Exciting Draft Day And Trades

Draft day 2013 is beyond us now. So I guess it's time to have a look at the happenings of the day!

First off what a draft day. Brodeurs picking Brodeurs. 6 foor 4 inch Seth Jones comes up a little short in the 1st. Some trades also happened like Nino "coolest name in the league" Niederreiter being traded for Cal "also the coolest name in the league" Clutterbuck. How can you go wrong? Unless your Dave Bolland... Traded to my beloved Leafs as punishment for scoring the game winning Stanley Cup goal. Don't teams normally make statues for hero's? No... just no...  according to Kris Versteeg, Andrew Ladd and Dustin Byfuglien.

Lets start with me being right. In my last post Craziest Week In NHL History? I mentioned a man named John Tortorella. I also mentioned how he was trading down from Henrik Lundqvist to Cory Schneider. Yes well blame Gillis all you want(he deserves it) but I'm willing to bet Tortorella's all over this one. I called it days before it was announced that Cory Schneider was on the block and days later he is in New Jersey auditioning for that gaping hole that Martin Brodeur's going to leave when he decides to retire.

While we are on the subject of Brodeur lets have a look at a rare occurrence.

 

 

 

 

The Devils swing a trade to acquire the 208th (seventh round) pick of the 2013 draft and give Martin Brodeur the honor of drafting his own son into the NHL. While it's not a guarantee he will make it, having arguably the best goaltender ever as your father can certainly help you grow quicker than projections with input from good ol' dad.  If I'm Anthony Brodeur I'm picking on dad for not using his pull to make me a first round pick. All in theory but could you imagine the Prudential Center's hometown New Jersey Devils selecting a Brodeur in the first round on tv. Ridiculous would be the word to describe the crowds. While scouts are far from high on the kid I hope he gets a crack one day. Almost like Brent Gretzky versus Wayne Gretzky in stat comparison.

 

 

Clutterbuck for Niederreiter is the classic prospect goes sour story. Niederreiter is a very talented player and at 20 years old Garth Snow made a bold move in shipping him to Minnesota. The Wild on the other hand add a former 5th overall pick to their stable that already includes some impressive names like Charlie Coyle and Matthew Dumba. 

 

The Isles get tougher and get a guy who has played with Tavares before and therefore should have instant chemistry in a perfect world. Clutterbuck's role is unlikely to change as he'll be expected to lay the body as often as he likes(and enjoyes to) and may even get some reps with Tavares and Moulson. I like the move from both ends to be honest, however I do think Snow could have pulled a little more out of Minnesota.

 

Future superstar Seth Jones saw his stock drop to fourth as teams loaded up on offense. Don't read too much into this one. The big story here is Ryan Suter bolts to Minnesota and David Poile who nearly had his heart ripped out twice in one offseason (see Shea Weber offer sheet) now has another franchise defenseman to play in front of Pekka Rinne. Barry Trotz is also loving life at the moment. Can it go any more storybook for the Preds? What's next a Stanley Cup to spite Suter?

 

Dave Bolland wins his second Stanley Cup. Scores the dramatic game winner in game 6. Gets traded one week later to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Also Bryan Bickell within an hour of the trade signed a 4 year $16 million contract. If there is any solace to find it's that 1. He will get a more prominent role in Toronto. 2. He's close to home. 3. He didn't get screwed by being shipped to Atlanta like Byfuglien and Ladd or a train wreck Toronto team like Versteeg who later got traded to another train wreck in Philly and then another in Florida. It's like the Vince quote from the movie Fast Five... What? After you messed things up in Chicago? I free fell through every hell hole in the league.

 

For Toronto this trade gives Randy Carlyle the grit he loves and another player of his liking, Much like the signing of Jay Mcclement who is looking like a steal. It also may signal a new opportunity for Mikhail Grabovski who spent much of the lockout shortened season in the checking role dog house. If Grabovski gets a chance to play a more offensive role (See Tyler Bozak's spot on the top line) He will certainly chase it with everything he's got trying to cling to that opportunity. If he fails to grasp a bigger role it's likely going to be a change of scenery for Grabo.

 

 

There is still so much to come in a league ripe for action. July 5th marks the opening of NHL Free Agency. The buyout period ends in a couple days and the buyouts will be made official. Teams are still searching for all sorts of help in every area. Edmonton looking hard for help on the blue line. Philly wants a goaltender. Toronto and virtually every team except Colorado is looking for a centre. There are a host of compliance buyouts that have yet to be decided on let alone be announced and by the sound of things a lot of GM's are dangling some game changers due to salary cap constraints.



Concussion Control: Part 1 Hits

This is a video i recently found on YouTube. There are three parts so if your interested be my guest. I am amazed at how many hits to the head dominate this video. At one point Joe Bowen who now does commentary for the Toronto Maple Leafs says "If you put your head down your gonna get hit" He said this while laughing excitedly.

With everything that has gone on lately in the NHL like concussions, knee on knee slew footing etc. I found this video and my jaw dropped. The video is 22 years old. 1989! I wanted to do a blog on concussions as it relates to the game but after seeing this video no longer am I so touchy on the subject.

There are more career shortening hits in this video than I care to count. With the current status of the game being questioned. Speed, hitting and lack of respect for fellow players is at the forefront of the debate. Looking back on the past paints a more grim picture however. Everyone who is adamant something needs to change need only to look at the type of hits that occured 22 years ago in this video series to see that maybe the players actually do respect one another compared to the intent to injure style of hits from the old days.

Here is a recent hit by Rene Bourque of Calgary on Chicago's Brent Seabrook. This is very much the usual these days when it comes to illegal hits. It's either elbow or shoulder to the head or hitting from behind. I agree their is a clear need to better protect the head but the recent trend of "cheapshots" is that players simply are not aware of where they are and solely focus on the puck/play.

The evidence is here in this blog and the video above(Letang/Burmistrov). The truth is players these days are going skating toward the boards, Focused on the play and not their safety. I see atleast 20 players in every single hockey game I watch who gets control of the puck and looks to see who is coming and where his opposition is before he makes the play. Guys are always told to finish their checks and hitting a player who fails to take notice of your presence should not rest on the hitter. The question should be how HOCKEY SMART the player being hit is.

In short. There are those who protect themselves. Never get injured outside of the odd groin strain and that's because they think of themself first and then the team. When reality is playing a safer game of hockey is thinking about the team (subliminally). It might not be as flashy but there are a lot of players who produce while protecting themself.

Part 2 coming up tomorrow. Fighting in hockey. Make sure you hit "like" on the right.