Blog Update

Sorry everyone, its been a while since my last entry, I have been busy with life... I'm sure you know how that goes.  I will begin trying to write more, and definitely more frequently, look for at the very least one per week for the next three weeks while I'm still busy with school work.

I will also try and get my colleague Cory to write some too if he has time.

Thanks again for checking.

Mark

How "Swede" it is?

After the big three rookies of Jordan Eberle, Taylor Hall, and Magnus Pajaarvi have garnished much of the attention in Edmonton, there seems to be one prospect who has been lost in all of the commotion.

Linus Omark, the disgruntled swede, was not happy about being sent down to the Edmonton Oilers AHL affiliate the Oklahoma City Barons, however he has certainly made the best of the situation.


The 4th round selection in the 2007 draft from the Edmonton Oilers is coming off of a 5 goal performance against the Toronto Marlies, as well as an additional goal in the shootout. Omark has posted 10 goals, 8 assists for 18 points in 16 games for the Oklahoma City Barons respectively.

The youtube sensation turned a lot of Oiler management heads during training camp, but ultimately the decision was made to send Omark to the AHL.

While Omark is slightly undersized a 5`9 and 168lbs, he has the offensive skill set that could propel him to the NHL in the near future.

The left winger certainly has offensive abilities to spare, but it is likely his two way game that has come into question with the Oilers management. Omark is working on his defensive side of the game while with the Barons of the AHL.

The Edmonton Oilers suddenly have a very bright future with some real blue chip prospects currently within their system. When you are considering the big three rookies in Edmonton, don’t rule out Linus Omark just yet. Perhaps its the big 4 in Edmonton?

-Travis

Best Hockey Movies

So for a little change here from all the stats and rankings of teams and players, I thought I would toss a new idea around and well recently I have been downloading a ton of movies and figured why not see what people thought about the best movies that include hockey.  


This is a list of my top five, if you can think of any hockey movies you think should be on the list, or I should download, hit me up with a comment.

1. Mystery Alaska (I absolutely love this movie)



2. The Mighty Ducks Trilogy










3. Miracle



4. Slap Shot (just a classic)










5.Youngblood (sword fighting with hockey sticks?)














Actually I had a hard time picking the fourth and fifth in the list, the top three I definitely love.  However, fourth and fifth gave me troubles picking, and well this is what i went with.  If you have some other options let me know and I'll give them a mention.

Andrew F'n Raycroft

So after the games on Saturday night I decided to write up a little Andrew Raycroft time-line.  He seemed worthy of a blog article after his Saturday night performance where he turned away all 34 shots the Buffalo Sabres directed toward him.  Raycroft has had a very shakey career thus far but here's a couple highlights of it.

Andrew Raycroft was drafted by the Boston Bruins in the 5th round of the 1998 NHL Entry Draft (cough Pavel Datsyuk went a round later).  anyways so his career began.  In 2000-01 he played a total of 15 games, followed by one game in 2001-02 and just five in 2002-03.  After the lockout though, things had changed.  Raycroft had become the Boston Bruins number one goalie, and he ran with it.

Raycroft finished the 2004-05 season with 57 games started and a 29 wins, 18 losses and 9 ties.  Mr Raycroft had arrived.  He finished the season and was a top finals for the Calder Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Top Rookie.  Raycroft apparently easily beat out Michael Ryder and Trent Hunter in the running for the trophy.

Raycroft followed up that season with another in Boston, which he couldn't even stop a beach ball (see picture to the right).  Raycroft had horrific numbers with a 8-19-2 record and a 3.71 GAA and a .879 SV% in his 30 games.

after that brutal season with the Bruins they decided to shop him, and for some unexplained reason the Leafs still figured it would be smart to trade for him.  They gave up Tuuka Rask, their first round pick (21st overall) in the 2005 draft.  Andrew started a Leaf Record 72 games that year with a 37-36 win-loss finish (including the OT losses yes he was just 1 game over .500).  

Raycroft still didn't post a .900+ SV% or a good GAA.

Raycroft would play one more season with the Maple Leafs, in his 19 games he was 2-9-6 and he got the toss from Toronto(3.76 GAA and .876 SV%).

Again he couldn't stop a beach ball, not even one this size :). (Maybe we can blame McCabe, he was pretty terrible too.

Raycroft then signed on with the Colorado Avalanche and thought he could possibly be a starter there.  He played 30 games as Peter Budaj had won the starting goalie bid in Colorado and played in 56 games.  Raycroft had again brutal numbers with a sub .900 SV% and a above 3.00 GAA.

After the season he was again a free agent, and signed a $500,000 contract to back up Roberto Luongo.  About mid season Luongo went down with an injury and Raycroft had to step up, and step up he did, finally looking like he did in his Calder year, Raycroft posted a 9-5-2 record with a 2.42 GAA and  a .911 SV%.  Raycroft helped to keep the Canucks a float until they could get their superstar goalie back.

Once again, the seaon ended and Raycroft was looking for employment.  Enter the Dallas Stars, who had just recently got oft injured Kari Lehtonen to be their starter they thought they may need some insurance and picked up Andrew.

Raycroft has been in two games this season, stopping 8 of 8 in relief of Lehtonen and finally got his first start Saturday night, stopping all 34 shots against the Sabres and well I felt this should be written in his honour.

This article isn't telling you to pick him up in fantasy.  So what if he's stopped 42 of 42 this year, if you haven't been paying attention this guys career has been all about inconstancy and I wouldn't trust him one bit.  If you want info on anyone else, let me know, I'll gladly write about what you guys want!

St. Louis: The Team to Beat out West

Although the St. Louis Blues have never won a Stanley Cup since joining the league in 1967, they have always put a competitive team on the ice. Perhaps the best evidence of this is in the 80's and 90's when the Blues qualified for the playoffs in every season between 1980-2004, good enough for the third longest streak in North American professional sports history.

And then the lockout happened in 2004-2005, which was when the Blues franchise hit rock bottom. When play resumed in the 05-06 season St. Louis was far from being a playoff contender and finished the season with their worst record in 27 years (21-46-15) and failed to make the playoffs for just the fourth time in franchise history. Since then, the Blues have been to the playoffs just once where they were swept by Vancouver in the Conference Quarter Finals.

So it's safe to say that St. Louis' post-lockout existence has not been very good...until this year that is.

Now I know we've just moved into November and the season is still very young, but take these facts into consideration when thinking about the future of this team.

-St. Louis is a very impressive 6-1-2 after 9 games this season (they're just 2 points behind the league leading L.A. Kings with 2 games in hand and just 1 point behind Chicago for the Central Division lead, but have 4 games in hand on the Hawks)

-They are 5-0-0 at home.

-They have only allowed 17 goals this season which ranks them second in the league behind just Boston.

-Jaroslav Halak ranks third among NHL goaltenders with a 1.71 G.A.A. and fourth with a .932 Save %.

-They are 6-0-2 when they score first.

-They have just 3 players over the age of 30 on their roster.

St. Louis is proving to be another successful example of building a team through the draft. Since the lockout we've already seen both Pittsburgh and Chicago hoist the Stanley Cup just a short time after they both occupied the league's basement, and St. Louis could very well be the next team in line to do this.

With a team comprised of lighting quick speed, balanced scoring, grit, toughness, and now one of the league's top goaltenders in Halak, St. Louis is in prime position to not only make a return to the playoffs, but to make a run a Lord Stanley.

As long as the Blues stay healthy and Jaroslav Halak is at the top of his game, St. Louis is the team to beat out West.

-Cory Clements


please post your comments below

Top Tendy's

Goalies, by far the most important player on the ice, a goalie can make or break it for a team.  The following three goalies are clearly making it for their teams.  They all have amazing records, save percentage (SV%) and goals against average (GAA).  Well here it is, my opinion of the top three goalies in the NHL going into November.

Number 3 - Jonathan Quick - LA Kings



Jonathan Quick has been one of the top goalies in the league, and has lead the Kings to a hot 8-3 start.  The Kings have been getting spectacular goaltending from Quick after there were rumors at the beginning of the season that Jonathan Bernier was going to be the Kings Starter.  Quick is now 7-1-0 with a 1.84 GAA and .936 SV%



Number 2 - Jaroslav Halak - St. Louis Blues

Jaroslav Halak has also been on an absolute tear, his shut out streak of over 160 minutes was broken Saturday night against the Thrashers, but his team managed to rally back and get him the win.  Halak boasts an  6-1-1 record, 1.71 GAA and a .932 save percentage and is giving St. Louis everything they expected when they traded for him in the off season.



Number 1 - Tim Thomas - Boston Bruins


And last but certainly not least, Tim Thomas! Thomas has been on fire this season, he is 6-0-0 with a 0.50 GAA and a huge .984 save percentage.  He is currently just swept through Ontario with back to back shut outs over the Maple Leafs and Senators on Thursday and Saturday night respectively.  Tim Thomas is looking better than he did in his Vezina season, and seems to have taken his job back from Tuukka Rask who has only made two starts this season. Thomas has allowed just three goals in his six appearances.

KHL Update

So after a couple NHL updates I thought I'd throw in a little KHL (Kontinental Hockey League).  Remember Alexander Radulov, Nashville, left for the KHL?  Well he is currently just lighting up the KHL.  Radulov is leading the KHL with an impressive 30 points in 19 games.  

There's actually a bunch of ex-NHLers in the top 10.  Patrick Thoresen, who had just 6 goals and 18 points in 108 NHL games with the Oilers and Flyers.  Well he seems to be a stud in the KHL as he is currently leading the KHL in goals (with 14) and is 5th in points.   I guess it does help that he is playing on a line with the formerly mentioned Radulov.

Some other noteable ex-NHLers include second in KHL scoring, Mattias Weinhendl (20gp 13-11-24) fourth in scoring Pavol Demitra (19gp 4-17-21), as well as other players such as Jiri Novotny (20gp 5-15-20), Sandis Ozilinsh (21gp 2-17-19), Karel Rachunek (19 gp 4-15-19), and the usual leading scorer in Russia Alexei Morozov (18gp 6-12-18).