Alex Tran
Dale Mitchell was picked in the 3rd round of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, 74th overall. At the time of the selection, Mitchell garnered plenty of interest and pressure from the fans and media as the Leafs' first pick that year. They had traded away their 1st and 2nd round picks to San Jose as part of the Vesa Toskala trade earlier that day. A little over a year later, Mitchell has quickly been forgotten, partly from a disappointing OHL season, and partly from the emergence of his fellow draftmate Chris Didomenico, selected in the 6th round. [more…]
...why the Leafs signed Jeff Finger?
Well, at least I got a Finger joke out of the way early on.
When the numbers 3.5 over 4 were first thrown around on the AM640, I figured it was a fantastic signing as Finger was one of the more underrated players in the league I hoped the Leafs would go after. I figured something in the range of $1.5-2M would be a great bargain, but less than $1M a year? Sign me up! [more…]
There's a little bit of the irony in the title because in fact, Christopher Didomenico has rarely been in the spotlight at all during his hockey career. He is the definition of an underdog, and a testament to what hard work and perserverance can lead to.
As a young Toronto native, he was passed over by the OHL draft, after playing just 4 games in 2 seasons with the North York Rangers of the OPJHL. So, he managed to hook onto a tryout with the Saint John's Sea Dogs of the QMJHL, made the team, and has blossomed into a great young player since. [more…]
On Draft Day '08, the Toronto Maple Leafs made the bold move of trading up from the 7th selection to grab Kelowna Rockets defenseman Luke Schenn 5th overall.
Leaf fans have been waiting a long, long time for a young franchise calibre to fall into their lap, and they may finally have found one in Luke. Heading into the draft weekend, Schenn had the presitigious honor of being lumped together into the group of elite four defensemen, who along with Stamkos, highlighted the top of this year's draft class. Luke was proclaimed the most NHL ready and defensively sound blueliner among the group, but his supposed lack of an offensive game has caused some fans to label him as nothing more than a defensive stay-at-home defenseman. [more…]
With the imposition of the salary cap taking some clout away from the financial Super Powers (or so they say), the "new" NHL focuses upon the importance of successful drafting and a constant flow of young players on cheap, entry-level contracts. With scouts now being dispatched to all corners of the globe, it's getting to be quite a small world. The boundaries of the Hockey Community are ever-growing, and we're starting to find ourselves with a neat little global village forming in the NHL. [more…]
Hey guys, I'd like to start off by thanking Alec Brownscombe for this fantastic opportunity and share my enthusiasm and excitement regarding this great new venture. I hope this is just the beginning of something very special, and for myself, the start of a long love affair with hockey writing.
For those who don't know, my name is Alex Tran, but I'm better known to my fellow "hockeybuzzards" (love that term Alec!) as Acekicker123. I'm a 2nd year university student, and only 19 years of age, but the magic of writing is that your age doesn't matter, only the words you choose. [more…]
