Stupid Hockey

Top Five Teams In The Eastern Conference

It’s that time of year again, September is here and it’s the perfect time for hockey fans to start asking themselves “how will my team do this year?”  The NHL season is a few weeks away and rosters are pretty much assembled.  So, are we going to see the same old teams fighting for conference supremacy, or are there going to be some new faces in the crowd?  Here are my predictions on who will finish in the top 5 in the East, let me know what you think?

Coming out on top in the East will be the Pittsburgh Penguins.  I’m taking a gamble and assuming Sidney Crosby will be back in the lineup along with a healthy and hungry Evgeni Malkin.  Throw in Jordan Staal and they will once again have the best three centers in the league.  Last season’s acquisition of James Neal and newcomer Steve Sullivan will add scoring and leadership on the wing.  With Fleury in the net and their solid mix of defenseman, they should keep the puck out of the net.  The Penguins were able to win 49 games last year, most of those were without at least one of the 3 star centers, so I look for nothing but success out of the Pens this season.

I’m going to go with the Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins to finish second this season.  The B’s bring back much of the same roster and should see similar success.  They did lose leadership in gritty winger Mark Recchi and lost Michael Ryder and Tomas Kaberle to free agency but were able to add smooth, puck moving defenseman Joe Corvo.  With playoff hero Tim Thomas and huge Zdeno Chara controlling the defensive zone, they should challenge once again.

Coming out in third will be the Washington Capitals.  Although they have yet to find their groove in the playoffs, they will once again be towards the top in the regular season.  They will once again be lead by All-Star Alex Ovechkin, who will challenge for the scoring title.  Alongside him will be stars Alex Semin and Nick Backstrom.  The Caps will be hoping veteran Tomas Vokoun will be the go to guy in net, and they picked up some grit in wingers Troy Brouwer and Joel Ward. 

Right behind the Caps will be the new look Philadelphia Flyers.  The Flyers may have had the biggest off-season by trading franchise player and captain Mike Richards and star Jeff Carter.  They will be relying on Danny Briere, Claude Giroux and big winger James Van Riemsdyk to lead the club offensively.  The Flyer hopeful sure hope goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov will prove to end years of goaltending struggles in the City of Brotherly Love. 

Rounding out the top 5 will be the Buffalo Sabres.  The Sabres will once again be lead by goaltender Ryan Miller.  This year however, Miller will have one of the steadiest blue line corps in the league.  Additions, Christian Ehrhoff and Robyn Regehr will be nice additions to a defense that already features Tyler Myers and Jordan Leopold.  Up front, the Sabres will have one of the most threatening and scary offenses in the NHL.  Loaded with scoring and play-making talent, guys like Thomas Vanek, Brad Boyes, Ville Leino, Derek Roy among others should provide plenty of goals. 

That is my take on how the Eastern Conference will pan out; let me know what teams you think will be standing in the end.  Lets Drop the Puck!!!

 

Concussions Hot Topic For NHL

Hockey has long been viewed as a violent sport. Ask anyone on the street what they know about the game and it’s likely you will hear about its fighting or its physicality. A sport, not for the weak, has attracted numerous fans based on its brutality alone. The only problem is many players are now starting to feel the effects.

(The Bruins Nathan Horton suffers a concussion durin the Stanley Cup Finals. Photo: NESN)

NHL icon and world-wide star, Sidney Crosby was sidelined much of last season due to a concussion.With lingering post-concussion symptoms from a hit he suffered in January, is still uncertain about when he will return. Crosby, who has become the hands-down best overall player in hockey, was off to his best start ever until he got injured.

The Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins are undoubtedly enjoying their off-season. They are alsoexperiencing two major question marks as they look at their 2012 roster. Marc Savard and Nathan Horton, two offensive sparkplugs for the Bruins are also experiencing concussion issues. Horton’splayoff run was abbreviated due to the vicious hit by Aaron Rome. And Savard, has been battling concussion issues over the past couple seasons. Peter Chiarelli, the Bruins GM, has just ruled Savard out for this upcoming season. That means the Bruins will once again be without their #1 center.

Many questions have risen regarding hits to the head and late body checks. All I know is the NHL needs to focus on protecting its players a bit more than it has in the past. For a sport battling to gain some good national recognition, it is critical players like Crosby are on the ice and not in the audience.

What do you think the NHL can do to help cut down on the number and severity of concussions? Leave a comment! 

Are Outdoor Hockey Games Becoming Overkill?

We can all agree the Winter Classic has a certain charm to it. It happens on New Years Day every year (except for the 2012 game) which makes it special. There are no other games scheduled during that time so all eyes are on the two teams at hand. NBC does a great job making it a show and the build up to the event is something special too... see 24/7 on HBO.

(NHL's Winter Classic at Fenway Park. Photo: Sports Illustrated)

Now it seems everyone wants to cash in on the success the NHL has had with the outdoor hockey games but are we running the risk of ruining what made the Winter Classic so great? The market has become flooded with these games and now people are beginning to turn on them. 

Last year Atlantic Hockey made the mistake of thinking they were could draw fans to a game simply by placing it outdoors in New England. It was UCONN who hosted Sacred Heart at Rentschler Field, home of UCONN football. The result? Not even 2,000 fans in attendance at the 40,000 seat stadium. Success? I think not.

This year Hockey East has decided to press its luck by following up the successful Boston College v. Boston University showdown at Fenway. This time it will feature four teams not from Boston, a move that makes almost no sense. The early game will feature UMASS v. Vermont, two schools who are at the bottom of the conference and barely snuck into the playoffs last year. They're not rivals and have very little history to play on.

The later game makes more sense, if it were being played in Maine. The University of New Hampshire will play Maine in the late game. Two schools who have a long time ravalry and are usually near the top of the standings when the season ends. It's a great concept for an outdoor game, just like Michigian and Ohio State but having it a neutral site hours away from the schools could make it difficult to fill Fenway.

It's not that I don't like the outdoor games, I do. The Winter Classic has become an annual traiditon for me but the NHL knows its limitations. This year it won't play the game on January 1st because it's the last day of the NFL season and they don't want to compete. The NHL also wouldn't have two teams play in a neutral site, it doesn't make sense.

Hockey is a big sport in New England but I think Hockey East may have gone too far on this one. Hopefully it works out for the good of the sport, the teams and the conference but ultimately, it could end up being a disappointing event and the end of outdoors games as we know them. 

Alaska & Lake State Leave The CCHA For The WCHA

 

Conference changes continue due to the introduction of the Big Ten and National Collegiate Hockey Conference for the 2013-14 season.  As an attempt to stay alive, the WCHA invited five current CCHA teams to jump ship.  The five universities that have been offered spots in the WCHA are Alaska, Bowling Green, Ferris State, Lake Superior State and Western Michigan.  On the same day as the proposal, Alaska and Lake State confirmed that they would be making the switch.  

(Alaska Fairbanks & Alaska-Anchorage will now be in the same conference)

In an attempt for both conferences and its member programs to help each other out, the WCHA set a 30 day timeline, in which they will need definite answers from all five universities.  The two conferences have also agreed that they will continue to discuss other membership issues, along with potential scheduling and financial stipulations.  

With the quick acceptance from Alaska-Fairbanks, this will mean that both teams from the state of Alaska, will be in the same conference.  That has to be good news for the players and fans from each university, as it translates to the start of a great conference-rivalry and reduced travel time for players and fans.  That is great news for Alaska and college hockey.

That leaves the other three schools with less than a month, to make significant decisions.  Both Ferris State and Western Michigan released statements on Thursday and having read them, if i was a betting man I would say both clubs will join the WCHA in the near future.  That would leave Bowling Green, as the last of the five to determine its direction as a program.

For those in favor of ending all of this uncertainty, I say Bring Back the MAAC.

Is this the end of the CCHA? What do you think? Leave a comment! 

 

NHL Veteran Chris Drury Retires After 12 Seasons

Chris Drury announced his retirement earlier this week. The 35 year old Connecticut native played 12 seasons in the NHL with four teams, most recently with the New York Rangers.

  (Drury hoists The Cup! Photo: http://www.posters.ws)

Drury seemed destine for success at an early age. As a youngster Drury gained his spotlight not from hockey, but as a baseball player when he helped guide his Trumbull, Connecticut to a Little League World Series title. He played his high school hockey at the prestigious Fairfield Prep School under one of the most well known high school coaches in the history of the game, Marty Roos.

 From their Drury went to play his NCAA Division I collegiate hockey at Boston University.  In his senior year at BU, Drury was earned the Hobey Baker award as the nations top hockey player. For most players that could be the pinnacle of their career but for Drury it was just the beginning. After joining the Colorado Avalanche the following season he went on the win the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie making him the only player in NHL history to win both.

It was just two years later that Drury added the ultimate hockey achievement to his resume when he won the Stanley Cup with the Avalanche. In addition to retiring with his name on The Cup, he also helped Team USA to two silver medals at the Olympics.

Throughout his 12 NHL season Chris Drury played 892 regular season games with the Avalanche, Flames, Sabres, and Rangers. He scored 255 goals and added 360 assists for a total of 615 points. He added another 135 career playoff games scoring 47 goals and an additional 42 assists for 89 points. 

*Stats via NHL.com

Long Time New Hampshire Coach Heads West To Denver

The University of Denver announced former University of New Hampshire coach David Lassonde will be their new assistant coach. Lassonde was brought in to replace Derek Lalonde who took a general manager position in with the USHL's Green Bay Gamblers. 

Lassonde has been a staple in Hockey East for a long time. His collegiate playing career was at Providence College, a Hockey East school, and he spent two different stints coaching at UNH. In his 23 years of coaching, Lassonde was in New Hampshire for 17 of them. The other six years were split between Wisconsin and Miami. 

While at New Hampshire Lassonde was responsible for working with the defence and goaltenders as well as various other responsibilities. He worked closely with the New England Section of USA Hockey along with former Providence coach, Dave Berard. 

The University of Denver competes in the Western Collegiate Hockey Conference but has announced it will be leaving the WCHA in 2013 for the newly former National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) along with close rival Collorado College. The announcement of Penn State joining NCAA Division I hockey and the creation of the Big Ten played a major role in this. 

Potential Rule Changes Could Create More Scoring In The NHL

While the summer months carry on and the sun continues to shine, NHL experts are hard at work at the RDO camp in Etobicoke, Ontario.  As we discussed in a previous article, the NHL is holding its second Research and Development camp in a row, putting to the test some ideas to better the game. 

Today, the prospects took to the ice and battle tested some of the topics that are to be examined over the course of the camp.  One topic I found particularly interesting, is how can the “Power” be put back into the word power play? 

(More pucks in the net = happier fans!)

The committee put to test two rule changes, both, which would affect the way the penalized team, can kill the penalty.  One idea is to not let the infracted team ice the puck.  As long as I can remember, when your team is short-handed, the objective is to get control of the puck and just shoot it down to the other end of the ice.  Negating the icing is one way to create more offense for the team on the man-advantage.  This will cause the short-handed team to become more fatigued and hopefully create more of an advantage for the power play.

Another big change they experimented with today is not blowing the whistle on a delayed penalty until the guilty team clears the puck from their defensive zone.  The purpose this change would serve, is again to create more fatigue and allow for more offensive attack once the opposing team can get their goalie off the ice for the man advantage.

Now the ideas that were tested today may be a long way from being even proposed to the NHL, but it is pretty interesting to think about how these individual rules would change the game we all know and love.  But for what its worth, I will throw my two cents in, and say that more goals on the power play could be just what NHL fans would love to see.

Think these rules are good or bad for the game? Leave a comment! 

What Conference Should Alabama Huntsville Join?

A recent article by Roman Uschak on USCHO.com about Alabama Huntsville being the lone NCAA Division I independent team got us at Stupid Hockey thinking and we want your opinion. Where should UAH put their hockey program?

 

We understand this will draw some criticism and comments stating they should fold but we never like to see a hockey program disappear so let’s find them a home. As the college hockey scene changes dramatically, the program is likely to find a home for the 2012-2013 season when Penn State enters the Division I college hockey scene and new conferences are formed. 

The Options

Once part of the College Hockey America Conference with Niagara, Findlay, Bemidji State, Robert Morris, Air Force, Wayne State and Army, UAH now finds themselves without a home. When Findlay and Wayne State dropped their programs, it was the beginning of the end for the CHA. Bemidji State joined the WCHA. Niagara, Army, Air Force, and Robert Morris all moved on to Atlantic Hockey. So where does that leave us?

The WCHA Option: Due to location, this may make the most sense. They would rejoin former opponent Bemidji State and take on Alaska-Anchorage, Michigan Tech, Minnesota State, and St. Cloud State. It would also give the WCHA a 6^th team (7th if Northern Michigan joins), something they need to continue their automatic bid.

 The CCHA Option: Joining the CCHA wouldn't be a bad option either but the "power" that's left seems to lie in the WCHA. The key here is if Notre Dame leaves the conference. Having them on your annual schedule is a nice draw and they are a powerhouse every year. If the CCHA stays intact or loses a school, don't be surprised to see UAH jump in here.

Overall I still think it makes sense for the WCHA and CCHA to join forces. It would be a big conference in the midwest that could bring plenty of power to the NCAA tournament each year. Teams will improve over time (see Atlantic hockey) and the "new" conference would likely grow into something big. If everyone can leave their ego at the door, UAH would have a home in the midwest where they belong.

What conference should Alabama Huntsville join? Leave a comment! 

 

Easton Stealth S19 Hockey Stick

As the summer draws to a close it can only mean one thing for us hockey nuts... hockey season. It seems like the Stanley Cup ended yesterday but without wasting much time, we are already focused on the drop of the puck just a few weeks away. 

(Easton Stealth S19 Hockey Stick)

As we get closer to September when youth hockey and men's league begins, it's time to prepare for the upcoming season. All the camps, tournaments, off-ice training, and studying film will help you when you step on the ice, but how about your equipment?

We can't play the game for you but we certainly want to help. How? Our first BIG summer sale on the Easton Stealth S19. We've taken the Grip and the non grip stick and reduced them by over $60. We could give you a description but here's what Easton say on their website: 

YOU’VE NEVER SHOT LIKE THIS BEFORE!

LIGHTNING power and great feel come from our Kevlar® wrapped Compression Molded shaft. Thinner layers of material allow us to use twice as many, giving Easton shafts an unmatched responsiveness and allowing them to stay lively longer.

QUICK release shots come from our TORX™ Elliptical Technology shaped to store and release torque and flex simultaneously allowing shots to get off faster.

RELEASE the puck faster with our Micro-Bladder™ Multi Rib™ blade engineered to control torque and flex when shooting providing great feel and pin point accuracy. Carbon wrapped high density core lets you feel the puck so you can look at the target, not your blade.

• Tuned taper section built with our Elite Stiffness Profile to pro specs
  • Quick release
  • Controls puck reaction
• Easton TORX(TM) Technology uses an elliptical profile to help transfer torque from your hands to the blade for unsurpassed velocity.
• Micro-BladderTM process and Multi-RibTM structure controls blade flex through puck contact ensuring pinpoint accuracy.
• Kevlar® wrapped Compression Molded concave shaft provides impact protection as well as vibration dampening for a superior feel. (Sr-Int only)
• Improved blade feel with newly engineered materials
  • Multi-Core design provides dampening
  • Upper core – structural
  • Lower core – solid core for improved feel
• Grip coating for enhanced control (See specification for models)

We agree the S19 is a great stick and now you can have yours for the start of the 2011-2012 season for a fraction of the price! Check it out on our website:

Easton Stealth S19 Grip: Was $249.99... NOW ONLY $180! Save $69.99

Easton Stealth S19: Was $239.99... NOW ONLY $175! Save $64.99

NHL Research And Development Camp Returns For Second Year

For the second year in a row, the NHL will hold the RDO, “Research and Development Camp", in Etobicoke, Ontario.  The camp will unite thirty-six top prospects with some of the games most respected teachers, in an attempt to test some of the league-wide ideas on how to improve the NHL. 

(The NHL looks to improve the game at the RDO Camp. Photo: USHL.com)

Brendan Shanahan, the NHL’s Senior Vice President of Player Safety and Hockey Development, views the event as a way to proactively seek ways to make the game of hockey even better.  Shanahan says, “The game has never been better, but we don’t want to rest. Ideas, whether they are liked or disliked, are put to the test by the young prospects.”

Some ideas are being looked at for the second summer in a row, so that has to get you thinking that maybe some rule changes are indeed on the horizon.  Some of the repeat tests will be some face-off variations, hybrid icing and no-touch icing.  Shanahan says that, “some collisions that occur during an icing play have raised some orange flags, but no red flags as of yet, " said Shanahan. 

Another main focus on this years camp, is a look into ways technology can help referee the game and keep improving on how the game is portrayed by its loyal fans.  One idea it seems they will toy with, is attempting to use wireless microphones amongst the referees to allow communication between the officials.

The ultimate goal for the NHL’s Hockey Operations Department is to gather and analyze as much data as it can possibly can on each of the topics, before it could ever even consider proposing a rule change.  This camp allows the officials to put these ideas into game-like scenarios.

All in all, the two day session is filled with some fun and exciting ways the hockey superiors feel could positively shake up an already pretty amazing game.

What would you like to see added or removed from the NHL? Leave a comment. 

*Some information and quotes obtained via NHL.com