, he managed a hockey team in Holland. I would go to the rink with my father and I just fell in love with the game when I was little. He worked with me on my skills, but [youth hockey] in Amsterdam wasn’t very good. Our family’s friends would say that if I was going to become a player I’d have to go to Canada.”

The Sprongs settled in ÃŽle Bizard, a suburb of Montreal, and Daniel played in the Deux Rives program up to age 14. Midway through his bantam season, he joined the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights, a travelling team in Pennsylvania, a move that caused some hard feelings with the Deux Rives coaches and players, but also a move that Hanni Sprong thought was best for his son’s development. There’s no arguing with the results.

The next season, Daniel skated with Lac St-Louis in the Midget Espoir league and racked up 48 goals and 104 points in just 30 games. (Because he isn’t a Canadian citizen, he wasn’t eligible to play Midget AAA in Quebec.) Charlottetown wound up selecting him 13th overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League draft.

Sprong’s favourite NHL player is Patrick Kane and he models his game after the Blackhawks’ all-star right winger. Kane’s name also comes up when NHL scouts look for talents comparable to Sprong’s.

“His strengths—skating and finishing—are the same strengths in Kane’s game,” one NHL scouting director says. “His puck skills probably aren’t where Kane’s were at 18, but whose are? Sprong might project to be a faster skater at the next level. His game is still growing. He’s physically stronger than he was last year and he’ll have to be. He’s going to command a lot more attention from other teams and they’ll try to lean on him.”

Over the summer, Sprong trained with Andy O’Brien in Toronto and skated with a few of the strength coach’s A-list clients. “I was pretty nervous the first time I got on the ice with Jason Spezza and John Tavares,” Sprong says. “But they were great to me and pretty soon I just settled in and fit in. I’ve stayed in touch with some of them. Just the other day, John Tavares texted me to see how I was doing. Sometimes I stop and wonder, ‘Is this real?’”

Most elite prospects are loath to admit that the stakes in their draft years weigh heavily in their minds, but Sprong is open about the pressure he was feeling at the start of the season. “I struggled the first few weeks, trying to do too much,” he says. “I was pressing because I knew this was a big year for me. Then I just started to relax and things picked up again. I can feel the difference the work with Andy this summer has made. With the added core strength, I think I’m faster and stronger on the puck.”

He’s definitely filling out: As a bantam, he stood five-foot-nine and weighed 140 lb., but now his 189 lb. stretch over almost six feet. Says one NHL scout: “He’s a skill and speed player, but his game is heavier this season. Physically, he’ll be able to stand up to contact at the NHL level—maybe not straight out of the draft but in a season or two after that.”

And in a season or two, Sprong’s citizenship should be in place and he’ll be on Hockey Canada’s radar. “It would be great to put on the Canadian sweater someday,” he says. @GareJoyceNHL

 

[Koekenbakker28]

What use would there be for Sprong playing for the Netherlands? Barely any... players below his skills and he won't be able to carry the dutchies to the Olympics alone. No... if we wanted to have Sprong we should have invested in hockey rinks.

 

[S E P H]

To me, I think this can be related to Wojtek Wolski. He was born Polish, and moved to Canada for hockey, and he decided to rep Canada and not Poland. I think it's a bit of a betrayal on the national pride side of things, as Sprong, from what I can tell, has no actual direction relation to Canada other than the fact he lives and plays hockey there. He even shows his pride of being Dutch on his Twitter page, if it means anything.

Also, there were a couple of other Dutch players in NA last year who couldn't represent because of scheduling and playoffs. Mike Dalhuisen, Jamie Schaafsma, Mitch Bruijsten. Maybe it's because he probably would never be able to play for the Netherlands that he would represent Canada?

Wolski has never represented Canada in his career, and on one occasion he said he would love to play for Poland if they ever made it to the top two divisions. Currently though, I believe he is ineligible to play for Poland and would have to talk with the IIHF committee for any exceptional status (which has been granted before). He did play in Poland during the lockout, so there might be a case if he ever wanted, just needs another year. Though he never seemed like a player who wanted to play hockey in the summer time.

 

[3 Minute Minor]

Wolski has never represented Canada in his career, and on one occasion he said he would love to play for Poland if they ever made it to the top two divisions. Currently though, I believe he is ineligible to play for Poland and would have to talk with the IIHF committee for any exceptional status (which has been granted before). He did play in Poland during the lockout, so there might be a case if he ever wanted, just needs another year. Though he never seemed like a player who wanted to play hockey in the summer time.

It's 2 full years in the country. 9 games during the lockout shouldn't be good enough and if he won an appeal it would be shady as hell lol kids born and raised in their countries get denied all the time because they left before they were 14 (when the rule was 2 years after 12)