Stuff from former regular columnists such as Chris Burns, Eric Maltais, Jacob Status, Jim Gunther and Jeff Angus, as well as guest columnists such as Gus Katsaros from McKeen‘s, Jon Press from Japer’s Rink and more!
You have to be pretty famous to have accolades named in your honour, and to be the namesake of a (pop) cultural touchstone like the Darwin Awards, well, you're approaching Brayden-Schenn-at-the 2011-World-Juniors levels of awesomeness.
Eleven Goalie Prospects to Watch in 2011
There’s no better way to kick off the new calendar year than by writing a School of Block lesson that reflects the general psyche of a goaltender. So instead of looking behind us and recapping 2010, I want to look ahead and help you prepare for what could be a 2011 stuffed to the brim with goalie prospects.
2010 was one of the better years in recent memory in terms of hockey. We had the Winter Olympics, where the stars came out to play over an unforgettable two weeks in February. John Carlson became an American hockey legend with a gold-medal winning overtime goal in the World Juniors. We had the Windsor Spitfires, stacked to the brim with future NHL talent, run through the CHL en route to a second-consecutive Memorial Cup title. We also had the deep, young, and exciting Chicago Blackhawks capture the greatest trophy in professional sports, the Stanley Cup.
In the fantasy hockey world, a lot happened as well. The “big three” (Crosby, Ovechkin, and Malkin) became the “big four” (Stamkos) for a while, but that was quickly replaced by the “big one,” as Crosby took the Penguins on his back for a wild 25 game ride. The Sedin twins showed that not all players are finished developing in their late 20's by taking the leap to superstardom at the age of 29. We saw a rise in the number of teams opting to go with the two-headed goalie attack. Ilya Kovalchuk was the story maker of the 2010 offseason, and the fallout has been an interesting saga to say the least. Let’s get to it…
Elliotte Friedman’s weekly 30 Thoughts column on the CBC website is currently the best read in hockey. Friedman is insightful, articulate, knowledgeable, fair, and most importantly, interesting. He has sources and contacts in the hockey world that most could only dream of. He has an ability which is rare in this day and age - providing a balanced and reasonable opinion on the league, the players, and all 30 of the clubs.
Each week I will post my own observations (I couldn’t completely steal Friedman’s idea so I’ll pick a number other than 30) – with a heavy emphasis on the fantasy side of hockey, of course. Prospects, goalies, sleepers, busts, it will all be covered each week.
The biggest key to a goalie’s success in the World Junior Championships is making the first few saves in their first game. Accomplishing this can not only set a positive tone for the opening game, it can also dictate the pace of their entire tournament. And in such a pressure-filled event comprised of so many elite players, a goalie’s confidence can make or break a trip to the medal round, and ultimately a spot on the podium.
Elliotte Friedman’s weekly 30 Thoughts column on the CBC website is currently the best read in hockey. Friedman is insightful, articulate, knowledgeable, fair, and most importantly, interesting. He has sources and contacts in the hockey world that most could only dream of. He has an ability which is rare in this day and age - providing a balanced and reasonable opinion on the league, the players, and all 30 of the clubs.
Each week I will post my own observations (I couldn’t completely steal Friedman’s idea so I’ll pick a number other than 30) – with a heavy emphasis on the fantasy side of hockey, of course. Prospects, goalies, sleepers, busts, it will all be covered each week.
Johnny Cash couldn’t have known it, but he gave first-rate fantasy hockey advice in 1956 when he told us to “get a rhythm.”
Fantasy hockey is a schedule-based activity. There are any number of crucial deadlines – drafts, weekly line-up decisions, waiver-wire windows, trade deadlines – some are only annual affairs, while others are week-after-week events. We neglect these activities at our team’s peril.
In what has to be one of the most interesting goalie dilemmas of the season, the Philadelphia Flyers are currently stuck with three goalies on their active roster. Russian rookie Sergei Bobrovsky, wily veteran Brian Boucher and the rehabbing Michael Leighton all have something to prove right now, which makes for quite the interesting fantasy predicament.
For the Week of December 13th. Elliotte Friedman’s weekly 30 Thoughts column on the CBC website is currently the best read in hockey. Friedman is insightful, articulate, knowledgeable, fair, and most importantly, interesting. He has sources and contacts in the hockey world that most could only dream of. He has an ability which is rare in this day and age - providing a balanced and reasonable opinion on the league, the players, and all 30 of the clubs.
Each week I will post my own observations (I couldn’t completely steal Friedman’s idea so I’ll pick a number other than 30) – with a heavy emphasis on the fantasy side of hockey, of course. Prospects, goalies, sleepers, busts, it will all be covered each week.
A goaltender’s ability to kill a penalty is an important part of not only tracking their performances, but quantifying their potential short and long-term success. Within a game, killing a penalty forces a goalie to increase their focus, awareness and timeliness. They also have to exert more energy, deal with more traffic and usually make those extremely tough lateral post-to-post pushes.
