PuckUpdate :: The Hockey Blog » General Minor League

Nothing But Staal

Steven Ovadia — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:04:14 +0000

I’d love to know the Versus ratings on last night’s Red Wings/Penguins game. It seemed liked everyone was watching it. The Wings blew a three-goal lead and were pretty much single-handedly beaten by Pittsburgh’s Jordan Staal.

Staal has a lot of offensive talent for a natural shut-down center and he struggles with balancing the offense and the defense. In the past, I’ve been in favor of Staal indulging his defensive side, but watching him explode like that in an emotionally huge game for the Penguins, I wonder if coach Michel Therrien doesn’t have the right idea in using Staal as a top six forward.

Some more Western Conference news: Joe Sakic seems to have a slight disc inflammation and Peter Forsberg had another round of foot surgery. I understand Forsbeg’s wanting to extend a brilliant career that feels a bit too short, but at a certain point, he just has to realize his mind wants what his body can’t give him. Unless he’s in severe pain, in which case I understand his wanting to get that fixed.

Also, two interesting articles:

New Times Broward-Palm Beach had a great look at Jay Bouwmeester’s career in Florida so far. Thomas Francis argues Bouwmeester hasn’t lived up to expectations, which might be true to a certain extent, but I really don’t think there’s an NHL GM that doesn’t consider Bouwmeester a fantastic, NHL-quality defenseman. And once he gets out of Florida, he’ll get the chance to show what he can do.
A hockey team in Brooklyn? What could be better? Actually, a hockey team in Queens would be better, but minor league hockey in New York City is still a very cool thing.

Less and Less of a Pamphlet

Steven Ovadia — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 10:15:42 +0000

Wow! Patrick Roy has an Orthodox Jewish goalie playing for his junior league team.
Because of his religion, goalie Benjamin Rubin can’t play Friday night to sundown Saturday, meaning he’ll miss about half of the Quebec Remparts’ games.
Obviously there have been Jews in hockey before, but you don’t see many Orthodox Jews, mostly because the religious commitments make it very tough to fit in sports, especially at the professional level. I don’t think of Patrick Roy as a particularly patient guy, but it’s huge for him to extend an opportunity to someone like this.
It’s been a good couple of weeks for Jewish sports fans. Shawn Green, Jewish, but not Orthodox, came to the Mets toward the end of August.
And heck. If Michael Peca and Darcy Tucker can patch things up (much like Peca’s knee was patched up after that cheap shot in the 2002 playoffs), maybe there can even be peace in the Middle East.

Hockey Will Not Die. Trust Me

Steven Ovadia — Thu, 24 Jun 2004 12:40:07 +0000

I really don’t believe that any kind of lockout will end hockey as we know it. Despite the awful ratings in the States and the fact that things like poker and arena football and competitive eating seem poised to topple hockey as America’s fourth-favorite sport, some people really do love it. And not just people in Boston and Minnesota and New York.
People in Odessa, Texas love it, too.
Their local Central Hockey League team, the Jackalopes, is even hosting a summer hockey camp for kids, teens, and adults.
They’re not talking about strikes and salary caps. They’re just loving hockey.
So don’t worry.

Cherry: ‘Gretzky Scored Too Much, Too!’

Steven Ovadia — Mon, 08 Dec 2003 13:50:01 +0000

So Don Cherry of HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA has been riding Sidney Crosby, the junior league prodigy who’s being touted as the next Wayne Gretzky — even by Gretzky.
Cherry was busting on the well-circulated clip of Crosby scoring from behind the net.
Was it flashy and show-boaty? Hell yeah. Was it awful sportsmanship? Yup. Was it great for hockey? I think so. People want to see goals. They want to see flashy, crazy goals. While I wouldn’t want someone like Crosby, who I’m going to assume is a defensive liability, on my favorite NHL team, I’m sure I’d watch him play as often as possible. So when Crosby joins the NHL, the only people he’ll be harming will be his own team. But if he’s as powerful up in the NHL as he is down below it, he won’t be hurting anyone but opposing teams. So there’s really very little downside to Crosby’s flash. I’m not sure why Cherry wants to turn this kid into some kind of grinder. I guess it’s so people will write about him.
Good work, Don. You won.

South East Hockey League: ‘You’ll Never Guess Who’s Playing”

Steven Ovadia — Fri, 17 Oct 2003 13:06:29 +0000

Tim over at RinkBlog tells us about the new four-team South East Hockey League.
That’s right. A league made up of just four teams.
Look at their schedule. How silly is that? ‘The Knoxville Ice Bears are playing the Moosehead tonight. I wonder who the Fire Antz are playing?’

South East Hockey League: ‘You’ll Never Guess Who’s Playing”

Steven Ovadia — Fri, 17 Oct 2003 13:06:29 +0000

South East Hockey League: ‘You’ll Never Guess Who’s Playing”

Steven Ovadia — Fri, 17 Oct 2003 13:06:29 +0000