Jeff Blay

The NHL’s youngest players are having an impact on the league like never before. With the way today’s game is evolving, it’s these rookie and sophomore players who will shape the future of hockey with strong, all-around play and dynamic highlight-reel scoring on a nightly basis.

It has been a forgettable season for the forgettable Columbus Blue Jackets. But with the turmoil among the players, coaches and fans, a story is emerging in that of winger Vinny Prospal, who has returned from an injury last season to be among his new team’s top scorers.

John Tavares was the first-overall selection of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Since his arrival, he’s largely gone unnoticed by anybody not adorning NY Islanders gear. Why has Tavares been so overlooked compared to the likes of other first-overalls like Crosby, Ovechkin, Stamkos and even Nugent-Hopkins?

The New Jersey Devils haven’t had the year they’ve wanted, primarily due to team scoring stars like Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise failing to find the net with regularity. Meanwhile, rookies Adam Henrique and Adam Larsson are proving to be the next wave of New Jersey elite.

The sport of hockey is as physically demanding as it is exhausting, which means that it will inevitably take its tolls on the players that play it. As a result, any players who plan on playing the game for the long term fight back with a strong focus on nutrition and the good they put back in their body after a gruelling practice. TheGP Hockey teams up with Victoria Mikhail to explain.

Lightweight blue-liner Jesse Graham may face the typical-barrage of questions set aside for players of his size between now and the NHL Draft next summer, but the added scrutiny only makes for a more developed prospect. TheGP Hockey takes a good hard look at the Niagara IceDogs system in place that has polished the future NHL d-man.

The name Griffin Reinhart is a hard one to forget, especially when it marks an NHL pedigree the spans generations. TheGP Hockey kicks off its 2012 NHL Entry Draft coverage with a thorough account of one of the best defensemen on the market this season. Will Griffin follow in the footsteps of father Paul Reinhart?

It’s hard to know when to evaluate a rookie fresh out of the NHL Draft, but, when the kid is able to step in and stick with a big club right away, coaches and executives usually know they have something special. Such is the case for Mark Scheifele, but not all hope is lost for demoted first-year players.

Though it takes a team effort to thrive in the NHL, there’s no denying the fact that certain individuals tend to get a lot more of the attention than others. If that means defensive-minded game changers so frequently get swept under the rug, don’t you think we ought to change the way we value our stars?

A pair of under-the-radar transactions in the NHL this offseason may not carry the clout of a Dany Heatley deal or Brad Richards signing, but may end up being the two most significant roster moves made by playoff teams looking to shore up their odds of contention in 2011-12. Under much scrutiny for underachieving in [...]

An already hot button topic in the past, following a dreadful summer, fighting has become the holy grail of issues in the game of hockey. The main arguing point, however, is if it is truly an issue to begin with. The Good Point writers Anthony Petrielli and Jeff Blay have teamed up with The Hockey [...]

For the second year in a row, the NHL’s Research, Development and Orientation camp provided a venue for the league to experiment with new rules and ideas that could potentially improve the game and the way it’s played down the road. Over 30 2012 draft eligible major junior and collegiate players gathered in Etobicoke, Ontario [...]

There have been countless cases in the sport of hockey when a player has been required to change the way he plays in order to make it to the next level. Whether it’s changing their role from a scoring forward to a defensive forward, a stay-at-home defenseman to a two-way, or a skilled player into [...]

It’s no secret every young hockey player dreams of pulling an NHL team’s sweater over their head one day. Unfortunately, thanks to supply and demand, that task is easier said than done. Some players enter the league at the wide-eyed age of 18 and never look back. For others – for most – it can [...]

What comes to mind when you think of Bruce Springsteen, social media and the ripe age of 25? Especially if you’re talking hockey, odds are you’re not making a connection between the aforementioned and the general manager of a major junior hockey club – unless you’re familiar with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. After taking over [...]

It’s every young hockey player’s dream to one day have their name called at the NHL Entry Draft, but when you find out you’ve been selected to the same team as one of your best friends and junior teammates, it makes the experience that much more surreal. Recently, Niagara IceDogs forwards Ryan Strome and Mitchell Theoret had a chance to experience [...]

With the NHL Entry Draft looming and the Boston Bruins on top of the hockey world, there has never been a better time to compare a highly touted prospect to the Stanley Cup champ’s captain. At 6’7″ and 244 pounds, 18-year-old Jamie Oleksiak of Northeastern University is said to be the league’s next Zdeno Chara. [...]

For teams drafting late in the first round and looking for a solid, smooth skating, physical defenseman with great offensive potential, Scott Mayfield is to be considered. At 6’4″, 200 pounds, the 1992-born prospect already has the size to blend into an NHL lineup after this month’s NHL Entry Draft. The American has the tools [...]

If scouts were blind to size, US national development team forward Rocco Grimaldi may be ranked much higher than he is. Standing at just 5’6″ and weighing in at 163 pounds, Grimaldi is arguably one of the most skilled players available in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft. And although size may be a concern to [...]

With Canadian Hockey League drafts wrapped up and the 2011 NHL Entry Draft on the horizon, The Good Point had a chance to sit down with three influential figures within the hockey community. Former general manager and head coach of the OHL’s Guelph Storm, Jason Brooks, along with former Detroit Red Wings scout and current head scout and director of player personnel for the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye, Ed Burkholder, [...]