tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57565957556981570012024-02-19T06:19:12.952-05:00Gross Misconduct... HAS MOVED!Wondering why there's nothing new? That's because you can find me at:
WWW.GROSSMISCONDUCTHOCKEY.COMHockey Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060395164873365164noreply@blogger.comBlogger161125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5756595755698157001.post-44228345810690515612009-08-11T19:21:00.005-04:002009-08-11T22:29:20.329-04:00Inexcusable: CCHA Votes Down Alabama-HuntsvilleToday saw news that should make college hockey fans across America and parts elsewhere really upset:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.uscho.com/news/college-hockey/id,17144/CCHADeniesHuntsvillesApplicationForAdmission.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">CCHA Denies Alabama-Huntsville for Conference Admission</span></a><br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">The CCHA has denied Alabama-Huntsville’s application for admission, putting the program’s future in even more jeopardy.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The Chargers are members of the CHA, which is set to disband after the 2009-10 season. The three other members have found other conferences, and UAH targeted the CCHA.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">But the CCHA Council, a body made up of at</span><span style="font-style: italic;">hletic administrators and faculty athletic representatives, on Tuesday voted by acclamation to deny UAH’s application for membership.</span></blockquote><br /><br />Well isn't that nice.<br /><br />The CHA is disbanding because the other three members of the conference have found more convenient homes for the 2010-2011 season. Bemidji State, an enjoyed program of this blog, is moving to the WCHA with soon-to-be former CCHA patron Nebraska-Omaha. Robert Morris University and Niagara University of the lame-duck CHA will move along to the alive-yet-weak Atlantic Hockey Association.<br /><br />This situation left Alabama-Huntsville on the outside looking in. Given that they're the only college hockey program located in the deep south, their program is one that has always raised eyebrows with casual observers of college hockey.<br /><br />Hell, even long time college fans weren't always aware of the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers - that is until 2007 when the bottom-seeded Chargers took top seeded Notre Dame to double-overtime <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.uscho.com/recaps/20062007/m/03/23/uah-nd.php">in the first round of the NCAA Tournament</a> before ultimately falling to the Fighting Irish 3-2 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.<br /><br />Coincidentally enough, it was the same Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids that saw soon-to-be former CHA mates Bemidji State upset Notre Dame and Cornell just this past year in the NCAA Tournament earning them their first Frozen Four appearance as well as the <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.uscho.com/news/college-hockey/id,17119/UPDATEDWCHABringsAboardBemidjiOmaha.html">acceptance of the WCHA to join their "exclusive" club of teams</a>.<br /><br />Fate is one cruel bitch.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5m5W_tG7vrZdj2svVQmKI-tWRWCxGg7AjG_vgLGxwlQUd7ayJtV3fiOblqepc-SPLz31xjjLmUIETqcxYBO7iaRppRj6M3R0TiKksT6CdiFUYAUew5K57MaJxXPA7RCOTMxaCK5tgKYRr/s1600-h/DeathofUAH.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 600px; height: 523px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5m5W_tG7vrZdj2svVQmKI-tWRWCxGg7AjG_vgLGxwlQUd7ayJtV3fiOblqepc-SPLz31xjjLmUIETqcxYBO7iaRppRj6M3R0TiKksT6CdiFUYAUew5K57MaJxXPA7RCOTMxaCK5tgKYRr/s400/DeathofUAH.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368870587202816498" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">"Et tu... All of you?!"</span></span><br /></div><br /><br />What's fun about this announcement is that the CCHA decided to vote by acclimation so that no one school has to take the heat from the rest of the college hockey loving world for basically sending Alabama-Huntsville's hockey program out to pasture.<br /><br />Yes, that's right, their hockey program is in a very bad spot right now. Other conferences that could have had UAH join up with them have already filled their ranks. That's not to say that the WCHA was even a possible destination for the Chargers, but at least they were one of the conferences looking to expand.<br /><br />Atlantic Hockey and the CCHA were it as far as geographic common sense and flexibility go. Atlantic Hockey made their move by bringing aboard the two logical CHA squads in Robert Morris (Pittsburgh, PA) and Niagara (near Buffalo, NY). Both the ECAC and Hockey East are much too far out of the way in the northeast and are set with their number of teams.<br /><br />UAH is now looking at life, once again, <a href="http://www.uscho.com/stats/teamYxY.php/alabama-huntsville-chargers/mens-college-hockey/team,uah/gender,m.html">as an independent team</a>. They spent their first year back in Division I hockey as an independent in 1998-1999 but then joined the CHA after that. Previous to that, they were a Division II team for six seasons and a damn good one winning two Division II championships, thus making their jump back to Division I (after spending five years there from 1987-1992 as independents) one that made a world of sense.<br /><br />Now? Limbo awaits the Chargers. Life as an independent team in Division I hockey is one that doesn't lend itself well to any kind of success, be it on the ice or financially. Having no conference affiliation means there's no conference tournament to play in and win a berth to the NCAA Tournament.<br /><br />Having life as an independent should, ideally, mean that scheduling gets to be easier as you can pick and choose from any of the other 58 D-I schools. Problem with that is, everyone else is playing in a conference and subject to their own conference schedule dominating their weekly lives and having to live by the scraps of open dates the schedule allows to make games with other schools.<br /><br />D-I football is perhaps the best high profile way we can look at how UAH may have to handle their new lives, should they choose to keep it up. In the past, there had always been a rather large handful of teams amongst the Independent ranks in college football.<br /><br />Now <a href="http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/teams">there are three</a>: Notre Dame, Army and Navy. What these three teams have in common is playing against each other as well as a hearty mix of cream puffs and menacing world beaters. Hell, even Army football gets a game against VMI each year so they're guaranteed to not go winless.<br /><br />Obviously Notre Dame sticks out here as the "shining example" of how to be a successful independent program. Then again, Notre Dame football is a beast unto itself having NBC carrying all their home games and a ridiculous legacy that is eternally fellated whether the team is any good or not.<br /><br />Alabama-Huntsville hockey won't exactly have any of these luxuries. There is no lucrative television contract to give the school money nor are there well-placed media pundits out there to proclaim the wonder and glory of Chargers hockey. It's just how it is but the future is certainly very bleak for the sole Division I hockey program in the deep south.<br /><br />For what it's worth, the <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.tampabaysports.org/press_room/release.php?id=22">2012 Frozen Four being held in Tampa, Florida</a> is set to be hosted by none other than the University of Alabama, Huntsville. Given that this location has already been beset by bad press, most of which centered around the <a href="http://www.dailygazette.com/weblogs/schott/2008/aug/29/ncaa-should-pull-2012-frozen-four-from-tampa/">owners of the Tampa Bay Lightning bailing out of a college hockey tournament set to be hosted in Tampa last year</a>, Alabama-Huntsville having their program potentially folding before the Frozen Four even arrives in Florida would be a tremendous black eye on college hockey.<br /><br />For now though, UAH hangs on while the CCHA will have to take their much-deserved lumps for leaving a program out in the cold with little to no explanation:<br /><blockquote><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">“The league completed its due diligence of the application for membership submitted by the University of Alabama in Huntsville with careful consideration and discussion of various issues,” CCHA commissioner Tom Anastos said in a news release. “At this time we have chosen to maintain our membership at its current level.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">“The CCHA will remain focused on maintaining and strengthening our existing members to ensure the conference’s continued success and long-term viability.”</span></blockquote><br /><br />There's a lot of buzzwords in there but what this boils down to for the CCHA is that they're playing wait-and-see, which in this case, amounts to a game of chicken where they're not risking a damn thing for themselves. <br /><br />At stake here instantly is the future of Alabama-Huntsville hockey but there are some other things that come into play here. Whether it's the <a href="http://hockeyjoe.blogspot.com/2009/03/cancelling-falcons-crest.html">imminent failure of another of its member teams</a> in Bowling Green or the <a href="http://php.scripts.psu.edu/clubs/up/psuicers/index.php">rise of a program out of the club ranks with a huge name</a> to lend further credibility to both the CCHA and college hockey will remain to be seen. <br /><br />If the CCHA has the ability to see the future and those situations do arise, I am sure they can also handle the responsibility of having the blood of potentially two (or maybe more) programs on their hands while allowing college hockey to become an even less-relevant niche sport on the collegiate landscape.<br /><br />A year from now we could be just laughing at all of this as an incredible overreaction when the CCHA votes to allow UAH to join up with them after Bowling Green and other struggling CCHA members all find ways to prove their commitments to college hockey for the future and its all fun and games.<br /><br />Then again, a year from now we could be looking at this vote to exclude UAH from the CCHAs reindeer games as the first domino to fall in what could prove to be a herd-thinning situation in college hockey.<br /><br>Hockey Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060395164873365164noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5756595755698157001.post-90528280498218394822009-07-31T00:10:00.008-04:002009-07-31T12:51:10.066-04:00RPI Plans To Take More Money From FansOne of the collegiate guilty pleasures you're going to have to get better accustomed to if you're a follower here is my fandom of the ECAC's Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI, if you're nasty). The majority of my college hockey watching takes place at Houston Field House and I can virtually always be found there taking in an RPI game during hockey season.<br /><br />So if you want to get into stalking me, enjoy <a href="http://www.troyny.gov/">beautiful Troy, NY</a>.<br /><br />So if you're curious as to why this <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2009/7/29/MHOCK_0729090302.aspx">latest bit of information from RPI</a> found its way onto my radar, well, there you go. It reads like the standard "season is approaching, get ready to buy tickets" type of news, but this year there's a new spin.<br /><br /><blockquote> <span style="font-style: italic;">The general public price remains as it has been in recent years for 14 home games, while four games feature premium pricing. The majority of contests will cost $10 for adults and $7 for children & seniors, while the four premium-priced games are $13 for adults and $10 for children & seniors.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"> <br /><br />The games with premium pricing are those against Cornell University on December 4, Union Coll</span><span style="font-style: italic;">ege on December 9, Clarkson University on February 6 and Pri</span><span style="font-style: italic;">nceton University on February 20.</span></blockquote><br />That's right, premium ticketing comes to ECAC Athletics. At long last fans can feel like they're part of the big time as they'll pay up more for tickets to the games they <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">REALLY</span> want to be at.<br /><br />Great.<br /><br />What do you think of this Dr. Horse?<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw2dizUGpjpIRxpAu1jEPcuhyLB4cdnGXxyGI-KjYbMPnldK3uaQeb4UvfkENWAbZitJ9o-zxMve7xHJrBndM3rCwz7fsruenmWn-yTi-YV94I4yueT2x861loeWh7S47GGEvis12q0kMd/s1600-h/drhorse.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 352px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw2dizUGpjpIRxpAu1jEPcuhyLB4cdnGXxyGI-KjYbMPnldK3uaQeb4UvfkENWAbZitJ9o-zxMve7xHJrBndM3rCwz7fsruenmWn-yTi-YV94I4yueT2x861loeWh7S47GGEvis12q0kMd/s400/drhorse.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364475652448175154" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Hmm... No sir, I don't like it.</span></span><br /></div><br /><br />OK so I'm having some fun here because being dreadfully serious is dreadfully boring and this isn't a topic that deserves to be lambasted, but it is a bit troubling for the future.<br /><br />Premium ticketing for certain games is something that's not new to sports fans in general (many NHL teams already do this including the Sabres) and, let's face it, the cost for RPI games isn't outrageous by any means. A weekend homestand will run you $20, there's no price for parking and you'll get a good night out of hockey in, at the least, a semi-festive college environment.<br /><br />What's a bit disturbing about this is, of course, the timing. RPI appears to be a team headed in the right direction.<br /><br />After a poor regular season, the Engineers found their way in the playoffs upsetting and sweeping sixth seeded Dartmouth in the ECAC tournament first round and then taking ECAC Tournament finalists Cornell to three games in the quarterfinals before losing.<br /><br />This year, the Engineers bring in two 2009 NHL Draft Picks with forwards Brandon Pirri (2nd round 59th overall to Chicago) and Jerry D'Amigo (6th round 158th overall to Toronto) as well as other forwards C.J. Lee and Marty O'Grady to join an already very young team. RPI has struggled and head coach Seth Appert has, for all intents and purposes, rebuilt the program in the last three years at the helm.<br /><br />Whether the progress continues to bring success hinges a lot upon what this new crop of players can do immediately and with that the folks at RPI have apparently decided that folks will pony up no matter what, especially for certain games. The games they've got picked out are the traditional big ticket games each year taking advantage of the opponent or the situation.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisoersEzr74ymE8S-N3f39OoceLnzNYklIQmQXpM48iJBV3ohmby-yCknn80LHHrUTHq5OepH3QgMLoungQW4eC7j8neWBtHkQR-1H_155VAD1G_qqRuyPRF1fxG8UzhyohEkRLtPFQlNl/s1600-h/puckmancrowd.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 465px; height: 309px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisoersEzr74ymE8S-N3f39OoceLnzNYklIQmQXpM48iJBV3ohmby-yCknn80LHHrUTHq5OepH3QgMLoungQW4eC7j8neWBtHkQR-1H_155VAD1G_qqRuyPRF1fxG8UzhyohEkRLtPFQlNl/s400/puckmancrowd.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364501924566097522" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Puckman wants to see you in Troy... And make you pay for it.</span></span><br /></div><br />In the case with the game against Cornell, RPI is looking to capitalize upon the swarm of visitors that descend upon Troy from Ithaca each year and looking to make a few more bucks off of the fans from Cornell... Well really, paying more to come to Troy will really stick in their collective craws and that's just <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">fun</span> to make them upset.<br /><br />Much is the same with the fans coming from Schenectady from Union College. Making those folks pay a few bucks more for the pleasure of visiting Troy makes me laugh because they <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">hate</span> to do it.<br /><br />RPI's games against Clarkson and Princeton in February actually <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">are</span> premium tickets as far as RPI fans are concerned. <br /><br />RPI and Clarkson are big time rivals in the ECAC, at least they are from RPI's standpoint. Clarkson tends to have more rivalry-like hate for the likes of St. Lawrence and Cornell. In this case, RPI has chosen their game against Clarkson to be Alumni night and they'll be honoring the 1985 National Championship as it'll be the 25th Anniversary of RPIs last national title and hey, you don't need a good excuse to bring Adam Oates and Daren Puppa back to town now do you? <br /><br />Putting this event the same night as their game with Clarkson is a really nice coincidence though.<br /><br />The game with Princeton is a convenient double-whammy as Princeton, traditionally, brings very few fans on the road which will not help them as this game is RPIs annual <a href="http://www.augenblick.org/rpi/h_brf.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Big Red Freakout</span></a> as well as senior night. <br /><br />As that link explaining the Big Red Freakout says, fans can thank RPI for the NCAA rule banning noisemakers at games as the gift given out to fans in 1987 were horns and well... Wild, rambunctious and boozed up college kids with horns at a hockey game? I can't see how that ever turned out badly. <br /><br />RPIs record in the Big Red Freakout is something quite remarkable (18-9-5 since 1978) and they'll be looking to get off a three-year winless streak in 2010 as well as avenging their Freakout loss to Princeton two years ago that saw the Engineers lose 4-0 in a game that wasn't even as close as that score indicates. <br /><br />Four premium ticket games, two of which are actually premium games that will very likely be sellouts. It's a shrewd financially-driven decision by RPI to do this and, let's face it they're going to get the money they're looking for here. It is a choice that I worry will be taken advantage of in future seasons and leading to ticket prices going up.<br /><br />After all, RPI does have <a href="http://www.rpi.edu/about/inside/issue/v2n16/ecav-schedule.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">a nice new athletic facility to show off</span></span></a> and try to make money off of (not that it has anything to do with the hockey program) but since RPI has made headlines locally for <a href="http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=751282&category=LAYOFFS"><span style="font-weight: bold;">cutting jobs and talking about financial hardships</span></a> making a few bucks off their only Division I men's athletic program should be no surprise.<br /><br />That's a whole 'nother rant entirely however.<br /><br />I wanted to really tear ass about this more, but I can understand why RPI is doing premium ticket pricing for these games, I just hope that this isn't a harbinger of doom for the future. <br /><br />Sure, college hockey ticket prices are a bit higher in the midwest (<a href="http://www.denverpioneers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=18600&ATCLID=1389586#i">Denver University's single game tickets</a> range between $17-$35 for example), but the demand out there is much higher as well so it makes sense. If RPI starts winning again, the long lost dormant RPI fans will come back and the students will be out in force if for no other reason than to be seen at the games. <br /><br />As it is, the exhibition game with Prince Edward Island on October 3rd is a date most RPI fans cannot wait for just so they can finally get a look at guys like Pirri and D'Amigo on the ice in cherry, white and black. <br /><br />I'm sure the coaching staff is hoping that the new class is able to inspire more goals and victories and make the fans want to come to Troy on the weekends once again. <br /><br>Hockey Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060395164873365164noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5756595755698157001.post-67369360402495260682009-07-24T18:11:00.007-04:002009-07-24T18:48:48.476-04:00The Most Interesting Free Agent In The WorldFree agency season has died down and while there are still <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=433516&navid=DL%7CNHL%7CHome">quite a few intriguing names left floating about</a> while teams figure their cap situations out, there's one man out there who remains and his legend now grows as the pickings get slimmer.<br /><br />His reputation is expanding faster than the universe you might say.<br /><br />He's a man who has played in the NHL for nine seasons, almost all of them healthy... Except for his most recent when he got injured more seriously just to see how it felt.<br /><br />He's never scored more than 30 goals in a season but <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/t/tangual01.html">passes with the greatest of ease</a> despite being a left wing.<br /><br />His blood smells just like cologne.<br /><br />Darryl Sutter once traded for him because he was intrigued by how he might work with Jarome Iginla.<br /><br />His hairless face has experienced more playoff success than the San Jose Sharks.<br /><br />He's been known to cure a struggling offense just by walking into the room.<br /><br />If you're the GM of the <a href="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&ct2=us%2F0_0_s_0_0_t&usg=AFQjCNEGeMhmtnrFUWaj_4o0mpRKsiRccA&cid=1281968319&ei=OTFqStiSDNzbmQeRy4HQAg&rt=SEARCH&vm=STANDARD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sportingnews.com%2Fnhl%2Farticle%2F2009-07-22%2Fcoyotes-hunt-for-alex-tanguay">Coyotes</a>, <a href="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&ct2=us%2F0_0_s_3_2_aa&usg=AFQjCNEAeSUwk2tfVRw-pmKdXMWm-gwvow&cid=1277012148&ei=OTFqStiSDNzbmQeRy4HQAg&rt=SEARCH&vm=STANDARD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblogs.sun-sentinel.com%2Fsports_hockey_panthers%2F2009%2F07%2Ftanguays-agent-panthers-are-in-the-mix-.html">Panthers</a>, or a <a href="http://www.sportingnews.com/nhl/article/2009-07-15/tanguay-drawing-interest-no-rush-sign">host of other NHL teams</a> perhaps you too would be interested in the most interesting free agent in the world.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMjl8OrcXIBH5jcIivuinXhJZoJWGcQbTu9dGs4FGX6uUpM3t4PpkEFMpQIasW9zr3qycP6d5rzzfQ0ETtEuSCtaZvTXJVs3y6OyIllmNldLl06Ehi_A4Q2uqM6flvPjbP7VXoCMWox-Yn/s1600-h/tanguayequis.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 550px; height: 304px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMjl8OrcXIBH5jcIivuinXhJZoJWGcQbTu9dGs4FGX6uUpM3t4PpkEFMpQIasW9zr3qycP6d5rzzfQ0ETtEuSCtaZvTXJVs3y6OyIllmNldLl06Ehi_A4Q2uqM6flvPjbP7VXoCMWox-Yn/s400/tanguayequis.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362156817314580818" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">When Alex Tanguay drinks, he prefers something with an umbrella in it.</span></span><br /></div><br />Or perhaps you'd just rather have a shitty Mexican beer.<br /><br />Alex Tanguay is certainly getting a lot of attention and sure, much of it is deserved. He played 50 games for the Canadiens last year and scored 40 points. Not bad. Not great, but not bad either. Teams that are in the hunt for him, the aforementioned Panthers and Coyotes could sure use a big point producer to help out. Florida in particular would make for a great destination with the emerging David Booth and the host of snipers situated in Miami right now.<br /><br />These teams in the hunt for Alex Tanguay had better know what they're getting though.<br /><br />They're not getting a big goal scoring winger.<br /><br />Tanguay is a set-up guy and would fit in ideally on a team that has a center that likes to score goals (well hello Tampa Bay) or on a line with enough offensive talent to make sure that Tanguay's short comings (doesn't play physical at all) don't short-circuit the entire line (Ottawa, Dallas, even Phoenix perhaps).<br /><br />Alex Tanguay is the ideal support piece for a team's offense but he's not the main event scorer. Of course, now that just about every main event scorer is off the market, Alex Tanguay is the last guy out there who has put up big offensive numbers in the past and will, likely, be able to get (over) paid by someone desperate.<br /><br />Buyer beware because the Most Interesting Free Agent In The World is a lover not a fighter... <strike>But he's also a fighter so don't get any ideas</strike> He's a total pansy, have at it.<br /><br />Stay thirsty, GMs.<br /><br>Hockey Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060395164873365164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5756595755698157001.post-7903440941338434002009-07-20T01:39:00.008-04:002009-07-20T02:18:43.459-04:00Bettman's Stick Gets Caught In The SpokesA tip of my cap to <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.sportingmadness.ca/">Andrew Bucholtz</a> for tipping me off to a brief footnote in a <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/rooting-for-the-old-guy/article1224094/">Globe and Mail column</a> by Bruce Dowgibbin providing me with some more cannon fodder for our dear diminutive NHL figurehead.<br /><br />Let's just cut to the quick:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><blockquote>Has Lance Armstrong become the Tiger Woods of cycling? The controversial American has been away from the Tour de France since 2005, but is making a comeback this year. For the first 10 stages of the 2009 Tour de France, ratings for Versus’ coverage are up 77 per cent through the comparable point last year. That includes an 85-per-cent rise among men 18 to 34 and 132 per cent for men 18 to 49. The 479,800 viewers for the Tour de France tops the 442,300 viewers Versus averaged for the first round of the ’09 Stanley Cup playoffs.</blockquote></span><br /><br />Yeah, I know the off-season is tough so we're reduced to cycling news and talking about Lance Armstrong and...<br /><br />Wait a second, <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">what</span> was that?<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;">The 479,800 viewers for the Tour de France tops the 442,300 viewers Versus averaged for the first round of t</span></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;">he ’09 Stanley Cup playoffs.</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span><br /><span><span><span>Cycling is doing better than the NHL on television when the cycling takes place while most Americans are supposed to be at work and away from television sets.<br /></span></span></span><br /><span><span><span>Un. Freaking. Real.</span></span></span><br /><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span><span style="font-style: italic;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPb2GkzCGk3I24RtzIre7cRdcdRuep1OWmnV6mpqhPaj3zhmNqMjHZHLiGZBjpVBVT-ox56M8Mxitm7OgG41XKjD92jrcfeGsXmYnsqajbC2O2VVPnR-eS6BXxEEfqjtmjNm4zXzAMumCh/s1600-h/lancearmstrong.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 265px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPb2GkzCGk3I24RtzIre7cRdcdRuep1OWmnV6mpqhPaj3zhmNqMjHZHLiGZBjpVBVT-ox56M8Mxitm7OgG41XKjD92jrcfeGsXmYnsqajbC2O2VVPnR-eS6BXxEEfqjtmjNm4zXzAMumCh/s400/lancearmstrong.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360417122863286354" border="0" /></a></span></span><br /><span><span><span><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Suck it Gary, this one's for you!</span></span></span></span></span><br /></div><span><span><span><br />Remember, the NHL airs during prime time hours and they attempt to cater at will to anyone and everyone, meanwhile dudes in spandex riding a bike (<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">RIDING A BIKE</span>) do better TV business than the NHL on the <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">SAME DAMN NETWORK</span>?!<br /></span></span></span><br /><span><span><span>Wow.</span></span></span><br /><span><span><span><br />I can see the visionary changes with Versus and the NHL now.<br /></span></span></span><br /><span><span><span>Games played at 11 in the morning on a mountain in Europe and changes to the uniforms to make them even tighter than they are now and more expensive for fans to purchase just so the league can cash in on this cycling craze that has the ratings all abuzz.<br /><br /></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm8n6PLk4_lYTpMTGbbbcvrq8cmGRWQMFLRR6wLFBSBO5-rOiUjjr6oUG7dMuRJbcv_fNFguteCqWz0l1wWK3KsPcr7BPQwQw10OF_UoJzn6TPTiyMsKpfst35bUKx_fady_gN7bhRB8BJ/s1600-h/NapoleonGary.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 325px; height: 553px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm8n6PLk4_lYTpMTGbbbcvrq8cmGRWQMFLRR6wLFBSBO5-rOiUjjr6oUG7dMuRJbcv_fNFguteCqWz0l1wWK3KsPcr7BPQwQw10OF_UoJzn6TPTiyMsKpfst35bUKx_fady_gN7bhRB8BJ/s400/NapoleonGary.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360417126744664034" border="0" /></a><br /><span><span><span><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Leadership: You're (Still) Doing It Wrong</span></span></span></span></span><br /></div><span><span><span><br />Better yet, let's just get right down to what this means for the NHL.<br /><br />Bicycle Ice Polo.</span></span></span><br /><br /><span><span><span>Get ready for it - it'll be the most difficult sport ever created and it'll come to Versus because some inept boob can't make his current sport more popular/noticeable/marketable/affordable.<br /><br />How can this leadership failure be allowed to continue? It'll be fun when the salary cap falls by $5 million dollars after this upcoming season and teams start to really cry foul about money. Good thing the NHL <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.kuklaskorner.com/index.php/hockey/comments/nbc_nhl_announce_extension/">extended that non-lucrative TV contract with NBC recently</a> because, really, who needs TV money to survive anyway?<br /><br /></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span><span style="font-style: italic;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV38dsQjWr1_BT6jDapJbhN2dovAVvEl8aNa7fa5VtxEZKVxw2LKmOOPXAQScaNzBopdgErEKIxhJv956Di4dpUaLwSbhHIAo8mOT6_N2ZBVzDXIJwEoa54t_IMQQyWBUV9VmV19PEzgm_/s1600-h/barter-247x300.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 296px; height: 359px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV38dsQjWr1_BT6jDapJbhN2dovAVvEl8aNa7fa5VtxEZKVxw2LKmOOPXAQScaNzBopdgErEKIxhJv956Di4dpUaLwSbhHIAo8mOT6_N2ZBVzDXIJwEoa54t_IMQQyWBUV9VmV19PEzgm_/s400/barter-247x300.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360422262646064882" border="0" /></a></span></span><br /><span><span><span><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Future NHL Ticket Purchases: Doing It Really Old School</span></span></span></span></span><br /></div><span><span><span><br />Not Herr Bettman and certainly not the NHL - they operate in a world without money. They operate in the South Pacific islands where bartering is legal tender. Make sure you brought enough chickens and volcanic stones to the ticket office so you can see a game this season.<br /></span></span></span>Hockey Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060395164873365164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5756595755698157001.post-66372265230774054092009-07-18T18:36:00.006-04:002009-07-18T19:40:07.185-04:00New Faces In New Places: SmorgasbordAfter what a rousing hit the last set of premonition photos were with Tampa Bay and Washington...<br /><br />...Wait, what's that Professor Frink?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyzXiLYLKu0M7wOs0iQFt-rjdHHYo0_cNmjnv2ofLCKW-0tllQdSs6bdE4jIDYDKJ08_tXd2XfJC-5Pyslax7rVQnom6iiVI1SxBpvc6JsMuvCwix3UQDOVUsYCa_f45SthgNMO6SN_uwv/s1600-h/sarcasm_detector.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 220px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyzXiLYLKu0M7wOs0iQFt-rjdHHYo0_cNmjnv2ofLCKW-0tllQdSs6bdE4jIDYDKJ08_tXd2XfJC-5Pyslax7rVQnom6iiVI1SxBpvc6JsMuvCwix3UQDOVUsYCa_f45SthgNMO6SN_uwv/s400/sarcasm_detector.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359933632790396514" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Ahh, yes, good to see yours is working. Well played, sir. <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Glavin!</span><br /><br />Since folks aren't overly entertained by the Lightning nor the Capitals it was high time to step it up in a big way. Again big thanks to <a href="http://games.easports.com/nhl09/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">EA Sports</span></a> and <a href="http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">XBox Live</span></a> for providing the means to whet all of your appetites for the upcoming season.<br /><br />This time the top pick in the 2009 NHL Draft makes his (sort of) video game debut, the New York Rangers unveil an entirely new lineup, Professor Pronger dons the black and orange, Nikolai Khabibulin does his best Andy Moog impression and a guy lets his new paycheck commit to the Indian in Chicago.<br /><br />I'm going to let these photos appear to be a bit smaller on the page here because there are A LOT of them, but as always, feel free to click on them to make them reasonably life size on your screen.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmMp6hETR1jgRs2KbRFoNQoyzMXmxzddb-eeFWG72NLtKJ3qtqSrVKiOv9NhWQ5h86Rva00Xysjx1c5zQTUHwAU0te6JdqcNz0sXaWmlau7o_2qenSEDqZkI9ZmmmDqvWFd8dWENlk2hYC/s1600-h/tavduch.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 435px; height: 244px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmMp6hETR1jgRs2KbRFoNQoyzMXmxzddb-eeFWG72NLtKJ3qtqSrVKiOv9NhWQ5h86Rva00Xysjx1c5zQTUHwAU0te6JdqcNz0sXaWmlau7o_2qenSEDqZkI9ZmmmDqvWFd8dWENlk2hYC/s400/tavduch.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359941503521303410" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">2009 #1 Draft Pick Jonathan Tavares slips around 2009 #3 Draft Pick Matt Duchene.</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTMVJSng5gjthRtZXea8Mq_BKbNLYGNIBkD_kV63JzKl-AkpvItZpIiUj4XgR_QeW76CDjp3hy3eOKoO_Mwlfh2Jy0DBn16I49vVzX8602duMAsB7A8-lFBbQOu3nZQ1ukGBLOW7e3CN3t/s1600-h/hossa.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 435px; height: 244px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTMVJSng5gjthRtZXea8Mq_BKbNLYGNIBkD_kV63JzKl-AkpvItZpIiUj4XgR_QeW76CDjp3hy3eOKoO_Mwlfh2Jy0DBn16I49vVzX8602duMAsB7A8-lFBbQOu3nZQ1ukGBLOW7e3CN3t/s400/hossa.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359941511068982498" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">This will not end well for virtual Marian Hossa as Chris Pronger steps up in the slot to greet him.</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA4dqMhgwJCjCkuungnOG5KhcR2VI5qBZEqiYl4WbVc2I24eSM8YX8WByh8y8dEXmjg6awR7Js_YJf9wGNeereiWAHDPILtgSAL0grz8_UzUXyQI_WtObfxtYpS0MFP8eucArolnCIrMWS/s1600-h/pronger.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 435px; height: 244px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA4dqMhgwJCjCkuungnOG5KhcR2VI5qBZEqiYl4WbVc2I24eSM8YX8WByh8y8dEXmjg6awR7Js_YJf9wGNeereiWAHDPILtgSAL0grz8_UzUXyQI_WtObfxtYpS0MFP8eucArolnCIrMWS/s400/pronger.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359941515253332802" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Professor Pronger stays in form: Elbows up at all times</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHGGCxdG8Y1YPKuvG8CgCJSOhrm2Agi_kP79Rl6_7xfxnZL88RmYxH1vvnQHDKC-h2wLu8Rm07zLBsHQvc2B7Tyl2mqxOOVsTYMruaPfXE2NQteEzcpCiVNzqfo3ccBaWcdnat_D_95Z5s/s1600-h/emery.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 435px; height: 245px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHGGCxdG8Y1YPKuvG8CgCJSOhrm2Agi_kP79Rl6_7xfxnZL88RmYxH1vvnQHDKC-h2wLu8Rm07zLBsHQvc2B7Tyl2mqxOOVsTYMruaPfXE2NQteEzcpCiVNzqfo3ccBaWcdnat_D_95Z5s/s400/emery.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359941522050037778" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Poise. Grace. Steadiness. Ray Emery. Wait, why are you laughing?</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyDHItbaURi-MgTqulDDssv7TGgJHxt-NefvSsritj6QWUmWngDhIArATpqTzANgkv3fspqBt2w_eX26yj5or96VRPiymAo-kULvQW_7qvmpzkecCJEsGm6LeIh5wtV8Vg-588hHYVIkKA/s1600-h/madden.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 435px; height: 244px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyDHItbaURi-MgTqulDDssv7TGgJHxt-NefvSsritj6QWUmWngDhIArATpqTzANgkv3fspqBt2w_eX26yj5or96VRPiymAo-kULvQW_7qvmpzkecCJEsGm6LeIh5wtV8Vg-588hHYVIkKA/s400/madden.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359944513847996642" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">It's John Madden doing what he does best.</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp-KOAWxRECibXlqGdV7VODr8JeMNKQ2jsY0xTiQ3oHSfB_aQsphvxtUutnSCgvl8LS4y1LpU54w5q8aWt92aJgEt3NjLiSS0-tcJASe2RO2C1HKrv28lO5RPxoxeoVMUVBhOZgLQ195Jg/s1600-h/lappy.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 435px; height: 244px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp-KOAWxRECibXlqGdV7VODr8JeMNKQ2jsY0xTiQ3oHSfB_aQsphvxtUutnSCgvl8LS4y1LpU54w5q8aWt92aJgEt3NjLiSS0-tcJASe2RO2C1HKrv28lO5RPxoxeoVMUVBhOZgLQ195Jg/s400/lappy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359943473987444530" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Ian Laperriere was called in as a witness in Daniel Carcillo's assault case (background) against Niklas Hjalmarsson.</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyr-DL1DtKC92rkn3sbPv_yMDNKTHBhFDRlT5o26x4FEv4NQEjdlt-gYBitt9NkvK0RajbTWg-deDc7US-AHjVCFFbcCLzrH-0F8Oir5QRO1sKTbQDlP4xXLe2lwkTQwPu-fzF-uCUPjaY/s1600-h/kopecky.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 435px; height: 244px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyr-DL1DtKC92rkn3sbPv_yMDNKTHBhFDRlT5o26x4FEv4NQEjdlt-gYBitt9NkvK0RajbTWg-deDc7US-AHjVCFFbcCLzrH-0F8Oir5QRO1sKTbQDlP4xXLe2lwkTQwPu-fzF-uCUPjaY/s400/kopecky.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359944527845668866" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Tomas Kopecky deals out some beach justice to Chris Pronger.</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_GsjK_hgac6pUsANvILQifRnNqUG7JI6pbpmKR60uhBo3yP0uFZT1HDYS16r9XZ9poU46tvOM4krnJ0uz9pu4588TXGXnfmJfwGj6Lh5mnll4YxdE1r3PLU2CZA7XjjdZAFAcF2PRrTaI/s1600-h/gabbo.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 435px; height: 244px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_GsjK_hgac6pUsANvILQifRnNqUG7JI6pbpmKR60uhBo3yP0uFZT1HDYS16r9XZ9poU46tvOM4krnJ0uz9pu4588TXGXnfmJfwGj6Lh5mnll4YxdE1r3PLU2CZA7XjjdZAFAcF2PRrTaI/s400/gabbo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359941516671446114" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Marian Gaborik shows how far into the defensive zone he'll ever go.</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2FVwV6a9KZA6VXIOYcbkBFs0nJuLWLmYbXTCTG0soPTSFnNXmHAftDf_mzTaBwnO3sHIrDKQ3_AVNSe-cD8sQjAU3RNJan-QIJb7r9lVXW_g7dmBu4C42U9JORNTKBJo_aqZ1tRxVmGU3/s1600-h/bulin.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 435px; height: 244px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2FVwV6a9KZA6VXIOYcbkBFs0nJuLWLmYbXTCTG0soPTSFnNXmHAftDf_mzTaBwnO3sHIrDKQ3_AVNSe-cD8sQjAU3RNJan-QIJb7r9lVXW_g7dmBu4C42U9JORNTKBJo_aqZ1tRxVmGU3/s400/bulin.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359943463528074338" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Nikolai Khabibulin stones Marian Gaborik in close. Gaborik pulls groin in process.</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLMLL8KJpcKQbQNpQtUiIDqMOJ7r-KE4PkH1W7Pz8hDlMAJmEE2vf1OF7IZBGulbJgIAe84PyIRRxpRrsnWV6FMcOWgKY4OGEOGXBapBJawQyL4KuAqJTEYzFFcxpSHya_1O6ZgqGTeTIp/s1600-h/brash.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 435px; height: 244px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLMLL8KJpcKQbQNpQtUiIDqMOJ7r-KE4PkH1W7Pz8hDlMAJmEE2vf1OF7IZBGulbJgIAe84PyIRRxpRrsnWV6FMcOWgKY4OGEOGXBapBJawQyL4KuAqJTEYzFFcxpSHya_1O6ZgqGTeTIp/s400/brash.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359943453453827106" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">That's just Donald being Donald.</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRd6BkTjG4zm-ai5LIZhykG_JnH-Qi9Wn5sJX17un-BZe08-lBwY9zaKhDwuM4kdAR8aBvJknjYeu5sFT2_ekC4ewzjeVyb8OhGe9JskjhwiNNpiq1zMaOceCsAfsNdFLI7Nm5_NmkB6M2/s1600-h/gilroy.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 435px; height: 245px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRd6BkTjG4zm-ai5LIZhykG_JnH-Qi9Wn5sJX17un-BZe08-lBwY9zaKhDwuM4kdAR8aBvJknjYeu5sFT2_ekC4ewzjeVyb8OhGe9JskjhwiNNpiq1zMaOceCsAfsNdFLI7Nm5_NmkB6M2/s400/gilroy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359943456546434338" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Matt Gilroy shows the rest of the team how to play defense correctly. Take notes Roszival!</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg32CsMgKa-0aCPnboVqep7e_2tDj3FvCehmV8wXfBY3vQK-gqo0fHcKuyv1U5UNptZbM06i37T82FAX0k4kT8qfZo_AzX2YQrma9vGuNRaF16ZwBgP6-hJssdk7Ie-kTGgrbEaNtelAdEp/s1600-h/kotalik.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 435px; height: 245px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg32CsMgKa-0aCPnboVqep7e_2tDj3FvCehmV8wXfBY3vQK-gqo0fHcKuyv1U5UNptZbM06i37T82FAX0k4kT8qfZo_AzX2YQrma9vGuNRaF16ZwBgP6-hJssdk7Ie-kTGgrbEaNtelAdEp/s400/kotalik.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359943460423698194" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">How do you know its a video game? When Ales Kotalik is trying to play some defense.</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZy3F0va7liEmPd0s_7UmdYFcMAEWGtYhmxDSavdnOHiKC8ANJYPQzq4W5e22Y4vZ1eFIUB4h8lxhL22YOunaur2quSxaAPTh1dEUey-DpC8j8W7nwhSW3Y4t8SqePDJVHA-DEHTwdNo9r/s1600-h/higgins.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 435px; height: 245px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZy3F0va7liEmPd0s_7UmdYFcMAEWGtYhmxDSavdnOHiKC8ANJYPQzq4W5e22Y4vZ1eFIUB4h8lxhL22YOunaur2quSxaAPTh1dEUey-DpC8j8W7nwhSW3Y4t8SqePDJVHA-DEHTwdNo9r/s400/higgins.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359944522972505442" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Christopher Higgins is just playing it out until the post-game party starts. </span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnOQrCnwinbpoPnHliHiESBQxs4EqDYV78Ct9W_PlguGATa3ELd-Q1_dKmXAGhJI-cQNcJEGdZE1uckjFqlxtrfj_LASBHbwNaqGGbCXChwIgr35GgKSl2dSPAi9iTUVCGn4M_V7UDhsjr/s1600-h/quinpreis.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 435px; height: 245px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnOQrCnwinbpoPnHliHiESBQxs4EqDYV78Ct9W_PlguGATa3ELd-Q1_dKmXAGhJI-cQNcJEGdZE1uckjFqlxtrfj_LASBHbwNaqGGbCXChwIgr35GgKSl2dSPAi9iTUVCGn4M_V7UDhsjr/s400/quinpreis.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359944518682026290" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Hey look! It's those two guys that got traded for Ryan Smyth!</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLrXrOXUaUNNAoqFARfYFnTpyhmSKYgYXl7yQA4Efs9DCtnFWi-W_noFFtVg6wQz6MaCAKKsitYVvxTBo0dWUzXj-NZgJ8xaJVNXhBG6SHopZL1r5AD_6RVe-_Qhypmq9nXd-h2tD1XWG3/s1600-h/rollie.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 435px; height: 245px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLrXrOXUaUNNAoqFARfYFnTpyhmSKYgYXl7yQA4Efs9DCtnFWi-W_noFFtVg6wQz6MaCAKKsitYVvxTBo0dWUzXj-NZgJ8xaJVNXhBG6SHopZL1r5AD_6RVe-_Qhypmq9nXd-h2tD1XWG3/s400/rollie.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359944519762441570" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">What Dwayne Roloson doesn't know is that he's wearing Tommy Salo's number and he'll have to start more games than not. Let's see how he reacts...</span></span><br /><br>Hockey Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060395164873365164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5756595755698157001.post-85436840816955692422009-07-16T11:56:00.000-04:002009-07-16T11:56:29.723-04:00New Faces In New Places: Washington vs. Tampa Bay<a href="http://hockeyjoe.blogspot.com/2009/07/new-faces-in-new-places-montreal-and.html"><font style="font-weight: bold;">Yesterday</font></a> we debuted, with great help from <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://games.easports.com/nhl09/">EA Sports</a> and <a href="http://www.xbox.com/"><font style="font-weight: bold;">XBox 360</font></a>, a fun summer series to help us kill time and show off what all of the new free agent acquisitions and top draft picks will look like in their new duds.<br /><br />Speaking of duds, today's photo shoot features one team who played like duds all regular season and another one that played like duds, eventually, in the playoffs.<br /><br />That's right it's time for the, perhaps, much improved Tampa Bay Lightning and the happy-to-stand-pat Washington Capitals.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig2qqgMbsBV7sYKYuK8j1Vd_uJi8pjagP5WO68YA_L4D4PesSRXup82uFFIjovC6GS4fyzSwGgT6IQ7GmsDz3-2l1ZYdHrwADWpKDeuBOzXq64csgZzG44ihtu1qHwQ46htxDzwJahSmlM/s1600-h/Hedman-Morrison.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 460px; height: 258px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig2qqgMbsBV7sYKYuK8j1Vd_uJi8pjagP5WO68YA_L4D4PesSRXup82uFFIjovC6GS4fyzSwGgT6IQ7GmsDz3-2l1ZYdHrwADWpKDeuBOzXq64csgZzG44ihtu1qHwQ46htxDzwJahSmlM/s400/Hedman-Morrison.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358950552475685554" border="0"></a><br /><font size="1"><font style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Tampa Bay's Victor Hedman excuses himself away from new Capitals forward Brendan Morrison.</font></font><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUorMVYwUPKetTgVilEhKzGaVyWb7y6UvggzizpdZraIvjuiqxpvkpKWT5VNiMiW3TA2fBaaPWTbGQdH7BTAe0oDQLTfSjAtiDhTjRDPMM3noAkF7x96NC5RgpW59JnlTAhI49DFAepsjn/s1600-h/KFoster.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 460px; height: 258px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUorMVYwUPKetTgVilEhKzGaVyWb7y6UvggzizpdZraIvjuiqxpvkpKWT5VNiMiW3TA2fBaaPWTbGQdH7BTAe0oDQLTfSjAtiDhTjRDPMM3noAkF7x96NC5RgpW59JnlTAhI49DFAepsjn/s400/KFoster.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358950556166090962" border="0"></a><br /><font size="1"><font style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Kurtis Foster unleashes the beast towards goaltender Simeon Varlamov.</font></font><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1zOEIrqYscTLpVN0Spgv_JjKTeavpFSPRK4tv4Qxu-mfLc1Svgr1X13vDuEo2R_yHUjaeCi4RN-8R66U_qVJxrUByq3WpbWN3eUw9J8MP7gHhjdsJIf3Wiy9rJDqz5-3LN6ZlIog21AyR/s1600-h/Knuble.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 460px; height: 259px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1zOEIrqYscTLpVN0Spgv_JjKTeavpFSPRK4tv4Qxu-mfLc1Svgr1X13vDuEo2R_yHUjaeCi4RN-8R66U_qVJxrUByq3WpbWN3eUw9J8MP7gHhjdsJIf3Wiy9rJDqz5-3LN6ZlIog21AyR/s400/Knuble.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358950559835214562" border="0"></a><br /><font size="1"><font style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">New Capitals forward Mike Knuble dares to deke past Vincent Lecavalier.</font></font><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhQ9Y9kyB3bsI6DrPQXF1vI-828xqL-hE-tskHK8db6kceCgX246IIjc0f1FNF00z-Gh6g8Mb9_a7zksXw1Uyjs2LttSE4ulsWASlYCmLKCNiPmnQoKdNLaH4tOwB0vHLPmdZeSQJaaPNZ/s1600-h/Ohlund.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 460px; height: 258px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhQ9Y9kyB3bsI6DrPQXF1vI-828xqL-hE-tskHK8db6kceCgX246IIjc0f1FNF00z-Gh6g8Mb9_a7zksXw1Uyjs2LttSE4ulsWASlYCmLKCNiPmnQoKdNLaH4tOwB0vHLPmdZeSQJaaPNZ/s400/Ohlund.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358950566656654626" border="0"></a><br /><font size="1"><font style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Mattias Ohlund tries to escape the pursuit of Alexander Ovechkin.</font></font><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOxnqMXYxA3QFtsn4RGMR6o875ZjYc-A2dOQAUK-Mm3Vf_tQPoD8HtXIghOujjG-ttVsDDX4y0VmFixFCSM1DpxoZRc742Xobu3yG0rTnfahfvkyy5GQgiYh2s7h0I-yxm8WuuPDxWq30F/s1600-h/Veilluex.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 460px; height: 258px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOxnqMXYxA3QFtsn4RGMR6o875ZjYc-A2dOQAUK-Mm3Vf_tQPoD8HtXIghOujjG-ttVsDDX4y0VmFixFCSM1DpxoZRc742Xobu3yG0rTnfahfvkyy5GQgiYh2s7h0I-yxm8WuuPDxWq30F/s400/Veilluex.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358950570027482786" border="0"></a><br /><font size="1"><font style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Stephane Veilleux shows how to celebrate best on an empty net.</font></font><br /><br />Now here's where you folks come in. Who do you want to see next? Red Wings exiles donning the Indian in Chicago? Marian Gaborik in Ranger blues? Ryan Smyth and his mullet in Los Angeles?<br /><br />You make the call and the top two choices get featured next - just make sure the teams you select have, you know, actually made a move or two. Leave your suggestions in the comments or find your way to <a href="http://www.twitter.com/">Twitter</a> to let me know. <a href="http://twitter.com/GrossMisconduct"><font style="font-weight: bold;">I'm pretty easy to find there</font></a>.<br /><br>Hockey Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060395164873365164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5756595755698157001.post-73647348423348826282009-07-15T17:57:00.005-04:002009-07-15T18:57:23.278-04:00New Faces In New Places: Montreal and TorontoBecause I'm a video game dork, in particular with NHL games (well, OK EA Sports' NHL game) and the summer leaves a dearth of fun NHL news to talk about, it's time for me to flex my video game photo taking skills and give you an idea of what some of the new players in new places are going to look like in their snazzy new uniforms.<br /><br />I'll do a few of these photo galleries because I'm that bored and I have that kind of time. Suck it.<br /><br />This gallery will feature two teams who have done quite a bit this off-season. It also helps that they're huge rivals with each other.<br /><br />I bring you the newest Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens. Feel free to click the photos to enlarge them at your leisure.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdRHkvZhCqfpeknnPzkpIBVyGpnAYEkx8o7a5nY9jU8Ve-TDqxsD_sdsLvsv5SDS6m15xL4bLR8rV0zayOqynW_-OwU3AcOxbRejqnYg3bh4aNytce-VH2o2q0GD3AbNdo3nBZVB1sDiBg/s1600-h/gomez-habs.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 453px; height: 254px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdRHkvZhCqfpeknnPzkpIBVyGpnAYEkx8o7a5nY9jU8Ve-TDqxsD_sdsLvsv5SDS6m15xL4bLR8rV0zayOqynW_-OwU3AcOxbRejqnYg3bh4aNytce-VH2o2q0GD3AbNdo3nBZVB1sDiBg/s400/gomez-habs.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358810690692387938" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Scott Gomez slams on the brakes in front of Matthew Stajan and Colton Orr.</span></span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuhAal1D8Js96-XetOT1jSAKF92wXu8A1cv1M6n0ECOP1yDtcf1ZNlO1mSWFS0g1VOsWWwt7-d-yw-QnORdMmUiE-wBRisvl6gExDh6ERknIpxmdsLWlz8uzQjLY1NGgiHy03IQO4Y_oJG/s1600-h/gionta.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 455px; height: 255px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuhAal1D8Js96-XetOT1jSAKF92wXu8A1cv1M6n0ECOP1yDtcf1ZNlO1mSWFS0g1VOsWWwt7-d-yw-QnORdMmUiE-wBRisvl6gExDh6ERknIpxmdsLWlz8uzQjLY1NGgiHy03IQO4Y_oJG/s400/gionta.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358810697522044498" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Brian Gionta celebrates a goal he didn't score.</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVelvdzwR62Z6dlqvRtDcerDRIi0WQEJ314GrD6yHc7Ttd3QDcLDKoJtzfw-v0zzfaJUwHQjXQjrz8Emn83jKs5-2TJsG4ddPci07ijxuK-PQWHC-nOMUzH1nblYmSQn-205Vj8K7mMcZT/s1600-h/cammy.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 456px; height: 256px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVelvdzwR62Z6dlqvRtDcerDRIi0WQEJ314GrD6yHc7Ttd3QDcLDKoJtzfw-v0zzfaJUwHQjXQjrz8Emn83jKs5-2TJsG4ddPci07ijxuK-PQWHC-nOMUzH1nblYmSQn-205Vj8K7mMcZT/s400/cammy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358810701477624402" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Mike Cammalleri lets a shot rip from the slot while Mike Komisarek sprawls out to block it.</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg68ctj9a7NAHTr9a06snjEd9ZqCUIz2-8oKC9C3hJqb5yovtro2FMz1ZsT2fgvvaN7vAtvAbFfCNCIwoOoTXlSBKN6TmJAxn7Lgc9HuwkeCt8j4v73g8_15t0j9M9EDXjhNpJyrfk9dW1V/s1600-h/mara-orr.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 458px; height: 257px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg68ctj9a7NAHTr9a06snjEd9ZqCUIz2-8oKC9C3hJqb5yovtro2FMz1ZsT2fgvvaN7vAtvAbFfCNCIwoOoTXlSBKN6TmJAxn7Lgc9HuwkeCt8j4v73g8_15t0j9M9EDXjhNpJyrfk9dW1V/s400/mara-orr.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358810704625727474" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Paul Mara skates head to head with Colton Orr.</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkLx4C_V5iZRwGPmj8WX0EKc9Ia53uS8EWbvCJu1Thw0k5Pad_05HB6uV2zHtOxZwIiX7azfahf2l6Qfk0MmSwLYTyejM6Qy3YaC1UiN9EAuRqNKhMe7fyK-lnZYeojg4a6KJjXQ88Cynd/s1600-h/newleafs-tor.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 462px; height: 259px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkLx4C_V5iZRwGPmj8WX0EKc9Ia53uS8EWbvCJu1Thw0k5Pad_05HB6uV2zHtOxZwIiX7azfahf2l6Qfk0MmSwLYTyejM6Qy3YaC1UiN9EAuRqNKhMe7fyK-lnZYeojg4a6KJjXQ88Cynd/s400/newleafs-tor.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358810710603858114" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Mike Komisarek lurks behind the net while Garnet Exelby defends. Jonas Gustavsson holds down the fort.</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGaOTlCCUd4lktq16jofZUs3WcFcYtD__FH6FekFa6VTUtgOI-tFnBhRpABRI0UKKZ0rZXGgG5l5rpHuxBbdN-G9GZvn1R3fMb5J8_Daq7yu6Ot67tIprqPZOaEEgrNo1dbiZOctc6CYM_/s1600-h/spacek.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 464px; height: 260px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGaOTlCCUd4lktq16jofZUs3WcFcYtD__FH6FekFa6VTUtgOI-tFnBhRpABRI0UKKZ0rZXGgG5l5rpHuxBbdN-G9GZvn1R3fMb5J8_Daq7yu6Ot67tIprqPZOaEEgrNo1dbiZOctc6CYM_/s400/spacek.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358811029163113714" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Jaroslav Spacek races through the slot to let a wrist shot fly.</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYdc44P-Cbt7I_KT9Jb71Z0fBBtJ8llmEphhpwOND3_u7ookOzZLd_d4RXjNBga1qRApUboLXhwsEKtd7wSMkVuhrp8i_cebq59j_ato0eUvwqSOGG3y5nDb9fZaYAyh06361J9J4M3cNy/s1600-h/halgill-habs.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 467px; height: 262px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYdc44P-Cbt7I_KT9Jb71Z0fBBtJ8llmEphhpwOND3_u7ookOzZLd_d4RXjNBga1qRApUboLXhwsEKtd7wSMkVuhrp8i_cebq59j_ato0eUvwqSOGG3y5nDb9fZaYAyh06361J9J4M3cNy/s400/halgill-habs.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358811037142699090" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Hal Gill does something other than stand around.</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbwABhBTPKZtaHIM3tyN1c83DsRsI2SGJHFKmEtI8Sh-T1FfnyC6Qj6fl4hz-pgCaDSobdme9rYh0BbB10GuDBZFzMRuNQeWTPPusxpjYH46Bj_RNFZOPQT3C35ipNMgnSA-DsDM_2lS_U/s1600-h/moengoal.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 472px; height: 265px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbwABhBTPKZtaHIM3tyN1c83DsRsI2SGJHFKmEtI8Sh-T1FfnyC6Qj6fl4hz-pgCaDSobdme9rYh0BbB10GuDBZFzMRuNQeWTPPusxpjYH46Bj_RNFZOPQT3C35ipNMgnSA-DsDM_2lS_U/s400/moengoal.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358811038914148050" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Travis Moen celebrates like a douchebag after scoring a back-breaking shorthanded goal. Francois Beauchemin stands by stoically. </span></span><br /><br>Hockey Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060395164873365164noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5756595755698157001.post-48826101523379643272009-07-13T15:00:00.006-04:002009-07-13T16:03:03.976-04:00Resurrecting Evil: Devils Hire Jacques LemaireI'd like to say that <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.nj.com/devils/index.ssf/2009/07/new_jersey_devils_hire_jacques.html">this news surprises and horrifies me</a>, but deep down it doesn't.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">The Devils have gone back to the future for their new coach, bringing back Jacques Lemaire as the man to replace Brent Sutter, who resigned June 9. Assistant coach John MacLean, once again passed over for the job, will take over as head coach of the Devils' Lowell, Mass., minor league team.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"When Lou called me, I was excited, especially, it was a great organization, with a lot of people working for the organization, and it's going in the right direction,'' Lemaire said in explaining why he decided to return to New Jersey after stepping down as coach of the Minnesota Wild at the end of last season.</span></blockquote><br />Pardon me for a moment:<br /><br /><center><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WWaLxFIVX1s&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WWaLxFIVX1s&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="480"></embed></object></center><br /><br />There, now I feel a little bit better.<br /><br />No, you know what? I don't. <br /><br />I don't feel better because, finally, after what feels like a million years the Devils were getting to be interesting to watch. Zach Parise is a certified star in the league banished to Newark to apparently pay his sins for daring to be a college hockey deity with his partner in crime Travis Zajac. Patrick Elias vanquished his case of Hepatitis Q and was scoring goals again and hell, they even busted out Brendan Shanahan last year to make fans of the 1980s Devils get all warm and fuzzy again.<br /><br />Bringing back Lemaire to a squad that seems to be two lines of legitimate talent and two lines of guys that should struggle in the AHL makes you wonder just what kind of coach can make a team like that into one that can make the playoffs.<br /><br />Well hey, Jacques Lemaire has done it since he started coaching in the NHL so why not get him... <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">again</span></span>?<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdkwAkI4RxoXP-jWSb0FAj9lbLdj1Xlv2lMWwx84xlzuP0wrHucMTtvXO088tVn_StVj6JjjnwmgWgmGYT7r4X5DgJoHpnB3_5CU3ZNHUk8D7n8Io95Bs-5OH44O_SIPDRd-pP6Pl3Qfze/s1600-h/NJNightmare.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 606px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdkwAkI4RxoXP-jWSb0FAj9lbLdj1Xlv2lMWwx84xlzuP0wrHucMTtvXO088tVn_StVj6JjjnwmgWgmGYT7r4X5DgJoHpnB3_5CU3ZNHUk8D7n8Io95Bs-5OH44O_SIPDRd-pP6Pl3Qfze/s400/NJNightmare.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358030349149790754" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Listen, I know the Devils won't look like a thorough patchwork squad when the season starts because, as usual, Loophole Lou Lamoriello is waiting to see which players are really desperate to stay in the NHL and Lou will get them on the cheap knowing full-well what awaits the NHL next season and beyond as far as the cap goes. He got caught with his pants down once before and won't let it happen again.<br /><br />Besides, he doesn't have <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.nypost.com/seven/02242007/sports/devils/devils_korolyuk_trade_falls_through_devils_pat_reichart.htm">Alexander Korolyuk</a> to kick around anymore.<br /><br />As much as I abhor this move by the Devils, I fully understand it. Lemaire gets the most of having the least especially when your general manager purposefully hates acquiring new talent and his name is Doug Risebrough.<br /><br />There is an aspect of all this that has me petrified and having honest-to-God flashbacks to 1994-1995 once again. No, it's not the threat of a labor dispute after an epic Stanley Cup Final. It's about how, magically, the rule book got ignored setting hockey back even further than that work stoppage after the 1994 Finals did.<br /><br />Take a look at how the rules were interpreted in this years Stanley Cup Finals. Detroit and Pittsburgh were allowed to do, seemingly, whatever they pleased to play defense on each other. Be it obstruction, interference, holding... All of that stuff that was supposed to become a part of the past after the labor dispute of 2004-2005. It was back and back with a vengeance and on full display by both teams.<br /><br />What concerned many folks, including yours truly, was that the way the rules were being called in the Finals would become the new norm since a lot of players sounded off being OK with that. Case in point from <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/07/sports/hockey/07slapshot.html?_r=2&ref=hockey">Stu Hackel and Jeff Z. Klein from the New York Times</a>:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">Coming out of the 2004-5 lockout, the N.H.L clamped down on hooking, holding, tripping and interference with the intent of making the game more a show of skill. The referees had stuck to that strict standard for the last four seasons — until this series.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Through the first four games of this season’s finals, referees called a total of 21 penalties, compared with 43 through the first four games of last season’s finals. Obstruction calls also showed a disparity: 13 this season compared with 22 last season.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Some fans have complained about the change, though most seem to like it — including the Detroit and Pittsburgh players and coaches.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">“I love it,” the Red Wings’ Kirk Maltby said. “They’re not going back to the old rules, where there’s dramatic hooks and holds. They’re letting guys battle, in the corners and in front of the net. As players and as hockey fans, all you ask is that it’s even on both sides. I’m not really used to this many penalties not being called, but it’s fun. You’re letting the guys go out and play and decide who’s going to win.”</span></blockquote><br />I don't give a damn what Kirk Maltby has to say about the lack of penalties being called because, frankly, he's not the guy wheeling, dealing and scoring out there and having his progress halted with every stride. He's also the guy who'll be out there and trying to make sure the big guns for the opposing teams don't get the space or time to score and having officials look the other way only helps him out all the more.<br /><br />I appreciate what Maltby has done as a grind line player in the NHL, but he's not the guy I wante to hear from on these matters because the more the whistle gets put away by the referees, the more he stands to gain from it.<br /><br />Back in the NHL's "Dead Puck Era" I used to think of Mario Lemieux as the world's biggest whiner when he would <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1208/is_n14_v221/ai_19296064/">openly complain about the holding and obstruction</a> going on in the NHL and it made it more difficult to respect him. Learning more about the game and studying it closer I realized he was right all along. Mea culpa, Mario. Look what he had to say back in 1997:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">"The game isn't as exciting as it was five or six years ago," says Lemieux, who is quitting after the next few weeks because he has grown tired of the way it is being played.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">What I want to know is this: If Mario Lemieux isn't on the edge of his seat before he takes the ice, why should we be any more excited?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"It's really disappointing," Lemieux says "There are so many great players in the league who can't show their talent. It's too bad for the fans. This could be the greatest game in the world, but with the rules as they are, we can't do our jobs."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Lemieux met with NHL commissioner Bettman last summer to plead his case for a crackdown on obstruction penalties. "Stop whining, Mario," he was told. "Just go out there and fight through the checking."</span></blockquote><br />Care to guess which part of that Larry Wigge story I'm going to harp on? I don't think you need a road map to find it.<br /><br />So what happens next? What happens if the rulebook enforcement goes south again and the heaps of brilliant talent that currently exist in the NHL all find their numbers and progress stunted because a new wave of non-skating, grabby ogres get to turn the NHL into a skating rodeo of sorts where the best skaters are all grabbed onto and ridden to the ice?<br /><br />That sounds like a bad time had by all.<br /><br />Lemaire showed how to win with that style and every expansion team of that era followed his plans to the letter to make it into the playoffs and even the Finals. Lemaire now takes the reigns of a Devils team with brilliant offensive talent buoyed by a no-name third and fourth line, a solid but unspectacular defensive corps and the same goaltender he had years upon years ago in Martin Brodeur.<br /><br />I think I've seen this movie before and it ends with the fans ultimately losing out having their game destroyed both on and off the ice. Instead, let's just hope this ends with a great coach's swan song in the place where his legacy began and our game remains in tact.<br /><br>Hockey Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060395164873365164noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5756595755698157001.post-88034787189496896792009-07-11T02:58:00.004-04:002009-07-11T04:18:57.800-04:00Sheer MadnessIf I sat here and wrote something psychotic about every idiotic deal that has been signed since the start of the July 1st NHL Free Agency free-for-all I'd never stop writing.<br /><br />Ever.<br /><br />So what did I do instead? I holed up in a bunker while the NHL contract nukes dropped and now that nuclear winter has settled in and things are cooling off (after all the biggest name left to go after is Alex Tanguay), went to New York City to take in some baseball games and now sit here and wait for the NHL schedule to come out so in-season road trips can be planned.<br /><br />Yeah, it's hockey's off-season all right.<br /><br />What's particularly special about this off-season is how some teams seem to think the fountain of money is never going to run dry and how the salary cap managed to stay in basic neutral (with <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/on-the-rise-nhls-salary-cap-goes-up/article1198682/">some help from the NHL Players Association</a>) despite grim financial stories flying in from around the league's warmer climes.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJlwEXForbXUFPThGNy4zLzMx_UxGPcEVUvTX5AJh3tYjz81ZHkW9NHJ-dHrp8WsLa-tZa58JLq7SK26BSXLs8sm1uYJB3RyVdpag1k-tRRNXLRjklRix8HdfGF2dSA0vlg13TQWlf4iCu/s1600-h/NHLD&D.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 397px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJlwEXForbXUFPThGNy4zLzMx_UxGPcEVUvTX5AJh3tYjz81ZHkW9NHJ-dHrp8WsLa-tZa58JLq7SK26BSXLs8sm1uYJB3RyVdpag1k-tRRNXLRjklRix8HdfGF2dSA0vlg13TQWlf4iCu/s400/NHLD&D.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357096374355936466" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br />Chicago appears to be going for it all in the 2009-2010 season even in spite of having three key young players eligible for restricted free agency next season. An epic contract to Marian Hossa followed up by <a href="http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=283900"><span style="font-weight: bold;">a potential paperwork snafu</span></a> that lead into Chicago locking up their cast of restricted free agents this year has made Chicago's salary cap in the seemingly doomed-for-dropping 2010-2011 season an incredibly amazing storyline that we're going to have to wait a full year for.<br /><br />Let's hope this plays out like an old school Heinz ketchup commercial.<br /><br /><center><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/N_vssdys8lk&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/N_vssdys8lk&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="480"></embed></object></center><br /><br />That Matt LeBlanc... He'll become <span style="font-style: italic;">something</span> someday.<br /><br />James O'Brien over at Cycle Like The Sedins did an epic, and I do mean epic, job of <a href="http://cyclelikesedins.blogspot.com/2009/07/losing-one-or-more-of-kane-toews-keith.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">breaking down Chicago's hopes and dreams</span></a> in what they hope is the post-coitus afterglow of the team's first Stanley Cup since the 1960s.<br /><br />I'll give you the punchline of one of James' scenarios in hopes that it'll tickle you in dirty places and motivate you to click the link to his full rundown that I've so nicely provided for you.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">d) So, if the Blackhawks lived in a dream world in which they could rid themselves of Brian Campbell, Cristobal Huet, Dustin Byfuglien and Patrick Sharp ...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">... while signing Kane, Toews AND Keith to trio of bargain contracts ...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">They would have five forwards and three defensemen for $30 million. This would give them $20 million to fill (at the minimum) seven forward spots, three defensemen and two goalies. To ice a hockey team, they would have approximately $1.67 million per roster spot.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Without a goalie. Without even two full lines of forwards or defense.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">This is if the Blackhawks unload a murderer's row of idiotic contracts.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Even if this situation played out with the current cap, they'd have $2.16 million per open spot.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">And this the DREAM scenario.</span></blockquote><br />How boned are the Blackhawks if Cristobal Huet, Corey Crawford or Antti Niemi can't carry them to the Stanley Cup this year? "Pretty damn boned" is my amateur in-the-basement assessment.<br /><br />The one pretty bow I can tie around Dale Tallon's neck for this incredibly short-sighted and reckless means to win it all is that he's at least being ballsy enough to say, "Screw it, we're going for it all and don't give a damn." It's really ballsy, but it's also epically freaking stupid.<br /><br />Jonathan Toews is their captain, Patrick Kane is the face of the franchise and Duncan Keith is a borderline Norris Trophy candidate and they're <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">ALL</span> ripe for the picking next offseason and at least one of them is likely done in Chicago after this season.<br /><br />That, my friends, is mind blowing.<br /><br />After all, this kind of stupid isn't at all like what New York Rangers general manager Glen Sather has done. You know Slats, he's the guy who just a couple years ago signed both Chris Drury and Scott Gomez to ridiculous virtually identical $7 million dollar per year contracts that don't run out until the sun goes supernova.<br /><br />Glen Sather gave Rangers fans hope for all of one day that he had learned the error of his ways when he <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/hockey/rangers/2009/06/30/2009-06-30_rangers_trade_scott_gomez.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">packaged up Scott Gomez and some never-will-be prospects</span></a> to the Montréal Canadiens for Christopher Higgins and two semi-stud prospects. Higgins was a restricted free agent waiting to be signed and off went over $7 million dollars per year until 2013-2014 from the ledger.<br /><br />An unbelievably stupid move for Habs GM Bob Gainey and a brilliant stroke of genius for Glen Sather to pull one over on a savvy general manager in his own right in Gainey.<br /><br />Then July 1st happened and Sather used all of that new found cap space on a guy who tweaks and twerks his groin more than just about anyone that doesn't play goal in the league in Marian Gaborik. Goal scoring was something the Rangers severely lacked and they went right out and got themselves a guy that will score in bunches. He's a legitimate scoring superstar who fell out of favor in Minnesota with the Wild for both not doing what coach Jacques Lemaire wanted all the time and for being an oft-injured bitch that seemed to disappear in the playoffs.<br /><br />Of course when you're the only scoring talent on a playoff team that is otherwise offensively neutered it's not hard to just shut down one guy.<br /><br />Huh... Maybe the Rangers weren't paying attention to that. Nor did they seem to pay attention to Gaborik's games played over the last few seasons in Minnesota. In his last four years Gaborik has played in 65, 48, 77, and 17 games respectively. <br /><br />When he plays, he's dynamic - flat out. He's an incredible offensive talent. Problem is keeping him healthy and if fans in Minneapolis grew frustrated and impatient with Gaborik's inability to stay on the ice... Well, New York City won't be rolling out the red carpet for him everywhere.<br /><br />What's incredible about this is that Gaborik managed to get an even bigger contract out of the Rangers than the one they gave up in Scott Gomez and one that ends the same year after 2014. If Gaborik's next five years go erratically with the games played the way his last four in Minnesota have Rangers fans are going to go out of their minds. Thankfully for them the Islanders and Devils have done next to nothing to improve themselves this off-season.<br /><br />Even more fun for Rangers fans is the fact that the Philadelphia Flyers managed to only get scummier by adding Chris Pronger and Ian Laperriere and reverting to their old side show ways in goal bringing Ray Emery back from Russia and then getting former backup Brian Boucher to back him up.<br /><br />At least they didn't lock Professor Elbows up to an obnoxious deal that they'll never be able to get rid of now that he's in his waning years.<br /><br />Wait, <a href="http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/27172-.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">they DID do that</span></a>. From Ken Campbell:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">When Pronger signed his seven-year contract extension Tuesday, it was front-loaded the way almost all long-term deals are. The extension kicks in for the 2010-11 season and carries a salary cap hit of $4.92 million per season. Pronger will make $7.6 million in each of the first two seasons of the deal, then is scheduled to make $7.2 million, $7 million and $4 million in the next three seasons before dropping to just $525,000 in Years 6 and 7 of the deal, which are the 2015-16 and ’16-17 seasons.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Now, nobody in the game expects Pronger to fulfill the terms of this contract. With Pronger earning $33.4 million of the $34.45 million in the first five years of the deal, it’s a virtual certainty Pronger will retire after the 2014-15 season.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, the Flyers would be on the hook for the entire $4.92 million cap hit for each of the next seven seasons regardless of whether Pronger retires or not, because the contract kicks in after Pronger turns 35 (he turns 35 this October). But there is speculation the Flyers believe that since Pronger actually signed the extension prior to turning 35, they might not have to absorb the cap hit if he retires...<br /><br />But the spirit of the provision is that it governs contracts that kick in when a player turns 35, not when it is signed.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">“The league has sent out memo after memo after memo alerting teams about this,” said one former NHL executive. “If this is what they’re doing, they’re trying to drive a 747 through a loophole.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The league has yet to hear from the Flyers about this and considers it to be unambiguous. And given that Holmgren has said the Flyers are willing to live with the negative ramifications of signing Pronger to a seven-year deal, it might not be an issue.</span><br /></blockquote><br />Whoops. It's almost as if Bobby Clarke is still the guy running the show there.<br /><br />I don't know about you, but I'm ready to just blow through this next season just to see how things go in the NHL. After all, the league that beats them over the head for attention and media glitz and glam, the NBA, just had their salary cap drop by a cool million dollars recently and they're supposedly awash in cash. <br /><br />That makes the situation for the NHL, a league without a blockbuster media contract, <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/allan_muir/07/10/economic.downturn/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">even stickier and one that bears watching</span></a>. <br /><br />Gary Bettman may have been playing the part of <a href="http://www.welovetheiraqiinformationminister.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Baghdad Bob</span></a> and saying that everything is OK while we can all see what's on the horizon, but I will enjoy playing the part of Nero while Rome burns mixed in with my consistent ability to keep telling the Emperor that he's got no clothes on.<br /><br />Gross.<br /><br>Hockey Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060395164873365164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5756595755698157001.post-65696272276741247662009-06-30T15:24:00.008-04:002009-06-30T20:57:42.482-04:00Montréal: Surréal and UnréalPicture if you will a place where hockey is talked about day in and day out.<br /><br />A place where newly drafted soon-to-be superstars high-five you for being hockey fans going into a bar.<br /><br />A place where an NHL head coach could charm the pants off of just about any woman he wants to in the bar while he's just as hammered as you are and you're stuck standing around in awe of the whole scenario unfolding in front of you.<br /><br />A place where 10 year-olds have no fear, ignore their grandparents and approach a group of hockey-centric strangers just to heckle a Bruins fan.<br /><br />A place where out amongst the late night drunken revelers, loud and animated discussions about John Tavares erupt out of the blue.<br /><br />A place where an inebriated 4:30 AM trip to McDonalds turns into a mind-blowing experience when you realize said McDonalds is across the street from what used to be the Montréal Forum.<br /><br />A place where running into everyone you've ever cited or made fun of in the hockey blog world convenes to share a beer or twelve together.<br /><br />This is what Montréal was during NHL Draft weekend. Part surreal, part unreal, completely incredible.<br /><br />I'll say this about Montréal:<br /><br />It's a city I loved before making this trip. I'd been there a few times before and had some incredible times up there and the city has always left an indelible mark on my memory for about a thousand different reasons.<br /><br />This time will go down as one of the most incredible experiences for me because not only was this about being somewhat immersed in the middle of the madness that is the NHL Draft, but it also helped that it doubled as an end of the year convention for those of us in the "alternative" hockey media.<br /><br />Oh sure, most of us may not have press passes and we may be playing the role of angry columnist at times (OK all the time over here), but anywhere you went in downtown Montreal this past weekend had hockey going on with it.<br /><br />If you were out to grab a beer at a local tavern, you might run into some front office guys from an NHL team.<br /><br />Need to get some dinner in Old Montreal? You might see folks from the Penguins stroll down the street with the Stanley Cup, much the way some of <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://twitpic.com/8wjbj">the other NHL Tweet Up folks did on Saturday night</a>.<br /><br />Going to Peel Pub to soak in the frat boy type of nightlife? Downstairs you might get high-fived by a celebrating Kyle Palmieri or you could head upstairs and see Puck Daddy's Greg Wyshynski among others.<br /><br />That's just a sample of how things went down and, even still, there was more going on than all of that. I don't need to break down how the picks went or the backroom nonsense that was going on or any of that, you'll find enough about all of that elsewhere.<br /><br />What I can say is that I'm glad I'm NOT in Montréal now after the announcement of the <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j_-xmzrJRXwxsJYKSaqTGZbso-oQD9959Q9O1">Christopher Higgins trade to the Rangers for Scott Gomez</a> that also, seemingly, included the Canadiens top defensive prospect Ryan McDonagh.<br /><br />The reaction to this deal, for Montréal fans has been, to put it lightly, hysterical. Not the funny kind of hysterical but the manic, crazed and angry kind of hysterical. For a good example of what it's like to be a dyed in the wool fan of Les Habitents, <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?s=6612584679f0afa16cd8e466b5d4a969&t=656981">check this thread at Hockey's Future</a> that reads like an Internet car crash turned into rally with pitchforks and torches. As of this writing, the thread based on this deal alone was up to <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">35 pages</span>.<br /><br />Now take folks like that and put them all in one city and have them dialed into what goes on with the hometown team 24/7. <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">That's</span> Montréal. Hockey all day, every day.<br /><br />Heaven... I just don't speak the language in heaven is all. Well, the main language anyhow.<br /><br />This kind of seemingly moronic deal sets the table quite nicely for the NHLs National Day of Insanity: The start of free agency.<br /><br />We've already seen <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/hockey/blackhawks/chi-30-blackhawks-bolland-chicagjun30,0,2798737.story">one highly-dubious contract handed out</a> to Dave Bolland of the Blackhawks for five years and $3.375 million per year. He's on the young side, but he also notched a mere 47 points last year. The Blackhawks are banking on Bolland improving and making this deal into a bargain in future seasons.<br /><br />Yeah, good luck on that.<br /><br />Adding this to the dubious Rangers-Habs trade today you can see why I look forward to this each year, it's just funny that Glen Sather is on the positive end of the spectrum this time around. Perhaps he'll give an asinine contract to Christopher Higgins (a restricted free agent) to make up for it and we can mock him endlessly once again.<br /><br />Bizarre part about this deal for Montreal is that they had oodles of cap space to work with and instead lock themselves into having Gomez as their top centerman, essentially kiss captain Saku Koivu goodbye and take themselves out of the running for the Sedin twins since Gomez is due over $7 million a year on the cap until forever.<br /><br />Like I said: Seemingly and most likely a terrible development for the Habs.<br /><br />For the Rangers, it's an interesting start and one that's rumored to continue into a deal for Senators winger Dany Heatley sooner than later. Should that happen, well, perhaps the Rangers will realize that they dealt the wrong centerman to Montreal as Gomez would work quite well dishing off to Heatley.<br /><br />Chris Drury? Not so much...<br /><br />All of this though is just the appetizer for July 1st. I'll be doing a lot of snap judgments through the day tomorrow on Twitter, <a href="http://twitter.com/GrossMisconduct"><span style="font-weight: bold;">so follow along with me</span></a> as idiocy runs wild.<br /><br>Hockey Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060395164873365164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5756595755698157001.post-61891765560202636222009-06-26T02:35:00.007-04:002009-06-26T09:38:44.839-04:00Bienvenue à Montréal<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiwS1Sdy9ibztP2XT0kCmrVTiHtyN_nMcFmhYFoXzYNU0uefEoc8D8Rvg3RXbRJ_9ZgqD6KdOggfM3gb6wdWPOZFcvfddzONQrEpdlm9xcrgZHE9YkcInCErE5AMBif04a-M9LSXm99QIt/s1600-h/nhldraft_2009.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 468px; height: 194px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiwS1Sdy9ibztP2XT0kCmrVTiHtyN_nMcFmhYFoXzYNU0uefEoc8D8Rvg3RXbRJ_9ZgqD6KdOggfM3gb6wdWPOZFcvfddzONQrEpdlm9xcrgZHE9YkcInCErE5AMBif04a-M9LSXm99QIt/s400/nhldraft_2009.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351535928703887378" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />The Gross Misconduct Hockey Road Trip extravaganza gets to close out the 2008-2009 season as well as get you prepared for the 2009-2010 season all at once by visiting one of my most favorite cities in the world:<br /><br />Montréal, Québec, Canada<br /><br />Those accents are very important.<br /><br />Tomorrow morning I'll hit the road, the illustrious I-87, to attend the NHL Entry Draft. No, I won't be giving you a mock draft since that would be amateurish of me to do and would likely end up sounding really freaking stupid because, honestly, what am I going to tell you that you're not going to find more well informed elsewhere? Hell, just hit up the links on the sidebar and you'll find something you'll enjoy - it's out there and other folks are busting their ass a lot more on this than yours truly.<br /><br />That's just how I roll. I guess.<br /><br />The one bit of insight I'll give you is this, and these are the things I'll be keeping an eye out for.<br /><br />Thankfully, one of them focuses in on the first two picks. I'm curious to see if Garth Snow and the Islanders have just been jerking all of us around for weeks and he's going to run to the podium and make it official that the Islanders give a crap about the team's future and select John Tavares first.<br /><br />Not selecting Tavares would be damn near criminal and that's not a slight on Victor Hedman or Matt Duchene but Tavares was virtually NHL-ready last year. Hell, they tried to bend the rules to <a href="http://mirtle.blogspot.com/2007/07/tavares-to-push-for-2008-draft.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">allow him to be drafted last year</span></a>.<br /><br />Tavares is the real deal and he'll be the guy to resurrect the Islanders back into relevancy, which is good since both Hedman and Duchene are pretty fantastic booby prizes for the Lightning and Avalanche who select after the Isles.<br /><br />Provided the Lightning don't do something thoroughly insane they should take Hedman and have him starting on the blueline for the Lightning come September. He's big, he's Swedish, he plays defense. That's a pretty good pedigree to have coming to the NHL.<br /><br />Then again, this is the Tampa Bay Lightning. The team owned by the wackiest pair of terrible owners in the league, a couple of guys in Oren Koules and Len Barrie who were brought into Little Gary's office this week <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/So-sad-First-Jon-and-Kate-now-Koules-and-Barri?urn=nhl,172137">to get their problems figured out</a>. Of course Gary sided with Oren Koules and hey, why not, he deals in real estate that's a really solid industry lately. No problems there at all.<br /><br />Oh and Koules wants to pare down the payroll and get rid of Vincent Lecavalier. That ought to go over really well for the fans in Tampa who have already had these two jackals ruin what was once the crown jewel of how to be a non-traditional market and thrive.<br /><br />This is also the team with the general manager Brian Lawton who said in an e-mail to other teams that if you want to talk about the Lightning that <a href="http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=282850"><span style="font-weight: bold;">you talk to him and him alone</span></a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">"Please be advised that in order to avoid any confusion over the next couple of weeks, as GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning Organization I am the only person authorized to speak on behalf of the team with regard to player transactions," the email read. </span> <p style="font-style: italic;">"No other person is authorized to negotiate player transactions. Any questions, feel free to call."</p></blockquote><p style="font-style: italic;"></p><br />Oh good.<br /><br />Of course with the flux in Tampa Bay and not knowing just what they'll do, Lawton has felt it necessary that Tampa will hang on to their pick which would be pretty wise considering a guy like Hedman would help sure up their defense for a good long while.<br /><br />Then again, if Koules is getting the bigger share of the decisions on what to do, perhaps trading out of the spot will seem more appealing.<br /><br />Sure it would. Then again, if the Islanders do go against the grain and do something unbelievably foolish like skipping over Tavares in favor Hedman then the power is in Tampa's hands. And if that happens? Hang on to your freakin' pants because Toronto general manager Brian Burke might actually start table dancing like the fine ladies at Club Super Sexe, full-frontal and everything.<br /><br />Go ahead, go puke. I'll wait.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Feel better? Good.<br /><br />If Tampa gets themselves into a position where they can use their #2 spot to leverage whatever they want to out of anyone, then perhaps even Burke might feel compelled to give up his BFF defenseman Luke Schenn in order to land John Tavares. Then again, who knows what other teams might want to throw at Tampa in order to get a crack at Tavares.<br /><br />If, and these are HUGE ifs, the Islanders take Hedman or anyone else not named John Tavares the NHL Draft officially becomes a circus and the time allotted to Tampa at pick #2 becomes the most exciting time of the Draft as the Lightning phones will not stop ringing the whole time and with Lawton having to handle things with Koules and Barrie also calling to get their say in...<br /><br />Well for chaos purposes alone I pray for this to happen. Then again, for the Islanders to become a relevant franchise again sometime before I'm dead, I hope they take Tavares. The Isles lack a lot but Tavares gives them the guy to build the franchise around and gives Kyle Okposo someone to have fun with out there.<br /><br />The other things I'll be looking for this weekend come from a sheerly selfish standpoint in being an RPI Engineers hockey watcher and there's as many as four players with RPI connections who may get their names called this Saturday during the 2nd through 7th rounds.<br /><br />Three of these players haven't suited up for the Engineers yet but two of them will in the 09-10 season in Jerry D'Amigo and Brandon Pirri. D'Amigo is getting a lot of press of late and could find himself getting called late in the second round or early in the third.<br /><br />Christopher Ralph at HockeySpy has <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://thehockeywriters.com/50-jerry-damigo-%E2%80%93-the-hockey-spy%E2%80%99s-2009-nhl-entry-draft-rankings/">this scouting report on D'Amigo</a> who he lists at #50 on his Top 60 list which includes some pretty high praise:<br /><br /><strong style="font-style: italic;"></strong><blockquote><strong style="font-style: italic;">Scouting Combine Performance:</strong><span style="font-style: italic;"> Eug Sorokin observed: “Good looking guy, heard some chatter amongst the GMs and some teams like him a lot.” Sorokin was reminded of Zach Parise with respect to D’Amigo.</span></blockquote><br />If RPI can bring in a guy who is anything like Zach Parise, head coach Seth Appert will do back-flips to celebrate because RPI will improve instantly from his presence.<br /><br /><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.hockeysfuture.com/prospects/5818">Brandon Pirri</a> comes into the draft having some questions over his defensive skills, but his offensive talents are unquestionably noticeable. His stats from this season playing for two different junior squads in Streetsville and Georgetown:<br /><br /><blockquote>44 <span style="font-weight: bold;">GP</span> 46 <span style="font-weight: bold;">G</span> 48 <span style="font-weight: bold;">A</span> 94 <span style="font-weight: bold;">PTS</span></blockquote><br />For an RPI team that severely lacked scoring, Pirri will be a God-send for the program and any defensive shortcomings he may have will be picked up by his teammates. After all, when you're showing up as a sniper, worrying about backchecking probably doesn't rank out too high. Pirri also claims to have added 20 pounds of muscle to his frame bringing him up to 180 pounds, he'll need that to deal with some of the bruisers he'll line up against in the NCAA, most notably those at Cornell.<br /><br />Pirri projects to be potentially anywhere from late third round to early fifth round for the 2009 NHL Draft.<br /><br />The other players on the potential draft radar are 2010 recruit Jacob Laliberté and current Engineer forward Patrick Cullen. If either or both of them are selected, count on it being in the sixth or seventh round. Laliberté is a small sized forward but worked as a power play maven in the CJHL last year putting up astounding point totals. Cullen was a rookie sensation for the low-scoring Engineers and figures to build strongly on his freshman success getting teammates like D'Amigo and Pirri (among others) to join him in Troy this season.<br /><br />One other quick note on this weekend. I'll be reaching out from the basement with a host of other tremendous bloggers from across the Internet this weekend at <a href="http://allhabs.blogspot.com/2009/06/montreal-draft-tweetup-central-your.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">the official NHL Draft Tweet Up</span></a>.<br /><br />Yeah, I know, the Twitter name makes it sound sort of lame - deal with it, Twitter has taken over the world.<br /><br />Nearly 100 folks from across the NHL blogging spectrum are taking part in this in some ways and even some of the big shots (Wyshynski from Puck Daddy, the folks from Pension Plan Puppets, even Eklund) are going to be there. I'd tell folks in Montreal to hide the beer and their daughters but it's too late to hide the beer and, well, who knows who's going to think it's a good idea to hit the "fun" parts of St. Catherine's Street on Saturday.<br /><br />I kid.<br /><br />I think.<br /><br />Either way, this event, something as simple and kind of under the radar like the NHL Entry Draft has evolved into a blogger summit, and even the folks at All Habs <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://allhabs.blogspot.com/2009/06/open-letter-to-pierre-mcguire.html">have extended a special invitation to everyone's favorite diminutive analyst</a>, Pierre McGuire, to make an appearance and shake hands with some of the folks who enjoy needling him the most.<br /><br />If he shows up somehow, this turns into an epic gathering of <span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">MONSTER</span></span> proportions.<br /><br />As if it wasn't going to be already.<br /><a href="http://twitter.com/GrossMisconduct"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Stay tuned to my own page at Twitter</span></a> for draft observations, pictures, and other assorted nonsense. Hell, there's even a chance you'll get to see me suited up in my own zebra stripes. <br /><br>Hockey Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060395164873365164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5756595755698157001.post-8301840085833631172009-06-24T00:27:00.007-04:002009-06-24T01:45:07.435-04:00Report: NHL Still NBC's BitchI talked a few days ago that the NHL was <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://hockeyjoe.blogspot.com/2009/06/nhl-where-ruining-good-thing-happens.html">potentially thinking of doing a Winter Classic Doubleheader</a> involving teams that serve both NBC and CBC's best interests to get them the biggest audience they can on New Years Day 2010.<br /><br />After all, the name of the game is getting the league more well known with a high-profile event regardless of whether or not it waters down the novelty of the whole thing.<br /><br />Forget about the potential Canadian game here for a second since the American game at the least had a host team selected already in the Boston Bruins but there was much speculation going on about just who they would face. The prevailing rumor was that the Washington Capitals and Alexander Ovechkin were going to be the foe allowing the NHL a major media event in which to promote one of the biggest stars in the game, the back-to-back NHL MVP.<br /><br />Capitals Insider Tarik El-Bashir was able to <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitalsinsider/mcphee-on-classic-it-doesnt-so.html">track down Caps general manager George McPhee </a>to find out if the prevailing rumors had any truth to them. McPhee's answer was surprisingly snarky:<br /><blockquote><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"I have not," McPhee said when asked if he had heard anything from the NHL regarding Washington's candidacy for the event. "You think we would know by this point." </span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">McPhee added: "It doesn't sound like we will be part of it. Maybe that's not a bad thing. When you go, you have to play in front of 40,000 or 50,000 of the other team's fans. ...I would just assume if we were in it that we would know by now."</span></blockquote><br />Sounds like there's some sour grapes there, and I don't mean Don Cherry. Perhaps something unseemly was going on and McPhee was all too aware of it and not at liberty to speak about it.<br /><br />That's my story and I'm sticking to it.<br /><br />A funny thing happened on the way through the rumor mill though as stories started to circulate that the Philadelphia Flyers were getting some buzz to be the Bruins opponent on New Years Day, a choice that seems a bit odd as, well, let's face it the Flyers aren't exactly a cuddly and marketable team. They're abrasive, 29 other teams in the NHL generally hate their guts and so do the fans of those teams but they're high profile thanks to that disdain and Flyers fans are generally some of the most <strike>psychotic</strike> staunchly loyal fans in the league.<br /><br />The Flyers aren't a team without talent as there's Jeff Carter, Simon Gagne and Pierre McGuire object of affection Mike Richards as well but let's face it, when NBC picks their same six teams out of a hat for their schedule each year the Flyers are getting more than their fair share of NBC attention and it's pretty obnoxious.<br /><br />This was all rumor on scattered Internet pondering though and harmless for the most part until earlier this evening news came out from, of all places, The Delaware County Daily Times that <a href="http://www3.allaroundphilly.com/blogs/delcotimes/anthonys/blog.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">it was confirmed that the Flyers would be the Bruins opponent in the Winter Classic in Fenway Park</span></a> and writer Anthony Sanfilippo brought the thunder with how he was able to obtain this knowledge.<br /><br />Hang on to your asses because this is going to blow it right the hell up:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">The NHL was pushing the Washington Capitals. They wanted to market Alex Ovechkin.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">NBC, the network broadcasting the game, said no dice.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">They were concerned with the poor ratings the Caps' produced in the playoffs in an opening round series against the New York Rangers - the No. 1 U.S. market for the NHL.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">So, they told the NHL to skip Washington and give them the Flyers... a more certain brand to market.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The NHL was stubborn for a while... mostly because the Flyers were more interested in a Jan. 1 date with Pittsburgh than Boston.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">However, the NHL assured the Flyers that a future Flyers-Penguins outdoor game could still happen in a couple years.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The Flyers were satisfied and agreed to play.</span></blockquote><br /><br />Pardon me for one moment...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">deep breaths</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">deep breaths</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Don't lose your cool, Joe. It's not even fucking worth it anymore. Just let it go...</span></span><br /></div><br />Now, I'm not going to completely blow a gasket here because, hey, who's to say that Anthony Difilippo has his story accurate here. That's not a knock against him, he's dealing with sources that may or may not have everything squared away on their side.<br /><br />But I believe every friggin' word of it. Why? This is easy. Look how nicely they handled things with the <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.thepensblog.com/pensblog/april-2009/nbc-orders-the-screen-outside-mellon-arena-shut-down.html">Pittsburgh Penguins and their outdoor screen</a>. The guys at The Pensblog thought very highly of how they handled things:<blockquote> <span style="font-style: italic;">NBC, the channel that has used the Pittsburgh Penguins and Sidney Crosby in just about every commercial since the network started airing hockey games, is refusing to let the team show game three of the Penguins/Flyers series on the giant screen outside the arena.</span><div style="text-align: left; font-style: italic;"><br /></div><span style="font-style: italic;">Ironically, MSNBC </span><a style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank" href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30207862/">published this article</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> on Wednesday in which they wrote "during the Penguins' run to the Stanley Cup finals last season, the outdoor TV routinely drew a couple thousand fans."</span></blockquote><br />And during the Stanley Cup Finals? More of the same as NBC refused to allow fans in <a href="http://community.post-gazette.com/blogs/bobsmizik/archive/2009/06/09/nbc-nhl-height-of-idiocy.aspx"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pittsburgh</span></a> or <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20090608/FREE/906089949#">Detroit</a> to watch their teams road games on big screens at their arenas out of fear it would harm ratings.<br /><br />And just where's Herr Bettman through all this?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0VWxz2QkeRr_KeqACtukCOUPrTrW-KwJLhIxKK4qbUEFKMHfcUfKudZieK0L6Xv1W92DvdiBVjfaNjxhPJ0mBLGUeS2o6zvkY1y3lUN3panZ9ZYH6Csvn2EPpHuU0DX1Zd3Yn5j3vQhbZ/s1600-h/NBCAnimalHouse.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 594px; height: 419px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0VWxz2QkeRr_KeqACtukCOUPrTrW-KwJLhIxKK4qbUEFKMHfcUfKudZieK0L6Xv1W92DvdiBVjfaNjxhPJ0mBLGUeS2o6zvkY1y3lUN3panZ9ZYH6Csvn2EPpHuU0DX1Zd3Yn5j3vQhbZ/s400/NBCAnimalHouse.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350755460684016706" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Zdeno Chara looks away while Mike Richards nauseates over Bettman's posturing with NBC. Pierre McGuire salivates wildly.</span></span><br /><br />Yeah, bending over for NBC again and again out of fear upsetting their drunken abusive father of a national broadcast "partner." How many times now has Bettman "fallen down the stairs" for NBC so they can call the shots as to how the NHL operates its own league?<br /><br />Disgusting.<br /><br />This lack of a spine shown by the NHL sickens me as they had the right idea for what to do with this game but instantly rolled over for NBC because they didn't like the matchup.<br /><br />Unfuckingbelievable.<br /><br />Out of all this the Flyers still get what they want by getting an outdoor game with cross-state rivals the Penguins in a few years when, who knows if the game will even be worth doing if they run this trick pony into the ground.<br /><br />And what's more is... Who the hell do you market to the fans in a game between the Bruins and Flyers? Chara? I guess. Richards? Well, we'll hear enough about him from McGuire. Do they spend the whole game talking about hockey's supposed resurgence in Boston? What if the Bruins get off to a bad start next year and the crowd is swarmed over with people there to boo them or, worse yet, are only there for the spectacle and could give a shit else about the game?<br /><br />That'll play great on television - silence with mixed jeers from drunken boors.<br /><br />My stand, and I'm sure the stand the NHL had until NBC President Dick Ebersol took his belt off, was that with the Capitals in the game you are guaranteed a major superstar worth marketing for the league in the game.<br /><br />The last two versions of this game was teeming over with stars. In Buffalo you had Crosby, Malkin and Staal for the Penguins while Ryan Miller and Thomas Vanek played for the Sabres. In Chicago you had Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews to push for the Blackhawks while the Red Wings came out with their crew of all-stars.<br /><br />This time around? Marc Savard and maybe Phil Kessel for the Bruins with Richards and Carter and the <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&ct2=us%2F0_0_s_1_2_aa&usg=AFQjCNH9-PcD293sZOC85x-zxQaJOhRosQ&cid=1367629518&ei=J71BSvCqK8SdlQfa_9KDAQ&rt=SEARCH&vm=STANDARD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nhl.com%2Fice%2Fnews.htm%3Fid%3D425258">potential Ray Emery sideshow carnival</a></span>.<br /><br />Wow, consider me glued to the set for this one.<br /><br />With the NHL allowing themselves to be in a position to be abused by NBC like this the fans lose out because you don't get to see the best of the best out there. Instead you get what might turn into a street fight. Hell, don't even bother with Fenway, just play it behind the Green Monster on Lansdowne Street and turn it into a brawl since these two teams can always be counted on for that. I'm sure the NHL will love having these two teams beating each other's face in in a game that's meant to show off the best the league can offer in one of its most magical settings, the outdoor pond where everyone's careers began long ago.<br /><br />What a joke this "leadership" is. The NHL, instead of getting what it wanted, ended up making concessions not only with NBC but with one if its own teams.<br /><br />Unreal.<br /><br>Hockey Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060395164873365164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5756595755698157001.post-77979611353058846032009-06-22T21:56:00.006-04:002009-06-23T05:44:52.779-04:00Assist Master Needs One For HimselfThe Hockey Hall of Fame announces the new class of inductees on Tuesday and the most stacked selection of first-year eligible candidates in a long time joins the list of players who already should be in. This year sees Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull, Brian Leetch, Luc Robitaille, Dave Andreychuk and Alexander Mogilny added to the list of Hall candidates that already includes should-bes like Pavel Bure, Dino Ciccarelli and Doug Gilmour.<br /><br />I'm not even going to attempt to do something stupid and say that one of the newly eligible guys shouldn't be in the Hall on the first ballot. It would be a farce if I tried, even moreso since <a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/062309dnspostarshull.352acc3.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Brett Hull already admitted tonight</span></a> that he knows he's going in.<br /><br />I know that the Hall of Fame process for hockey is an odd one of sorts, only a maximum of four can be elected any given year and we've entered an era where some of the all-time best are put on the backburner while the supreme elite of the NHL and Russia go to the head of the class. I also know that the Hall won't want to bend their rules to "open the floodgates" and be more akin to say, the Baseball Hall of Fame.<br /><br />With all these things in place there's one prime and overly-deserving candidate who just might be getting a big assist from a guy he helped become one of the top goal scorers of all time.<br /><br />I touted <a href="http://hockeyjoe.blogspot.com/2008/06/enshrinement.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Adam Oates' credentials here last year</span></a> knowing full-well that he likely wasn't going to be voted in then and I bring it back up again this year knowing damn well he's not about to beat the likes of Yzerman, Leetch, Robitaille or Hull. But it's Brett Hull that will be sure to praise the work of Oates and do his share of campaigning for him now that Toronto's Hall awaits him.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfQN_hDGI_SH4o9v10pSeR347MdrwlBNt-nSfWkZsg80AVhDwkokvTma0UWVABjejOUN1AGvg15hbCsh0nV9J9RHqFqxprVoitGOQDlVh9vfJQrekE55cnlOHTpAgO3aa3QhMKo44UTk-g/s1600-h/Oates-Gamesman.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 450px; height: 598px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfQN_hDGI_SH4o9v10pSeR347MdrwlBNt-nSfWkZsg80AVhDwkokvTma0UWVABjejOUN1AGvg15hbCsh0nV9J9RHqFqxprVoitGOQDlVh9vfJQrekE55cnlOHTpAgO3aa3QhMKo44UTk-g/s400/Oates-Gamesman.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350345070002285538" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Searching For Adam Oates... In The Hockey Hall Of Fame At Least</span></span><br /><br />After all, Hull's work with Oates in St. Louis is the thing legends are made of. Hull's three greatest goal-scoring seasons came with Adam Oates as his centerman. In 1989-1990, Hull potted 72 goals.<br /><br />The following season saw Hull come perilously close to Wayne Gretzky's single season goal record as he scored 86 goals, just six shy of Gretzky's 92 in 1981-1982.<br /><br />In 1991-1992, Hull scored 70 goals in a season he played 54 games with Oates before he was traded to Boston for Craig Janney and Stephane Quintal. Nice work on that one St. Louis. Oates would move along to Boston to team up with Hall of Famer Cam Neely to help cement Neely's legacy with the Bruins.<br /><br />Not a bad career for Oates and while campaigning isn't something that generally goes on with the Hockey Hall's process, it might not hurt to see Neely and Hull now come out and do a little preaching to the voters about a player that helped them directly on the ice piling up 1,079 assists over his NHL career, <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/alltime/leaders?cat=assists">sixth on the all time list</a>.<br /><br />He's merely 16th overall in points all time in the NHL, yet some folks think that's not good enough.<br /><br />Matt McCallum at Fox Sports <a href="http://community.foxsports.com/blogs/Matt_McCallum/2009/05/30/Rating_the_Eligible_Candidates_for_the_2009_Hockey_Hall_of_Fame_Induction">crafted an objective formula</a> to come up with a mathematical way to figure out who is more deserving than the next guy and while he qualifies that Oates is worthy of getting in eventually, he appears eighth on the list behind most everyone mentioned previously as well as John Tonelli of 1980s Islanders dynasty fame.<br /><br />My problem with Oates' lack of attention here is that he played in the same era as guys who are head and shoulders above all the greatest to ever play the game, players that changed the landscape and even the rules of the NHL with their play and Oates' numbers are in the same stratosphere with the likes of these guys. <br /><br />On top of all that, Oates had the marketability thing down cold while with the Bruins:<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/19aradatV2M&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/19aradatV2M&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />OK so we'll leave that off of his résumé for now unless we're factoring in unintentional comedy.<br /><br />I know... It's not going to be 2009 that lets it happen for Oates, but can we make it so that 2010 becomes the greatest year of his hockey life? After all, it marks the <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.uscho.com/news/college-hockey/id,10553/EngineeringADream">25th anniversary of his college team's National Championship</a> and adding a spot in the Hockey Hall of Fame to join the rest of his wingmen through his career would make the perfect cap to a career spent feeding them everything needed to make it to the Hall of Fame.<br /><br />Now if only he can just get a little bit of help from them.<br /><br>Hockey Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060395164873365164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5756595755698157001.post-42438674913485712102009-06-19T19:08:00.004-04:002009-06-19T21:50:09.377-04:00NHL: Where Ruining A Good Thing HappensThe last two New Years Days the NHL has taken the holiday to seize the day and make sure to do something that allows them to get airtime on a day when they know everyone is going to be home nursing a hangover or at the very least laying about on the couch.<br /><br />The NHL to their credit came up with the idea to play an outdoor regular season game on that day during the afternoon. After all, it's January 1st and most of the northern US and southern Canada is in a deep freeze or at least winter-like conditions that lend themselves perfect to playing a game outside in a huge venue.<br /><br />Two years ago, the Penguins and Sabres played at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, NY and last year the Red Wings and Blackhawks played at Wrigley Field in Chicago. January 1, 2010 will see <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/hockey/nhl/05/27/winter.classic/index.html">a game featuring the Boston Bruins played at Fenway Park</a> and the opponent to be announced later on this summer (rumors abound that either the <a href="http://themanicranger.blogspot.com/2009/04/rangers-vs-bruins-at-fenway-park-winter.html">New York Rangers</a> or <a href="http://www.letsgocapitals.com/News.aspx?NID=QHS42W">Washington Capitals</a> will be involved).<br /><br />Again, this is a great thing and a perfect setting for a game given the rejuvinated hockey fan base in Boston and getting a game with either the Rangers or Capitals is ideal because you're either getting your biggest media market involved or the team with one of the biggest stars in the world. You can't lose here...<br /><br />...Unless you get the bright idea to do an outdoor game doubleheader on New Years Day with <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.nationalpost.com/sports/story.html?id=1714653">a second game set to take place in Calgary, Alberta, Canada</a>.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1_NaEyDTQO407mqztK81gHaA4QcOoirFd2qeTjc0IT9EFHkK5agQ_k0C0jZspj-DC2E3POVvdtaRboqJ2QsRV_132WtdZcfvxZT1vn41i4n_E6PBQ5KNbRBY0aOs3pB6xoJRVOnvPVcjb/s1600-h/gary-peeing.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 418px; height: 472px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1_NaEyDTQO407mqztK81gHaA4QcOoirFd2qeTjc0IT9EFHkK5agQ_k0C0jZspj-DC2E3POVvdtaRboqJ2QsRV_132WtdZcfvxZT1vn41i4n_E6PBQ5KNbRBY0aOs3pB6xoJRVOnvPVcjb/s400/gary-peeing.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5349218922662746178" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Coming soon to the back of trucks all across Canada.</span></span><br /><br /><br />From the National Post in Canada:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">Sources say the NHL is looking at building on the success of the Winter Classic by hosting two outdoor games on New Year's Day. The first is rumoured for Fenway Park with the Boston Bruins hosting the Washington Capitals. The second is pencilled in for Calgary between the Flames and another Canadian team - likely the Toronto Maple Leafs.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">CBC TV is a major push behind the Calgary proposal.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"I can't see anything that jumps out to me that would be a roadblock logistically," Haverstock said.</span></blockquote><br /><br />Now, I understand that he's talking about logistics of doing a game in Calgary. Obviously its going to be cold as hell there and having conditions able to sustain the ice outdoors won't be an issue.<br /><br />The sort of logistics I'm thinking of here are those involved in wearing out the NHL fans and the wonderful novelty of the whole thing. Obviously Canada is bothered that they've, again, been left out of the NHL's reindeer games in regard to doing an outdoor game. After all, it's Canada that got the ball rolling with this thing back in <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.oilersheritage.com/history/transformation_events_hertiage_classic.html">November 2003 with the Oilers and Canadiens</a> playing an outdoor game at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton.<br /><br />Now with NBC and the NHL teaming up to make sure all the US marquee teams get taken care of with mid-season showcase event, Canada wants back in and for that I can't blame them. Problem here is that a second game will get no attention in America.<br /><br />The Heritage Classic in Edmonton nearly six years ago was an event that ESPN and ABC should've gone bonkers over to cover considering how much went into it with the legends game featuring the all-time greats for both franchises playing an exhibition game and then the real game itself. Instead, the event was largely ignored in the United States and video and highlights of then Canadiens goaltender Jose Theodore playing with a toque over his helmet in the frigid Edmonton air were about all we were left with to soak in.<br /><br />When Buffalo and Pittsburgh played on January 1, 2008 the event was heralded as incredible and amazing a magical and all that with very little credit in the way given to what had happened five years previous but now this event was going to take over as a yearly staple - and hey, why not? It generates attention, looks great on the air and manages to steal airtime away from putrid college football bowl games.<br /><br />Should the NHL decide to double its pleasure in 2010 to throw viewers a bone in both countries, because God knows Americans won't watch Canadian teams on TV and Canadians are ruthlessly nationalistic and wanting some attention from Herr Bettman for all the financial propping up they do - sure, why not - let's just slaughter the novelty of the whole thing and cave into everyones television demands.<br /><br />Bettman has already shown that he's got very little backbone to stand up for any sort of principles for the NHL and is now on the brink of selling out to both countries national broadcast partners at NBC and the CBC. This does come with a catch, however:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.tsn.ca/blogs/darren_dreger/?id=282343"><span style="font-weight: bold;">No one bothered to clue in the NHL Players Association</span></a>.<br /><br />Whoops.<br /><br />From TSNs Darren Dreger:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">''This is all news to me. We are breaking news, this is an insider moment that Calgary is potentially going to get an outdoor game and this is the first I've heard of it,'' Glenn Healy, the NHLPA's director of player affairs told TSN.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The NHL confirms the outdoor twin-bill will be discussed on June 25th at the competition committee meeting, however based on Healy's reaction; there is reason to believe the event may be in jeopardy.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">''We have never been approached by the league about a second outdoor game ever in Calgary and if they want to approach us, then our numbers are in the book.''</span></blockquote><br /><br />Then again, why would the NHL ever communicate something with the group of people they dislike more than NHL fans when its so much simpler to have someone at CBC let something slip out and get the buzz started instantly.<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_AGS0lIHKEg&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_AGS0lIHKEg&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />I can't really top that because this is all it boils down to.<br /><br />A man sits in his lonely board room cooking up ideas with his media pals... You know, the ones that he's trying to win over so that they'll give him some kind of money to turn a profit after he's already given them <span style="font-style: italic;">carte blanche</span> to boss him around and make a joke of the league by <a href="http://puckreport.blogspot.com/2009/05/today-in-nhl-history-preakness-trumps.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">bumping off playoff games from their air in favor of horse races</span></a>.<br /><br />He cuts his deals, he makes his promises, and gives no regard for how things will work in the future when he's trying to figure out a way to do an outdoor game in Tampa, Florida. You know he'll have to do that because he'll running out of ideas on where to do the next game or two on New Years Day all the while the fans have gotten over the novelty of it all and the idea just gets stale.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />True Bettman style:</span> Get a hold of a truly great thing and abuse people with it simply because it "works" and then be forced to ride the negative tide that sweeps in when things get out of control.<br /><br />Take a guess what tide rolled in today with this rumor of a New Years Day doubleheader.<br /><br />Don't get lost in what I'm ranting about here.<br /><br />The Winter Classic as a singular game and big-time event yearly on January 1st is a great thing. Turning it into an annual circus having to look for new locations at all times to the benefit all the teams looking to cash in on a sideshow-like spectacle is a BAD idea.<br /><br />The novelty is killed, the interest is nullified and pretty soon people stop noticing and giving a crap altogether. Doubling up sets a terrible precedent for this event in the future because you're not only continuing a bizarro hockey xenophobia that exists with American and Canadian audiences, the simple greatness of a great spectacle event is worn out twice as fast as it would otherwise.<br /><br />Leave it to Herr Bettman to continue his version of Sherman's march to the sea to make sure anything good that happens with the NHL is soon burned to the ground.<br /><br>Hockey Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060395164873365164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5756595755698157001.post-37015915936520187982009-06-19T03:47:00.006-04:002009-06-19T04:36:37.914-04:00NHL Awards Summary: Epic FailureI'll keep this short for you. The NHL had their awards show in Las Vegas to try and sleaze things up a little more for everyone and while this event is generally really awkward to watch, the NHL outdid themselves this year.<br /><br />Want to stay in touch with the fans of the NHL and try and generate positive buzz? Yeah, go to Las Vegas - great. Everyone loves Vegas, after all it's a city that has zero ties to the NHL aside from crazy Jerry Bruckheimer who someday wants to own a team.<br /><br />Say, I hear there's a team that is nearby that's in some sort of financial tangle. What's that Jerry?<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkCVpI-tJzZ-M-Hkp0dNk6x72f77_WvaPqu_iNUvKgX7cplfmL12SJZ8Am0GRIfVpsXljbVcdbxZ9tvw8IEe7kudnv1ttVCvz3shBLJDzTLRTYLyI8BJ-ALpCxLkSGA3OJYlItwiI3-vTu/s1600-h/bruckheimercoyotes.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 565px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkCVpI-tJzZ-M-Hkp0dNk6x72f77_WvaPqu_iNUvKgX7cplfmL12SJZ8Am0GRIfVpsXljbVcdbxZ9tvw8IEe7kudnv1ttVCvz3shBLJDzTLRTYLyI8BJ-ALpCxLkSGA3OJYlItwiI3-vTu/s400/bruckheimercoyotes.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348949415588054962" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">BOOM!</span></span><br /><br /><br />Right, right. Boom. I get it. Explosions sell. I know.<br /><br />Oh, hey, let's book Chaka Khan and Robin Thicke to perform. Yeah great, cause that makes fucking sense - about as much sense as getting Def Leppard to play your kickoff event. Old, washed up and NHL fans and players couldn't give a shit about them.<br /><br />Then we'll get comedian Gerry Dee to do sarcastic interviews with NHL players and legends and it'll be a laugh riot!<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Who the hell is Gerry Dee?!</span></span><br /><br />To top it off, we'll have guys like Jeremy Roenick and Glenn Anderson make asses out of themselves!<br /><br />Perfect.<br /><br />Well thought out Gary, you aimed as high as you could and hit yourself in the nuts.<br /><br />I can't wait to see Hootie and The Blowfish headline next years awards with Jim Belushi hosting.<br /><br />Fuckin' stupid. <br /><br />Only the NHL would find a way to take their most awkward event and make it somehow worse while adding "laughably bad" as a good adjective.<br /><br />There's only one way to describe how this came off tonight:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_sKHS2TlqUueX-00g_2RUriDltBdrIQpynDOd1b4qG9GQDPAkLnouv79xmyHMtuS4eCfyg2vA0CqKraRkOfIKPwhqCDcXO2sWQ_iuiFWBr4ubbXQnTu2KqnyzJ5-RWgl9ICv5JeUakBQD/s1600-h/train_wreck.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 526px; height: 373px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_sKHS2TlqUueX-00g_2RUriDltBdrIQpynDOd1b4qG9GQDPAkLnouv79xmyHMtuS4eCfyg2vA0CqKraRkOfIKPwhqCDcXO2sWQ_iuiFWBr4ubbXQnTu2KqnyzJ5-RWgl9ICv5JeUakBQD/s400/train_wreck.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348949422753464258" border="0" /></a><br /><br />...of epic proportions.<br /><br />As for your award winners, here you go:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Hart Trophy:</span> Alex Ovechkin<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Norris Trophy:</span> Zdeno Chara<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Vezina Trophy:</span> Tim Thomas<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Selke Trophy:</span> Pavel Datsyuk<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Calder Trophy:</span> Steve Mason<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lady Byng Trophy:</span> Pavel Datsyuk<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">King Clancy Trophy:</span> Ethan Moreau<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jack Adams Trophy:</span> Claude Julien<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jennings Trophy:</span> Tim Thomas and Manny Fernandez<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Masterton Trophy:</span> Steve Sullivan<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pearson Award:</span> Alex Ovechkin<br /></div><br />The only one I really take issue with is the Masterton Trophy. Never mind that Chris Chelios was a nominee solely for being an old guy but the other finalist was Richard Zednik who overcame getting his throat cut open last year to come back and have a stellar season for the Panthers.<br /><br />Don't get me wrong here, Steve Sullivan is a deserving winner and he too has come back from a terrible injury, but after this scene:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFaiOaOrqU07Y598ZvVCwUtNqaaWVMW-rrc-GckCD5WNCO_1Q4OtS8WC9Yjt6tyjRkEd81kZMsN0KP6xUHO8YI_3dF3i_DKkzMzVZYtQC5svYLUtSbrB-3GQu-nUewpGmHsa_iCnVGm4yH/s1600-h/zednik.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 505px; height: 378px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFaiOaOrqU07Y598ZvVCwUtNqaaWVMW-rrc-GckCD5WNCO_1Q4OtS8WC9Yjt6tyjRkEd81kZMsN0KP6xUHO8YI_3dF3i_DKkzMzVZYtQC5svYLUtSbrB-3GQu-nUewpGmHsa_iCnVGm4yH/s400/zednik.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348951325615363490" border="0" /></a><br /><br />What the hell does a guy have to do to get an award for perseverance these days?<br /><br />Jeez.<br /><br />Hopefully the NHL Draft will be able to put the pieces together and give the league something to hold up as a great post-season event.<br /><br />No pressure there Montreal, just try to keep Chaka Khan away.<br /><br>Hockey Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060395164873365164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5756595755698157001.post-41157149019984369722009-06-15T21:28:00.007-04:002009-06-15T21:40:19.119-04:00Court to Balsillie: GTFOEverything's coming up Bettman, but <a href="http://www.azcentral.com/sports/coyotes/articles/2009/06/15/20090615coyotesnosale.html">this isn't a surprise</a>:<br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-style:italic;">The Coyotes are staying in Phoenix. <br /><br />A bankruptcy judge has rejected the proposed sale of the team to Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie, who would have moved the team to Hamilton, Ontario.<br /><br />Judge Redfield T. Baum issued a 21-page ruling late Monday afternoon, concluding that the June 29 deadline imposed by Balsillie did not allow enough time to resolve the complex case.<br /><br />"Simply put, the court does not think there is sufficient time (14 days) for all of these issues to be fairly presented to the court given that deadline," the judge wrote.</span></blockquote><br /><br />If this shocks you that the court didn't approve the sale to an owner looking to supersede the rules of the NHL, then you need to go back to school.<br /><br />I've said from the get-go of this drama party that there's no way the courts would see things Balsillie's way, especially after <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.azfamily.com/sports/nhl/stories/phoenix-coyotes-news-052709-balsillie-bid.20dc4750.html">he put a deadline on getting a sale done</a> when it was clearly out of his, Jerry Moyes and even the NHLs hands.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRbZITmAVcirnuG9VcDhTKhAPQFeyjyCcx9CBObtQiwKqnZ1TEXiqpm-cJ_plzW4DSH0MVhy4UjyhzOEGQURwxQLflJcCxlV7AopN1OjVOMs6vIxHQC1VKbNeUEoWGejvIzKIGrG0twTpi/s1600-h/balsilliemoving.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 557px; height: 238px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRbZITmAVcirnuG9VcDhTKhAPQFeyjyCcx9CBObtQiwKqnZ1TEXiqpm-cJ_plzW4DSH0MVhy4UjyhzOEGQURwxQLflJcCxlV7AopN1OjVOMs6vIxHQC1VKbNeUEoWGejvIzKIGrG0twTpi/s400/balsilliemoving.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347733376207960146" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Not coming to a Jobing.Com Arena near Glendale.</span></span><br /><br /><br /><br />Of course, this is all just window dressing on the larger problem at hand for the NHL in that they have a franchise that is bleeding money yearly and something needs to be done to rectify that situation sooner than later. In this situation, however, it appears that Jim Balsillie and his moving van won't be coming to Phoenix to take them away.<br /><br />What happens with the Coyotes next will be very important to see how dedicated Herr Bettman is to actually keeping the Coyotes in Phoenix or if all of his talk about keeping the team there was just that.<br /><br>Hockey Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060395164873365164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5756595755698157001.post-39640231314100455132009-06-15T18:48:00.007-04:002009-06-16T01:30:22.225-04:00NCAA: Failing At Sports, Academics, and LifeI try not to assume too much about the readers here but I'm going to go out on a limb that you're all more knowledgeable about sports than you let on. I'm assuming that you're all more than just hockey-centric sports fans and that you're familiar with the NCAA.<br /><br />I'm also guessing that you'll be aware of how they've "handled" themselves and member schools over certain academic <span style="font-style: italic;">faux pas</span> in the past, especially those having to do with the eligibility of athletes that play football and basketball.<br /><br />All of those assumptions and suppositions aside, it's time I introduce you to Air Force Academy defenseman <a href="http://www.goairforcefalcons.com/sports/m-hockey/mtt/wright_kevin00.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Kevin Wright</span></a>.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh44bAOO5DFwgPaIJbV5bR04hjh9Fj8nPp70kVZ5fzhB15fJAGJ2x4-maR_DceoT7XA6poxlc6sf0i8iE7oXvLKBcilWPCKcgs1gu_wxZMbAWTmU_KCtkaAtNELna4kecVF8zDHviTT9s38/s1600-h/Air+Force.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 283px; height: 198px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh44bAOO5DFwgPaIJbV5bR04hjh9Fj8nPp70kVZ5fzhB15fJAGJ2x4-maR_DceoT7XA6poxlc6sf0i8iE7oXvLKBcilWPCKcgs1gu_wxZMbAWTmU_KCtkaAtNELna4kecVF8zDHviTT9s38/s400/Air+Force.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347702566900716178" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSE1oK1Mr75aU9CGKOrn6ZFL7e4WGVsKZjyTSbW6VFS3SuBBInVorSgTzmtwI8gi-EOPb5n3AImaQnGQILVGv0FJA1fsYdj6G-4L94BlzezKK_kLxz3eJyhYYv8EodnLkWRRJmOr_hs4E9/s1600-h/ncaa-logo.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 236px; height: 230px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSE1oK1Mr75aU9CGKOrn6ZFL7e4WGVsKZjyTSbW6VFS3SuBBInVorSgTzmtwI8gi-EOPb5n3AImaQnGQILVGv0FJA1fsYdj6G-4L94BlzezKK_kLxz3eJyhYYv8EodnLkWRRJmOr_hs4E9/s400/ncaa-logo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347703093809625890" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">One is a well-respected American institution, the other just hates student athletes trying to learn.</span></span><br /><br /><br />Kevin Wright just completed his sophomore year at Air Force, a United States Academy and one of the most esteemed academic institutions in the nation. The <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.usafa.af.mil/index.cfm?catname=Academy%20Info">Air Force Academy mission statement</a> reads as such:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">...To educate, train and inspire men and women to become officers of character, motivated to lead the United States Air Force in service to our nation.</span></blockquote><br /><br />Serious business and the kind of place that instantly gets respect from anyone that comes into contact with them, much like how the United States Military Academy and United States Naval Academy does. These guys are the best and the brightest and choose to give part of, if not all of, their lives to their country.<br /><br />For Kevin Wright, however, the NCAA thinks differently of him. They think that he's the kind of guy who would backdoor his own academics to get into the Air Force by <a href="http://www.gazette.com/sports/wright-55153-hockey-ncaa.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">taking too many classes before enrolling at Air Force</span></a>.<br /><br />Get ready to be disgusted:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">He wanted to play Division I college hockey but had no offers from D-I programs or from junior hockey clubs - from which collegiate programs recruit players. Because he was 17, however, he had a year of midget hockey eligibility. He decided to play that final year to attract junior teams. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">His parents were OK with the decision but wanted him to take classes, so he enrolled at West Valley Community College in Saratoga, Calif.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">This is not uncommon. According to Air Force coach Frank Serratore, virtually all of Wright's teammates took some classes at community colleges while playing junior hockey. It shows a commitment to academics.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Wright's error was taking too many classes.</span></blockquote><br /><br />Unbelievable.<br /><br />So, the NCAA who often enjoys shrugging off coaches wantonly breaking rules by supplying prized recruits with gifts, money, what-have-you now has a problem with a kid who busted his ass to keep up <span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">academically</span></span> so he could even qualify to enroll at the Air Force Academy.<br /><br />What the hell is wrong with this picture? You would think that the NCAA would go nuts over having a kid who wanted the opportunity to play and compete so badly that he made sure he took classes to ensure his application to the Academy would go through.<br /><br />Then again, perhaps the NCAA just doesn't give a damn about hockey players since that's not a sport that helps make them a lot of money. After all, when Myron Rolle was going for a Rhodes Scholarship <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1862504,00.html">while playing football for Florida State</a> (one of those sneaky, shady institutions that likes to run afoul of the rules) they couldn't do anything but gush and praise the man.<br /><br />But what about Kevin Wright?<br /><br />Nope, screw him because he took a few too many classes before entering the Air Force Academy. At least that's what the NCAA tells him:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">According to NCAA bylaw 14.2.1 - the five-year rule - once someone takes enough classes to be considered a "full-time" student, he has five calendar years in which to complete his four seasons of participation. By taking enough classes to be considered full time at West Valley, Wright started his NCAA eligibility clock.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />That means, according to the NCAA, time's up. Year one was spent playing midget hockey for the San Jose Jr. Sharks (2004-05), two and three were spent playing junior hockey for the Southern Minnesota Express of the North American Hockey League (2005-07) and his fourth and fifth years were his freshman and sophomore years at the academy (2007-09).</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />"He could have sloughed off and not gone to school at all and not had any of this happen," Serratore said. "But he and his parents wanted to do the right thing. He's punished for being academically motivated."</span></blockquote><br /><br />Academically motivated student-athlete. Isn't that what the NCAA is ideally all about?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.ncaa.org/wps/ncaa?key=/ncaa/NCAA/About%20The%20NCAA/Overview/mission.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Oh right, it is</span></a>:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;" class="ncaaBodyText"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;" class="ncaaBodyText">Our purpose is to govern competition in a fair, safe, equitable and sportsmanlike manner, and to integrate intercollegiate athletics into higher education so that the educational experience of the student-athlete is paramount.</span></blockquote><br />Quite the conundrum we've got here, isn't it?<br /><br />What makes this entire thing all the more painful is that Wright received bad advice about what to do about his academics if he wanted to retain his full eligibility. Kevin and his family of course wanted to do right by the rules and the NCAA has enough loopholes around their rules that they could look the other way and allow him to go through.<br /><br />As is obvious by his story <a href="http://www.gazette.com/sports/wright-55153-hockey-ncaa.html">as told by Jake Schaller of the Colorado Springs Gazette</a>, he's not trying to fool anyone and he's trying to do right by the rules and regulations, something the folks running the Air Force Academy would be proud of.<br /><br />Instead, the NCAA feels the need to flex their muscles and show how much of a stickler they can be for their own rules:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">But the NCAA turned down Wright's waiver, and the committee on student-athlete reinstatement denied Wright's appeal because it "was unable to identify compelling extenuating circumstances to meet the requirements for extending the five-year period of eligibility or for waiving the start of the student-athlete's five-year clock."</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />In such cases, according to Stacey Osburn, the NCAA's associate director for public and media relations, the committee and staff also weigh that a student-athlete like Wright made the decision to delay enrollment at an NCAA school for athletic reasons (not for personal or academic motives).</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />The five-year rule attempts "to ensure a fair and level playing field for all student-athletes, including those that compete against the student-athletes applying for waivers," Osburn said.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />"I thought that once they saw that I wasn't trying to cheat the system and that I was just trying to take care of my education that there was no harm or any negative side effects from my actions as far as athletics go," Wright said.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />But in the letter confirming the denial of Wright's appeal, Jennifer Henderson, the NCAA's director of membership services/student-athlete reinstatement, wrote that "no additional appeal opportunity" exists.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">But he hasn't given up. His family has begun a campaign to draw attention to the matter in the hopes that someone, anyone will intervene.</span></blockquote><br />Ahh yes, the campaign to draw attention to the NCAA ruling like a pack of iron-fisted dictators and having no idea on when to use common sense when judging the case of some kid who, by all understanding is just a regular guy looking to play hockey and keep throwing up a 3.4 GPA.<br /><br />Count me in on this battle because the NCAA seems to want to play like they're standing hard by their rules, and that's a good example to set for other sports that are continually finding ways to get around or outright break the NCAAs rules. Hockey, generally, isn't one of those sports that looks to flout their ability to stick it to the NCAA and playing hard-ass with a hockey player, and one at a United States Academy at that, seems shortsighted and foolish on their part.<br /><br />This opinion seems to be shared amongst other members in the NCAA Hockey community as is shown <a href="http://gazetteafasports.freedomblogging.com/2009/05/28/weighing-in-on-wright/1959/">in this special correspondence sent to Jack Schaller courtesy of Air Force coach Frank Serratore</a>:<br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span></span><blockquote><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Frank: Very, very sorry to hear about the Kevin Wright/NCAA issue. I am of the opinion that Kevin has a legitimate case and it should be pursued. The NCAA objective regarding eligibility, should be a fair and honest effort to insure that every athlete has an opportunity to compete. Opportunity, opportunity it should always be about opportunity for young adults to participate. Seems to be very clear that Kevin was given incorrect advice by an academic counselor in whom Kevin trusted. For this reason alone he should have his eligibility restored. There was no attempt on Kevin’s part to circumvent the NCAA rules. The key words are TRUST and INTENT. Kevin delayed his entry into DI athletics in order to better prepare himself to compete. At least 95% of all hockey players contemplating D-I hockey competition, play junior or some other level of hockey in order match the experience level of their contemporaries. Football and basketball players don’t have to go the same route as hockey players in order to be on the same competitive level as their contemporaries. Unfortunately, most of the NCAA staff members that deal with eligibility have no hockey background. The end result is that Kevin becomes an innocent victim.</span></span></span></blockquote><br />That was sent to Coach Serratore from former Bemidji State Athletic Director and newly retired commissioner of <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.collegehockeyamerica.com/">College Hockey America</a>, Bob Peters. One of the last lines from Peters really sticks out to me: "Unfortunately, most of the NCAA staff members that deal with eligibility have no hockey background."<br /><br />Why <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">doesn't</span> the NCAA have some folks on their staff that know more about hockey? How is it possible that this organization that governs most of the collegiate sports in America doesn't have someone with a lick of common sense or detailed hockey knowledge? And if there aren't any folks at the NCAA that know better about these things, why are they even making a ruling on this situation without understanding it?<br /><br />I know why. They're the NCAA that's why. They're like <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-AXTx4PcKI"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Alec Baldwin's character Blake in "Glengarry Glen Ross"</span></a> and if you ask them what their name is you get, "Fuck <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">YOU</span>, that's my name!"<br /><br />No one around to check them, no one there to balance them and certainly no one there to listen to the story of Kevin Wright and put things into the proper perspective for them.<br /><br />But that's why we're here on the Internet, to bring stories like this into the light.<br /><br />We're here to help a kid who's getting the short end of the stick courtesy of an organization that would rather play hard with the rules than gain any insight or understanding into someone's situation.<br /><br />Spread the word.<br /><br>Hockey Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060395164873365164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5756595755698157001.post-51082243607879133912009-06-13T03:41:00.003-04:002009-06-13T04:45:03.404-04:00Game 7: Epic Series Goes To Pittsburgh - Penguins Win 2-1Just watching this series, even while watching it with a stray eye from afar in Washington, was exhausting. For fans, for media, for bloggers, for everyone alike.<br /><br />Just imagine how it is actually playing the games.<br /><br />The Penguins showed in Game 7 that they did, in fact, want it more. They played harder and more aggressive for the better part of the game. They played smarter for the entire game and didn't allow for Detroit to wheel and deal the way they like to.<br /><br />Most importantly, and this was something I made it a point to say both last year and this, their third and fourth lines responded better than Detroit's did, a point that was made emphatically in Game 7 by Maxime Talbot scoring both Pittsburgh goals. Talbot last year was the lone player on Pittsburgh's third and fourth lines who proved to be a burr in the side of the Red Wings.<br /><br />This year, Talbot solidified himself as a folk hero win or loss given how he handled himself against the Capitals and how he played smartly and selflessly throughout the playoffs. I know that the folks in Pittsburgh's blogging circles will write folk songs and sing the praises of guys like Crosby, Fleury and Malkin but Talbot is the guy for whom much of Pens fans adulation and warm memories from here on out will be saved for.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjmwsCacKu7u2xhV3Fh5y80ISmfs3M8qRWprkiHEJIK2wFMuLDzIar8ygTEyCl3ikkf-qs4oN5xNgez4fuLfRmZA8lP8oygN3mHUEVI0EdEM0RZy-8-3XK7VmEQk2V4c8476u-ehSgDXly/s1600-h/malkin-conn.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 380px; height: 512px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjmwsCacKu7u2xhV3Fh5y80ISmfs3M8qRWprkiHEJIK2wFMuLDzIar8ygTEyCl3ikkf-qs4oN5xNgez4fuLfRmZA8lP8oygN3mHUEVI0EdEM0RZy-8-3XK7VmEQk2V4c8476u-ehSgDXly/s400/malkin-conn.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346730080869089602" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Evgeni Malkin is the superstar you should get forced down your throat.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">(Photo - AP)</span></span><br /><br />In this go-round, Talbot had sustained help from Ruslan Fedotenko - a guy who already has Stanley Cup folk hero status for the last 25 Tampa Bay Lightning fans that haven't been run off by the new owners there. Adding characters like Craig Adams and Fedotenko helped solidify the other lines for Pittsburgh helping younger players like Tyler Kennedy and Jordan Staal feel more at home working the grinder lines and realizing that by doing their job checking and defending you can still find a way to pot a goal or two.<br /><br />Pieces like that are what the team was missing last year and they were able to capitalize best on playing the aggressive forecheck (you know, like I kept saying they ought to do) and put pressure on Detroit's defense.<br /><br />No, not Nick Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski - those guys you can't exactly rattle. Brad Stuart and Niklas Kronwall however...<br /><br />To this point in the playoffs, I had been singing the praises of Brad Stuart as his play through the first three rounds had been solid if not spectacular. In the Finals, however, Stuart's efforts in Game 7 are what folks are going to be paying attention to. Stuart took a bad slashing penalty in the first period and had a brutal turnover and mis-timed moment to pinch in leading to both of Maxime Talbot's goals.<br /><br />Having that kind of résumé in an elimination game will often get a guy run out of town. For Stuart, it's a Finals he'd like to forget as his play suffered. Whether that be from his own mistakes or for having to perpetually look out for Niklas Kronwall who would take himself out of plays looking to deliver a hit elsewhere or do too much on the puck it's tough to say.<br /><br />For all the advances that Kronwall seemed to make last season in his play after finally finding a way to remain healthy, I couldn't help but find myself watching him to see how he would handle himself and his positioning. A lot of the time he's solid, but there's enough brain farting going on that teams were finding ways to expose him.<br /><br />I hammered on <a href="http://hockeyjoe.blogspot.com/2009/06/game-3-its-just-getting-creepy-now.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">a lot of this after Game 3 of this series</span></a> and his +/- rating didn't change after Game 3. In Games 4 and 5 he pulled in a +1 rating and in Game 6 he was even.<br /><br />Yeah, you guessed it, he was a -2 in Game 7 along with Brad Stuart. Game 7 saw plenty of reckless play from the two of them and if anything that -2 was well earned on their part. The poor unfortunate guy that had to deal with all that was Chris Osgood who truly played stellar all throughout this series and the playoffs.<br /><br />For Pittsburgh though, Conn Smythe Trophy winner Evgeni Malkin was the story from beginning to end.<br /><br />Enough about Crosby and him captaining the team to the win - I'm done with that. Good for him for winning but it's not because of him they were able to beat Detroit. Not in Game 7 and not in the rest of the series. He's the guy you're going to get forced down your throats from now until Lord knows when, but it's got to be eating him up how much more sound the Penguins play when he's not around. Malkin carried this team last year while Crosby was out with an injury and he carried the team again in Game 7 when Crosby left with an injury in the second period after taking a hit from Johan Franzen.<br /><br />This was Malkin's baby from the start of the playoffs and he earned it. Worst of all? Fans in North America aren't going to hear enough about him because he's Russian and speaks poor English and the NHL can't wrap their head around marketing players that don't come from North America.<br /><br />Amazing, isn't it? I've got a full-blown man-crush on the Hart Trophy candidates this year (Alex Ovechkin, Pavel Datsyuk and Malkin) but the league can't do anything with them. This is why if you too are a Twitter user <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://twitter.com/dchesnokov">you should be following Dmitry Chesnokov</a>, one of the contributors at <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy">Yahoo's Puck Daddy</a>.<br /><br />He's Russian and gets all the juicy interviews with the Russian stars and gets the personality out of them that the NHL is too ignorant or lazy to try for and hey, guess what, Russian players aren't the robots you see elsewhere around the league.<br /><br />Look at it this way, when your favorite Russian player is giving a poorly-worded interview in English, that guy is a regular Jeremy Roenick or Brett Hull when interviewed in Russian.<br /><br />It's so frustrating to see such marketing ability available here and no one putting it to use it's even managed to derail my Stanley Cup wrap up.<br /><br />I know a lot is going to get made about how Herr Bettman's wet dream finally came true here, and it did let's not think differently, but what we've got here is a damn spanking nice little cross-conference rivalry teeming over with superstars. Canadians, Russians, Swedes, Finns and Slovaks all over the place.<br /><br />Sets the stage pretty nicely for <a href="http://www.vancouver2010.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Vancouver in 2010</span></a> now, doesn't it?<br /><br />Don't worry, training camps open in three months and the NHL Draft is two weeks away with the Free Agency window opening soon after that.<br /><br />The off-season begins now.<br /><br>Hockey Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060395164873365164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5756595755698157001.post-63945051247567503472009-06-12T14:17:00.005-04:002009-06-12T16:41:00.173-04:00How (Not) To Prepare For A Game 7A lot of you may be stressing the hell out today because your team is playing in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals tonight.<br /><br />Others of you may have hitched a ride with a team for the Finals after having yours bumped off along the way either before or during the playoffs. It's OK, I'm not here to rat you out or tell the others in your fanbase that you may have given up the team colors in favor of the "prettier" horse that came along.<br /><br />That's not my job to rat you out and besides, you've got to live with yourself anyhow. Enjoy the anguish of living a lie should that be your course of action.<br /><br />What I'm here to do is try to share with you what it is to live in the hell of having the next game be your last, when you're that close to taking home the prize that your team is dying to reach. I'm here to tell you that if you want to live life as a hockey fan in a brilliant kind of tortured hell there's one thing you have to do:<br /><br />Become a college hockey fan.<br /><br />I'm not joking and hell, if you want examples of that already, take a look at the stories from my Back To School tour of excellence back in March and April.<br /><br />OK so you don't want to check it out, fine. Here's what the teams in tonight's final have to look forward to (click to enlarge):<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Thrill of Victory:</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0KYiFS3n75ZsDI02MfelYumtKKEDFD4Ra69e4NiiHUqVrgdLFxbAdYkeZz3U9ebwSgmla5ZHGd6oDG0peB9eh8gRBYbJvymz6KwOWmbLOp_0sDD_gJqCCTkM-HvfWnCqNj9LneJeKZFou/s1600-h/pics+130.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0KYiFS3n75ZsDI02MfelYumtKKEDFD4Ra69e4NiiHUqVrgdLFxbAdYkeZz3U9ebwSgmla5ZHGd6oDG0peB9eh8gRBYbJvymz6KwOWmbLOp_0sDD_gJqCCTkM-HvfWnCqNj9LneJeKZFou/s400/pics+130.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346517620261014306" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlK2hrS-idx-W4kIaBQgenpK8AzArMS-bDRc2TohiE0xDp7OSTFqtLvag6NaC3jlVgkFtEtPu4XQgaNFyZTVZ4XEYxqduvxbZsiawigpoUTYevGQ3BBl9PiVTIKJ9bmmLuON8CeunX77_7/s1600-h/pics+134.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlK2hrS-idx-W4kIaBQgenpK8AzArMS-bDRc2TohiE0xDp7OSTFqtLvag6NaC3jlVgkFtEtPu4XQgaNFyZTVZ4XEYxqduvxbZsiawigpoUTYevGQ3BBl9PiVTIKJ9bmmLuON8CeunX77_7/s400/pics+134.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346517632610338226" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Agony of Defeat:</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFNtKVubXsp-pElLOqujkMx7O9yk7sEacT0nGqWcQDq-yUoZDcZqIDVMtNui-Ur9HOt_qROqbKAmV-d9P6Fv6tqJwx9cqQpyz4RE4IFgbgE-B1HnrpYO-PG5HKY6dMbVaAYVLZOHrmUBAl/s1600-h/pics+131.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFNtKVubXsp-pElLOqujkMx7O9yk7sEacT0nGqWcQDq-yUoZDcZqIDVMtNui-Ur9HOt_qROqbKAmV-d9P6Fv6tqJwx9cqQpyz4RE4IFgbgE-B1HnrpYO-PG5HKY6dMbVaAYVLZOHrmUBAl/s400/pics+131.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346517625664282690" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmVxgqj-nThGZxd9UoVYjZceezA70aBpHAldtMZ-M7FPcwOd7Qt_TXQeE3_37Z7iMGZ3pm0LRsYHOzVpJnyvtZubfimiP9oH52DOT1IDBXyd3Zvc1GfoSt7zTcmF2LZz9z_Z4gl8uM4pYW/s1600-h/pics+135.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmVxgqj-nThGZxd9UoVYjZceezA70aBpHAldtMZ-M7FPcwOd7Qt_TXQeE3_37Z7iMGZ3pm0LRsYHOzVpJnyvtZubfimiP9oH52DOT1IDBXyd3Zvc1GfoSt7zTcmF2LZz9z_Z4gl8uM4pYW/s400/pics+135.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346517634847309698" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Those are shots from the conclusion of this year's National Championship game that saw Boston University defeat Miami University in overtime. Yeah, ouch.<br /><br />Pretty simple, I know, but seeing it is another thing entirely and let's face it, Penguins fans have tasted defeat in the Finals once, just last year. Detroit fans, at least the more modern variety, got a piece of it back in 1995 at the hands of Jacques Lemaire's ruiners of 1990s hockey, the New Jersey Devils.<br /><br />I can tell you first hand, however, that living and dying by your team is mentally and physically exhausting and having a hand in it with the college team of your upbringing or graduation can make even the most even-keeled of folks become raving lunatics.<br /><br />For me, my roots are based in Division III college hockey, graduating from Oswego State in 2002. Working games from the press box while in college doesn't allow you to fully give into your fandom, after all, there's no cheerleading in the press box.<br /><br />In 2003, Oswego State reached the Frozen Four for Division III and you better believe I was there with friends to witness this in Northfield, Vermont. Oswego was the newcomer to the party in dealing with local favorites Norwich and Middlebury (both in Vermont) as well as St. Norbert's College from Green Bay, Wisconsin. Oswego drew Middlebury in the semifinals and trounced them "surprisingly" 6-0 and met the hosts from Norwich in the Finals.<br /><br />There's no more nervewracking of a setting than being there in person, on hostile ground no-less, hoping to see your team win the big prize. That afternoon we would leave Kreitzberg Arena to the sounds of the place going bonkers as the Cadets would beat the Lakers 2-1. A long, humbled and quiet car ride would follow as we headed back to the Albany area.<br /><br />Four years later, Oswego would be back in the NCAA tournament and would open up at home against Norwich and exact a revenge of sorts for the 2003 loss beating the Cadets 3-0, this time on Oswego's home ice. A date in the Frozen Four was set again, this time in Superior, Wisconsin.<br /><br />There would be no road trip, there would be only reliance on the Internet broadcast of the semifinals against St. Norbert's and then praying they win that so I could watch them on CSTV in the Finals.<br /><br />This is where I leave things off to our media successors at Oswego State campus TV WTOP-10 to show you how this played out. I can tell you this right now, every time I watch this my adrenaline races and I break out into a cold sweat.<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tMvw9sZMGW0&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tMvw9sZMGW0&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" >(ed. note: YouTube is being a bit buggy lately so be patient and come on back again to see the video.)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Full disclosure:</span><br /><br />After Garren Reisweber scored that OVERTIME GAME-WINNING GOAL, I leapt out of the chair, did a lap around the house, then ran outside leaping into the snowbanks via backflip.<br /><br />I've never done a backflip before, and I've never dared try one since but it's true, adrenaline can make you do super-human things.<br /><br />That said, your team is on the road looking for their first championship and the road to get there goes through overtime in the semifinals and in the finals, it's a wonder myself or any other Oswego State hockey alum survived.<br /><br />But I did and I'm alive to pass this on to those of you who will be locked down into Game 7 tonight to let you know that win or lose, you're still going to be there to fight again.<br /><br />Neither Detroit nor Pittsburgh are going anywhere bad after this season. Folks want to write the Red Wings off and say that <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/06/11/SPOE185L5C.DTL"><span style="font-weight: bold;">their demise is imminent</span></a>.<br /><br />It's not.<br /><br />Pittsburgh has already proven that they'll be able to stick around by making it back again this year, especially after dropping their dead-weight of an albatross named Michel Therrien.<br /><br />If your team loses, yeah it's going to sting like a son of a bitch and it's going to eat you up for a while. You probably won't want to look at anything hockey for some time after that and you can't be blamed for it.<br /><br />But if you come back from it and you hunger for more and you develop that war wound with your team, and believe me losing in a game where it's all or nothing is a cannon blast to the midsection in the Civil War, the reward is worth the wait.<br /><br />Game 7 wins and losses weed out who belongs and who doesn't and if for some sick psychotic reason you want to give yourself a better chance at experiencing this sensation of living on the brink with a team you know and love and adore... Sign up for college hockey. Pick a team and go along for the ride.<br /><br />If you went to college that has a team, even better, you're already in the family. All you have to do then is start caring about them. Don't have a team yet? Snoop around, adopt one, adopt a local team if you've got one. Remember though, you're adopting them not to half-ass your attention to them you want to accept them into your life because you're a maniacal hockey fan and you seek more and you have wanton disregard for your sanity.<br /><br />Detroit fans I probably don't have to tell about college hockey given that Michigan alone has University of Michigan, Michigan State, Michigan Tech, Northern Michigan, Western Michigan, Ferris State, and Lake Superior State all contained within their borders.<br /><br />Joe Louis Arena plays host to the annual <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Lakes_Invitational">Great Lakes Invitational</a> pitting Michigan, MSU and Michigan Tech against a fourth team to be named later. RPI joins them this upcoming season. Yes, consider that foreshadowing for what may come in December.<br /><br />For Pittsburgh fans and those of you actually in the Iron City or close by, you've got a couple of teams within reach of you: <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.rmucolonials.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=13900&SPID=6533&SPSID=59620">Robert Morris University</a> and <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://hurstathletics.cstv.com/sports/m-hockey/mery-m-hockey-body.html">Mercyhurst College</a>. Robert Morris plays in Pittsburgh itself while Mercyhurst is located to the north in Erie. There is a bonus to becoming a Mercyhurst supporter though:<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmMF1c0DsurZFf5ai3204pXlAycUTObhBJ_nVO_92aWJNrgVegKDUx-zXgKpnTDTmTfmtbA9oa2NiJ8mkMS6u7MI9Vt3OFFP7vrIP6aX4ZMr5yjlY7eotVJRAEpyQjMlbND5RCgZHA7zsX/s1600-h/mercyhurst.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 333px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmMF1c0DsurZFf5ai3204pXlAycUTObhBJ_nVO_92aWJNrgVegKDUx-zXgKpnTDTmTfmtbA9oa2NiJ8mkMS6u7MI9Vt3OFFP7vrIP6aX4ZMr5yjlY7eotVJRAEpyQjMlbND5RCgZHA7zsX/s400/mercyhurst.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346540439826488578" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Mercyhurst Lakers goalie Matt Lundin shows off Whalers-colored glory.</span></span><br /><br />Your team wears the colors of the Hartford Whalers. I can see no other reason than that to want to become a fan of Mercyhurst. If you're into the women's college hockey scene, Mercyhurst's squad is one of the better ones in the country. Double your pleasure Pennsylvania.<br /><br />I know that this post offers in no way any kind of comfort or solace for those looking to find a way to get through tonight's game and I'm only serving to be more of an enabler of further stress, hair loss, anxiety and short fuses but I just want you all to be able to join me in that club.<br /><br />Some say "misery loves company" but in this case it's more like the asylum seeks more patients.<br /><br />You're hockey fans after all, be proud of your insanity.<br /><br>Hockey Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060395164873365164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5756595755698157001.post-68013230341473907632009-06-11T16:03:00.007-04:002009-06-11T17:46:49.261-04:00Going Retread Is RetardedWhat makes analyzing the foibles of the power players in the NHL so amusing is that they very often continue to make the same mistakes repeatedly thus dooming franchises to continued failure.<br /><br />It began a couple weeks ago when the Montreal Canadiens announced that their new head coach would be former Florida Panthers coach and general manager Jacques Martin. Martin, of course, is one of the many contributors to driving the Panthers into the ground over the years before stepping out from behind the bench and hiring former Canadian juniors coach Pete DeBoer.<br /><br />Of all the bad moves Martin made over the years in Florida, his best move was hiring the very green DeBoer to try and make something out of the deck chairs on his version of the Titanic in Florida. The results? Florida just barely missed the playoffs only losing out in the number of wins compared to the Canadiens who they finished tied with for points in the Eastern Conference.<br /><br />The way the Panthers were arranged, well, let's just say that <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://hockeyjoe.blogspot.com/2008/09/thanks-for-playing-part-2-florida.html">some writers out there didn't have a lot of faith</a> for how they were going to do given the apparent lack of talent and throwing a new coach to the wolves with such a rag-tag bunch.<br /><br />Oops.<br /><br />So DeBoer does well enough for Bob Gainey to think that hiring Jacques Martin must be a good idea, right? Well, OK <a href="http://fourhabsfans.blogspot.com/2009/06/now-we-have-your-attention.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">some (Four to be exact) Habs fans</span></a> are at least warming up to it sarcastically. That's not a good sign.<br /><br />So of course that leads some stupid owners to think, "Well shoot, we've got to get in on this before we lose out on our opportunity to give some failed reject yet another chance to prove why they've lost their job over and over again."<br /><br />Is it any shock that Dallas Stars owner Tom Hicks is that stupid owner?<br /><br />In spite of the fanatical drama created last year thanks to the Sean Avery fiasco and Marty Turco's abysmal start to the season, the Dallas Stars rallied to be mostly respectable in a very difficult Western Conference. All of that was petty drama for Stars owner Tom Hicks and new general manager Joe Nieuwendyk as they first <a href="http://www.defendingbigd.com/2009/6/11/905962/dave-tippett-fired-dallas-stars"><span style="font-weight: bold;">fired head coach Dave Tippett and then hired Marc Crawford</span></a> to replace him behind the bench.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA3yN0a407O_beYkaBwgHA-WgWx7fsYfJFd-K71Yjd-7nw4H7ECCNfpJiJe0fjv6F7yYGyu29pCH5K7AffHISVQMn-oBcfTDPw0EIc7_zbRXfy1aHpFZcGMs7eqk1bJa4vxlBTflHwrlq4/s1600-h/crawfordhicks-haha.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 521px; height: 272px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA3yN0a407O_beYkaBwgHA-WgWx7fsYfJFd-K71Yjd-7nw4H7ECCNfpJiJe0fjv6F7yYGyu29pCH5K7AffHISVQMn-oBcfTDPw0EIc7_zbRXfy1aHpFZcGMs7eqk1bJa4vxlBTflHwrlq4/s400/crawfordhicks-haha.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346183469364166594" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Look out Nelson, Crawford will send Krys Barch after you for laughing at Tom Hicks.</span></span><br /><br />Uh... what? Why Marc Crawford?<br /><br />He's a guy who was a terrible fit in Los Angeles, wore out his welcome in Vancouver (not to mention <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=2&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsports.espn.go.com%2Fnhl%2Fnews%2Fstory%3Fid%3D3143906&ei=520xSoCcGYzYM5G1gJ4G&usg=AFQjCNEjUUxuwhDJSy6q8z3Hox8M0ecROw"><span style="font-weight: bold;">his fingerprints being all over</span></a> the Steve Moore-Todd Bertuzzi situation) and saw his only real success with a team full of superstars in Colorado ten years ago.<br /><br />Then again, he spent the last year or two <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/sports/blogs/_hockey/marc_crawford/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">working on Canadian television as an analyst</span></a> so hey, he's got to be good right?!<br /><br />Ugh.<br /><br />Given how soon this decision came down after Joe Nieuwendyk's hiring, there's little doubt here that he's got a plan on how he wants to set the team up and for that, I guess, Nieuwendyk deserves the benefit of the doubt but <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.defendingbigd.com/2009/6/11/906348/quotes-from-todays-dallas-stars">some of his quotes at the press conference</a> raise some questions for me:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">"We went through an extensive process of evaluation, talking through many areas of the organization and evaluating where we were as a club and we believe that Marc has the qualities that we need moving forward. I talked to several former players of Marc's, such as </span><span style="font-style: italic;" class="sbn-auto-link">Joe Sakic</span><span style="font-style: italic;">, Mike Keane and Trevor Linden and they all spoke very highly of Marc."</span></blockquote><br />Well that sounds peachy, but how about the guys in the locker room that you're going to be managing?<br /><br /><p style="font-style: italic;"></p><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">"I did not speak to any current Stars players because I don't think any of them have ever played for Marc before."</blockquote><p></p><br />Oh.<br /><br />Well there it is, Joe Nieuwendyk rules with an iron fist.<br /><br />Perhaps this is his subtle way of telling the guys that the sort of rampant semi-mutiny that appeared to roll through the locker room last year (in particular with regard to Avery) won't be tolerated. For that, bringing in a fiery personality like Crawford may actually be a good thing.<br /><br />After all, given the brand of hockey that Crawford is going to want to play, expect an even bigger role to be played by Steve Ott, someone that Crawford may view as Bertuzzi-esque in his size and physical play. I don't want to do the obvious tie-in with questionable physical play, but Steve Ott makes it <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Dallas/2009/03/02/8594231-cp.html">kind of easy to do that</a>.<br /><br />As for some of the other things Nieuwendyk and Crawford will have to contend with, <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://starsscene.wordpress.com/2009/06/01/three-pressing-needs-for-the-new-guy/">Stars Scene takes a nice peek at the list</a> for them to contend with and one thing in particular gave me pause:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">3 – Get a capable backup goalie for Turco</span></blockquote><br />Oooh, I know how to handle this one and I think Marc Crawford will be a really easy sale for it too considering his love of this goaltender is like that of a fat kid and cake.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb6tQu2VEZ1pg2nHqw0flgMDGpMcvFnOfG4SF_-vS-J_RLHzKvHpYH2bMb-shvJHRpvdvUkh2jF-xOry1sV9hSs0KvyaO9cnLBIiAe8vZhyphenhyphen3a1fMIuir2cLWrbP9oDPY9qIcddJf3hyulv/s1600-h/beachball.gif"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 276px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb6tQu2VEZ1pg2nHqw0flgMDGpMcvFnOfG4SF_-vS-J_RLHzKvHpYH2bMb-shvJHRpvdvUkh2jF-xOry1sV9hSs0KvyaO9cnLBIiAe8vZhyphenhyphen3a1fMIuir2cLWrbP9oDPY9qIcddJf3hyulv/s400/beachball.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346183469125137922" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Dan Cloutier at his best in Vancouver.</span></span><br /><br />Yeah, come on, you know we all want to see Dan Cloutier back in the NHL to serve up some of the most embarrassing goals you've ever seen.<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/y524oYnSuqQ&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/y524oYnSuqQ&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />Perhaps Tobias Stephan isn't such a bad idea after all.<br /><br />After all of that, what does Crawford have to say about the current outlay of the Stars?<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">"I think that what impresses me so much about the Stars is the tremendous core values that team already has in place. They have a great foundation of habits that I will continue to build upon. You don't lose the strengths of previous coaches and previous regimes, there's still a part of Bob Gainey, still a big part of Ken Hitchcock and huge part of Dave Tippett still with this team and my job will be to add to that moving forward. I'm confident that the strengths I'm going to bring to the team are going to help the Dallas Stars."</span></blockquote><br /><br />There's Bob Gainey's name again. And Ken Hitchcock. I'm sure we'll hear about Dave Tippett landing somewhere else soon enough (New Jersey, perhaps?). I don't know quite what the "core values" of the Dallas Stars are but given how the roster is set up, they apparently value either beating you up (Ott, Krys Barch) or employing diving sissies (Mike Ribeiro) to drive Mike Modano crazy.<br /><br />The key components of the Stars from this point on should be James Neal, Brad Richards, Brenden Morrow and Marty Turco. The team needs a lot of blueline help and were ravaged by injuries last year along those lines. They lack some serious forward depth while Joel Lundqvist and Loui Eriksson are nice pieces, they need a lot more here.<br /><br />Rebuilding this team is going to be a tough job and I surely hope that Nieuwendyk is capable of handling it with a crazy overlord of an owner in Hicks watching him and a gamble retread of a coach in Crawford trying to make his pieces work.<br /><br />A hire like this I'm sure makes the Stars brass feel like they're going to recapture some of the magic but I can't help but think that recycling old blood like Crawford is only going to make things worse.<br /><br />It's up to Nieuwendyk in the off-season to make sure things don't get out of hand further in Dallas because things could go south fast for Dallas in the meantime, their division isn't exactly a cakewalk anymore.<br /><br>Hockey Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060395164873365164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5756595755698157001.post-12817266577568992262009-06-10T13:33:00.007-04:002009-06-10T14:50:26.820-04:00A Break For Reality: Good-Bye to Nathan MarstersI know this is the day when I should be wrapping up Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals and getting psyched along with everyone else about a Game 7, but during last night's game news came down that probably doesn't hit on most of your radars about the passing of someone who I had the pleasure to watch quite a bit here at home and monitor his career from afar.<br /><br />In the heights of Game 6, <a href="http://twitter.com/GrossMisconduct">I broke the news on Twitter</a> that former RPI goalie standout and 2000 Los Angeles Kings 5th Round pick Nathan Marsters was killed in a car accident. This morning, <a href="http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/580665">the details of the accident became available</a> to me and it's an even bigger gut-punch to read the information.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisjGJKvKlmlkvVKf_pi6EX2g8JAy32fpbPObNW4n665xZsk1DzMTUWSkuXbV7CoyG0ydh7Eozy2rQqqq5QTUeD9OI89kgDKKlZHNglqDLDI8eAMyG70JQD03tME3Qg_tjJmhWDDmwrkbVx/s1600-h/40.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisjGJKvKlmlkvVKf_pi6EX2g8JAy32fpbPObNW4n665xZsk1DzMTUWSkuXbV7CoyG0ydh7Eozy2rQqqq5QTUeD9OI89kgDKKlZHNglqDLDI8eAMyG70JQD03tME3Qg_tjJmhWDDmwrkbVx/s400/40.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345763440337943010" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Nathan Marsters at RPI (courtesy of </span><a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://www.rpihockey.net/">rpihockey.net</a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">)</span></span><br /><br />I can't say that I knew Nathan personally and I only know him as someone on the ice who always impressed me with his playing ability for teams that sometimes failed to support him with the goals needed to win. A good friend of mine blogging for the St. Cloud Times <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.sctimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=PluckPersona&U=6888ea8cb88249609859cdacc6730065&plckController=PersonaBlog&plckScript=personaScript&plckElementId=personaDest&plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3a6888ea8cb88249609859cdacc6730065Post%3aacac6b0b-9bf0-4f54-ae08-e36be2e3fdd5&sid=sitelife.sctimes.com">offers a a better and more personalized view of Nathan Marsters</a>. <br /><br />It pained me to try to reach him as best as I could while he's on the move supporting our country in Iraq and proved why sometimes technology while helpful doesn't offer the personal touch necessary to pass along terrible news.<br /><br />Marsters was a four-year starter during his time in Troy, NY with the RPI Engineers, a credit to his game. At 6'4" 200 he was a big, lanky goaltender and presented an intimidating figure on which opposing shooters had to deal with.<br /><br />His tenure in Troy saw him put up stellar numbers three out of his four seasons (his junior year being the lone hiccup) and his senior season he saved the best for last finishing with a 21-13-1 record with a .922 save percentage and a 2.15 goals against, earning career marks in wins and goals against that year.<br /><br />After college, Nathan became one of the many uncredited unknowns that move on to <a href="http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=51234">journeyman careers in the minor leagues</a> hoping to hone his game and catch on in the AHL and eventually the NHL.<br /><br />Round about 2006, Marsters got the call while playing for the Portland Pirates, then a Mighty Ducks of Anaheim affiliate. It would be a brief moment and there wouldn't be any time seen on the ice, but the <a href="http://www.hockeygoalies.org/bio/marsters.html">Ducks thought enough of him to call him up</a> while Jean-Sebastien Giguere was out with an injury and Marsters dressed as the backup goalie for Game 1 of Anaheim's Western Quarterfinal game against Calgary.<br /><br />One cup of coffee had and in playoff time no-less, not a bad credit for the résumé. That 2005-2006 season in Portland for the Pirates, he went 23-9-2 with a 3.10 GAA and .900 save percentage. Marsters would get one more turn with Portland the follow season but for only a few games. From there, he moved on to the ECHL and this past season saw some work in the German Professional League playing in nine games for the Krefeld Penguins.<br /><br />That's the rough road of being a professional hockey player and the part of Nathan's story that really brings this all home for me. He was a guy just about my age trying to do whatever it is that he can to make it stick and to make it count and maybe catch lightning in a bottle and in one, horrible instant it's done and over with. <br /><br />For Nathan, he was trying to be one of those guys that I hope to someday write about on the big scene and going anywhere he could just to keep playing. <br /><br />To keep trying. <br /><br />Hearing of this loss has really thrown me for a loop for a handful of reasons which would be immensely disrespectful to bring up here. For now though, it's time to remember one of hockey's fallen and honor him.<br /><br>Hockey Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060395164873365164noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5756595755698157001.post-57532047281891970922009-06-08T15:54:00.005-04:002009-06-08T18:37:06.267-04:00Herr Bettman's State of the ReichstagI've held off on this piece for a bit because, well, there's a big series going on right now. That said, I couldn't allow for Herr Bettman's yearly, rambling spin doctoring speech which he calls the State Of The League address go without giving it proper roasting.<br /><br />Now I know that some of you may think that the harping on Bettman goes over the top and that's fine and a fair criticism to which I just ask that he not make it so easy to find ways to hammer him. That said, it's getting more popular to needle the man as Greg Wyshynski at Puck Daddy did quite nicely <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/How-Gary-Bettman-restricts-speech-through-financ?urn=nhl,168712">with his piece examining the NHL constitution and bylaws</a>. If you haven't given that a look over you should because the NHL constitution goes over about as black and white as the rules interpretations do for officials.<br /><br />No wonder this league is such a mess.<br /><br />What we're going to focus on here, however, is <a href="http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2009/05/gary_bettmans_state_of_the_gam.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Bettman's May 30th press conference</span></a> about what he thinks of the league and its many sticky issues and why he's the kind of lying liar lying about lies that drive us crazy.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy2_cVb5jF0ESX6H3zWnfZjyJpsI12KzoU9wiCrQAZ9HDsOoZeGWkea8cPMQmbW7mcBllyjZE58guO6sbn1-mDEg1zx_xDmB6UHuCdkGW0qeojhNKMIsBf8D5UK1ZuzLjTPc_BzsBYl2HO/s1600-h/bettman-B&W.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 369px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy2_cVb5jF0ESX6H3zWnfZjyJpsI12KzoU9wiCrQAZ9HDsOoZeGWkea8cPMQmbW7mcBllyjZE58guO6sbn1-mDEg1zx_xDmB6UHuCdkGW0qeojhNKMIsBf8D5UK1ZuzLjTPc_BzsBYl2HO/s400/bettman-B&W.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345085834006528994" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Black and White makes this blog classy-ish. It also opens the door to break Godwin's Law.</span></span><br /><br />If you've watched or absorbed sports enough in your life you know that when you get a talk from or an interview with someone involved in the game either they're going to bore the crap out of you with the standard athlete/coach speak in which they offer up little to nothing informative or interesting.<br /><br />If you're dealing with someone in an executive position you're probably going to get lied to a lot and if you're on to their game and understand that they're lying to you to mess with you, it's fun.<br /><br />Red Wings coach Mike Babcock is a superstar at this because he not only flat out lies, he twists reporters in knots with a British comedy-like dry wit in which allows him to both insult and take down a reporter who thinks they're ahead of the game.<br /><br />You also have guys like John Tortorella who don't mind actually taking you down a peg or twelve and believe me, <a href="http://hockeyjoe.blogspot.com/2009/02/fonz-and-i-we-be-tight-yo.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">that's quite the moment to have</span></a>.<br /><br />For Gary Bettman though... We know he's lying, we know what he's lying about and he thinks he's being cute with us while others are more than happy to eat up what's spoonfed by the Lying Mouth That Fails.<br /><br />Honestly, do you think anyone out there believes it when he says this:<br /><br /><blockquote><p style="font-style: italic;">With regard to Phoenix, there has been a lot of commentary on the subject. So let me spend a brief moment on it.</p> <p style="font-style: italic;">The team was never in jeopardy. It was literally 20 minutes away from being fixed in a way that we thought was going to work quite well, and it's our view, my view, that the Coyotes should not be in bankruptcy.</p></blockquote><br />Give me a freaking break.<br /><br />"Literally 20 minutes away from being fixed" - if you believe that I've got a <strike>team</strike> bridge to sell you.<br /><br />Considering that the incredibly awful situation in Phoenix has now allowed for the soft underbelly of the NHL to be out in full display opening the door for every crazy canuck with lots of money to come running out to make a claim, how is it possible that the league was that close to righting the ship when they can't even get out of their own way in the first place?<br /><br />How difficult would it be for Bettman to be up front from the get-go to say, "Listen, things are in a bad way in Phoenix. Jerry Moyes has come to us with concerns and has asked for the league to help out in finding a buyer for the franchise interested in keeping the team tied to the city."<br /><br />At worst, the league takes a hit for playing things parallel to what goes on in corporate America with financially miserable companies getting a taxpayer bailout but at best everyone in the situation comes out looking like they're trying to do the right thing for everyone concerned. Not only does it allow for everyone to look good, it's solid PR for the league and for Jerry Moyes.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnMGc4iU8SpYb0LURhyphenhyphenF1ClXGNkbj775CkelLD7DCaYEkVXGBjn6ML2lWboy8GQYw3_bJw2FeF65w0BEbx1dCpQtfaYf0UoeJE6LWNIyiMq_bL9dPdnsAaVl9qI1PZJFjt_ZepFv7UIxsr/s1600-h/cloakandgary.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 270px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnMGc4iU8SpYb0LURhyphenhyphenF1ClXGNkbj775CkelLD7DCaYEkVXGBjn6ML2lWboy8GQYw3_bJw2FeF65w0BEbx1dCpQtfaYf0UoeJE6LWNIyiMq_bL9dPdnsAaVl9qI1PZJFjt_ZepFv7UIxsr/s400/cloakandgary.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345085841556667474" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">NHL Planning: It's fannnnnntastic!</span></span><br /><br />Instead you get this from the press conference following the State of the Game address:<br /><blockquote><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Q.</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> Publicly you've painted a fairly optimistic portrait of Phoenix's financial health all season, yet court documents relating to the bankruptcy suggest there were some serious issues all year round. How do you imagine it turning around in that market? </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">COMMISSIONER BETTMAN:</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> First of all, I know there have been suggestions that either Bill or I have been optimistic. That was not the case. What we've always responded to has been the notion that the club was not in any jeopardy. The club's losses are comparable to what they've been. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The City of Glendale is prepared to work with the club in terms of building arrangements. And we believe there are buyers out there who are willing to step up, invest and make it work. This is a club that needs new ownership and a change in management and needs to perform better than it has. As long as there are people prepared to invest in doing that, we think the prospects can be optimistic and should be. At least some of the people that I've spoken to believe that it can be turned around and turned around rather quickly by doing a lot of the right things that haven't been done.</span></blockquote><br />Spin, spin, spin away.<br /><br />The best part about reading this transcript is that you can see Bettman's mood change from the start of the press conference to the end of it and he knows that what he's shoveling isn't being bought by those in attendance and hey, when you go into one of these things knowing full well that the reporters are going to come at you armed with a litany of hot-button topics you have to think he'd be prepared for this or more media savvy about it.<br /><br />But it's great to read an exchange that goes like this:<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Q.</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"> Having said that, you've been in the south now, and your southern expansion, you've been 30 teams for, correct me if I'm wrong, 7 or 8 years now - the goal to be to get the big U.S. TV contract. The reward has never come. You don't have the big TV contract?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">COMMISSIONER BETTMAN:</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> Really?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Q.</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> Is there any shelf life on being in these cities where across the board down there you've got financial problems. Do you ever pull your horns in on this whole 30?team thing and bring it back a little bit?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">COMMISSIONER BETTMAN:</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> The answer is I don't agree with your premise. It wasn't all about just the big TV contract. It was about expanding our footprint and connecting with fans in more places than before. </span><span style="font-style: italic;">If you count, I don't have the exact number, but the number of people that have attended games in the new markets since they've come into the League goes into the tens of millions. We have a number of Stanley Cup champions and/or finalists who have come from the so?called Sun Belt.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">To use your methodology of seven years, I'll make it 10 or 12 years, that's a relatively short period of time in the life of a franchise.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">We like where we are. And this is not something that you take a snap shot over. We believe that our franchises can all be successful where they're currently located. And somebody could have asked me the same question that you just asked eight years ago about the Canadian franchises. They could have said; 'Why do you have any franchises other than Toronto or Montreal?' eight or ten years ago, because the buildings in all the other places were t</span><span style="font-style: italic;">wo?thirds to half empty. And the answer is because that's where we belong having franchises. We're working with our fans. And we don't run out on cities. We try to make it work. I think at this stage to pronounce that our expansion and the places where we are isn't working is premature.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">With respect to television, the television landscape is a lot more complicated than the discussion about it. Taking the year off that we took had an impact on where we are and who had what needs when, and the perceived value of our product. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The fact is we decided coming back to go in a certain direction in the United States. Our ratings are growing very nicely with a partner who is growing with us. And it's playing out pretty much the way we planned. So if it's not living up to the standards, perhaps, that you've set for these franchises, I apologize. But we think we're doing okay.</span></blockquote><br />Freaking hilarious.<br /><br />I can picture in my head how Herr Bettman pouted over this and about how no one believes what he says when it comes to just about anything having to do with the league.In fact, I don't have to imagine it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEoQfrNknSQcXgoG7Z3SdMUJR3JR3AT_qbC_Yuxkmuq3tk0ZSjMNeHlIRibI_qZ9OwSCiv2ZV6syoAI5D03WkkjSx5RyXVG8-IbGuTsLzo_4YSX9TAW9vIgbn_rpmWHmnVpJC9Vcx9xooO/s1600-h/bettman_sad.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEoQfrNknSQcXgoG7Z3SdMUJR3JR3AT_qbC_Yuxkmuq3tk0ZSjMNeHlIRibI_qZ9OwSCiv2ZV6syoAI5D03WkkjSx5RyXVG8-IbGuTsLzo_4YSX9TAW9vIgbn_rpmWHmnVpJC9Vcx9xooO/s400/bettman_sad.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345085836233900530" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Gary's head being this cartoonishly large makes my Photoshop work all the more realistic.</span></span><br /><br />I can just look at this and feel a lot better knowing that this is the look on his face.<br /><br />With regard to what he's saying about Phoenix, I doubt there will be any deviation in how things go at <a href="http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/article/647063"><span style="font-weight: bold;">tomorrow's hearing in the desert</span></a> even though the Toronto Star seems to think that Balsillie has a good enough case to win out over the NHL. While we're talking about super-wealthy rams butting heads here, I doubt that the courts would ever go with someone trying to back-door their way into owning a team and violating the way the league does business.<br /><br />Then again, you just never know - law is funny that way. For my own greedy purposes, I'd love to see Balsillie win out in court tomorrow. Getting a judge to help me and others across the Internet give the NHL and Bettman the finger is something I pray will happen some day, I just doubt beyond anything else that tomorrow is going to be that day. <br /><br />Of course, should it break down like that, the NHL already has the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/nhl/2009-06-05-coyotes-bankruptcy-leagues-support_N.htm"><span style="font-weight: bold;">on stand-by ready to smack that down</span></a> just in case Judge Baum wants to get frisky.<br /><br />At least the league is always ready with a backup plan.<br /><br />Er... <span style="font-style:italic;">Right</span>.<br /><br>Hockey Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060395164873365164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5756595755698157001.post-45736438302129712142009-06-04T12:55:00.003-04:002009-06-04T13:01:46.545-04:00Going On A HolidayI know that sometimes trips are really often poorly timed and, well, you could say that this is one of those times as I'm headed to Washington, D.C. for the weekend and will NOT be recapping Games 4 and 5 while I'm there because, honestly, who knows if I'll even get to see them.<br /><br />No, that's not a dig at Versus for not being in a hotel there - I'm not even staying in a hotel.<br /><br />So to commemorate this occasion, I was going to play you the video from Mr. Show with the stars of the show singing "Going On A Holiday" but that's lame and it sucks. So instead if you'd like to complain about me dumping out on recapping the game, I want all complaints to be like this:<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nG2WsD6MBjE&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nG2WsD6MBjE&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />Good luck keeping up with that! See you next week.<br /><br>Hockey Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060395164873365164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5756595755698157001.post-24939811471208295572009-06-03T12:49:00.003-04:002009-06-03T14:18:04.620-04:00Game 3: It's Just Getting Creepy Now - Pittsburgh Wins 4-2I should really just re-print my game recaps from last year and see if anyone bothers to fact check me at this point.<br /><br />Just picking up and running with this acid flashback kind of thing for this series turned out to be the right thing to do since, just like last year, the Penguins pulled off a Game 3 victory.<br /><br />In this version, a crazy up and down first period with two goals for each team lead to a Detroit-dominated and defensively locked down second period which saw Detroit get its opportunities to take the lead and then turn into a third period where Pittsburgh turned up the pressure and get the lead and the victory on the power play.<br /><br />Once again, however, officiating is at the forefront of the discussion after an obvious too many men on the ice call was missed in the first period. Shortly after that, Detroit was booked for a penalty which lead to a Pittsburgh power play goal to tie the game at two. Even the guys in the NBC booth were going bonkers over the call.<br /><br />All the officiating <span style="font-style: italic;">faux pas</span> aside, <a href="http://www.kuklaskorner.com/index.php/a2y/comments/cheaters_victims_dirty_bastards_and_paid_off_refs/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Abel to Yzerman made it plain as day</span></a> what the chink in the armor of the Red Wings is:<br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">The Penalty Kill is this family’s dirty secret. The Kill is the clepto dad, the dirty sister who hands it out like can</span><span style="font-style: italic;">dy at Christmas, the mom who got a DUI last week, pulled over and arrested in the middle of the day. Our penalty kill is a problem like that. It’s not going to just go away without treatment. And, left to its own devices, it’s going to humiliate us all at the worst possible moment. </span></blockquote><br /><br />The truth hurts. In short-handed situations there's something drastically different about how the Red Wings go about business. The pressure on the point men isn't there, defensive positioning is certainly off, hell, look where Niklas Kronwall is standing on this goal:<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.nhl.tv/team/embed.jsp?hlg=20082009,3,413&event=PIT93" width="480" frameborder="0" height="289"></iframe><br /><br />Pretty tough to help your goaltender when you're screening him. Then again, Niklas Kronwall is a bit of a dirty secret for Detroit as it is anyhow. Kronwall is currently a +4 on defense in the playoffs. Not bad, sure, but how does he stack up with his teammates?<br /><br /><ol><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Nick Lidstrom: +10</span></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Brian Rafalski: +10</span></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jonathan Ericsson: + 10</span></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Brett Lebda: +9</span></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Brad Stuart: +7</span></li></ol><br />Brad Stuart has been a stud throughout these playoffs so why are his numbers a bit off from the rest? Look no further than his defensive partner Kronwall.<br /><br />Yeah, I know, he makes the big hits and makes the highlight reels and all that fun stuff but positionally he's a bit off and already in this series we've seen him make a misplay that leads to a Evgeni Malkin breakaway.<br /><br />You think this is something Dan Bylsma and the Penguins staff haven't taken note of? You bet they have and they know that Stuart is playing out of his mind and doing even more to help/cover up for Kronwall's mistakes.<br /><br />How does this translate out in Game 4 though? Who knows. At this point, why even try to deviate from how things shook out from last year. Detroit has shown an uncanny ability to rebound from losses and make corrections in their game to make sure these problems don't come up again.<br /><br />Pittsburgh is going to need to bring the thunder like they did for the third period last night all game long. Another period like their second period last night where Detroit controls play and gets the chances they did will not turn out well for the Penguins. Then again, perhaps the Penguins had a bit of hockey karma coming their way after some of the bad-break-bounces they suffered in Game 1 and that's why you see Mikael Samuelsson rip a couple of shots off the post.<br /><br />Then again, I could say that unicorns will stampede the ice and leprechauns will take over and control Game 4.<br /><br />Wait, nevermind, a leprechaun already runs the NHL.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWF0dkGVIWtmN5ZiGeRXK8r2iFoeTkzT4iwjtSAu51ABZwopE9Yv34fi4nP23tQelMy3nzGh96Vv85RUjW4SKPdysXnVi75wMon3HQpYI-zYgtzUmY4FT733NzKb1QBs9Z0mjxmT0kb7YH/s1600-h/GaryLeprechaun.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 307px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWF0dkGVIWtmN5ZiGeRXK8r2iFoeTkzT4iwjtSAu51ABZwopE9Yv34fi4nP23tQelMy3nzGh96Vv85RUjW4SKPdysXnVi75wMon3HQpYI-zYgtzUmY4FT733NzKb1QBs9Z0mjxmT0kb7YH/s400/GaryLeprechaun.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343166866504679090" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The scariest and dumbest of all Leprechauns.</span></span><br /><br>Hockey Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060395164873365164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5756595755698157001.post-32719758645152763102009-06-01T02:14:00.006-04:002009-06-02T03:37:18.200-04:00Game 2: Department of Redundancy Department - Detroit Wins 3-1Stop me if you heard this one before.<br /><br /><a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/recap;_ylt=An1fs868kCSHCfgiMfxEOC17vLYF?gid=2009053105">Detroit beats Pittsburgh 3-1 in the Stanley Cup Finals</a>.<br /><br />Me breaking out Yogi Berra is apparently rubbing off in a big way because not only are Detroit and Pittsburgh in the Finals for the second straight year, but now the Red Wings have come out on top of the Penguins by identical 3-1 to scores in each game this year and are once again ahead in the Finals 2-0... <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://hockeyjoe.blogspot.com/2008/05/game-2-all-aboard-for-uglytown-detroit.html">Just like they were last year</a>.<br /><br />Invoking more of the acid flashbacks to last year was Valtteri Filppula who scored the game-winning goal in tonight's Game 2 in a play that's come under some major scrutiny from at <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.thepensblog.com/">least one very famous Penguins blog</a>. Have a look for yourself and see what you think, highlights from NBC:<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mZ8LAgf7ID4&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mZ8LAgf7ID4&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />The contention from the Penguins loyalists comes from the stick-work from, who else, Marian Hossa. On the play you see Pens forward Pascal Dupuis try to maneuver away while be harassed by Hossa. Hossa lifts the stick, he stick checks him all while Dupuis' stick breaks in his hands. I'll admit, his reaction to having the composite lumber fall apart in his hands had me fooled but after the replay... Well, that's just crappy luck.<br /><br />What stuck out to me here is that Dupuis instantly tried to sell a call and stopped playing. Now, I know selling a call is all part of the game... You don't stop skating to yell though. Dupuis realizes a couple seconds too late that he has to keep playing and by that time, Detroit is at the half-boards and firing away and then the scrum ensues leading to Filppula's insane backhand goal.<br /><br />After all that, however, that goal wasn't the backbreaker. Filppula's goal made the score 2-1 but a familiar face from Game 1 was going to notch his second goal of the series and coincidentally enough it would again be the goal to make the game 3-1. The fresh-off-the-TV video from NBC:<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7yBTLTUciW0&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7yBTLTUciW0&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />From that point on in the third period, the Penguins were toast and it showed for the better part of the next ten minutes of play as Detroit toyed with and puck-controlled for that time. Puck control was a huge issue for Detroit in the first 30 minutes of this one as they found themselves uncharacteristically turning it over and dumping and chasing rather than staying back and patient.<br /><br />Give the Penguins a lot of credit here as their forecheck forced the issue on Detroit but the Red Wings seem to always find a way to bend and not break and to resist the waves of pressure.<br /><br />The one glaring issue with the series to this point, however, is the difference between the defensemen of these teams. It's already unfair to have the Red Wings roll out there with Nick Lidstrom, Brad Stuart, Brian Rafalski and Nick Kronwall. Adding 6'5" former NHL Draft Mr. Irrelevant Jonathan Ericsson to the mix and having him produce (he scored Detroit's first goal tonight) and help out on the special teams with seamless effectiveness turns the tide even more in favor of Detroit.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg8hG8uCMCJl8XTyqXJQ8edtLnIsW-kcosdMuH3DJ2dqa_PAFtGZUu7IDPM34-z5AAyFCLYVjRwjaKCUWnFovO0Vle5WRozNAMQg33aI19ln_6MA8ghQnQot9sYUIFU8C23ummFJ6_ZOnw/s1600-h/gill-cone.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg8hG8uCMCJl8XTyqXJQ8edtLnIsW-kcosdMuH3DJ2dqa_PAFtGZUu7IDPM34-z5AAyFCLYVjRwjaKCUWnFovO0Vle5WRozNAMQg33aI19ln_6MA8ghQnQot9sYUIFU8C23ummFJ6_ZOnw/s400/gill-cone.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342254768073215410" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Penguins defenseman Hal Gill in his natural state.</span></span><br /><br />Pittsburgh's extreme lack of solid play on the blue line is becoming more noticeable and bigger efforts in shutting down Detroit's third and fourth lines, never mind the top two lines, are needed out of guys like Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill who have looked beyond abysmal through two games.<br /><br />Scuderi was a -1 and Gill a -2 in Game 2 and Gill, while a solid shot blocker and space-taker-upper, is slow and prone to grabbing and holding out there something for which he should be fortunate the officials are letting go. So far through the first two games, Scuderi is -3 while Gill is a -4.<br /><br />Not good.<br /><br />Topping off the amazing coincidental party was how a game that was virtually decided managed to have some shenanigans break loose involving one of Pittsburgh's super-duper-mega stars. Tonight, it was Evgeni Malkin's turn to embarrass the Penguins as he instigated a fight with Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg after a fracas near the Detroit net, sparked by Maxime Talbot spearing goaltender Chris Osgood into flopping like Vlade Divac. Take a look:<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/AhCthzM7aGo&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/AhCthzM7aGo&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />Now, really, this whole Déjà vu thing takes a life of its own in this situation if you'll <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://hockeyjoe.blogspot.com/2008/05/game-2-all-aboard-for-uglytown-detroit.html">think back to last year's Game 2</a> and what occurred that night:<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ypFazgUTbgE&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ypFazgUTbgE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />OK a questionable hit from a Penguins player leads to Osgood hitting the ice and then we're playing the feud where Evgeni Malkin gets made to look really bad against someone from Sweden. Last year it's Johan Franzen and this year it's Zetterberg.<br /><br />I really don't know how this can play out any more similar than it has already.<br /><br />The one "issue" that came up out of tonight's schoolyard horsing around was that Malkin was booked for instigating a fight in the final five minutes of a game, something that according to the NHL Rule Book leads to an automatic one-game suspension.<br /><br />Of course, if you believed the league was going to stick by that rule in the playoffs, you're crazy as less than an hour after the game, Colin Campbell didn't even bother to spin his Wheel of Justice and said that <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news;_ylt=AmVOW9no.r09zm1uErtM9wN7vLYF?slug=ap-stanleycup-malkin&prov=ap&type=lgns">there would be no suspension for Malkin</a>.<br /><br />The one stark difference between this year and last year in spite of the results is the professionalism coming from Pittsburgh's locker room, namely from head coach Dan Bylsma. While guys like Crosby and Malkin are busy running around like idiots and Maxime Talbot is too busy mouthing off at Marian Hossa or jabbing at Chris Osgood, Bylsma keeps his head held high and offers no excuses and points no fingers.<br /><br />Imagine the explosion if Michel Therrien were in charge this year? Ye gods.<br /><br />Here's a look at <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2009/06/red_wingspenguins_postgame_2_p.html">Bylsma's comments in the post-game press conference</a> from tonight:<br /><br /><p><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Q.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Did you see the Hossa hook-slash on Dupuis before the second goal, and if so, what did you make of the whole sequence?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: bold;">COACH BYLSMA:</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">I think the way I saw the replay that our guy was trying to get the puck out. Hossa came in and used his stick to lift up their guy's stick. You can make the judgment. The referee made the judgment that it wasn't a hook.</span></p> <p style="font-style: italic;">I can slow it down and look at it myself and make my own judgment, but that was what happened. We failed to clear it with that hook and it led to the goal.</p></blockquote><p style="font-style: italic;"></p>Pretty calm and collected there and it's that kind of thing this Penguins team needs in that locker room so they don't lose their heads and run around like idiots. Too bad Dan Bylsma wasn't with this team last year.<br /><br />Compare that to <a href="http://hockeyjoe.blogspot.com/2008/05/game-2-all-aboard-for-uglytown-detroit.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">what Michel Therrien was ranting about</span></a> after last year's Game 2 loss:<br /><br /><em><em></em></em><em><em></em></em><blockquote><em><em>It’s really tough to generate offense against that team. They’re good on<br />obstruction. It’s going to be tough to generate any type of offense, if the<br />rules remain the same. So it’s the first time we’re facing a team that the<br />obstruction is there, and we’re having a hard time skating to take away ice.<br /><br />We took two penalties tonight on the goalie. We never take penalty to<br />the goalie in the playoff. I’ll tell you something, I reviewed those plays.<br />He’s a good actor. He goes to players, and he’s diving. Took away our power<br />play. Got to get focused. I know our players are frustrated right now. It’s<br />tough to play the game. But Osgood did the same thing against Dallas under<br />Ribeiro.</em></em></blockquote><br /><br />It's like night and day.<br /><br />Should the "history repeating itself" theme continue, Pittsburgh will take Game 3 and get talk of this being a series once again started in earnest. That said, if Detroit gets Pavel Datsyuk and/or Kris Draper back in the lineup on Tuesday life gets even more difficult for the Penguins because right now, they're having a very hard time keeping up with the Red Wings AHL Invasion Unit of Justin Abdelkader, Ville Leino and Darren Helm. Adding in an MVP Candidate and a defensive face-off wizard only makes the Penguins hill to climb even more treacherous.<br /><br>Hockey Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060395164873365164noreply@blogger.com0