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Written by Dani Toth
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Tuesday, 24 August 2010 23:39 |
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Editors note: I wasn't going to write at all during the summer break between seasons but that ended when I came across something today that I felt compelled to write a few words about it
So today I came across a piece on MapleLeafs.com written by Mike Ulmer. He wrote:
The biggest deal maker or deal breaker for the feasibility of a hockey career is not genetics.
It’s not competitiveness, off-ice training, affluence or bloodlines.
Turns out it’s when the kid’s parents decided to get busy. That was one of the revealing truths to come out of the World Hockey Summit at the Air Canada Centre
A study showed children born in the first half of the year routinely make up 70 per cent of the players on Canada’s World Junior Hockey Championship team.
Now the study showing that children born in the first half of the year making up a large percentage of children playing at elite levels of hockey is, well, nothing new. In fact when I read about this phenomena it was first introduced to me in Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers: The Story of Success a few years ago when I got the book for Christmas. In it, Gladwell examines the factors that contribute to high levels of measured success.
Now as a hockey fan, there was a chapter in the book where Gladwell that stuck out in my memory because of the hockey example he used. He explained that since the youth hockey league determines eligibility by calendar year birth date, players with early birthdays tend to mature and grow faster, and would then be looked at as better athletes. Because they were thought of as being a 'better athlete' they also got the best coaching and training, thus increasing the likelihood that they would make an elite team. He used the Vancouver Giants roster list as an example to explain his theory. I think there was also mention of the Medicine Hat Tigers as well.
So is this really a reavealing truth that no one has talked about until this years World Hockey Summit?
No not really. In fact, it was at the top of the Globe and Mail best seller list at #1 for weeks when it first came out, so I'm willing to bet that a few people may have read the book. This is not a slight at Ulmer's writing, since I don't assume everyone has read the book. And I'm sure someone before Gladwell has also written about this phenomena; But since I've come across a few articles in the past week about giving credit where credit is due (you know the ones I'm talking about), well I feel like credit for this "revealing truth" should be given to Mr. Gladwell since he already discussed his observation a few years ago.
I do like though that the issue was addressed at the World Hockey Summit, with proposed ideas of how to reduce the selection advantage that kids with early birthdays have over kids with later birthdays in the calendar year. It will be interesting to see what, if any measures get implemented to give all kids a fair shot at playing at an elite level. |
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Written by James O'Brien
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Wednesday, 28 July 2010 21:01 |
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Hey there, Internet. It's been quite a while and - let's be honest - you probably won't see much of me outside of my day job. In fact, this post is basically a nod to said job.
It occurred to me that I've written more than 1300 posts for NBC and most of them evaporated into the Internet ether. That's fine and dandy, but for my own purposes (but hopefully a little entertainment for you) I've decided to archive some of my favorites here at CLS. I've not-so-scientifically decided to pick and choose my favorites per 100 or so. Sometimes I'll be super picky. Other times I'll pick anything that sounded like a good idea. I'll try to gear stuff toward the "timeless" but some of the timely stuff will be in there too.
Feeback is always welcome, although "Don't post these links" will fall on deaf ears. I'm going to be lazy and just paste the URLS right in here. To be a man of the people, I'll put a little blurb under most of the links. This list is drawn from my last 100 posts at PHT.
http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2010/07/la-kings-might-regret-missing-out-on-gagne-more-than-kovalchuk.php
I'm not the world's biggest proponent of giving Kovalchuk a bunch of money in hopes that he'll be something more than a guy who scores a bunch of meaningless goals.
http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2010/07/2010-nhl-free-agency-what-about-maxim-afinogenov.php
As Laura Astorian points out, the Afinogenov photo might be the best part of the article. I think it sums up his career in a single image.
http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2010/07/phts-list-of-players-who-must-prove-theyre-fluke-proof.php
http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2010/07/nhlcoms-seven-players-attempting-to-prove-last-season-wasnt-a-fluke.php
NHL.com produced some great summer reading fare already and this was the lastest one I reacted to. The first link includes my player list while the second one features wordy reactions to theirs. Among the best stuff in this first edition.
http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2010/07/penguins-gm-ray-shero-discusses-team-building-salary-cap-strategies.php
I'm not sure how strong this piece is, but the subject matter is pretty interesting.
http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2010/07/phts-2010-11-breakout-player-list.php
http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2010/07/nhlcoms-seven-breakthrough-players-for-2010-11.php
Before the one-hit wonder post, I reacted to their "breakout players" list. Also some of the stronger work I've done lately.
http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2010/07/a-look-at-agent-eustace-king-and-the-nhls-slow-growth-in-diversity.php
Hockey and diversity might always be an interesting subject to me.
http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2010/07/beware-of-the-fan-poll-how-each-nhl-team-received-its-name.php
The link within this post is probably the most worthy of your reading, although I think my pithy comments are pretty solid.
http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2010/07/milestone-watch-some-significant-numbers-players-can-reach-during-the-2010-11-season.php
With the assistance of hockey-reference.com, I put together some of the more interesting possible milestones for the 2010-11 season. Good for bookmarking, especially if you're a team blogger.
http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2010/07/the-nhls-off-the-beaten-path-records-including-one-that-alex-ovechkin-could-break.php
"Off the beaten path" records. Another NHL.com story reaction. Like I said, I've been a sucker for those lately.
http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2010/07/hockey-in-mexico-growing-the-sport-in-a-rare-location.php
Hockey succeeding in Mexico? Dios mio.
http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2010/07/taking-a-look-at-the-nhls-unbreakable-records.php
Yup, another post inspired by NHL.com.
http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2010/07/proof-that-officials-put-away-their-whistles-late-in-games-a-list-of-the-worst-offenders.php
This is some intriguing stuff. Great work by Igloo Dreams.
So that's the first set of my posts. Expect these to pop up very irregularly, when I have the energy and interest. It could be in big waves or a steady stream. Or, most likely, a leaky sink dribble. |
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Written by Laura Astorian
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Sunday, 27 June 2010 01:01 |
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Whilst at the Thrashers' draft party with a friend last night, I came to a conclusion about something. Sometimes, people in real life really do look like cartoons.
Yes, this is worse than Wysh tweeting "Hey, look, a little Wang!"
I'll just let the picture speak for itself:

Don't lie. You see it too. |
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Written by Laura Astorian
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Thursday, 03 June 2010 23:10 |
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...or maybe I'm just easily amused. Any way you look at it (and I'm sure that it's been brought up and looked at before) Daniel Birere looks just like Paul McCartney. Seriously. I've been dwelling on this as Briere's playoff beard has grown in - and I'm not the only one that caught this. Good bud Jim Neveau of Paint it Blackhawks called it out on Twitter the other night. 2010 Playoffs Daniel Birere = Let it Be Era Paul McCartney. Don't believe me? Here.

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Written by Dani Toth
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Tuesday, 01 June 2010 21:48 |
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I don't know if everyone has seen this story yet, but if you are like me you are a sucker for feel good stories.
This one is about two brothers, Ken and Geoff Moyse, who are Flyers fans from St. John's Newfoundland that roadtripped out to Montreal to watch the Flyers play the Habs. From CBC News:
The brothers from St. John's headed to the Bell Centre for the playoff tilt wearing their bright orange Flyers jerseys.
"We had to walk from the hotel all the way from Ste-Catherine Street to the Bell Centre and we debated whether we were going to wear the jerseys," Geoff said.
The Moyses got some heckles from Habs fans but when they arrived at the arena, they happily made their way to their seats in the nosebleed section.
What the men didn't know was that their seats happened to be near the luxury box reserved for the visiting team's owner, Ed Snyder.
They heard someone behind them saying: "Good to see you guys. Glad you could come and cheer our guys on."
It was Snyder.
The Flyers' owner had spotted the two orange jerseys among the sea of red in the Bell Centre.
Speaking with the brothers, Snyder found out they had come from Newfoundland and invited them to join him in his booth.
The guys got to watch the game with the Flyers' top brass but the biggest thrill was yet to come.
When the Flyers won the game, they were swept along with the party into the team's dressing room.
The two brothers are going to be flown to Philly for Game 3 and 4 courtesy of the Flyers organization. Well done Flyers, well done. |
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Written by Ryan Classic
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Saturday, 29 May 2010 15:46 |
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The Stanley Cup Finals begin tonight, and that means it's time to see what the random number generator predicts. As I did with the first round, second round, and third round, I've harnessed the power of random.org to select the winner and predict how many games the series to go. At the end is my own pick. So far the generator is thoroughly defeating me, but hopefully this round I can save some minor dignity. With that, here's what the random number generator has to say:
Stanley Cup Finals
(2W) Chicago vs. (7E) Philadelphia: Philadelphia in 7.
The Flyers become the lowest seed to ever win a Stanley Cup. Michael Leighton picks up another shutout and is relatively solid, but is blown out of the water at least once. Marian Hossa has his best series of the playoffs but ultimately falls short again in his attempt to procure the Cup. Philadelphia wins the first game and Chicago goes down 1-0 in a series for the third time this playoff season. Flyers fans will mockingly sing Chelsea Dagger in unison during home games.
Bonus: Chicago loses, but Jonathan Toews still wins the Conn Smythe.
My own predictions: Chicago in 6. |
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Written by Ryan Classic
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Sunday, 16 May 2010 13:01 |
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Yo. Herein lies a feature that we've dubbed "Cycling". You know, to play off the blog name? Every so often, the venerable editors of this here blog will be passing the proverbial puck around on various NHL topics. Read on, and bash us in the comments.
1. Playoffs are halfway through. Which player was your biggest surprise and why?
Dani: I saw Halak's performance at the Olympics in Vancouver, so I'm not going to say that he has been the biggest surprise as he already blew me away then. Since the Sharks have been on such a long break it's easy to forget about the team but for me the biggest surprise was Joe Pavelski. He was so clutch in so many games, scoring when the big line didn't. Not only did he have multipoint games, many of his goals were game winners and he's certainly a reason why the Sharks are still in the playoffs.
Laura: Good or bad? Bad wise, I'll have to go with Heatley. He's got 2 goals and 9 assists so far, but he just doesn't have that feeling of "oooh, no, Heatley's on the ice! We need to watch out!" to me that he probably should have. He's just kind of... there. Maybe it's because he's setting stuff up better, or that he's changing his game a little bit to not always have to be Dany F'n Heatley all of the time. Who knows I just haven't noticed him much.
Positive wise, Mike Cammalleri has impressed me a bunch. I've seen him on the scoresheet about 100x more than I ever assumed I would. Maybe he finally underwent that growth spurt... as a player. Who knows what the cause of all of this is, but 12 goals to lead scorers in the playoffs is mind-boggling.
Steve: I don't follow the Toronto Maple Leafs for the same reason I don't eat at the sushi/poutine diner near my house. It doesn't interest me and there's also a good chance I may end up with Hepatitis B. So colour me excited when I found out the Penguins had traded Martin Skoula and Luca Caputi (who lives on the second floor) for Alexei Ponikarovsky. 6'4 220 lbs and averaging just below a point per game had me expecting Ivan Drago in a Jofa and the power forward that Malkin or Crosby needed on their wing to make some room and bury the garbage in front of the net.
While in the midst of planning my looting spree for the Penguins inevitable second consecutive Stanley Cup no one told me that Ponikarovsky would play like a kitty with a ball of yarn around the net. To say his playoff performance was underwhelming is like saying the plot to LOST is "kind of" confusing. "Poni" only had 4 assists and 1 goal in the playoffs and was a healthy scratch during the Montreal series. Ray Shero has made some shrewd moves at the deadline in years past to help complement Crosby and Malkin but this year's pick up of Ponikarovsky was a huge disappointment.
Ryan: Brian Boucher. I know he's injured now, but goaltending was supposed to be the weakest link for the Flyers and it turned out to be one of their strengths. Philadelphia was six games above .500 during the regular season, Boucher was nine below. The Flyers' record when Boucher played? 9-21-3. When he didn't? 32-14-3. His save percentage in the playoffs was .915, up from .899 in the regular season. His GAA was a full 0.43 better. Nobody expected Boucher to play this well. I'm not sure even Boucher himself thought he could.
Chris: Mike Cammalleri. We knew Halak was good and Pavelski was clutch, but where did this come from? The little guy has turned in a postseason performance for the ages, leading the NHL in playoff goals and taking the Canadiens' offense on his back, small though it may be. Calgary looks less intelligent by the day for essentially choosing Jay Bouwmeester over this goal scoring machine, and one wonders if Cammalleri is sticking his foot in the door that leads to the Habs' captaincy.
Coming up: The panel talks about who needs to step up their game, and what their predictions are. Click on that little "Read more" link next to the "Add comment" on the bottom-right to, well, read more.
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