The past five Stanley Cup champions were all bad before they were good.
In each team’s victorious year, an important part was played by at least one player whom the team had chosen in the top three of the draft. It’s not a hard and fast rule but one way to get to the top is to fall to the bottom, because that brings you the premier draft choices who can make a franchise.
So the question is, which of the NHL’s bad teams is best positioned to reach the top?
There are four contenders: Calgary, Edmonton, Florida and the Islanders.
Calgary: The Flames are rebuilding under Brian Burke, interim general manager. They have some good pieces – Sean Monahan, Mark Giordano, TJ Brodie – but no star.
Monahan, chosen sixth overall last year, was the team’s highest draft pick since 1998. Too soon to say which way they’ll turn.
Edmonton: The Oilers are unable to turn top draft choices into a cohesive squad. They have three first-overall draft picks, all forwards, yet struggle on offence.
After the Olympics, Edmonton managed a stretch of 160:47 without a goal. In a March 2 post-game report, the blogger dawgbone98 wrote of the team: "Sometimes they just get pasted, most times the game is about as exciting as watching the hair grow in my grandfather's ear."
Florida: The team has drafted loads of young talent in Erik Gudbranson, defenceman, third overall in 2010; Jonathan Huberdeau, defenceman, third in 2011; Aleksander Barkov, centre, second in 2013.
The general manager, Dale Tallon, learned his craft in Chicago’s front office. One more high draft choice and the Panthers will have a dynamite nucleus.
New York Islanders: Unlike our other turnaround contenders, the Islanders have a star in John Tavares, the rangy centre chosen first overall in 2009. Check out this video of his stick-handling skills. There is also no reason to question his toughness.
Tavares is out for the season after ripping up his left knee in Sochi – but his absence improves the Islanders’ chance of finishing poorly, and so increases their chance of securing another high draft choice.
The Islanders play with spirit. Small samples are tricky but a four-games-in-six-nights stretch from January suggests what could be.
First, they came from behind to beat Tampa Bay 2-1 in a shoot-out. Then, perhaps unaccustomed to leading, they gave up the game’s last three goals and fell to Philadelphia 6-4, but two nights later turn the tables on the Flyers, rebounding from two down in the third to tie it up and win the shoot-out. Finally, they trailed the crosstown Rangers 3-1 before scoring four straight to win.
This is not a dull team; it is stirring. Griffin Reinhart, a 2012 draft choice, fourth overall, on track to make the Islanders next season, should shore up the defence. Check out this video.
Add a good goalie, and this is the team to watch.
rmckenzie@thenational.ae
Follow us on twitter at @SprtNationalUAE
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Revibe
Started: 2022
Founders: Hamza Iraqui and Abdessamad Ben Zakour
Based: UAE
Industry: Refurbished electronics
Funds raised so far: $10m
Investors: Flat6Labs, Resonance and various others
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Haltia.ai
Started: 2023
Co-founders: Arto Bendiken and Talal Thabet
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: AI
Number of employees: 41
Funding: About $1.7 million
Investors: Self, family and friends
A QUIET PLACE
Starring: Lupita Nyong'o, Joseph Quinn, Djimon Hounsou
Director: Michael Sarnoski
Rating: 4/5
Company Profile
Name: Direct Debit System
Started: Sept 2017
Based: UAE with a subsidiary in the UK
Industry: FinTech
Funding: Undisclosed
Investors: Elaine Jones
Number of employees: 8
Company Profile
Company name: Hoopla
Date started: March 2023
Founder: Jacqueline Perrottet
Based: Dubai
Number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Investment required: $500,000
UAE medallists at Asian Games 2023
Gold
Magomedomar Magomedomarov – Judo – Men’s +100kg
Khaled Al Shehi – Jiu-jitsu – Men’s -62kg
Faisal Al Ketbi – Jiu-jitsu – Men’s -85kg
Asma Al Hosani – Jiu-jitsu – Women’s -52kg
Shamma Al Kalbani – Jiu-jitsu – Women’s -63kg
Silver
Omar Al Marzooqi – Equestrian – Individual showjumping
Bishrelt Khorloodoi – Judo – Women’s -52kg
Khalid Al Blooshi – Jiu-jitsu – Men’s -62kg
Mohamed Al Suwaidi – Jiu-jitsu – Men’s -69kg
Balqees Abdulla – Jiu-jitsu – Women’s -48kg
Bronze
Hawraa Alajmi – Karate – Women’s kumite -50kg
Ahmed Al Mansoori – Cycling – Men’s omnium
Abdullah Al Marri – Equestrian – Individual showjumping
Team UAE – Equestrian – Team showjumping
Dzhafar Kostoev – Judo – Men’s -100kg
Narmandakh Bayanmunkh – Judo – Men’s -66kg
Grigorian Aram – Judo – Men’s -90kg
Mahdi Al Awlaqi – Jiu-jitsu – Men’s -77kg
Saeed Al Kubaisi – Jiu-jitsu – Men’s -85kg
Shamsa Al Ameri – Jiu-jitsu – Women’s -57kg
EMIRATES'S REVISED A350 DEPLOYMENT SCHEDULE
Edinburgh: November 4 (unchanged)
Bahrain: November 15 (from September 15); second daily service from January 1
Kuwait: November 15 (from September 16)
Mumbai: January 1 (from October 27)
Ahmedabad: January 1 (from October 27)
Colombo: January 2 (from January 1)
Muscat: March 1 (from December 1)
Lyon: March 1 (from December 1)
Bologna: March 1 (from December 1)
Source: Emirates
How to invest in gold
Investors can tap into the gold price by purchasing physical jewellery, coins and even gold bars, but these need to be stored safely and possibly insured.
A cheaper and more straightforward way to benefit from gold price growth is to buy an exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Most advisers suggest sticking to “physical” ETFs. These hold actual gold bullion, bars and coins in a vault on investors’ behalf. Others do not hold gold but use derivatives to track the price instead, adding an extra layer of risk. The two biggest physical gold ETFs are SPDR Gold Trust and iShares Gold Trust.
Another way to invest in gold’s success is to buy gold mining stocks, but Mr Gravier says this brings added risks and can be more volatile. “They have a serious downside potential should the price consolidate.”
Mr Kyprianou says gold and gold miners are two different asset classes. “One is a commodity and the other is a company stock, which means they behave differently.”
Mining companies are a business, susceptible to other market forces, such as worker availability, health and safety, strikes, debt levels, and so on. “These have nothing to do with gold at all. It means that some companies will survive, others won’t.”
By contrast, when gold is mined, it just sits in a vault. “It doesn’t even rust, which means it retains its value,” Mr Kyprianou says.
You may already have exposure to gold miners in your portfolio, say, through an international ETF or actively managed mutual fund.
You could spread this risk with an actively managed fund that invests in a spread of gold miners, with the best known being BlackRock Gold & General. It is up an incredible 55 per cent over the past year, and 240 per cent over five years. As always, past performance is no guide to the future.
