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Poll: 2005 NHL Draft Take Two: Second Overall Pick

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Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection isn’t an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams–or players–intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.

We’re looking back at the 2005 NHL Draft, which kicked off the salary cap era and ushered in many of the current NHL superstars. The question we’re looking to answer is knowing now what we didn’t know then, how different would this draft look now with the benefit of hindsight?

The readers voted already for the first overall pick. and the results were hardly surprising. With nearly 88% of the vote, Sidney Crosby retained his status as the top pick of the 2005 Draft. Now we move forward to the second pick, where there are a number of strong choices as we re-select all of the ’05 Draft.

To recap how this works:

  • We will go through the entire 2005 NHL Draft and have our readers select, through a voting process, who they think should have been taken with the selection.
  • Every team will be represented, spanning picks one through thirty. The new selection is chosen by the majority of votes. We will continue this all the way through the 30th–and final pick of the draft.

We are now at the second overall pick, which was held by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (now the Anaheim Ducks).  With their choice, the Ducks selected Bobby Ryan. While Ryan has enjoyed a productive NHL career, there are certainly other names that stand out: Carey Price, Anze Kopitar, Jonathan Quick, Ben Bishop, and Tuukka Rask just to name a few.

With the second pick of the 2005 NHL Draft, who should the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim select? Cast your vote below!

Snapshots: US-Canada Rivalry, Injury Updates

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Though the comments were tepid, many top tier Canadian players took exception to some of the late hits by Team USA during the American squad’s 4-2 victory yesterday. Jonathan Toews was careful with his comments, but was blunt about some of the questionable hits doled out by the aggressive Americans. Via the Chicago Tribune, Toews had this to say:

“Without saying too much, I think there were a couple of borderline hits there where our guys were put in some awkward positions and there’s not much you can do there. The one on Weber was the right call there. We just have to try and protect ourselves and expect that the officials are going to do what they have to do. We have no problem with the chippiness and the physical play (but) it doesn’t matter where you’re playing, I think you always have to respect the player when he has his back to you.”

Toews wasn’t the only one making careful comments. Captain Sidney Crosby and netminder Carey Price both agreed that some hits “crossed the line.” Nick Cotsonika writes that Mike Babcock put the onus on the referees to control the rough play during a game between two rivals:

“There were lots of scrums tonight. They were generated by the players. The referees can clean that up in two seconds. All you’ve got to do is put people in the box. No more scrums.”

The US and Canada meet again in exhibition play tonight.

In other hockey news:

  • The Chicago Tribune’s Chris Kuc writes about the concern every team has with the injuries as the World Cup begins its tournament play with an exhibition tilt. With injuries to Marian Hossa, and Marcus Kruger, Blackhawks players were understandably concerned when two significant players from their team suffered injuries. Hossa’s, as it turns out, will not limit him and Europe coach Ralph Krueger said it’s “all green lights” for Hossa to play in Saturday’s game. Kruger, Kuc reports, has a more mysterious upper body injury and will be held out of play during Saturday’s Sweden’s exhibition game against Finland. Both Patrick Kane and Toews, when asked about the possibility of injury, shrugged it off and attributed it to a risk that’s always there, regardless of the circumstance.

Snapshots: World Cup Power Rankings, Updates

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TSN’s Scott Cullen writes that Canada is the team to beat in the World Cup of Hockey. Cullen ranks Canada, Sweden, and North America ahead of the American squad, who he pegs as fourth in his tournament power rankings. Cullen expects the Americans to be competitive but can’t see a team squarely more concerned about a “tougher” style of play going very far in a tournament that emphasizes speed and skill. The US, Cullen writes, is all about smash mouth hockey, but their goalie tandem of Cory Schneider, Ben Bishop and Jonathan Quick could give those aforementioned skilled teams some fits. Cullen places Canada at the top simply because of the top end talent they boast on every line. Sweden, he writes, has an “absurd” defensive corps with Erik Karlsson, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Victor Hedman, Anton Stralman, Hampus Lindholm, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Mattias Ekholm all on the roster. He cautions that in order to knock off favorite Canada, they’ll need young forwards Filip Forsberg and Gabriel Landeskog to carry the team in scoring.

Team North America is one that Cullen believes could truly shock everyone. With young, fast, and skilled players like Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, and John Gaudreau, the under 23 team could turn some heads, and possibly pull some upsets that could unseat the favorites. For the rest of his rankings, Cullen places Russia, Finland, Czech Republic, and Europe as the bottom four teams respectively.

In other World Cup of Hockey News:

  • The USA’s 4-2 victory over Canada featured a lot of aggressive play and injury scares that remained only as fears and nothing serious. Several high profile players took vicious hits, and some had to leave the ice. Flyers captain Claude Giroux took a hit from Joe Pavelski and didn’t return until later in the third period. Logan Couture also took a hard hit from T.J. Oshie in the second period but returned in the third. Though Shea Weber was slammed into the boards by Ryan Kesler in the second period, he didn’t miss any ice time. Kesler was assessed a boarding major and a game misconduct. Pavelski recorded the game winner while Derek Stepan sealed the game with an empty net goal in a contest that became more physical as it wore on. Earlier in the day, PHR recapped some of the other injury scares during exhibition play on Thursday.

Red Wings Notes: Sheahan, Larkin, Renouf

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The Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James writes that former Red Wings goaltender and current Wings analyst Chris Osgood believes that Riley Sheahan can be an elite center. Though Sheahan had a career best 14 goals last season, he slumped in terms of total production, notching only 25 points after posting 36 a season prior. Osgood, believes that the best is yet to come for the 24-year-old forward:

“To me, he has a nice offensive ability, he’s responsible defensively, he’s really strong. I think if you put him in the right spot, he’ll flourish. He’ll become one of the best third-line centers in the NHL. And he’s getting to be that age now where he’s a little more mature. He’s played a lot. He had some rough patches last year, and he’s learned from them. He’s a tough kid and he perseveres. So to me, he’s the guy to really look to be kind of that third-line center, power forward, leader, that’s going to get a lot of more points.”

Sheahan will be slotted in as the third line center as Dylan Larkin and Frans Nielsen are expected to center the top two lines.

In other Red Wings news:

  • Larkin was a healthy scratch in North America’s victory over Europe on Thursday, but Craig Custance tweets that Larkin will most likely see time on the fourth line during Sunday’s exhibition game against Team Europe. The the Detroit News’ Ted Kulfan reports that Larkin was excited nonetheless–prior to the game–about being part of the North American team and the World Cup of Hockey:

“Talking to other players that are in the tournament, they know we’re going to be pretty good. We’re just excited to get together and start playing some games. I don’t think we’re going to shock any teams. We’re definitely going to play our best. Teams know the kind of players we have. We hope to win the whole thing. It’s cool how players from Canada and the U.S. come together. It’s going to be a bit of a feeling out process, a lot of players from different teams, but it’ll go well and we’ll be an exciting team to watch.”

  • MLive’s Brendan Savage pens a piece on Red Wings prospect Dan Renouf and how he hopes to take the same road to the Red Wings as current defenseman Danny DeKeyser did. Renouf is hoping that his career trajectory follows that of DeKeyser, who signed with Detroit as an undrafted free agent out of Western Michigan and has been a mainstay on the blue line since. Renouf played six games with Detroit’s AHL affiliate Grand Rapids but spent the majority of his time with the University of Maine. Renouf was the leading scorer for all defenseman with 15 points (6-9).

Poll: 2005 NHL Draft Take Two (1st Overall Pick)

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Hindsight is an amazing thing.

Piggybacking off an idea from our sister site Hoops Rumors, PHR looks back at the 2005 NHL Draft and how different it would look if general managers knew now what they didn’t know then.

The 2005 NHL Draft was unique in the fact that every team had a chance to select first due to the lockout that wiped out the entire 2004-05 season. To make sure each team had an opportunity, the NHL brass assigned teams one to three ping pong balls for the draft–determined by previous performance–with the worst teams earning three ping pong balls. As history would have it, the Pittsburgh Penguins would select first and went onto draft Sidney Crosby, who would become the cornerstone of the franchise. Two Stanley Cups since then, many would agree that the correct choice was made. From there, it gets interesting.

Looking back, the 2005 NHL draft boasted some big names between the pipes. Carey Price, Ben Bishop, Jonathan Quick, and Tuukka Rask were just a few. There were also some late round steals.  The Blackhawks struck gold taking Niklas Hjalmarsson in the fourth round while the Predators took Patric Hornqvist with the final pick in the draft. The Penguins also benefitted from that pick as well–especially this past season.

The redrafting of the entire 2005 draft will be based upon votes from readers. Below is a list of just over 35 players who went onto have impactful careers since then. If you don’t see a player you feel should be on there, let us know in the comments section. As each pick comes up, it will be the votes of the readers who reshape the draft selections. Throughout the next few weeks, every team will be represented and will “pick” a new player in their slot. We will begin with Pittsburgh, though it seems obvious who will be selected, because it keeps the re-draft concept consistent and complete.

With the first pick in the 2005 draft, who should the Pittsburgh Penguins select?

Kevin Allen’s Latest: Early Predictions, Pivotal Players

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Kevin Allen writes that the Detroit Red Wings are one of five teams in danger of missing the playoffs this season. Similar to his reports while speaking with PHR, Allen lists a questionable defensive corps, inconsistent goaltending and whether or not goal scorers like Tomas Tatar and Gustav Nyquist will find the net as they should as reasons why they may not make it back for a 26th straight season. Though he could see them sneaking in, the Wings are more vulnerable than ever before. It all depends on youth and everything coming together.

Allen also lists the Los Angeles Kings, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Islanders, and St. Louis Blues as candidates to possibly miss. With the Kings, Allen believes that the Calgary Flames and Arizona Coyotes, if better, could push the Kings who lost Milan Lucic to Edmonton. The Flyers, a surprise team in the playoffs last season, will have more competition in the Metropolitan Division while the Canadiens, who struggled after Carey Price’s injury, will also be better in the Atlantic, making the Eastern Conference a lot tougher.

The Islanders, Allen writes, lost some key players in Frans Nielsen, and Kyle Okposo. Though he calls it “sinful” to bet against a John Tavares led team, he still wonders if they grabbed enough to compensate for their losses. Finally, with the Blues, Allen reports that they took a “half step” back while division foes Chicago, Minnesota, and Nashville all improved. Further, Arizona and Calgary are better, crowding the already tight Western Conference. Losing David Backes, Brian Elliott, and Troy Brouwer also doesn’t help for depth purposes.

  • Earlier in the week, Allen also compiled a list of the ten most pivotal players heading into the season. Number one on that list is Kari Lehtonen, who will make an early push to be the primary option between the pipes for the Stars. Though he has struggled in the past, he has the opportunity to backstop a potential Stanley Cup contender. Should he not, the Stars have been an oft-reported  team to land Ben Bishop should he be available. Other names Allen included were Brian Campbell, a player he believes could solidify the Blackhawks defense, and Elliott, who could finally give the Flames a strong goaltending option.

Red Wings Notes: Howard, Nyquist, Tatar, Zetterberg

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Is Jimmy Howard now just a very expensive insurance option for the Detroit Red Wings? MLive’s Ansar Khan writes that the Red Wings were unsuccessful in trading their backup goaltender in the offseason and are now, for a lack of a better word, stuck with Howard and his very expensive contract. Khan argues that Howard provides stability in net, as the veteran netminder helped last season when Petr Mrazek struggled down the stretch. Though Mrazek supplanted Howard in the playoffs to reclaim his job, Howard still played that instrumental role in getting the Red Wings into the playoffs. Khan warns that consistency has been a concern with Howard, as well as his health. Should the Wings not unload him during the season, Khan expects Howard to be exposed in the expansion draft. If he isn’t selected, a buyout may be considered, along with shopping the New York native.

In other Red Wings news:

  • Red Wings blog Winging in Motown has a piece about the line chemistry between forwards Gustav Nyquist and Tomas Tatar. Last season, the two forwards–considered by many to be the necessary goal scoring future of the Red Wings–took a step back. Nyquist it seemed took the brunt of the blame, as he failed to score more than 20 goals for the first time in his career as a full time player.  The article, chock full of detailed statistical analysis, argues that the two could actually be quite good together should they be given an opportunity with a talented centerman (Dylan Larkin comes to mind). The statistics show that their uptick in production while separated was influenced heavily by who was on their respective line and revealed that Tatar benefitted greatly from a lot of time with Pavel Datsyuk as a linemate.
  • With the news that Henrik Zetterberg would bow out of World Cup of Hockey due to a knee injury, the Windsor Star’s Bob Duff expounded a bit on how this affects the Red Wings. Writing for Hockeybuzz, Duff reports that the timetable for his return is not known and that the Red Wings scheduled an MRI to find the extent of the damage. Duff writes that the news couldn’t be worse for the Red Wings, who already lost Pavel Datsyuk to retirement and Niklas Kronwall to an injury of his own. Duff quoted Red Wings general manager Ken Holland as saying that Zetterberg would wait a couple of weeks before seeing if he could participate in training camp.

Snapshots: Vegas’ Fake Nicknames, Leafs Logo, Cervenka

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NHL.com’s Nick Cotsonika reports that much of the hubbub over Las Vegas purported nicknames are a clever trick played by owner Bill Foley. While Cotsonika jokingly referred to them as the “Red Herrings,” Foley admitted that some of the names–Sand Knights specifically–were a clever ruse to “irritate” some people. To quote Foley:

“I found I had to be very, very careful about what I said, because as soon as I mentioned a direction, then everyone picked up on it,” he said. “It would get in the news and then people would start filing domain name registrations for that particular name. That’s why I’ve been kind of circumspect lately. It’s been interesting. It’s been fun too.”

Foley indicates that he knows the top choice, as well as the secondary choice, and admitted that he never reached out to the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League to talk about a Knights moniker for Vegas. Further, Foley wants a nickname with two words.

In other NHL news:

  • The Maple Leafs unveiled their new logo at center ice–a change for the first time in 45 years. Everything old is new again as the Leafs selected to redesign the classic Leafs emblem used from the 1940’s through the 60’s. CBC notes that logo, with slight alterations to give it a sharper look, is a throwback to the most successful years of Leafs hockey from 1963-1967.
  • Former Calgary Flames forward Roman Cervenka will take David Krejci’s spot on the Czech Republic squad for the World Cup of Hockey. Cervenka played one season with the Flames during the 2012-13 season and has since played in the KHL and Czech league. NBC’s Adam Gretz writes that while he means no offense to Cervenka, he’s unlikely to match the impact Krejci would have had for the Czech Republic.

Maple Leafs Notes: Babcock, Matthews

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Mike Babcock knows how to say the right thing. And it’s something Maple Leaf fans should love to hear.  Speaking with the National Post’s Kevin Mitchell, Babcock touched on a number of issues, but there’s one in particular that Leafs fans should love.  In regards to cementing his legacy should he indeed turn Toronto around, Babcock had this to say:

“It’s not if. It’s when. The second thing I’d say is yes — the Leafs opportunity is a big, big challenge. But we’re going to make it happen. It’s a great city, an unbelievable hockey market. And now we have to get the hockey team back to its rightful place.”

He wasn’t done either. Babcock expounded on the difficult position he undertook. and took another sunny, yet realistic approach:

“You’ve got to fix it quick, right? It’s painful. So you’ve got to get up every day, the sun gets up, and you get on with it — getting better, and doing your job. It’s different, depending on which team you’re with, but I think we’re going in the right direction.”

The unbridled “can-do” attitude that Babcock coaches by has propelled his career in both Anaheim and Detroit. Back in 2003, then Mighty Ducks of Anaheim general manager Bryan Murray said this about the team–an underdog guided by Babcock–as they marched to a Stanley Cup Final in impressive fashion:

“This team, great credit to Mike Babcock, has been able to focus on the task at hand since the playoffs began. Our philosophy has been: Win a series, go out for a beer and celebrate, by all means, but be ready for work the next day.”

And in Detroit, Babcock guided the Red Wings to a conference finals appearance in 2007, a Stanley Cup in 2008, and narrowly missed another Cup in 2009 when the Wings lost in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final to Pittsburgh. The standing ovation he received when he came back as the bench boss of the Maple Leafs was well deserved. It was during his introductory press conference after being named the Wings coach, though, where he set the tone early:

“I believe in leadership. I believe in being the best in the world at what I do.”

Past results indicate that he is one of the best in the world–if not the best–at it. If his words are any guide to what can be accomplished, Leaf fans should be excited. Don’t be fooled–the rebuilding plan will still take time. But with Babcock in charge, a quicker return to greatness shouldn’t be dismissed.

In other Leafs news:

  • The Toronto Star’s Kevin McGran writes that Auston Matthews is excited to “get things rolling” with the Leafs. Matthews has relocated to Toronto, and “slimmed down suitcases” as he prepares for the future with Toronto. Many believe the 18-year-old to be the savior in the Leafs’ revival, and he’s honing his skills at the next level quickly. Matthews is slated to make his Toronto debut not in a Leafs jersey, but donning the colors of North America for the World Cup of Hockey. Regardless of who it’s for, Matthews is “excited” to be in Toronto, and it can surely be said a legion of Leafs fans are excited to have him there as well.

Blackhawks Notes: Toews, Season Expectations, Depth

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The Chicago Sun-Times’ Mark Lazerus answers a number of fan questions and starts with potential linemates for Jonathan Toews. Lazerus opines that Richard Panik will most likely start on the right wing while youngsters Nick Schmaltz, Vinnie Hinostroza, or Tyler Motte could end up on the top line as well. Lazerus reports that the Hawks will most likely put Marian Hossa with Marcus Kruger on the third line. Breaking up the dominant Artemi Panarin–Artem Anisimov–Patrick Kane line would be senseless.

Lazerus’ early season prediction about the Blackhawks 2016-17 season isn’t exactly what Hawks fans are used to. While he doesn’t dog the organization, he is extremely realistic in his assessment.  He answered two questions regarding expectations, and with both, Lazerus preached caution. Though he indicates their championship window is still very wide open, he also points out what many others have: the Central Division has a number of very good teams and the Blackhawks’ forward depth is suspect. Lazerus calls the team “very good, albeit flawed.” Lazerus encourages fans to “temper their expectations,” while also stating that they should not “write off the season just yet.” Lazerus adds that the Blackhawks forward depth is a result of the salary cap, and a situation that many Hawk fans should be used to for seasons to come. Then again, Blackhawk fans have been watching their team mitigate through cap issues since 2010.

In other Hawks notes:

  • The Hockey Writers’ David Tews writes that the Blackhawks’ attempts at replenishing depth have resulted in missed opportunities. Much like Lazerus wrote, Tews believes the Hawks’ roster holes–specifically left wing–could come back to hurt the Hawks as the season progresses. Tews is also high on Motte and Schmaltz, similar to Lazerus, but feels opportunities were missed if Chicago didn’t try to grab Brandon Pirri or Jiri Hudler at discounts.

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