Cat Silverman
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@3cheersforgoal1 podcast. Beach bum. "Bitter old hag who holds grudges like they’re Guinness records”. She/her.
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Articles by Cat Silverman
Cat Silverman and the Draft by The Staff & Graph Podcast
On this episode of The Staff and Graph Podcast, Catherine Silverman from InGoal Magazine joins Rachel and Ian to discuss evaluating goalies with metrics and the eye test. They also discuss the mental fortitude vs. athleticism debate. Later, Rachel and Ian make their case for why having an early June draft is a terrible idea - there are a lot of reasons.
These people are not good mentors.
Earlier today, I tweeted about former Chicago Blackhawks (and current Florida Panthers) head coach Joel Quenneville. I was raised in a household that stressed the need to make spaces welcome for others. You don’t use complex words around people who struggle with education. You don’t speak quickly with people who are still learning English.
Opinion: Nathan MacKinnon’s helmet throw can’t happen
Nathan MacKinnon knows a thing or two about becoming an internet meme. He’s the guy who scores goals so slick they get played on highlight reels across the league. He’s the guy who made a weird video working at Tim Horton’s with fellow Nova Scotian Sidney Crosby, which delighted the internet almost as much as his goals typically do.
Jonas Johansson can be Colorado’s reclamation project
I like to think of myself as a “goalie net half full” kind of evaluator. In almost every circumstance, even goaltenders who are suffering under the crushing weight of a passion fanbase’s ire have the ability to play to the level at which they’ve been signed; even if a goaltender isn’t likely to be the next Dominik Hasek, he or she can almost always at least achieve being a nice, respectable future Calvin Pickard.
Longtime Coach Says Youth Hockey in Arizona Has Improved Greatly
GLENDALE -- Mike DeAngelis is a minor pro player from Western Canada. He wasn’t raised in the desert heat; quite the opposite, actually. He spent the majority of his hockey career playing overseas, where he made most of his salary. When he was nearing retirement, he returned to North America and decided to settle down in the place he’d always wanted to – the Southwest. Mike DeAngelis “My career in Europe was very good for me,” he said.
Philipp Grubauer’s heavy lifting is keeping Colorado afloat (and this break could make his job easier)
The 2021 NHL season is looking more and more like it’s going to be a game of chance. Simple as that; if you don’t get struck hard enough with the lucky stick, chances are it’s going to be a fairly rough ride for you and your favorite team. The Avalanche’s fortunes have, so far, been a bit of a mixed bag. They’ve lost Erik Johnson and Nathan MacKinnon all in the last week, have yet to see a second of action for Pavel Francouz, and are currently sidelined with covid-related game postponements.
Morning Flurries- Free agency and the goalie carousel
Having free agency start on October 9th, a random Friday during what would normally be the first weeks of the NHL season, was a fitting time for all of the major albatross deals to get handed out in 2020. The Colorado Avalanche signed a handful of free agent deals, but no one that moved the needle at the NHL level on the first day - probably a good thing, given what some GMs decided to do.
Avalanche fans should have all eyes on the now-healthy Justus Annunen’s return to the ice
The Colorado Avalanche, by all accounts, aren’t likely to see goaltender Justus Annunen in North America this season. He’s been loaned for the year to Kärpät, where he’ll finish out the extension he signed last summer before getting ready to show off what he can do for the team that drafted him in 2018. It’s the internet age, though, making it easier than ever for sports fans to keep an eye on their favorite players in leagues across the world.
Avalanche become fourth team to eliminate opponent with second 7-1 victory over Arizona
Three games into the Colorado Avalanche’s first round series, the Arizona Coyotes looked like they had signs of life following their pick-up of a 4-2 win. Those signs of life quickly fluttered out in their following two games, though, and the Avalanche made quick work of Arizona in a five-game series that capped off with a 7-1 win led by none other than Nazem Kadri.
Colorado Avalanche Series Primer: Get to Know the Coyotes
When the NHL decided to expand this year’s postseason to 22 teams, one team that found their way into the Stanley Cup tournament was the Arizona Coyotes. As the 11th seed, the Yotes were decided underdogs in their play-in series against the Nashville Predators. That didn’t stop Darcy Kuemper and company from disposing of Colorado’s Central Division foe in four games.
Forget Korean Baseball: Finland’s version of baseball, Pesäpallo, is the quarantine sport you never knew you needed
I was at a Colorado Rockies game in Denver last year with a pair of Finnish nationals when I discovered the world’s greatest game. We had just wrapped up a goaltending retreat in the mountains, and about ten of us weren’t set to fly out of Denver until the next day. So we all ponied up for tickets to see the Rockies demolish the Blue Jays, and spent our last night in Colorado drinking watery beer and watching someone else be athletic, for a change.
Year (so far) in review: Jacob Markstrom and his Vezina-worthy performance
Boy, what a year to have for Jacob Markström, and what a year for him to have it in. After what seemed like years of Markström staying firmly embedded in “serviceable tandem goalie” territory, the arrival of Ian Clark coincided with the Swedish netminder truly coming into his own last season. He stepped up in a huge way, seeming to pick up steam that he carried over into a Vezina-quality performance through the bulk of his 2019-20 campaign. Then, of course, he got hurt.
Florence Schelling’s GM announcement means big things for pro hockey
The hockey world has been a little bereft of news lately (and that includes the Avalanche world!). So forgive me for veering a little off topic from the happenings in the mile high city for now — although the news that former Swiss national team goaltender Florence Schelling was just named the general manager of Switzerland’s SC Bern is relevant even as far away as Denver, Colorado.
Hurricanes rally to post 6-3 win with zamboni driver David Ayres in net
It’s the kind of story you almost can’t believe unless you see it happen before your very eyes. The Carolina Hurricanes first lost starter James Reimer to injury in the first period of their game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Then, they lost backup Petr Mrazek to an injury of his own midway through the second. In came the on-site emergency back-up goaltender, David Ayres. 42-years old, Ayres works as a zamboni driver at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, home to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies.
Babcock firing alone won’t fix Leafs
In 2015, upon signing an eight-year contract to coach the Maple Leafs, Mike Babcock prophesied “There’s pain coming.” Just over halfway into the term, sans playoff round victory in all that time, those words ring true with the coach’s dismissal. Babcock was summarily relieved of his duties on Wednesday afternoon, less than 24 hours after his now former team went down to its fifth consecutive regulation defeat, and sixth loss in a row overall.
Another Day in Quicksand: Why Refusing Help is Only for the Weak
Jonathan Iilahti is a 27 year old goalie from Vaasa, Finland. Drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in 2010, he represented the Finnish Junior National teams and won a U-18 WC bronze medal in 2010. Has played for Espoo Blues, Vaasa Sport and KalPa Kuopio in the Finnish top league. During the last few years we’ve seen a huge amount of progress in goaltending. A lot of it is thanks to the improvements in the physical: goalie specific off-ice training, gear, vision training, etc.
Why Connor McDavid is lethal to goaltenders: an in-net perspective
On opening night, Connor McDavid scored three goals — putting up a natural hat trick in his first game of the season, the first player to do so since Radim Vrbata pulled off the feat in 2013 (and only the second since 1944. From a player-to-player perspective, McDavid’s talent is immeasurable. He’s so much faster than his opponents that he, at one point, made two Calgary defenders — one of which isn’t exactly known for being a lead foot — look like they were practically standing still.
Kaskisuo SZN: Maple Leafs Place Michael Hutchinson on Waivers
Through the first month and change of the 2019-20 season, very few goaltenders have struggled quite like Maple Leafs backup Michael Hutchinson. The 29-year-old former Winnipeg Jets prospect has posted an abysmal .879 save percentage through his first six appearances of the year, averaging nearly 4.5 goals against per game, going 0-4-1 in credited results, and -5.90 Goals Saved Above Average at even strength alone.
The Adam Werner - Pavel Francouz tandem is Colorado’s first big goalie test
The news that Philipp Grubauer is a bit banged up is, for the Colorado Avalanche, some fairly shocking territory to enter we move into the second week of November. It was announced on Thursday that prospect goaltender Adam Werner, drafted by Colorado with the 131st overall pick in 2016, has been recalled to the NHL to fill in for an injured Grubauer.
William Nylander isn't going anywhere (so please, stop the madness)
If pundits are to be believed, William Nylander’s time as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs is dangerously close to its end. We’ve been hearing about this since last year. There were constant radio hits declaring him as lazy, or selfish, or short-sighted, or soft. He was too self-centred to be a part of a team that just needed him to take a nice discount, and teams were told to prepare offers to get him off of Toronto’s hands. Now, we’ve all but come full circle.
After Stellar Season Darcy Kuemper Poised For Team Canada Debut
A native of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, 27-year-old Darcy Kuemper comes from a nation of goaltending powerhouses. Although the gap is closing, the percentage of NHL goaltenders that have come from Canada remains significant. Of the 95 goaltenders who ended up appearing on an NHL roster during the 2017-18 season, 39 are Canadian-born; with those kinds of numbers, the national team remains saturated with talent year after year. For the first time, though, Kuemper has risen to the top of the pack.
Hitting the right notes: The different tastes in music that fuel these Coyotes
Music: It’s a touchy subject. Getting people to talk about their favorite music is one of the trickier things to do. We treat our musical tastes as parts of our identities, bonding over favorite songs and nursing our wounds when someone makes fun of our affinity for certain genres. No one wants to be seen as a cliche, but we all crave validation, too. If people don’t like our music, it can almost feel like they don’t like us.
Three’s company: How Eric Comrie’s arrival only enhances Arizona’s goaltending depth
The NHL community still hasn’t seemed to fully embrace the idea that teams roll tandems of goaltenders instead of one lone franchise starter. So when the Arizona Coyotes claimed Winnipeg Jets goaltender Eric Comrie off waivers on Oct. 1, meaning they started the season with three goaltenders on their NHL roster, the collective internet really broke out the tinfoil hats.
Behind the Save: Why Darcy Kuemper is one of Arizona’s brightest pieces this year
Darcy Kuemper lost the season opener for the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night. On paper, it was a frustrating way to start the season for a fanbase ravenous to finally get things going again. It was head coach Rick Tocchet’s third opening night at the helm — two of them against the Anaheim Ducks — and his third straight loss. The power play failed to record a single shot on its lone opportunity, and the famed penalty kill didn’t manage to get things done, either.
Forks up: How Eddie Lack and ASU hockey found a match made in heaven
Eddie Lack doesn’t mind the heat. If the biggest draw for moving to Arizona is the amazing winters, perhaps the biggest deterrent is the summers. It can get up to 48 degrees Celsius (a cool 120 degrees Fahrenheit, roughly) in the summer and stay well above the 100-Fahrenheit threshold for entire week-long stretches. Even people born and raised in the desert sometimes struggle with it.
‘It’s not all about the split save’: How Ivan Prosvetov’s game has truly hit its stride
In 2017, Russian-born goaltending gymnast Ivan Prosvetov cartwheeled and grinned his way across the globe to North America. Standing at a lanky 6 feet 5 and just 178 pounds, Prosvetov quickly made a name for himself in North America — first with the NAHL’s Minnesota Magicians, then with the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms and then again with the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit. He would somersault his way to center ice after a win, and cartwheel in the crease to wave at the fans.
Coyotes training camp prospect watch: Kevin Bahl
On paper, Coyotes defender Kevin Bahl doesn’t exactly look like the kind of player whose skating you’d watch and want to put at the top of your scouting report. Listed at 6 feet 6 and 229 pounds, the 19-year-old 2018 second-round pick embodies the hulking, physical defender stereotype that teams salivated over for years — but have moved away from in the past handful of seasons, opting to embrace a new style of defense that emphasizes gap control and puck movement over physicality.
The training overhaul that brought Sergei Bobrovsky back to the top
New Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky spent the last three weeks in August working out at the Finnish Ice Hockey Association’s main training facility in Vierumäki, a small village about 120 kilometers north of Helsinki in Finland’s southern region. This was the fourth straight summer that Bobrovsky, who turns 31 on Sept.
Is Philipp Grubauer ready for an NHL starter’s workload?
The Colorado Avalanche took a massive gamble when they opted to walk away from starter Semyon Varlamov for good this summer. Based on the statistical success of the team at the end of the 2018-19 season, it wasn’t exactly a blind gamble.
Colorado Avalanche Top 25 Under 25 Number 22: Justus Annunen
The Top 25 Under 25 is a collaboration by members of the Mile High Hockey community. Eleven writers and 480 readers ranked players under the age of 25 as of September 1, 2019 in the Colorado Avalancheorganization. Each participant used their own metric of current ability and production against future projection to rank each player. Now, we’ll count down each of the 25 players ranked. When people describe Finnish-born goaltender Justus Annunen, they typically use two words: calm and big.
Colorado Avalanche Top 25 Under 25 Number 23: Adam Werner
The Top 25 Under 25 is a collaboration by members of the Mile High Hockey community. Eight writers and 320 readers ranked players under the age of 25 as of September 1, 2018 in the Colorado Avalanche organization. Each participant used their own metric of current ability and production against future projection to rank each player. Now, we’ll count down each of the 25 players ranked.
Starters and spot-seekers: A complete guide to the Arizona Coyotes goaltending pipeline
In the NHL, a team’s goaltending depth chart can make or break their entire season. Just a few years ago, the Los Angeles Kings found themselves so depleted at the position that they had to sign their development coach to back up his own son — who was also on a try-out contract — at the AHL level.
Colorado has chance to boost Goalie depth with Miska pick-up
Goaltender Hunter Miska surprised some college hockey fans when he decided to go pro after just one season with the University of Minnesota-Duluth. He didn’t make the decision lightly, though, with his father Todd explaining in an interview to InGoal Magazine in the summer of 2017 that the elder Miska had been diagnosed with cancer the year prior and his son had hoped to ensure he saw a pro game no matter the outcome.
Lawson Crouse is Arizona’s most underrated fan favorite (and he’s just getting started)
In a draft class that already boasts 12 players with 100-plus points (and one who, at his current clip, will probably eclipse the 1,000-point mark before he’s 30), it can seem a little hard to get excited about Lawson Crouse and his 38 career NHL points. Drafted 11th overall by the Florida Panthers in 2015, Crouse was the prototypical power forward of his draft class.
Coyotes camp invite Sean Dhooghe is changing the mold for small players
It can be easy to look at Sean Dhooghe’s stats on paper and assume there’s been a typo. Even Dhooghe admits that. When he sat down to talk during the Arizona Coyotes development camp the final week of June, he wasn’t shy about cracking jokes regarding the rather undersized elephant in the room — his height. “Any time someone looks at the roster before a game, it’s pretty hard for them to believe,” the Illinois-born forward said.
Sergei Bobrovksy's massive Florida deal headlines blockbuster day for goalie moves
The goaltending carousel went for a maximum-velocity spin on July 1st this year, with almost every big free agent name on the board heading to new organizations and a handful of surprises moving on to new rosters for the upcoming season as well.
The Unflinching Optimism Of Florida's James Reimer
Sometimes, a goaltender has an easier night facing 30 shots than facing 15. James Reimer knows this. He even pointed it out after the surprising 3-2 comeback win he posted against the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday night; sometimes, those heavier workloads can make things a little easier in the long run. Still, there’s no way to call his first period of the night on Tuesday ‘easy’.
Avalanche show scouting smarts with late selection of G Trent Miner
When all was said and done on day two of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, a collective 22 goaltenders were taken by the 31 clubs over all seven rounds. It was a surprisingly top-heavy goaltending draft, as nine goaltenders went in the first three rounds alone — as many as went in the first four the year prior. But then no goaltenders went selected in round four this year at all, and only 13 ended up getting selected in rounds five through seven.
2019 NHL Draft Prospect Profile: Hugo Alnefelt
2019 NHL Draft Prospect Profile: Hugo Alnefelt The bulk of the attention ahead of the draft has gone to a small handful of goaltenders, with Spencer Knight leading the charge and fast…... This content is for Subscriber (Non-recurring) and Subscriber (Recurring) members only. Log In Register
2019 NHL Draft Prospect Profile: Spencer Knight
Image: USHL.com 2019 NHL Draft Prospect Profile: Spencer Knight There’s a hesitation in the hockey world to draft goaltenders in the first round. Since the start of the draft, just 64 first-round selections have…... This content is for Subscriber (Non-recurring) and Subscriber (Recurring) members only. Log In Register
2019 NHL Draft Prospect Profile: Pyotr Kochetkov
Image: chlcanadarussia.ca 2019 NHL Draft Prospect Profile: Pyotr Kochetkov This is Pyotr Kochetkov’s last year to potentially get drafted, and he’s been overlooked twice now — not normally a sign of a player teams…... This content is for Subscriber (Non-recurring) and Subscriber (Recurring) members only. Log In Register
2019 NHL Draft Prospect Profile: Mads Sogaard
Image: Colton McKee 2019 NHL Draft Prospect Profile: Mads Sogaard The world of goaltending prospects is one fraught with uncertainty and lack of consensus, so we’re as likely to see Mads Sogaard – the Danish…... This content is for Subscriber (Non-recurring) and Subscriber (Recurring) members only. Log In Register
Morning Flurries: Barstool Bruins
The Colorado Avalanche may be gearing up for the draft now, but the Stanley Cup playoffs are still in full swing for another few games — and it wouldn’t be a Stanley Cup Final without a controversy or two. The NHL has already managed to incite more complaints about officiating with the inconsistency displayed throughout the postseason, including a hit in Game 1 by Torey Krug that sparked plenty of discussion online.
Adam Werner’s entry-level deal adds another promising project to depth chart
Proud and excited to sign my first NHL contract with the @Avalanche. Thanks to my family, friends, teammates and coaches who have supported me along the way #goavsgo — Adam Werner (@awerner30) May 14, 2019 When Adam Werner was drafted by the Colorado Avalanche in 2016, he joined one of the league’s most barren prospect cupboards at his position.
Colorado Avalanche Game Day: Coming Home
The Colorado Avalanche didn’t clinch their post-season berth until Game 81 of the regular season, coming down to the wire in a white-hot race with the Arizona Coyotes for the final Wild Card spot in the West. It seemed as if that kind of snuck entrance into the postseason was a recipe for an early exit, especially against a team that seemed to dominate in the conference all year long — the Calgary Flames.
BEST VANCOUVER MEDIA GUY
I remember walking over to Botchford during the first intermission of the Arizona Coyotes-Vancouver Canucks game in Glendale this spring. It feels selfish to write something about Botch using the word ‘I’, like somehow shifting the goalposts to center a tragedy around myself instead of the 48-year-old ball of frenetic energy that gave a fanbase entertainment and consolation in the years they needed it most.
Round Two Preview: Colorado Avalanche look to keep rolling against the Sharks
The second round of the NHL playoffs are finally set to get underway for the Colorado Avalanche. It’s been an entire week since the Avs eliminated the top seed in the Western Conference, so the team should be well rested and ready to get the series with the San Jose Sharks underway. The Avalanche destroyed more than a few playoff brackets when the handily disposed of the Calgary Flames in the opening round.
Round one review: How Philipp Grubauer figured it out in the nick of time
If the Colorado Avalanche had put out an anonymous-respondent poll at the turn of the new year, asking for fans to rank the goaltenders they’d feel confident icing in the postseason, Philipp Grubauer would have been at the top of no one’s list. He may not have even been second, losing faith in favor of Pavel Francouz for a big stretch of the middle of the season. Of course, that sentiment has gone by the wayside almost entirely.
Game 5: Leafs 2, Bruins 1 - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
The Leafs are within a game of advancing to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs after outlasting the Bruins 2-1 on Friday night at TD Garden. In a near perfect road game, Toronto neutralized Boston’s Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, holding each of them pointless. The Good Auston Matthews extended his playoff goal streak to three games, breaking a goalless deadlock at 11:33 of the third period. The Bruins challenged for goalie interference, to no avail.
Darren Pang talks Darcy Kuemper, backups and valuable lessons learned
The Arizona Coyotes were almost no one’s favorite to make the playoffs. A few statistical prediction models had them earning a spot in the dance, and they curried favor with a handful of analysts, but there were too many questions to have earned resounding confidence. And then, when goaltender Antti Raanta went down for the season before the year was even halfway over, it really seemed like they were finished.
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