Fast Ice , livre ebook

Ecw Press - Andrew Podnieks

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174 pages

English

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'The speed and skill of a new hockey generation in photos and stories From the incredible debut of Auston Matthews to the unparalleled speed of Connor McDavid, the NHL is experiencing a rebirth that is based on speed and skill, not size, fighting, or intimidation. Fast Ice: Superstars of the New NHL features profiles of more than 50 of today s greatest stars. Included are veterans like Sidney Crosby and arch-rival Alexander Ovechkin, but the heart of the book is the youth movement that has given fans new optimism for an exciting future. Written by bestselling author Andrew Podnieks and featuring dozens of full-colour photographs, this is sure to be a compelling addition to the hockey lover s library. '

Sujets

Hockey sobre hielo

Ice hockey

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Publié par	Ecw Press
Date de parution	17 novembre 2017
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781773051192
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	3 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0550€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
CAM ATKINSON
NICKLAS BACKSTROM
SVEN BAERTSCHI
ALEKSANDER BARKOV
JAMIE BENN
SAM BENNETT
ANDRE BURAKOVSKY
BRENT BURNS
SIDNEY CROSBY
MAX DOMI
DREW DOUGHTY
LEON DRAISAITL
JONATHAN DROUIN
MATT DUCHENE
JORDAN EBERLE
NIKOLAJ EHLERS
JACK EICHEL
AARON EKBLAD
FILIP FORSBERG
ALEX GALCHENYUK
JOHNNY GAUDREAU
SHAYNE GOSTISBEHERE
MIKAEL GRANLUND
TAYLOR HALL
NOAH HANIFIN
VICTOR HEDMAN
BO HORVAT
JONATHAN HUBERDEAU
PATRICK KANE
ERIK KARLSSON
ANZE KOPITAR
NIKITA KUCHEROV
PATRIK LAINE
NATHAN MACKINNON
EVGENI MALKIN
MITCH MARNER
AUSTON MATTHEWS
CONNOR MCDAVID
SEAN MONAHAN
WILLIAM NYLANDER
ALEXANDER OVECHKIN
MAX PACIORETTY
ARTEMI PANARIN
DAVID PASTRNAK
SAM REINHART
MORGAN RIELLY
RASMUS RISTOLAINEN
MARK SCHEIFELE
TYLER SEGUIN
KEVIN SHATTENKIRK
STEVEN STAMKOS
MARK STONE
RYAN STROME
P.K. SUBBAN
VLADIMIR TARASENKO
JOHN TAVARES
JONATHAN TOEWS
VINCENT TROCHECK
JACOB TROUBA
SHEA WEBER
ALEXANDER WENNBERG
ZACH WERENSKI
MATS ZUCCARELLO
APPENDIX
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
PHOTO CREDITS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
COPYRIGHT

INTRODUCTION
The NHL of today is radically different from the game of even a decade ago. The seemingly impossible trend of making players bigger, faster, and stronger every year has continued, but scoring has also declined with relentless consistency. Wayne Gretzky’s Oilers from the mid-1980s now look like a relic of some lost era of offence.
But, perhaps, even in the last few years the most dramatic change in the game has been a shift away from fighting to a reliance on speed and skill. The goon is gone. The enforcer is dead. The tough guy is a beast of the past. In his place is youth with blistering shots, incredible skating ability, and high-velocity playmaking.
And if there is one reason for this change, it cannot be found in the rule book. The NHL has done nothing to curb fighting, to outlaw the tap on the shin followed by the vehement, “Wanna go?” followed by the inevitable fight between each team’s tough guy.
No. The reason can, more or less, be pinpointed to one man — current Toronto head coach Mike Babcock. Babcock has been a coach in the NHL since 2002. In his 14 years, he has won the Stanley Cup once, been in the finals two other times, and missed the playoffs only twice. He has coached exactly 150 playoff games during his league tenure, more than any other coach.
Here’s what’s amazing: His team has finished dead last in fighting majors in nine of his 14 seasons. He finished 29th one time and never higher than 15th, which he accomplished during the 2016–17 season with the Leafs.
Babcock has made one thing clear during his time with Anaheim (two seasons), Detroit (10 seasons), and Toronto (two seasons and counting): winning is what counts. Toughness isn’t beating up an opponent; it’s scoring a timely goal. Intimidation isn’t a line brawl; it’s playing flawless defence every third period, all season long.
You want to scare an opponent? Babcock can roll four skilled lines. That’s scary. The very idea of a thug with little skill beyond boxing ability replacing a talented player in the lineup is the antithesis to the way he thinks. Fear factor? How about a centreman whose pure speed allows him to blow by those less-talented players to create scoring chances, score goals, and win games? A tough team out of the playoffs is no fan’s dream.
And guess what? The rest of the league has taken notice. Fighting has dropped precipitously in the last 15 seasons. It’s still a part of the game, and it’s still penalized leniently, but the obvious correlation to fighting declining is that there are fewer fighters in the game.
In 2016–17, the most penalized player was Mark Borowiecki of Ottawa with 154 PIMs. Even just six years ago that total would have placed him 13th. Most of the tough guys, goons, PIMs leaders of the last several years aren’t even in the NHL any more — Zenon Konopka, Daniel Carcillo, Colton Orr, Steve Downie. They are all gone. Not enough skill to keep up.
The league has very quickly made fighting an outdated style of play. Another contributing factor to the decline of fighting and the increase in skill is the ever-greater importance of the international game. First there was the Canada Cup, starting in 1976; then the greater number of European players drafted into the NHL, from the 1980s and on; then, greater NHL participation in the World Championships. In 1998, the final frontier was reached when the NHL shut down to allow its players to play at the Nagano Olympics.
In 1972, NHL players and Europeans never met. In 2017, the top stars in the NHL are also international stars, from the World Junior Championship, to the Worlds, World Cup, and Olympics. In IIHF competition, a fighting major is accompanied by a game misconduct, a one-game suspension, and an automatic review to determine if further disciplinary action is necessary.
In 1972, NHL players had never played top European players, but after the Summit Series, the comingling began. In the last quarter century, nearly 25 percent of all NHL players have come from Europe.
Different eras have produced different kinds of players and different styles of physical activity on ice. In the old days, star players learned to protect themselves, but there was mutual respect (i.e., no checking from behind, head shots, knee-on-knee checks).
In the days of the classic so-called Original Six, the top players fought their own fights (think Howe, Orr, Mikita). In the 1970s and ’80s, the top players had bodyguards. The recent passing of Dave Semenko recalled the greatest of those days. Semenko patrolled the ice, fighting anyone who dared to check Wayne Gretzky. As a result, Gretzky earned more space on the ice and set records that are out of this world.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, there was the goon. He fought only the goons on other teams, played about five minutes of meaningless time per game, and served no purpose but to “entertain” the fans. But under the winning ways of Babcock, the NHL has room only for skaters, passers, shooters, scorers.
Is this another phase? Will it give way to even fewer altercations or rules that all but eliminate fighting? If opponents start to target the superstars of today — Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, Patrik Laine — will coaches be forced to bring in tough guys again?
This might not even be possible. Junior leagues in Canada are instituting rules to curb fighting. The NCAA, which is providing more and more players for the NHL, has always banned fighting. European junior leagues have never encouraged or developed that style of play. The next generation of hockey players might well develop without ever having been involved in or seen a fight.
Fast Ice is a celebration of the league’s transformation. It is a celebration of the game’s greatest players, all of whom possess resumes loaded with achievement based on skill, not fists. The modern NHL player is young and quick with speed to burn. None of the players profiled herein has a notable fight to his credit, but they all have big goals, Stanley Cups, gold medals, and a future of greatness based on offence and agility.
Andrew Podnieks
Toronto, August 2017

CAM ATKINSON
B. RIVERSIDE, CONNECTICUT, JUNE 5, 1989
5'8" 182 LBS.
RIGHT WING/SHOOTS RIGHT
DRAFTED 157TH OVERALL BY COLUMBUS IN 2008
NHL DEBUT OCTOBER 7, 2011
@CamAtkinson13
Apart from the top-player selections, the NHL Entry Draft is a lottery as much as it is an opportunity. Case in point: Cam Atkinson. Drafted in the distant sixth round in 2008, Atkinson has slowly and steadily developed into one of the top scorers in the NHL — and no one could have predicted that a decade ago.
Atkinson’s ambitions were high even as a young teenager. He moved away from home at age 15 and attended Avon Old Farms, a prep high school in Connecticut that had previously developed Hall of Famer Brian Leetch and Stanley Cup–winning goaltender Jonathan Quick.
Despite averaging nearly a goal per game over three years with the Winged Beavers, Atkinson was never on the radar of USA Hockey for U18 or U20 tournaments. When he became draft eligible in 2007, exactly zero NHL teams showed interest.
The reason? Atkinson was small. Even now at 5’8” and 182 pounds, he is small to be doing such miraculous things in the NHL; as a teen, he was even less intimidating. But what he had was great skating ability and quickness. He could make plays at top speed and could simply outskate many opponents.
After being selected by the Blue Jackets in his second year of eligibility, the 19-year-old attended Boston College that fall, beginning a three-year stint there that saw him develop far beyond anyone’s expectations.
In 2010–11, in what proved to be his final year of college hockey, Atkinson led the NCAA with 30 goals and took BC to the championship game where the Eagles defeated Wisconsin, 5–0. Atkinson had two goals for the winners and, soon after, was sent by the Blue Jackets to finish the season with their AHL affiliate in Springfield.
Showing no signs of being overwhelmed, he scored three times in five games. The Jackets signed him to a pro contract, and his college days were over. Atkinson was en route to the NHL.
The next year, he started the season with Columbus, making his NHL debut on October 7, 2011. He scored his first NHL goal in his third game, but after five games he was sent back to Springfield. After scoring 29 goals in 51 games — and playing in the AHL’s All-Star Game — he was recalled by Columbus i