2016 NHL Draft early Top 5

Most eyes right now are focused on the 2015 NHL draft, where generational prospects Connor Mcdavid and Jack Eichel are getting ready to be doled out to two lucky bottom of the barrel teams, but the lesser talked about 2016 NHL draft is gearing up to be another great draft as well. Here are an early look at my Top 5 rankings for this draft.

1. Auston Matthews -- Center USA NTDP U18

I've already written extensively about Auston Matthews and the power that he wields both on the ice and as a possible enigma for the sport of hockey in the sun belt region, and Matthews certainly lives up to the hype. A dynamic center with powerful skating strides and dazzling flashy hands, Matthews is looking more and more like a franchise center that is oh so coveted by every NHL team. There isn't much to not like about this kid, he has great size, great vision and hockey sense, and is as defensively responsible as they come. If all things go right Matthews should retain his spot atop draft rankings throughout the year en route to becoming the 1st #1 overall draft pick from the Southern United States.

Pro comparable -- Jonathan Toews

2. Jakob Chychrun -- Defenseman Sarnia Sting OHL

Chychrun is a humongous defenseman who was born in Boca Raton, Florida, but has chosen to represent Canada on the international level as he holds a Canadian passport. Chychrun is another powerful skater, who has scouts raving about his performance and maturity in the OHL, Canada's premire junior league, as a 16 year old. Already holding a Captaincy letter for his team, the Sarnia Sting, Chychrun is becoming a very solid player on both ends of the ice, and should only continue to improve as he gets older and fills out his already massive frame. Don't believe me? Here he is standing next to Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang, when he was only 15 years old.

Pro comparable -- Drew Doughty

3. Jesse Puljujarvi -- RW Karpat Sm-lliga

Puljujarvi is another freak of nature prospect, who stands already at 6'3 196lbs and plays in the Finnish men's league at 16 years of age. Touted as one of the best prospects to come from Finland since Teemu Selanne, Puljujarvi is expected to evolve into hockeys next great power forward. Puljujarvi already possesses great skating ability for a person of his stature to go along with an already NHL caliber shot that strikes fear into the heart of many a goalie. Another elite talent, it is more a testament to how good Matthews and Chychrun are that I have Puljujarvi as my 3rd best prospect in this list, as he should develop into an elite 1st line winger in the near future

NHL comparable -- Rick Nash

4. Dmitry Sokolov -- LW Omsk Yastreby MHL

Dmitry Sokolov is a tough prospect to get an accurate read on, as he seems to be the wild card of the 2016 NHL draft at this point in time. Playing in Russia's 2nd tier mens league as a 16 year old, Sokolov is an electrifying winger who has lit up international tournaments such as the World Junior 17 and 18 year old Championships. Already in a large frame at 6'1 214 lbs, Sokolov is a force to be reckoned with and could be able to climb his way up the draft charts as he gets more widespread exposure to the hockey world.

NHL Comparable -- Fellow countryman Vladimir Tarasenko

5. Clayton Keller -- Center USA NTDP U17

Clayton Keller has a regular stream to his amusement as he controls the puck very nearly self-ruling to whatever is left of his body. Plays a quick, up-beat style. Darting skater and shrewd playmaker. Loves to be a distinct producer and can tear an contests open with his dangerously sharp senses and element first step blast. Fast and wily, with a blessing for camouflaging aims and making plays out of nothing. World class weapon is an element depiction with a capricious discharge point. Delicate, gifted hands, can incapacitate rivals with his one-on-one moves. 

NHL comparable -- Zach Parise

thank you for reading --23

Brendon Dillion vs Troy Brouwer (Video)

Tonight the hockey world got to see a good little scrap between two middleweights that can certainly drop them. Troy Brouwer and Brenden Dillion engaged in a fight in the late part of the 1st period in a game between the Washington Capitals and the San Jose Sharks. Now these teams would be considered the farthest thing from rivals as only about 2,846 Miles separate these two clubs.

In this his 2nd fight of the year, Brouwer got the upper hand in the fight after his helmet came loose but then stayed stuck on his arm. He then proceeded to get Dillion to the ground with a flurry of punches, that actually broke off part of the inside padding of his helmet. The end of this fight was initially scary because many thought that Brouwer might have struck Dillion with his helmet, which could potentially have been pretty dangerous, but everyone took a collective sigh of relief as Dillion bounced right back up and skated to the penalty box.
You can view Troy Brouwer's complete career fight log here: http://www.hockeyfights.com/players/1104

Dillion, in his 4th fight this season, continued a streak of fighting once a month as he has had one fight in every month since November so far this season, looked to have the upper hand early in the fight before being overwhelmed by Brouwer and taken to the ground. The fight broke out after a shot from the point by Alexander Ovechkin, with Dillion taking exception to Brouwer taking a few extra whacks at the Sharks goalie Antti Niemi.
You can view Brenden Dillion's complete career fight log here: http://www.hockeyfights.com/players/7772/fightcard/reg2015

All in all this was a good hockey fight, and we are certainly all glad to see that no one involved suffered any serious damage, as both were able to walk away unscathed. You can watch the fight in the video below.

As always, thank you for visiting and reading.

10 year Hockey Phenom Already showing his Nasty Mitts.

Meet 10 year old Tyler, who is already pulling off some ridiculous hockey moves that most people could only ever hope to be able to do. This video will be fun for many people, including this kid to look back at in 10 years and reflect. It is still yet to be seen how this kid will turn out as a hockey prospect, but one thing is for sure that he worked his butt off to be able to pull off the moves seen in this video.

One of the especially amazing things about this video is during the parts that were shot outdoors on the backyard rink, he seems to be pulling these moves off in the snow! Now for anyone who has played outdoor or pond hockey, you know what even a little snow can do to effect your basic puck handling, and this kid is pulling off some seriously advanced stuff. Mega props.

This video is reminiscent of some other younger players who had videos of this nature when they were still unknowns as hockey players.

Here is recent Columbus Blue Jackets 1st round pick Sonny Milano as a young buck, pulling off sweet ball hockey moves in his parent's basement style synthetic rink, in order to try and win a new pair of skates (which he did)

Another video that this reminds me of is the TJ Oshie "Tiger Woods" Video. It is hailed as that name because it brings to mind the famous Tiger Woods golf ad where he is hitting the golf ball up and down on his club which seems to show off remarkable hand eye coordination. Only difference is that that commercial was fake, and this T.J Oshie clip is very real. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZACw1sVuPs

Best wishes to the kid Tyler, I hope that he is able to achieve all of his future endeavors in the game of hockey and in life

And thank you for reading --23.

Now this is a Gongshow

If you were to look up the word gongshow in some weird futuristic video dictionary, this is probably what would come up:

 http: a//www.ctvnews.ca/canada/coaches-join-in-as-n-s-high-school-hockey-game-ends-in-brawl-1.2227304

Not just players... but also COACHES getting involved in a rumble at the end of a game? That certainly qualifies for this title. A high school hockey tournament in Cape Brenton, Nova Scotia has caught widespread media attention after the Riverview Redmen and Dalbrae Dragons got into a scrum at the end of a "Red Cup" tournament game, which ended up having coaches and players alike throwing punches at their opponent after an argument escalated in the hand shake line. 

Both teams have since been disqualified from the tournament, and are pending further investigation from the Nova Scotia School Athletic Federation.

This type incident however, although rarely to this degree of severity, is a fairly common thing from what I've gathered in my experiences playing youth and high school hockey. Both teams adrenaline is running at a high, and now you're expected to say good game 20 times, and shake hands with the guy that was just butt ending you in front of the net. Words are exchanged very often over the course of the handshake line, and while it hardly ever does break down into a brawl, the organizers do put themselves in the situation of having that be a possibility every time you pit two teams against each other in a sport where such high intensity and aggressiveness is required. 

Here, I'll show you an example:

This story also reminded me of a certain College hockey game between the Minnesota Golden Gophers and North Dakota Fighting Sioux. For those who do not know, this was one of the fiercest rivalries in all of college hockey, and games between these two teams more often than not consisted of multiple cheap shots and line brawls. Now, these games have been taken out of the schedule for a few years as the Gophers and Sioux have split up into different conferences for the foreseeable future, but the bad blood between these two schools remains as high as ever. This particular clip is from a game that became so broken down that it just became ridiculous what was going on. 

As always, thanks for reading.

The Growing Sport of Disc Golf

Disc Golf has always been a very niche sport, and was mostly only know in smaller pockets throughout various parts of the United States. But this sport has seen a rapid change in popularity over the past 10-15 years, as many more high school aged kids are finding out about the sport and pushing it's popularity. Granted most of these high school kids will only play casually, as more of a hang out type of thing than an actual competition, as there are only about 20,000 registered pro players worldwide but over 2 million participants who play casually! Even though most of these recently acquired players won't ever play professionally, it still does wonders for the growth of the sport as their exposure alone is invaluable.

But disc golf is also growing at the international level as well, the game has been thriving in the UK recently and is expanding all over Europe with courses in most of western Europe including Germany, France and Italy. The game has also seen huge leaps in other nontraditional locations such as South Korea and Japan, both of whom have just started up pro competitions and actual governing bodies as well. Then just recently, another big break through happened in the sport of disc golf as it was announced that Perth, Australia would hold the first ever pro disc golf tournament in the Southern Hemisphere, signaling a massive growth worldwide of the game in recent years, with no signs of slowing down whatsoever. The number of disc golf courses doubled worldwide in the past decade, and now over 40 countries in the world have at least 1 disc golf course. Over 150 participants from around the world will compete in this tournament in Perth, including top players from the USA and Europe.

This is truly a huge achievement for the sport of disc golf, who for the better part of 40 years struggled to get any mainstream attention even within the United States let alone the rest of the world and it is a testament to the determination of the grass routes efforts and playability of this great sport over time.

Auston Matthews has a Chance to Become Legendary

Although he may not fully realize it yet, 17 – year old phenom Auston Matthews has a very rare opportunity that few people get to have in their lifetime. Matthews, who hails from Scottsdale, Arizona, is projected to be among the top players selected in the 2016 NHL draft, with many scouting services and analysts already pegging him as the top available prospect. With a unique mix of size and skill, Matthews is already drawing comparisons to top NHLers. TSN analyst Ray Ferraro has described Matthews as “Like Jonathan Toews with better hands”. Now that’s a hefty comparison.

Imagine this with better hands 

If Matthews can live up to the insane hype that’s already being placed unto him, he has the chance to do something very special, something comparable to what Wayne Gretzky did for the game of hockey in the Los Angeles area way back in the early 1990’s. See Matthews mother is Mexican, and hailing from Arizona he would be the top draft pick to come out of the region by a longshot, and It is a big if, but if the Coyotes managed get the 1st overall pick in 2016 and land Matthews, hockey in Arizona and the surrounding region could explode (wink, wink, nudge, nugde Gary) . The possibilities are endless with how many people that he could help make interested in the game of hockey… and  this is where the part about him being half Mexican comes into play. Matthews could appeal to a whole new demographic as there never really has been a Latino superstar to play in the NHL. Matthews can help lead a whole new generation of Mexican-Americans to become interested in this great game that we all know and love.

Now this may sound like it’s starting to go overboard a little bit, but it’s true. Matthews has the unique ability to be able to transcend the sport of hockey across both culture and geography, as well as having the chance to prove all the NHL expansion nay-sayers wrong and prove that hockey can work in the desert and anywhere else in the United States for that matter. 

 Auston Matthews will almost certainly become the highest ever drafted Mexican-American in the 2016 NHL draft.

One last thing I wanted to talk about with this article is what this means for USA hockey. The pretty consensus Top 2 prospects for the 2016 NHL draft are Matthews and Jakob Chychurn. Although Chychrun has exercised his right to be able to represent Canada internationally, he still played his formative youth years in the hockey hotbed of Boca Raton, Florida. That’s right, the Top 2 picks in a single NHL draft could possibly be from Arizona and Florida. If you would have told someone in the hockey community that in 1990, you’d be labeled a lunatic. But it’s true, and it gives reason for USA Hockey to be super optimistic for the future. See, USA hockey perennially sees most of it’s roster players come from traditional hockey states such as Minnesota, Michigan, and the Northeast United States. All in all about 7 or 8 states producing quality hockey players for them, and it was like that for a long time. But now with the recent explosion of youth hockey in places like Florida, Arizona, California, Texas, Missouri, Colorado, Illinois, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio, USA hockey is looking at a huge new player base. All these states producing elite talent could do wonders for the USA’s international roster, as well as their overall depth as a hockey country. It is definitely a very exciting time to be a fan of USA Hockey, because they seem to only be on the very tip of the ice berg with what could return huge dividends, just like ole Gary was planning all along.

Ryan Strome vs. Torey Krug (Fight) 2-7-15

A few days ago the hockey world got to see a nice little fight involving two guys -- Torey Krug and Ryan Strome, that you wouldn't expect to see engaged in a scrap. Strome, a former 5th overall pick by the New York Islanders in 2011, is a more skill guy that is increasingly making himself known in the hockey circuit, and has really blossomed into a solid center for the folks on Long Island, scoring 34 points in 52 games so far this season -- Definitely not the type of guy that you'd expect to see dropping the gloves in todays NHL. Krug, the other belligerent in this fight, tips the scales at 5'9 181 lbs, and is a dynamic offensive defenseman in the NHL, who is known for his powerplay skills, specifically his shot from the point that is both hard and accurate, netting him 10 goals so far this season. Krug is also the type of guy that you would do a double take at a box score for if you saw his name appear next to the words "fighting major". It turned out however to be a pretty decent fight, as both players were really giving it their all and not holding back. I was also very shocked and please to watch as the referees did not step in and immediately break up the fight after Strome's helmet came off, a rule change in the NHL this year that has left many fans resentful, and very pessimistic for the future of fighting in the NHL.

This fight also deviated from the norm in the fact that it was between 2 players who are not known as prototypical Enforcers in the NHL. The type that has been slowly being pushed out of the league by the Bettman regime, and tend to be the only types of players who regularly fight anymore. Krug has only been involved in 3 fights prior to this one in his entire professional career, while this was Strome's first fight in the NHL, with him being in 8 fights prior over the course of his junior hockey career.

So let me know what you think about the state of fighting in the NHL, did you like seeing 2 nontraditional guys go at it? And what is your take on the NHL pushing enforcers out of the league?

As always Thank you for reading!

--23

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