Luke Schenn remembers what it was like being a stranger in a strange land – at age 18
PEOPLE MIGHT REFER to Toronto as the center of the hockey world, but it can still be a pretty unfamiliar place to an 18 – year – old from Saskatchewan.
I attended my first Leafs camp just a few months after the team drafted me fifth overall in 2008. Its hard to explain all the emotions that run through your body and the thoughts that race through your mind when, all of a sudden, youre going into the corner with guys youve grown up watching on TV.

When it comes to young prospects at their first camp, 1 think the easiest thing to overlook from an outside perspective is the fact youre often a million miles from home with a bunch of guys who, even though youve obviously heard of them, you dont really know any of them. The faces might be familiar, but they still belong to strangers.

After a pre – lockout rut where the sport was all but unwatchable, the NHL once again titillates with its exciting play
CANT SAY I EVER BEGAN to hate, or even dislike, NHL hockey, but theres little doubt my enthusiasm for it hit its nadir somewhere between the mid – 1990s and the early 2000s.
I remember hearing former THN colleague Mike Brophy talk about how excited he was about the coming season and I would be jealous, almost resentful, that I didnt even approach feeling the same way. And the playoffs were a two – month marathon, something to be endured, not enjoyed, lhe prospect of sitting through countless, uneventful overtime periods was something to be approached with a sense of dread, not anticipation.

The lowest point came during the lockout. I realized very quickly that I didnt miss the NHL one bit. But the crucial moment came well after the season was cancelled. I was working at the Toronto Star at the time and had been assigned to the Toronto Rock beat, covering the local team in the National Lacrosse League.

Jacob Markstrom has made a name for himself in Sweden and on the world stage. Now its the AHLs turn.
CONSIDERING HIS BLOODLINES,
Jacob Markstrom was pretty much born to be a goalie.
Just not in hockey.

His father, Anders, was a goalkeeper on the soccer pitch, as is his older brother, Tim, who with played the 2010 season with Sandvikens IF in Swedens Division 2.
Jacob also was a goalkeeper in soccer. But somewhere around age 15, the younger Markstrom decided to stick with hockey.

THE NHL MAY
very well be firmly ensconced at No. 4 in the American sporting consciousness, but no other league can even come close to duplicating its enduring symbol of excellence. The Stanley Cup has an anthropomorphic quality about il that sets it apart. Its big, its beautiful and it looks really cool when you hold il over your head.

The trophies for the three other major professional sports are made at a place called Tiffany & Co., an outfit in New York where rich people buy their diamonds. Pfft. The Vince Lombardi Trophy weighs seven pounds. You could take somebodys friggin eye out with the World Series Trophy. Try taking a drink out of the Larry OBrien Trophy sometime and let us know how that works out.

After back – to – back championships by the Hershey Bears, theyre no sure thing this season.
IN DEFERENCE TO the two – time defending champions, let us indulge in a respectful yawn as we say the Hershey Bears again have a target on their backs.
Hershey won last seasons East Division by 29 points, earning 17 more wins than second – place Albany. That is no small amount in an 80 – game season.
At 60 wins and 123 points, the Bears were the best team in the Eastern Conference by 19 points and eight points better than Western Conference – champion Hamilton for first overall.
In the post – season, it was a relatively easy walk en route to the first back – to – back championships in nearly 20 years, the six – game final over Texas won with punctuation after dropping the first two games at home.

But let the yawning stop there, since a Chocolatetown Cakewalk in 2010-11 appears to be anything but assured, given how some league rivals are, well, freshly loaded for bear.