The Primes They are a Changin'

There is a trend in hockey that has changed in my lifetime...What trend is that? It's the "Prime" of players careers...When I was kid, NHL players, hit their "Prime" around 27, 28, 29 years old...These days, the elite NHL players hit their "Prime" around 23-26 years old...

We'll use Sidney Crosby as our example...I don't like Sid the skid, but he is the guy who many have called the best player in the NHL for almost 10 years...Crosby is now 27 years old, and his numbers have declined...And over the past couple years when you look at fantasy hockey forecasts, he is not the #1 guy on draft boards...Last depending on where you looked, he had slipped out of the top 3...But that's just fantasy right...

Like I said his numbers have fallen...And he has had some injury issues...He's wearing down...In 10 years Crosby has played 627 regular season NHL games...13 Olympic games...9 World Championship games...100 NHL Playoff games...That's 749 hockey games in ten years...Along with multiple concussions...Based off his offensive numbers Crosby's prime was between the '06-'07 season and the '09-'10 season...In that time Crosby played 290 regular season games with 404 points, with 62 playoff games and 101 playoff points...Since 2010 the numbers have fallen...

By comparison, Tyler Seguin is 23 and said to be hitting his "Prime" now...He was last year and is this year's #1 projected fantasy pick...Seguin has 5 NHL seasons under his belt...In those 5 seasons he's played 354 regular season games with 282 points, and 48 playoff games with 21 points...

So why is it said that Seguin is hitting his "prime" at 23, with half the experience of Crosby, who (in my youth)  at 27 would have been said to be hitting his "prime," but now is said to be "starting to look at the back-end of his career?"....

It's simple...the elite players now, are coming into the NHL at 18 or 19 years old...they're playing a longer NHL season...They're playing an extended playoff season...They're playing World Championships, and Olympics...And they're playing in a era where the game has gotten faster...the players are bigger, faster, and stronger...Their bodies are having a helluva toll being put on them...You have to hit your "Prime" by 24, because by 27 you have headaches and you're icing your knees twice a day...And some of this may also be why the idea of seeing NHL superstars regularly put up 100 point seasons seems like a memory as well...

I wonder what the "Prime" for bloggers is?

Monday Moaning

They say, "there ain't no cure for the Summertime Blues"....

I hope a few of my friends can get you past those blues, along with a little sports talk....

And why wouldn't people have the Summertime Blues? It's been raining almost every day here in the Cleve...I said I was going to be a Seahawks fan this coming season, and I guess they decided to deliver the fucking weather too...Little Beeze and I have had 1 game so far Our team has had 1 game and 7 rain outs....FUCK!  The kids are sick of practices, and the parents are sick of the Rec not having the fields ready to play during the brief window where it isn't raining...People were really pissed last Tuesday...It hadn't rained, and the sun was out, and people wanted a game...But the Rec couldn't get the field ready...I would like to shit on them, but it had just rained for 10 straight days, and their budget from the city is shit...But have no fear, the rain came back that night right around what was suppose to be our game time...

So my blog FRIDAY  was all about the Madness of the NHL's free agency, along with salary cap issues...But the topic that got the most attention there, and on HALS post was the Bruins moving Tyler Seguin....I think some Bruins fans are way to upset about the move...I think they got great value, and potential back...And really, all Seguin gave you was potential...Yeah, he was a #2 overall pick, but we tend to put a lot of expectations depending on where guys get drafted, and sometimes guys go too high...I'm not saying Seguin is a bust...he could be...He could be a super star...We have to wait...But he was a problem...Clearly the Bruins felt that way, and well, they were closer to the situation then us....

And as for Momma Seguin....Shut up...I hate it when parents come out against an organization because they moved your kid...Or said he's been partying too much...Or acting like  a douche...Kids been out of your house, since he was 16, doing 3 things...Playing hockey, drinking and chasing skirts...And there's nothing wrong with that!  The problem is he let that shit get flaunted around the Internet... HERE'S a taste Mom!

I'm not a fan of the fan voting for the "All-Star" game...But it is what it is...And every year MLB breaks out the online fan vote for the final roster spot for both the NL and AL...I have never participated in this...Until this weekend...When I saw Steve Delabar was one of the guys up for the AL spot...I've been rooting for this guy for a couple years now...His stories is one of the best in Baseball...If you have the time to kill, watch this....




-Everrett Golson was in his home town of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina this weekend, and he told reporters that he intends on returning to Notre Dame in the Spring, after being Suspended from the University for the Fall Semester...While this doesn't help this year, it makes recruiting a bit easier, assuming Golson gets his Academic situation in order...It also shows that maybe this incident has gotten through to him, and he'll be a better person for it...

-Urban Meyer has been catching a lot of heat lately...Many people want to hold the now Ohio State coach, who coached Aaron Hernandez when he was at Florida, partially responsible for Hernandez's off field problems...I heard one guy on the radio going off about it...Listen, I think Meyer is a shady piece of shit, but you can't blame him, not even partially for what Hernandez is accused of...Yeah, as more comes out, there have been warning signs since Hernandez was a teenager, that he could be headed down a bad path, and maybe one of his many coaches along the way could have gotten through to him....Maybe some tried...How the hell do we know? But they didn't do the deed...I'm not a guy who is all about defending Meyer or Ohio State, but if Hernandez did this, it's on him...He's a grown ass man, and if he wants to play thug, then he's gonna have to deal with the consequences...

If people want to go after Meyer, go after him for stuff he had control of...41 guys who played for Meyer between 2005 and 20010 were arrested while there, or afterwards, some both...16 alone in 2008...(including Cam Newton) ...The ones that didn't get arrested until they were gone, I'll give Meyer a pass...But the 31 who were arrested while there,  should have been handled, and if Meyer let shit slide, then go after him...If he cheated at Utah, go after him...If he cheated at Bowling Green, go after him...If he cheats at Ohio State go after him...But trying to put blame on him for the crimes Hernandez is accused of seems weak to me...I'm tired of people making excuses and passing blame when "celebrities" fuck up...

I'm dreading going back to work after 4 days off...I hope my ladies in Blue helped ease the Summertime Blues...

Have a week...

The Beeze.