This article was just published on NHL.com…

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=424723

PITTSBURGH — Much has been written in recent months about John Tavares and why he should boycott Long Island should the New York Islanders select the 18-year-old with No. 1 selection in the 2009 Entry Draft, which will be held later this month in Montreal…. (Read More)

And why should he? He’s the franchise player, so no matter where he goes he’ll be the hero. Lets say John Tavares gets drafted by the master mind Brian Burke… he’s then in the spotlight - EVERY DAY for the rest of his career with the leafs. He won’t be able to go ANYWHERE in Toronto without media, fans, and a whole lot of press. He’ll always have to be on, no matter what.

Now lets think about in New York… will John Tavares really be spotted on the street? Likely. Will he be able to get a coffee without getting harrased? Likely.

For a young player, it might even be better for his career to go with a lower profile team in a large pond (such as the Islanders in the NYC area)

Lets say John Tavares ends up being a flop - not breaking the starting lineup for the first 2 or 3 years (and turning into Alexandar Daigle)… That would certainly be easier on him in the Islanders organization, without the huge spotlight on his every move.

This being said, its not likely. I’d bet that where ever John Tavares goes come draft day, he’ll be a walk on for the club. Tavares showed his clutch play during the World Juniors, and although his London Knights didn’t have an overly long play off push, he still was one of the best players in the OHL, if not the world (Duchene, Hedman… You both played well too!)

What do you think? If you were John Tavares, would you go to the Islanders or the Leafs, given the chance? (Hell, ya never know, they could be the Winnipeg Islanders or the Quebec City Islanders by the time JT’s career takes off!)

Tell me that John Tavares isn’t the real deal after watching this goal! Utterly amazing - and he gets up after the hit!

What about this?

Looks like the Islanders have a lock on last place, and with the leafs recent “success” they are going farther away! Duchene & Hedman are still in our sights, but moving farther away by the minute. Hopefully Burke does some cleaning house before the deadline - only 6 days away!

I’ll be adding more John Tavares video in the very near future!

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!

Well its been a couple months since I’ve been able to update this, and lots has happened in Tavares land. A big trade, a big win, a MVP award and now a shoulder injury.

The world junior championship certainly showed us that Tavares is the real deal - A sluggish Sweedish team was unmotivated by Hedman, and Canada cruised to their 5th straight world junior gold, as expected.

I’ll be doing a larger update on here in the upcoming days to examine the midseason records of Hedman, Tavares, and other top prospects.

Happy Midseason point of the NHL

TSN.ca is reporting that the ISS is currently ranking Victor Hedman above John Tavares for the 2009 entry draft.

Hedman, the 6′5 D-man playing with MODO in Sweeden is the talk of the hockey town recently, surpassing Tavares for the number 1 spot with his Chris Pronger style of play. Much like Tavares, professional sports run in the Hedman family - his brother Oscar currently is in the Washington Capitals system.

The 1st draft pick for the NHL entry draft 2009 will likely be decided by the teams needs. As of right now, it looks as if the Kings, The Isles or the Thrashers will have a shot at the 1st pick. The teams need to determine whether a powerful forward or an offensive d-man would better suit their club.

With Hedman’s style of play in MODO and the WJC, we can hope that he might pull a Luke Schenn and walk right onto one of these lesser teams. The difference with Hedman is that his offensive skills will likely be called upon, where as Schenn with the Leafs is almost non-existant in the offensive category, and yet he still manages to be one of the more important players on the ice. Hedman likely won’t be able to pull this, as the expectation of 40+ points in his rookie season will certainly be there.

In the OHL, Tavares is sitting at 2nd in goals and 4th in points. 15 games in he has 14 goals and 26 points, resulting in just under 2 points per game. To say that Tavares is underachieving is a bit ridiculous, but at the very least he is not out-performing his “exceptional player” status.

On the other side of the coin, being “out of the spotlight” may be just what John Tavares is looking for! With the attention now on Hedman, Tavares can start to focus on the core aspects of his game and improve before the draft. There is still no doubt that Tavares will go top 5 in the NHL draft 2009, but once you leave that number 1 spot, the pressure likely fades a bit. For a player that has been touted as a future superstar since he was 13, this pressure relief could certainly be a good thing.

Look for Tavares to focus on core aspects of his game in the future, and round out the season hard. Trade talks are being thrown around the OHL, but personally I don’t see it happening.

Also, look forward to Victor-Hedman.com, a new blog based on the aspiring Sweede in the coming week.

Well who have thought that John Tavares would have already jumped into an early scoring lead in the OHL? After only 4 games the upcoming superstar has netted 5 goals and 5 assists, giving him 10 points. So much for “slowing” down as some of the scouts have said.

Tavares is out to prove that he’s ready for the NHL, and a franchise player as well.

Although 4 games is no indication of a season, for the sake of forecasting, lets look at a fun stat:

10 points in 4 games is 2.5 points per game.

If John plays 63 games (which he’s averaged over the past 3 seasons), and keeps up this streak, he’ll have 157 points. Now this doesn’t exactly get to Bobby Smith’s 192 point season, but would shatter his previous high of 132 points.

Hopefully John Tavares continues to impress the coaches, and locks in the number 1 spot!

Lets take a look at some stats for John Tavares vs. previous NHL superstars.

Tavares Has played in the OHL for three seasons now with the Generals (He was drafted a year early under the “exceptional player clause”).

His stats are as follows:

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

What does this tell us? First of all, in his first season, he scored a whopping 1.18 points per game. This is at the ripe old age of 15! His second season he upped that to an even 2 points per game. Compare that to the following:

Crosby (Quebec Major Junior Leauge, Rimouski Océanic)
1st season - 2.28 points per game
2nd season - 2.7 points per game

Gretzky (Ontario Hockey League, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds)
1st Season - 2.84 points per game

Eric Lindros (Ontario Hockey Leauge, Oshawa Generals… Yes, Lindros is now worth about 1.1 Bryan McCabes, but still, he had an incredibly solid junior career!)
1st Season - 1.44 points per game
2nd Season - 2.61 points per game

As you can see, Tavares has done fairly well in his first couple seasons, but not up to the standards of the future NHL hall of famers listed above. Here is the kicker though… John Tavares did all of this, WITH the 2007-2008 OHL Leading goal scorer Brett MacLean on his team! As far as points go, MacLean and Tavares finished the 07-08 season at 2nd-3rd, putting up 237 between the two. Not too shabby to say the least.

Putting it in perspective, with MacLean being in a draft year, he stepped up. More ice time and more “point sharing” between the two makes Tavares points go down, as they did in this third season.

2008-2009 is Tavares’ time to shine. Look for between a 140-160 point season from Tavares, who will go all out to confirm his spot as the number 1 draft pick in 2009.


MacLean is gone from the Generals, leaving Tavares to provide the offensive boom. Another player to watch out for on the offensive side of the Generals this season is Brett Parnham, another center who can score a goal or two. Brett finished 2007-2008 with just under 1 point per game, and will likely step it up this season with the departure of MacLean. Look for these two to feed each other often, banding together for a killer powerplay, depending on coach Chris DePiero of course. I’d say look for Parnham to get between 100-110 points this year, putting him into OHL star category, and up on the list of NHL opportunities!

You’ve heard the prediction for Tavares, now lets hear what you think! Comment below…

Well, in case you aren’t a NLL fan, I’ll explain why I have a lacrosse video below. John Tavares is not only an up and coming superstar in the NHL, but he’s also a middle aged math teacher, playing for the Buffalo Bandits in the National Lacrosse League. Read more about him here.

In the spirit of family, here is John Tavares scoring an extremely nice goal, in the championship game. This guy walks around EVERYONE.

Maybe John Tavares (the 39 year old) won’t be the only Tavares with a national sports league all time points lead in the near future! Talk about family rivalry!

Read Article Here

This is an interesting article by Greg Wyshynski, basically ripping apart The Toronto Sun’s write up on Tavares’ drop in stats this past season in the ‘O. Thankfully, most people who read The Toronto Sun realize it is about as reliable as The National Enquirer, and therefore don’t take this rubbish too seriously.

The first pick will undoubtedly be decided by the teams needs. Victor Hedman may be a great choice for an offense team who needs a bit more on defense (i.e. The Penguins), where as Tavares would be a franchise player for a hurting teams (i.e. The Leafs). Regardless, we’ll be waiting until next year to find out!

Read second article here

Another interesting article, John Tavares wants to stay a General for his OHL career. The observations from the Gen’s training camp appear to be good, and Tavares looks ready for an outstanding 4th year in the Ontario Hockey League. Will he break his 134 point season this year? Most likely not, having to attend the World Juniors and win another Gold for Canada, but it will be a great season for sure!

There is no doubt that John Tavares is a solid hockey player, and 134 points in 67 games with the Generals certainly shows that. The real question is how solid of a player is he. Will Tavares develop to be a franchise player in the way that Crosby and Ovechkin have in recent years? The general consensus is that he will develop to be an NHL superstar, but how many teams are willing to bet a full season on that?

If there is one that can afford to do it, it is the Toronto Maple Leafs. There are a number of reasons for this:

1) The fan base doesn’t stop paying if they lose

Toronto fans live and die for the Maple Leafs. The funny thing is, they don’t care if the team is winning or losing! The Air Canada Center is jam packed 100% of the time, with the lower bowl generally consisting of corporate people who typically don’t care about the team anyway, and getting tickets in the upper bowl is so difficult that the majority of fans can’t go anyway! Regardless, the Leafs haven’t made the playoffs in a number of years, and the fans are demanding change. The 2008 draft brought in prospect Luke Schenn, who may live up to his nickname “The Human Eraser”, but not for a couple years.

2009 would be a perfect year for the leafs to blow the season. Pull a Pittsburgh or a Washington and do brutal for the year, get the top pick, and run for the next 5 or 6 years with them.

This is assuming that Tavares will be as good as we think.

2) The Leafs are young and developing already

The Leafs as a team are very young already. Aside from a few aging (and overpaid) veterans, the leafs can basically be seen at the Ricoh Collusium in a very similar uniform (i.e. the Toronto Marlies of the AHL)

Here is a look at some of the Marlies players who had stints with the leafs (or the other way around!)

Bates Battaglia
Robbie Earl
Kris Newbury
Ben Ondrus
Jiri Tlusty
Andy Wozniewsky
Scott Clemmenson
Staffan Kronwall

Add in Justin Pogge & Luke Schenn and you have a pretty good base of a team, most likely starting in 2010-2011. Stajan, Steen, & Poni should all be developed and good leaders around this time as well.

Now add John Tavares in the mix. The right player can do wonders for your team, (Just look at Crosby… dead last to Stanley Cup Finalists in how many years?)

In my opinion, the Leafs NEED this. End the streak by blowing this season. On the off chance that they don’t win the 1st pick in the lottery, there is still a chance of locking up Victor Hedman, and there is nothing wrong with that.

Besides, does it really matter if you come in 17th or 30th? No playoffs is no playoffs, no matter how you slice it!