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By Racki, June 7, 2011 11:00 am

Can the Oilers target Nathan Beaulieu with their second 1st round pick?

The above picture is of Saint John Sea Dogs defenseman Nathan Beaulieu hoisting the Memorial Cup this year. Beaulieu is listed at 6’3, 191lbs. and is said to be an offensive defenseman with a mean streak. I think that is right up the alley of what we would be looking for… well, really what any team should be looking for. I don’t think he’s been really garnering as much attention as I’d expect for a player possessing those kinds of talents though.

Beaulieu is currently ranked 5th for North American skaters by CSS, and 14th overall (includes all Euro and North American skaters) by ISS. So that said, I have a tough time believing that Beaulieu will be available at pick #19. He shouldn’t be. The Oilers are going to have to move that pick up if they have hopes of drafting him. I’m not sure if he’s really on our radar or not.

Beaulieu ended the season in the Q with 12 goals Continue reading 'Oilers draft target: Nathan Beaulieu'»

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By zackman35, June 5, 2011 10:34 am

Gabriel Landeskog at the 2011 NHL Draft Combine

Racki’s note: This is a great article by Zackman35 which helps us understand the physical testing that goes on at the NHL Combine. This has been added to our Resources section.

The NHL Combine gives us fans, but more importantly, the NHL organizations an indicator of physiological development and physical fitness of a young hockey player. These young potential prospects take part in various testing over a fairly short time frame (a week). During this week they are not only psychologically tested but physically tested as well, which helps give us and scouting staff a better perspective whether or not these young men will be able to compete at an elite level, and helps pin-point how far away they may be from competing. The purpose of this post/thread is to help give a fan a better understanding of how to interpret the draft combine.

Physical Fitness

Energy Systems

Your body uses three energy systems on continuum. It’s not a question Continue reading 'NHL Entry Draft: Draft Combine (Physical Testing) – Separating the Men from the Boys'»

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By Racki, June 4, 2011 3:10 pm

Break out the white towels (in a good way)

Congratulations to the Winnipeg Whatchamajiggers!!! Winnipegtonians… Winnipegites… Winnipegg-ee-ons… citizens of Winnipeg came up big, reaching the target of 13,000 seasons tickets sold… and these all come with commitments between three and five years. They also maxed out their waiting list (8,000).

I have defended Gary Bettman in the past, but I have to give him the middle finger for his comments earlier about it “not working there unless they sell tickets” when the same should be said about other floundering teams. It’s obvious that this was overdue. Good on the city of Winnipeg for coming up huge and selling out all their target seasons tickets. For now, I love you, but I look forward to hating your team!

More here.

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By Racki, June 2, 2011 8:05 pm

2011 NHL Draft Combine is going on right now..

Wow, I have been asleep at the switch. I missed that this was even going on right now. It started on May 30, 2011 and ends tomorrow, June 3rd.

There are some interviews up on the oilers website, including interviews with players Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Gabriel Landeskog, Adam Larsson, Sean Couturier, Jonathan Huberdeau and Dougie Hamilton, as well as Oilers staff Steve Tambellini and Stu MacGregor.

First quick observation. Holy eff… what is with Landeskog?? This guy speaks better english than most North Americans. No accent at all on him (kind of like Nick Lidstrom). He’s a very modest and well spoken player too. Adam Larsson spoke briefly on his familiarity with Paajarvi and Lander, mentioning that he’s played in world competition with them for about four years now. I wouldn’t say there was anything else particularly stand out in the player interviews though. I’d say the best interview to listen to (as expected) is Stu MacGregor’s interview. He provides some good insight in the whole process.

Tomorrow is the big day of the combine, which TSN will actually be airing… that’s the day that the players go through their physical testing. This might help give a good look at what growth RNH might be capable of, or perhaps how far ahead of the curve some of the other bigger guys are. Should be interesting.

Edit: June 4th, 9:00AM:
Here are the combine results: Continue reading '2011 NHL Combine'»

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By Racki, May 13, 2011 10:15 am

Julianna Guill - IMDB tells me she started in a Friday the 13th movie

Happy Friday 13th, everyone. Steve-O is away on vacation right now (in Mexico… there is a good chance he is currently being finger-banged by a Federale right now). So today, I present you with the MMS. Now, MMS once stood for Monday Morning Standings, but tradition has shown that these things never appear on Mondays… and who am I to break up tradition? Plus, with it being the playoffs, we decided we’d only release one MMS per round. So here it is… enjoy. Continue reading 'MMS – Post Round 2 edition'»