Passion for the ROOKIE

When Wayne Gretzky made his famous statement about "Sidney Crosby" in regards to breaking some of his records, it put the world on notice. Ears were listening everywhere, especially in the media. That same year Crosby made a "Lacrosse" move behind the net scoring a highlight goal that had the hockey world stand on notice. It even brought out comments on HNIC from Don Cherry on 'Coachs Corner' calling him a HOT DOG.

While some did feel like that,  Crosby was never  known to be a prideful player, even as a Jr Star. In a interview Crosby was asked about his expectations , to which he replied  "I’m just a 16-year old who played only 17 games at junior level. I have a long way to go. I love to play hockey, I want to enjoy it and I don’t want to put pressure on me about points. " He goes on to say his greatest challenge is to stay consistent, every game, every shift. His main goal for the season? "Every night, I want to be a better player, If I improve, I can keep going."

Not only would Crosby go on to becoming a great player, but he would become the face of the league. A Rookie who was able to score over 100 points as a 18 year old. All signs in his Jr career pointed in this direction. The excitement I  had over a ROOKIE card, had been changing and I didn't even notice. The excitement of following a prospect ( a potential NHL player in the making) became more of a passion then actually the ROOKIE card itself.

While following the latest prospects in the Oilers organization , I became rather frustrated like many of you. With more misses then hits, you can imagine the joy that was felt when we finally drafted Sam Gagner. While there was some glimmer of hope in a few of our prospects it was when Jordon Eberle arrived that things began to take shape.

With Jordon's last second goal in the World Jr game vs Russia , the hysteria at Rexall Place that night was nothing short of crazy. I was at that game. The Oilers game that is. I can't recall who they were playing, only the fans response when the crowd at Rexall went crazy while watching Eberle (oiler draft pick) score the tying goal with only seconds in the game. Hope was there....Passion was there! Not for a card anymore, but a prospect, who maybe one day, could do the same for the Edmonton Oilers.

The following year, we were able to steal Magnus Paajarvi who fell a couple draft picks right into the Oilers hands. While few knew much of him, I had been following many potential prospects for the draft and was ecstatic at the opportunity to draft him.

With Eberle continuing to play Jr hockey, Magnus in Sweden still, Gagner was left alone to find his way through the stormy waters with little support. A 30th place finish assured us the best player (or at least we hoped). Following the prospects all year again allowed me more opportunity as to the potential possibilities between Hall and Seguin in the 2010 draft. I wanted Taylor Hall all along. Attended the draft party that year at Rexall and jumped with joy at the announcement he was our pick.

 

This past year, after all the excitement of drafting a #1 overall, I was secretly hoping for one more #1 overall. Having followed the 2010 Draft prospects closer then any other draft year, I felt I had a pretty good idea as to who the Oilers would once again draft with their 2011 #1 overall. I followed the draft class closer then any previous year. To me, it was a no brainer. With Stauffer's coverage of the top prospects and interviews with Oilers brass, as well as incredible coverage by Lowetide in his blogging and his show NationRadio, I felt more excited then ever. Not only as a fan of hockey but especially as a Oiler addict. Draft day 2011 came and so did "The Nuge", Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

 

Life has changed since that Vancouver Canucks playoff run in 1982. Life has changed since trading and playing hockey trading cards in the school yard. Life has changed since buying and selling ROOKIE cards in hockey. It's changed alright, but for me in a good way. I now follow so many prospects I can barely keep up. But that's OK, because I love it! I love seeing these young players develop over the years, I love guessing and trying to figure out who will be drafted where. I love hearing from their families and friends and from the players themselves. It's the gleam in their eye, the thirst to succeed. It's the dream of one day, playing in the NHL, playing for

Lord Stanley's Cup. We all had our own dreams of doing that ourselves one day, only difference is? For us it's a Fantasy, for these young players, it could become a Reality!

 

All I can really say is "Thanks for the ROOKIE Card". It changed my life. It took me from the boy who watched hockey to one crazy fan who can't wait to discover the next greatest players in hockey. Who am I? What could I possibly know? I don't know, maybe not much, but I have to say....I am right far more times then I am wrong....spend enough time following...and you stand a better chance at least having a educated guess.....(just dreaming...lol)

revingev

the DAWN of the ROOKIE Card

The "DAWN" of the ROOKIE Card

The "Dawn" of the ROOKIE card was upon us. It was 1988, Wayne Gretzky was just traded to the Los Angeles Kings and hockey was to be changed forever.The landscape of hockey had taken a different turn from what was previously seen as a lesser of the main sports in regards to dollar figures. With the new contract signed by Gretzky, salaries were about to escalate, so too were the value of cards, especially ROOKIE cards in hockey. There was no Internet to locate prices so off to the local market you would go, praying to find hockey card books stating the value of cards.

Trading cards and tossing them in the school yards were a thing of the past. It was different now, no longer was there a stick of gum in the package instead there were several companies jumping on board with the sales of hockey cards. In fact it was at this time, I set up shop with my corner table at flea markets and in second hand stores with my personal collection of ROOKIE cards that I purchased from friends, or bought at flea markets. My list of ROOKIE cards included some quality players...Paul Coffey , Mario Lemeiux , Pelle Lindberg , Ray Bourque , Theo Fleury ,
Mike Modano, Steve Yzerman , Eric Lindros , Peter Forsberg and many other notables.

Because the value of ROOKIE cards were at a all-time high, it was then that I decided it was time to start following these young prospects before they were drafted. If anything I was looking for the potential of future players , to guess what card could make me some money down the road. The first player I began to follow?  Eric Lindros, the possible
Next One?

As I began to follow his Jr career, I also came to notice in that years prospects game, another offensive player named Yanic Perreault. Both of there cards were a 'have to have' for me. Little did I know that Yanic would really only amount to being a face-off specialist and Eric would later have his career cut short by concussions. I purchased several of Eric Lindros' ROOKIE cards, but at the early starting point of his career , it was not decisive which card was his true rookie card. I collected all of them, just in case. I even put one away for my oldest daughter in hopes he truly would become the NEXT ONE!

I started to purchase other rookie cards in hopes of the value going up, but found this to be a highly expensive venture. Something happened during this point of time though...My excitement for the game of hockey was not only about following my favourite player and or team, but my love and passion for the game of hockey grew as well. It took me past playing street hockey to playing Ball Hockey in Edmonton's old "Capital City Ball Hockey Association" right through to local "Beer League" hockey on ice.

 

Life had changed not only in the hockey world of professionals, but also in my own life. With hockey at its highest peak, it took me to following the world of Jr Hockey. It was not only with the World Jr's but also the CHL. Hockey in the NHL basically started taking a new look. It was the time where clutching and grabbing was common site, games were becoming even lower scoring and my interest for hockey was fading. On top of all this, hockey ROOKIE cards were becoming extremely expensive to collect. With expenses of playing hockey and watching hockey a higher priority, I sold off all my rookie cards except the one Eric Lindros Card, which I had  given to my daughter.


While following the CHL, there was a young player who really was catching my eye. I was hearing rave reviews of him and started trying to find as much information as I could muster up. While my interest was fading in the NHL it was just beginning to gear up for Jr hockey. All I was hearing was how this young prospect was scoring at will, and in timely fashion in most games. It was 2002 and the mainstream media was beginning to report of comments from the "Great One" Wayne Gretzky , of a recent prospect who Wayne was saying "could be the one to break some of his NHL records"....who was this future Star?

(to be continued)

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The Edmonton Oilers Announce Young Stars Roster

The Edmonton Oilers Young Stars tournament roster has been released.  This looks to be a pretty good team once again this year.  While I don't think it's as good, talent wise as last year, this current squad has a chance to be the best team at the tournament.

Not only are the Oilers bringing guys like Nugent-Hopkins, Tyler Bunz, and Colten Teubert, they will also bring some camp try outs to the tourny as well.  6 of them will get a chance to impress the Oilers brass. 

Will any of them land jobs? Will RNH impress all those who watch? Will one of the lesser know players step up and shine?

Stick around to OilersJambalaya.com, as we will once again follow the Young Stars tournament closely.

The tournament begins September 11th in Penticton, British Columbia.

FORWARDS

73 Cameron Abney
51 Philippe Cornet
71 Drew Czerwonka
69 Travis Ewanyk
79 Brett Ferguson *
70 Curtis Hamilton
64 Milan Kytnar
57 Anton Lander
66 Ryan Martindale
72 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
63 Kristians Pelss
68 Tyler Pitlick
92 Toni Rajala
61 Tobias Rieder
76 Chase Schaber *
59 Colin Smith *
75 Antti Tyrvainen

DEFENCEMEN

82 Jeremie Blain
88 Brandon Davidson
81 Taylor Fedun
78 Martin Gernat
45 Ryan Lowery *
80 Martin Marincin
87 David Musil
85 Tyler Schmidt
84 Colten Teubert
90 Wes Vannieuwenhuizen *

GOALTENDERS

50 Adam Brown *
1 Tyler Bunz
30 Olivier Roy

-* means the player is on a camp try out-

The ROOKIE Card

The ROOKIE Card and it's place in "Hockey"

I grew up knowing nothing about hockey...until the Canucks run for the cup in 81/82. Watching "King" Richard Brodeur, Thomas Gradin, "Tiger" Williams and the rest of the Vancouver Canucks, making a unlikely run for the cup. I was just a 10 year old kid. But seeing the team that represented my city and province do the unexpected, it made me feel like I could too.

It took me to playing street hockey, pond hockey, grass hockey , kitchen hockey...well point is, I fell in love with hockey. Like many of you. I became a fan and forever have been one. My allegiance's have shifted over the years. As a 10 year old boy, Vancouver was my team in their bright yellow jersey's. Then it shifted to the "Broad street bullies" when Pelle Lindberg took them to the Stanley Cup in 1984. Followed them until the 87' Canada Cup where the "Magnificent" Mario had his coming out party. It was Pittsburgh all the way. That was until 1992 ,when I became a Oiler forever.

We all have our stories of how we first fell in love with the game and how we wanted to be the players, the kids now call hero's, but what I remember most during that cup run in 82 was "Hockey Cards".

Every allowance, I would get all excited. I would run out the front door and bike as fast as I could to the local corner store to get the latest package of new hockey cards. Quickly ripping open the package, I would throw the stick of gum from the package into my mouth, start chewing and hope to find a card of my favourite hockey player like Wayne Gretzky or Mark Messier and almost choke on my gum when finding  one.

On the back side of the cards were that players scoring and statistics. I would  know, all the other boys at school would do anything to get that card. Lots of trading would happen. That one good player could fetch you dozens of other cards in completing your team sets.

The excitement would grow at school everyday. We couldn't wait till recess or lunch break.  We would arrange for a card throwing game. A game where each player puts up their best card. Everyone  playing would have to be in agreement that each player had a special card that the other players wanted. You would take your card, stand it up on a slight angle against a wall, then draw a line about ten feet away. That was the line that each player took turns to toss a card from, in hopes of knocking the card down. The player that knocks the card down will get to pick up all the cards that the other players have already tossed and the special card you wanted as well. 

I never thought much about it then, but the cards we were tossing were pretty special cards. It included the likes of the "California Golden Seals", the "Kansas City Scouts", the "Cleveland Barons", the list goes on. Rookie Cards were not thought to be as valuable in that time as gaining your favourite player trading card or completing your favourite complete team set. That was the early 80's. By 1984, the ROOKIE Card in Hockey took a whole new turn. they became valuable! It was years later  that I started remembering all those Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Paul Coffey, Mario Lemieux ROOKIE cards, I once held in my hand and treated like nothing more then a common pebble found on the playground....It was the 'Dawn" of the ROOKIE card and the game of hockey was about to change forever.......(to be continued)

Development Players VI 'The Final Chapter'

This posting is the last in my examination of the Oilers prospect system. While looking at a goaltenders AVG is good, its more of a relfection of the team as a whole. Also Save % is great to look at but high quality chances can make a goalie look worse then he really is.

Example, if a goaltender has 30 shots on him one game but the game consisted of 3 breakaways, a couple 2 on 1's not to mention poor sloppy play by the defenceman, chances are many of those pucks are going in. On the other hand, if you cut those high quality scoring chances down in half there is a much better possibility the goaltender is cutting down the goals scored as well. Goaltenders also deal with the mental fatique side of hockey more then anyone else.

In understanding goalies there are a few things important to watch for...
1) Postioning
2) Mentally Strong
3) Endurance
4) Not over-commiting

we will cover first on one defenceman and then cover the four goaltenders....


My opinions are based off of three things...

1) NHL Organization's reports
2) Outside scouting reports
3) Personal observations.

Development Players #26-30:


Colten Teubert  6' 4"
195
8 Mar 1990


STATS:


2006-07 Regina Pats WHL                  Games 63 G 3  A 8    PTS 11
2007-08 Regina Pats WHL                  Games 66 G 7  A 16  PTS 23
2008-09 Regina Pats WHL                  Games 60 G 12 A 25 PTS 37
2008-09 Ontario Reign ECHL             Games 8  G 0  A 1     PTS 1
2009-10 Regina Pats WHL                  Games 60 G 10 A 30 PTS 40
2009-10 Ontario Reign ECHL             Games 10 G 1  A 2    PTS 3
2010-11 Manchester Monarchs AHL  Games 39 G 2  A 8    PTS 10
2010-11 Oklahoma City Barons AHL Games 20 G 2  A 5    PTS 7


Fight video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIdO6jiBba8

Goal video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOQT3WZ5EOc



revingevs TAKE:
being a highly touted first round pick in 2008 (13th overall), Teubert has the look of more of a physical defensive defenseman.  He can intimidate like nobody's business, and mean enough to
strike some fear into a player coming come the wing. Teubert is going to need to improve his decision
making. Colten is one of those players who can be reactionary and make the odd bad decision that can hurt the team at the wrong time. This is most likely the reason, he has not yet been ready for the big club.

A fierce competitor who coach’s like. Good puck mover, can punish with bone crushing checks, is strong as a ox, and extremely smooth skater. Noticed at the 2011 development camp  like his game has sped up and covering the ice well with his wingspan. Knows how to wrap his man up well, so very little will get by him. Colten most likely will get at least 1 or 2 opportunities this year to cover off for injuries. This will be the year he needs to impress, as he some pretty good defenceman coming up behind him in the system.



Tyler Bunz 
6' 2"
203
11 Feb 1992


STATS:


2008-09 Medicine Hat Tigers WHL Games 22 AVG 3.46 SP .886
2009-10 Medicine Hat Tigers WHL Games 57 AVG 2.91 SP .898 
2010-11 Medicine Hat Tigers WHL Games 56 AVG 2.47 SP .919


Fight video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5flWNRyXQ7Y

Save Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPBgYmXMsh4



revingevs TAKE:
Tyler Bunz just completed a spectacular season for the Medicine Hat Tigers, posting a 2.47 goals against average and a .919 save percentage, and  widely viewed as one of the top goaltenders in the league. Tyler  at (6’2, 200 lbs) has decent size and is in line for a postion with Hockey Canada for the 2012 world U20 world jr's. Tyler's arrows are all pointing in the right direction to this point.

Amazing to see the growth in the last couple years. He looked good last 2010 development camp, but this year at the 2011 development camp he looked even better. Looks so much more relaxed and poised in Goal. Can tell his conditioning is far superior this year as well. This camp was crazy, for how tired he should be with all the time on ice, and he still looked good after the many hours in net this week.



Samu Perhonen  6' 5"
184
7 Mar 1993


STATS:


2010-11 Suomo  Fin2     Games 1   AVG 3.04  SP .900               JYP    Fin Jr.    Games 29 AVG 2.71  SP .922


:No video was found:


Truth is, not much can be found on this goaltender and he was sick and in the hotel most of 2011 development camp. Media were unable to get anything more then a Q&A with him. Here is a link to a article done on him over at copper&blue with Lisa McRitchie :

http://www.coppernblue.com/2011/7/6/2258847/samu-perhonen




Olivier Roy 
6' 0"
180
12 Jul 1991


STATS:


2007-08 Cape Breton Screaming Eagles QMJHL Games 47 AVG 2.87 SP .896
2008-09 Cape Breton Screaming Eagles QMJHL Games 54 AVG 2.84 SP .905
2009-10 Cape Breton Screaming Eagles QMJHL Games 54 AVG 2.62 SP .908
2009-10 Springfield Falcons AHL                         Games 3   AVG 2.57 SP .913
2010-11 Acadie-Bathurst Titan QMJHL                Games 45 AVG 2.79 SP .911


Save video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jksK7XpWMgg



revingevs TAKE:
Watching Roy play can be mind boggling,, when he is good, he is very good, but
when he is bad, he is horrid. Considered one of the top goalies in the JR hockey (ie: playing for Canada’s WJC entry) when Roy is on his game, he can be almost unbeatable. Their does seem to be mental lapses and stretches of poor play that can be devastating to his team. Should he be able to start mastering the mental lapses he will be a stellar goaltender but in the meantime he will likely do that as the starter for the ECHL’s Stockton Thunder.  It will be his ability to play consistently and bounce back from bad outings that will take him forward in the depth chart for the Edmonton Oilers.
Oiler Goaltending coach Chabot really likes his game and has even gone as far as to defend him against the critics of his game.



Frans Tuohimaa 
6' 2"
178
19 Aug 1991


STATS:


2010-11 Jokerit   Fin Jr. Games 37  AVG 2.14   SP .931
2009-10 HIFK     Fin Jr. Games 20  AVG 2.89   SP .911
2008-09 HIFK     Fin Jr. Games 18  AVG 3.97   SP .884


:NO VIDEO WAS FOUND:


revingevs TAKE:
Frans has spent the last 3 years in FINISH Jr league. Can not say enough about this guy. Technical Goaltender who seems to make the right decisions at the right time. Does not seem to tire and has a desire to get better each time he hits the ice. He has sais he wants to sharpen his game some before coming over  but is wanting more coaching in the North American game.
Head is always up. No bobing going on, while looking for the puck like many goaltenders. Eyes are very focused on where the puck is and doesn’t lose sight of it easily, even in traffic. Doesn’t play too deep in Goal but also doesn’t wander very much. Rarely over slides in lateral movement in net.
I have nic named him ‘Fabulous Frans’


Hope you have been able to gain some insight into more of the players in the system for the Edmonton Oilers this year. If your like me, you will pick the ones you like and follow them even more closely as the season goes on...and when someone gets called up due to injury or trades, your going to say "I know him!".

Cheers Oil Fan!
@revingev