Written by: Perry Lefko
Published: November 26, 2021
One of the early pleasant surprises of the 2021-22 National Hockey League season has been the play of Anaheim Ducks’ centre Ryan Getzlaf, who at age 36 is playing as if he is 10 years younger.
Through the Ducks’ first 19 games, Getzlaf had 19 points and, if he was to continue on this point-a-game streak through 82 regular-season games he would equal the second-highest of his career when he totaled 82 points in 77 games in the 2007-08 season. He had a career high 91 points in 81 games in 2008-09.
Getzlaf, who is scheduled to do a private signing for AJ Sports on January 20, has totalled almost a point a game in his career, totaling 1,001 in 1,120 regular-season games.
When the day comes that he announces his retirement, Getzlaf will be a sure-fire first-ballot Hall of Famer, but who knows when that day comes when he hangs up his skates. He is turning back the clock now and, if you were to pick a roster today for Team Canada in the 2022 Olympics, an argument could be made that Getzlaf, a native of Regina, would be a great addition. To me, he would be perfect for fourth-line duty because he would understand what was expected of him, killing penalties, taking key faceoffs in the defensive zone and just being glad to be part of the group.
Now, so much can happen between now and then, but it seems every day pundits are trying to pick the players for all of the teams scheduled to play in the Olympics. Canada is stocked with talent, more than any other country, and could probably assemble three squads and all would be competitive. The thing is, the eventual Team Canada roster will not be comprised of the best overall players in terms of talent and offensive or defensive ability. It’s about mixing and matching players and finding the best possible fit.
Getzlaf already has experience in the Olympics, being a member of the 2010 and 2014 Canadian editions that won gold each time. He finished tied for second in total points in the 2010 tournament. So he understands the importance of the tournament and, I’m guessing, would value being on the team more than the two previous editions because of his age.
Getzlaf is one of those players who could best be described as a winner. In addition to winning two Olympic gold medals, he won the Stanley Cup with Anaheim in 2009 and a gold in the 2005 World Junior Tournament. Getzlaf finished second in total points in the tournament with 12.
Why are some players winners? It could be a matter of being in the right circumstance or maybe, just maybe, these players bring an intangible quality that becomes the secret sauce. It’s not like Getzlaf was not expected to be great. He was a first-round selection, 19th overall, in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. He had size, 6-foot-3 (191 centimeters) and skill, two qualities that were in huge demand during that time in the NHL when big was the operative word. The fact he has adapted his game to the fast-skating style now played is a testament to his ability. He has played his entire career in Anaheim and is the franchise’s all-time leader in games played, assists and points. He was appointed the team’s captain for the start of the team’s 2010 season and has served his franchise well with professionalism and style. Few players in any sport have played their entire career with one franchise. Barring something changing that, Getzlaf will retire with the Ducks. He is the face of the team in so many ways.
So, provided I didn’t jinx him, I can see no reason why Getzlaf can’t continue to play as competitively and consistently as he is doing now and put himself into consideration for the Team Canada roster.
]]>Published: October 14, 2021
Who will win the Stanley Cup this year?
Because the divisions are returning to basically what they were after the COVID-19 related shift last year that included one division with exclusively Canadian-based teams, combined with some significant off-season player moves, it really is a guessing game.
Or is it?
The last franchise to win three in a row was the New York Islanders in their quad from 1980-83. There’s been many repeat winners since then, including Pittsburgh in 2016 and 2017. Before that it was Detroit in 1997-98. Pittsburgh did the repeat in 1991-92.
But the salary cap and free agency has essentially made it difficult to keep players. The key to success has been drafting players and developing them and locking them into long-term contracts before they become unrestricted free agents or free agents.
Draftkings has the Colorado Avalanche at +500, followed by the Vegas Golden Knights at +600, Tampa at +700, Toronto +1200 and Boston at +1500.
Personally, I don’t get it. Tampa has won the last two Cups and have retained their core group of Steven Stamkos, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Victor Hedman, Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov. There are also secondary players such as Ondrej Palat and Alex Killorn.
Yes, the Lightning have lost some players, but that was the case after losing in the finals in 2019 and the last two wins. They’ve done a great job of managing the salary cap, which in some respects helps that Florida does not have state taxes. The Lightning have also developed a winning culture.
The Lightning are also returning to the Atlantic Division after they were shifted to the Central Division last season because of COVID. The main contenders, in my opinion, in the Atlantic are Florida, Toronto and Boston.
Toronto has budgeted four players at $40-plus million of the $82.5 million cap on John Tavares, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander. The fact the Leafs have failed to make it beyond the first round of the playoffs four of the past five season has been an issue that has been well documented. If they don’t show considerable progress, it could result in GM Kyle Dubas losing his job. He’s been the GM since 2018 and has tied his future to the Big Four.
I think Florida has tremendous value at +2400. This is an organization that has been gradually improving under coach Joel Quenneville, who signed a long-term deal two years ago after a long and successful run with Chicago. The Panthers’ roster includes star players such as forwards Alexander Huberdeau, Aleksander Barkov, Sam Reinhart, defenceman Aaron Ekblad and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who has been underwhelming since joining the team as a free agent in 2019 with a seven-year contract and an average annual value of $9.5 million.
And what about Edmonton at +2600? The Oilers are another team that has not performed to their star capability with studs Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. They’ve made two solid additions in defenceman Duncan Keith and forward Zach Hyman. Darnell Nurse is one of the best young defenceman in the league. The Oilers issue continues to be goaltending. Mikko Koskinen and Mike Smith. Koskinen has had an average goals-against average of .907 the last three years, including .899 last year. He has won 56 of 110 games he has started. Smith has won 40 of 67 games he has started in two years with the Oilers. He has an average GAA of almost .913. The Oilers play firewagon hockey, but they need better goaltending. Maybe a player such as Keith, acquired from Chicago, can add his Cup-winning pedigree, but he is nearing age 40 and has played a lot of hard minutes in his career. Hyman will add the grit he showed with Toronto and is capable of playing with McDavid.
The Avalanche won the Presidents’ Trophy last year registering the most points in the league, but lost to Las Vegas in six games in the second round. But that may work in their favour. It might be an ounce of reality the team needs. I would rank the Avs’ talent on par with Tampa, with forwards such as Nathan McKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog. I think their defencemen overall are the best in the league, led by Norris Trophy winner Cale Makar, Samuel Girard and Devon Toews, though he will miss some time to start the season with off-season surgery. Look for former Canadian junior star Bowen Byram to be a good addition in his first full season.
In net, Pavel Francouz and Darcy Kuemper are a solid pair, either one capable of starting. Francouz stepped it up to years ago in his first full season, winning 21 of 31 games he started, but missed all of last season with a lower body injury. But the Avalanche thought enough of the duo to let number one Philip Grubauer go to free agency. He signed a six-year deal with the Seattle Kraken. Essentially, the Avs did not have enough money to keep Grubauer because of cap concerns. He won 30 of 40 regular-season games and had a .922 GAA and was a Vezina Trophy finalist. He won six of 10 games in the playoffs and .914 GAA.
I think a good long shot play at +6500 is the Chicago Blackhawks. Captain Jonathan Toews is back after missing all of last season with an undisclosed ailment. That is a huge plus, almost like having a free agent. Along with Patrick Kane and Alex Debrincat they have a decent forward group. On defence they added key players, notably brothers Caleb Jones and Seth Jones. Perhaps their biggest addition was Marc-Andre Fleury, acquired in a trade from Vegas. He has a year left on his contract, and after considering retirement he decided to join the Hawks. He is still at the top of his game, having won 26 of 36 starts last year and posting a .928 GAA. He won nine of 16 games and had a .918 GAA. and the only reason he was traded was because he had a cap hit of $7 million and the Golden Knights felt they had a quality starting goaltender in Robin Lehner. He won 13 of 19 starts last year and had a .913 GAA. He played in only three playoff games, posting a 1-2 record and 3.62 GAA.
]]>Perry Lefko
I hope the Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup this year or at some point with goalie Carey Price because he deserves it to underline what a great player he has been in hockey history.
Price has not won a Stanley Cup, the only thing missing from what has been a brilliant career and what will lead to him being a first-ballot Hockey Hall of Famer.
In 2015, he won a Vezina Trophy as the top goaltender, adding to the Hart Memorial Trophy as the Most Valuable Player, one of few goalies to be selected for that honor. He also has won a gold medal in the World Junior tournament, Canada Cup and Winter Olympics. If Price wins a Cup, it will put him in rare company in terms of winning all four tournaments.
The Canadiens will have to prevail over the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup semi-finals to get to the final this year. If this were any other year but a season in which all the Canadian teams were grouped together, this would be a Stanley Cup final with Vegas representing the Western Conference and the Habs representing the Eastern Conference. The fact Vegas prevailed over the Colorado Avalanche, which was the pick of many people to win the Cup, is a surprise. That the Canadiens are in it this far is even more of a surprise. If you had pegged the Canadiens to take out the Leafs and then the Winnipeg Jets on route to making it this far, you are either a Montreal fan or took a flyer and it’s worked out that way.
The common denominator is that Price proved to be a big difference in both series. He had not been playing well this season and some may have thought he had exceeded his best-before expiry date, but as they say at the racetrack you can never underestimate back class. In other words, if greatness has been flashed before, there is no reason it can’t be repeated.
Price is the highest-paid goalie in the NHL at $10.5 million per season, after signing an eight-year deal that commenced in the 2018-19 season. Since the playoffs, he has been playing to the value of his contract. What triggered this turnaround? Who knows? Maybe it’s a simple case of the Canadiens catching fire with a new coach and a bunch of new players, including Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Cole Caufield, who weren’t even in the starting lineup when the playoffs began. They added some offence and let the team defence settle everything else.
Price has been brilliant since joining Montreal in 2007-08 after the Habs selected him fifth overall in 2005. Whether or not he wins that elusive Cup this year, next year or fails to do it all, it will not in any way take away from the body of his great career. Price has turned back the clock, and anyone who believes in a fairy-tale finish will be rooting for him to finish off this season with a Stanley Cup.
The Canadiens have won more Cups than any other NHL franchise and they have had a litany of great goaltenders: Patrick Roy, Ken Dryden, Jacques Plante, Gump Worsley, Bunny Larocque, Jose Theodore and Rogie Vachon, to name a few. There are more going further back than the 60s, but I didn’t see them because it was before my time. But once you become a great goaltender in Montreal, you are remembered forever.
Price may end up becoming the greatest goaltender in Habs’ history, though I’m sure many will say no one can ever supplant Roy. And as I’ve written before, winning a Stanley Cup does not define a player’s career, even the greatest in the game, because it’s a team game and sometimes it just comes down to being on the right one at the right time.
]]>The case starts here: Lemieux’s 1.883 points per game has him second on the NHL’s all-time list, just .038 behind Gretzky in first and .386 clear of Mike Bossy in third. That puts him and Gretzky on a different plane of offensive efficiency than anyone else. But the argument isn’t that Mario is second-best of all time, it’s that he’s number one. For that, we need some circumstantial evidence to close to statistical gap between him and Wayne.
Consider that Gretzky played the entirety of his prime in the scoring-inflated 1980’s and early 90’s. There’s no doubt that Lemieux, who began his Pittsburgh Penguins career in 1984-85, benefited from that same offense-friendly era, but more of his career bled into the dead-puck era of the late ‘90’s and early 2000’s. Over Wayne’s entire 20-year NHL career, the league’s goals-per-game average was a whopping 3.498. Over Mario’s 17-year career, the goals-per-game average was a not insignificantly less 3.482. That places Lemieux’s career in a slightly more difficult context than Gretzky’s, making his dazzling offensive numbers just a tad more impressive. In fact, according to the Edmonton Oilers SB Nation site coppernblue.com, Lemieux’s 1.66 era-adjusted points per game is first all-time.
Sure, Gretzky has the 4-2 edge in Stanley Cups, but he played on perhaps the most talent-laden team ever with 1980’s Oilers. That Edmonton roster, even aside from Gretzky, was so good they still won a Stanley Cup in 1990 after Gretzky departed for the Los Angeles Kings. Lemieux’s 90’s Penguins team was excellent, but his supporting cast paled in comparison to Gretzky’s with the Oilers.
Throw in the fact that Lemieux returned from Hodgkins’ lymphoma in 1992-93 to win the Hart Trophy for league MVP, scoring an astounding 160 points in just 60 games, and I feel comfortable slotting Lemieux over Gretzky on NHL’s greatest-player-of-all-time list.
As far as the other major players go, Howe’s longevity and consistent productivity are still unparalleled, but he never approached the heights of Lemieux’s offensive brilliance. The only other candidate that gives me pause is Orr. The numbers he put up for a defenseman, like when he scored 139 points (including 102 assists!) in 1970-71, are otherworldly, and the fact that he ranks top-five in all-time points per game as a blueliner is a testament to his historically unique talents. But his career was short lived, only lasting 10 years, and he didn’t have any more postseason success with the Boston Bruins than Lemieux did with the Penguins, winning the same two Stanley Cups.
Lemieux combines the offensive efficiency of Gretzky, the jaw-dropping talent of Orr, while having enough longevity to ward off Howe as well. It’s for this combination of factors that I’m naming Mario Lemieux as the greatest NHL player of all time.
Still not convinced? Watch this highlight video and tell me you’ve ever seen someone be better at hockey than this guy.
]]>Perry Lefko
So who is the greatest National Hockey League player of all time? It’s number four Bobby Orr.
Orr revolutionized the game, becoming the first, truly dynamic rushing defenceman, controlling the play with his speed, vision and hockey intelligence.
Let’s put it this way, he was to hockey what Mikhail Baryshnikov was to dance with his elegance and flow. Whomever coined the phrase skate like the wind had Orr in mind.
Orr was a huge part of the Boston Bruins’ success in their two Stanley Cup wins in 1970 and ’72. Remember, it was Bobby Orr and the Big, Bad Bruins. As physical and tough as those Boston teams were, they had the most skilled player of that era. Who will ever forget the timeless photo of Orr flying through air after scoring the winning goal in the ’70 Cup?
Who knows how good Bobby Orr could have been had he not had damaged knees that effectively cut short his career after only 12 seasons, of which the last three were a combined 36 games?
In the 1969-70 National Hockey League season, Orr became the first defenceman to win the scoring title with 120 points. No other player had 100 points. His teammate, Phil Esposito, a centre, finished second-best with 99. Orr had 87 assists, one more point higher than the total points of Stan Mikita, who finished third overall in total points.
And an often-overlooked stat is Orr didn’t shy away from the physical aspect of the game. He had 125 penalty minutes the year he led the league in points. The season before he had 133 penalty minutes.
Another interesting nugget is that Orr broke into the league as an 18-year-old in 1966-67. Remember, that was still in the era of the six-team NHL. I’m guessing there weren’t too many 18-year-olds playing in the NHL then. It’s certainly not like it is now in which it is commonplace. Orr won the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie that season with 13 goals and 41 points. He also had 102 penalty minutes.
That season was the harbinger of Orr’s greatness. He finished third in the Norris Trophy voting that season as the top defenceman in the league. He subsequently won it eight consecutive seasons, breaking Doug Harvey’s record of seven in eight seasons. He was a first-team All-Star in all those seasons. Three times he won the Hart Trophy as the Most Valuable Player in the league. Five times he led the league in assists. Seven times he scored 20 or more goals, four times he had 30 or more, and one year he had more than 40. That was the 1974-75 season in which he led the league in games played (80), tied Philadelphia centre Bobby Clarke in assists (89) and led in total points (135).
In terms of other trophies he collected in his career, twice he won the Art Ross Trophy for leading the league in total points, and twice he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player in the playoffs.
One of his most interesting stats is plus-minus. He had a career total of plus-574. He led the league in plus-minus in six seasons.
You could go through history and find defenceman who were dynamic offensive players, notably Ray Bourque, who is the all-time leader with 1,579 career points. Paul Coffey is next with 1,531. Orr is not even on the top-10. But here’s the key difference: Bourque played 1,612 games, Coffey 1,409. Orr played 657 and totalled 915 points. Bourque averaged 1.02 points per game, Coffey 1.08. Orr is about 1.4.
I understand that picking the best player in NHL history is purely subjective, and I understand different metrics have to be used for different eras. All I’m saying is no one has come close to doing what Orr did as a defenseman.
If you look at centres, I find it hard to pick between Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, both of whom were brilliant, albeit their styles were dramatically different. Gretzky played his best on the perimetre or behind the net, using his sublime distribution skills, while Lemieux used his brute strength and size to be a force in tight.
So to wrap it, number four Bobby Orr is number one in my opinion as the best player in NHL history.
]]>Perry Lefko
When the Toronto Maple Leafs unveiled a retro third jersey for a few games this season, it immediately received a negative reaction from fans because it looked more like a grey and blue colour scheme than the traditional white and blue and subsequently had to undergo some changes.
Aside from the obvious fact the National Hockey League produces retro team jerseys to push sales, and the teams feel the need to create new designs every so often for various reasons, I believe sometimes they should leave things as they are and these marketing types should keep it simple.
In fact, I feel bad for NHL players who have to wear silly-looking uniforms designed by people who don’t play the game. I’d like to see hockey players design clothes for marketing people and see how comfortable – or more likely uncomfortable – they’d feel at work.
If you look at the NHL’s Original Six teams – Toronto, Detroit, Montreal, the New York Rangers, Detroit and Chicago – their designs today are similar to the original ones, which in my opinion were simple and effective, and they have stood the test of time.
If I was recommending one over the other, I’d take the Blackhawks’ crimson home jersey with the logo honouring Black Hawk, a native American leader. The team’s original owner named the team the Blackhawks – although at times it was changed to Black Hawks – to honour the U.S. Army infantry Black Hawk division he served in World War I. The unit was named after a leader of the Sauk Native American tribe during the Black Hawk War of 1832.
I had a Blackhawks’ white road jersey growing up and I’ve long since lost it or simply outgrew it and who knows where it is now. Bobby Hull, one of the Hawks’ greatest all-time players, has famously said he loved wearing the jersey with the logo that resembled the face of teammate Pierre Pilote. When the Hawks started a run of three Stanley Cup championships from 2010-2015, that jersey and logo burst into prominence. Think of Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith in those jerseys. Man, what an image!
The Hawks, like other teams, have made changes to the look, but not enough to make you want to stand up and shout, “Go back to the old jerseys.”
The Blackhawks have come under fire from some critics who want the team to change the logo because they feel it is no longer politically correct and objectifies native Americans, but I’ll leave that debate for someone else. Yes, some franchises have been receptive to change – most notably the National Football League’s Washington franchise has dropped the nickname Redskins. If at some point the Blackhawks want to change their logo, so be it.
I also like the Red Wings simplistic design of a wheel with a wing. The Wings is a reference to the team’ previous name – Detroit Falcons – and the wheel is obvious. It is simple with the red and white colour scheme, similar to Toronto’s white and blue. The franchise had success with the likes of Gordie Howe, Sid Abel and Ted Lindsay in the 50s. And isn’t Lindsay’s nickname Terrible among the greatest of all time? He used his stick like a carving knife, but I digress.
The Wings started a consecutive playoff streak of 25 years from 1979-80 to 2003-04. The logo became prominent during Detroit’s four Stanley Cup wins between 1996-97 and 2007-08.
Then there is the Montreal Canadiens, who are often romanticized with their francophone bleu blanc rouge colours. They are affectionately called the Habs, short for Habitants, but that is somewhat misleading in terms of the jersey. The logo is a large letter C and an H in the centre. Collectively it stands for Le club de Hockey Canadien.
Despite the Leafs having gone without a Cup since 1967, their jerseys are still among the most popular in terms of annual purchases by fans. The Leafs are so entrenched in hockey history, they have fans throughout Canada who dress in their team jerseys in other teams’ buildings. Think Ottawa, for example. Interestingly, the story of why they are called the Leafs instead of leaves is one of those old saws referring to either a Maple Leaf Regiment from World War I or Conn Smythe, the principal owner of the Leafs from 1927-61, taking it from a team he once scouted called the East End Maple Leafs. One historian suggested there never was a Maple Leaf Regiment that fought in World War I. Any way, Smythe changed the team’s colours from green and white from when they were called the St. Pats to blue and white when he renamed the franchise. By the way, that retro Leafs green and white jersey worn around St. Patrick’s Day with the logo St. Pats is awesome. The reason? It’s so simple with the words St. Pats and a green and white colours design.
I love the Rangers’ design with the word Rangers diagonally displayed. Apparently the name relates to original owner Tex Rickard. The team became known as Tex’s Rangers, a play on the phrase Texas Rangers. When the Rangers won the Cup in 1994, ending a 54-year drought, the jerseys sold in huge numbers. I’m told by historian Mike Commito the Rangers logo was to differentiate the team from the New York Americans. Sounds okay to me.
Lastly, there is the Boston Bruins, or as they were known in the ‘70s as Bobby Orr and The Big Bad Bruins, and alternately called the B’s. The story goes that original team owner Charles Adams hired Art Ross as general manager and asked him to come up with a team name that represented an untamed animal displaying speed, agility and cunning. He came up with Bears, as in brown bears.
Is it a coincidence that some of the Original Six teams have become so successful in the past 20 years, winning six Cups? Or 10 in the last 30 years?
Lest I forget the Oilers and the New York Islanders. I think Edmonton’s logo with the word Oilers and oil drop is exceptionally strong in its simplicity, even more so when you think of Wayne Gretzky wearing it and now Connor McDavid. I think the Islanders’ logo with the letters N and Y with the hockey stick stands out. Maybe it’s because it represents the four consecutive Cup wins from 1980-83. Remember when the Islanders changed their logo to include their team name and a fisherman? It lasted all of two seasons before it was sent to the junkyard for sports jerseys. There is a book about it called We Want Fish Sticks: The Bizarre and Infamous Rebranding of the New York Islanders. That says it all.
I hope the Buffalo Sabres return to glory one day and stay with their original logo, the one with the bison and two crossed sabres. There’s been several iterations of it over the years, but the blue home jersey with the original logo is, in my opinion, one of the greatest of all time in NHL history.
]]>But perhaps more than anything else, Thornton is widely known as one of hockey’s all-time personalities. You’d be hard-pressed to find a teammate, coach, or anyone who’s been around Thornton to give anything less than glowing praise for his dressing-room presence and good-natured charm.
"Pure, unadulterated passion and love for the game,” Sharks general manager Doug Wilson told to theScore in 2019. “I've been in the business for 40 years, and I've never been around anybody like that."
"Magnetic personality," said Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer. "You want to find him in the morning, really, because after a bad game he energizes you, always in a positive way. There's no bad days at the rink for Joe."
It’s this kind of regard for Thornton’s off-ice contributions that made him a no-brainer addition for the Leafs, even if he’s no longer the point producer he was in his prime.
And it’s not only hockey people with whom Thornton leaves a great impression. AJ Sports had the opportunity to do a signing with him now that he’s in Toronto, and all involved gave nothing but rave reviews.
Justin Gallow, now managing the AJ Sports store on Castlefield Road in Toronto with longtime manager Dan Kubin opening a brand-new store in Woodbridge, was able to meet Thornton during the signing.
“The Joe Thornton signing was one of my first signings, and since I grew up being a fan of his on the ice, I was a little nervous,” Gallow said. “But he came to the signing and was a really good guy. Being able to talk hockey with one of my favourite players growing up while he was signing the product made it memorable.”
For all of Thornton’s on-ice accolades and off-ice admiration, there’s just one thing that has eluded him so far in his four-decade spanning career: a Stanley Cup. With the Maple Leafs currently leading the Scotia North division and tied for second league-wide, there’s optimism Thornton can capture his first championship in the twilight of his playing days with a new team, much like Ray Bourque did with the Colorado Avalanche in 2001.
Thornton finally winning the Cup in his 23rd season would certainly make for a storybook ending, and it’s one that Gallow, along with every other Thornton fan, is hoping for.
“I was always a fan of Thornton growing up,” he said. “Meeting him in person and knowing the passion he has for the game has made me root for him even more. I would love to see him win a Cup this year rocking the blue and white.”
By Ryan Cuneo
]]>Roughly halfway into his first season, Kaprizov’s become the runaway favorite to win this season’s Calder Trophy, awarded to the league’s top rookie. He is scoring at nearly a point-per-game pace, putting him in the company of established NHL stars such as John Tavares, Nathan MacKinnon, and Evgeni Malkin. But unlike those players, Kaprizov wasn’t a highly touted first-round pick. Instead, Kaprizov slipped all the way to the fifth round of the 2015 draft.
How could a player as blatantly talented as Kaprizov fall so far in the draft? For one, his diminutive 5’9, 185-pound stature likely plummeted his draft stock for an NHL that still valued size as much as skill. But perhaps the bigger factor wasn’t his game or his stature, but where he’s from.
Kaprizov hails from Novokuznetsk, the tenth-largest city in the Russian outpost of Siberia. His far-flung roots would have put him somewhat out of sight and mind for the NHL’s scouting industrial complex. But even for those aware of Kaprizov’s skill set, there was concern about not only when, but if he would ever take his talents to North America. The threat of Russian prospects, especially ones that aren’t likely to make the NHL quickly, staying home to make competitive money in the KHL always looms. It often causes teams that want more certainty in their draft picks to pass on taking Russians highly. Minnesota’s general manager at the time, Chuck Fletcher, decided Kaprizov was too good to turn down once the fifth round came in 2015.
Kaprizov’s rookie season is proving Fletcher’s gamble a smart one. It may have taken over five years for him to make his way to Minnesota (Kaprizov was under contract with the KHL’s CSKA Moscow), but Wild fans would certainly agree he was worth the wait.
Given the trepidation with Russian prospects, it’s no surprise that Kaprizov follows in a long line of his countrymen that were drafted well after they’re talent dictated. Pavel Bure, arguably the NHL’s first Russian superstar, was taken by the Vancouver Canucks in the sixth round of the 1989 draft. Alexander Mogilny, who scored 76 goals in just his fourth season, was taken by the Buffalo Sabres in the fifth round of the 1988 draft. Other Russian greats such as Pavel Datsyuk, Sergei Fedorov, Sergei Zubov, Alex Zhamnov, and Andrei Markov were all selected in the fourth round or later. Even two-time All Star and former Calder Trophy winner Artemi Panarin went undrafted.
The Wild must be thrilled they found their own Russian late-round gem. For a team celebrating their 20th anniversary in a hockey-mad market, the timing of his rookie season couldn’t have been better. In Kaprizov, Minnesota has their first electrifying star forward since Marian Gaborik. His emergence this year certainly bodes well for their third decade as a franchise.
By Ryan Cuneo
Perry Lefko
The greatest individual accomplishment a National Hockey League player can have is to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame because it takes into account the totality of a career as opposed to a team accomplishment such as winning a Stanley Cup. Consider the cases of Jarome Iginla and Doug Wilson, who are among the 2020 Hall of Fame inductees along with fellow players Kevin Lowe and Marian Hossa, Canadian national team goalie Kim St. Pierre in the women’s category and current Edmonton Oilers general manager Ken Holland, who won four Cups victories with Detroit in a management capacity, in the builder’s category.
Iginla, a first ballot Hall of Famer, established himself as one of the true power forwards during his 20-year career, which began in 1996-1997 and ended in 2016-17. He played 1,554 regular-season games in the NHL, 1,219 with the Calgary Flames. He captained the Flames for nine of his 16 seasons and is the franchise’s all-time leader in games, goals, total points, even-strength goals, power-play goals and game-winning goals. He also had his share of fights, defining himself as a power forward who could stand up for himself and his teammates. His individual season accomplishments include two Rocket Richard Trophies for most goals in a season (one of them a tie with Ilya Kovalchuk and Rick Nash), the King Clancy Trophy for leadership on and off the ice, the Art Ross Trophy for most points in a season, and the Ted Lindsay Trophy for the most outstanding player in the league as voted by the players.
The closest he came to winning the Cup happened in 2004, which Calgary lost to Detroit in seven games. He scored two goals and had three assists in the series. Overall in the playoffs, he led all players with 13 goals in 26 games. He was traded to Pittsburgh in 2013, but the Pens were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Finals to Boston.
But when I think of Iginla and his career and the respect he garnered, it came in international tournaments, winning two gold medals with Canada in the Olympics, one in the World Cup of Hockey and one World Championship. Arguably his greatest moment came in 2010 when he made a perfect pass to Sidney Crosby in overtime, which resulted in what TV announcer Chris Cuthbert famously called The Golden Goal. Flames fans saw a ton of Iginla’s individual highlights, but that one play will forever enshrine him on the global hockey stage.
It took more than two decades for Wilson to be voted into the Hall of Fame. The individual highlight of his career came in 1982 when he won the Norris Trophy as the top defencemen in the league. He set Blackhawks’ single-season records for a defenseman with 39 goals and 85 points. He was an eight-time all-star and won a gold medal as part of Team Canada in the 1984 Canada Cup. Wilson had one of the most devastating slapshots for defencemen during his career, and is the Hawks’ all-time leader for a defenceman in career goals and points.
Wilson is the brother of Murray Wilson, a forward who had a modest career in the NHL from 1972-73 to 1978-79. He played mostly with the Montreal Canadiens with whom he won four Cups in six seasons. A first-round pick drafted by the Habs, Wilson was in the right place at the right time during a formidable time for the Canadiens in the ‘70s. He is a classic example of how opportunity and luck factored more than individual talent.
And what about Hossa, also inducted into the Hall of Fame the first time he was on the ballot? He played for Pittsburgh in the 2007-08 season and was the acquisition in a multi-player deal with the Atlanta Thrashers at the trade deadline. The Pens made it to the Stanley Cup finals and lost to Detroit. The following season he signed a one-year contract with Detroit for $7.45 million, passing up a five-year contract from Pittsburgh, which would have netted $7 million a season. He figured Detroit gave him his best chance to win a Cup. He made it to the finals, but lost, ironically, to Pittsburgh. He then signed a 12-year, $62.8 million free-agent contract with the Chicago Blackhawks, which won the 2010 Cup, ending a drought going back to 1961.
“I’m so glad, what a relief,” he told reporters. “Three time’s the lucky charm. I won a Stanley Cup and what a feeling. This is unbelievable.”
Hossa would win three Cups in six years with Chicago. It could not have worked out any better.
He proved to be a great playoff performer with 149 points in 205 post-season games, which percentage-wise is not that far off his regular-season totals of 1,134 points in 1,309 games. He is one of the all-time great players for Slovakia in international play.
He is the only player in NHL history to appear in three Cups with three different teams in successive seasons. I doubt that will ever happen again. It’s one of those crazy anomalies in sports, something that could be a clue in Jeopardy! or Trivial Pursuit.
The Hockey Hall of Fame has many great players who never won a Cup, including the likes of Marcel Dionne, Darryl Sittler, Brad Park, Jean Ratelle, Curtis Joseph, Pavel Bure, Dale Hawerchuk, Pat LaFontaine, Gilbert Perreault and Eric Lindros, to name a few. For one reason or another they never had their names inscribed on the Stanley Cup, but their greatness is evident by the fact they are in the Hall of Fame.
Perry Lefko is an award-winning, multiple best-selling author. He helped Eddie Olczyk write his autobiography, Beating The Odds, and Nick Kypreos write his autobiogrpahy, Undrafted.
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Going into the 2015 National Hockey League Draft, everyone knew that Connor McDavid, with his immense talent and skill, would be the consensus pick to be selected first overall by the Edmonton Oilers and develop into a generational player. And he has, winning the Hart Memorial Trophy once as the Most Valuable Player in the NHL, twice winning the Art Ross Trophy awarded to the player who leads the NHL in scoring and twice winning the Ted Lindsay Award as the outstanding player selected by the NHL Player’s Association. The Canadian-born centre has sparkled with his blistering speed and ability to turn opposing players inside out with breathtaking highlight-reel goals. But beyond McDavid, that draft may go down in history as one of the best in terms of overall talent and ability, a combination of sure-fire superstars taken early in the selections and some who slipped through the cracks and became proverbial sleepers.
Buffalo followed Edmonton and took centre Jack Eichel, which again was hardly surprising. The Massachusetts native had been a star in Boston College and has developed into one of the best American-born players of all time, averaging about a point a game. Reflecting his talent, the Sabres made him their youngest captain in team history, giving him the C at age 21. He has clearly become the face of the franchise and one of the cornerstones of Team USA in international tournaments.
Arizona then took centre Dylan Strome, who struggled in the desert but has clearly found a home in the Windy City after the Chicago Blackhawks traded for him midway into the 2018-19 season.
The Maple Leafs drafted fourth overall and took flashy winger Mitch Marner – nicknamed The Magician. There had been much deliberation going into the draft because head coach Mike Babcock wanted defenseman Noah Hanifan, who fit the mould of a shut-down rearguard that could play the defensive-style hockey he preferred. But assistant general manager Mark Hunter wanted Marner because he knew him well. Marner played for the London Knights, owned by Hunter and his brother, Dale, who coaches the team. The Knights are one of the powerhouses in Canadian junior hockey, and Marner was one of their stars. Marner has developed into a bonafide superstar with the Leafs, particularly with his deft passing.
The top-10 rounded out with centre Pavel Zacha (New Jersey), defenseman Ivan Provorov (Philadelphia), defenseman Zach Werenski (Columbus), right wing Timo Meier (San Jose) and right wing Mikko Rantanen (Colorado). Rantanen has become one of the best power forwards in the NHL, along with linemate Nathan MacKinnon. In retrospect, the Finnish-born player should have been taken higher in the draft.
In the category of sleepers, the New York Islanders found a gem in Mathew Barzal, a centre with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League, who was taken 16th overall. The Islanders elected him to spend another season in the juniors before calling him up for a couple of late-season games. He was awarded the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2017-18 season totalling 22 goals and 63 assists for a total of 85 points in 82 games. He has become one of the best offensive centres in the league.
Left wing Kyle Conner, picked immediately after Barzal by Winnipeg, and defenceman Thomas Chabot, taken by Ottawa, have also developed into respective stars for their respective teams. On a team stacked with offensive talent, Conner has come into his since becoming a full-time roster player with the Jets, averaging more than 30 goals the last three years. Chabot, meanwhile, anchors the Senators’ power-play.
And if you go further in the draft, Vancouver clearly mined a prospect with right wing Brock Boeser, taken 23rd overall, followed by right wing Travis Konecny, picked 24th overall by Philadelphia. Both players are among the top six forwards on their teams.
In retrospect, Connor McDavid has done exactly what was projected he would do. He was a slam-dunk selection, but what followed after him has collectively proven that there were many quality players that followed him, some early and quite a few later.
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