By Darren Eliot –
Follow @Darren_Eliot on Twitter
With training camps right around the corner, and as you’ve read throughout MiHockeyNow.com, there are plenty of reasons to anticipate the upcoming hockey season. Here is my ‘Top 10’ list of players, events and developments to get enthused about:
1. Winter Olympic Games
Hockey on the world stage is as good as it gets. The NHL will shut down in February to accommodate player participation in Sochi, Russia. Locally, we have so many rooting interests, with Team Sweden filled with Red Wings, Pavel Datsyuk playing at home, Jimmy Howard and Justin Abdelkader as Team USA hopefuls (along with all the Michigan natives invited to Team USA’s camp) and Mike Babcock behind the bench for Team Canada trying to repeat as a gold medalist. We have the added bonus of catching former Red Wing and Hall-of-Famer Chris Chelios on the new Fox Sports 1 network (which launches nationally August 17) as an Olympic analyst.
2. Big Ten Conference
The launch of the Big Ten Conference for hockey is a landmark event for the college game. The rivalries are built in at the school level and the opportunity to see perennial powers Wisconsin and Minnesota is fabulous for fans everywhere. Beyond league play, the scheduling alliances with the hockey elite in the east make for little-seen match-ups to occur more often – again a benefit for college hockey fans everywhere.
3. Hockeytown Winter Festival
There are games scheduled to be played outdoors at Comerica Park that cover the spectrum of all the levels of hockey in our great state. Kids of all ages will get to participate outdoors – from pee wees to pros – with the college hockey holiday tradition of the Great Lakes Invitational carried outdoors. The Hockeytown Winter Festival is the byproduct of the Winter Classic, but for most, it should be the focus as a fantastic unifying celebration of hockey right here in Detroit.
4. Stephen Weiss as a Red Wing
Here is a player that played junior hockey locally for the Plymouth Whalers and grew up professionally in obscurity as a Florida Panther. He developed into a solid player in an unstable hockey environment. I look for Weiss to flourish in the Red Wings’ winning culture and become an integral player for coach Mike Babcock. The best is yet to come for Weiss.
5. Wings in Eastern Conference
Speaking of which, the Red Wings competing in the Eastern Conference is enticing on a number of levels. First, they match up regularly with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins and New York Rangers, as only the Chicago Blackhawks now reside on the Western side of the Original Six franchises. Add in seeing the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals more regularly and the season sets up to be rife with rivalries. The added bonus is time-zone related, with fans and players sharing smiles over dismissed travel and fewer late nights!
6. Winter Classic
Maybe the NHL has turned the Winter Classic into the “Winter Cash In” by adding multiple outdoor games across the league, but locally the branding still hold true. A Red Wings vs. Maple Leafs match-up at the Big House has all the appeal of, well, a classic – with Original Six trappings and all. It is also pretty cool that the match-up comes in the Red Wings’ rightful return to the Eastern Conference.
7. Super Sophomores in Ann Arbor
After an uneven 2011-12 campaign, the Wolverines’ iconic coach Red Berenson has two returning players that give him strength down the middle to build around. Second-year centers Andrew Copp and Boo Nieves exceeded expectations as freshmen and by the time the season ended, they were on the ice for increasingly critical situations. Both are big bodies, good skaters and smart players. With a year of seasoning, they should lead the charge up front for UM.
8. Friends and Freshmen at MSU
Mackenzie MacEachern and Thomas Ebbing led Brother Rice to a high school state title in 2012. They played together in the USHL for the Chicago Steel last season. Now, the pair enters the Spartans’ lineup together as freshmen, with coach Tom Anastos looking for the duo to provide some much-needed punch to the attack.
9. Grand Rapids Calder Cup Title Defense
Repeating as champs in the AHL is a tough task. It isn’t necessarily the main goal, with player development the top priority for Coach Jeff Blashill and his staff. Still, a winning environment is best for development and the two are not mutually exclusive – as the Griffins proved this past spring. It will be a fun follow to see how goaltender Petr Mrazek and forwards Riley Sheahan and Landon Ferraro continue to develop, along with several newcomers on the blue line.
10. Muskegon Lumberjacks overhaul
With Michigan native and U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame netminder John Vanbiesbrouck at the helm as GM and director of hockey operations, the Lumberjacks are looking to establish their standing as an USHL powerhouse. Beezer tapped former NHL’er and Novi High School head coach Todd Krygier to lead the team as bench boss. Given the pedigree and hockey acumen of both men, don’t be surprised if Muskegon doesn’t become a desired destination for Michigan-born players with USHL aspirations…beginning immediately.