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paradoxicalca · 5 years ago

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Your Weekly /r/hockey Recap

Sunday, September 01 - Saturday, September 07Top Videosscorelink to commentsIn Honor of Kronwall's Retirement58535 commentsCole Caufield scores a hat trick during today’s NCAA pre-season game528198 commentsWith 29 days to go, here’s Bryan Bickell retiring with authority52749 comments30 Days to hockey — Why you heff to be mad?43127 commentsWith 31 days to go, here’s CuJo recovering, over-committing, and bailing himself out in the span of 3 seconds43167 commentsWith 30 days to go, here's 40-year-old Martin Brodeur performing a scorpion save in the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals39043 commentswith Niklas Kronwall retiring here's a top 10 of his best hits34098 commentsAll 3 goals Avangard dman Maxim Chudinov has scored from his own blue line since March31858 commentsWith 30 days to go, here’s Tim Thomas laying a body check on Henrik Sedin to prevent a scoring opportunity228167 commentsVladimir Konstantinov hit on Claude Lemieux-96 Playoffs17959 commentsWith 28 days left, here’s Claude Giroux pulling a Datsyuk in the shootout.16740 commentsJack Hughes goal on the powerplay15850 commentsIn honor of his retirement, here's 20 minutes of Kronwall hits. All credit to /u/awood4015757 commentsAmanda Kessel highlights15638 commentsHappy Birthday Nathan Mackinnon! Here’s some of his funniest moments!15424 commentsWith 27 days to go, here's Ron Hextall's first NHL goal13720 commentsAre you ready? Hockey returns October 2!12921 commentsRed Bull Munich's coach Don Jackson loosing his cool, tells the ref to go fuck themselves12035 commentsWith 29 days to go, here’s Draisaitl scoring a hat trick in Game 6 of the 2017 playoffs against Anaheim11730 commentsHighlights of Ottawa's 8-1 Rookie Showcase win over Winnipeg10955 commentsThrowback to Doughty pulling off the No Move move, 10 years ago10923 comments[x-post r/edmontonoilers] McDavid skating on Rogers Place ice10744 commentsWith 25 days to go, here's Jason Arnott's Cup-clinching goal in 200010527 commentsWith 29 days left until the season starts, here is #29 Nathan MacKinnon kicking almost every team square in the bone piece (18-19 season highlights).10520 commentsWith 28 days to go, here’s All-Star MVP John Scott earning his title10338 commentsNHL Tonight: Phil Kessel on joining the Coyotes, expectations10330 comments Other Postsscorelink to commentsSource: NWHL has signed a 3-year exclusive live streaming partnership with Twitch that will see all of the league’s games appear globally on the platform for free.6,844477 commentsSharks Sign Joe Thornton To A One Year Deal3,619381 commentsKessel in Kachina3,473238 comments[Carpinello] Per impeccable source, Pierre McGuire has been removed from NBC Sports' No. 1 hockey team, to be replaced by Brian Boucher.3,305487 commentsNiklas Kronwall Has Retired From The NHL3,248364 commentsTortorella on free agent departures: "I respect them all. But I don’t want to hear “I want to win” when it’s right fucking here. I respect them, but I’m really pissed. It was right there, where we were really progressing."3,196576 commentsGuy I know is a Bruins fan. We live in St. Louis and his bosses wife made him a bag lunch today.3,075248 commentsJustin Williams has announced that he is taking a break from the NHL He will not join the team at the start of the 2019-20 season2,803294 comments[Antonio Brown] See you there (replying to the Canucks training camp invite)2,344270 commentsTIL Phil Kessel's father, Phil Kessel Sr. was drafted by the Washington Redskins and played QB for the Calgary Stampeders1,96496 comments Please let me know if you have suggestions to make this roundup better for /r/hockey. I can search for posts based off keywords in the title, URL and flair. And I can also search for comments.If you would like this roundup sent to your reddit inbox every day send me a message with the subject 'hockey'. Or if you only want a weekly roundup, use the subject 'hockey weekly'However, I can do more.. you can have me search for any keywords you want on any subreddit you want. Send a message with the subject 'set hockey' and in the message: specify a number of upvotes that must be reached, and then an optional list of keywords you want to search for, separated by commas. You can have as many lines as you'd like, as long as they follow this format:200 50, nashville, toronto, blues You can also do 'set hockey weekly' And you can replace hockey with any subreddit.See my wiki to learn more: click here Your Weekly /r/hockey Recap Source

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thrashermaxey · 6 years ago

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Ramblings: Laine Scores Five Goals, A New Line in Vegas, and Blue Blazers (Nov 25)

Laine Scores Five Goals, A New Line in Vegas, and Blue Blazers

Patrik Laine had a night to remember on Saturday, as did another Winnipeg resident (more on that in a moment). Laine scored five goals to push the Jets to an 8-4 win over the Blues. With the five-goal game, Laine has vaulted into first place in the NHL with 19 goals (and only three assists!) In particular, that’s an outpouring of goals lately – 11 scored in his last four games. If you were worried about Laine’s production because he was on the Jets’ third line earlier in the season, then you shouldn’t have been. The cream eventually rises to the top.

Yes, Laine’s linemates were able to rack up a pile of assists on all those goals. Bryan Little and Kyle Connor were each credited with four assists. Connor now has two 4-point games over his last four games, while Little has eight points over his last five games.

With Laine’s five goals, someone won a million dollars. I’ll bet none of you have won that much money playing in fantasy leagues. Don’t worry, neither have I. But I’m sure a few daily fantasy players won some smaller amounts. By the way, I’d shop at Safeway more, but they’ve closed a bunch of stores in my area. Ah well.

Patrik Laine’s five goals have won this man $1 million in the Safeway/Sobeys Score and Win contest, according to https://t.co/DbthsWzS1R. He’ll get $50,000 per year for 20 years. pic.twitter.com/fQdMo61rjn

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) November 25, 2018

For the Blues, Vladimir Tarasenko broke a 10-game goalless drought with his seventh goal of the season. His owners have probably been left wanting more recently, as he had recorded just three assists over his last seven games entering Saturday’s game.

Laine’s five-goal game wasn’t the only hat trick on Saturday. Andreas Johnsson was able to earn his very quickly, scoring three goals in the first period to help the Leafs to an eventual 6-0 win over the Flyers. Even though Johnsson is Dobber Prospects’ top-ranked Toronto left wing, this goal explosion wouldn’t have directly helped very many fantasy teams. Johnsson hadn’t recorded a point over his previous five games, and he’s only 1 percent owned in Yahoo leagues. Maybe this effort will help him get noticed more in markets outside Toronto (assuming you tune out all the Toronto news in your sports media consumption).

In his fifth start of the season, Garret Sparks stopped all 34 shots he faced to pick up the shutout. Sparks generally only starts back-to-backs, but he’s earned wins in four of his five starts. You might not be all that confident in him since he’s only truly succeeded at the AHL level, but he’s at least worth a stream start every time he starts, no?

Yet another hat trick for you, this one from Jake Guentzel. The Penguins center scored goals number 9, 10 and 11 to give him five goals over his last four games. This was Guentzel’s first hat trick in the regular season, even though he had already recorded two playoff hat tricks. Although none of the goals were scored on the power play, Guentzel’s value is buoyed by the fact that he’s on the first-unit power play at the moment. Usual first-unit member Patric Hornqvist is out of the lineup at the moment with a concussion.

The Guentzel hat trick also made Kris Letang owners happy, as he assisted on all three of Guentzel’s goals. Tanger also has five assists over his last three games.

Tanner Pearson should be on your radar if you need a left wing. With a goal on Saturday, Pearson is off to a great start in Pittsburgh, scoring goals in three of his past four games. His linemates? Phil Kessel and Evgeni Malkin. You shouldn't need me to tell you that you can’t get much better than that.

With a goal on Saturday, Cam Atkinson has now scored a goal in seven consecutive games. Over that seven-game stretch Atkinson has nine goals and 13 points. In related news, Dobber has begun construction on an Atkinson statue outside his house.

Jeff Skinner scored again on Saturday, his 18th goal of the season and his fourth over the last three games. To the commenter in my last Ramblings: you’re right, it’s not fair that I would say that Max Domi will slow down without mentioning Skinner as well. He is currently shooting at a 22.5 percent clip this season, which is a full 10 percent higher than his career average. So he absolutely will not continue to score at this pace. Selling high is always an option. However, Skinner exceeding his career high of 37 goals is a very real possibility. Did he ever have a linemate in Carolina that possesses the high-end skills of Jack Eichel?

Having said all that, I’m sticking with my pick of Buffalo to make the playoffs and Montreal to just miss out. Without me showing all my work, let’s just agree to disagree, okay?

With three assists in the Capitals’ 5-3 win over the Rangers on Saturday, John Carlson now has 20 assists on the season. Following Saturday’s game, Carlson was third in both assists and points among defensemen. In case you were worried that Carlson’s 68-point effort last season was a fluke, Carlson is now on pace for 93 points after the first quarter of the season. It’s probably fair to say now that Carlson is for real, which means he should be considered a top-tier fantasy defenseman.

I added Tom Wilson in one league when his suspension was about to end. I had envisioned that he’d be a depth option who I could plug in if I needed help in PIM that week. I’ve learned that since his suspension, I simply can’t keep him on the bench any longer. With another goal on Saturday, Wilson has goals in three consecutive games, a five-game point streak, and points in six of seven games played.

As we expected, Wilson has played the vast majority of his minutes with Alex Ovechkin. But as an added bonus, Wilson has also logged at least 20 minutes in each of his last five games. The reason is regular power-play minutes – something that used to be virtually nonexistent for Wilson. Many scoffed at the massive contract that Wilson was awarded in the offseason, especially when considering his needless suspension. Yet so far it’s clear that Wilson has arrived as a multicategory stud.

Max Pacioretty was a popular drop of the week from earlier in the season, but you may want to check up on his availability again. With two goals on six shots on Saturday, Patches now has a five-game point streak with six goals over that span. This after he sputtered out of the gate with just four points over his first 16 games.

The center that is responsible for revitalizing Patches? Try Cody Eakin, who has largely been written off as a fantasy afterthought. So it’s worth mentioning that Eakin has five goals and nine points over his last 11 games. These are solid numbers, but anyone adding Eakin will also want to keep an eye on a potential return date for Paul Stastny.

Alex Tuch, the third man on this line, has really been establishing himself. With a goal and an assist in the Golden Knights’ 6-0 win over San Jose, Tuch has scored at a point per game this season (17 points in 17 games). You may not have noticed because he missed the first eight games of the season with a lower-body injury.

If nothing else, Marc-Andre Fleury has been a shutout machine this season. In stopping all 33 shots he faced on Saturday, Fleury now has a league-leading five shutouts, including shutouts on back-to-back nights (he also shut out the Flames on Friday).

If your league counts penalty minutes and Evander Kane is on your team, you were in luck on Saturday. Kane accumulated 26 PIM after both he and Sharks’ coach Peter DeBoer were tossed from Saturday’s game. The penalties were for tripping, unsportsmanlike conduct, abuse of officials, and abusive language. Very curious about what was said that would result in these penalties and whether supplemental discipline is being considered.

Also of note for the Sharks: After posting a shutout against the Canucks on Friday, Aaron Dell started again on Saturday. He obviously wasn’t as lucky, allowing six goals on 36 shots. The Sharks put out a tweet earlier in the day earlier in the day saying that Martin Jones would start on Saturday, but then updated it a couple hours later saying that Dell would start. The Sharks next play on Tuesday against Buffalo, so Jones owners should keep an eye on his status in case there’s something wrong.

The legend of Mikko Rantanen continues to be written in 2018-19. With the game-winning goal late in the third period and an assist on Nathan MacKinnon’s first-period goal, Rantanen now leads the NHL in scoring with 38 points. MacKinnon is now second with 35 points. Rantanen continues to be white hot with multiple points in each of his last four games and nine points (3g-6a) over that span. It’s becoming clear that last year’s 84-point breakout was no fluke.

A couple firsts for the Canucks in the goal department on Saturday: Hobey Baker winner Adam Gaudette scored his first-ever NHL goal, while Sam Gagner scored his first goal of the season.

After being recalled from the AHL, Gagner is once again being used as a power-play specialist, logging first-unit minutes with the Canucks. But in case you are in any way interested in Gagner for fantasy purposes, a Brock Boeser return could push Gagner back down the lineup. Gagner has more offensive upside than numerous Canucks forwards, so it wouldn’t make sense from a scoring standpoint to send him back down to the AHL. But that doesn’t mean it won’t happen again, thanks to the surplus of unnecessary player acquisitions the Canucks have made.

Your Elias Pettersson highlight of the night, which was a laser beam goal with an assist from Dion Phaneuf.

Elias Pettersson with the fantastic interception walks in and snaps it past Petersen#Canucks pic.twitter.com/LX0bAPfBge

— Ryan Biech (@ryanbiech) November 25, 2018

Finally, a couple of random thoughts that aren’t fantasy-hockey related, but I’ll share anyway. You can watch the video clip in the link if you like, since it was an interesting observation about where the RFA market could be headed. But I couldn’t help staring at that picture like I just woke up and realized I had a dream where absolutely nothing made sense. In other words, I never thought in my lifetime I would see Brian Burke in one of those baby blue Hockey Night in Canada retro blazers. This not long after he criticized the Hurricanes for their post-game “peewee” celebrations. Huh. I wonder what next week will bring. Oh yeah, probably news about the player listed below.

The result of William Nylander's contract negotiations could be a sign of things to come for the 2019 RFA class.

Brian Burke explains on To the Point. https://t.co/J2iXXKIMm2

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 25, 2018

I thought it was awesome that HNIC brought Dave Hodge back, as he was a significant part of my hockey experience growing up. I am actually old enough to remember the night when he was fired from HNIC. I don’t remember the pen flip, but I do remember him saying something to the effect of “We won’t be going to the end of the Montreal/Philadelphia game because that’s how the network is” at about 8 pm Pacific time when the CBC wanted to switch to other programming. I can remember that moment, but I can’t remember what I ate for breakfast on Friday or where I left my sunglasses.

For more fantasy hockey information, you can follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding.

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-laine-scores-five-goals-a-new-line-in-vegas-and-blue-blazers-nov-25/

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amtushinfosolutionspage · 7 years ago

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DGB Grab Bag: Happy Birthday Gretzky, Mid-Season Awards, and a Crotch Goal

Three Stars of Comedy

The third star: The Crotch Goal – It’s a lot like the Butt Goal, only with less butt and more crotch.

The second star: Jimmy Eat World – Yes, the band. No, I didn’t expect them to ever show up in this section either. But that was before they started dunking on team Twitter accounts.

Seriously, is it too late to get these guys to perform at the All-Star Game instead of Kid Rock? They don’t even have to sing, they can just go through all the league’s social media accounts and rip them individually. Let’s make this happen.

The first star: Auston Matthews is one of us – Nobody knows what goaltender interference is anymore. That includes Matthews, who lost a goal on Monday to a phantom interference penalty after a lengthy review. But it was worth it, because it gave us this all-purpose reaction GIF we can now use for pretty much every decision the NHL makes.

He followed that up with a goal and another classic reaction. Strong GIF work out there, Auston. Remember kids, there is no “I” in meme.

Outrage of the Week

The issue: For the first time in decades, the PHWA has released a round of midseason awards, covering all the major trophies and a few made-up ones as well.

The outrage: The results are wrong and the writers are stupid and you feel strongly about this.

Is it justified: I don’t even know what the results are as I’m writing this, or whether they’ll have been released by the time you read this (they’re supposed to come out at some point this morning). I just know that somebody out there is angry about them. And that’s good. That’s part of the fun. If we didn’t debate the picks, the whole process would be awfully boring.

If we’re being honest, the midseason picks will probably be even easier to criticize than the final season-ending votes. We’re working with a smaller sample size, but since these aren’t official awards there will probably be less time spent on the research side of things. (Believe it or not, PHWA members are known for obsessing over the details on their year-end ballots.) Some of these won’t hold up well a week or two from now, let alone at the end of the year.

But again, that’s part of the fun. So in the interest of transparency, here’s the ballot I submitted. I look forward to helpful feedback about how I can do better in the future. [brick flies by head] Oh cool, there’s some already.

Hart Trophy

1. Nathan MacKinnon

2. Nikita Kucherov

3. John Tavares

4. Blake Wheeler

5. Alexander Ovechkin

MacKinnon’s recent hot streak nudges him ahead of Kucherov. I wanted to get Wheeler on to the ballot, as his career year has helped the Jets stay on track even without Mark Scheifele. But that means I don’t have room for Steven Stamkos or Patrice Bergeron, let alone any defensemen or goalies. Here’s hoping a few of these guys separate from the pack in the second half, because right now this is a real tough choice.

Norris Trophy

1. Drew Doughty

2. Victor Hedman

3. P.K. Subban

4. John Klingberg

5. Alex Pietrangelo

I give Doughty a slight edge here, but Hedman is the interesting choice. He’s hurt now, and will miss a few more weeks, so he’s almost definitely not going to win the real award. There are a few guys in that situation around the league. Do you take them off your midseason ballot? I didn’t, just like I wouldn’t eliminate an end-of-season candidate who was hurt on the final weekend.

Vezina Trophy

1. Andrei Vasilevskiy

2. Mike Smith

3. Connor Hellebuyck

4. Pekka Rinne

5. Corey Crawford

This feels like a relatively easy call at #1, followed by about a half-dozen guys who could range from second spot to off the ballot. You could make a case for John Gibson, Frederik Andersen, or Jonathan Quick too.

Calder Trophy

1. Mathew Barzal

2. Brock Boeser

3. Charlie McAvoy

4. Clayton Keller

5. Mikhail Sergachev

The top two guys are running a fantastic race so far. From there, I kept McAvoy on my ballot despite his health issues for the same reason as Hedman. I had Sergachev a bit higher earlier in the week, but the Lightning making him a healthy scratch spooked me a bit.

Lady Byng

1. Marc-Edouard Vlasic

2. Mark Stone

3. Ryan O’Reilly

4. Auston Matthews

5. William Karlsson

Good players dominate this award these days, and rightfully so—they’re the ones targeted for the most abuse, so they get extra credit for not getting sucked in. But players who are asked to shutdown stars have it even tougher, which is why my top three picks here are guys who excel in their own end. You could make a case for all three, but defensemen never win the Lady Byng and that annoys me, so Vlasic is the pick.

Selke

1. Patrice Bergeron

2. Sean Couturier

3. Anze Kopitar

4. Mikael Backlund

5. Aleksander Barkov

A midseason Selke is an especially weird concept, since the real trophy is basically a lifetime achievement award. That tips a close race to Bergeron, even as Couturier emerges as a new contender.

Jack Adams

1. Gerard Gallant

2. Bruce Cassidy

3. Jared Bednar

4. Jon Cooper

5. John Hynes

Gallant will win this easily, and probably the end-of-year award too. I worked in Cooper as a protest vote, since this award shouldn’t always go to somebody from a “surprise” team.

General Manager

1. George McPhee

2. Doug Armstrong

3. David Poile

4. Ray Shero

5. Joe Sakic

This award doesn’t make sense for a full season, so you can imagine how a half-season version feels. It’s another easy Vegas win, while Armstrong made the offseason’s best trade, and Poile is Poile. If you’d told me would be on my ballot I’d have laughed at you, but here we are.

Best defensive defenseman (i.e. The Langway)

1. Hampus Lindholm

2. Mattias Ekholm

3. Marc-Edouard Vlasic

4. Zach Werenski

5. Jason Demers

This Langway doesn’t exist in real life, of course, so the PHWA is having some fun here. It’s a tough one to pick—clearly we’re not looking for guys who rack up points, but how many is too many? Do you set a cutoff? If so, do you eliminate guys with too many points altogether, or penalize them a few spots on the ballot? The real Rod Langway won the Norris in the mid-80s with 30 points, which on an era-adjusted basis would be like -10 today, so he’s no help. I looked at a combination of ice-time, penalty killing, zone starts, and relative possession, but I suspect the results here will be all over the map.

Comeback player

1. Mike Smith

2. Claude Giroux

3. Phil Kessel

4. Marc-Andre Fluery

5. Kris Letang

We weren’t given specific guidance here, but we were told that it wasn’t meant to be a copy of the Masterton. So I went with Smith, a guy who seemed to have fallen off the map in Arizona but has been reborn in Calgary. And Giroux and Kessel are back in the Art Ross race after some down years.

And that’s that. Please keep in mind I submitted this ballot before last night’s games, so if any of my picks are wrong that’s the reason.

Obscure Former Player of the Week

You’ll probably see a lot of birthday wishes being shared today in honor of a certain hockey legend who we’ll get to in the YouTube section. But he’s not the only former player born on this date. There’s also a Hall-of-Famer (Frank Nighbor), a former first overall pick (Dale McCourt), a future head coach (Ivan Hlinka), and a guy who sounds like a deranged serial killer character from a 1980s family sitcom (Alf Skinner).

But for this week’s obscure player, let’s keep it simple and go with another birthday boy: Harold Druken. Druken was a second-round pick by the Canucks in 1997, the same round as, uh, nobody really. Man that was a terrible second round. Druken went back to juniors for two more productive seasons and spent time in the minors before making his NHL debut during the 1990-00 season. He had 16 points in 33 games, then followed that up with 15 goals and 30 points in 55 games in 2000-01; he also scored the overtime goal that clinched the Canucks’ first playoff appearance since 1996.

Unfortunately, that 2000-01 season wound end up representing the peak of his NHL career, as injuries and lack of opportunity prevented him from playing another full season. He was traded to the Hurricanes, then bounced between Carolina and Toronto via waivers and trade. By the time the 2004 lockout arrived, Druken’s NHL career was over.

Today, a YouTube search brings up that playoff-clinching goal, a few fan tributes, a memorial for a different Harold Druken that briefly made me think this one had died, and lots of videos of severely intoxicated dudes fighting and dancing that were posted by people who misspelled “Drunken.” Not a bad legacy if you ask me.

Also, I always read his name in the Street Fighter II voice, and now you will too.

Be It Resolved

We apparently got a sneak peek at the names being considered for the NHL’s upcoming Seattle expansion team this week, as several domain registrations appeared to reveal the list of candidates.

Some are good (Sockeyes, Firebirds, Sea Lions), some are not good (Evergreens, Renegades), and some are just ripping off old teams (Seals, Whales). Some are uninspired choices that you used to use in your made-up hockey leagues when you were a kid (Cougars, Eagles). And some sound good, but would get annoying almost immediately (yes, yes, “Release the Kraken,” that is indeed a fun line from a movie that came out in 1981).

But while we’re at it, am I the only one who thinks it’s weird that “Metropolitans” isn’t on the list? The Seattle Metropolitans were the first American team to ever win the Stanley Cup. It happened in 1917, months before the NHL was formed. That seems like a pretty cool bit of history that you might want to acknowledge.

As an added bonus, having a team named the Metropolitans would force the NHL to change the name of the Metropolitan Division, which we can all agree would be a good thing. And as the Senators have shown us, if you use the same name as an old and forgotten franchise from a century ago, you get to lay claim to the championships for some reason.

So be it resolved, the new Seattle team should be called the Seattle Metropolitans. The Metros for short. Who’s with me? MET-ROS! MET-ROS!

Nobody? Dammit, you kids today have no sense of history. Fine, Sea Lions it is.

Classic YouTube Clip Breakdown

Today is Wayne Gretzky’s birthday, as the greatest player in NHL history turns [checks notes] … 57? Dear god, that can’t be right, can it? We are all so old. I need to lie down. Wait, that was a bad idea, now I can’t get back up.

I know what will make me feel better. Let’s travel back – way, way back – to a time when Gretzky was just a fresh-faced teenager, as he does one of his first major appearances in front of the national media.

It’s 1977, and a 16-year-old Gretzky is sitting down with the CBC’s Peter Gzowski. He’s already a heavily hyped prospect at this point, and he’s just joined the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds. I realize the quality isn’t super great here, but remember this is from a time before high-def cameras, crystal clear audio, and also, apparently, lights.

Gzowski’s first question is about Gretzky’s poise, which leads into his origin story. “When I was two years old I started skating, and I’d be out on in my backyard on the rink every day until one in the morning.” Wait, what? I don’t like to tell people who to raise their kids, but two-year-olds probably shouldn’t be outside after midnight. That seems extreme to me.

“I left home when I was thirteen.” Yeah, to escape the mandatory middle-of-the-night skating drills, I’m guessing.

Next comes a funny sequence about how Gretzky is still growing but has trouble gaining weight. He claims to be 160 pounds, and Gzowski just openly calls B.S. on him right then and there. Like he doesn’t even let him finish the sentence, he just goes right into basically saying “Nice try spaghetti arms, you’re not fooling anyone.” I thoroughly enjoyed Peter Gzowski.

And yes, this is of course the same Gzowski who we saw earlier this season sparring with Dick Beddoes in 1982 over how hairy Gretzky’s legs were. His skinny, hairless legs.

We get a few shots of Gretzky at practice. You can tell the clip is from early in the season, because he’s wearing #14. He’d asked for #9, a number he’d worn for years, but teammate Brian Gualazzi already had it and refused to give it up to a rookie. Legend has it that Greyhounds coach Muzz MacPherson convinced Gretzky to switch to #99 instead, and the rest was history.

Can we just take a minute to appreciate young Wayne’s collar game? As best I can tell based on this being filmed in candlelight, he appears to be wearing two separate butterfly collars with a mock turtleneck in between. It’s like the animal kingdom is waging war for this throat.

Next up we see Gretzky’s parents, Walter and Phyllis. Gzowski asks if they’re worried that their scrawny son will get hurt, and Walter explains that Wayne has an uncanny ability to avoid contact. Meanwhile, Phyllis stands silently and makes angry mom face at the idea of anyone touching her boy. Forget Dave Semenko, hockey moms are the ones you have to watch for.

We’re back to Wayne, who’s asked how much thinking he does on the ice. He explains that he tries to think ahead as much as possible, but it doesn’t always work. “The other night in Ottawa I was going to do something, I was thinking of it anyway, and then all of a sudden everything just went blank.” I’m pretty sure that’s the 2017-18 Senators’ team slogan, actually.

We get a blink-and-you-miss-it clip of an insane goalie going full Hasek on a poke check attempt, then it’s back to Walter. He’s asked if his son will be the next Bobby Orr, but stickhandles around the question to explain that it’s really Wayne’s schooling that matters. By the way, solid collar work by Walter here too. The well-decorated Adam’s apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

The education theme continues as Gretzky describes his plan to play two years of junior, finish high school, and then “Yes I’ll be going to university for sure.” Gzowski basically calls B.S. again, and this time Gretzky immediately abandons the idea. That’s strike two, Wayne, you lie to Peter Gzowski one more time and he’ll McCreary you.

We close with a sweet view of Gretzky walking down the streets of Sault Ste. Marie. The CBC somehow managed to edit out the “Staying Alive” soundtrack that must have followed Wayne around at all times back in those days. They do leave in the guy in the car in the background who seems to be flipping the bird out the window, though.

Gretzky describes the pressure of playing in a small town, then closes on an optimistic note by hoping he can have a good season. Epilogue: He did, putting up 182 points in 63 games. That one season was it for his junior career, as he was off to the WHA by 1978 and in the NHL a year after that. He’d go on to smash every offensive record in the book, despite the relentless march of time having a devastating effect on the quality of his wardrobe.

Have a question, suggestion, old YouTube clip, or anything else you’d like to see included in this column? Email Sean at [email protected], and follow him on Twitter @DownGoesBrown .

DGB Grab Bag: Happy Birthday Gretzky, Mid-Season Awards, and a Crotch Goal syndicated from https://australiahoverboards.wordpress.com

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thrashermaxey · 7 years ago

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Frozen Pool Forensics: Analyzing Hart Trophy Candidates

Last week we covered the candidates for the Selke Trophy along with some names that needed their piece. In the same fashion this week we are taking a look at the named candidates for the Hart Trophy, awarded to the player who is most valuable to their squad’s success, along with a couple names that could use some acknowledgement despite not making the cut. To start, we look to Nova Scotia’s second-most loved son next to Sidney Crosby. We’ve all waited some time for this youngster to ascend to the elite territory and 2017-18 is hopefully but one of many productive seasons to come.

Nathan MacKinnon

Everyone knew the talent and ability was there but the three years following his rookie campaign were disappointing. Though much of those mediocre seasons can be attested to the meager Avalanche squad he found himself on, this is a player that was expected to carry a franchise coming out of the draft. Improvement of the squad overall, a second season with coach Jared Bednar, and elevation of his own game led to career marks for the Halifax Mooseheads alum. Scoring 97 points total (39G, 58A), MacKinnon was an elite fantasy option for owners lucky enough to snag him in drafts. MacKinnon’s fading fantasy hope over the years allowed him to go in the 13th round in my redraft league and, to say the least, the owner was quite pleased with his investment.

A career season in shots for MacKinnon with 284 put him amongst the tops in the league. MacKinnon led the league in goals created per game at 0.50, tied for first with Brayden Point with 12 game winning goals, and was second to Connor McDavid by 0.01 in points per game (1.31). Colorado is not the deepest of squads at forward, relying heavily on the top unit (MacKinnon/Mikko Rantanen/Gabriel Landeskog) to provide the offense. The top line’s combined 243 points is the main reason they found themselves in the playoffs. Beyond them and Tyson Barrie, no other Avalanche player produced any astounding offensive numbers. Regardless this team had ten players with ten goals or more in 2017-18 so the future is bright. MacKinnon deserves heavy consideration regardless of the team’s first-round exit.

Taylor Hall

Much like MacKinnon above, Taylor Hall also needs heavy consideration for MVP hardware because the Devils would not have made the postseason without his career year. Any of us who owned Hall for his 80-point campaign in 2013-14 have always held out hope he’d produce in the same light again someday. Hall definitely still has a chip on his shoulder after being shipped out of Edmonton for Adam Larsson and his dominant 93-point campaign proves it. Unlike Colorado, where Rantanen was a strong complementary scorer to MacKinnon, the next best scorer on the Devils was Nico Hischier with 41 fewer points (52). Hall’s 37 power-play points alone would have made him fifth in scoring on the team, to put it in perspective how vital he was. I could go on and on about advanced stats regarding Hall’s season but his strong contention for the Hart is rooted solidly in his uncontested importance to the team. No other candidate had as weak a supporting cast as Hall in my opinion. Therefore because of this and his 26-game point streak spanning two months, he makes for a favorite if you ask me.

Anze Kopitar

What a fine treat to be covering Kopitar for the second week in a row for an entirely different nomination. The fact he is in MVP talks alongside best defensive forward consideration cements his place in the league as one of the most if not the most complete player. Kopitar bested Dustin Brown by 31 points overall in scoring in 2017-18 and managed a career season where the Los Angeles Kings only had Jeff Carter for 27 total games. Kopitar and Brown were the only two forwards to score more than 50 points speaking to the importance of his 92 points scored. Much like Hall, subtract Kopitar’s production and this team does not sniff the postseason. The Jesenice native was tenth overall in goals created per game at 0.42 and eighth in total goals created with 34.2. Not that we need more proof that Kopitar was essential to the Kings in 2017-18 but the man certainly needs more attention than he receives being out West. Los Angeles is a city much like Manhattan in that the people only real care when you’re winning. Though the Kings went nowhere in their first-round exit, the people of Los Angeles should truly appreciate what they have in Kopitar. They may never see another more complete player come through their system.

Blake Wheeler

When will Blake Wheeler be unanimously considered as one of the best in the game today? Since 2011-12, he’s been of the league’s best forwards and seemingly gets better with age as he scored 91 points in 2017-18 at 31 years old. This is on top of changing his position to center when Mark Scheifele went down long term not missing a beat. This year’s goals and assists make for 373 total points over the past five seasons. Though assist-heavy, he’s given owners at least 20 goals every year since 2013-14 with his points per game above .75 every time since 2011-12. Wheeler, alongside the likes of the Penguins core forwards, Kopitar, Ovechkin, and Getzlaf are proving that although the game is getting younger and younger, do not count out the greybeards. 2017-18 saw him receive his highest offensive zone starting percentage since 2011-12 which resulted in his career high 3.3 pts/60. His eye popping 40 power-play points would have been good for eighth overall in team scoring. Wheeler is the poster child for youth and their potential overshadowing consistent proven options. Do not fall into this mindset when it comes time to draft. Though he may not take home the Hart because of all the scoring options in Winnipeg, the American winger certainly needs to be heavily considered.

Phil Kessel

In reality, it’s Evgeni Malkin who should be covered but I owned him last season when he went down in playoff championships and can never forgive him. Maybe it’s because of the whole being American thing but my goodness Kessel’s season really seems to generate no discussion. By far the best campaign of his career to this point, Phil the Thrill was a force in western Pennsylvania as a “complementary” player. Removed from the star spotlight of Toronto, Kessel has flourished without the pressure all on him. Seeing a carousel of players beside him at even strength, he was deployment proof as far as point production producing 3.6 pts/60. Much can be credited to his absurd 42 power play points (12 goals) that would alone put him seventh overall in team scoring. Long heralded for his deadly release, Kessel is one of the more underrated passers in the NHL, with him routinely potting more assist totals then goals. With 211 points in 246 regular season games and 54 points in 62 playoff games donning a Penguins uniform, he’s been exactly what Jim Rutherford expected when he made the trade for the sniper. With two Stanley Cups already in three years and the recent information regarding him playing this entire campaign through injury, one really should tip their hat to his greatness.

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-home/frozen-pool-forensics/frozen-pool-forensics-analyzing-hart-trophy-candidates/

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