Cumulative 2013 Draft Rankings (February)

 Here we are, back again with the February edition of The Hart of Hockey's signature cumulative draft rankings. The sources which are used to compile this list had expanded their rankings greatly since the last time we had a cumulative draft rankings post in November, so the math is a little less fuzzy and our list has expanded to 40 players.
 For those of you who don't know the drill, we take the rankings of TSN's Bob McKenzie, Craig Button, and the International Scouting Services, and take an individual's average score based on those three sources. Whatever number pops out is the score used to rank them here in the cumulative rankings. NHL Central Scouting is used as a tiebreaker between prospects, since they separate players into North American skaters, European skaters, North American goalies, etc.
 In addition to expanding to 40 prospects, there was a ton of movement from the November rankings. Here's what we've got as of February, 7th:

	Player	Pos.	Team	McKenzie	Button	ISS	Avg Score	CS
1	Seth Jones	D	Portland Winterhawks	1	1	1	1	1
2	Nathan MacKinnon	C	Halifax Mooseheads	2	2	2	2	2
3	Jonathan Drouin	LW	Halifax Mooseheads	3	4	3	3.33	3
4	Aleksander Barkov	C	Tappara	4	3	4	3.66	1
5	Sean Monahan	C	Ottawa 67’s	6	6	5	5.66	4
6	Elias Lindholm	C	Brynäs	5	7	6	6	2
7	Valeri Nichushkin	LW	Chelyabinsk	10	5	7	7.33	4
8	Nikita Zadorov	D	London Knights	9	8	9	8.66	30
9	Darnell Nurse	D	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds	12	9	10	10.33	9
10	Hunter Shinkaruk	LW	Medicine Hat Tigers	8	12	14	11.33	5
11	Rasmus Ristolainen	D	TPS	7	20	8	11.66	3
12	Ryan Pulock	D	Brandon Wheat Kings	15	13	17	15	6
13	Adam Erne	LW	Québec Remparts	16	15	15	15.33	13
14	Zach Fucale	G	Halifax Mooseheads	22	10	n/a	16	1
15	Alexander Wennberg	C	Djurgårdens	11	18	21	16.66	8
16	Frédérik Gauthier	C	Rimouski Océanic	13	19	19	17	7
17	Josh Morrissey	D	Prince Albert Raiders	20	11	20	17	11
18	Max Domi	C	London Knights	18	14	28	20	23
19	Curtis Lazar	C	Edmonton Oil Kings	25	24	11	20	26
20	Jason Dickinson	LW	Guelph Storm	24	25	13	20.66	16
21	Bo Horvat	LW	London Knights	19	22	22	21	15
22	Anthony Mantha	LW	Val-d’Or Foreurs	17	17	>30	21.66	10
23	Robert Hägg	D	MODO J20	29	28	12	23	7
24	Valentin Zykov	RW	Baie-Comeau Drakkar	27	30	16	24.33	8
25	Kerby Rychel	LW	Windsor Spitfires	23	23	27	24.33	18
26	André Burakowsky	RW	Malmö J20	14	44	18	25.33	5
27	Artturi Lehkonen	LW	KalPa	40	16	24	26.66	9
28	Ryan Hartman	RW	Plymouth Whalers	28	29	25	27.33	25
29	J.T. Compher	C	USNTDP	30	27	26	27.66	20
30	Morgan Klimchuk	C	Regina Pats	33	21	>30	28.33	24
31	Anthony Duclair	LW	Québec Remparts	35	26	30	30.33	35
32	Mirco Müller	D	Everett Silvertips	21	42	>30	31.33	12
33	Madison Bowey	D	Kelowna Rockets	34	33	>30	32.66	22
34	Jacob De la Rose	C	Leksands	26	47	>30	34.33	6
35	Steve Santini	D	USNTDP	41	39	23	34.33	47
36	Chris Bigras	D	Owen Sound Attack	31	45	>30	35.66	19
37	Keaton Thompson	D	USNTDP	43	36	>30	36	51
38	Ian McCoshen	D	Waterloo Black Hawks	32	46	>30	36.33	21
39	Nicolas Petan	C	Portland Winterhawks	48	31	>30	36.66	34
40	Laurent Dauphin	C	Chicoutimi Saguenéens	45	34	>30	36.66	41

Viktor Fasth Proving the Dream Can Never Die

(Jeff Gross / Getty Images)

 After an intense 3-2 shootout victory at the Honda Center, Anaheim Ducks back-up goaltender Viktor Fasth skated onto the ice to the cheers of a capacity crowd for first star honors. Fasth, visibly emotional after earning his first career win in his first career start as an NHL netminder, stuck around for an on-ice interview presented to rollicking Ducks fans further relishing the team's first home win of the season. Struggling to find the words to describe his feelings (perhaps in awe of his accomplishment, or maybe it was just a language barrier thing,) he spoke into the microphone that boomed throughout the stadium, "It feels great. I've been waiting 30 years for this."

 That's funny, that Swedish guy is so happy that he can't even count right. 30 years, ha! But upon closer inspection, Fasth's timetable was not incorrect at all.

 After tearing up the Swedish Non-Elite League for three years, he joined AIK of Sweden's SEL. Departing after two solid seasons there, Viktor Fasth finally got his chance with an NHL club at age 30.

Brian Burke Out; All For Lou

"Wait, you guys weren't kidding, were you?
I'm actually fired?" - Brian Burke (probably)

 The lockout is over, hockey is returning, everyone is excited, but before the first puck drop on the shortened 2013 season, we already have experienced out first major surprise of the year. On the same morning the NHL Board of Governors officially approved the league's new CBA, the Toronto Maple Leafs fired their lightning rod General Manager Brian Burke. Nobody saw this move coming. Yes, the Leafs have been mediocre at best under Burke, but he wasn't fired at the end of last season. He wasn't fired halfway through or at the conclusion of another year without sniffing the playoffs. No. He was just dumped.
 Though Tom Anselmi said publicly that this did not factor into their decision, this move is all about one thing: Roberto Luongo.

Takeaways From the 2013 WJC

 The 2013 World Junior Championship was one of the most unpredictable in history, as the United States won gold after their seventh place finish in 2012, Canada couldn't even manage bronze despite having a supercharged, lockout induced roster, Switzerland pushed everyone to the brink, and many other endlessly fun stories. All of the havoc mixed with the high level of competition made it worth waking up at 2:30 every morning. Now that the anthems have been sung and medals have been awarded, here's a little "what we learned" from the 2013 World Juniors.

ANAHEIM HAS A BRIGHT FUTURE IN NET AFTER HILLER
 The runaway MVP of the 2013 World Juniors was the United States' golden goalie, John Gibson. In similar form to Petr Mrazek in 2012, Gibson stole the show at the tournament while setting a new record for save percentage in one World Juniors. Everyone watching the tournament couldn't help but be impressed, fans of the USA rejoiced after every incredible save, and the staff of the Anaheim Ducks had to be drooling on their television remotes.

Gibson robs Ryan-Nugent Hopkins of
Canada and the Edmonton Oilers.

 Gibson was drafted in the second round by Anaheim in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, a draft that Gibson was touted as the top North American tendy available going in. With Jonas Hiller coming off of a spectacular 2010-11 season, many wondered why the Ducks went with a goalie with the ninth pick in the second round when they had other issues to address. The answer is proving to be an easy one. He's that good.
 Sure, stats are impressive, but you can't truly evaluate a player's game based on his stats. Gibson not only put up MVP-caliber statistics, but he looked phenomenal while doing it. His angles were sharp, he put himself in position to make tough saves, battled to the end to make the highlight reel saves, and, most importantly, kept the puck out of the net when it mattered most. He was never making saves of luck, always saves of skill. Steve Spott, Gibson's Head Coach in Kitchener and bench boss of the rival Canadians at the World Juniors, has been saying for the past year and a half that Gibson is the real deal. He's proved it at the OHL level countless times, but now we all got to see him get the job done on the international stage in high-pressure situations.
 Jonas Hiller's play declined in 2011-12 and injuries continued to be an issue. He'll be turning 31 this February, too. Maybe he'll bounce back and be great in the next few season for Anaheim, but no matter what happens when his contract expires at the end of the 2013-14 campaign, Ducks fans can rest easy knowing they will have John Gibson as a potential option to turn to between the pipes.

World Junior Championship: Preview and Ultimate Guide

Rosters, Schedules, Previews, Predictions

 Sheesh, it's been a long time since I posted anything on here. But you don't want to read about how "busy" my life is. No, what you want is hockey, and there could not be a better event to get The Hart of Hockey back into the blogosphere than the IIHF World Junior Championship.

 The World Juniors are a gigantic annual tournament and a gold medal from this international showdown is one of the most celebrated accomplishments a player can earn in his career. However, since an overwhelming majority of players have never played a shift in the NHL, it can be a difficult competition to follow at first if one has not been keeping tabs on the junior ranks for most of the year. We make it easier for you, and have compiled a the roster of every team in this year's World Juniors, their playing schedule and a summary of what their team can do. Hopefully this will help in your preparation of the great tournament that is the World Junior Championship.