Tomas Zaborsky, SM-Liigas best scorer and point producer this season, is missing the rest of the season due to shoulder injury. This, of course, is horrendous news for Ässät, who've slipped to 4th in league standings (they were 2nd for a looong time). The press is already burying Ässät, as are most of the fans in Finland.
All eyes are on Joel to fill the void so to speak. This is his chance to make some serious noise in this league.
In short, Armia is now in a position where he is actuelly counted, even depended, on. Should be interesting.
And I say this because I think this is the first time in his career that he's the go-to-guy. WJC was all Granlund-Pulkkinen, while Armia being the secondary threat. Such was the case this season with Ässät, Zaborsky and Dixon were skating laps around the opponents while Joel lurked in the shadows.
Tomas Zaborsky, SM-Liigas best scorer and point producer this season, is missing the rest of the season due to shoulder injury. This, of course, is horrendous news for Ässät, who've slipped to 4th in league standings (they were 2nd for a looong time). The press is already burying Ässät, as are most of the fans in Finland.
All eyes are on Joel to fill the void so to speak. This is his chance to make some serious noise in this league.
In short, Armia is now in a position where he is actuelly counted, even depended, on. Should be interesting.
And I say this because I think this is the first time in his career that he's the go-to-guy. WJC was all Granlund-Pulkkinen, while Armia being the secondary threat. Such was the case this season with Ässät, Zaborsky and Dixon were skating laps around the opponents while Joel lurked in the shadows.
Brad Navin is a very goal-oriented guy. For instance, in high school he scored 127 goals over a four year career, including 53 his junior season. In 14 games through an injury-shortened senior season, he scored 29 goals and was a finalist for Mr. Hockey Wisconsin.
And in addition to scoring goals, the freshman forward is also setting some for himself.
Growing up, Navin had strong standards to look up to, setting the bar high.
"I watched Joe Pavelski quite a bit just because he was from Stevens Point, which is close to me and he played [at Wisconsin] and I came to a lot of games," Navin said.
Not a bad idol. After leading the Badgers in scoring for two seasons and bringing a National Championship to Madison in 2006, Pavelski made the jump to the NHL, where he has become a goal-scoring star with San Jose.
But head coach Mike Eaves also has goals for Navin as well, and those goals lie with another player.
"Talking to coach, he wants me to model after David Backes so that's a goal of mine to do that for coach and myself," Navin said.
Also not a bad player to look up to. Backes played three years with Minnesota State before moving to the professional ranks, where he has been a scoring machine with over 30 goals in two of his last three seasons. The Blues' captain is known for his physical play that goes along with his offensive streak.
Navin knows he's nowhere near either Pavelski or Backes right now, but it's definitely a goal he aims for.
"Hopefully someday, that's definitely a goal," Navin said. "I just have to keep working hard every day here and hopefully that will become a reality."
Navin is one of the youngest skaters for the Badgers, having turned 19 this summer. He made the rare jump from high school to college hockey, but that wasn't always his path. At one point he strongly considered leaving high school early for the junior leagues.
A mix of Pavelski and Backes? **** YEAH! I like that he still has 3 more years to refine his skills in college. Could be a good one if we let him develop correctly.
Knapp, a senior at Miami-Ohio, grew up just south of Rochester in York and attended McQuaid for three years (eighth through 10th grade). He leads NCAA Division I with a 1.53 goals-against average.
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“When you’ve got a guy 6-5, you’re intrigued by the size and we’re still intrigued by him as a player,” said Jon Christiano, director of pro scouting for the Sabres who also sees plenty of college hockey.
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“Sometimes every guy in college has a 2.0 GAA,” Christiano said about the college game as a whole. “In the pro game it’s not only blocking the first shot but you need rebound control.”
To succeed as a pro, a goalie must be strong at “the mental part, the reading-the-play part, the technical side,” Christiano said.
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“If he played twice as many games or for the last 2, 2 1/2 years he was ‘the man,’ that experience and playing in pressure situations, you can’t throw that out the window,” Christiano said. “But the longer he goes (in the playoffs), the more of an up-close-and-personal look we get at him.”
One thing the Sabres really like about Knapp is his poise and demeanor. “The world might be coming to an end and he’s just doing his thing out there,” Christiano said.
Nice write up on Navin. He seems to have a great attitude - I like that, especially in a "project" type player. When we grabbed him on draft day most of us had a good feeling about him.
Good news on Knapp. A bit stacked with him and Eidsness as seniors and Lieuwen coming out of juniors. I'd bring like to see Knapp and Lieuwen in on ELCs. They can battle in Rochester/ECHL, then sign an AHL starter/#3. Squeezes Eidsness out a bit. it'll be up to him to prove his worth in development camps over the summer.
Jarkko Ruutu was pretty chatty with Armia yesterday, good practice for his future. It was fun to see Joel only smiling when Jarkko Ruutu tried to get under his skin. It was also nice to see that team mates came immediately to defend their young superstar when things got bit more agressive.
Todays game is against Tappara and we would need these points if we want to be in TOP6 and avoid "pity-playoffs".
Anyone think knapp has number one potential? He's tearing up in miami
I absolutely believe so. He recorded another SO last night in the CCHA quarterfinals making 27 against #15 Michigan State. Miami won by a score of 6-0, as they are my favorite to win the conference tourney, they have really come on strong late in the season.
I love that we have two young but very reliable and experienced goalies in the prospect pool (Knapp and Lieuwen). Both late round picks, but have a ton of potential. I can absolutely see one rising up in the coming years and take over as the starter here in Buffalo when Miller is gone.
I'm excited by Knapp's potential, but he still has a ways to go. Listening to Christiano talk about him, it seems clear they want to see what he can do once he's out of the comfy Miami (OH) setting where he has a team that can dominate puck possession--how many sub-20 shot shutouts does he have this year?--and limit quantity and quality of shots. But the size is great, and I'm sure they'll work with him on his lateral movement.
With, potentially, four top-45 picks in this year's draft, that may be difficult. I can't see Darcy moving more than one of those picks.
Really? I can see him moving off of everything that isn't our first. Free agency is barren this year, if they don't sign Suter, they'll have to fill every hole through trade.
I'm excited by Knapp's potential, but he still has a ways to go. Listening to Christiano talk about him, it seems clear they want to see what he can do once he's out of the comfy Miami (OH) setting where he has a team that can dominate puck possession--how many sub-20 shot shutouts does he have this year?--and limit quantity and quality of shots. But the size is great, and I'm sure they'll work with him on his lateral movement.
His first SO he made exactly 20 saves against Michigan State
Second: made 22 saves against Western Michigan
Third: made 31 saves against Notre Dame
and his fourth and final SO of the regular season against Ohio State he made 28 saves.
As I said last night he made 27 saves.
In fact Miami has only held their opposition to under 20 shots 5 times this year. 3x against Northern Michigan and twice against ALA-Huntsville. Knapp only played in two of those games.
You might be thinking of Cody Reichard Miami's other goalie who had 1 of his 2 SO require under 20 saves.
He's always seemed like a solid prospect, but this recent stretch has me really believing that we may have knabbed another late round goalie gem. Knapp has started all 5 Miami games since Feb. 17, saving 133 of 136 SOG (.978) against teams ranked 13, 15 & 19 nationally. He produced a 31 save shutout of #13 Notre Dame, a 28 save shutout of #19 Ohio State and a 27 save shutout of #15 Michigan State. Serious quality, can't wait to see him as a pro.
Anyone else foresee an Odd Couple-like platoon between the diminutive Enroth and the towering Knapp once Miller moves on in 3-4 years? Heck by that time Pegula should have us a TV network that could produce a reality show about the two...
