[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by SebC

Not saying you're wrong, but USA Today noted speed issues, not character.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sport...rospects_x.htm

Consistency, commitment... therefore character issues.
Coach stripped of the captaincy at one point over discipline issues as well, as I recall - but maybe that was after the draft?

EDIT: was after draft, but hard to think these kind of issues weren't part of the reason for his fall. Can't find links to the story, but here is a link to where I found them pasted.

http://hitmenwhl.suddenlaunch3.com/i...0278422&start=

Stories pasted below

Spoiler!

Getzlaf has 'C' taken away
Hitmen lose after shocking shakeup

By CAMERON MAXWELL, CALGARY SUN


The Calgary Hitmen lost the game and, it appears, their captain -- for a while at least. Ryan Getzlaf had the 'C' taken off his jersey in favour of an 'A' prior to last night's 3-2 loss to the Lethbridge Hurricanes at the Saddledome.

Team coaches had a meeting with Getzlaf and assistants Brett O'Malley, Andrew Ladd and Darryl Yacboski Friday and told them their leader would no longer don the 'C' on his jersey after taking too many 10-minute misconducts for yapping with referees.

"It was a decision we made because we've sat him and sat him and sat him and he still hadn't responded to that, so if it continually happens then you have to find another way to make him aware of it," said Hitmen co-coach Dean Evason.

"We hope this will give him a wake-up call and he's responded extremely well with his teammates and with us. And we hope he'll continue to do that.

"We're not saying that he's not the captain of our hockey club. What we're saying is there has to be an awareness to this one situation as far as not shutting up with referees," Evason said.

"That's the only area and we feel he's leading in every other department."

After the meeting, the sniper from Regina took it upon himself to tell his teammates.

"I'm not happy about it but I've got to live with it. It hurt a lot and it's hard to get it taken away, especially with your teammates. And I've got to go and explain to them why I'm not wearing it," said Getzlaf, who was held off the scoresheet last night.

"Everybody knows there were too many 10s going on. It's about accountability this year and I've got to earn (the 'C') back."

The plan is to rotate the captaincy between the assistant captains on the Hitmen's upcoming road trip through B.C. and the U.S.

If all goes well, Getzlaf might get the 'C' back on his jersey.

Maybe the news shook the team a bit as the Hitmen (11-6-4-1) lost for the first time during their seven-game homestand (3-1-3).

Ryan Getzlaf: NHLer in training

George Johnson
Calgary Herald

November 12, 2004

Ryan Getzlaf figured he'd be playing in the NHL right now. Except there's no NHL to play in.

"That's what people kept telling him all summer,'' says Calgary Hitmen co-coach Dean Evason. " 'You're going to be in the NHL, Getz! No problem.' And so when the lockout became a reality, he struggled mentally with that, having to come back here, to junior again. This isn't where he wanted to be. But this year could wind up being the best thing to happen to his development.

"He has to understand that, embrace that, and use it to his advantage.''

In the bleak reality of a no-Jarome Iginla world, Ryan Getzlaf is a close to hockey royalty as this town's got. Big. Strong. Sublimely gifted. The usual glittering adjectives. A signed first-round draft pick of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, no less.

Things at this level come easy to him now. Too easy, too often. And therein lies the danger. Raw ability can be a curse, as well as a blessing. The bottom of the 'Whatever Happened To . . . . ?' discard bin is littered with the press clippings of highly touted prospects who drifted through their final year of junior like a float in the Macy's Santa Claus Parade.

Old habits die hard. New careers can die harder.

"This is a huge year for me, I know that,'' says Getzlaf, already looking ahead, it seems, outfitted in his Ducks' casual gear. "It's frustrating sometimes. Being a big guy, there's the feeling sometimes that I'm a little slack, that I'm not working every shift. But I also know I've got to be more consistent in that area.''

"If things are going easy some nights, really flowing, it's up to me to bear down even harder.

"When you get to the NHL, nobody's going to be around to hold your hand.''

He's fourth on the Western Hockey League points chart. His Hitmen have lost only once in their past 10 games. He seems capable of scoring whenever, wherever, it pleases him. Yet another very public lesson in the schooling of Ryan Getzlaf occurred Wednesday night at the Pengrowth Saddledome. Call it: Restraint 101. After counting two wonderful goals to slash wide the jugular of the Prince Albert Raiders, Getzlaf beaked off at the referee and was tagged with his third such 10-minute misconduct in the past four games.

So, when the captain was finally released from stir, head coach Kelly Kisio threw him into another kind of solitary confinement, at the end of the bench, for the entirety of the third period.

"That's a big issue with Getz right now,'' says Evason. "He's got to be quiet and go play. Being a leader doesn't mean opening your mouth all the time. It means being on the ice, helping your team, setting an example.''

In the schooling of Ryan Getzlaf, a school reserved for advanced students only, they're not afraid to pull out the ruler and rap knuckles. The schooling has nothing to do with skating or shooting or getting the puck deep. To that end, notoriously blunt Mighty Ducks coach Mike Babthingy paid a visit. Anaheim general manager Al Coates, too, has popped in to check on his organization's investment. "To be honest, he wasn't very good the night I saw him,'' says Coates. "But I understand he's been better lately. I told him when I was there: Two years ago, we had a team that worked as hard as any in the NHL. And we made it to the seventh game of the Stanley Cup final. Last year, our work ethic came nowhere near where it had been, and we didn't even make the playoffs. Look at what the Calgary Flames did on hard work and great goaltending last year.

"We've got to recapture the effort that became our trademark two years ago. So it doesn't matter who you are -- Ryan Getzlaf, whoever -- you won't be playing here unless you're willing to work. Talent's not in question. It's up to him.''

Dean Evason carved out a nice NHL career for himself on effort, spunk and guile. Over the years, he's seen no shortage of talented softies, guys he would've swapped skill sets with in a heartbeat, but who lacked the requisite drive and commitment to fulfil their potential. There is, he knows firsthand, a huge difference in merely playing in the Show and being a player there.

"Getz has all the tools to make it in the NHL,'' Evason waves a hand dismissively, as if that were but a formality.

"Today. But that's not what's at issue.

"It's about a lack of discipline, a lack of composure, a lack of leadership early in the year. It's about being a better player -- not just when he feels like it, but all the time. Ryan needs to be challenged; to be pushed. Anaheim pushes, when Mike Babthingy comes to watch him and then sits him down afterwards and says, 'Your warm-up was crap' or 'You've got to be more assertive on the puck.' And we push him to be more accountable on a daily basis.

"We're here to win for the Calgary Hitmen. We're also here to develop players. And Ryan Getzlaf has the potential to be a real good NHL player. Maybe if we step on him enough in practice this year, Mike won't have to step on him so much next year.''

The stepping, it appears, is paying dividends.

"Getz has always been good at saying all the right things,'' says Evason. "But now he's getting better at doing the right things, too. He's figuring it out.

"But it's in a ongoing thing. Our job to keep pushing him. His job to keep pushing himself.''

In the schooling of Ryan Getzlaf, boy genius, it would seem there are no in-service holidays.