King Quick: The League's Unsung MVP

 Although another weeks remains in the NHL's regular season, Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin is just about a lock to win the Art Ross and Hart trophies as the league's leaging scorer and most valuable player.  Sure, you could make an MVP argument for Tampa Bay's sniper, Steven Stamkos, who will surely win the Rocket Richard Trophy if he stays healthy through these last few games of the year.  You could do the same for Philadelphia's young dynamo, Claude Giroux, or even the man backstopping the team who currently leads the entire NHL in points, the Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist.  Yes, the National Hockey League is up to its neck in talent, and a lot of the greatest players get the credit they deserve.  However, there is one man who sits far outside anyone's current radar for the Hart Trophy despite being undoubtedly the single most valuable player to his team.  That man is the Los Angeles Kings' 26 year-old netminder, Jonathan Quick.

Photo courtesy of Norm Hall (Getty Images)

 Although the Kings came into the season with L.A. Lakers-like expectations after the offseason acquisitions of Mike Richards and Simon Gagne, but execution was lacking during the majority of the first-half of the season and scoring was at a premium for a high-powered offense.  Quite frankly, considering the weapons Los Angeles has, it was pathetic.  Now, the only reason this team is even in the hunt for a playoff spot at this juncture of the season is directly attributed to Quick's spectacular play between the pipes.  He has been a shining star night in and night out for the Kings.
 Quick is tied for the league lead in shutouts with nine on the year, he has posted a 1.92 GAA thus far, which is good enough for third among all goalies, and he boasts a .930 save percentage, as well.  All impressive statistics, but Quick's play extends much farther than these numbers.  He's been tremendous during the Kings' (frequent) tight games, and has given them a chance to win those close matches until the last second.  Now only is his agility and athleticism are aesthetically pleasing to fans of all teams, they have allowed him to stop the puck at key points in games and are the only reason the Kings can even be considered for the playoffs.
 Before acquiring Jeff Carter on February 23, L.A. managed a lowly 1.98 goals per game.  That was good enough for worst in the league.  During that stretch, Quick kept the Kings close to victory in games they undoubtedly deserved to lose, allowed them to steal some points in OT and SO losses, and even helped his team secure two points with his many shutouts.  Since the Carter deal though, the Kings average three goals per game and have been doing their part to help their goaltender in the push for the playoffs.
 Despite being easily the most valuable player to his team's success this season, Jonathan Quick has been nowhere to be found in the talks for the Hart Trophy.  Quite frankly, with all of the talent in the NHL, there's a possibility he could even get snubbed for a Vezina Trophy nomination (competition like Henrik Lundqvist, Jimmy Howard, Pekka Rinne, and Marc-Andre Fleury can do that.)  The fact of the matter is, whether he goes home from Las Vegas at the end of the season with any hardware or not, the fact that the Kings are in any position to contend for a playoff bid this year is directly contributed to the artful performances of Jonathan Quick in goal.  He is without a doubt, the unsung MVP of the NHL.

2012 Cumulative Draft Rankings (March)

  Well, I wanted to get these up a while ago, but some technical difficulties in publishing posts forced temporary delay. I wanted to target the brief lull between the trade deadline and the dramatic push for the playoffs to release the Hart of Hockey's new "cumulative" draft rankings.
  At various times throughout the season, the International Scouting Services (ISS), Central Scouting (CS), as well as TSN's Bob McKenzie and Craig Button have been releasing where they believe the players eligible for the 2012 NHL Entry Draft stand. The experts' lists all differ in certain areas. So instead of creating our own rankings that would most likely look different from theirs, too, we decided to combine all of their rankings into one. We'll take the overall ranks for every player from McKenzie's, Button's, and the ISS's lists, and average those scores to form a cumulative rankings list (CS will be used as a tiebreaker, since its rankings are divided into skaters/goalies and North American/European.)

Let's see how this goes:

RANK	Player	Pos.	Team	McKenzie	Button	ISS	AvgScore	CS*
1	Nail Yakupov	RW^	Sarnia Sting	1	1	1	1	1
2	Filip Forsberg	C	Leksand	4	3	4	3.6	1
3	Mikhail Grigorenko	C	Quebec Remparts	2	7	2	3.6	2
4	Mathew Dumba	D	Red Deer Rebels	5	2	6	4.3	7
5	Ryan Murray	D	Everett Silvertips	3	10	3	5.3	3
6	Morgan Rielly	D	Moose Jaw Warriors	8	4	8	6.6	5
7	Jacob Trouba	D	USNTDP	6	11	5	7.3	9
8	Griffin Reinhart	D	Edmonton Oil Kings	9	6	10	8.3	8
9	Alex Galchenyuk	C	Sarnia Sting	7	5	16	9.3	30
10	Cody Ceci	D	Ottawa 67's	12	9	9	10	16
11	Sebastian Collberg	RW	Frölunda	16	16	11	14.3	2
12	Radek Faksa	C	Kitchener Rangers	10	16	17	14.3	4
13	Brendan Gaunce	C	Belleville Bulls	13	25	7	15	11
14	Zemgus Girgensons	C	Dubuque Fighting Saints	11	14	20	15	12
15	Matt Finn	D	Guelph Storm	29	8	13	16.6	15
16	Derrick Pouliot	D	Portland Winterhawks	17	15	19	17	10
17	Pontus Åberg	LW	Djurgårdens	19	19	15	17.6	4
18	Andrei Vasilevski	G	Ufa Tolpar	18	20	n/a	19	1
19	Malcolm Subban	G	Belleville Bulls	22	17	n/a	19.5	1
20	Tomas Hertl	C	Slavia Praha	23	22	23	22.6	3
21	Teuvo Teräväinen	RW	Jokerit	28	13	29	23.3	7
22	Olli Määttä	D	London Knights	14	46	12	24	6
23	Slater Koekkoek	D	Peterborough Petes	15	40	18	24.3	17
24	Brady Skjei	D	USNTDP	21	38	14	24.3	18
25	Ludvig Byström	D	MODO	>40	19	22	27.3	8
26	Michael Matheson	D	Dubuque Fighting Saints	37	27	25	29.6	29
27	Thomas Wilson	RW	Plymouth Whalers	20	34	36	30	33
28	Oscar Dansk	G	Brynäs	33	28	n/a	30.5	2
29	Hampus Lindholm	D	Rögle	>40	12	41	31.3	6
30	Jarrod Maidens	LW	Owen Sound Attack	35	32	30	32.3	21
31	Phillip DiGiuseppe	LW	University of Michigan	27	26	45	32.6	28
32	Martin Frk	RW	Halifax Mooseheads	24	31	44	33	25
33	Stefan Matteau	LW	USNTDP	25	51	24	33.3	13
34	Tanner Pearson	LW	Barrie Colts	26	43	33	34	22
35	Andreas Athanasiou	C	London Knights	39	33	31	34.3	24
36	Mike Winther	C	Prince Albert Raiders	>45	30	32	36	26
37	Dalton Thrower	D	Saskatoon Blades	>40	50	21	37.3	30
38	Colton Sissons	RW	Kelowna Rockets	30	57	24	37	14
39	Ville Pokka	D	Kärpät	31	47	38	38.6	5
40	Nicolas Kerdiles	LW	USNTDP	38	52	27	39	27
41	Damon Severson	D	Kelowna Rockets	32	36	49	39	46
42	Gemel Smith	LW	Owen Sound Attack	>45	24	>50	40.3	20
43	Patrick Sieloff	D	USNTDP	36	35	>50	40.6	34
44	Tomas Hyka	RW	Gatineau Olumpiques	>45	42	34	40.6	65
45	Daniil Zharkov	RW	Belleville Bulls	40	57	42	46.3	19

Note: McKenzie's rankings go no lower than 40, and then an extra five "Honorable Mention".
The ISS rankings go no lower than 50
* = CS rank used for tie-breaking when average score is tied between two or more prospects
^ = Yakupov is a left-handed shot who has played both the strong and off wing. He is currently listed as RW.

What we learned:

• Craig Button hates Olli Maata, although he did jump in his most recent rankings
• The race between Grigorenko and Forsberg for the elite center in the draft may be bit closer than we may have originally percieved
• Though personally, I'd definitely take Grigorenko over Forsberg

What we already knew:

• The draft is very blue line-heavy
• Nail Yakupov will be drafted #1 overall
• The draft is not particularly deep at wing

 As these scouting services update their rankings, The Hart of Hockey will be sure to update the cumulative rankings accordingly in a new post. The Hart of Hockey would also like to take this time to announce the site will be LIVE BLOGGING from the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh on draft day, and closely covering the draft during that week.
 Until next time, enjoy the OHL, QMJHL, and WHL playoffs!

2012 OHL Playoff Preview

 The Ontario Hockey League's regular season has come to a conclusion, and the quest for the J. Ross Robertson Cup along with an automatic bid into the CHL's Memorial Cup playoffs will commence this Thursday.  Some teams are stacked with veterans who want nothing more than to play for the Memorial Cup before they leave their Junior careers behind them.  Other squads are loaded with young, draft-eligible players who would like to use the playoffs as a way to boost their stock before the NHL Entry Draft in June.  Whatever the case, every team wants to be the club standing at center ice as OHL champs at the end of the playoff grind.  Here's a brief look at all of the match-ups in the 2012 OHL Playoffs:

Cash Grab

 As the old adage goes: Money talks, and Leafs fans knock.

 Toronto Maple Leafs' Mikhail Grabovski, who was set to become an unrestricted free agent this upcoming summer, was the subject of many trade rumors this year.  The Leafs insisted they were interested in resigning the skilled centerman, but negotiations were tough.  The deadline came and passed, Burke couldn't get the draft picks he wanted in return, so Grabo ended up staying in Toronto for the time being.  Today, GM Brian Burke secured Grabovski would be donning a blue and white sweater for many seasons to come, as the two parties were finally able to come to terms on a contract extension worth $27.5 million over 5 years.  What should be a joyous occasion for Leafs Nation has become more of a heated discussion point in Toronto.  Is Mikhail Grabovski really worth a $5.5 million annual cap-hit for the next five years?