The Drayton Valley Thunder were in town to kick off the 2017/18 AJHL season. The Crusaders took last seasons series winning four games out of six.
This young Crusaders lineup was hoping to put the doubters to rest and get off to a solid start to the season.
It’s been a crazy week for the Crusaders after acquiring two new defencemen Brendan Kallis, from the Steinbach Pistons of the MJHL, and Kole Bryks, from the Melville Millionaires of the SJHL. On top of that, the team held their training camp this past weekend and had their intra-squad game.
Over at BTI HQ, we were trying to think of a way to pass the dog days of the hockey off season. As you can imagine, trying to find content to write about in August can be tough.
We decided to start a bracket. But a simple bracket of who is the best player in the NHL would end one of two ways: Connor McDavid defeating Sidney Crosby OR Sidney Crosby defeating Connor McDavid in the final. So we switched it up a little.
Most recently, Brent Burns was joined by Patrick Kane in the second round after he took down Stars forward Jamie Benn.
Who will be next, Seguin or Tarasenko?
The common thought is that Vlad Tarasenko is more of an elite finisher and produces more offense. That statement would be false. In the past 3 seasons, Seguin has played 14 FEWER games than Tarasenko and they have the EXACT SAME amount of points over that span (222).
My argument for Seguin to win this matchup is fairly simple: versatility. If you want him to centre your top line, he’ll do it. If you need him to shift to the wing, he can do that as well. That’s something Tarasenko simply doesn’t offer.
While Tarasenko may score more goals, Seguin does a better job of complementing his linemates and making those he plays with much better.
Where Tarasenko may be the sexy pick, ask yourself: If you were starting a franchise today, who would you choose? I would go with the versatile centerman who has put up over a point per game in 3 of his last 4 seasons.
Vladimir Tarasenko is one of the game’s best finishers and has proven so over the past three seasons; only Alex Ovechkin (136) has light the lamp more than him – Tarasenko scored 116.
Also throughout those three seasons, the Russian winger has single handedly carried the Blues’ offense scoring 222 points with the next closest, Alexander Steen, coming in with 167 points. Only one other team in the Western Conference had a bigger gap between their highest scorer and their second highest scorer: the Chicago Blackhawks with a 77 point gap.
Tarasenko has played on much less talented teams, offensively, compared to Tyler Seguin who has been able to play alongside somebody as talented as Jamie Benn.
Although Tarasenko may not be as versatile as Tyler Seguin, if he can go out there and score my team 30 plus goals a season you simply cannot complain about that.
So over at BTI HQ, we were trying to think of a way to pass the dog days of the hockey offseason. As you can imagine, trying to find content to write about in August can be tough.
So we decided to start a bracket. But a simple bracket of who is the best player in the NHL would end one of two ways: Connor McDavid defeating Sidney Crosby OR Sidney Crosby defeating Connor McDavid in the final. So we switched it up a little.
A few week’s ago we had Jeff Carter and Brent Burns go head to head. Brent Burns came away victories in that battle and now this week we’ve got two heavyweights ready to battle it out!
Patrick Kane is very very very very (you get the point) skilled. You know that I know that, everyone knows that.
Majority of hockey fans know how good Jamie Benn is, but sometimes I feel as though his effectiveness gets lost in today’s fast paced, skilled NHL.
Benn is a big body who actually skates very well for someone who’s 6’2 and well over 200 pounds. He can park himself in front of the net and wreak havoc, or he can sit on the wingers and fire home one timers with his surprisingly strong shot. He can kill penalties as much as he can make other teams pay for taking them. You want a player you can trust to protect a lead late in the game? It’s Benn. You want a player who you can throw out with a minute left and you’re down a goal? Benn can do it.
As for scoring, Kane has an edge there obviously, but the gap isn’t huge. He’s eclipsed a point per game in 2 of the last 4 seasons and was dangerously close to that mark in those other two “off” years (69 points in 77 games & 79 points in 81 games).
Three time Stanley Cup champion, Patrick Kane is one of the biggest names in the NHL.
He’s consistently been on the box score since day one of his NHL career, always coming up clutch when the Blackhawks need him the most. Kane has been a huge asset in changing the Blackhawks culture into a winning one. His tremendous 72 point rookie campaign helped Chicago to their first winning season since 2002. Since Kane has been with the organization they have not had a single losing season and have only missed the playoffs once: 2007-08.
Kane is a prolific scorer and over the past three seasons, nobody has scored more points than him. A big chunk of those points came from his outstanding season where he won the Ted Lindsay, became the first American born player to win the Art Ross, and took home the Hart Trophy: beating out Jamie Benn. That same year, Kane went on a 26 game point streak which became the longest in Blackhawks history and also the second longest streak since Mats Sundin in 1993.
Kane’s elite scoring touch is better than anybody else in the league today. He’s a big time player who makes big time plays.
Make sure to vote on our Twitter poll (@belowtheice) for whom ever you believe won this argument!
We’re now in the second week of NHL free agency and one of the greatest players to ever play the game is still available: Jaromir Jagr. He is coming off a 46-point season, whilst playing all 82 games for the first time since 2014 when he was with the New Jersey Devils.
The Florida Panthers announced that they do not want to bring Jagr back to the organization, and according to Jagr, neither does any other organization.
Despite the apparent lack of interest, Jagr is no rookie when it comes to moving teams. Since returning to the NHL, after three years in the KHL, the 45-year-old has played for five different teams in six years.
Regardless of his age, Jagr’s numbers indicate one thing: he still knows how to score points.
Jagr has totaled 159 points in his last three seasons with both New Jersey and Florida – more points in fewer games than Patrick Marleau (151), who just signed a three-year $18M contract with Toronto.
Last Tuesday, another top free agent, Alex Radulov, just went off the board to one of Jagr’s former teams, the Dallas Stars. Radulov signed a deal worth $31.25M, $6.25M per year, over the next five years. In 2017 against even strength opponents, Radulov scored 31 points (goals, 23 assists) whilst Jagr scored 33 points (eight goals, 25 assists).
Numbers don’t lie. Scoring wise, Jagr can still compete with the top free agents on this year’s market yet he is still unsigned. Take away the age and your team will be getting a scoring winger, which plenty of NHL teams need.
Jagr has proven year after year that age will not define him. People can complain about his speed as much as they want, but if he keeps scoring points does it really matter?
With the list of free agents getting smaller each day, the Czech is becoming the top free agent available.
Jagr is obviously in search for another Stanley Cup ring to add to his collection, however, a team in the lower half of the standings should show interest in him as a mentor. A team like the Arizona Coyotes could be one of those teams. During his time in Florida, Jagr was a major part of the success the Panthers experienced from both Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau. The Coyotes are in a similar stage of their rebuild much like the Panthers were. The future Hall of Famer could do the same in Arizona but this time with the likes of Dylan Strome, Maxi Domi, Clayton Keller. The list of young talent is really endless in the Copper State. As previously mentioned, Jagr is in pursuit of a Stanley Cup ring, however, he would be waiting a long time in Arizona for that ring, making an Arizona unlikely destination. On the other hand, most old people eventually move to Arizona later in life so why wait till then?
Until the last few days, the Dallas Stars would’ve been a great destination for the 45-year-old. Over the summer, GM Jim Nill has made some huge moves in order to not only get his team back in the playoffs but to go all the way. Trading for Ben Bishop and signing two of the biggest names on the free-agent market, Martin Hanzel and Alex Radulov, would attract any player at the back end of their career. The Stars did lose offense at the trade deadline in Patrick Eaves, and then Patrick Sharp, Ales Hemsky, and Jiri Hudler to free agency. Jagr seems like a great fit. However, with the Stars resigning both Radek Faska and Brett Ritchie it now leaves no room for the future Hall of Famer.
Another talked about destination for him is in Western Canada with the Edmonton Oilers or Calgary Flames. The Flames seem like the more likely stop in this situation, now that the Oilers have signed Jussi Jokinen. Edmonton will likely want to give Jesse Puljajarvi another chance in Alberta’s capital after spending the second half of the season in Bakersfield.
Now as for the Flames they’ve been busy bringing in defense, resigning Mark Stone, signing Travis Hamonic, and trading for Mike Smith. Last season, the Flames ranked in the lower half of the league in goals for, meaning it is probably time for them to invest in some offense. Jagr could slide perfectly on the top line complementing Calgary’s two stars Monahan and Gaudreau.
Over in the East, the Columbus Blue Jackets emerged last season as one of the best teams in the NHL. On draft day, they bolstered their offense with the addition of Artemi Panarin in exchange for Brandon Saad. Their only real loss this off season has been Sam Gagner who left to join the Vancouver Canucks. Jagr could easily come in and fill the void left by Gagner: he’s a much better player. They are a young team on the rise with only one player over the age of 30 on the offensive side of the puck, Brandon Dubinsky. With the current Vezina winner and one of the best defensive cores in the league, Columbus is ready to go on a deep playoff run and win the cup, just what Jagr wants.
Other teams that could be potential new homes for Jagr are the Montreal Canadiens who are looking for more offense, or the Carolina Hurricanes who want to take that next step.
Personally, I would love to see Jagr back in the black and white of the Pittsburgh Penguins. The right side of their offense may be crowded with Phil Kessel, Patric Hornqvist, and Bryan Rust but that could work in Jagr’s favour. He won’t be forced to play in every game and with him being the age he is it may actually extend his career to 50 like he believes. Also, with the talent on the Penguins roster, he would have a great shot at hitting the 60 point mark, again. The Penguins have just won back-to-back cups, I wouldn’t put it past them to win it again and obviously, Jagr wants another shot before he hangs up the skates.
I could easily make a case for every team and why Jagr would be a good fit, but ultimately we won’t know what will work best until we see him skating next season with his new team.
On March 13th, the buzzer sounded and the Crusaders were eliminated from the AJHL playoffs in first round for the first time since 2011. They went down to one of their biggest rivals, the Bonnyville Pontiacs, 3 to 1 after leading the series.
It was definitely a difficult lose for the team, with all the talent they had on the roster many people expected them to last longer.
For a team that lost the majority of their roster this offseason, signing day was obviously a busy one for the Crusaders.
We are now coming into the month of May and are starting up the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
For many teams, their post-season will consist of many rounds of golf down in sunny Florida.
We have another Russian returning to the NHL, this year, it’s former Atlanta Thrasher and New Jersey Devil Ilya Kovalchuk who left us all back in 2013 to head back to his homeland.
Before he left, Kovalchuk had just played in a shortened NHL season where he racked up 31 points in 37 games. The season before that, he had also made his first appearance in the Stanley Cup finals with the Devils but unfortunately couldn’t come out of it with a ring. During that season, Kovalchuk reached the 80 point mark for the first time since 2009 when he was part of the Atlanta Thrashers organization.
This week Liam Horrobin chats with forward Merritt Oszytko about his off-season plans, the Stanley Cup, and the 2016 season.