#68

Biscuits and Breezers

    Welcome back to another blog of Biscuits and Breezers! In this blog we will be talking about Jakub Voracek's car crash, Eric Staal's knee injury at the World Championships, and Patrick Roy being named Head Coach of the Colorado Avalanche. Starting off with Jakub Voracek.  On Wednesday this week, Jakub totaled his blue Ferrari in his home town of Kladno, Czech Republic. Both front sides of the car were completely ripped off and and suffered severe damage. But the strange thing is, Voracek suffered no damage at all. When heading to a meeting in Prague around 11:00 am, the Flyers winger was driving down the road when a truck coming the opposite way decided to make a left turn in front of his car. Voracek tried to swerve out of the way but ended up clipping the truck and went off the road. He hit a tree and a pole on the way down before stopping at the bottom of a small hill. The front end of the car was completely demolished and the front left tire was gone. No alcohol was involved in this accident. When I saw the pictures from the crash I was very amazed that he walked away unscathed. I mean he is very lucky he wasn't seriously injured! Once you see the pictures you will definitely understand why. Pictures of this will bring back the traumatic accident and death of Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Pelle Lindbergh. Lindbergh would have turned 54 on Friday. Even though I am not a huge fan of the Flyers personally, I am glad that Voracek is safe and sound. Take a look at these pictures and you can understand where I am coming from! (Credit to Google Images for the pictures)

   

   The next thing I want to talk about is Eric Staal. During the 2013 IIHF World Championships held in Stockholm, Sweden and Helsinki, Finland Vancouver Canucks defenseman Alexander Edler and Carolina Hurricanes Forward Eric Staal were involved in a nasty knee-knee collision. Staal was serving as captain of Team Canada and Edler was one of the defenseman on Team Sweden's roster. The hit was given late in the first period and Staal had to be helped off the ice. Edler was given a 5 minute kneeing penalty and a game misconduct. He also was suspended for the rest of the tournament, which in fact were the last two games of the tournament, concluding in Sweden taking home the gold. After an MRI in Raleigh, it was deduced that surgery was not needed to repair his knee but Eric has a third degree sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his knee. An estimation of 3 months of recovery was given to the Staal brother after the MRI. He says he is hopeful that he will return for the 2013-2014 season. I wish Eric a speedy recovery and hopefully he will come back fresh and strong for the beginning of the season. I also hope that there is no lasting knee problems from this because, if you have ever had a hockey related knee injury before, you know they can take forever to heal and sometimes they hurt 4 years down the road. Best wishes and speedy recovery Eric! Here is the hit! (Credit to Google Images for the picture!)

   It was announced Thursday this week that Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender for the Colorado

Avalanche Patrick Roy was named Head Coach and Vice President of Hockey Operations of the Avalanche itself. Also recently, Avalanche alumni Joe Sakic was named Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations. Although Roy has no NHL coaching experience, he has been coach and general manager for the Quebec Ramparts of the QMJHL for the past 8 seasons who won the Memorial Cup in 2006.  Patrick is also part owner of the QMJHL franchise. The man responsible for this change was Josh Kroenke. He replaced team president Pierre Lacroix this season. Lacroix had been President of the Avalanche for a total of 18 seasons. Kroenke decided he wanted Sakic to have more say in what went on with the Front Office of the Avs including the pick of the new head coach. It was a clear choice for Sakic, someone who he was close to, someone he knew would be able to train the players into Cup champions, and mold a disfunctional team into a fully funtional team. Obviously it had to be Roy. There is some controversy on whether Patrick has what it takes to coach well, but I think that we won't know until the 2013-2014 season. If he can transfer his skills to the roster, the other teams in the NHL might have to watch out because they will be dangerous! Here is a YouTube video of Roy in a goalie fight just so you can see what type of tender he is. Some of you will probably remember this fight, Chris Osgood vs. Patrick Roy. Enjoy!

    Now we have come to the "Players of Today"! For the Prospect pick we have Halifax Mooseheads goaltender Zach Fucale. For the Junior pick we have Seattle Totems forward Ben Ihrie. For the European pick we have Frolunda HC Elitserien center Joel Lundqvist.

   Zach is 6 ft 1 in, 176 lbs, and is from Rosemere, Quebec, Canada. In the 2012 season, Luc had 2.35 goals against average in 55 games played and a .909 save percentage. He is on top of the Central Scouting final ranking of North American goaltenders. When you first see this guy you will automatically say "NHL." I mean this guy is on top of his game and if you were a coach you would want him in that starting position. He is an excellent butterfly goalie and has fluidity through out the crease. He is very good on the low ice saves and will cover the net very fully. You could compare him to Cam Ward or even Henrik Lundqvist. Zach is expected to be the first goalie taken in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft this year in New Jersey. I think that he is the prime example of a goaltender. He is helpful to his team, hard worker, concentrated, and always puts his team first. Being on a team with fellow top prospects Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin, he is always trying to improve his game and style it to the new techniques coming out. That's why he is on top. Watching the draft as always, I really hope that he goes first round and goes straight to the show. I don't think that anyone should let him stay in the juniors any longer. Good luck Zach with Halifax and the NHL Draft!

   Ben is 5 ft 9 in, 165 lbs, and is from Ballard, Washington, USA. In the 2011-2012 season, he had 4 goal in 33 games played, 3 assists, 7 TPs, and 33 PIMs. Ben is a very good asset to the Totems I believe. Even though he isn't the goal scorer, he is a grinder. He works very hard out on the ice and makes opportunities for his team mates. When he gets out on a shift he will make things happen no matter what it is or what it takes to accomplish the task. He does what's right for the team's needs. Ihrie is one of those guys who is always dependable. I definitely like this guy out on the ice. He isn't a flashy player, but if he was, he wouldn't be the same. This position fits him and he makes it work. I hope he gets the opportunity to move on with his career because he definitely has the skills to handle an upper level team. Ben works the boards and isn't afraid to get physical. I am definitely going to keep tabs on him and I hope everyone else does because his inner player is getting ready to grow and it will grow into a full grown beast. Good luck Ben with Seattle and your future hockey career!

  Joel is 6 ft 1 in, 201 lbs, and is from Are, Sweden. In the 2012-2013 season, he had 12 goals in 55 games played, 22 assists, 34 TPs, 57 PIMs, and a +/- of 2. He is serving as captain for Frolunda for the past 4 seasons and is twin brothers with New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist. He plays very well defensively and is great in tough situations. He loves to stand his ground and doesn't let anyone budge him from in front of the net. Joel loves to make those huge center ice hits. He isn't the best of skaters but he definitely knows what he is doing and gets done what needs to be done. Joel does however need to be credited with his incredibly soft hands. He passes very well and allows his team mates to finish up the shifts.  He spices up the shifts so to speak and is a definite play maker. Good luck Joel with Frolunda and your future hockey career!

   Thanks for reading another blog of Biscuits and Breezers! Every blog will be full of 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!