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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Knightfall" data-source="post: 2530124" data-attributes="member: 2012">Making the Cut winners ready for NHL campsCanadian Press8/30/2005 12:26:30 PMJordan Little has been preparing for his big chance for months, working nights as a server at a Boston Pizza restaurant to help pay for the personal trainer who has been whipping him into shape.On Sunday, Little flies to Edmonton to step onto the ice with the Oilers - all because of a TV show.Little was one of more than 4,000 hopefuls who entered the Making The Cut television series. On Dec. 14, 2004, with 18 finalists remaining, the six Canadian NHL teams each awarded one player a training camp invitation.The six-foot-four, 240-pound University of Manitoba defenceman had so impressed Kevin Prendergast that the Oilers executive made him the No. 1 pick."I'm anxious to get out there, for sure," says Little, 23.Little's jaw dropped when the Oilers traded for Chris Pronger on Aug. 3 - he just happens to be Little's favourite NHL player."I'm thankful," Little says of the unique opportunity. "I feel blessed."For me, it's a huge honour because Edmonton has been my favourite team."Of the hundreds of men about to report to NHL camps, none are more excited than Little, Michael Mole (Ottawa Senators), James Demone (Vancouver Canucks), Matt Hubbauer (Calgary Flames), Kevin Lavallee (Montreal Canadiens) and Dominic Noel (Toronto Maple Leafs).Little got to play in Edmonton the last month of the AHL season with the Roadrunners last spring, and he hopes he'll be back with them this season. The Oilers hope that's the case, too."They're anticipating that I'll be playing in their system," says Little. "I'm not kidding myself that I'll make the Oilers this year."My hope is to make their AHL team and show what I can do there and in the future move up to the big club."Mole, 22, a goaltender from Moncton, N.B., who played in the OHL with Mississauga and Belleville and who helped St. Francis Xavier win the 2004 Canadian university championship, already is in Ottawa skating with players readying for the main Senators camp which opens Sept. 13."The closer it's getting the more excited I'm getting," he said. "I'm being treated as if I'm one of the guys on the team."The training staff has been great with me. Everything is first class. I've got a few friends with the team or in their organization so it's a comfortable feeling."He was at a Buffalo Sabres camp a couple of years ago."It's nice to get another chance at it," he says. "(The Senators) have a few goalies in their system but I'm not going to try to figure out where I stand."I'm not going to play that game. That's out of my control. I'm just going to focus on my game and fight for spot in the organization. Basically, I'm playing for a contract."He worked half-days at the Jon Elkin goaltending school in Mississauga and worked out at Mind To Muscle, a centre that trains athletes, in preparing for camp.This chance has convinced him not to return to school."I'm taking a big step leaving university," he says. "It's all or nothing."I've made the decision to play pro. If there ever was a time to do it, this is it."I never felt I was given a fair opportunity in the past. It's not due to lack of talent. There's just guys that fall through the cracks. I've had a lot of success since those days (in junior hockey) but I've had a hard time getting people to take me seriously. You hear people say, `Goalies have a tendency of maturing later than other players,' and I might be a prime example of that."Demone, a six-foot-six defenceman from St. Albert, Alta., played for the ECHL's Texas Wildcatters last winter.Hubbauer, a five-foot-10 centre from Winnipeg and former Bisons teammate of Little, had a limited role with Toronto's AHL farm team last winter.Lavallee is a six-foot-three defenceman from Montreal who played in Germany.Noel is a six-foot-one centre from Lameque, N.B., who played at Dalhousie University after amassing 105 points in his last season of major junior with Cape Breton.They've waited a long time for this chance.</blockquote>

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