Thursday, August 4, 2011

Our 2 Cents

We put off a few items so the focus would remain on the New York Ranger's possible Traverse City team. Of course it figures that the moment we decide not to fit other things in that a bunch happens.

The biggest story right now comes to us via our friend in Erie Victor Fernandes of GoErie.com. If you know Erie is the current home of 2010 3rd round pick Andrew Yogan who missed most of last season due to shoulder surgery.

Victor let us know that it appears that Yogan is on the OHL trade market but given the strained relationship that Yogan had at the end of the season with Erie Otter coach Robbie Ftorek not a surprise at all.

Yogan took ill during the 1st round of the OHL playoffs after game 3 and was scratched for the remaining 4 games. Let us just say that coach and player "agreed to disagree" as to how ill or well Yogan was.

But we knew Yogan's fate in Erie was sealed yesterday when we saw Victor post this on Ftorek getting a new contract. We will not take sides but you know the Rangers have had 2 prospects play for Erie (Mitch Gaulton was the other) and both wound up in Ftorek's doghouse then out of town.

So when we get news like this then we in turn share it with Bruce Berlet who covers the CT Whale for the Blueshirt Bulletin as well as for the CT Whale website. When it comes to covering the Whale then sorry no offense to anyone but Bruce is the dean of AHL writers and is never going to be a "homer."

No sooner had we emailed Bruce when he replied by sending us this link to the Ranger website which of course picked the same day Yogan was put on the market to be the featured prospect of the day. Like it or not Yogan is going to be under a microscope now because getting shipped off is going to raise character issues for him.

Coaches always get the last word in these situations as if Yogan says anything then he no matter what looks bad. We will reserve judgement because we think Yogan himself can address this issue by his play not his words.

One of the first coaches I got to know when we started this was Cory Clouston then coaching the Kootenay Ice. Smart guy who knows how to teach but got the shaft because Ottawa GM Bryan Murray saddled him with a really bad team.

That is OK because Clouston is back in the WHL now coaching the Brandon Wheat Kings and that means the rest of the WHL had best look out the Wheat Kings will get better in a hurry.

The other day Alex Frolov accused/denied that he said nasty things about Sean Avery in an interview with a Russian newspaper. So to those I talked with on twitter and facebook I said that when it comes to covering Russian hockey there are only 2 trusted sources.

Laurie Carr of Beyond the Blueshirts who the very next day posted the entry that I just linked to. The other person is  Dmitry Chesnokov who is one of the folks who contributes to Puck Daddy at Yahoo who if you follow that link has an interview with Pavel Datsyuk.

The word is credibility friends these 2 are the ones who have the most when it comes to Russian hockey. But you know I got to wonder if there is like some kind of annual quota where Russian hockey articles have to say negative stuff about the Rangers.

THANK YOU THANK YOU

OK I thought it was something to earn one Top 30 spot in the monthly Wikio News rankings of hockey blogs but back to back is beyond my wildest dreams. I am here because of you the reader and I really admit to being shocked to repeating.

1Kukla's Korner
2On the Forecheck
3Japers' Rink
4Hockey's Future
5The Hockey Writers
6Red Light District
7Nucks Misconduct
8Raw Charge
9The Blueshirts Blog
10Preds On The Glass
11Western College Hockey Blog
12PensBurgh
13Canes Country
14On Frozen Blog
15Slap Shot
16Die By The Blade
17Mile High Hockey
18USCHO
19Illegal Curve
20Five For Howling
21On the Wings
22Section 303
23Goon's World
24Boltsmag
25St. Louis Game Time
26mc79hockey.com
27Canucks Hockey Blog
28Hockey From the Cheap Seats
29The Prospect Park
30Faceoff Factor
Ranking made by Wikio

Again even being mentioned in the company of these blogs is an honor for which I am very thankful of the support I get from your guys.

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