Anna's Thoughts: Rookie Edition (December 2024)
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We really aren’t talking enough about Sarah Fillier and how good she’s been so far. Yes, it’s only been three games. That said, to be leading the league in points, even after three games, as a rookie, is outstanding. I don’t think enough people are truly appreciating what we’re seeing from her so far. I know I’ll be watching the Sirens more than I anticipated this season. I thought that if the Sirens were going to be “must-see TV” this year, it’d be because she and Carpenter, mainly because of Carpenter, would be a dynamic duo. Sure, she and Carpenter are dynamic and are killing it. But frankly, it’s not because they’re both that great that I find them to be must-see TV. It’s because Fillier is doing that well and Carpenter is the cherry on top. We’ll see how much this holds as the season unfolds, though.
Is Dominique Petrie the new Kirill Marchenko? Yeah, yeah, yeah, only three games and all, but I’m just saying: three goals, no assists. It would be funny and I’d support it.
(For those not aware of what I’m referencing, in Kirill Marchenko’s rookie year, he had 21 goals and only 4 assists. He had 14 goals before he got his first assist. So, I’m saying that I’d support Petrie having completely lopsided goals and assists, in favor of goals, because it was very fun when Marchenko did it.)
It might not be “must-see TV”, but it is “must keep my eye on” (for me), Cayla Barnes. What she’s doing as a rookie defender, so far, is quite impressive. I’ll definitely be keeping my eye on her as the season goes on.
Since it’s been quite a few months and I’ve gained quite a few new readers since I’ve last talked about Britta Curl, let me reiterate something: there will be no Britta Curl praise in this newsletter. She’s a bigot and we do not praise bigots here. I do not care that she’s doing well right now. Even if Sarah Fillier’s production falls off a cliff at some point and Curl’s doesn’t and ends up as Rookie of the Year, there will be no praise for her. Instead, I’ll be reminding everyone of how much of a bigot she is. We as a society need to stop praising bigots. Being an athlete who’s good at your job shouldn’t be a free pass to not being endlessly criticized as a bigot. If you refuse to see other people as human beings, that’s all you should be known and remembered for. Frankly, I’m struggling to think of too many things worse than seeing and openly advocating for a group of humans to be seen as subhuman like Curl does. There are no free passes on here for being a good athlete. If you believe others to be subhuman and openly advocate for them to be seen as subhuman, the only thing I’ll be doing is reminding people constantly of it. She doesn’t deserve any peace or celebration whatsoever until she does the bare minimum and sees trans people as human.
How is Michkov this good already? No, seriously, how is he this good already? If he keeps this up, he won’t be far off from rookie Connor McDavid's production numbers. I’m truly in awe watching him. Honestly, it’s just making me angrier that Steve Yzerman decided to accelerate the rebuild in Bedard’s/Michkov’s draft year. I don’t think the Red Wings would’ve been bad enough to get Bedard, Fantilli, Carlsson, or Smith, but they absolutely could’ve been bad enough to get Michkov. Sigh. Man, I wish he was on my team.
One thing that’s been fascinating to see is that there is already discourse on whether Macklin Celebrini is better than Connor Bedard or not. It’s not just Sharks fans saying he might be. Fans from other fanbases, all across North America, including Blackhawks fans, are saying he might be. This is not a discussion I was expecting to have, especially this early.
Look, it’s too early to have this conversation. We’re just 20 games into Celebrini’s career, after all, and Bedard is having a sophomore slump. That said, yeah, I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t had any of those thoughts. Once again, it’s far too early to even be discussing this. I just bring it up because I’m fascinated that this is something I’ve seen people bring up already.
Look, I wasn’t expecting Jiri Kulich to be a star or anything, but I’m surprised by how little he’s done this year. To be honest, I’m not even sure if it’s because he just sucks, because the team sucks, or both. I don’t want enough of the Sabres to know. But, I was definitely expecting more from him at this point.
Why aren’t people talking about Dustin Wolf? No, seriously, why aren’t people talking about Dustin Wolf? Up until two games ago, he was rocking a .920 save percentage. Then, in an emotional game against Columbus where the Blue Jackets were more motivated to win, he got lit up. Then, he got lit up by the Stars in the next start. So, now his save percentage is down to .909, which is still impressive for a rookie. I think we’ll eventually see that go back up, though. He’s played fourteen games so far this year and has a GAA of 2.84 and has 8 wins. Yes, the last two starts have been rocky, but once again, there’s no reason to believe that he won’t get back up on his feet. What he’s doing is outstanding and deserves more attention. Last summer I picked him as the world’s best goaltending prospect. All he’s done since then is prove me right. Give him the respect and attention he deserves. If you aren’t paying attention to him right now, you will be soon. He’s the future of goaltending.
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