Newsday’s Katie Strang’s article on Isles training camp invitee Brandon Sugden yesterday was a pretty interesting read, eh? It was so interesting that it sent me to Youtube to check out just how deadly this guy actually is with his hands.
Check these out:
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After watching those and a few other choice battles, I really think this guy should get a shot on the fourth line. If someone like Derek Boogaard can get a spot at the end of the bench, I don’t see any reason why he can’t either. The downside is that a youngster is going to lose a roster spot, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.
In some of these fights, you really see how intimidating this guy is. It looks like some of these guys are playing him extremely cautious and don’t want to get hit. That’s what the Isles need at this point. If they can play a quick game like new coach Scott Gordon wants them to and they have someone who can protect the Kyle Okposo’s, Mike Comrie’s and Blake Comeau’s on the team, this bunch of misfits is going to be a ton of fun to watch this season.
Strang mentions in her article that Sugden has knockout power from both hands as well and from the look of these videos, it’s almost as if he was a boxer on skates. Watching hundreds of fight videos over the years, he reminds me a lot of someone like Bob Probert and that is something that I don’t throw around very often. Unfortunately, he has a lot of the same off the ice problems Probie used to have as well. According to the Newsday article though, he’s been clean for quite some time, which could be both good for him and the Isles.
Despite that, you have to wonder hat he is capable of bringing to the team besides just the fisticuffs. From the look of his stats, he doesn’t seem to offer too much else, but on paper, so did a guy like Steve Webb, who could change the entire game with one big hit and get the crowd and his team back into it.
If Sugden is one of those players, I say bring him in right now.
Watching guys like Comrie fight last season was just embarrassing as a fan of this sport and a journalist. In order for the Isles to be taken seriously, stuff like that has to stop and stop RIGHT NOW.
On another note, he’s just a great story and someone that could put people in seats. The fact that he’s trying to make the NHL to make his father proud just does something to me as a person. It makes me want to root for him.
After over a dozen years in the minors and over 2,000 minutes in penalties, he may just get his shot.
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