The Future Is Blinding

With Washington's untimely demise at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins this season, a chance to have an entire franchise's affiliations win championships went out the window. However, the AHL's Hershey Bears and the ECHL's South Carolina Stingrays held up their end of the deal by winning their leagues' respective championships. There were some notable contributors that made a difference for the Capitals this season, and there appears to be a very healthy farm system looking to reinforce the troops in DC. Today, we look at the farmhands of the Washington Capitals, and why I consider this group to be the best minor-league system of all the NHL teams. And there are a number of reasons why.

Goaltenders

Simeon Varlamov: Varlamov showed entirely why he was selected by the Capitals in the first round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft in this season's NHL Playoffs. While his record of 7-6 wasn't all that indicative of how well he played, Varlamov was the reason why the Capitals advanced past the New York Rangers after trailing in the series 3-1. He sported a 2.53 GAA and a .918 save percentage in 13 NHL Playoff Games - great stats for a rookie with only six regular season NHL games under his belt. His international experience combined with his time playing for Yaroslavl in the Russian Super League has Varlamov set for what looks to be a long NHL career.

Michal Neuvirth: Neuvirth was selected in the second round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, shortly after the Capitals took Varlamov. Neuvirth was a standout with the Plymouth Whalers of the OHL, leading them to the Memorial Cup Championships as the OHL Champions in 2007. This season, after Varlamov was called up to Washington with Brent Johnson being injured, Neuvirth went 9-5-2. However, in the Calder Cup Playoffs, Neuvirth took his game to another level. He went 16-6 with four shutouts to help the Hershey Bears win the Calder Cup over the Manitoba Moose. Neuvirth also played for the South Carolina Stingrays this season where he was 6-7 with a 2.28 GAA and a .918 save percentage. Clearly, Neuvirth has the ability to elevate his game, and may have an opportunity to tandem with Varlamov in Washington in the future.

Daren Machesney: Machesney seems to have slipped slightly with the emergence of Varlamov and Neuvirth, but the fifth-round pick in 2005 is still highly regarded in the Capitals' system. In 36 games with the Hershey Bears this season, Machesney went 19-12-1, but had an inflated GAA of 3.24 along with an .876 save percentage. Machesney's stats aren't NHL-calibre yet, but the young goalie is producing at the AHL level for the Bears. Machesney does need some work on positioning, but he will play for Hershey next season as he has produced good results over the last two seasons with the Bears.

Defencemen

Karl Alzner: Alzner was a first-round pick for the Capitals in 2007, and he is developing into a steady, reliable, hard-hitting defenceman. He played in pressure situations in 2007 and 2008 for Team Canada at the World Junior Championships, helping them to gold medals in both years. He captained the 2008 team, showing that he is a leader on the ice and respected by his peers. While he's only logged 30 games in the NHL with Washington, scoring one goal and adding four assists, his 48 games in Hershey showed that he is advancing at a solid pace. His four goals and 16 assists, combined with his excellent defensive play, could make Alzner the next captain of the Capitals.

John Carlson: Carlson was taken in the first-round in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, and is showing signs of being cut from the same mold as Mike Green. He moved from the USHL to the OHL's London Knights this past season, and scored at an incredible pace. In 59 games, Carlson notched 16 goals and 60 assists. He added another seven goals and 15 assists in 14 OHL Playoff games this year. While there is some concern that Carlson's defensive zone coverage is a bit of a liability, having a second Mike Green-type player on the blueline will only help the Capitals' forwards in time. And if he continues to play under the Hunters in London, his defensive game should improve.

Josh Godfrey: Godfrey was drafted in the second round of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, and his calling card is his booming slapshot. In 37 games with the Stingrays this season, Godfrey potted five goals and added 20 assists in 37 games. He spent time with the Bears as well, recording six assists in 13 games with the AHL club. Godfrey looks like a bonafide blue-chipper, but still needs some work in improving his defensive zone coverage. However, his instincts appear to be sound, and he looks NHL-bound sooner rather than later.

Sasha Pokulok: Pokulok was taken in the first round of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft at 14th overall. Pokulok looks like an NHL defenceman already in terms of his size, measuring in at 6'5" and 230 lbs. He spent 44 games with the Hershey Bears last season, recording one goal and six assists. However, his season this year was derailed by injuries, and he only appeared in eight games with the Bears and 23 games with the Stingrays. He still recorded two goals and nine assists in the ECHL, but Pokulok will need to work hard to regain his pre-injury form. If he does, however, he's a big-body defenceman much like John Erskine, only with more offensive potential.

Keith Seabrook: Seabrook was taken in the second round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, and appears to be working his way up the depth chart nicely. He spent one season with Denver in the NCAA before transferring to Calgary to play WHL hockey with the Hitmen. In 2007-08, his first with the Hitmen, Seabrook seemed a little hesitant on the offensive side of the puck, only recording four goals and 13 assists in 59 games. However, he showed great improvement this season as he put up 15 goals and 40 assists in 64 games. Seabrook looks to be the best two-way defenceman behind Karl Alzner, and should be with Stingrays at least for the 2009-10 season.

Forwards

Oskar Osala: The Finnish left winger might be the best all-around forward in the Capitals' system right now. Osala was drafted in the fourth-round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, and has benefitted from the experience of playing in the Finnish Hockey League with the Espoo Blues. Osala made the jump from Finland to the AHL this season, appearing in 75 games with the Hershey Bears, scoring 23 goals and adding 14 assists. In watching this young man play, he has a quick release, and understands his role defensively. While his vast offensive potential has yet to be tapped, he plays well in his own end and still has room to grow. He should be playing in Washington within a couple of years.

Chris Bourque: Bourque was a second-round pick in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, and has really begun to come into his own as a player. This is his fourth year in the Capitals' system, having only played 12 games for the NHL club. However, he has steadily improved each year in the AHL, posting an increase in points every year. In 2005-06, he scored eight goals and 28 assists in 52 games. In 2006-07, Bourque scored 25 goals and added 33 assists in 76 games. In 2007-08, he played in 73 games, scoring 28 goals and adding 35 assists. And last season, he played in 69 games, scoring 21 goals and recording 52 assists. Bourque is one of the fastest players on the ice as well, making him a threat every time he gets some open ice. Bourque should be an NHL fixture with Washington by the 2010-11 season if he continues to produce in the AHL.

Anton Gustafsson: Gustafsson was taken in the first round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, but his progress has been hard to follow. He remains in Sweden, playing for a Tier-1 Swedish team where he scored six goals and four assists in 25 games. The problem is that the Tier-1 Swedish League would be equivalent to the ECHL in some regards, so it's hard to tell if Gustafsson is improving. A move to North America where he can adapt to the game would be helpful. Some scouts have indicated that Gustafsson could be a good second-line centerman, while others have indicated that he'll be no more than a third-line checking centerman. The jury is still out on Gustafsson, but he's young and has great potential, so there's still time for him to impress.

Mathieu Perreault: Perreault was selected in the sixth round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. Perreault was a bonafide scoring threat with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan of the QMJHL, but there was some concern about his defensive responsibilities. How a player who scored 119 points in 2006-07, and 114 points in 2007-08 in the QMJHL slipped to the sixth round is beyond me, but the Capitals benefitted greatly. In his first season with the AHL's Hershey Bears, Perreault really came on in the second half of the season, and ended with 11 goals and 39 assists in 77 games in his first pro campaign. Perreault looks like he will remain with Hershey for next season, but he could be a future second-line centerman for the Capitals. He dishes the puck well, and his defensive responsibilities really improved this season, particularly in the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Andrew Gordon: Gordon was selected in the seventh round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, but is the only right winger on the list that I can see having a future with the Capitals. Gordon is hard-working, grinding forward who doesn't shy away from a hit, and can put the puck in the net. In 2007-08, Gordon only appeared in 58 AHL games with the Bears, but scored 16 goals and added 35 assists. This past season, Gordon's production dropped off a little as he scored 21 goals and 24 assists, but he was better on the defensive side of the puck. Gordon appears to be a third-line winger, but if he can bring his offensive game to the forefront, he would the power forward that Washington would need with all their skill up front.

Stefan Della Rovere: Della Rovere was selected in the seventh round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Della Rovere is a feisty agitator. He starred with the Barrie Colts of the OHL this past season where he 27 goals and 24 assists in 57 games. He was an agitating presence who showed flashes of goal-scoring brilliance with Team Canada at the World Junior Championships this past year, helping the team win the gold medal. While Della Rovere only played in two games with the Stingrays this season, he appears to be on the right path for a professional career.

Make no mistake that other organizations have blue-chip prospects. What makes the Capitals' system so good is their depth, their drafting and scouting, their commitment to winning, and their development system. They have blue-chip prospects at every position, and all of them have won at various stages of their careers.

With a future this bright, the Capitals are at the dawn of greatness.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Booked On Monday Night

If there is one story that all kids should grow up with as hockey fans, it's Roch Carrier's phenomenal story called Le Chandail de Hockey. The story revolves around a young boy named Roch who is enamoured with Les Canadiens and their superstar winger, Maurice "Rocket" Richard. Everyone is a Canadiens fan in town, and the kids lace their skates like Richard, comb their hair like Richard, and play like Richard. When Roch outgrows his beloved Canadiens sweater, his mom writes to Timothy Eaton, owner of the famed Eaton's Department Store, for a new sweater. When the sweater finally arrives, well... the beauty of the National Film Board of Canada is that they have the story online.

The National Film Board has the story of Le Chandail de Hockey online in movie form. Directed and animated by Sheldon Cohen and narrated by author Roch Carrier, The Sweater is the story put to film. Produced in 1980, it is still a classic short that has stood the test of time. Here is, in its entirety of 10:21, the story of The Sweater:

For more information on The Sweater, please check out the National Film Board of Canada's official site. There are some other brilliant films available on the site as well. If you have a few moments to poke through the site, I recommend checking out The Cat Came Back, an Oscar-nominated short by Cordell Barker, or The Log Driver's Waltz, a short vignette directed by John Weldon.

Those three shorts used to be shown on Canadian TV as filler during commercial breaks, and they really take me back to my childhood. I love Le Chandail de Hockey, and the short is just as good.

I'm off to a gathering tonight as a few friends who I haven't seen in a while are getting together for a few frosty beverages and some laughs. Take care, everyone, and I'll have more to post tomorrow.

Until then, keep your sticks on the ice!

Launching Rockets

We've checked out some of the major hardware that is handed out in the NHL. So far, we've learned the history and some facts about the Stanley Cup, the Hart Trophy, the Art Ross Trophy, the Lester B. Pearson Trophy, the Norris Trophy, the Vezina Trophy, and the Calder Trophy. In each case, there has been some interesting history behind each of the trophy in terms of how and why it was donated. Today, we look at one of the harder trophies to win in the NHL simply due to the fact that everyone is trying to stop you from winning. The Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy is the newest trophy in the history of the NHL, and is awarded "annually to the goal-scoring leader during the regular season". Where did the Richard Trophy come from? How did the NHL obtain it? Who has been the most prolific goal-scorer thus far?

The trophy was donated in 1999 by the Montreal Canadiens to the NHL to honour the life of one the NHL's best scoring threats. Richard spent his entire 18-year career with his hometown Canadiens, and set numerous scoring records while playing in the NHL. However, it was almost as if his path had been chosen for him before he ever embarked on a professional hockey career.

Joseph Henri Maurice "Rocket" Richard, Sr. was born in Montreal, Quebec on August 4, 1921. He was an exceptional hockey player as a child, and worked hard on being the fastest skater as a young player. However, in 1939, he applied to become part of Canada's military with the outbreak of World War II. He was denied twice by the military as a com,bat soldier, citing him "unfit for military duty", after x-rays showed that his previously broken wrists, ankle, and femur had not healed properly. These were injuries suffered in junior hockey.

He applied with the military again as a machinist, but the military again denied his application. This time, he was turned away due to not having a high school diploma or technical school diploma. Richard had dropped out of school at age 16 and worked in a local factory to help out at home. Because he had not graduated, the military would not accept him.

He enrolled in Montreal Technical School as a machinist, and worked hard to earn his degree. However, the war ended before Richard completed the four-year program, and he was no longer needed in the Canadian military. This disappointed Richard greatly as he was fiercely patriotic and wanted the opportunity to serve.

Richard almost had his rights traded by the Canadiens prior to joining the team. The Canadiens viewed him as too injury-prone after having suffered the various ailments above. However, they did like his speed and tenacity, and decided to give the kid a chance as a left winger, an unnatural position for Richard considering he had played right wing most of his life.

When Richard joined the Canadiens in 1942, he was given #15 as a rookie. As you may know, numbers were assigned by sleeping cars on the train, and the rookies always got the highest numbers. Coach Dick Irvin watched him struggle in 16 games as a rookie, only scoring five goals and adding six assists. It was questionable whether or not Richard would even be back with the Canadiens in the following year after he failed to make an impression on the Canadiens' management staff.

However, Irvin stuck to his intuition, and moved Richard back to the right wing to start the 1943-44 season. Richard also made a personal request to Irvin - he wanted to wear #9. The reason for the change was due to the birth of his first daughter, Huguette, who weighed nine pounds at birth. Irvin granted the number change, and the Canadiens would see incredible changes from Richard after these two minor adjustments.

Richard played in 46 games in the 1943-44 season, collecting 32 goals and 22 assists as part of the "Punch Line" with Toe Blake and Elmer Lach. His 32 goals at that time was fourth-highest in Canadiens' history, and the fans were drawn to him due to his speed, scoring, and toughness. In nine games in the playoffs, Richard added 12 more goals and another five assists en route to winning the Stanley Cup. Montreal's son had brought home the Stanley Cup to La Belle Province for the first time since 1931.

Irvin's moves paid off in spades in 1944-45 when Richard set an NHL scoring benchmark. Richard was scoring goals at an unreal goal-per-game pace, and it became apparent that he may become the NHL's first 50-goal scorer before the season ended. By Game 48, Richard has scored 49 goals, leaving him with two games to achieve this then-unparalleled mark. While the media called him "The Comet", Ray Getliffe, a Canadiens left winger, likened him to a rocket, and the new nickname stuck.

He was blanked in Game 49 against the Blackhawks despite Montreal winning the game. With 49-in-49, Richard needed a big effort in Boston against the Bruins at the hostile Boston Garden. Richard managed to dent the twine in a 4-2 victory over the Bruins to give him his 50th goal in his 50th game, the only player to ever achieve the 50-goal mark in a 50-game schedule. And your trivia answer is Harvey Bennett. That's the goaltender who Richard beat with his 50th goal of the season. Ironically, the 1944-45 season would be the only season Bennett would play in the NHL, going 10-12-2.

Richard would win another Stanley Cup in 1945-46, and led the league in goals another two times before the infamous 1954-55 season. The Canadiens were simply dominant this season, led by Richard goal-scoring abilities. However, a common tactic to keep him off the ice was to goad him into a fight. Richard's temper was legendary at this point, and teams would simply chip away at him until he snapped on the ice and engaged in a fight. Having the NHL's best goal-scorer off the ice outweighed any other factors, so Richard found himself in the penalty box more times than any other season in 1954-55.

On March 13, 1955, the NHL would spark a battle like no other. Richard had been suspended numerous times throughout his career at this point for stick-swinging and abuse of officials. The game against the Bruins on this night would alter what could have been incredible history. Instead, it became ugly NHL history.

Boston defenseman Hal Laycoe high-sticked Richard above his eye, cutting the star's head open. This was a common tactic to ignite Richard's fiery temper, and it worked. Referee Frank Udvari allowed the play to continue as the Canadiens controlled the puck, and finally blew the play dead a few seconds later. Richard charged at Laycoe, who already had his gloves off and fists up expecting the enraged Richard to come after him. Richard swung his stick like a baseball bat at Laycoe, and caught him along the back and side of his face.

Linesmen jumped between the two players, but Richard was a raging bull. He hit Laycoe two more times with his stick using one-handed swings. Linesman Cliff Thompson restrained Richard again, but he managed to get away from Thompson. Richard grabbed a stick and again struck Laycoe across the back with a baseball swing.

Thompson tackled Richard to the ice, attempting to pin the enraged star until he calmed down. However, a teammate knocked Thompson off Richard, and, as the two were rising, Richard punched Thompson twice in the face. With his rage starting to waver, the Montreal trainers escorted Richard off the ice under a chorus of boos.

Police arrived at the Canadiens dressing room to charge Richard with assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, but coach Dick Irvin barred the door. The officers only agreed to leave after Bruins President Walter Brown and General Manager Lynn Patrick assured the officers that the league would handle this situation accordingly.

On Wednesday, March 16, Richard, head coach Dick Irvin, and assistant GM Ken Reardon met with Clarence Campbell, NHL President, to discuss the events that occurred on March 13. Laycoe, Lynn Patrick, the game officials, Referee-In-Chief Carl Voss, Campbell, and the Canadiens' delegation met for three-and-a-half hours. At 4pm, Clarence Campbell addressed the media:

"An incident occurred less than three months ago in which the pattern and conduct of Richard was almost identical. Consequently, the time for leniency or probation is past. Whether this type of conduct is the product of tempermental instability or wilful defiance doesn't matter. It's the type of conduct that cannot be tolerated. Richard is suspended from playing in the remaining league and playoff games."

With that last sentence, Clarence S. Campbell turned the hockey-mad city of Montreal into a mob. Death threats were issued by Montrealers towards Campbell. Demonstrators waited outside the Montreal Forum for Campbell to arrive for Montreal's March 17 game against Detroit as the top team in the NHL would be crowned that night.

Campbell arrived midway through the first period, and sat at the south end of the rink behind the goal judge. With Detroit leading 2-0 when Campbell arrived, the fans were already unhappy. However, it only got worse. Detroit scored two more times in the first period, staking them to a 4-1 lead, and each time that Detroit scored, a deluge of items rained down on Campbell: programs, toe rubbers, eggs, tomatoes, assorted vegetables, and picked pig's feet. The pig's feet were particular in that Campbell had been portrayed as an "English pig" for his condemnation of the French superstar.

During the first intermission, a man crushed two tomatoes against Campbell's chest. Another man faked a handshake, and slapped Campbell across the face twice. Someone set off a smoke bomb, and the fans poured out of the arena as the thick smoke filled the interior. And then all hell broke loose.

Young men threw bottles and chunks of ice at windows. A side door to the Forum was torn off its hinges. Pieces of brick and concrete from a nearby construction site were launched through windows of nearby businesses. Police estimated there were 10,000 people in the mob outside the Forum at 11PM. By 1AM, the mob had dispersed, but the damage had been done: 15 blocks in Montreal had been trashed and looted. All because of Campbell's decision to suspend Richard.

Montreal forfeited the game to Detroit that night, and, three nights later, lost to Detroit again, giving Detroit the best record in the league. Bernard "Boom Boom" Geoffrion, who had battled with teammate Richard all season for the scoring lead, overtook Richard and won the Art Ross Trophy by one point in that final game. He was booed mercilessly by the Montreal fans.

To add more fuel for the fire, the Canadiens lost in seven games to the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Final. It was a stinging reminder for everyone in Montreal of Clarence Campbell's decision. However, the lesson had not gone unlearned. Richard would never finish with more than 89 PIMs after his suspension.

Richard would retire from the NHL after the 1959-60, having helped the Canadiens win five straight Stanley Cups in the previous five seasons. He would end his illustrious career having scored 544 goals, becoming the first player to break the 500-goal plateau. He won eight Stanley Cups, seven as a player and one in 1965 as Assistant to the President of the Canadiens, one Hart Trophy in 1947, and was an NHL All-Star each season from 1947 until 1959. He led the NHL in goals five separate times during his career.

Richard was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961, having the customary three-year waiting period waived in his honour. In 1967, he was inducted as an Officer in the Order of Canada. 1992 saw him appointed to the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, ensuring that he would be referred to as "The Honourable" for life. In 1998, he was made Companion in the Order of Canada. This last honour is normally reserved for members of Cabinet, Chief Justices of Canada, and other dignitaries who require access to classified documents. His recommendation came directly from Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.

The city of Montreal showed him just how important he is to them when he stepped onto the ice at the Montreal Forum before the final game in the arena's history. The fans in attendance gave him a 16-minute standing ovation, causing the legend to cry over the outpouring of admiration for him. The normally humble and private Richard mouthed the words "thank you" over and over as he wept on the carpet - a moving tribute to Montreal's most controversial hockey icon.

In 1999, the Montreal Rocket began play in the QMJHL, named for Maurice Richard. While the Rocket moved to Prince Edward Island in 2003, the logo, prominently displaying Richard's #9, remains the same. In 2001, Richard was added to Canada's Walk of Fame.

Maurice "Rocket" Richard passed away from an inoperable form of abdominal cancer on May 27, 2000, and there was an incredible turnout for the viewing of Richard at the Bell Centre. It is estimated that more than 115,000 people came through to pay their respects to Mr. Richard and his family. After his passing, the Montreal Expos wore a #9 on their sleeve to honour his life and memory. Richard was given a provincial state funeral, the first time such an honour has gone to an athlete in Quebec.

Without a doubt, Maurice Richard was larger than life in the city of Montreal, and the admiration shown by the fans proves that he was loved for his abilities. As much as he enjoyed scoring goals, his private life remained private, and the media in Montreal respected that wish - something that rarely happens in today's society. Due to his idolization of Richard while growing up, Canadiens President Ronald Corey created the Maurice "Rocket Richard Trophy in honour of the legend, and donated it to the NHL to be awarded to the league's top goal-scorer each season.

While there have only been a few players to win the trophy since 1999, let's take a look at a few interesting facts:

• Teemu Selanne was the first winner of the Maurice Richard Trophy in 1999. Selanne scored 47 goals for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim that year.
• Pavel Bure was the first back-to-back winner of the award when he won in 2000 and again in 2001 as a member of the Florida Panthers. Bure scored 58 goals in 2000 and 59 goals in 2001.
• There was a three-way tie for the Maurice Richard Trophy in 2004. Rick Nash of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Jarome Iginla of the Calgary Flames, and Ilya Kovalchuk of the Atlanta Thrashers all scored 41 goals that season to lead the league.
• The 41 goals scored by those three players is the lowest total to win the award in the nine times it has been awarded.
• Alexander Ovechkin currently holds top spot for the most goals scored by a Maurice Richard Trophy winner. In 2008-09, Ovechkin scored 65 goals, breaking Bure's mark of 59 goals.
• There has not been an American-born player who has won the Richard Trophy yet. By nationality, there have been four Canadians, three Russians, a Finn, and a Czech.
• Bure and Iginla have won the most Richard Trophies in their careers with two each.

So there's some history on the newest trophy in the NHL's trophy case. Honestly, the history of Maurice Richard is amazing, and he literally carried French-Canada for a long time. There's no denying, however, how important Richard was to the Montreal Canadiens, the city of Montreal, and the game of hockey.

He is deserving of an award in his name and his honour.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Selecting The Future

For all the reported trade talk at this year's NHL Entry Draft, there was one major trade on Day One. For all the secrecy that the New York Islanders hid behind, they eventually took the best player at the first overall position. For everyone who said that this draft may not offer up a lot of surprises, you get half-marks. There were a few players who might have been selected earlier than thought, and a couple who slid down the board. I'm not going to predict winners and losers after the opening round of the draft, but I'll go through each team's selections with my own opinion.

John Tavares - London Knights (OHL). It was said that Islanders fan would burn down Nassau Memorial Coliseum in search of GM Garth Snow's head had he passed over Tavares. For a team desperate for scoring, Tavares will provide that in spades provided he has willing teammates who will feed him the puck. His hockey sense is incredible, and his skating is fine. He will need to get stronger when battling in front of the net, but Tavares is a player that the Islanders desperately need to keep their dwindling fanbase from turning rabid.

Victor Hedman - Modo (Sweden). Since the Lightning operated their defencemen on a revolving door last season, Hedman might be the first defenceman since Roman Hamrlik who earns a spot on the blueline based on how high he was drafted. Hedman has experience after playing in the Swedish Elite League against men who are stronger and more experienced than he. However, the mess in Tampa Bay won't be solved by Hedman overnight. As it has been seen, it takes defencemen 3-4 years before they become big-time NHL defencemen. Hedman could be an exception, but he still looks a little lean to me. The skill level he possesses, however, makes him an all-world talent.

Matt Duchene - Brampton Battalion (OHL). While everyone is hunting for the next Steve Yzerman, Duchene may very well be the next Joe Sakic. Sakic is solid scorer, but doesn't shy away from playing defence either. Duchene is cut from the same mold. While he may not have Sakic's wrist shot, the heart, desire, and leadership is there, and that's an exceptional foundation to build upon. Oh, and that scholastic award he won in the OHL this year? The kid is wicked smart too.

Evander Kane - Vancouver Giants (WHL). Kane is the kind of player that every coach loves. He forechecks like a demon, can score goals in bunches, and loves to hit. While he's still a little undersized for the NHL, he will grow into 6'1" frame. What most people don't talk about is his determination and character. This is a guy who was cut from the Canadian World Junior team, only to be asked back after an injury. And what did he do? Show the world that he was a big-time performer. Alongside guys like Kovalchuk and Little, Kane should be a fan favorite in Hot-lanta.

Brayden Schenn - Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL). If Los Angeles was looking for another wrecking ball to play alongside Dustin Brown, Schenn would be him. The kid is "Charlie Hustle" personified, and he knows how to score. He plays the game with his heart on his sleeve, and is a phenomenal character guy. He has soft hands, doesn't mind passing the puck over shooting, and loves to hit guys. Schenn might have the ability to crack the Kings' lineup next season if he continues to work hard this off-season.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Leksand (Sweden). There's no mistaking that the Coyotes need a solid, puck-moving defenceman after trading away Derek Morris last season. While it may be a couple of years before Ekman-Larsson matures into the foundation of the Coyotes' blueline, he has shown the flashes of brilliance to warrant his pick at sixth-overall. He has been described as a "poor man's Nicklas Lidstrom" as he plays both sides of the puck at a high level. Anytime you can be compared to a legend like Lidstrom has to be a major compliment in terms of what you bring to the table.

Nazem Kadri - London Knights (OHL). With GM Brian Burke unable to move in the draft to get Tavares, why not take the player who some scouts felt was a better player in the OHL Playoffs this season? Kadri didn't have the greatest season in the regular season, and that's the knock on him: consistency. However, he'll be playing in familiar territory in Ontario, and should settle into the Leafs organization fairly well in my view. Kadri brings all the elements to the table that you want: scoring, hitting, solid forechecking. He just needs to make a habit of bringing his lunchbox to work with him each and every night.

Scott Glennie - Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL). Glennie was the knife that buttered Schenn's bread for Brandon this season. Glennie has remarkable skill and excellent playmaking vision. The one knock on him is that sometimes he's too finesse with the puck, and makes one too many moves. Glennie will be successful is he can simplify his game, and that's something the Stars can teach him. If he gets a chance to play with Jamie Benn in Austin next season, we may see the next "Hull-and-Oates" combination where they lit up the scoresheet. Glennie-and-Bennie, anyone?

Jared Cowen - Spokane Chiefs (WHL). The big defenceman proved he could overcome the knee injury he suffered in January by skating on Wednesday. It remains to be seen, though, if he rushed back. However, he is a Memorial Cup winner, and he's an enormous 6'5" frame. Bigger defencemen take time to mature and develop, especially after a knee injury, so I'm guessing he'll be in Binghampton for a year or two before getting to the NHL. However, his size and nastiness in the defensive zone remind me of one of the most despised defencemen of today's NHL in Chris Pronger. And Ottawa can certainly use a player like that.

Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson - Timra (Sweden). MPS, as I'll abbreviate him, went from a timid 16 year-old at the World Junior Championships to a budding superstar. His speed and soft hands make him a dangerous threat to score every time he touches the puck, but I believe it is his size that will make him a dangerous threat. In the same way that Forsberg could turn it on as he turned a corner, MPS appears to have that same blazing acceleration and deft scoring touch while having a bigger body to protect the puck. There is no way that Edmonton GM Steve Tambellini could pass up on Paajarvi-Svensson at the 10th pick.

Ryan Ellis - Windsor Spitfires (OHL). If there is any team that has a stable of exceptional young defencemen at this point, it has to be the Nashville Predators. Shea Weber, Dan Hamhuis and Ryan Suter already anchor that group, and adding an offensive threat from the blueline like Ellis may give Nashville the extra boost they need. Watching him play this season felt like watching Paul Coffey again. He skates like the wind, he has exceptional vision, and he has a solid shot from the point. Barry Trotz and the staff in Nashville will develop his defensive game, but the offensive package he brings to Music City will wow the fans in Nashville.

Calvin De Haan - Oshawa Generals (OHL). In what seems like a step backwards after drafting John Tavares, the Islanders pick up a bit of a project in defenceman De Haan. Don't get me wrong: De Haan can move the puck and skates fairly well, but he won't be NHL-ready for at least 2-3 years. De Haan has incredible offensive upside, but he routinely was beaten down-low in his own zone, and needs to get bigger physically. His 6'0", 165 lbs. frame won't stand a chance in the AHL or NHL, especially when battles for the puck are won and lost along the endboards. And for the Islanders, there was better talent still on the board at this point.

Zach Kassian - Peterborough Petes (OHL). In two years, there will be teams who will not want to play against the Buffalo Sabres. Last year, they drafted 6'6" Tyler Myers who seems to enjoy crushing opponents into the boards when given the chance. This year, they draft Zach Kassian, a gladiator of a hockey player. Scoring? Yes. Hitting? Absolutely. Fighting? Damn straight. Kassian was built in the same fashion that Milan Lucic was, and he doesn't back down from anyone. Surprisingly, he was still on the board at #13. Unsurprisingly, the Sabres upgraded their toughness in one fell swoop.

Dmitry Kulikov - Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL). In picking Kulikov, the Panthers are getting a potential first-line defenceman. Kulikov isn't afraid to play physically, and brings a solid offensive upside to the Panthers. While far-less offensively-minded than the comparisons to Sergei Zubov was when he entered the league, Kulikov will offer a tremendous upgrade in the defensive department. Kulikov was the best defenceman available at #14, and the Panthers made an excellent choice.

Peter Holland - Guelph Storm (OHL). Holland comes into the draft with stats similar to those of third-overall pick Matt Duchene, but there are questions about his determination and doggedness. Holland will bring a solid skill package to the Ducks, and should line-up as a second-line centerman as long as Ryan Getzlaf is still in SoCal. However, he doesn't quite fit head coach Randy Carlyle's hard-work, hustle system yet, and that will have to be taught to the young man. If he reaches his potential, however, it would be worth the work in teaching him to how to play harder.

Nick Leddy - Eden Prairie High School. With the impending loss of Marian Gaborik, it was almost a given that Minnesota would draft home-grown Jordan Schroeder with the #16 pick. Minnesota did go home-grown, but selected defenceman Nick Leddy instead. GM Chuck Fletcher insists that Leddy is the perfect "new NHL" defenceman who can skate, move the puck, and play soundly in his own zone. While there is no denying Fletcher's intuition, we'll get to see how he plays at the next level when he moves to the USA Hockey program next month.

David Rundblad - Skelleftea (Sweden). The Blues are increasing their skill from the blueline forward. With Erik Johnson last year, the Blues have two outstanding defencemen waiting in the wings. Rundblad is highly-skilled, and brings an excellent two-way game to the Blues. The one thing that really stands out in his game is his breakout. He skates extremely well, and appears to be one of the better players to start a rush with his passing. If there's one thing that was exposed in their series against Vancouver this year, it was that the Blues had trouble getting the puck out of their zone. Rundblad could be a major part of the solution to that problem.

Louis Leblanc - Omaha Lancers (USHL). Montreal drafted a home-grown boy as their potential number-one centerman. Leblanc has soft hands and a true ability to avoid hits while with the puck. While he's still a little lean at 6'0", 178 lbs., he packs a lot of power behind his shots, and fires the puck from anywhere. He is a ball of fiery energy as he plays with a lot of emotion, and will stand-up for a teammate when he can. He forechecks well, he finishes hits, and he plays the game hard - something the Canadiens haven't seen for a while. He'll have to learn to play disciplined, though, if he wants to crack the Canadiens' line-up in a year or two.

Chris Kreider - Andover High School. Kreider has a big body, and uses it to dig hard in corners for the puck. He has a solid shot, and can really skate. The major knock on him, however, is that he is being compared to other high school students. While the potential is high, it will be interesting to see if he can continue to develop against players in higher-level hockey. For all intents and purposes, though, he's a solid, hard-working player, and that can only deliver good results.

Jacob Josefson - Djurgarden (Sweden). Josefson has been compared to Zetterberg, but he's clearly not as proficient in the offensive zone as his Swedish counterpart. However, he is a responsible two-way player and a playmaker, and that's entirely what Lou Lamoriello looks for. He has good strength, and is tough to knock off the puck, especially along the boards. The problem is that he's smaller in stature, and has minimal speed. Some have called him predictable since he is a pass-first player, so the coaching staff of the Devils will need to work with him to make him a more complete player offensively.

John Moore - Chicago Steel (USHL). Moore has the skill and talent to light up the scoreboard as a defenceman, and has drawn comparisons to Mike Green. However, the jump from USHL to the next level will determine Moore's real value. Moore skates incredibly well, and has exceptional acceleration to add to his ability. His defensive zone coverage needs work, but coach Ken Hitchcock and his staff will preach defence in Columbus. Moore has vast potential to be an exceptional offensive catalyst. The only question is whether or not he'll reach that potential.

Jordan Schroeder - University of Minnesota Golden Gophers (NCAA). The highly-skilled right winger was the top scorer as a freshman in the NCAA this season. For the Canucks to grab Schroeder at 22nd-overall is a huge payoff for a franchise desperate for scoring stars. After selecting Cody Hodgson, a gifted playmaker, last season, the Canucks get a fast, strong winger who can put pucks in the net. At 5'8", however, the thought is that he lacks the size of a power forward, pushing him to pass when he should shoot. The Canucks will look to break that pass-first trend to make him into the youthful scorer they need in the coming years.

Tim Erixon - Skelleftea (Sweden). Erixon looked extremely good at last season's World Junior Championship, and he was a solid defenceman in the Swedish Elite League. Erixon won't wow anyone with his offensive or defensive prowess, but he gets the job done. And for coach Brent Sutter, that's exactly the kind of no-frills defenceman he appreciates. He may not be a #1 or #2 defenceman, but he'll be the rock-solid guy sent out to do the dirty work for the Flames.

Marcus Johansson - Farjestad (Sweden). First there was Nicklas Backstrom. Then there was Anton Gustafsson. Washington adds a third quality centerman through the draft from Sweden in Johansson. Johansson isn't the most prolific scorer, but GM George McPhee stated that he is "[v]ery good in almost every area of his game - quick, smart, competitive, good hands". The one thing that prevented Johansson from being ranked higher than he was in the pre-draft reports was the series of concussions he suffered. He had two last season, but it appears the Capitals were happy with his health. He'll need a little work, but Johansson appears to be a solid prospect.

Jordan Caron - Rimouski Oceanic (QMJHL). The 6'2" centerman fits the mold of the big, bad Bruins. He has great mobility, good hands, and a keen goal-scoring sense. Scouts feel that his skating needs to improve, and that he is slightly one-dimensional. Coach Claude Julien will add a defensive aspect to his game, and that should help Caron move through the ranks as a big, strong centerman.

Kyle Palmieri - US Under-18 Team. The Ducks make their second selection on Palmieri, a 5'10" speedy winger. He works extremely hard and always seems to be moving. It's these two traits which have propelled him to higher levels. Along with his work ethic, he has a big-league shot, and his competitive nature should drive him to be better. Under a watchful eye from coach Randy Carlyle, Palmieri could become another winger in the mold of current Duck Bobby Ryan.

Philippe Paradis - Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL). Paradis could be the next hard-nosed centerman to line up on the second line for the Hurricanes. Paradis mixes a healthy dose of grit and tenacity with scoring touch, something that the Hurricanes were lacking in their series against the Penguins. While some scouts have stated that he may be nothing more than a third-line centerman, with a little refining he could be the next Rod Brind'Amour. And that's something that Hurricanes' fans would love to see.

Dylan Olsen - Camrose Kodiaks (AJHL). The 6'2", 205 lbs. defenceman shone with the Canadian Under-18 program this past season, and looks to be a complete defenceman despite only playing in the Alberta Junior Hockey League. He likes to throw the body around, and could compliment the solid offensive defencemen in Chicago by being the bruiser on the blueline. There's almost no doubt that Olsen will crack an NHL line-up in 3-4 years, but his development will rely on his physical condition as he moves from junior hockey to the professional ranks.

Carter Ashton - Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL). Son of former NHLer Brent Ashton, Carter is a scoring threat like his dad was. Typically, however, he is scoring from just outside the crease with his bid body parked in front of a goaltender. It's strange to think that the Lightning signed Ryan Malone to a long-term contract to do the same job, but Ashton was selected anyway. Scouts are begging for him to be more physical as a presence on the ice in the way that Tim Kerr was, but he's played soft thus far. That will have to change for him to be a contributor at the NHL level.

Simon Depres - Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL). The Penguins opted to go with a defensive defenceman with the last pick in the first round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Depres literally is willing to do anything - block shots, eliminate players along the boards - and his positive attitude doesn't waver in his job. There is some concern amongst scouts that his play away from the puck might be his undoing, so head coach Dan Bylsma will have to get Depres to stay in the system when he's not battling for the puck. If Rob Scuderi leaves this summer, this might be next Scuderi for Pittsburgh. The only problem? He's about 3-4 years away.

There were three teams who didn't have a pick in the first round: Detroit, San Jose, and Philadelphia.

Landon Ferraro - Red Deer Rebels (WHL). Son of former NHLer Ray Ferraro, Landon was selected 32nd overall. The 5'11" winger is fast, but doesn't possess the overdrive gear that scouts look for in blue-chip prospects. However, his hockey IQ is extremely high, and he finds open ice regularly. He's a solid goal scorer, and should be a Red Wing one day. He would benefit greatly from linemates who can feed him the puck in the slot with his quick shot, and Detroit has those types of players in spades.

William Wrenn - US Under-18 Team. Wrenn was selected 43rd overall, and is heading to the University of Denver next season. San Jose couldn't resist the defensive defenceman at their draft position. At 6'2", he's still tall and lanky, but Wrenn is expected to fill out and be a bruising defensive in his own zone. While already defensively responsible in his own end, he could use a touch more offence to compliment his game. However, he skates well and a leader on his team, traits that all defencemen need.

Adam Morrison - Saskatoon Blades (WHL). Philadelphia selected Morrison with the 81st pick in the draft. Morrison didn't play much last season as he was platooned behind Braden Holtby, but the Flyers saw enough potential to pick him up with their first pick in the draft. He went 9-1-1, proving that a reliable backup is important. Morrison will start for the Blades this season with Holtby graduating to the pro ranks, so there will be more eyes on him this season as he prepares for a future with Philly.

Lastly, the trades from the couple of days have seen some players moved, and some players keeping their current residences.

The Anaheim Ducks shipped out defenceman Chris Pronger and forward Ryan Dingle to the Philadelphia Flyers for defenceman Luca Sbisa, forward Joffrey Lupul, two first-round picks and a conditional third-round pick in 2010 or 2011. The Ducks would have been seriously over the salary cap limit next season with Niedermayer and Selanne telling the Ducks that they want to come back. Francois Beauchemin is still a free agent, so the Ducks had to make room. Lupul adds another scorer to the Ducks line-up, and Sbisa adds some more young talent to their blueline.

Philly, of course, gets tougher and meaner on the back-end, meaning teams like Pittsburgh, Washington, and Boston will need to avoid someone's rather large elbows. A good trade for both teams, but the Flyers are starting to remind me of the Bullies again with the pick-up of Pronger.

Brandon Prust is on his way home. Calgary, the team who originally drafted Prust, traded defenceman Jim Vandermeer to the Phoenix Coyotes to re-acquire Prust.

Edmonton Oilers' forward Kyle Brodziak and a sixth-round pick were dealt to the Minnesota Wild for their fourth- and fifth-round picks.

The Florida Panthers dealt the negotiating rights to defenceman Jay Bouwmeester to the Calgary Flames for the negotiating rights to defenceman Jordan Leopold and a third-round pick. Bouwmeester's camp has already indicated that they are interested in the free agent market, but Calgary must want Bouwmeester badly for them to make this trade.

Dany Heatley was not traded, and, from what GM Bryan Murray said, it sounds like there were a few teams who kicked the tires, but wouldn't ante up the players and picks that Murray wanted. Unless something dramatic happens before Wednesday, it sounds like Heatley will be a Senator next season. Murray has stated that if the Senators are required to pay the $4 million bonus due to Heatley on July 1, he would remain a Senator.

So there's the recap. I'm off for some fun and excitement tonight as I'm going to check out The Hangover. I need a few laughs, and, from what others have told me, it's definitely worth it.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Canada's Hockey Factory

If you're a hockey fan, you're completely aware of the hockey factory known as Shattuck-St. Mary's School in Faribault, Minnesota. SSM has produced a vast number of NHL stars including Joe Corvo, Patrick Eaves, Jack Johnson, Zach Parise, Jordan Parise, and, of course, Sidney Crosby to name a few. While Canada is viewed as hockey's homeland, there really isn't the same credence given to the few schools or major junior teams that have produced a wealth of NHL talents like Shattuck-St. Mary's has. Today, however, I want to bring light to one of those major junior teams: the Notre Dame Hounds of Wilcox, Saskatchewan. They are based at the Athol Murray College of Notre Dame.

The Hounds joined the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League in 1970, but didn't really make an impact in their first few seasons. However, records and game reviews are somewhat harder to come by on the Internet for a major junior team from the 1970s, so I can't really give you any information other than their best standing from 1970-76 was 5th in the SJHL.

However, after the 1976 season, they left the SHJL. Not being affiliated with a league for a while will negatively-impact records for a team, and there is little to no information on the Internet for the team until the 1986-87 season when they returned to the SJHL. However, it appears that the Hounds were operated as a "AAA" minor league hockey team from 1976-86.

During that 1985-86 season, the Hounds possessed one of the most lethal scoring lines in all of junior hockey when Gary Leeman, Wendel Clark, and Russ Courtnall lined up alongside one another for the Hounds. Later on, their illustrious careers would take them into the NHL, and all three would play on the "Hound Line" for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Hounds, during that season, were dominant, but ended up losing the Air Canada Cup at the Canadian Midget Championship to a team from Quebec.

After the 1986-87 season, the Hounds jumped directly into Tier II Junior "A" hockey with the SJHL for the 1987-88. The Hounds found the competition they were searching for as they played through season with close scores in each and every game. They qualified for the SJHL Playoffs as they finished first in the SJHL in their first year, and went on to win the Credential Cup as the SJHL Champions.

They moved on to play the Winnipeg South Blues for the Anavet Cup. The winner would have a chance to represent the Western region in the Centennial Cup, a tournament to determine the best Junior "A" team in Canada. The Hounds made short work of the series, sweeping the Blues with little effort in four games. They advanced to the Abbot Cup Championship against the Calgary Canucks. The Canucks overwhelmed the Hounds, and led the best-of-seven series 3-1 through the first four games. However, two big wins in Games Five and Six by the Hounds evened the series for a dramatic seventh game. With a 3-2 lead in the third period, future NHL goaltender Curtis Joseph shut the door on the Canucks, and the Hounds won the right to represent Western Canada at the Centennial Cup.

At the Centennial Cup Tournament, the Hounds played the Halifax Lions in their first game, and defeated them by a 6-5 score. They won their second game against the Thunder Bay Flyers by a 9-7 score. They lost their third and final game in the round-robin in triple-overtime by a 4-3 margin to the Pembroke Lumber Kings from Ontario. The semi-final would match the two teams up again, and the Hounds hammered the Lumber Kings in this second game by a 7-3 score to advance to the Centennial Cup Final.

The Centennial Cup Final would feature the Halifax Lions against the Notre Dame Hounds. Early in the third period, with the teams tied at 2-2, future NHL centerman Rod Brind'Amour connected with future World Junior Championship hero Dwayne Norris for the Hounds' third goal. Curtis Joseph stonewalled the Lions the rest of the way, and the Hounds won the Centennial Cup.

Adding a few honours to their championship season, Brind'Amour received awards for being the Top Scorer, Top Centerman, and Most Valuable Player. Teammate and future NHL defenceman Joby Messier was named as the tournament's Top Defenceman.

Since that time, the Notre Dame Hounds have been producing quality players that have gone on to play professional hockey in a variety of leagues. Some of the more notable NHL talent that got their starts at Notre Dame include Wendel Clark, Gary Leeman, Russ Courtnall, Curtis Joseph, Rod Brind'Amour, Brad Richards, Vincent Lecavalier, Tyler Myers, Dave Karpa, Kent Manderville, Lawrence Nycholat, James Patrick, and Braydon Coburn (on the right).

Here's a quick clip of some of the current players and administration talking about how important hockey is to the Athol Murray College of Notre Dame, and how the Hounds have become an institution of winning:

The Notre Dame Hounds are one of the better grassroots hockey programs in Canada, and they have a pretty good lineage of players who have gone on to bigger and better stages. While this type of school may not be for everyone as Athol Murray College of Notre Dame is a Catholic school, what the school has done in preparing the young men and women attending the institution is good for hockey and good for their future lives.

And that's exactly what a school should do.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

**Huge thanks to BJ Vicks of RadarDDB for the heads-up about the video!**

Get Your Suitcase

It wouldn't be an off-season without major changes in the world of hockey. Specifically, there are a few professional teams that are changing addresses or building new as they prepare for the 2009-10 hockey season. The AHL has two teams that have moved into new cities while another team has been accepted as an expansion franchise for next season. No longer will the Dallas Stars be sending their draft picks and young players out into the unknown with a map. Instead, they'll have a team of their own they can build. Today, we look at the new locations, jerseys, and teams of the AHL: the Abbotsford Heat, the Adirondack Phantoms, and the Texas Stars.

It has been announced some time ago that the Calgary Flames were moving their AHL franchise from Moline, Illinois to Abbotsford, BC in order to have their farmhands closer when needed. They allowed the fans in Abbotsford to select the name of the team, and the Abbotsford Heat were born. Shortly thereafter, Jim Playfair, former head coach of the Calgary Flames, was named as the first head coach of the Heat. Today, the team unveiled their jerseys and logo at a corporate breakfast for local business owners.

Honestly, I was a little underwhelmed to find out that the Heat's logo was actually their full-time, everyday logo and not just a wordmark. With the history of the Calgary Flames' franchise beginning in Atlanta, it's hard to fathom why they wouldn't attempt to use the old Atlanta Flames logo. Especially when you consider how good this looks. In fact, I wouldn't have any clue that the Heat were a hockey team if that puck wasn't part of the logo. It's such a generic logo that it may be better suited for roller hockey than ice hockey.

Their jerseys are nothing more than a copycat of their NHL franchise with the exception of the switch in accent colour and shoulder flag. The Flames go with yellow, but the Heat will go with gray as their accent colour, and the Heat will wear the British Columbia flag instead of the Alberta flag for obvious reasons. Nothing too radical here, but nothing that endears me to the Heat either. If you aren't a fan of the way Calgary looks, you more than likely won't like Abbotsford's look.

Overall, nothing too exciting in the fashion and branding departments. So what about their home? Well, the Abbotsford Sports and Entertainment Centre will seat 6653 fans along with 12 boxes, 20 private suites, and 2 party suites. The arena's total seating can expand to 8500. In this writer's opinion, the Abbotsford Sports and Entertainment Centre is probably the perfect size for the AHL for a new team in a new location.

From Abbotsford, British Columbia, we cross the continent to Glens Falls, New York where the Adirondack Phantoms will play this season. The Phantoms were formerly a minor-pro team in Philadelphia, but, with the Wachovia Spectrum being demolished this summer, the Phantoms needed a new home. So they packed their bags and headed north into New York. This is the second AHL franchise for Glens Hills, NY as the Adirondack Red Wings used to call the city home from 1979-1999.

The Phantoms are keeping their logo as it is, so that's a positive. It's a fairly recognizable logo... even if no one can explain what it is. However, they have eliminated the purple out of their jerseys, opting to go with black, white, and orange in the same fashion as their NHL affiliate in the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Phantoms will make their home in the Glens Falls Civic Centre, a 4806-seat multi-purpose arena. The arena itself really has an old-time feeling to it with its natural brick exterior and old-time box office. While the arena's seating capacity seems small, the Phantoms should attract fans so that they play near capacity each night. And that's precisely what any franchise wants.

From the Empire State, we head to the Lone Star State where the Dallas Stars are laying ground for their AHL franchise. The Texas Stars will set up shop in the suburb of Cedar Park located in Austin, Texas in the brand-new Cedar Park Center. The Cedar Park Center is a beautiful, 6800-seat arena being completed over this summer that will house the expansion AHL franchise for the 2009-10 season.

No surprise here in that the Texas Stars' logo takes the same colours and design as their NHL parent franchise. If the trend is followed, the Texas Stars will most likely wear the same jerseys as the Dallas Stars, except the logo will be that of the AHL franchise.

So there are the three franchises who have moved and/or put down roots in a new community. For more information, please check out each team's respective website: Abbotsford Heat, Adirondack Phantoms, and Texas Stars.

In other major moving news, soon-to-be NHL free agent Sergei Fedorov has signed a deal with Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the KHL. Fedorov signed a two-year deal worth a reported $4 million per season. After taxes in the Siberian city, Fedorov will bank approximately $3.8 million per season, far more than what he was guaranteed here in North America.

The three-time Stanley Cup winner with Detroit will suit up alongside his brother, Fedor Fedorov, in Magnitogorsk next season.

"I spoke with Sergei this morning," agent Pat Brisson told The Canadian Press. "He's indicated to me that he is finalizing everything in order to join his brother in the KHL this summer.

According to reports, having both Fedorov boys playing for the same professional team was a wish their father always wanted to see, and now it will happen.

Call this a victory for the KHL as they get a big-name Russian player to come home in the same way that Alexei Yashin returned to Russia to play. While his leadership will definitely be missed in the Capitals' dressing room, there was no guarantee that he was going to be re-signed either. Good luck to Sergei Fedorov next season in the KHL!

That's all for me tonight. Tomorrow, I'll post a quick video as there are a number of things going on in my life that will limit my computer access. Don't worry - lots of draft recap action on Saturday, and I'm working on that Bears-Stingrays profile for Sunday. Make sure you check back for these features!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Wednesday Chatter

Congratulations to the four men to the left. They represent the 2009 Hockey Hall of Fame inductees as players. Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull, Luc Robitaille, and Brian Leetch were icons during their years in the NHL, and all four men are certainly worthy of the accolade. Lou Lamoriello was inducted in the builder's category, and he certainly has done yeoman's work in building the New Jersey Devils into legitimate contenders each year as well as contributing to the success of hockey in the United States. All five men are the upper echelon of the hockey world, and all are worthy of their Hall of Fame appointments.

• Steve Yzerman was named captain of the Red Wings at 21, and was a scoring sensation the moment he arrived from Peterborough in the OHL. He won three Stanley Cups as a player, the 1998 Conn Smythe Trophy, an Olympic gold medal in 2002, the Lester B. Pearson Trophy in 1989, the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy in 2003, and the Frank J. Selke Trophy in 2000. Not to be forgotten in all this, Yzerman also scored 1755 points to rank sixth all-time in scoring.
• Brett Hull has to be considered as one of the most lethal scoring threats of all-time. Hull ranks third all-time in NHL history with 741 goals, and won two Stanley Cups - 1999 with Dallas, and 2002 with Detroit. He also has a Lady Byng Trophy to his name (1990), a Lester B. Pearson Trophy (1991), a Hart Trophy (1991), and is one of five men to score 50 goals in 50 games. Hull represented Team USA on a number of occasions as well.
• Luc Robitaille is the highest-scoring left winger in NHL history with 1394 points. Robitaille won the 1987 Calder Trophy, and picked up the only Stanley Cup in his career in 2002 with Yzerman and Hull. Selected 171st overall in the ninth-round of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, his 125 points scored in 1993 is still the highest single-season total for a left winger in NHL history. Of course, Luc and his wife, Stacia, founded and run two excellent charities: Shelter For Serenity, and Echoes of Hope.
• Brian Leetch was long considered one of the NHL's best defencemen during his time. He won the Calder Trophy in 1989, a Norris Trophy in 1992 and 1997, the Lester Patrick Award in 2007, a Stanley Cup in 1994, and the Conn Smythe Trophy in the same year. He was the first American-born player to win the Conn Smythe in NHL history. His 23 goals as a defenceman in his first year are still an NHL record.
• Lou Lamoriello has built the New Jersey Devils franchise into a rock-solid organization. Under his leadership, the Devils have amassed a record of 873-601-208, and won three Stanley Cups. Lamoriello was also a key player in Team USA's successes with the World Cup of Hockey win in 1996 being the pinnacle thus far.
• Some unhappy news out of Los Angeles where it appears that the wedding planned by Jarret Stoll and supermodel Rachel Hunter is off. Perhaps for good. According to the World Entertainment News Network, the 27 year-old Kings' forward has left their relationship with no reason just two months before they were scheduled on August 14 to tie the knot, and Miss Hunter has been left devastated. Some are calling it a case of "cold feet". No clue as to what may be happening here, but this is definitely some not-so-good news.
• Brent Sutter was hired as the head coach of the Calgary Flames yesterday, ending weeks of speculation as to whether or not he would take the job. The not-so-secret secret of him returning home was already confirmed when he stepped down as coach of the Devils, but now it's a family affair as big brother/GM Darryl will help little brother/head coach Brent as he mentors Darryl's son and Brent's nephew/Flames forward Brett. There's also a belief that bringing Brent Sutter into the fold will allow Dion Phaneuf to grow as a player as Sutter coached him through his junior career.
• After meeting with Gary Bettman yesterday, the circus known as the Tampa Bay Lightning will be run from the top by Oren Koules as CEO, and Len Barrie will continue to serve as GM of Hockey Operations. With Koules reportedly hemmorhaging money with the sad-sack Lightning, the "Vinny to Montreal" rumours will be non-stop until July 1 when Lecavalier's no-trade clause kicks in. And we thought this franchise was a mess last season. Can you imagine what it will be like after trading away your best player?

In keeping with yesterday's Sabermetric calculations, I wanted to take a look at Pierre McGuire's selections for defencemen for Team Canada's Olympic Team. McGuire went through and selected 12 players who could potentially suit up for Canada in Vancouver in 2010. Here are his selections, followed by my numerical rating system based upon last season's play:

• Brent Burns of the Minnesota Wild - 0.760
• Dan Boyle of the San Jose Sharks - 2.954
• Jay Bouwmeester of the Florida Panthers - 1.345
• Mike Green of the Washington Capitals - 3.982
• Scott Niedermayer of the Anaheim Ducks - 1.920
• Dion Phaneuf of the Calgary Flames - 1.254
• Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators - 1.809
• Chris Pronger of the Anaheim Ducks - 1.682
  
• Robyn Regher of the Calgary Flames - 0.633
• Duncan Keith of the Chicago Blackhawks - 3.292
• Brent Seabrook of the Chicago Blackhawks - 2.102
• Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings - 0.324
  

I've bolded the players who are the top-seven defencemen in that grouping. Do you think those seven should make the team based upon the "Player Value" system? Is there anyone else that you think should be there? Name anyone else in the comments, and I'll run them through the Player Value calculation.

I'll have another history of a major NHL trophy later this week, and I plan on finishing the book review I have on-tap as well. If I ever get some free time, I'll finish working on the profile of the Capitals' farm system and post that. That may happen after the NHL Entry Draft, but it will still happen. I'm off for now. Have a great Wednesday, everyone!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Double-Dip Tuesday

I've been intrigued with an idea lately thanks to a blog called The Phoenix Pub. Basically, the writer, known as First Derivative, wanted to find a way to evaluate NHL defencemen in a similar vein to baseball's Sabermetric system. At first, I was skeptical that this may work based upon the number of variables that hockey has - giveaways, takeaways, hits, and odd-man rushes as a few examples. However, it occurred to me that defencemen are paid primarily to keep pucks out of their nets. If a defenceman contributes offensively, that's a bonus for the team as they are responsible less for offence as they are for defence. Of course, there are lots of offensive defencemen in the NHL, but I also had to consider the defensive defencemen - the guys who don't appear on the scoresheet often, but play a big role in their teams' successes.

In trying to figure this out, I had to determine what statistical evidence I could use. After all, Sabermetrics is based upon information available, and not some arbitrary statistical analysis. I went to the NHL stats page for analysis.

First off, defencemen are tracked according to points and plus/minus primarily. Points is fairly self-explanatory as to what that means to a team, but plus/minus is a little more difficult. Some people have discredited plus/minus as a "useless stat" since it's more of a reflection of the people on the ice than the player himself. I fully disagree with that since it is a team game, and not an individual effort. Players are sent over the boards in waves, and, if a line doesn't work for whatever reason, everyone pays for the mistakes made. Therefore, plus/minus would be an important part of this equation. After all, teams give up goals, not individuals. Good teams don't give up many goals, and good lines usually have a solid plus/minus for every player on that line.

Secondly, there had to be a way to level the playing field based on the number of games-played per season. Players get injured, can be scratched, or sent to the minors, and all of these affect the total number of NHL games played by the player. Instead, I went with shifts-per-game. A player is counted on to be out on the ice for his team in certain situations, and these situations don't change very often without some sort of major event. It also reduces the variation in games-played between players since the number of shifts per game is relevant to the player's role on the team.

With these major factors out of the way, the next thing needed was a formula to evaluate the players. I decided that all points scored by a defenceman would be offset by his even-strength play. In that regard, points scored could go up or down based upon the addition of that player's plus/minus rating. Coaches talk about the importance of strong five-on-five play, so if a player can keep their opponents off the board while playing even-strength, he would be more valuable to his team than someone who wasn't very good in even-strength situations.

Since all defencemen are paid to keep pucks out of their net while contributing offensively, I also factored in the team's total goals-for and goals-against for each player. This takes into account all situational play: shorthanded, powerplays, and even-strength. If a player doesn't get out on the penalty kill, he is still part of the team if it allows a goal, and he is relied upon to equal the score or prevent it from happening again. Therefore, all goals are factored in.

Here is my formula. I am open to suggestions on this, so don't think this is written in stone. After all, Einstein needed some time to perfect his Theory of Relativity, and I'm not Einstein by any means.

Now let me be clear here. The "Player Value" is not a hard statistic. It will change over time based upon the statistics associated with that player. If, for example, a player has a stretch of two weeks where losses are piling up, his value will decrease. However, if a player has a career year, his value will go up accordingly.

With this in mind, let's take a look at some of the examples I'm working with to give you a better idea of how representative this formula is.

• Brendan Witt, long considered the worst defenceman in the NHL this past season due to his lack of production and terrible plus/minus of -34, is valued at -0.759. In other words, he didn't have a very good year. In fact, only Thomas Pock of the New York Rangers valued lower than Witt with -0.777.
  
• The top player I have found thus far in my examples is Boston Bruins' defenceman Dennis Wideman. Wideman had a phenomenal season with Boston, but was overshadowed by defensive partner Zdeno Chara who won the Norris Trophy. However, Wideman's value is 4.284 as compared to Chara's 3.772 according to the formula.
• The three finalists for the Norris Trophy - Chara, Nick Lidstrom, and Mike Green - rank as follows: Green (3.982), Chara (3.772), and Lidstrom (3.763). Pretty good values on all three players meaning they were excellent players on both sides of the puck. And isn't that what the Norris Trophy is about?
• Some of the more intriguing free agents this off-season may not deserve the truckloads of money being discussed for their services. Scott Niedermayer's value last season was 1.920, Jay Bouwmeester's value was 1.345, yet Rob Scuderi's value was a solid 1.878, and Rob Blake was valued at 2.824. Out of those four, I'll assume Scuderi will get the smallest payday.
  
• Mark Streit, defenceman for the Islanders and seventh in NHL scoring for defencemen, was valued at 1.621 this past season, yet he came in eighth in Norris Trophy voting. Andrei Markov of the Canadiens was valued at 2.217, and came in seventh in the voting. Duncan Keith of the Blackhawks was valued at 3.292, and came in sixth. And Shea Weber of the Predators was valued at 1.809, yet he finished fourth in voting. Who do you think was the best all-around defenceman this season out of those four players?
• What's worse about the voting is that Boston's Dennis Wideman finished 11th. Do the Professional Hockey Writers not watch Boston games?
• Some of the more surprising values are as follows: (1) John-Michael Liles, who finished 30th in defencemen scoring, valued in at 0.603 due to his poor defensive play; (2) Mike Komisarek's poor offensive production valued him at a measly 0.419; (3) Kevin Bieksa, praised for his defensive ability and toughness all season long, only scored a 1.666 value based upon his negative plus/minus. He was slightly better than Mark Streit, even though Streit patrolled the blueline for the worst team in the NHL last season.
  
• It is almost a given that Brian Rafalski is important to Detroit's system, but his value of 3.304 shows how important. Lidstrom and Rafalski's average of 3.534 put their defensive pairing right behind Chara and Wideman's average of 4.028 as the best pairings in the NHL.
• For all the complaining about Brian Campbell's lack of defensive responsibility, Campbell's value was 2.803. That is a better value than Scott Niedermayer, Sheldon Souray, Shea Weber, Dion Phaneuf, and Andrei Markov this season.

So there's a little math work today for anyone who wants to have some fun. Granted, it's not a scientific way of proving one's value, but the idea is that it takes into account both sides of the puck when attempting to give a numerical value for rating players based on their statistics.

Let me know what you think in the comments!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Best First Year Ever

There have been a number of awards who have dealt with the best player in certain positions and the best player per season that we've seen. Today, we examine the history of the Calder Memorial Trophy and how it came to be. The Calder Trophy is awarded annually by the NHL "to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League." This trophy was actually awarded to the top first-year player in a season after the NHL had begun naming those players. With the introduction of the Calder Trophy, the NHL retroactively awarded those players with the trophy after they had been named as their respective season's best player. So how did the award come about? Who is the trophy named after? Is there anything interesting about the Calder Trophy?

The trophy was named after Frank Calder, President of the NHA in 1917, and President of the NHL from 1917 until 1943. Calder was instrumental in the formation of the NHL, and his history is quite remarkable.

Frank Calder was born in Bristol, England on November 17, 1877 to Scottish parents. Growing up, he was an excellent athlete, excelling in rugby, handball, golf, and soccer. As a young man, Calder decided to emigrate to North America as opportunities were expanding with the Industrial Revolution. Calder actually flipped a coin to decide on whether to go to the United States or Canada, and Canada won the coin toss. Calder emigrated to Montreal, Quebec where he became a teacher at a private school. It was there where he met his future wife in Amelia Cole, and they were soon married after their meeting.

After working as a sports editor in a number of Montreal newspapers, he was appointed as the secretary-treasurer for the NHA on November 15, 1914. His workload was considerable, but he enjoyed it. However, in the spring of 1917, there was turmoil in the ownership ranks of the NHA.

The other NHA owners had decided to drop the Toronto Blueshirts from the league. NHA President Frank Robinson resigned as President as he viewed his position as "powerless" to stop the owners from turning on one another. Calder seized the opportunity with the President's job vacant, and became the representation for the allied NHA owners against Blueshirts' owner Eddie Livingstone. In knowing the rules, Calder was a powerful ally for the owners, and a new league - the National Hockey League - was formed with Livingstone on the outside looking in. November 27, 1917 saw the National Hockey League open its doors with Frank Calder as the NHL President.

Calder became all-powerful as the President of the NHL. It was his way or the highway, and the owners rarely challenged him on any decisions with his knowledge of the league's rules. However, Calder wasn't ruling with malevolence. Instead, he worked hard for the owners and the league. Struggling franchises were quickly moved to new locations with new owners, and he backed the owners in struggles with the players. A good example of this was when the Hamilton Tigers' players went on strike before the NHL Final in 1925 after they demanded more money. Calder heard their case, but he backed the owners 100% and suspended the Tiger players. Along with the suspension, he fined each of the players $200. Because of his actions, the players never played another game in Hamilton, and Calder moved the franchise to New York City.

Calder was quite outspoken about his league as well. When it was brought to his attention that there was a team in Boston named the "Black Panthers" composed entirely of African-American men, Calder immediately stated, "Pro hockey has no ruling against the colored man, nor is it likely to ever draw the line". Calder's remarks were clearly aimed at Major League Baseball, but the door was swung wide-open in the NHL for all men to participate.

Starting in 1933, Calder began naming the season's top first-year player in the NHL. Carl Voss of the Detroit Red Wings was the first player to receive this award. In 1936, Calder convinced the owners to allow him to purchase a trophy to award to the best rookie each season. At the conclusion of the 1936-37 season, the first Calder Trophy was awarded by Frank Calder to Syl Apps of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The 1942 Calder Trophy was the last one that Frank Calder would award. On January 25, 1943, Calder suffered a heart attack during an NHL Board of Governors meeting in Toronto. While he was being treated at the hospital, he suffered a second heart attack. Eight days after suffering two consecutive heart attacks, Calder traveled to Montreal and checked into Montreal General Hospital. It was there where his heart finally gave out as he suffered a fatal heart attack. He was 66. After his passing the Calder Trophy was renamed as the Calder Memorial Trophy in Frank Calder's honour.

There's the story of how the Calder Trophy became an annual award for rookies in the NHL. There have been a number of fantastic players who have won this award for their efforts in their first year. Here are some of the more interesting facts about the Calder Trophy:

• Sergei Makarov is the oldest "rookie" to have won the Calder Trophy. Makarov won the Calder Trophy in 1990 at the age of 31 while with the Calgary Flames after starring for HC CKSA Moscow in the Russian Super League. Because of his age, the NHL changed the rules as to rookie ages. Rookies would only be eligible for the award if they were 26 years of age or younger by September 15 of their rookie season.
• The Calder Trophy is the only major award that Wayne Gretzky never won. The reason for this was his professional play in the WHA with the Indianapolis Racers. According to the rules, "a player cannot have played any more than 25 games previously in any single season, nor have played in more than six games in two separate preceding seasons in any major professional league". Because of his participation in the WHA, Gretzky was ineligible for the Calder Trophy despite putting up a then-record 137 points in his first NHL season.
• Toronto Maple Leaf rookies have won a combined nine Calder Trophies - the most in NHL history. The New York Rangers have had eight winners, while the Boston Bruins have had seven winners.
• In the 72 times that the Calder Trophy has been awarded, defencemen have only won nine times.
• From 1942-45, the Toronto Maple Leafs won three consecutive Calder Trophies, the most consecutive victories in the 72 instances. The Calder Trophies were won by right-winger Gaye Stewart ('43), centreman Gus Bodnar ('44), and goalie Frank McCool ('45).
• Detroit centreman Carl Voss, the first recipient, was the first American to win the award. Jim McFadden, a centreman for Detroit as well, was the first player born outside of North America to win the Calder Trophy. McFadden was born in Belfast, Ireland.
• 1993 saw Winnipeg's Teemu Selanne and Boston's Joe Juneau battling for the Calder Trophy all season long. However, Selanne's record-setting season gave him the Calder Trophy. Selanne set the rookie goal-scoring record with 76 goals in his first season, and he also smashed the rookie point-total record with 132 points that season. Those records still stand today.

There's the story on the Calder Trophy. As we've seen with all the trophies thus far, each one has had an interesting man behind the trophy, and Frank Calder was no different. And without Frank Calder, there would be no NHL as we know it today.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Georges Vézina: Gardien De But Extraordinaire

We've seen a number of trophies that are awarded to the best player based upon certain criteria. The Hart Trophy is given to the season's best player, the Art Ross Trophy is given to the league's top scorer, and the Norris Trophy is awarded to the season's best defenceman. Today, we look at the Vezina Trophy, awarded annually to the goaltender judged to be the best at his position as voted on by NHL General Managers. This trophy was named in honour of Georges Vézina, the legendary Montreal Canadiens goaltender, and is the first trophy to have had its definition changed. Originally, it was awarded to the goaltender who had the fewest goals-against during the regular season. However in 1981-82, the NHL opted to award the Vezina Trophy to the league's best goaltender in the regular season. Who was Georges Vézina? Why is this trophy named for him? What's so special about it anyway?

Joseph-Georges-Gonzague Vézina was the youngest of eight children. His parents, Jacques Vézina, a baker originally from St. Nicholas de Larchoelle in France, and Clara Vézina raised their family in Chicoutimi, Quebec. Georges Vézina regularly played street hockey, and didn't actually hit the ice until age 16 when he joined a local team in Chicoutimi.

The problem was that Chicoutimi, at the turn of the 20th century, was a long way from Quebec City and Montreal, so there was no league for the team in which they could participate. The team, instead, traveled across the province of Quebec and played where ever they could. They called themselves the "Saguenéens", or "people from the Saguenay". Chicoutimi is located in the Saguenay region in Quebec. Today, of course, there is a QMJHL team with that same name.

In 1908 and at the age of 21, Vézina married a beautiful Quebecois girl named Marie-Adélaïde-Stella Morin. Two years later, the Saguenéens, with Vézina in net, arrived in Montreal to play the Canadiens of the National Hockey Association. Chicoutimi stifled the Canadiens all night, and Vézina earned the shutout against the professional squad. This prompted Canadiens' goaltender Joseph Cattarinich to speak to Vézina in an effort to convince him to tryout for the Canadiens.

Vézina initially refused the tryout, opting to stick with the the Saguenéens. However, in December 1910, the Saguenéens returned to Montreal for a game against the Canadiens, and both Georges, and his brother Pierre, were convinced by the Canadiens to come to Montreal for the tryout. Georges stood out in the tryout, blocking shots with both his body and his stick. Stick saves were still relatively unheard of, and this impressed the Canadiens' coaching staff. While Pierre's tryout was unsuccessful, Georges was signed to a contract for $800 per season.

Georges made his professional debut in the NHA against the Ottawa Senators on December 31, 1910. He played all sixteen games for the Canadiens that season, posting a record of 8-8 while giving up the fewest goals in the league. The following season saw Vézina's record drop to 8-10, but he again had the league's lowest goals-against.

January 18, 1913 saw Vézina post his first shutout of his professional career as Montreal defeated the Ottawa Senators by a score of 6-0. Vézina had a solid year in 1912-13 as he posted a record of 11-9, leading the Canadiens to a share of first-place overall with the Toronto Blueshirts. The Blueshirts went on to compete for the Stanley Cup that season, however, as they defeated the Canadiens in a two-game, total-goals series. Vézina shutout the Blueshirts in Game One by a 2-0 score, but the Blueshirts ripped six goals past him in Game Two to take the series.

The Canadiens would finish last in the NHA the following season, but the 1915-16 season was Vézina's best in the NHA. He posted a record of 16-7-1, had the lowest goals-against, and the Canadiens finished first overall in the league. This earned them the right to represent the NHA in the Stanley Cup Final against the WCHL Champion Portland Rosebuds. The Canadiens won the series 3-2, and captured the Stanley Cup. During the deciding game, Vézina's second son was born. According to reports, Vézina considered the 1915-16 season as his best.

The 1916-17 saw Vézina lead the NHA in fewest goals-against again, the fourth time in seven years he had done so. The Canadiens advanced to the Stanley Cup Final again, but lost to the Seattle Millionaires in that series. He also had several nicknames given to him by this time: "le Concombre de Chicoutimi" - the "Chicoutimi Cucumber" for his cool demeanour; and "l'Habitant silencieux" - the "Silent Habitant" in reference to his quiet personality.

With the NHA having dissolved and the NHL formed, the Canadiens joined the new league with Vézina as their starting goaltender. On February 18, 1918, Vézina recorded the NHL's first shutout after closing the door in a 9-0 thrashing of the Toronto Arenas. He was credited with the first assist ever by a goalie on December 28, 1918 after Newsy Lalonde picked up a puck on off a Vézina save and scored. His first season in the NHL saw Vézina go 12-9, lead the league with the fewest goals-against with 84, and posted one shutout.

Vézina and the Canadiens would be a part of NHL history the following season as well. The Canadiens defeated the Ottawa Senators in the NHL Playoffs to advance to the Stanley Cup Final against the Pacific Coast Hockey Association Champion Seattle Millionaires. However, the Spanish flu epidemic had serious effects on the Canadiens when they traveled to Seattle, and the team became infected. Unable to play, the Stanley Cup was not awarded that season due to the spreading of the flu, the first time in history that had happened.

Vézina was a part of the first Montreal Canadiens team to win the Stanley Cup as an NHL club in 1923-24. The Canadiens defeated the Calgary Tigers of the WCHL in their best-of-three series 2-0 with Vézina recording a shutout in the second game.

In the summer of 1925, Vézina signed a contract worth $6000 for the season - huge money for an individual player, but a sign of how important he was to the Canadiens' success. There was serious concern, however, over Vézina's health when he arrived for training camp at the start of the 1925-26 season. While Vézina said nothing about it, he was noticeably thinner and looked ill. By the team's first game of that season against the Pittsburgh Pirates, he had lost 35 pounds in six weeks and was running a fever over 100 degrees consistently. However, he skated out to the net for the game against the Pirates, and didn't allow a goal in the first 20 minutes. After vomiting blood during the intermission, Vézina collapsed on the ice in the second period and had to leave the game.

He was diagnosed with tuberculosis the next day, and the team sent him home to recover. The quiet, proud French goaltender wouldn't play another game for the Canadiens. He returned on December 3 to see his teammates one last time. Head coach Léo Dandurand commented that Vézina sat in the corner of the locker room with tears running down his cheeks as he stared at his old pads and skates that Canadiens' trainer Eddie Dufour had left out for him. Vézina didn't take his equipment with him, but he did ask for one thing: the jersey he wore in the 1924-25 Stanley Cup Final. After receiving the jersey, Vézina returned home to Chicoutimi with his wife, Marie, at his side.

Vézina's health continued to deteriorate, and, on March 27, 1926, Vézina died at l'Hôtel-Dieu in Chicoutimi. In his honour, the Canadiens paid his full salary for the year despite him only playing one game - a testament to how important to the team he truly was. Over 1500 people filled a church in Chicoutimi to honour their fallen hero, and the newspapers in Quebec ran stories about his life and accomplishments. In 1945, with the establishment of the Hockey Hall of Fame, Vézina was inducted as one of the first twelve members. In 1965, the city of Chicoutimi renamed their arena as the Centre Georges-Vézina in honour of their goaltending legend.

In an effort to remember his contributions to hockey, Léo Dandurand, Leo Letourneau and Joseph Cattarinich, owners of the Montreal Canadiens at the time, donated a trophy in Georges Vézina's honour to the NHL. The Vezina Trophy was to be awarded to the goaltender who allowed the fewest goals-against during the regular season - something Vézina had done seven times in his career. The first winner of the Vezina Trophy was actually the man who replaced Vézina in the Montreal net, Canadiens' goaltender George Hainsworth.

So that's how the Vezina Trophy became a part of NHL lore. There are some pretty interesing facts about this trophy. After 1981, the NHL awarded the Vezina Trophy to the best goaltender during the regular season, so some of these records may never be broken:

• Jacques Plante has the most Vezina Trophy wins in his career, winning it seven times. Dominik Hasek and Bill Durnan sit second with six career Vezina Trophy wins. Ken Dryden sits in third-place all-time with five Vezina Trophy wins.
  
• The first repeat winner was the man who earned the first Vezina Trophy: George Hainsworth. Hainsworth actually won it three consecutive times from 1926-1929.
• Francis Charles "Mister Zero" Brimsek, goaltender for the 1938-39 Boston Bruins, was the first non-Canadian goaltender to win the award. Brimsek was born in Eveleth, Minnesota. It would take another 46 seasons before the first non-North American-born goaltender would win the Vezina Trophy. Philadelphia's Pelle Lindbergh was the first European goaltender to win the Vezina Trophy when he did it in 1984-85.
  
• There have been twelve years where more than one goaltender has had their name etched on the side of the Vezina Trophy. This is due to teams that employed more than one goaltender during the regular season when the award went to the team with the lowest goals-against during the season. The 1964-65 Toronto Maple Leafs were the first team to have both goalies on the trophy when Johnny Bower and Terry Sawchuk earned the accolade.
• In 1973-74, there was a tie between goaltenders from two different teams. Chicago's Tony Esposito and Philadelphia's Bernie Parent earned the Vezina Trophy that season. This is the only time in NHL history that two goaltenders from different teams won the Vezina Trophy.
  
• Only once have three goaltenders shared the award in one year. The 1980-81 Montreal Canadiens had Michel Laroque, Denis Herron, and Richard Sevigny share the Vezina Trophy that year.
• The first player to win the Vezina Trophy after the NHL changed how they award the trophy was New York Islanders' goaltender Billy Smith in 1981-82.
• The first player to win the Vezina Trophy twice under the new format was Montreal Canadiens' goaltender Patrick Roy. Roy won his first award in 1988-89, and followed it up in 1989-90 to become the first goaltender to win consecutive Vezina Trophies under the new format.
• Dominik Hasek has won the most consecutive Vezina Trophies under the new format. Hasek won back-to-back-to-back Vezina Trophies with the Sabres from 1996-99.
• Montreal Canadiens' goaltender Jacques Plante holds the record for most consecutive Vezina Trophy wins in NHL history. Plante won five Vezina Trophies in a row from 1955-1960, breaking former Canadiens' goaltender Bill Durnan's record of four consecutive Vezina Trophies.
• Montreal, as a team, has had the most Vezina Trophy winners with 27. The Chicago Blackhawks sit second with ten, and the Boston Bruins sit third with eight.
• Interestingly, Buffalo sits fourth all-time win seven Vezina Trophy winners. Besides, Hasek's six Vezina Trophies, Don Edwards and Bob Sauvé shared the Vezina Trophy in 1979-80.
  
• There have been only fourteen franchises who have won a Vezina Trophy in the history of the NHL.

So there is the history of the Vezina Trophy, and a look back on the man who the trophy was named for. While there may have been flashier stars in the early days of the NHL, none played as consistently as Vézina, and the Canadiens flourished because of his efforts.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Number One Hockey Dad(s)

The first family of hockey is, in my mind, probably the greatest story of how fathers are important to the game of hockey. The Sutters - consisting of Brian, Darryl, Duane, Brent, Rich and Ron - won six Stanley Cups between them, and certainly have the family record for NHL games-played at 4994 regular-season contests. And the story of the Sutter family starts with the two people standing front and centre in the picture to the upper-left: Louis John Sutter and his wife, Grace.

Louis and Grace Sutter raised seven sons in Viking, Alberta, a farming community southeast of Edmonton. Mr. Sutter raised the boys to work hard at everything they did, turning them into hard-working athletes. They excelled on the baseball diamond in the summer, and were hard-nosed warriors on the ice in the winter. Of course, this legacy of hard-working children was not lost on junior coaches, and every Sutter brother went through the Red Deer Rebels of the Alberta Junior Hockey League before moving on to play for the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the WHL.

While dad remained committed to the 1400 acres of farmland that he worked, the boys would help out in the summer as much as they could. All seven brothers played hockey at an exceptionally high level, and Mr. Sutter would drive around the Alberta map following them in their quest to move up hockey's ladder. Mr. Sutter's dream to see one of this boys get drafted by an NHL team was fulfilled in 1976.

Brian, the second-oldest brother, was the first to be drafted when he went 20th overall in the second round by the St. Louis Blues in 1976. He was also the only Sutter drafted by a WHA team when he went 36th overall in the third round to Edmonton. Brian posted 303 goals and 333 assists in 779 NHL games. He played his entire career with the St. Louis Blues, and his #11 is retired by the team. He most recently coached the Bentley Generals where they captured the 2009 Allan Cup. The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded to the national senior amateur men’s ice hockey champions of Canada. Essentially, it replaced the Stanley Cup after it was decreed that only professional teams can compete for the Stanley Cup.

Mr. Sutter got to witness another of his sons make it to "The Show". Darryl Sutter was drafted in 1978 by the Chicago Blackhawks in the eleventh round at 179th overall, making him the Sutter brother with the lowest draft standing. After not being offered a contract by Chicago, Darryl went to Japan and won the MVP award there. He returned to the Chicago and was sent to the AHL where he won the AHL MVP. Darryl also played the fewest games of the six brothers, appearing in 406 games with 161 goals and 118 assists. Darryl is now running the show in Calgary as the Flames' General Manager. However, Darryl did something rather unique in hockey - he drafted his own son, Brett, in 2005.

With odds comparable to a lottery, Mr. Sutter witnessed another son drafted in the NHL. Duane "Dog" Sutter, as called by his New York Islander teammates for his yapping on the ice, was the next Sutter to enter the NHL when he was drafted 17th overall in 1979 by the New York Islanders. Duane is the most successful of the Sutter brothers, having won the Stanley Cup four times during the Islanders' dynasty in the early 1980s. In 731 games, he posted 139 goals and 203 assists. Duane was most recently the director of player development for the Florida Panthers.

As we all know, the Sutter brothers kept being drafted, and, as a father, Mr. Sutter couldn't have been prouder. Brent Sutter was the fourth Sutter to make it to The Show when he was drafted 17th overall in 1980 by the New York Islanders, eerily similar to his older brother Duane. Brent won two Stanley Cups with the Islanders in 1982 and 1983. While with the Blackhawks late in his career, he was coached by his brother, Darryl. He retired as a player as the last active member of the Islanders Stanley Cup dynasty. Brent's off-ice achievements are certainly well-known. He bought the Red Deer Rebels of the WHL, and coached and managed them to the CHL's Memorial Cup in 2001. He coached the Canadian World Junior teams to gold medals in 2005 and 2006, posting a remarkable 20 game unbeaten streak at that time (19-0-1). He most recently stepped down as the head coach of the New Jersey Devils. His career numbers showed him playing in 1111 games, scoring 363 goals and 466 assists to make him the most prolific scorer of the Sutter family.

The twins were the next Sutters to make it to the NHL, starting with Ron Sutter who was drafted 4th overall by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1982, making him the highest-drafted Sutter. Ron is the only Sutter to have played in his home province of Alberta when he played for the Calgary Flames in 2000-01. Ron was also coached by his brother, Darryl, when he was with the San Jose Sharks. Surprisingly, Ron’s career is the only one not to have stopped in Chicago. Every other Sutter brother played for or coached the Blackhawks at some point in their careers. He played in 1093 NHL games, posting 205 goals and 328 assists. Ron most recently was a professional scout for the Calgary Flames.

Rich Sutter was the last of the Sutter brothers to enter the NHL as he was drafted 10th overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1982. Rich didn’t spend much time in Pittsburgh as he was reunited with his twin brother, Ron, in Philadelphia five games into the 1983-84 season when he became the first Sutter involved in a trade. Rich appeared in 874 games in the NHL, scoring 149 goals and 166 assists. Ironically, Rich and Ron spent time on two teams where their first names were used to differentiate between them on their jerseys. Those teams were the Philadelphia Flyers and the St. Louis Blues. Rich most recently was a professional scout for the Minnesota Wild.

Gary, the seventh and lesser-known Sutter brother, never played in the NHL. The oldest of the seven brothers, Gary taught his brothers how to skate, but he didn’t think he was good enough to play in the NHL. He declined an offer to play major junior hockey because he was about to be married, and he quit hockey soon after. However, the younger six Sutter brothers have always maintained that Gary was the most talented brother, and definitely the best skater.

Gary actually remained in Alberta, working a farm in Viking like his father did. His first marriage didn't last, but he did re-marry, and doesn't regret his decision to walk away from hockey. "Hockey isn't everything," he told Joshua Mills of the New York Times in 1987.

However, the Sutters still have a legacy going as the sons are now dads themselves.

Brett Sutter, Darryl’s son, was drafted in the sixth-round in 2005 at 179th overall – the same draft position as his dad. Brett scored his first NHL goal on December 23, 2008 – his first game in the NHL - against the Anaheim Ducks, two months to the day that his cousin, Brandon, scored his first goal.

Brandon Sutter, son of Brent, played for his dad as a Red Deer Rebel, and was drafted 11th overall by Carolina in 2007. Brandon was the first of the second-generation Sutters to play in the NHL. Brandon scored his first goal October 23, 2008 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was also the recipient of a vicious shoulder-to-head hit from Doug Weight last season.

Shaun Sutter, Brian’s son, was drafted 102nd overall by Calgary in 1998 in the fourth round, but never played an NHL game. He currently is playing in the British Elite League for the Belfast Giants.

Brody Sutter, Duane’s son, was drafted by the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades this past summer and won’t be NHL draft-eligible for another year. He was traded to the Lethbridge Hurricanes midway through this past season.

Now, the argument can be made that the Sutters are the greatest hockey dads due to the longevity of the Sutter clan in the NHL. They may not be the Mandelbaums, but they certainly deserve some chatter.

Unfortunately, Mr. Louis John Sutter passed away at the age of 73 on February 10, 2005 after a lengthy battle with an illness. Like he did in life, Mr. Sutter never gave up in his battle to regain his health. Rest in peace, Mr. Sutter. Your boys and grandchildren are still making the Sutter name proud.

All the best to your father, his father, and to you on this Father's Day, and don't forget to give ol' dad a hug today for all he did for you when you were younger. If your father has already crossed the bridge to the next world, honour his memory as best you can. And if you are a father, hug your kids today. Like Louis John Sutter, your kids will make you proud. I guarantee it.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

James Norris: NHL Legend

Today, we'll look at the one award that cannot be won by a forward or a goalie. Defencemen have always been relied upon in the NHL for their toughness and ferocity on the defensive side of the puck, but their offensive contributions need to be highlighted as well. For those defencemen that bring the total package - excellent defensive play combined with solid offensive statistics - the James Norris Trophy was created. The award is voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association, and is annually given to the NHL's best "defensive player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position". While there is a coinciding award for forwards that excel on the defensive side of the puck that we'll look at next week, the James Norris Trophy is exclusively for defencemen. How did it get its name? Who was this James Norris fellow? Is there anything interesting about the Norris Trophy?

James E. Norris was born in St. Catharines, Ontario on December 10, 1879. Norris grew up in Lachine, Quebec where he learned to play squash, tennis, and hockey. Norris was an accomplished athlete in hockey as a youth, and went on to play defence for McGill University in Canada. He appeared in three games for the Montreal Hockey Club in 1898 when they played in the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada.

While Norris wasn't pursuing a career in hockey, his love of the game never wavered. His father, a man who had amassed a massive fleet of ships and grain mills, moved his business to Chicago, Illinois shortly after James' appearance for the Montreal Hockey Club. By age 28, James became president of Norris Grain Incorporated in Chicago, and moved the company's strategy into buying grain elevators. He became a US citizen in 1919, and began systematically branching out into other reaches of agriculture. By 1940, a mere 22 years after becoming president of Norris Grain Incorporated, it was said that Norris had a fortune worth more than $200 million.

In 1926, during the rapid expansion of Norris Grain Incorporated, the NHL made it known that they were interested in placing an expansion franchise in Chicago, Illinois. Norris applied for ownership of the newest NHL franchise, but lost out to Frederic McLaughlin, a coffee magnate in Chicago. McLaughlin named the team the "Black Hawks" as an honour to the 86th Infantry Black Hawk Division that he had served in during World War I. His wife, actress Irene Castle, is credited with designing the logo of the Native American head.

Of course, losing the opportunity to own a team in the best hockey league in the world didn't sit well with Norris. His love of the game hadn't diminished, so he did the next best thing: he financed the building of the arena where the Black Hawks planned to play. Chicago Stadium was the newest and most state-of-the-art building when it opened in March of 1929. With an arena built, Norris asked the NHL if he could operate a second franchise in Chicago. The NHL agreed on the condition that McLaughlin had to approve of a second franchise. McLaughlin did not approve, however, mostly due to the difficult negotiations he was having with Norris and partner Paddy Harmon over acquiring ice time at Chicago Stadium.

In 1930, Norris backed the Chicago Shamrocks, an AHL team playing in Chicago. The NHL didn't like the idea of another professional team in its market, and declared the AHL as an "outlaw league". However, the NHL recognized the vast wealth that Norris had, and offered him a franchise opportunity to keep him in the fold. Norris applied for a team to be placed in St. Louis in 1932, but the NHL rejected the application citing travel expenses as the main reason. Norris made an agreement to buy the Ottawa Senators on the condition he could move the franchise to either Toronto or Chicago. Both McLaughlin and Maple Leafs' owner Conn Smythe rejected this idea, and the agreement Norris had with the Senators was dissolved.

In 1931, the Detroit Falcons and their home arena, the Detroit Olympia, had fallen into receivership. While it took some time, James E. Norris decided to buy the franchise from the receiver in 1933. He changed the name of the team to "Red Wings" and the Detroit Red Wings were born. Norris designed the famous "Winged Wheel" logo and had his team's sweaters displayed with the new look. The logo actually came from Norris' early hockey days as the Montreal Hockey Club was nicknamed the "Winged Wheelers" in an effort to gain popularity with automobile makers at the turn of the 20th century.

With Norris' vast wealth backing the team, the debt that the Falcons had experienced was quickly erased. In a powerplay of his own, Norris owned both the Detroit Olympia and Chicago Stadium, and bought a vested interest in Madison Square Garden, thus Norris essentially controlled three NHL teams as their landlord. While the NHL Constitution prevented him from calling the shots for these teams, his ice time scheduling was not favourable to opponents of the Red Wings. However, Norris was struggling with a heart condition as the 1940s began, and rarely saw his Red Wings play on home ice. Head coach Jack Adams would call after every game to inform his owner of the results of the game when Norris was not in attendance.

James E. Norris passed away on December 4, 1952. Upon his death, Marguerite Norris, his daughter, took control of the team, making her the first female owner in the NHL in 30 years. In his honour, Norris' four children created the James E. Norris Memorial Trophy and presented it to the NHL in 1953 to be given to the best defenceman in the game annually.

While Norris was a pretty powerful man based upon his business dealings, the names on the James Norris Memorial Trophy are an impressive collection of defencemen. The first Norris Trophy was awarded in 1954 to Detroit Red Wings' defenceman Leonard "Red" Kelly after scoring 16 goals and adding 33 assists in 62 games during the 1953-54 season.

Here some of the more interesting facts about the Norris Trophy:

• Bobby Orr won the most Norris Trophies with eight. Doug Harvey sits second with seven, and Niklas Lidstrom is third with six wins.
• The Boston Bruins have had the most Norris Trophy winners in NHL history with 13 wins. The Montreal Canadiens sit second with 11 wins.
• Only two players have captured the Norris Trophy as the best defenceman and the Hart Trophy as the season's MVP: Bobby Orr, who did it three times, and Chris Pronger.
• Bobby Orr won eight consecutive Norris Trophies from 1967-68 until 1974-75, the most consecutive wins for this award in NHL history.
  
• The first player born outside North America to win the Norris Trophy was Washington's Rod Langway in 1982-83. Langway was born in Taipei, Taiwan. He also won in 1983-84.
  
• The first American-born player to win the award was Chris Chelios in 1992-93 with the Chicago Blackhawks.
• The biggest gap between Norris Trophy wins for the same player happened to Paul Coffey. Coffey won his second Norris Trophy in 1985-86 with the Edmonton Oilers. His third win came nine years later in 1994-95 with the Detroit Red Wings.

So there's a little history on the Norris Trophy. Clearly, during the 1930s and 1940s, no one in hockey was more powerful or influential than James E. Norris. And every single defenceman who has won the Norris Trophy since 1954 has had a major influence in their team's success.

Tomorrow, I'll break from looking at the history of the NHL Awards to bring a special Father's Day piece. Without giving too much away, it will look at generations of a hockey family who have had a lasting legacy on the NHL and hockey.

Until then, keep your sticks on the ice!

Your Friends Think You're Good

We've taken a look at a couple of individual awards that mean a great deal in terms of personal accomplishments. The Hart Trophy is awarded to the season's MVP while the Art Ross Trophy is given to the league's leading scorer each season. However, if a player truly wants a measurement on how well he has played during the season, he needs to look no further than the accolades bestowed upon him by his teammates, colleagues, and peers. With that in mind, the NHL awards the Lester B. Pearson Trophy annually to the most outstanding player from the regular season as voted by member of the National Hockey League Player's Association. How did this trophy come about? Why is it named as such? What are the interesting things about this trophy?

Lester Bowles Pearson is a pretty important Canadian figure for a number of reasons. Mr. Pearson was born in Newtonbrook, Ontario on April 23, 1897. As a teenager, Pearson was a noted athlete, starring in sports like rugby, lacrosse, and baseball for the University of Toronto.

Pearson served as a stretcher bearer at the age of 17 with the rank of Private in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. In 1917, he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps where he was a Flying Officer. It was here that an instructor gave Pearson the nickname of "Mike" as the instructor thought that "Lester" simply wasn't intimidating enough for a fighter pilot. A series of accidents landed him back in Canada, however, but he continued to be called by Mike as much as he was called by Lester.

After the war ended, Pearson went back to school, picking up his Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Toronto. From there, he transferred to Oxford University in England where he was a star with the Oxford Canadians ice hockey team. After receiving his Master of Arts degree, Pearson returned to the University of Toronto where he coached the Varsity Blues football team and the Varsity Blues men's ice hockey team.

Pearson has represented Canada in terms of diplomatic service on a number of occasions. He was Canada's ambassador to the United States in 1945-46. He helped found both the United Nations and NATO during his time as a diplomat. The UN Charter was drafted and ratified by October 24, 1945, and NATO being officially founded on April 4, 1949 in Brussels, Belgium.

Pearson joined the Liberal Party of Canada in 1948 as the Minister of External Affairs. It was here that Pearson really excelled. In 1957, Pearson was instrumental in helping to diffuse the Suez Crisis through the work of the United Nations, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. It has been said that Pearson is the forefather of modern peace-keeping with his actions.

In 1963 and 1965, Pearson was voted in as the Prime Minister of Canada while leading the Liberal Party. While in power, Pearson combined the various sections of the Canadian military into one unit called the Canadian Armed Forced. Pearson's government instituted an immigration policy based upon merit rather than race, most of which is still used today by the Canadian Immigration Offices.

Pretty impressive stuff, eh? How many other sports have a trophy named after the leader of their country? How many have a trophy named after a Nobel Peace Prize winner? I'm going on record as saying "not many".

The NHLPA presented the Lester B. Pearson Trophy to the NHL in 1970. It is viewed in hockey circles as an equal to the Hart Trophy due to the players selecting one of their own as the best player from that season. The first recipient of the Lester B. Pearson Trophy was Boston Bruins' forward Phil Esposito in 1970-71.

Here are some interesting facts about the Lester B. Pearson Trophy:

• Wayne Gretzky has won the Pearson Trophy the most with five wins in his career. Mario Lemieux has four wins, and Jaromir Jagr and Guy Lafleur have three wins each.
• The Pittsburgh Penguins have the most Pearson awards as a team with seven winners, followed by the Edmonton Oilers with six winners.
• Since 1971, the Pearson has been awarded 38 times to 22 different players.
• In 13 of those 38 occasions, the same player has won both the Hart Trophy and the Pearson Trophy in the same season.
  
• In seven of those 13 occasions, the same player has won the Hart Trophy, the Art Ross Trophy, and the Pearson Trophy.
• Only two goaltenders have won the Lester B. Pearson Trophy: Mike Liut of the St. Louis Blues in 1980-81, and Dominik Hasek in 1996-97 and again in 1997-98.
• Only one defenceman has ever won the Pearson Trophy: Bobby Orr in 1974-75.
• Mark Messier is the only repeat winner of the Pearson Trophy to win the award on two different teams. Messier won with Edmonton in 1989-90, and won it again with the New York Rangers in 1991-92.
• Despite their long history of success, the Montreal Canadiens have only had one player win the Pearson Trophy. Of course, Guy Lafleur won it three times in a row from 1975-78.

Tomorrow, we continue our look at the history of the NHL trophy case as the James Norris Memorial Trophy is on-deck. Congratulations to the 2009 Lester B. Pearson Trophy winner Alexander Ovechkin!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Art Ross: Trophy and Visionary

There is one trophy in the NHL where no voting is done to determine a winner. All it takes is a solid campaign from an NHL player, and he can be in the running. The Art Ross Trophy is awarded annually to the NHL player who leads the league in scoring at the end of the regular season. It's quite a spectacular trophy as you can see. Each puck along the sides of the Art Ross Trophy has a small plate on it which states the year, the player's name who won the scoring race that year, and the team he represented. So how did the Art Ross Trophy come to be? Who has the won the Trophy the most? Is there anything interesting to know about the trophy and its winners?

First off, Arthur Howey "Art" Ross is probably best remembered as the Bruins' General Manager, but he actually got his start in hockey as a player. Ross was born January 13, 1886 in Naughton, Ontario, but grew up playing junior hockey in Montreal. He played for the Brandon Elks in Manitoba before moving on to play with the Kenora Thistles. In 1907, the Thistles, with Ross as a defenceman, won the Stanley Cup. He joined the Montreal Wanderers in 1908, winning his second Stanley. He was a member of the Haileybury Comets, Ottawa Senators, and Montreal Wanderers in the NHA. He went on to play in the NHL as a member of the Wanderers, but was limited to only three games with the Wanderers after their arena burned down and the team folded. He did, however, record one goal in those three games.

Ross was viewed as a fearless player who never backed down from a fight in his life. Ross' highest PIM total was in 1913-14 with the Wanderers in the NHA. In 18 games, he spent 74 minutes in the penalty box! From 1912-17, Ross would never spend less than 55 minutes in the penalty box in one season despite only averaging 18 games per season in the NHA.

February 17, 1915 saw Ross square off in a fight with Toronto Blueshirts' player Roy "Minnie" McGiffin which ended up with both players being arrested for assault. The fine of $1 each was paid in total by McGiffin who lost a coin toss to Ross while in jail. Referee Cooper Smeaton was almost arrested as well for his inability to control the fracas, but he escaped without penalty.

Art Ross was also a fighter in another respect: he fought owners for better benefits for all players. In 1910, Ross opposed the NHA's salary cap of $5000 per team as he thought this was a way to prevent players from cashing in on their talents. He again opposed a salary cap in 1915, and was suspended from the NHA for his "insubordination". However, he was reinstated a short time later as the owners felt they reacted too harshly towards him.

After his playing career ended in 1918, Ross became an NHL referee. That didn't last long, however, as he was made coach of the 1922-23 Hamilton Tigers. The Tigers, who were last-place, didn't improve under the tutelage of Ross, and he was fired at the end of the season.

Charles Adams, who had received an NHL expansion franchise in 1924, hired Ross to run his club in Boston. Ross was appointed Vice-President, General Manager, and Head Coach. The Boston franchise was named as the "Bruins" due to Art Ross. Adams had told Ross that the franchise's nickname "must portray an untamed animal displaying speed, agility, and cunning", and the Bruins were formed. Under Ross as a manager, the Bruins won Stanley Cups in 1929, 1939, and 1941, and he was behind the bench for the 1939 and 1941 Stanley Cup wins as well. He is still Boston's winningest coach in their history.

Some of Ross' most-innovative ideas included using pucks made of synthetic rubber instead of natural rubber, and the B-shaped net which cut down on dangerous rebounds for goaltenders. And, in 1947, he presented the "Art Ross Trophy" to the NHL to honour the NHL's leading scorer in the regular season.

The first Art Ross Trophy was awarded at the end of the 1947-48 season to Montreal Canadiens' forward Elmer Lach. Lach led the NHL in scoring that season with 30 goals and 31 assists in 60 games. He won the trophy after defeating New York Ranger Herbert "Buddy" O'Connor in the scoring race by one point. Lach finished second in goals that season behind Detroit's Ted Lindsay, and fourth in assists.

Of course, there are a number of interesting facts about the Art Ross Trophy and its winners:

• Wayne Gretzky has won the most Art Ross Trophies in NHL history. He has ten to his name over his 20-year NHL career. Gordie Howe and Mario Lemieux sit second all-time with six wins each. Jaromir Jagr is third with five Art Ross Trophies to his name.
  
• The NHL retroactively went back from 1917 until 1947 and awarded the trophy to those players who led the league in scoring each year without a ceremony. According to the Hockey Hall of Fame, Joe Malone of the Quebec Bulldogs won the first Art Ross Trophy at the end of the 1917-18 season. For historical purposes, I'm ignoring anything before 1948.
  
• According to my rule of "1948-and-later", Detroit's Gordie Howe is the first player to win back-to-back Art Ross Trophies. He won in 1951 and again in 1952. If the NHL history books are to be believed, Charlie Conacher of the Toronto Maple Leafs won the league's scoring race in 1934 and again in 1935 to become the first back-to-back winner.
  
• Wayne Gretzky won seven consecutive Art Ross Trophies from 1980-81 until 1986-87, the most consecutive wins in NHL history.
  
• Between 1980 and 2001, only three different players won the Art Ross Trophy in twenty years: Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, and Jaromir Jagr.
• Jaromir Jagr is the last player to have defended his Art Ross Trophy. Jagr won in 1999-2000, and led the league in scoring in 2000-01 as well.
• Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins is the only defenceman to have ever won the Art Ross Trophy. He did it twice with the Bruins - the first time in 1969-70, and the second time in 1974-75.
• The team with the greatest representation is the Pittsburgh Penguins, who have had the league's leading scorer 13 times. Montreal sits second with nine Art Ross Trophy winners, and the Chicago Blackhawks have had eight winners.
• Sidney Crosby is the youngest player in NHL history to lead the league in scoring when he won the Art Ross Trophy in 2006-07 at age 19. Gordie Howe is the oldest to win the Art Ross Trophy at age 35 when he led the league in scoring in 1963.
  
• Wayne Gretzky is the only NHL player to win the Art Ross Trophy with two different teams: Edmonton (eight times) and Los Angeles (twice).
• Joe Thornton is the only player to be traded in a season where he ended up winning the Art Ross Trophy. In 2005-06, Thornton was traded from Boston to San Jose.

The 2009 winner of the Art Ross Trophy is Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin who finished the season with 35 goals and 78 assists for 113 points, three points ahead of last year's winner in Alexander Ovechkin. Of course, both of those players are up for the Hart Trophy tonight as well as the NHL Awards are handed out in Las Vegas.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

It's All About Hart

While the Stanley Cup is the greatest team prize available to win in hockey, arguably the greatest individual prize that can be bestowed upon someone is being named as the game's best player. The Hart Trophy, given annually to the most valuable player in the National Hockey League during the regular season, would be that accolade. While there is another trophy that is awarded to the best player as voted upon by his peers, to be judged as the best player for the 82-game regular season by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association - a group who doesn't always write the nicest things - is quite an achievement. This year's finalists all have a common theme in that they are all from Russia. Your finalists for the Hart Trophy this season are Evgeni Malkin (PIT), Pavel Datsyuk (DET), and Alexander Ovechkin (WAS).

The Hart Trophy was presented to the National Hockey League in 1923 by Dr. David Hart, and is the oldest individual award in professional hockey. Dr. Hart's son, Cecil, coached the Montreal Canadiens from 1926 until 1939, winning the Stanley Cup twice in 1930 and 1931. The first time the Hart Trophy was awarded to the regular-season MVP was at the conclusion of the 1923-24 season when Ottawa Senators forward Frank Nighbor was awarded the honour. Nighbor finished ninth in scoring in the NHL that season with eleven goals and six assists in 20 games, but helped propel the Senators to the best record that season.

The names on the list of the winners of the Hart Trophy over the years is a veritbale "who's who" of NHL greats: Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Bobby Hull, Gordie Howe, Jean Beliveau, Bobby Orr, Bobby Clarke, and Eddie Shore to name a few. Wayne Gretzky has won the trophy a record nine times, eight of those times consecutively. Gordie Howe is second with six wins, and Eddie Shore is third with four wins. There have been a total of 51 players who have received the accolade in 83 seasons of it being awarded.

The Hart Trophy has morphed with the ages. The original Hart Trophy, seen here with Elmer Lach in 1945, now sits in the vault at the Hockey Hall of Fame after its retirement in 1960. The new Hart Memorial Trophy, seen above, is what players receive since the original trophy's retirement.

Some interesting facts about the Hart Trophy include:

• Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier are the only players to win the Hart Trophy with two different teams. Gretzky did it with Edmonton and Los Angeles, while Messier won with Edmonton and the New York Rangers.
• The 2002 Hart Trophy, won by Montreal's Jose Theordore, ended up in a tie between Theodore and Calgary's Jarome Iginla after voting took place. Theodore won by having more first-place votes. This is the closest margin of victory ever for a Hart Trophy winner.
  
• Joe Thornton became the first Hart Trophy winner to switch clubs midway through his MVP season. In 2006, Thornton was traded from Boston to San Jose before winning the award at the season's end.
• Martin St. Louis of the Tampa Bay Lightning became the first Hart Trophy winner that was not drafted by an NHL team since the NHL Entry Draft was made an annual occurrance. He won the award in 2004.
• Dominik Hasek is the only goaltender to have been named season MVP twice. Hasek won back-to-back Hart Trophies in 1997 and 1998 with the Buffalo Sabres.
  
• There have been only six goalies named as the Hart Trophy winner in the history of the NHL: Roy "Shrimp" Worters (1929, New York Americans), Chuck Rayner (1950, New York Rangers), Al Rollins (1954, Chicago Blackhawks), Jacques Plante (1962, Montreal Canadiens), Dominik Hasek (as stated above), and Jose Theodore (2002, Montreal Canadiens).
• The first person to repeat as the season MVP was forward Nels Stewart of the Montreal Maroons. Nels won his first Hart Trophy in 1926, followed by his second in 1930.
• The Montreal Canadiens have the best representation in terms of Hart Trophy winners. They've have 16 winners out of the 83 times the NHL has awarded the trophy. Boston sits second with 12 winners, and Detroit and Edmonton have had nine winners each.

Tomorrow night, the NHL will present this award to one of the three Russians mentioned in the first paragraph, and it seems that most people are selecting Ovechkin to win his second Hart Trophy in a row. Malkin may provide the most competition for Ovechkin as Malkin won the scoring race this season. However, you can't count out Pavel Datsyuk for his work at both ends of the ice in helping Detroit to their 18th-straight playoff appearance.

Tormorrow should be an interesting night from Las Vegas!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Getting Your Name Engraved

As we saw yesterday, each team has a 3.3% chance of winning the Stanley Cup each year with the current number of teams in the NHL. Of course, there are 22 or so players on each team, and the business of the NHL means that any of the 660 full-time NHLers could potentially have their name engraved on the side of the trophy. Trades, free agency, and waiver moves all come into play when teams are building for their respective runs at glory. To have your name engraved more than once is even harder, especially when it happens in successive years. Again, the percentages plummet when looking at people who have had their name added for a third time. The hardest trophy to win in sports eludes some players for their entire careers despite their greatness. Today, HBIC looks at those who have accomplished the feat, who has been added more than once, and those engravings where spelling and double-checking should have been done.

Perhaps the most impressive statistic on the Stanley Cup is how many times someone appears. The answer to the trivia question is Henri Richard. Richard, the Pocket Rocket, had his name scratched into the silver-and-nickel alloy a record eleven times as a member of the Montreal Canadiens. Jean Beliveau and Yvon Cournoyer sit second all-time with their names inscribed ten times each. Red Kelly has his name on the Stanley Cup the most times without ever having been added as a member of the Montreal Canadiens. Kelly's name appears eight times as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings.

Scotty Bowman holds the record as the coach who has had his name on the Stanley Cup the most. Bowman has his name on the Silver Chalice a record nine times while coaching the Detroit Red Wings, the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Montreal Canadiens to Stanley Cups. Hector "Toe" Blake is second with eight instances, all with the Montreal Canadiens. And perhaps the strangest engraving came compliments of the 1906-07 Montreal Wanderers who opted to engrave their names inside the Stanley Cup.

While there have been a total of 2111 names added to the Stanley Cup before the Penguins have their names added this off-season, human error has factored into a few names appearing as something different than the actual player's name. There has also been one named removed from the Stanley Cup, which will be explained below.

• The 1937-38 Chicago Blackhawks see Pete Palangio's name appear twice on the Stanley Cup. The first instance is spelled correctly, but Pete appears a second time as "Pete Palagio".
• The 1940-41 Boston Bruins have Pat McReavy's name appearing as "Pat McCeavy".
  
• The 1941-42 Toronto Maple Leafs have Turk Broda listed twice. The first instance has him under his nickname of Turk Broda, while the second instance has him listed under his given name of Walter Broda.
• The 1944-45 Maple Leafs had Frank J. Selke in their management group as the assistant general manager that season. When his position was engraved beside his name, Selke became the Leafs' proctologist as his title was abbreviated to "Ass Man". Arc Campbell was listed as "Ass Train". Not sure how one goes about getting that job, but that's an interesting position with the club.
  
• The 1946-47 Maple Leafs employ the services of Gaye Stewart as a player that season. After winning the Stanley Cup, Gaye Stewart's name is engraved as "Gave Stewart".
• The 1951-52 Detroit Red Wings have multiple mistakes on their engraving. Head Coach Tommy Ivan sees his name appear as "Tommy Nivan". Winger Alex Delvecchio has his named engraved as "Alex Belvecchio".
• Jacques Plante, as a member of the Montreal Canadiens from 1956-60, wins the Stanley Cup in five consecutive years. And in five consecutive years, his name is spelled differently. It appears as "J. Plante", "Jacques Plante", "Jac Plante", "Jacq Plante", and "Jaques Plante".
• The 1962-63 Toronto Maple Leafs became the "Toronto Maple Leaes" on the Stanley Cup.
• Apparently, you can't spell Boston without a couple Qs. Or so it was thought in 1971-72.
• The 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens had a player in the witness protection program. Bob Gainey, currently the Habs' GM, had his name spelled as "Robert Gainy".
• The 1980-81 New York Islanders decided to drop the "S" for their engraving. Yet the previous year's spelling was right next door as this was the second Stanley Cup in a row for the Long Islanders.
  
• The 1983-84 Edmonton Oilers had a name on the Stanley Cup that was slightly out of place. Owner Peter Pocklington included his father's name, Basil Pocklington, in the information given to the engraver. The NHL caught the name, and had it covered up by 16 Xes as the elder Pocklington was, in no way at all, affiliated with the Oilers.
• The 1995-96 Colorado Avalanche won the Stanley Cup with Adam Deadmarsh playing the wing. To his surprise, his name appeared as "Deadmarch". "He was almost in tears," said Philip Pritchard of the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. The NHL went back and corrected the name error.
• The 2001-02 Detroit Red Wings won a Stanley Cup in part due to the efforts of goaltender Manny Legace. The only problem? His name appeared as "Lagace" before being corrected.
• The 2005-06 Carolina Hurricanes saw Eric Staal hoist the Stanley Cup. However, his name appeared as "Staaal" on the trophy before it was corrected.
  
• The 2007-08 Detroit Red Wings saw engravers mangle Tomas Holmstrom's name as they attempted to correct his name.
  

Of course, this year's winners have names like Ruslan Fedotenko, Petr Sykora, Alex Goligoski, and Mathieu Garon, so the work of the engravers doesn't get any easier. The good news is that the NHL has only employed four engravers since they started putting names on the Stanley Cup. The first engravers comprised of Carl Peterson, followed by his son, Arno Peterson with the help of Fred Light Sr. The second engraver was Doug Boffey, owner of Boffey Silversmiths of Montreal. The current person assigned to the NHL is Louise St. Jacques. She took over Boffey's engraving business.

And we thought it was tough just pronouncing the names of players!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

**Many thanks to Reed Albergotti for his work with the pictures. All photos credited to him!**

The Toughest Trophy To Win

When it comes to competing for the major prizes in North American professional sports, none are harder to win than the Stanley Cup. Players talk about the NHL Playoffs being "war" and how they play hurt in order to have their names engraved on the side of the trophy. There is no other trophy in professional sports that has the names of the players on the winning team engraved on the side of the award, making it a huge honour for those that are lucky and/or good enough to reach this accolade. Ring after ring of names show that only a select few reach the summit of the NHL mountain each year, proving that the journey is the hardest part. So how did Lord Stanley's Cup become the hardest trophy to win? Where did it come from? How did it become property of the NHL to award to its members? We'll answer these questions, and several others, below.

In 1892, Sir Frederick Arthur Stanley, Lord Stanley of Preston and son of the Earl of Derby, purchased a Cup-like trophy for the price of approximately $50. The trophy was to be awarded to the top hockey club in the Dominion of Canada starting in 1893. Of course, there were many teams who competed for the trophy over the years, and the Stanley Cup would change hands regularly throughout its early years. Some of the more notable non-NHL teams to win the Stanley Cup include the Winnipeg Victorias (1895-96), the Kenora Thistles (1906-07), the Quebec Bulldogs (1911-12), and the Seattle Metropolitans (1916-17). Seattle, incidentally, is the first US-based hockey team to have won Lord Stanley's Cup.

In 1910, after the formation of the National Hockey Association, possession of the Stanley Cup belonged to the NHA to be awarded to the best team each year at the conclusion of the season. The first team to win the Stanley Cup under the NHA was the 1910-11 Ottawa Senators. With the demise of the NHA in 1916, the NHL was formed in 1917 and the Stanley Cup became property of the NHL. There were four member franchises who competed in the first NHL season: the Montreal Canadiens, the Montreal Wanderers, the Ottawa Senators, and the Toronto Arenas. It would be the Toronto Arenas who claimed the Stanley Cup in 1917-18 in the NHL's first year of existence, defeating the Vancouver Millionaires three games-to-two in a series between the NHL Champions and the WCHL Champions. Essentially, this fulfilled Lord Stanley's wish of thr trophy being awarded to the top hockey club in Canada.

Teams came and went depending on the financial stability of the clubs. 1918-19 saw only three NHL clubs start the season as the Montreal Wanderers closed shop. Midway through the season, the Toronto Arenas shut down their operations as well. The Quebec Bulldogs and Toronto St. Pats joined the NHL the following year. Quebec moved their club to Hamilton for the start of the 1920-21 season. However, in 1924-25, the NHL accepted US-based clubs for the first time, and the league expanded to six teams. The odds of winning the O'Brien Cup, awarded to the NHL Champions, went down with the inclusion of the new teams. Obviously, this also meant a more difficult time in reaching the Stanley Cup Final against the winner of the WCHL. The Montreal Maroons and the Boston Bruins joined Hamilton, Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal in the new NHL.

The Hamilton Tigers were the toast of the league that year, finishing with the best record in the NHL. The Tigers' players demanded additional money for playing a longer season, and owner Percy Thompson rejected that demand. League President Frank Calder met threatened suspension to any player who refused to take part in the NHL Final. After an unsuccessful meeting with Shorty Green, a Tigers' player, Calder suspended the Tigers from play and fined them $200, the amount they were to receive. Because of this, the Montreal Canadiens won the O'Brien Cup by default and advanced to the Stanley Cup Final. However, the Victoria Cougars, champions of the WCHL, defeated the Canadiens three-games-to-one. The Cougars would be the last non-NHL team to win the Stanley Cup.

The chance to win the Stanley Cup became a little more difficult in 1925-26 when the Tigers moved to New York City to become the New York Americans. The Pittsburgh Pirates also joined the NHL for that season, moving the number of clubs to seven. This season marked the last time the NHL and WCHL Champions met as the WCHL ran into financial problems and folded. The Montreal Maroons would defeat the defending champion Victoria Cougars three-games-to-one for the Stanley Cup.

1926-27 sees the NHL absorb the contracts of the WCHL players after the league folds, and take sole possession of the Stanley Cup. The Portland Rosebuds become the Chicago Blackhawks while the Victoria Cougars become the Detroit Cougars. Also added to the NHL were the expansion New York Rangers, making the league into an 10-team organization. The St. Pats, bought by Conn Smythe, were renamed nidway through the season as the Maple Leafs. As the only professional hockey league left in Canada, the Stanley Cup is awarded to the NHL's best team in the playoffs. 1926-27 sees the Ottawa Senators defeat the Boston Bruins two-games-to-none to win the Stanley Cup.

1927-28 sees the New York Rangers become the first US-based NHL team to win the Stanley Cup as they defeat the Montreal Maroons three-games-to-two. All ten teams remain as part of the league.

1931-32 sees the league drop to eight teams as the Ottawa Senators and the Philadelphia Quakers - formerly the Pittsburgh Pirates - suspend operations due to financial difficulties. The Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup over the Rangers in a three-game sweep.

1932-33 sees the Ottawa Senators return to the league. The Detroit Falcons - formerly the Cougars - merge with the AHL Chicago Shamrocks to become the Detroit Red Wings. The league moves from eight teams to nine teams. The New York Rangers win the Stanley Cup with a three-games-to-one series win over Toronto.

1935-36 sees the St. Louis Eagles - formerly the Ottawa Senators - close shop for good. The Eagles suffered major financial losses in both Ottawa and St. Louis. With the NHL back to eight teams, the Detroit Red Wings win their first Stanley Cup by defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs three-games-to-one.

1938-39 sees the Montreal Maroons disbanded after their request to move to St. Louis is denied by the other owners. The league drops to seven teams for this season, and the Bruins take advantage. They defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs four-games-to-one in the first best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final.

1942-43 sees the end to the Brooklyn Americans - formerly the New York Americans. The NHL is down to a mere six teams. The last time that occurred was 1924-25, 17 years earlier when the first US-based club in the Bruins were accepted into the NHL. As fate would have it, the Detroit Red Wings swept the Bruins in the Stanley Cup Final that spring.

We have to jump all the way ahead to 1967-68 for the next change. The NHL remained at six teams for 25 years until the NHL decided to move west. Six new teams, dubbed the "Expansion Six", formed the Western Division. They were the Los Angeles Kings, the Minnesota North Stars, the Oakland Seals, the Philadelphia Flyers, the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the St. Louis Blues. With the Original Six in one division and the Expansion Six in another, it guaranteed that one of the new teams would make the Stanley Cup Final. Montreal swept the West Division Champion St. Louis Blues in the Final.

In 1970-71, the Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks join the NHL as expansion franchises. The Blackhawks are moved from the East Division to the West Division, while the two new franchises are placed in the East Division. Yeah, Vancouver in the East Division. I know it makes no sense. Oakland is renamed as the California Golden Seals after Chalie O. Finley buys the franchise. The NHL is now up to its highest total of teams ever with 14. The Montreal Canadiens defeat the Chicago Blackhawks in seven games to win the Stanley Cup.

1972-73 sees two more franchises added as the New York Islanders and Atlanta Flames join the NHL. In an effort to block the WHA from expanding into brand-new arenas, the NHL hastily awards franchises in these locales. Just like in previous expansion years, the Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup by defeating the Chicago Blackhawks in six games.

1974-75 sees the NHL award two more expansion franchises to Kansas City and Washington, DC. The Scouts and Capitals put up numbers of futility that have not been rivaled by first-year teams. The NHL now has 18 teams divided into two conferences of two divisions each. The Philadelphia Flyers, having won the Stanley Cup in the previous year, defend their title by defeating the Buffalo Sabres in six games.

1978-79 sees the Cleveland Barons - formerly the California Golden Seals - merge with the Minnesota North Stars as both teams struggled financially. This would mark the first reduction in NHL teams since the Brooklyn Americans ceased operations in 1942, leaving the NHL with 17 teams. The Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup in five games over the New York Rangers.

The following season saw the NHL grow to 21 teams as the WHA closed its doors after financial problems plagued the majority of the teams. Six WHA teams were considered for expansion into the NHL. Winnipeg, Edmonton, Quebec, and New England are granted expansion franchises while Cincinnati and Birmingham are paid handsomely by the NHL to close their doors. New England, at the request of the Boston Bruins, change their name to the Hartford Whalers. The New York Islanders, playing in their first Stanley Cup Final, defeat the heavily-favoured Philadelphia Flyers to win their first Stanley Cup.

1991-92 sees the NHL expand into California as the San Jose Sharks join the league as the 22nd NHL franchise. The Gunds re-establish hockey in the Bay Area after having moved the California Golden Seals to Cleveland in 1976. Pittsburgh wins their second Stanley Cup, defending the title they won in 1991, by defeating the Chicago Blackhawks in four straight games.

1992-93 sees two more teams dive into the NHL pond as the Tampa Bay Lightning and Ottawa Senators join the league. This is the first NHL team in Ottawa since 1934, and the NHL now has 24 teams. Once again, an expansion year sees the Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup as they defeated the Los Angeles Kings in five games.

1993-94 sees two more teams join the NHL as the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and the Florida Panthers push the total number of teams to 26. The Minnesota North Stars leave the Land of 10,000 Lakes for the Lone Star State as the Dallas Stars take to the ice. The New York Rangers, tossing aside 54 years of dashed hopes and historic losses, win the Stanley Cup in seven games over the Vancouver Canucks.

The Nashville Predators become the 27th NHL team in 1998-99. The major news out of the hockey world was the retirement of Wayne Gretzky after the New York Rangers missed the playoffs. The Dallas Stars, having settled into their new digs in Dallas, defeat the Buffalo Sabres in six games to win the Stanley Cup.

1999-2000 was a return to Atlanta as the Atlanta Thrashers took to the ice, pushing the number of NHL teams to 28. There hadn't been NHL hockey in Atlanta since the Flames packed up and headed north to Calgary in 1980. The New Jersey Devils used six games to dispatch the Stanley Cup Champion Dallas Stars in the Stanley Cup Final.

2000-01 sees the NHL expand into Columbus as the Blue Jackets take the ice. Minneapolis/St. Paul is also granted an expansion franchise as the Minnesota Wild are born. This pushes the NHL to its highest total of teams in league history with 30. The Colorado Avalanche - formerly the Quebec Nordiques - win the Stanley Cup over the defending champion New Jersey Devils in seven games.

Phew! Got all that?

Ok, so there are now 30 franchises in the NHL, and only one Stanley Cup. Of those 30 teams, there are 13 teams who have not hoisted the Silver Chalice as the NHL's best team. They are:

• Atlanta Thrashers
• Buffalo Sabres
• Columbus Blue Jackets
• Los Angeles Kings
• Ottawa Senators*
• Nashville Predators
• Minnesota Wild
• Phoenix Coyotes
• Washington Capitals
• St. Louis Blues
• Vancouver Canucks
• San Jose Sharks
• Florida Panthers

Now obviously the Senators won the Stanley Cup a long time ago, but the new version of the Senators have not. Two different franchises means two different accolades.

With every team that wins, the players who appeared in the Stanley Cup Final are added to the Stanley Cup roster on the Cup. Again, it is the only trophy in professional sports that has the names of the players who won it inscribed on the trophy itself. As the rings fill up, new rings are added. The older Stanley Cup rings and the original Stanley Cup are housed in Lord Stanley's Vault at the Hockey Hall of Fame. The current Stanley Cup is comprised of a bowl, three tiered bands, a collar, and five barrel or uniform bands. It stands at 35 1/4" tall, and weighs a lofty 34 1/2 pounds. It truly is one of the most impressive trophies in all of sport.

So what does this mean?

Not much.

Aside from the fact that only one team can come out on top out of the 30 teams in the NHL, it means that each team has about a 3.3% chance to win the Stanley Cup at the start of each year. Those are pretty slim odds. When you factor in the grueling 82-game schedule and the "war" known as the post-season, the odds of surviving are based on a number of factors: talent, luck, and durability to name a few. Since those factors can strike good or bad at anytime, all you can do is roll the dice and hope it comes up favorably.

With the NHL schedule requiring teams to win approximately half of their 82 games to qualify for the playoffs, there is a huge demand on every player in every game. Combine that with the required 16 wins in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, an NHL player can play up to 110 games of hockey per year in an effort to win the Stanley Cup. That's a whole lot of hockey. And we haven't even factored in injuries, bumps, bruises, and trades.

What it comes down to is that the NHL's Stanley Cup is the hardest trophy to win in North American professional sports by far. But it's also, in this writer's opinion, the most beautiful trophy in sports. And when you're battling for something so beautiful, something so magnificent, doesn't it require a Herculean effort?

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Sunday Off

With the Stanley Cup having been awarded and the HBIC Playoff Pool entrants being contacted for prizes, I will be examining the trophies handed out by the NHL at the upcoming NHL Awards Night. There is some great history on each of the trophies, and there have been some standout players who have won the trophies accordingly. As I prepare for the off-season, I'll also review some more charitable efforts from players and teams, examine the NHL Draft, prepare for July 1st's free agency market, and bring to light some other great stories. There will be a look at the Washington Capitals' minor-league affiliations as both the ECHL's South Carolina Stingrays and AHL's Hershey Bears captured their league's respective championship trophies. This will take place before July 1 as well. Lastly, I'll have another entry in Teebz's Book Club that should, with a little planning, arrive before July 1.

However, being that this site is a reader-driven site, I have a major question for all of you who drop by here. And please - I'm begging you here - I want comments and emails about this so I know how to proceed.

What stories would you like to see HBIC cover this off-season? Last season, my summer project was the Charitable Organizations articles where I covered off a large number of charities started and supported by members of the NHLPA. These seemed to get a good readership and, hopefully, it brought to light the amazing efforts put forth by NHL players in your local communities. Again, I believe that NHL players do more in communities than what people believe, and these articles opened that door. If you want to read about some of them, please look under the "NHL Charities" section on the right.

So I pose to you, readers, what would you like to see HBIC cover after July 1st as my major summer project? It can be anything you like: history of old arenas, profiles of teams that no longer exist, affiliations of NHL teams with minor-league teams, or anything else.

Think about the question as you have some time before the July 1 deadline approaches. Nothing will be discarded or rejected as long as it has to do with hockey. Again, comments and emails are strongly encouraged on this, and I'll be taking suggestions from everyone.

Tomorrow, how the Stanley Cup became the hardest trophy to win in professional sports.

Until then, keep your sticks on the ice!

Remembering South Detroit

If you didn't enjoy this year's Stanley Cup Final, please check your pulse. If you found the 2009 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs to be somewhat boring, please get a CAT Scan. If you didn't hold your breath last night for the final minute in Game Seven between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings, you're probably already dead. While I say that the conspiracy theorists be damned, this was the best Stanley Cup Playoffs in a long, long time. Detroit - the high octane offensive and suffocating defensive team - played superb hockey through four rounds and just came up short. Pittsburgh - battling arch-rivals, former teammates, and the same team that paraded around the Mellon Arena with the Stanley Cup last year - put what may have been a season to forget behind them after erasing all those memories with the Stanley Cup win last night.

I admit that I am a Penguins fan. I have a lot of Penguins-themed merchandise around the hockey basement, and my favorite player while growing up was Mario Lemieux. I'm sure you might be thinking that it's bias time since I am a Penguins fan, but that's not the case. I hope.

You see, Detroit played well last night. In fact, they played good enough to win the Stanley Cup if it hadn't been for a determined Penguins team. If there had been any effort lower than what the Penguins displayed last night, I would be congratulating the Red Wings right now for the second year in a row. The Red Wings were good enough to win the Stanley Cup last night. The only problem was that the Penguins were better on June 12, 2009.

Tonight's victory over the Red Wings for the Penguins will be memorable. They exorcised the demons that the Red Wings seem to bring last season by pushing this series to seven games, and then went into Joe Louis and played their hearts out. They erased the 10th-place standing they sat in at March 25. They erased the doubters who said that this team would feel the hangover from last season. They erased a dismal showing in Game Five of the Final where they lost 5-0 to the Red Wings. They erased two 2-0 deficits to higher-seeded teams.

But this needs to be said: the Red Wings did not choke. Not in this writer's view. They played well enough to win the game had Pittsburgh not brought 110% effort. Again, anything less than that amount of effort would mean a Stanley Cup parade in Detroit. The only difference is that the Penguins were the better team on June 12, 2009.

And I'm not going to browbeat Marian Hossa for his decision to leave the Penguins during free agency last year. That's the beauty of free agency: he can choose where he wants to play, and he made a fairly basic choice in opting to go with the most successful team of the new millenium in order to win a Stanley Cup. However, it is my belief that with Hossa leaving the Penguins, it actually made the Penguins better as they could afford to go out and trade for Chris Kunitz, Bill Guerin, and Craig Adams, and sign Ruslan Fedotenko as a free agent. That money would have been tied up in Hossa long-term, and I may be writing about the Red Wings had that happened. Hindsight is 20/20, but we learn from history. And Marian Hossa is now oh-fer-two in Stanley Cup Finals.

The Red Wings' dynasty is nowhere close to being over. Heck, even the Edmonton Oilers of the 1980s had a few slips along the way as Montreal won in 1986 and arch-rival Calgary won in 1989. The Red Wings have a number of players signed long-term, and all of these players are major cogs to their success: Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Franzen as examples. They had the emergence of some very good, young players this post-season as well, namely Helm, Ericsson, and Abdelkader. No, the Red Wings will still be dangerous next season and in future seasons. And with the sour taste of defeat in their mouths, they might just be the hungriest team next season. Beware of the Big Red Machine next season, NHL.

But today is PhotoBlog in a different way. Today is all about last night's win, and the images that should be locked in Penguins fans' minds for a long time. This is why you follow for 82 games and 16 wins in the playoffs. This is why you wear the colours of your team. This is why you live and die with each shot and save. This is why hockey is religion.

• The last time the Penguins had a team photo with the Stanley Cup was 1992. It seems like it was a hundred years ago.
• If you didn't gasp when Lidstrom took that shot with two seconds left, you had already passed out. Which means you missed Fleury's Cup-saving save.
• Euphoria on the bench as the final horn sounds. In particular, Guerin, Cooke, and Kunitz.
• Max Talbot - your unsung hero for the Pittsburgh Penguins as he nets both goals in the Game Seven 2-1 win.
• Can the effort of Jordan Staal be described? His short-handed goal was huge, but when he demanded the checking role against Zetterberg's line, that is character in spades.
• Evgeni Malkin was named as the Conn Smythe Trophy winner for being the Playoff MVP. Much like #66, his play did a lot of the talking rather than talking through the media.
• Sidney Crosby became the youngest captain to win the Stanley Cup.
• If you don't think head coach Dan Bylsma was a major cog in bringing the Stanley Cup to Pittsburgh, consider these numbers. In 25 regular season games, Bylsma went 18-3-4 as the Penguins coach, good for a .720 winning percentage. He took over with the Penguins sitting at 59 points in 10th-place in the East. The Penguins finished fourth in the Conference with 99 points - a 40-point improvement over 18 games! In 49 games, including the playoffs, his coaching record is 34-11-4. Extrapolating that to an 82-game schedule, Bylsma's record would be an astounding 57-18-7 for 121 points! That would have been four points better than the President's Trophy winners in San Jose!
• Of course, the Penguins always talked about playing as a team, so when Crosby took the Stanley Cup from Gary Bettman, he skated into the middle of his team and celebrated with them.
• The celebratory pictures of the team winning the Stanley Cup took place at centre ice, and all hands were on-deck for this one, including owner Mario Lemieux to the far right. The hardest trophy to win in sports brings about the biggest jubilation for players, as seen on Matt Cooke's face. And that's how he'll be remembered.
• Of course, I won't forget about Mario Lemieux's contribution. From rescuing the team in bankruptcy to getting a new arena deal to handing the management of the team over to Executive VP and GM Ray Shero, both Mario and Nathalie Lemieux had a considerable effort in this win. And they enjoyed it with the celebratory champagne.

Congratulations to your 2009 Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Bringing Home The Cup

You might remember the image to the left appearing on the right-hand side a few weeks ago. The Pepsi-Frito-Lay-Gatorade Bring Home The Cup Contest wrapped up about a week ago, and a hockey team in Canada got to bring home the Stanley Cup to their community for all to see. Of course, they had to deal with Mark Messier as well, and that might be a little intimidating. In all seriousness, though, there were ten finalists, and each had a pretty decent video about why they should bring the Stanley Cup home to their community.

In the end, however, the HRS Huskies from St-Lazare, Quebec earned the right to Bring Home The Cup to their community, and have a party hosted by Mark Messier. The Huskies' entry was sent in by head coach Gary MacDowell. The pre-novice Huskies - 12 boys aged six and seven years-old - partied with Messier and Lord Stanley's Cup on May 16, 2009 under rainy skies, but the inclement weather didn't stop the enthusiasm and Stanley Cup fever in these kids.

There were over 600 entries in the contest, and the best ten entries were put up for voting after the judges narrowed the selection. From there, it was up to Canada and the communities to vote on who deserved the honour of having the Stanley Cup come to them. From there, with the Huskies huddled in the MacDowell garage, TSN host James Duthie announced on TV that the Huskies had won the vote, and would be receiving a visit from hockey's biggest prize.

MacDowell's son, Evan, is a player on the Huskies' team, and the little guy already considers dad as a hero. Said Gary, "The memory of having won this competition and have been able to touch the one of the most prestigious sports trophies will be engraved in the memory of these boys forever."

These boys took part in a Stanley Cup parade through St-Lazare, played street hockey, partied with the Cup and Mr. Messier, and watched an NHL Playoff Game on their brand-new 52" television while snacking on Frito-Lay and Pepsi products. Congratulations to the HRS Huskies on winning this great contest! Here is Gary's video that propelled the Huskies to victory! Watch for #12 - that's Evan MacDowell!

When asked of how he felt about bringing the Stanley Cup to his house for the big party, six year-old Evan simply stated, "I don't know. I'm just happy."

Like a true professional, Evan doesn't let the highs of a victory get too high.

Congratulations again to the HRS Huskies for bringing home the Stanley Cup! We're a mere hour away from seeing the Stanley Cup awarded to another team, so I'm out of here! Good luck to both the Penguins and Red Wings! Also, good luck to the Manitoba Moose and Hershey Bears as they tangle in Game Six of the AHL Calder Cup Playoffs!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Too Busy For A Title

Ok, today wasn't truly a sick day. I was just busier than I expected, so I'm mailing it in. I would have closed up shop if it hadn't been for an email I received, but I managed to squeeze a little blogging in just to bring you what one person found on the Internet. It literally gives me goosebumps. As much as I watch this video over and over, it still has the same effect on me - a complete full-body tingle. Watching the play move backwards combined with the action shots is masterful. CBC should be nominated for some sort of short award with this music montage of hockey brilliance. The tune played in the background - Coldplay's The Scientist - is eerily chilling as well, but so perfect for the montage that CBC put together. When it comes to hockey broadcasting, does anyone do it better?

This is truly why Hockey Night In Canada is, in my honest opinion, the best broadcast of any sports broadcast on television today. Take a look at the opening montage to Game One of the Stanley Cup Final.

And with one game to go, let's go back to the CBC montage that opened this season's Stanley Cup Playoffs. Note the faces and greats in this piece. And note the joy and sorrow on the faces of the winners and losers respectively.

One team will join the winners in jubilation. One team will bury their chins in their chests as they suffer agonizing defeat. Will it be a repeat from last year?

We'll know in 24 hours.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

While You Were Out...

I didn't get home until a few minutes earlier, and I felt the need to get right to the old blog and start putting pen to paper. Er, make that fingers to keys. Lots of stuff happening in the world of hockey, and some stuff that has already passed, so I need to get the updates out. Of course, I'll put my own spin on some of these stories, making them infinitely more biased than they seem, but I appreciate you reading. So without further fanfare, here are your delicious stories from the past few days.

• The ECHL's Kelly Cup was handed out on Monday night as the South Carolina Stingrays downed the Alaska Aces by a 4-2 score to win the title in seven games. This is the third Kelly Cup Championship for the Stingrays, having won in 1997 and 2001, and ties them as a three-time ECHL Champion with only the former Hampton Roads franchise in ECHL history. Congratulations to the South Carolina Stingrays: the ECHL Kelly Cup Champions!
  
• Some interesting facts on South Carolina's road to glory: (1) The Stingrays travelled more than 18,000 miles in this series against Alaska. It's 4517 miles from Charleston, South Carolina to Anchorage, Alaska, eclipsing the previous record set in 2005 when Alaska travelled 4444 miles to Trenton, New Jersey. (2) South Carolina won the Kelly Cup without home-ice advantage in any series, marking them as only the fifth team to do so. (3) South Carolina became only the second road team to win a Game Seven in the ECHL Final, joining the 1989 Carolina franchise in doing so.
• Jim Playfair, former head coach of the Calgary Flames, has been handed the reins to the AHL's Abbotsford Heat. His previous stint in the AHL saw him coaching the Saint John Flames where he compiled a record of 83-77-22-10, and was named Minor Professional Coach of the Year by The Hockey News. Playfair should be a good teacher for the AHL ranks, and the baby Flames should be better than what they fared in Quad City with Playfair at the helm.
• The ECHL announced yesterday that it is adding a new franchise into the fold. The Kalamazoo Wings will move from the IHL to the ECHL for the 2009-10 season. Kalamazoo finished fourth in the IHL standings this season. Kalamazoo will be placed into the ECHL North Division, joining the Cincinnati Cyclones, the Elmira Jackals, the Johnstown Chiefs, the expansion Toledo Walleye and the Wheeling Nailers.
• Lots of chatter about "The Piece" and his impending free agency as Penguins' defenceman Rob Scuderi makes a name for himself throughout these Stanley Cup Playoffs. His rock-bottom bargain price of $750,000 per season will undoubtedly go up after his showing in this post-season, but let's not forget his regular season. Scuderi led all Penguins with a +23 rating this season on the strength of one goal and 15 assists in 81 games. His durability will give him a big bargaining chip, especially if he comes to play every night like he has thus far. My thoughts? I'd offer him $2.5 million per season for three years. The Penguins have all the cornerstones in place, and, at 30 years-old, Scuderi may take success over big money somewhere else.
• There is also rumours floating about that if Scuderi's asking price is above what the Penguins think he may be worth, Anaheim Ducks' defenceman Francois Beauchemin might be on GM Ray Shero's radar in Pittsburgh. Beauchemin would bring that Western Conference grittiness that the Eastern Conference seems to be lacking, and they have a pretty good read on his character with former Duck Chris Kunitz sitting in the Penguins' dressing room. I, for one, wouldn't complain if Beauchemin suited up for the Arctic Fowl next season.
• The Bleacher Report puts together a phenomenal article on the "40 Greatest Players to Never Scratch Their Name on the Stanley Cup". Highly-recommended reading, and one that really puts into perspective how hard that trophy is to win. Some of the names in that list really deserve it.
• With Jim Balsillie's Make It Seven website plastered all over since he announced his intentions to buy the Coyotes, there have been a few sites that have taken jabs at the Canadian billionaire. However, one site has gone further with their newest idea: Make It Five! Priceless comedy here. Check it out.
• Dave Tippett's time as Dallas' bench boss is over. Tippett was fired today by new Stars' GM Joe Nieuwendyk as the team looks to change the pattern it was developing over the last few seasons. Personally, this change was needed. The Stars were getting progressively worse, and Tippett never seemed to change with the more offensive NHL. While a large part of last season's disappointment can be attributed to some key injuries, it's time that the Stars look at a more offensively-minded coach. And yet the Stars have asked to speak to Marc Crawford. Go figure.
• Lastly, I want to welcome Matt Proctor to the blogosphere. Matt has started a blog called The Hockey Jerseys Guide, so I thought I'd help him get a few new readers. Personally, his Top Five Jerseys of All-Time article has a few flaws in it from my point of view, but if those are his all-time favorites, who are we to judge, right? Check him out. Give him a chance.

Ok, kids. I need some shut-eye, so I'm checking out. Game Six of the AHL Calder Cup Final and Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Final both go on Friday. Talk about a great night for hockey!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Poolie Update: Game Six Preview

With Game Six on the schedule for tonight in Pittsburgh at 8PM ET, it is only fitting that I provide an updated list of prizes for the hockey poolies who are currently entered in the HBIC Playoff Pool. I have updated scores through Game Five, and James Huening has moved back into the lead on the backs of Dan Cleary and Sidney Crosby. Or, more particularly, their game-winning goals. Good job, James, and remember that everyone is still eligible. And if the series happens to go to a Game Seven where the winner gets the Stanley Cup, I'll still work on more prizing for those of you who have entered. Why? Because you guys make it fun, and I've really appreciated the work you've put into your picks. Along with that, I certainly do appreciate you reading this blog, and it's my way of saying "thank you".

If the Stanley Cup is handed out tonight, prizes will be awarded according to your standing in the pool in almost all the cases. However, I will add caveats to certain prizes under which certain criteria have been met. In these cases, those who meet this criteria will be contacted first with the opportunity to receive these prizes. If the person(s) who win these conditional prizes reject them (why would you do that? They are guaranteed!), the prizes will go back into the Schwag Bag of Stuff and be available for all while the entrant will have to wait for his/her turn to select one of the remaining prizes.

Here's how the selection will work:

• If you are eligible for a conditional prize, I will send you an email with your potential prize on it. If you choose to keep that prize, you simply need to say "yes" in your email back to me and I will send it to you. If you choose not to accept that prize and say "no, thank you", your prize heads back into the collection of prizes, and you fall back into your place in the standings.
• Once those entrants above have made their decisions, the list of prizes will be sent to the entrant who finishes in first-place. He/she can select any ONE prize from the list sent to him/her, and it will be mailed out. Once that person is selected, the second-place entrant will pick from the remaining prizes, and so on and so forth.
• Once all the prizes have been handed out, I'm officially done. Again, there are a number of prizes, and those are listed below, so everyone is eligible either through standings or conditions.

Ok, so hopefully that clears up how the prizes will be awarded. Again, all of the prizes except one are priced between $20-25 CDN so it's not like you're losing a million dollars if you come in fourth instead of third. Let's be sensible here as well: don't pick something that won't fit you. I've purposely requested larger items from the partners I worked with, so hopefully that will allow everyone a chance at these prizes.

• Washington Capitals black replica jersey by CCM (XXL).
• Red Ottawa Senators Ray Emery jersey t-shirt (XL).
• White Mario Lemieux Foundation t-shirt (XL).
• Black women's Mario Lemieux Foundation t-shirt (L) - eligible to the highest-scoring woman in the pool unless she wants something else.
• White CCM "I scored last night" t-shirt (XL).
• Blue Buffalo Sabres retro raglan shirt (XXL).
• Black Roger Edwards' LA Kings silver-and-black retro logo baseball cap.
• Brown "Peter Puck" trucker cap.
• White "Keep It Six" t-shirt (XL) - eligible to the sixth-place person in the standings unless he/she would like something else.
  
• Brodeur: Beyond the Crease book.
• Don Cherry's Rock 'Em Sock 'Em 17 DVD.
• Combo prize: CBC-produced '72 Canada-Russia 3-DVD set on the 1972 Summit Series, and a Doug Gilmour McFarlane figure.

All of you receiving a prize will also get a 2008-09 Panini sticker album with your winnings, compliments of the good people at Panini.

Here's the bad news, poolies. If you entered and have been playing right up to the end, you get first crack at the prizes. As of right now, eleven of the entrants have played all four rounds of the pool, and I don't think it's fair if they're forced to take a lower prize if they finish lower than someone who didn't participate right through to the end. For those who haven't been in all rounds, complain all you want about this rule, but showing up is the first step in any activity and these eleven people showed up for each round. So for those of you who have been in it until the end? The spoils will go to you first.

If you have any questions, you know who to email. Good luck to both the Red Wings and Penguins tonight as Lord Stanley's Mug will be in the Mellon Arena, and good luck to the Moose and Bears as well as they battle in Game Five for the Calder Cup! One win, and the Bears can skate the victory lap as well!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Loss Of A Great

The flag will fly at half-mast today at HBIC for a very good reason. If you're a regular reader of Uni Watch like I am, you already know that Paul Lukas, author of the blog and ESPN contributor, lost his father over the weekend. Irwin William Lukas was a sports-loving New Yorker who encouraged his son in all his endeavours, and it was Paul who encouraged me to start this blog as a way to get my hockey thoughts out to the world after I clogged up his board with my hockey banter. I never would have expected my readership to grow like it has, and, after nearly 200,000 site visits later, I really feel the need to say thank you to Paul for his suggestion. While this piece may come thirteen days too early as Father's Day doesn't occur until June 21 this year, this is a little piece on all our dads. More on Paul's dad below this inspirational story of a hockey star who lost her dad before the most important time in her life.

Back in 1998 before the Nagano Olympic Games, Danielle Goyette was preparing for the first-ever Women's Olympic Ice Hockey Competition with Team Canada. Goyette was a leader for Team Canada, having participated in a number of international events over the previous four years while representing her country. She was about to leave Vancouver on an airplane when she called home.

The news was bad. Her father, suffering with Alzheimer's Disease, had taken a turn for the worse. Mr. Henri-Paul Goyette, Danielle's father, was an avid hockey fan and followed his daughter's pursuits anytime she took to the ice. Tracy Wilson, Goyette's close friend and teammate, indicated that she would rather return home to St-Nazaire, Quebec to her ailing father's bedside than head to Nagano, Japan.

"Her father was such a big hockey fan," Wilson told Jim O'Leary of SLAM! Sports. "He always talked to her about her hockey. Even when he was sick, he always remembered that."

Two days before the Opening Ceremonies, Goyette broke the news to Canadian head coach Shannon Miller. Uttering the words had a devastating effect on Goyette as she broke down in tears while telling Miller. Miller and Goyette talked for four hours, and the coach left the decision up to Goyette as to what she wanted to do. The next day, Goyette informed her coach that she was ready to play.

Goyette and Team Canada squared off against a seriously undermatched Japanese squad in the first game. It was Goyette who stole the show as she scored three times and added an assist in a 13-0 victory over the host Japanese team. While the speech that Shannon Miller gave was inspirational, Goyette's inspiration came from an entirely different place.

While Canada did not win the gold medal in Nagano in 1998, Henri-Paul Goyette was with his daughter every step of the way in helping her win the silver medal. Goyette led the tournament in goals with eight. While she has never publicly stated it, there had to be a few assists in there from Mr. Goyette.

While the story above is significantly different than what Paul may be going through, the fact of the matter is that Mr. Irwin Lukas was just as proud of Paul's achievements and endeavours as Mr. Henri-Paul Goyette was of Danielle's achievements and endeavours.

As Paul stated, "Pop loved Uni Watch. He read the site regularly, occasionally sent me feedback, and was a charter member. I’d forgotten about that last bit until we were going through his wallet over the weekend and found his membership card."

Much like Mr. Goyette speaking proudly about Danielle during his struggles with Alzheimer's, Mr. Lukas was a contributing member of Uni Watch and proud of the work Paul was doing right up to the end of his battle. That is the sign of a proud father, and that needs to be said.

Paul, from the bottom of my heart, I wish you and yours nothing but the best in this difficult time, and your family is in my thoughts and prayers. Be safe, be strong, and honour his memory as best you can. As men, we're told that crying is a sign of weakness, but losing a friend and mentor like Irwin William Lukas can only be met with grief and sadness.

If you need a hand with anything, please ask. You are an inspiration to me, and, in turn, so is your dad. For my readers, if you feel you'd like to wish Paul your best, click here and add a comment for Paul during this difficult time.

Rest peacefully, Irwin Lukas, for all eternity.

Until next time, raise your sticks high in honour of Mr. Lukas.

For Whom The Bell Tolls

Two teams sit on the brink of elimination. The NHL Stanley Cup Final sees the Detroit Red Wings lead the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 in their series with Game Six in Pittsburgh on Tuesday night. The AHL Calder Cup Final sees the Hershey Bears leading the Manitoba Moose 3-1 in their series with Game Five in Hershey on Tuesday night. Both Manitoba and Pittsburgh have been plagued with the same problem - namely the inability to generate any sort of consistent offence in their opponent's building. Manitoba has generated one goal in two games in Hershey, while Pittsburgh has put up two goals in three games. Needless to say, neither team will hoist a trophy this spring if they continue to have their offence stuck in neutral.

To say that Detroit made a statement in Game Five would be like saying that Santa Claus may have a weight problem. Detroit not only stomped all over Pittsburgh, but they were run up the flagpole via their underwear for all to see. An atomic wedgie like that can't feel good for the Penguins, so I assume they'll come out gunning in Game Six. However, they can't let their emotions take over.

Stupid penalties really hurt the Penguins in Game Five, and the Detroit powerplay ran roughshod all over the Penguins' penalty-killing units. It would also be nice to see someone other than Malkin or Crosby lead the way on the scoring sheet. Sure, the big guns are paid to score, but guys like Guerin, Kunitz, Fedotenko, and Staal need to come to play on Tuesday. Otherwise, the fans in Pittsburgh will watch the ceremonial skate with a team other than the Penguins underneath.

The Manitoba Moose actually ran into the same problem today as they fell into a deep hole in their series against the Bears. The Moose, a normally disciplined team, fell behind on a powerplay goal by the Bears as they had two men in the sin bin. Again, the Bears made good on their powerplay, and the Moose have a huge hole to dig themselves out of right now.

Goaltender Michal Neuvirth has been sensational on home ice, and the Bears, using last change, have a definite advantage, but the Moose need to play disciplined in Game Five if they hope to have a chance to extend the series at home. The Bears have been the better team since arriving in Pennsylvania, and the Moose need to change that quickly. Otherwise, the Bears will hoist the Calder Cup Trophy on Tuesday.

Both series have been phenomenal thus far, and I expect both games on Tuesday to be sensational as well. I just wish that they were on separate days so I can watch both.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Where The Series Rests

See this guy to the left? Major player in Games Three and Four. Knew the bounces. Reacted well. Played deflections and shots with sound fundamentals. However, do you remember his performances in Games One and Two? Not so good. Pucks off legs into the net. Pucks off him into the net. Tonight's Game Five could be decided by Marc-Andre Fleury. Sure, Pavel Datsyuk is returning, but there has been more indication that he isn't 100% than there has been talk of the Phoenix moving to Hamilton. And everyone loves the Balsillie saga. No, tonight's final could essentially determine the outcome of the series, and Marc-Andre Fleury will need to play as well or better than he did in Pittsburgh if the Penguins want to make Detroit sweat.

Make no mistake that getting Datsyuk back is big for Detroit. It's huge. If he is able to play down the middle, they have another effective shutdown guy to play against the two-headed monster known as Malkin-Crosby. However, if Datsyuk has a squeaky wheel, head coach Mike Babcock may be forced to move him to the wing where his foot won't take a beating. The reports out of Motown suggest that Datsyuk will be playing between Zetterberg and Franzen, but I can't see Babcock breaking up Franzen and Hossa. Four balanced lines is the way Detroit plays. Watch for Babcock to juggle lines tonight if Datsyuk can't log the ice-time necessary to shutdown the Penguins' juggernauts.

Osgood will be in familiar confines, so I expect him to bounce back and play strong. However, a chip in his confidence has been exposed by the Penguins who were relentless at home. Osgood will need to regain his form at home in order to give Detroit the advantage.

But, again, it will be the man guarding the blue ice opposite Osgood that will need a big game. If Fleury plays as well as he did in Games Three and Four, the Penguins have a very good shot at going up 3-2 in this best-of-seven. If he has another level he can take his game to, the Penguins will win. Mark it down. You heard it here first.

Game Five tonight at 8PM ET. Be ready. This may be the game that determines the winner. And rests on the two men wearing the cages. Can Osgood shake off two losses and move his team within one victory of the Stanley Cup? Can Marc-Andre Fleury go into Joe Louis Arena and out-battle the savvy Red Wings?

All will be revealed in a few hours.

Until then, keep your sticks on the ice!

Some Friday Fun

If you're a Detroit Red Wings fan, you have to be slightly worried about this surge of momentum that the Pittsburgh Penguins are riding. Up 2-0 in the series as you visited the Steel City, you're heading back to the Motor City tied at 2-2. Pittsburgh may not have outplayed you in every period, however, so you have some positives to work with as you head home. The good news? You're 10-1 at home in the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs with the only blemish coming on the Todd Marchant game-winning goal in the 15th overtime period or something against the Ducks. So why worry? It's a best-of-three series now, and you have two games at home. The advantage is still on your side.

And that's what brings me to today. We analyze, offer introspect, over-analyze, over-think, and regurgitate all this stuff about these two teams that we sometimes forget to have a little fun. So I'm putting down the stats sheets and the pencils and the analytical side of my brain for some fun today.

First, how many people caught the fake referee last night in the front-row in Pittsburgh? Anyone? Hopefully someone from The Pensblog did because Tyler Kennedy did. As you can see, Kennedy is fist-pumping his way to the boards, and our Mick McGeough imitator is cheering wildly in the front-row. Come to think of it, that might actually be McGeough the way he is showing favoritism towards one team over another.

McGeough really got into the game, and Tyler Kennedy showed him some love by jumping into the glass in front of him. Actually, Kennedy may have been trying to bodycheck McGeough, but it looked pretty good either way. Orpik, Gonchar, and Kunitz come over to celebrate the tic-tac-toe goal, and there's McGeough swooping in for the group hug. But I do have to admit that it's rare to see a retired referee at a game in full uniform. In any case, this "fan" helped the Penguins even the series as they head back to Detroit.

To the real Mick McGeough, I'm just poking fun at you.

Ok, onto why I'm writing this today. I received an invitation from the lovely and talented "Dave Schultz", who writes the blog titled I Mean, We Got Guys..., to participate in the Reader's Challenge. Schultzy is looking to open the door to some info about hockey fans, and I will happily oblige. Here goes.

1) What's your favorite team?

AHL: Manitoba Moose
NHL: Pittsburgh Penguins

2) What's your least favorite team?

Toronto Maple Leafs.

3) Who's your favorite player?

Always was and always will be Mario Lemieux.

4) Who's your least favorite player?

I have zero respect for Sean Avery.

5) Favorite American team?

Pittsburgh Penguins

6) Favorite Canadian team?

Manitoba Moose

7) Favorite International team?

Team Canada

8) Who's your favorite goalie?

Vladislav Tretiak. The guy scared an entire country straight when the Russians played the Canadians in 1972. Also, his birdcage-style mask help to revolutionize the position.

9) Least favorite goalie?

Never really liked Tom Barrasso despite his two Stanley Cups in Pittsburgh.

10) Favorite fighter?

The Hanson Brothers. No question. Best hockey brawls ever.

11) Least favorite fighter?

Jarkko Ruutu. Really? You bite guys? Really?

12) Favorite jersey/uniform/outfit/sweater?

New York Islanders' Fisherman jerseys. It's still years ahead of its time.

13) Least favorite jersey/uniform/outfit/sweater?

There are so many that I truly dislike, but I'm tired of the Carolina black alternate/San Jose black alternate phase. This black fad is over. Stick with your iconic colours.

14) Do you like home, away, or "third" jerseys best?

I like white at home, and the colourful, non-black jerseys were nice to see when other teams visit.

15) Who do you want to win the Cup?

NHL: Pittsburgh Penguins
AHL: Manitoba Moose

16) No question.

What happened to #16?

17) Which player would you most like to sit and have coffee with?

Mario Lemieux

18) What about a beer?

Jeremy Roenick

19) How about just watch the game with?

Don Cherry. Who wouldn't love to sit beside a guy dressed like this?

20) Have an in-depth hockey conversation with?

Scotty Bowman

21) Do you collect hockey cards, memorabilia, etc?

Yeah, I have what some psychologists call "a problem". I'm done with hockey cards, but I'll pick up hockey stuff if it catches my eye.

22) If so, what's your favorite card?

My Manon Rheaume card.

23) Which is worth the most, and what's it worth?

No clue. Haven't checked, and I don't plan on selling it. I'm guessing it's worth no more than $5, but I'm not concerned about price.

24) Do you live by any hockey players?

Probably. Pro hockey players? Not that I know of.

25) This question doesn't exist as well.

What kind of quiz is this?

26) Do you play hockey?

Absolutely! People, you have to get into spongee. Greatest. Game. Ever.

27) What do you wear to hockey games?

Jeans, an appropriate jersey, some sort of matching ball cap, shoes, underwear... the normal stuff.

28) Do you have any "watching hockey rituals" or anything anyone might consider weird?

Nope. I usually blog during games, so that might be weird.

29) What's your favorite hockey memory as a fan?

Gold medal for Canada in the 2002 Salt Lake City for both the men and women. Still awesome.

30) What's your favorite hockey commercial?

I'm a huge fan of those new Boston Bruins commercials. Absolutely love them.

31) Who's the nicest player you've met?

Not a player, but Walter Gretzky is amazing. He genuinely loves the game of hockey, and turns no one away for autographs. Otherwise, I'm going with Laurie Boschman. The guy was the epitome of class at the Amadeus Steen Foundation event last year.

32) Rudest/meanest/most annoying, etc?

Wasn't impressed with Keith Tkachuk. Not one bit. Maybe he's changed now, but when he was a Jet, he had a serious chip on his shoulder. And needed it fixed badly.

33) Who's the best looking (AKA 'off ice favourite')?

I'm a dude, so this isn't going to work. Wait, as for female hockey players, Charline Labonté is pretty. I'll stick with her.

34) Other off-handed/off-ice comments?

Teams that go with black jerseys just because they claim black as one of their "primary" colours should automatically lose their membership to whatever league of which they are part. Carolina and San Jose, you come to mind immediately.

35) Why do you really like hockey?

There are so many reasons. Glove saves. One-timers. Big hits. Slapshots. Wrist shots. Blocked shots. Kick saves. Hip checks. Wraparounds. Spin-arounds. Walk-arounds. Hockey fights. Bright lights. Goal celebrations. Intense glares. Dynamic pairs. And one big freaking Cup.

Of course, there's a pile more, but that's just a handful of reasons why I love the game of hockey.

And just before I sign off on Friday, here's a quick peek at the new bid for a second NHL team in the Toronto area, potentially called the "Toronto Legacy". They have some promotional video on their website of a press conference they did today, but there are some glaring problems with this application.

What's with the name of "Legacy"? How does an expansion franchise become the "Legacy" when they have no history to work with? Stupid name.

The logo resembles something out of Major League Soccer. That's completely hideous as a logo. Did anyone put an effort in?

Lastly, the jerseys are generic and boring. And clearly, these people have zero clue that their black jerseys would be worn at home and not on the road as the picture states. Unless, of course, they wear red on the road. But then all the colours are mixed up. And Mr. Bettman's colour-at-home idea will be all skewed. Confused? They are. Awful colour scheme.

Overall, the Toronto Legacy are the closest team to an "epic fail" as one can get right now. With that, I propose this as their logo, and this man as their primary owner.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Poolie Update: Prize List

If you watched tonight's game between the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins and your pulse wasn't racing, you have some sort of problem. This was the most exciting Stanley Cup Final game between Pittsburgh and Detroit out of the nine games they've played for the Silver Chalice in the last two years. Back-and-forth action, end-to-end rushes, odd-man rushes... what didn't this game have? Of course, it's nice to see some of the grinders potting goals as they are the straw that stirs the drink for the superstars. Of course, as we edge nearer to the awarding of the Stanley Cup to one of these great teams, the HBIC Playoff Pool also is drawing to a close. Today, I will give you a list of the prizes I'm making available from Teebz's Schwag Bag of stuff.

All of the prizes are approximately $20-25 CDN, so if/when you win, you'll be notified with the list of stuff remaining in the pool. Obviously, people who finish ahead of you can select from a bigger pool, so we'll see what happens. Here is the list of stuff available in no particular order. Please note that some prizes are being specifically allocated for certain criteria!

• Red Ottawa Senators Ray Emery jersey t-shirt (XL).
• White Mario Lemieux Foundation t-shirt (XL).
• Black women's Mario Lemieux Foundation t-shirt (L) - eligible to the highest-scoring woman in the pool unless she wants something else.
• White CCM "I scored last night" t-shirt (XL).
• Blue Buffalo Sabres retro raglan shirt (XXL).
• Black Roger Edwards' LA Kings silver-and-black retro logo baseball cap.
• Brown "Peter Puck" trucker cap.
• White "Keep It Six" t-shirt (XL).
• Brodeur: Beyond the Crease book.
• Don Cherry's Rock 'Em Sock 'Em 17 DVD.

First off, I apologize for the River City Sports pictures. I couldn't find any other pictures of the products I received.

Anyway, I'm still working on a couple of other things. One is a jersey, but I've turned down a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey. I know none of you want that. I'm also trying to acquire a couple more DVDs, in particular a copy of Slapshot starring Paul Newman. All of you receiving a prize will also get a 2008-09 Panini sticker album with your winnings, compliments of the good people at Panini.

Congratulations to all the entrants once again, and there will be at least two more games thanks to the Penguins' 4-2 victory tonight.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Preparing For A Role

Tonight will be a quiet night for me on the blogging front. I am scheduled for an interview with The Score television network as a part of their contest in association with Gillette. The Drafted contest is a contest for every aspiring sportscaster to have the opportunity for a one-year contract reporting on sports for The Score. While the odds are stacked against everyone that enters, someone from across Canada will win the contract and the right to enter everyone's homes with stories about sports. And, lo and behold, I am one of those vying for that contract.

Of course, there is a very good chance that I won't win. I have a face for radio, and that never works out well for television broadcasting. The Score does have a satellite radio channel, though, so maybe I do have a chance.

On a more serious side, the positives are numerous. I would be working in a sports environment daily. I'd have a chance to report on not only hockey, like I do here, but baseball, basketball, football, soccer, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. For a sports fanatic like me, this is exactly what I would want to be doing if I didn't already have a job.

Of course, I'd be excited to work at The Score. They have some phenomenal on-air talent - Tim Micallef, Sid Sexeiro, and Steve Kouleas but to name a few. These gentlemen always bring their best to the broadcasts, and they genuinely seem to have fun. It's an environment where I would love to work simply due to the fun everyone seems to have.

I realize that this dream is a long way from being reality, but the first step happens tonight when I go for an interview. I'm a little nervous, but who wouldn't be? As an amateur, non-credentialed member of the blogosphere, I think this would be the perfect opportunity to cross into the mainstream while still being myself on this blog. Heck, with The Score's blessing, I could even incorporate HBIC into their world if they wanted it.

All I know is that I need to embrace the opportunity given to me, and be thankful that they see some potential in my application. I realize that I'm as rough-around-the-edges and unpolished as they come, but, with time, I would strive to be a valuable teammate to the talent they already have. I'd do research, get coffee, be a "go-fer"... whatever they requested of me until I got my break. All I want is the opportunity.

And if, for whatever reason, I don't fit their requirements in terms of who they are searching for, so be it. I'll give it my all, do best, and be proud of the results. If that isn't good enough, you can always find me here, and I'll keep watching The Score.

All I want is the opportunity. And opportunity opened the door with the interview tonight.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

UPDATE: I will not be going to Toronto. The experience was a very good one, but, in the end, I was not selected.

Gambling In The KHL

As much as it interests me, the NHL and AHL Playoffs have been great thus far. However, there is still other news going on in the hockey world, and these stories from Russia have barely been touched by the North American blogosphere. Just as Avangard Omsk gambled and signed Jaromir Jagr to play for them, the KHL had their Entry Draft yesterday, and there were some interesting developments from that draft. Players that are 17 years-old and older can be drafted in the KHL. The NHL, on the other hand, waits until players are 18. And with some older players available, there were some interesting moves made by the teams in the KHL. Let's take a look.

• The top skater, according to North American standards, is John Tavares. Interestingly, no KHL team selected John Tavares in the KHL Draft, making him essentially a free agent if he chose to sign in Russia. However, it is highly unlikely that he will spend any time in Russia for KHL action.
  
• Second-overall skater, Victor Hedman, was selected. He went 83rd overall to Moscow Spartak in the fouther round. Like Tavares above, it is highly unlikely that he will end up in Moscow for the season.
• Swedish star Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson was selected 19th overall by Yaroslavl Lokomotiv in the first round. Again, chances are extremely slim he chooses the KHL over the NHL.
• With the fifth-overall pick, HC MVD refused their selection. I have never seen a team refuse to select a player in an entry draft, especially when there are a large number of extremely talented players on the board at the #5 position. However, just to throw another curveball at me, Avangard Omsk refused the seventh-overall pick as well. Why???
• Atlant Mytishchi selected current Toronto Maple Leafs rookie Jiri Tlusty with the 43rd-overall pick in the second round. If Toronto doesn't use Tlusty this season, there's a chance he could jump over to the KHL for some serious playing time.
• Zach Kassian, star of the OHL's Peterborough Petes, was selected 56th overall in the third round by Moscow Dynamo. Chances of him heading to Mother Russia? Nil.
• Atlant Mytishchi went out and selected another future NHL player when they drafted goaltender Jhonas Enroth with the 66th pick in the third round. With Buffalo grooming Enroth to be the next goaltender to lead their team, I'd say the chances of him appearing in an Atlant jersey are zero.
• Taylor Hall, the Windsor Spitfires' star and potential 2009 NHL first overall pick, was chosen 89th overall by Ak Bars Kazan in the fourth round. The KHL allows for 17 year-olds to be drafted, so Hall could potentially play professional hockey in Russia next year. The reality of this situation is that he won't. Ever.
• For full details of all the draft picks in the KHL draft, please click here. Again, I find it hard to believe that some teams refused their draft selections, and there were several instances of this happening.
• In other KHL news, the league's Board of Governors is considering the suspension of two franchises after they failed to provide adequate disclosure on their financial situations. Both Khimik Voskresensk and Vityaz Chekhov are in arrears with player salaries this season, and they have failed to provide the documentation showing how they would continue to be financially stable for the 2009-10 KHL season. Because of their current economic situations, neither team was permitted to draft players in the KHL Draft. More info on this one as it breaks.
• The league will expand by one team next season as Avtomobilist Ekaterinburg applied for entry into the KHL, and received the Board of Governors' approval. With their inclusion, they were permitted into the KHL Draft, and they picked 23rd overall.

Pittsburgh won tonight, and Manitoba won tonight. Pittsburgh is still down 2-1, but the Moose and Bears are even at one game apiece. In the ECHL, the South Carolina Stingrays lead the Alaska Aces 3-2 in their series with Game Six scheduled for Thursday night in Anchorage. Lots of playoff action happening around North America, so get yourself to a rink!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Sum Is Greater Than The Parts

Do you want to know why the image to the left continually shows up on magazine covers and newspapers around the country in the spring? You can make the claim that the players on the Red Wings are disrespected all you want because there is some truth to that statement. However, the problem is that the individuals making up that team don't win the Stanley Cup on their own. It takes a total team effort, and there is definitely a tradition of winning in Hockeytown, USA. But rarely are the members of this team up for major individual awards. Sure, Pavel Datsyuk got some consideration for the Hart Trophy this season, but the last time the regular season MVP played in Detroit was 1993-94. His name? Sergei Fedorov. And he's long gone from that team now.

So why is it that somewhat-average players, a few bonafide superstars, and a pile of discarded free agents end up in Detroit and win Stanley Cup after Stanley Cup? How does this happen? And who are these "discards" that have made a huge difference?

First, let it be known that the Detroit Red Wings' investment in scouting has paid off in spades. Hakan Andersson might be the best European scout in NHL history. Andersson, a man recommended by former European scout Christer Rockstrom to take over the Red Wings' European scouting, is the guy digging up these gems in Europe. Names like Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Ericsson, and Frazen are the guys that Andersson has convinced GM Ken Holland to pick on draft day. And all are contributing this post-season. If Holland ever honours someone, Andersson should have a statue erected outside Joe Louis Arena for his contributions in the building of this franchise.

The Red Wings have literally extended careers enough to provide select players the opportunity to spend a day with the Stanley Cup. Some of these guys were stars in their time while others were role players throughout their careers. However, the Red Wings have not only found new roles for all these players, but made them integral in the success of the franchise.

We'll start in 1996-97 where the Red Wings made a few key moves. The first was a surprising move when head coach Scotty Bowman went out and signed 31 year-old enforcer Joe Kocur out of a beer league in Michigan. Kocur had left the NHL after the 1996 season, but captain Steve Yzerman felt that the Red Wings lacked the toughness needed to go deep in the playoffs following the departures of Stu Grimson and Bob Probert. With Kocur back in the fold, the Red Wings became tougher.

The Wings also went out and made a deal at the deadline to add some veteran scoring. They dealt Greg Johnson to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for winger Tomas Sandstrom. Sandstrom was an able scoring threat, and played solid defence. By adding him, they got a great two-way player who had played in big tournaments before.

Sandstrom scored only four assists in the playoffs that year, but he routinely would be out checking against the opposition's better players. Kocur had one goal and three assists, but was part of the "hustle" line. His energy was huge in changing momentum for the Red Wings, and he routinely threw his body around like a wrecking ball. Bowman, recognizing his needs, found two players that made a difference that playoff year. Sure, they didn't lead the playoffs in scoring, but they played their roles perfectly, and the Red Wings prevailed.

In 1997-98, the Red Wings needed a few good men to make a title defence, and they loaded up. First, they went out and signed 30 year-old Brent Gilchrist. Gilchrist was deemed expendable by the Stars, and the Wings signed him to be part of their role players. No longer would he have to score 30 goals and put up 70 points. Instead, the Wings wanted him to fit into their gameplan.

They also went out and traded for Jamie Macoun from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Macoun was the kind of dogged defender that could log a lot of minutes while not being a liability, and he was welcomed to the blueline. While he was still used by Toronto as a secondary scoring threat, the Wings allowed him to play his defensive game as they already had scorers on the blueline.

The result was a successful title defence. Gilchrist scored two goals and added one assist in the playoffs while playing against the opposition's top line. He routinely was in scrums and in front of the net, causing general mayhem for all. Macoun had two goals and two assists in the playoffs, but was a perfect shutdown defenceman for the Red Wings. He excelled on the penalty kill as well, and gave Scotty Bowman a lot of minutes. Again, these two players were put into a role that didn't require them to do more than what they could, and the results prove that this method works.

In 2001-02, the Red Wings were looking to add to their defence corps as they prepared for a long playoff run again. They went out and signed Steve Duchesne and Fredrik Olausson in the offseason, and gave 21 year-old defenceman Jiri Fischer a season-long look as the sophomore performed well in his rookie campaign.

Duchesne and Olausson had been high-scoring defencemen in their heydays, but age was catching up to them. Much like Macoun in 1998, Bowman gave the two graybeards new roles as they were to play a more defensive game. Duchesne recorded 18 points. Olausson had 15 points. But both men posted plus/minus stats above +20, so their defensive games excelled.

Fischer was into his second full season in the NHL, and had experience all around him. He scored two goals and eight assists in 80 games, but was a solid +17 and really looked like he belonged with the elder statesmen as his game matured quickly.

In the playoffs, Duchesne put up six assists. Olausson added two goals and four helpers. Fischer put away three goals and added three assists. However, these three - along with Lidstrom, Chelios, and occasionally Sergei Fedorov - formed a formidable defensive unit as the Red Wings went on to win another Stanley Cup.

Last season, the Red Wings went out and added some grit and tenacity by signing Darren McCarty and Dallas Drake. These two added to a solid checking unit alongside Draper and Maltby, and really added experience to the Wings' deep lineup. The Red Wings also swung a trade to bring in Brad Stuart from Los Angeles in an effort to gain some depth on their blueline.

McCarty and Drake were instrumental in bringing energy and playing a tenacious game against the opposition. Stuart's offensive responsibilities were reduced, and his defensive play improved greatly to the point where head coach Mike Babcock rolls him out on the second unit without hesitation.

But it's not just these role players who have been instrumental in bringing Lord Stanley's chalice back to Detroit. Osgood, who won a Cup in all four of the previously mentioned campaigns, left Detroit for a period of time. He spent two somewhat forgettable seasons on Long Island, guiding the Islanders to the playoffs in 2001-02. However, his stats were nowhere near what they were in Motown as he went 49-39-10 in two seasons. From there, he moved back to the Western Conference with the St. Louis Blues. Again, his stats took a nosedive compared to his days in Detroit. His two seasons in St. Louis resulted in a 35-28-10 record, and he really appeared to struggle.

Now, you're probably asking yourself why these players were highlighted today. Kocur, Sandstrom, Gilchrist, Macoun, Duchesne, Olausson, Fischer, Drake, McCarty, Stuart, and Osgood all were thought to be done in the hockey world at some point. For the younger guys like Stuart and Fischer, it was thought that they had reached their ultimate potential, and may not have much room for growth.

However, as history has shown us, by reducing their contributions back to a simplified role, it actually helped these players become greater contributors to the overall cause. With the exception of Osgood, all of them settled into a role that was less than what it once was, but all showed greater ability because of it. Osgood, a man who was written off after his stops with the Islanders and Blues, has rebounded to prove that the best was yet to come as he is this season's odds-on favorite to win the Conn Smythe Trophy.

On their own, all of the players listed above may not be considered to be stars by any means or criteria. However, all of them accepted a lesser role on a team with stars, and became much better hockey players because of their reduced roles.

Overall, the sum is greater than the parts. The Red Wings are a much better team when good hockey players accept roles assigned to them. And these good hockey players look like exceptional hockey players when they accept the role assigned to them, and complete the tasks at hand to the best of their abilities. The scorers will find a way to score, but when talented role players chip in when they get the chance, success is almost guaranteed.

And where are the Red Wings outmatching the Penguins right now? Role players who embrace their defined roles while still contributing on the scoresheet. That is how you guarantee success in the NHL.

As the Red Wings prove year after year, the whole is greater than the sum of its individual parts. And they are proving that again this year against the Penguins in spades.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!