Thoughts On The First Few Days

Hey gang, I'm back.  It's been a bit of a long week for me, so I haven't been able to update the blog like I would have liked too.  Here's a few little notes from the first few days of the season:

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Patrick Roy made his coaching debut in a big way, coaching the Avs to a 2-0 start, and possibly beginning a new divisional rivalry with the Ducks by means of Roy acting like classic Roy.

Did he deserve a $10000 fine for his tantrum?  Of course he did.  It's fine until you start tearing down the arena.  But I'm sure it was a fine well worth it, as it helps fire up his young team.  He drives his players hard at practice, and shows just as much passion for the game as he did during his playing days.    That's something the young players like MacKinnon and Landeskog can get inspired by.

Its hard to say whether this experiment in Colorado is successful or not yet, but surely its off to a great start.

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I'm winning my hockey pool on Facebook so far, because Ovechkin has been performing like I thought he would.  5 points in 2 games?  Thats hardly even fair!

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Radem Vrbata, a 32 year old vet playing for Phoenix with a career plagued with injury, has started this season with a hat-trick.  He's always flown under the radar because of his injuries, but this is a great sign for the Coyotes.

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Toronto started 2-0, thanks to a great start by both Reimer and Bernier.  Bernier had the better game of the two, but both kept their team in their respective games.  This is definitely a goaltending controversy Toronto likes to have.  If they both can play solid hockey, look for a season similar to St. Louis' goalie tandem a few years ago.  Exciting time to be a Maple Leafs fan.

And staying in Toronto, can there be anyone left who isn't a Mason Raymond fan?  He went from being unsure if he'd be on a pro lineup this season, to working his way onto the Leafs, to being one of their best players so far.  Gotta love it.

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It sounds like the plan for Teemu Selanne is that he's going to sit at least once for every back-to-back game this season.  If healthy, that gives him a 70 game season max.  It's kinda sad to see that happen, but its an obvious sign that he can't keep up with the game full-time anymore.  Hopefully as the season continues, he can prove everyone, including Father Time, wrong.

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And finally, I had my HJC blog post on Thursday go live without a hitch.  Lots of good, interesting concepts on there.  If you'd like to see, go here:  http://www.hockeyjerseyconcepts.com/2013/10/thursday-puck-drop.html

Thats all I got today.  Being the first HNIC Saturday of the season, you can bet I'll be watching lots of hockey tonight.  Hope you all have a good night, and thanks for reading!

Selanne Is Back!!!

Hello everyone, first an apology with my last post, about the colours in sports (which has since been deleted). I lost the source images and data for the statistics I was demonstrating, and I decided to just delete the post all together.  I may come back to it in the future.

But to recap: 25% of teams in the 4 main professional sports leagues have red and blue as their main colours, and 75% have either red or blue, or both.  Where art thou, originality?

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But what I wanted to say today is that Teemu Selanne is coming back for "one more year".  I have skeptisism on that, because even though he's 42, he plays like he's 30, and is one of Anaheim's best players still.  Yes, his production is down and there will hit a point in his career where he is not worth the roster spot, but he's not there yet.  I just hope he doesn't end his career in Favre-esque fashion, by retiring and coming back several times, and become a hinderance more than a help before his time is up.  Selanne is smart though, and his work habits are unmatched by most in their prime.  So I believe he'll retire when he needs to, and not a year sooner or later.  This is good for us fans, the Ducks, and Team Finland, as I doubt he'd pass up an opportunity to represent his country one last time.  I have a suspicion that the Olympics are the reason that he's coming back.  Maybe not the only reason, but the reason that tipped the scale in his favour.  Just a theory though.

Either way, this is good news for everyone.  Besides maybe the other teams in the Pacific division.  

And if you didn't have the chance to see his un-retirement video, have a look.  Its hilarious and well worth it.  Oh, by the way, spoiler alert.

Wouldn't It Be Cool If...

First of all, just wanna let you know that my Baltimore Blades concept has been featured and reviewed on hockeyjerseyconcepts.com, and it got a pretty solid review. If you'd like to check that out and view the other concepts of the day, check out Monday's article and have a looksie.

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Okay, so a simple concept for today's post. With next season creeping closer and closer each day, here are 10 things that could happen next year that could make the year even more exciting. In no particular order:

1. Selanne leads the league in scoring.

It's not even confirmed that he is playing next year, but most signs point towards he will be. His numbers have been declining to more human-levels as of late. But his work ethic is matched by no one, and is a smart enough player that he could figure out a way to compete with the best. He has a good team in Anaheim this year, and I think that this is possible, a longshot, but possible. It would be cool to end his career with the same flair as the start of his career.

2.  A Maple Leaf leads the league in scoring.

So if Selanne can't win it, then this would be good too. Hear me out on this one, as most of you are probably scratching your heads. Presumably this would be narrowed down to Kessel or Kadri. Both would be able to stick it to somebody good if this was to happen. If Kessel won, then Toronto would have a huge monkey off their back from the backlash of the infamous Kessel trade, which now seems to be leaning in favour of TO anyway. If Kadri won, Brian Burke would look more like a schmuck than ever, and I'm in favour of anything that accomplishes that. Plus I really like Kadri as a player, so with all bias intended, I'd like to see him do well.

3. The Winter Classic sets the all-time hockey game attendance record.

This is almost a sure thing to happening. The 2014 Winter Classic has Detroit hosting Toronto in Ann Arbour. This is where the record currently stands for a game between NCAA's Michigan vs Michigan State. Over 100,000 people attended the game, and the official record will almost surely be topped when 2 of hockey's most popular teams hits the ice.

4.  Winnipeg makes the playoffs.

Poor Winnipeg, here I give Toronto and Anaheim such lofty goals, while I sit here merely hoping Winnipeg can be better than almost half of their division. But this is a hope for me because I can see playoff hockey in Winnipeg getting outright insane. The building is extremely loud to begin with, and the fans are really behind the team their. Honestly, they still have a pretty weak team. But if they make the playoffs, I'd be excited to see it.

5. Edmonton goes on a playoff run.

I want this strictly because I'm sick of Edmonton fans saying "this is our year" for the last decade. Seriously though, their window of opportunity is closing fast and they'll have major cap issues after this year, so I hope they can pull it together and make all those 1st Overall picks count for something.

6. Vintage Brodeur ends his career in style.

This is most likely Brodeur's last year, and I'd be surprised if he stays starter for the entire year. However, despite his age, there is still legendary skill to be had by the netminder, and it would be nice for him to end his career on a high-note. Another cup run, perhaps?

7.  Dominic Hasek comes out of retirement, again.

Sadly no chance for that happening, at least at the NHL level. But I'd be so excited to see the Dominator back on the ice. He's a colourful character, and easily my favourite goaltender of all time. He's talked about coming back every year for the last few years, but the lockout pretty much dashed those plans last year for good. Unlike most post-retirement comebacks, I think this would be worth it.

8.  Minnesota and Detroit play an exhibition game in Ottawa.

And as an added bonus, the team with the loudest boos for Heatley or Alfie get bonus goals. Okay... Now I'm just making stuff up.

9.  New Jersey gets a new jersey.

Since they're part of the Stadium Series games in New York, and New York has said new uniforms will be incorporated into the games, then this should be a sure thing. But I don't want them just to go red and green. Lets have something new. They're one of the only teams to stay the same and not have a 3rd jersey ever (besides their throwback green ones), along with teams like Detroit and Montreal. New Jersey isn't a historic franchise, so lets see something new. Devils is such a cool name to work with. Now, Im not saying I'm against their current logo. I love their look, and it's one of my favourites in the league. I just want to see something original from one of the league's blandest teams.

10. A team from Florida wins the Stanley Cup

Lol jk, I'd be pissed if I seen that. No, what I'd really love to see is an all-Canadian matchup for the Cup. The league would love this, the fans would love this, and I would really really love this. But problem: the western Canadian teams don't really look that good. Vancouver might be a good team, but I'm still iffy on Torts. I'd almost bet the farm on Calgary and Winnipeg not making the playoffs, let alone a cup run, and Edmonton might finally have their year, but I don't see them as a cup contender.

Meanwhile, I like the way Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa is shaping up, and I wouldn't be shocked if one of them made a cup run of their own this year.

Alright, so enough of my jibber jabber. What are you excited about maybe happening next year? Any thoughts on my ideas? Let me know! Thanks for reading.