Hello again!
I've been MIA on here the past month as the College Hockey Spotlight has been running my show between the travel, the interviews and the editing. Hopefully you all saw at least part of the first episode that debuted this week. If not, there are links below for each segment. I suggest you check it out!
Taking a short break from college hockey....I've been able to catch quite a few NHL preseason games and I wanted to share just a few of my thoughts. (Doing my best to keep these entries brief!)
First, I hate seeing all of these suspensions, but what I hate even more are all the hits to the head and from behind. At what age do you forget the rule that's drilled into your brain in youth hockey to not hit a guy if you see his numbers? Do we need to carry over the "STOP" sign on the back of the jerseys?? I understand that it's a fast game and the guys are big and it's hard to stop momentum, but I'm not buying that as an excuse. These are grown men capable of intelligent thought and should know what to finish their check and when to back off. That said, I'm a huge fan of the severity of the suspensions being handed down by Brendan Shannahan as well as the videos he's producing to explain the thought behind the punishment. Many of us have been saying for more than a few years now that the only way to eliminate these types of hits is to have lengthy suspensions and I'm happy to see them finally doing that. Hopefully, Shannahan won't have to do many more of these videos before it sets in for the players that this is no joke.
Second, there are a lot of guys looking to crack their respective opening day lineups. I'm excited to see many of them - Cam Atkinson in Columbus, how spent some time on a line with Jeff Carter and Rick Nash; Matt Frattin in Toronto who's battling for one of the final spots with the Leafs; Gabriel Landeskog in Colorado, who has shown that he's physically ready to play with the big boys - but the guy I'm most intrigued with is Craig Smith in Nashville. This guy is a diamond in the rough and the good news is he might not need too much polishing. I remember last year, Cody Goloubef, with Columbus and a former teammate of Smith's at Wisconsin, told me that I needed to keep my eye on him because he was going to be a star. He averaged just over a point per game for the Badgers, but didn't really turn heads until May when he represented Team USA at the World Championships in Slovakia where the 21-year-old earned six points in seven games against some of the best players in the world. After that performance, it was really no surprise that he left Wisconsin and signed a professional contract with the Nashville Predators, who were in desperate need of some offense. Smith hasn't disappointed this preseason and looks to not only make the opening day roster, but have a very successful rookie campaign for the Predators. I can't wait to see it unfold.
Finally, I'm loving this Jagr - Giroux - van Riemsdyk line in Philly. As Jagr showed in the World Championships this year, he's still got it and his play this preseason is only reinforcing that. This is one fast line chock full of creativity and skill. We all saw Giroux come into his own last year - and that was just the tip of the iceberg for him - and we all saw the flashes of brilliance in the playoffs last year by JVR, who seems poised for a breakout season. Well...playing with a guy like Jagr will only help both of them, but the best part is that it can also be the other way around. Playing with guys like Giroux and JVR is going to help Jagr who can do a lot of things on his own, but put him with players who are as fast as he is and think just as creatively as he does is only going to result in more offense. I'm really excited to see this line come together this year.
In other news, I was at Agganis Arena last night to see BU take on St Francis Xavier. It was a 6-4 win for the X-Men, but the Terriers made a game of it with four third period goals. Today, I'll be at Matthews Arena to see Northeastern try their luck against SFX and I'll be back tomorrow with a few more thoughts for you...enjoy the games!
College Hockey Spotlight - Episode 1
All segments for Episode 1:
Minnesota Duluth - Looking For A Repeat
Boston Universty - Off-Season Workouts
Western Michigan - Yoga Practice
Robert Morris - Strong Non-Conference Schedule
Week One Scoreboard
Michigan - History of Yost Ice Arena
Rensselaer - A Program on the Rise
Minnesota State - Game Show
Julie
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