NAHL Scouting Combine

This weekend I went to a scouting combine for a tier 2 junior hockey league . I wasn't eligible for being drafted because the minimum age is 16. Anyways this was very fun playing against the brightest 2002 born kids around California. The even took place in Simi Valley, and here's how it worked: it was a tournament between red team, blue team, grey team, and white team. I was blue, and we finished third place with a 2-2 record. Basically you played two periods of twenty three minutes. We were being scouted by personnel from different NAHL teams. I was scouted by a team called the Springfield Jr. Blues. Anyways, we learned about how junior hockey worked, and how to get to college hockey at the NCAA level. I found it very odd how the minimum GPA you had to achieve is 2.1. That is very bad, and I don't know how anyone can do that. This was a very fun combine playing against kids my age, and I hope to be back next year.

Michael Neuvirth Amazing Play

   The Philadelphia Flyers had lost 6-1 to the Washington Capitals, and now had to attempt to overcome a 3-0 deficit. They decided to turn to Michael Neuvirth between the pipes to maybe save their season. That was probably the best decision the Flyers had made the whole series. The whole series Neuvirth stopped 103 out of 105 shots. The Flyers offense, and defense were disastrous, but at least Neuvirth gave them a fighting chance. They won 2 games, and forced game 6 in the powerhouse at Philadelphia. The Capitals fired 44 shots in game 5, and all were stopped by Neuvirth. Then in game 6 the Flyers offense in my opinion was terrible. Neuvirth made 29 saves out of 30 shots against.  It was an upsetting loss, but at least Neuvirth gave the Flyers a big chance.

Blues vs Blackhawks

It finally ended yesterday. It was a hard fought series between the Blues, and Blackhawks that took seven games for the two teams to solve each other. I was going for the Blues, so I was all smiles after the game had ended. Anyways the Blackhawks were eliminated by the St. Louis Blues 4-3. Brian Elliot who played amazing the whole series, played lights out as he had before. The crowd went wild when Jori Lehtera scored one minute into the game. Than the Blues scored again, but after that the Blackhawks wouldn't go down without a fight. The Blackhawks scored twice to tie up the game at two. Later in the third period Troy Brouwer scored to give St. Louis the 3-2 lead. Towards the end of the game the Blackhawks came very close to tying the game when a shot from the blue line hit both posts and came out. After that missed opportunity it was all over.

La Kings Eliminated From Playoffs

After a terrific season the Los Angeles Kings have been eliminated in the first round of the NHL playoffs. They were eliminated by the Sharks in 5 games. What really frustrated me was the Kings could not contain Joe Thorton, Joe Pavelski, and Brent Burns. Another frustrating factor was how much the Kings had amazing opportunities, and they missed the net. Personally I don't think that Martin Jones the Sharks goalie, did very well, I think the Kings just played bad in the series. Jonathan Quick did not play as good as he is able to play. In my opinion the Kings were not intense enough, they weren't determined, and they were cocky. It was a good series by the Sharks, but I think the Kings should be ashamed of their play. I'd like to say congratulations to the Kings on a great season, and I can't way to see the redemption next year.

My Favorite NHL Goalie

My favorite NHL goaltender is Brayden Holtby of the Washington Capitals, who leads the NHL with wins. I like because he plays the style I want to play when I grow up. He is the hybrid goalie who plays the butterfly, and stand up positions. He catches very well, and has almost perfect rebound control. His team is number one in the NHL, and won the presidents trophy for best record in the regular season. The Capitals have no problem scoring, but Holtby has to make a lot of big saves most of their games. With the injury of allstar goalie Carey Price can secure Brayden Holtby the Vezina trophy. The Capitals got off to a big lead in the standings in November, and they never turned back, but the last few games they've had a problem. Since they've secured the playoff position, they haven't been playing as intense as they're capable of. They have been losing to some below average team. But anyways thanks for reading!

Hockey Playoffs

The playoffs are coming on April 11th, and this year will be quite exciting in my opinion. After a disappointing season last year the Kings own the number 1 seed in the Pacific Division, and are red hot this season. They have clinched a playoff spot, and are playing their best brand of hockey. A shocker is the Philadelphia Flyers own a wildcard spot despite their terrible start to the season. I think that they have come together as a team, and became way more confident. My favorite player on their team is rookie Shane Gostisbhere. Anyways the first round disappointments I expect are the Ducks being eliminated by the Sharks, the Blies taking an early exit out of the playoffs, despite their good season, the Blackhawks I feel will be eliminated also. The reason I think the Blackhawks will exit the playoffs earlier than usual is their bad performance lately. Their goalie has been ok, their team is just playing a bad style of hockey right now. I think the Kings, and Capitals will battle in the playoffs.

Between the Pipes

Hey guys I decided to right a story about the overall atmosphere of being a goaltender for a hockey club. You walk into the rink on game day, and you could just feel the adrenaline in your body, ready for the action ahead. You start your warmup routine, and you stay silent, and visualize in your head all the shots being stopped by you. You visualize your team coming out victorious, and you with a big smile on your face. You walk into the lockeroom to start getting dressed, and there is a certain seriousness from your hockey club. You lead your team onto the ice for the upcoming battle. All of a sudden the puck has dropped, and the game has started. You make the first few saves, and you can already feel comfortable, and relaxed. But if you let in an early goal, the night ahead will be unpleasant for you, and your team. You may let in a goal, or more, but you must stay calm because if your nerves get the best of you you will get scored on even more. The last few minutes of the third , and final period seem like years. You must survive the storm of attack from your enemy, or else your team will lose by more, or lose their lead. Once you have weathered the storm, you celebrate with your team, and you feel a warm feeling inside.
                    By Michael Gilerman

The School Year

This year school has been ok if you ask me. I am not performing like previous years. I have all A's and 1 B . My teachers are Mr. C, Mrs. B, Mrs. A, and Mr. G( I'm not able to reveal their identities). The only teachers I don't like this year are Mrs. B, and Mrs. A. Obviously it is nothing personal, but it seems as though they are meaner this year. For example Mrs. B gave the whole class 0/10 on a story warmup, even if ours were good. Usually last year Mrs. B would be fair with that kind of stuff. Mrs. A is ok, but I have never seen her smile. You can't always be mad if you are a teacher, you have to smile. My other complaint about her is the only thing that's graded is test, so it's very hard to raise your grade. Mr. G is very cool, and he has a different and unique style of teaching. And Mr. C is the best Math teacher you could possibly ask for.

My 2015-16 Hockey Season

This hockey season I played with the California Golden Bears bantam AA. We had a pretty good season , but we got eliminated in the semi finals. The best experience of the year was going to Chicago to play in the Bauer Invite Tournament. I had never been to Chicago, so it was a great experience for me. I enjoyed going to alas Vegas to . The only thing I didn't like was it smelled like cigarettes wherever you went. I am a hockey goaltender if you are wondering. I had a fairly good season this year. Through all the ups and downs my team stuck together, and focused. My favorite thing was making a big save, and the whole rink would go bezerk. Most people where I live don't know anything about hockey so they can't appreciate how great the sport actually is. Where I live people hate hockey, and love basketball. But for the few people who play hockey in California, we do take pride in playing the greatest game on the Eath.

Stadium Series

In this hockey year there is one more great event coming before the start of the NHL playoffs. That is the Coors Light Stadium Series. One of the games has already been played by the Chicago Blackhawks, and the Minnesota Wild. The Coors Light Stadium Series is a hockey game played outdoors. The games usually take place in baseball, or football stadiums. Usually the game always has cold weather so sometimes it is snowing during the games. It is fun seeing some of the players wear masks covering every part of their faces, except their eyes. Anyways one happened last Sunday in Minnesota. The score was 6-1 Wild against the Blackhawks. At first the players are taking in the experience, but as the game continues they are more focused on winning. Anyways the upcoming Stadium Series game is on Saturday, or Sunday between the Detroit Redwings, and the Chicago Blackhawks.

Denis Wideman 20 Game Suspension

Following an incident with referee Don Henderson, one of my favorite defensman in the game has been suspended for twenty games. Now you may think that twenty is a small number, but there is about 25 games left in the season. So basically what happened was Wideman was skating back to the bench and crosschecked the ref. A crosscheck is when you push someone with your stick. Now many people were against the suspension like the NHL Players Association . Now you could make the argument that Wideman didn't do this intentionally. That argument would go like this. Wideman was checked very hard to the head, and could have been dizzy, and checked the ref. The argument against that is, Wideman lifted his arms intentionally, and crosschecked the ref. A hearing was held , and Gary Bettman upheld the suspension.

Players Silencing The Odds

There are some young hockey players who have earned full time jobs, and have silenced all odds.

Dylan Larkin: The 19 year old on the Redwings was just playing for Michigan State University last year. He came to training camp over the summer with a dream to make it to the roster , he silenced all odds and did it. This season he is third among all rookies with 15 goals, and 18 assists. He is used in all different scenarios during a game such as the penalty kill, power play, and the very clutch part of the game.

Artemi Panarin: The 20 year old was playing overseas last year in Russia for CKA St. Petersburg. He came to the Blackhawks development and worked as hard as he could to get a spot on the pro roster. He eventually did now he is the top rookie in the NHL in the points, and assists category. Panarin has become a great fit on a line with Artem Anisimov, and Patrick Kane. He is a very deadly player who can make a team pay if given to much room.

John Gibson: The 21 year old goalie was sent down to the minors at the beginning of the season due to the acquisition of Anton Khudobin. He was later called up when the Duck superstar netminder Freddy Andersen was injured. In those 5 games he posted a tremendous save percentage, and goals against average. When Andersen came back from injury the Ducks kept Gibson, and sent down Khudobin to the minors. Now Andersen, and Gibson are competing for the job of starting goalie. The Ducks who stated the season bad have been on a tear because of Gibson.

Team Analysis

Arizona Coyotes: This team has some young dynamic power, which could be used for a trade at the trade deadline. The Cpyotes are in need of more scoring, and better defense. This team lacks consistency, but still hold a playoff spot in the Pacific Division. I think good targetsfor the trade  deadline would be Sami Vatanen(Ducks), and Loui Eriksson(Bruins). I would trade away Max Domi, Michael Stone, or Jordan Martinook. These players will help Arizona at least start to score, and play smarter.

La Kings: The Los Angeles Kings are doing good on all fronts so far this season, yet there is one big problem. The Kings are getting a lot of their scoring from the same players in all of their games. These include Anze Kopitar, Tyler Toffoli, Jeff Carter, Milan Lucic, Drew Doughty, and Vincent Lecavlier. The other players will score, but not as consistently. This team needs to add a big name to their offense such as Jonathon Drouin, or Loui Eriksson. This will make the Kings game even better than it is now.

NHL Team Analysis

Toronto Maple Leafs: The Maple Leafs are doing bad as usual, but one thing has improved, that being their scoring. One big problem is there defense, they are young, and inexperienced. James Reimer their goaltender has done very well this season, but his team isn't helping him defensively. If I was the general manager during the trade deadline I would trade my young studs for a very well expierenced defensman. There are a few D- men who would be essential to the Leafs. Andrei Markov has lost some of his worth in Montreal so I'm sure the Leafs could trade for him. Brayden Coburn would be a very good trade because he is very defensive minded, and is always in good position defensively.

Buffalo: The Sabres have the same situation as the Leafs, but they need offense to. They also need an elite goaltender. The Sabres offense has been very inconsistent. The Savres were expected to make very good progress because of the acquisitions of Jack Eichel, Evander Kane, and Ryan O' Reilly. But they are a very inconsistent team. If I was the Gm of Buffalo I would trade Evander Kane for an offensive player, and a defensman. And if I was Buffalo I would claim a lot of free agents during the offseason to gain offense, and defense. Steven Stamkos hasn't signed with Tampa yet so he maybe a target. He would provide a lot of goals for them, and would get the fans excited finally.