OTT No. 12: Rating the Rookies and a Congrats to an NHL Legend

Hey guys,

I know, I have got to start writing more than once a month and I will. The NHL season as well as WWE's schedule are now picking up, so expect my take on things weekly.

Let's start this version of On The Take, our 12th one, with a couple words about the NHL milestone reached this week by Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils.

Brodeur, who missed 50 games due to injury this season, was once known as the key guy for the Devils. Without him, New Jersey wouldn't win a game, let alone a series, many pundits have said over his career.

They have had good reason: The stalwart has never missed a sustained amount of time due to injury his entire career, after making it big during the 1994 playoffs. He's always been a workhorse, often playing 75 or more games of the team's 82 game schedule. But then he went down.

The Devils saviour, Scott Clemmensen knew this would probably be his best chance to show his stuff before being relegated to the bench, and he shone. NJ has over 40 wins and less than 20 losses despite losing Brodeur. If anything, now that Marty's back, that makes them even more dangerous.

Brodeur has two shutouts in his first three starts after his return-his most recent one, a 3-0 win over Philedelphia, being his 100th goose egg. Terry Sawchuk, the man with the record 103, was approximately five or six years older when he hit the mark, which bodes well for the Devils' star netminder.

His career still has likely five or so years to go and he's now three shutouts from the legend. He also needs only four victories to tie Patrick Roy for the most wins in NHL history. Both marks are within reach late in the 2008-09 season, so it should be a fun stretch run.

You can't build a legacy overnight, of course. All athletes know this, including those in the WWE. As much as the detractors throw dirt on the "sport," it is still athleticism at its finest and tells great stories, particularly those being told with the company's rookies this past year.

Vladimir Kozlov- Kozlov was a guy who was thrown out there too early and nearly got fired by Vince after his daughter told him she believed he'd been exposed to quickly to the viewers. He was seen in the crowd at last year's Royal Rumble and other PPV events proclaiming he could, "beat anyone in the double double E."

Well, after some seasoning, he was brought up less than half a year ago and has been given a winning streak to start him off. Kozlov spent months complaining he had no competition, squash matches all. Finally, he got some matches with Triple H, Jeff Hardy and most recently, the Undertaker.

He has beaten them all at one point, but I don't really get excited about him. Many fans share my sentiment. It's a little comical that, despite lacking intensity, he does do much of the same things that Goldberg did: high impact offence, quick matches and doesn't get pinned. However, his entrance and that lack of intensity as well as quality moves is what makes fans turn off.

His next contest is with Shawn Michaels tonight on RAW and with any luck, it'll be his first one on one defeat. Kozlov must start adding new moves to his repetoire before he becomes disposable or heaven forbid, the divas get less washroom break quality matches than he does.

Don't laugh—with Mickie, Melina, Beth, Natalya, the eventual return of Gail Kim...the division is slowly building itself back up. Kozlov has shown me nothing new besides bringing back the battering ram finisher that makes me want to tune in.

Ted Dibiase: The son of the Million $ Man has shown much more promise. Unfortunately, he hasn't been much more than a stooge to RKO recently, but his matches have been ok to good. He's on the right track, in other words.

I love the way his finisher does both justice to his father and his own name. Dream Street. Young Ted has found a way to make the submission hold his father used more impactful, so props to him.

He's still a blue-chipper and so long as he and Cody (who is not on this list having had more than a year of experience) take the in-ring cues from Orton, he still has the best chance of breaking Orton's record as the youngest ever World Champion. He's already tasted gold in his first match, so he can either get better or get stuck, like Carlito has. Stay tuned.

Jack Swagger: Want to make an impact? Win your brand's title in your rookie year-and hold on to it. That's exactly what Swagger has done. Early on, I would've said the same thing about Swagger as I have other flashes-good starts, not enough finish.

But many times over the title run he has had he's impressed me. His matches with Finlay (ECW) and Christian (ECW-that's right his weekly ones have been better than his PPV's) have been phenomenal. Absolutely phenomenal.

I say give him more matches with people who can hit hard against a guy with amateur credentials such as him and Swagger will keep his Swagger, if you will.

The Road to WrestleMania has begun. We're less than four weeks away to the biggest show of the year-the 25th Anniversary. We know the legends like HBK, Taker, Austin, Triple H and others will be in Houston.

We know Orton is gonna be there too. We also know the IC title will again—AGAIN!—not be defended at the show of shows. Despite this, I like the look of this card so far. Now comes the sprinkling of the youth.

Which rookies will make the big splash? More importantly which rookies will make a splash worthy of future go's? I guess we'll all have to wait till April 5 to find out. For the first time in a few years, I'm actually pretty excited about the future.

Till next time,

this is your Crowd Coach signing off.