On the surface, the title sounds like a crazy question but truth be told, some really do not care about the matchup in this year’s Stanley Cup Finals. I know quite a few fans personally that have this same mindset. You even hear the same things. “I am just not into either team”. “None of my favorite players are on these teams”. One may hear the infamous, “Oh its those two teams, who cares”. Funny thing is I heard the last one last year more than anything else.
So while the Finals are indeed going on. The scene shifts to Philadelphia for Game 3 on Wednesday and Game 4 on Friday, there are other alternatives to these games if you so choose. One even includes other hockey action as well. Thursday at 7:30pm ET begins the Calder Cup Finals better known as the final round of the American Hockey League (AHL). This year’s two combatants are the Hershey Bears and the Texas Stars. Hershey won the title last year and appears poised to do it again this year but Texas just came off an inspiring seven game series win in the conference finals over the Montreal affiliated Hamilton Bulldogs.
I have lamented about quite a few reason why Hershey is so good now. Everything from their rosters are full of tweeners that will never make the NHL on a full time basis to well their socks smell. Yes all socks smell after playing hockey but that is besides the point. I understand every team has them but the Bears, the last two years, seem to have a ton of Keith Aucoin’s and not enough John Carlson’s. I guess maybe it is a way of selling tickets. I am sure if you look at every roster, you will find at least 1 maybe even two or more players who were born in the 1970’s which means they are over 30.. Please insert your Captain Obvious statement here.
So to be fair, I looked at the Texas Stars’ roster. Sure enough, Landon Wilson was born in 1975. No players on the Texas Stars were born 1990 or after. Funny enough, Hershey has one with John Carlson though he spent the year mostly with the Washington Capitals. So that is a minor detail. All signs point to a Hershey Bears Cup win anyway but you never know in the playoffs. Stranger things have happened. Look at it this way, the AHL Finals are one alternative to not watching the Stanley Cup Finals.
Another aliternative is looking ahead to the 2010 NHL Draft which takes place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles in just a little over three and a half weeks time. Look for the latest Mock Draft from Ryan Porth coming later today on Red Light District. The first few picks are fairly obvious but after that, it is anyone’s guess. You can also check out My NHL Draft as well along with many other sites. Just go searching around. The interesting thing of late has Cam Fowler sliding as low as maybe 4th or 5th in the first round. He was kind of expected to be on the par with Hall then Seguin then Fowler but now not so much. It does seem on the surface anyway that Florida is hellbent on picking Erik Gudbranson.
One of the big surprises I have seen is Jack Campbell going as high as 14 to potentially St. Louis. Most had Campbell going around 20 or so but if this uptick maintains itself, teams like New Jersey have a lot harder decision to make when it comes to trading up. Campbell has the potential to be a very good goalie. However, no one knows with any certainty, if he can be an elite goaltender. That is the burning question with him but the impressive pedigree that Campbell has had with Team USA is well documented. The gold hanging off his neck is a nice reminder too.
Maybe the only other real shocker to a point is Jayden Schwartz going in the first round. He has the talent to play in the NHL but does he have the size? You do need some size to play in this league or at least very good body structure. He is under 6 foot tall and that is a bit of a concern. The tenacity at which he plays cannot be questioned and he did lead the USHL in scoring last year. That is something to take note of in his progression. It will be fascinating to see where he ends up getting drafted. Will it be in the first round? I am getting the growing sense that the answer will be surprisingly yes.
Well there are more alternatives out there but these are probably two of the best other than saying trying to follow your own team’s news along the way. If you have any other suggestions, by all means toss them in the comment box and we can debate away on them. Hope to see you on the RLD Podcast at 1pm. Aloha.
