Preliminary Media Top 10 for 2025
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Time for the first media/scout poll for the 2025 NHL Draft!
For those unfamiliar with how this works, I poll many of the OHL's
brightest minds; those who c...
Winners of the draft: “Detroit” and “Chicago”
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“Detroit Red Wings” Filip Zadina in terms of talent had to go into the top
3 draft pick. It is no coincidence that Ken Holland shone with happiness,
comm...
2015 Draft Spotlight: Connor Hobbs
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Defenceman *Connor Hobbs* is back on WHL ice after sitting out for almost
three months waiting for a trade. Hobbs began the year as a member of the
Medic...
Combining Scouting And Stats
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As hockey fans know, it’s been a big summer for analytics. While some NHL
teams have been using advanced stats behind closed doors for years, the
scene ...
All good things must come to an end
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As you may have noticed, I haven't updated this blog in a week. Two things
for that
1. Last week I was busy covering the NCAA Division III men's hockey
Ch...
Cuylle And Rempe Key Game One Upset Wins
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Will Cuylle (OHL Images)Friday night was more than just the New York
Rangers game two win as the last two Rangers prospects got their league
finals under...
Adjust contrast of a pdf free
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Closer to the eye of the shooter, this is because Preview is quite
literally applying a filter to each individual page of the PDF you are
saving. the proce...
Training camp rosters
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Training camps are underway across the WHL and so once again, here's my
compiled list of which players are in which team's camps. This list will be
updated...
WHL Top 2013 Draft Prospects Year End Rankings
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*1. Seth Jones D Portland* - Seth Jones got off to a slow start early on
this season, but got stronger as the season went on, as expected. Jones is
an all ...
English: 2D structure of stimulant drug methamphetamine (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
From Wiley:
Muscles and Meth: Drug Analog Identified in ‘Craze’ Workout Supplement Danger of U.S. Federal Shutdown Preventing FDA Ban, Scientists Warn
An international team of scientists have identified potentially dangerous amounts of methamphetamine analog in the workout supplement Craze, a product widely sold across the U.S. and online. The study, published in Drug Testing and Analysis, was prompted by a spate of failed athletic drug tests. The results reveal the presence of methamphetamine analog N,α- DEPEA, which has not been safely tested for human consumption, in three samples.
“In recent years banned and untested drugs have been found in hundreds of dietary supplements. We began our study of Craze after several athletes failed urine drug tests because of a new methamphetamine analog,” said lead author Dr. Pieter Cohen, of Harvard Medical School, U.S.A.
A workout supplement marketed as a ‘performance fuel’, Craze is manufactured by Driven Sports, Inc., and is sold in stores across the United States and internationally via body supplement websites.
The supplement is labeled as containing the compound N,N-diethyl-phenylethylamine (N,N-DEPEA), claiming it is derived from endangered dendrobium orchids. However, while there is no proof that this compound is found within orchids, it is also structurally similar to the methamphetamine analog N,α-diethylphenylethylamine (N,α-DEPEA), a banned substance.
The team analyzed three samples of Craze for traces of N,α-DEPEA. The first sample was brought from a mainstream retailer in the U.S., while the second and third samples were ordered from online retailers in the U.S. and Holland.
The team used ultra-high performance liquid chromatography to detect the presence of N,α-DEPEA. The first two samples were analyzed by NSF International, while the third was tested at the Netherland’s National Institute for Public Health. The findings were independently corroborated by the Korean Forensic Service, which confirmed the presence of N,α-DEPEA in two further samples of Craze in a parallel investigation.
“We identified a potentially dangerous designer drug in three separate samples of this widely available dietary supplement,” said Cohen. “The tests revealed quantities of N,α-DEPEA of over 20mg per serving, which strongly suggests that this is not an accidental contamination from the manufacturing process.”
As a structural analog of methamphetamine, N,α-DEPEA , may have stimulant and addictive qualities; however, it has never been studied in humans and its adverse effects remain unknown.
The product labeling claims that Craze contains several organic compounds, known as phenylethylamines. However, phenylethylamines are a very broad category of chemicals which range from harmless compounds found in chocolate to synthetically produced illegal drugs.
“The phenylethylamine we identified in Craze, N,α-DEPEA, is not listed on the labeling and it has not been previously identified as a derivative of dendrobium orchids,” said Cohen.
“If these findings are confirmed by regulatory authorities, the FDA (The U.S. Food and Drug Administration) must take action to warn consumers and to remove supplements containing N,α-DEPEA from sale,” concluded Cohen. “Our fear is that the federal shutdown may delay this, resulting in potentially dangerous supplements remaining widely available.”
Full citation: Cohen. P, Travis. J, Venhuis. B, ‘A methamphetamine analog (N,α-diethyl-phenylethylamine) identified in a mainstream dietary supplement’, Drug Testing and Analysis, Wiley, DOI 10.1002/dta.1578 URL Upon Publication:http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/dta.1578
About the Journal: Rather than focus on the application of a single technique, Drug Testing and Analysis employs a unique multidisciplinary approach to the field of controversial compound determination. Papers discussing chromatography, mass spectrometry, immunological approaches, 1D/2D gel electrophoresis, to name just a few select methods, are welcomed where their application is related to six major topics: Sports doping, Illicit/recreational drugs use, Pharmaceuticals, Toxico-pathology, Forensics/homeland security, and environment.
Russia goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov makes a save in a game against Slovakia during the 2010 Winter Olympics (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
"Professional hockey player Ilya Bryzgalov (a.k.a. "Universe") was spotted enjoyingBlue Man Group’s one year anniversary performanceatMonte Carlo Resort and Casino on Thursday, Oct. 10. Bryzgalov is a former Olympian, won the Stanley Cup with the Anaheim Ducks in the 2006 – 2007 NHL season and currently serves as goaltender for the Las Vegas Wranglers. The athlete was accompanied by his wife and two kids and attended a private VIP meet-and-greet with cast members following the show." Bryz could quite realistically find himself back in the NHL this season. Maybe even dressed in blue - the Edmonton Oilers are rumoured to be interested with their early season struggles.
ABOUT BLUE MAN GROUP LAS VEGASBlue Man Group has turbo-charged its show in Las Vegas with electrifying music, sensational technology, and innovative new ways of interacting with the audience. The mega-enhanced show at Monte Carlo Resort and Casino is a thrilling, energy-infused performance that introduces wildly inventive musical instruments, a humorous look at robots and creativity, and a mind-blowing (literally) tour inside the neural network of the human brain. Each night the Blue Men present an extraordinary spectacle and create a soulful, primal and euphoric experience that makes you feel vibrantly alive and more closely connected with the people around you.
Peter Tingling on the importance of researching business in sports.
"Tingling’s
true research interests lie in decision-making. Over the course of his
career, however, he has discovered that sport, and in particular the National Hockey League
(NHL), makes for an excellent laboratory to test his hypotheses and he
has become an advocate for using sport data to test organizational
theories.
In the process, he has become something of
an expert, in particular on the NHL draft, an event that he finds a
fascinating phenomenon, with many parallels to other business sectors. “Everyone makes decisions” he says “and
while I would love to be invited to compare and contrast decision
making at the big five Canadian banks, so far that has not happened. On
the other hand, however, the NHL has been extremely supportive. I have
been to several annual drafts and seen the 30 General Managers make
hundreds of high stakes career and performance decisions.”
Tingling
says that sports research is important for a number of reasons.
Firstly, and perhaps most obviously, professional sport is an important
business sector in its own right, with huge sums of money involved at
the top level. Secondly, decisions in sport generate more discussion
than many other sectors, so the interest in sport demands it be
examined further.
The third, and perhaps most important
reason for Tingling, revolves around the transparency and availability
of data in sport, and the consistency among sporting organizations
that allows researchers a proxy for counter factual testing to some
degree.
“In business it’s very hard to compare one
company against another – it is frequently suggested that organizations
are idiosyncratic,” says Tingling. “There is only one HP and only one
Apple, but in the NHL there are thirty teams, all operating under the
same restrictions. It is a lot easier to compare the Detroit Red Wings
to the Vancouver Canucks than it is to compare Intel to Apple. So sport
acts as a perfect petri dish to test business theories.”
***
"Along
with fellow Beedie associate professor Michael Brydon, Tingling has
presented some of his research on the NHL draft at the 2010 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference,
an annual conference for industry professionals to discuss the
increasing role of analytics in the global sports industry. His presentation has become one of the top ten most viewed videos on the MIT Sloan website, with over 5000 views.
Hand-crafted especially for fantasy hockey junkies (but not exclusive
to), the following rankings are based on a prospect’s pure offensive
potential.
Goalies get no love here. Apologies to the vital guardians of the
goal, but your potential is just too monumentally difficult to predict
from a fantasy armchair GM’s point of view.
As THW former colleague Josh Deitell eloquently summed up comparing the actual NHL draft versus fantasy drafts:
Grit, work ethic, defensive-zone play, and personality: all intangibles that NHL teams consider when making their selections in the NHL Entry Draft that are not particularly relevant for fantasy hockey. Yes, you do want to pick players who you think will make it to
the NHL and contribute, so it’s important to consider bust potential and
the fact that some European players take years to make their way across
the pond and can easily make their way back, but first and foremost is
offensive upside.
One will quickly notice some of the undersized forwards and blueliners creep up the rankings in comparison with my Final Top 210 Rankings. To reiterate, these rankings are focused on the pure offensive upside a prospect possesses.
In addition to The Next Ones 2013 NHL Entry Draft Guide Headquarters, THW brings you the 2013 NHL Draft Prospect Index, giving you access to in depth player profiles on this year’s fabulous draft class. From our team of ten The Next Ones prospect profilers to David O’Connor’s in depth articles all the way to Eldon MacDonald’s War Room series of posts, THW has
you covered for unique information and analysis on the next wave of
players hoping to take the next step in their journey that hopefully
leads to the big league.
From Allen (Evan) to Zykov (Valentin), The Hockey Writers is your quintessential destination for NHL Draft coverage.
*Bookmark and check back often as this page will be updated regularly leading up to the draft.
Seth Jones
– MacKinnon, Drouin and Barkov have monumental obstacle in the way in
their pathway to potential #1 overall selection. (Brian Heim/Portland
Winterhawks – WHL)
(Alphabetical order by surname: click on name/link for detailed prospect profiles)
Dano is an Austrian born Slovakian forward who is an interesting study for this draft class.
He first impressed me at the 2012 World Juniors in Calgary as the youngest player on the Slovakian squad as a spark-plug
player who initiated play and showed creativity in somewhat limited
duty. As planned, he was a leader of the Slovakian 2013 WJCs entry and
impressed with 9 points in 6 games.
The 5’11″ forward is an energetic and very good skater although NHL
Central Scouting’s Goran Stubb has stated he could use work on his
skating and first step acceleration. We’ll have to agree to disagree on
this aspect of Dano’s game as I see him as a powerful skater with good
speed and get up and go ability.
What has allowed Dano to succeed in the Slovakian Men’s league 2
seasons ago and in the KHL this past season is his high level hockey
sense and above average vision. He’s a smart player who reads the game
well. He is a very aware and responsible player all over the rink.
Dano plays an in your face up-tempo game and is that
agitating, gritty but skilled forward that every NHL team covets these
days. He plays a physical game and is very strong for his size – his
performance at the Scouting Combine proved that.
Dano doubles as an effective playmaker and finisher. He also possesses a good set of mits, as they say, with deft puckhandling ability. He also has great hockey genes as
his father Jozef played professionally in Europe for 19 years and is
current assistant coach with Dukla Trencin in the Slovakian Men’s top
league. While the younger Dano likes Jaromir Jagr as a player, the
reason he wears jersey #68 in club play is because that was his father’s
number, as he explained to me through a translator in Calgary in 2012.
Who’s going to step up to the podium in Newark and say: “Book ‘em Dano”?
Via NHL.com:
"[Montreal Canadiens scouting director] Trevor Timmins suggested the NHL consider FMS testing to see if we could incorporate it into our Combine," Marr said. "It doesn't necessarily pinpoint an injury; rather, it can indicate the potential or need for further examination and that's just as, if not more, important."
The test will be administered by York Fitness, which is headed by Dr. Norm Gledhill, a professor of kinesiology at York University. The FMS test, which includes a deep squat, hurdle step, lunges, shoulder mobility movements, leg raises and trunk stability pushups, likely will be held May 29-30, prior to the medical and fitness tests, which will be conducted May 31 and June 1."
NHL Draft Drawing will take place on Monday, April 29, 2013 for the 14 non-playoff teams. The entry draft will be held on June 30th at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, with all seven rounds occurring on the same day this year.
“…the league discussed making odds for the 14 non-playoff teams more balanced, but it won’t happen this year.
The only difference in this year’s draft lottery will remain that the team that wins the lottery will be awarded the first overall pick. In previous years, winning the lottery only allowed a team to move up a maximum of four places in the draft order.”
Notes Up Front:
The order used in this mock draft is based on the teams’ actual standings as of Apr. 9th.
This is not an attempt to rank prospects. This is mere a guesstimate at what teams might choose if they were to draft today based on weighing out best player available with team need and past experiences at the draft table, with an obvious dose of influence from my personal thoughts.
Ht/Wt: 6′ 4″/205 lbs
Position: D
Team: Portland (WHL)
Maybe the best blueliner prospect since Chris Pronger, Popeye’s son seems almost destined to singlehandedly revamp the Avs’ less than stellar defense corps. Avalanche Hall of Famer Joe Sakic even had a hand in Jones’ early development.
The Next Ones Draft Rankings has had the dynamic winger with astronomical skills and hockey IQ ranked #1 since January. While the Flames agonize over Drouin versus Barkov and had hoped MacKinnon falls one more slot, they get the most purely talented player in the draft. Drouin makes everyone on the ice better. He’s also the newly crowned Human Hockey Highlight Film.
Ht/Wt: 6′ 2″/209 lbs
Position: C
Team: Tappara (FIN)
As long as he gets clear bill of health, Sasha is the obvious choice for Steve Yzerman and staff. He has had an impressive season in Finland’s top men’s league (SM-Liiga) given it is his first year of draft eligibility, finishing 9th in league scoring.
Ht/Wt: 6′ 0″/190 lbs
Position: C
Team: Brynäs (SWE)
In 1991, the Flyers drafted Peter “Foppa” Forsberg, only to later deal him to the Quebec Nordiques as part of the notorious Eric Lindros blockbuster trade. Lindholm is much more a household name compared to Forsberg at the time he was drafted (who was deemed a likely late 1st round, early 2nd round selection heading into the 1991 draft in Buffalo, New York). Flyers hope they have even half the player in Lindholm.
Ht/Wt: 6′ 1″/210 lbs
Position: D
Team: Brandon (WHL)
The Jason Pominville trade reinforced the prospect foundations. Pulock stock seems to be dipping in some rankings, but Sabres envision his absolute cannon of a shot terrorizing opposing netminders to go with his all around game.
Ht/Wt: 5’11″/175 lbs
Position: LW/RW
Team: Medicine Hat (WHL)
Shinkaruk is an elite offensive forward with outstanding instincts and skating ability. The Blue Jackets get the potential game-breaking forward they covet.
Ht/Wt: 6′ 0″/190 lbs
Position: C
Team: Edmonton (WHL)
The Isles go back to the Edmonton Oil Kings for another first rounder, snatching up Lazar to go with Griffin Reinhart from last year. Lazar has consummate pro player written all over him. In 4 to 5 years, people may be left wondering why he went this low in the draft.
Mantha has many weapons with which he can dissect goaltenders. Once he truly figures out how to utilize his size, he’ll be even more of a force to contend with.
Ht/Wt: 6′ 1″/190 lbs
Position: C
Team: Djurgardens IF (SWE)
Versatile, excellent skating ability and extremely smart – drafting Wennberg almost immediately makes up for the trading of elite prospect Filip Forsberg.
Ht/Wt: 6′ 0″/185 lbs
Position: D
Team: Prince Albert (WHL)
The Flames sit through fifteen agonizing picks hoping hometown kid slides to them in this slot. Morrissey is a scintillating skater with tremendous offensive ability. He also possesses very good defensive acumen and does not shy away from physical play.
Ht/Wt: 6′ 0″/200 lbs
Position: C
Team: London (OHL)
Horvat’s impressive play this year has had him rising the draft ranks; his offensive output may have been underestimated – the rest of the package he brings to the ice each and every game is very enticing.
No one will be questioning Compher’s will to win when he finally suits up for the Sabres. Combine that with his skill level and Buffalo has added yet another key cog to revitalize the franchise.
His skating is one of very few questionable aspects of his game; his passion and goal-scoring are certainly not. He’s the second forward in the first round to be the son of a former NHL enforcer – his father was Warren.
Ht/Wt: 6′ 2″/207 lbs
Position: D
Team: Waterloo (USHL)
McCoshen can play the role of shutdown defenseman, but also possesses first-rate offensive upside as shown by an outstanding season in the USHL. The Boston College recruit is a poised player and can play a physically menacing game.
Don’t be fooled by Zykov’s nationality; he plays a North American brand of hockey. He is one of the biggest risers this season amongst the various draft rankings with a great season in the QMJHL. The Canucks help replenish their prospect coffers.
Ht/Wt: 5’11″/175 lbs
Position: C
Team: Regina (WHL)
The Flames select another prospect they covet – and another hometown kid. Klimchuk is another elusive player who has an elite shot. He plays a very smart all-around game. Some will note Calgary has selected two sub-6’ forwards here in the first round. Fear not – Klimchuk can more than handle the physical rigors of the game.
Ryan is a definite “Hart” and soul player, doing whatever it takes to win. He was an absolute force for Team USA at the 2013 World Juniors in Ufa, Russia. Hartman is one of those guys you hate to play against.
The Blackhawks could have went in many directions with this pick – they contemplated top goalie prospect Zach Fucale, American defenseman Steve Santini and forward Andre Burakowsky, but ultimately settle on Duclair despite his tumultuous season.
Duclair possesses excellent speed and skating ability – both he and Drouin trained with former retired figure skater Barb Underhill. He also has good offensive tools and athletic bloodlines – his uncle Farell Duclair is a former CFL fullback. What scouts have to figure out is if the suspension early in the New Year for indifferent play (along with Adam Erne) was an isolated incident or cause for future concern.
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First Round Notes
#16 – Blue Jackets obtained Rangers’ 2013 1st round pick, Brandon Dubinsky, Tim Erixon and Artem Anisimov for Rick Nash, Steve Delisle and a conditional 3rd round pick (If Rangers make it to Cup finals, Blue Jackets keep pick).
#19 - Flames obtained Blues’ 2013 1st round pick, D Mark Cundari and G Reto Berra for D Jay Bouwmeester. The 2013 1st round pick could morph into a 2013 4th round pick and 2014 1st round pick if the Blues miss playoffs this year (a.k.a. Bouwmeester curse)
#21 - Sabres obtained ild’s 2013 1st round pick, 2014 2nd round pick, G Matt Hackett and LW Johan Larsson in exchange for Jason Pominville and a 2014 4th round pick.
#24 - Blue Jackets obtained Kings’ 2013 1st round pick (Blue Jackets decided not to use the pick in 2012) and Jack Johnson for Jeff Carter.
#28 - Flames obtained Penguins’s 2013 1st round pick, Kenneth Agostino and Ben Hanowski in exchange for Jarome Iginla.
*New Jersey must surrender their 1st round pick either in 2013 or 2014 as a punishment for circumventing the salary cap in the infamous Ilya Kovalchuk contract. (They also gave u[ their 2011 3rd round pick as well as $3 million.)
