love the puck

Saturday, November 19, 2005

The lockout year meant the 2005-2006 season would see a double cohort of rookies. On top of that, the 2003 draft class, featuring Dion Phaneuf, Brent Seabrook, Eric Staal and first-overall selection Marc-Andre Fleury, was a deep and talented one.

With all the hype surrounding Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin, other rookies have stepped up, making this seasons rookie class one for the ages. Here's a look at the leagues top rookies.

Sidney Crosby-Pittsburgh Penguins- This is not a slight to Alexander Ovechkin, but Crosby does it all. Only 18 years old and already Mario Lemieux hails Sid as the best player on the Pens, night in and night out. The vision, hustle and suprising grit are things you can't teach a player that talented. He used to factor in on the scoring of all of Rimouski's goals, now, as he showed in Philly last week, he's going to get used to factoring in on all of Pittsburgh's.

Alexander Ovechkin-Washington Capitals- I was a skeptic. His performance at the World Junior's was impressive, but it seemed he lacked character. Since arriving in the NHL, Ovechkin has done nothing but display an all around game that is seldom seen in any teenager, not just young Russian players. His offensive game is as adept as Ilya Kovalchuk, and he even goes hard to the net. Ask Colin White if Ovechkin plays physical; he met number eight first hand and wound up on his back. Alexander has a penchant for scoring big goals, and he is one of the most dynamic players in the league already.

Dion Phaneuf-Calgary Flames- If it weren't for the two young men above him, Phaneuf would win this years Calder trophy. Just a week or so into the season Darryl Sutter proclaimed Phaneuf the teams best defenseman, on what was already the best defense core in the league. Dion is a fantastic skater, a pin point passer, and a physical demon. He's shown he can set up, score goals and will drop the gloves with anyone.

Mike Richards-Philadelphia Flyers- Richards is already logging important minutes in key situations for Ken Hitchcock. What's not to like about his leadership, toughness, and heads up play. Richards will be a fixture in the NHL, and on the Hockey Canada scene, for a long time.

Jeff Carter- Philadelphia Flyers- Carter is a big centre who got off to a slow start this season, but has scored 7 goals in his last 8 games since Hitchcock gave him some more ice time. Carter has great hands, great instincts and goes to the net which makes things happen.

Alexander Steen-Toronto Maple Leafs- Steen began the year on the fourth line, killing penalities. Then he was bumped up to form the kid line with Kyle Wellwood and Matt Stajan. From there Steen found his play had been good enough for Pat Quinn to put him on the top unit with Mats Sundin and Jeff O'Neill. Steen has registered 13 points for the Blue and White this year.

Marek Svatos- Colorado Avalanche- Svatos has a slick set of offensive skills, and he's put that on display so far this year, notching 17 points to place third in rookie scoring. He already has five GWGs.

Brent Seabrook- Chicago Blackhawks- Seabrook already has two game winning goals and has put up 11 points in his rookie campaign to date. The always steady rearguard has a +7 rating and is averaging almost 20 minutes of ice time a game.

Posted by Jon at 1:10 PM | | e-mail me

Friday, November 04, 2005

Think back a few months. Go back in time to the day the new CBA was reached, and then re-live the next few months.

Teams began landing free agents they never could have signed, and the buzz word was PARITY.

Edmonton, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Columbus come to mind. These teams began getting excited and making post-season plans almost immediately after landing some big name free-agents, or making a block buster trade.

Then the puck dropped and changed everything.

Edmonton found out that adding a name as big as Chris Pronger doesn't make B list goalies stop pucks. Ty Conklin and Jussi Maarkenen have struggled, and the saving grace for the Oilers has been young players stepping up, mainly Shawn Horcoff and Raffi Torres. Edmonton has a great top four on their defence, Pronger, Smith, Staios and Bergeron, but after those guys there is a drop off to Corey Cross and Igor Ulanov. This team will be one of the streakiest to watch all year. With enough skill to compete with anyone, and enough uncertainity to lose to anyone, each night has been a roll of the dice for the Oil.

Chicago paid a lot of money for Nikolai Khabibulin and Adrian Aucoin. Aucoin has been solid, but Khabibulin is a mystery. Last week against Detroit he consistently made amazing saves, on to allow a soft goal shortly thereafter. He remains the biggest 7 million dollar mystery in the league. With Tuomo Ruutu out with back problems, things do not look good for the Blackhawks. Parity seems like a distant memory.

The Penguins. Their overtime woes finally came to an end thanks to Segei Gonchar, but the fact remains- reality hurts. Sports Illustrated projected the Pens to be 12th in the league this season. I believe I ranked them out of the playoffs, saying it doesn't help to score a lot of goals if you can't keep them out of your net. Not to say I told you so- but I did.
On the plus side in Pittsburgh, Sidney Crosby has been everything he was expected to be, leading rookies in scoring, and just generally impressing everyone who watches him play. Pittsburgh will get better as the year goes along, and will contend soon.

Columbus really misses Rick Nash. And who wouldn't? This kid is dynamic, explosive, and he puts pucks in the net- which Columbus doesn't do, as they've scored a league low 25 goals this yeaer. Remember when Adam Foote and Bryan Berard signed and people whispered playoffs? Well that is a distant memory. Columbus can't seem to find a rhythm and everything will pick up just a little when Rick Nash returns from his mildly sprained knee. Still no post season for the Jackets though.

Parity is a funny thing. We might as well call it equality on paper. But many a good team on paper have gone out and lacked chemistry, or limped through a season. The truly good teams hold an element that these paper teams seem to lack. Detroit never ceases to put good teams on the ice. What changed the Rangers all of the sudden? These are the intangibles we'll never know, never understand, and if we did, every team would be a contender. These are the intangibles that every coach and GM are looking for. Forget Parity, find the chemistry.

Posted by Jon at 12:49 PM | | e-mail me