Sweet Tea, Barbecue, and Bodychecks

Way to be, toolbag. (850 The Buzz blog, comments)

To sum up: A fan went into a thread that should have been about applauding Glen Wesley, and decided to crap all over it by talking about how his boy Bret of the Gimpy Hip was the real loss to our defence.

I quote one of this clown’s “gems”:

A healthy Hedican was the backbone of both the 02 and 06 Stanley Cup runs. No healthy Hedican, no playoffs!

Excuse me, what? Nevermind that the Hurricanes were going to make the playoffs anyway both seasons, and that the Hurricanes were already running away with the Southeast as of February 2002 (when Gimpy came to the Hurricanes). And let’s just forget about the Season From Hell, where Gimpy was healthy–and we finished dead freakin’ last.

And plus-minus? Yes, that is a real sure-fire indicator that a defenceman is good–Marek Malik shoulda won the Norris Trophy in 2004, if a high plus-minus means that you’re great. +35? BEST DEFENCEMAN EVER, CLEARLY. A++++ HALLOFAME PLAYER WOULD SIGN AGAIN.

*snort*

Give me a break, Hedi-homers. I liked the guy, sure. Yes, a good plus-minus is a strong indicator of a defenceman’s tendencies–but I remember how craptacularly Marek Malik was treated by a lot of the “fans” here, and how he got blamed for everything from the price of tea in China to the Armenian Genocide…now suddenly a guy who made more defensive gaffes and brainfarts than I’ve ever seen Harry make is the Second Coming. Do what?

The backbone of our two Finals runs and one Cup win? What are you idiots smoking, and where can I get in on some of that action? Seriously, I’m asking here. I credit Ron Francis’ leadership for 2002, and Cam Ward’s amazing Drydenesque play in goal for 2006–and Aaron Ward was the backbone of the defence in BOTH those seasons. Gimpy? He was a supporting player. An important cog in the machinery of 2006, of course. But he was a medium-sized cog at best.

Just sayin’.

So here’s the deal. We all know the off season sucks. For the most part it’s RFA signing this, depth signing that, which in itself isn’t a bad thing. It just usually happens at such a slow pace that it could drive a man to drink. I’d go golfing if it was not “holy hell I think I’m going to spontaneously combust” hot outside since the new champs were crowned. So what does a guy like me do in the meantime? Look forward to the draft of course, which is just a few days away now.

It will be in prime time starting on Friday and will be taking place in Ottawa this year. With gas prices requiring me to sell a kidney to be able to make this trip on short notice I’ll be following at home on Versus. Being a bit of a draft geek I already made a mock over on HF, but I’ll give our readers a look into my top 50 prospects for this year and my thoughts on some of my more controversial rankings. Here they are:

1 ) C – Steven Stamkos, Sarnia, OHL, 6′0/183, R
2 ) D – Drew Doughty, Guelph, OHL, 6′0/213, R
3 ) LW – Nikita Filatov, CSKA 2, Russia-3, 6′0/165, R
4 ) D – Luke Schenn, Kelowna, WHL, 6′2/212, R
5 ) D – Zach Bogosian, Peterborough, OHL, 6′2/199, R
6 ) D – Alex Pietrangelo, Niagara, OHL, 6′3/211 R
7 ) C – Colin Wilson, Boston Univeristy, Hockey East, 6′1/215, L
8 ) LW – Mikkel Boedker, Kitchener, OHL, 5′11/196, L
9 ) C – Cody Hodgson, Brampton, OHL, 6′0/185, R
10) W – Mattias Tedenby, HV 71 Jr, Swe Jr, 5′11/176, L
11) C – Tyler Ennis, Medicine Hat, WHL, 5′8/160, L
12) C – Zach Boychuk, Lethbridge, WHL, 5′9/184, L
13) C – Joshua Bailey, Windsor, OHL, 6′0/189, L
14) D – Colten Teubert, Regina, WHL, 6′3/188, R
15) G – Jakub Markstrom, Brynas Jr, Swe Jr, 6′3/176, L
16) D – Michael Del Zotto, Oshawa, OHL, 6′0/208, L
17) C – Jordan Eberle, Regina, WHL, 5′10/172, R
18) RW – Kirill Petrov, Kazan, RSL, 6′3/198,
19) D – Luca Sbisa, Lethbridge, WHL, 6′1/197, L
20) D – Jake Gardiner, Minnetonka, Minn-HS, 6′1/173, L
21) D – John Carlson, Indiana, USHL, 6′2/212, R
22) D – Tyler Myers, Kelowna, WHL, 6′7/200, R
23) C/RW – Zac Dalpe, Penticton, BCHL, 6′1/170, R
24) G – Thomas McCollum, Guelph, OHL, 6′2/208, L
25) C – Greg Nemisz, Windsor, OHL, 6′3/201, R
26) C – Nicolas Deschamps, Chicoutimi, QMJHL, 6′1/175, L
27) D – Colby Robak, Brandon, WHL, 6′3/202, L
28) C – Anton Gustafson, Frolunda JR, Swe Jr, 6′2/194, L
29) C – Joe Colborne, Camrose, AJHL, 6′5/190, L
30) C – Jamie Arniel, Sarnia, OHL, 6′0/195, R
31) C – Mitch Wahl, Spokane, WHL, 5′11/190, R (38)
32) C – Kyle Beach, Everett, WHL, 6′3/203, R
33) D – Aaron Ness, Rosseau, Minn-HS, 5′9/157, L
34) D – Vyacheslav Voinov, Chelyabinsk, RSL, 6′0/190, R (49)
35) D – Erik Karlsson, Frolunda Jr, Swe Jr, 5′11/165, R
36) C – Corey Trivino, Stouffville, OPJRA, 6′1/170, L
37) G – Chet Pickard, Tri-City, WHL, 6′2/206, L
38) D – Tyler Cuma, Ottawa, OHL, 6′1/185, L
39) C – David Toews, Shatucks St Mary’s, Minn-HS, 5′10/175, R
40) G – Dustin Tokarski, Spokane, WHL, 5′11/185, L
41) D – Cody Goloubef, Wisconsin, WCHA, 6′0/195, R
42) LW – AJ Jenks, Plymouth, OHL, 6′1/210, L
43) LW – Matt Calvert, Brandon, WHL, 5′9/172, L
44) D – Cory Fienhage, Eastview, Minn-HS, 6′2/190, R
45) RW – Jared Staal, Sudbury, OHL, 6′3/198, R
46) C – Mikhail Stefanovich, Quebec, QMJHL, 6′2/200, R
47) G – Harri Sateri, Tappara, Fin Jr, 6′1/190, L
48) D – Michael Stone, Calgary, WHL, 6′3/200, R
49) D – Justin Schultz, Westside, BCHL, 6′1/163, R
50) W – Viktor Tikhonov, Cherepovets, RSL, 6′2/187, R

Now a few questions you may be asking yourself: Tyler WHO? He’s undersized but the kid can flat out skate and score. There weren’t very many major junior players that broke the 40 goal mark this year, and Tyler was one of only two available for the draft (Eberle the other) from the defense oriented WHL to break that mark this year. His defensive game is good as well, leaving size the only question mark about this kid.

Why so low on Beach? He has a ton of talent and if anyone from this draft could break into the top 10, it’s him. Some think he has the talent to be the next Bertuzzi, or at worst the next Avery. But he has a history of concussions, disappeared in the WHL playoffs, and has a history of being a total hot head. Simply put I wouldn’t touch him with a 20 foot pole, out of both fear that I might knock him unconcious or that he might take the pole and beat me senseless with it. He’s my “bust of the year”, joining the likes of Angelo Esposito and Anthony Stewart.

Why so low on Myers? He’s a total project. The two biggest assets he has going for him are his size and his skating ability. That alone will give him a chance to make it to the NHL level, but when people talk about his untapped potential I’m just not seeing it. He could develop his offensive game and improve his defensive zone coverage but, with the way free agency is now and with how big defensemen usually take longer to develop, is he really worth using an early first rounder on only to have his game come around the year before he hits UFA status?

Who should the Canes draft? I really do get a laugh out of it every time I see it. People that think that because the Canes have a current need on defense that they should draft a defenseman. WRONG. That’s a current need, that’s what free agency and the trade market are for, this is the NHL not the NFL, you don’t draft for what you currently need. We have quite a few good defensive prospects like Borer, McBain, Lawson and Carson, the depth up front isn’t looking quite as good right now. Now, we could use a defenseman or two this year, yes, but unless one of the top end defensemen (Doughty, Bogosian, Schenn, Pietrangelo) drops to #14 somehow JR should be looking at picking a forward.