LOL Macek

Ugh, I hoped it was just a bad dream **UPDATED**

  From Drinnan:

The Spokane Chiefs will introduce their new head coach at a news conference on Wednesday (June 30). That news conference will begin at 1 p.m.
Yes, Don Nachbaur is the Chiefs’ new head coach.
Nachbaur resigned last week as head coach of the Binghamton Senators, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. He spent the previous five seasons as head coach of the WHL’s Tri-City Americans. He also has coach the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds.
While Nachbaur was coaching in Binghamton, his family remained in Richland, Wash., and his son, Daniel, played bantam hockey in Spokane.
During Nachbaur’s five seasons with the Americans, they developed a fierce rivarly with the Chiefs. So his signing with Spokane could take that rivalry to a whole new level.
Nachbaur takes over from Hardy Sauter, whose two-year regular-season record as head coach was 91-45-3-5. After Spokane lost a first-round series to the Portland Winterhawks in seven games, the Chiefs chose not to pick up the option season on Sauter’s contract. 

Best of luck to Nachbaur.  Well, not quite the best, if you know what I mean*.

Last week when this first came up I panicked, whether or not to change the name of the blog.  If I did, I'd have to change my Twitter username.  This blog (name included) has become a part of my identity, I don't think I can change that.  Even if it's words uttered by the now enemy coach.

**UPDATED**
I found this on The Canadian's site:

Here’s an interesting start to an un-started season…

Many people will love it…

Most TriCity Americans fans are screeeeaaammming their bloody heads off right now.

Not sure about that one. First of all, we've all seen this coming for the last week or so.  Secondly, is anyone really surprised anyways?  His family stayed here while he was in Binghamton, not too much of a stretch to think he'd want to come back to be near them, and there just happened to be a job opening in Spokane.  If people didn't see this one coming, they're in denial.  Additionally, I don't think that any Americans fan would be so completely irrational** not to see that this is a good move for Don and we should be happy for him.  Sure, it's going to make things tougher for our team, but so what?  Bring on the challenge.  Finally, I think the past season has shown that Jim Hiller knows what he's doing and can coach the Americans successfully.  I believe in Jim Hiller.

*I mean he's the coach of the goddamn Chiefs, don't want him to do TOO well or it hurts my team.
**and yes, I'm well aware there are irrational Ams fans

Import Draft **UPDATED**

sure enough, Bob took 2 selections at today's CHL Import Draft.  And they're both named Nikita.

16th overall selection (which apparently was a trade with Prince Albert, I don't know what for though) is another Russian, Nikita Nesterov.  He's a 6' 185 lb. defenseman, eligible for the 2011 draft (born 1993).

55th overall selection is Nikita Kardashev.  Also a defenseman, 6'1" 185 lbs from Belarus.  Looks like perhaps he played with Sergei?  I found this tidbit on HFBoards (so grain of salt):

Nikita Kardashev – A late 92 born player, Kardashev had a couple of impressive performances and could be a diamond in the rough next season. A good skater with good reactions around the puck, he has good size and doesn’t take too many risks around the puck. He often gets it deep or moves it quickly when pressured. Kardashev was easily the top Belarussian defender and was relied on to QB the PP, shutdown top lines from opponents and manage the PK. Kardashev is a player to keep an eye on and monitor his development, he just could surprise.  (poster Chomsky)

So that's all the info I have on these guys.  And I haven't heard anything more about Alex returning, being traded, or returning to Russia, so no idea where that's headed.

**UPDATED**
from an email from the Americans:

Kennewick, WA - Tri-City Americans Governor/General Manager Bob Tory announced today that the club has selected two 17-year-old defensemen, Nikita Nesterov (16th overall) and Nikita Kardashev (55th overall) in today's Canadian Hockey League Import Draft.

Originally slated to have their first pick at #55, Tory traded the club's 4th round Bantam Draft pick in 2011 to the Prince Albert Raiders in exchange for their 16th overall pick.  With the newly acquired position, the Americans were able to select Nesterov out of Chelyabinsk, Russia.  The 6'0 185-pound left defenseman played for Belle Medvedi Chelyabinsk and appeared in nine games, totaling five goals, seven points and a plus-2 rating.  Nesterov also played in two tournaments for Russia, collecting two goals, two points and 29 penalty minutes in a fourth-place finish at the U-18 World Junior Championships.

"With the graduation of (Jarrett) Toll and (Brett) Plouffe, my goal was to acquire a top defenseman in today's draft," said Tory.  "Nikita is a skilled player who can quarterback the power play.  As a 1993 birthday, Nikita can represent Russia at the upcoming 2011 World Junior Championships in Buffalo and will be eligible for the 2011 NHL Entry Draft next summer."

Still holding their original 55th-overall pick, Tory then selected Nikita Kardashev from Minsk, Belarus.  The 6'1 185-poind right defenseman played for the Yunost Minsk Jr. team while also participating in the U18 World Junior Championships for Belarus this past April.

"(Kardashev) is a hard-nosed, stay-at-home defenseman," Tory continued.  "We wanted to address our depth on the blue line as well as balance out our age groups on our depth chart and I feel that we have accomplished both of those goals with our picks today.  We now have some options going into training camp in regards to our defense, over-age situation and import situation."

"(Sergei) Drozd will also be returning to the club to compete for one of two import spots and one of three over-age spots on the 2010-11 club," explained Tory.  "We are looking forward to a very competitive training camp and expect our players to be prepared for a very special and exciting season."

Of note, Nesterov is from the same organization that produced former Americans defenseman Nikita Korovokin.  Also, Kardashev is from the same organization as current Tri-City forward Sergei Drozd.

Pre-season schedule and Home Opener (and import draft)

from the WHL:

The Everett Silvertips Holiday Inn Pre-season Classic runs September 3 – 5 and will feature the Ontario Hockey League’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, the host Everett Silvertips, Portland Winterhawks, Tri-City Americans, Seattle Thunderbirds and Spokane Chiefs.  The three-day tournament will be played at the Comcast Arena and marks the first time that the Everett Silvertips have competed against a team outside of the Western Hockey League.

The Tri-City Americans Red Lion Hotels Pre-Season Tournament features all five U.S. Division Clubs; the host Americans, Everett Silvertips, Portland Winterhawks, Seattle Thunderbirds and the Spokane Chiefs.  The tournament will also feature WHL Central Division foes the Kootenay Ice and Lethbridge Hurricanes with games starting on September 9. 

With that many teams, looks like they'll be back to 3 games per day like it was several years ago.

Looks like the AMS home opener is Saturday, September 25 against the Spokane Chiefs.
------------------------
Tomorrow is CHL Import Draft.  As is usual, I have no clue what Bob will do.  It looks like there will be at least one spot open for an import based on these tweets from Dimitri Chesnokov who covers all things KHL and Russian players for Puck Daddy:

KHL Magnitogorsk's GM told SovSport the load of Pechursky to the Pens is over and that the player is to go back to the KHL.

According to KHL Magnitogorsk's GM, goalie Alexander Pechursky will return to the KHL where he allegedly has a long term contract. #Pens 

That's all the info I have on that at this point, if something else comes my way I'll let you know.  As for the other import spot, it'll depend on if Bob wants to keep Sergei Drozd as an overage import player.  I'm sure he'll draft 2, whether they'll play in an Americans jersey is anyone's guess.

Draft weekend

So there's some of my photos from the great weekend. I'm a small town girl so LA was completely overwhelming, and that was even before I stepped outside of LAX. Met up with the boyfriend and the boys from the Face Off Hockey Show on Thursday night and actually turned in fairly early as we'd all gotten up early to catch flights.

Friday we all headed downtown to the Staples Center. They did a great job outside the arena with slapshot contests (Ilan was runner up to win a set of tires), equipment displays by Bauer and Easton, some ball hockey for the kids, merchandise booths, and beer gardens. We met up with Greg Wyshynski, THE Puck Daddy, and Jon Press of Japer's Rink at the ESPNZone restaurant (great burger). From there we went into the Staples Center. They had the Stanley Cup there for fans to take pictures with, but the line was ridiculously long. It was supposed to be available from 2-3:30 but some of the crew went down at like 4:30 and were able to get photos with it and the Official Cup Handler, Phil Pritchard.

Our seats were wayyyyy up in the 300 level, while Wazz and the FOHS had media credentials and were on the floor--lucky bastards. The Draft itself was dreadfully boring. It went on for four long hours. That being said, it WAS cool to see all the pomp and circumstance of the kids getting selected, they go up on the stage and put on the jersey and smile for photos. But the time between picks, the time it took for the kids to hug everyone in the 3 surrounding rows, get to the stage and all that...it just dragged on and on and on. It didn't help that the atmosphere in the place was pretty dead. I've never been to another draft so I don't have much to compare it to, but Wazz has been every year since 2002 and said it was dead. There was not even music played between pics, just dead atmosphere. The crowd got into it when LA picked, and got to booo really loud when Anaheim picked, but that was about it. Lots of excitement when Emerson Etam was selected since he's from LA, but also some boos since it was Anaheim's selection.

It was interesting draft as some guys who were ranked high dropped way down--Cam Fowler, Calvin Pickard to name a few. Other guys who were ranked way low shot up and got selected in the first round, like Dylan McIlrath from Moose Jaw who went 10th overall--totally unexpected.

After Day 1 festivities, we headed over to Q's in Santa Monica (we stayed out in Santa Monica) for booze, food, and apparently TV as they had a tower of TVs over the bar, as well as a TV in each booth. Nutty.

Day 2 of the Draft, way less fanfare.  Very sparse crowd, which helped me get better seats, close to the media riser where Wazz was.  I'm not sure what I was thinking but I didn't take my zoom lens on day 2, didn't want to carry it (it's actually quite heavy).  Why it didn't occur to me that Brooksie or other Americans might be taken and I would need it....no clue.  Before things got started, Wazz and I wandered around the empty concourse, got personalized hockey cards made by the Upper Deck people, got our pictures near the Stanley Cup (couldn't get right up with it on day 2, oh well).  Rounds 2-7 also took 4 hours, but it went by way faster than day 1.  There's no fanfare, just teams making their picks from their tables, in like 5 minutes or less.  Not as exciting as day 1, but also better cuz it went faster.  

Brooks Macek was selected 171st overall, in the 6th round by the Detroit Red Wings.  Ugh, I hate the Red Wings, now I'll have to keep an eye on them.  Because he was there, the NHL and Associated Press got lots of photos of him:

Ugh, too bad it's the Red Wings.  Oh well.

As round 7 was coming to a close, I heard Patrick Holland's name called, he was chosen 193rd overall by the Calgary Flames.  I screamed really loud for him, even though he wasn't there (I don't think anyways, I didn't see him).  So really awesome day for Macek and Holland.  I was surprised Messier or Feser weren't also selected.

After Day 2 draft stuff, Wazz and I went to head back to Santa Monica, but got horribly lost.  LA is too much traffic, too many freeways, and absolutely terrible signage.  Thankfully, as we were nearly to Pasadena we remembered we had the GPS and made our way back, detouring to the nearby Hammer Museum so I could get photos.  It's too bad it is an art museum and not a museum of hammers.  

Once we finally made it back to the hotel, met up with the FOHS boys who had skipped day 2 of the draft for the USA/Ghana game and we all got set to do their draft show, a video show, not just usual radio show.  What a gongshow.  We talked draft, talked Caps (since they're all Caps fans), talked minor leagues, salary cap, and a whole shitload of nonsense in between.  So much fun.  The boys then played some NHL 94 on the Wii, it got pretty heated too, these boys take their video games serious.  Frankly, I'm surprised we didn't get kicked out of the hotel.

We decided to head several blocks down to Gabe's the local sports bar that looked totally shady from the outside.  Sure enough, it was shady.  And cash only and no one had cash.  We ended up around the corner at the Hamburger Habit where after several beers, the grilled pastrami with mustard sandwich was absolutely the best thing I've ever eaten.  Also, unlike Q's, it was not a crazy bar so me and my new friends got to just hang out and be silly without having to yell conversation.  For someone who is hearing impaired, I liked that aspect a lot.

My flight back to Tri-Cities left LAX at 7:20 so we got a brief nap before Wazz had to get me to the airport.  What a whirlwind weekend.  I had a blast, even if the draft itself was...meh.  I made new friends and just had a great time.  Will I go to Minnesota for next years' draft?  Possibly, we'll see as the time gets closer.

Player recap--Patrick Holland

Ass-pat to Mr. Spokant for pointing out I was not, in fact, finished with the player recaps, that I'd forgotten Holly.  I'm not surprised with myself for forgetting, I'm awesome like that.

When I set out to write these recaps, I knew it'd be a glowing analysis of Holland. Him getting drafted this weekend confirms the good things I have to say about him.

Patrick Holland was a rookie this past season, can you even believe it?  He sure didn't play like one.  He has decent size and a whole boatload of skill and talent.  As a rookie, Holly played 59 regular season games and amassed 36 points (16g 20a).  He got 10 more points in 22 playoff games.

Patrick is a well-rounded player, not afraid to check or be checked.  He skates very well and has great vision.  He was my choice for Rookie of the Year back at the halfway mark and sure enough, he received that award at the end of the regular season.  I am quite excited to see what he can bring to the table this upcoming season, it's going to be fun to watch him, that's for sure.

Holly's Look-Alike is no one?  This is what MyHeritage had (on the 3rd attempt):

random.  Oh well, Holly's a stud.  An NHL Drafted stud.

Draft stuff

Back from LA this morning, flight was at the ass-crack of dawn so I'll get post written probably tomorrow. 

Obviously, if you're looking here for breaking news, you're misguided.  But just in case, Ams press release here.

Also, Mr. Spokant noted that I forgot Patrick Holland on the player recaps, thinking I was done.  So I'll get that done too, I knew I'd forget someone, it happens every time I do player-by-player anything.

Player recap--Brock Sutherland

Know we these are hard to write? I mean, besides the fact it's almost July? Because the freshest in my mind is the playoffs. And Brock was abysmal during the playoffs. The most frustrating part is, of course, that I know he can play better. I saw him do it all during regular season. I just don't know what happened.

Suds played 52 regular season games. With 8 D-men on the roster, he did some sitting in the stands, rotating with McIntosh and/or Dow. And he played well. Well enough to earn himself a permanent spot on the blueline. When he was sucking in the playoffs, the others had been sitting too long for them to come in in replacement and be effective.

Brock has the size and skill to be an excellent defenseman. I would like to see it on a consistent basis, including into a deep playoff run. He'll be looked to for veteran leadership for the D corps this upcoming season and he needs to lead by example as well. And I don't mean by wearing the most outrageous holiday sweater at the Christmas party, though doing so isn't a bad idea.

As for Brock's Look-Alike, he's an interesting looking fella, so I plugged him into My Heritage to see what they could come up with. Here's what we got:

hrm. Not sure he really looks like any of them, but whatever. Recaps done. I'm going to LA for the NHL Entry Draft.  Not sure how much computer time I'll have, so hopefully nothing too exciting happens around here.

well, f*ck ***UPDATED***

I've been trying to be better about not using the f-bomb to make this blog a little more reader-friendly, even though I normally swear like a sailor.  I know, it's not an attractive trait, but I can't seem to break the habit.  

I hate it when I'm right.  No I don't.  But I hate hate HATE that I was right about this one.  Drinnan reports:

Don Nachbaur, who resigned Tuesday after one season as head coach of the AHL’s Binghamton Senators, is expected to be named the next head coach of the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs.
Two sources told The Daily News on Tuesday that Nachbaur left Binghamton, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators, in order to become the Chiefs’ head coach.
"It is a difficult day for me as I step down as the head coach of the Binghamton Senators,” Nachbaur said in a statement. “This was not an easy decision for me, but it is based on personal reasons and I think it is the right choice for both myself and my family."
Nachbaur resigned last summer after five seasons as head coach of the Tri-City Americans and signed with Ottawa. Binghamton went 36-35-6-3 with Nachbaur at the helm, but didn’t make the playoffs.
Nachbaur was a fan-favourite in Tri-City as the Americans had unprecedented success with him as head coach. His run finished with back-to-back U.S. Division pennants.
The Chiefs and Americans have a tremendous rivalry that is about to get even hotter.
While Nachbaur moved to Binghamton, his family stayed in Richland, Wash. In fact, his son, Daniel, played for the bantam Spokane Jr. Chiefs, one of the teams that played in the 42nd annual KIBIHT.
With Spokane, Nachbaur will replace Hardy Sauter, who lost his job after last season when the club chose not to exercise an option.  (Taking Note)

So there it is, worst fears confirmed*.  

Look, I have faith in Jim Hiller and Terry Virtue.  I really do.  But Nachbaur is an excellent coach.  And now he's in the division, playing for the goddamn rival Chiefs.  I don't have the rabid hatred for the Chiefs like some do, but I still don't like 'em.  At all.**

Gotta hope that the Chiefs scouting is crappy.  But Don can effectively coach crappy players.  Hell, he got Jason Beeman to be somewhat productive.

And, as Drinnan mentioned, Nachbaur's family had stayed in Tri-Cities while he was in Binghamton, that had to be difficult.  Probably even more difficult than the B-Sens shitty season.  As someone who is in a long-distance relationship, I know how much it sucks.  And we're not even married, nor do we have kids.*** This will allow him to be back together with his family.  It will also allow him to continue being an awesome coach at the junior level.  It's just too bad it's against my team.

My other freakout about this whole thing is whether or not I keep the name of the blog.  It's a Don Nachbaur saying.  I don't want to change it, I like it, it's unique.  But now that he's associated with the Chiefs...I dunno, seems like it might be awkward to keep it there.

Later today, I'll finish up player recaps, just have Sutherland left.  Then I'm off tomorrow for the NHL Entry Draft in LA!

***UPDATE***

Over at DubNation, I found this tidbit:

Today, Dave Trimmer of the Spokesman Review in Spokane reports that the Chiefs say that Tuesday's news report was premature. For those who've never read Trimmer's material before, do yourself a favour and hunt up some of his articles, regardless of what sport it is. In two words, wonderful writer. More on today's Chiefs story here.

Premature or incorrect, Nachbaur would be a wonderful hire by the Chiefs. His coaching record is stellar and, simply put, the man knows how to coach.

So I checked out the article:

Spokane Chiefs general manager Tim Speltz denied reports that former Tri-City Americans coach Don Nachbaur is the new coach of the Western Hockey League team.

The Kamloops Daily News, citing two sources, said Nachbaur is all but signed to replace Hardy Sauter.
“It could be right but it’s not now,” Speltz said this morning. “We do not have a deal done with Don Nachbaur.
“I talked to Don yesterday. By all means, he’s a candidate for sure. He’s in Vegas, we talked, we’re going to talk. He’s a valid candidate, a very accomplished coach.”


“There will be nothing done this week for sure,” said Speltz, who has had former Spokane assistant and recently fired Edmonton head coach Steve Pleau in for an interview.


“It’s safe to say I’m not done with the process now but I consider him a strong candidate,” Speltz said. “It’s not like I have to do a lot of checking, I know him pretty well.

“I’m going to say I think Don is still interested in coaching junior from my talk yesterday. He didn’t say he was interested in Spokane but I think he is. He said he just needed a little bit of time to regroup.”

So we're safe...for now.

 
*not true, my worst fears are cancer, Alzheimer's, and I have an irrational fear of bridges and tunnels--that they will collapse while I'm in/on them.

**I dislike the organization because they're rivals.  But the rivalry brings out the worst in fans on both sides which I really fucking hate.  Sorry about the f-bomb there, but it was needed.

***together, he has a super adorable daughter.  Srsly, she's cute as hell.

DON NACHBAUR RESIGNS AS HEAD COACH OF B-SENS

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – The Binghamton Senators, in conjunction with their National Hockey League affiliate, the Ottawa Senators, announced today that Don Nachbaur has announced his resignation as head coach due to personal reasons.

 

“It is a difficult day for me as I step down as the head coach of the Binghamton Senators. This was not an easy decision for me, but it is based on personal reasons and I think it is the right choice for both myself and my family,” said Nachbaur. “I would like to thank the Ottawa Senators, specifically Bryan Murray and Tim Murray, as well as Tom Mitchell and the Binghamton Senators for the opportunity to be part of a terrific organization. I wish them nothing but success in the future.”

 

Nachbaur was named head coach on July 17, 2009. In one season behind the bench, he led Binghamton to a 36-35-6-3 record and 81 points. The B-Sens finished fifth overall in the American Hockey League’s East Division.

 

“We want to thank Don for his contributions to the Senators organization and wish him all the best as he moves on,” said Senators assistant general manager Tim Murray. “We will be diligent in finding a quality coach to replace him and will begin the search immediately.”  (Senators press release) 

I mean, we got guys* that wish Don the best as he goes forward.  Personally, I hope everything is ok.  I would love to see him back in the WHL.  Wait, no.  He's a damn good coach and wouldn't want him coaching against the Americans.  Oh my god if he gets the head coaching job in Spokane I might shank someone.  For real this time.

*the name of this blog comes from an old Nachbaur coaching saying, for those that were unsure.  Didn't want to change it when Hiller came in.

Player recap--Todd Kennedy

I really don't have much to say. I wasn't impressed when Kennedy arrived, as a 19-year-old in the league I expected better/different stats. I wasn't particularly impressed with his play, I think he was supposed to be a Boogaard-type player, but Boogie had talent (granted, he didn't use it enough, but still).

Todd played a whopping 10 regular season games, spent the rest of the time injured or suspended.  I didn't really miss him.  He came back in time for the playoffs, played (suited up for) 22 games, had one really stellar game where he got 2 goals against Chilliwack, couldn't wipe that smile off his face for probably a good week.  He played better, smarter, in the playoffs, though not a ton of ice time.

After the playoffs ended, Todd and Riley McIntosh were released by the Americans so not in the mix for an overage spot next season.  Look, he is a nice kid, just not my favorite hockey player.

Kennedy's Look-Alike is Paul Stanley, member of KISS.  Apparently, according to Google image search, he's undergone plastic surgery, but here he is pre-surgery:

hey, it was this guy or Joey Fatone.

Somewhat related, I was visiting my parents last week and my mom and I were going through some boxes in the basement of stuff she'd saved from me and Sister's childhood.  One of the things I found was a composition (writing) notebook from 4th grade.  Note from my teacher said:

Dave Schultz needs to work on thinking about others feelings and writing things in a way that will make people feel okay about themselves.

Obviously, I never learned.

Player recap--Drew Owsley

I'm actually at a loss for words. Shocking, I know. But really, what more can I say about Drew MF Owsley that I haven't said already??  No really, click on the sidebar tags of "Drew Owsley" or "I believe in Drew Owsley" there's lots and lots of stuff.

With Pickard gone and news of From Russia With Glove arriving, I began the "I believe in Drew Owsley" campaign to show that he deserved a chance after sitting in the stands in the 3-goalie system of the 2008-2009 season.  FRWG didn't show, but Owsley sure did.  He worked with Jerry Price over the summer and came into camp ready to take the reigns.

Drew Owsley was the story (to me) of the 2009-2010 season.  He played nearly every game leading up to Christmas break (when FRWG arrived) and roughly half after that.  Then he proved to be the go-to guy in the playoffs.  Simply brilliant. 

And we get him back this coming season.  He's only gonna be better, I can't wait.

Owsley's Look-Alike, best I could find, is Keanu Reeves.  Though I'm quite certain Drew's a better actor.

PS--speaking of this coming season, I forgot to mention in yesterday's Plouffe recap that he's heading way east to Dalhousie University in Halifax. I've already let Q-Girl know so she can keep an eye on him for us.

Also, Jarrett Toll and Johnny Lazo will both be playing at the University of Alberta. HOTTEST. DORMROOM. EVER.

Player recap--Brett Plouffe

I suppose I should have mentioned I was going on vacation for a week, oh well.  I'm back and I'm determined to finish the player recaps.

First off, I was sort of shocked when Bob chose to keep Brett as a 20-year-old defenseman over Mitch McColm. Shocked and pissed, quite frankly.  And I got even more pissed when Plouffe was playing like shit.  The first, say, third of the season were not good for Plouffe.  Like some of the others, the frustrating part was that I knew he could play better, I'd seen him do it.

Plouffe got it together eventually, ended up getting Defenseman of the Year award at the end of the regular season awards.  That shocked me too, but what do I know.

Brett skates well and has a rocket of a slap shot.  And when that slapper is actually on target, watch out.  He's come close to decapitating opposition goalies.

Observations from my boy:  when seeing Plouffe on the ice, he remarked "Pah-louffe, Pah-louffe, Pah-louffe is on fire" from the Bloodhound Gang (language NSFW).  Also, the boy noticed Brett wore Reebok gloves while everyone else wore CCM gloves.  So there's that.

Plouffe's Look-Alike is Ethan Hawke.  NOM.  Had to find a pic of him from the 90s since he's old now.  Hell, aren't we all.  UGH.

Player recap--Neal Prokop

Oh that tongue, it's in every picture I swear.

I believe the Americans could have done better against Calgary if Neal had still been playing. Could they have beat the Hitmen? Hard to say, that was a darn good team. But you can be sure he would have parked his big body in Jones' kitchen and made things a bit more difficult.

Neal had one hell of a season. His best in his WHL career so far. He accumulated 22 goals and 23 assists in the regular season, far surpassing anything he'd done in other seasons in the Dub. 

Prokop didn't wear an "A" on his sweater but he was most definitely part of the leadership of this team.  His work ethic and drive were shown every shift, every night.  He worked on "team building" off the ice too in the fall with the team baseball games (boys are silly, God love 'em).

This coming season would be Neal's 20-year-old season and obviously we all wish he'd be back.  But with the femur break, I think the chances of that happening are...zero  :(  Best case scenario, from what I've read, it's a year before full-contact which would be next playoffs, you don't save a 20 spot for someone who might be able to play in the playoffs.  It just breaks my heart.  Hopefully Neal will recover 100% and be able to keep playing hockey, either at the minor league level or college.  Hell, hopefully some pro team will take notice and want to take a chance on him.  Bottom line, best wishes for Neal and everything he has to look forward to in his future.

Neal's Look-Alike is Pierre Bouvier, a Canadian musician, who is best known as the lead singer for pop punk band Simple Plan (or so says Wikipedia, I've never heard of him, but kudos MyHeritage.com once again for making the match).

Jim Hiller named assistant coach for Canada's national under-18 team

screen cap from amshockey.com (cuz that's my photo)  :)

Player recap--Brendan Shinnimin

What an amazing season Shinnimin had. Leading scorer on the team in the regular season with 82 points (27G 55A), and adding 25 points in the playoffs (8G 17A).  Certainly made the world aware it's his draft year and he's serious.

Shinny is a kid who likes to win, you can just tell (which of them doesn't want to win though, c'mon).  There were times when they were down or during the rough spring stretch when he was trying to do everything himself.  The motivation behind doing that I totally understand, but it's not really the solution in a team game.  That being said, he has a work ethic that is tremendous and a drive and passion for the game that is obvious in his play.

The second half of the season wasn't as productive for Shinnimin, mostly because other teams figured out that he was a threat and were able to shut him down.  The streakiness of linemate Hughesman didn't help either.  There were some adjustments to linemates as the rough stretch in February/March wore on, but Brendan continued to work his tail off.

Shinnimin isn't the biggest guy out there, but he makes up for it with grit and tenacity.  He's not afraid to get physical, fight if he needs to.  If you watch just him for several shifts you'll notice he's not shy about shit-talking the opposition either, I imagine he's just a pest to play against--and that's a good thing.

As for Brendan's Look-Alike, have to go with the teenage Corey Haim:

I think I had that Teen Beat picture on my wall, I freakin' loved The Lost Boys.

Player recap--Tyler Schmidt

Tyler Schmidt is a darn good defenseman.  Especially after he learned (or was told) to shut his trap and just play.  All too often, for three-quarters of the season anyways, he was yapping after every non-call (or call), he was embellishing hits to the point that I just felt embarrassed for him and his acting.  All the time he was playing well, but once he knocked that shit off, his game elevated exponentially.

Schmidt will be a 20 next year and it would be ridiculous for Bob to trade him and his experience.  He plays a shitload of minutes and does so quite well.  He has spent the last 2 pre-seasons with the Minnesota Wild as a free-agent tryout, they kept in into main camp this past year too I believe.  So they like him.  Will they like him again?  Will they like him enough to sign him?  If they like him and they sign him, will they keep him here or do they think he's ready for AHL??  I don't even pretend to know.  This is a team (the Wild) that drafted Riley Emerson (WTF??!).  Then again, they might not even invite him back.  Or some other team might.  Who the hell knows.  

As a fan who would like to see this team be as successful as possible, I hope to hell Schmidt's back as a 20.  The 2010-2011 team has a very young defensive corps, except Schmidt and Mestery.  It would be nice for these two to be around to be the leadership for the D and for the team.

As for Tyler's Look-Alike, he looks like Detroit Tiger baseball player Johnny Damon.  Who used to play for the Red Sox and the Yankees, therefore automatically a tool.  But we're only going on looks here, not personalities.

Player recap--Justin Feser

Quietly, Justin Feser had an outstanding season.  He amassed an impressive 36 goals and 37 assists in the regular season and another 4 goals and 14 assists in the playoffs.  Who knew?  He was often overlooked (by me and who knows who else, but I'm the one writing this crap) in favor of "big name" guys like Shinnimin and Reddick.  I guess that's just another credit to the depth this team had this season--that a guy on the 3rd line ends up 2nd in regular season scoring.  Credit also to his linemates Patrick Holland and Neal Prokop, the three had a tremendous season.  They also had good chemistry.  During the slumping at the start of 2010, when coach was mixing up the lines trying to find some magic, he kept Hollly, Feser, and Prokop together, that's how effective they were.

And wrap your head around this, Feser's going to be 18 this season.  He's been that good as a rookie (Rookie of the Year his 16-year-old season) and this past season when he was 17.  He's only going to get better.  He's got size and talent ooozing out of his ears.  Justin's going to be a lot of fun to watch this upcoming season.  This team is losing players, but still has some immense depth.*

As for Justin Feser's Look-Alike, none other than Elvis Presley.  This comparison was made a long time a go among the Bishes, part of the reason I'm doing this Look-Alike gimmick.  Have a look:

 *we'll talk defense later =/

Draft notes

Mestery wasn't signed by the Capitals so will be returned to the pool of eligible players for the upcoming 2010 Entry Draft (I will be there!!)

Meanwhile, Pechurskiy has not been signed either, but the Pens got exemption to the June 1 deadline because of his Russian contract.

Ass pat to Scotty Wazz for the links.  Hell, he gets an ass grab, but I'll spare you the details.

Steve Dangle interviews Cody Castro

FYI, in the discussion of poem or gun, Cody goes with gun.

Player recap--Johnny Lazo

I like to eat my words, they're tasty.  Last July I didn't know if Johnny would be the type of overage player the AMS needed.  How wrong I was.  I'm ok with being wrong--when it works in my favor of course :)

Paired with Shinny and Hughesman, Lazo had an outstanding overage season.  He and Shinny are two of the quickest guys on the team.  Also the smallest so they are effective at working their way into the corners and slipping away from checks.  Johnny's not afraid to be physical, even against guys a foot (or more) taller than him.  Not only that, he is tremendously strong so you'd think a small guy like him would get pushed off the puck too often, but he doesn't.  Talk about using your size to your advantage.

Johnny has always been fun to watch.  If you like hockey because of the speed of the game, then you loved watching this kid play.  Plus he loves the Toronto Blue Jays, gotta love that.

Lazo will definitely be missed.  I'm not sure what his plans are for the future but I sure hope it involves playing hockey.  He is a thrill to watch, and has always been great with the fans.  Best of luck in the future Johnny!

I tried to come up with a good Look-Alike for Johnny, but was stumped.  So I turned to My Heritage and plugged in his team photo, here's the results:  

Uday Hussein?? I think My Heritage might be broken. Or stupid.

Update from Drinnan

Despite the rumours, Bob Tory, the governor and general manager of the Tri-City Americans, says he hasn’t been contacted by the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers, who are working to fill front-office vacancies with their new AHL affiliate, the Oklahoma City Barons. . . . Tory, who -- believe it or not! -- is on vacation at the moment, is busy planning for the Americans’ 2010-11 season, one in which they will be chasing after their fourth straight U.S. Division title. The Americans reached the WHL final this season, where they were swept by the Calgary Hitmen. . . . Tri-City will have G Drew Owsley, who is coming off a breakout season, returning, along with nine of its top 10 forwards. . . . Look for Tory to add a defenceman or two, perhaps getting one in the import draft, where he almost certainly will exercise both of his selections.  (Taking Note)

Player recap--Alexander Pechurskiy

My mother taught me that if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. Or is that what Thumper said on "Bambi"? Or was it Flower? Does it matter? You could take this view:

 heh.

If you've read this blog at all, you know I am not a big fan of From Russia With Glove.  The nickname, yes.  But the player, no.

I didn't like how as soon as he was picked up in the import draft everyone got this huge goalie boner for him, thinking he'd be the next big thing between the pipes for the Americans.  Yes, we all hoped that, don't get me wrong.  But personally I wanted to be sure he earned the honors, not just handed the reigns, so to speak.  I felt that Owsley and Martyniuk were given sort of a shitty deal in the 3-goalie system behind Chet, neither of them getting the chance to really shine.  So I thought the three of them should battle it out in camp.

Then FRWG didn't show for camp.  I think he was still at Penguins camp?  I don't know, but then he didn't report to the AMS.  And in that time Owsley carried the mail.  A lot of mail.  So when Alex decided over the winter break that he'd show, I was just generally annoyed.  Suddenly everyone forgot who had got them to that point in the season, who had done all the work in goal for the Americans.  Now it was back to goalie-boner for Alex.  And sure enough, Drew was put into the backup role once again.  Oh I'm sorry, there was the appearance of a tandem at least for a couple weeks.

I have to assume promises were made to the Penguins that if he came here he'd get so many starts and whatnot.  And obvious bias aside, he's not a terrible goalie.  Well, not all the time anyways.  I think it was Mr. Spokant that said that he's the opposite of Drew--Owsley's better the more games he plays whereas Alex is more of a one game every once in a while kind of player.  He really shined when he was not playing on a nightly basis.  Let's be honest (though it kills me sometimes) he did well in his NHL debut.

But Pechurskiy's style of play always made me nervous.  And I'm saying that knowing that I'm completely biased.  Hey, I'm trying here, alright?  In my opinion, he let in too many softies, especially in that slutty 5-hole.  He gave up juicy JUICY rebounds.  To me, and this is only me, it was almost like he was overconfident sometimes.  Too cocky.  Too big for his britches.*  But again, I'm totally biased, I've never denied that.

So whatever, he was a competent goalie.  I do not see him back as a 20 next season.  I think the Pens would like to get him in their system, though I believe he's still under contract with his KHL team?  It's all quite confusing with the Russian team stuff and I never cared enough about him to research it.**

As for a Look-Alike for Alex, I'm going to have to go with Raoul Bova, Italian actor.  Do your own Google Image search ladies, you won't regret it, but I'll leave you with this one:

*yes, I just used "too big for his britches"

** harsh, but true

Player recap--Jordan Messier

A big "woooohoooooooooo" from Jordan after scoring a goal against Vancouver.

Like Macek, Jordan has a ton of potential, just needs to find his game on a consistent basis.  He's big, coach wants him to go to the net hard and use that body to get in the goalie's kitchen.  He's very streaky.  When he's off his game I think he grips the stick even harder which in turn continues to keep him off his game.  When he gets lucky, he loosens that grip and good things happen.  I don't know the kid well, but I bet he's the type to put a lot of pressure on himself to be successful and to score a lot of goals.  Hell, I'm sure they all put pressure on themselves.

Also like Macek, I expect this coming season to be a big one for Messier.  He made great strides this season with his play and development.  He needs to model his game after Neal Prokop's--being a big body in front of the net and crashing the net on the forecheck.  Based on things both coaches have said on post-game shows, that exactly what they expect from him.

Messier's Look-Alike is much blonder, but it's Cody Linley, apparently from Hannah Montana (sorry Mess):

Player recap--Mason Wilgosh

Oh yeah, I have a blog. And I'm not finished with player recaps. Guess I'd better do that, eh?

Next up is Mason Wilgosh.  What doesn't this kid do?  He's gritty, he's hardworking, he's a terrific defensive forward, outstanding on the penalty kill, and he can even score some goals every now and then.

I am of the opinion that Mason Wilgosh is one of the more underrated players on the team.  He plays like he's 6'5", 250 pounds.  He plays like he's a Dustin Byfuglien-built player.  As you can see by the photo, he can talk some shit too.  I snapped that one between the benches during the Vancouver series when he was talking smack with some Giant.  Or the whole Giants bench.

Wilgosh is like Drew Hoff.  Does everything and does it well.  He knows his role on the team and he works his tail off to achieve success.

Ass-pat to Jill for sending me a better Look-Alike for Mason than what I had (the same kid on Adam's recap).  Wilgosh's Look-Alike is Gary LeVox, lead singer for Rascal Flatts: