Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - IceRays' welcome back reigning MVP

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Friday, October 1, 1999

IceRays' welcome back reigning MVP

By Mark Button
Caller-Times

The Saint John Flames wanted Chris Robertson to play for them this year.
   But not enough to keep Robertson from returning to South Texas.
   The Flames offered Robertson and two-way deal Monday, one that would have sent the Most Valuable Player of the Western Professional Hockey League last season to Johnstown, Pa., for most of this season. The Flames have an affiliation with Johnstown Chiefs of the East Coast Hockey League and they wanted Robertson to play there and wait for a call-up.
   "I considered it," Robertson said in a telephone interview from his parents' home in Calgary, Alberta. "But I turned it down. I had gone to Saint John totally focused on making that hockey team. They offered me a two-way contract, and that was not what I wanted. But at my age, it was more than I expected."
   Most likely, it was Robertson's age that held him back from making the Saint John roster outright. He's 31, and he said he was the oldest player at the camp by four or five years.
   It's a four-day drive from Calgary to Corpus Christi, and Robertson said he should be in town no later than Oct. 10.
   The IceRays' first game is Oct. 13, but Robertson's rest is well deserved.
   "I've skating every day for the last six weeks," he said. "I'm in good shape."
   Corpus Christi coach Taylor Hall was thrilled by the news.
   "Obviously, it's a huge boost," Hall said. "You know he's probably going to get 100 points and he's a leader. I have no doubt that he's good enough to play in that league, though."
   News that Robertson was returning spread quickly at the IceRays scrimmage Thursday afternoon.
   "That's huge," said rookie forward Jade Kersey, one of 16 rookies trying to make the team. "It just makes my job even harder."
   Hall didn't deny that Robertson's return puts more pressure on the forwards at camp.
   "We just have so many good forwards," Hall said, "it's really going to be tough on those guys (rookies)."



Staff writer Mark Button can be reached at 886-3613 or by e-mail at buttonm@caller.com.

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