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NHL Team Drafting and Development: 2005-2014

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Once a player is drafted by an NHL team, the future is full of hope for a career in the NHL. Unfortunately, that hope does not lead to reality for all of the players. There are many things that factor into whether a player ever appears in an NHL game. Some of those things are completely beyond his control, such as when a log jam of talent in the AHL system builds up behind a well rounded NHL lineup.  Of course, if the player has enough talent, he will get himself noticed enough to draw interest from other teams. Here, we will look at how teams have done turning draft picks into NHL players since the 2005 Entry Draft. This article is a follow up on a post regarding Draft Pick Value that you can find here.

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Morin, 24/7, And Any Other Notes I Can Think Of

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Just a couple things to seal up on this off day.

-Chris Block from TheThirdManIn.com provided our publication with a pretty pristine piece of work (totally did that on purpose) about Jeremy Morin’s career in Chicago, why it came to an end, and where the Hawks go from here as far as their organization. He hasn’t posted it to his site yet and when he does I’ll link it. But I’ll pull some things from the article now. And you should be reading Block there or follow him on Twitter @ChrisBlock.

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Get Your Vaccinations Here – Blackhawks 5 Wild 3

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The Blackhawks beat the Wild 5 to 3 at the United Center. Goals came from all the cool kids, Seabrook, Kane, Toews, Hossa and they even let their little tag-along buddy, Ben Smith, get in on the fun with an empty-netter at the end of the game. Duncan Keith missed the game due to “illness” which of course everyone believes to be Mumps. I’m pretty shocked we haven’t seen one of those memes comparing toughness, since it appears Mumps are the only thing tougher than an NHL player.

  • Herd Immunity: Wild Head Coach Mike Yeo and some random dude on Twitter believe the referees handed the Blackhawks the win. When an entire season goes by that features a team never drawing a penalty that was a bit questionable, I’ll start giving this argument a lot more credence. At this point, every team gets a call here and there that maybe it doesn’t really deserve. I don’t think the rule book allows teams to decline penalties for moral or sportsmanship related reasons, so they take what they are given and try to make the most of it. This is the way of the hockey world. The Wild have had a tough time doing that this season as their Power Play continues to flounder.
  • Vaccination: Patrick Kane is the cure for all that ails you. He skated freely into the offensive zone on several occasions against a team noted to have a penchant for the neutral zone trap. The Wild didn’t trap very effectively during this game as Kane, Saad and others seemed to walk right in. Kane moved through the penalty killers while the Blackhawks were on the Power Play with ridiculous ease. He even tried the old “bank it off the back of the goalie’s head” move while behind the net at one point in the game. Vaccines are good for you and frankly I don’t think it is a coincidence that Patrick Kane is too.
  • Pathogens: The first period was not very good for the Blackhawks. The Wild controlled quite a bit of the play and there was a lot of end to end action. This is one of the areas where Duncan Keith was missed. The mixed up defensive pairings had a tough time suppressing shots starting at the offensive blue line and working their way back.
  • Booster: Quenneville sent the Blackhawks out in the second period with some changed up lines and defensive pairings. Seabrook and Oduya, Hjalmarsson and Rozsival, and finally Erixon and Rundblad seemed to work out much better for the team. The forwards were mixed up but all of them seemed to do a better job defensively starting in the second period. Kris Versteeg made several nice plays in the defensive and neutral zones that stifled the Wild’s attempts to create some offense. That’s something that was really missing from Versteeg’s game last season so it’s nice to see him improving so much.
  • War-On-Ice
  • Event Summary
Everything Else

You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having – Wild vs Hawks Preview, Pregame Thread, Background Check

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220px-Minnesota_North_Stars_Logo_1967-1974 vs oldschool

Game Time: 7:30PM Central
TV/Radio: CSN, WGN-AM 720
Don’t Want To Know If You Are Lonely: Hockey Wilderness

For the first time since Patrick Kane terminated their season 8 months ago for the second straight year, the Hawks will square off against the Wild. And Minnesota comes into tonight very much in the same limbo as the one that left them looking for any kind of answer over the summer.

Everything Else

You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having – Wild vs Hawks Preview, Pregame Thread, Background Check

By 1395 0

220px-Minnesota_North_Stars_Logo_1967-1974 vs oldschool

Game Time: 7:30PM Central
TV/Radio: CSN, WGN-AM 720
Don’t Want To Know If You Are Lonely: Hockey Wilderness

For the first time since Patrick Kane terminated their season 8 months ago for the second straight year, the Hawks will square off against the Wild. And Minnesota comes into tonight very much in the same limbo as the one that left them looking for any kind of answer over the summer.