http://www.sportsfanmagazine.com/sfm/topic.html?id=2269
Folks, I made a big step towards my new hockey home by taking a trip to Newark's Prudential Center for an open house this weekend. I was shocked that, upon entry, I wasn't sufficiently kicked in the balls by an overzealous security guard, a gang member, or God forbid, Lou Lamoriello.
But my thumbs must be pointed up at the Devils new building: What a place this will be to watch hockey! Be prepared for stories like the ones you hear from people who go see games in Columbus or Minnesota or San Jose...except now, they're talking about the great city of Newark.
First of all, this place is huge. While the Meadowlands looks small on the outside, yet is as cavernous as [hilarious, yet too dirty to print Britney Spears joke] on the inside, "The Rock" is an enormous building, yet uses most of it's space on providing more roomy concourses, more bathrooms and more amenities to the fans. The seats are a lot closer to the ice, at every level than they were at the Meadowlands. Thank goodness for the concourses; I'm pretty sure if you brought a girlfriend to a sold out game at the Continental Airlines Arena, she might've walked out pregnant.
What else positive can I talk about? How about Nathan's hot dogs and fries, for cheap? A stand that's title was all I needed to hear..."Beers of Newark"...mmm...Newark. Finally, you know what the best part about this building is? It creates a "Devils" atmosphere that the Continental Arena couldn't. There is reportedly over $1 million in artwork throughout the building, and most of it is Devil-related, from murals of greats like Brodeur and Stevens, to one located behind a section of boarding on the concourse with all three Stanley Cup Winning coaches and some of the Devils who went through the trenches, like MacLean, Resch and Brylin.
What negatives can I say? It IS in Newark, so that stigma will keep people away from say...a Wednesday night home game against San Jose. But the Devils look to be doing the smart thing, and are gathering rave reviews from anyone who has been there. In summation, your reaction will be similar to the one many Devils fans had after going to retirement ceremonies for Scott Stevens and Ken Daneyko..."Can you believe the Devils did THIS?"...
So let's talk about Jonathan Toews' ridonkulous (check your urban dictionaries, people!) goal against professional hockey players, paid millions of dollars to at least take a penalty in that situation (LINK: http://youtube.com/watch?v=obp8G2JFgkM). http://blackhawks.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=340871) To top that, they even posted Wirtz's memo to Blackhawk employees on their website (LINK: http://blackhawks.nhl.com/ext/rockywirtzmemo.pdf)
And a gasp went through the crowd.
All I can say is, good for Hawks fans. You certainly deserve it. With the revival of the Blues I mentioned last week, perhaps a good St. Louis-Chicago rivalry is just what this league needs to create some buzz past the Great Lakes region. I really hope against hope that both teams can make the playoffs. I know it isn't very likely, but don't teams like the Blues and Blackhawks just sound like the post-season to you?
Finally, here are some pairs of numbers from the first few weeks that may startle you:
5 - Combined goals from Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan, Scott Gomez and Chris Drury (NYR)
7 - Combined goals from John Madden and Jay Pandolfo (NJ)
1.61 - Pascal Lecaire's (CLB) Goals Against Average.
3.15 - Roberto Luongo's (VAN) Goals Against Average.
125.3% - Capacity to which Anaheim has played its home games to date.
85.8% - Capacity to which Detroit has played its home games to date.
-SFM-
Steve Lepore is a writer for SportsFan Magazine.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
October 16th Column
A week into the NHL season, let's take a look at some of the big headline makers:
-Top Team So Far: Minnesota. Some may cry Ottawa or Carolina or even point out Detroit's positive start in the wake of a negative, apathetic fan base. Minnesota's given up four goals in five games, with a goaltender whose coach publicly questioned his ability to play everyday. It's half the number of goals the No. 2 team in GAA (a tie between St. Louis and Columbus, surprise there) and goaltender Niklas Backstrom has been fantastic, authoring two shutouts.
My only problem with them? They've scored 11 goals in the same four tilts. That's 15th out of 15 in the West and a tie for last in the NHL with Atlanta (who scored five on Martin Brodeur on Saturday to pad that number). But with Jacques Lemaire's "system," the Wild are on their way to a great season early on. They're in the midst of a run that takes them away from home for seven of their next eight.
-Worst team so far: Atlanta. As previously mentioned, if not for a five-goal outburst against Marty Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils on Saturday, the Thrashers would be nowhere close to the whopping nine they have now. Kari Lehtonen has looked lost, Marian Hossa's been hurt, Ilya Kovalchuk has found the hard way that Todd White is not Mark Savard, and Bobby Holik has likely been indecipherable when it comes to locker room speeches. Also, the Thrashers are relying even more on rookies like Tobias Enstrom and Darren Haydar. All of this equals no chance of a return to the post-season in the ATL.
- Easily, the rookie I've been most impressed with is Patrick Kane. Though he's yet to score a goal, in five games (three of which the Hawks were without Jonathan Toews and all but one without Martin Havlat) he's registered four points and is a plus-1, good for a tie for second among rookie point-getters. He has kept his composure and not tried to do too much, and really, that's the most you can ask a franchise savior at this point.
- Patrick Elias, wake up! Before that game against Atlanta on Saturday (Sure has been a lot of material from that one) Elias had but one assist in the Devils first four games, and had everything from his leadership abilities to his actual worth as a player questioned, with some even asking if it's time GM Lou Lamoriello find his $42-million former captain a new place to play. Thankfully, Elias stepped it up in Georgia this weekend, scoring twice, including the game-winner on a heart-pounding one-timer from the point on the power play. All the better that Elias picks it up, for coming in less than two weeks...
The Devils finally open their $400-million home, the Prudential Center, in Newark, NJ. Frankly, living two towns over from Newark, it's really only hit me now that the team is going to be playing there, as weird as it sounds. I'm sure there are other Devil fans, like that fella' with the book published, who can attest to far more tortuous memories of Devil-fandom; but for me, a fan since 1994 (hey, I was like three, before that I thought I could jump into the TV) it feels like we've worked hard to just get to this one new multi-million dollar palace that opens in two weeks. I just hope the Devils continue to do right by their fans after the place opens, as the Devils take on Ottawa on October 27. Bon Jovi, R. Kelly, Hannah Montana, and a college basketball tournament featuring Texas and West Virginia will headline the opening months of "The Rock." What happens after that, well, anything is possible.
For those who hate on some of the "celebrities" that hockey uses as bloggers during the playoffs, you had to be at the New York Jets game against Philadelphia on Sunday. Now this is a football game between New York and Philadelphia, and all the famous folks associated with those cities. Stallone. DeNiro...and that's all I have now. But anyway, the Jets flashed their "Celeb Fan-Cam" on the field this Sunday, and who were the big Hollywood elites? Eddie Kaye Thomas and Paul Lieberstein. That's right, Finch from "American Pie" and Toby from "The Office" ("I hate so much about the things that you choose to be"). So next time your downing Steve-what's-his-face from "Laguna Beach," or the guy from "Ed", we could have it more anonymous.
Finally, to end on the positive, it appears for now that the St. Louis Blues have one the Gateway City back. With the Cardinals out of baseball's playoffs and the Rams, how you say, blowing? The Blues pretty much own the town for the next few months. They sold out the 19,000-seat Scottrade Center for their home opener vs. Nashville and their Friday home game against Colorado. Good for John Davidson, who's long been someone I've rooted for, despite being a Devils fan, to not become hockey's answer to Matt Millen. If all goes accordingly, JD might have his team in the playoffs before Millen does. Good for him, and good for Andy Murray and that team.
Steve Lepore is a columnist for SportsFan Magazine.
-Top Team So Far: Minnesota. Some may cry Ottawa or Carolina or even point out Detroit's positive start in the wake of a negative, apathetic fan base. Minnesota's given up four goals in five games, with a goaltender whose coach publicly questioned his ability to play everyday. It's half the number of goals the No. 2 team in GAA (a tie between St. Louis and Columbus, surprise there) and goaltender Niklas Backstrom has been fantastic, authoring two shutouts.
My only problem with them? They've scored 11 goals in the same four tilts. That's 15th out of 15 in the West and a tie for last in the NHL with Atlanta (who scored five on Martin Brodeur on Saturday to pad that number). But with Jacques Lemaire's "system," the Wild are on their way to a great season early on. They're in the midst of a run that takes them away from home for seven of their next eight.
-Worst team so far: Atlanta. As previously mentioned, if not for a five-goal outburst against Marty Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils on Saturday, the Thrashers would be nowhere close to the whopping nine they have now. Kari Lehtonen has looked lost, Marian Hossa's been hurt, Ilya Kovalchuk has found the hard way that Todd White is not Mark Savard, and Bobby Holik has likely been indecipherable when it comes to locker room speeches. Also, the Thrashers are relying even more on rookies like Tobias Enstrom and Darren Haydar. All of this equals no chance of a return to the post-season in the ATL.
- Easily, the rookie I've been most impressed with is Patrick Kane. Though he's yet to score a goal, in five games (three of which the Hawks were without Jonathan Toews and all but one without Martin Havlat) he's registered four points and is a plus-1, good for a tie for second among rookie point-getters. He has kept his composure and not tried to do too much, and really, that's the most you can ask a franchise savior at this point.
- Patrick Elias, wake up! Before that game against Atlanta on Saturday (Sure has been a lot of material from that one) Elias had but one assist in the Devils first four games, and had everything from his leadership abilities to his actual worth as a player questioned, with some even asking if it's time GM Lou Lamoriello find his $42-million former captain a new place to play. Thankfully, Elias stepped it up in Georgia this weekend, scoring twice, including the game-winner on a heart-pounding one-timer from the point on the power play. All the better that Elias picks it up, for coming in less than two weeks...
The Devils finally open their $400-million home, the Prudential Center, in Newark, NJ. Frankly, living two towns over from Newark, it's really only hit me now that the team is going to be playing there, as weird as it sounds. I'm sure there are other Devil fans, like that fella' with the book published, who can attest to far more tortuous memories of Devil-fandom; but for me, a fan since 1994 (hey, I was like three, before that I thought I could jump into the TV) it feels like we've worked hard to just get to this one new multi-million dollar palace that opens in two weeks. I just hope the Devils continue to do right by their fans after the place opens, as the Devils take on Ottawa on October 27. Bon Jovi, R. Kelly, Hannah Montana, and a college basketball tournament featuring Texas and West Virginia will headline the opening months of "The Rock." What happens after that, well, anything is possible.
For those who hate on some of the "celebrities" that hockey uses as bloggers during the playoffs, you had to be at the New York Jets game against Philadelphia on Sunday. Now this is a football game between New York and Philadelphia, and all the famous folks associated with those cities. Stallone. DeNiro...and that's all I have now. But anyway, the Jets flashed their "Celeb Fan-Cam" on the field this Sunday, and who were the big Hollywood elites? Eddie Kaye Thomas and Paul Lieberstein. That's right, Finch from "American Pie" and Toby from "The Office" ("I hate so much about the things that you choose to be"). So next time your downing Steve-what's-his-face from "Laguna Beach," or the guy from "Ed", we could have it more anonymous.
Finally, to end on the positive, it appears for now that the St. Louis Blues have one the Gateway City back. With the Cardinals out of baseball's playoffs and the Rams, how you say, blowing? The Blues pretty much own the town for the next few months. They sold out the 19,000-seat Scottrade Center for their home opener vs. Nashville and their Friday home game against Colorado. Good for John Davidson, who's long been someone I've rooted for, despite being a Devils fan, to not become hockey's answer to Matt Millen. If all goes accordingly, JD might have his team in the playoffs before Millen does. Good for him, and good for Andy Murray and that team.
Steve Lepore is a columnist for SportsFan Magazine.
Monday, October 08, 2007
October 8th Column
Hello, gentle Around the NHL reader. Welcome back. Am I the only one who felt like the Hockey Summer went longer than usual this year? Then again, I'm a Devils fan. Everything kinda felt longer this summer. Oh well. Here are some of the things you can expect from "Around the NHL" this season...
First of all, we'll be looking to do more interviews than last season. Bloggers, broadcasters, former NHL players. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who currently doesn't lace 'em up is fair game for me. Also, I'd love to do a mailbag once in a while this year. Please, send some questions my way at SMLepore@comcast.net. Finally, and this is a big if, I'm looking to broadcast a radio version of the show on the internet. That's a big if, but it'd be a lot of fun if we could pull it off. Anyway, on to some good ol' fashion random observations to begin our second season...
There were two things that impressed me in a big way over the opening four days of the season, and the first one was Mike Comrie and the Islanders' performance against Buffalo. This proves two things to me. One: Hilary Duff clearly puts out, at least for a Mercedes Benz she does. And two, either the Islanders are much better than anyone thought, or the Sabres royally suck without Briere, Drury, and to a lesser extent Zubrus. This team just looked lost, and a Ted Nolan team will always be opportunistic and work harder than a team clearly without direction. Could Lindy Ruff and Darcy Regier be in some serious trouble in Western New York? Knowing that it's only two games into the season, the Sabres have an interesting schedule during the month of October. It features a bunch of teams (Atlanta, Washington, Toronto, Carolina, Florida) that are looking to use the Sabres as a barometer for where they are as a team. It may show more about this Buffalo squad than it does about them.
The other thing I enjoyed watching this weekend was the Chicago Blackhawks home opener against Detroit. While they didn't sell out (the cavernous United Center seats 20,000 just for hockey), the place was jumping with 18,000 riotous 'Hawks fans whom, despite the Cubs playing at the same time, came out and went nuts, praising Patrick Kane, Nikolai Khabibulin and the Indian Head, and chanting "Detroit Sucks" at every chance they got. When Robert Lang scored on a wicked little wrister in the third period to tie the game, the place nearly went nuts. It proves the adage that has held for quite some time while the Hawks have, for lack of a better word, sucked: People in Chicago want to root for this team, they just need a reason. With all due respect to William Wirtz, the reason may be the dawn of a new era following his death.
Let's talk more about crowds. Phoenix, Tampa Bay, Carolina, the Islanders, Rangers, Dallas, Minnesota, Florida, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and all six Canadian teams sold out their home openers. Detroit, Colorado, Nashville, Washington and the aforementioned Chicago did not. What's going on in Detroit and Colorado? As many have stated in the Detroit media and the Red Wing blogosphere, there is a definite disconnect between the Wings and their fans. While the Avs non-sellout can be attributed to the Rockies playing on the same day, the Wings definitely have some work to do to bring "Hockeytown" back to hockey relevance.
In Washington lately, they've been promoting the Capitals as "The Cool Alternative," which have featured promos such as a girl getting a Capitals tattoo on her back (unfortunately, it's not a tramp stamp). What else is next: Alexander Ovechkin taking in a Hinder concert? Olie Kolzig and Niklas Backstrom hanging out at raves? Or even worse: Glen Hanlon hanging out at raves? Promoting your team as something different to do is great, but you know, have girls doing something actually cool in their commercials to promote it.
From the "I can't believe this" department: Seven goaltenders currently make more money per year than Martin Brodeur. One of them is Jose Theodore. The more you know...
Full marks to Keith Jones and John Buccigross for penning "Jonesy, Put Your Head Down and Skate," the biography of the former Capital, Flyer and Avalanche and current NHL On VERSUS studio analyst. The bio is a hilarious tale of a regular guy, who played hockey at somewhat low levels just for fun, whose training regiment included KFC instead of BALCO, who still made the NHL at some point. If only they could bring out this sense of humor in Keith on Hockey Central...
Speaking of Hockey Central, it -- along with the entire NHL On VERSUS -- debuted with a doubleheader on Wednesday. I like some of the things they're doing. Mike Emrick and Eddie Olczyk did a good job of taking a summer's worth of information and packing it in to a 3-hour broadcast, while still following the action. I'm still not sold on Joe Beninati as a national commentator, but Daryl Reaugh is flat-out awesome. Anyone brave enough to admit having a mancrush on Ian Laperriere's game is worthy of high praise. The studio show is finally showing signs of turning into to something somewhat interesting. I liked their first intermission segment with Keith Jones challenging Roberto Luongo's assertion that he'd retire if the nets were bigger. While he's no Don Cherry, "Hockey Central" needs someone who can give you an honest opinion about whatever might be going on in the league that week. Having Bill Patrick, a veteran broadcaster, in the studio should help that along. However, Brian
Engblom needs to find something better to do with his time. He is just not very good at what he does.
Finally, I'd like to talk about the abomination that has been the Anaheim Ducks schedule so far this season. How in the name of common sense can you explain a team playing on another continent on Sunday, then giving them three road games in four days afterwards? There's a reason the Ducks are 1-4 this season. Meanwhile, the LA Kings, the other London participants, managed to get a week off between Sunday's game and their home opener Saturday night against St. Louis. Fret not, Anaheim fans: the Kings still managed to lose.
-SFM-
Steve Lepore is a writer for SportsFan Magazine.
First of all, we'll be looking to do more interviews than last season. Bloggers, broadcasters, former NHL players. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who currently doesn't lace 'em up is fair game for me. Also, I'd love to do a mailbag once in a while this year. Please, send some questions my way at SMLepore@comcast.net. Finally, and this is a big if, I'm looking to broadcast a radio version of the show on the internet. That's a big if, but it'd be a lot of fun if we could pull it off. Anyway, on to some good ol' fashion random observations to begin our second season...
There were two things that impressed me in a big way over the opening four days of the season, and the first one was Mike Comrie and the Islanders' performance against Buffalo. This proves two things to me. One: Hilary Duff clearly puts out, at least for a Mercedes Benz she does. And two, either the Islanders are much better than anyone thought, or the Sabres royally suck without Briere, Drury, and to a lesser extent Zubrus. This team just looked lost, and a Ted Nolan team will always be opportunistic and work harder than a team clearly without direction. Could Lindy Ruff and Darcy Regier be in some serious trouble in Western New York? Knowing that it's only two games into the season, the Sabres have an interesting schedule during the month of October. It features a bunch of teams (Atlanta, Washington, Toronto, Carolina, Florida) that are looking to use the Sabres as a barometer for where they are as a team. It may show more about this Buffalo squad than it does about them.
The other thing I enjoyed watching this weekend was the Chicago Blackhawks home opener against Detroit. While they didn't sell out (the cavernous United Center seats 20,000 just for hockey), the place was jumping with 18,000 riotous 'Hawks fans whom, despite the Cubs playing at the same time, came out and went nuts, praising Patrick Kane, Nikolai Khabibulin and the Indian Head, and chanting "Detroit Sucks" at every chance they got. When Robert Lang scored on a wicked little wrister in the third period to tie the game, the place nearly went nuts. It proves the adage that has held for quite some time while the Hawks have, for lack of a better word, sucked: People in Chicago want to root for this team, they just need a reason. With all due respect to William Wirtz, the reason may be the dawn of a new era following his death.
Let's talk more about crowds. Phoenix, Tampa Bay, Carolina, the Islanders, Rangers, Dallas, Minnesota, Florida, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and all six Canadian teams sold out their home openers. Detroit, Colorado, Nashville, Washington and the aforementioned Chicago did not. What's going on in Detroit and Colorado? As many have stated in the Detroit media and the Red Wing blogosphere, there is a definite disconnect between the Wings and their fans. While the Avs non-sellout can be attributed to the Rockies playing on the same day, the Wings definitely have some work to do to bring "Hockeytown" back to hockey relevance.
In Washington lately, they've been promoting the Capitals as "The Cool Alternative," which have featured promos such as a girl getting a Capitals tattoo on her back (unfortunately, it's not a tramp stamp). What else is next: Alexander Ovechkin taking in a Hinder concert? Olie Kolzig and Niklas Backstrom hanging out at raves? Or even worse: Glen Hanlon hanging out at raves? Promoting your team as something different to do is great, but you know, have girls doing something actually cool in their commercials to promote it.
From the "I can't believe this" department: Seven goaltenders currently make more money per year than Martin Brodeur. One of them is Jose Theodore. The more you know...
Full marks to Keith Jones and John Buccigross for penning "Jonesy, Put Your Head Down and Skate," the biography of the former Capital, Flyer and Avalanche and current NHL On VERSUS studio analyst. The bio is a hilarious tale of a regular guy, who played hockey at somewhat low levels just for fun, whose training regiment included KFC instead of BALCO, who still made the NHL at some point. If only they could bring out this sense of humor in Keith on Hockey Central...
Speaking of Hockey Central, it -- along with the entire NHL On VERSUS -- debuted with a doubleheader on Wednesday. I like some of the things they're doing. Mike Emrick and Eddie Olczyk did a good job of taking a summer's worth of information and packing it in to a 3-hour broadcast, while still following the action. I'm still not sold on Joe Beninati as a national commentator, but Daryl Reaugh is flat-out awesome. Anyone brave enough to admit having a mancrush on Ian Laperriere's game is worthy of high praise. The studio show is finally showing signs of turning into to something somewhat interesting. I liked their first intermission segment with Keith Jones challenging Roberto Luongo's assertion that he'd retire if the nets were bigger. While he's no Don Cherry, "Hockey Central" needs someone who can give you an honest opinion about whatever might be going on in the league that week. Having Bill Patrick, a veteran broadcaster, in the studio should help that along. However, Brian
Engblom needs to find something better to do with his time. He is just not very good at what he does.
Finally, I'd like to talk about the abomination that has been the Anaheim Ducks schedule so far this season. How in the name of common sense can you explain a team playing on another continent on Sunday, then giving them three road games in four days afterwards? There's a reason the Ducks are 1-4 this season. Meanwhile, the LA Kings, the other London participants, managed to get a week off between Sunday's game and their home opener Saturday night against St. Louis. Fret not, Anaheim fans: the Kings still managed to lose.
-SFM-
Steve Lepore is a writer for SportsFan Magazine.
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