Shots from the Point

And here I thought it would be a slow news day with the days off before the playoffs.  Silly me.

Let's start with the Bob Tory Quote of the Day (in what I hope will be a continuing series):
“The difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and response to failure.” --John C. Maxwell

One thing from yesterday's Examiner piece by Rene Ferran is the great collection of stats he put together.  Finding and detailing all those stats is time consuming--which is why I don't do it.  The data is at the end of the article, you should definitely check it out--right here.

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It seems the boys are taking it easy, or at least they were yesterday:

Monday was a lazy day for Kruise Reddick.

The Tri-City Americans captain spent his only day off this week sleeping in, watching a bit of TV and playing a heated game of Monopoly with Carter Ashton, Brock Sutherland and Brendan Shinnimin.

"I'm yet to leave the house," Reddick said as dinner time approached. "Sleeping in and getting rest will come in handy."

I wonder if it was standard Monopoly or NHL Monopoly like I have.  I bet I could kick all their asses if it was NHL Monopoly.  He goes on to say:

"You ask any opposing team, they don't like coming to Toyota Center," Reddick said. "The fans are loud, and it is intimidating. Hopefully we can jump on them early, which will help."

"That's the good thing about junior hockey, it is different every year," Reddick said. "I'm sure there are a few players that remember us and have a bad taste in their mouth. Both teams will come out hard. It will be a great series to watch."

"We hit a rough patch and had some bad breaks," Reddick said of a rash of injuries that plagued the team for the better part of two months. "We wanted to go into the playoffs with momentum." (Herald)

I'm assuming that means they're back to work today.

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As mentioned yesterday, I'm hoping for outstanding playoff beards--mutton chops for Owsley.  I just hope they don't do something like this:

"It seems to be the common trend these days for playoff hair, the mullet, so I thought I'd step it up a notch and see what I could come up with," said fashion-forward forward.

Theoret, who scored nine goals and added 11 assists in 66 games with the IceDogs, said the idea for his playoff flow came to him within 15 minutes.

He admits the only reason he went with the look was because his none of his teammates believed he'd actually be seen in public with what he had described to them.

"I was like, 'Y'know what? I'm gonna do it,'" recalled Theoret. "So I shaved half my head and went with the colour scheme."  (Buzzing the Net)

 Photo by Ryan Strome, courtesy of Mitchell Theoret 

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Meanwhile, the Giants, who went 2-8-0-0 in their last 10 games of the regular season, continue to struggle with injuries. D-man Joel Rogers with concussion courtesy of Kelowna's Evan Bloodoff, who is waiting for the verdict on his suspension for the hit. Giants also without Anthony Ast (concussion) and Dalton Sward with broken ankle. According to the Vancouver Sun, those three definitely missing 1st round.

Meanwhile, Michael Burns is progressing from his concussion from earlier in the month, but doesn't look like he'll be back for this weekend. It does look like they'll have MVP Brendan Gallagher back. Two teams with MVPs named Brendan. Whose Brendan will reign supreme? Oh wait, this isn't Iron Chef.

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Drinnan notes:

Three more concussions means the WHL has seen at least 100 concussion/head injuries this season. (Taking Note)

Yesterday on Twitter Drinnan also pointed to a story in the Globe and Mail that is just flat out alarming.

Overall this season, WHL players suffered more concussions and head injuries than their celebrated counterparts in the National Hockey League. By the NHL’s own tally, there have been 80 incidents of players hurt by a shot to the head. According to the WHL’s updates for its 22 teams, there were at least 97 cases of concussions and head-related injuries.

WHL commissioner Ron Robison acknowledged that count, tabulated by the Kamloops Daily News, and agreed: “The number of concussions has risen at an alarming rate.”

Why, though, is the crux of the matter.

Robison sees it as many hockey people do: a batch of ingredients creating a dangerous mix; bigger, stronger players moving on an ice surface that hasn’t gotten any larger. Add to that the clampdown on hooking and holding that has allowed for more speed and more hits. Add, too, a generation of young players cursed by the advent of lighter yet more dangerous equipment. They feel invincible until that same piece of equipment on an opposing player hammers them into submission.

“More than half of the concussions occur next to the glass,” Robison said. “When we discuss it with the coaches and managers, it’s largely players who are positioned along the boards. Maybe we have to look at charging and the way the rules are called.” (Globe and Mail, emphasis mine)

The article takes a closer look at Kelowna's Max Adolph and his struggle with concussion(s).  One of the commenters points that the numbers could just be the difference in reporting.  That could very well be the case, but regardless, the number--in the WHL and the NHL--is too high.  There's so much talk around the NHL right now, not so much at the junior level.  At least not as readily found as NHL talk about it, not that I've found.  I know I read a lot of the internet, but I'm sure I miss some.

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As mentioned, Kelowna's Evan Bloodoff is awaiting word on his suspension for a boarding major and game misconduct against Vancouver the other night.  I tried to video to see it for myself but couldn't.  If anyone can find video, let me know.

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While we're on the topic of concussions, Eyebleaf tweeted link to this interesting piece from The Agenda regarding hits to the head.  It's a roundtable discussion with Ken Dryden, Mary Ormsby from the Toronto Star, hockey blogger Sean McIndoe (aka Down Goes Brown), and neurosurgeon Charles Tator.  It's a lengthy piece, but great discussion.

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Canes Country, a great SBN site had to update their community guidelines.  SBN sites have a great liveblog-type ability for game threads, it's a format I'd love to have, especially the ability to reply to specific comments rather than it just be a running random commentary.  But I digress.  It seems similar problems exists everywhere, from small junior hockey blogs, to large NHL blogs.  From their new guidelines:

Relentless Negativity:  In general, negative points of view are welcome at Canes Country.  If presented in the right way, with some reasoning or while proposing solutions, such viewpoints can usually lead to productive discussion which can then end up benefiting much of the community as a whole.  Also, people get frustrated from time to time and will post emotional outbursts, especially during open game threads.  That is also understandable and acceptable, within reason.  But when a member constantly repeats the same negative message over and over, without anything else to add, that will be considered a form of spamming and that person will be warned to stop and could be banned.  (Example:  Coming into a game thread during a loss and repeating multiple times, the team stinks, this player stinks, that coach stinks, this happened because the GM stinks, etc. etc.  That will be considered spamming.  One or two such posts are usually plenty enough to get your message across.)  (Canes Country) 

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Alright, I think that's all for now, if something else comes my way today, I'll update this post.