The Kids Are Alright

If there's a team in the NHL that could potentially make a lot of noise this season, the Oilers could be that team. The Oilers have a plethora of young, dynamic players, and the announcements of both Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle signing long-term contracts should set the Oilers up for success for many years to come. They have Ryan Nugent-Hopkins a little older and more mature, should get a re-inspired Magnus Paajaavi in camp this season, will see Justin Schultz emerge as a top blueliner, and will see Nail Yakupov try to crack the roster. In short, the cupboard is stocked with good talent, and the Oilers will be able to mature together as a team.

While I admit that the injuries suffered by some of the younger Oilers last season are something to keep in mind, I think that the talent the Oilers are assembling will bring them success. I can't say it will result in a Stanley Cup just yet, and I refuse to make comparisons to the Gretzky-led Oilers of the 1980s. But I can say that, like the Penguins a few years back, the youth and talent that the Oilers have acquired should start building towards something great, even if it is still a year or two away.

With both Eberle and Hall signing for an annual cap hit of $6 million, neither player has handcuffed the Oilers if they want to re-sign or pursue any young talent. Hall should be around for the next seven years while Eberle signed on for six years, making both players a large part of the future for the Oilers over the next decade. Getting a pair of players like that under contract for a significant period of time is only good news for the Oilers.

Hall's recovery from shoulder surgery seems to be going well. He's optimistic for this season already. "It's good, I'm really positive about it," Hall told the media. "I'm not going to say I'm perfect on Day 1 but it feels really good now and I'm excited about the process of being healthy."

Eberle, on the other hand, has been training hard this off-season, and believes that he'll be stronger and more prepared for the upcoming season. "Obviously there's a lot of pressure that goes along with this but at the same time I'm going to go out there and do the exact same thing," Eberle told reporters. "I've had a huge summer in training, maybe the best I've had in a long time.

"I've been healthy, I don't know whether it's because I'm getting older or if I'm getting my man strength but whatever it is I'm definitely a lot stronger than I've been, for sure, ever in my life and I'm excited for a new season."

"Man strength" aside, Eberle looked great at times last season, and getting a healthy Taylor Hall back will help the Oilers in a big way. The wild card may be Justin Schultz, though, as it remains to be seen if he can live up to his billing. After being regarded as "NHL-ready", the defenceman will step into an Oilers camp where a clear leader on the blueline is needed.

"I think I am ready for it," Schultz said at an Oilers press conference. "Some people have made it out that I was looking for a guarantee of ice time, but that was never the case. I want to earn my spot and I know I am going to have to do that come the fall. I know I am going to have to work hard this summer and be ready come the camp.

"I want to earn everything I get."

Isn't that what you want to hear from a blue-chip prospect - that he wants to earn what he receives? That he's willing to work hard to be ready for training camp? These three young men are showing a lot of maturity in their speaking to the media, so there's good reason to believe that they will take that same attitude into the season.

If these three men set the stage for the Oilers this season, there could be good things in store for the City of Champions. Edmonton hasn't seen a playoff game in six seasons, and there's good reason to be optimistic this season. While a Stanley Cup may be out of reach of these talented players this season, they'll get many more opportunities with the attitude they are showing this season as long as they keep it up.

I don't see success avoiding these men for very long.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

YouTube Sensation Goes Swiss

It appears that Linus Omark's assault on goaltenders will head back to Europe this season as the YouTube sensation signed with EV Zug of Switzerland's National League A. While Omark came over to North America with a ton of hype thanks to a few YouTube clips of some rather spectacular goals, the truth was that he was more suited to an open-ice, free-wheeling game than he was a systematic game that limited his creativity. That's not a criticism of the Oilers, but rather an observance of how Omark played the game. Back-checking wasn't always the first item on his list, and it was clear that he wouldn't be the same player that everyone had seen on YouTube unless the Oilers played every game in the shootout.

So Omark heads to Switzerland where the sheet of ice is larger and the defence is played a little looser than what he saw in the AHL and NHL. That's not to say that the competition won't be solid, but Omark should be able to find a little more room to pull off some razzle-dazzle if he so chooses.

Omark played in just 14 games with the Oilers last season, scoring three goals. In 65 career NHL games, Omark recorded a disappointing eight goals and 22 assists. While younger players take time to develop, Omark is now 25 years-old. He either needs to develop at an advanced rate over the next couple of years, or he's the next Robbie Schremp - lots of amazing talent and potential, but very little hockey maturity.

Players such as Jordan Eberle, Taylor Hall, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would all be penciled in ahead of Omark on the Oilers' roster this season based on talent alone, and that means a number of veterans may also be slotted ahead of the Swede. With players like Magnus Paajarvi, Teemu Hartikainen and Nail Yakupov waiting in the wings to crack the Oilers on a full-time basis, Omark's chances as an offensive threat dwindled greatly last season.

With his defensive game nowhere near the level that is needed as an NHL forward, Omark's days were certainly numbered as an Oiler. He may have fit in with the Oklahoma City Barons again, but Omark clearly wanted more. In walking away from the Oilers, Omark may still have a chance to crack an NHL roster, but he'll need to show that he regained both confidence and scoring ability in his year with EV Zug.

It's a shame that Omark never found his groove in North America. He has an incredible amount of talent, but he never seemed like he was willing to put the work in to get to the next level. Here's hoping that the Swiss air will put him back in the right state of mind.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Job Creation For Millionaires

I find it quite sickening in that the NHL and NHLPA cannot agree how to split profits from the game that has already made a vast majority of those involved very, very rich. The players talk about being partners with the owners, but there never once has been a dime paid out by a player for an arena's electrical bill. And the owners cry that they're operating in the red, but the NHL boasts record profits all the time. Honestly, both sides are crying over spilled milk at this point, and it's a little sickening.

I know that the owners made their money in other ventures, so it's not like they don't have other avenues they can turn to when looking to make a buck. The players, however, seem to think that going over to Europe and Russia to play hockey is a fine idea. My issue with that theory is that they are taking ice time and, possibly, a roster position from a player who certainly EARNED a spot on that European team's roster. Just because Evgeni Malkin shows up at Magnitogorsk's arena doorstep to play for Metallurg doesn't necessarily mean he should be shown the red carpet.

Malkin stated that he has an agreement in principle to play with Metallurg Magnitogorsk on a week-to-week basis if the NHL season doesn't start on time. No owner in his right mind would turn away a perennial NHL All-Star like Malkin, so I'm pretty sure that the mining town of Magnitogorsk will be cheering on Evgeni Malkin if the NHL season is delayed.

However, Dynamo Moscow president Arkady Rotenberg was quoted in R-Sport as saying,

"'I'm actually against it. And I don't see any prestige in it,' Rotenberg said.

"'I think that Ovechkin isn't necessary.'

Rotenberg, a billionaire businessman with links to Russian President Vladimir Putin, hinted that he could be persuaded to bring in Ovechkin by Safronov and coach Oleg Znarok. 'I don't know. If they persuade me strongly,' he said."

It's interesting to note that KHL president Alexander Medvedev has stated that he would enact measures that would allow more foreign-born talent to join KHL teams if the NHL season were to be cancelled. But is that really good for the KHL? After all, if the NHL season begins in January, the KHL teams carrying a number of NHL stars would be crippled a month before the Gagarin Cup Playoffs start.

Does it really make sense to disrupt your entire team's chemistry if a player leaves with a month or so to go in the season? Worse yet, what if three players leave? What if your starting goaltender leaves? How do KHL teams fill the void left by an Evgeni Malkin or Nail Yakupov (who is reportedly going to play for HC Neftekhimik of Nizhnekamsk, Russia)? Dynamic players like this cannot be replaced so easily, and their losses could be enough to sink a team in the opening round of the playoffs if they are playing above their potential.

So I ask you, readers: if you were running a European club, would you open your doors to an NHL player with the knowledge that you may be left shorthanded once the NHL season begins? Would you rather embark on a season with the club you have established and let the chips fall where they may?

Personally, I'd go with the latter. There's no guarantee that the season will be erased and, honestly, the two sides should come to realize that it is smarter to play hockey than it is to cancel another part or whole season. By sticking with my team, I may lose in the short term, but the team will be much better in the long run.

While I get that if one team in a league does it, they all have to in order to match their competition, NHL player should have a little more sympathy for their brethren playing overseas. After all, the jobs that they took when they arrived in the NHL were some of the jobs that those in Europe and the KHL used to hold.

I guess that if you're a player, the only brethren you care about are those paying the same union fees you are.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

TBC: The Greatest Game

It's been a busy summer, and HBIC has certainly seen the frequency of contributions to Teebz's Book Club fall off a little. However, the quality of books that TBC is reading should be giving you a lot to look for at your local libraries and bookstores. Today, TBC is proud to present a fascinating book in The Greatest Game, written by Todd Denault and published by McClelland & Stewart Ltd. There have been lists produced, even recently, about events that changed the sport of hockey, but one game in 1975 actually changed the NHL in ways that no one could have predicted. On New Year's Eve, the Montreal Canadiens played host to the Central Red Army team from the Soviet Union, and the game would have a major impact on how hockey was played after that night. Mr. Denault's recounting of that evening's events, the events that caused the game to happen, and the aftermath is all told in The Greatest Game.

A member of the Society for International Hockey Research, Todd Denault is a freelance writer who has had his work featured in numerous online and print publications. A graduate of Carleton University and Lakehead University, Todd resides in Cobourg, Ontario today. He also wrote Jacques Plante: The Man Who Changed the Face of Hockey which was reviewed here on HBIC.

Mr. Denault does a fantastic job at setting the stage in terms of chronicling the rise of both the Canadiens and the Red Army team. He paints a picture of Canada's hockey dominance in the early World Championships, but shows how the Soviets began changing their training, tactics, and philosophies to become the most dominant amateur team on the planet by the 1960s. At the same time, the Montreal Canadiens were being heralded as the best professional team in hockey history thanks to their repeated and often-consecutive Stanley Cup wins.

The 1972 Summit Series was an eye-opening experience for both teams as the Soviet National Team and the Canadian NHL players put on a dazzling show through eight games. But there was worry on Canadian soil as the Soviets nearly escaped the series as the winners, and Canadian hockey ideology was in serious jeopardy. The 1974 Series against the WHA teams didn't do anything but sink Canada lower as the game Canada claimed to have invented looked like it may have been perfected by the Soviet Union.

The detail that Mr. Denault put into the first few chapters of The Greatest Game is simply incredible. You honestly get a feeling of what Canada must have been thinking as the Soviet Union routinely captured gold medals at various tournaments over the Canadian squads sent to beat them. Mr. Denault has done a remarkable job in his writing to allow the reader to follow the ups and downs of the Canadian teams that won and lost in the 1950s and 1960s against the Soviet Union.

After the Red Army team had dispatched an inferior WHA team, they set their sights on playing the greatest professional team that any league offered in the Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens had been rebuilding for their own battle against the newly-crowned champions in the Philadelphia Flyers as the Flyers had redefined hockey through intimidation and physicality in the mid-1970s. The Canadiens, once too small to compete with the Flyers, were now better prepared for the battle with the Flyers, but their schedule in 1975 put the Red Army team directly in their path before the Canadiens could try to recapture the Stanley Cup.

The Red Army team was well-known to the Canadian fans who were lucky enough to be in the stands or able to watch the game on television. Most of these players were the same players that scared the country in the 1972 Summit Series - Kharlamov, Tretiak, Mikhailov, Petrov - and they were certainly to be feared in 1975 after hammering the New York Rangers by a 7-3 score. The showdown between the NHL's best team in the 1975 campaign and the world's best amateur squad would be a showdown of ideologies, gamesmanship, and skill.

The game itself would be bigger than the Stanley Cup Final. This was Canada's team against the Iron Curtain of the Soviet Union. The maple leaf versus the sickle and hammer. The red-and-white squaring off against the big red machine. And because it was New Year's Eve, the fans were dressed to the nines for the game, bringing with them an air of classiness. Even Harold Ballard, owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, would be in the crowd for the big game.

"It's the first time in 54 years that I'll pull for the Canadiens to win," announced Ballard, never lacking for words in the presence of a microphone.

Mr. Denault's descriptions of the game and the added insight from the players and coaches involved in the game made for some incredible writing, and he is able to paint a picture in the mind of the reader of exactly what is happening on the ice. Mr. Denault has written an exceptional book that really covers two decades of what some may say was the greatest period in hockey ever, and reading his story kept me glued to the pages. Because of his excellent work in painting the picture of how hockey changed before, during, and after the game, The Greatest Game absolutely deserves the Teebz's Book Club Seal of Approval!

While some may argue that the 1972 Summit Series was the best event to happen in hockey, I'd be willing to make an argument for December 31, 1975 after reading Mr. Denault's book. The score of that game wasn't as important as the result of that game, and that result can still be felt today when two evenly-matched, star-studded teams play hockey for pride and for country over anything else.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

My Favorite Annual Magazine

I picked up The Hockey News' Yearbook once again today, and I have to say that I find myself enjoying the articles once again. If there is one magazine that I pick up every time it is published, this one is it. I have all of them going back to 1995 sitting in my bookcase, and I refer to them a number of times per year when looking for old articles or simply doing research on what number a player wore in a specific year. Honestly, these annual publications are my "go-to" whenever I'm searching for specific details on a player's career. The Hockey News Yearbook is a hockey lover's bible for all important information in previous years.

I found myself a little bothered, however, as my copy has Jordan Eberle and Jarome Iginla on it. I realize that they publish multiple copies based on where the magazines are going to be distributed, but I'm quite certain that hockey fans who live in my area would like to see a cover with a Jets player on it. If I had to gripe about one thing, that would be it. Otherwise, I can't really complain about what I found inside the cover.

There are some interesting features like Calder Watch and Make It Or Break It!, but the first place I stopped was at the THN fan poll results. THN asked a lot of tough questions of the fans - "How do you feel about the officiating standard in the NHL's regular season?" and "How do you feel about fighting in the NHL?" - but the one question that stood out to me, as a fan, was "Are ticket prices at NHL games too high?" An overwhelming 90% of respondents answered that question with "Yes".

For a league that's fighting about how much money is made by either side, how about listening to the people that keep you rich? Nine out of ten people think you're both in the wrong when it comes to the obscene amounts of money you're making, NHL and NHLPA, so why not cut the fans some slack? I realize that we all need to earn a living, but the people who make you bazillionaires are sending a clear message: you're killing us with ticket prices.

While I'm not privy to having access to the Jets locker room, I did find the article about Zach Bogosian very interesting from a uniform perspective. Bogosian has decided to ditch #4 in favor of #44 this season, so there may be a number of jerseys worn by fans that will need some updating this season. But the rules surrounding number changes were far more fascinating to me.

There's a deadline in July that all players must adhere to when wanting to change their numbers. If a player misses the deadline, he must wait a full year until July rolls around again before he can request the number change. The only exceptions, however, are trade and free agent acquisitions or rookies. For example, the Jets signed Olli Jokinen who, previously, wore #13, but the Jets were still in negotiations with Kyle Wellwood, so the Jets' website showed Jokinen with no number for some time. And assigned numbers for rookies in preseason - Mark Scheifele wore #45 during the preseason last year - can be changed if they make the team out of camp with no league repercussions. Scheifele settled on #55 before being sent back to the OHL. I found that article very interesting!

There was a good article on Scott Hartnell, a very interesting article on Jamie Benn ("Being at the all-star game made me want to stay far away from Canada"), an article on the emerging American captains in the NHL, an inside look into Max Pacioretty, a quick piece on Martin Brodeur, a Q&A with Steven Stamkos, a one-page article about Joffrey Lupul in Toronto, a piece on Jordan Eberle, and a great look into the relationship between Barry Trotz and David Poile. Honestly, THN does excellent work in putting together these articles.

Like every year, though, I want to see the predictions made by the THN staff and editors as to which team will end up on top this season, and where the rest of the teams end up in the shuffle of the NHL season. Honestly, I was surprised at who THN picked to finish first in the Eastern Conference, but, if the stars align right, there's a good chance that Pittsburgh has the horses to push them to the top of the standings. Over in the Western Conference, it appears the THN staff feel that Ken Hitchcock's influence on the St. Louis Blues will continue as they ended up atop the heap in the West.

If you're a fan of one of the Canadian teams, I'll tell you right now that THN is forecasting that two of the seven teams from the Great White North make the playoffs. Outside of those two unnamed teams, the other five finish no higher than twelfth-place in either conference. Ouch.

I'm not going to reveal who THN picked as the Stanley Cup winner this season, but you'll have to remember that they picked Los Angeles to finish fourth in the Western Conference and New Jersey to finish eleventh in the Eastern Conference. Florida and Ottawa - two playoff teams last season - were picked to finish in fourteenth- and fifteen-place in the Eastern Conference, while the Phoenix Coyotes weren't supposed to be Western Conference finalists at fourteenth in the West. Needless to say, all predictions should be taken with a few grains of salt.

Overall, though, another excellent publication from The Hockey News!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!