11/21/24
November 27, 2002
NHL Weekly Beat Report
This week, the Leafs show signs of a late bloom (maybe). Also, we'll take a look at a few young players to watch this year. (More inside)
posted by Samsonov14 to hockey at 12:09 PM - 6 comments
I'm not sure if Bogunieki qualifies as a "young guy" seeing as he's 27. Yushkevich has been dealt to the Kings after only a few weeks in Florida. Not long ago, a certain contingent of Leaf fans was angry when the Leafs didn't resign him and instead opted to trade for Svehla. But with Svehla's renewed scoring touch (3 points last night, including the game winner) the deal has silenced the critics. Leaf fans are a fickle bunch, really; one day they're booing Belfour, the next they're chanting his name. They make me embarassed to be a Leaf fan, sometimes. History aside, the Kings are a better team with Yushkevich. Some might argue that he's not as gung-ho as he used to be, and his grit has declined -- but he's still a solid, experienced defenceman, and a good acquisition.
posted by mkn at 12:43 PM on November 27, 2002
Point taken about Bogunieki. I included him because he's only been in the league for 2 years, and only played a handful of games before this year. As far as Yuskevich goes, I was talking to a friend of mine who is a Leafs fan last week, and he rattled off a list of D-men that TOR has traded away in the past few years and it was scary. Maybe he'll chime in here (I'd do research, but I'm on my way out the door). Of course, he didn't mention who they recieved in return, but it sounded as if their D could have been scary good.
posted by Samsonov14 at 01:00 PM on November 27, 2002
Do you mean rookies? or young players? If the latter, you'd still have to include Dany Heatley and Ilya Kovalchuk (1 and 2 for top rookie last year), even though the Thrashers are woeful. If they ever get some defense, what those two will be able to accomplish may be something to write home about. At least I have something to be excited about on this team.
posted by trox at 01:39 PM on November 27, 2002
Markov, Schneider, Berard......I could go on. Now, I'm glad to be rid of Schneider, as he doesn't cut it in his own zone, but Markov and Berard I'd still like to see in blue and white. Considering the well known weakness at the Leafs blue line, I really can't figure what Quinn has been doing. Not to mention Jyrki and Robert R. Anyways, just imagine a Leafs team with Berard, Markov, Kaberle, Brian 'SuperMan' McCabe. I was one of the naysayers about Eddie. And to be honest, I'm not sold yet. He saves pucks Cujo wouldn't, but he lets in pucks Cujo would keep out. And besides, I'm not sure if he is actually mentally stable enough to play in T.dot. And Yuskevich is still a sore subject. I'm not sure what the Panthers are doing, apart from stealing youth from a win-now team, but the trade is definitely not for poor play. I haven't seen a Panthers game this year, but I have heard him wow some people who've never seen him play before. And I'll always love the guy who for being the only reliable defensive mind on the ice for several years.
posted by garfield at 01:45 PM on November 27, 2002
Well, losing Berard wasn't really that much of a Leaf decision -- though it is nice to see him play again... but Markov. That's still the player I'm most upset about losing in the last 3-4 years. The guy was great. I think he's already a fan favourite in Phoenix. You can add Khristich and Karpotsev to the list too, I guess -- but they never really did fit in here, so I wasn't sad to see them go. If you look back a bit more, you can also find Kenny Jonsson and Dmitri Mironov (I liked him.) Looking at that traded away defence, I don't think it's scary good -- there's some decent players in there, but not what I'd consider a solid defensive core.
posted by mkn at 02:32 PM on November 27, 2002
Well, let's start this week off with a look at the Toronto Maple Leafs. They've been less than stellar so far, with a record of 9-11-2-0 as of today. Staunch leafs fans might point out the fact that Ed Belfour was named NHL player of the week, after posting back to back shutouts of the Bruins and the Flyers, the number 1 and 2 teams in the East. But as far as numbers go, Lalime had Belfour's in a 2-0 shutout over the Leafs in which the Leafs played the worst game I’ve seen them play in a while. Last night’s 5-4 win over the Caps will help, but expect the Leafs to be a few points short of a playoff berth at least until the return of recently injured defenseman Bryan McCabe and glue guy Gary Roberts. Required reading for fans of this team include the journal of "all-around good guy" Alyn McCauley, and Chris Corrigan’s always excellent Blogging The Leafs. Among the young players in the NHL, there are three that you might want to watch out for this year. If you have a fantasy hockey team, you've no doubt heard of Eric Bogunieki. He was recently profiled on EPSN.com. In his first full season, he's tearing it up with 10 goals and 7 assists in 19 games played. It will be interesting to see if Eric can keep up his torrid scoring pace. Scroll down and hit "enter" to check out his fan site, created by his brother Bill, Jr. (which is either touching or pathetic, depending on whether you're a jerk or not). Another interesting kid is Boston's rookie Ivan Huml. After an impressive training camp last year when he was the team's final cut, there's no denying that the Bruins' only regular rookie has promise, but whether he can stick with the big club remains to be seen. Currently tied for fourth in points among the new kids, Huml has the tools to play, but may not yet have the confidence he needs to succeed. Because of injuries to the Bruins, he's now playing on a line with fellow callups from the Providence Bruins "Scorin'" Lee Goren, and Andy Hilbert. It's anyone's call whether he'll be sent back to Rhode Island when Axelsson, Lapointe and Samsonov return, but some say he’s a good fit on the second line with fellow Czech Jozef Stumpel. In any case, the Bruins have made the most of the 2nd round compensation pick that they bruins received when they allowed has-been Dmitri Kristich to walk away from the team after arbitration. The third young gun to watch is Ronald Petrovicky. His stats aren’t impressive, but scoring isn’t what Ronald does best. He was a waiver wire pickup after playing two seasons in Calgary. If you look at his stats and his history without seeing him play, you might think he's something like this. Watch a game or two, and you'll quickly realize that he's closer to this or maybe even this. This kid busts through anything in his path. Petrovicky doesn't have the offensive skills to ever to be on one of the top two lines of a good team, and as such he'll never be a big name in the NHL. But when this guy is on the ice along with your team's flashiest finesse player, you'll be praying that your boy gets rid of the puck as soon as possible. On a team that hasn't been much fun to watch, Petrovicky has been a star.
That’s it for this week’s links. I’ll leave you with what might be the best NHL quote of all time:
Stu Grimson, Chicago Blackhawks meathead, explaining why he keeps a color photo of himself above his locker- "That's so when I forget how to spell my name, I can still find my clothes." Damn straight, Stu.