Monday, May 31, 2010

Newest Coug.

Brett Leffler, formerly with the Regina Pats, has just committed to the University of Regina Cougars. Leffler will be joining former Pats teammate Matt Strueby as well as countless other ex-WHLer's. Leffler should fit in quite nicely with the Cougs lineup and will bring his size, shot and work ethic to the team, but both Leff's and Strueb's will continue to work on their speed while with Regina.

Leffler was originally drafted by the Capitals and attended their development and training camps but was never able to secure a deal with the Caps and as a result was thrown back into last years draft. It is rare that a player will be picked up twice in the draft and Leffler's case was no different and he was not chosen a second time around. However, last summer he was invited to attend the Blackhawks development camp and was expected to receive an invite to training camp, but the call never came.

Both Struebs and Leffs are great hockey players and deserve more looks by scouts and teams. Although they may not have blazing speed, their work around the net and willingness to battle in the corners is top notch. Good luck with the Cougs. boys!

NHL Combine.


It's that time of year again, time to put 17 year old kids through hell and back and dangle their dreams of playing in the NHL right in front of them.. that's right it's draft time. Now, with the draft comes the dreaded combine where these young kids are put through all kinds of tests to test there physical and mental abilities. Most of the test results have been said flat out do not translate to whether or not the kid will be a good hockey player, but it's all part of the process.

Obviously, all of the attention has been on the Taylor vs Tyler saga. However, Taylor Hall took the easy was out and opted not to participate in the physical tests. He kept claiming that he had "nagging injuries" and felt that it would be better if he sat out, he also said that his season had just finished 5 days ago. Although this is true, his season did just finish, but so did Cam Fowlers, they play on the same f-ing team yet Cam didn't have a problem participating. Cam also played in the World Juniors, just like Hall, yet had to go through all of the hellish tests while Hall got to sit and watch.

Jack Campbell, the stud USA goalie from the World Juniors came out on top of a number of the tests which I found to be quite interesting. I was watching the live chat but the operators seemed to refuse to talk about the bench press results but released all other information quite willingly. I really wish that they would release all of the results to the public, in fact, I'm surprised that they don't, everyone would clearly love to know.

If the draft were based on interview skills and like-ability then the Oilers would definitely choose Seguin, he's much-muuch funnier then Hall and actually looks like he's interested and not about to fall asleep. I still think that because of what the Oilers need that they should choose Hall but Seguin is so marketable it's going to be hard to resist.

Stanley Cup: Game 2


After narrowly escaping the high scoring affair that happened on Saturday, neither team could get their offense going early in game number two. Both teams were held scoreless for the first period of action and well into the second until Chicago managed to score two quick ones to put them up, obviously, 2-0. The Flyers finally put one past Niemi in the third to cut the lead to one but even with almost 2 minutes with the extra attacker they could not poke a second through. Hawks win game 2 by a score of 2-1.

However, although the Hawks have been winning, their top line of Kane, Toews and Big Buff have not been doing anything to help, in fact they have done the opposite. In game number one the trio combined for zero points and a minus nine rating. Not exactly something to be proud of. Game number two was not much better, Kane had zeros across the board, Buff was given 1 assist, and Toews was a plus 1. So, you can look at this situation a number of ways. But one that stands out is that, if the Hawks three top guys aren't clicking.. at all.. and yet they can still win, what about when they are clicking? Will they dominate? Only time will tell.

Team Hawks 2-0.

Goodbye Suns.

Although I do not usually write about basketball, a few things need to be said. It seems as though I am one of the only people to be happy that Kobe and the Lakers knocked off Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns. It's my theory that the only reason anyone cheers for Nash is because he is Canadian, and the only reason they cheer against Kobe is because they are jealous.

The series went for 6 games and almost looked to be headed for a 7th in the final minutes of game six. After dominating the entire game, the Lakers managed to give up an overwhelming 18 point lead in the final minutes, but Nash and his 3 point shots couldn't keep Kobe off... again. The Lakers went on to take the series and now face the Boston Celtics in the NBA finals which are set to begin on Thursday.

For once, the sports world got together and discussed what days the NBA finals should be on and what days the NHL finals should be on. It wouldn't have surprised me if they had been scheduled for the same days. In the conference finals for the NHL, they had both finals running on the same day and then would have no games the next day and then 2 the day after, until some genius suggested that they alternate. That deserves a slow clap. Due in part to poor planning by networks, on Saturday I was forced to flip between game 1 of the Stanley cup, Kobe vs Nash, UFC prelims on Spike, and UFC. Sweet.

Rampage vs Rashad


The feud that has been continuously growing for over a year now came to a highly disappointing end Saturday night. I say highly disappointing because no one even got knocked out! The fight and feud ended with Rashad winning a unanimous decision.. booooring! If I would have known that Rashad's game plan was to lay on Rampage the entire time and barely look for the knockout except for in the first 2 minutes, then I would have been cheering for Rampage.

Rampage's ring rust was quite evident. The guy was completely gassed after the first round! He claimed that he had never really trained before but now he's taking his training much more seriously.. well, you couldn't tell from watching that fight!

With the win Rashad secured his chance of getting the next title shot against Shogun. I would have much rather seen Rampage vs Shogun, due to the fact that they have fought before, but none-the-less Rashad-Shogun should be a good one, I just pray that it doesn't go the distance. I don't think I can handle watching another 5 round decision, there have been far too many lately!

Stanley Cup: Game 1


The series that has been loong in the making has finally begun. The Philadelphia Flyers will be going into battle against the heavily favoured Chicago Blackhawks. My bet (literally) is on the Hawks, their just simply too deep in my opinion, much deeper then that of the flyers. To be honest, I also like more hawks than flyers and believe that they are all around a better team.

Game numero uno went just as I had in-visioned.. well almost. I didn't quite see the amount of goals being scored to equal 11, but it didn't surprise me that it was a back and forth game for the whole 60 minutes.

Boucher ended up making his first appearance in net in what seems like forever but even a goal tending change could not translate to a victory for the Flyers. The final score ended up being 6-5 in favor of the Hawks. Team Hawks 1-0.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Poster Boy


To everyone in the hockey world it would appear as though Sidney Crosby could do no wrong.. well, almost everyone.

When Sidney Crosby recently declined the offer to go and represent Canada at the World Hockey Championships in Germany, it raised a few eyebrows, but none were higher than those of the IIHF president. In a matter that got blown way out of proportion, prez Fasel said some pretty nasty things about the young star and couldn't for the life of him understand as to why Sid the Kid would not want to wear the maple leaf.. Fasel has since apologized.

On the one hand, I can see why Fasel would be frustrated that players do not want to play for their country, most players would dream for that chance and some of them seem to care less. However, it is quite obvious that the players who declined, especially Sid, would be extremely tired emotionally and physically and deserve the break and the option to say no if they so choose.

However, waaay on the other hand, it does bother me that Fasel made the point to single out Sid. If any of the players should have the right to sit out of the tournament then it should be Sid. It is funny how everyone is talking about how Sid said no when a guy like Martin St. Louis (who I love) also said no when he didn't play in the olympics and whose team did not even make the post season. You would think that if anyone wanted the chance to play more hockey and represent their country it would be him, yet he declined and no one seems to be making a fuss about it.

What it comes down to is the name. "Sidney Crosby" carries a lot of hype and attention with it and with that hype and attention also comes ratings. Everything the Kid does is under a microscope and this situation is no different, in fact it seems worse. It is a little bit ironic that Sid claimed that he was "too tired" to go yet his teammate Malkin, who also played in the Olympics didn't seem "too tired" at all. Either way, give the Kid a break, the guy is 22 and rich as hell, it's not like he's getting paid to play at the Worlds so why not have a little bit more of a break? You can't blame the Kid, because; well.. he's the poster boy.

World Champs

In what was considered to be a rather "unique" world championship tournament, the ending was possibly the most unique of all. Going into the tournament everyone thought that it would be the third straight year that Canada and Russia would square off in the final. Russia made it there, but Canada.. not so much.

Canada had by far it's worst tournament in a long-looong time. They finished the round robin with a rather hideous record of 2-3 and were the last team in Group F to advance. Although by some countries standards a 2-3 showing at the worlds may be acceptable, but not if the country is Canada. For the past two years Canada has gone undefeated in the round robin and then lost to Russia in the gold medal game in consecutive years. Russia finished second, while Canada found themselves losing in the quarters, putting them at around 5th. Ew.

Perhaps it was that Canada was just too young. But I mean.. there only wins were against Latvia and Norway which are by no means hard teams.. you would think that Canada could put together a lineup that could have at least been able to grab at least a medal if not the gold.

Russia's stacked lineup earned them a 5-0 record in the round robin, but ultimately they fell short of their golden dreams and lost to the Czech Republic; if you can believe it. I guess even if your roster sports 14 of your teams members on it, sometimes it just isn't enough, especially when you come across a hot goalie.

Congrats to the Czech's, relish the moment.. I don't think it will come around again for a while.

Monday, May 24, 2010

As Predicted.

It came as no surprise that the steller Windsor Spitfires won the Memorial Cup on Sunday, making it two years in a row that the OHL kids leave as the top dogs in Canadian junior hockey.  Not only did the Spit's beat the host team in the Brandon Wheat Kings, they flat out dominated them!  The game closed by a final score of 9-1. A little embarrassing for Brandon fans, but it was to be expected unless you're an idiot.  

Taylor Hall was also named the tournament MVP for the second year in a row, yet scouts still think that Sequin is the top prospect.. give me a break!  It's pretty obvious that Hall is the clear choice, but that rant is for another day.

Congratulations to the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL, they are truly deserving of this Trophy.  It would have been nice to give the Brandon home town fans a little more to cheer about, but at the end of the day the best team won.. no question.  

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Mem. Cup Final Set


The match-up is set, the defending champs from the OHL the Windsor Spitfires will face off against the home town kids from the WHL, the Brandon Wheat Kings.

The Windsor Spitfires looked to be on the brink of elimination in the semi's of the OHL finals as they started the series down 3 games to none. However, this stacked team had another level that could not be matched and took the next 4 games straight. Since then, the Spit's have had a relatively easy ride to the Mem. cup final minus there overtime winner against Moncton, but other than that they have been nothing short of dominant.

The Brandon Wheat Kings have taken a slightly different path to end up in the final. Brandon lost out in the Semi's of the WHL final, but since they are the host team they automatically received a spot in the Mem. Cup. Brandon was dominated by Windsor in the first game by a score of 9-3. They then lost to Calgary in a pointless game only to beat them a few days later in an overtime stunner that had they crowd on it's feet.

Although the Wheat Kings have the home-town-crowd advantage, I still believe that Windsor will take this one and make it two years in a row for them. They say that the Mem. Cup is one of the hardest trophy's to win, for them to do it twice would be incredible and nearly impossible, but Windsor is basically a team on steroids so if anyone can do it, it's got to be them. World Junior teammates Ryan Ellis, Taylor Hall, Adam Henrique, and Greg Nemisz all of the Windsor Spitfires will take on former Team Canada teammates Brayden Schenn and Travis Hamonic of the Wheaties.

The Wheat Kings definitely have a stacked team, there's no question. But I don't believe that they have the star power and the experience that Windsor has. No matter how much the crowd is on your side, it can only help a team so much.. I give this one to Windsor. No question.