Bio updates:
I'm finished.... I'm actually finished. Definitely the most extensive set of bios I've ever done. that was 1,255 photos of pages of books and magazines turned into text for your future research. A few notes:
Brian Rolston. - one of the most successful penalty killing wingers of all-time, and has a legit case to be on an ATD powerplay (I might still put him there myself). I knew about his speed and his big shot and his defensive skill, but I wasn't aware he was considered such an enigma in New Jersey. At the ATD level, he's a specialist. There were guys I wanted over him to play the "two-way LW on the 4th line, center on PK2" role, but in the end I am very pleased I got him.
Bernie Nicholls. Mainly a scorer, but far from one-dimensional. Developed quite the defensive game later in his career. Was very Patrick Kane-like until around 1990, just with the personality, the clutch reputation, the flash and the enthusiasm. I often bristle at the notion that Turgeon and Nicholls are on the same tier, because Turgeon's offense was a clear cut above, but Nicholls did have a lot more substance to his game. You could call him a poor man's Jeremy Roenick.
Miikka Kiprusoff. He went from having an excellent 2012 to a brutal 2013 and was promptly ditched, but just about the entire time from 2004 to 2012 he was considered a high end, often elite, starting goaltender. For whatever reason he had faded from my radar the last few years and it was nice to get a reminder of what he meant to the Flames and how highly regarded he was, particularly from 2004 (when THN picked him for the vezina) to 2006 (when they named him the NHL's top player).
Brian Bellows. This one was extremely eye opening to me for a few reasons. First, as I took photos for my bios, a few passages caught my eye about him having defensive issues around 1990-1992. That stuck in my head and caused me to rate him very low on that defensive hierarchy I did a couple pages ago. But that was actually just a small part of his career. He matured defensively under Demers in Montreal and his greater attention to backchecking helped him remain in the NHL longer. But the biggest surprise was that from the time he was drafted, through around 1987, Bellows was like Jonathan Toews version 1.0. He was extremely highly regarded for his maturity, leadership, and all-around game. I didn't know this at all, because it was before my time, so it was really entertaining to get this all typed out. by 1987 though, he had clashed with a coach, been criticized for selfishness and poor defense, and suddenly all that goodwill from early in his career was forgotten. He got over it, and by the time I saw him win the cup in 1993 he was in the middle - neither a respected leader nor a headcase, neither great nor poor defensively, just a solid, gritty veteran who could score and muck. Seriously though, read what players, coaches and pundits thought of Brian Bellows for the first 5 years of his career. Who knew?
Al Arbour. I had seen some passages in the photos I took a month ago, so I was extremely excited to do this bio, more than any other one, even though he's just a spare. The language used to describe Al Arbour's defensive ability is perhaps more superlative than any other defenseman I've ever profiled. The dude was a pure stud defensively. Like Tom Johnson, this is a really good example of a bio bringing a guy's game to life. I hope this one gets some eyeballs. There's so much about the way he played, and how he was regarded, both within the AHL, and by experts in the NHL who wondered why the heck he wasn't there.
Mike Ridley. Ridley filled a need for my squad - If I lost a defensive or penalty killing center I wanted one who could fill in there, while also being a good ES scorer. Ridley fit the bill. He was pretty much a flawless player who, on the downside, was also not exceptional in any one area.
) had to go to game 7 twice (including at least one OT) to get our of his (my) own division. 
