The Fifth Liners

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...

Finally there is a ray of light in the Colorado Avalanche's dismal season! Last night in Toronto it was announced that they will have the 1st Overall Pick at the 2013 NHL Draft. Avs fans should get very excited as it means that hot prospect Seth Jones  could be making his way to Denver and this result could mean great things for next season. This will also mark the 1st time in 4 years that the Edmonton Oilers havent not been given first choice. After a poor display this season which has seen Colorado finish bottom of the Western Conference and also  the sacking of Head Coach Joe Sacco. It will be important that the Avalanche learns from these failings and comes back a bigger and stronger team and with the possibility of Jones joining their ranks, next season could be a big improvement!

Alex wants you to vote for Michal Handzus , it's a good choice, but it's the wrong choice. Why is it the wrong choice? Because we shouldn't be voting for a skater, we should be voting for a goalie. The last goalie to make it onto the cover of an EA NHL game was John Vanbiesbrouck , the Vezina Trophy winner was on the cover on NHL 97. Current draft hotshot Seth Jones was 2 years old when a goalie was last on the cover. Why is this? The goalie is the glue that holds a team together, the man at the back, the last line of defense, etc etc. As I've pointed out  before,  quite often the goaltender is the difference between success and failure. We've established that this is the season of the goalie, so why Cory Schneider ? 5 shutouts, .927 save percentage 2.11 goals against average. These numbers speak for themselves but there's more. Some keepers will play day in, day out. They're first choice and it's a given that they're always going to skate. Sc...

As the draft approaches, it's time to look at the current number 1 rank Seth Jones . This 18 year old currently plays for the Portland Winterhawks and has captained Team USA at the IIHF World U18 Championships. The defenseman has already picked up several silver and gold medals and regularly clocks assists. This young man is definitely one to watch when the draft hits New Jersey.