Can you believe that every team has completed at least two-thirds of their regular season schedule? The trade party has already started and we're just a few weeks away from the Olympic break. The season is moving fast. It's probably moving too fast for some of the league's newcomers.
On Long Island, for example, 2009 top draft pick John Tavares is mired in a lengthy scoring slump. In his last 24 games, Tavares has managed just two goals and four assists while playing to a minus-9 rating. By comparison, in his first 32 games, he'd totaled 15 goals and 12 assists, skating to a minus-1 mark.
I certainly don't mean to pick on Tavares. I have little doubt he's going to develop into one of the league's top goal-scorers. It's just a reminder that the NHL is a tough league. It's a tough league for veterans, no less teenage rookies. I'll be curious to watch Johnny T work down the stretch. The last third of his first season will be a terrific challenge for him. He's a sharp young guy who's real easy to root for. For now, though, Tavares has slid out of my Calder Watch top five.
To see Hradek's rookie rankings, plus see why the only person who can trip up the success of draft prospect Emerson Etem may be E.J. Hradek, you must be an ESPN Insider.
E.J. Hradek
Senior Writer, ESPN The MagazineABOUT THIS BLOG
E.J. Hradek
E.J. Hradek is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine, joining the staff prior to its launch in 1998. He began covering hockey as a writer/editor for Hockey Illustrated in 1989. The following year, he beat the Stars to Dallas (by three years), taking over as the editor of Beckett Hockey Monthly. When the Stars finally did arrive in Big D, he hosted a weekly hockey radio show and tried (unsuccessfully) to convert ESPN's Skip Bayless to the greatest game on ice.
In 1996, Hradek left Dallas, but not the Stars. Relocating back to the New York area, he became a part-time pro scout for the club, seeing more than 100 NHL/AHL games for each of the next two seasons. The scouting gig was a great learning experience, offering a different view of the game.
Hradek grew up in Tuckahoe, N.Y., about a 40-minute train ride from New York City. Despite the proximity to the Rangers, Hradek embraced the Islanders when the expansion franchise debuted in 1972. Eight years later, he was part of the sellout crowd at the Nassau Coliseum that witnessed the Islanders' first Stanley Cup championship.
