The next big name in the Boston sport world might just be Tyler Seguin. The 18-year-old was drafted #2 in the 2010 NHL Draft by the Boston Bruins. The Canadian top prospect has been compared to Detroit Red Wings great Steve Yzerman, and has proved himself as dynamic goal scorer for Team Canada at the youth level. In his second season playing for the Plymouth Whalers, Seguin was named the Most Outstanding Player of the OHL last season. It was evident that Seguin’s legend is already growing in Boston at the team’s development camp, when 1,000+ fans turned up to cheer on the Bruins’ new rookie. The Bruins are looking to rebound in the 2010-11 season after falling to bitter rival Philadelphia Flyers in the 2010 NHL postseason. Tyler Seguin, however, could be a huge difference maker for the Bruins.

The barrage of hits to the head in the NHL this season has prompted the league to enact a new rule disallowing hits of that nature. The controversy picked up steam following the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Matt Cooke blindsided the Boston Bruins’ Marc Savard on March 7th giving the 11-year-pro a Grade 2 concussion. The ruling will allow the league to deem head hits illegal and fine players accordingly. In conjunction with the NHL player’s union the NHL is exploring possible on-ice penalties for hits to the head. Both sides hope that the rule will discourage such hits from taking place in the NHL and lowering the amount of concussions on the ice. Anaheim Duck James Wisniewski was suspended for eight games after hitting a defenseless Brent Seabrook of the Chicago Blackhawks earlier this month. Head coach Joel Quenneville called the hit “the most dangerous hit in the history of the game” and argued for the league to take serious action against Wisniewski. The NHL says the new ruling will not take anything away from the physicality of the game, but only help protect players from possible career-ending injuries.

This weekend I decided to get my 2009 Stanley Cup playoff tickets. I had decided earlier in the weekend to take a look at the playoff race and this is what I found. The playoff setup seems to be really taking shape in the last week or so. We can finally see that some teams have clinched something and other teams have been eliminated. Let’s start in the Eastern Conference. Boston, Washington and New Jersey are in. This is quite a coup, especially for Washington, as they have struggled more in recent years, so making the playoffs at position #2 is an especially exciting event for them. Philadelphia, Carolina and Pittsburgh will have to mess up big-time to get bumped from the postseason. In the West, San Jose and Detroit are for sure in, but Calgary, Chicago, and Vancouver are looking very good too. It’s going to be a great postseason!

The new NHL rankings prove several things about the NHL nowadays. Hockey is an interesting sport right now. The CBS writer I’m reading now says that it proves that this kind of balance that we’ve always wanted to have in the sport. You can see that there are a few teams that are way out ahead, including Detroit, Boston, New Jersey and San Jose. Boston is an interesting case because they have fallen off the cliff the last month or so, when they’ve been playing under .500. They are going to have to work hard to get back on the mark, although they don’t need to worry about making the playoffs. But there aren’t any eliminated teams from the playoff hunt quite yet, even though the last month is well underway. Keep an eye on this race, because it’s going to be very exciting.