Revisiting The Hockey News Curse

After a red hot start to the 2009-10 season Anze Kopitar was the toast of the league. People everywhere were taking notice that the 2005 first round draft pick was having a breakout year.

Then, it happened. The Hockey News slapped him on the cover and poof, that was it. Instant slump.

Now, before you discount this theory, continue reading. The proof is here. Let it marinate for a minute or two.

When first tackling this issue in January we pointed out several examples of injuries (Joe Sakic, Luke Schenn, Roberto Luongo), poor playoff performances (Joe Thornton, Zdeno Chara) and slumps (Chris Pronger, John Tavares and Michael Del Zotto) linked to players soon after appearing on the cover of the popular magazine.

Sure, Kopitar eventually broke out of his post-cover slump (just five points in 12 games). In fact, about six hours after I wrote the original curse article he went on to post two points against San Jose - his first multi-point night in 23 games. That's a quarter of the season!

The flood gates were open though. In the remaining 18 games leading up to the Olympic break he scored 21 points. Fine, case closed. Or so we thought...

Two Minutes in the Box... with Wayne Simmonds

Whenever trade rumors involving the LA Kings come up lately, one of the first names mentioned is Wayne Simmonds.

And why not? Teams love players like Wayne. He's young, physical, very coachable and continues to improve each season.

Two years ago he burst onto the scene - forcing his way onto the Kings according to coach Terry Murray and GM Dean Lombardi. Last year, in his second NHL season, he posted 16 goals and 40 points (nearly double the output of his rookie campaign, nine goals and 23 points). Even more impressive, he led the team with a +22 rating.

However, he's yet to pick up a point in the first three games so far this season. Perhaps that will change tonight against Vancouver.

Here's two minutes with 'Wayne the Train'...

Over the summer you were on the cover of The Hockey News.  Growing up in Toronto, I'm sure you read that magazine a few times.  What did that mean to you?

I thought it was pretty special, for Chris Stewart (of the Colorado Avalanche) and I to get the cover.  They came and followed us for a day.  We got our story out and it's good for younger people with similar situations to know they can make it, they just need to be positive and they just need to stick to it.

Wayne 'TheTrain' Simmonds - attracting more interest everyday

Just a few weeks ago it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Wayne Simmonds would be changing his number soon. All signs pointed to the Kings signing some Russian winger who scores a lot of goals. That didn't happen. He, sorta, went to the Devils.

Meanwhile, Simmonds, who just completed his second season in Los Angeles, found himself on the cover of The Hockey News this week.

The magazine's article was supplemented online with a video conversation held with Simmonds and the Avs' Chris Stewart, who apparently share a home together in the off-season. A secondary article on the site focuses on their agent, Eustace King, the first and only African-American agent representing NHL players.

In the past, Wayne the Train has been linked to Willie O'Ree - the first player to cross the NHL's color barrier back in 1958. He even read from O'Ree's autobiography for some children visiting the NHL store in New York last year.  Here though, the focus was on two stars of the future, rather than the past.  Stewart and Simmonds are a few of the current poster boys for minorities in hockey...or as the NHL calls it, Hockey is for Everyone.

Regarding the taunts O'Ree had to endure growing up and if he had experienced similar things as a youngster, Simmonds told Helene Elliot of the LA Times "You rarely hear it anymore. But when you're younger you have the ignorant kid that says something because he's not educated or his parents don't teach him, I guess. But now you don't hear anything, and that's good."

Wayne's story isn't just about the color of his skin, it's more about being a hockey player.  This sport is expensive and many parents can't afford to buy the gear necessary for their children to participate - regardless of being black, white or brown.  The Simmonds family found a way to overcome those obstacles and Wayne has repaid them with an ever-growing passion for the game.

His play on the ice continues to improve as well.  Simmonds followed up a strong rookie year by tying for the team lead in goals during the preseason last September - just barely losing out to Anze Kopitar for the first Eddie Joyal Award.