Biscuits and Breezers

#86/2014 IIHF WJC Blog Biscuits and Breezers World Junior Championships: Day 4     Welcome back to another blog of Biscuits and Breezers! Well day 4 of the IIHF World Junior Championships was quite an amazing day for Sweden and the USA by far! Sweden swept the Norwegians with a score of 10-0 and the Americans devastated Germany with a score of 8-0. So I guess you could say that the brooms came out that day. In my opinion, this is exactly what we should be seeing at the World Juniors, players performing at their peak best and vastly improving their game with each tournament they play in. If I had to pick two team for the gold medal round right now it would be a replay of last year's that involved the ever impeccable Team Sweden and the quickly growing Team USA. Each period showed great performances from each country's squad and definitely showed us a different perspective than normally seen. There are game played on the 30th and 31st, then  everyone ha...

#85/2014 IIHF WJC Blog Biscuits and Breezers World Junior Championships: Day 3      Welcome back to another blog of Biscuits and Breezers! On Day 3 of the WJC, we had 4 games played. The teams participating were the USA, Slovakia, Sweden, Finland, Canada, Swtizerland, Russia, and the Czech Republic. There were some major upsets and minor triumphs considering Canada lost in a shoot out to the Czechs while Slovakia came back and almost defeated Team USA. Team Russia, being the hockey super power that it is, came back in normal fashion and completely wiped away Switzerland 7-1. I was really excited to watch the Sweden vs. Finland game as I always am and let me tell you, it was a great game! So far into the World Juniors, it appears that the statistics are showing the normality between the super powers and the lower level teams but I honestly feel that we are all coming to a major upset between a team from each power level. In my opinion, all ...

#84/2014 IIHF WJC Blog Biscuits and Breezers World Junior Championships: Day 2         Welcome back to another blog of Biscuits and Breezers and Day 2 of the IIHF World Junior Championships! There were two games played in Malmo yesterday and that was Slovakia vs. Germany and Finland vs. Norway. Most of the teams that we saw on the first day are able to have time to regain their strengths and rethink their strategies in this tournament, but day 2 was the first showcase of Team Finland's amazing young talent. Team Germany and Norway both lost their initial games on Day 1 and Norway had the challenging task of facing off against a fresh new Finnish team with an already devastating 11-0 loss to Team Russia reminding them that it's survival of the fittest. Team Germany is coming off of a 7-2 blow from Team Canada and is facing off against Slovakia in their 2014 debut. Team Finland is looking very strong this year with many draftees on hand incl...

#83/2014 IIHF WJC Blog Biscuits and Breezers  World Junior Championships: Day 1            Well we have come to one of the best things about Christmas break, the World Junior Championships! Teams from around the world have gathered in the beautiful Swedish city of Malmo, and are ready to show off their skills to the entire globe. Many 2013 NHL draft picks will be seen on these rosters such as New Jersey's Stefan Matteau, Ottawa's Quentin Shore, Nashville's Filip Forsberg, Pittsburgh's Oskar Sundqvist, D.C.'s Andre Burakovsky, Columbus' Alexander Wennberg, and more including some 2014 NHL Entry Draft prospects hoping to up their round selections in Philly with their performances over the next 11 days. 4 games were played today in either the Malmo Arena or the Malmo Isstadion. In this round we had Germany vs. Canada in Game 1, Norway vs. Russia for Game 2, Czech Republic vs. USA in Game 3, and Switzerland vs. Sweden in Game 4! Al...

#82 Biscuits and Breezers     Welcome back to another blog of Biscuits and Breezers! This will be the last regular blog before I start on my annual recaps of the IIHF World Junior Championships on December 26th-January 5th in Malmo, Sweden! To get on with the news, Pekka Rinne's hip recovery hit a speed bump, the charges against Varlamov were dropped, Shane Doan is finally diagnosed, and the results of the WSHL and AWHL Showcases! I think we will start off with showcases. Far the past week, all the teams in the WSHL and the AWHL have been in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA to showcase their skills for recruiting scouts, play teams out of their divisions, and play the All-Star teams. It was a great weekend to watch and there was major improvement and down grading all through out the 5 days and resulted in some very unexpected final scores. At the end of the madness here are the results to round out the leagues!: WSHL: Northwest Division: Idaho Jr. Steelheads:...

Connor Haney Biscuits and Breezers    Welcome back to another blog of Biscuits and Breezers! In this blog you will be able to shortly meet Nevada born defenseman turned Czech3 team mate Connor Haney. Unfortunately, we almost never hear of American junior players traveling over to Europe and playing on foreign teams as often as we do as the Swedes, Finns, or Eastern Europeans such as Russian, Ukrainian, or Czechs. Luckily, I was able to do just the opposite of what I normally do. I was able to talk with Connor Haney about his experiences going to the Czech Republic. I have watched Connor play for the Seattle Totems for about 2 seasons now and I have been impressed with his style of play ever since. Connor is 6 ft 6 in, 201 lbs, is from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, and has everything a team would want. First off, his size is one thing that teams would love to have. A big frame is able to do bigger damage to opposing teams and that is exactly what Haney does during...

Getting to know your Maulers #23 Tanner Todd Get to know your Maulers #23: Tanner Todd (Credit to Missoula Maulers) Welcome back to one of the last Meet your Maulers! We only have 3 more after this interviews after this which would be for Craig Buford, Joey Sundgren, and captain Anders Nord. Let me introduce to you forward #14 Tanner Todd! Tanner is 5 ft 10 in, 150 lbs, is from Brookings, South Dakota, USA, and is a '94. In the 2012-2013 season he played for the Chicago Bulldogs but unfortunately I can not find any stats for last season. I am very happy that Tanner is on the team this year because he has brought so much life and power to the roster, it is very incredible! He drives the puck and keeps his team mates moving but at the same time he is very physically threatening and is always willing to go the extra mile for the team. I, personally, have been enthused with his performances so far just for the fact that he can keep plays going and always want...

Robert Morris University-Springfield Hockey Program     Welcome back to another blog of Biscuits and Breezers! In this blog, you will have a special look at one of the best hockey programs I have ever had the pleasure of working with. They are truly heart felt about their program and they take exceptional care of their players. The boys on the team are as close as you can get in college hockey and they are there supporting each other 100% of the time. One example of this would be the actions the team took for assistant captain Adam Cheung. Adam was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer this year and the team was right beside him all the way. Right after his diagnosis, he received a picture of the team that showed all of the players had shaved their heads in support of their team mate. That is one of those things that these guys are all about. They have a strong appreciation for commitment, family values, and are a huge brotherhood. The program is definitely one of ...