Calder Profile: Niclas Bergfors
Drafted 23rd overall in the extremely deep 2005 entry draft, Niclas Bergfors worked his way up through the Devils organization to finally crack the roster at the start of the 2009-2010 season.
Never a prolific scorer by AHL standards (his top scoring season was 2008-2009: 22-29-51), his exact role on a Jacques Lemaire coached Devils team was suspect.
Categories: Around the League, Atlanta Thrashers, By Teams, Calder Profiles, Eastern Conference, Southeast Tags: Atlanta Thrashers, New Jersey Devils, Niclas Bergfors
Calder Profiles: Michael Del Zotto
NHL Hot Stove presents it’s “Calder Profiles” series which will profile the top candidates for the 2009-2010 Calder Award.
The story of Michael Del Zotto began in a little town in Ontario called Stouffville, on June 24th, 1990. How little is it you ask, well, let’s put it this way, he now plays in a home arena that can fill his entire town a little more than twice over.
Stouffville, Ontario has a population of roughly 9,000 natives. Many assuredly play hockey, but few play, if any at all, as well as the 19-year-old rookie blueliner for the New York Rangers.
In junior hockey, he was a highly touted anchor playing for the Oshawa Generals. In his rookie season in the Ontario Hockey League, Del Zotto tallied 57 points in only 64 games. Not a bad way to say hello to such an elite junior hockey league.
Categories: 30 Team Series, Around the League, Atlantic, By Teams, Calder Profiles, Eastern Conference, NHLHS Features, New York Rangers Tags: Michael Del Zotto, New York Rangers, Oshawa Generals
Habs Scouts in Search of more Diamonds in the Rough
By Steven Hindle
Subban, Kristo and Leblanc Key to Canadiens Future Success
[23/03/10] At long last, it seems like the Montreal Canadiens may be beginning to see a little bit of light at the end of a very long and dark tunnel of draft picks.
The Habs haven’t had the greatest success of drafting quality players in recent years, missing out on many of today’s young super-stars. Yet, it’s hard to fault a scouting staff that is forced to make its living by finding hidden gems in the middle of the pack. Making things even harder for the Canadiens pro-scouts is the fact that the Habs are constantly pressured to make the playoffs, therefore constantly lowering their odds of landing a top pick.
Categories: 30 Team Series, Calder Profiles, Eastern Conference, Montreal Canadiens, NHLHS Features, Northeast Tags: Andrei Kostitsyn, Bob Gainey, Danny Kristo, Louie Leblanc, Pierre Gauthier, PK Subban, Trevor Timmins
Calder Profiles: Matt Duchene
NHL Hot Stove presents it’s “Calder Profiles” series which will profile the top candidates for the 2009-2010 Calder Award.
When a player is compared to a historical great such as Steve Yzerman, one must take into consideration the pros and cons of a rookie campaign. For Matt Duchene of the Colorado Avalanche, his rookie campaign leads him towards a Calder trophy.
Matthew Duchene was born on January 16, 1991 in Haliburton, Ontario, Canada. His professional career began when he started playing in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) in 2007-08. That year, Duchene went on to score 30 goals and record 50 points in his rookie campaign.
The following season, he improved to 79 points in 57 games, then added 26 points in the post-season, helping the Battalion to the J. Ross Robertson Cup Finals.
Unfortunate for Duchene, they were defeated by the eventual Memorial Cup champions, the Windsor Spitfires.
Categories: Calder Profiles, Colorado Avalanche, NHLHS Features, Northwest, Western Conference Tags: Calder, Calder trophy, Colorado Avalanche, Joe Sakic, John Tavares, Matt Duchene, Mike Richards, OHL, Rookie of the Year, Steve Yzerman, Victor Hedman, Windsor Spitfires
Calder Profiles: James van Riemsdyk
NHLHS writer Dave Strehle takes a look at Philadelphia Flyers rookie forward James van Riemsdyk.
The 2006-07 season was the worst in the history of the Philadelphia Flyers’ franchise as they finished last overall, and for their troubles they received the #2 overall pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft via the Draft Lottery.
With that draft pick, Philadelphia picked left wing James van Riemsdyk, a local kid born in Middletown, New Jersey on May 4th, 1989. Ironically, van Riemsdyk grew up a fan of the Flyers’ arch-rival New York Rangers.
The 6′ 3″, 200 pound van Riemsdyk took a little longer to make it to the NHL than did the #1 overall pick that year, fellow-American Patrick Kane, who was taken by the Chicago Blackhawks. While Kane made the jump right to Chicago and eventually won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie that season, van Riemsdyk decided to go to college at the University of New Hampshire.
Categories: Atlantic, Calder Profiles, Eastern Conference, NHLHS Features, Philadelphia Flyers Tags: Calder trophy, James van Riemsdyk, john leclair, John Tavares, Matt Duchene, Patrick Kane, Philadelphia Flyers, Tyler Myers
Calder Profiles: Tyler Myers
When Tyler Myers was drafted , Buffalo had high hopes but did not expect him to take the blue line by storm.
In his first season in the NHL, Myers is logging top pairing minutes amongst Buffalo’s defensive pairings.
Categories: Around the League, Buffalo Sabres, Calder Profiles, NHLHS Features, Northeast Tags: Buffalo Sabres, Tyler Myers
Calder Profiles: John Tavares
As the first overall pick in any National Hockey League entry draft, the fans leave expectations relatively high. Yes, busts come from these parts in the past as players never lived up to the hype they garnered coming into the draft. It happens. As an organization, bite the bullet and move on.
For the New York Islanders, coming into the 2009 NHL Entry Draft as the lottery winner to acquire the first overall pick felt like nothing short of a blessing. Teams attempted to trade up for the pick in order to draft the talent slated to be stud-like but the Islanders and General Manager Garth Snow would not bite.
Categories: Around the League, Calder Profiles, NHLHS Features Tags: Bobby Orr, John Tavares, Matt Duchene, New York Islanders, Oshawa Generals
