2012 - Page 55 of 114 - Last Word On Sports

A Pint of NFL: The Ever-Spicy Jerry Jones

Posted on August 2, 2012November 5, 2021 by Michael Kovacs, ADMIN

There’s a little-known spicy beer called, “13th Century Grut Bier” that I thought I’d give a try. It was first crafted by German Professor, Fritz Briem. I seldom drink straight from the bottle when sampling a new beer – call me fruity, that’s fine – so I poured my bier into a very tall, cool glass. A little turn of my glass and my nostrils were filled with cinnamon, my mouth watering. My immediate feeling is the spicy aftermath of ginger and pepper. More than that, my tongue senses the lemon undertones leaving me with a sour finish. The bier is light (in between a blonde and an orange – call it a “Scarlett Johansson”). It’s light, but the impact is powerful. Not a bad start. Let’s see where this goes…

It’s certainly a tasty beer, no doubt about it, and would be very fitting in a frosted glass such as mine on a late July afternoon. But very similar to Dallas Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones, it is a little on the sour side. And given that it has been brewed since the middle ages, it’s just about as old.

Jerry was in the news lately, mostly because of what I can only deem as some inferiority complex. In the statement of the year, he told reporters, “I’ve been here when it was glory hole days and when it wasn’t. I want me some glory hole!” Mint! I read that days ago, but it’s still just so good. Where’s my mug? Sources close to me (okay, they are completely imaginary, but I trust them) say he has been trying to work that “Google thing” to figure out why people keep laughing at him, holding posters with men’s washrooms and little holes big enough for a gherkin.

One thing I hate is when I have a good beer, nicely chilled, and realize that all good things come to an end. Swish, swish, another hit of my somewhat sour, yet incredibly tasty, mug of beer and I’m back. Sitting on my porch looking at the passersby (but not in that creepy way – or so I think) with a nice mug really clears the head. I appreciate the work that went into a fine brew, as do I appreciate what sports brings to my life. Back to Jerry.

In an attempt to give another gem, good ole Jerry thought it advisable to predict his Cowboys will beat the New York Giants. Wait, not just “beat”, they will “beat their asses”. Sorry, but given the “glory hole” comment, you gotta question his intentions. Clearly he feels his light sabre isn’t quite as big as John Mara or Steve Tisch’s. Now, I’m not an NFL owner yet (working on that, one penny at a time), but I would think it inadvisable to call out the defending champions, claiming your team will blow them out of the water. Why, you ask? While it’s admirable that you want to posture yourself as being supportive of your team, it also sets you up for failure as all eyes are now on you as your team battles one of the best the NFL has to offer.

The Cowboys, which as a team are more likened to an arrogant glass of Bud, didn’t have such great fortunes last year versus the NY Football Giants – sorry, Jerry. In Week 14, the two teams met in Dallas in front of almost 100k Texans. The game was close, really close, with the New Yorkers edging the ‘Boys by a field goal.

Only a few delicious mouthfuls left – not enough for another swish, unfortunately. While the beer is bittersweet, it is also bittersweet that it’s almost finished. Bless Professor Fritz.

In the return game, played in front of 80,000 in East Rutherford, NJ, the game was over much too early. Not dissimilar to my beer. A 21-0 Manning-led halftime score pretty much did in any hopes the Cowboys had of leaving the Eastern seaboard with a “W”.

Their season was done too early, in their opinion, and now my beer is almost as well.

With their less than stellar performance in week 17, and given that New York only got better throughout the season and especially through their playoff run, whatever would possess Jones to predict the Cowboys will “beat the Giants’ asses” is beyond me. You might remember Rob Ryan predicted that Dallas would beat Phili’s asses last year – apparently he, too, is worried about his light sabre size. Are the Cowboys that much improved? Or do the Giants now suck, and I just wasn’t given the memo? Entirely possible.

In a final bit of Jones news, the owner paid a visit to Dez Bryant. As you already know, the young receiver was arrested for a class A misdemeanor for hitting his mom. Idiot. When asked about the visit, Jones told reporters, “That was one of the reasons why I haven’t talked to him because I was disappointed. That’s one of the main reasons. As a daddy, sometimes you’re not suppose to spank when you’re mad. I wanted to get the information (about the arrest) but my mind is right so we can have a good talk about this.” Aside from the whole daddy and spanking thing (first “glory hole”, then beating Giants’ asses, now daddy’s and spanking – what a week!), I think Jones was right in condemning Bryant in public. You just don’t hit a lady, especially your mamma. For shame.

At the outset of this little diatribe, I described this delicious German bier as being a little spicy and sour, yet very pleasant to drink. I’m sure you see how Jerry Jones can be described like my beer – spicy and sour. While I enjoyed my beer, can I say that I like Jerry Jones? Actually, yes.

I like Jerry Jones because of his idiosyncracies. I’m sure if I were a Cowboys fan, or even coach/player, I would want to throw my empty pint glass at his head for always meddling in my business. But as an NFL fan, he brings charisma, an out-spoken personality, and has provided some of my favourite punch lines.

So while my last moutful of bier is a bit sour, that’s not always a bad thing. It was still entertaining, and that’s what it’s all about, no? Same holds true for Jerry Jones.

Top Shelf Prospects: Detroit Red Wings

Posted on August 2, 2012November 5, 2021 by Ben Kerr

Welcome to today’s edition of “Top Shelf Prospects” a team by team look at the top prospects in the NHL. Today, as I continue my alphabetical journey through the NHL I bring you a look at the Detroit Red Wings. As always you can find a complete listing of my previous articles here. Since we had an extensive NHL Draft preview, I will not be reviewing the players who were drafted in the 2012 draft, as there have been no games since then, and my reports on them will not have changed. What I will be doing is linking you to those articles, as well as taking a look at prospects that were acquired before this year’s draft; their progress, and their chances of making the 2012-13 roster of the NHL team in question. I will also bring you one sleeper pick. A player who was either drafted in the 4th round or later, or was an undrafted free agent signing who I pick as my darkhorse to make the NHL. For those asking the cut off for what is or isn’t a prospect is typically about 45-50 NHL games played or being 25 years old. These are not hard or fast rules though, and I may make some exceptions depending on the circumstances.

2012 Draft Prospect Reviews:
Martin Frk, Andreas Athanasiou,

Bonus Profiles Done Earlier
Damien Brunner, Brunner signs with Detroit

Top Prospect: Brendan Smith, Defence
Born Feb 8 1989 — Toronto, ONT
Height 6.01 — Weight 199 — Shoots Left
Selected by the Detroit Red Wings in Round 1, #27 overall at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft

For the last few years Brendan Smith has been touted as the future of the Detroit Red Wings defence, and with good reason. He might be the best defensive prospect outside of the NHL right now, and even if he faces a challenge to that thrown by recent draftees, he’s certainly the most NHL ready of the contenders. Smith has outstanding puck movement skills, and it starts with his stickhandling and puck control. He has very soft hands and can dangle his way out of even the stickiest of situations. His quick dekes, feints, and toe drags have left many defenders in their wake throughout his career. He is a good skater with good speed, acceleration and agility and combines these with his stickhandling to create offence by leading the rush. His good vision and crisp passing skills help to create offence for teammates as he sets up good scoring chances in these odd man rush situations. With a quick and accurate wrist shot, and a bomb for a slap shot, Smith is also effective at being the trailer on the rush. Smith also has the hockey sense, and hockey IQ necessary to combine all these skills and become an extremely effective power play quarterback.

Defensively, Smith is very good in his own end of the ice. He is strong positionally and works hard on the boards and in front of his own net. He reads the play well, with great hockey IQ, and his skating, puck control, and passing skills are very effective in getting the puck out of his end of the ice. He effectively starts the transition game and his ability to minimize the time spent in his own end of the rink is invaluable. However Smith does still have aspects of his game that need some work. He can be vulnerable at times to being beaten one on one off the rush by a forward attacking him with speed. This is something he will need to continue to work on in Detroit.

Brendan Smith has been patiently waiting for his opportunity since being drafted by the Red Wings in the first round of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. He has performed admirably at every level, whether it was putting up 15 goals and 52 points in 42 games in his junior season at Wisconsin, or turning pro and putting up 32 points and 34 points in his first two AHL seasons. Smith even joined the Red Wings for 14 games last year scoring his first NHL goal and putting up 7 points.

With Nicklas Lidstrom retired, Brad Stuart in San Jose, and no major additions to the Red Wings blue line this offseason, Brendan Smith’s time is now. There is a top 4 spot waiting for him on the Detroit backend and its up to him to seize the opportunity. Smith appears to be ready to seize the opportunity and has the talent to do so. I fullly expect him to make the team, and watch for Smith to be highly rated in my Calder Trophy Preview. The biggest issue for Smith will be living up to expectations. He’s been highly hyped and will be coming in as the greatest defenceman of this generation levels. Smith is very talented, but I’m not sure he’s a true number 1 defenceman going forward, more like a solid number 2 or 3, and he certainly will never fill the shoes of Lidstrom. Lets hope for his sake, the media and fans aren’t hoping for too much.

Number 2 Propect: Gustav Nyquist, Left Wing
Born Sep 1 1989 — Halmstad, Sweden
Height 5.11 — Weight 185 — Shoots Left
Selected by the Detroit Red Wings in round 4 #121 overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft

Gustav Nyquist could have qualified for our sleeper section, but after being better than a Point Per Game player for Grand Rapids in the AHL, and after playing 18 games for the Red Wings last season, he’s made too much noise to be considered a sleeper. In fact I rank him as the number two prospect in the Red Wings system. Nyquist is the latest in a long, long line of talented Swedes who have called Detroit home. However, like Carl Hagelin of the New York Rangers, he took the non-traditional route for Swedes in that he played NCAA hockey at Maine. Nyquist was extremely impressive there putting up a ton of points and finishing in the top 3 in Hobey Baker Award voting. Nyquist jumped to Grand Rapids of the AHL this season and was equally impressive at the pro level. He seems to be knocking on the door for a spot with the big club.

Nyquist is a talented offensive winger, whose biggest asset is his skating. He is extremely fast with very good acceleration, good agility, and great edgework. This allows him to beat defenders wide with pure speed and then cut to the net, or to make a series of quick moves and cut hard to the inside, leaving a defender either in his dust, or at times forcing him to hook or hold Nyquist in order to prevent a scoring chance, resulting in a power play for the Griffins. Nyquist also has extremely quick soft hands which also help him to generate offence. He is blessed with high level hockey IQ and makes smart plays and good crisp passes to teammates. He also has the ability to find holes in the defensive coverage and get open for a quick wrist shot or one timer. Nyquist’s is a willing battler on the boards and in front of the net, but he is a little undersized as well. He’ll need to work on his upper body strength to be more effective in these areas.

With Jiri Hudler gone and Tomas Holmstrom seemingly gone, there is an opening in the Detroit forward unit. With an impressive camp, that spot will become Nyquist’s to lose. Hoever it would not be a huge surprise to see him spend another 1/2 season or full season in Grand Rapids as extreme caution with prospects still appears to be a Detroit organizational philosophy.

Sleeper Pick: Teemu Pulkkinen, Right Wing
Born Jan 2 1992 — Vantaa, Finland
Height 5.10 — Weight 194 — Shoots R
Selected by the Detroit Red Wings in round 4 #111 overall of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft

Pulkkinen has proven to be an offensive force for Finland at the international level. In the last two World Junior tournaments he has put up a very impressive 19 points over 13 games. Pulkkinen has been among Finland’s biggest offensive weapons over that time. He has a fantastic, NHL ready, wrist shot and release. He gets the puck off his stick in lightning quick manner and that makes it very difficult for goalies to prepare. He also does it with the power and accuracy necessary to put it past those same goalies. Pulkkinen is a smart winger who is also a creative playmaker. He is able to feather passes to the tape of teammates that many players would avoid. He usually has great success doing so, and his teammates beenefit with prime scoring opportunities. Moving forward the Wings must work to get Pulkinnen over to the AHL and to refine his defensive game, so that he can avoid being a liability and get the ice time necessary to use his offensive talents. This is not a major issue though, a young player can be taught to play in the defensive zone, but a young, defensively skilled players can not be usually be injected with the talent to create offence. It is this talent that makes Pulkkinen so intriguing.

For years the Red Wings were known as the best drafting team in hockey, and from 1989 to 1999 few can argue with that ranking. To find sure fire Hall of Fame players like Sergei Fedorov and Nicklas Lidstrom, along with current NHL superstars like Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg where they did is quite remarkable. However, this reputation may be becoming a little outdated. The Zetterberg pick in 1999 is the last true superstar pick the Red Wings have made. They had good success from 2000-2004 still finding very good players like Niklas Kronwall, Tomas Fleischmann, Jiri Hudler, Jimmy Howard, and Johan Franzen, but quite simply were not on the same level as their 90s success. Since the lockout the Wings drafting has produced little of substance with only third and fourth liners like Darren Helm, Shawn Matthias, and Justin Abdelkader being selected by the Wings. The Wings have always been patient in developping their prospects, and obviously with Smith and Nyquist being part of the 2007 and 2008 drafts, there is time to produce some good players out of those crops. However, while the current prospect pool is deep and there are good prospects behind those profiled in the likes of Tomas Jurco, Riley Sheahan, Ryan Sproul, Xavier Ouellet, Calle Jarnkrok, Tomas Tatar and Peter Mrazek in the pipeline, it is doubtful any of these players is a true home run pick like we’ve seen before. While the Wings have depth, Detroit must find another way to replenish the superstars who have left, and those aging stars still on the roster, in the coming years. This will be Ken Holland’s challenge, if the Wings are to retain their lofty status as perennial contenders.

Please feel free to leave your comments below and follow me on twitter @lastwordBKerr.

Hammer Radio: Double length edition features UFC on Fox 4 and Invicta FC 2

Posted on August 1, 2012November 5, 2021 by Ben Kerr

Its Wednesday Night, so the Hammer Radio show is back, and available in Hamilton on 93.3 CMFU FM, and archived on the internet at http://thehammar.libsyn.com

The Boys at the Hammer feature weekly coverage of all things MMA. This week they are back with another new episode and you can listen to the archived podcast by clicking here. Hammer Radio 104. We are in for a special treat this week as the episode is twice as long as normal.

” It’s an extra-long episode of The Hammer MMA Radio this week. We use the extra time to preview UFC on Fox 4 coming up this Saturday, featuring two Light Heavyweight fights, Shogun vs Vera and Machida vs Bader, that will determine the next number one contender.

We also run down all of the week’s news as usual, but the real benefit to our double-length show is that allowed us to do a full recap of last weekend’s excellent all-women’s Invicta FC show.”

The Hammer features lastwordonsports’ own writer Greg Persson, long time internet superstar Steve Jeffrey, and is hosted by MMA aficionado Dave Abraham.

The Hammer has had interviews with some of the biggest names in MMA over the years, including BJ Penn, Dan Henderson, Sean Sherk, Mark Coleman, and others. They continue to bring unparallelled, independent coverage of all things MMA to fans of the sport.

They’ll give you the straight goods and the Last Word.

The Problem With a Dominant MMA Champion

Posted on August 1, 2012November 5, 2021 by Mark Modeski

Everyone loves to watch an athlete dominate in their sport. Whether it be Jordan in basketball, or Gretzky in hockey, being able to say you were there to watch that player own their sport is a memory that few will ever forget. Such as it stands with the UFC today, as we’ve watched Anderson Silva rule over the middleweight division and Georges St. Pierre lay claim to the welterweight title for years; people of today’s generation can say they were there to see it. Now we have started to see Jon Jones dismantle opponent after opponent with utter dominance, making three of the UFC belts at home in permanent residences.

MMA, or boxing for that matter, has an inherent weakness in it, however that is not so evident in other sports. A dominant athlete in the sport of MMA can actually take away from the excitement, thereby robbing viewers from optimal excitement.

How is this so? Well, any MMA promotion has a pool of athletes that is substantially smaller than any other sport – especially if we’re so bold as to break each weight class into separate “leagues”, as the NFL would be to the CFL. When one fighter within any particular weight class starts to dispatch opponents with the greatest of ease there is less excitement and build-up for the fight. Think about how much one would enjoy watching the same team win the world series year after year. The Yankees may always make the play-offs, but they definitely don’t always win the World Series.

Where does all of this come from? Recently, Dana White announced that the winner of the Shogun vs. Brandon Vera fight of FOX 4 would be awarded with a shot at the light heavyweight title, currently held by Jon Jones. For the educated MMA fan, there is nothing that could be less inspiring than the prospect of either of these fighters going up against Jones. Shogun was defeated by Jones with the greatest of ease last year, and Brandon Vera has not been a legitimate contender for more than four years (Vera is actually still only the UFC by default, but that’s another story).

After some dismay at the aforementioned match-up, White announced that the winner of Machida vs. Bader could potentially be awarded a title shot against Jones; again, this is a less inspiring match-up.

A similar problem exists at welterweight with Georges St. Pierre and middleweight with Anderson Silva. For a number of years no legitimate contender has existed for either opponent. As much as the UFC tried to hype “Silva v. Okami” or “GSP v. Koscheck”, fans had little excitement for either fight – we all knew what was going to happen before it did.

This all underscores the problem with over-promotion of the UFC. With so many fights happening every month, the UFC brass is pressured to put out championship matches every month. With only eight divisions there are only so many fights in a year that can be put on, and only so many contenders that can be introduced.

Fewer events with deeper cards is what the UFC really needs. Back in February I argued about why the UFC was become supersaturated with events (I was not alone, obviously), especially with the deal between the UFC on Fox. The answer? Going back to the roots of the promotion could help to re-vitalize it, but then again, it may be too late for that at this stage in the game. The UFC has already promoted itself to the hilt, and now has a certain expectation to maintain. While I don’t know what the answer is, hopefully a compromise can soon be found – before the top fighters in the UFC are no longer the crowd pleasers they once were.

… and that is the last word.

Follow me on Twitter – @LastWordMark

Early Grey Cup Contenders

Posted on August 1, 2012November 5, 2021 by Matthew Bin

It’s August 1st. It’s the CFL. We’ve all know that you can’t predict anything in this league. So it’s time to predict who’s going to be in the 2012 Grey Cup, right?

The first thing we need to do is eliminate the dark horse, long shot teams, namely Winnipeg. Buck “The Glassman” Pierce is out for now and Alex Brink, while not an incompetent quarterback, isn’t going to rack up a winning season. Let’s call this a rebuilding year for the Mosquito Nation.

Two more teams that aren’t clear contenders at this point are Calgary and Montreal, both with 2-3 records and dodgy prospects at pivot. In Montreal, Calvillo’s dealing with a sore shoulder that has affected his throwing motion, leading to a couple of unexpected losses after a strong start to the season. We all knew Calvillo was getting long in the tooth, and that we’re closing in on when, not if, he’ll retire. There are those who think he’s on borrowed time already, though Trestman starting an injured AC over the capable Adrian MacPherson is cause for wonder.

Meanwhile, Calgary has a decent quarterback in Kevin Glenn–unless that idiot Kevin Glenn is playing. The Ticats learned over the last couple of seasons that you can’t know beforehand which Glenn will show up: the powerful passer who seems to will the ball into his receivers’ hands, or the chump who seems to forget what colour jersey he’s wearing and throws unbelievable picks at the worst possible moment. Calgary might earn a playoff spot but doesn’t look likely to be in the final.

There’s a glut of teams with 3-2 records at this point. On the eastern side of the board, Hamilton and Toronto are both on winning streaks, and have both beaten decent teams to get to the top of the board. Their stats are a wash so far as well. As long as none of the key offensive tools go down with injuries, we’re looking at a QEW final in the east this year. The richness of Hamilton’s targets for a very hot Hank Burris probably gives the Tabbies the edge to host that game.

In the west, strong teams with inconsistent performances are the rule. Jyles, Lulay, and Durant are all on good form this year, and no one is running away with the top spot in the conference at this point. The strength of the BC and Saskatchewan receiving corps put them ahead of Edmonton at this point, although a strong showing by Bowman and Stamps–both with thousand-plus yards in 2011–could easily change that for the Eskimos. The Lions taking the top spot in the West, and the Riders contesting them in the final, seems like the most probable outcome for the left half of the Grey Cup equation.

A BC-Hamilton cup seems like a good possibility, then, given the performances of the teams so far. But there’s a lot of parity and more than two-thirds of a season where all this will play out. It’s completely irresponsible to name a Grey Cup winner at this point, so we’ll wait till Labour Day to make a call on that–knowing, of course, that there’s one thing the CFL can’t be beaten at, and that’s making a fool of anyone who thinks they can see any more than a couple of days into the future.

So prove me wrong, Winnipeg. Prove me wrong.

Top Shelf Prospects: Dallas Stars

Posted on July 31, 2012November 5, 2021 by Ben Kerr

Welcome to today’s edition of “Top Shelf Prospects” a team by team look at the top prospects in the NHL. Today, as I continue my alphabetical journey through the NHL I bring you a look at the Dallas Stars. As always you can find a complete listing of my previous articles here. Since we had an extensive NHL Draft preview, I will not be reviewing the players who were drafted in the 2012 draft, as there have been no games since then, and my reports on them will not have changed. What I will be doing is linking you to those articles, as well as taking a look at prospects that were acquired before this year’s draft; their progress, and their chances of making the 2012-13 roster of the NHL team in question. I will also bring you one sleeper pick. A player who was either drafted in the 4th round or later, or was an undrafted free agent signing who I pick as my darkhorse to make the NHL. For those asking the cut off for what is or isn’t a prospect is typically about 45-50 NHL games played or being 25 years old. These are not hard or fast rules though, and I may make some exceptions depending on the circumstances.

2012 Draft Prospect Reviews:
Radek Faksa, Ludvig Bystrom, Mike Winther, Devin Shore, Gemel Smith, Branden Troock,

#1 Prospect Jack Campbell, Goaltender
Born Jan 9 1992 — Port Huron, MI
Height 6.02 — Weight 199 — Shoots Left, Catches Left
Selected by the Dallas Stars in round 1 #11 overall of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft

Jack Campbell burst onto the hockey scene in the 2010 World Junior Championships. The pressure Campbell faced was immense. He stepped into the US net in the second period of a 3-3 tie in the Gold Medal Game and faced the five time defending champion Canadian squad in the Gold Medal Game. However Campbell was unflappable and the US team rode his goaltending and an Overtime goal by John Carlson to World Junior Gold. Campbell would follow that up by winning another gold medal in a US jersey, the 2010 World Under 18 Championships.

In 2010-11 however, a pattern started to emerge. Campbell decided to jump in and backstop the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires rather than join Michigan in the NCAA. His first year in the OHL saw him put up a 3.80 GAA and an 0.884 sv percentage, clearly numbers that were a lot less than what was expected from Campbell. Despite his OHL struggles Campbell was once again able to step up at the World Junior Championships being named the tournament’s top goaltender and leading the US squad to a bronze medal. This past season, Campbell again struggled at the OHL level. Part way through the year he was traded from Windsor to Sault Ste Marie, and it didn’t really help matters. In 34 games with the Greyhounds he had a 3.58 GAA and 0.892 Save percentage. He would once again suit up for the US at the World Juniors, and although he personally played well, he was part of a disappointing squad that did not qualify for the medal rounds.

Campbell’s struggles are hard to explain. He seems to be at his best when the pressure is at its highest but has had trouble bringing a high level of play over a full season. He has all the skill to dominate at the junior level, but for whatever reason he is just not getting it done on a regular basis. However put him in a Team USA jersey and its like you’ve got a whole different goalie for two weeks. He also played pretty well for Windsor in the 2010 OHL playoffs (at least until Windsor ran into the buzzsaw known as the Owen Sound Attack). While many analysts would say its a good thing that a goaltender is at his best in the biggest games, and it certainly is, one still has to be concerned by Campbell’s disappointing regular season play.

Talent wise, Campbell has it all. He plays excellent positionally, is always square to the puck. Campbell is a big goalie who cuts down his angles well and takes up a ton of room in the net. He has excellent lateral mobility and plays an effective butterfly style that takes away the bottom of the net with his fast legs. Campbell has quick reflexes and a lightning fast glove that takes away a shooters options upstairs. Lastly he possesses excellent puckhandling skills and this greatly helps his defensemen out.

Its a bit of a mystery why Campbell couldn’t put it all together in the OHL, and he performed admirably for a 20 year old rookie goalie in 12 games for the Texas Stars of the AHL, which is a good sign, but makes the situation all the more puzzling. As for an outlook, Jack Campbell still possesses the talent to be an all-world goalie, and lets face it he wouldn’t be the first 20 year old goalie who had talent but needed to develop consistency in his game. He will likely spend next year with Texas in the AHL, and may even need a couple of years there, to work on developing that consistency in his game.

#2 Prospect Jamie Oleksiak, Defence
Born Dec 21 1992 — Toronto, ONT
Height 6.07 — Weight 240 — Shoots Left
Selected by the Dallas Stars round 1 #14 overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft

The first thing everyone notices about Jamie Oleksiak is his towering size. At 6’7″ and 240 lbs, the defender is a massive physical specimen. He uses his towering size and huge reach advantage to be extremely effective in his own end of the ice. He plays an effective positional game and when you combine this with his massive size and long reach he takes away a ton of space, and seriously minimizes passing lanes in his own end of the rink. Oleksiak has also proven to be a faithful and willing shot blocker. However Oleksiak’s size is used to its full advantage outmuscling opponents in front of the net or in the corners, and by laying out a big hit when he gets the opportunity.

Don’t be fooled though, the big man brings more to the game than just his defensive prowess. He also brings effective offensive skils to the table. Oleksiak is a very good passer. He gets the transition game started with strong, crisp passes out of his own end. He also is alert and keeps his headup when working the point in the offensive zone. He has good smarts and can often find the open man for a scoring chance.

The main knock on Oleksiak is his skating. While no one will consider him a speedster, those concerns seem overblown. Sure he’s not the fleetest of foot, but not many 6’7″ defencemen come around with his ability. He is a very good skater for a defenceman his size, and with solid positioning any issues he might have are greatly minimized.

As a 1992 Birthdate, Oleksiak is likely headed for the AHL this fall. This is something that will do him a lot of good. He’s an excellent prospect, but defencemen his size usually take a long time to adjust to the pro game. Expect to see Oleksiak play at least 1 full season for the Texas Stars before he cracks the Dallas lineup.

Top Sleeper, Matt Fraser, Left Wing/Right Wing
Born May 20 1990 — Red Deer, ALTA
Height 6.02 — Weight 207 — Shoots Left
Signed by the Dallas Stars as an undrafted free agent in November 2010

Fraser appears to be an absolute steal as an undrafted free agent signee. In his first year in the AHL, the big and powerful winger scored 37 goals for the Texas Stars. He is a rugged power forward type, who is hard working and extremely physical. Fraser is a big hitter on the forecheck, and wins a ton of pucks along the boards. He also is willing to stand in the dirty areas and takes up a ton of space in front of the net whenever he gets the opportunity. Fraser has a hard heavy shot that is able to unleash with a sniper’s quickness. The shot and release are a major reason why Fraser absolutely lit up AHL goalies this season.

Fraser is also a smart two way hockey player, who plays as hard in his own end as he does in the opponents. He again works to win battles on the boards, and is always willing to block a shot. His toughness also shines through as Fraser is willing to do whatever it takes to defend a teammate.

The main reason Fraser was not drafted was a choppy skating stride and poor acceleration. And while Fraser has improved, he still didn’t look NHL level last season. However with Fraser’s other skills and intangibles coming to the forefront, he will make many GMs question how their scouts missed this player.

Prior to the 2012 Draft, the Stars system appeared to be one of the weaker units in the NHL. Former 8th overall pick Scott Glennie has just not developed as the Stars expected, and has not justified his draft position. He has struggled with injuries, but even when not injured he has been wildly inconsistent. While Glennie is still young, and can certainly bounce back, right now he wouldn’t be considered among the top 5 Dallas prospects. His lack of development over these last three years is a major concern and a major blow to the depth of the organization’s prospect pool. Jack Campbell has also been inconsistent and at this point is less than what one would expect from the #11 overall pick in the draft, even if he still maintains the #1 spot on the organizational rankings. As such, there was a ton of pressure on GM Joe Nieuwendyk and the scouting staff going into the 2012 draft. Fortunately for Stars fans, it would appear that the the group came through with flying colours. Dallas’ outstanding 2012 draft has really replenished the system, especially at forward and pulled them back to the pack in terms of ranking their prospect pipeline.

Feel free to leave your comments below and follow me on twitter @lastwordBKerr.

NHL Happy Hour: Cheaper side of things

Posted on July 31, 2012November 5, 2021 by Maksim Vasilyev

This week’s NHL Happy Hour is going cheap – a bottle of Ketel One vodka, ice, and a lime. What else do you really need, eh? Well, hockey would be one. I thought an appropriate topic for today might as well be cheap things in hockey. Cheap, but good, because my vodka is good and it is relatively inexpensive. Since we have CBA meetings being held only few blocks from me this week in New York City, I felt compelled to talk about some rubles. The gloom and doom CBA negotiations where the owners get to cry poor – what a joke, right?

I will take a shot for those underprivileged souls.

The funny thing about these guys weeping poor is that more money spent does not always equal more wins. I mean really, some clubs should just buy some beer for the fans who shell out ever-increasing prices to NHL games, instead of handing out 100-million dollar deals. I am very serious about this, why do we not have a free beer game day? Or what about a two-for-one special? That should up the attendance, eh Islanders’ fans?

But hey, it is not all Buffalo Sabres and Calgary Flames spending and return in W’s in the NHL though. We got some smart GM’s who, with a bit of luck, spend their Pillsbury dough wisely. Whether this is out of choice or out of necessity, won’t matter for us today. The thing about the NHL post lock-out era is that having deep pockets is no longer everything. It is like someone leveling the playing field in the bar between you and that rich bloke with a Ferrari key on his key chain, where somehow your intellect and the deep knowledge of the world that you have learned with years of Redditting, is on display and the girl actually respects your genuine niceness – ahhh, to be Will Hunting. Sigh.

Another shot it is then.

So which teams have responsible ownerships Well, to be honest, there are quite few teams with solid, fiscally-responsible GM’s and owners. Except Paul Holmgren woes does not only have the best haircut out of the GM’s, but also has the least restraint when it comes to big contract deals. I really like how he tried to steal Weber from Nashville. Even the ones that technically spend more money than a small country’s GDP, can be financially responsible if the team does a load of winning. Remember, winning is like vodka – more of it is never a bad thing. Well maybe too much vodka can leave you feeling a bit fuzzy in the morning. Come to think of it, so can winning a cup.

Nashville and the St.Louis Blues to me are my favorite teams from last year, as far as spending:winning is concerned. It is a bit awkward mentioning Nashville and spending, since the whole Suter and Weber ordeal, but focus on LAST season and the lessons learned. Last season they were a good team, signed a franchise goalie, had two franchise defenders, and beat the Red Wings in the playoffs. Things were good. I even saw a predator fan talk a little trash talk. Fun, wasn’t it?

Another shot it is to usher in a new season.

Sincerely, nothing goes better with vodka than mashed potatoes, kotleta, and a pickle. Fantastic.

So the reason I pick these two teams above all else is because both have players that were developed through the draft. These teams are built using team resources to scout talent and replenish the roster holes with cheap, young talent. This is the kind of franchise growth you really enjoy as a fan. It is always nice to sign the big FA, looking at you Minnesota Wild, but it is more rewarding to see your own home grown talent develop and become stars.

The St.Louis Blues spent $54.8 million last year. How much did that cash buy them? Well the only team to have more points after 82 games was Vancouver. Not bad, eh? My favorite part about this team is that it really was a team. I mean their best point-getter was Backes with 54 points. Two of their top-four scorers were defensemen, and this is where we start to find major clues as to the reasons for their success. Top-two defensemen who are not only dominant in their own end, but put up 94 points between them. Pietrangelo and Shattenkirk were key cornerstones to the Blues’ success.

Fun little aside – I actually dropped Pietrangelo mid-season on my fantasy team, because until December 31st he only had 11 points. 11 points in 37 games and I dropped him. Of course he went on a tear and averaged 12 points each month after that. I am a twonk.

Where did I put my drink…

Besides those two stellar defensemen, we have quality up and down the line-up. Andy McDonald came back after missing most of the season for 25 games and chipped in 22 points. David Perron was another player that returned mid-way through the season and had 42 points in 57 games. The astounding thing here is that out of the top six scorers on this team, five were drafted by St.Louis. What is more astounding is that none of these guys had “minus” ratings. Alexander Steen had 28 points, yet he was plus-24. That is some quality minutes right there, right? What about the goalie tandem of Halak and Elliot? Someone probably won lots of fantasy games with that tandem.

Nashville had a similar strategy as the Blues. They only spent $52.1 million and finished just behind the Blues in the Central division. Do you know another thing that Nashville has in common with the Blues? They also have two superstar defensemen who combined for 95 points – ah, the glory days. They also drafted most of their players and have one of the best goalies in the league. Both teams also did not have a player that scored more than 60 points. But let us be realistic, when you ice Weber, Suter, Erat, Legwand, Fisher, and have Rinne in net, it’s not exactly a bag of chips and a soda can for dinner, agreed?

Honestly, a franchise like the Nashville Predators, you have to feel bad for them with what happened during the summer with Suter and almost losing Weber. But that is all part of the ugly business side of our lovely sport.

You know what else bugs me? Why do Nashville fans not lose it with Patric Hornqvist? 27 goals on the season, which are decent numbers, but it seems he just ninja-vanishes for weeks during the season. I expected big things from his last season and drafted him on my fantasy team. So of course he starts the season out scoring 0 points in the fisrst seven games, causing me to drop him. Ever feel some hockey players just hate you? He scores seven goals the next six games.

Not to distract you with my fantasy woes, but what I really wanted to hammer in this little piece is that hard work pays off. Or something like that.

One more vodka drink should do it.

People always say that the Detroit Red Wings are one of the preeminent organizations in NHL. They always praise the drafting and the pedigree of winning that Detroit has established over the last 20 years. I happen to agree that the Red Wings have been an almost perfect franchise over the last 20 years. What we do not always talk about is how Red Wings have always supplemented the holes they could not fill through the draft with big-time free agent signings. The Red Wings have the money and the sex appeal of winning (is that sex appeal fading?). The St.Louis Blues and Nashville predators have done it without being sexy, at least last year. They really have started from scratch and won. They prove that with a good scouting team and financial responsibility you can still win. Even the NY Rangers took notice and now have some quality home-grown talent.

I guess some fans think that you really do need to spend to win. The LA Kings were pushing the CAP limit last year and so did Boston the year before that, but both of those teams had key ingredients that were developed from the inside of the organization. To me that is what will always separate quality franchise and the ones that will fail to win. The Blues and Nashville look well-managed, coached, and will be competitive for a long time due to proper spending and proper drafting. Fans might urge huge spending to get big-time free agents, still looking at you Wild, but good GM’s should show restraint.

Look, we all want to get that expensive cocktail because it looks delicious, but in the end sometimes value is value. I have had some terrible twelve dollar drinks and felt highly disappointed. But on the other side of the coin, you never really complain about open bar quality of drinks right?

To me these two franchises, Nashville Predators and St.Louis Blues, represent the new modern era model teams to take notes from and follow suit.

If you missed my first installments of NHL Happy Hour, they can be found here:

NHL Happy Hour: Volume One How NHL Teams can be Compared to Vodka

NHL Happy Hour: Volume Two Summer Cocktails and Predictions

Top Shelf Prospects: Columbus Blue Jackets

Posted on July 31, 2012November 5, 2021 by Ben Kerr

Welcome to today’s edition of “Top Shelf Prospects” a team by team look at the top prospects in the NHL. Today, as I continue my alphabetical journey through the NHL I bring you a look at the Columbus Blue Jackets. As always you can find a complete listing of my previous articles here. Since we had an extensive NHL Draft preview, I will not be reviewing the players who were drafted in the 2012 draft, as there have been no games since then, and my reports on them will not have changed. What I will be doing is linking you to those articles, as well as taking a look at prospects that were acquired before this year’s draft; their progress, and their chances of making the 2012-13 roster of the NHL team in question. I will also bring you one sleeper pick. A player who was either drafted in the 4th round or later, or was an undrafted free agent signing who I pick as my darkhorse to make the NHL. For those asking the cut off for what is or isn’t a prospect is typically about 45-50 NHL games played or being 25 years old. These are not hard or fast rules though, and I may make some exceptions depending on the circumstances.

2012 NHL Draft Prospect Reviews:
Ryan Murray, Oscar Dansk, Gianluca Curcuruto

Top Prospect: Tim Erixon, Defence
Born Feb 14 1991 — Port Chester, NY
Height 6.02 — Weight 190 — Shoots Left
Selected by the Calgary Flames in round 1 #23 overall in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft;
Acquired by the Blue Jackets in the Rick Nash trade with the New York Rangers, July 2012

Tim Erixon is the son of Jan Erixon, a former NHL player with the New York Rangers. He was drafted by the Calgary Flames in the 2009 NHL Draft, but when he hadn’t signed by June 1, 2011 it looked as if the Flames could lose his rights and he’d re-enter the 2011 draft. Instead of allowing this to happen the Flames traded Erixon to the Rangers where he quickly signed. Unfortunately for Erixon he would only play 18 games in the big apple before being traded to the Blue Jackets in the Rick Nash deal.

Erixon is one of the top defencemen not currently in the NHL. He has excellent skating, and is an extremely mobile defender. He can rush the puck effectively and is capable of making smart passes to teammates or taking an accurate wrist shot. In this way Erixon will add offense in transition. On the powerplay Erixon has great vision, and is an extremely smart passer. He has excellent vision and makes crisp, hard passes to teammates. Add in an accurate low slapshot and he looks to be a future powerplay quarterback.

Defensively, Erixon’s great mobility makes him extremely hard to beat one on one off the rush. He uses his edges well and his pivots are clean and crisp. He has a very quick stick and uses his pokecheck to steal pucks. In the defensive zone he is also a willing and capable shot blocker. He is also willing to engage on the boards or in front of the net. However Erixon will need to add a bit more upper body strength to be truly effective in these areas.

With Ryan Murray, Tim Erixon, James Wisniewski, and Jack Johnson, the Blue Jackets have set up an excellent quartet to run their Power play for years to come. Given Erixon’s development and the fact that he got some NHL experience next year, I expect to see him in the NHL this season.

#2 Prospect David Savard, Defence
Born Oct 22 1990 — St. Hyacinthe, PQ
Height 6.01 — Weight 217 — Shoots Right
Selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets in round 4, #94 overall 2009 NHL Entry Draft

As a fourth round pick, David Savard could qualify for top sleeper on the Blue Jackets. However his development at the junior level and AHL level suggests he has far surpassed “sleeper” status and is a legitimate top prospect in the organization. Savard’s development has been remarkable, and his improvement over the last 3 seasons has been very, very impressive. It was as if he took off immediately following the draft, putting up 77 points in 2009-10 for the Moncton Wildcats and winning the 2010 CHL Defenceman of the year award. He would follow that up with an impressive rookie season in Springfield where his 44 points put him among the top scoring AHL defencemen. Last year he continued to impress in Springfield, and even earned time with the Blue Jackets playing in 31 NHL games and recording 10 points. Impressive numbers for a 21 year old rookie.

Savard’s future is as an offensive defenceman. He has extremely high hockey IQ, and reads the play very well. He spots and exploits openings in the opponents defence. He does this in two ways, without the puck, he seems to always find the perfect time to pinch in from the line and to create his own scoring chances. And with the puck on his stick, he is calm and patient able to use his good puck protection skills to wait for a teammate to get open, and then he fires a crisp tape to tape pass to create a scoring chance. He also has good lateral mobility, which allows him to walk the line, and find openings for his hard slapshot.

Savard still needs some work on his skating. His high end speed is only slightly above average, and could stand to improve. His edgework and pivots need a bit of refinement and he is susceptible to being beaten off the rush by outside speed. He could also stand to be more physical, especially in his own end of the rink. He relies a little too much on his quick stick and not enough on being willing to engage in the physical puck battles. That said he has strong instincts in his own zone, is very good positionally and cuts off a lot of plays with an active stick.

Savard is very close to being NHL ready. However for maybe the first time ever there is a bit of a log jam on the Columbus blue line. With Jack Johnson, James Wisniewski, Ryan Murray and Tim Erixon all ahead of him as offensive defencemen, this will be a tough lineup for Savard to crack. The Blue Jackets also have capable defencemen in Fedor Tyutin, Adrian Aucoin, and Nikita Nikitin as veterans on the big club. Savard might be forced to start the season in the AHL and wait for an injury or trade to open up a spot for him on the Columbus blue line. In the meantime he can fix those small flaws and be ready to grab the bull by the horns when he gets the opportunity.

Sleeper Prospect: Cam Atkinson Right Wing
Born Jun 5 1989 — Riverside, CT
Height 5.07 — Weight 172 — Shoots R
Selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets in round 6 #157 overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

Cam Atkinson is a highly skilled winger who like many before him fell in the draft due to his size, and not his ability. Clearly the scouts never measured the size of this kid’s heart as he continues to work hard, and bring a cocky, no one can stop me swagger to the rink day in and day out. After falling in the draft, he went to Boston College where he put up back to back 30 goal seasons in the NCAA. This led to Atkinson being recognized as one of the top 3 players in the country and a Hobey Baker award finalist. He’s followed that up with an excellent rookie season in the AHL. His 29 goals in 51 games for Springfield was impossible for the Blue Jackets to ignore, and he even earned a 27 game stint with the big club, scoring 7 goals and adding 7 assists.

One way a smaller player can overcome the size disadvantage is by possessing great skating, and Atkinson certainly has that. He has great speed, and lightning quick acceleration. He has outstanding agility, and his edgework is outstanding. He is able to turn on a dime and make impressive cuts and quick dekes all over the ice. This allows him to beat defenders off the rush, and to find small openings to exploit in the defence. Atkinson also has a snipers shot. It is hard, heavy, deadly accurate, and can be unleashed with a very quick and deceptive release. It is this quickness and shot that have allowed Atkinson to rack up the goals wherever he goes, and will make him a top 6 forward in the NHL. Despite his small size, Atkinson is a tireless worker who wins board battles and is not afraid to engage with bigger, stronger defencemen. He is also not afraid to get to the dirty areas of the ice in order to generate offence. I expect to see Atkinson on the Blue Jackets this season.

After years of mediocre performances on the ice and a number of high draft choices the Blue Jackets have a ton of talent in their system. Its true, the teams defence prospects with Murray, Erixon, Savard, and John Moore are deep and talented. They have a good young forward core with Ryan Johanssen already in the NHL, Matt Calvert and Cam Atkinson knocking on the dore, and guys like Boone Jenner, Tomas Kubalik, and Michael Chaput on the way. They even have two excellent goaltending prospects in Oscar Dansk and Joonas Korpisalo. At first glance, it would appear to be a deep system, and I certainly can’t deny that there are some talented youngsters in the Columbus pipeline.

All that said, I hate to bring this up. I really do not want to rub salt in the wounds of the Blue Jackets faithful who support this team despite the the team’s less than winning history, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention it. The Columbus Blue Jackets have been down this road before. Talk of a stockpiling of young talent has happened many times in Columbus, and it hasn’t worked out. We have seen complete whiffs like Alex Picard, and we’ve seen players who have had one or two promising years and then fell apart, like Steve Mason, Pascal Leclaire, and Nikolai Zherdev. We’ve seen a couple guys who became decent but not great NHLers in Gilbert Brule, Rotislav Klesla and Derrick Brassard. Lastly we’ve seen only one player come through the Columbus system and actually be a consistent top level performer. Unfortunately, that player is Rick Nash and he now plays for the New York Rangers. Until the Columbus system can prove the naysayers wrong and take these talented but raw kids and make them into legit NHL stars who help the team win games, the Jackets must be questioned. There seems to be a disconnect between the time these kids are drafted and when they make the NHL. Fixing the development program will go a long way to fixing the team. Perhaps that has already been done and we haven’t seen the results yet, but until we see those results, until we see Columbus develop a group of talented youngsters into productive NHL players, the team doesn’t really inspire confidence or get the benefit of the doubt.

Feeel free to leave your comments below and foillow me on twitter @lastwordBKerr.

No Room For Error in the CFL

Posted on July 31, 2012November 4, 2021 by Carl Mostacci

As a huge follower of the Canadian Football League for almost twenty years, I cannot remember the standings and teams being this close six weeks into the season. Currently, Saskatchewan, Edmonton and BC are the best in the West and Hamilton and Toronto are the beasts of the East. All five teams share identical records with three wins and two losses. Initially it looked like Saskatchewan was going to run away with first place in the west, opening with three straight wins, but the Green Riders since have been humbled after blowing late 17 and 18-point leads in losses to Calgary and Hamilton respectively.

The other clubs are still in the running. Calgary currently sits last in the west and Montreal third in the east, both with 2-3 records, still pose to be big threats. Finally Winnipeg currently occupies the league basement with a record of 1-4. Even though the Blue Bombers look like they are out of the running, they are not. They overcame a large deficit to beat the Eskimos last week at home and avenge a 42-10 beating in Edmonton two weeks prior. The Blue Bombers will now play their next four games at home, after opening with four on the road. This home cooking could help them get back in the swing of things (although I hope it doesn’t).

Although Calgary and Winnipeg have lost their starting quarterbacks indefinitely, and Montreal’s star quarterback, Anthony Calvillo, is hurt, I feel all three teams can still turn their seasons around and give their fans something to cheer about. The parity in the CFL is so close, that any team can beat an other on any given day. This is largely thanks in large part to the CFL Salary Management System. All teams have to spend the same (relatively speaking, of course) amount of money on players. The CFL got this idea from the NFL and it since has been copied by the NHL. It allows all teams in a sports league to compete on a more equal playing field. I feel baseball needs a similar type of system, but that is a topic for another day, and is probably something baseball will unfortunately not see in my lifetime. But one false move for any CFL team from here on in during this 2012 season, and it can quickly spell disaster.

…and that is the last word.

Follow me on Twitter – @LastWordFootball

Sports. Honestly. Since 2011

Year: 2012