Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Season Preview: Brent Sopel

Honestly, I'm not really sure what to write about Brent Sopel. I know he wore the A for a good part of last year and seems to be a good guy to have on your favorite team, but I've never really paid attention to him? So why am I writing about him? Because he was next on the list.. so fuck it..

Lets learn about Sopel together... Sopel had 1 goal, 19 assists, a +9 rating, 28 PIM... What he did do though, is lead the team in blocked shots with 122. I really feel that's an underrated stat - I'll have to check with The Forechecker though to see what he says about it since he's a stat guy.

What Sopel does bring to the ice is a veteran presence to our insanely young team. He's a smart player who you won't see making many of the mistakes someone like Seabrook will be making. Sopel will help develop the younger players (which is the main reason he was given an A for last year). I'd expect him to see him paired up with Campbell as long as Savard doesn't break up the Keith/Seabrook pairing. If Savy does, then expect to see some combination of Seabrook, Keith, Campbell and Sopel. These are our best 4 on D and will be a pretty solid group on the Blueline.

One interesting thing I did learn while doing "research" for this, which mostly included watching the Daily Show and drinking, is that someone like Sopel enough to create a website entirely devoted to him... seriously. Evidently he's a "man of style" which is good to know.. maybe he and Avery can teach us how to dress sharp

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