The On Deck Circle

This article has been submitted by Stu Wilkinson and is a weekly feature.

Let’s take a gander at the NHL’s goal scoring leader board and the impressive names in the top ten. Established stars like Iginla, Lecavalier, Zetterberg, and Gaborik are up there with young guns like Ovechkin, Geno Malkin, and Ilya Kovalchuk. Dany Heatley and Daniel Alfredsson also make the top ten, so at least Senators fans have something to show for this season other than their team’s playoff “run.” Finally, there’s some joker named Brad Boyes clocking in at a tie for fifth (with Zetterberg) with 43 goals scored during the 2007-08 NHL season.

I’m a straight shooter in the same vein as John McCain, so I’ll get right to the point. I had no idea who Brad Boyes was before checking the NHL goal scoring race to see how many goals Geno would need in his last game to pass Ovechkin in the race for the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy (he needed eighteen and got zero). In response to my complete ignorance of a man who is clearly one of the better players in the NHL, I have devoted my life to either learning the intricacies of drinking games with profane names or boning up on my Brad Boyes knowledge. The result: A battered liver, a life with no discernable direction, and the following two paragraphs.

Brad Boyes will be 26 on April 17th (woah, that’s tomorrow). He was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs, an organization notorious for finding top-level talent in the NHL Entry Draft. He’s been traded to the San Jose Sharks for Owen Nolan, the Boston Bruins for Jeff Jillson, and the St. Louis Blues for Dennis Wideman. Before his NHL career, way back in 1998, he won the prestigious North American Roller Hockey Championship. In his rookie year with the Bruins he made the NHL’s All-Rookie team, so the Bruins immediately traded him to St. Louis, where he has flourished anonymously.

I have no idea how Boyes scored 43 goals. I don’t recall seeing a Brad Boyes highlight on TSN’s “SportCentre.” I haven’t heard his name shouted out by Steve Kouleas on The Score’s “Hardcore Hockey Talk” (actually the greatest thing on television not named “The Gauntlet” or “PBA Tour Bowling”). A couple weeks ago, if you asked me to name some members of the St. Louis Blues organization, he wouldn’t have made the cut. Yet here he is with 43 goals and his very own Gary Roberts Wednesday. Well played Brad Boyes. I salute you.

Oh yeah, and the Leafs suck for not keeping him. But at least Jason Blake gets a lot of shots on net! And look at how well Owen Nolan is playing for Calgary!

Inside the Numbers
43 goals
22 assists to boot
1 OHL award for being the “Most Gentlemanly Player”
2 teams have traded him before he touched the ice for them
69 just because

This article has been submitted by Stu Wilkinson and is a weekly feature.