The Fifth Liners

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...

The Pittsburgh Penguins perfect start has hit a flat spot as their road trip ended in a surprising 6-3 lost to the Florida Panthers ! So far the Panthers form has been nothing to write home about, but their fans will be dancing in the streets after this result Brad Boyes got the ball rolling when he gave the Panthers the lead after 1.55 of the first period but soon the home side were pegged back when Evgeni Malkin's first goal of the year tied the scores at 1-1! Kris Versteeg then restored their one goal lead as he bagged his first goal in a Florida jersey off an assist from Scott Gomez (yes you heard that right!). But Craig Adams ensured the Pens went in level at the break when he poked in from a goal mouth scramble to make it 2-2! Into the second period and the Panthers offense truly came alive with goals on two successive powerplans, first Jonathan Huberdeau scored off an assist from Versteeg and then Panthers 2nd overall draft pick Aleksander Barkov scored to push the adva...

It's here everyone!! The NHL regular season schedule has been officially drawn up and come October the great sport of hockey shall again be gracing our world! This season promises to be one of the best yet as the Chicago Blackhawks aim for Stanley Cup number 4 and sees the arrivals of Nathan Mackinnon , Seth Jones and Aleksander Barkov as well as the departure of Ilya Kovalchuk . It also see the new division realignment which ensures that all 30 teams will play each of the 30 arenas at least once this season. The playoffs will start from April 16th onwards. Between February 9-25 will see an Olympic break as the 2014 Winter Olympics commence in Sochi, Russia (which once again the British Hockey Team will not be invited to) with the Canadians aiming to defend their gold medal from Vancouver 2010. Ironically the Vancouver Canucks begins where the last one ended away to San Jose Sharks at the newly named SAP Center on October 3rd with our home opener against the Edmonton Oiler...

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...

With the NHL Draft only 11 days away in New Jersey, the Colorado Avalanche still appear to be hanging onto the top pick in the draft after days of 'will they- won't they?' speculation- but according to NHL.com, Avalanche Hockey President Joe Sakic has dropped a bomb shell and announced they will not select Seth Jones in the upcoming draft as they favour a power forward and will instead focus on choosing either Nathan Mackinnon , Jonathan Drouin or top European prospect Aleksander Barkov ! Last season Colorado conceded 152 goals in the regular season and finished bottom of the Western Conference, a top defensemen is required to give stability at the back, but also the Avs struggled offensively last year and long gone are the days of goal machines Sakic and Peter Forsberg so a forward come in useful. Colorado will need to use this pick carefully because this draft promises to be one of the deepest in years!

With the 2013 NHL Draft in New Jersey just over a month away, the media will be betting among themselves as to whether Nathan Mackinnon , Seth Jones or Finn Aleksander Barkov will be the first name called out by the Colorado Avalanche ! The draft system can be a tricky one and sometimes the first picks go onto the great things. But sometimes things don't quite go to plan and other times, future stars may go un-noticed in the later rounds. Here is a look at some of the great draft successes and failures from years gone by. Top 5 Draft Steals  1. Dominic Hasek (199th Overall, 1983, Chicago Blackhawks): The Dominator was only selected in the 10th round by Chicago back in 1983 (Hasek didn't even know this until months later) and took 7 years to come play in the NHL from the Czech Republic. But when he arrived, he changed goaltending forever collecting 6 Veniza Trophy's and two Hart Trophy's over a 17 year career taking in Buffalo, Ottawa and the Red Wings where he won...

With the 2013 NHL Draft only two months away, we have been mentioning our potential candidates for the number 1 overall draft pick, while Seth Jones is currently top of all critics lists to be selected first, there is one skater who is currently ranked the top European skater who may be worth considering- that man is Tappara's Finnish Centre Aleksander Barkov! His stats so far in the SM-ligga are just astounding! So far he has chalked up 47 points including 21 goals and 26 assists! These are the kind of stats we are used to seeing by seasoned professional! The video below demonstrates just what this kid can bring to the NHL- any team that selects this young man should get very excited!