The new rules in the current day of hockey were changed or amended in a way to make goals not as difficult to come by. THe first year with these changes, fans, players, and coaches alike were shrugging their shoulders looking curiously at the new rule book and the outcomes of most the games. Where are all the goals that we are supposed to be seeing? Was the big question. The answer was simply that the players were not yet accustomed to the rules. It's taken quite some time, but i think we are finally seeing the payoff of the new game.

Last year, there were 5 teams over 250 goals, the year before, 3, this year, there is projected to be 5. However, my point is not the amount of teams putting up large numbers it's the amount of games that you see a large amount of goals put on the scoreboard by one team. This year there is already over 100 games where one team has scored 7 or more goals and 3 or 4 games where there were more than 10 goals scored by a single team. The fact of the matter is that there are A LOT of goals being scored. The defensemen are finally letting the speedy players go instead of holding them, and the speedy, small players are taking advantage of it.

Not much else I can think of at the moment so keep checking up, and remember, keep your pen in your pocket and your notebook by your side.

With the huge match-up on the Horizon between the Kelowna Rockets and the Brandon Wheatkings, there is not only the hype of an Eastern Conference team coming to Prospera Place, but also the hype of a fairly well known name coming to town. Schenn, Brayden that is.

The younger Brother of Luke Schenn has been nothing short of outstanding in his rookie season with the Wheaties, racking up an incredible 22 Goals and 56 Points and a +22 so far this season. Not only is this his Rookie campaign, but it is ALSO his 16 year old season. We have heard of Rookies playing incredible in this league, look no further than Duncan Keith of the Kelowna Rockets back in 2002/03, when the Rockets picked him up from NCAA mid season and subsequently racking up 46 points in 37 games, but for a 16 year old to come into the WHL and make sun screen a requirement for the back of goaltenders necks on any given night, is almost unheard of.

The last time a 16 year old came into the league and score at the pace Braydon Schenn is right now, was Kyle Beach last year, and even then, Schenn is on pace to destroy Beach's point total of last year.

People will undoubtedly compare the two players as was done with the Cuthberts, but the two Schenn Borthers, like the Cuthberts play such a different style of Hockey that it's night and day between those two. Luke is a solid stay at home Defenceman and Braydon is a sheer goal scorer.

Look for Braydon to try and make Luke look silly and for Luke to try and put Braydon on his rear end on Thursday night at Prospera Place.

It would be a huge shame to miss this hockey game!

When it comes to the Western Hockey League, and the Canadian Hockey League in general, you normally have 3 or 4 incredible teams and the remainder seem to simply be a formality. Enter 2007/08 CHL Season. I do not follow the OHL/QMJHL as much as I would like so for argument sake, we will stick to the 'Dub'

To begin, we will introduce the conference seeding playoff format in the WHL...Finally...The way this works, and I am sure you all understand it, but for those who do not, The seeding will no longer be per division and 1v4 2v3, it will not be seeding 1v8, 2v7, 3v6 and 4v5, however, that is not the entire purpose of this shin dig I am writing about right now, rather, i would like to look at a few of the numbers associated with this Season's standings.

For the most part, teams have approximately 15 games left, give or take a couple, and already, almost all the playoff spots are spoken for. In the Western Conference, we already have 6 spots clinched, and in the Eastern, there is only 1 clinched, however that will not last for long, which brings us to the numbers game.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Currently in the Western Conference, the Chilliwack Bruins are taking up the real estate of the 8th and final playoff spot. The next closest team to them you may ask? None other than the Prince George Cougars, with a mere 21 point spread, followed very closely by the Portland Winterhawks with a 35 pt spread. Portland only has 13 games remaining in the regular season, meaning they can only receive a maximum of 26 more points, which will leave them far behind the Chilliwack Bruins current point total, therefore, completely eliminating the Winterhawks from playoff contention, they are simply trying to finish the season with some dignity. The Prince George cougars on the other hand, are a different story. With a current point total of 34, and 15 games remaining, they can earn a maximum of 64 points, 9 more points than the current total of the Chilliwack Bruins. These numbers mean that the Magic Number for Chilliwack to clinch a playoff spot is 4.5. If the Bruins win 5 more games, or win 4 more and at least take another into overtime , They will clinch a playoff spot.

But wait, what about the 8th playoff spot if only 6 are currently clinched? The Kamloops Blazers currently have 1 more point than Chilliwack. For Kamloops to clinch, they only need to win 4 more or their 14 remaining games, or have Prince George lose 4 of their remaining 15 games, and they clinch, which would round out the Western Conference. Confused yet? Me too! Needless to say, i think it's safe the say that the 8 teams going to playoffs are already determined in the West.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Now what about that Pesky Eastern Conference? Only 1 spot has been clinched so far. Currently, the 8th and final playoff spot is being held by Moose Jaw and Brandon, who both have 70 points. After them in 9th? Edmonton Oil Kings and the Saskatoon Blades, with 46 points each, 24 points less than the next closest team. The most points Edmonton can get, with 15 games remaining, one more than the Saskatoon Blades, is 76, a mere 6 points more than Brandon and Moose Jaws Current Point Total. What does this mean? If Edmonton and Saskatoon loose 3 more games, the entire Eastern Conference playoff spots are clinched, and it would not matter what the other teams do. The Magic Number for Regina and Lethbridge is 0.5, Medicine Hat's is 1.5, Kootenay's is 2, and Swift Current is 2.5 and we already discussed Brandon and Moose Jaw. It's hard to believe how close this conference is. I have heard of 2-5 points separate 1st through to 4th, but in the East this year, 7 points separate 1st from second, and a MERE 5 Points!!!! Separates 2nd from 8th, thats right...5 points separates 7 teams. To say that the Matchups for this conference are still up in the air would be an understatement.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Buckle-Up because it's going to be a FUN stretch drive!!!

WHL and the National Hockey League Entry Draft

Ok, so first things first, I need to welcome everybody to my new blog. Here i will be featuring alot of number crunching and giving people some information that they might not have known regarding the numbers part of this great game we all like to call Hockey.

The NHL Draft was conducted recently, on June 22nd and 23rd to be exact, and although it wasn't the best talent pool this year, it still had a few interesting story lines to follow. First and foremost, the biggest surprise In my opinion, and there are a few large ones, was Thomas Hickey of the Seattle Thunderbirds going #4 overall to Los Angeles. People had him later 1st to early 2nd round, however, LA took a chance and will go with the man from Seattle. The other shocker would be how much Cheraponov droped in the draft. One has to think if perhaps he wasn't in that good of shape during the physical tests, perhaps he did not have the answers that the GM's were looking for during the interviews, who knows, but to see him dropa s far as he did was a big surprise to me.

Anyways, lets leave the reporting for the newspapers and radio's shall we, and get on to some Number Crunching.

This year, the WHL had 37 players selected overall being lead by Seattle's own Thomas Hickey, followed by the next pick by Karl Alzner of Calgary, that surpasses last years total of 24 total WHLers taken, which was led by of course, Everett's own Peter Meuller. How many First round picks have come from the WHL you may ask? The answer is, and this is from 2000 to current, is 48 players. THe best year for the WHL and the first roudn was this year with a whopping 9 players chosen. Here is a break down of year and players drafted;

2000
Scott Hartnell, Brent Krahn, Marcel Hossa, Nathan Smith, Brian Sutherby

2001
Dan Blackburn, Dan Hamhuis, Shaone Morrison, Colby Armstrong, Jeff WOywitka, Adrian Foster

2002
Jay Bouwmeester, Scottie Upshall, Joffery Lupul, Jakub Klepis, Boyd Gordon, Cam Ward

2003
Braydon Coburn, Dion Phaneuf, Brent Seabrook, Eric Fehr, Ryan Getzlaf, Shawn Belle

2004
Cam Barker, Andrew Ladd, Devan Dubnyk, Kyle Chipchura, Jeff Schultz, Mark Fistric, Mike Green, Andy Rogers

2005
Carey Price, Gilbert Brule, Devin Setoguchi, Kendal McArdle

2006
Peter Meuller, Michael Grabner, Ty Wishart, Leland Irving

2007
Thomas Hickey, Karl Alzner, Zach Hamill, Keaton Ellerby, Brandon Sutter, Alex Plante, Colton Gillies, Jonathon Blum, Nick Ross

Now that is alot of Players chosen in the first round out of this league. Now to answer your question of which team has produced the most First Round Picks, the answer is the Calgary Hitmen with 7 in the last 7 years. Brent Krahn in 2000, Ryan Getzlaf in 2003, Andrew Ladd, Jeff Schultz, Andy Rogers in 2004, and Karl Alzner and Alex Plante in 2007, they are trailed closely by the Red Deer Rebels with 6 including the likes of Jeff Woywitka and Dion Phaneuf.

Another interesting tidbit to look at is that a good portion of these first rounders also were a part of the Team Canada World Junior Squad at one point of their career.

Thats about all i have time for right at this moment. Look forward to the next installment whenever it may be.

Keep your pen in your Pocket and your Notebook at your side.