#30

Biscuits and Breezers

 

        Welcome back to another blog of Biscuits and Breezers! Sorry beauts I have been away from my computer for awhile! Summer has just been to good to waste! Anyway, have you heard about the impending lockout? Well you probably have, I certainly did. It turns out that if the NHL and the NHLPA don't come to terms by September 15th, lockout. Now, if the two "parties" don't agree on the new CBA, collective bargaining agreement, the players and whole NHL will be locked out. This has happened twice already under the command of Gary Bettman. Once in the 1994-1995 season and in the 2004-2005 season. The difference was though that the '94-'95 season wasn't completely out, they played 48 games instead of 84. The '04-'05 season was locked out indefinitely. The current CBA expires the 15th of September and if things don't happen, we all know what is to come. Players all around the league from different teams, mostly captains, have joined together in these labor talks and are willing to take less and band together so they don't have to waste a whole season and another spot on the cup. I, personally, think this is crazy because as a result of the last lockout, the league lost an insane amount of fans and revenues, but then gradually gained them back and almost doubled their revenues. Doubled it! Bettman's salary nearly doubled from $3.77 million to $7.23 million after the lockout in '04-'05! It's crazy! Even retired veterans of the NHL are saying it's crazy to call the players "greedy"! I don't understand what they are thinking up there but I personally don't think it is the smartest decision to stop a growing hockey league again.

       Most of my Canadian and Russian viewers, and all of the rest of my fabulous viewers, but these countries especially, were recently hyped up for the Canada-Russia challenge! It was a 4 game series to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the 1972 Summit series and to honor the tragic and sudden deaths of the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl air disaster. It was held August 9th-14th in both Yaroslavl, Russia and in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The first two games were held in Russia, while the last two games were held in Canada. The score of game 1 was Canada taking 3-2, game 2 Russia taking it 6-3, heading back to Canada, game 3 Russia took that one 6-5, and the last and final game Canada took it 4-2. But since both teams had won 2 games each, there was a sudden death overtime to see who would win. Canada's Ryan Strome stole it at 3:20 of the 20 minute period to claim it for Canada. Even though Russia lost the series, a very classy and honorable gesture was done by Nail Yakupov, honoring the memory of those lost in the Lokomotiv air crash. Skating around the rink waving a Lokomotiv Yaroslavl flag. Hats off to him! Great job to both Canada and Russia! All the fans out there should be very proud of these young players!

   Now, we have arrived for the "Players of Today". For the junior player we have Sudbury Wolves right wing Nicholas Baptiste. For the NHL player we have Carolina Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward. For the European player we have Flint Jr. Generals and Bjorkloven J20 SuperElit defenseman Adrian Larsson.

  Starting off with the junior player. Nicholas Baptiste is 6ft. 2in, 200 lbs, and from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. For the 2011-2012 he had 8 goals in 64 games played, 19 assists, 27 PIMs, 42 PIMs, and a +/- of -7 with the Sudbury Wolves in the OHL. He is regarded as one of the top draft picks for the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. It came up from the NHL that he was having a blog about the  Jr. Club World Cup Tournament in Omsk, Russia so you might want to go to the NHL's website and keep up with it. He is a very good player with great hands, sharp skills, and great hand-eye coordination on the ice. Nicholas will definitely be a prominent person in New Jersey next year. Good luck Nicholas with the Wolves and your future NHL career!

    Next we have the European player. Adrain Larsson is 5ft. 8in, 163 lbs, and is from Nyashamn, Sweden. For the 2011-2012 season he had 0 goals in 27 games played, 4 assists, 4 TPs, 14 PIMs, and a +/- of -15. Actually for a defenseman it is quite good to pick up a few assists here and there. It means you are more focused on the blue line and not so concentrated on getting those goals. Sometimes goals are good for d-men but all in all it doesn't really matter as much as it does to forwards. A story came out from Scandinavian Hockey Consulting that Adrian will be traveling to the USA to play for the Flint Jr. Generals in the NA3HL. Jeff Worlton coaches them and he is very notorious for sending players up to higher levels and onto college teams. Adrian has great hands and keeps the blue line clean and tight. He very a good defenseman who is very calm when put on the spot. Good luck Adrian with the Generals and in your future hockey career!

   Now we have reached the NHL player. Cam Ward is 6ft. 1in, 185 lbs, and is from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. In the 2011-2012 season, Cam had 68 games played, 30 wins, 23 loses, 0 ties, 13 overtime loses, 5 shut outs, 182 goals against, 2,143 shots against, .915 save percentage, 2.74 goals against average, and 3,988 minutes played. For his WHL team he played for the Red Deer Rebels and his AHL team was the Lowell Lock Monsters. He was drafted 1st round 25th overall in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft by the Carolina Hurricanes. Cam is a very good goaltender with great butterfly techniques and very attentive with glove catches. He fits in very well with the Hurricanes and is hopefully an addition to their team for a very long time. Good luck Cam with the Hurricanes and your future NHL career!

  Thanks for reading another blog of Biscuits and Breezers! Every blog will be filled with updated hockey news, player reviews, and much more! Until next time, remember don't get your breezers in a bunch because hockey is always around the corner. Remember, it's always a great day for hockey and it's a lifestyle not just a sport!