Another game influenced

Not too long after the outcome of a game was directly influenced by phantom calls made by the referees, they are at it again. Just 9 days after a controversial game where Alex Burrows was called for two questionable, if not phantom, penalties that very well could have cost the Vancouver Canucks two points, the referess have done it again. The difference is that this time it may have cost the opposition the two points.

A late third period call during Wednesday’s game against the struggling Edmonton Oilers allowed the Canucks to tie the game to take it into overtime. The call that gave Sami Salo the oppurtunity to tie the game on the powerplay was a questionable holding call. However, the worst call of the night was to come in overtime, with the game on the line. Mason Raymond, the speedy Vancouver Canucks forward fell down while reaching for a puck that happened to get away from him. No big deal, right? No, the ref called a tripping call on the closest Oiler player. This gave Vancouver a 4 on 3 powerplay, and the win. I am a Canucks fan, but this inconsistency in the quality of reffing cannot be tolerated, regardless if it came as a benefit to my team.

I think we could all agree that game management by the refs should not be tolerated, but how do we fix this issue of bad calls? Does the league need to introduce video reviews on penalties? I would hope not. Video review on every penalty would slow down the game so much you might as well be watching a baseball game. Not a good idea, but maybe there is a compromise for that idea. What if each coach was allowed a certain amount of disputes? For example, each coach could dispute, or contest, up to three penalty calls within a game. When a coach uses up one of his disputes, the penalty is reviewed by the review commitee, who then overturns or upholds the call made by the referees on the ice. This is not to question the refs abilities (ok, maybe a little) but more to provide assistance with tough calls.

I know there are many issues with this idea, but I think it is something that needs to be looked into. I am tired of watching my team win or lose games because of how the referees do their job and not the effort from the team that the GM puts on the ice.

I would like to hear everyone’s comments about this topic. Let me know what you think should be done, if anything.

The Drama Continues in the West

It looks like the drama will continue for some time for the Vancouver Canucks and Alex Burrows.

Following a game against the Nashville Preditors, Alex Burrows spoke out to the media, insinuating that Stephan Auger was “out to get him.” Alex Burrows basically said that Auger talked to him before the game and said that he did not like that he embarrassed him in a previous game, and that he was going to get him back. I am paraphrasing here, but it does cover the basic idea of what was said.

While there is video of Auger speaking with Burrows before the game (31 seconds of talk) and two questionable calls (one that could be considered a phantom call by some), all the evidence is cirumstantial and does not prove anything without any sort of reasonable doubt.

The most frustrating part of this entire situation is that there is enough evidence for people to argue either side. This became apparent on HNIC (Hockey Night In Canada) when Ron Maclean made a controversial segment where he discussed Burrow’s history with Colin Campbell. In this segment Ron Maclean focused on a few of Alex Burrow’s past transgressions of questionable behaviour and the corresponding punishment he received. Maclean made a statment that he was trying to focus on the NHL’s “conlict management” success, or lack of, but I do not think his message came across clearly. Many people, including many media personalities, interpreted the segment by Ron Maclean as a personal attack on Burrows.

It does not look like this is going to blow over very quickly, regardless of what the NHL might hope. I just hope we can all get back to concentrating on the game of hockey again. If I wanted this sort of entertainment I would watch afternoon TV.

Here is a link to Ron Macleans interview with David Pratt and Don Taylor on the Team 1040. Click here to listen

Biggest Draft Steals in Hockey History

Biggest Draft Steals in Hockey History

Author: Eurotraveler

Hockey players just love to prove the scouts wrong. Teams take a huge amount of heat from fans and media alike when they bet the farm on a player who seems like a lock to become a star in the NHL, but ultimately turns out to be a bust. But the scouts are rarely given their due credit when the outcome is reversed. Every now and then a player will defy the odds, selected late in the draft and with bleak prospects of an NHL career, these players will surprise everyone by making their respective teams, and in some cases, becoming NHL stars. When this happens it seems the scouts still take heat, since everyone wonders how 29 other teams passed on this next coming of Wayne Gretzky for so many rounds. Either way, it’s tough to win as a scout, but these hard working hockey gurus who travel countless miles to scour the world for hidden talent can take satisfaction in the fact they’ve made their team better by seeing NHL potential in a player when everyone else saw a never-will-be. Here is my list of those hidden gems. The top 10 NHL draft steals since the current entry draft rules were implemented in 1980.

10 - Dominik Hasek

Dominik Hasek would rank a lot higher on this list had the Chicago Blackhawks actually believed he would one day play for them when they selected him 207th overall in the 1983 draft. At the time, Hasek’s native country of Czechoslovakia was under communist rule, and there seemed no way possible that Hasek would ever make it to North America to play hockey. Chicago’s gamble paid off though, and Hasek came to the NHL when communist rule ended in his country. Unfortunately for the Blackhawks they did not wait long enough for Hasek to develop, and the unorthodox goalie went on to 6 Vezinas, and 2 Hart trophies in Buffalo, and a Stanley Cup in Detroit.

9 - Pavol Demitra

Drafted by the Ottawa Senators back in 1993, this Slovakian superstar has truly proven himself to be one of the greatest NHL draft steals ever. Drafted 227th overall, Demitra never did much for that lowly Senators team, but his talent really started

to reveal itself once he joined the St. Louis Blues in 1997-98. He spent 7 productive seasons there, netting 490 points in 486 games for the team. He has since moved on to Los Angeles and Minnesota, where he forms one of the league’s deadliest duos with fellow Slovak star, Marian Gaborik.

8 - Steve Sullivan

The inclusion of this diminutive speedster might surprise some people, but as evidenced by his 233rd overall selection, it seems that people are continually underestimating him. Though a mere 5′ 8″ tall and 165 lbs, Sullivan has proven that he can play head to head against the biggest, strongest players in the game, using his speed, agility, and exceptional hands to rack up points against the opposition, and many of his goals are of the highlight reel variety.

7 - Evgeni Nabokov

There could arguably be 10 goalies on this list of the top 10 NHL draft steals of all time. Goalies develop so late in their hockey careers compared to other players that it is exceptionally difficult to determine how good one will be at the age of 18. The San Jose Sharks probably were just crossing their fingers and hoping when they took Nabokov 219th overall in the 1994 NHL entry draft. It took Nabokov nearly 7 years before he became a regular starter in the NHL, but since then he has rewarded the Sharks’ faith with 208 wins, 40 shutouts, and a stingy 2.37 career GAA.

6 - Daniel Alfredsson

Back when the Ottawa Senators rejoined the league in the early 90s their woeful record gave them an enviable position at the draft table. Yet it never seemed to be those high first round picks that panned out for them, but rather those hidden gems mined in the later rounds of the NHL entry draft. Their current captain, and all-around best player, Daniel Alfredsson is a great example of this. He has been a consistent point producer year in and year out, amassing 847 points in 853 career games, and leading the Sens to the Stanley Cup final in the 2006-07 season.

5 - Henrik Zetterberg

Even Hakan Anderson, Detroit’s director of European scouting, admits he got lucky with Zetterberg, snagging him 210th overall in the 1999 NHL entry draft. The superstar Swede didn’t crack Detroit’s lineup until the 2002-2003 season and put up average numbers his first 2 seasons. However, after the lockout in 2004-05, Zetterberg returned to the NHL a changed man. He had matured physically and mentally and his skill set was far superior to what it had been. Since then he has averaged well over a point a game, while establishing himself as a premier defensive forward in the league. By the time his career is done he will no doubt be remembered as one of the biggest draft steals in NHL history.

4 - Theoren Fleury

The NHL, much like the NBA, has a problem with discrimination against small players, and this list of the top 10 NHL draft steals of all time has a liberal sprinkling of these “little” men. Fleury, at only 5′ 6″ tall played as big as anyone during his career, and was never afraid to go to the tough areas to get his points. He racked up over a 1,000 points in his NHL career after being passed over until the 166th pick of the 1987 entry draft.

3 - Pavel Datsyuk

Boy, Detroit sure has a bright future ahead of them. Not only did they land the biggest draft steal in 1999 with Zetterberg, but the year previous they perpetrated an even bigger heist, landing slick Russian forward, Pavel Datsyuk with the 171st pick. Whatever they are paying Hakan Anderson, they should double it, because this guy is lights out when it comes to recognizing potential talent. Datsyuk is arguably the most skilled stickhandler in the game, and his superb offensive game and stellar defensive play (2007-08 Selke nominee) are helping the Detroit Red Wings systemically mow down the competition on their way to a probable Stanley Cup.

2 - Doug Gilmour

Not only was Gilmour one of the biggest NHL draft steals ever, but he could earn a spot on a list of all time trade steals as well. He only weighed 175 lbs, but 150 of that was heart. Gilmour was drafted 134th overall by the St. Louis Blues in 1982. He put up great numbers in St. Louis but was traded to Calgary after allegations of sexual misconduct. He continued his torrid scoring pace, and helped Calgary to their only Stanley Cup championship in team history. He was traded to Toronto in one of the most lopsided deals in NHL history. “Killer” was as determined as any player in hockey history and his 1,414 career points prove he was a great draft steal.

1 - Luc Robitaille

Despite putting up astronomical numbers in junior, “Lucky” wasn’t drafted until the 9th round, 171st overall by the L.A. Kings. Scouts worried that his poor skating ability would make him a liability, but Robitaille used his hockey sense, and an exceptional shot to prove that skating isn’t the be-all-end-all in the game of hockey. He won the Calder trophy as rookie of the year, appeared in 8 All star games, won a Stanley Cup and finished his career as the NHL’s all time leading scorer at the left wing position with 668 goals and 1,394 points. Lucky Luc proved them all wrong, and is fully deserving of the number one spot on the list of the top 10 NHL draft steals of all time.

About the Author:

The author is the webmaster of the Hockey Jerseys Superstore where you can get sweaters from all 30 NHL teams as well as international gear like Russian Hockey Jerseys.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/hockey-articles/biggest-draft-steals-in-hockey-history-1218030.html

Mitchell is a big hit

In the early weeks of this 2009/2010 NHL season you would hear a lot of Canucks fans expressing their dislike of Willie Mitchell’s play. The fierceness, determination, and outright punishment seemed to have vanished completely from his game. No longer did was he laying down punishing hits on the opposition, making them think twice about entering the Canucks defensive zone.

Now, in late October you would be hard pressed to find that same opinion of Willie Mitchell among the fans. That is all thanks to one play that lasted all of one second in the game against the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday, October 21/2009, his bone crushing hit on star forward Jonathan Toews.

That was a clean, punishing hit that put Toews out for the rest of the game and more. It changed the game, allowing the Canucks to dominate and control the play after that. I hope to see much more of this type of play from Willie Mitchell for the rest of the season.

Canucks injuries continue to pile up

Every team goes through injury problems throughout the season, but the Canucks seem to be plagued with them so far early in the 2009-2010 NHL season. This year Canucks have already lost many key players to injury.

Schneider, Salo, and Rypien have just recently returned to the lineup, but the Canucks are still missing key players like their star goalie and captain Roberto Luongo and their top offensive forward Daniel Sedin. The team is also missing the offensive talents of Kyle Wellwood (although he has been quiet so far this season), and the defensive prowess of Ryan Johnson, who suffered a concusion when he crashed awkwardly into the end boards in the game against the Detroit Redwings.

While injuries to players is nothing new, in fact it is almost expected, it is not very often that it is all the top players on a team that are injuried all within a month. I do not know if there is a problem with conditioning, or if it has something to do with the schedule this year. Either way, something has to be done.

Roberto Luongo injured

Roberto Luongo will be out for approximately 1-3 weeks due to a hairline fracture of the ribs. The original injury apparently happened during Saturday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers.

Roberto Luongo re-aggravated the injury sometime during the game against Detroit, the same game that saw the Canucks lose Ryan Johnson when he crashed awkwardly into the boards after avoiding a check.

Welcome to the “New” hockey blog

We recently had a server crash and lost everything. We decided it was time to give the site an overhall and a new look.

We hope you like the new look to Brav’s Hockey Blog and will come back often and contribute to the site by posting comments or your own blog posts. We are always looking for new writers!