TAKING ON NEW TEAMS

 New York Rangers, San Jose Sharks, Uncategorized, Winnipeg Jets  No Responses »
Feb 172013
 

Hello there ladies and gentlemen,

Have no fear I am back from my three week writing hiatus and have good news for all of you. In an attempt to keep me writing on a consistent basis Trent and I have decided I will pick up a few more teams to write about. So with out further ado my list of new teams and my three favorite players on the team :) <3

 

SAN JOSE SHARKS

This is only fitting because the Sharks were my number 2 team for a long time. When I was 13 I found a plaid flannel shirt with Sharks colors on it. One of the most beautiful things I own :) <3

    On to my San Jose Sharks

1. Ryan Clowe

He used to play for the Cleveland Barons (AHL) back in 2003.  I’ve always enjoyed the fact that when Clowe gets mad he really gets mad. There is no holding back. Especially if he is seeking vengeance for a hurt teammate.

2. Marc-Edouard Vlasic

As many of you know I really like Vlasic pickles. Sadly, this was the reason why I started to like Vlasic. Lucky for me he is pretty good at assisting fellow teammates.

3. TJ Galiardi

I enjoyed watching Galiardi play when he was with the Lake Erie Monsters. He is one of those understated play makers. Definitely a pleasure to watch.

 

 

 

 

WINNIPEG JETS 

I was sad when the Atlanta Blackhawks Thrashers moved out of Georgia. I had mapped out a road trip that year to see my lovely Blackhawks Thrashers. Then I was sad because that meant I would rarely see Natalie Taylor report. In the end it worked out. Natalie came to the Columbus and the Thrashers moved to Winnipeg. With the exception of the Canucks I like all Canadian teams. In fact, I’d like to see the Jets win a Stanley Cup. The cup needs to go back to Canada at least once right?

1. Jim Slater

I really loved watching Slater play in Worlds this summer. He was a nice addition to the team. Plus, I’m a huge fan of his work on “Saved By the Bell”. ;-)

2. Dustin Byfuglien

You can knock Buffy all you want for being a big dude but that doesn’t take away from his defensive skills. Buffy knows how to use his body size to his advantage. The moment you don’t take Buffy serious he will score or set up a beautiful play that leads to a score. I love Buffy so much I own a shirt that says “I LIKE BIG BUFFS”. I’m not ashamed to say I changed the words of “Baby Got Back” to “Baby Got Buff”.

3. Grant Clitsome

Grant was one of the most beautiful human being to ever play for the Columbus Blue Jackets. When the Jets signed him you could hear women and gay men crying all over Columbus. Grant may not have been the best player on the Jackets but there was something fascinating about his style of play. You couldn’t take your eyes off of him. Unfortunately, neither could opposing teams.

 

NEW YORK RANGERS

I’ve spent a lot of my life flip flopping when it comes to the Rangers. I love them. I love them not. I love them. I love them not. Then I joined twitter and discovered Dave Lozo. Seriously this man never ceases to make me giggle.  (click here for an example of his awesomeness ). The point is Dave Lozo is a Rangers fan.

1. Henrik Lundqvist

Lundqvist is truly one of the best goalies to play the game during my lifetime.  That’s all that needs to be said.

2. Rick Nash

Here’s the odd thing about Nash being in my top 3 Rangers players: He was my least favorite Columbus Blue Jacket. There is a huge part of me that doesn’t want Nash to do well. At least this season. Then there is this other part of me that enjoys watching him. It seems as though Nash re-found his love for hockey in New York. Which is great. Everyone deserves to love their career.

3. Michael Del Zotto

Del Zotto is an all around good guy. On the ice. Off the ice. How can you not like him?

 

 

Well there you go guys. It’s going to be an interesting ride. :)

 

 

 Posted by Elaine Shircliff at 7:10 pm  Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,

CTN’s Top 25 NHL players at each position.

 NHL, teams  3 Responses »
Mar 172012
 

Crash the Net has compiled what we feel are the top 25 players at each position in the NHL. The rankings seen below are not necessarily based on the 2011/2012 season statistics and performances but were considered, of course.

Centers

It’s understood with the 2, 3 and 4 positions will be argued by many fans but there is no doubt who is the number one player in the NHL with that being Sidney Crosby. Toews brings the complete package with scoring, defensive play and the best face off player in the league. Malkin is an elite offensive weapon who is pretty decent in his own end as well and the similarities to retired superstar Mario Lemieux are uncanny. Stamkos is a pure sniper and no one comes close to having the shot or goal scoring prowess that he has. The final spot at the center position was between Mikhail Grabovski and Jeff Carter but we gave Grabovski a slight edge.

1)      Sidney Crosby

2)      Jonathan Toews

3)      Evgeni Malkin

4)      Steven Stamkos

5)      Pavel Datsyuk

6)      Henrik Sedin

7)      Jason Spezza

8)      John Tavares

9)      Eric Staal

10)   Nicklas Backstrom

11)   Anze Kopitar

12)   Patrice Bergeron

13)   David Backes

14)   Brad Richards

15)   Tyler Seguin

16)   Patrick Elias

17)   Ryan Getzlaf

18)   Mike Richards

19)   Ryan Kesler

20)   Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

21)   Jordan Staal

22)   Vincent Lecavalier

23)   Logan Couture

24)   Joe Thornton

25)   Mikhail Grabovski

Right Wingers

This was a tough one to choose for the top 3 in this category. Giroux has incredible offensive skill and is very good defensively as well; we believe Claude’s best is yet to come. Hossa is a great scorer and is often considered a top 3 two-way player in the league and the reigning MVP Corey Perry has turned his season around and is proving once again as one of the top players in the NHL. The Oilers Jordan Eberle edged out a tough field for fourth position, Jordan may be challenging Steven Stamkos for the Rocket Richard Trophy sooner than later.

1)      Claude Giroux

2)      Marian Hossa

3)      Corey Perry

4)      Jordan Eberle

5)      Patrick Kane

6)      Phil Kessel

7)      Marian Gaborik

8)      Jarome Iginla

9)      Teemu Selanne

10)   Ryan Callahan

11)   Jason Pominville

12)   Martin St. Louis

13)   Rick Nash

14)   Bobby Ryan

15)   Shane Doan

16)   Kris Versteeg

17)   Daniel Briere

18)   PA Parenteau

19)   Blake Wheeler

20)   Jaromir Jagr

21)   Dustin Brown

22)   Radim Vrbata

23)   Michael Ryder

24)   Teddy Purcell

25)   Joe Pavelski

Left Wingers

There’s no denying the skill of Ilya Kovalchuk but we won’t deny that we almost put Boston Bruins winger Milan Lucic in the top spot. Lucic has all the tools and not one NHL team would deny that they would love a player like Lucic on their respective team. Alexander Ovechkin usually would take top spot here but after saying in the pre-season that he was in the best shape of his life and currently having a lowly season by his standards, we have “The Great 8” ranked number 10 in the left winger top 25.

1)      Ilya Kovalchuk

2)      Milan Lucic

3)      Daniel Sedin

4)      Zach Parise

5)      Scott Hartnell

6)      Patrick Sharp

7)      James Neal

8)      Jamie Benn

9)      Thomas Vanek

10)   Alexander Ovechkin

11)   Gabriel Landeskog

12)   Taylor Hall

13)   Matt Moulson

14)   Loui Eriksson

15)   Ray Whitney

16)   Henrik Zetterberg

17)   Joffrey Lupul

18)   Evander Kane

19)   Max Pacioretty

20)   Brad Marchand

21)   Alexandre Burrows

22)   Dany Heatley

23)   Milan Michalek

24)   Andrew Ladd

25)   Erik Cole

Defenseman

This was an extremely tough top 25 to compile because many wonder if players like Weber/Suter and Keith/Seabrook would be as good as they are without their partner. Perhaps next year we will see if Nashville is unable to sign pending free agent Ryan Suter. For now, how can you not put Karlsson as the number 1 choice? Erik is on a torrid scoring pace and has the ability to change the game flow on his own, his skills are incredible and one can’t be happier for the Ottawa Senators having a player like this to build their team around.

1)      Erik Karlsson

2)      Zdeno Chara

3)      Shea Weber

4)      Ryan Suter

5)      Nicklas Lidstrom

6)      Kris Letang

7)      Keith Yandle

8)      Duncan Keith

9)      Drew Doughty

10)   Alexander Edler

11)   Alex Pietrangelo

12)   Dion Phaneuf

13)   Brent Seabrook

14)   Brent Burns

15)   Dustin Byfuglien

16)   Brian Campbell

17)   Dan Boyle

18)   Dennis Wideman

19)   Niklas Kronwall

20)   Mark Streit

21)   Matt Carle

22)   Kevin Bieksa

23)   Kimmo Timonen

24)   Kevin Shattenkirk

25)   Christian Ehrhoff

Goaltenders

“King Henrik” got the edge here but to be honest it really was a toss-up between Lundqvist and Rinne, both of their respective clubs are very good defensively and both goaltenders are absolutely above the rest of the pack. It would be fair for this to be a 1A and 1B ranking or even better yet, a tie for the first overall ranking. Many will wonder why we have a goalie like Brian Elliott ranked low when he has been arguably one of the best goaltenders this season and our reason is because prior to this year, he’s hardly been a legit NHL goaltender and he now plays for the number 1 ranked defensive team in the NHL. Not taking anything away from him because he has been fantastic but we’d like to see another season with him as a starter and not on a split squad goaltending duo like he is now.

1)      Henrik Lundqvist

2)      Pekka Rinne

3)      Marc-Andre Fleury

4)      Jonathan Quick

5)      Carey Price

6)      Mikka Kiprusoff

7)      Tim Thomas

8)      Jimmy Howard

9)      Ryan Miller

10)   Mike Smith

11)   Ilya Bryzgalov

12)   Jaroslav Halak

13)   Cam Ward

14)   Corey Schneider

15)   Roberto Luongo

16)   Kari Lehtonen

17)   Jonas Hiller

18)   Antti Niemi

19)   Brian Elliott

20)   Corey Crawford

21)   Martin Brodeur

22)   Semyon Varlamov

23)   Craig Anderson

24)   Evgeni Nabokov

25)   Jose Theodore

That is our list, we hope you enjoyed our rankings and would like to know if you agree or disagree and why?

Kudos to zimbio.com for the use of the photos

Thanks for reading,

TK0N

 Posted by TK0N at 7:18 pm  Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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