With the Leafs’ latest move of shipping goaltender Justin Pogge off to Anaheim, it seems that people have decided to come out of the woodwork, and are bashing Pogge. Who are they? Where were they before this trade occurred? How come this trade had such an effect on their opinion of Pogge? They are throwing around words like “over-hyped” and “bust” and I have two major issues with that.
In a recent update of Martin Brodeur’s official website, he made a bit of an announcement. Marty Brodeur is the new official spokesperson for Sher-Wood hockey. This, of course, means he will be wearing a whole new set of equipment come next season. Here are the pics of what the new “Brodeur-style” Sher-Wood pads look like:
“We are thrilled and excited to be entering into this new partnership with Martin Brodeur,” said Ralph Trott, President and CEO of Sher-Wood Hockey
Inc. “Martin is a legend in the sport of hockey, and Sher-Wood has a great tradition with the sport. We think it is the perfect team.”Martin Brodeur said, “When I picked up the Sher-Wood stick it just felt right. I started out as a kid playing hockey in St. Leonard with a Sher-Wood stick. This feels like coming home. Not only is the Sher-Wood equipment superbly engineered for play at my level, but at the same time I feel like I am doing something to help re-energize a brand that has its roots right here in Ma Belle Province. “
I don’t really like the idea of switching equipment companies entirely. Goaltenders are very picky with how their equipment feels. I’m sure Martin put a lot of thought into the decision, and is comfortable with it. Note the fact that the new pads have the entire word “Sher-Wood” on them. They were going with the shortened version “SWD” the past couple of years, but seem to have switched back. Very weird, considering Reebok (or “RBK”) have done the exact same thing.
But there you have it, next season don’t look for Marty to be in his familiar equipment, instead he will be wearing all-new Sher-Wood pads. It is also likely that he will not have these pads in the new game, NHL 10. Sure it takes away from the realism a bit, but there’s not a lot that can be done about it. There is no word on how long the contract is for, all that has been said is that it is “long-term.”
Continuing my series of scouting reports on goaltenders who have yet to make the NHL, I have decided to do Erie Otters starting goaltender Jaroslav Janus. Janus was drafted in the sixth round, 162nd overall in this past NHL entry draft, taken by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Many people know him because of his sensational performance at the 2009 World Junior Championships. He was named a tournament all-star as he led Team Slovakia to a 4th place finish. Oh, and you may also remember him from this beauty of a save he made at the World Juniors. Will he make the NHL? Did Tampa Bay waste a 6th round draft pick on him? Read on to find out…
The draft is said and done, and now all that is left to do is look back on the mock drafts. If you missed mine, here it is, but I’ll recap it here as well. I think I fared pretty well. I had 27 of the 30 players who were taken in the first round, in my prediction (the same as Bob McKenzie!). But it was not all well. Some key mistakes were, I had Josefson at 10, he dropped to 20. I had Jordan Schroeder at 11, he dropped to 22. I had Simon Despres at 12, and he dropped all the way to 30! So obviously I was off in some areas, but as a whole I feel like I did a good job. My Olivier Roy pick at #20 was a huge mistake on my part, he didn’t get taken until the 5th round! If you want to read the entire list of who I picked, and where they actually ended up, click read more:
I’m planning to do a number of scouting reports on goaltenders who have yet to make the NHL, this summer. Goaltending is the position I know best, so as much as I’d love to analyse skaters, I just don’t think I would do a good job at it.
My first installment is on Swedish netminder Jonas Gustavsson. He’s been highly touted as the “best goaltender outside of the NHL” and has been rumoured to be coming over to the NHL to play next season. The 24 year-old has apparently been in contact with the Maple Leafs, Avalanche, Sharks, and Stars. We still don’t know where he’s going to end up, and it’s almost July 1st. Now, I’ve watched as much tape as I could possibly scrounge up on the internet on this guy, and I think I’m ready to give you the facts about Jonas Gustavsson. Is he the real deal? Read on to find out…
The past few weeks I posted what I thought were going to be the top ten draft picks come this Friday. Now I thought I’d share with you, the rest of the first round. I won’t go into detail about why I picked these players, but I assure you, I had a system and tried to select who I thought was best for each team, based on who was available, and the information I had. I don’t know how accurate it will be, but I guess we’ll find out on Friday! If you feel that I’m way off base on any of the picks, feel free to drop a comment, I’d love to hear your opinion. So without further ado, I give you, the first round of the 2009 NHL entry draft:
1. NYI – John Tavares
2. TB – Victor Hedman
3. COL – Matt Duchene
4. ATL – Jared Cowan
5. LA – Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson
6. PHX – Brayden Schenn
7. TOR – Evander Kane
8. DAL – Oliver Ekman-Larsson
9. OTT – Nazem Kadri
10. EDM – Jacob Josefson
11. NSH – Jordan Schroeder
12. MIN – Simon Despres
13. BUF – Scott Glennie
14. FLA – John Moore
15. ANA – David Rundblad
16. CLB – Zack Kassian
17. STL – Carl Klingberg
18. MTL – Ryan Ellis
19. NYR – Carter Ashton
20. PHX(From CGY Conditionally) – Olivier Roy
21. PHI – Peter Holland
22. VAN – Dmitry Kulikov
23. NJ – Louis Leblanc
24. WSH – Nick Leddy
25. BOS – Kyle Palmieri
26. NYI(From SJ) – Calvin De Haan
27. CAR – Chris Kreider
28. CHI – Marcus Johansson
29. DET – Stefan Elliott
30. PIT – Tim Erixon
A few notes of interest, the number 20 pick is conditional. Phoenix can either choose to use Calgary’s first round pick this year, or next year, and will wait until the pick comes up to decide. I have a strong feeling that they will choose to use it this year, based on Calgary’s poor playoff performance (they now have a somewhat lower pick) so they may think that this is the best pick they can get. Also, they are desparate for a goaltending prospect, so I think the time would be right to select Olivier Roy. He’s not neccesarily first round talent, but he’s my #1 ranked goalie, and I think they would be willing to take a stab at him, especially since they also have the #6 pick.
First things first, congratulations to captain Sidney Crosby and his Penguins for winning the 2009 Stanley Cup. Well done, guys, you put on quite a show. It was a hard fought series, right until the final seconds when goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury had to dive across the crease to rob Detroit captain Niklas Lidstrom of a sure goal. Wondering what Fleury was thinking when all that was happening? Take a look:
Now while Pittsburgh soaks up the next few days, you can guess what the other 29 teams will be thinking about. Next season, starting with the Draft, then the opening day of free agency. You can tell that’s what they’re thinking about just by looking at some of the stories that have been reported in the past few days.
Lets start with the Flyers and their goaltending situation. Earlier this week the Flyers announced the signing of Ray Emery to a one-year $1.5 million contract. Many see it as a low-risk, high-reward kind of deal. I think any time you deal with Ray Emery, the situation is high risk. I’m not saying he’s a bad guy, but he has the capability of bringing down a team from the inside. What’s the best scenario? He has a stellar year, the Flyers go far in the playoffs riding his play, and he asks for major bucks in the off season, or leaves the team. That being said, this is Emery’s second chance at an NHL career, so to speak. He blew his first chance in Ottawa, so you can bet he won’t want to screw up his second chance in Philly. I really hope he stays on his best behaviour and succeeds, I really do. Then today we are hit with another shocker. Darren Dreger of TSN reports that the Flyers are interested in bringing Robert Esche back! He had a stellar year playing in the KHL, posting a 1.87 goals against average and .912 save percentage. If that report turns out to be true, you can kiss Martin Biron and Antero Niittymaki’s butts goodbye.
But then we’re forced to wonder, is a Emery-Esche tandem that much of an upgrade over a Biron-Niittymaki tandem? Is it even an upgrade at all? Sure they save a few bucks under the cap, but is it really worth taking such a risk with your goaltending situation? Only time will tell.
Then there was the Score’s report of Pronger being traded to LA for Jack Johnson and the 5th overall pick in this year’s draft. I saw that as soon as I turned on my TV and sat back, thought about it for a second, then muttered “What the hell is Los Angeles thinking??” Sure, lets trade away the 5th overall pick (Who I have as Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson in the Everything Hockey mock draft) and Jack Johnson, a former 3rd overall pick, for an older Chris Pronger, who has 1 year left on his contract and makes just over 4 million dollars more than Johnson. I really really hope LA has some kind of plan for this, like signing him to an extension and naming him captain or something. Seems to me like they could have just kept Rob Blake, a much cheaper leader.
I said that 29 teams will be thinking of next season already, but one team has a very unique situation. The Phoenix Coyotes aren’t just worried about their product on the ice, they are also worried about where the ice they will skate on will be located. Let me begin by saying I am a completely biased Hamiltonian. I have refrained from writing about the deal because of my bias. I would thouroughly enjoy having an NHL team in this city, as would hundreds of other people I know, but especially me seeing as how it would open all sorts of doors for jobs, especially in the media. So when you make the argument about how moving the team out of Phoenix will take away hundreds of jobs, think of all the jobs it would open up, especially to people like me! We all know what’s happening in terms of the court preceedings and so-on, so I won’t bore you with that. I just want you to know that the fan support for an NHL team in Hamilton is very real. The team will be immensly popular, and the area is a hockey gold mine. Oh…and Jim Balsillie for Prime Minister!
Well, we are in the finals now. Good luck to both Pittsburgh and Detroit in their quest for the 08-09 crown. Detroit is up 3 games to 2 and looks to be well on their way towards back-to-back Stanley Cups. Too bad it seems like most people I know are cheering for Sidney Crosby and his Penguins to win. I would like to see that as well, but more importantly, I want to see good hockey, and 7 games. Hopefully some overtime as well, if that’s not too much to ask.
Now, without further ado, here are picks #6-#10 in the Everything Hockey Mock Draft 09:
With the Leafs’ latest move of shipping goaltender Justin Pogge off to Anaheim, it seems that people have decided to come out of the woodwork, and are bashing Pogge. Who are they? Where were they before this trade occurred? How come this trade had such an effect on their opinion of Pogge? They are throwing around words like “over-hyped” and “bust” and I have two major issues with that.
Continuing my series of scouting reports on goaltenders who have yet to make the NHL, I have decided to do Erie Otters starting goaltender Jaroslav Janus. Janus was drafted in the sixth round, 162nd overall in this past NHL entry draft, taken by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Many people know him because of his sensational performance at the 2009 World Junior Championships. He was named a tournament all-star as he led Team Slovakia to a 4th place finish. Oh, and you may also remember him from 
