Stories and Predictions for the 2015 NHL Season

I have hopped into my first hockey pool of the 2014-15 NHL season and now I've been doing research for the past hour looking at contract years, trades, signings, and gossip/Instagrams during the off season. All really exciting stuff. However, summer sagas like The Summer of Gino does not compare to the action on the ice. From the dangles to the post-game chirps (not tweets) there's is nothing like watching this game that combines grit and finesse. There has been a huge shift in the powers this year and the West has become significantly stronger than the East, making the Prince of Wales Trophy the ticket to Division 1 hockey. Regardless I look forward to a long season of goals, hits, and crying in the shower after Leaf games. As always, the awards and playoff bound teams follow the stories.

(South)West Coast = Best Coast:

Dallas Stars on the Rise: 

I started really following hockey the year Dallas won the cup at the turn of the century. The roster hasn't been in form to a long time to make a push, until now. Grabbing Ales Hemsky and Jason Spezza the Stars have a very good second line to follow up the 4th and 5th leading scorers of last year. There's a lot of depth on the roster now with a lot of players who have made it to the big dance and a couple who actually have their name on the cup. It's a brilliant mix of young talent and veterans who aren't just old but actually show up for the playoffs. This will be a team to watch every night. 

Kings of the Rink: 

Every time I look at this roster I'm amazed that this is even possible. I'm probably the biggest Jeff Carter fan in the world because he just scores goals like nobody's business.  Then you have Marian Gaborik, Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty, Dustin Brown, Mike Richards, Justin "Mr. Game 7" Williams, and Johnathan Quick backing them up? It's almost unfair. With kids on the rise, Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson, the Kings probably won't even need to dip into free agency to keep winning for the next few years. Like always, they'll save themselves for the playoffs and limp in. They know the playoffs are a whole new season and after breaking the hearts of every Sharks fan the sky's the limit.   

Fresh Snow:

Up in the snowy mountains of Denver, Colorado, Patrick Roy and his pack of young snipers (and Daniel Briere, 36) are preparing for another run at the pennant. Losing Stastny was a big blow, but there's so much potential in this roster (17 players who are 27 or younger) his name could be forgotten by December. I'm excited to see who will step up and fill the void Stastny left and if Varlamov can perform like last year. And deep down, like everybody else outside of Pittsburgh, I want MacKinnon to have more points than Crosby at the end of the season and a better beard in the playoffs. 
  
Kesler in Disneyland:

After three average seasons in Vancouver, one where he only played 17 games, Ryan Kesler needed a change in scenery. Enter the one-line team of Anaheim. The Ducks managed to get to the 2nd round of the playoffs with arguably two forwards and a brilliant goaltending committee. Now the Ducks have a fortified second-line centre, and Kesler gets an upgrade from the Sedin sisters on the powerplay. If Kesler stays healthy and learns how to play with his new teammates in the Boudreau system he could eclipse 70 points again. Now 30, Kesler is looking to win now and he might be going to Disneyland in both senses of the word.
       
Van-City Rebuild:

I don't know what to think of what this new GM is doing in Vancouver, dropping Luongo for Miller, who is just a year younger. I don't think either goalie will be in the playoffs this year, or even next year. I'll get to Lou soon, but the Canucks have to start building from the ground up after a few bizarre trades in the Gillis era. The Sedins will be anchor the team offensively and maybe they'll have a surprise or two from their young stars and Nick Bonino. Expectations are not what they were four years ago and being in the toughest division in the NHL the Canucks will be bottom feeders. Come January don't be surprised if you start hearing whispers of McDavid. 

Oil Slick:

Every year since Taylor Hall went first overall, I've been saying this is the year for Edmonton. Now I'm all in on this team. Why? Because Mac-T is in the GM's box! Tradition in a city such as Edmonton has a lot of value and having been a player and coach prior to this Craig MacTavish will do great things for this team. My bold prediction will be he'll do the same thing he did when Edmonton went to the cup finals in '06 and grab some legendary player (that year it was Chris Pronger). Hall, Eberle, RNH, are all great players and hopefully the bottom six can follow their lead and get Edmonton into the playoffs as a wildcard.

   
The Curse of Brian Burke:

Brian Burke's teunre in Toronto is comparable to a mechanic fixing a muffler on a car, then leaving it in the ditch. Now in Calgary, Burke is riding the players he picked up from his past jobs. Joe Colborne and Jonas Hiller are back with Burke and I refuse to believe that these are good moves. Flames fans will know its over when he signs Colton Orr. I am very biased when talking about Burke, I hope he continues to lose. However, with players due for a break out year (Mikael Backlund especially) Calgary will be on the outside looking unless something goes awry. With Burke in the box though, that's not going to happen.  

Open Doors:

After the collapse the San Jose Sharks had in the playoffs last year, I thought changes would happen. They didn't though. I don't know if this is because the Sharks think they ran into bad luck, not poor play, and the team will redeem themselves this season. Honestly, the guard needs to change: Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau were great players. With Pavelski and Couture on the rise to stardom followed closely by the hands of Tomas Hertl, the Sharks can afford to dump their aging players and clear some cap space to fill some holes. The Sharks have never done well in the playoffs and it pains me to say this but I don't think Joe Thornton will ever make it there, dump the old bones, Wilson.   

The Average East:

The Streak: 

For 23 years the Detroit Red Wings have been in the playoffs. Will it continue? Maybe, anything can happen in the East. The number of bubble teams is very high and Detroit isn't a lock for the top 3 just like last year. I'd take Zetterberg and Datsyuk before Thornton and Marleau any day but I question everything else on the team. Ken Holland has done a really good job for the past two decades and Mike Babcock is a great coach, all in all though, Detroit is a middle of the pack team talent-wise and their chance to get into the playoffs is slim. They'll be ahead of Buffalo and Ottawa at the end of the season. 

The Lowly Lowly Leafs:

I beleaf it can happen this year. With the Raptors getting to the playoffs last year, the city has to be hungry for more playoffs. I've been following the moves the Leafs have made over the summer and I like the sounds of them. I figure with Kessel, JVR and Bozak working together for a full season they'll all have at least 60 points a piece. Matchy-matchers Jake Gardiner and Morgan Rielly need to step up big for the team. The only thing that won't change is Johnathan Bernier putting the team on his back night in and night out. Clarkson better have more than 11 points or he'll be wearing a Marlies jersey in 2016. No collapse this year, Leafs are playoff bound! 

The Dichotomy in Florida:

Down south Tampa Bay has gotten a lot better and Florida is just aiming to get to the cap floor. With a healthy Steven Stamkos and two Calder nominees from last year and Ben Bishop this team is entering a golden age. I don't know if Drouin will make the squad this year but I wouldn't rush him even if he says he's ready. Now, let's talk about the bad stuff, the Panthers have overpaid a lot of players. I don't know if there's a plan in motion but signing Stanley Cup Champions like Dave Bolland and Shawn Thornton aren't going to turn a team around. As a Leafs fan, if they tank I will cheer, and I expect to cheer a lot.   

BLOvechkin:

Adam Oates had the opportunity to turn Alex Ovechkin's career around, and did, but still got fired. Now Barry Trotz has been given the reigns to the enigma that is Alex Ovechkin and his scoring touch. If Trotz can get JP Dumont 70+ points consistently Ovechkin can get back to triple digits. Whether the team wins or not is a completely different question because Nashville wasn't under Trotz. Ovechkin has hit 50+ goals only once in the past 4 years and entering his tenth season in the NHL this could be a sign of things to come, which is a shame for one of sports' most exciting players in the Aughts. 

The Tavares Complex:

John Tavares has quietly become a force to be reckoned with on the Island. After the Islanders stepped up their game in the off season with big moves and signings John Tavares has a very excellent cast around him, and I think he'll enjoy playing with the new recruits. Leaf fan talking here, Grabo and Kulemin are very good two-way forwards for an Eastern conference team, if they play well the Islanders will be in the playoffs. The other X-factor is Jaro Halak who made his name in the playoffs and will probably steal a handful of games for the Isles too. Tavares will make magic out of nothing for another year and hopefully will be rewarded with some hardware finally.

Penguins can Swim, But Can They Learn to Fly again?

With Jim Rutherford sitting in Ray Shero's old chair, take it as a sign winning in the regular season isn't enough for Mario and co. When you have a roster that has two marquee names cup runs are expected every year. Sidney Crosby pulled his weight winning the Art Ross as the only player to hit triple digits in points. Malkin is also a point a game player and the two combined talents allows Chris Kunitz to be a scoring threat every game. But that isn't enough anymore. The back end and bottom half of the forwards needs a shake-up and that's what Rutherford will do, just like he managed in Carolina. The Pens are very much playoff contender on paper but whether Bylsma is still the man for the job is another question.
  
Jaromir Milestones:

Behold! The only reason to watch a Devils game! Jagr is a legend all his own and this season will be another season where he can eclipse some pretty historical milestones. He needs thirteen goals to pass Phil Esposito (717) for fifth all-time. He's currently tied with Steve Yzerman for sixth all-time in points (1755) and if he manages to put up 44 this season he can surpass former teammate Ron Francis for fourth! That'd be huge, and if anyone can do it's Jaromir Jagr. If he brings back the mullet it'll happen 100%. He won't end his career hoisting the cup but he's a first ballot Hall of Famer.   

Trophies: 

The Hart: 

Crosby had a redemption year last year after suffering from post-concussion syndrome and if the pattern holds true Steven Stamkos will bounce back from his broken leg to win the Hart. He puts the puck in the net and that's how you win games and he'll help the Lightning win a bunch.

The Norris:

Mike Green. There are a lot of talented d-men in the league that each have their own special talent. I always look for a player on a winning team that wins the close games where defense, not goaltending, is the winning factor. I think with Trotz behind the bench Green can blossom as a powerplay quarterback and put up number similar to Shea Weber. 

The Vezina:

I didn't talk about this team above but I think Columbus is going to come out blazing this year and they will be a team that leans on Sergei Bobrovsky to win them at least 10 games on his own this season. Rask and Quick will be the other nominees.

The Frank Selke:

There is no other choice than Anze Kopitar. The guy is a human multi-tool. Any scenario he'll win the draw and get the job done. The guy only has so many fingers, let him win something he can put on his mantle.

The Byng:

Ryan O'Reilly won it last year, that really surprised me. Anyways I still think the soft-handed and soft-hearted Patrick Kane can get it and prevent the very unlikely repeat.  

The Calder: This is a very interesting award because I don't even know which draft picks are going to be starting in the NHL. Ekblad seems like a lock on defense but I don't see he him breaking out. Calgary has put out some talented young guns and I think Sam Bennett can be another Sean Monahan and surprise some people. If he's eligible for it Jonathan Drouin will give Bennett a run for his money.

The Ted Lindsay: The NHLPA does the voting here so its a peer-on-peer assessment. I'd argue it's much more prestigious than the Hart. John Tavares has the potential for a great season and he'll be classified as a franchise player after this season.
The Art Ross: Alex Ovechkin returns to form going from Blow to OH!! No slumping and a lot of rebound assists.
The Richard: Obviously Steven Stamkos: registers ten more goals than second place. 
The GM of the Year: Lots of teams made some off season moves to beef up their team for the long season but only two stood out to me as legit power moves. Those were Garth Snow and Steve Yzerman. I have the Lightning winning their division but I think getting the Isles back in the playoffs will give Snow a trophy.
Jack Adams:

Division Champs:

Metropolitan Division Top 3

1. Boston Bruins
2. Tampa Bay Lightning
3. Toronto Maple Leafs

Atlantic Division Top 3

1. Washington Capitals
2. Columbus Blue Jackets
3. Pittsburgh Penguins

East Wildcards: 

The Montreal Canadiens and New York Islanders

Pacific Division Top 3

1. Anaheim Ducks

2. San Jose Sharks

3. Los Angeles Kings

Central Division Top 3

1. Dallas Stars

2. Chicago Blackhawks

3. Colorado Avalanche

West Wildcards:

Edmonton Oilers and St. Louis Blues

Prince of Wales Trophy: Boston Bruins

Clarence S. Campbell Trophy: Dallas Stars

Stanley Cup: Dallas Stars Seguin goes 2-0 for his career in the Stanley Cup finals. Leaf fans lament trading him for Kessel all summer. 

That's it everybody, I hope you enjoy the hockey season as much as I do. Sorry I started with a bunch of links then it sorted of died off. It's just to hot to care though.

Keep your stick on the ice,

Shraham

The closing hours

I'm at my desk wondering how I'll spend the next day in a half in Korea.

Dinner with friends, possibly get a haircut, hit up a bathhouse, pay a cleaning lady for cleaning my apartment (laziness!) and hanging out at a desk that feels like a home away from home while writing to you, the ever so beautiful reader.

There have been points in the past two or three weeks where I've gone off the deep-end into a bottle and it's my attempt to fill a void here because my life in Korea has run its course. I've been watery-eyed a lot of times saying goodbyes but the dam has yet to break. It's only inevitable, it might not happen because there are arms to wrap myself in.

Travelling abroad has become a rite of passage for my generation and what we dig out of six months or ten years carries us through the rest of our lives. I've tried reflecting on what I've pulled out from these two years but there's so much. You become worldly (maybe that words too pretentious, oh well) after travelling. It's simple to go on vacation somewhere but its not as authentic as having a two years worth of exploring. Korea is a landing pad for Asia but there's so much on the pad some people could just stay here and see all of the beautiful microcosms in the mountains, rivers, and islands. 

I'll really miss this place as a whole. I feel like I've said this so many times but there's something magical about this peninsula. With technology too it's never goodbye with stuff like facebook, messengers and email.

I doubt I'll be writing pieces like this in my next outfit because of several reasons, so unless I'm bored tomorrow this will be the last piece for a while.    

Recovered Journal Entry

I'm starting to clean and reorganize my desk at work before I leave. I was flipping through that Korean agenda I bought for a blank page to write out a to do list when I found this.

04/17/2014

There's a power outage in the school. everything is down, even the water cooler. I'm contemplating whether or not to venture out and see if its the whole block or if I can just buy water. Then of course there are lesson plans: everything is run off the computer including all the skits and, welp, everything. I have a feeling notebook study is happening today. There's enough natural light. How the hell are they going to make lunch!
I just tried to turn my computer on, again. It's in these moments of peril  First-world peril that make me realize how stupid I am. I'm PPT-less, I'm without internet, I DON'T EVEN have spellcheck. How can I teach, how can I know things to teach. I'm just so thirsty. All I want is water, liquid, ice, snow, anything to parch my desert-dry throat.

Umbrella

We get a newsletter once and a while at school and it presents a bunch of student work. It's really cool and I'm sure the kids love it when their work is in it. This time around one of my favorite students wrote a poem that was put into the school-wide portfolio. It was only six lines so I plugged it into the translator and this is what it gave me:

Today is a rainy day
All the umbrellas Chardonnay

Holding umbrellas in various colors
Walking walking street

Pretty umbrella roadside
Me of the rainbow road

From this perspective its very eloquent, dare I say the most elegant piece of work to come out of google translator?  Regardless, I was impressed to say the least. This student is one of the higher achieving kids in my after school class. I wouldn't be surprised if she could translate half of it herself. Her parents are very cultured based on how she acts and the fact they both speak English.

In the end of it all it's really cool to see these accomplishments because I don't have the opportunity to see them do anything other than English and gives a little more insight into what they like without having these drawn out conversations to the question: "What do you like to do?"

This is just a bonus:  One section they have student art the half page consists of three Grade 2 works and one Grade 6 piece. Awkward? Embarrassing? I like the kid, I hope it's a typo.

I edididid

One of my co-teachers, Jennifer, has been planning an open class for the past two weeks. When she started this year we would be co-teaching the class but since I'm leaving in August I don't need to because it's a two-part presentation. I was a little disappointed about it in the beginning but now I'm happy I'm just an adviser.

She's a really good teacher and one thing I admire in her teaching style is her perfectionism. Especially something this important. I don't know what the story is because it was supposed to be due on Tuesday but now it's Friday and she's still touching in up. She has developed a six-page play-by-play lesson plan for the class that happens in a month! I'm not going to talk about what the lesson plan looks like but I'm going to give you couple common mistakes I've encountered while editing.

Sometimes you just hear words and never see them written: 

Jennifer came into my office a couple days ago (She's dropped by everyday, but this was probably the funniest one) walking me through her open class game. It's a really complicated game. Each student get  a worksheet and dice; if you can't read you need to grab the yellow worksheet and the dice with words; if you can read take the pink worksheet and the die with pictures.

That I understood. Then she started talking about grounds. "The students will roll the dice three times each ground. There are three grounds."

Seeing the printed word really in the lesson plan really confused me. I was just, like, "what is a ground." Then I was like, "Oh, a round."  We both laughed as I put my hands on my face in bewilderment and she did the same in embarrassment.

Wordiness:

Two of my CTs talk in a very eloquent way. Sometimes its very eloquent when they ask students, "How did the man address the woman in the video clip?" Other times it shows they haven't been to a recent course in education when they refer to children with learning disabilities as "handicapped," but we're working on it. Just like me, I try to make my writing more pristine when addressing my peers, but half the time you cut the crap out in editing. One thing that kept coming up was "write the name of the food," I guess if you said it with a British accent it might pass but not a Korean or North American one. I'd just say, "Write down the food." From experience when kids here the the word "name," there's potential at least one kid will write their name instead of a food. Tip to all teachers: Keep it simple, sexy.   

Speed-typing:

Jennifer, mother, new ESL teacher, master's student, and a secondary workhorse in the admin office, she's crazy busy and types super fast like everyone that isn't me. You can see it some days where she's just dog-tired but still plugs away. That's what I'll attribute to her minor mistakes. Sometimes words are stuck together, typos, mysterious upper case letters, all part of being fast. Plus, when you know you're not editing the piece you never look it over when you're done.

All in all, I'm hoping today is the last day of this because now I need to lesson plan. I've made a unit plan  for my Grade 3 and 4 after school programs. I did it in one lesson with my older classes but it left a lot to be desired and was a lot rougher around the edges. Since every kid likes animals I've proposed to make a mind map of the kids' favorite animals. They'll list 6-8 things about the animal and then draw their animal at the center of the mind map. I think it'll be fun, and it gives me the opportunity to put some student work up on the board in library and classroom. TGIF this birds flying the coop!

Hired and Wired

I've been pretty busy lately, this school year actually, I'm not making as many posts as I'd like to but I'm planning to enjoy my last four months in Korea. That's right, I'm moving! Korea will only be with me in spirit come September 2014. I've been hired as a home room teacher in a Middle-Eastern International School. I'm really excited to continue my adventure in Asia and live up to the name "Traveling Teacher." The contract is two years and that's exactly what I'd like: A year to figure it out, another one to build on it and to decide whether or not the climate is for me.

This opportunity excites me just like Korea although I think I'll have less free time to explore and engage myself in the new country. The weather will be pretty hot but school starts early in the day so hopefully naps can happen through the hot afternoons. Especially those first 5 days. The experience is going to be completely different from Korea, I'll have a chunk more lesson planning to do but mentors to help me through it. I'm just generally excited to get on with this new chapter.

After yesterday, I was almost ready to pack my bags and high-tail it out of the school. It wasn't the kids, it was the staff. Our annual volleyball tourney is starting and our gymless school is signed up. Firstly, I don't enjoy the fact its nine players a side, there are more rally points but at the same time the court is too congested. They put me at the net and I was pretty pumped thinking the setter would send some balls my way. Fat chance. Instead the new gym teacher, the king of the court, plays behind me and jumps up for every hit. The old guard of the volleyball crew (we're not a team) have the formula of setting it to the king. He probably hits at a 10% success rate. After the fifth time he came up to the net to hit the ball out of bounds I was checked-out of the game. Then I called for a ball and he jumped into me. I actually told him off after that because he has a big frame and if I break any bone in my body playing some rec league volleyball game I'll go apeshit. I told him to talk to me and that didn't change anything. "Oh that's because he probably doesn't speak English." No, you idiot, he's actually the go-between for everyone else on the team. Then I had dinner after with no one who speaks English and it was so brutal. The two eldest teachers with the most headway at the table talked the whole time and no one made any effort to make a side conversation. At least the food was good. Apologies for ranting.

I'm still writing a post about how Korea was twisting my arm to stay and I could barely feel it. It still does on some days but yesterday, that was a tipping point. I'm thinking of conjuring up an excuse to make the next time we play. Who ever leads us on the court does an awful job, you couldn't even tell we worked in the same school. Our two new guys did a really good job but still it's all individual they got most of our points off of blocks. I guess, my rotten mood came down to the team crew dynamic. There isn't a lot of pressure on this new school staff, it'll just be nice to have an intelligent conversation with a co-worker about something beyond the weather. I'm just peeking over the fence and the grass certainly looks greener on the other side.

Malaysia: Arriving in Mabul

02/25/2014 co-written with The Organizer

We woke up early without an alarm. A little groggy but nothing bad like a soju night. We headed down to the main office for a complimentary breakfast. BP&Js on toast with gritty instant coffee. Bills were paid, goodbyes were said, thanks were given and off we went to Uncle Chang's port. I didn't bring a lot of money with me and took my VISA to make life more convenient; in hindsight it was a stupid idea. I didn't have enough money for Uncle Chang's and the only ATM in Semporna couldn't read my card. So Uncle Chang's is on my VISA (so I have to behave myself). Regardless, everything got sorted out and we traveled to Mabul Island. 

On our boat was a hilarious troupe of Chinese people, varying from infancy to old age, who took at least four hundred photos between five cameras. They would hop from side to side taking pictures with one another. Now I know why its called a Chinese fire drill. We made our way into a couple photos too. One guy even nudged himself onto the seat next to the driver and pretended he was driving. Man, oh man, did he laugh. It was in that throaty sound you make when your choking but you're really excited, and then they all started laughing. The three of us shared this look asking how much longer can this last. I felt so sorry for that baby. 

When we got to Mabul reality sunk in. There were half-clothed children paddling boats, children bailing out the same boats while the smallest children put fingers to their mouths begging for food. Welcome to the third world.

In some instances this is not something humbling for the islanders, some are kings in their own mind because they know the place and everybody in it. The staff is very free-flowing with friends swinging by and just a general lazy demeanor around the island. 

We went on our first snorkel and left our bags on the boat. Luckily I didn't leave any Malaysian money in my bag. My two friends weren't so lucky. We kept all of our $ in the office safe but didn't think the change from paying for the trip would go missing. One lost fifty Ringgit and the other lost 130 (three ringgit is roughly a dollar). That settled all the trust issues we had with the boat driver and the staff. The Pirates of Indonesia are charging north picking on the foreigners. Beware, tourists, looks are deceiving.

Later that night we were playing Rummy and some people watched, didn't understand, then walked away. Others who noticed we were slamming Tigers hung around to witness the antics or enjoy them with us. At this point I had no patience for their attitudes. I got to play some guitar though, Young's "Southern Man" with a harmonica solo from another guest, "Lose Yourself," some Jackie J and something else... I think. Regardless in all the fun our cards disappeared. 

This place has already received a terrible a review, just to prove that "What happens on Mabul doesn't stay on Mabul." I shouldn't rag on all the staff some are really nice and helpful but some lack a work ethic.

Example: Another night, I had my older brother moment babysitting the drunk bartender as he puked over the walkway into the ocean before midnight... I think. I might have been drunk too.