Do You Believe in Miracles? Game 3 AHL Calder Cup Recap

Toronto's Mike Kostka was the overtime hero in
Game 3 at the 9:09 mark of the Calder Cup Finals
in a game where the Admirals killed off all 5 Toronto

Mike Kostka

penalties including a bench minor in overtime.                      

Toronto netminder Ben Scrivens absorbed 29 of
Norfolk's shots.  Admirals goalie Dustin Tokarski
put on an awe inspiring performance in net by securing
the shut out for Norfolk.

The Admirals gave up 11 shots in the 1st while only
firing on goal 6 times. The "Baby Leafs" would have
the upper hand in the physical game.

At the 2:45 mark of the 1st, Norfolk goalie Dustin
Tokarski interfered with a Marlie who was
screening the goalie. NHL contracted referee
Jean Hebert thought it was severe enough to
call an interference penalty. That would be no
problem for the Virginia-based team killing
19 out of 20 penalties in the finals.
                         
Trevor Smith got penalized for boarding
behind the cage when he slammed a Marlie
into the boards.  Brandon Segal got penalized
for cross checking while trying to gain position

Kostka while playing for the Rampage

in front of the net. That would make 6 penalty minutes in the 1st for the Admirals.

The lone Admirals penalty in the 2nd period
was called on Burlington, Ontario native
Cory Conacher for running into Toronto's Ben Scrivens.  Conacher looked like he was trying out for the Canadian Olympic diving team.

Norfolk was playing the puck off the boards very well resulting in a lot of dump and chase hockey. The Admirals were getting the puck in deep and utilizing the point for support and was screening the huge netminder Scrivens.  All-star defenseman Mark Barberio was
called for tripping at 6:10 of the 3rd
while trying to force a turnover.

Koskta while playing Portland (far right)

In OT the Admirals took a penalty that
could have hurt them, however, they bonded
together and killed the too many men infraction
which was served by Alex Picard.

At the 9:09 mark, a miraculous and bazaar thing happened when Admirals defenseman Mike Kostka shot a routine dump in from the
blue line. Scrivens went out of his crease to play the puck, but the puck bounced into the net to the surprise of Scrivens. The rally towel waving and the loud cheering Marlies fans looked
dumbfounded while the Marlies bench hung their

Nice Lettuce Koskta

heads in disbelief.  As you can imagine, the
Admirals bench cleared and met Koskta who
had the best celebration I've seen in a long
time at center ice.

It was a great night for Koskta who had family in
attendance along with other Admirals that call
Ontario home such as Mike Angelidis, Cory
Conacher and Mike Kostka.  The Admirals had
over 200 family members in attendance to cheer
on the game winning Admirals.  That goal made
me believe in miracles.

Coach Cooper told his gang of victorious Admirals
to go out to dinner with their families and enjoy this
moment, but be ready to work when they get back
to the Ricoh Coliseum.

The Admirals will claim the AHL's coveted trophy,
the Calder Cup,  if they win Saturday night in Toronto.
Pretty good for an AHL team that THN forecasted to
finish last in the league.

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Ice and the Sunshine State

University of Minnesota logo

Property of U of Minnesota

In a state that's best known for its sun and
oranges, one city in Florida will be engraved
in Boston College, Union College, Ferris 
State University and the  U. of Minnesota
men's hockey teams memory for a life time.

Tampa Bay, Florida was host to the 2012
Frozen Four Championship at the Tampa 
Bay Times Forum home to the 2004 NHL
Stanley Cup Champs, the Tampa Bay
Lightning. This marked the first Frozen

Ferris State Logo
Courtesy of Ferris state

Four held past the Mason Dixon line. You
didn't have to tell all Florida natives about
college hockey as many of them decked
out in college hockey apparel.

In a state not known for hockey, hosting the
Frozen Four was an introduction to college
hockey. Many fans were familiar with the Tampa
Bay Lightning, but not college hockey. This
tournament would introduce fans to the fantastic
world of college hockey.

Usually the night before the Frozen Four begins,
the colleges meet in a snazzy hotel ballroom and
toast the beginning of the tournament. This time
the colleges toasted the start of the tournament on a
yacht overlooking a breathtaking sunset on the Gulf
of Mexico.

The Hobey Baker award which is usually presented
inside the  arena was presented at nearby MacDill Air

Boston College Logo
Property of BC

Force Base in honor of Hobey Baker who was a World
War One pilot after his stand-out college career at
Princeton University.  Tampa showed the college hockey
players hospitality with a twist which was better than the
southern sweet tea they serve in the sunshine state.

There was one lone Florida native playing
in the tournament for Union College, Shayne

Gostisbehere.  What a homecoming for the
Union defenseman. Boston College would
go on to defeat Farris State to win the right
to be called 2012 Frozen Four Champions.

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NHL Prospect Profile Jarrod Maidens

Jarrod Maidens is a power forward currently playing for

the Owen Sound Attack in the OHL. The versatile

forward excels at playing both center and left wing.

The Grimsby, Ontario native uses his 6'5" size to his 

Madiens playing for the Attack
Property of the "O"

advantage.                                                                    

It's hard to knock him off the puck while he is 

skating.  His skating ability is top notch for a prospect his size.  Scouts say that he has a NHL caliber shot that catches OHL goalies off guard. The right handed forward crashes the net and has a knack for scoring goals.

Jarrod has an all around high hockey IQ.
The 18 year old wears the "A" for the Attack.    Like many of the draft class this year,  he suffered from an injury in his draft year.  His
injury is unknown as the Attack has kept
the details under wraps. Maidens only
appeared in 28 games with the Owen Sound
Attack this year and posted decent numbers--12
goals, 11 helpers and an impressive plus/minus
of +23 and 4 penalty minutes.

Owen Sound Attack
Logo
Property of the Attack

In the 2010-2011, he played in 47 games and totaled 21 points. So far Jarrod has played in 22 post season games and registering 6 goals and 4 assists for a total of 10  points.   Maidens has  played in the CHL Championship Game also known as the Mem Cup.  In 4gp, he lit the lamp 1 time and had no assits for a total of only 1 point.

In the final rankings of the prospects, he is

slated to go 35th overall.  I personal think

if he didn't get injured in his draft year and
put up consistent numbers, he could have
been  a sleeper and gone late in the 1st round, 

now however, he is stuck going in the 2nd
round. The Maple Leafs  have the 35th pick.  I
believe his mysterious injury will have him going
later, between 39-48, and I believe he will be
Blackhawks  property on his draft day.

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Beauty of the Week Radko Gudas

This Beauty of the Week hails from Kladno, Czech Republic
He stands at 5'11" and weighs 192 pounds.  The 1990 born
defensive man shoots right handed. Gudas was drafted
by the Tampa Bay Lightning 66th overall in the 2010
NHL entry draft after he was cut by the LA Kings

Radko Gudas in TB training camp
Property of the NHL

in training camp the summer before.                                    

In 2008-2009 season, Gudas played against grown men
in Czech's pro league for  Kladno.   He played in 7 games
and notched one assist and 8 minutes in penalties.

For the 2009-2010 season, he made the transformation
from the European game to the North American game.
He left his native land for Everett, Washington, the home
of the WHL Everett Sliver Tips.  During his rookie season

Gudas with some sick flow
property of hockey photography

in the "Dub" he totaled 7 grapes and 30 apples for a total
of 37 points, as well as, 151 PIMS. Gudas was not afraid
to drop the mitts.                                                                        

In 2010-2011 in his first pro season with the
Norfolk Admirals, Tampa Bay's top development team, Gudas
was a staple on the team's blue line.  Opposing teams
knew when Gudas was on the ice because he would
lay down bone jarring hits in the corners and if he
caught you with your head down be prepared to
feel the wrath of the Jack Hammer.

The Jack Hammer played 76 games scored 9 goals,
had 13 assists  totaling 20 points with 195 PIM's.
He always sticks up for his team mates and himself.
His style of play has earned him the nickname Bam
Bam given to him by his Admirals team mates.

This season the physical defenseman played in
73 games and sniped the twine 7 times and
notched 13 assist totalling 20 points with 195
PIM's.  Gudas is not a dirty player by any means,
he just goes out and hits everything in sight.
During his rookie season he would often get
caught out of position trying to play the physical
game, but not so much this year. Coach Cooper
can put him out on all situations PK, PP
it doesn't matter.   Gudas has been solid this year.


Bam Bam needs one more year to develop
to round out his game before he is ready for

Gudas throwing down in the dub
Property of the WHL

the Bolts Blue Line.  Gudas has been said                                                
to be an ultra competitive guy to play against.
He does have that edge to get under opponent's
skin.  Radko has the testosterone of a pitbull.

Guds can speak 4 different languages so he can
chirp the opposition in their native tongue. Gudas
is a class act always.  He takes time for fans and is
more than happy to take a picture or sign an autograph.

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NHL Draft Profiles Tanner Pearson

Tanner Pearson
Property of the Barrie Colts

In this edition of NHL draft profiles, I will be

profiling 19 year old Tanner Pearson of the

OHL Barrie Colts. The Kitchener Ranger

native has gone undrafted for the last three
years.  He slipped in the rankings when he
broke his fibula in the last game of the season
missing the playoffs for the Colts.

Pearson will turn 20 before the start of the
season which means that he could go straight
from the draft to the AHL. With the older
prospects,  there is a "what you see is what
you get" mentality.

The 19 year old makes great choices with the puck.
He can thread the needle with his passing. It took time
for him to get his positioning down, but that's to be
excepted when you make the jump from Jr B to
the OHL where the game is a lot faster.

It's going to be hard to translate how his game
is going to look at the next level. He is expected
to be a top 6 forward when he is done developing.
The Colts forward needs to keep working on his
defensive zone play.

Colts logo
Property of the Colts

Tanner has explosive skating ability. He has a

strong sense for the two game. The Left
Winger is also known for his heavy wrist shot
that has left goalies stunned. Pearson is noted
for his tremendous work effort and play-
making ability.

In 2012 he competed in the WJC U-20
tournament for Team Canada helping
them win the bronze in Calgary and
Edmonton, Alberta.

Pearson is projected to go 27th through
the mid to late 40's. That's a huge margin,
people, if you follow the draft a lot can happen
and a lot can change.

I have Tanner Pearson going 49th overall
to the Detroit Red Wings. I believe he will
go straight to the AHL next season.  The Red
Wings let their prospects play in the American
League until they think that those players are
ready to make the jump to the Show.

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NHL draft profiles Martin Frk

In this edition of 2012 NHL draft profiles,
I will be profiling Martin Frk.  This Czech
native plays for the Halifax Moose Heads of
the QMJHL which is also known as the Q.

Martin Frk
Property of the QMJHL

Frk was born on October 5,1993.  He has a left-
handed shot. He is a short, but stocky winger.

During Martin's rookie season at the young
age of 17, he scored 22 goals and had 28
helpers which equals 50 points.  He earned
those by playing in 62 games with Halifax.

The left winger suffered from a concussion
during his sophomore year which effected him
for almost the entire season.  The concussion
symptoms made him skip the 2011 WJC in his
draft year. This would slip him back in the
prospects ratings.

The scouting reports say he can be an inconsistent
player. Frk needs to hit the gym over the summer
since he lacks  conditioning and endurance to have
success at the pro level.

Martin could shoot a can off a tree stump
with his shot. Yeah folks, he has that good

Frk finishes a check during a Canada V Czech Republic
Property of the IIHF

of a shot. He will bring a high IQ in the
offensive zone. The young prospect can win
the battle along the boards where he is a
huge presence, however, his aggressive
play can lead him to get in penalty troubles.

Marty has worn his country's jersey multiple
times including at the  U'20's in the International JR's or at the 2010-2011  WJC's when he made the team.  He also played for the Czech Republic in the U'16 Worlds and in the U'18 Worlds. This kid has a ton of international playing time.

Tsn has Frk rated as number 20 which means he
will go in the 1st round of the draft. The Philadelphia
Flyer's have the 20th pick in the draft.

Frk taking part in the VO2 test said to be the most rigorous test in the combine
property of the NHL

My thoughts on Martin Frk are
that he will go later in the 1st round. Injuries in your draft year hurt your stock. With all the hype around concussions this season in the NHL, I think teams will be  weary of taking on  a player who suffered a recent concussion.  My prediction  is that he will go 25th to the St. Louis Blues.


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Golf Mega-Giant Turning to Hockey

One of the biggest golf companies in the world
is best known for their drivers and clubs, but the

TaylorMade Logo
Property of Taylor Made

golf mega-giant is looking to get involved with
Canada's most popular sport hockey.
                                                                                                 
Reebok Hockey and CCM, two of the top hockey equipment suppliers in the world,
are teaming with TaylorMade to refine the
game with their brand, the TaylorMade RBZ stick powered by Reebok and CCM.

The TaylorMade RBZ stick powered by CCM-Reebok
Property of CCM

TaylorMade's top researchers are working
on creating a completely hollow shaft or
an air core structure blade. TaylorMade
bragged about improving the sticks
swing speed which would give the stick
more flex when shooting. It would also
give players quicker wind up times and
faster shots.

Oilers young gun, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins,
has been spotted test-driving TaylorMade
hockey products. The stick hits retailers
in August with a hefty price tag of $300.


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Oilers Ryan Nugent-Hokins spotted in action using the TaylorMade stick
Property of Golf Canada

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2012 Draft Profiles Travis Jeke

On June 22 and June 23, 2012 most hockey fans will be glued to the NHL network or a computer watching the next group of talent join the NHL ranks.  The draft will be in Pittsburgh at the
home of the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Consol Energy Center.

Northwood High Mens hockey team
property of Northwood prep school

In the first edition of draft profiles, I will be writing about Travis Jeke. Oddly enough his hometown is Pittsburgh where the draft is
taking place.

The Pittsburgh native left his hometown to
play minor hockey in Detroit with the Little Caesars  U-16 team.  In 27 games with
the Caesars, the 6'4" D-man lit the lamp 12 times and racked up 18 assits and ended the 2005-2006 season with 30 points and 32 penalty minutes. This would end his tour
with the Little Caesars U-16 team.

Jeke played in near by Plymouth Michigan for Victory Honda U-16 team.  He put up
12 points made up of 6 goals and 6 assits

Boston College Logo
property of BC

in 29 games and ended the season with 28
penalty minutes.
                                                             
He then moved on to Northwood Prep School
in Lake Placid New York of the USHS.  The
Pittsburgh native was a walk on for Boston College and is expected to play next season as a freshman.  Jeke is going to one
of the top college hockey programs in the country. Boston College won the 2012 NCAA Championship over Ferris State in Tampa Bay the site of the Frozen 4.

Travis Jeke is slated to go 184th per tsn.com's mock draft.  The Phoenix Coyotes have the
184th pick in the 2012 NHL entry draft.

This is the 1st installment of the 2012 draft profiles.  I'll will be co-writing with my blogging counter part The Rabbi.  You can checkout his blog here. We will even throw some surprises in our blogs. Stay tuned!

NHL 2012 Draft Logo
Property of the NHL

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Game 2 Recap

The Admirals put on a magnificent performance
in front of a sold out crowd of 8,661 to be exact.

Admirals celebrate their 4-2 victory
courstey of Anthony Buck

The sellout crowd was electric from the time
the Admirals hit the ice for warmups.  After the buzzer went off to signal the end of warmups,  Captain Mike Angelidis of the Norfolk  Admirals was watching the Marlies players exit the ice when former Admiral Jay Rosehill shot a puck at Angelidis and a little chirping and pushing and shoving went on, but nothing came of it.

The Marlies came out playing the physical game from the start by dishing some big hits out early in the first.  However, Norfolk  responded with big hits of their own.

While Radko Gudas was trying to get the
puck out of the Admirals defensive zone
Jay Rosehill, who was involved in the play,
was holding his stick.   As Gudas tried to
retrieve his stick and skate away tough guy
Jay Rosehill gave Gudas a huge slash in the
shins right in front of ref Terry Koharski. The
veteran ref Koharski didn't  signal a penalty.

Admirals saulte the sold out crowd
Property of Anthony Buck

The Admirals took the lead at the 14:33 mark
of the 1st.   Evan Oberg shot the puck from the
blue line.  Scrivens made the initial save and
Richard Panik crashed the net hard and scored through the 5 hole.

Joe Colborne would picked up his 2nd goal of
the playoffs  when he snuck a puck by Admirals goalie Dustin Tokarski while the Marlies had
the man advantage.

Evan Oberg forced a turnover and shot the puck.  Scrivens would give up another rebound
and Picard had his stick on the ice in front of
the net and slammed the puck by Toronto
netminder  Scrivens and tallied his 9th goal in
the playoffs.   Good things happen when you
have your stick on the ice.

Carter Ashton was dealt to Toronto
for
Keith Auile
property of the AHL

Former Lightning prospect Carter Ashton
was trying to get the Admirals off their
game by taking part in many dust ups after
the whistle. Carter has turned into a huge fire cracker lately, but emotions run high in
playoffs.  Picard and Ashton got into a dust
up when Picard ran into the Tornoto
netminder.   Ashton took a hack at Picard that
set off the Quebec native and while in the box, they were yelling back and forth. It wasn't
Sunday school words folks.

Brandon Segal would snip the twine for
the Admirals in the 3rd and it was set up with a beauty of a pass by Angelidis.  Segal would bury it top shelf where Grandma hides the cookies.
That would be Segal's 5th goal of the playoffs.

The Admirals were really firing on all cylinders in the 3rd.  Alex Killorn carried the puck in the attacking zone and made a beauty of a drop pass to Norfolk's Trevor Smith that left Toronto 
scrambling to get into postion.  Smith took advantage  and shelved it. That would give Smith his 5th goal of the post season.  Toronto would slipped a puck past Dustin Tokarski to make it 2-4 with under a minute left, however, it was to little to late.

The Admirals will invade Marlie country looking to sweep the series on the road to win their first
Calder Cup.  This will be the 1st time since the late 60's that a pro Toronto hockey team will battle for a Cup in the finals.

The three stars of the game were:
3.  Dustin Tokarski
2.  Richard Panik
1.  Mike Angelidis


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The World Famous Zamboni

Lets face it, the Zamboni is one of the coolest things at a hockey game.   Every hockey fan would jump at the opportunity to drive the Zamboni or at least I would and I bet you would too.   I mean during the intermissions all eyes are on the Zamboni and it's driver.    

A man in Maine wanted to drive the Zamboni so badly that he broke in the Cumberland Civic Center, home of  the AHL Pirates.  Soon after he broke in, the police showed up and the man was charged with DUI.                                                                            

The 1st Zamboni
property of Zamboni
  

The Zamboni was invented by Frank Zamboni,  hints
why the ice resurfacer is called a Zamboni. The modern
Zamboni rose to fame in 1940.  Prior to the invention,

it would take 90 minutes to resurface the ice.   The
"Zam" turned it into a 10 minute task. The Zamboni
was patent in 1946.  In 1988, Frank Zamboni passed
away from lung cancer.

The Zamboni company has sold over 10,000 Zambonis.
The 10,000th Zamboni was purchased by the Montreal
Canadians.  The top model costs around 200,000 dollars American, the smaller ones cost 10,000.

The company is still family-owned and operated. Zamboni
has three plants where the Zamboni is manufactured...one in

The late Frank Zamboni
Property of Zamboni

Paramount, California, one in Brantford, Ontario and one
in Europe.  In 2006, Frank  Zamboni was  inducted into the figure Skating Hall of Fame.  In 2009, he was inducted into
the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The Zamboni does have competition, however, none can
beat the Zamboni. The Zamboni even has a song written about
it.  So next time you see the Zamboni, tip your hat to
the driver and odds are he or she will smile or wave.

 

The Zamboni for the New Jersey Devils
Property of the Devils

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Calder Cup Game One Recap

Going into Game 1 of the Finals, Coach Cooper had one thing to say
to his troops, "Thank God we can play again."  The Admirals had

not played a game since the 4 game sweep when they defeated

the St. Johns Ice Caps.

Property of Anthony Buck.

When the Admirals came out for warm-ups,
Norfolk's faithfuls stood and clapped and
chanted, "Lets go Admirals."  Last night was
the unveiling of 4 Championship Banners.

They included the 2011-2012 Eastern
Conference Champions, the 2011-2012
Regular Season Points Champions and the
2011-2012  Eastern Division Champs. The
last to be unveiled was for the 28 consecutive
wins that began on February 15 and ended the
last game of the season in Phantom's country
on April 15.

Norfolk came out with an aggressive style of hockey last night.  The Marlies seemed to sit
back and play more defense than anything
else.  Cory Conacher scored the game's 1st
goal at  the 12:21 mark.  It was his 2nd of the playoffs with assists by Tyler Johnson and
Evan Oberg.  There was a lot of pushing and shoving in the game, however, that's to be expected when teams are battling in front of the crease.

property of
Anthony Buck                                         

Tyler Johnson sniped the twine on the
powerplay at the 10:03 mark of the second
period putting Norfolk up 2-0 with Mark 
Barberio and Cory Conacher  getting the
helpers. That would be Norfolk's only
powerplay  goal of the game.

Toronto's Carter Ashton snuck a puck by
Norfolk netminder Dustin Tokarski with
3:57 left in the 3rd.  Brandon Segal
then found the back of Toronto's
empty net with under a minute
left in the 3rd.

Norfolk out shot the Baby Leafs 42

to 24. Toronto's superb goaltending

by Ben Scrivens kept their hopes alive

until the Segal goal. Toronto's powerplay
isn't doing so hot either.  They did not light
the lamp on the PP when they had the
 advantage.                                                                   

                 Marlies having trouble staying healthy.

Game One would mark the 1st game back for former Tampa Bay prospect Carter Ashton. He suffered from a concussion during the 1st round of the playoffs.

                   
Matt Fratlin, who lead the league in goal scoring through 3 rounds, was sidelined due to a knee injury he suffered in the Western Conference Finals against the OKC Barrons.

Mike Zigomanis who lead the Marlies in regular season scoring has missed the teams last two playoff games.

Marcel Muller, the 3rd in scoring for Toronto, has missed the last three games.

Nazem Kadri, the highly talented forward, has not played in the last three games.

Jessie Blacker, a top d-man in the Maple Leafs organization, has not played since the second round.

Korbian Holzer had played every game in the playoffs until last night. Toronto's brass stated he had been playing hurt.


The Admirals are missing the services of Scott Jackson  who was knocked unconscious by a puck which hit him in the ear during Game 4 against the Ice Caps.

Expect to see the same officiating crew of Francis Charron, Jean Hebert, and two NHL contracted referees. Matt MacPherson and John Grandt will man the lines.


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Beauty of the Week Nazem Kadri

This Beauty of the Week hails from London, 
Ontario. Nazem Kadri is the tender age of 21
and is currently playing for the Toronto Marlies, 
the AHL affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Kadri celebrates a goal during a call up
Property of the Maple Leafs

Nazem grew up playing minor hockey for the London Junior Knights of the MHAO
not to be confused with the London Knights of the OHL.

In 2006-2007 Kadri made the jump to
junior hockey with the Kitchener Rangers
who drafted him 18th overall in the OHL
Priority Selection.

In his second season in the "O", he amassed
65 points in 62 games. The Rangers went
deep into the playoffs, but were eliminated

Kadri with the London Knights
property of The London Knights

in the final round of the Memorial
Cup by current Admirals Tyler Johnson and
Dustin Tokarski  and the Spokane Chiefs.
The Chiefs would go on to win the Mem
Cup.

After the 2007-2008 season concluded,
Nazem was traded to his hometown
London Knights for the 2008-2009
season going into his draft year.
Kadri lined up for a hit on Barrie Colts
forward and current Admiral Alex Hutchings
and broke his jaw on Hutchings' helmet.

Nazem was selected to participate in the
ADT Canada Russia Challenge, but could
not play due to his jaw injury.  The let-downs
did not stop there.  It continued when he did not make the cut for Team Canada for the 2009
WJC Tournament.

All his hard work paid off when the Toronto           

Maple Leafs called his name in Montreal.
Kadri was selected 7th Overall in the 2009

Kadri
Property
of
The AHL

NHL entry draft.

Kadri is now playing for the Toronto Mariles
of the AHL. The highly skilled forward has had
numerous call ups to the Leafs during his 2
years pro. The London native is out with an
injury and it is unknown if he will be dressing
in either Game One or Game Two when the
Marlies invade Scope to do battle.

Nazem is of Lebanese descent and he is Muslim.  He is just the fourth Lebanese

player to play in the NHL and the
second Muslim.  Kadri also won the Silver Medal in the 2010 WJC Tournament with
team Canada when he did make the cut. It is
for these reasons I chose him Beauty of the Week.

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Flip Flops and Hockey Anyone?

There is a sign on the boards in Scope that says "When the ice melts the Tides will rise."
Well I hate to tell the Tides that the  Admirals ice has not melted, but sits armed and  ready to be battled on by both Clubs when the lights come on at Scope  June 1st after the starting lineup
announcements by P.A. Announcer Rod  Fitzwell.  

Admirals V Phantoms
Property of the Norfolk Admirals
                                                                                                

The latest Admirals hockey was played at Scope on May 18, 1998 when the Admirals beat the Pensacola Ice Pilots in Game 5 of the ECHL Kelly Cup finals.  The Admirals went on to win that series in Game 6.

This will mark the first trip to the Calder Cup by both Clubs.
The Marlies have a lot of injures including former Bolt prospects Carter Ashton and Matt Lashoff.

Property of the AHL

Ashton has a concussion and Lashoff has an upper body injury.  An article stated that the long break in between series would give these guys a chance to heal. We all wish them speedy recoveries and hope to see them on Scope ice soon.

I hope to see big crowds at Scope. Believe it or not the Admirals do hear how loud the Scope gets and it feeds their fire. Coach Cooper has touched on it during locker room speeches when the team was down by a couple goals during the streak heading into the third.

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Because It's the Calder

Norfolk Admirals Logo
property of the AHL

Well the Norfolk Admirals have advanced to the Calder Cup finals against the Toronto Marlies,
the AHL affiliate of theToronto Maple Leafs,
for the 1st time in their AHL existence.

Game One is in Norfolk on Friday at 7:30. Norfolk has only lost three times in the playoffs and has an overall playoff record of 11 and 3. The Marlies have a playoff record of 11 and 2.

This will not be a walk in the park by any
means for either teams. Both teams are
offensive juggernauts. The Marlies have an

impressive 44 GF and 23 GA. They also have
3 players that use to play here in Norfolk most recent Carter Ashton, Matt Lashoff and tough
guy Jay Rosehill.

Ricoh Coliseum Home of the Marlies
Property of the Ricoh Coliseum

The Marlies have 5 of the top 20 scorers in the

AHL Calder Cup playoffs while Norfolk has 

3 with Alex Picard being Number 1. The
Admirals will have to come out playing their physical game and wear them down with the body.

With so many Norfolk players being from

the Toronto Metro area it will be exciting

to see how many players will have friends

and family in the stands when they play

at the Ricoh Coliseum.   Norfolk Admirals

forward Cory Conacher has already bought

his fair share of tickets according to his

twitter account.



Marlies Logo
property of the AHL                                                  



Toronto goalie Ben Scrivens has started

in every playoff game during Toronto's

Calder Cup Campaign. He has 11 wins

and only 2 loses. He has an impressive

goals against average of 1.61.

Keep an eye out for Toronto forward

Nazem Kadri. He is a highly skilled

prospect for Toronto. I knew about this

kid before he got drafted by the Leafs

while he has still playing in the OHL.

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Beauty of the Week Cory Conacher

Conacher in action
Picture property of the NHL

This Beauty of the Week hails from
Burlington, Ontario.   Conacher is the young age of 22. Cory is listed at 5'8 and weighs 180 pounds. Before college and pro, the Burlington native played Junior A hockey in the Ontario Junior Hockey Leauge for his hometown Burlington Cougars putting up 62 points in 48 games played.

Cory played his college hockey for Canisius College.  Conacher was named the 2009-2010 Atlantic Hockey Player of the Year.  While majoring in Finance and playing D-1
hockey, Cory put up 147 points.  He owns
12 single game records as well as single
season records.  Cory raised the bar by recording
12 GWG and 3 hat tricks over his 4 year stay at
Canisius.

Conacher playing for Canisius

       
After earning his degree in Finance and
graduating from Canisius, Cory played in 3
games with the Cincinnati Cyclones of the
ECHL netting 5 goals and 2 assits in 7 games
at the end of the  2010-2011 season. He also played 2 games with the Rochester Americans where he lit the lamp once in two
games.  After the Americans were done with
his service, he caught on with the Milwaukee Admirals were he had 5 points in 5 games. Conacher also played 7 games in the
AHL playoffs in 2010-2011and only registered
1 point.

Tampa Bay Lightning logo
Property of The Lightning                                                             

Conacher has type one diabetes. This
has not stopped Conacher who has
managed his diabetes and hockey
since the age of 12.  The insulin pump he wears helps him manage his sugar levels. His diabetes and his size has scared NHL teams away in the past. Conacher has proven that he can take care of his body and play at the high level the American Hockey Leauge requires.

In the summer of 2010-2011 Conacher signed an AHL SPC
with the Norfolk Admirals and received an invite to NHL Training
Camp as well as Prospect Camp with the Tampa Bay Lightning in the summer. During pre-season he
caught the attention of Tampa's
top brass.   He was rewarded
by being put on a line with
NHL superstars St. Louis and Lecaiver.

Shane Conacher
Picture from Burlington Cougars

In his rookie campaign with the Admirals Conacher signed a 2 year deal with Tampa
during the middle of the season. Conacher
won the Les Cunningham Award which is awarded to the AHL MVP.  Conacher's 
Award Ceremony didn't stop there.   He 
also took home the Dudley (red) Garrett 
Memorial Award which goes to the AHL 
top rookie.  Conacher is a scrappy forward 
who doesn't back down from a scrum or dust 
up. He will stand up for himself which I 
admire in a small player.  He has earned the nickname the Honey Badger because of his 
never back down attitude. Conacher has a 
brother who is following in his foot steps. 
Shane Conacher plays for Cory's old 
Junior A team the Burlington Cougars and
is attending Cory's Alma matter Canisius 
College on a scholarship. During the AHL
All-Star game the announcer for the game
said we could see Cory in the NHL as soon
as the next year. The sky is the limit for Cory.

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Norfolk Moves to the Calder Cup Finals!

The Norfolk Admirals swept the St. Johns Ice Caps
in four games to win the Richard F. Canning Trophy .

Pasquale
property of
nhl images  

Once again Norfolk goalie Dustin Tokarski got
the start in Game 4.  Meanwhile the Toronto
native Eddie Pasquale got the nod for St. Johns.                                                              

At the 15:15 mark of the 1st period, Norfolk
Captain Mike Angelidis was parked in front of
Ice Caps goalie Eddie Pasquale creating a screen
that led to D-man Evan Oberg shooting the
puck from the point and notching his second goal
of the post season.

Shortly after the Oberg goal, Ice Caps D-man
Paul Postma  was whistled for slashing at the 16:01 mark of the 1st. At the 17:47 mark,  Tyler Johnson scored from a weird angle that seemed to look like a pass but ended up being Johnson's 3rd playoff goal
on the PP.

Mile One Centre
Home of the Ice Caps
property of thetelegram.com

                                                                                                                                    
Norfolk would end up getting two more
tallies... one at the 1:41 mark in the second

Trevor Smith during his call up to Tampa
Property of Getty Images

by Admirals Center Trevor Smith and a

goal by Brandon Segal in the third on the
PP.   Norfolk went two for five on the PP.
St. Johns was zero for four on the PP.
Excellent penalty killing was one of the

stronger points for the Admirals in Game 4. Tokarski turned away all 29 shots he faced. Norfolk peppered away at Pasquale making him face 42 shots in total.

At the end of the game with 2:00 minutes remaining in the Ice Caps season, the sell out crowd at Mile One Centre stood up and
cheered their hometown team. That showed
me how much support a first year team
had.  Canada says hockey is their game.
They proved  how much class they had
by  cheering on their loosing team. You'll
never find that type of support in Norfolk from
a sellout crowd.

Nazem Kadri plays for the Marlies
A highly talented prospect for Toronto
Drafted 7th overall
in 2009

Norfolk moves on to the Calder Cup finals
against Toronto Marlies or OKC Barons. The Marlies lead the series 2 games to 1. The
series is a best of 7 which means  we  will have hockey in June.                          

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me on twitter @bauerhockeydude.