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Great news as reported by CBC's Ron MacLean:
Legendary play-by-play man Bob Cole will return to his broadcast booth next season!
Oh baby! @RonMacLeanCBC with some good news, you'll hear Bob Cole next season on #hockeynight. His 46th season!
— HockeyNightInCanada (@hockeynight) June 2, 2014
I happen to love Bob Cole's work. He's a Canadian institution.
What a voice!
"You're damn right I'll be back! Everything is going on!" pic.twitter.com/FYVZCsD6Lk
— Mike Richards (@MikeRichardsTSN) June 2, 2014
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Slick center Samuel Bennett graded out as #1 on NHL Central Scouting's final list of North American skaters who are eligible for the NHL Entry Draft later this month in Philly.
Bennett has turned heads on the rink this season with his unique suite of talents that include great speed, a man streak a mile long, moves like Jagger, playmaking, and the ability to light the lamp. Bennett's perceived value and draft stock could not have been higher heading into the NHL Scouting Combine. He's a shoe-in to be a top three pick. The thought process is that Florida will select stud D-man Aaron Ekblad #1 overall. Buffalo will be looking to add scoring and playmaking with its #2 pick and Bennett and Sam Reinhart are high on their draft boards. Edmonton will select third, unless it trades away its pick. Sabres GM Tim Murray and all other NHL dignitaries present at the scouting combine in Toronto on Saturday learned that the 17 year old Bennett will need to immediately address his strength before he can make his mark in the NHL.
Bennett didn't perform well in one key area of his eleven fitness testing stations: pull-ups. Bennett struggled so badly that he could not complete one pull-up.
Smoke? Fire?
Its shocking to me that a high-end athlete like Bennett could not complete one pull-up. Is it the worst thing in the world? No, certainly not. The kid has so much talent and potential that he can make NHL talent evaluators look the other way regarding his poor pull-ups performance.
NHL Director of Central Scouting Dan Marr told NHL.com that he is confident that Bennett's pull-up gaffe will not be held against him by NHL talent evaluators at the Entry Draft.
"The fact he can play the game the way he plays the game, I think teams feel he's a pretty complete package and the combine process allows teams to fill in any blanks," Marr said. "The team that will get Sam Bennett knows what work is needed and they'll be able to put him on the proper path for development."
Translation: Bennett will have to spend more time in Kingston developing improving his physical fitness and strength. Some prospects like Aaron Ekblad for example are ready to transition directly from juniors to the NHL. Ekblad has the size, skill, smarts, and strength to make the easy transition. Bennett? He's going to need more time in the hockey incubator in Kingston.
Ekbald said Saturday that he believes that he is ready to play in the NHL next season.
"That's the way I believe in myself," he said. "I wouldn't say I'm cocky but I'm confident and I believe that if I work hard and do all the little things, pay attention to details, I can be in that League next year."
Ekblad is ranked # 2 behind Bennett on NHL Central Scouting's final list of the top North American skaters for the 2014 NHL Draft. In 58 games this season, the 6'3, 215 lb. Ekblad led all OHL D-men with 23 goals and tied for fifth with 53 points
By comparison, Bennett will have to make an investment in his strength quotient this summer. A good place for him to start is enrolling in fitness guru Gary Roberts' program in Toronto.
Bennett wrote a blog on NHL.com about his NHL Scouting Combine experience:
I got up around 8 a.m. (Saturday) and went down for some breakfast and at the time I thought it would be a good idea to get some real food into me. But after the two bike tests, I didn't hold down my breakfast too well.
It was definitely a lot harder than I was expecting but it was interesting to see how hard I could push myself. There were a few new tests this year. I enjoyed the Pro Agility Test since I've done tests like that before so I was pretty comfortable with that and I think I did pretty well too.
This whole experience has been unbelievable. My favorite part of it was the meetings with all the teams; just listening and hearing what they had to say was pretty cool, to know what they thought of me in the draft this year. Moving forward, I still have a few more meetings with teams so I think I'll remain busy with that.
I will be working out all summer and I'll start that up again next week. I have a great trainer who is really specific with his training and I definitely have a lot of faith in him to be working with me and getting me ready for the NHL next year.
Ranked second by NHL Central Scouting on its final list of the top North American skaters for the 2014 NHL Draft, Ekblad has reason to be confident. In 58 games this season, the 6-foot-3, 213-pounder led all Ontario Hockey League defensemen with 23 goals and tied for fifth with 53 points
Murray and Ted Nolan have stated that they are in the process of building a big, strong team that can play the two styles that are en vogue in today's NHL: Heavy and skilled. See the LA Kings, Anaheim Ducks, Boston Bruins for a point of reference. Murray likes big forwards who are equal parts skill and snarl. Earlier this week, Murray re-signed Nic Delauriers to a two year contract extension. On Saturday, he added Nick Baptiste to the organizational depth chart. Marcus Foligno will be relied upon to take his game to the next level and will play a large role for Ted Nolan next season and beyond. The Sabres admire Zemgus Girgensons for his size, skill, and snarl. Cody Hodgson made strong progress when moved from center to the wing late in the season and he upped his game at the recently complete IIHF Worlds. Mikhail Grigorenko and Joel Armia will add size, strength and skill to Nolan's roster in the near future. Murray didn't draft or acquire the aforementioned forwards. He's about to make his first draft acquisitions with all of the premium picks that he and Darcy Regier have accumulated. Murray is not in the business of throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what stucks to it. He has to make a huge impact at the June Entry Draft. He needs to take ownership of a sizable centerman who can compete with Crosby, Malkin, Staal, Giroux, Bergeron, Spezza, and the other dominant centers who call the Eastern Conference their homes. Look at Getzlaf and Perry in Anaheim as two key examples of Murray's ideal style of forward. Murray has a choice of other heavy, skilled forwards in this draft class. Leon Draisaitl (6'1 205), Michael Dal Colle (6'2 185), Jake Virtanen (6'2 210), Nick Ritchie (6'3 225), and Brendan Perlini (6'3 205). Sam Reinhart (6'1 185) may now be Buffalo's center of choice in this draft. Or, it could be Draisaitl.
Murray and his scouts have four weeks to debate and discuss all of the intel that they gathered by interviewing the youngsters at the NHL Scouting Combine. They will also review the fitness testing scores of all prospects.
Can Bennett mature physically to the point where he can play the heavy NHL game? I don't have a crystal ball and can't predict the future. Nor does Murray. The entry draft is a scientific wild ass guess for teams who select players and hope that they can live up to the high expectations.
Sam Reinhart may well have improved his position with the Buffalo Sabres by virtue of his respectable fitness training results at the Combine. Maybe the Sabres have seen enough of Bennett to know what type of player he is. Who cares if he couldn't do a couple of pull-ups in front of a couple hundred observers in a hotel ball room in Toronto in the month of May.
Thanks, Sabres.com
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