Nitzy's Hockey Den

Yeah, yeah... I know they're not the Soviets anymore, I just love the iconic jersey they wore back in the day. Anyway, here is Nitzy's Hockey Den's choices for the 2010 Rusian Olympic squad. Click the chart below to open it larger. I tried to use guys who are eligible for the Russians (pretty sure Antropov, Ponikarovsky and others are ineligible), and I "e-scouted" the Kontinental League to see who may help round out the squad. Feel free to add or argue any picks I have made. Anyway you look at it, it's quite a team. They will definitely be one of the favourites (along with Canada) going into the games. The Russians are absolutely stacked on Left Wing but not so much at the other forward spots. At center, after Malkin and Datsyuk are slotted one and two, the quality drops off. I went to the KHL for enigmatic Alexei Yashin who is having a fine season for St.Petersburg. Sergei Fedorov, playing for Magnitogorsk likewise would make a nice fourth-line center. I h...

A lot has been written about this season’s terrific crop of teenagers in the NHL. There does seem to be an inordinate amount under twenty year olds excelling so far. From Steven Stamkos, John Tavares, Michael Del Zotto and Viktor Hedman to Matt Duchene and Evander Kane there are a total of 14 teenagers currently skating in the league. If none of them are sent back to their junior squads as we approach the ten game mark, this could be the largest group of NHL teenagers over the last ten seasons. It will be far from the highest number of sub twenty year olds in league history. There were also fourteen teenagers that played at least twenty games in 1999/00 led by Vinny Lecavalier, Simon Gagne, Tim Connolly and Nik Antropov. These four players were in fact the only four of the fourteen that notched at least 30 points (Connolly and Antropov just barely). The current season’s crop definitely has the chance to have far more players with at least 30 points. The 1995/96 crop of NHL teens was t...

The Leafs visit GM Place this Saturday, and I will be there watching. Since moving to Vancouver in 1994 I have been to probably two-thirds of the games when my Leafs visit. I must say, it`s always an exciting atmosphere when the hated Leafs come to town. The first game I went to was perhaps the most heart-breaking for me as it was the game that ended any Stanley Cup hopes of the Leafs in 1994. May 24, 1994 was the date that Greg Adams scored the overtime winner against Felix Potvin to send the Nucks to the finals aginst the Rangers. Since that game, the Leafs have visited Vancouver 21 times and somewhat surprisingly, Toronto has a record of 10-7-4 even thought Vancouver has outscored them 79-74. It seems that when the Canucks do beat the Leafs at GM Place, it`s usually by a large margin which makes my viewing experience all the less pleasurable. Vancouver has won by scores of 7-3, 4-1, 5-2 and 6-1 and has won the last two meetings at home by 4-3 and 4-2 scores. When the Leafs win here ...

My Maple Leafs are not a very good hockey club. There, that feels good. Once in a while the truth has to be acknowledged. The problem facing me is that this aforementioned truth has plagued me throughout my life on far too many occasions. In other words, the team which have I followed and embraced since the 1970’s has more often than not been a not very good hockey club. To quote Yogi Berra, the current edition of The Maple Leaf Hockey Club of Toronto feels like “déjà vu all over again”. A recent addition to the actual Nitzy’s Hockey Den is a hockey preview magazine for the 1982/83 season and the summation of the Leafs upcoming year back then is eerily similar to their current state of affairs. I will quote the comments from the nearly thirty year old magazine and compare them to today. The Leafs of autumn 1982 were coming off a season in which they missed the playoffs by a wide margin and had allowed the most goals against in the league, exactly the same way they entered this year. I...

I had heard about plans for an Olympic hockey pavillion near GM Place a few months ago and naturally was very intersted in the concept. I actually am lucky enough to have some tickets to Olympic events including the Canada vs Switzerland mens game. I figured it would be great to hang out as close as could get to the games for a few of the days when I don't have tickets. Even if it costs 50 bucks or so to get into this hockey pavillion with it's giant screens, it would be worth it to be part of the Olympic environment. Then, a few days ago Molson and Hockey Canada unveiled the plans for "Hockey House". Well, were my plans ever shot down.... Sure there's 40 foot screens and nightly entertainment, plus the admission includes all you can eat and drink, but come on...500 bucks? A bit much no? Let's do the math here, the Hockey House will be open daily from 11am to 2am. If I was going to be charged $500, I would arrive at 11:01am and eat three full meals, and perhap...

Each and every Olympics there is a huge debate as to who will represent Canada on the hockey squad. Usually, once the rosters are finalized, there is one or two players that make you wonder about their merit. We can call these players darkhorses that weren’t quite on the radar throughout the orientation and evaluation process. In 1998 Rob Zaumner made the squad and could very well be described as the longest of long shots to have made a Team Canada. Also in ’98, Trevor Linden and Shayne Corson made the cut when perhaps others should have. These two were having sub-par seasons even by their standards, and Linden’s 1997/98 season really was awful, sporting a -14 rating and getting traded to the Islanders. The 2002 Olympic squad really didn’t have any darkhorse picks on the roster other than perhaps Eric Brewer and Mike Peca, but Peca was in the midst of a career season and won the Selke Trophy that season. Perhaps this is a reason Canada won the gold that year, not a lot of gamble pick...

I've been busy the last month or so finishing the artwork for my new hockey children's book title, "The Sterling Seven, Hockey's First Team Ever". I finally have the book's website up and running and should have more time for hockey history blogging very soon! Check it out at; http://www.sterlingseven.ca/