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The Rookie Issue 2020
It’s THN’s Rookie Issue, focusing on the NHL’s best freshmen. Inside you'll find features on Cale Makar, Quinn Hughes, Jack Hughes, Kaapo Kakko, Ethan Bear, Nikita Gusev, Thatcher Demko, Victor Olofsson, Blake Lizotte, and a Rookie Watch for each of the 31 teams. Also in the issue: How Akil Thomas went from fourth-liner to world juniors hero; an oral history of the Miracle movie; why it's the season of the comeback in the NHL; Jonathan Huberdeau Vs. Gabriel Landeskog; and more.
SMALL-TOWN BOY, BIG-LEAGUE DREAMS
LINDSTROM, MINN., POPULATION 4,442, is the kind of idyllic small town that seems to exist only in movies on The Hallmark Channel, while favorite son Blake Lizotte has had the kind of career that typically happens only in Disney’s inspirational sports films. If anyone ever does make a movie about the 5-foot-7, 172-pound Lizotte, it should be required viewing for every undersized kid, in every undersized town, who skates on an undersized back pond. His story begins with two appearances for Chisago Lakes High School in Minnesota’s fabled high-school hockey tournament, includes unexpected twists and turns and culminates with an NHL home in Los Angeles. “Every kid in Minnesota plays on their back ponds, dreaming of being able to play in (the state high-school) tournament,” Lizotte said. “It’s a pretty big…
GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM
MAYBE IT WAS THE guy who looked like a biker, whose vest featured patches of hockey teams instead of skulls. Or maybe it was the fact the small but strong contingent of fans at the world juniors already had more supporters chants than Canada (my favorite being the one set to Go West by the Village People, though I have no idea what they were saying), but I think the future of German hockey is looking bright right now. The Germans showed well in Ostrava, getting points in the ‘Group of Death’ with Canada, Russia, Team USA and the host Czechs, but this is not a one-year wonder team. No longer is Germany dependent on one star, like a Leon Draisaitl. This team had depth, and it will continue to do…
Jersey HOUND
COLGATE RAIDERS | 2019-20 IT’S REFRESHING WHEN A team comes out with a new jersey that looks timeless. That’s what the women’s team at NCAA Colgate has accomplished with this sweet sweater, which looks like a throwback but is actually a new creation this season. While the university’s primary logo is a block ‘C’ that is still worn by the men’s side, the women have this excellent ‘C’ that looks like it could’ve been worn by a pre-Original Six NHL team. Given how much maroon and dark red can be found in the U.S. college ranks, this jersey stands out in a positive way. Here’s hoping they keep the look for a long time.…
In the CARDS
SABRES GM PUNCH IMLACH was so bored during the 1974 NHL amateur draft that he decided to have some fun and select a fictitious player named Taro Tsujimoto in the 11th round. Tsujimoto, Imlach claimed, was a center on a Japanese team called the Tokyo Katanas. League president Clarence Campbell fell for the ruse, and Tsujimoto’s name was listed as a Buffalo draft pick in the NHL Guide and Record Book that fall. Eventually, Imlach fessed up to his shenanigans, and Tsujimoto became an inside joke among Sabres fans. Nearly four decades later, Panini America paid homage to Punch’s prank and issued a Tsujimoto card, using a photo of an unknown player on the front and even fabricating a biography on the back. The card is almost as elusive as…
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