Calder Hopefuls

As we approach Christmas, there's plenty to be jolly about. Especially when it comes to this year's exciting rookie crop. While all the hype surrounded Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin, some other fresh faces have come in and taken the league by storm. While maybe no one is on last year's level that saw Buffalo blueliner Tyler Myers steal the show away from last year's top three picks John Tavares, Victor Hedman and Matt Duchene, there's probably more depth this season, making for an even more exhilerating race. Who will take home the Calder? Let's look at 10 hopefuls!


BATTLE CALDER TOP 10

1.G Sergei Bobrovsky, Flyers-Seemingly out of nowhere, the 22 year-old undrafted Russian netminder has been a godsend for first overall Philly, posting a 15-5-3 mark with a 2.44 GAA and a .919 save percentage. He's responsible for 68.2 percent of the Flyers' 22 wins which are tied for the league lead with Pennsylvania rival Pittsburgh. If goaltending was a question mark entering due to Michael Leighton on IR and Brian Boucher as the only proven guy, that's no longer the case. Ochenb xoposho to the Pyccku!

2.C Logan Couture, Sharks-While it's true the 21 year-old '07 first rounder got into 25 games last season, fact is he's become one of their most reliable finishers. Not easy to do when you're behind Dany Heatley and Patrick Marleau. Amazingly, it's Couture who's 17 markers pace a club that's underachieved thus far. In fact, the 17 tie him for fifth best in the league. His five game winners lead all rookies. He also has five power play goals (leads rookies) and his plus-eight is second best to teammate Ryane Clowe. It's hard to ignore the rookie scoring leader (17-7-24). If the Sharks make the playoffs, Logan's fingerprints will be all over why.

3.RW Jeff Skinner, Hurricanes-The most daunting thing about the seventh overall pick is that the former figure skater rose up the charts where the Canes scooped him up and haven't regretted it. The 18 year-old Markham, Ontario native has a gift, combining superb skating with a ton of skill. He victimized Henrik Lundqvist already with a highlight reel goal. For so long, it was just Eric Staal that teams had to worry about. Now, there's another talent who looks legit, giving them a nice 1-2 punch. Word of advice to defensemen. Don't get Skinned!

4.RW Jordan Eberle, Oilers-The 20 year-old '08 first rounder who the Oilers stole 20th overall should be quite familiar to puckers. He dominated the WJC scoring big goals for Team Canada, leading them to golds and a silver in last year's championship classic against Team USA. If not for Eberle's late heroics in regulation, current Cap rook John Carlson never gets to play ultimate hero. To think in one game, you also had Ranger freshman Derek Stepan, who led everyone in scoring. That's three top rookies. Keeping with Eberle who scored one of the best goals this season in his NHL debut, the speedy right wing who plays a like ex-Devil Brian Gionta has wheels to burn. His two shorthanded goals rank second to Boston first-year player Brad Marchand (3). For years to come, we'll be talking about Hall to Eberle and also triumverate member Magnus Paajarvi Svensson (4-10-14). Eberle is third in rookie scoring with nine goals and 13 assists with his 22 points right behind club leader Ryan Whitney.

5.D Kevin Shattenkirk, Avalanche-Somewhat under the radar with Cam Fowler getting most of the accolades in Anaheim, the 21 year-old from Greenwich, Connecticut has been one of the biggest reasons why Colorado is proving that last year was no fluke. Selected in the '07 first round 14th overall, Shattenkirk has really emerged since scoring a second straight game against the Rangers in a home win. During a brilliant stretch in which he recorded points in nine consecutive games, Shattenkirk netted 13 points (4-9-13) including four of his five goals. Since, he's been a consistent threat, aiding Norris candidate John-Michael Liles. His 19 points (5-14-19) pace all rookies- two better than Fowler.

6.G Anders Lindback, Predators-With top goalie Pekka Rinne going down, another unheralded Swede who was taken in the seventh round has gotten the chance to shine in Music City. This rags to riches story seems too good to be true for the 22 year-old goalie taken 207th overall two years ago. In his first season, Lindback's been brilliant winning nine of his first 13 starts between the pipes, helping lead Barry Trotz' latest surprise up a crowded West. Their 40 points are tied for fifth with Anaheim while trailing Detroit by four for the division. Lindback is 9-2-2 with a 2.27 GAA, .927 save percentage and two shutouts. That's more than half Nashville's 17 wins for an unknown. Though to hear rookie countryman and Devil Mattias Tedenby tell it, he really impressed at home in the Swedish Elite League. Could we have another Lundqvist? Rinne's hoping not.

7.C Derek Stepan, Rangers- Where would the Rangers be without the heady 20 year-old from Hastings, Minnesota who started with a bang becoming only the third player to post a hat trick in his NHL debut. The gritty American with superb vision and instincts was selected in the '08 second round 51st overall. He starred for both Wisconsin and Team USA, doubling as the captain that led our country to its second WJC. After his hat trick, D-Step hit a rough patch that saw his ice time dwindle under John Tortorella. But he's worked his way back up, earning more responsibility including playing the right point on the power play. Locked in a three-way tie for fourth in rookie scoring with 19 points (9-10-19), Stepan already is his team's best center. Look for him to see more time with struggling star Marian Gaborik. Once USA 'mate Chris Kreider gets here, the Rangers will become a lot more interesting.

8.LW Taylor Hall, Oilers-It's taken some time for the first overall pick to settle in. Once he has, the talented 19 year-old who's living a dream playing in his hometown for the rival Oilers, has been as advertised. His 10 goals trail only Couture with all of them coming since Oct.28 when he finally found twine at Columbus, also recording his first two-point game. Hall owns five multi-point contests including a career high three assists and a plus-three rating in a recent 6-3 home win over the Blue Jackets. He also had his first two-goal game in Toronto. A night he won't soon forget. Four of his 10 have come this month with over half since over the last 13 contests. The top pick will only get better along with a new crop of Oilers who will put the franchise back where it belongs. Beware Colorado and Vancouver!

9.D Cam Fowler, Ducks-When the gifted scoring defenseman was passed over by a slew of teams including the Rangers who went for more rugged Dylan McIlrath, most curious observers couldn't fathom why. After all, this was a player who impressed at the WJC, showing off his gamebreaking speed and playmaking ability on a deep USA roster that won it all. Ironically, gold medal winning teammate and goalie Jack Campbell was taken by Dallas before Anaheim finally allowed the 12th overall pick to exhale. Considering that a great player in Scott Niedermayer who retired that he reminds us of, maybe it was a blessing in disguise, giving Fowler extra incentive. Nobody's saying he'll fill those big shoes but the 17 points (3-14-17) with seven on the power play along with 40 blocked shots is a nice start for the Michigan kid. Imagine what he, Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan can do. Yikes.

10.G Michal Neuvirth, Capitals-Entering the year, the 22 year-old Czech who was selected in the second round four years ago was expected to split time with incumbent Semyon Varlamov. Having impressed with nine wins and a .914 save percentage in 17 appearances (16 starts) last season with the injury prone Varlamov in the press box, you can't say he's inexperienced. With his teammate again missing significant time, Neuvirth (pronounced New-worth) is largely responsible for the Caps hanging in despite a brutal stretch that was just snapped in Ottawa with the goalie making 24 stops in a comeback win. Of the club's 19 victories, he's won a lucky 13- accounting for 68.4 percent. With Varlamov finally healthy, it'll be interesting to see how Bruce Boudreau uses the young duo. Our guess is he'll go with the hot hand in what's suddenly not a given they'll win the Southeast.

That concludes our first series of rookies. Many other first-year players are deserving of inclusion. So with that, our honorable mentions.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

11.LW Bryan Bickell, Blackhawks-9-9-18, 17 PIM, 17 hits
12.LW Tyler Ennis, Sabres-7-9-16, 16 hits, 78 SOG
13.D P.K. Subban, Canadiens-2-9-11, 2 PPG, 33 PIM, 49 hits, 35 blocked shots
14.D John Carlson, Capitals-3-12-15, +6, 32 PIM, 70 blocks, 32 hits
15.LW Magnus Paajarvi, Oilers-4-10-14, 55 SOG
16.C Alex Burmistrov, Thrashers-5-8-13, +3, 23 PIM, 30 hits, 55 SOG
17.C Jake Dowell, Blackhawks-4-9-13, +8, 40 PIM, 46 hits, 18 blocks
18.C Brad Marchand, Bruins-4-8-12, 3 SHG, +5, 34 hits, 53 SOG
19.C Mark Letestu, Penguins-6-9-15, 2 PPG, 28 hits, 73 SOG
20.C Tyler Seguin, Bruins-5-6-11, +2, PPG, 54 SOG
21.LW Mattias Tedenby, Devils-4-4-8, 2 PPG, 4 PPP, 10.5 Pct.
22.RW Michael Grabner, Islanders-7-3-10, 16 hits, 9 blocks, 47 SOG
23.C Phillippe Dupuis, Avalanche-3-7-10, +6, 19 PIM, 52 hits, 10 blocks
24.C Kyle Wilson, Blue Jackets-4-5-9, 10 PIM, 12 hits
25.RW Evgeny Dadonov, Panthers-2-4-6 in 6 GP, +6, 10 SOG

Bruins end Ranger streak at three

Last night, the Bruins halted the Rangers' win streak at three, posting a 3-2 win at The Garden. It was their first game debuting the elegant Heritage jerseys, which looked great with the New York across in red as compared to the original white when our club was born in 1926-27. Too bad they couldn't come out with a 'W,' making too many mistakes against a well schooled Claude Julien club that plays a similar style to the old Jacques Lemaire Devils.

There was plenty of tight checking making for plenty of battles for space. Our club killed two Bruin power plays with superb penalty killing, continuing their recent run after starting the year so poorly. Brandon Dubinsky was high-sticked leading to a double minor. The first three minutes were dreadful as they couldn't even get a shot on Tim Thomas, mostly due to Boston's aggressiveness. If not for a great pass from Henrik Lundqvist, which Ryan Callahan pushed off the boards for a fortunate bounce right to a streaking Dubinsky, they don't score. Instead, Dubi made the most of the opportunity beating Thomas with a quick snapper for the Rangers' only lead. It was his club-leading 11th.

One of the themes in this match was John Tortorella matching the Homegrown Line (Dubinsky-Anisimov-Callahan) against the Bruins' No.1 line of Milan Lucic, Patrice Bergeron and Nathan Horton. A match-up Julien didn't shy away from. A turning point came when a forechecking Horton forced Dan Girardi to make a quick reverse in the right corner leading to a turnover due to Artem Anisimov not being in the right spot. Bergeron stole the puck and then dished across for an open Lucic, who buried it five-hole to tie it. Girardi was expecting Arty to be along the wall but he was caught out of position leading to the goal against.

A second critical mistake led to the Bruins' second straight. This time, the guilty party was Matt Gilroy, who foolishly tried to keep a rolling puck in on his backhand. He was so awkward that it never stood a chance. Especially in a tie game against an opportunistic opponent who pounces on errors. After he fumbled the puck, 18 year-old rookie Tyler Seguin blew past him up the right wing and fired an absolute laser top shelf past Lundqvist for his third of the season. The No.2 overall pick had been criticized due to little scoring of late. However, here he made a great defensive play and turned on the jets making no mistake to put his team ahead. For Gilroy, who isn't good defensively, it won't put him in Tort's good graces. One positive is that Hobey's been more aggressive, getting involved offensively utilizing his speed and puck carrying ability. When Michal Rozsival returns, they really should consider shifting Gilroy to forward. He could be an asset on say the fourth line. The way Mike Del Zotto is struggling, don't write Hobey off just yet.

Trailing by one, the Rangers had a chance to make another statement. They came out strong but a brutal goal allowed by Lundqvist to ageless wonder Mark Recchi really hurt. The 42 year-old Recchi took a simple shot from a sharp angle that somehow eluded Henrik going just over the red line, deflating the crowd. Just like that, Boston had scored three in a row and were up 3-1.

There was plenty of time to comeback. One thing about this team. They never are out of a game. Urged on by the Garden Faithful who also can sense the fight in our guys, they responded by taking the play to the Bruins, forcing Thomas to make tough saves. Finally, the constant pressure resulted in a goal when resurgent rookie Derek Stepan forced a turnover and then made a perfect backhand pass to a cutting Marian Gaborik, who shot over Thomas' blocker for his fourth in three games. Just a great read by Stepan, who Tortorella moved up to the top line after Erik Christensen got little accomplished. Given how he threw Sean Avery under the bus and how much of an enigma he is, refusing to shoot early on a wide open chance, you have to conclude he's the odd man out once Chris Drury is back. Christy just isn't doing enough to stay in the lineup. At this point, D-Step's regained his confidence and deserves to center Gabby and Alex Frolov when they visit the Avs tomorrow.

Still trailing 3-2, the Blueshirts kept the pressure on. However, Thomas was up to the challenge, stopping everything in his way. If last year, he lost his job to then rookie Tuukka Rask, then this year, he's regained the form that won him a Vezina in '08-09. His two biggest saves were equally impressive. First, he somehow got a piece of a Gaborik redirect of a Girardi point shot, diving across to keep it out to moans. Even me and Dad couldn't believe it didn't go in. Then, on another powerless five-on-three in which they did little to the shock of no one, the best chance came when Ryan Callahan had Thomas down and out but couldn't stuff the puck past him off a faceoff. The Boston goalie later admitted he got lucky there. Sometimes, lucky is better than good. Considering how he sprawls around making every save an adventure, it sure is fun to watch. Even if it drove us nuts.

After the penalty kill, Boston got their legs and put together a couple of strong shifts just working the puck down low which ran time off the clock. That included their big top line keeping us pinned late before Tort pulled Lundqvist to no avail. The Bruins simply didn't allow our team to get the kind of opportunity needed to tie it, earning a hard fought win to improve to 7-1 away from TD Northbank Garden. Interestingly enough, they're only 3-4-1 at home. Go figure. What's most impressive is that they're off to a good start without Marc Savard, who may return. David Krejci is still out as is Johnny Boychuk who skated in warmups. Marco Sturm also remains out. What happens when they get a full roster? Obviously, Michael Ryder will probably be moved clearing room. This Bruin team has the feel of a contender. They do it by grinding opponents to death. Will they have enough offense? Who knows. But it'll be an interesting race between them and Montreal.

For the Rangers, it's back to work. They know why they lost. Too many miscues along with Lundqvist getting burned for the crusher. Throw in the power play failures and they earned the loss. Was it winnable? Absolutely. But against a team like Boston, you can't afford to make those kind of mistakes. So, no four-game winning streak spoiling Heritage Night. Now, it's on the road for a tough game in Colorado, who already beat us once. Hopefully, someone will remember to take Chris Stewart in front. Our team's grown since that game back on Oct.18 which saw the Avs get two in a row literally for a 3-1 win at MSG. Historically, we don't fare well in the Rocky Mountains. I could care less. This team's different. They fight. We owe them. Let's get it!

Draft Day 2010

Tonight, the drama finally ends for Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin. One will go No.1 overall to Edmonton with the other expected to be selected second. Here's the first round order on a day where there could be some movement at Staples Center when things kickoff at 7 ET/4 PT on Versus (TSN):

1.Edmonton
2.Boston (Tor)
3.Florida
4.Columbus
5.NY Islanders
6.Tampa Bay
7.Carolina
8.Atlanta
9.Minnesota
10.NY Rangers
11.Dallas
12.Anaheim
13.Phoenix (Cgy)
14.St. Louis
15.Florida (Bos)
16.Ottawa
17.Colorado
18.Nashville
19.Los Angeles
20.Pittsburgh
21.Detroit
22.Phoenix
23.Buffalo
24.Chicago (Atl-NJD)
25.Vancouver
26.Washington
27.Montreal
28.San Jose
29.Anaheim (Phi)
30.Chicago


As has been the case already, some players could be on the move this weekend. According to TSN, one such player is Florida defenseman Keith Ballard, who's said to be drawing interest from Western clubs. The rugged blueliner certainly can help someone. Other rumored players include Nashville's Denis Grebeshkov, Dallas' Mike Ribeiro, Toronto's Tomas Kaberle and Dan Hamhuis, who the Flyers are still hoping to sign. Does Tim Thomas find a new home? Sergei Gonchar and the Pens are in discussions on a new contract. From our column the other day, forgot to mention Jaroslav Halak finding a new home in St. Louis with the Habs unwilling to re-sign their playoff hero, opting again for Carey Price. Will it backfire? Special kudos to our Devil worshipper Hasan for noting our oversight.

Draft wise, both Columbus and the Islanders are open to trading their picks. If you take the Oilers at their word on still being undecided on Hall/Seguin, perhaps Florida can parlay their No.3 and 15 all the way to the top spot. We'll see. Personally, I'd take Hall as he's the better scorer and can team with Jordan Eberle to give Oiler fans an exciting future. Expect defenseman Cam Fowler to go third with bruiser Erik Gudbranson right behind. Not really sure what the Islanders will do but another finisher would be a boost for John Tavares and Kyle Okposo. One mock has them selecting Brett Connolly, who while missing most of 2009-10 is healthy and projects as a power forward. The Rangers are also rumored to be interested. If they go forward, figure Vladimir Tarashenko, Nino Niederreiter or even Kirill Kabanov to be in the mix. For the Sabres, adding more offense seems logical. But they also could use some blueline help for Calder winner Tyler Myers. Most mocks lean towards D with Jonathon Merrill, Mark Pysyk and Jarred Tinordi possibilities.

Want a couple of potential steals? Two players I like should go in the middle to late first round. Alexander Burmistrov has oodles of talent that could make him electrifying to watch. Jason Zucker might be worth the gamble. The American from Vegas had a good WJC, helping Team USA win gold. He scored a couple of goals while playing a gritty style which should bode well in the NHL. He may not even get picked tonight but that means someone will wind up with a good player Saturday when our very own Brian Sanborn is in the building. Imagine if Buffalo drafts him. Let the chaos ensue.

We're about half an hour away from the Draft. An exciting time for puckers everywhere. Still liked it better on the weekend. And have to echo what Brian said about the unfriendly start time for those attending. It's in California. He can't even make Day One. But like I said, Day Two will probably be more interactive with the rest of the draft taking place and probably a better opportunity to meet players, etc. Might our caped crusader get his chance with Darcy Regier?!?!?! All I can say is enjoy the festivities.