The 5 Most Impressive Players at the World Juniors

 

I’m not going to sit here and tell you I have watched all of the World Juniors so far this year, but I’ve certainly had my eye on it and watched as much as I could.   In particular, I’ve made it a point to watch any of Canada’s games for obvious reasons.  They are stacked with top draft picks and soon-to-be NHL superstars.  That obviously does not translate into a guaranteed gold medal however, since we saw Russia clip them 6-5 last night.  But as someone who is always looking forward to watching promising young talent enter the NHL, here are some players that caught my eye in particular. 

5. Nail Yakupov - Russia (6gp, 0 goals, 9 assists)

Yakupov is the can’t miss prospect of the Sarnia Sting in the Ontario Hockey League that has fans of bottom dwelling NHL teams starting their “Fail for Nail” campaigns.  Team Russia is set to face off against Sweden for the gold medal and Yakupov has been a huge part of that.  Although he has not scored a goal yet, his 9 helpers have been pivotal playing on Russia’s top line.  The thing that has impressed me the most is Yakupov’s skating and energy level.  He seems to thrive on physical contact and the up-tempo pace of the game.   So far he reminds me of an Ovechkin-Bure hybrid.  If that’s the case, the team with the #1 overall pick in this year’s draft should consider themselves very lucky.

4. Jonathan Huberdeau - Canada (5gp, 1 goal, 8 assists)

Huberdeau was the third overall pick in last year’s draft by the Florida Panthers.  He has returned to his junior team in the QMJHL, the Niagara Ice Dogs, and has continued to shine.  I wanted to keep an eye on him this tournament because he was such a high draft pick last year.  Every time he is on the ice, he seems to be around the puck generating big time scoring chances.  He is known as more of a playmaker than a goal scorer, and if you’ve watched any of Canada’s games thus far you can certainly see why.  Look for him to be a big-time assist man in the NHL for years to come and a strong candidate for the Calder next season.

3. Mikael Granlund - Finland (6gp, 2 goals, 9 assists)

Granlund has led team Finland to a shot at the bronze medal against Canada in this years tournament.  He was selected by the Minnesota Wild with the 9th overall pick in the 2010 draft, and many people argue that he might be the best player not in the NHL on the planet right now.  In Finland’s SM-liiga with HIFK he has 38 points and 30 games and is setting the league on fire as a 19-year-old.  He’s certainly a guy that you notice when watching Finland play.  He’s a dynamic skater and always seems to be generating offense which is certainly evident in his lofty numbers thus far.  Keep an eye on Granlund when he breaks into the NHL and to become the new face of Finland hockey.

2. Mark Stone – Canada (5gp, 7 goals, 2 assists)

Mark Stone is not like any of the other players on this list.  He was not and will not be a top 10 draft pick the in the NHL.  In fact, Stone was not drafted until the 6th round of the NHL Draft in 2010 by the Ottawa Senators and they may very well have a steal on their hands.  Stone was leading the WHL in scoring (before leaving for the World Juniors) with the Brandon Wheat Kings and he has picked up where he left off in the World Juniors.  Playing on a line with the aformentioned Huberdeau and 2011 5th overall draft pick Ryan Strome, the big-bodied Strome does nothing but score.  He plays with a ton of energy and uses his body well around the net where he is always in position to bury the puck.  I can see him fitting nicely with a guy like Jason Spezza up in Ottawa just feeding him pucks in the slot.

1. Brett Connolly – Canada (5gp, 5 goals, 1 assist)

So I know Connolly’s numbers are not as great as the rest of the players on this list, but I have been extremely impressed by his play.  This may be a little tainted since I have seen him play with the Tampa Bay Lightning this year, but I love his style of play.  He seems to play with a bit of an edge and attitude and does not mind driving the net like all good power forwards should.  He probably could have more points than he does if the puck bounced his way a little more, but he and Stone have been the most dangerous forwards for Canada so far in the tourney.  It will be interesting to see how he resumes his play with the Lightning this year because his confidence should be sky-high right now.

I Had to Reload My Weapon

As expected, HBO did not disappoint us last night with its premier of this seasons 24/7 Road to the Winter Classic.  And for the record, I dislike the Flyers and the Rangers are probably my most hated team in all of sports.  With that said, this is still must-see TV.  Just another example of how awesome hockey players are.  Just dropping F-bombs and fighting on the ice one second, and the next thing you know they’re dancing in the locker room to some white kid rapping.  They are a rare bread, these hockey players.  Here are some of the highlights from last nights episode:

- The funniest part of the night for me was after Artem Anisimov’s ”sniper” goal celebration.  Just classic.  It started with a good full ice brawl between the Rangers and the Lightning.  In the penalty box we got to hear Brandon Dubinsky whine that Vinny Lecavalier started the whole thing and didn’t get a penalty.  Meanwhile, Anisimov in his broken English keeps asking what did he do wrong.  But the best was the locker room scene.  Anismov was back in the locker room after getting a 10 minute misconduct when the period ended and the rest of his team filed in.  Sean Avery led the way with the funniest shit-eating grin on his face glancing over at Anisimov.  Following that we heard comments like “you trying to shoot the goalie Artie?”.  Which ultimately led to Anisimov dropping the “I had to reload my weapon” line.  Classic.

- Ilya Bryzgalov is a nutjob.  Listening to him go off about the universe and how small of a part of the universe we are was amazing.  Again, listening to it in his broken English made it even funnier.  He finished the show off with a bang by talking to a trainer about some random Russian cognac he had and how if you kill certain tigers you could get the death penalty in China.  Good to know.

- I think John Tortorella is a good coach.  And the man is brutally honest.  He flat-out told Brian Boyle “we run that fucking coverage all the time, now you’re mic’d up and you can’t fucking think”.  And then he dropped the gem of a line by saying “Phil Kessel is a good player but don’t shit your pants around him”.

- The Flyers post-game victory song was great.  Apparently it is some 19 year old white kid who raps?  I never heard of Mac Miller but the song was catchy.  Should I be embarrassed to say that? 

- As much as I can’t stand the Rangers, I respect the hell out of Ryan Callahan.  Just a good dude and a good hockey player.  The type of guy you’d love to have on your squad.

- Sean Avery modeling shoot.  Unreal.  Enough said.

- The Rangers dinner credit card roulette was fun to watch.  Felt bad for a guy like Woywitka who only makes about $600,000.  Actually no I don’t feel that bad. 

- Peter Laviolette coming into the show guns blazing with the F bombs.  Glad to see he wasn’t as boring as I thought he would be.  Still glad the Islanders fired him back in the day (sarcasm)…

- Cool to see both teams do some good community service when the Rangers took the kids to Radio City and acted like a bunch of goof balls.  Lundqvist was dressed like Dr. Evil which was kind of weird though.  And Wayne Simmonds seems like a good dude and was nice seeing him help inner-city kids learn the game of hockey.

- Apparently Tortorella is beating Laviolette 10-8 in the F Bomb count so far.  That will be a battle the whole way through.

- Scott Hartnell… come on bro!  I picked you for the show MVP.  You had a nice line about Matt Cooke in the beginning but you better bring the heat the next 3 episodes.  Right now Bryzgalov is running away with the award.

Can’t wait for next week’s episode.  I’m sure their will be plenty more good hockey coverage in the locker rooms and on the ice.  And plenty of entertaining off the ice scenes that we already witnessed in week one.  Until then…

Possible Locations for the 2013 Winter Classic

 

Since we are now just about 3 weeks away from the 2012 NHL Winter Classic (brought to you by Bridgestone!), we can start to think about what might be for 2013.  The Winter Classic has been a huge success for the NHL.  It’s great exposure for the sport since they advertise the hell out of it.  HBO’s 24/7 series provides even more publicity and interest for the event.  It’s also is a great way to bring in huge attendance numbers and revenues for the home team.  If you think about it, most NHL arenas hold around 20,000 people or so.  Now you take that game and hold it in a football or baseball stadium that holds 50,000+ fans and you charge astronomical prices for tickets, and that’s a big spike in revenue that these teams love to see!  So who will be the next lucky host of this great event?  Here are a few choices…

Yankee Stadium (Bronx, NY) – This is an obvious candidate, but I’m not so sure about 2013 for several reasons.  For starters, the Rangers would likely be the host team of a game in Yankee Stadium.  And considering they are already playing in this year’s Classic (albeit on the road), I think the NHL would like to stay away from using them in back-to-back years.  Plus, Yankee Stadium hosts the Pinstripe Bowl for which the contract ends in 2013.  So I’m not sure if they’d be able to convert Yankee Stadium from a football stadium to hockey rink in a matter of days.  However, in 2014 look for them to be the leading candidate.  I’d say Rangers vs Islanders or Devils.

Fedex Field (Washington DC) - The Capitals played the role as visitors in last years Winter Classic so they certainly would be owed the chance to host the event.  Despite their struggles this season, the Capitals remain one of the most marketable teams in the league thanks to Alex Ovechkin.  However, we have seen some issues with weather lately with cities like Pittsburgh and Chicago.  It will definitely be cold in DC in January, but cold enough to keep the ice in good shape?  I’m sure they can pull it off.  I’d like to see the Caps host a team like Tampa and watch Ovechkin and Stamkos face off.

The Big House (Ann Arbor, Michigan) – In December of 2010, the Michigan Wolvereines hosted the Michigan State Spartans in an outdoor hockey game which saw 104,000 people in attendance to watch.  This is currently the world record for most people to attend a hockey game.  I would love to see what the Detroit Red Wings could do if they had the opportunity to host this game here next year.  They have many great rivalries and since they already played the Blackhawks in Chicago in the 2008 Winter Classic, I could see them hosting either the St. Louis Blues or Toronto Maple Leafs.  I’m sure it would have to coordinate with the University, but this could be an epic event.

Coors Field (Denver, CO) – Here is another option that I like.  Playing in the thin Colorado air would certainly be an interesting event to see.  The Avalanche could host a couple of rivals like the Red Wings (although doubtful the NHL would make them be bridesmaids twice), Vancouver Canucks or Minnesota Wild.  However, the Avalanche are a good young team but not quite the NHL powerhouse that usually gets the nod in these games.  So my guess is they would probably head elsewhere for 2013.

Met Life Stadium (East Rutherford, NJ) – Is that what Giants Stadium is called these days?  I think so right?  It will always be Giants Stadium to me so who knows.  Anyway, considering Yankee Stadium might not work out next year, the NYC area could get a game at the Meadowlands.  The Devils would be the likely host and a game with the Rangers would make the most sense.  But again, we get back to the fact the Rangers are in the 2012 Winter Classic, so I doubt the NHL would send them on the road twice in a row.  Maybe the Devils host the Islanders?  Considering the Islanders suck, I’m not sure if that would work out either.

Target Field (Minneapolis, MN) – This is my favorite choice for next years Winter Classic.  There is no other state in America who loves their hockey more than Minnesota.  The Wild are somehow the best team in the NHL right now too, so if they keep things up they will be a quality team to have in it next year as well.  The brand new baseball stadium would have plenty of amenities to entertain fans in between periods.  Who would the Wild play?  Why not the Dallas Stars?  How great would it be if the Stars decided to wear their old Minnesota North Stars unis for the game?  This could be a classic (pun intended) because the people of Minnesota would be going nuts.  So let’s hope Minnesota wins the bid, and we all get to see Gordon Bombay getting plastered in the first row.

Ice Girls Face Off: #2 Stars vs #7 Lightning

Today we head back to the Connie Moreau Division.  The #2 seeded Dallas Stars squad will take on the Lightning girls from Tampa Bay.  The winner of this matchup will square off with the Penguins in the next round.  Last round we saw the Ocean County broads walk away with an easy victory over the Blue Jackets team 8-3.  Now here are the contestants…

#2 Dallas Stars

So the Stars Ice Girls are coming in hot with some Dallas swag.  They clearly like to flaunt their stuff as you can see by them partying on boats with their titty-balls popping out all over the place and posing half-naked with mini Stanley Cup replicas.  Good times right there.  But this Dallas squad clearly looks like a fun bunch and it was extremely easy to find some quality pictures of this gang.  They have a nice home page which is certainly worth a click thru before casting your vote. 

#7 Lightning

The Lightning Ice Girls may not have the flash that the Stars squad has, but there is plenty of quality here.  I’m sure Vinny Lecavalier and Steve Stamkos have had their pick of the litter of the years, and I ain’t mad at them for it.  Being in Tampa you think you’d be able to find these girls partying their asses of on a boat somewhere but unfortunately not.  However they do have a decent website that’s up to date with some good photo shoot pics for your viewing pleasure.

Breaking Down the NHL Realignment Plan

Yesterday at the Board of Governors meeting in San Jose, the NHL GM’s all voted and approved a plan for realignment.  With the Atlanta Thrashers moving to Winnipeg this year, realignment was necessary.  I’m still not quite sure what to think of the new layout.  There are things I like and things I’m not sure if I like yet.  The new plan has 4 conferences, 2 with 8 teams and 2 with 7 teams.  But first let’s take a look at the conferences themselves.

(conference names are not named yet – these are the initial names from the NHL)

Conference C – This is a 7 team conference which keeps the entire Northeast Division in tact with Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Boston and Buffalo.  This is great for these teams as they all have great rivalries and travel is minimal.  The new additions are Florida and Tampa Bay.  Obviously distance is an issue, but I like this.  Most of the teams in the NHL are in northern cities so no matter what, the southern teams would have had to make a compromise anyway.  This way, Florida and Tampa Bay stay together and keep their rivalry.  And travel to the northern cities 3 times a year isn’t bad at all since they were facing those teams twice a year on the road anyway.  This also keeps all 7 teams in the Eastern time zone which is another plus.

Conference D – This would be the old Atlantic Division.  It was a given that the Rangers, Islanders, Devils and Flyers would always be together.  But there was talk about the Penguins leaving this group.  Luckily, they have stayed, maintaining some of the best rivalries in the game right now.  For fans of the other teams, having the Penguins in the conference might suck because they will probably be favorites to win the conference every year, but from a pure hockey fan’s perspective this is great.  Joining these teams are the Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes.  Makes perfect sense as the Capitals re-join its old Patrick Division mates and geographically has short trips to all of these cities.  Carolina keeps that Washington rivalry and has relatively short flights to all of these cities as well.  We also get to see the Capitals-Penguins rivalry enhanced to the next level since they will now be playing 6 times a year.  It also pretty much ensures the Islanders will never make the playoffs ever again.  More on the playoff set-up to come…

Conference B – This is a blend of several teams from different divisions.  But it probably makes sense for all parties involved.  All of the Central teams stay together, keeping the Detroit-Chicago-St. Louis rivalries going along with Nashville and Columbus.  We also have Minnesota, Winnipeg and Dallas joining the group.  Winnipeg is the only Canadian team here, but they should still be happy considering the close proximity to Minnesota and Detroit.  Minnesota should be very happy and should build a natural rivalry with teams like Detroit and Chicago.  And Dallas, although being the only southern team, is ecstatic to avoid playing half their games in the Pacific time zone.

Conference A – This 8 team conference is a blend of the old Pacific and Northwest with San Jose, Los Angeles, Anaheim and Phoenix from the Pacific and Edmonton, Calgary, Colorado and Vancouver from the Northwest.  All teams are either in the Pacific or Mountain time zones which helps on travel and we also get to keep many old rivalries.

The details of the shake-up:

So how are things going to play out now?  We saw what the 4 conferences look like, so let’s take a look into the rest of the details.  First, lets talk about travel.  I like what they did to help these teams with travel and keeping them in their time zones as much as possible.  This is definitely a positive.  Especially come playoff time which we will get to in just a few.

Secondly, the schedule.  I like the way the new schedule is supposed to play out.  All of the teams in the 7 team conferences will play their conference-mates 6 times a year and play all other teams in the league twice a year.  So each team will play each other at least once per year in their home building which is great for western teams that didn’t always get to see guys like Crosby and Ovechkin come into their building.  Teams in the 8 team conferences will also play all non-conference teams twice a year, and will play their conference teams either 5 or 6 times per year.  This keeps those conference rivalries fresh, but also allows fans to watch their teams play everyone else which isn’t always the case in the current set up.

The playoffs are where things get tricky.  How it will work is the top 4 teams in each conference will make the playoffs.  They will be seeded 1-4 and will begin the playoffs playing teams in your conference.  After the first two rounds, their will essentially be 4 conference winners.  From there on out, things are a little unclear.

First off, I feel a little bad for the teams in the 8 team conferences.  Obviously with one extra team, it will be slightly tougher to make the playoffs then the 7 team conferences.  I guess it’s not a huge deal though.  We see this in baseball with the National League having two more teams and the NL Central with 6 teams while the AL West has only 4.  So I can live with this.

As far as the playoff formatting goes, I think I kind of like it.  It will be like the old days where no matter what we will see playoff matchups in the first two rounds between conference (division) rivals.  So we will be seeing a ton of Penguins-Capitals, Sabres-Bruins, Flames-Oilers, Red Wings-Blackhawks, etc.  That part I like.  However, as a fan of a team like the Islanders this does pretty much suck.  Their conference is STACKED.  The Penguins, Flyers, Rangers and Capitals spend a lot of money and are consistently in the playoffs.  Where does this leave the Islanders?  They could finish 5th in their conference and have better records then teams that finished 3rd or 4th in another conference and still not make the playoffs.  That part of it is tough to deal with, but I guess it will all play itself out.

This also helps teams like Detroit out who are in the Western Conference but in the Eastern Time Zone.  Last year they had playoff series’ against Phoenix and San Jose which is not only difficult for travel, but tough on fans who have to stay up until 1am to watch the end of some games.  A scenario like San Jose vs Detroit in the playoffs can still happen, but not until the third round.

The last part of the playoff setup I am confused about is how things will be seeded after the first two rounds.  I don’t know if there is an Eastern or Western split, so can we have a Final 4 of Penguins vs Canucks and Bruins vs Red Wings with the Penguins and Bruins winning and meeting in the Stanley Cup Finals?  I guess that seems a little weird but in reality what is the big deal right?  I’m not sure about this yet but it will be interesting to see what they do.

Now all of this is not set in stone just yet.  They will continue to make adjustments and we as fans will learn more.  Right now this is just an initial analysis and break-down of what we do know.  One key factor will obviously be the fate of the Phoenix Coyotes.  The NHL did a great job in leaving the door open for a possible Phoenix move.  They are not committed to two 15-team conferences like they currently have in place where a cross-country move would throw everything out of whack.  Instead if the Coyotes where to move at the end of this year to an eastern city (like, oh I don’t know, maybe Quebec?) they could easily slide them to one of the Eastern 7 team conferences and just make that an 8 team conference.  In reality, it would probably work out the best that way too.  How great would it be seeing the Quebec Nordiques back in a division with the Canadiens, Bruins, Sabres, etc?  And that would also mean we would have 15 teams in the two Eastern conferences and 15 in the two Western conferences.  We will see what happens, but they left themselves with a perfect format if the Yotes are on the move.

Also, what about the names of these conferences?  I’m sure they might just use a geographic theme but there are a lot of talks about naming them after players like Orr, Howe, Gretzky, Lemieux, etc.  I would not be opposed to that at all, but I would certainly favor the old names of Patrick, Norris, Smythe and Adams.

What does everyone else think of the new layout?  Like it or would you rather see something else?

Things I’m Looking Forward to on HBO’s 24/7

M-V-P!! M-V-P!! M-V-P!!

So I just watched the preview for this season’s 24/7 on HBO which will follow the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers in their journey to the Winter Classic.  Last year’s series was excellent.  Capitals (then) coach Bruce Boudreau became a star by dropping f-bombs and slobbering his face with BBQ sauce.  We saw the Penguins do their “Mustache Boy” game each month.  We also witnessed Ovechkin playing Xbox 360 living with his mom and dad like an 8 year old.  You’ve got to love hockey players.

This season’s edition will feature two teams I couldn’t hate more.  Who has the more obnoxious fan base, the Rangers or the Flyers? Man this will be tough, but I am so damn excited for this show to start it’s not even funny.  Here are some of the things I am looking forward to (aka hoping happens) the most…

1.  The inevitable John Tortorella blow up.  If you’ve ever seen Torts give an interview after games, you know he isn’t in love with the media.  He tells it how it is, and that’s that.  He’s not going to crack jokes with everyone.  However, the Rangers have been on a tear lately and are one of the best teams in the NHL.  This worries me.  Not just because I despise the Rangers with every bone in my body, but because I don’t want to see Tortorella in a good mood at all.  I’m praying for a 2 or 3 game losing streak soon so when Torterolla has to answer questions about the team with HBO cameras shoved in his face 24/7 (pun intended), he just erupts.  I’m talking like shoving an HBO cameraman to the ground, or walking out of a confessional like he’s on the Real World Vegas cast type eruption. Over/Under on profanities for Torts per episode is set at 32. Any takers?

2. The Danny Briere House.  I know last season we learned that Flyers top center Claude Giroux was living with Danny Briere and his 3 sons.  I have no clue if this is still the case, but I really hope so. While they show players and coaches going home to their families for the holidays and off-days, we also would get to see a modern-day hockey version of Full House.  No Kimmie Gibbler or DJ Tanner, but having these two guys in a house with three kids and two dogs must be pretty entertaining.  I can see Giroux staying up late, trashing the house, trying to bring home pucksluts, all while Briere keeps yelling at him to keep the house clean and wearing a “Kiss the Chef” apron.  Giroux definitely wears the pants in that relationship.

3. Sean Avery.  Easily the most hated player in the NHL.  I’m really intrigued to see what this guy is like behind closed doors.  Like will we see Callahan, Girardi, and McDonough hanging out in the locker room after a game, crushing a few beers and Avery walks by rocking a fedora, tight jeans and a Louie Vutton purse?  Or is Avery like one of the boys and goes out to Mustang Sally’s for beers with the team and tells tales of his Hollywood conquests like Elisha Cuthbert and Rachel Hunter?  And will Avery embrace the spotlight of the HBO cameras and become a star and help his post-hockey career of being a metro Hollywood queer or will he be his smug self and not give any good material?  So many questions, only time will tell.  And apparently now there is a rumor that Avery is sleeping with a teammates wife??  Jackpot!

4. Scott Hartnell.  This is my prediction for series MVP.  He just seems like they kind of guy everyone would love to chill with.  Just an animal.  The type of hockey player you HATE to play against, but love on your team.  He’s got that ridiculous red jew-fro thing going. Seems like a clown. I’m telling you, Hartnell has a few tricks up his sleeve for us.  He’ll be the toast of the town by the 2nd episode, mark my words.  I’m not sure what he’ll do, but he will certainly bring the fire.

5. Behind the scenes road trip pranks.  I loved last year when we saw the Penguins pull a bunch of pranks on their road trips.  It kind of made me like them as they seemed like a fun bunch of guys.  Just dogging on each other left and right.  It’s how it should be.  The Capitals didn’t seem to be as much fun and since then I’ve seemed to root for the Penguins more than the Caps.  Now if the Rangers come out as the cool/fun/prankster team, there is still no chance I will root for them… ever.  But it’s stuff like this you don’t ever get to see.  So here’s hoping to some good road trip footage for either team.  Maybe some poor rookie will get stuck with a $2,000 restaurant bill, or maybe someone will get room service and a hooker ordered to their door at 5am. Who knows, but I hope it’s good.

6. Mic’d up fighters.  How awesome is it hearing two guys trade punches for a solid 30 seconds then end it with “hey I’m done”… “ok”. Just like that, they’re like buddies.  Now this isn’t every fight, but a good amount of them are like this.  Fighters just know the deal. It’s a job they have to do and when they’re done they respect the other guy.  On the flip side, seeing guys like Sean Avery get into scraps might result in some different commentary.  Players don’t hide the fact they don’t like Avery, so we could hear some interesting yapping back and forth with some of these scraps.

On a real quick note, here are some things I’m not necessarily looking forward to:

- Peter Laviolette’s boring speeches.  I like Laviolette as a coach and I’m pissed the Isles fired him. But I don’t see him bringing anything useful to this show.  Just seems boring as all hell.

- That stupid Broadway Hat thing the Rangers do.  Ok we get it… last year we saw the Capitals give out like a fireman’s hat or something like that for the player of the game.  Now we have to see Lundqvist wearing some stupid black fedora every other game?  No thanks. You know they’ll make a huge deal about it on the show too, but I just don’t care.

- The NY pizza and Philly cheese steak references.  So cliché.  But we will see it.  Guaranteed.

Ice Girls Face Off: #2 Ducks vs #7 Blue Jackets

So after a long hiatus, the Sin Bin is back and ready t0 announce it’s presence with authority!  Let’s keep things rolling with the Ice Girls Tournament which will make all of the Sin Bin faithful extremely happy to hear.  The last contest had the Penguins win the Battle of the Keystone State and advanced them to the second round.  On to our next matchup…

#2 Anaheim Ducks

Things might not be looking good for the Ducks on the ice these days, but they are certainly bringing the heat with the “Power Players” squad.  The gals from SoCal are certainly living up to the reputation of Ocean County chicks.  The fact that they have a swimsuit calendar out is also helping their stock significantly.  And if you like watching videos of chicks making a swimsuit calendar, I would recommend clicking this link. 

#7 Columbus Blue Jackets

The Pepsi Power Patrol girls are a tough contender for the snobby OC crew.  I’m sure there are plenty of Ohio State Buckeyes in this group, so you know they know how to party.  They also have a nice website put together for our viewers which you can see here.   However, it’s always a negative when you have a few dudes skulking around in your crew.  We at the Sin Bin don’t like that very much.  Will that be enough to cost them a win or can the Jackets pull off the upset and spray Pepsi all over each other??