#58
Biscuits and Breezers
Welcome back to another blog of Biscuits and Breezers! Well, since the 2013 WJC tournaments are over we can return to the normal blogs again. I am very excited about this because there have been so much news going on! First of all we should talk about the end of the NHL lockout! Yes it is finally over. The NHL and the NHLPA have signed off on the new CBA and camps will officially have started on Sunday. Playing will being on the 19th. I don't want to hit on this too much because I will be reporting on it frequently on Facebook. So if you want to friend or subscribe to me on Facebook at "Biscuit Breezers" you will get updates on the current status of the NHL and the players. I have been posting a lot of things lately about it so make sure to friend/subscribe to me to get those important NHL updates! Well, most of the players and teams are in training camps now and most of them are free and open to the public so if you are lucky enough to live by an NHL team you should go check one of their practices out. I certainly would. Since the season has started back up who do you think will win the Stanley Cup? You also have to take into account that many teams in the league are preparing for a season for many injuries. Hopefully that doesn't effect too many teams but these things will happen. You can check out the complete NHL league wide schedule at www.nhl.com or just individual team by team.
The next topic I want to talk about is Alexander Ovechkin's engagement! Yes Ovy is now engaged. On December 31st it was reported that Alex gave Russian tennis star Maria Kirilenko the ring. Now there is no date set for the wedding yer because of the NHL starting up again and Maria is in Australia for the Australian Open. This event is quite exciting because we have had so many marriages for the players. Jordan Staal and Marc Andre Fleury got married, Kris Letang had his baby boy Alexander recently, and now Ovechkin is getting married! I wonder who will be the next NHL player to either get hitched or have a kid? What are your thoughts and opinions on this?
The last thing I want to touch on would be the many injured players coming back from the 2011-2012 season and from playing in Europe. I know for a fact that Washington Capitols forward Nicklas Backstrom is coming back from Russia with a neck injury, Anze Kopitar has a knee injury, Marian Hossa is still recovering from his severe head injury, Danny Briere has a hairline fracture in his left wrist and might be out for the first two games of the season, Claude Giroux had the neck injury, Roman Cervenka has had blood clot issues, key player and draft pick for the Columbus Blue Jackets Ryan Murray dislocated his shoulder last season ending it earlier than expected. Anders Lindback is suffering from an extreme knee injury, Darren Helm is having trouble with muscles he has tweaked, Zack Kassian has been suffering from lingering back spasms, Tuomo Ruutu has been out with hip surgery, and so on. You can see where you can be very concerned in which shape these player are in coming back from Europe and just the pre-season playing attempts to get some practice in while the season was locked out. Since all these key players are not going to be able to play with all these varying injuries, it makes me rethink who really will take the Cup home? My guesses are on the Penguins, Rangers, or the Hurricanes. Maybe the Oilers. But this also gives the struggling teams the chance to catch up and maybe gain some league standings and points. I do indeed hope that all these injuries heal soon and these players can continue playing the game they love and the one that made them who they are today.
Now it's time for the "Players of Today" segment of the blog. For the Prospect pick we have Brynas J20 SuperElit player and one of the top Swedish players Elias Lindholm. For the goalie pick we have Gillette Wild goaltender Nick Vittori. For the European pick we have Dizel Penza VHL player Bogdan Yakimov.
Let's start off with the Prospect player. Elias is 6 ft 0 in, 192 lbs, and is from Boden, Sweden. He had 14 goals in 36 games played, 35 assists, 49 TPs, 45 PIMs, and a +/- of 24 in the 2011-2012 season. He is a very strong forward who takes charge of the game for himself and puts his own points up on the board. He is signed with the Brynas Elitserien team for the 2012-2013 season. Elias is one of the top European prospects for the 2013 NHL Draft. He is expected to go 5th overall to the Colorado Avalanche. I really like the way Lindholm plays because it is so powerful and forceful. He will make sure that he gets his well deserved points for the game and it doesn't matter how he gets them. I hope that he goes very early in the draft because he definitely showed himself "worthy" for Team Sweden this last week. He is a very good leader to everyone else on the team and makes sure that everyone is cooperating, understanding what to do on the shifts, and what can be done to beat the opposing goaltender. Good luck Elias with Brynas, the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, and your future hockey career!
Now we have the goaltender pick. I have talked to Nick various times for game reasons or what have you and I think that he is a very prime example of how goaltenders should look, act, and carry themselves. I reviewed his goaltending partner Brenden Kruckenberg in the celebration blog and mentioned him in there with for the fact that he has fantastic flow. Well he does! Moving on with the review, Nick is 5 ft 11 in, 212 lbs, and is from Naperville, Illinois. In the 2011-2012 season he played for the Gillette Wild as well and had 4.30 goals against average, 16 games played, and a .901 save percentage. He is playing with the Gillette Wild again in the 2012-2013 season. Nick is just an awesome person all the way around. He has really blossomed as you could say in his goaltending. His butterflies are so much better this year, glove catches are tremendous, he definitely protects the crease more, and tends to stay in the goal more. Back to his flow now for a minute. It is amazing. Some of the best I have ever seen in the leagues I have players in. I mean I work with tons of players every day and I can't think off the top of my head if I know anyone whose hair even pales in comparison to his. I am surprised he hasn't been a Gongshow Flow of the Month yet. That's how sick it is! I definitely like watching him play because his goaltending style is so unique. He takes the traditional style and puts quite a twist on it. He freezes the puck more often, uses the pipes instead of straying away from them, uses the whole entire space in front of the net, and really makes the opposing players work to get the puck in. The Gillette Wild are doing very well in the AWHL standings sitting around third place. Well good luck Nick with the Wild and your future hockey career!
Last but certainly not least we have the European player. Bogdan is 6 ft 4 in, 201 lbs, and is from Nizhnekamsk, Russia. He is played with the Reaktor Nizhnemask for the 2011-2012 and he had 15 goals in 46 games played, 10 assists, 25 TPs, 10 PIMs, and a +/- of -4. Bogdan however is signed with the Dizel Penza team in the VHL. He has 3 goals in 21 games played, 6 assists, 9 TPs, 12 PIMs, and a +/- of 6. He is one of the top prospects for the KHL draft and the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. Currently, in the public opinion, he is rated number 6 out of 10 for the Russian players going into the draft. He uses his size and weight to basically knock down the other players so he can find the back of the net and possibly go top cheese. He is very large for a center. You could compare him to Jordan Staal even. His height is the same but he weighs a little less than Jordan. They both have the same style of play and how they approach other players. Big heavy guys who are large and in charge. Bogdan handles the puck if no one can take it away from him and it will be his till the very end when the goaltender is looking at it over his shoulder. A very powerful presence who makes sure the crowd knows who he is even before he steps on the ice. Yakimov surely puts on a show for the other team and the home crowd. Good luck Bogdan in the VHL, in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, and in your future hockey career!
Thanks for reading another blog of Biscuits and Breezers! Every episode will have updated hockey news, player reviews, and so 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!
Let's start off with the Prospect player. Elias is 6 ft 0 in, 192 lbs, and is from Boden, Sweden. He had 14 goals in 36 games played, 35 assists, 49 TPs, 45 PIMs, and a +/- of 24 in the 2011-2012 season. He is a very strong forward who takes charge of the game for himself and puts his own points up on the board. He is signed with the Brynas Elitserien team for the 2012-2013 season. Elias is one of the top European prospects for the 2013 NHL Draft. He is expected to go 5th overall to the Colorado Avalanche. I really like the way Lindholm plays because it is so powerful and forceful. He will make sure that he gets his well deserved points for the game and it doesn't matter how he gets them. I hope that he goes very early in the draft because he definitely showed himself "worthy" for Team Sweden this last week. He is a very good leader to everyone else on the team and makes sure that everyone is cooperating, understanding what to do on the shifts, and what can be done to beat the opposing goaltender. Good luck Elias with Brynas, the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, and your future hockey career!
Now we have the goaltender pick. I have talked to Nick various times for game reasons or what have you and I think that he is a very prime example of how goaltenders should look, act, and carry themselves. I reviewed his goaltending partner Brenden Kruckenberg in the celebration blog and mentioned him in there with for the fact that he has fantastic flow. Well he does! Moving on with the review, Nick is 5 ft 11 in, 212 lbs, and is from Naperville, Illinois. In the 2011-2012 season he played for the Gillette Wild as well and had 4.30 goals against average, 16 games played, and a .901 save percentage. He is playing with the Gillette Wild again in the 2012-2013 season. Nick is just an awesome person all the way around. He has really blossomed as you could say in his goaltending. His butterflies are so much better this year, glove catches are tremendous, he definitely protects the crease more, and tends to stay in the goal more. Back to his flow now for a minute. It is amazing. Some of the best I have ever seen in the leagues I have players in. I mean I work with tons of players every day and I can't think off the top of my head if I know anyone whose hair even pales in comparison to his. I am surprised he hasn't been a Gongshow Flow of the Month yet. That's how sick it is! I definitely like watching him play because his goaltending style is so unique. He takes the traditional style and puts quite a twist on it. He freezes the puck more often, uses the pipes instead of straying away from them, uses the whole entire space in front of the net, and really makes the opposing players work to get the puck in. The Gillette Wild are doing very well in the AWHL standings sitting around third place. Well good luck Nick with the Wild and your future hockey career!
Last but certainly not least we have the European player. Bogdan is 6 ft 4 in, 201 lbs, and is from Nizhnekamsk, Russia. He is played with the Reaktor Nizhnemask for the 2011-2012 and he had 15 goals in 46 games played, 10 assists, 25 TPs, 10 PIMs, and a +/- of -4. Bogdan however is signed with the Dizel Penza team in the VHL. He has 3 goals in 21 games played, 6 assists, 9 TPs, 12 PIMs, and a +/- of 6. He is one of the top prospects for the KHL draft and the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. Currently, in the public opinion, he is rated number 6 out of 10 for the Russian players going into the draft. He uses his size and weight to basically knock down the other players so he can find the back of the net and possibly go top cheese. He is very large for a center. You could compare him to Jordan Staal even. His height is the same but he weighs a little less than Jordan. They both have the same style of play and how they approach other players. Big heavy guys who are large and in charge. Bogdan handles the puck if no one can take it away from him and it will be his till the very end when the goaltender is looking at it over his shoulder. A very powerful presence who makes sure the crowd knows who he is even before he steps on the ice. Yakimov surely puts on a show for the other team and the home crowd. Good luck Bogdan in the VHL, in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, and in your future hockey career!
Thanks for reading another blog of Biscuits and Breezers! Every episode will have updated hockey news, player reviews, and so 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!
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