Saturday Night Picks Saturday 29th

Ok ladies and gentlemen, Here are tonights picks form the 90's toons

Whose Ruining Hockey Now? NHL Lockout Edition

Hockey is an awesome sport. Some when someone/thing happens to deter that awesomeness, it becomes a black eye on the sport. Whether the intention was to "progress the game" or was flat out bad, it tends to damage the sport. This feature will call out those who think they are better than the game.

Welcome to (yet another) feature around here. In "Whose Ruining Hockey Now?", we examine who is the culprit, their actions, and rate them on a scale of 1-5. 1 being not too bad to 5 being "OH GOD BURN HIM NOW".

Actually lets revise the scale system.
                                                                  
Ladies and Gents, I present to you:

THE BETTMAN SCALE

 



Yes, we are ranking this on the Bettman Scale (TM) of disasters. Here's how it breaks down:

1 Bettman = The "private" Bettman. On the surface it looks bad, but at the end of the day it's really a minor inconvenience at best.

2 Bettmans = The "addressing the crowd" Bettman. It's bad, but will eventually fade into obscurity...or be a part of everyday annoyance.

3 Bettmans = The "relocate your franchise" Bettman. Overwhelmingly bad, will be remembered for years to come.

4 Bettmans = The "half work stoppage" Bettman. Hockey is too good, so lets kill some momentum by cancelling the season.

5 Bettmans = The "full work stoppage" Bettman. Hockey is TOO good, lets just cancel the whole season and try again next year.

NHL Lockout - Part Trois

There are too many to judge individually during the lockout. From owners trying to save face to players assuring fans that they are united to get the season started...in Europe. Through out the negotiating process though, there have been four people who stand out: Bill Daly and Gary Bettman for the NHL, and Steve and Donald Fehr for the NHLPA.

Defendant #1 - Steve Fehr



Pictured: Steve Fehr...I'm guessing

Title: Special Counsel to the NHLPA
Offense: Being related to Donald Fehr (you'll see why)
Redeeming Qualities: Keeps talks going, positive reviews from his time with MLB/PA labour negotiations.
Bettman Rating:

1 Bettman

While I don't know anything about him or his work, it sounds like he's the kind of guy who could move the process along in a hurry. Still, that last name...


Defendant #2 - Bill Daly

Pictured: Bill Daly looking like he's about to take a crap
Also pictured: the end result

Title: NHL Deputy Commissioner
Offense: Going through yet another lockout.
Redeeming Qualities: Has to work with Bettman without judging him? GIVE THAT MAN A MEDAL!
Bettman Scale:

2 Bettmans

2 lockouts = 2 Bettmans. Although this seems like an unfair ratting since he is actually attempting to make progress while being hand-tied by NHL ideals.


Defendant #3 - Donald Fehr

Pictured: Stunned...That he has to go through this s*** again.

Title: Executive Director of the NHLPA
Offense: He's good...maybe too good. Also, was head of the MLBPA during the 1994 lockout, which started the demise of the Montreal Expos. DAMN YOU FEHR!
Redeeming Qualities: End up making MLB's CBA one of the steadiest in sports, knows how to negotiate and work a crowd.
Bettman Scale:

4 Bettmans

Does he deserve this high a rating? No, but are the Expos still in Montreal?...Exactly.


Defendant #4 - Gary Bettman 

Pictured: Eric Idle's younger, evil-er brother
(That comparison might just be me seeing things)

Title: Most Hated Man In The Universe NHL Commissioner
Offense: 3 "work stoppages", relocating franchises, many unpopular decisions, and "Living" (submitted by a C.Chelios)
Redeeming Qualities: Having to negotiate with the owner's interest in mind? I got nothing.
Bettman Scale:

6 BETTMANS

Self-explanatory.

QMJHL Saturday Night Picks

Hey everyone, Since the QMJHL started yesterday, I thought I like to do something for this season. I'm going to follow every Saturday games and do picks. But I'm going to put a twist to it. Inspired by The Score's NFL Fictional Pick'em Pool, the teams are going to be picked by cartoon characters from the 1990's. The selected characters are Pete from Goof Troop, Pinky and the Brain from Animaniacs, Pikachu from Pokemon, Beavis and Butthead, Ren and Stimpy, Bumpy from Bump in the Night, Stacey and Bradley from Stick Around, and Timon and Pumbaa. After the season ends we will see who has the best record out of all. Who will be right or wrong? Stay Tuned!

Showing Some International Love: Olympic Preliminary Qualification Review

Well that was...totally expected. Croatia easily won the group and qualified for the next round. What else happened? Look below.

Note: all data from the IIHF website

Standings

1 (Qualify) - Croatia      3W - 0L - 9PTS - +24GD
2 - Mexico                      2W - 1L - 6PTS - 0GD
3 - Serbia                      1W - 2L - 3PTS - 0GD
4 - Israel                        0W - 3L - 0PTS - -24GD

Results

September 17
Serbia 7 - Israel 1
Mexico 2 - Croatia 9

September 18
Serbia 3 - Mexico 5
Croatia 15 - Israel 2

September 19
Israel 2 - Mexico 7
Serbia 2 - Croatia 6

Notes

• I originally screwed up the World Rankings in the preview. It has since been fixed.
• No surprise #1: Croatia won.
• No surprise #2: Rosters played a significant part in this tournament.
• Even though the competition was (relatively) weak, there is something to be said about the depth and experience Croatia has.
• Have to kind of feel sorry for Israel, only having 16 skaters can wear a team down quick, especially when playing against higher-skilled players.
• What was surprising about Israel is all there goals came in the third period. Would have thought they score in the first, when their legs are fresher.
• With their lost to Mexico earlier, Serbia needed to win by at least 5 goals against Croatia to advance. They had no chance.
• Speaking of Mexico beating Serbia, it should give Mexico a huge confidence boost heading into their next World Championship tournament.
• Goals Leader: Brian Arroyo (Mexico) - 5
• Points Leader: Marko Lovrencic (Croatia) - 8
• GAA Leader: Mate Tomljenovic (Croatia) - 1.57
• Save % Leader: Mate Tomljenovic (Croatia) - 0.939
• The "No Surprise" Game: Croatia over Israel 15-2
• The "Upset" Game: Mexico getting by Serbia 5-3

What Now?

Croatia: They now qualify for the "Olympic Pre-Qualification" round, facing Hungary, Netherlands, and Lithuania. By the looks of the group, it might be a struggle to keep advancing (especially since Hungary could bring a - relatively - strong team to this).

Serbia: Will have to regroup after finishing a disappointing third. Will probably end up finishing in the bottom of Division II Group A.

Mexico: As mentioned above, the Serbia win should be a huge boost for Mexico. Combined with having the leading goal scorer, they should challenge for a promotion in Division II Group B.

Israel: After not having some of their top guys play for them, it will be time to regroup. Even though tis experience will help, they might still struggle staying afloat in Division II Group B.

Showing Some International Love: Olympic Preliminary Qualification Preview

While a lockout for the NHL is pretty much a guarantee now, there is still hockey to be played. The AHL is still going ahead, the CHL starts at the end of the month, and European leagues such as the KHL, SEL, and SM-liiga are already a couple games into their respective seasons. While that covers league play, what about international? Qualification for Sochi 2014 are on the way as the first round starts in Croatia (an sadly, none of them will be played in the Pula's Roman Amphitheater)

Note: all data from the IIHF website

World Ranking

30. Croatia
31. Serbia
34. Mexico
40. Israel

Rosters

Rosters as of September 14

Croatia

Goalies: Tihomir Filipec (KHL Medvescak Zagreb), Ivan Krpes (Mladost Zagreb), Mate Tomljenovic (HKm Zloven)
Defense: Marko Ljubic (Mladost Zagreb), Kenneth MacAulay (KHL Medvescak Zagreb), Nikola Senzel (KHL Medvescak Zagreb), Andrew Sertich (KHL Medvescak Zagreb), Ivan Sijan (KHL Medvescak Zagreb), Fran Srketic (Mladost Zagreb), Marko Tadic (Mladost Zagreb), Niksa Trstenjak (Mladost Zagreb)
Forwards: Mislav Blagus (KHL Medvescak Zagreb), Ivan Brencun (KHL Medvescak Zagreb), Mario Cunko (Mladost Zagreb), Tomislav Cunko (Mladost Zagreb), Nikola Grahovar (Mladost Zagreb), John Hecimovic (EC Dornbirn), Dominik Kanaet (MHC Martin), Janko Kucera (Mladost Zagreb), Igor Lazic (KHL Medvescak Zagreb), Marko Lovrencic (Croatia), Zvonimir Lovrencic (Mladost), Tadija Miric (Mladost Zagreb), Mario Novak (Mladost Zagreb), Filip Orescanin (KHL Medvescak Zagreb), Miro Smerdelj (Mladost Zagreb), Petar Trstenjak (KHL Medvescak Zagreb)

Serbia

Goalies: Jovan Feher (MAC Nepstadion Budapest), Milan Lukovic (Partizan Belgrade), Petar Stepanovic (Beostar Belgrade)
Defense: Nikola Dunda (Vitez Belgrade), Aleska Lukovic (Partizan Belgrade), Robert Sabados (DAB Dunaujvaros), Vuk Trajkovic (Beostar Belgrade), Ivan Tumbas (Partizan Belgrade)
Forward: Marko Brkusanin (Crvena Zvezda Belgrade), Viktor Cengeri (Partizan Belgrade), Aleksa Despotovic (Vitez Belgrade), Dimitrije Filipovic (Partizan Belgrade), Nemanja Jankovic (Finlandia University), Nikola Kerezovic (Beostar Belgrade), Dragan Komazec (Partizan Belgrade), Petar Ogrizovic (Beostar Belgrade), Marko Prokic (Vitez Belgrade), Filip Rakovic (Vitez Belgrade), Nenad Rakovic (Partizan Belgrade), Srdjan Ristic (Partizan Belgrade), Marko Sretovic (Partizan Belgrade), Filip Trimcevic (Partizan Belgrade), Nemanja Vucurevic (Partizan Belgrade)

Mexico

Goalies: Alfonso de Alba (Aztec Eagle Warriors), Andres de la Garma (Zapotec Totems)
Defense: Miguel Colas (Aztec Eagle Warriors), Luis David Gonzales (Teotihuacan Priests), Franciso Padilla (Zapotec Totems), Alejandro Rosette (Aztec Eagle Warriors), Enrique Arturo Samperio (Zaoptec Totems), Fernando Ugarte (Teotihuacan Preists)
Forward: Brian Arroyo (Puebla Talaveros), Ander Barberena (Zapotec Totems), Hector Carrero (Teotihuacan Preists), Adrian Cervantes (Mayan Astronomers), Roberto Chabat (Aztec Eagle Warriors), Guillermo Diaz (Mayan Astronomers), Carlos Gomez (Aztec Eagle Warriors), Alexander Gutierrez (Mayan Astronomers), Cristofer Kelo (Mayan Astronomers), Diego Linares (Aztec Eagle Warriors), Sebastian Ortega (Zapotec Totems), Julian Ramirez (Zapotec Totems), Diego Romero (Guadalajara Jalisco)

Israel

Goalies: Alex Aharonov (MAC Metulla), Raanan Moscovich (HC Metulla), Avihu Sorotzki (HC Metulla)
Defense: Sagi Baffet (MAC Metulla), Nissim Botbol (Bat Yam Icebergs), Daniel Spivak (Reading Royals), Ariel Tal (MAC Metulla)
Forward: Maxim Buz (MAC Metulla), Ben Chernie (MAC Metulla), Avishai Gellar (Bat Yam Icebergs), Daniel Golodnizky (Maalot), Joshua Greenberg (Bat Yam Icebergs), Evgeni Kniter (MAC Metulla), Artem Korotin (Rishon), Marek Lebedev (Hertzeliya Ice Time), Daniel Mazour (Maalot), Vlad Nosankov (MAC Metulla), Idan Tribochan (Bat Yam Iceberg), Yan Youmashev (Bat Yam Iceberg)

Schedule

September 17
Serbia - Israel
Mexico - Croatia

September 18
Serbia - Mexico
Croatia - Israel

September 19
Israel - Mexico
Serbia - Croatia

Last Five International Matches

Croatia: Won (Iceland) - Won (Serbia) - Won (New Zealand) - Loss (Estonia) - Loss (Spain
Serbia: Won (New Zealand) - Loss (Croatia) - Loss (Spain) - Loss (Iceland) - Loss (Estonia)
Mexico: Won (South Africa) - OT Loss (Israel) - Won (Bulgaria) - Loss (China) - Loss (Belgium)
Israel: OT Loss (Bulgaria) - OT Won (Mexico) - Loss (Belgium) - Won (South Africa) - Loss (China)

Notables

• It's never a good idea having a Croatia/Serbia match up. In the Division II Group A tournament they were in Iceland, which may have taken some of the heat off fan animosity. Now that Croatia is hosting...well...pay attention Canuck and Hab fans, you might learn a thing or two about rioting.
• Pretty much all of Serbia's losses mentioned above went the same way: play tough in the first period, then get dominated afterwards.
• Mexico is the only North/South American team going through qualifying for the Olympics (Canada and US are in automatically)
• I honestly don't know if this is 100% true, but anyone of Hebrew faith automatically qualifies for Israeli citizenship. So if there is any Jewish NHLers WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? GET ON A PLANE NOW!
• Croatia has three players who have professional North American experience (MacAulay and Sertich played in the AHL and Hecimovic played in the ECHL)
• Israel's Spivak is the only other player with professional experience in North America, playing 4 games with the Reading Royals of the ECHL this season.
• Rounding off the North American experience (this time non-pro), Serbia's Jankovic just finished off his college career with Finlandia University.
• Mexico has the only staff with one foreign member. George Kingston (San Jose's first head coach) is listed as an assistant coach.
• Oldest Player: Israeli forward Marek Lebedev (1977)
• Youngest player: Serbian goaltender Petar Stepanovic (1996)

Prediction

1 (Qualify) - Croatia
2 - Serbia
3 - Israel
4 - Mexico

Croatia seems like the hands-down winner of the group. They have a stronger roster, the home advantage, and have historically dominated Serbia and Israel (they have yet to face Mexico internationally). What puts Croatia up against the other teams is the experience on the roster, were the other three teams rely more heavily on domestic players with no experience outside their home league. Serbia will put up a fight, but may end up playing second-fiddle and not qualifying for the next round. Israel (currently) has a weaker roster than when they last faced Mexico, but during the Division II Group B competition, they held their own better than Mexico did and ended up with a lower goal differential despite being lower in the standings. I know two players don't make too much of a distance in hockey (Wild fans just grabbed their pitchforks after reading that) but if Israel do get Oren Eizenman and Eliezer Sherbatov to play for them, then they could make some noise against the two former Yugoslavian members. Mexico ends up being the odd team out, but it will be interesting to see how Kingston's role as coach (even if it is as an assistant) does for Mexico.