Rokhed Hockey News

Updated Apr. 20th

Rokhed Hockey News
Written By: Walter McLaughlin

Stanislav Chistov: No more girlish jokes for this rising star, Chistov plays like a fully developed woman. He�s bounced between the third and second lines due to significant injuries on the club and has three goals (17.7% shooting) and nine points in 16 games, with a +/- of +5. �He�s smaller than my ten year old son and with those ruby red lips and long eyelashes looks a bit like my prom date, but this kid can play,� said a prominent scout. �Time will tell if he gets enough ice time to make a serious run for the award, but girl-boy here has done a whale of a job so far.� Four whole hits in 192 minutes won�t help him dispel the femme label anytime soon.

Stephen Wiess: Touting New York in any way, shape or form is heresy, but I cannot ignore yet another rookie standout from there, this time residing on the Rangers� roster. Weiss, playing on the fourth line, has produced nicely: six goals, eleven assists for seventeen points in 51 games. He shoots about as accurately as any villain who ever shot at Barnaby Jones (5.8%) and he hits like Stan Chistov � that is, a girl (11 hits) � but his point totals put him in the top six of the rookie race. That Rangers team is really going to be frightening in a year or two.

At this point in the season, most rookies are literally sucking � wind, that is � as the cumulative effect of having played so many games impacts their performance. A good example of this phenomenon is the daintiest of them all, Stanislav Chistov. After registering nine points in his/her first 16 games, Chistov has managed just 11 points in his/her last 34 games. He/she�s still on the radar screen, mind you, but doubtlessly he/she�s prefer to wrap his/her arms around mommy right now and rest for a protracted length of time. Similarly, Erik Cole has just twelve points in his last 36 games after starting out strong, Chuck Kobasew has ten points in his last 34, and David �Goose� Gosselin has a miniscule four points in his last 35. However, there are exceptions to this rule, most notably Ivan Huml, who has taken over the rookie lead in scoring with 35 points.

In looking at the statistics, I felt there were seven standouts in the race for the Calder award. As such, here are the top seven candidates at approximately the 60-game mark of the regular season:

(Author�s note: the rookie designation was broadened to include RHL rookies as well, even if they had played in the NHL in 2001-02. Last year, the definition was too narrow and thus the candidates were fairly limited. Erich�s spreadsheet was used to ascertain rookie status. Ages were limited to 26 and under, just like the real Calder eligibility rules.)

Erik Cole: Cole�s fade over the past 36 games or so has dropped him a couple of notches, but this real-life second-year stud is still a big part of Buffalo�s future. Having said that, his shooting percentage is mediocre at best (6.5%), scoring eight goals and thirteen assists in 52 games played. He�s the highest rated rookie on the board, but appears to be a long shot for the Calder unless he begins to light it up in the last quarter of the season. �Light it up� and Buffalo Sabres seem to be mutually exclusive terms this year, though with Brett Johnson back at the helm, the team is at least registering non-losses once again.

Radim Vrbata: The first of two Bean-town babies to make the list, Vrbata has 18 goals and 10 assists in 55 games, shooting an obscene 14.4%. Last year, Detroit dominated the crop of prominent rookies; this year, it�s Boston. Vrbata sits comfortably on the Bruins� third line and, despite simultaneously having too many and too few vowels in his name, he�s otherwise solid, both here and in real life. With guys like this on the third line, no wonder Boston has scored about 1,000 goals this season.

Radek Martinek: It�s not easy for a first-year defenseman to crack into the top seven, but this guy has done it. Playing on the second defensive pairing, this Islanders rookie has posted two goals and eleven assists in 57 games, with a not-bad +/- of -5 and 192 hits, the latter statistic ranking third on the club. Astoundingly, those are almost his exact same stats for the real New York Islanders in the NHL: two goals, eleven assists in 66 games. A mother�s odd obsession with the letter �k� at the end of his names is just about his only flaw. �Like Martinek?� I sure do.

Ivan Huml: Plucked out of the pile of relative unknowns, this 60-rated real-life Bruins prospect has landed on Boston�s top line, teaming with Rod Brind�Amour and Tony Amonte and racking up the points in the process. As such, his thirteen goals, 22 assists and 35 points easily lead all rookies. Despite his 55 shot accuracy, he�s managed to notch a truly offensive 13.1% shooting percentage � do all Boston players shoot in double digits? He�s really #1b in the pecking order, losing ground only in that he�s the only one playing on a team�s top line.

Jussi Markkanen: Markkanen continues to surprise, especially considering that he plays for a team fighting for its playoff life. This 77-rated goaltender has pitched five shutouts and is amongst the league leaders in G.A.A. (1.89) and save percentage (92.0%), managing a 13-12-2 record. Given that Markkanen�s numbers are impressive not just in the rookie realm but when compared to veterans, he deserves the #1 overall ranking. Do he and Martinek have the same mother? Both have too many �k�s� in their name.