Wednesday, October 01, 2008
NHL pre season builds anticipation
NHL camps opened later this year and even if it had been done by design it’s doubtful the league could have whetted our appetites any more. Whether it’s Chris Chelios in season number twenty-five or Steve Stamkos playing number one this hockey season seems to be filled with more anticipation than in years past.
I’m trying to recall if this is how I feel every year at this time and to an extent that’s the case but there is absolutely no question there are seven things I’m waiting for this year that have not materialized or had the same impact just a few short years ago. In no particular order – actually that’s not true because in honour of all my media brethren who cry like babies when there’s a fight this is exactly where I’m going to start.
1) Wednesday October 15th, Montreal versus Boston. Although there’s a chance they could be in the line up against each other as early as October 1st in an exhibition game I’ve circled the mid-October date as the matchup of the Big Z, Zdeno Chara and Montreal’s first real enforcer in years, Big George Laracque. They dropped the gloves twice last year, roughing minors initially then five for fighting the second time albeit a very mild scrap by their standards. My view is that however it plays out it will be quick with minimal shots landed but I am eagerly anticipating this fight.
2) Speaking of the Habs, Carey Price has been nothing short of spectacular this exhibition season. If he is the heir apparent to the legacy hockey fans, Montreal fans, should know in the next few months and beyond. In their 100th anniversary year this looks to be a very exciting Montreal team and a serious contender in the East.
3) Although he has not garnered the same excitement as Sydney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin , Steve Stamkos is a solid blue chip prospect and playing behind Vinny Lecavalier in Tampa should help insulate him on a team that made as many successful summer moves as anybody in the NHL. Regretfully Canada won’t have him at the World Juniors but good for him to make the NHL.
4) The Ottawa Senators. We do our show, ‘In The Net,’ in Ottawa so it can be centric toward the nation’s capital at times but there is no question that after their start last year, their collapse and subsequent house cleaning this is a fragile team albeit one that can still score so they bear watching.
5) As much as the Penguins caught our imagination last year with their youth many eyes are focused on Chicago and their renaissance. Led by the dynamic duo of Patrick Kane and newly named captain Jonathan Toewes, free agent Bryan Campbell, this is the most exciting Chicago team to come down the ice in a long, long time. They bear watching.
6) Can Detroit repeat? They are the last franchise to do so, ten years ago and there’s a reason for that. A year ago nobody was picking Detroit due to a series of collapses in previous years but now t hey are heralded as the second coming of the ’77 Habs. We’ll see. They are a very strong franchise, well coached and managed but with the hockey prostitute on their roster, Marian Hossa and the pensioner Chris Chelios it says here, as strong as they’ll be they will not repeat. But they definitely bear watching.
7) Crosby-Ovechkin. I’ve mentioned them both already but let’s be honest; we have a window here to this generations Gretzky-Lemieux. My hope is they stay healthy and if so we’ll see a great matchup here especially in the games against each other which usually feature at least one Ovechkin run at Crosby at some point in the game. Never a dull moment.
I’m trying to recall if this is how I feel every year at this time and to an extent that’s the case but there is absolutely no question there are seven things I’m waiting for this year that have not materialized or had the same impact just a few short years ago. In no particular order – actually that’s not true because in honour of all my media brethren who cry like babies when there’s a fight this is exactly where I’m going to start.
1) Wednesday October 15th, Montreal versus Boston. Although there’s a chance they could be in the line up against each other as early as October 1st in an exhibition game I’ve circled the mid-October date as the matchup of the Big Z, Zdeno Chara and Montreal’s first real enforcer in years, Big George Laracque. They dropped the gloves twice last year, roughing minors initially then five for fighting the second time albeit a very mild scrap by their standards. My view is that however it plays out it will be quick with minimal shots landed but I am eagerly anticipating this fight.
2) Speaking of the Habs, Carey Price has been nothing short of spectacular this exhibition season. If he is the heir apparent to the legacy hockey fans, Montreal fans, should know in the next few months and beyond. In their 100th anniversary year this looks to be a very exciting Montreal team and a serious contender in the East.
3) Although he has not garnered the same excitement as Sydney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin , Steve Stamkos is a solid blue chip prospect and playing behind Vinny Lecavalier in Tampa should help insulate him on a team that made as many successful summer moves as anybody in the NHL. Regretfully Canada won’t have him at the World Juniors but good for him to make the NHL.
4) The Ottawa Senators. We do our show, ‘In The Net,’ in Ottawa so it can be centric toward the nation’s capital at times but there is no question that after their start last year, their collapse and subsequent house cleaning this is a fragile team albeit one that can still score so they bear watching.
5) As much as the Penguins caught our imagination last year with their youth many eyes are focused on Chicago and their renaissance. Led by the dynamic duo of Patrick Kane and newly named captain Jonathan Toewes, free agent Bryan Campbell, this is the most exciting Chicago team to come down the ice in a long, long time. They bear watching.
6) Can Detroit repeat? They are the last franchise to do so, ten years ago and there’s a reason for that. A year ago nobody was picking Detroit due to a series of collapses in previous years but now t hey are heralded as the second coming of the ’77 Habs. We’ll see. They are a very strong franchise, well coached and managed but with the hockey prostitute on their roster, Marian Hossa and the pensioner Chris Chelios it says here, as strong as they’ll be they will not repeat. But they definitely bear watching.
7) Crosby-Ovechkin. I’ve mentioned them both already but let’s be honest; we have a window here to this generations Gretzky-Lemieux. My hope is they stay healthy and if so we’ll see a great matchup here especially in the games against each other which usually feature at least one Ovechkin run at Crosby at some point in the game. Never a dull moment.
# posted by Liam Maguire @ 5:00 AM
