The Bolts
Nathan Smith was the first player drafted in the NHL who came from the Tampa Bay Lightning’s High School Hockey League. Smith’s succcess is a major win for the grassroots movement of hockey in Tampa. [The Athletic]
The now Lightning-run high school hockey league has 17 teams (six junior varsity), attending five national tournaments a year. The organization’s “Build the Thunder” program has put 84,000 street hockey sticks in kids hands the past three years. A few charter schools have added hockey to sports like basketball and soccer.
It’s Seldo’s turn for our Secret Santa Series at Raw Charge. Mr. ElSeldo is a young buck (he’s really old) out of Niagara, Ontario who has become the face of prospect analysis at SB Nation. He covers all of our young players on a weekly basis and the scouting report articles he provides is an invaluable resource (for the Quick Strikes). [Raw Charge]
While that personality doesn’t shine through in what he writes for RawCharge, I wanted to show that off by featuring a great article he wrote for Pension Plan Puppets titled “Auston Matthews is better than Connor McDavid.” Before you go screaming about the typical Maple Leafs superiority complex, read some of the highlights below and you’ll begin to understand Seldo.
Her name is Barb, and she has become the premier skills coach in hockey. [The Athletic]
Lightning center Brayden Point snatched the puck in the neutral zone, made a quick turn and took off.
“It was just crazy,” said Underhill, a skating coach who currently works with the Lightning and Maple Leafs. “Almost every shift, you can see him. He’s really come to another level. That burst is something we’ve worked on from the very beginning.”
The woman behind some of the NHL’s fastest teams: https://t.co/AKlb39blLb
— The Athletic NHL (@TheAthleticNHL) July 19, 2018
The Prospects
Alexey Lipanov has moved up from last year’s Top 25 Under 25 ranking as he now sits at #18. His first seaon in North America wasn’t great, but the important thing here is that he’s going to be developing on our ice, with the Syracuse Crunch. [Raw Charge]
Alexey doesn’t have size. He is a 6’0” and 170 pound center-forward, but his strengths are speed, puck skills, and high hockey IQ. Probably his size was one of the reasons why he dropped to the 3rd round in the 2017 Entry Draft. According to his words, his role model is Jonathan Toews.
Next up on Dev Camp Videos: Learning How to Pivot and Dangle with Dennis Yan! “Oh, yeah that’s good!”
#BoltsDevCamp mood for @yanner1197? All smiles. 😄 pic.twitter.com/lRJbD7bN1O
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) July 18, 2018
The Syracuse Crunch’s newest assistant coach Gillies Bouchard is settleing into his new job and will be in charge of the Crunch’s power play and forward group. [Syracuse]
“The other thing that would be good for me (is) to improve my English as an assistant coach with the team. I think that would be a good path for me for the next step as a head coach in the American Hockey League. But me, as a person, I’m very humble and I live in the moment all the time. I want to grow up as a coach.’’
The Game
The USA’s National Women’s Hockey team won “Best Game” at last night’s ESPYs awards. Their win over Canada for Gold in South Korea was voted the game of the year. [Team USA]
Two-time Olympic gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin and Olympic bronze medalist Adam Rippon presented the award for best game to the U.S. women’s ice hockey team for its win over Canada to claim the Olympic gold medal for the first time in 20 years.
The U.S. team beat out Georgia versus Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl and Game 5 of the World Series between the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
With the whole country behind them, the U.S. Women’s Hockey team brought home Olympic gold in this year’s Best Game! #ESPYS pic.twitter.com/r9kyhaQ4GC
— ESPN (@espn) July 19, 2018
The CWHL’s first ever Commissioner Brenda Andress is stepping down from her role this summer after building the league from nothing over 12 seasons. [The Ice Garden]
“It has been an incredible honor and privilege to lead this league,” said Andress in the league’s press release. “I am proud to have had the opportunity to build the organization into what it is today. While it’s time for me to move to the next stage of my career—I leave the league both viable and operationally strong, and at an extremely exciting time in its development. I have every confidence that the CWHL will continue to attract the world’s best players and deliver an exceptional and competitive hockey experience to fans on and off the ice.”
Alex Ovechkin won “Best Male Athlete” this season, presumably for finally not choking against the Pittsburgh Penguins for the first time ever.
Alex Ovechkin Wins the 2018 ESPY Award for the Best Male Athlete!@ovi8 becomes the first @NHL player to win the award!#ALLCAPS #ESPYS pic.twitter.com/2AftqsLoiM
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) July 19, 2018
