If there were a secret to gambling, we'd all be rich and casinos would have gone the way of the dinosaur years ago. But Cowichan Valley Capitals graduate Dan Gendur has some advice for would-be betters: Sometimes it pays to put your money on the long shot.
Drafted 206th overall by the Vancouver Canucks in 2007, the smart wager would have been on Gendur, like so many other late-round picks, filling in as a warm training camp body before giving up the game to find a real job. But after an outstanding final season of junior hockey with the Everett Silvertips, Gendur impressed enough at Canucks camp to earn his first professional contract and the opportunity to try and stick in the American Hockey League this season.
That marks quite the turnaround for a player who just two years ago was struggling to adapt to the Western Hockey League after a stint in Cowichan Valley. After scoring 11 points in 79 games over his rookie and sophomore seasons, Gendur followed up with 133 points over the next 121 Major Junior contests. His 29 goals and 55 assists during the 2007/08 season led a Silvertips squad that featured NHL first rounders Zach Hamill and Kyle Beach.
And it didn't take him long to make his mark in a Canucks uniform. Gendur was one of the team's top performers in a Canmore, Alberta tournament that pitted Vancouver's top prospects against their counterparts from the Oilers and Flames. Those efforts earned him a spot in the Canucks' exhibition opener in Edmonton, where his late third period goal sent the game to overtime.
Making a solid first impression on management and coaches is about the best that a late-round drafted player trying to establish himself as a first year pro can hope for. And now that Gendur's taken that step, the next bet is up to him.
