z-Archives (other articles)

A few weeks ago I posted this topic in the Dobber Hockey forums. I rang off 10 bold predictions (fearless forecasts, if you will) for the upcoming season and asked forum members to do the same. I promised to give a free fantasy team audit to anyone who ended up with more correct predictions than me at the end of the season (provided they were not predicting things like Sidney Crosby breaking 90 points). The predictions ranged from conservative and cautious to extremely unlikely (and in some cases laughable, which was appreciated by all). I have had my list posted for over a week now, but without any justification or reasoning as to why I made those predictions. I’ll now dive into further detail.

A prospect can improve at an incredibly fast rate when someone that mastered the position at the NHL level is constantly providing that prospect with feedback. Especially with a position like goaltending, one that relies on non-stop progression and refinement, having a goalie consultant that understands the nature of the game (especially in 2009) and can relate to today’s elite puck stoppers is the most important factor in developing the goalie depth chart.

Follow Notch's observations all week long at the Leaf's rookie tournament in Kitchener.

Thursday, September 10 @ 7 PM EST

Ottawa vs. Toronto

As I walked in it was obvious that this was the largest crowd in attendance all tourney.  A Senators and Leafs matchup tends to bring out the masses to cheer on their favorite Ontario team.

Follow Notch's observations all week long at the Leaf's rookie tournament in Kitchener.

Boston @ Ottawa

Final Score – Boston 4-3

The Rangers handed out a massive five-year contract to injury-prone star Marian Gaborik this off-season. The fact that they paid a pretty penny for a top free agent is nothing new to Ranger fans. In 2006 they made a huge splash signing Chris Drury and Scott Gomez, and in 2007 they threw a ton of money at Wade Redden. Going back a few more seasons, they spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the likes of Eric Lindros, Bobby Holik, Pavel Bure, Jaromir Jagr, and Theo Fleury. To date, the Rangers have zilch to show for their free-spending ways.

We’re all aware of the three-year trend that exists within Nashville’s goaltending regime. It started with Chris Mason taking over Tomas Vokoun at the tail-end of the 2006-07 season, then continued with Dan Ellis taking over Mason in the second half of the 2007-08 season. Then the trend was perpetuated again when the lanky Pekka Rinne took over Ellis’ job last year, which resulted in the rookie phenom starting all but two games in March and April.

Follow Notch's observations all week long at the Leaf's rookie tournament in Kitchener.

I am not sure why I decided to drive three and a half hours just to watch the prospects practice Sunday morning, but I did.