Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Vids
A little action worthy of a post. Couple of tough ass Canadian boys playing in the KHL and some Quebec junior league fun. Also love that the apparent test for passing a concussion in standing since they sat him right in the penalty box. No need to get checked out, he is fine.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Leaderboard
We've progressed a few more games and got the North American leagues up and running. Nobody has cracked the top ten from those two leagues since the majority of the teams have played less than five games. Give it a little time. It won't take long. Oddly enough, nobody from the lockout playing overseas has made the list yet either. Unless the lockout ends we should start seeing some names climb the point charts.
Here we go:
Guess the biggest difference since the last time we checked is the addition of the other leagues. Every league is represented now including a good run from the Swiss league.
The leader in points and penalties stays the same though Ryan is tied. As much as I might not like the guy, Alexander Radulov is tied for the most points and four penalty minutes away from taking that spot too. Not something you see very often if ever.
Other noteworthy moves - Brunner, Metropolit and Omark came on strong for the Swiss league. Brunner is a career European but Metropolit has been just about everywhere in North America including a stint with the Flyers and has always done well in Europe. Omark spent the last two seasons with Edmonton. Not sure if he will ever return. And I have to point out Holloway planting himself nicely into the top ten. The Swedish league is notorious for not having many North American players but Holloway is showing he belongs in his second season after three seasons in the AHL.
In the penalty area we have a few movers. Artyukhin can't extend his lead much mainly because he was suspended for the majority of the time since I last updated the list. Who do we have sitting in third now? It's that dang pesky Olivier Labelle. Labelle spent the last three seasons playing for the Royals usually near the top in both points and penalties. Not going to stop now that he is in Europe.
Here we go:
Guess the biggest difference since the last time we checked is the addition of the other leagues. Every league is represented now including a good run from the Swiss league.
The leader in points and penalties stays the same though Ryan is tied. As much as I might not like the guy, Alexander Radulov is tied for the most points and four penalty minutes away from taking that spot too. Not something you see very often if ever.
Other noteworthy moves - Brunner, Metropolit and Omark came on strong for the Swiss league. Brunner is a career European but Metropolit has been just about everywhere in North America including a stint with the Flyers and has always done well in Europe. Omark spent the last two seasons with Edmonton. Not sure if he will ever return. And I have to point out Holloway planting himself nicely into the top ten. The Swedish league is notorious for not having many North American players but Holloway is showing he belongs in his second season after three seasons in the AHL.
In the penalty area we have a few movers. Artyukhin can't extend his lead much mainly because he was suspended for the majority of the time since I last updated the list. Who do we have sitting in third now? It's that dang pesky Olivier Labelle. Labelle spent the last three seasons playing for the Royals usually near the top in both points and penalties. Not going to stop now that he is in Europe.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Saturday Night's All Right For Fighting
Elton John had it right. Saturday night is indeed a great night for fighting. Home and home series are common in the minors and players disdain for each other is high. Last night was no exception. The AHL delivered even during this time of higher skill sets with the NHL taking a vacation. Last night there were 21 fights in the AHL. Feel free to listen to a little Elton or dare I say even put on the Nickelback cover version which I admit is one of the only songs I will listen to from them and watch the fun.
It took a whole two weeks into the AHL season to obtain one of these: (link to Nickelback song also available to play if you choose to turn the volume down in the first clip)
It took a whole two weeks into the AHL season to obtain one of these: (link to Nickelback song also available to play if you choose to turn the volume down in the first clip)
Thursday, October 11, 2012
For Fun
The AHL and ECHL are ready to kick start their season tomorrow. Otherwise known as the only professionally affiliated leagues to be playing in North America this year. With the European leagues well under way, I figured it will be interesting to compare all the leagues as they continue to progress.
Here are the current leaders of the leagues that I follow provided by myself personally. Finland and the Czech league are the only two major ones in my opinion that I do not keep track of on my own, therefore they will not be included.
As the season continues I will update the list on a weekly-ish basis and see how long it takes for the list to be dominated by the AHL or ECHL. Now I know leagues can vary greatly. Nobody from the Swiss or Swedish leagues made the list. Some leagues play more games, the style can be different, even penalties are different. In the end it all balances out.
Let's take a quick look at the above. For starters nobody from the current lockout has made the list (yet). The current points leader from the Austrian league is clearly not from Europe though he has never played a game in the NHL or AHL so congrats for doing well overseas.
Former NHL prospect Alex Radulov makes both lists. Had the talent to be a solid NHL player but had one of those classic don't-give-a-crap Russian attitudes. Even when he came back to Nashville last year for the playoffs he was sat out do to lackluster playing.
I won't name everybody who has AHL or NHL experience on the list because it would be most of them but there are a few cool names. DiBenedetto moved to Europe for the first time after three AHL seasons. Zherdev was a 4th overall pick and last played for the Flyers before succumbing to that dang attitude problem.
In the penalty category we get more classic names starting with the first one. Artyukhin is a big man who played his first professional season in the wonderful town of Hershey. Elfring has been playing in Germany for 12 years but his first AHL team he played for was Hershey. Lefebvre started his career with the Flyers before moving to Pittsburgh and bouncing around after that. He had over 100 penalty minutes in the AHL five times. And how about Mr. Bartulis rounding out the list. The former Flyer spent the last five seasons in the organization before leaving for a place closer to home. And he was never known for accumulating penalties.
Here are the current leaders of the leagues that I follow provided by myself personally. Finland and the Czech league are the only two major ones in my opinion that I do not keep track of on my own, therefore they will not be included.
As the season continues I will update the list on a weekly-ish basis and see how long it takes for the list to be dominated by the AHL or ECHL. Now I know leagues can vary greatly. Nobody from the Swiss or Swedish leagues made the list. Some leagues play more games, the style can be different, even penalties are different. In the end it all balances out.
Let's take a quick look at the above. For starters nobody from the current lockout has made the list (yet). The current points leader from the Austrian league is clearly not from Europe though he has never played a game in the NHL or AHL so congrats for doing well overseas.
Former NHL prospect Alex Radulov makes both lists. Had the talent to be a solid NHL player but had one of those classic don't-give-a-crap Russian attitudes. Even when he came back to Nashville last year for the playoffs he was sat out do to lackluster playing.
I won't name everybody who has AHL or NHL experience on the list because it would be most of them but there are a few cool names. DiBenedetto moved to Europe for the first time after three AHL seasons. Zherdev was a 4th overall pick and last played for the Flyers before succumbing to that dang attitude problem.
In the penalty category we get more classic names starting with the first one. Artyukhin is a big man who played his first professional season in the wonderful town of Hershey. Elfring has been playing in Germany for 12 years but his first AHL team he played for was Hershey. Lefebvre started his career with the Flyers before moving to Pittsburgh and bouncing around after that. He had over 100 penalty minutes in the AHL five times. And how about Mr. Bartulis rounding out the list. The former Flyer spent the last five seasons in the organization before leaving for a place closer to home. And he was never known for accumulating penalties.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
First Mini
There hasn't been anything real interesting in the world of hockey hits, fights and other oddities. Either that or there simply isn't video. Normally it comes down to video and the majority of leagues are not filming games. However we did have the first dust up of the season from the WHL. Surprise, surprise. It will be the first of probably 30-50 this season.
This one sparked my interest for a couple reasons. The disagreement was all verbal until the action of one player and a guy on the bench changed that. And that quickly everybody on the ice was apparently peeved. I also liked the player at the end pumping up the crowd even though he got his can kicked. At least he has energy.
OTHER NOTES:
AHL preseason has begun. I'm sure there will be tons of action in these games though probably not a lot of post game tape of it. The ECHL also begins action tonight with the welcoming of a new squad in San Francisco.
Nail Yakupov scored his teams only two goals in the KHL and also scored the winner in the shootout against former Flyer Sergei Bobrovsky that went 30 shooters.
Still very early in the season to start taking a look at the top penalty leaders, always one of my favorite categories. However I did notice through video that former NHL and AHL dipstick Ryan Hollweg has a crisp 91 penalty minutes in seven game in the Czech league. Though it is his first season in Europe it has nothing to do with the lockout. As far as the five leagues I am covering, Alexander Radulov appears to have an early lead with 50. Not even going to get started with this guy. Classic example of a Russian player with the talent who just didn't feel like competing.
Probably get a list organized next weekend of leaders before the AHL and ECHL kick off and see how quickly it takes for those guys to catch up even though they will be roughly a month behind.
This one sparked my interest for a couple reasons. The disagreement was all verbal until the action of one player and a guy on the bench changed that. And that quickly everybody on the ice was apparently peeved. I also liked the player at the end pumping up the crowd even though he got his can kicked. At least he has energy.
OTHER NOTES:
AHL preseason has begun. I'm sure there will be tons of action in these games though probably not a lot of post game tape of it. The ECHL also begins action tonight with the welcoming of a new squad in San Francisco.
Nail Yakupov scored his teams only two goals in the KHL and also scored the winner in the shootout against former Flyer Sergei Bobrovsky that went 30 shooters.
Still very early in the season to start taking a look at the top penalty leaders, always one of my favorite categories. However I did notice through video that former NHL and AHL dipstick Ryan Hollweg has a crisp 91 penalty minutes in seven game in the Czech league. Though it is his first season in Europe it has nothing to do with the lockout. As far as the five leagues I am covering, Alexander Radulov appears to have an early lead with 50. Not even going to get started with this guy. Classic example of a Russian player with the talent who just didn't feel like competing.
Probably get a list organized next weekend of leaders before the AHL and ECHL kick off and see how quickly it takes for those guys to catch up even though they will be roughly a month behind.
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