Off-season musings
Posted 3:41 PM ET | Comments 0
So it's 90 degrees now, several of the local rinks have already switched to running inline or putting turf down for soccer/lax, and I'm blogging on a hockey site. Hopeless, right? Well, this summer I'm turning this blog into a sort of stream-of-consciousness on hockey, music, film and life.
--Scott Niedermayer...if you retire on top, you'll be doing a good job, but it'll be a shame to see the NHL without one of the finest skaters I have ever had the pleasure to watch in person.
--My Blues have the cap room. They have the money. They have the nucleus of young players. Hell, they even have good trade bait (who wants one of our many fine young goaltenders? Seriously, we've got a massive surplus--besides Bishop who we're keeping as he's local (Chesterfield and Chaminade, the second of which can kindly (frank) off...sorry, SLUH lifer here), we've got Schwartz, the guy who did really well in Alaska this year whose name slips my mind, even Cash!). The question is, who do we go after?
Everyone is saying Chris Drury, who it looks more and more likely will be the one the Sabres can't afford, but Davidson has been all-out saying he doesn't want to spend too much, and Drury will assuredly be subject of a bidding war. A lot of more established players (like St. Louis or Shanny) have already pretty much crossed off St Louis from their lists (which is a shame, as Shanahan would bump season-ticket lists as women of all ages clamor to see him...he's the subject of an interesting story, which will be told at a later date). So it looks more and more like we're going to go with the youth--and the youth are promising.
--If you buy any album this summer, get Maximo Park's "Our Earthly Pleasures". I had the chance to see them recently in Chicago, and they do not disappoint live.
--The movies I've seen this summer have been uniformly mediocre: Spidey 3 was a step back, Pirates 3 was too overstuffed, and Shrek 3 tried too damn hard. Hopefully Ratatoille can bring back the Pixar magic. And I'm still waiting to see what'll happen with Grindhouse (which is the best film I've seen this year): if it'll go to DVD first, or if Harvey Weinstein will release it as two seperate yet equally important films, like he's doing in Europe.
--The draft class this year? Sort of unremarkable, but that could just be because there's no stand-out guy, like Ovechkin or Crosby the past few years. The Blues are in a bind, and more and more it looks like we're going to take Angelo Esposito, who I don't really know much about.
--If you're in the St Louis area, make sure to head out on Wednesdays during June and July to Webster Rink (44 and Elm) to watch the JEL League. It's a lot of good high school and college players in a summer format, with some really high levels of play.
--Local guys update: Sam Goodwin (DeSmet) has signed with NAHL's Texas. Chris Wideman (CCP) is going to Cedar Rapids of the USHL (one of the stipulations of his Miami-OH scholarship is that he must play two years Jr A before joining Charlie Effinger (SLUH) with the Redhawks, and I don't know if the time he spent with the Bandits is going to count). No word yet about Eddie Effinger (SLUH) and Cal Heeter (CBC), who both spent last year with Wichita Falls of the NAHL, as my main source for HS hockey in St Louis has been shut down. I've also heard that Mitch Galligan (Marquette) is going somewhere, but I don't remember where. Also, congratulations are in order for Matt Spaeth (SLUH-Truman State), who has just been offered a full-time contract with the USA Hockey official's program. The JODP may also get another St Louis member, as Shaun Morgan (CBC) plans to join Spaeth, Andy Bethmann (FZS-Lindenwood), Scott Bokal (DeSmet/Parkway Central) and AJ Soll (John Burroughs-SLU). Nice job, guys.
Well, that's it for this week. I'm off to Columbia for my orientation at Mizzou.
--Scott Niedermayer...if you retire on top, you'll be doing a good job, but it'll be a shame to see the NHL without one of the finest skaters I have ever had the pleasure to watch in person.
--My Blues have the cap room. They have the money. They have the nucleus of young players. Hell, they even have good trade bait (who wants one of our many fine young goaltenders? Seriously, we've got a massive surplus--besides Bishop who we're keeping as he's local (Chesterfield and Chaminade, the second of which can kindly (frank) off...sorry, SLUH lifer here), we've got Schwartz, the guy who did really well in Alaska this year whose name slips my mind, even Cash!). The question is, who do we go after?
Everyone is saying Chris Drury, who it looks more and more likely will be the one the Sabres can't afford, but Davidson has been all-out saying he doesn't want to spend too much, and Drury will assuredly be subject of a bidding war. A lot of more established players (like St. Louis or Shanny) have already pretty much crossed off St Louis from their lists (which is a shame, as Shanahan would bump season-ticket lists as women of all ages clamor to see him...he's the subject of an interesting story, which will be told at a later date). So it looks more and more like we're going to go with the youth--and the youth are promising.
--If you buy any album this summer, get Maximo Park's "Our Earthly Pleasures". I had the chance to see them recently in Chicago, and they do not disappoint live.
--The movies I've seen this summer have been uniformly mediocre: Spidey 3 was a step back, Pirates 3 was too overstuffed, and Shrek 3 tried too damn hard. Hopefully Ratatoille can bring back the Pixar magic. And I'm still waiting to see what'll happen with Grindhouse (which is the best film I've seen this year): if it'll go to DVD first, or if Harvey Weinstein will release it as two seperate yet equally important films, like he's doing in Europe.
--The draft class this year? Sort of unremarkable, but that could just be because there's no stand-out guy, like Ovechkin or Crosby the past few years. The Blues are in a bind, and more and more it looks like we're going to take Angelo Esposito, who I don't really know much about.
--If you're in the St Louis area, make sure to head out on Wednesdays during June and July to Webster Rink (44 and Elm) to watch the JEL League. It's a lot of good high school and college players in a summer format, with some really high levels of play.
--Local guys update: Sam Goodwin (DeSmet) has signed with NAHL's Texas. Chris Wideman (CCP) is going to Cedar Rapids of the USHL (one of the stipulations of his Miami-OH scholarship is that he must play two years Jr A before joining Charlie Effinger (SLUH) with the Redhawks, and I don't know if the time he spent with the Bandits is going to count). No word yet about Eddie Effinger (SLUH) and Cal Heeter (CBC), who both spent last year with Wichita Falls of the NAHL, as my main source for HS hockey in St Louis has been shut down. I've also heard that Mitch Galligan (Marquette) is going somewhere, but I don't remember where. Also, congratulations are in order for Matt Spaeth (SLUH-Truman State), who has just been offered a full-time contract with the USA Hockey official's program. The JODP may also get another St Louis member, as Shaun Morgan (CBC) plans to join Spaeth, Andy Bethmann (FZS-Lindenwood), Scott Bokal (DeSmet/Parkway Central) and AJ Soll (John Burroughs-SLU). Nice job, guys.
Well, that's it for this week. I'm off to Columbia for my orientation at Mizzou.