The Fifth Liners

Once more fans of the Edmonton Oilers, will be celebrating as their side have received first overall pick in the NHL Draft Lottery! Seems Connor McDavid will be spending some cold winters over in Alberta in years to come! Buffalo Sabres were no doubt disappointed to land the second overall pick, but will no doubt take consolation that this will probably mean Jack Eichel will be in the state of New York! In what could be one of the biggest depth quality drafts, it could well mean that each team has some great talent for the future. My only real doubt with this decision is that Edmonton has had its fair share of number one picks in the last few years, and still nothing has come of it! People paint McDavid as if he is the next Sidney Crosby of hockey, I just worry that this team is the wrong fit for his talents? Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins are starting to show the leadership qualities required for the Oilers- but Nail Yakupov has only shown glimpses of what he is capable o...

Last night after suffering a 6-0 to the New York Islanders at the Nassau Coliseum, it appears that the Colorado Avalanche 's season is already turning into the thing of nightmares. There were signs of life last season as Patrick Roy 's Jack Adams winning debut season propelled them to new heights not seen since the days of Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg and Roy himself keeping net. Currently the Avalanche lies stranded in 13th place in the Western Conference with a record of 3–5–5 and the problem seems to be that no one really understands what is causing this slide? Calder Trophy Winner Nathan MacKinnon 's slow sophomore season has been making headlines for the wrong reasons but currently he is still joint top offensively with Matt Duchene on 9 points. But Jarome Iginla has so far received the most flack as his age has appeared to have crept up with him. 2 goals and 8 points are not reflecting the $16 million that Colorado were willing to invest in the 37 year old! The p...

Last night, Florida Panthers fans were given rare positive news when it was announce that they won the first overall pick in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft after their name was picked from the Draft Lottery. After another  poor season last year, the Panthers management should already been looking towards the next superstar of the franchise- and this draft year there is a lot of quality on show such as Canadian centre Sam Bennett, defenseman Aaron Ekblad or Sam Reinhart. Plus lets not forget top European prospect Kasperi Kapanen. But does one play change an entire franchises luck? In the case of the Colorado Avalanche the answer to that question is indeed yes as last years number one pick Nathan Mackinnon has proven to be an excellent choice and is one of the favourites for the Calder Trophy this year after an excellent rookie season. However, there is a flipside to that coin, and some teams have failed to raise their game even after more than one first overall picks- yes I am referri...

It's that time of year.  Last week, a loss in overtime meant that you only took one point. This week it's a game lost that could see your team one step closer to elimination from the playoffs. 14 teams didn't even make it this far. Nobody expected in October that the Toronto Maple Leafs wouldn't be making a post-season appearance. Likewise nobody would have expected injury-ravaged Detroit to get as far as they have. Holding into a wildcard place while dressing half their AHL affiliate to replace experienced superstars. Some teams have cruised to the playoffs, as expected while other teams have surprised us all. Who would have thought that the Colorado Avalanche would have made it so easily? The Flyers had a dreadful start, but captain Claude Giroux turned the ship around. Now comes the NHL.com Bracket Challenge. A time for myself and Alex to go head to head. His insane hockey knowledge against my knack for predictions (dumb luck). Last season I predicted ...

Eastern Conference  Detroit Red Wings  v Boston Bruins   This is one of the more difficult series to predict because both teams are of equal quality. The Red Wings hold a 3-1 regular season record against the Bruins, but it has been Boston who tops the Eastern conference and they have been showing this season just why they are contenders. I predict this one to be a tight one, but based on form alone, I have to give this one to the Bruins, sorry Mike! Prediction: Boston Bruins Tampa Bay Lightning v Montreal Canadiens Tampa Bay have been the one of this years real surprise packages, finishing 4th in the Eastern conference despite star Steven Stamkos being injured for a long period and currently holds a 3-1 record against Montreal. But the Canadiens are not a team that should be ruled out (unless Subban goes to the box) and I still think they could spring a surprise here. But overall, I think Tampa has just enough quality to see this one through. Prediction: Tam...

This week's question is about the Colorado Avalanche's young superstar: "Statistically Nathan MacKinnon is having a better rookie season that Wayne Gretzky, is this kid the future of Colorado hockey? Or is this just beginners luck?" When the Avs snapped up MacKinnon at the 2013 Draft, they knew they had something special. MacKinnon, tore the junior leagues apart with his incisive and unselfish play. He may only be 18, but his hockey brain is fully developed. He knows when to shoot and when to pass. MacKinnon takes chances, but will happily provide assists when a colleague has a better chance. It's no surprise he was the first overall draft pick. So far, MacKinnon has 58 points from 75 games (0.77 per game). If this stays the same and he plays all 82 regular season games, then he'll finish on 63 points. This is a pretty good total for a rookie season, although it doesn't quite match up to Sidney Crosby (102) and Alexander Ovechkin (106). Still, ...

Happy New Year of Hockey to all fans! Hope we are beginning to recover from the festivities in time for tonight's Winter Classic showdown between the Red Wings and the Maple Leafs- The Big House will be rocking! To start 2014 I thought I would give some acknowledgement to the young men who will soon become the future of this game! Here are three men who have stood out: Tomas Hertl (San Jose Sharks): Ever since achieving the incredible feat of scoring four goals against the New York Rangers in only his third game, young Czech player Tomas Hertl has been on everyone's radar! Right now 'Hertl Power' is driving the San Jose Sharks forward and he currently sits as the NHL's top scoring rookie with 25 points! This is one young man who has the ability to excite and I will be keeping a close eye on this one- though his absence through injury will rob him of a chance to shine at the Sochi Olympics! Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche): Picked 1st overall at last yea...

Colorado Avalanche Without question the big surprise of the year and after an awful 2012/13 season where they finished bottom of the Western Conference and sacked Coach Joe Sacco, the Avs turned to former player Patrick Roy to breath new life into this franchise. Roy has done just that and currently Colorado top the Western Conference with a 13-2-0 recor byd! 1st overall pick Nathan MacKinnon has been a rookie sensation but Matt Duchene has been the more consistent scorer and currently has 19 points. This combined with the solid player of young captain Gabriel Landeskog has presented to us a franchise that can start to reclaim its glory years! But the scandal involving starting goalie Semyon Varlamov could prove crucial. St Louis Blues Previously on this blog we sneered at the St Louis Blues for their lack of squad depth - well it appears a heartfelt apology is in order as this season they look a changed team and currently stand fourth in the Western Conference. Their high scorin...

Not unlike an actual avalanche, the Colorado Avalanche has been fairly unstoppable recently. But, also like an avalanche, once they've run out of momentum, progress will grind to a halt*. The boys from Denver have now lost their last three games in a row and in last night's surprise 4-1 home defeat to the Florida Panthers , Superstar center Matt Duchene has suffered an apparent oblique injury. No word yet on whether the injury is serious our not. Duchene, who's current the Av's leading goal scorer was unable to finish the game. Duchene has scored 12 goals and has 8 assists this season. Colorado's home stand continues when the teams hosts the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday. We wish him a speedy recovery. *Maybe. I'm no scientist.

Last night the Colorado Avalanche were dealt a swift blow when number 1 goalie  Semyon Varlamov was arrested for on second-degree kidnapping and third-degree assault charges after a domestic incident in which he allegedly assaulted his girlfriend. He was remanded in a Denver Jail on Wednesday before he could stand trial where he kept separated from the other inmates due to his fame. Today a judge has allowed Varlamov to travel with the Avalanche on bail of $15,000 but a restraining order has been imposed whilst investigations continue. The Russian native will likely feature in tomorrow nights game against the Dallas Stars at the Pepsi Center! Upon release, Varlamov's agent, Paul Theofanous, said: "My client Semyon Varlemov is completely innocent of all of these charges." Whilst a spokesperson for the NHL has informed us," We will not comment unless or until we have a fuller understanding of all of the facts and circumstances related to the legal charges that ...

The Colorado Avalanche have been on fire recently. So far this season Patrick Roy's men have won all six of their games. Mostly down to Semyon Varlamov's heroics between the posts. The Detroit Red Wings are also in a good place. Having got over their slightly shaky start, the team is settling in to life with Daniel Alfredsson and life without Valtteri Filppula. Expectations for the Red Wings' visit to the Pepsi Center were high for both teams. Mike Babcock's men are desperate not to repeat last season's chase for a playoff spot while the Avs need to prove that they're serious contenders. The Avalanche got off to a bad start when Cody McLeod was assessed a game misconduct and a boarding major penalty after his push on Niklas Kronwall left the big Swede with concussion and cuts. Kronwall was stretchered off the ice but not taken to hospital. The resulting powerplay allowed Henrik Zetterberg to set up Johan Franzen who then put the first goal on th...

Patrick Roy's enjoyed the perfect start as head coach of the Colorado Avalanche last night as they routed the Anaheim Ducks 6-1 at the Pepsi Centre! Given a rapturous standing ovation before the game start, Roy repaid his fans faith with a stunning performance. But there was another debut that also caught the headlines as number one overall draft pick Nathan Mackinnon chipped in with two assists to help his team to a big win. Ryan O’Reilly got the party started in the first period when he seized on a defensive mistake to make the score one to nothing. The second period however was when the Avs really caught their stride as Stevie Downie and John Mitchell pushed their advantage to 3-0 mid way through the period. But with 17 minutes gone, Mackinnon was finally given his chance to shine as his pass set up Jamie McGinn for the teams fourth! The pair then combined again early in the second to incredibly push Colorado 5-0 ahead before Matt Duchene capped off an impressive ...

Alex asked me this week for my divisional wooden spoon predictions. My immediate response was "Canucks!". August is a bad sports month for me. There's no NHL and no NFL. Sure there's the soccer, but I follow a team who quite honestly, suck right now. So after opening the season with a 4-0 loss (it really could have been a lot more), I've been in a serious sports funk. Alex's team won at the weekend. Just to rub salt in the wound. Anyway. I do not think that the Canucks will be propping up the Pacific Division next season. I was just angry at the world of sport. So. Who will be leaving the party early? It's tricky to say at this time but here goes. Metropolitan Division - Philadelphia Flyers Atlantic Division - Florida Panthers Pacific Division - Calgary Flames Central Division - Colorado Avalanche We'll revisit this halfway through the season and see how things are going.

The Colorado Avalanche clearly have faith in their 20 year old captain Gabriel Landeskog and have now inked him to a seven year extension worth a reported $39 million. A second overall pick in the 2011 NHL draft, Landeskog won the Calder Trophy in 2012 after a successful rookie season and in September last year he was made the youngest ever Avalanche captain at just 19! He also proved to be one of the few bright spots in an otherwise horrific season for the Avs last year and finished the season with nine goals and eight assists. Upon signing this deal for the left winger, Joe Sakic was quoted as saying "Gabe is and will continue to be a large part of the foundation of this hockey team for many years to come,"

As Mike's previous two post pointed out, the NHL will be a very different place come the 2013-14 season with the Eastern and Western conference have undergone a dramatic re-alignment and now it has become far more simplied with the East sporting two separate divisions with the Atlantic and Metropolitan Divisions and the West also having two divisions with the Pacific and Central Division. With new leagues come new rivalrys are long gone are the days of the dull Southwestern Division and sadly Vancouver will not fight for a sixth straight Northwest Division. But what will the big match ups be? Let's take a look in more detail. Atlantic Division  This division promises plenty of thrills with the Detroit Red Wings , Boston Bruins , Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens doing battle for a playoff place- there is no love lost between Leafs and Habs fans and this fixture never fails to entertain. But the clash that will have everyone talking will be when the Ottawa Senators...

With the new schedules come the new divisions, instead of being three divisions in each conference, there's now only two. With the changes will come new rivalries, which Alex will talk about later.  Let's start with the Western Conference. The Western has 14 teams while the Eastern currently has 16. This accommodates for the expansion in the west that the NHL has been looking for. Detroit and Columbus have moved over to the Eastern while Winnipeg makes the sensible move west.  Pacific Division Anaheim Ducks Calgary Flames Edmonton Oilers Los Angeles Kings Phoenix Coyotes San Jose Sharks Vancouver Canucks Dallas leaves the old Pacific Division, but three of the Canadian teams; Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary have joined it from the disbanded Northwest Division.  Central Division Chicago Blackhawks Colorado Avalanche Dallas Stars Minnesota Wild Nashville Predators St. Louis Blues Winnipeg Jets With Colom...

Whilst in the midst of a busy workday this saturday just gone, Mike pointed out a fact which is not only fascinating but deeply puzzling, he said "You know a Canadian team hasn't lifted the cup for 20 years?" This is a damn good point and one that ultimately leaves us baffled- but what is the reason for this current drought? Let's have a look in more detail, Cast your mind back to the night of June 9th 1993 where the Montreal Canadiens swept aside a Wayne Gretzky inspired Los Angeles Kings by four games to ones to claim their 24th Stanley Cup win and as Habs Captain Guy Carbonneau hoisted the cup at the Montreal Forum, little did we know that this would the be the last time to date that a Canadian team would be engraved on the trophy!  Since then the cup has been an all American affair and in between these twenty years we have seen four deserved wins by Detroit Red Wings , three Scott Stevens inspired cup wins by the New Jersey Devils and two cup wins each b...

Alex's question of the week was "out of the top four draft picks, which team will benefit the most?" Damn good question Alex, so let's have a look. First of all, no team did badly in the draft. At least on paper. So who went where? 1st: Nathan MacKinnon - Colorado Avalanche 2nd: Aleksander Barkov - Florida Panthers 3rd: Jonathan Drouin - Tampa Bay 4th: Seth Jones - Nashville Predators Colorado Avalanche The Avs need several good forwards and several good defencemen to be successful. MacKinnon definitely adds strength to Colorado's forward line but one man does not make a team. I think MacKinnon will struggle to post the sort of numbers he's currently scoring in the lower levels.  Florida Panthers Aleksander Barkov has already played against the big boys in the Finnish SM Liiga so he'll have an advantage when he lines up for the Panthers. Tampa Bay Lightning The Lightning will expect to do well with Drouin. With Stamkos and F...

Nathan Mackinnon was selected as the 1st overall pick by the Colorado Avalanche in New Jersey last night, after an impressive season with the Halifax Mooseheads in the Quebec Major Junior League it came as little surprise to many and capped an impressive comeback after a knee injury during the World Junior Championships had threatened to lower his ranking. Young Finnish centre Aleksander Barkov was chosen as the second selection by the Florida Panthers and Mackinnon's Halifax team mate, Jonathan Drouin was picked as the third overall choice by Tampa Bay Lightning . Biggest surprise of the night came when original number one prediction Seth Jones was only selected fourth by the Nashville Predators . Swedish centre Elias Lindholm was the fifth choice for the Carolina Hurricanes while Sean Monahan was added to the Calgary Flames at sixth overall. There was a shake up at  the 9th overall pick as the Vancouver Canucks unexpectedly traded Cory Schneider to the New Jersey...

The other day I was presented with a very interesting question from Mike regarding the coaching changes in the NHL, “With all the coaching changes going on the league right now; instead of hiring and firing the same group of coaches, is it time to bring in some new blood?”   The question here is an interesting one and with the latest groups of hiring and firing it does make us think whether newer and younger talents are required? Let’s analyse this in more detail, Alain Vigneault has recently been fired by the Vancouver Canucks , but as of a couple of days go it appears that he has now taken the vacant post at the New York Rangers while John Tortorella was fired the same post and now seems odds on favourite to take charge at the Rogers Arena! Why didn’t they just swap jobs in the first instance? Both coaches are proven winners and they both possess fairly excellent records, but I can tell you for a fact that neither is really the right choice for those clubs and ...