The sun came up this morning. But only technically – it was pretty grey.
Life went on. But only technically.
I’m not emotionally devastated or anything, and I didn’t mope around at work today (my boss, who reads, will be glad to hear that, I’m sure) but still, it’s just not as fun plopping in front of the TV with my laptop, knowing that there’s no real hockey for about 4 months. It’s always fun to speculate, debate, read mc79′s stats posts, but.. that’s what I do when there’s no interesting hockey going on, and it just doesn’t get any more interesting than the Stanley Cup Finals.
Maybe there will be some time for some number crunching; hopefully guys like lowetide and mudcrutch79 will keep it up though, because I’m not sure that I can.
Testify – I’m trying to figure out what I’m going to do with myself for the next 2-3 months until training camps open. At least the draft is next weekend (not that Carolina has a first round pick, though I’ll take a Cup and a half-season of Rent-A-Doug in exchange for that pick).
Yeah, Edmonton traded theirs for Roloson. Wouldn’t have had to have, if Markkanen had figured out earlier that he didn’t suck. C’est la vie.
Honestly though, I wouldn’t at all be surprised to see Lowe trade up to get one. Dunno Rutherford that well, but he doesn’t seem shy either, not when he cut that deal early for Weight.
The rumors on the internets have Carolina trading D Jack Johnson to Pittsburgh for their second pick, and using the pick to get Jordan Staal. I’m not convinced that will happen, but it’s the main rumor swirling around now.
That’s crazy. Johnson’s a hot D prospect. So’s Staal, granted, but why trade the guy you took third overall last year for another player in the same mold, only a year younger?
More to the point, why would Pittsburgh do that? Hopefully there’d at least be something else in there for them.
The rumors are that the Canes management isn’t happy with Johnson for not joining the team after his freshman year at Michigan, and apparently Johnson was Sidney Crosby’s “bodyguard” in high school.
I’m not putting much stock in the rumors, just reporting them. Personally, given how Edmonton threw us around for most of the series, I think a Dman with a killer instinct is what we need.
Oh, so they want a big stud blueliner sooner rather than later, maybe? Not sure why he’d join the team if he knew he wanted to continue at school. Certainly the Oilers are taking the patient road with Cogliano (and did with Matt Greene before him).
I guess stranger things have happened; Berard #2 from OTT for Redden #1 (or were the picks the other way round) from the NYI. (Then Berard -> TOR and an Ottawa player takes out his eye by mistake…)
I’d thought for some reason that Johnson was an American and was wondering how he knew Crosby from HS, but then again, it’s only fairly recently that we’ve seen many Canadians choosing NCAA over Major Junior. Again, Cogliano’s another one that I know of… he even chose the OPJHL over the OHL.
Yeah, that seems weird that with such a developed Junior system in Canada that guys would come to the US to play the reduced NCAA schedule. Mike Commodore did it, for one (North Dakota) and Craig Adams (Harvard).
I’ve seen the same rumour in other media (online, but with bylines from “real” newspapers), so I guess it’s spreading.
I’m still not entirely certain what’s in it for the Pens, but if the ‘canes threw something else in to make it more worth their while, they may go for it.
Looks like the rumors were just that – no trade, and Pittsburgh picks up Jordan Staal #2 overall.
Maybe they felt the same way I did. :-)
You should poke around for interviews with Staal’s father, they amuse me. If Jordan signs, he gets to leave his job on the family farm.
Missed that college comment before.
I think more and more players are realizing that there’s life after hockey, and chances are good unless their name is Sidney Crosby or they’re drafted by a lousy team (Columbus a la Rick Nash) they’re not going to be playing as 18 or 19 year olds anyway – so they might as well get an edumacation. There’s some damn fine players in the NCAA. As you say, the schedule is shorter, and the NCAA guys tend not to get their careers started til they’re 21 or 22 – but hey, who starts any earlier than that anyway?
Junior guys play lots more, but only til they’re 20 – at which point, unless they’re good enough to force their way into the NHL (and most aren’t), they spend another year or two in the AHL or lower leagues. It’s pretty difficult to work your way up from the ECHL – just ask Mike Morrison.
When your average hockey player is looking at life til he’s 70 or 80, will have to quit by the time he’s 45 at the latest in any event (and it’s more likely to be 35) – that’s an awful lot of life left to live if your skillset is limited to hitting a frozen piece of rubber with a stick and making it go really fast. Life in the CHL doesn’t leave a lot of time for learning much else.