29 Juli, 2008

De Archieven van de categorie: Amerikaans Hockey

Grote Joe Go Pro moeten zou?

Door het Team OFB
Vrijdag, 11 Juli, 2008

Voor een veelbelovende atleet, is het besluit betreffende of om in universiteit te blijven of vroeg te vertrekken alvorens een graad, in achtervolging van prosportrijkdom te verdienen, een intens persoonlijke en privé inspanning een - en niet onderwerp geschikt voor whimsical debat in de forums van Internet. Het kan goed het geval zijn dat vandaag Joe Finley (eerste ronde, `05) in zijn hockeyontwikkeling absoluut bereid is om een carričre in propuck te beginnen. Niettemin, is dat een besluit voor hem om, misschien in overleg met zijn familie te maken. Wij zouden goed onze waardeloze adviezen inzake de kwestie aan ons doen houden.

Nochtans. . . was hij interesseerde naar buitenmening inzake de kwestie, en specifiek, solicitious van de meningen van een reeks soms geëerbiedigde bloggers die de staat van zijn opstellende organisatie controleren, zouden wij de bezinning aanbieden zijn dapperheid als purveyor waarvan intense pijn is één die goed, na verschuiving verschuiven, in' crybaby kapitein Penguins zou geleid worden. Gisteren het beginnen.

Om dit algemene gezichtspunt te vergroten, hebben wij een lijst van pros en cons. met betrekking tot het besluit bedacht. Wij hebben waardecontroles aan een serie van prioritaire criteria toegewezen, en wij zijn hen overeengekomen. Vertel ons of zou u bij een verschillende aanbeveling aangekomen zijn.

Evaluatieve Criteria Hoger Jaar,
U van Noord-Dakota		 Pro Hockey binnen
Hershey, PA
Gematigd de winterweer
Het schrijven documenten, die examens nemen, die voor ochtendklassen toenemen
Nabijheid aan het gegroepeerde leven van hard-gebouwde, experimenteel geneigde vrouwen onder de leeftijd van 22
Keggers
Ralph versus Reuze Centrum
Geroepen tot Vleet op een Blad met Ovechkin
Van de donderdag (soms Woensdag) het Begin aan Weekends
Verplicht graven, de Schilden van het volledig-Gezicht, Onderdompeling in het Bestrijden van Vriendschappelijke Cultuur
Booze-veroorzaakte, van de Zorg en gevolg-Vrije Aansluitingen
Het spelen voor de Hefbomen adams-Wint Bus
Kans, indien Opgeroepen, Â aan Bloedige Crosby
Het hebben van John Walton Narrate Your Beatdowns van Wilkes staaf-Scranton Penguins voor Centrale Pa. Radio Luisteraars

Aanbeveling: Ga pro, Joe!

Filed binnen Amerikaans Hockey, Het Hockey van de universiteit, Het Kamp van de ontwikkeling, Joe Finley, De Kapitalen Iceplex van Kettler, Vooruitzichten, De Kapitalen van Washington| Permalink| Comments (17)

Deep Frozen Thoughts at the Start of July

By The OFB Team
Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Recently we found out about the existence of Lee Twombly Pond in Falmouth, Maine. It’s claim to fame — aside from being astoundingly gorgeous — is its existence as “Northern New Engalnd’s only refrigerated outdoor skating surface.”

They actually Zamboni this outdoor sheet numerous times each winter day, weather permitting. The Pond House at the Pond is available for rent for parties and such and features both indoor and outdoor fireplaces.

Imagine perhaps 20 of your buddies renting out a late Saturday afternoon sheet for shinny there and taking refuge from the Maine winter in such a backwoods setting. Um, pass along the signup sheet, please.

In the dead of winter a lot of Americans make plans for following summer vacations in sun-baked recreational settings. Guess what we’re doing with our vacation plans right about now for six months’ hence?

Filed in American Hockey, Hockey, Hockey Rinks, Old Time Hockey, Pond Hockey, Zambonis| Permalink| Comments (1)

Remembering a Broadcast Giant in a Moment of National Glory

By pucksandbooks
Wednesday, June 11, 2008

If Al Michaels was the voice of the Miracle on Ice, Jim McKay — ABC’s only studio presence on the evening of Friday, February 22, 1980 — was surely its face. I was too young to remember the McKay of Munich; in my adolescence of ‘80 I hung on his every word.

We lost McKay last weekend, and so we lost a towering figure of broadcast excellence, a broadcast personality perhaps more associated with the Olympics than any athlete. But most painfully for fans of American hockey, we lost a vital touchstone to one of the greatest moments of our lives, and certainly sports’ greatest moment.

Those in my age cohort will remember well the extraordinary role McKay had to play that remarkable February Friday. ABC made the decision to tape-delay the U.S.-Russia medal round semifinal, which faced off at 5:00 p.m. , and so by broadcast time that night McKay was in on one of the best-kept secrets in the history of television news; virtually the rest of his nation of 230 million was clueless. Perhaps like the rest of his countrymen two hours later — ABC didn’t broadcast the game in its entirety — in the upset’s immediate aftermath McKay simply didn’t know how to process the significance of the world-altering American triumph, and so he could manage those opening couple of setup minutes with his well-practiced professionalism.

Still, looking back, McKay’s prime-time composure seems nearly as miraculous as the feat of Herbie’s charges that day.

Because he was a pro’s pro who undoubtedly sensed the culminating effect of the American team’s feats to that moment, McKay played it straight as he came on the air at 8:00. He graced a studio set that to today’s around-the-clock-and-channels, sports-devouring eyes would seem spartan. Actually, it wasn’t so much a set as a grand stage for one: just McKay, the dean of American broadcast sports journalism, in his ABC Sports blazer. It was a very newsy shot for a very newsy occasion.

Looking back on that extraordinary moment — I have a VHS copy of it, and badly am in need of a digital one — one can see and hear the standard McKay setup for a significant moment: an eloquent and efficient chronicling of the Americans’ unbelievable underdog ascent into Lake Placid’s hockey medals qualification round. But with the benefit of hindsight, you can also detect a glimmer in his eye. That glimmer was joined by the slightest upturn in the crease of his mouth as he concluded his intro with, “You definitely want to stick around for this one.”

Were truer words ever uttered on television?

What a wonderful moment in time to be free of the Internet, I think now.

I remember McKay principally for that evening but also for his less dramatic duties hosting ABC’s ‘Wide World of Sports’ on Saturday afternoons. McKay seemed to celebrate the totality of athletic excellence in his broadcast career, which is perhaps why he cherished working the Olympics — in their less vulgar incarnation, obviously. He played it straight then, too, although I seem to remember that when it came to American excellence in sport his narrations bore a subtle but unmistakable pride. We could use more of that today, I think.

In reading memorials of his career this week I was struck by the breadth of events he covered. He was ABC’s go-to guy for special events, for decades. He was a seminal media figure at horse racing’s Triple Crown races, and with ‘Wide World of Sports’ he’d anchor one of the most successful sports programs in television history.

Televised sports in America in the ’60s, ’70s, and early ’80s was far different from what we know today. It was almost singularly male in the composition of its competitors, and it was also at times kitsch-ish in its made-for-TV moments: If it was sporting Americana taking place — the Indy 500 or Evel Knievel attempting to rocket-jump the Grand Canyon — McKay was there to cover it. In reflecting on this it strikes me as Hollywood-script-perfect for McKay to have been there as he was that fabulous Friday night, isolated in that studio shot.

“Here were these college kids beating the Soviets and going on to the Olympic Gold Medal,” McKay said in an interview in 2003. “To me, that’s the greatest upset of all time in any sport that I can think of.”

Maybe it’s the effects of nostalgia’s dominating spirit, but what I remember about February 23 and 24, 1980, was McKay’s voice interrupting what by then had become marginalized competing Olympic sports, for his narrating over scene after scene of thousands of delirious Americans draped in Old Glory, painting a small New York town in our nation’s colors.

On February 22, 1980, and for the remainder of that unforgettable weekend, we Americans, beleaguered in so many respects as we then were, needed a shepherd of first composure and then appropriate and eloquent ecstasy for an event that forever changed our lives. Jim McKay was that and much more.

It was, truly, a winter Friday night of miraculous innocence. Gone, now, like the broadcast hero who ushered it into our lives, forever.

Filed in American Hockey, Hockey Heroes, Media, Miracle on Ice, Morning cup-a-joe, TV, USA Hockey, WJLA| Permalink| Comments (13)

U.S. Youth Not Yet Serving up Medals at the Worlds

By pucksandbooks
Saturday, May 17, 2008

Since the American entry in the 2004 World Hockey Championships finished with a bronze medal, the U.S. has finished 6th, 7th, 5th, and, most recently this past week, 5th in the tourney. Not so good.

“Young” seems to be the springtime flavor of excuse for middling showings by the Americans in this tournament. Yes the Americans are comparatively young in the tourney, but they are also highly skilled, annually one of the fastest teams, and always carefully assembled by a blue ribbon advisory group. And even with their youth most of the American roster each spring possesses notable international hockey experience, gained particularly from the World Juniors tourneys. They are losing games in elimination play in excruciating fashion: in overtime.

Beginning with 2009, it’s time to begin expecting better.

USA Hockey has made it abundantly clear that it wants to compete for championships in this event every bit as much as with the World Junior Championships and the Olympics. Of the three most prestigious international competitions, year in and year out this will always be the toughest for the Americans to contend in. The Americans with the National Development Team Program have a rigorous and committed program priming young hockey talent for the World Juniors. It’s a built-in advantage, I think. Additionally, the Junior team rarely has significant injuries to deal with, as that tournament is contested relatively early in the hockey season. The Olympic teams, too, also benefit from the calendar, and never have to worry about the best American players still competing in the NHL palyoffs.

To be fair, with very limited depth in terms of impact players, the U.S. cannot endure injuries like say Canada can and compete seriously at either the Olympics or the Worlds. This year’s American Worlds entry would have had a decidedly different look to it in terms of skill and experience had it been able to roster just say Eric Cole, Chris Clark, and Rick DiPietro and or Ryan Miller.

Indeed, if there’s anything particularly promising as American hockey fans look ahead to the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, it’s that that American team will not have Tim Thomas, Robert Esche, or Craig Anderson between the pipes but most likely rather the tandem of Miller and DiPietro. Esche actually had moments of surreal brilliance at this year’s World’s — most especially in games against the Finns — but neither he nor his 2008 netminder teammates are a trio with which a nation pins medal hopes on.

There were also huge American names absent from this Worlds’ rsoter because of the NHL playoffs: Drury and Gomez, Mike Komisarek and Chris Higgins in Montreal, perhaps Dallas’ Matt Niskanen, certainly Paul Stastny. You have to think Higgins is a prime candidate for the 2010 team. I was especially disappointed to see neither of Erik or Jack Johnson rostered for the Americans this spring — both competed for the Americans in Moscow last year. Those two, along with Komisarek and Niskanen, you have to think would play important roles on the Olympic team in two years. After goaltending, the biggest difference we may well see between this year’s Worlds team and the Olympic one in Vancouver likely will be on the blueline. An entirely different top 4, for instance.

Up front, there appears to be greater certainty. Peter Mueller, Patrick Kane, Zach Parise, Phil Kessel — the latter distinguishing himself now in consecutive World Championships — along with Stastny and perhaps Cole and Higgins, that’s a lot of skilled MoJo seriously on the move. And I began getting excited about David Booth’s game very early his past season with the Panthers. He’s likely to be a super quick skilled pest on the Americans’ third or fourth line in Vancouver. One very young American player I’m eager to watch next season with an eye on the 2010 Games is the Islander’s Kyle Okposo.

The Americans almost certainly won’t enter the 2010 Olympics on hockey folks’ list of medal contenders, but as with the Worlds, you need win only one game against a great team on a given night, and that’s where someone like Ryan Miller can elevate American hockey dreams. Next year’s American Worlds roster, to the extent that the NHL playoffs and injuries allow, ought to be assembled as a test run for 2010. This year’s simply couldn’t be.

But looming large as a challenge for USA Hockey is finding the right guy behind the American bench. It’s fair to say, I think, that a new name needs to be considered. The last three years American Worlds teams have been led by Mike Eaves, Mike Sullivan, and John Tortorella. Shouldn’t USA Hockey name a coach for next year’s Worlds with an eye on having that man guide the Americans in Vancouver as well? If so, I have an outside-the-box pick. A man with significant ties to USA Hockey, a man with an unrivaled record in winning with young hockey players and one who may just well be the best hockey coach outside of the NHL right now.

Jeff Jackson.

Filed in American Hockey, College Hockey, IIHF, Jeff Jackson, Olympic hockey, USA Hockey, WJC, Washington Capitals, World Championships| Permalink| Comments (0)

At the Worlds, More Home Flavor Leading Team USA

By pucksandbooks
Thursday, May 1, 2008

Potomac, Md.’s, Jeff Halpern has been named captain of the American hockey team competing this week at the IIHF World Championships in Halifax and Quebec City. The former Washington Capital follows current Caps’ captain Chris Clark, who wore the ‘C’ for the Americans in Moscow last May.

In all, nine members of the Washington Capitals’ organization will compete in this year’s World Championships: Nicklas Backstrom (Sweden); Sergei Fedorov (Russia); Alexander Semin (Russia); Alexander Ovechkin (Russia); Simeon Varlamov (Russia); Tomas Fleischmann (Czech Republic); Mike Green (Canada); Cristobal Huet (France); and Sami Lepsito (Finland).

There is speculation that Russia’s top line could be comprised entirely of Caps: Ovechkin, Fedorov, and Semin. The Russians, though, will be far from a one-line team. They’ll have the services of Ilya Kovalchuk, Maxim Afinogenov, and Alexander Radulov up front. None of the three Caps’ Russian forwards skated in Russia’s 4-1 win over Canada in a recent tournament tuneup.

Varlamov should see some action in preliminary round play, our man about Russian hockey Dmitry Chesnokov tells us. Beyond that, his performance will dictate additional playing time.

Team USA opens play in the Worlds this Friday against Latvia, and will follow with games against Slovenia and Canada before Qualification-round play commences May 8. Halpern is the only American forward or defender not born in the 1980s.

The Americans had one lone tuneup before their opening game, and this past Sunday night in Portland, Maine, the Americans smashed Sweden 5-1. Craig Anderson and Robert Esche split time in net for the Americans. Boston’s Tim Thomas is the third goalie on the American roster.

Defending champion Canada, in addition to enjoying home-ice advantage at this year’s World’s, will again have a formidable roster. They boast the tournament’s best goalie tandem in Cam Ward and Pascal Leclaire. Up front, they’re loaded with the likes of Spezza, Heatly, Nash, Doan, Staal, Getzlaf, St. Louis, and Toews. Jay Bouwmeester and Mike Green could make for a potent power play tandem on the blueline.

This is the first time since 1962, when the Worlds that year were held in Colorado Springs, that the championships will be contested on 200 x 85 sheets of ice. TSN will broadcast both the bronze and gold medal games.

The Chicago Blackhawks’ Adam Brurish, incidentally, is blogging during the tournament. His first file noted the American team’s distinctive youth:

“This is a young, energetic group of guys we have on this U.S. team, which makes it a lot of fun to be around. Everybody seems to be in the same position as far as being young in our NHL careers, and experiencing the world championships for the first time. Some of the “older” guys have made jokes about not fitting in because they are older than 25, which on this team seems like grandpa status.”

Filed in American Hockey, Chris Clark, IIHF, USA Hockey, Washington Capitals, World Championships| Permalink| Comments (8)

Happy Miracle on Ice Day!

By The OFB Team
Friday, February 22, 2008

A wintry Friday it was 28 years ago today — a lot like today in D.C. A few of you, like us, and actually lived that fabulous Friday 28 years ago. But even if you didn’t, we’d like to know what that seminal day in American sporting history has come to mean to you. Share with us your lasting impressions of that event and its meaning to your hockey life.

A little snippet for you to rekindle the miracle mood:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwpTj_Z9v-c

Filed in American Hockey, Hockey Heroes, Miracle on Ice, USA Hockey, Video Clips| Permalink| Comments (4)

WJC Update: Early Dominance Against the Finns

By pucksandbooks
Monday, December 31, 2007

American Flag at SunsetYou think the Tampa Bay Lightning have goaltender issues now? Their 2006 first-rounder, Riku Helenius, didn’t make it out of today’s second period against the United States at the World Juniors.

U.S. 5, Finland 0. And it’s still early.

JVR has already tallied a goal and three helpers. Colin Wilson has two goals and a helper. He’s a 2008 draft eligible — think he’s helping his cause for next June with this WJC showing?

Mercifully the second period has ended for the Finns. Updates forthcoming.

Update: Joe Palmer in the American net for period three. His first appearance of this WJC.

Update: There’s been a change in scoring from the first period — Colin Wilson’s now being credited for the U.S.’s first three goals, a natural hat trick.

The Finns have showed some third period heart, notching two power play tallies. It’s 5-2 U.S.

Final: U.S. 5, Finland 3. That third period will give what might have been a cocky bunch of unbeaten Americans something to stew on on New Years Eve. Or: my NHL scout was right about U.S. backup netminder Joe Palmer:

“Palmer has an .880 save percentage in the NCAA. One scout who does exclusively college hockey told me he thought Palmer was one of the worst goalies in the college game.”

But who needs negative thoughts in victory on New Years Eve? Not only is a win a win at the WJC, going undefeated through preliminary round play is stellar by any standard.

Congrats to Team USA, who now rest through the quarterfinals and await a semi-final opponent on Friday.

Filed in American Hockey, IIHF, Tampa Bay Lightning, USA Hockey, WJC| Permalink| Comments (0)

No Miracle: U.S. 3, Russia 2

By pucksandbooks
Saturday, December 29, 2007

Eddie Cahill as Jim CraigWhat is it about no-name American rosters and their matchups against Russia?

Ruegsegger, van Riemsdyk (tourney’s leading scorer), and Mike Carmen with tallies today, Carmen’s the game-winner, in the Americans’ 3-2 victory over Russia. Meanwhile, Sweden stunned the Canadians 4-3.

A number of you emailed me overnight wondering what wager I had with Dmitry Chesnokov for this game. The answer rhymes with Filet-at-Smith-and-Wolenskys.

The 9-pt. U.S. has clinched first in its group and is assured of a place in the World Junior semifinals. Their opponent? Either Canada or Finland.

The U.S. will skate again on Monday against Finland.

Filed in American Hockey, IIHF, USA Hockey, WJC| Permalink| Comments (2)

Powering Past the Swiss: U.S. 4, Switzerland 2

By pucksandbooks
Friday, December 28, 2007

USA Hockey LogoTeam USA today capitalized on Swiss penalties, scoring four times in extra-man situations en route to a 4-2 victory in WJC action. Colin Wilson scored a pair for the Americans, and Jeremy Smith earned his second victory in as many games in net for the U.S.

The U.S. outshot Switzerland 51-18 Friday.

The 2-0 Americans face 2-0 Russia Saturday.   

Filed in American Hockey, IIHF, USA Hockey, WJC, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (0)

Strong American Start at the World Juniors: U.S. 5, Kazakhstan 1

By pucksandbooks
Wednesday, December 26, 2007

USA Hockey LogoUnofficial shot count: U.S. 49, Kazakhstan 18

Jeremy Smith in net for the Americans. Goals from Sweatt, Rakshani, Carmen, Fairchild, and Okposo. Max Pacioretty apparently took a knee, missed some action, but returned. 

Karl Alzner and Josh Godfrey and their Canadian teammates kick off their tournament this afternoon against the Czechs (starting at 1:30 EST).

Filed in American Hockey, IIHF, Prospects, USA Hockey, WJC| Permalink| Comments (3)

Woe Is US: A Rebuilding Team U.S.A at the World Juniors

By pucksandbooks
Friday, December 14, 2007

December offers a particularly terrific gift for hockey fans — the World Junior Championships, or what many in hockey regard as the greatest of hockey tournaments. This year’s Worlds will be contested in the Czech Republic, with the U.S. opening on December 26 against Kasakhstan. The Canadians this week conducted their determinative evaluation camp, and the results are in: Caps’ property Karl Alzner and Josh Godfrey will represent the three-time defending champions. In fact, Alzner is a candidate to captain the team. Mathieu Perreault, another invitee, was returned to Acadie Bathurst. The Canadians, as ever, will be strong and pre-tourney favorites. They will lack the elite starpower of championship years past, but they will have no rivals in roster depth.

The United States, however, is confronting a hard reality with this year’s tournament: they are victims of their own development success. Typically, even the highest of NHL draft picks rarely makes his drafting team’s roster in his draft year, but that’s precisely what’s happened with Patrick Kane (Chicago), whose dominant performance in last year’s WJC launched him toward elite status for this past June’s draft. Additionally, 2006 no. 1 overall pick Erik Johnson, eligible for this year’s Worlds, is busy patrolling the St. Louis Blues’ blueline. And another 2006 American draft gem and WJC eligible, Peter Mueller, is having a solid rookie season for Wayne Gretzky’s Phoenix Coyotes.

I had a chance this week to chat a bit with an NHL scout I interviewed here last year, one whose coverage is with the U.S. college ranks, and the impact of Johnson’s and Kane’s absenses to the Americans this month was, to him, crystal clear. The Americans are lunchpalers without them and gold medal gamers with them.

USA Hockey LogoThe Americans won’t be devoid of talent, but heavy burdens will fall principally on James Van Riemsdyk (New Hampshire; Philadelphia) and Kyle Okposo (Minnesota; NY Islanders). They have decent skill on the blueline, but then there’s perhaps the team’s biggest concern — in goal. That’s where things may get ugly for the U.S.

pucksandbooks: To the layman’s eye, this looks to be as weak a team as the U.S. has fielded at the World Jrs. in years. Fair impression?

NHL Scout: Team USA is severely hampered this year by guys like Johnson and Kane being in the NHL and unable to play. Add those two and you’ve got a completely different team. Overall, this is a team that lacks high end skill outside of Van Riemsdyk and possibly Okposo (who I see often here in Minnesota) and Schroeder. For some perspective, I don’t think anyone but Van Riemsdyk would crack Canada’s Top 6 forwards. Teams are going to be able to focus their best checking line exclusively on Van Riemsdyk. Add Kane, and you could break the two up and make teams pick their poison. If Okposo and Van Riemsdyk don’t play together, there will be a lot of pressure on Okposo to take the heat off of Van Riemsdyk.

pucksandbooks: A reasonably likely U.S. lineup would look like . . . ?

NHL Scout:

Jordan Schroeder-Colin Wilson-James Van Riemsdyk
Rhett Rakshani-Kyle Okposo-Max Pacioretty
Tyler Ruegsegger-Mike Carman-Bill Sweatt
Ryan Flynn-Matt Rust-Blake Geoffrion

Bobby Sanguinetti-Ian Cole
Jonathon Blum-Jamie McBain
Kevin Montgomery-Bill Strait

Jeremy Smith
Joe Palmer

Doing the power play and penalty kills would be difficult, because it depends on the coach’s thoughts. If they want a big guy in front to take up space, Flynn might be a PP guy. If they go all skill, Flynn might not see a minute of PP time the entire tournament. Watch for some combination of Sanguinetti, Blum, Montgomery, and Schroeder to run the point on the PP. Strait, Cole, and McBain will see a great deal of penalty kill time.

pucksandbooks: A followup — Looking at the team, are there any of the fringe players that you felt could have been replaced by other players?

NHL Scout: Team USA will probably be judged by how some of these fringe players play. They took Ryan Flynn over Eric Tangradi. Most scouts I’ve talked to were shocked by that, as Tangradi gives you the same size and same physical play, but with better skating and hands. Flynn is just a fourth liner, Tangradi could fit in on the second line.

They took Cade Fairchild, Chris Summers and Kevin Montgomery over Kevin Shattenkirk, Ryan McDonagh, Zach Bogosian, and Mike Ratchuk. Fairchild probably will not end up playing much. He’s a very good college defenseman and his inclusion is probably more about preparing him for next year, when he should make the team. But the other three college defensemen named are pretty good themselves. I’ve heard Shattenkirk has been up and down this year, but he was a high first round pick, comes from the [USNDTP] program, and possesses great offensive abilities. McDonagh is similar, although he’s a little more of a two-way guy than Fairchild, with a little less offense. Ratchuk and Fairchild are very similar, except for the fact that Ratchuk’s older, bigger, more developed, and won a National Championship this year. I haven’t seen much of Montgomery since he left Michigan, but I know he was a fringe pick that many Canadian scouts aren’t that high on.

Summers is Team USA getting a little cute. He spends some time at forward and some at defense, although I’ve been told that Phoenix will make him a full time forward when he gets out. I’m not sure I understand the pick — it’s not like you’re building for a long season and the versatility is nice. There are better defensemen than him, and better forwards than him . . . why not take one of them? Now they have 8 D and only 12 forwards . . . what are the odds of having to use 8 D?

They took a forward in Carman who hasn’t played a game this year. Now, I really like Carman as a player and I know he’s been there before. But he’s going to be rusty at first. Is there someone I would have taken over him? I don’t know for sure, but they better hope he’s in playing shape.

pucksandbooks: How bad in the goaltending situation?

NHL Scout: Smith is a very solid, if unspectacular goalie. I was surprised they took Palmer over Unice. Palmer has an .880 save percentage in the NCAA. One scout who does exclusively college hockey told me he thought Palmer was one of the worst goalies in the college game. I don’t see as much college as he does, but the game I saw Ohio State play Palmer cost him the game. Team USA pretty clearly went with a college goalie because they want to encourage kids to play college hockey instead of going to Canada. They took a college kid who came up through the NTDP, so they’re comfortable with him and his personality. I would say Team USA better hope Smith stays healthy.

pucksandbooks: Who if anyone lurks as a sleeper American prospect as we’ve seen with the likes of Kane and VanRiemsdyk and Kessel in years past?

NHL Scout: Colin Wilson is the only draft eligible player on the roster. He is a smart, developed, tough player, but he isn’t flashy like the guys you listed. Schroeder is available in 2009. Pacioretty was a high pick, but I think he’ll really come into his own in this tournament. I would keep an eye on him.

pucksandbooks: Is it Canada’s tournament to lose?

NHL Scout: Probably, yes. Canada is deep enough that they can afford to lose guys like Toews and Gagner. The U.S. is not as talented. That said, it’s an emotional, pressure-filled tournament. I think Team USA thinks they have hard working, character kids who will work hard and not concede anything. I don’t think this is a team that will get blown out much, but they won’t blow anyone out either. They’ll need second line scoring to emerge, and they’ll have to hope Smith can make big saves when it matters.

Filed in American Hockey, CHL, College Hockey, IIHF, Josh Godfrey, Karl Alzner, Mathieu Perreault, WJC, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (2)

Long Memory

By pucksandbooks
Monday, October 29, 2007

Washington may not be a hockey town, but there are an ample number of hockey lovers in it. And hardcore ones at that. Take Rockville’s Bobby Brendler, who had this nugget in his letter published in the Washington Post yesterday:

“Still don’t watch Channel 7 news since Renee Poussaint revealed that the U.S. beat the Soviet Union in the 1980 Olympic hockey game before they showed the tape delay.”

The Post, in its “TalkBack” column, told Bobby to “Get over it.” But Bobby can get over to my place for a beer any time.    

Filed in American Hockey, Miracle on Ice, TV, USA Hockey, WJLA| Permalink| Comments (3)

Should Washington Have Major Junior Hockey? You Bet

By pucksandbooks
Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Cup'pa JoeIn 2007-08, the United States Hockey League will welcome its 13th franchise into league play: Fargo, North Dakota (as of this writing unmascoted) will join the buzz-generating development league, skating in a brand-new 5,000-seat rink. The team will be led by former Fighting Sioux bench boss legend Dean Blais, who’ll serve as coach and GM. Blais led UND to national championships in 1997 and 2000. Not a bad resume for a USHL coach.

The USHL was established in 1961 and briefly hosted professional hockey players. It returned to its present fully amateur status in 1979. By virtue of its amateur status it has a leg up on attracting prime young talent these days, as players can skate there a year or two and retain their NCAA eligibility. CHLers, of course, forfeit their NCAA eligibility.

The USHL languished in obscurity until about 2000, about which time American participation in hockey began extending well beyond its traditional geographical locales. Today the USHL isn’t quite a full-fledged rival as a development league for the CHL — but it isn’t as far behind as you might imagine. Dean Blais’ joining the party suggests as much. But don’t take my word for it; check out the league’s link to the lengthy list of players drafted by NHL clubs just this decade.

The league is concentrated compactly in small outposts of winter-sports-challenged regions of the upper Midwest: basically, Nebraska and Iowa, plus franchises in Chicago, Green Bay, Indianapolis, and Columbus. Its rosters are being fed increasingly by Sunbelt States who exposure to NHL hockey is leading to dramatic and unprecedented spikes in youth hockey participation. But don’t take my word for it; check out Inside College Hockey Online’s “State of the Game” breakdown from last season on the U.S. origins of D-I hockey players. Thirty two Californians skated on D-I teams last season. Increasingly the USHL is serving as a fruitful apprenticeship between Midget and top-level intercollegiate hockey in the States.

The pipeline for Major Junior hockey talent in the States is irrefutably promising and on the upswing. And at present, in its tiny geographical haven, the USHL is cluttering, virtually annually, the NHL Entry Draft’s top few rounds, leading a lot of folks in American hockey circles today to ask this question: what would happen if the USHL continued to expand . . . especially if it went to the unconquered, comparatively hockey-mad East?

Fargo, incidentally, boasts a population of 74,000. Washington of course isn’t anywhere near as hockey-crazed (except in its per capita tally of puck bloggers); it hasn’t, for instance, hosted a World Under-20 tourney. But soon it is hosting a Frozen Four, and with a GMA population exceeding 5 million, does D.C. really need to be puck crazy to support another hockey team? This is a region that has, with reasonable success, hosted an AHL franchise (in Baltimore) in the past. Worth noting, I think, that attendance was strong at both the Baltimore and Landover arenas during many of those years.

My theory-dream here is premised on far more than a selfish interest in expanding my access points to live hockey. I think it’s in the Capitals’ best interest to see more high-caliber hockey take root in the region. Just as hockey players need development leagues, so too do fans: millions of puck-uninitiated in these parts need an affordable access point to the fast-paced and poorly-covered-by-the-press game on ice. Too many families today simply cannot afford NHL hockey. I still want them in hockey rinks; get them there and they’ll get hooked, and hooked hockey fans will find their ways into Verizon Center eventually.

Philly spectacularly supports both the Flyers and the Phantoms, and my wager is that if the USHL placed a franchise there it’d thrive as well. A USHL team, with its unsalaried rosters, needn’t fill as many seats as CHL clubs to reap profits. And like the CHL, the USHL contests its games disproportionately on weekends. Try marketing quality live Friday and Saturday night hockey in an intimate setting in these parts and charge an admission of, say, $15 and $20, and see who comes out and salutes it.

This hypothesis becomes more intriguing when you consider greater Washington’s fast-rising status as a puck-talent-producing region. Vienna, Va.’s, Garrett Roe skated last season for the USHL’s Indiana Ice (63 points in 57 games). Marylander Phil Axtell, now entering his sophomore season at Michigan Tech, skated for Cedar Rapids. If he’d had the opportunity to remain at home and skate for a hometown team in the USHL, would Luke Lynes have migrated all the way up to the OHL’s Brampton Batallion?

Yes Washington is in its infancy as a hockey playing capital, but its achievements in a short period of time are nothing short of remarkable. One of the more intriguing stories I’ve heard at area rinks this summer relates to DeMatha’s emergence as a hockey recruiting force. There are high school teams way up north, the account goes, that today want nothing to do with the Stags.

Having a Junior team compete here, and bolster hockey’s general profile, is the logical evolution of our game that is fast growing among D.C.’s athletic families.

Filed in American Hockey, Area Youth Hockey, College Hockey, Entry Draft, Morning cup-a-joe, National Hockey League| Permalink| Comments (12)

The Adirondacks in August Are Frozen in Time

By The OFB Team
Saturday, August 18, 2007

Loyal reader John Wahala shared with us this week photos from his August vacation in the Adirondacks, which included his first-ever visit to Herb Brooks Arena. While we in D.C. were melting John was bluejeaned and sweatshirted and strolling down American hockey’s most Memorable Lane.

His images of the arena’s interior bring a fresh perspective as to just how intimate a setting the Miracle on Ice offered. Accounts of that fabulous Friday night 27 years ago commonly allude to 10,000-plus frenzied supporters in red, white, and blue, but looking at these pics, do you see room enough for 10,000? This USA Today account of the arena’s dedication to Brooks claims that normal capacity is 7,700 but that somehow 11,000 were crammed in on the night of the Miracle. Whatever the number, theirs was a privileged perch for all time. Imagine how close to the history they all were, and its sound during Al Michaels’ immortal countdown.

“Welcome to the site of the sports event of the century” indeed.

Lake Placid Winter Olympic Museum - photo by John Wahala
Outside the Olympic Museum
Lake Placid Olympic Center - photo by John Wahala
Miracle on Ice
Herb Brooks Arena Entrance - photo by John Wahala
Entrance to the Herb Brooks Arena
Herb Brooks Arena - photo by John Wahala
Herb Brooks Arena
Herb Brooks Arena - photo by John Wahala
Herb Brooks Arena again
Filed in American Hockey, Miracle on Ice, USA Hockey| Permalink| Comments (10)

The Can’t Miss Kid Didn’t

By The OFB Team
Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Bobby Carpenter - Sports Illustrated Cover - 23 February, 1981Today former Cap Bobby Carpenter got the Hall Call: he’ll be enshrined in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame later this year. Younger Caps’ and hockey fans may not remember the peak years of Carpenter’s career in the NHL, with the Caps. But he was the first American-born 50-goal scorer in league history, and he was a dynamic scorer in hockey’s high-flying ’80s. He was also the first-ever high school hockey player to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

We remember well the excitement associated with Carpenter’s arrival in D.C. Then Caps’ GM Max McNab swung a stunner of a trade with the Hartford Whalers in June of 1981 to acquire the third overall pick in the draft and land Carpenter. The night of the draft WRC’s George Michael led his evening sportscast with the news. Remember, this was a mere year or so after the American triumph at Lake Placid, and Carpenter was regarded as the finest talent American hockey had ever produced. There was, most assuredly, hockey buzz in D.C. then.

As you might expect, the Caps’ Mike Vogel has a superb reminiscence of Carpenter up on the team’s site. Vogel notes:

“A Massachusetts native, Carpenter and his family were hoping he’d go to Hartford. Carpenter’s father and the Whalers’ brass were both angry when Washington general manager Max McNab made the deal and the subsequent pick, but both parties were assuaged in the end. Hartford wound up “settling” for center Ron Francis with the fourth overall choice, and Carpenter abandoned a letter of intent to play at Providence College when the Caps signed him and made him the first ever U.S. high school hockey player to go directly from school to the NHL.”

Filed in American Hockey, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (0)

Huge Loss for Local Hockey: Brian Melnick (1954-2007)

By pucksandbooks
Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Montgomery Blue DevilsThe greater Washington area lost a pillar of its youth hockey community this past week, when Brian Melnick, former president of the Montgomery Youth Hockey Association for 12 years, passed on June 27.

It was on Melnick’s watch that youth hockey participation exploded in this region.

This loss hits home for me, as I’m a Montgomery County native and, more importantly, Brian’s son Andrew is a hockey teammate of mine.

Brian Melnick started out as the Head Coordinator of Montgomery’s hockey instructional program for about four years, and during those times served on Montgomery Hockey’s Board of Directors. He was a frequent road warrior, as so many who serve the region’s youth hockey community must be, attending his own and other league meetings but also following the promising hockey careers of his two sons, Andrew and Gregory. Born in the District, raised in Chevy Chase, and raising his own family in Montgomery County, Melnick was as local as they come in these parts.

Melnick’s hockey work, of course, went unsalaried, and he sacrificed countless hours and weekends, purely to better the game that he so loved. In so doing, he greatly bettered the Montgomery community.

“This was all after 12-hour days at his job,” his son Andrew told me. “During all this he still found the time to make all of the games my brother and I played in.”

The impact of his presence was shown at his funeral last Friday, where nearly 1,000 people mourned, many former players, coaches, and parents involved with MYHA.

During Melnick’s 12 years as Montgomery president the level of player participation doubled and today stands at well over 1,000 registered members. What began as simple winter recreation at the dawn of Melnick’s commitment evolved into a hockey development program garnering national respect and now, virtually annually, a pipeline of players earning college hockey scholarships.

Chip Mitchell, President of the Montgomery Youth Hockey Association, issued this statement:

“I’m very sorry to report that MYHA has lost one of its longest-standing and most influential members, Brian Melnick. As many of you know, Brian was the President of MYHA for twelve years. Brian’s hard work and dedication, as much as anything, helped MYHA build the club we have today. In addition to being a tireless volunteer and powerful voice both within our club and at the CBHL, Brian was a genuinely nice person. The entire MYHA family will miss Brian.

“Anyone wishing to honor Brian’s memory can do so by making a contribution to the Congestive Heart Failure Fund at the Washington Hospital Center.”

Filed in American Hockey, Area Youth Hockey, Hockey, Hockey Heroes, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (1)

In Summer’s Sun, a Stunning Sports Page, June 22, 2007

By The OFB Team
Wednesday, June 27, 2007

All of us had travel commitments last Friday and missed hard copies of the day’s newspapers. A copy of Friday’s Washington Times, however, remained for pucksandbooks in his office on Monday, and Friday’s sports section front from it knocked him out of his chair. Take a gander at the hockey love dramatically illustrated by the Times’ editors for Corey Masisak’s fabulous feature on the lofty state of American hockey these days:

Washington Times Sports Page - 22 June, 2007

That’s not a blowup of the story, that’s its actual layout. Allegedly there are two other stories on C1 from the Times on Friday — you just can’t find them! Patrick Kane’s hometown paper, the Buffalo News, can’t match this hockey journalism feast.

But beyond the sheer size and splendor of the piece, Corey Masisak delivered a grade A overview of the rocket rise of American hockey development today. “Massive gains” American hockey is enjoying, Masisak wrote. We hockey fans in Washington gained massively from his paper and him on Entry Draft Friday.  

Filed in American Hockey, College Hockey, Corey Masisak, DraftGeek, Media, NHL CenterIce, National Hockey League, Print, USA Hockey, Washington Times| Permalink| Comments (5)

Young Glory Draped in Old Glory

By pucksandbooks
Thursday, June 21, 2007

American Flag at SunsetIn the middle of this past hockey season consensus was that the 2007 NHL Entry Draft would offer up another strong showing by American prospects — seven or eight of them were likely to be tabbed in the first round. This would follow by a year an Entry Draft in which fully 10 Americans went in round one. These kind of tallies are bettered only by the Canadians.

As we near the 11th hour of the Columbus draft that forecast is being widely revised . . . upward. TSN’s superb draft primer forecasts 10 Yanks as first-rounders; The Hockey News’ Hot 100 list, a ranking compendium comprising the blended prognostications of 10 NHL scouts, also has 10 Americans going in round one. There are a litany of highly thoughtful and well-respected reader-generated draft forecasts to be found at Hockeysfuture this week, and again Americans litter those lists.

No two Americans have ever gone 1-2 in round one. It almost happened last year. It well could tomorrow night in Columbus.

If 10 Americans again have their names called on Versus tomorrow night the implications are beyond clear: in consecutive years the broad pipeline of American development — from the USNTDP to U.S. college hockey to the USHL to American high school hockey — will have claimed fully one-third of the NHL draft’s first round. And by the way, one of the Americans likely to go in round one tomorrow night is a Californian.

As player development goes, this is called trending upward.

But what might perhaps be even more impressive than the sheer tally of American talent is its breadth across positions. Looking over the haul of first-round U.S. talent in recent drafts, and with an eye toward this year’s, one notices sleek snipers (Kane, Kessel, Oshie), bruising blueliners (the Johnsons, Joe Finley, Nick Petrecki, Colby Cohen), power forwards aplenty (Okposo, Bobby Ryan, Skille, van Riemsdyk, Pacioretty), and especially an abundance of two-way rearguards.

Interestingly, if there’s one area of positional weakness relative to the Canadians and Europeans in recent drafts for the Americans, it’s an area of previous strength: in goal. Since Rick DiPietro went first overall in 2000, we really haven’t seen USAHockey or anyone else produce high-end talent between the American pipes. That 2000 draft is the more intriguing in light of the modest American skating talent that followed DiPietro in the first round: Ron Hainsey, Brooks Orpik, David Hale, and Jeff Taffe.

This decade, it seems, the U.S. feasts in first-round skating talent and famines in net, and vice versa.

While the best is yet to come for U.S. national teams in international competition because of this embarassment of young talent riches, over at the World Championships this spring it was abundantly evident to us that the new generation of warp-speed, wicked skill set is already primed to make an impact. That U.S. squad coached by Mike Sullivan was one overtime, struck goalpost away from taking down gold-medal finalist Finland. And it was a conspicuously young squad.

Filed in American Hockey, College Hockey, DraftGeek, Entry Draft, OFB in Russia, USA Hockey, World Championships| Permalink| Comments (2)

No Surprise: We Need Hedge Clippers for the Hair of Our Hockey Foes in Round 2

By pucksandbooks
Monday, April 30, 2007

Cup'pa JoeIn a spring-summer of change in hockey Washington, it’s fitting that one thing remains the same: Caps vs. Pens in a postseason — taking the shape of a showdown affiliation style. The Hershey Bears and the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins met in the East Division finals last May, and beginning this Wednesday night at Giant Center, they’ll do so again. I hope they meet every postseason — and with Norfolk affiliating with Tampa beginning this summer, that appears likely — but I also hope that this is the last spring we’re devoting majority energies to covering the future combatants of this bitter rivalry, rather than the present ones.

Wilkes-Barre bested Norfolk in its opening round, winning the series four games to two, and while the Bears were assured of a 108-pt. foe in round 2, I think they’ve got next the team they’d have preferred. You have to be careful what you wish for, particularly in this rivalry, but the numbers make a compelling case that seeing the Admirals’ ship sail for golf vacations beginning this week was a good thing for the Bears.

In the regular season, Hershey won six of its ten meetings with the Mini Mullets, with one loss coming in a shootout, but the real story of those games was the Bears’ dominace the back half of them. Hershey won five of their final six games against Wilkes-Barre, in blazing fashion. Bears’ beat reporter Tim Leone of the Patriot News details the battering in his file this morning:

“Hershey outscored the Penguins a collective 21-8 in the last six meetings, holding them to one or fewer goals four times.”

Look at some of the scores down the stretch between the clubs: 3-0 Bears on March 30; 3-1 Bears on April 8; 6-1 Bears on April 14. Consider, too, that many of the players who will skate for Hershey this week — guys like Jeff Schultz, Mike Green, Dave Steckel, Tomas Fleischmann — were still with the Caps as Hershey wound down its regular season.

The Bears opened the 2006-07 season with a 7-4 thumping of Wilkes-Barre on the road back on October 7. It’s been pretty good karma against this club all year.

The numbers against Norfolk, however, were much different. The teams split the regular season series 5-5, but three of the Bears’ victories came very early in the season. In the season’s second half, the Admirals won most of the matchups, many of them one-goal affairs. And Norfolk spent a fair portion of the ‘06-’07 season lodged in first place in the East, before Hershey’s torrid finish overtook the Admirals.

While Hershey will have a deeper, slightly different, and overall more pwerful look from the second-place club that swept the Mullets out of the postseason last May, Wilkes-Barre will be missing some key pieces from last year and boast some new, high-profile young talent this. The most conspicuous change will be the absence in net of Marc Andre Fleury. But the biggest change will be Ryan Whitney’s graduation. The young flightless fowl will also be missing Colby Armstrong and Maxime Talbot up front.

It’s terrific news for the Penguin organization that so many kids came through for the parent club this past season, but those graduations came at a cost this spring in matchups with Hershey. There are some new and notable names wearing the Wilkes-Barre sweater now: Robbie Schremp, Marc-Antoine Pouliot, and Robert Nilsson — all high-profile castoffs from other organizations. All could perhaps be said to be at development crossroads. Nolan Schaefer will man the Mullet pipes in place of Fleury. He played all six games in the first round.

Like last spring, and like so many instances between the clubs in games at Verizon Center over the years, there will be fantastic atmosphere in the stands for this series. And thousands of awful haircuts.

Filed in American Hockey, Dave Steckel, Hershey Bears, Morning cup-a-joe, Prospects| Permalink| Comments (4)

Bears Back in Control: Hershey 6, Albany 5

By The OFB Team
Sunday, April 22, 2007

Who would have guessed that in a 6-5 game Alexandre Giroux would have been held off the scoresheet? Jacub Klepis, however, was not — he had three helpers tonight. Chris Bourque skated a +3 on the evening. The Bears, who now own a 2-1 lead in the series, overcame Albany’s 43-24 advantage in shots.

Game 4 is Monday night.

2 Point Toast

Filed in American Hockey, Chris Bourque, Hershey Bears, Prospects, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (1)

U.S. Under-18ers Fall in Finals

By pucksandbooks
Sunday, April 22, 2007

USA Hockey LogoEarlier today in Finland, the U.S. fell 6-5 to Russia in the finals of the World Under-18 tourney. It was the fourth consecutive year that the U.S. earned a medal at the Under-18s.

USA Hockey also announced the addition of two names for its entry in the IIHF World Championships in Moscow beginning this week. Eric Johnson and Andrew Hutchinson were added to the American roster this weekend. Preliminary play for the Worlds begins April 27.

Filed in American Hockey, IIHF, USA Hockey| Permalink| Comments (0)
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