Hockey has reached that point of the season when tournaments across the world begin and schedules become altered as teams and players depart. This year is also different since it is an Olympic year which is the only tournament that shuts down the NHL.
The junior leagues have taken their mini break as the World Junior Championships are currently underway in Sweden. Many of the best junior league players will be representing their countries in the tournament. Generally NHL teams will not allow a player who qualifies for the tournament to play since they themselves are trying to win games. However young players from the AHL do tend to go play.
The Spengler Cup also got underway this week which is an invite only tournament in Switzerland. This year the Rochester Americans were invited to play and represent the AHL and North America. I'd be willing to bet the next invitation might not come anytime soon.
European hockey tends to be more about skill and finesse rather than hard hitting and rough. That especially applies for tournaments like the WJC and Olympics. Take this for example. The Spengler Cup last year was won by Team Canada. This is basically a team comprised of Canadian players playing in the Swiss league. In four games they recorded 56 total penalty minutes. In the entire tournament the most individual penalty minutes was 12. Well check this from our AHL brothers. In the first game they played, Rochester picked up 60 penalty minutes and had two players ejected. You can take the team out of the AHL, but you can't take the AHL out of the team. Can't imagine the dudes running the tournament were happy to see that.
Frederik Roy was particularly unimpressed with the hockey sticks in Europe.
Rochester is now 0-2 after losing today. At least they didn't invite Bridgeport over.
For the tournament lovers out there be sure to check out Slovakia against the USA tomorrow morning. Should be a good test for the American squad.
Friday, December 27, 2013
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Why is the Soccer Season in Winter?
I haven't taken a lot of time to do searching, but I'm beginning to think the MLS is the only league that doesn't play the season during the middle of winter. I can't figure out why the most popular sport in the world is played during some of the worst weather.
This time it was Galatasary against Juventus in the Champions League who had a bit of a problem trying to advance into the next round. Turkey doesn't get a ton of snow but the timing was right for this game. Eventually the game was postponed when they couldn't see the lines anymore.
This time it was Galatasary against Juventus in the Champions League who had a bit of a problem trying to advance into the next round. Turkey doesn't get a ton of snow but the timing was right for this game. Eventually the game was postponed when they couldn't see the lines anymore.
Going Outdoors
Been awhile. Hello. Ditched the European leagues. Trying to finish last years leagues. Updating the AHL for Elite. 4th season by the way. Check the site in spring. New format coming.
Rochester and Lake Erie played the first of what I'm guessing is 28 outdoor games this year in the AHL and NHL. Frederick Roy and Mitchell Heard decided to go buckets off early in the game.
As noted, Freddy is the son of Hall of Famer Patrick Roy. Dude loves to scrap.
Rochester and Lake Erie played the first of what I'm guessing is 28 outdoor games this year in the AHL and NHL. Frederick Roy and Mitchell Heard decided to go buckets off early in the game.
As noted, Freddy is the son of Hall of Famer Patrick Roy. Dude loves to scrap.
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Fly Guys
Scott Laughton initially made the Philadelphia Flyers this season. The team eventually decided to send him back to juniors since he had a year of eligibility remaining. His numbers so far show why sending him back can be a difficult decision.
Through 9 games his totals are 10 goals and 7 assists.
He also has this to his game which I'm sure the Flyers brass enjoys. From last night:
Meanwhile the professional prospects of the Flyers playing with the Phantoms are doing their best impression of the NHL team. They currently have one win on the season and are averaging a little over two goals a game. Fear not though, they do lead the AHL in team penalty minutes so they got that working for them.
I know I rag on the Flyers organization for their propensity for taking penalties or the horrendous way they try to rebuild through prospects year after year after year. Sure, according to hockey prospects they rank last as a team in prospect talent. I am beyond use to it by now.
The twitter picture posted by Phantoms coach Riley Cote of practice this week summed it up best.
I understand it's a drill but at this point this picture describes the Flyers mentality absolutely perfectly.
Through 9 games his totals are 10 goals and 7 assists.
He also has this to his game which I'm sure the Flyers brass enjoys. From last night:
Meanwhile the professional prospects of the Flyers playing with the Phantoms are doing their best impression of the NHL team. They currently have one win on the season and are averaging a little over two goals a game. Fear not though, they do lead the AHL in team penalty minutes so they got that working for them.
I know I rag on the Flyers organization for their propensity for taking penalties or the horrendous way they try to rebuild through prospects year after year after year. Sure, according to hockey prospects they rank last as a team in prospect talent. I am beyond use to it by now.
The twitter picture posted by Phantoms coach Riley Cote of practice this week summed it up best.
I understand it's a drill but at this point this picture describes the Flyers mentality absolutely perfectly.
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Video Review
Haven't been reviewing video lately as I needed to catch up on the 50 leagues I follow. And of course I don't watch anything from games I haven't looked at yet. So here is a video edition of the last week and a half of action.
#12 GOULBOURNE IS A FLYERS PICK... SEE WHY IN THE VIDEO BELOW. 3RD ROUND NO LESS
LAST YEAR I PLAYED A FUN GAME OF SEEING WHO WOULD BE THE FIRST PLAYER TO COLLECT 100 PENALTY MINUTES. COULD A NORTH AMERICAN LEAGUE PLAYER REACH THE MARK BEFORE A EUROPEAN LEAGUE PLAYER EVEN THOUGH THEIR SEASON STARTS A MONTH EARLIER. THE NORTH AMERICAN LEAGUE WON.
THIS SEASON IT WASN'T EVEN CLOSE. HERE IS ONE OF THE REASONS EVGENY ARTYUKHIN IS ALREADY OVER 100. IT WAS THE THIRD GAME HE WAS EJECTED FROM ALREADY.
#12 GOULBOURNE IS A FLYERS PICK... SEE WHY IN THE VIDEO BELOW. 3RD ROUND NO LESS
LAST YEAR I PLAYED A FUN GAME OF SEEING WHO WOULD BE THE FIRST PLAYER TO COLLECT 100 PENALTY MINUTES. COULD A NORTH AMERICAN LEAGUE PLAYER REACH THE MARK BEFORE A EUROPEAN LEAGUE PLAYER EVEN THOUGH THEIR SEASON STARTS A MONTH EARLIER. THE NORTH AMERICAN LEAGUE WON.
THIS SEASON IT WASN'T EVEN CLOSE. HERE IS ONE OF THE REASONS EVGENY ARTYUKHIN IS ALREADY OVER 100. IT WAS THE THIRD GAME HE WAS EJECTED FROM ALREADY.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Russian Love
Really need to aim to get more videos. Takes far less time.
Huge Hit. Nice punch.
The player taking the hit was Jan Mursak. He played over 200 AHL games and won the Calder Cup championship last season. Though he's from Slovenia it is his first time playing full time professionally in Europe. Not sure he was ever hit that hard even in the AHL.
Poor Josh Gratton.
Gratton slowly made it to the NHL first with the Flyers. He even played a whole NHL season in Phoenix. I'm not sure how many more seasons the tough guy has left in him. Alexander Svitov certainly didn't have a problem. That was a beating. Svitov can handle himself but doesn't quite play that style anymore. I guess unless a former NHL tough guy is bugging him.
QUICK EDITOR'S NOTE:
I don't often post links to stories from hockey writers mainly because I don't read many but in light of what I just posted yesterday, take a look at this story covered briefly by CSN Philly. Bizarre timing. Maybe Timmy is reading my blog.
Some of my favorites about penalties include (from Sestito), "always had a problem there" and "don't know if it's their reputation or not." Continuing on about the team, "always a win now team" and "not much rebuilding ever going on."
Holy shit, it's practically the same things I keep on saying. Even a player who spent a brief period of time here can see it.
Huge Hit. Nice punch.
The player taking the hit was Jan Mursak. He played over 200 AHL games and won the Calder Cup championship last season. Though he's from Slovenia it is his first time playing full time professionally in Europe. Not sure he was ever hit that hard even in the AHL.
Poor Josh Gratton.
Gratton slowly made it to the NHL first with the Flyers. He even played a whole NHL season in Phoenix. I'm not sure how many more seasons the tough guy has left in him. Alexander Svitov certainly didn't have a problem. That was a beating. Svitov can handle himself but doesn't quite play that style anymore. I guess unless a former NHL tough guy is bugging him.
QUICK EDITOR'S NOTE:
I don't often post links to stories from hockey writers mainly because I don't read many but in light of what I just posted yesterday, take a look at this story covered briefly by CSN Philly. Bizarre timing. Maybe Timmy is reading my blog.
Some of my favorites about penalties include (from Sestito), "always had a problem there" and "don't know if it's their reputation or not." Continuing on about the team, "always a win now team" and "not much rebuilding ever going on."
Holy shit, it's practically the same things I keep on saying. Even a player who spent a brief period of time here can see it.
Monday, October 14, 2013
The Stat Room
Thankfully for me I am a hockey fan. I don't have enough time to follow all the leagues throughout the world. I could if I wanted to and probably follow too many as it is. There won't be any purchasing of Center Ice. I could if I wanted to. Sure I'd like to catch the Oilers games but between doing other things and their late night eastern time schedule, I'd miss the majority of games anyway. Even at this point in the season I've only seen two Flyers games. The others I didn't even miss on purpose. But that's the nice thing about being a hockey fan. There are so many games, teams and leagues that you always have something. And something is what we might need this season.
I went on in my last post about things that need to change for the Flyers. In that lengthy discussion was a call for change in management and team philosophy. Move away from the once loved idea of being the team of bullies. I don't see the players as the issue. The skill is there. The determination and attitude is always high. The ability to be a successful and undisciplined team is shrouded in mystery.
The Flyers have the reputation of being tough. I'm fine with that idea. It certainly comes in handy when Pittsburgh comes to town especially in the playoffs. Being able to get under the skin of your opponent has always been a way to gain an upper hand in a series. In most cases however it is the Flyers doing the reacting or start running around without purpose. Playing with that edge and grit should naturally do more good than harm. However the Flyers have an amazing ability to sit in a box. Call it that old-school reputation, team toughness or whatever. It's something that if not bizarre is complexing and reverts itself back to the reason the philosophy needs changing.
As you can tell by most of my posts and statistical numbers, I tend to favor the physical side of the game that generally results in penalties. I think more of my interest came from a lack of statistical organization back when I first became interested in compiling my own records 12 years ago. Needless to say I favor these numbers (as well as talented teams who can play the game and do it with an aggressive style). So it's not surprising with my past knowledge I went to the big board to look at some totals. This is where the bizarre and complexing start to come in.
2008-2009
It's six seasons ago and the Flyers are competing consistently and playing that Flyers brand of hockey. Not only do they lead the league in minor penalties with 446 but also in penalty minutes. Its Flyers hockey at its best and is always fun to watch.
2009-2010
The Flyers squeak into the playoffs on the last game of the regular season. Then the run starts. A season that went down as a huge success even though they would lose in the Stanley Cup Finals. It saw the team overcome diversity including the historic series with Boston when they came back from three games to none in the series and in the 7th game. It could be easily overlooked that the team for the second straight season led the league in minors with 400.
2010-2011
The team finishes with the 3rd most points in the league. However they run into Boston in the playoffs who eventually win it all. The team stays a bit more disciplined with 347 minors. That's good for 8th most in the league.
2011-2012
Philly being Philly. Almost two hundred penalty minutes ahead of second place and for the third time in four seasons the Flyers lead the league in minors taken finishing 31 ahead of second. Okay not the stat we are going for here at least I don't think it should. For perspective teams two thru ten were separated by 32 minors.
2012-2013
Last season was a struggle. Blame the shortened season. But don't think we changed. For the 4th time in 5 seasons the Flyers again finished at the top of the list in minor penalties.
Are you frucking serious? There are 30 teams in the league and the same one consistently finishes first in one category that you don't want to be at the top. That's not even easy to do. I'm almost dumbfounded at this point. What the hell kind of style uses the take-as-many-penalties-as-you-can approach? There are far more answers than questions. I wouldn't ever have this conversation if the team would have won the cup a few years ago or maybe not even if they made it to another one more recently. The issue now is they haven't won one for awhile yet have had a lot of talent skate through here. This is a number that needs fixing and my thought is it relates back to the idea of Flyers hockey which comes from the people upstairs.
Anybody want to guess which team leads the league in minors this year? Hint: It's the Flyers.
I went on in my last post about things that need to change for the Flyers. In that lengthy discussion was a call for change in management and team philosophy. Move away from the once loved idea of being the team of bullies. I don't see the players as the issue. The skill is there. The determination and attitude is always high. The ability to be a successful and undisciplined team is shrouded in mystery.
The Flyers have the reputation of being tough. I'm fine with that idea. It certainly comes in handy when Pittsburgh comes to town especially in the playoffs. Being able to get under the skin of your opponent has always been a way to gain an upper hand in a series. In most cases however it is the Flyers doing the reacting or start running around without purpose. Playing with that edge and grit should naturally do more good than harm. However the Flyers have an amazing ability to sit in a box. Call it that old-school reputation, team toughness or whatever. It's something that if not bizarre is complexing and reverts itself back to the reason the philosophy needs changing.
As you can tell by most of my posts and statistical numbers, I tend to favor the physical side of the game that generally results in penalties. I think more of my interest came from a lack of statistical organization back when I first became interested in compiling my own records 12 years ago. Needless to say I favor these numbers (as well as talented teams who can play the game and do it with an aggressive style). So it's not surprising with my past knowledge I went to the big board to look at some totals. This is where the bizarre and complexing start to come in.
2008-2009
It's six seasons ago and the Flyers are competing consistently and playing that Flyers brand of hockey. Not only do they lead the league in minor penalties with 446 but also in penalty minutes. Its Flyers hockey at its best and is always fun to watch.
2009-2010
The Flyers squeak into the playoffs on the last game of the regular season. Then the run starts. A season that went down as a huge success even though they would lose in the Stanley Cup Finals. It saw the team overcome diversity including the historic series with Boston when they came back from three games to none in the series and in the 7th game. It could be easily overlooked that the team for the second straight season led the league in minors with 400.
2010-2011
The team finishes with the 3rd most points in the league. However they run into Boston in the playoffs who eventually win it all. The team stays a bit more disciplined with 347 minors. That's good for 8th most in the league.
2011-2012
Philly being Philly. Almost two hundred penalty minutes ahead of second place and for the third time in four seasons the Flyers lead the league in minors taken finishing 31 ahead of second. Okay not the stat we are going for here at least I don't think it should. For perspective teams two thru ten were separated by 32 minors.
2012-2013
Last season was a struggle. Blame the shortened season. But don't think we changed. For the 4th time in 5 seasons the Flyers again finished at the top of the list in minor penalties.
Are you frucking serious? There are 30 teams in the league and the same one consistently finishes first in one category that you don't want to be at the top. That's not even easy to do. I'm almost dumbfounded at this point. What the hell kind of style uses the take-as-many-penalties-as-you-can approach? There are far more answers than questions. I wouldn't ever have this conversation if the team would have won the cup a few years ago or maybe not even if they made it to another one more recently. The issue now is they haven't won one for awhile yet have had a lot of talent skate through here. This is a number that needs fixing and my thought is it relates back to the idea of Flyers hockey which comes from the people upstairs.
Anybody want to guess which team leads the league in minors this year? Hint: It's the Flyers.
Quick Updates
Not sure what is going on with the updated area on the side. Instead of wasting my work, I pasted what should have been updated on the right. Hopefully I can figure out the issue.
EUROPE
Evgeni Artyukhin: 70
Adam Borzecki: 70
Milan Prochazka: 67
Timo Helbling: 57
Shawn Lalonde: 56
Jim Vandermeer: 54
Cody Almond: 53
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Derek Dorsett: 32 (New York Rangers)
Erik Gudbranson: 30 (Florida Panthers)
Colton Orr: 26 (Toronto Maple Leafs)
Ryan Malone: 24 (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Mike Fisher: 21 (Carrie Underwood's Husband)
AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE
Zack Stortini: 43 (Norfolk)
Zack Fitzgerald: 35 (Adirondack)
Frederik Roy: 35 (Rochester)
Guillaume Desbiens: 30 (Lake Erie)
Updated through 10-14-13
EUROPE
Evgeni Artyukhin: 70
Adam Borzecki: 70
Milan Prochazka: 67
Timo Helbling: 57
Shawn Lalonde: 56
Jim Vandermeer: 54
Cody Almond: 53
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Derek Dorsett: 32 (New York Rangers)
Erik Gudbranson: 30 (Florida Panthers)
Colton Orr: 26 (Toronto Maple Leafs)
Ryan Malone: 24 (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Mike Fisher: 21 (Carrie Underwood's Husband)
AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE
Zack Stortini: 43 (Norfolk)
Zack Fitzgerald: 35 (Adirondack)
Frederik Roy: 35 (Rochester)
Guillaume Desbiens: 30 (Lake Erie)
Updated through 10-14-13
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Lavio Lette Go
When I first saw the post made by a Flyers beat writer I had about five to ten seconds to guess what was the headline on the back page of The Daily News. My title was my guess. I was wrong. I have enough time to throw in my few cents about the Flyers getting rid of another head coach.
It can't come to a surprise that the Flyers fired a head coach. Since 2000 the team has now had seven different head coaches. It also shouldn't be a surprise they fired a coach three games into a season. Upper management has long been very impatient when it comes to waiting for a winner. They have always had a mentality that they need to be successful and it needs to be now. But after years of continually using the same philosophy, when do we start questioning the guys sitting above the ice rather than the ones on it?
I was never a Bobby Clarke fan. Do I need to rephrase this statement? I wasn't old enough to watch him play. I do recall his lengthy stint as general manager however. Even though the longtime Flyer was a fan favorite for his ability on the ice, I generally thought less of his managerial skills. Clarke played with an edge and wasn't afraid of mixing it up in 1144 NHL games, all with the Flyers. He brought a similar toughness with him when he became the Flyers general manager, first from 1984-90 and again from 1994-2007. Clarke wasn't afraid to ruffle feathers and had a knack for big moves and getting hard-nosed players. Towards the end of his run as G.M. I personally had enough and was looking forward to a new face making player decisions for the team. Clarke is now the Senior Vice President of the Flyers. If you look back, there have been two years since 1969 that Clarke has not been part of the organization.
In stepped Paul Holmgren to take control. Finally a fresh face with new ideas for a team without a cup since the mid 1970's. Except Holmgren only had to move one seat over. He had already been the assistant general manager to Clarke for six seasons. Suddenly the new perspective had the same vibe as the old. Not to mention Holmgren's past with the team. Of the 527 NHL games Holmgren played, 500 of them were with the Flyers. He also never had a season with the team of less than 100 penalty minutes. He had also spent seven seasons with the Flyers as assistant or head coach, and had titles of Director of Scouting and of Player Personnel. Since 1976, Holmgren was not part of the Flyers organization for a total of five seasons.
Let's go back and start in the year 2000. Clarke had long held the title of General Manager and Holmgren was into his first as assistant. Remember both have already had a storied career in the orange and black.
Hired to coach the team is Bill Barber. His name to fans should sound familiar. He played alongside Clarke during the Broad Street Bully days throughout the 70's when the Flyers won two Stanley Cups. In fact, during his NHL career of 903 games, he only ever played for Philadelphia. Prior to becoming head coach he spent four seasons as head coach for the Phantoms winning one championship. He also had prior experience as an assistant for the Flyers. Barber would take the team to the playoffs in both of his seasons, both times getting knocked out in the first round. Barber was fired after his second year when veteran players like Keith Primeau vocally disapproved of the coach. Barber never coached again and moved on to Tampa where he became the Director of Player Personnel for five seasons including the year they won the Stanley Cup. Since 2008 Barber has been a scouting consultant with the Flyers.
In need of a coach the Flyers landed recently fired coach Ken Hitchcock. His history with the Flyers was not quite as impressive but a history nonetheless. Hitchcock never played but his first NHL job was as assistant coach for three seasons with the Flyers. He moved on to the Dallas organization and found a lot of success. In his five full seasons as head coach in Dallas the team finished first in the division all five seasons and would go on to win their only cup in franchise history. Hitchcock joined the Flyers for the 2002-03 season. In three seasons as coach the team finished with at least 40 wins and 100 points each year while also reaching the Eastern Conference Finals. Eight games into his fourth season he was fired. Hitch has since gone on to lead Columbus to their only ever playoff berth and won Coach of the Year in 2012 with a surging St. Louis team.
Becoming head coach in game 9 that year was John Stevens. It was back to the well for Philadelphia. Stevens was drafted by the Flyers spending most of his time in the AHL with seven of his seasons spent either on Hershey or the Phantoms. Five of those seasons he had at least 100 penalty minutes. He moved on to coach the Phantoms for 8 seasons including a Calder Cup championship in the lockout year for the NHL. Stevens coached two full seasons for the Flyers and parts of two others (after Hitchcock and 25 games before being fired) reaching the playoffs both seasons including an Eastern Finals loss. Stevens went on to become assistant for Los Angeles the past three seasons where the team won the Stanley Cup once.
In came Lavy. And get this. He had no prior ties to Philadelphia. He won a Calder Cup and Stanley Cup as a coach in different organizations. After taking over for Stevens he led the team to an unlikely spot in the Stanley Cup Finals eventually losing to Chicago. Things were looking very promising. The next two seasons saw two second round playoff knockouts before the team had a substandard shortened season last year. Three games and he got the axe. Deserving? If you compare it to the past it fits the bill. Now the question is where does the rest of the paragraph go for Laviolette. Probably finding success would be the answer.
These coaches were not the answer or at least not the answer at the right time for management. Next up is Craig Berube. Would there be any other candidate? Berube started his pro career in Philadelphia and eventually spent seven totals seasons with the organization. He also happens to be one of the top penalty minute receivers in NHL history. He has had a coaching role with either the Phantoms or Flyers since 2004. Educated guesses would suggest he gets two to three seasons to do something.
This is opposed to the thought of perhaps changing the formula for producing a winning hockey club. At some point it stuck in the minds of management that the Flyers were and will always be a successful, tough, physical, hard-nosed, in-your-face type of team. They were going to score, hit and fight until you had enough. And that theme has transcended time to a point where it might not be practical anymore. Even if it is, it hasn't been working in this town. Tracing the steps it doesn't take a lot of effort to see the rut. Change the players and the coaches all you want. It's the same group of guys with the same mentality making the decisions. Those decisions are based of the Flyers brand of hockey.
Did Peter Laviolette go out and sign Ilya Bryzgalov to a 51 million dollar contract so he could play a whole two seasons? Did the players insist they move the young Bobrovsky who after not being drafted won 28 games in the NHL as a rookie? One season away from Philadelphia and he wins the Vezina. There was your goalie of the future. Now neither are here.
What about Justin Williams? Now he has two Stanley Cups. Remember Patrick Sharp? That's another two cups. Dare I say Mike Richards and Jeff Carter. Makes me wonder what will happen with James van Riemsdyk. I'm guessing a future 25 goal average scorer and a ring or two. All young players that the Flyers didn't care to either wait around for or simply didn't fit in with the way management saw the team.
I can't sit here and say that every move the Flyers have made over the past 12 years have been bad. Some were very good or well worth the risk. Hockey is all about making moves and creating that perfect team. I just wonder what we are trying to create because as far as I can tell it is the same thing year after year. That is directly associated with the moves from the top. The mindset never changes. The ideas are never new. The faces all the same. It's Flyers hockey like it is still 1975.
I can go on.
CHAIRMAN- Ed Snider: Face of the Flyers. Owner since the 1st puck drop.
GENERAL MANAGER: Paul Holmgren: See up top.
SENIOR V.P.: Bobby Clarke: See up top.
EXECUTIVE V.P.: Keith Allen: 1st Head Coach and 1st General Manager of the Flyers in team history. Stayed on as G.M. until 1983. The man is 90.
ASSISTANT COACH: Ian Laperriere: One full season as a Flyer appearing in every game. Hard-nosed, aggressive and willing to sacrifice to win. 13 of 15 NHL seasons over 100 PIM. Became Flyers Director of Player Development before coach.
ASSISTANT COACH: John Paddock: 42 of 87 NHL games with Flyers. Prior background as head coach in Hershey and with the Phantoms. Assistant G.M. with Phantoms and Flyers. 10 total seasons.
ASSISTANT G.M./DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS: Ron Hextall: Do we even need to go into his past career with the Flyers and his playing style. Became a scout and Director of Personnel after retirement for six season with the Flyers. Moved on to Los Angeles as Assistant GM and helped bring them a championship. Now back with Philadelphia this year. By the way, you would think this is the guy to start getting things done.
PLAYER DEVELOPMENT: Derian Hatcher: Spent last three NHL seasons with Flyers. Big, mean and nasty defenseman. Over 1500 career NHL PIM. Stood 6'5 230lbs. Been with team in development since 2009.
PLAYER DEVELOPMENT: Kjell Samuelsson: Nine seasons with the Flyers. Big and nasty defenseman. 1200 PIM. Stood 6'7 230lbs. Been a coach in minors with organization every season since 1999 before joining this group.
HEAD OF SCOUTING: Dave Brown: Parts of 10 seasons with the Flyers. Almost 1800 PIM. Two years as assistant coach for Flyers and seven more seasons as Director of Player Personnel.
I tried staying with the core of the group. Lot of solid individuals with tons of experience. Generally all of them well versed in what it is like to be a Philadelphia Flyer. Yes, that does tend to mean a lot of toughness which isn't a bad quality. These guys really do resemble Flyer hockey. But the style they resemble fits better into an era that no longer exists. You don't need to knock people around to win. Detroit is a perfect example. It's about creating a solid overall team with players of all different types of skill. We probably could have had that here at some point over the last twenty years. For whatever the reason the pieces didn't quite fall into place. Some of that is on the players and some falls on the coach, but as we continue down this road at some point you have to seriously question the ideas of the men at the top. Lavy fell because he didn't agree with the direction they wanted to go. Others have fallen too. But as coaches and players move on from the Flyers only to find success and championships with other teams, you start to wonder what is going on behind the closed doors. Are we going to get to the point that players don't want to come here simply because of the treatment that players or coaches have received like Lindros, Richards, Carter, Hitchcock, Bryzgalov and others who probably don't have the nicest things to say about the town. Again a reflection of management and a sign that things may need to change.
For my final reflection I take you back to the summer. The draft to be precise. The Flyers haven't had a lot of high picks in the past. With the 11th overall pick there was a bit of hope that the team could get a future player to help the team take shape.
I present the video below.
Bob McKenzie is probably one of the first members of the hockey media I followed in most part because he was accurate and intelligent. McKenzie early on makes the following comment.
"They're going to draft a Flyer here I believe because Samuel Morin is a 6'6 defensemen who likes to hit and fight."
Not long ago I would have taken some pride in having that type of stigma attached to the Flyers. After all, it is true and most everybody knows it. Now it only brings up questions. Sorry to get all techie here but Bob McKenzie has over 600,000 twitter followers. The Flyers don't even have half that amount. With his knowledge and understanding of hockey he takes a simple stab. It really was less than simple. A big guy who hits and fights, Philadelphia is jumping on that chance.
It's the same thing every time. The Broad Street Bullies name has turned into something that feels as though it must be achieved. After all, many of those guys who coached or played on those teams are still running things. Many others moving into management or coaching now played on the Flyers in the decade that followed where the idea still applied.
That brand of hockey is one I enjoy. Mix it with a skillful team and who knows what could happen. I think that is what they have been trying to do. It hasn't worked. Seeing a Stanley Cup parade in this city would be more exciting than seeing a game full of hits and fights. So maybe when the Flyers pick again next time at number 11 or 10 or 9, the first two characteristics of the player mentioned are skilled and hard working.
It can't come to a surprise that the Flyers fired a head coach. Since 2000 the team has now had seven different head coaches. It also shouldn't be a surprise they fired a coach three games into a season. Upper management has long been very impatient when it comes to waiting for a winner. They have always had a mentality that they need to be successful and it needs to be now. But after years of continually using the same philosophy, when do we start questioning the guys sitting above the ice rather than the ones on it?
I was never a Bobby Clarke fan. Do I need to rephrase this statement? I wasn't old enough to watch him play. I do recall his lengthy stint as general manager however. Even though the longtime Flyer was a fan favorite for his ability on the ice, I generally thought less of his managerial skills. Clarke played with an edge and wasn't afraid of mixing it up in 1144 NHL games, all with the Flyers. He brought a similar toughness with him when he became the Flyers general manager, first from 1984-90 and again from 1994-2007. Clarke wasn't afraid to ruffle feathers and had a knack for big moves and getting hard-nosed players. Towards the end of his run as G.M. I personally had enough and was looking forward to a new face making player decisions for the team. Clarke is now the Senior Vice President of the Flyers. If you look back, there have been two years since 1969 that Clarke has not been part of the organization.
In stepped Paul Holmgren to take control. Finally a fresh face with new ideas for a team without a cup since the mid 1970's. Except Holmgren only had to move one seat over. He had already been the assistant general manager to Clarke for six seasons. Suddenly the new perspective had the same vibe as the old. Not to mention Holmgren's past with the team. Of the 527 NHL games Holmgren played, 500 of them were with the Flyers. He also never had a season with the team of less than 100 penalty minutes. He had also spent seven seasons with the Flyers as assistant or head coach, and had titles of Director of Scouting and of Player Personnel. Since 1976, Holmgren was not part of the Flyers organization for a total of five seasons.
Let's go back and start in the year 2000. Clarke had long held the title of General Manager and Holmgren was into his first as assistant. Remember both have already had a storied career in the orange and black.
Hired to coach the team is Bill Barber. His name to fans should sound familiar. He played alongside Clarke during the Broad Street Bully days throughout the 70's when the Flyers won two Stanley Cups. In fact, during his NHL career of 903 games, he only ever played for Philadelphia. Prior to becoming head coach he spent four seasons as head coach for the Phantoms winning one championship. He also had prior experience as an assistant for the Flyers. Barber would take the team to the playoffs in both of his seasons, both times getting knocked out in the first round. Barber was fired after his second year when veteran players like Keith Primeau vocally disapproved of the coach. Barber never coached again and moved on to Tampa where he became the Director of Player Personnel for five seasons including the year they won the Stanley Cup. Since 2008 Barber has been a scouting consultant with the Flyers.
In need of a coach the Flyers landed recently fired coach Ken Hitchcock. His history with the Flyers was not quite as impressive but a history nonetheless. Hitchcock never played but his first NHL job was as assistant coach for three seasons with the Flyers. He moved on to the Dallas organization and found a lot of success. In his five full seasons as head coach in Dallas the team finished first in the division all five seasons and would go on to win their only cup in franchise history. Hitchcock joined the Flyers for the 2002-03 season. In three seasons as coach the team finished with at least 40 wins and 100 points each year while also reaching the Eastern Conference Finals. Eight games into his fourth season he was fired. Hitch has since gone on to lead Columbus to their only ever playoff berth and won Coach of the Year in 2012 with a surging St. Louis team.
Becoming head coach in game 9 that year was John Stevens. It was back to the well for Philadelphia. Stevens was drafted by the Flyers spending most of his time in the AHL with seven of his seasons spent either on Hershey or the Phantoms. Five of those seasons he had at least 100 penalty minutes. He moved on to coach the Phantoms for 8 seasons including a Calder Cup championship in the lockout year for the NHL. Stevens coached two full seasons for the Flyers and parts of two others (after Hitchcock and 25 games before being fired) reaching the playoffs both seasons including an Eastern Finals loss. Stevens went on to become assistant for Los Angeles the past three seasons where the team won the Stanley Cup once.
In came Lavy. And get this. He had no prior ties to Philadelphia. He won a Calder Cup and Stanley Cup as a coach in different organizations. After taking over for Stevens he led the team to an unlikely spot in the Stanley Cup Finals eventually losing to Chicago. Things were looking very promising. The next two seasons saw two second round playoff knockouts before the team had a substandard shortened season last year. Three games and he got the axe. Deserving? If you compare it to the past it fits the bill. Now the question is where does the rest of the paragraph go for Laviolette. Probably finding success would be the answer.
These coaches were not the answer or at least not the answer at the right time for management. Next up is Craig Berube. Would there be any other candidate? Berube started his pro career in Philadelphia and eventually spent seven totals seasons with the organization. He also happens to be one of the top penalty minute receivers in NHL history. He has had a coaching role with either the Phantoms or Flyers since 2004. Educated guesses would suggest he gets two to three seasons to do something.
This is opposed to the thought of perhaps changing the formula for producing a winning hockey club. At some point it stuck in the minds of management that the Flyers were and will always be a successful, tough, physical, hard-nosed, in-your-face type of team. They were going to score, hit and fight until you had enough. And that theme has transcended time to a point where it might not be practical anymore. Even if it is, it hasn't been working in this town. Tracing the steps it doesn't take a lot of effort to see the rut. Change the players and the coaches all you want. It's the same group of guys with the same mentality making the decisions. Those decisions are based of the Flyers brand of hockey.
Did Peter Laviolette go out and sign Ilya Bryzgalov to a 51 million dollar contract so he could play a whole two seasons? Did the players insist they move the young Bobrovsky who after not being drafted won 28 games in the NHL as a rookie? One season away from Philadelphia and he wins the Vezina. There was your goalie of the future. Now neither are here.
What about Justin Williams? Now he has two Stanley Cups. Remember Patrick Sharp? That's another two cups. Dare I say Mike Richards and Jeff Carter. Makes me wonder what will happen with James van Riemsdyk. I'm guessing a future 25 goal average scorer and a ring or two. All young players that the Flyers didn't care to either wait around for or simply didn't fit in with the way management saw the team.
I can't sit here and say that every move the Flyers have made over the past 12 years have been bad. Some were very good or well worth the risk. Hockey is all about making moves and creating that perfect team. I just wonder what we are trying to create because as far as I can tell it is the same thing year after year. That is directly associated with the moves from the top. The mindset never changes. The ideas are never new. The faces all the same. It's Flyers hockey like it is still 1975.
I can go on.
CHAIRMAN- Ed Snider: Face of the Flyers. Owner since the 1st puck drop.
GENERAL MANAGER: Paul Holmgren: See up top.
SENIOR V.P.: Bobby Clarke: See up top.
EXECUTIVE V.P.: Keith Allen: 1st Head Coach and 1st General Manager of the Flyers in team history. Stayed on as G.M. until 1983. The man is 90.
ASSISTANT COACH: Ian Laperriere: One full season as a Flyer appearing in every game. Hard-nosed, aggressive and willing to sacrifice to win. 13 of 15 NHL seasons over 100 PIM. Became Flyers Director of Player Development before coach.
ASSISTANT COACH: John Paddock: 42 of 87 NHL games with Flyers. Prior background as head coach in Hershey and with the Phantoms. Assistant G.M. with Phantoms and Flyers. 10 total seasons.
ASSISTANT G.M./DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS: Ron Hextall: Do we even need to go into his past career with the Flyers and his playing style. Became a scout and Director of Personnel after retirement for six season with the Flyers. Moved on to Los Angeles as Assistant GM and helped bring them a championship. Now back with Philadelphia this year. By the way, you would think this is the guy to start getting things done.
PLAYER DEVELOPMENT: Derian Hatcher: Spent last three NHL seasons with Flyers. Big, mean and nasty defenseman. Over 1500 career NHL PIM. Stood 6'5 230lbs. Been with team in development since 2009.
PLAYER DEVELOPMENT: Kjell Samuelsson: Nine seasons with the Flyers. Big and nasty defenseman. 1200 PIM. Stood 6'7 230lbs. Been a coach in minors with organization every season since 1999 before joining this group.
HEAD OF SCOUTING: Dave Brown: Parts of 10 seasons with the Flyers. Almost 1800 PIM. Two years as assistant coach for Flyers and seven more seasons as Director of Player Personnel.
I tried staying with the core of the group. Lot of solid individuals with tons of experience. Generally all of them well versed in what it is like to be a Philadelphia Flyer. Yes, that does tend to mean a lot of toughness which isn't a bad quality. These guys really do resemble Flyer hockey. But the style they resemble fits better into an era that no longer exists. You don't need to knock people around to win. Detroit is a perfect example. It's about creating a solid overall team with players of all different types of skill. We probably could have had that here at some point over the last twenty years. For whatever the reason the pieces didn't quite fall into place. Some of that is on the players and some falls on the coach, but as we continue down this road at some point you have to seriously question the ideas of the men at the top. Lavy fell because he didn't agree with the direction they wanted to go. Others have fallen too. But as coaches and players move on from the Flyers only to find success and championships with other teams, you start to wonder what is going on behind the closed doors. Are we going to get to the point that players don't want to come here simply because of the treatment that players or coaches have received like Lindros, Richards, Carter, Hitchcock, Bryzgalov and others who probably don't have the nicest things to say about the town. Again a reflection of management and a sign that things may need to change.
For my final reflection I take you back to the summer. The draft to be precise. The Flyers haven't had a lot of high picks in the past. With the 11th overall pick there was a bit of hope that the team could get a future player to help the team take shape.
I present the video below.
Bob McKenzie is probably one of the first members of the hockey media I followed in most part because he was accurate and intelligent. McKenzie early on makes the following comment.
"They're going to draft a Flyer here I believe because Samuel Morin is a 6'6 defensemen who likes to hit and fight."
Not long ago I would have taken some pride in having that type of stigma attached to the Flyers. After all, it is true and most everybody knows it. Now it only brings up questions. Sorry to get all techie here but Bob McKenzie has over 600,000 twitter followers. The Flyers don't even have half that amount. With his knowledge and understanding of hockey he takes a simple stab. It really was less than simple. A big guy who hits and fights, Philadelphia is jumping on that chance.
It's the same thing every time. The Broad Street Bullies name has turned into something that feels as though it must be achieved. After all, many of those guys who coached or played on those teams are still running things. Many others moving into management or coaching now played on the Flyers in the decade that followed where the idea still applied.
That brand of hockey is one I enjoy. Mix it with a skillful team and who knows what could happen. I think that is what they have been trying to do. It hasn't worked. Seeing a Stanley Cup parade in this city would be more exciting than seeing a game full of hits and fights. So maybe when the Flyers pick again next time at number 11 or 10 or 9, the first two characteristics of the player mentioned are skilled and hard working.
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Helmet Toss
So in the very first game of the NHL season we saw George Parros of Montreal in a matter of speaking knock himself out in the course of a fight. That led to the widespread opinions on the matter of fighting from people who I don't really care to hear from unless they are wearing an NHL jersey with their name on the back.
Obviously the Parros injury did not cause hesitation as fighting seems to be up already this season with 52 fighting majors in the NHL already including ten handed out in the very first game.
Now the AHL usually takes the cake for most majors given out in a season for fighting. The season started Friday night and they are currently at 46. Basically 23 fights in two nights. And what happened in the very first AHL game.
This.
Obviously the Parros injury did not cause hesitation as fighting seems to be up already this season with 52 fighting majors in the NHL already including ten handed out in the very first game.
Now the AHL usually takes the cake for most majors given out in a season for fighting. The season started Friday night and they are currently at 46. Basically 23 fights in two nights. And what happened in the very first AHL game.
This.
Monday, September 23, 2013
Let The Suspensions Begin
The NHL season is set to kick off shortly but before we can get to that we must first begin to discipline the early transgressors. It became no more evident that preseason isn't for the faint of heart this weekend when two different games, with now heated rivals, had instances of stepping over the line.
The big story comes out of Toronto. The easiest thing to do is dive in with this one. Let me first start by saying I haven't read anything about this game or event from anybody. All I did was watch the film from the same place I always watch. The rest is my take on what happened.
We have to begin on Friday when Toronto and Buffalo met in Buffalo. I watched the game. It was very physical and extremely chippy. There were three fights and multiple instances of pushing and shoving. It had a playoff type atmosphere in a game that meant nothing. Again, I have to continue and will throughout that this game and the others means nothing. Except in hockey, teams use these games to show toughness and intimidation. Friday's game was honestly somewhat weird. Kaleta ran around in his typical fashion but so did Jamie Devane for Toronto targeting Kaleta multiple times. Kaleta eventually dropped the gloves after trying to get after Dion Phaneuf. Master pest Steve Ott came out towards the end of regulation to stir up some of his own garbage by shooting a puck directly at Phaneuf which started another pile up. Then since overtime couldn't decide it they went to a shootout that seemed to last forever. For some comedic relief after all the misses and saves Paul Ranger came in on his attempt, used one hand to control the puck with his stick and took a soccer like kick to the back of the stick to fling the puck at net. Jonas Enroth didn't get the joke and took a slash at Ranger as he went by. This was all leading up to another game in less than 24 hours.
Now we head into Sunday with bad blood boiling. Let's get right to the point the game lost control. It started in the fight that lead up to the brawl. A much smaller but willing Corey Tropp dropped his gloves with Jamie Devane. The fight seemed all but average until the end. While spinning around Tropp fell backwards. Devane followed forward his momentum and possibly a forearm to the neck caused Tropp to hit his head hard off the ice momentarily knocking him out. There is no way for me to make a judgement on whether or not there was intent on the part of Devane. I could see how somebody could see both sides of the argument. I lean towards two guys getting into a scrap and they landed awkwardly.
As a Buffalo player or anybody on any team, seeing a guy knocked out can stir up quite the emotion. Especially if any unsportsmanlike events took place between players or even from the fans afterward. In steps John Scott. The man is not a genius. Without even another second ticking off we get the following.
6'8 John Scott, who has scored one goal in his entire career, lines up against Phil Kessel who would be classified as Toronto's best player. Forget the puck drop and let's go. Kessel backs off quickly before making like a lumberjack going for the final cut to the biggest tree. Luckily for Kessel two teammates jump in to save the fledgling forward. Kessel thrives at his fortune and takes another baseball-like swing before he finds players to tangle with more suitable for him. In the hectic scene David Clarkson looking at first mildly puzzled comes off the bench to join in. Then everybody goes at it. As things look to cool the goalies who received their invitations late to the dance got into it. Kessel takes another poke at the great beast as they try to separate the teams. Whew. Well that was interesting.
So now for my take. I understand the anger of Scott. However what he did amongst the hockey code was completely wrong. Even if he was upset by the previous fight it was two guys, both who can fight, agreeing to go. The outcome alone can't be the basis for his idea to go after the best offensive player on the other team who is not skilled in fighting before play has begun. Scott deserves a suspension of at least five games for the part he played. None of this would have happened if it were not for his actions.
If they guy I stood next to was a foot taller than me and looking to unprovokingly punch me in the face my first reaction might be to swing my stick at him. I might give Kessel a pass if it were not for the full swing he took or the idea that this should not be the first reaction of a hockey player. The second swing makes him look even more ridiculous as his teammates were forced to protect him. The fact he fought at all and cut the other guy is enough to give him some credit. The last spear probably canceled it out. In the end he came across as a punk when he could have just skated away. Two baseball swings of a stick warrant a suspension. He might have been okay after the first but not at all after the second. He needs 3 or 4 games.
Poor David Clarkson. I feel bad for him because in the spirit of the game he did what he thought was right. Except jumping off the bench is a straight up 10 game suspension. We had this happen already this year for goodness sake. He just signed his big contract this season after playing with New Jersey and even took less money than offered elsewhere to play in Toronto. He scores, loves to fights and as seen clearly sticks up for his team. Unfortunately for him, he was the only player to jump on the ice. I see no way he avoids the automatic ban.
Do we really need to have a winner and loser scenario here? Probably. Here we go as quickly as I can.
Winner: BUFFALO - This one is simple. After the dusts settle the only player that will be suspended is John Scott. Not a big loss there. For all the crap that people talked about Buffalo being soft when Ryan Miller kept getting plowed over, guess they can quiet down. That's a team that stands up for each other even if things don't go well.
Winner: JONATHAN BERNIER - You would think as the #11 pick you would be enjoying NHL success. Not when Jon Quick is ahead of you. Finally able to show he could be a number one goalie in a new town, he goes out and gets in a fight in front of the home crowd and handles himself well. Welcome to Toronto Jonathan. You just made a lot of friends.
Winner: RYAN MILLER - Wait. Both goalies are winners? Yep. Miller did not need to show any interest in this fight. He barely has shown interest in being in Buffalo at all. But it would have looked hypocritical for him to not participate in what could be described as team bonding. That's how you show you are not bigger than the team.
LOSER: PHIL KESSEL - There is no call for swinging your stick at a player let alone to do it twice. In both instances he was backpedaling from the crime scene making him look even more pathetic.
LOSER: TORONTO - The best thing to come out of this for Toronto was maybe some solidarity going forward into the season. The worst thing will be the suspensions of two of there best forwards, one for a straight up 10 games. That is something they cannot afford and could easily cost them a playoff spot.
Needless to say watching these teams compete the rest of the season could be interesting. Mr. Scott has a big ass target on his head now but I think it would be accurate to say Phil Kessel will be seeing a lot of Steve Ott and Patrick Kaleta. Have fun Phil.
IN OTHER NEWS:
The Toronto-Buffalo game took something away from the ferocity of the Edmonton and Vancouver game from Saturday night another I had the pleasure to watch. Vancouver played the role of aggressor going after the Oilers young stars. Edmonton is deep with young talent but lack a strong physical presence something they desperately need to surround their future. Vancouver took full advantage often taking runs at the smaller forwards. First it was Dale Weiss who clearly looked to target the head of Taylor Hall for which Weiss is suspended the rest of the preseason. Then it was large forward Zack Kassian's stick breaking the jaw of top Edmonton forward Sam Gagner when his hit attempt missed but his follow through connected. Kassian will miss the first five games for not playing with his stick under control.
There has been no secret between outspoken head coach Dallas Eakins and Craig MacTavish that the team was looking for an enforcer plain and simple. When Pittsburgh waived Steve MacIntyre yesterday it was only a matter of when. That answer was today. Big Mac is back with Edmonton. The only problem is he is awful as a player. What the Oilers needed and still need are physical and talented forwards. Without that they are destined to be pushed around and rely on powerplay chances for goals. I still have a feeling the first matchup between these two is worth the watch as much as the Toronto and Buffalo game.
The big story comes out of Toronto. The easiest thing to do is dive in with this one. Let me first start by saying I haven't read anything about this game or event from anybody. All I did was watch the film from the same place I always watch. The rest is my take on what happened.
We have to begin on Friday when Toronto and Buffalo met in Buffalo. I watched the game. It was very physical and extremely chippy. There were three fights and multiple instances of pushing and shoving. It had a playoff type atmosphere in a game that meant nothing. Again, I have to continue and will throughout that this game and the others means nothing. Except in hockey, teams use these games to show toughness and intimidation. Friday's game was honestly somewhat weird. Kaleta ran around in his typical fashion but so did Jamie Devane for Toronto targeting Kaleta multiple times. Kaleta eventually dropped the gloves after trying to get after Dion Phaneuf. Master pest Steve Ott came out towards the end of regulation to stir up some of his own garbage by shooting a puck directly at Phaneuf which started another pile up. Then since overtime couldn't decide it they went to a shootout that seemed to last forever. For some comedic relief after all the misses and saves Paul Ranger came in on his attempt, used one hand to control the puck with his stick and took a soccer like kick to the back of the stick to fling the puck at net. Jonas Enroth didn't get the joke and took a slash at Ranger as he went by. This was all leading up to another game in less than 24 hours.
Now we head into Sunday with bad blood boiling. Let's get right to the point the game lost control. It started in the fight that lead up to the brawl. A much smaller but willing Corey Tropp dropped his gloves with Jamie Devane. The fight seemed all but average until the end. While spinning around Tropp fell backwards. Devane followed forward his momentum and possibly a forearm to the neck caused Tropp to hit his head hard off the ice momentarily knocking him out. There is no way for me to make a judgement on whether or not there was intent on the part of Devane. I could see how somebody could see both sides of the argument. I lean towards two guys getting into a scrap and they landed awkwardly.
As a Buffalo player or anybody on any team, seeing a guy knocked out can stir up quite the emotion. Especially if any unsportsmanlike events took place between players or even from the fans afterward. In steps John Scott. The man is not a genius. Without even another second ticking off we get the following.
6'8 John Scott, who has scored one goal in his entire career, lines up against Phil Kessel who would be classified as Toronto's best player. Forget the puck drop and let's go. Kessel backs off quickly before making like a lumberjack going for the final cut to the biggest tree. Luckily for Kessel two teammates jump in to save the fledgling forward. Kessel thrives at his fortune and takes another baseball-like swing before he finds players to tangle with more suitable for him. In the hectic scene David Clarkson looking at first mildly puzzled comes off the bench to join in. Then everybody goes at it. As things look to cool the goalies who received their invitations late to the dance got into it. Kessel takes another poke at the great beast as they try to separate the teams. Whew. Well that was interesting.
So now for my take. I understand the anger of Scott. However what he did amongst the hockey code was completely wrong. Even if he was upset by the previous fight it was two guys, both who can fight, agreeing to go. The outcome alone can't be the basis for his idea to go after the best offensive player on the other team who is not skilled in fighting before play has begun. Scott deserves a suspension of at least five games for the part he played. None of this would have happened if it were not for his actions.
If they guy I stood next to was a foot taller than me and looking to unprovokingly punch me in the face my first reaction might be to swing my stick at him. I might give Kessel a pass if it were not for the full swing he took or the idea that this should not be the first reaction of a hockey player. The second swing makes him look even more ridiculous as his teammates were forced to protect him. The fact he fought at all and cut the other guy is enough to give him some credit. The last spear probably canceled it out. In the end he came across as a punk when he could have just skated away. Two baseball swings of a stick warrant a suspension. He might have been okay after the first but not at all after the second. He needs 3 or 4 games.
Poor David Clarkson. I feel bad for him because in the spirit of the game he did what he thought was right. Except jumping off the bench is a straight up 10 game suspension. We had this happen already this year for goodness sake. He just signed his big contract this season after playing with New Jersey and even took less money than offered elsewhere to play in Toronto. He scores, loves to fights and as seen clearly sticks up for his team. Unfortunately for him, he was the only player to jump on the ice. I see no way he avoids the automatic ban.
Do we really need to have a winner and loser scenario here? Probably. Here we go as quickly as I can.
Winner: BUFFALO - This one is simple. After the dusts settle the only player that will be suspended is John Scott. Not a big loss there. For all the crap that people talked about Buffalo being soft when Ryan Miller kept getting plowed over, guess they can quiet down. That's a team that stands up for each other even if things don't go well.
Winner: JONATHAN BERNIER - You would think as the #11 pick you would be enjoying NHL success. Not when Jon Quick is ahead of you. Finally able to show he could be a number one goalie in a new town, he goes out and gets in a fight in front of the home crowd and handles himself well. Welcome to Toronto Jonathan. You just made a lot of friends.
Winner: RYAN MILLER - Wait. Both goalies are winners? Yep. Miller did not need to show any interest in this fight. He barely has shown interest in being in Buffalo at all. But it would have looked hypocritical for him to not participate in what could be described as team bonding. That's how you show you are not bigger than the team.
LOSER: PHIL KESSEL - There is no call for swinging your stick at a player let alone to do it twice. In both instances he was backpedaling from the crime scene making him look even more pathetic.
LOSER: TORONTO - The best thing to come out of this for Toronto was maybe some solidarity going forward into the season. The worst thing will be the suspensions of two of there best forwards, one for a straight up 10 games. That is something they cannot afford and could easily cost them a playoff spot.
Needless to say watching these teams compete the rest of the season could be interesting. Mr. Scott has a big ass target on his head now but I think it would be accurate to say Phil Kessel will be seeing a lot of Steve Ott and Patrick Kaleta. Have fun Phil.
IN OTHER NEWS:
The Toronto-Buffalo game took something away from the ferocity of the Edmonton and Vancouver game from Saturday night another I had the pleasure to watch. Vancouver played the role of aggressor going after the Oilers young stars. Edmonton is deep with young talent but lack a strong physical presence something they desperately need to surround their future. Vancouver took full advantage often taking runs at the smaller forwards. First it was Dale Weiss who clearly looked to target the head of Taylor Hall for which Weiss is suspended the rest of the preseason. Then it was large forward Zack Kassian's stick breaking the jaw of top Edmonton forward Sam Gagner when his hit attempt missed but his follow through connected. Kassian will miss the first five games for not playing with his stick under control.
There has been no secret between outspoken head coach Dallas Eakins and Craig MacTavish that the team was looking for an enforcer plain and simple. When Pittsburgh waived Steve MacIntyre yesterday it was only a matter of when. That answer was today. Big Mac is back with Edmonton. The only problem is he is awful as a player. What the Oilers needed and still need are physical and talented forwards. Without that they are destined to be pushed around and rely on powerplay chances for goals. I still have a feeling the first matchup between these two is worth the watch as much as the Toronto and Buffalo game.
Rough Stuff
I mentioned in an earlier post that it seemed like the season got off to a more physical start than usual. This past weekend only verified the statement. Let's begin.
The NLA (Swiss) was one I took particular interest in after their first weekend scrap put them one fight behind the league total from a year ago. Another weekend in the books and they no longer trail in that category. Not only did they pass it, they already became the first league to feature a goalie fight which came at the same time as two other simultaneous fights. This league would have hands down been my last pick to see the first goalie scrap. Now, just two weekends in there have been eight fighting majors and ten game misconducts. Last season there were four fighting majors and 29 game misconducts.
From Finland over the weekend we got this hit.
That's 38 year old Jere Karalahti making some serious contact with Markus Poukkula. Karalahti had a brief NHL career and has since gone on to rack up some serious penalty minutes in an assortment of European leagues, something he didn't do while playing in North America. Four game ban for Jere which is four more than anything he got during the game for the hit which was nothing. If you are keeping track that is the second questionable hit that has made this page from Finland this season.
As previously stated I'm going to be hesitant with juniors but at a time when fighting is on the decline they sure enjoy a bout. Within the opening weekend of each junior league at least one player has recorded a Gordie Howe hat trick. Not that it is surprising. The older players tend to score more and play a physically stronger game against younger competition. There were also more regular hat tricks than I care to count.
And in a sport played predominantly in winter, in many northern states, provinces and countries, where travel can be brutal, we already had our first postponement of what I can only assume will be dozens if not closer to 50. In Sudbury of the OHL they couldn't even get the first game of the year going. Why?
Looks like somebody forgot to turn the fog machine off. No seriously, it was just really fucking foggy.
WARMING UP
Clearly we have to discuss the incident yesterday between Toronto and Buffalo as I'm sure it is making its way around the various sports shows especially that one that hates hockey. Interestingly in a year where I mention the physical side of the game seemed to ramp up across the leagues, we get an event like this in preseason albeit. The fighting and hitting aren't going away. Ask anybody that witnessed that game or anybody around Vancouver or Edmonton right now. I will address the issues and my take in the next post.
The NLA (Swiss) was one I took particular interest in after their first weekend scrap put them one fight behind the league total from a year ago. Another weekend in the books and they no longer trail in that category. Not only did they pass it, they already became the first league to feature a goalie fight which came at the same time as two other simultaneous fights. This league would have hands down been my last pick to see the first goalie scrap. Now, just two weekends in there have been eight fighting majors and ten game misconducts. Last season there were four fighting majors and 29 game misconducts.
From Finland over the weekend we got this hit.
That's 38 year old Jere Karalahti making some serious contact with Markus Poukkula. Karalahti had a brief NHL career and has since gone on to rack up some serious penalty minutes in an assortment of European leagues, something he didn't do while playing in North America. Four game ban for Jere which is four more than anything he got during the game for the hit which was nothing. If you are keeping track that is the second questionable hit that has made this page from Finland this season.
As previously stated I'm going to be hesitant with juniors but at a time when fighting is on the decline they sure enjoy a bout. Within the opening weekend of each junior league at least one player has recorded a Gordie Howe hat trick. Not that it is surprising. The older players tend to score more and play a physically stronger game against younger competition. There were also more regular hat tricks than I care to count.
And in a sport played predominantly in winter, in many northern states, provinces and countries, where travel can be brutal, we already had our first postponement of what I can only assume will be dozens if not closer to 50. In Sudbury of the OHL they couldn't even get the first game of the year going. Why?
Looks like somebody forgot to turn the fog machine off. No seriously, it was just really fucking foggy.
WARMING UP
Clearly we have to discuss the incident yesterday between Toronto and Buffalo as I'm sure it is making its way around the various sports shows especially that one that hates hockey. Interestingly in a year where I mention the physical side of the game seemed to ramp up across the leagues, we get an event like this in preseason albeit. The fighting and hitting aren't going away. Ask anybody that witnessed that game or anybody around Vancouver or Edmonton right now. I will address the issues and my take in the next post.
Monday, September 16, 2013
Weekend Update
All of Europe is officially underway or at least the leagues I am following. To my enjoyment it is starting out physical as well. So where did we leave off?
KHL: Ilya Kovalchuk started off very slow in his return to Russia. His team however did not. Well a few more games are in the book and Kovy has himself two goals and two assists and the team is 5-0. Guess that really wasn't much of a surprise. Medvescak started off their rookie season in the KHL with a bang. It was such a bang I made a story about it. Well just like Philadelphia Eagles fans I might have jumped the gun a bit after only one game. Medvescak has since lost their last four games.
Austria: In all likelihood the European point leader will come out of this league. Two players already have seven points. Chances are this will also be the league that sees the most fighting. Former Edmonton player Alex Plante got into two fights on Saturday in a very heated game. This league is probably one of my favorites.
Swiss: It is early on but this league has also stepped up in the roughness department. Any guess on how many regular season fights there were last season in this league? I'll let you think. Jim Vandermeer didn't get the memo as he had a go of it already in his European debut after 695 NHL and AHL games. You're done thinking. The answer was two. Two fights in the season. Through the first weekend they have one.
Germany: Once again it is very early in the season. There have only been two days of playing so it is hard to see who the better teams are. The one thing the German league does a bit differently is not giving out a lot of fighting penalties. I honestly don't even know what qualifies. I've seen guys circle around and start throwing get double roughing calls and other times a minor altercation leads to majors. Either way the league is still physical. 8 misconducts were already handed out and more than one game has ended in large scrums.
JUNIORS
I'm not going to get to in depth with junior reports. More than anything I will show clips or highlight a future prospect. There is clearly going to be multiple players who record at least 100 points so that number can tend to be skewed. And penalties in this league are a whole different game one of which I won't even participate in until the season is over. In a quick intro into this reasoning it is because for whatever reason and in whatever year they started to not include misconduct penalties into the PIM total. I don't know why except maybe because they give them out more frequently than other leagues. It doesn't matter to me. The player still sits for ten minutes except that ten isn't included in the total at the end of the season. Well it does in my book so for record purposes I have to add it at the end of the season so it matches with the final numbers from the league.
The OHL and WHL both start this week. In seeing the Quebec league in action which is normally a bit short on fighting comparatively speaking I can say that the increased rules in attempt to combat fighting are doing basically nothing. Players receive a lot more penalties for getting involved in fights whether it is from removing their helmet, "staging"it off a faceoff, or getting into two fights in a game. In many cases they are ejected.
In Sunday's Gatineau-Sherbrooke game, under standard hockey rules, there were 179 penalty minutes. Hockey will always be hockey. Not sure what they think they can change.
QMJHL from Friday:
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The NHL preseason also started this weekend and wouldn't you know we already got a guy suspended for leaving the bench to get into a fight. After seeing his teammate take a big hit Paul Bissonnette raced over to start an altercation. I wouldn't expect anything different from the Phoenix enforcer. He is quick to stick up for players and in this case his emotions took over. I'm fine with that. He gets a ten game suspension when the year starts which is generally the automatic suspension for leaving the bench. Biz will be back and ready to go.
OVERTIME
Overtime is precisely what it took to get an opening night win for Wait For It in the SAHL last night. Battling back from three one goal deficits the teams went into overtime tied at three. With roughly two minutes left in OT Anthony Tartaglia positioned himself in front of the net and chopped in a backhanded pass from Ryan Groth to secure the win. The goal proved to be the icing on the cake after a quick turn of events. Shortly after jumping on for their first overtime shift, Groth shattered his stick while forechecking in the offensive zone. With tired forwards on the bench the only option was to grab one of their sticks and continue on. After a quick regroup Wait For It made their way back into the offensive zone, won a battle behind the net and another in front to get the winning goal.
We were not able to get highlights but the winning celebration looked something like this.
Four different players scored in a balanced attack and with a goal and two assists Groth was named the most awesomest awesome player of the game.
KHL: Ilya Kovalchuk started off very slow in his return to Russia. His team however did not. Well a few more games are in the book and Kovy has himself two goals and two assists and the team is 5-0. Guess that really wasn't much of a surprise. Medvescak started off their rookie season in the KHL with a bang. It was such a bang I made a story about it. Well just like Philadelphia Eagles fans I might have jumped the gun a bit after only one game. Medvescak has since lost their last four games.
Austria: In all likelihood the European point leader will come out of this league. Two players already have seven points. Chances are this will also be the league that sees the most fighting. Former Edmonton player Alex Plante got into two fights on Saturday in a very heated game. This league is probably one of my favorites.
Swiss: It is early on but this league has also stepped up in the roughness department. Any guess on how many regular season fights there were last season in this league? I'll let you think. Jim Vandermeer didn't get the memo as he had a go of it already in his European debut after 695 NHL and AHL games. You're done thinking. The answer was two. Two fights in the season. Through the first weekend they have one.
Germany: Once again it is very early in the season. There have only been two days of playing so it is hard to see who the better teams are. The one thing the German league does a bit differently is not giving out a lot of fighting penalties. I honestly don't even know what qualifies. I've seen guys circle around and start throwing get double roughing calls and other times a minor altercation leads to majors. Either way the league is still physical. 8 misconducts were already handed out and more than one game has ended in large scrums.
JUNIORS
I'm not going to get to in depth with junior reports. More than anything I will show clips or highlight a future prospect. There is clearly going to be multiple players who record at least 100 points so that number can tend to be skewed. And penalties in this league are a whole different game one of which I won't even participate in until the season is over. In a quick intro into this reasoning it is because for whatever reason and in whatever year they started to not include misconduct penalties into the PIM total. I don't know why except maybe because they give them out more frequently than other leagues. It doesn't matter to me. The player still sits for ten minutes except that ten isn't included in the total at the end of the season. Well it does in my book so for record purposes I have to add it at the end of the season so it matches with the final numbers from the league.
The OHL and WHL both start this week. In seeing the Quebec league in action which is normally a bit short on fighting comparatively speaking I can say that the increased rules in attempt to combat fighting are doing basically nothing. Players receive a lot more penalties for getting involved in fights whether it is from removing their helmet, "staging"it off a faceoff, or getting into two fights in a game. In many cases they are ejected.
In Sunday's Gatineau-Sherbrooke game, under standard hockey rules, there were 179 penalty minutes. Hockey will always be hockey. Not sure what they think they can change.
QMJHL from Friday:
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The NHL preseason also started this weekend and wouldn't you know we already got a guy suspended for leaving the bench to get into a fight. After seeing his teammate take a big hit Paul Bissonnette raced over to start an altercation. I wouldn't expect anything different from the Phoenix enforcer. He is quick to stick up for players and in this case his emotions took over. I'm fine with that. He gets a ten game suspension when the year starts which is generally the automatic suspension for leaving the bench. Biz will be back and ready to go.
OVERTIME
Overtime is precisely what it took to get an opening night win for Wait For It in the SAHL last night. Battling back from three one goal deficits the teams went into overtime tied at three. With roughly two minutes left in OT Anthony Tartaglia positioned himself in front of the net and chopped in a backhanded pass from Ryan Groth to secure the win. The goal proved to be the icing on the cake after a quick turn of events. Shortly after jumping on for their first overtime shift, Groth shattered his stick while forechecking in the offensive zone. With tired forwards on the bench the only option was to grab one of their sticks and continue on. After a quick regroup Wait For It made their way back into the offensive zone, won a battle behind the net and another in front to get the winning goal.
We were not able to get highlights but the winning celebration looked something like this.
Four different players scored in a balanced attack and with a goal and two assists Groth was named the most awesomest awesome player of the game.
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Ville
There are always a few players that for some reason or another leave a lasting impression with me. Many started in the AHL. Many are former Hershey Bears. Especially the guys from the mid to late 90's. Ville Nieminen was one of those guys. There is more likely a direct relation to the type of player they were and my fondness for them.
Nieminen started his professional career in Hershey. In fact Hershey is the only AHL team he ever played for during parts of four seasons. He isn't your average Fin. Nieminen is what you could call a bit aggressive with his play. He plays the body and enjoys the physical side of the game. I wouldn't qualify him as a fighter. In the 369 games I tracked for him since the 01-02 season I had him in three fights. Take into consideration he received five game misconducts in the same span.
In his second AHL season Nieminen recorded 127 penalty minutes while also putting home 24 goals. Nieminen would move on quickly to the NHL where he played for seven different teams in his career. He managed 48 career goals, played in a Stanley Cup Finals, where he ended the playoffs with 55 penalty minutes before moving on to Europe. Since returning to Europe he has had two 20+ goal seasons and three 100+ penalty minutes seasons. Not bad for a shorter and less physical European game. Last year at 35 he led his team in scoring, finished second in penalty minutes and had the most penalty minutes of any player in the playoffs.
This year he is back again with his hometown Taparra team, where he has consistently returned at various times in his career, as the captain. No matter the age Ville knows only one way to play.
Two game suspension for Nieminen and he was ejected from this game.
I might not statistically follow all the leagues, but I got you covered.
Nieminen started his professional career in Hershey. In fact Hershey is the only AHL team he ever played for during parts of four seasons. He isn't your average Fin. Nieminen is what you could call a bit aggressive with his play. He plays the body and enjoys the physical side of the game. I wouldn't qualify him as a fighter. In the 369 games I tracked for him since the 01-02 season I had him in three fights. Take into consideration he received five game misconducts in the same span.
In his second AHL season Nieminen recorded 127 penalty minutes while also putting home 24 goals. Nieminen would move on quickly to the NHL where he played for seven different teams in his career. He managed 48 career goals, played in a Stanley Cup Finals, where he ended the playoffs with 55 penalty minutes before moving on to Europe. Since returning to Europe he has had two 20+ goal seasons and three 100+ penalty minutes seasons. Not bad for a shorter and less physical European game. Last year at 35 he led his team in scoring, finished second in penalty minutes and had the most penalty minutes of any player in the playoffs.
This year he is back again with his hometown Taparra team, where he has consistently returned at various times in his career, as the captain. No matter the age Ville knows only one way to play.
Two game suspension for Nieminen and he was ejected from this game.
I might not statistically follow all the leagues, but I got you covered.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
AHL Announcement
The AHL had been teasing fans recently with word of a big announcement that would be made today.
I'm not one to jump on board when I hear something like this being stated from an organization. It tends to be not as interesting as the hype would suggest. Quite frankly I completely forgot that they were even making an announcement until it started rolling through my feed this morning. So what could this major news be? I was about to find out.
Looks like there is a new sport in town in central Pennsylvania. Be aware Big 10.
I'm not one to jump on board when I hear something like this being stated from an organization. It tends to be not as interesting as the hype would suggest. Quite frankly I completely forgot that they were even making an announcement until it started rolling through my feed this morning. So what could this major news be? I was about to find out.
I'm going to be honest and admit I was annoyed by what I saw. After all the back and forth (St. John's feed was also going nuts) excitement, they announced the all-star game was going to be played in St. John's. Wow. Who would have guessed they would play the AHL all-star game in a city that has an AHL team. My mistake was not reading the whole thing. I eventually noticed what the hype was about.
The AHL all-star team this year will be playing not against each other in an east/west or North American/European format but instead be playing against Farjestad from the Swedish Elite League. That's a different approach and one I can get behind.
Using a soccer term this could be considered a friendly as this is a very typical thing to do in soccer and in European hockey. The only thing I question is how friendly will it be. It's a professional sports team playing against a group of all-stars. Pretty sure both sides want to win and play the game as intended while doing it in a way they all stay healthy. It should also be interesting to see the guys from Farjestad who previously played in the AHL come back to face off against former teammates.
In reading the report from the AHL it is actually the first time ever a Swedish Hockey League (previously known as the Swedish Elite League up until this season which I will continually say wrong) team has played in North America. The team president is Hakan Loob which leads me to believe John Buccigross got a little excited today. In fact maybe I should check to see if he made any comments about this event.
In a year that will see Rochester go to Switzerland to participate in the Spengler Cup and represent the AHL in Euorpe, we add on another new chapter to the story. I'm a proponent of blending leagues, teams, countries and continents especially when you have a select group to choose from. Many countries probably have never heard of hockey but many from the north play. Why not bring them together for various events for something different and exciting.
BUCCI UPDATE:
No comments from John on Hakan Loob. As a college hockey fan he did have something else interesting to report.
"The line to get Penn State hockey season tickets was so long today that the university had to shut down the sale. Wrapping around much of the interior of the Penn State student center and out the door, officials decided to call off the in-person sale to prevent students from missing too much class."
Looks like there is a new sport in town in central Pennsylvania. Be aware Big 10.
Sunday, September 8, 2013
We Got It
It took a few days but the KHL is the first to deliver. Not like that is important since they started first anyway.
This comes from the Barys and Severstal game played today. It happened early on in the game oddly enough because the game ended in favor of Barys by a 10-1 score with no altercations after. The player in blue is Josh Gratton. If you can tell, he is not Russian. He has had an interesting career from the ECHL to the NHL. He even is what you could say a veteran of the KHL but played in what I consider the minor Russian league last season. But the former Flyer is back in the top league and looking for dance partners.
AROUND EUROPE
The Austrian league is the only league (that I follow) to have started the season (England started as well but will only contribute brawling to this site). One game was played yesterday and four today. Should I even continue to mention that a former Hershey player scored both days? I'll stop at some point since it will continually be the same guys. However, Curtis Fraser picked up the first hat trick in the game from yesterday.
The KHL tilt came just in time as in the second day of action for the Austrian league they too had a fight that featured players without North American ties. Florian Pedevilla got into the scrap. I mention him because he also played last season for Innsbruck and picked up 99 penalty minutes with a scrap.
RANDOMNESS
Let's remember my great presumption of Kovalchuk leading the KHL in points. After a solid team showing in the first game of the season but Kovalchuk himself not getting any points, the team put in six goals today. And guess who did the scoring. Anybody not named Kovalchuk. Another zero point game for him. I should know better than to take a Russian even in a Russian league.
There is nothing like making a bold statement after one whole game which is kinda what I did with Medvescak. I loved their play making ability and toughness with all thee former AHL players. After the domination in their first game I thought it was on. Today they lost 5-1. Oops.
HC Bolzano is the newest addition to the Austrian league from Italy. They are the first team to join from Italy that I know of because I'm not going to look into it. If you are unaware, Italy isn't exactly a breeding ground for hockey and the teams generally tend to be mediocre. Don't tell that to this team. They won their first game today 6-1. I will stop short of going on a rant of how good this team will be after seeing what happens when I did that last time.
Germany and Switzerland begin this week to round out Europe. AND... Canadian juniors kicks off this week which allows me the ability to follow all the NHL picks and potential picks along with the craziness of 15-19 year olds.
This comes from the Barys and Severstal game played today. It happened early on in the game oddly enough because the game ended in favor of Barys by a 10-1 score with no altercations after. The player in blue is Josh Gratton. If you can tell, he is not Russian. He has had an interesting career from the ECHL to the NHL. He even is what you could say a veteran of the KHL but played in what I consider the minor Russian league last season. But the former Flyer is back in the top league and looking for dance partners.
AROUND EUROPE
The Austrian league is the only league (that I follow) to have started the season (England started as well but will only contribute brawling to this site). One game was played yesterday and four today. Should I even continue to mention that a former Hershey player scored both days? I'll stop at some point since it will continually be the same guys. However, Curtis Fraser picked up the first hat trick in the game from yesterday.
The KHL tilt came just in time as in the second day of action for the Austrian league they too had a fight that featured players without North American ties. Florian Pedevilla got into the scrap. I mention him because he also played last season for Innsbruck and picked up 99 penalty minutes with a scrap.
RANDOMNESS
Let's remember my great presumption of Kovalchuk leading the KHL in points. After a solid team showing in the first game of the season but Kovalchuk himself not getting any points, the team put in six goals today. And guess who did the scoring. Anybody not named Kovalchuk. Another zero point game for him. I should know better than to take a Russian even in a Russian league.
There is nothing like making a bold statement after one whole game which is kinda what I did with Medvescak. I loved their play making ability and toughness with all thee former AHL players. After the domination in their first game I thought it was on. Today they lost 5-1. Oops.
HC Bolzano is the newest addition to the Austrian league from Italy. They are the first team to join from Italy that I know of because I'm not going to look into it. If you are unaware, Italy isn't exactly a breeding ground for hockey and the teams generally tend to be mediocre. Don't tell that to this team. They won their first game today 6-1. I will stop short of going on a rant of how good this team will be after seeing what happens when I did that last time.
Germany and Switzerland begin this week to round out Europe. AND... Canadian juniors kicks off this week which allows me the ability to follow all the NHL picks and potential picks along with the craziness of 15-19 year olds.
Friday, September 6, 2013
The North American Way
The KHL might want to take a closer look at who they invite to join the league. There are currently 73 North American players on KHL rosters. In comparison there are 502 Russians. Newly inserted Medvescak has 24 North American players on their roster alone. They played their first game today and won 7-1.
The team combined for 18 total points among scorers. All 18 points came from North American skaters. If there is a team to root for this season, this might be the one. You need some skill? They have it. Play a bit of a rougher style against them? I would suggest not. I'm not going to say they are going to win the championship or even dominate the league, but they are going to bring an element this league hasn't seen. By the way, the team is coached by former Hershey Bear head coach Mark French who had been the team coach for the last four seasons. It might also explain why the team features former Hershey captain Boyd Kane who spent a total of five seasons in Hershey, including the last four and another five seasons with the Philadelphia Phantoms. The point is, if you happen to be in Croatia this season stop in for a game or two.
MORE STUFF
Ilya Kovalchuk made his return to the KHL today. His SKA team had an easy time winning 5-1. In keeping with my statement about him leading the league in points from yesterday, he attributed zero points.
Salavat and Torpedo has an interesting start to the season. 60 minutes and overtime couldn't decide a winner so they headed to a shootout. It only took 20 attempts before a winner emerged.
10 more games today and still no bouts. With the addition of the Canadian junior leagues to my library we won't be waiting long to see how Europe's toughness does against North America.
The team combined for 18 total points among scorers. All 18 points came from North American skaters. If there is a team to root for this season, this might be the one. You need some skill? They have it. Play a bit of a rougher style against them? I would suggest not. I'm not going to say they are going to win the championship or even dominate the league, but they are going to bring an element this league hasn't seen. By the way, the team is coached by former Hershey Bear head coach Mark French who had been the team coach for the last four seasons. It might also explain why the team features former Hershey captain Boyd Kane who spent a total of five seasons in Hershey, including the last four and another five seasons with the Philadelphia Phantoms. The point is, if you happen to be in Croatia this season stop in for a game or two.
MORE STUFF
Ilya Kovalchuk made his return to the KHL today. His SKA team had an easy time winning 5-1. In keeping with my statement about him leading the league in points from yesterday, he attributed zero points.
Salavat and Torpedo has an interesting start to the season. 60 minutes and overtime couldn't decide a winner so they headed to a shootout. It only took 20 attempts before a winner emerged.
10 more games today and still no bouts. With the addition of the Canadian junior leagues to my library we won't be waiting long to see how Europe's toughness does against North America.
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Front Page News
Had I not been behind on the paper like I normally am, I would have noticed this yesterday on the front of the NY Times sports section.
Opening day of the KHL season and what do I see here? Maybe we should take this league a bit more seriously. The fairly lengthy article is a good read for an hockey fan from casual to intense. It mainly describes how league and team operations work in this expansive league that is the closest comparison to the National Hockey League. I won't go into great depth so here are some smaller things to take away.
Opening day of the KHL season and what do I see here? Maybe we should take this league a bit more seriously. The fairly lengthy article is a good read for an hockey fan from casual to intense. It mainly describes how league and team operations work in this expansive league that is the closest comparison to the National Hockey League. I won't go into great depth so here are some smaller things to take away.
- Russia, Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, Croatia, Kazakhstan, Czech Republic and Slovakia are not only places you'd have trouble locating on a map, they also comprise the countries that house teams in the KHL.
- The league stretches across nine time zones. You better really load up the i-Pod for some of those road trips.
- The league has 28 teams as of this year and will continue to add. A top level team from Finland will leave the SM-liiga next season to join the KHL.
- Two teams were added this year. Medvescak left the Austrian league to join and a new team took home (see above picture) in Vladivostok, Russia. They are so new to the league their stadium isn't even finished.
Do yourself a favor and type in Vladivostok on a Google map. Then compare its location to the rest of some of the countries in this league I mentioned. Helpful hint: If you'd like to see place names in English, click on the drop tab in the right by the satellite image. Perhaps this team will acquire some North Korean fans. Or maybe the KHL expands into China and Japan.
I think one thing is certain at this time and that is the league isn't going to compete with the NHL. By compete I'm talking about attracting the majority of the best players in the world. Obviously the Kovalchuk deal over the summer (also picture above) had some heads turning. But at the same time I expect some players, especially Russians, to either go back home or stay there.
This league is either going to do very well or suffer with constant turnover. The expansion that has happened in the short time since the league formed is amazing. They have a boom or bust approach which I can appreciate. Either way is fine with me. Having another top league for players looking to play is a good thing.
By the way, if Kovalchuk doesn't lead this league in scoring something is wrong.
OVERTIME:
Three more games today in the K. Nothing extremely noteworthy to pass along. However, in a matchup with two teams named Dinamo each team got a tally in a 2-1 game from a... any guesses? Yep. A former Hershey Bear. How about them apples or other piece of fruit used in Russian sayings even though neither Dinamo team plays in Russia. Let's move on.
Speaking of former Bears, I never thought I'd have Babenko updates in back to back days but here I am ready to dish it out. We have had our first ejection of the season. I guess. Why wouldn't we want to start out the season with something bizarre. Straight out of the KHL league office it was announced today that after reviewing the tape from Wednesday's opening game Yuri Babenko was assessed a major penalty and a game misconduct for spearing. There you have it. A player ejected today from a game he played in yesterday. The season begins.
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Hockey's Back
And so am I.
The KHL kicked off their season today with a game between Dynamo Moskova and Traktor. If it seems like professional hockey ended recently it's probably because it did. The NHL last played on June 24th. Two months off is plenty.
Traktor kicked off the scoring for the 2013-14 season. That's where it ended for them. Dynamo Moskova scored the next five to take an easy win. Leo Komarov, the Estonian born winger of a Russian father who grew up in a Finnish town that primarily spoke Swedish tallied a goal and an assist. Komarov was drafted by Toronto in 2006 finally making his debut last season after starting in the AHL, moving back to the KHL once the lockout seemed destined to continue, then eventually returning to play with the big boys in Toronto. He also played in all seven playoff games with Toronto where he also got into a fight.
You can't talk about most leagues without seeing familiar AHL faces and while he hasn't seen a North American rink in awhile, a former Hershey player got on the board as well. Yuri Babenko scored in the second for Dynamo, his first of what will end up being 12 goals this season. Well I did it now. Guess I will have to include constant Babenko chatter in this blog. Speaking of which, I think it needs a new name more related to hockey. I'll think about it tonight.
The real story in this game was the solid goaltending of Dynamo goalie Ilya Bryzgalov. He might not be a household name, but give him time. He only allowed one goal on 36 shots and was named the number one star of the game. If he can continue his hot start there is no denying Moskova could be a force in the KHL this season.
The KHL continues with a busy schedule throughout the week and weekend. The Austrian league is the next to start on Saturday. Where will the first scrap take place and who gets the first Gordie?
Delayed Call:
It's early on in the season for all of us including me. I incorrectly stated the Ilya Bryzgalov was the number one star of the game today in the KHL. He was not. He didn't even play. In fact, he isn't even on a KHL team or any team for that matter. My mistake. I will do better next time.
The KHL kicked off their season today with a game between Dynamo Moskova and Traktor. If it seems like professional hockey ended recently it's probably because it did. The NHL last played on June 24th. Two months off is plenty.
Traktor kicked off the scoring for the 2013-14 season. That's where it ended for them. Dynamo Moskova scored the next five to take an easy win. Leo Komarov, the Estonian born winger of a Russian father who grew up in a Finnish town that primarily spoke Swedish tallied a goal and an assist. Komarov was drafted by Toronto in 2006 finally making his debut last season after starting in the AHL, moving back to the KHL once the lockout seemed destined to continue, then eventually returning to play with the big boys in Toronto. He also played in all seven playoff games with Toronto where he also got into a fight.
You can't talk about most leagues without seeing familiar AHL faces and while he hasn't seen a North American rink in awhile, a former Hershey player got on the board as well. Yuri Babenko scored in the second for Dynamo, his first of what will end up being 12 goals this season. Well I did it now. Guess I will have to include constant Babenko chatter in this blog. Speaking of which, I think it needs a new name more related to hockey. I'll think about it tonight.
The real story in this game was the solid goaltending of Dynamo goalie Ilya Bryzgalov. He might not be a household name, but give him time. He only allowed one goal on 36 shots and was named the number one star of the game. If he can continue his hot start there is no denying Moskova could be a force in the KHL this season.
The KHL continues with a busy schedule throughout the week and weekend. The Austrian league is the next to start on Saturday. Where will the first scrap take place and who gets the first Gordie?
Delayed Call:
It's early on in the season for all of us including me. I incorrectly stated the Ilya Bryzgalov was the number one star of the game today in the KHL. He was not. He didn't even play. In fact, he isn't even on a KHL team or any team for that matter. My mistake. I will do better next time.
Saturday, April 20, 2013
ECHL Winners
The East Coast League is the first North American league to begin the playoffs which started last week. Yeah I know, I'm still catching up but technically I'm further ahead than normal. With that being said I can hand out the awards for top fighting teams in the league this season. My running tally on the right side was not always up to date so instead, let's skip the update and go right to the top three.
3RD PLACE: UTAH GRIZZLIES - 75
Not a big surprise here. I won't get into too many details as that will be saved for a later post. The team had a lot of toughness along with some experienced players. An all around tough squad that would have probably favored even better if they were not losing players to the AHL.
2ND PLACE: ONTARIO REIGN - 78
This is the kind of team I would probably have season tickets to go see if they were close by. Not only are they incredibly tough but also highly skilled. They were one of the best teams while also finishing second in penalty minutes. They should also make the playoffs interesting.
1ST PLACE: SAN FRANCISCO - 82
Welcome to the ECHL and the exciting world of hockey people of the San Francisco area. The first year team managed to fit right into the craziness of the western conference. They might not have been the best team, but they at least had fun and were not going to be pushed around.
What a surprise. The west dominated in the fighting department this season. The top three teams last season were also all from the west and included Ontario. These teams quickly start to not like each other as rivalries heat up before the first game of the season.
3RD PLACE: UTAH GRIZZLIES - 75
Not a big surprise here. I won't get into too many details as that will be saved for a later post. The team had a lot of toughness along with some experienced players. An all around tough squad that would have probably favored even better if they were not losing players to the AHL.
2ND PLACE: ONTARIO REIGN - 78
This is the kind of team I would probably have season tickets to go see if they were close by. Not only are they incredibly tough but also highly skilled. They were one of the best teams while also finishing second in penalty minutes. They should also make the playoffs interesting.
1ST PLACE: SAN FRANCISCO - 82
Welcome to the ECHL and the exciting world of hockey people of the San Francisco area. The first year team managed to fit right into the craziness of the western conference. They might not have been the best team, but they at least had fun and were not going to be pushed around.
What a surprise. The west dominated in the fighting department this season. The top three teams last season were also all from the west and included Ontario. These teams quickly start to not like each other as rivalries heat up before the first game of the season.
Champion # 3
Skelleftea takes the title in the Swedish Elite League this season.
There are generally not a lot of North American skaters playing in this league however Skelleftea did happen to have the most dominant one on their team. Bud Holloway was a Los Angeles Kings pick and played three seasons in the AHL before making the move to Europe. My guess is he wasn't moving in the direction he wanted and didn't see any changes coming. I'd be surprised if he wasn't on some NHL radars heading into next year.
Holloway easily lead the league with 71 points which is an awful lot for an elite European league. Putting up a huge season in Europe will get you noticed. It will be up to him to decide if it is worth making the jump back to North America.
______________________________________________________________________________
The Elite League also has a regulation process at the end of the season that takes the worst two teams in the regular season and four teams who qualified from the second tier to face off against each other in a small tournament. The two teams with the best record at the end take the two spots at the top level. Well wouldn't you know what happened.
Both Elite team squads are out and will be replaced with Leksands and Orebro. Orebro has never competed in the Elite League in club history.
I wish every league could do this.
There are generally not a lot of North American skaters playing in this league however Skelleftea did happen to have the most dominant one on their team. Bud Holloway was a Los Angeles Kings pick and played three seasons in the AHL before making the move to Europe. My guess is he wasn't moving in the direction he wanted and didn't see any changes coming. I'd be surprised if he wasn't on some NHL radars heading into next year.
Holloway easily lead the league with 71 points which is an awful lot for an elite European league. Putting up a huge season in Europe will get you noticed. It will be up to him to decide if it is worth making the jump back to North America.
______________________________________________________________________________
The Elite League also has a regulation process at the end of the season that takes the worst two teams in the regular season and four teams who qualified from the second tier to face off against each other in a small tournament. The two teams with the best record at the end take the two spots at the top level. Well wouldn't you know what happened.
Both Elite team squads are out and will be replaced with Leksands and Orebro. Orebro has never competed in the Elite League in club history.
I wish every league could do this.
Friday, April 19, 2013
Champion #2
The Swiss league has crowned a new champion. This year Bern takes the crown after defeating Fribourg in six games. Bern was led by Byron Ritchie who finished first in points during the regular season and also led the squad in playoff points. Ritchie played over 500 games in the NHL and AHL. Leading goal scorer, Canadian Ryan Gardner, has been playing in Switzerland since 1997.
New York Islander forward John Tavares ended up finishing in a tie for second on the team in scoring and Swiss and NHL teammate Mark Streit was the highest scoring defenseman. Roman Josi of the Nashville Predators also joined during the lockout. No word on if those players get championship rings (or whatever they hand out). My guess would be they do.
Like European soccer leagues, the Swiss league has a relegation process at the end of each season that is basically the exact opposite of the standard playoffs. The four teams who do not make the playoffs square off against each other with the loser moving on to the next round for a final series. The loser of that then takes on the champion B league team for the final spot in the top league.
Sure enough this year top league team Raperswil lost and will be relegated. Lausanne will be promoted.
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Champion # 1
The Austrian league became the first league (of the ones I follow) to crown a champion last week. It took Klagenfurt a full four games to win the title.
MVP of the series went to Jamie Lundmark who also led the team in scoring this year. Lundmark broke into professional hockey the same year I began my detailed statistical database in 2001 and went one to play over 600 games in the AHL and NHL. This was his first season in Austria.
The team saw three NHL players make Klagenfurt their home briefly before the NHL returned. For what it's worth, Edmonton's Sam Gagner finished 7th on the team in scoring after playing just 21 games.
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Aussie Rules
If you don't take notice to the SI swimsuit photo shoot, neither do I. Until the other day that is. Michelle Jenneke happened to catch my attention. She has an infectious smile that goes along great with the rest of her body. She made a name for herself not so much for her sport as for her pre-race routine.
The added music and slow motion help.
Not only is she adorable but she is enjoying life while also winning easily over the rest of the field. I don't like to take ideas from others, but I think I found my new routine before running races.
Do a search and check out some of her swimsuit pictures.
The added music and slow motion help.
Not only is she adorable but she is enjoying life while also winning easily over the rest of the field. I don't like to take ideas from others, but I think I found my new routine before running races.
Do a search and check out some of her swimsuit pictures.
Why
What could possibly go wrong combining a sheet of ice with an animal that has no reason being out there? By animal I mean dorky guy who also happens to be carrying a large bird.
I would have been laughing too. It is also extremely funny watching people fall on ice. I could only imagine if instead of falling backwards and fumbling away the bird, he had fallen sideways and on top of the bird. Good that didn't happen. Either way the bird comes out looking smarter.
This is just another reason why sports teams should not be named after animals, especially birds.
I would have been laughing too. It is also extremely funny watching people fall on ice. I could only imagine if instead of falling backwards and fumbling away the bird, he had fallen sideways and on top of the bird. Good that didn't happen. Either way the bird comes out looking smarter.
This is just another reason why sports teams should not be named after animals, especially birds.
Wearing the C
There might not be anything better in a fight as seeing two of your top players going at it. Last night we got a rare glimpse at it again.
Thornton has more experience in this field but Toews will do this on occasion. Either way I am all for a captain vs. captain fight. Maybe a Crosby - Giroux will be next.
For the record, I agree with the Sharks commentator on this one as I really don't see how there was no instigator. He practically followed him around, shoved him a few times and ditched his gloves before Thornton did anything. Had it been a different player he probably would have picked up enough penalty minutes to miss most of the rest of the game.
Thornton has more experience in this field but Toews will do this on occasion. Either way I am all for a captain vs. captain fight. Maybe a Crosby - Giroux will be next.
For the record, I agree with the Sharks commentator on this one as I really don't see how there was no instigator. He practically followed him around, shoved him a few times and ditched his gloves before Thornton did anything. Had it been a different player he probably would have picked up enough penalty minutes to miss most of the rest of the game.
1....2...3
3 Faceoffs
3 Whistles
3 Forwards
4 Seconds of game time
I've seen a lot but I can't recall a time when one entire line of forwards for both teams fought off three consecutive face offs. Not only that but these aren't exactly heavyweights going at it.
3 Whistles
3 Forwards
4 Seconds of game time
I've seen a lot but I can't recall a time when one entire line of forwards for both teams fought off three consecutive face offs. Not only that but these aren't exactly heavyweights going at it.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
A Trip Around Town
I haven't been able to get as many videos up as I would like to lately. There also hasn't been anything real worth while to put on. Over the last few days there have been some solid fights in a variety of leagues that have all been great battles. Why not share them all now.
Minor Notes:
At some point I lost count but since the NHL officially returned on Sunday, roughly 200 players have been recalled at some point since then. I believe the stats I updated from last night had one team from the AHL play about five or six guys who hadn't been in a game all year. Nothing like have a one week training camp right in the middle of the season.
I also will do my best to try and update the scoring and penalty totals. However with the addition of another league and the unusual high amount of player movement I will try to keep an update list with only the North American leagues included. The European leagues will get their own chart and then at the end of the season a total combined chart for everybody will be displayed to include all leagues whether it is AHL and NHL, NHL and KHL, or ECHL, AHL and NHL. Even I have trouble with this many players and leagues.
To the Videos!
AHL: Rechlicz-Gallant
OHL: Clark-McGuire
WHL: LeSann-Morse
QMJHL: Lewis-McGrath
Minor Notes:
At some point I lost count but since the NHL officially returned on Sunday, roughly 200 players have been recalled at some point since then. I believe the stats I updated from last night had one team from the AHL play about five or six guys who hadn't been in a game all year. Nothing like have a one week training camp right in the middle of the season.
I also will do my best to try and update the scoring and penalty totals. However with the addition of another league and the unusual high amount of player movement I will try to keep an update list with only the North American leagues included. The European leagues will get their own chart and then at the end of the season a total combined chart for everybody will be displayed to include all leagues whether it is AHL and NHL, NHL and KHL, or ECHL, AHL and NHL. Even I have trouble with this many players and leagues.
To the Videos!
AHL: Rechlicz-Gallant
OHL: Clark-McGuire
WHL: LeSann-Morse
QMJHL: Lewis-McGrath
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Haven't Had A Fight Tonight
The classic go-off-the-faceoff fight. It is probably one of my favorites. It has everything you look for in a tilt. You get the short conversation, the look, the classic ditching of the gloves and chucking of the helmet and then the square off. Any respected tilt should begin near center ice no matter where the faceoff takes place.
Kurtz and Nightingale lead the fun. Kurtz is one of those guys I can get behind. He was mainly a scorer in juniors but needed to add more to his game and now is predominantly a fighter and checker. Nightingale too has worked hard for what he has had. The fun begins after Kurtz dominates.
Neilson tries to spark the team after seeing the lopsided fight and then the rest.
Kurtz and Nightingale lead the fun. Kurtz is one of those guys I can get behind. He was mainly a scorer in juniors but needed to add more to his game and now is predominantly a fighter and checker. Nightingale too has worked hard for what he has had. The fun begins after Kurtz dominates.
Neilson tries to spark the team after seeing the lopsided fight and then the rest.
Video Time
This league isn't known for their play other than they really enjoy fighting. At this point in the game, if you call it that, the teams decide to forget the idea of going for goals.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Leaders - Thursday Night Edition
Here are your top ten.
I'm sure Sergei Mozyakin didn't expect to be playing alongside Evgeni Malkin, but here we are in January and Mozyakin is benefiting nicely. Also nice to see Malkin doing well and not letting the league stoppage hurt him too much.
Every other name in the top is familiar except for two. Jordan Eberle and Justin Schultz are the first full season AHL players to make the list. Both represent the Edmonton Oilers organization and play together. Not a surprise to see Eberle dominate the league. He had 76 points in the NHL last season. Schultz is a guy who makes me very interested in the Oilers next season. When he left Wisconsin and could not agree to terms with the team that drafted him, Schultz became the biggest free agent of the summer without even playing a professional game. Now we have an idea why. The way he is going he could end up with 80 points and 30 goals as a defenseman. Yikes. If there isn't a season, I wonder if by dumb luck the Oilers get another top pick.
We have a nice battle going for top spot in the penalty total. I'm not even including the European leagues since the only player above 100 is the same guy from the last time I updated this list. Things have really slowed down there. Rockford joined Bridgeport as the only two teams with multiple players over 100 from the AHL. Fort Wayne is the only team to have two from the ECHL. I'd give it the rest of the weekend before some team has three. Robins has been out in front most of the season. Let's see if he can keep his lead.
I'm sure Sergei Mozyakin didn't expect to be playing alongside Evgeni Malkin, but here we are in January and Mozyakin is benefiting nicely. Also nice to see Malkin doing well and not letting the league stoppage hurt him too much.
Every other name in the top is familiar except for two. Jordan Eberle and Justin Schultz are the first full season AHL players to make the list. Both represent the Edmonton Oilers organization and play together. Not a surprise to see Eberle dominate the league. He had 76 points in the NHL last season. Schultz is a guy who makes me very interested in the Oilers next season. When he left Wisconsin and could not agree to terms with the team that drafted him, Schultz became the biggest free agent of the summer without even playing a professional game. Now we have an idea why. The way he is going he could end up with 80 points and 30 goals as a defenseman. Yikes. If there isn't a season, I wonder if by dumb luck the Oilers get another top pick.
We have a nice battle going for top spot in the penalty total. I'm not even including the European leagues since the only player above 100 is the same guy from the last time I updated this list. Things have really slowed down there. Rockford joined Bridgeport as the only two teams with multiple players over 100 from the AHL. Fort Wayne is the only team to have two from the ECHL. I'd give it the rest of the weekend before some team has three. Robins has been out in front most of the season. Let's see if he can keep his lead.
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