Known to most as the "throw-in" player in the deal with Florida that also brought Keith Ballard to Vancouver (for Grabner, Bernier and a 1st rounder), Victor Oreskovich isn't a household name just yet. But once Canuck fans see him play, I'd expect they will recognize him quickly. A hulking winger (6'3, 220 lbs), Oreskovich hits everything in sight. His forecheck quickly became his forte, and was the main reason why he made the Panthers as a free agent camp attendee after taking almost two years away from the game.
Drafted in the 2nd round of the 2004 NHL entry draft by the Colorado Avalanche after a successful two year junior career in Kitchener, the Whitby, Ontario native quit the game after a couple of poor seasons and a number of injuries resulted in him losing passion for the game. He switched his attention to school and his Finance Degree at Notre Dame.
Then one day, it hit him.
"One day I was looking at some number equations and hockey popped into my mind," Oreskovich said. "It's funny, but I was supposed to be looking at my future in finance and all I could think of was hockey. I started to miss the game. It started to eat away at me. I never gave the pros a chance. I didn't want to look back and regret it the rest of my life. That fire started burning again."
One phone call to his former Junior coach, and now Head Coach in Florida - Pete DeBoer - and he had his second chance. He made the most of it by earning a spot on the Panthers, playing 50 games and earning 6 points on the team`s 4th line.
He plans on making the most of his new opportunity in Vancouver where there`s a number of bottom 6 positions up for grabs.
Here`s a look at what the Canucks can expect from the gritty, hard-working 24 year old.
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