A guest blog here by James Emms from www.jamesemms.com (a movie review site)…..

John Tavares has been named the captain of the OHL Western Allstar game today, happening Febuary 4th, 2009 in Windsor, Ontario. Tavares faces off against the Eastern captain, P.K Subban of the Belleville Bulls.

This is the third straight all star game for John Tavares, who is still amazingly only 18 years old. Last year, while he still played for the generals, he was the captain of the Eastern Squad which squeezed a win during a shootout against a tough Western team.

Tavares results this season don’t fall short of all star caliber - he currently leads the OHL with 41 goals, 37 assists for a total of 78 points, all in 42 games.

If we go back to the chart posted earlier on this, we can see how this compares:

Season	Team	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-
2005-06 Regular Season	Oshawa Generals	65	45	32	77	-13
2006-07 Regular Season	Oshawa Generals	67	72	62	134	25
2007-08 Regular Season	Oshawa Generals	59	40	78	118	22

As you can see, Tavares was scoring 1.18, 2, and 2 goals per game. He currently is at 1.85 points per game, consistent with his previous seasons statistics. As you can tell, John Tavares isn’t cracking under the pressure of his draft year.

The post-all-star-game section of the season will be incredibly important to secure his spot as number 1 draft pick for the 2009 NHL entry draft. Tavares needs to efficiently convince the scouts that he is the player you can build around, as many have doubts.

The first draft pick is looking more and more like it will go to the dismal New York Islanders, with only 15 wins & 5 OTL out of 49 games for a total of 35 points. Rounding out the bottom five is St. Louis (45), Tampa (44), Ottawa (41), and Atlanta (39). The leafs are right above with 46 points.

I for one couldn’t imagine Tampa getting ANOTHER star player. If they couldn’t make a team win with Vinny, St. Louis, Stamkos & Tavares, I’d just fold up and move the franchise to timbuktu.

All in all, its shaping up to be a battle between the Islanders & Atlanta. The thrashers already have some star power, but the terrible Islanders do need something to keep fans in their seat, and confidence in their organization (re: the DiPetro deal).

Time will tell who does the draft day special - Maybe the leafs will trade up like last year to grab a better pick. Schenn and Hedman certainly seems like a solid base to build around, similar to what Brian Burke is used to in Anehiem.

Voice your opinions in the comment box - do you think the draft will go Tavares - Hedman or Hedman - Tavares? Will a dark horse creep up? Will the NHL teams stay in the order they are in? Let your voice be heard.

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James Emms is a hockey fan and author of www.jamesemms.com, a movie review site featuring new, old, and even older movies. James Emms will make occasional guest posts on here - if you’d like to as well, simply write in the comment box and we’ll contact you!