Final NHL Draft Rankings

With the Draft Combine wrapping up this weekend, junior and college hockey completed for another season and the Stanley Cup playoffs set to wrap up over the next week or so, it is time to take a look ahead to the draft on June 22-23 in Pittsburgh. Sarnia Sting, Nail Yakupov still tops the list, however the rankings after him have changed and in some cases dramatically.
Among new comers to the list Teuvo Teravainen ranks highest at #8. Starting the season on Jokerit's Junior club Teravainen finished up in the SM-Liiga scoring 18 points in 40 games. 8 points in 6 games at the World Under 18 tournament also helped Teravainen draft status. Henrik Samuelsson finds himself on our top 30 list as well as he is ranked 18th largely in part to his strong showing at the Memorial Cup (5 points in 4 games) and throughout the WHL playoffs for the Edmonton Oil Kings. The son of former NHL defence man Ulf Samuelsson, Henrik left Modo of the Swedish Elite league to come to Edmonton halfway through the season.
The top ranked defenceman is Everett Silvertip Ryan Murray. After his WHL team bowed out in a 4 game sweep, Murray was invited to represent his country at the World Hockey Championships as Canada's 7th defence man. With very little playing time, just being asked to play at the senior international level vaulted Murray to #2 on our list. Malcolm Subban of the Belleville Bulls is the top ranked goaltender for the draft. Subban is the younger brother of Montreal's P.K..
The Edmonton Oilers hold the 1st overall pick for the third straight year and really need defence man. Nail Yakupov might be to enticing to pass up on and would most certainly fit in with the Oilers young crop of forwards. Past #1 picks Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Taylor Hall both made the NHL the season they were drafted.
Here is our list of top 30 NHL prospects for the Draft. Previous ranking is in parenthesis.

1. Nail Yakupov (1) LW --> Sarnia, OHL
2. Ryan Murray (5) D --> Everett, WHL
3. Filip Forsberg (4) RW --> Leksands, SWE
4. Mikhail Grigorenko (2) RW --> Quebec, QMJHL
5. Matt Dumba (3) D --> Red Deer, WHL
6. Alex Galchenyuk (11) RW --> Sarnia, OHL
7. Morgan Reilly (7) D --> Moose Jaw, WHL
8. Teuvo Teravainen (NR) LW --> Jokerit, FIN
9. Griffin Reinhart (10) D --> Edmonton, WHL
10. Cody Ceci (18) D --> Ottawa, OHL
11. Jacob Trouba (6) D -->USNTDP, U18
12. Sebastien Collberg (12) RW --> Vastra, SWE
13. Brendan Gaunce (8) C --> Belleville, OHL
14. Olli Maata (9) D --> London, OHL
15. Matt Finn (14) D --> Guelph, OHL
16. Radek Faksa (15) LW --> Kitchener, OHL
17. Hampus Lindholm (27) RW --> Rogle, SWE
18. Henrik Samuelsson (NR) RW --> Edmonton, WHL
19. Derick Pouliot (16) D --> Portland, WHL
20. Malcolm Subban (21) G --> Belleville, OHL
21. Pontus Aberg (13) LW --> Djurgarden, SWE
22.Thomas Hertl (19) LW --> Slavia, CZE
23. Zemgus Girgensons (20) C --> Dubuque, USHL
24. Thomas Wilson (NR) RW --> Plymouth, OHL
25. Colton Sissons (NR) C --> Kelowna, WHL
26. Ludvig Bystrom (NR) D --> Modo, SWE
27. Phillip Di Guiseppe (28) LW --> Michigan, CCHA
28. Slater Koekkoek (24) D --> Peterborough, OHL
29. Martin Frk (29) RW --> Halifax, QMJHL
30. Andrei Vasilevski (17) G --> Ufa, KHL

Pittsburgh Penguins: Hated or Feared

Are the Pittsburgh Penguins really hated as much as we are led to believe after the last week or are the power houses of the Eastern Conference a little scared about meeting them in the playoffs. The Penguins managed to keep pace with the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers all season long, even without the world's best player for 60 games. Now that Sidney Crosby is back and looks to be at the top of his game, Pittsburgh will be a major hurdle on the road to the Stanley Cup Finals.

During the last week the Penguins were ripped in the media by coaches for both the Flyers and Rangers as well as analyst Mike Milbury. Do they really feel this way about the Pittsburgh club or are they trying to gain a pyschological advantage going into the playoffs? The answer probably lies some where in the middle.

By now everyone has seen or heard about the Philly-Pens game last Saturday and heard the comments made from the Flyers coaching staff. Head coach Peter Laviolette was upset that Pens coach Dan Bylsma put his 4th line on the ice at the end of the game, when they hadn't played the last 10-12 minutes, calling the move "gutless". Flyers forward Daniel Briere was injured on a clean body check by Pens forward Joe Vitale during the shift. Flyers assistant coach, Craig Berube, took it a little further saying "Crosby and Malkin are the two dirtiest players on their team" and continued about Crosby "the guy gets away with too much, in my opinion, he whines to the refs all day and all night, it's a joke".

Earlier in the game Crosby and Flyers forward Brayden Schenn had a run in. After a whistle Schenn cross checked Crosby from behind, perhaps not happy with the shot he took from Crosby earlier in the shift. It prompted NBC analyst Mike MIlbury to say this. "Little goody two shoes (Crosby) goes into the corner and gives a shot to Schenn. Schenn was late to the party, he should have turned and drilled him right away, but I guess better late than never". Milbury also said "he couldn't help himself because theres a little punk in Crosby. He's not the perfect gentleman. He's not the sweet kid you see in interviews with his hat pulled down over his eyes. I'd say screw him, hit him". Milbury later apologized saying his comments were inappropriate, however the apology fell on def ears.

The Penguins lost that game 6-4 and then defeated the defending Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins 5-2 on Tuesday. On Thursday night Pittsburgh had a chance to wrap up home ice advantage with a win over the Rangers. Pittsburgh won the contest by another 5-2 score, however the focus after the game was on Pens defence man, Brooks Orpik. Orpik was going for a hit on Ranger Derek Stepan and intentional or not, delivered a knee on knee hit. Orpik received a 5 minute major and a game misconduct on the play. New York head coach John Tortorella had this to say about the hit, "It's a cheap dirty hit, I wonder what would happen if we did it to their two whining stars over there. I wonder what would happen. So I'm anxious to see what happens with the league with this. Just no respect amongst players. None. It's sickening". Tortorella was not done there "It's one of the most arrogant organizations in the league. They whine about this stuff all the time, and look what happens. It's ridiculous. But they'll whine about something else over there, won't they?"

Philadelphia already knows that they are going into Pittsburgh to start the playoffs, and the Rangers are the #1 seed and could see the Penguins as early as round 2. So were these comments made out of hatred in the Penguins or were they pre-meditated and meant to try and get an advantage in the playoffs?

Anyway before the playoffs start the Flyers are finishing the regular season in Pittsburgh on Saturday afternoon. Will there be more fireworks? Will the stars from both teams dress? If they do how much ice time will they see? All good questions that have yet to be answered, however we know one thing, the first round match up between the Flyers and Penguins will be very entertaining and very physical. The only question is will the winner have anything left for the next round.

Hockey Sticks: Understanding Flex

         Having the right flex in your hockey stick is very important for achieving the desired velocity and control of your shot. Most people understand flex as whippy or stiff, but have a hard time figuring out what rating is right for them. Trial and error is usually the most common method of finding a proper stick, however as players grow and get stronger they may never find the best fit.

          Flex is the bending of the shaft when force is applied to it. The shaft of the stick acts as a spring during the shot, when the blade of the stick hits the ice just behind the puck the shaft bends and loads energy into it, just like compressing a spring (this is called loading). As the stick follows through the puck, the shaft goes from bending to straight very quickly, the same as a spring goes from compressed to straight. The result is the velocity and accuracy of the shot. Too much flex and the shot is very hard to control. If the shaft is too stiff the velocity of the shot diminishes.

          A low flex number has a softer shaft and the higher the number the stiffer the shaft. The most common flex ratings are as follows:

Youth          ->                40

Junior          ->                50
Mid/Intermediate ->           60-75

       Regular         ->                 85

          Stiff           ->                100

                                  Extra Stiff       ->                110

The youth and junior sticks are used by kids. Younger kids just starting to play the game would use the youth sticks and the more experienced kids would use the junior sticks. Mid to intermediate sticks are softer and used by smaller players for a quick release on their shot. Regular flex sticks are for average size players looking for more control at the expense of a little velocity. The stiff or extra stiff sticks are used by bigger and stronger players who cannot get any control with the lower flex sticks.

Zdeno Chara of the NHL’s Boston Bruins uses a custom made stick because of his height and strength. The Flex rating on his sticks is 160 and at the 2012 All-Star game he clocked a shot at 108.8 MPH to set a record for the event.

When trying to determine what flex you need in a stick, a simple test can be performed. Hold the stick in both hands with the blade on the floor. Apply moderate pressure with your lower hand to bend the shaft. The shaft should bend about 1 inch. During the shot the shaft will bend much more as the force applied will be greater.

Another factor about flex you need to be aware of is whether or not the stick needs to be cut to size. As the stick becomes shorter the flex rating will increase. Cutting 2 inches off the top of the stick will increase the flex approximately 6-8, 4 inches will increase flex 13-18 and 6 inches will increase flex 20-25. Some sticks will come with cut lines at the top of the shaft and will show what the flex rating would be if you cut the stick at that point.

The last thing a player needs to know about the flex of his stick is the kick point. The kick point is where on the shaft the flexing occurs. A mid kick point is higher up the stick, allowing greater loading and in turn increasing velocity. A low kick point is lower on the shaft and allows for quicker loading and a quicker release on your shot.

Keeping these points in mind the next time you are in the market for a new hockey stick, you should come away from the experience much more satisfied.