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!

Here is a video that shows a bit of what John Tavares does for off ice training. Some highlights are thrown in as well, and it appears to be made by a gym in Mississauga (Just outside of Toronto, Ontario)

A lot of what he is doing seems standard for elite sports training, but regardless the rumours are that John Tavares is an extremely hard worker. Hopefully his dedication pays off with a long NHL Career.


In other hockey news, long time Avalanche player Joe Sakic has signed a 1 year deal, extending his career with Colorado. Mats Sundin is reported to be speaking to his agent tomorrow and may decide his hockey fate at that time.

We’ve also added StubHub as an affiliate on the site, as you can see from the top right hand search box. This is like a legal form of scalping, endorsed by the leagues! Fans are able to post and sell tickets easily, and they get shipped or emailed. Check it out, you can get some very cheap tickets to Toronto Raptors and Toronto Blue Jays games, and even grab some Toronto Maple Leafs gold seats!

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!

Is John Tavares The Next One? Comment and discuss your opinion… With Crosby, Stamkos, Ovechkin & others all in the running, its anyones game to be “The Next One”.

This website, John Tavares (.ca) will be a shrine to up and coming hockey super star John Tavares. John currently plays for the Oshawa Generals, an OHL team with an extremely strong hockey program (alumni include Bobby Orr and Eric Lindros). John Tavares is currently being scouted for the 2009 NHL entry draft, and is expected to go first overall.

Tavares could be “the next one”, with a career similar to the current mega stars such as Sidney Crosby or Alexander Ovechkin!

Only time will tell if this Canadian star will live up to the hype.