Dog Days Of Summer, So Let's Talk Tavares!

It's August 16th. It's a pretty ugly time of the year to be a hockey fan. All the best free agents are signed, the draft is done, and there is no training camp for another few weeks. We are seeing blogs written about ticket sale events and ice girl tryouts. Not exactly hard hitting stuff. But what are you gonna do? That's the life of a hockey fan in August. So I am at a little bit of a log jam at what to write about. Too early to do a season preview and too late to talk about what free agents to sign. So I thought I would take a look at our newest star John Tavares.

As I stated in my previous blog, I really do not have much knowledge on his past. I have, like almost everyone else, checked out some of his video's on You Tube, but that is the extent to which I have seen him play. Never have I seen him play live, not even at the World Juniors because they weren't televised here in the United States.

I did a little research to see what kind of player he was in Juniors and what kind of player we can expect him to be his rookie year and the type of player he will be long term. Let's look at the negatives first. The only thing I seem to find negative about him is his skating and his defensive ability. But it is never said that he is a bad skater; just that he is not a fast skater. It also is said that his defensive ability has improved greatly over that past couple of years. That is why his goal scoring total's have been down that past two years, because he has been focusing on learning the defensive aspect of the game. If the only things people can find subpar about his game are things he is either working on or are really not that bad (his skating), then, in the words of Quagmire, "I like where this is going."

His positives are his natural goal scoring ability and his natural hockey sense. He is also said to have uncanny anticipation and he is an underrated passer who has recently added a physical aspect to his game. His goal scoring is the obvious skill set of his that the Islanders are most lacking. But just having a natural ability to score goals does not make you a successful NHL player. Just go ask Jeff Tambellini how his natural ability has been helping him make it in the NHL. The scouting on Tavares seems to say he has the things that cannot be taught: anticipation and natural hockey sense. Anticipation is what players like Gretzky and Crosby possess. They can see the play before it happens. Knowing where to be one or two seconds ahead of everyone else on the ice is a major advantage in the NHL. In a fast paced game like hockey, being a second or two ahead of everyone else makes all the difference in the world. And it's not just anticipating where he should be, but being able to anticipate where his linemates will be. This is where his underrated passing abilities can be shown. A natural hockey sense is something that cannot be taught as well. This is just knowing what to do in certain situations. It is being able to read the play without needing to think about it. His insant reactions are correct. Knowing when he should shoot instead of pass, or pass instead of shoot. How many times do you see someone come down one a 2 on 1 and either make pass too late and the defenseman breaks up the play, or they wait to long to make a pass and they do not get a quality shot. Someone who has a natural sense of the game can read these situation's and make the right decision.

I am not going to try and predict what kind of long term player Tavares is going to be. Like I said, I have never seen him play. Let me see him play a few times before I label him for his entire career! Just kidding. But I am more worried about his rookie year. Based on what I have read, it seems to me that he could have a huge season. But also he could have a season where his numbers may not be that great, but learns what he needs to learn to have his future numbers be great. And that is what I am looking for this year. Even if he scores 40 goals this year, the Islanders are not going to be a playoff team. I want him to do what it takes to make his long term success the best. If that means he only scores 15 goals this year, but learns invaluable lessons from players like Weight, Park and Steit, then I will consider his rookie season a success.

Either way this season will be all about Tavares. I am just going to sit back and enjoy the ride. Is it October 3rd yet??