#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: 28-25-3-0-0

Ogden Mustangs: 28-18-8-2-0

Salt Lake City Moose: 24-13-9-2-0

Seattle Totems: 23-10-11-2-0

Southern Oregon Spartans: 26-9-15-0-2

Missoula Maulers: 22-8-11-3-0

Mountain Division:

Phoenix Knights: 22-18-4-0-0

Cheyenne Stampede: 27-13-12-2-0

Boulder Bison: 25-13-12-0-0

Colorado Eagles: 21-11-8-2-0

Arizona Redhawks: 24-8-15-1-0

New Mexico Renegades: 25-3-22-0-0

Midwest Division:

El Paso Rhinos: 22-20-2-0-0

Dallas Ice Jets: 20-13-5-0-2

Texas: 25-12-11-2-0

Dallas Snipers: 26-11-13-1-1

Tulsa Jr Oilers: 23-6-17-0-0

Wichita Jr Thunder: 27-4-22-0-1

Pacific Division:

Fresno Monsters: 24-20-3-1-0

Ontario Avalanche: 27-17-7-3-0

Lake Tahoe Blue: 30-15-13-2-0

Valencia Flyers: 25-14-8-3-0

Long Beach Bombers: 28-12-16-0-0

San Diego Gulls: 28-7-19-1-1

And the AWHL:

Helena: 27-25-1-1

Great Falls: 27-21-6-0

Gillette: 26-15-10-1

Glacier: 28-13-15-0

Billings: 25-9-15-1

Yellowstone: 26-5-18-3

Bozeman: 25-4-19-2

   It was great to watch all of these teams and some players that I have known for quite a while! If you haven't heard of these leagues I highly suggest you check them out! Congrats to all of the teams and players on a great weekend and hopefully it will be just as great next year!

    Now, we move on to Nashville Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne. After having hip surgery earlier this season, the Predators star tendy Rinne will be returning to the action later than expected. A hip infection due to his surgery was found and corrected, but now there are some setbacks. Pekka's recovery from this bacterial infection will be at the minimum 2 weeks slower than suspected by doctors. They are recommending he keep limiting his activities and his rehab will start now depending on his day to day condition instead of having a time table. He was supposed to start rehab on the 20th of December. It is reported that the entire Predators organization is taking every precaution to manage the bacterial infection and getting Pekka back up to his full strength. He is monitored daily. Since his surgeries on May 9th and October 24th, Rinne has been taking antibiotics through intravenous fluids. That line was set to be removed on December 5th but Pekka was kept on antibiotics just as a precaution.  Hopefully he will get better quickly and be back on the ice in no time. Best wishes and best of luck Pekka!

Rinne in goal (Credit to Google Images-sunbelthockey.com)

   Shane Doan of the Phoenix Coyotes has missed the past 6 games due to an unknown illness he has suddenly contracted. The team now believes that Doan has been diagnosed with a form of Rocky Mountain Fever. He has been given medication and is responding well to it so far. For those of you who don't know, Rocky Mountain Fever is a bacterial disease that affects the lining of the blood cells often transported through Dermacentor ticks. Obviously, there is no time set for his return. Get well soon Shane!

   Finally things have come to an end in the Varlamov-Vavrinyukat case. After being arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault, the charges against Semyon Varlamov have been dropped. This is due to the fact that the court had new information leading them to believe there was no conviction to be won. The details about this new information have not been released yet, but it is supposedly linked to not having the ability to prove the actions he took and additional interviews from witnesses. If Varlamov had been convicted, he could have faced anything from simple probation to 2 years in jail. This case was started on an event that happened on October 30th at Varlamov and Vavrinyukat's apartment where he apparently knocked Evgeniya down with a kick, stomped on her chest, and dragged her by her hair. This resulted in a night in jail, charges of misdemeanor assault, a $5,000 bond freedom, traveling rights, and a final conclusion. I am glad that things were able to come to a close on this case disregarding the outcome. 

Semyon Varlamov coming out of his hearing (Credit to Google Images-the-review.com)

  

  We have come to the "Players of Today" section of our blog! For the NHL pick we have Ottawa Senators goaltender Robin Lehner. For the junior pick we have San Diego Gulls defenseman Felix Kronwall. For the European pick we have MODO SHL center Adrian Kempe. 

    Adrian is 6 ft 2 in, 187 lbs, and is from Kramfors, Sweden. Kempe is suspected to go 14th overall in the 1st round of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft to the Dallas Stars. In the 2012-2013 season with the MODO J20 SuperElit team, he had 6 goals in 7 games, 13 TPs, 36 PIMs, and a +/- of -7. Currently, he has 2 goals in 22 games played 4 assists, 6 TPs, 10 PIMs, and a +/- of 2. Adrian uses his size on the ice in any way he can. He is a strong and aggressive forward that has a work ethic like none other. He goes to long lengths to improve his game in any way he can. Kempe is one of those players that you want rushing the puck for you every time. He doesn't let anyone get in his way of his goals and if you do, you better watch out. Speaking of aggressive, his checks are enormous and you are sure to feel them long after. He never misses any opportunity to finish a check or a game which is perfect for an NHL game plan. I hope to see him drafted this summer and am excited to see where he goes (hopefully Pittsburgh, in my opinion!) Good luck Adrian with MODO and your future hockey career!

(Credit to Google Images-eliteprospects.com)

  Felix is 6 ft 8 in, 230 lbs, and is from Stockholm, Sweden. In the 2012-213 season, he had 2 goals in 22 games played, 4 assists, 6 TPs, 41 PIMs, and a +/- of -4. In the 2013-2014 season  however, he has 3 goals in 24 games played, 4 assists, 7 TPs,  20 PIMs, and 1 power play assists. Felix is the nephew of Niklas Kronwall on the Detroit Red Wings. I though it was very cool to see him play this weekend in the show case because he definitely does not stray far from his physical side. You can see it in every play he makes and how he presents himself out on the ice. He is very confident during shifts and is never intimidated by anyone. He knows what he has to do to get things done to make things happen and that is exactly what plays out. If you ever get the chance to watch him, I highly suggest it. He is a great example of a high power, strong, and aggressive defenseman that every team should have at least one of. Good luck Felix with the Gulls and your future hockey career!

(Credit to Malin Zetterberg)

   Robin is 6 ft 5 in, 225 lbs, and is from Gothenburg, Sweden. He was drafted 46th overall in the 2nd round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft to the Ottawa Senators. In the 2012-2013 season, he had 18 wins in 31 games played, 10 losses, 2 ties, 3 shut outs, 65 goals against, 1,046 saves against, a .938 save percentage, 2.12 goals against average, and 1,841 goals against average with the Binghamton Senators in the AHL. Currently, he has 5 wins in 18 games played, 8 losses, 3 overtime losses, 42 goals against, 564 shots against, 522 saves, .926 save percentage, 2.54 goals against average, 4 PIMs, and 992 minutes played with the Ottawa Senators. I really like the way Robin is in the cage because everything is clear cut and precise. He has great butterflies and great overall coverage of the net. He seems to trust his pipes very often and that pays off most of the time. He never gives up on anything and finishes his job to the best of his ability until the very end. I hope we see more of him in the Senators' net in this season! Good luck Robin with the Senators and your future NHL career!

(Credit to Google Images-ottawasun.com)

    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!