Let's continue with our look at the players on each team who have a question mark attached to their name going into the 2008-09 NHL campaign.
On deck ... the Ottawa Senators, Philadelphia Flyers, Phoenix Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins, San Jose Sharks, St. Louis Blues, Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks and Washington Capitals.
Let's continue with our look at the players on each team who have a question mark attached to their name going into the 2008-09 NHL campaign.
Prospects camps are well underway, the big squads are warming up and we’re counting down the days until the opening faceoff of the 2008-09 NHL season.
Let’s have a look at the players on each team who has a question mark attached to his name.
Last year Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Niklas Backstrom, Milan Lucic and Tobias Enstrom all turned heads as freshmen and this year should produce another bumper crop of young, exciting NHLers.
You can pretty well take it to the bank that Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos will be a standout (the surrounding cast he has to work with pretty well guarantees that fact) and is easily the front-runner in the early race for the Calder Trophy.
But who else?
A few random thoughts ...
**Wake me when it’s over.
And the most boring story in the NHL this summer (ahem, Mats Sundin) continues to crawl along as every information crumb gets gobbled up by fans in Toronto and every other market linked to the former captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs (and yes I understand the irony of me writing about a story I’m claiming there is no story about).
Those teams include the Leafs, Habs, Rangers, Canucks and even the New York Islanders.
As the free agent day goes by I’ll be filling in the blanks here to keep you updated on what your favourite teams are up to on this critical day of the NHL schedule. We’ll re-cap all the moves on Hockey Night in Canada Radio on Sirius ch122 starting at 4pm eastern. Scott Morrison and Elliotte Friedman will join me for analysis of all the deals.
Check back in regularly.
Leafs fans, this is going to hurt.
Your team needs to still get worse before it has any chance of getting better.
Good opening round of the draft this year, with plenty of trades, some dramatic moments and solid picks. Still a little surprised that Nicolas Deschamps and Jacob Markstrom are available as we head into Round 2 through 7 on Saturday.
Hope your favourite team got a good pick.
Special thanks to Signa Butler who edited me all night and kept me well fed with pizza. Thanks Sig!
I'll be back doing Hockey Night in Canada Radio on Sirius channel 122 Tuesday June 24th at 4 p.m. ET where we'll go over the big winners and losers from the weekend in Ottawa. (Please tune in Monday as well for a “best of” show).
Have a great weekend and thanks again for joining us today. If you missed the action, here’s a re-cap of my live blog.
Join Hockey Night in Canada Radio host Jeff Marek Friday night at 7 p.m. ET on CBCSports.ca for instant analysis of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.
Friday’s NHL Entry Draft in Ottawa at Scotiabank Place could be one of the busier ones in recent memory with an almost unprecedented amount of trade rumours swirling around the nation’s capital.
Pittsburgh, who are without a pick in the first three rounds are trying desperately to get into the dance. San Jose is without a first round pick and Doug Wilson is trying to remedy that as we speak. Los Angeles has 15 selections, eight of which are in the first three rounds so they’ll be busy. Columbus has served notice that the sixth overall pick is in play. Teams like Toronto are looking to move up and we can expect host Ottawa to do something big by shipping a player or players - along with moving up in the draft - to keep Senators fans happy.
And where once young players were given time to season in the minors now, due to salary cap issues each NHL team needs good, young, affordable players in their lineups. So, expect to see many of these players on your favourite NHL teams as early as next season.
Here’s a little of what you should be looking for Friday night …
He’s called “the professor” by both teammates and fans alike.
He had the ability to feather a pass, shrug off a defenceman and create a play where most players would quit and surrender the puck
I’ve never hid the fact that Igor Larionov is one of my favourite hockey players to ever lace up a pair of skates.
Jeff Marek, one of sports talk radio's brightest stars, is the host of the all-new HNIC Radio on SIRIUS Satellite Radio. A twelve-year sports-talk radio veteran, the Toronto native provides intelligent hockey talk, insight and debate during the two-hour national daily drive-time hockey program.
Well known for his previous work on Leafs Lunch on AM 640 Toronto Radio, Marek is one of sports talk radio's most respected personalities. He joined AM 640 in 2000, hosting The Jeff Marek Show, a nightly open-line talk show, while working as the stations' morning news anchor. He quickly became the director of sports news and joined host Bill Watters on Leafs Lunch.
