http://www.sportsfanmagazine.com/sfm/topic.html?id=2294
Mark Messier and Scott Stevens - along with Al MacInnis, Ron Francis, Jim Gregory, Dave Fay and Bill Hewitt - were elected to Hockey's Hall of Fame last week, which didn't prompt a debate about who was the better leader.
Frankly, it should have. Messier is widely regarded as "Hockey's Greatest Leader" and the NHL's most wonderful ambassadors. But let's look at Messier and Stevens and their records as captains.
While Messier won six Stanley Cups, only two were without Gretzky and using him as captain. Let's not forget the last eight years he spent outside of the chase for Lord Stanley's Cup. Stevens captained New Jersey to three.
Messier missed the post-season seven consecutive times to finish his career. Stevens missed the playoffs twice in his entire career, and once was due to a concussion. In fact, the concussion might be the only reason No. 4 in red and black isn't still out there. Who knows? While Stevens had been banged up a few times the last couple years, he was a warhorse out there. But Stevens never overstayed his welcome in the spotlight. He got out when it was both his time and what his body dictated. We can debate that "Messiah" shouldn't have stuck it out for more than a year in New York.
Let's look at the final determination of great leadership: Its effect on others around you, and those up against you. While Messier inspired his teammates to some wonderful victories, he never changed the way you played the game. That's where Scott Stevens made the difference: He was more fear-instilling than when Ed Norton curb-stomps that dude in "American History X."
Ask such NHL luminaries such as Lindros, Kariya, and fellow Hall of Famer Ron Francis what effect Stevens had on their lives and careers, and that will tell you that Stevens was the better leader.
A post-script on the HHOF induction ceremony: W-T-F, Pat Quinn? Do you have that little class that you cannot applaud someone whose life achievements are being celebrated? For those who were watching Hurricanes-Panthers on VERSUS in the U.S. and Monday Night Football Canada's TSN (New Rule: No games on HHOF induction night) or just didn't care to find it, Quinn and his wife sat on their hands while Stevens was headed to the podium. What, was there a rule that anyone without a Cup wasn't allowed to be happy?
Something I am enjoying about the NHL season so far, is that the stars are being stars in the league. Look at the Top 10 Scorers...Lecavalier, Crosby, Zetterberg, Kovalchuk, Sundin, Malkin, Iginla, Brind'Amour, St. Louis and Alfredsson. But I also like seeing the fresh faces that fill up the second tier, like Mike Richards of Philadelphia, Justin Williams of the 'Canes, and "Love Train" Patrick Kane (New Rule: My 12-year-old brother can't look older than an NHL Leading Scorer) of the Blackhawks. The NHL is continuing to cycle in new meat with the usuals.
Working in an NFL stadium has provided me with the chance to meet interesting people, and to question their hockey knowledge. I have to say, the 60,000 Steelers fans that filled the Meadowlands against the Jets (Take that, Wyshynski) knew as much about their hockey team as they did their football team. Since that seems too positive an end to this column, let's share the Top 2 insults to give to a Pittsburgh sports fan:
1. "Pittsburgh, eh? Great minor-league ball club you got there."
2. "So what's it like to have the first teenage girl captaining a hockey team?"
-SFM-
Thursday, November 22, 2007
November 8th Column
http://www.sportsfanmagazine.com/sfm/topic.html?id=2282
I think it's time for Tom Renney to go in New York.
While Renney has done a great job with the Rangers, given them life in a crowded sports market that long left them for dead, given them a face that was so anti-Rangers (i.e. friendly), and brought along young players like Henrik Lundqvist, Daniel Girardi and Ryan Hollweg, I'm just not convinced he's the man to take the Rangers over the top. The fact that they've started out under .500 is not why I'm going after Renney. It's the fact that they just don't seem to be the machine that they should be. The Rangers need a motivator, a cheerleader, who can give these mega-million dollar super-stars like Jagr, Drury, Gomez, Shanahan and Lundqvist the space to do what they want. Let them carry the team.
Currently, the Rangers are stuck playing a very obvious neutral zone trap (Irony!), which is so not the system a club with the offensive talent they have needs to play. Why John Madden and Jay Pandolfo have scored more goals than any player on the New York Rangers is beyond me. I'm convinced that the Blueshirts need a coach who will loosen the strings on the offense, and Renney's not that guy.
Michael Cammalleri is a pleasant surprise this season. Only Zetterburg and Kovalchuk have more goals (and Kovy needed six in two games to pass him) than the league's best Jewish player, and he is giving the Kings something they haven't had since Zigmund Palffy scored 37 in 02-03, a bona-fide scorer (yeah, I don't remember that either). At 25 years old, Cammalleri will like increase his NHL goal totals for a third straight season, and possibly match the 46 he scored in Manchester of the AHL during the lockout. It's wonderful to see new stars just sort of emerge in this league. The best part? He's locked up for at least this year and next year, so he's not even playing for a contract. Imagine what the benjamin influence does to his numbers in 08-09.
Congratulations to the Islanders for getting it right on Saturday at the Nassau Mausoleum. The "let's have the greatest coach in NHL history coach a game" thing worked out pretty well. Ted Nolan did most of the work, with Arbour being used as more of a motivational ploy (Al couldn't remember Garth Snow and Charles Wang's names at the post-game press conference). However, it just felt right. The Isles came back after Sidney Crosby played baseball with Rick DiPietro's face to win 3-2. Afterwards, they took down Arbour's "739" banner and raised one that said "1,500." One that reads "740" will be raised to the rafters later this year, when the orange and blue celebrate the players who were with the team for all four Stanley Cup Championships. While the Isles future on Long Island is questionable until they get the Coliseum renovated, they honor their storied past like no other franchise.
Wade Redden will not be an Ottawa Senator next season. Oh, I'm sorry, the headline was supposed to read "Jason Spezza will be an Ottawa Senator for the next seven years." Ah well, same difference. After signing Spezza for a cap hit of around $7 million, the Sens will have around $18 million invested in the big three of Spezza, Dany Heatley and Daniel Alfredsson. Mike Fisher's also received a lot of money, and Ottawa's got $31 Million in salary already, with Andrej Meszaros, Patrick Eaves and Antoinne Vermette due a big raise as RFAs this Summer. Figure that Redden can command in the $6 Million range, and it'll likely be a big-market American club (Los Angeles?) picking up one of the more solid free agent D-men next season.
Let's end on a happy note. The Blackhawks lined up a kid named Dustin Byfuglien (Pronounced simply BUFF-lin) against the Blues on Saturday night. It was Byfuglien's first National Hockey League game after being called up from Chicago's AHL affiliate in Rockford, IL. Why is this worth noting? Because, as this 2005 story from HamptonRoads.com, and reported when Chicago's farm team was in Norfolk, Virginia, Dustin's story is a very complex, uplifting tale.
(LINK: http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=97410&ran=166932)
Born to a black father and a white mother who never married, Dustin group up in a Roseau, Minnesota trailer park with very little money. While his mother worked for the Polaris snowmobile plant, Dustin cared about little else but hockey. He lived it, and got on his local indoor rink whenever he could. He seemed a natural to lead Roseau High (alumni include the three Broten brothers) to continued glory in high school hockey, but a lack of attentiveness and poor grades kept him ineligible for the team. However, after latching on to a team in Chicago, some junior scouts noticed him, and brought him to the WHL, where he played for four years before, in the mean-time being drafted in the 8th round by the Blackhawks, and finally hooked on to the AHL's Norfolk Admirals in 2005-06.
After a cup of coffee in the NHL in 05-06, and 06-07, he was called up to the big boys again for Saturday's game, and scored a goal less than five minutes in. The NHL could use more rags-to-riches story, to show off that it's not merely sport for middle-class (at worst) white boys with the money to play the sport. While Dustin's mother took out loans to help her boy play, there are now numerous programs in every NHL market that give any kid with the interest the ability to play. Dustin Byfuglien can show these kids the way if he sticks around.
Steve Lepore is a columnist for SportsFan Magazine.
I think it's time for Tom Renney to go in New York.
While Renney has done a great job with the Rangers, given them life in a crowded sports market that long left them for dead, given them a face that was so anti-Rangers (i.e. friendly), and brought along young players like Henrik Lundqvist, Daniel Girardi and Ryan Hollweg, I'm just not convinced he's the man to take the Rangers over the top. The fact that they've started out under .500 is not why I'm going after Renney. It's the fact that they just don't seem to be the machine that they should be. The Rangers need a motivator, a cheerleader, who can give these mega-million dollar super-stars like Jagr, Drury, Gomez, Shanahan and Lundqvist the space to do what they want. Let them carry the team.
Currently, the Rangers are stuck playing a very obvious neutral zone trap (Irony!), which is so not the system a club with the offensive talent they have needs to play. Why John Madden and Jay Pandolfo have scored more goals than any player on the New York Rangers is beyond me. I'm convinced that the Blueshirts need a coach who will loosen the strings on the offense, and Renney's not that guy.
Michael Cammalleri is a pleasant surprise this season. Only Zetterburg and Kovalchuk have more goals (and Kovy needed six in two games to pass him) than the league's best Jewish player, and he is giving the Kings something they haven't had since Zigmund Palffy scored 37 in 02-03, a bona-fide scorer (yeah, I don't remember that either). At 25 years old, Cammalleri will like increase his NHL goal totals for a third straight season, and possibly match the 46 he scored in Manchester of the AHL during the lockout. It's wonderful to see new stars just sort of emerge in this league. The best part? He's locked up for at least this year and next year, so he's not even playing for a contract. Imagine what the benjamin influence does to his numbers in 08-09.
Congratulations to the Islanders for getting it right on Saturday at the Nassau Mausoleum. The "let's have the greatest coach in NHL history coach a game" thing worked out pretty well. Ted Nolan did most of the work, with Arbour being used as more of a motivational ploy (Al couldn't remember Garth Snow and Charles Wang's names at the post-game press conference). However, it just felt right. The Isles came back after Sidney Crosby played baseball with Rick DiPietro's face to win 3-2. Afterwards, they took down Arbour's "739" banner and raised one that said "1,500." One that reads "740" will be raised to the rafters later this year, when the orange and blue celebrate the players who were with the team for all four Stanley Cup Championships. While the Isles future on Long Island is questionable until they get the Coliseum renovated, they honor their storied past like no other franchise.
Wade Redden will not be an Ottawa Senator next season. Oh, I'm sorry, the headline was supposed to read "Jason Spezza will be an Ottawa Senator for the next seven years." Ah well, same difference. After signing Spezza for a cap hit of around $7 million, the Sens will have around $18 million invested in the big three of Spezza, Dany Heatley and Daniel Alfredsson. Mike Fisher's also received a lot of money, and Ottawa's got $31 Million in salary already, with Andrej Meszaros, Patrick Eaves and Antoinne Vermette due a big raise as RFAs this Summer. Figure that Redden can command in the $6 Million range, and it'll likely be a big-market American club (Los Angeles?) picking up one of the more solid free agent D-men next season.
Let's end on a happy note. The Blackhawks lined up a kid named Dustin Byfuglien (Pronounced simply BUFF-lin) against the Blues on Saturday night. It was Byfuglien's first National Hockey League game after being called up from Chicago's AHL affiliate in Rockford, IL. Why is this worth noting? Because, as this 2005 story from HamptonRoads.com, and reported when Chicago's farm team was in Norfolk, Virginia, Dustin's story is a very complex, uplifting tale.
(LINK: http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=97410&ran=166932)
Born to a black father and a white mother who never married, Dustin group up in a Roseau, Minnesota trailer park with very little money. While his mother worked for the Polaris snowmobile plant, Dustin cared about little else but hockey. He lived it, and got on his local indoor rink whenever he could. He seemed a natural to lead Roseau High (alumni include the three Broten brothers) to continued glory in high school hockey, but a lack of attentiveness and poor grades kept him ineligible for the team. However, after latching on to a team in Chicago, some junior scouts noticed him, and brought him to the WHL, where he played for four years before, in the mean-time being drafted in the 8th round by the Blackhawks, and finally hooked on to the AHL's Norfolk Admirals in 2005-06.
After a cup of coffee in the NHL in 05-06, and 06-07, he was called up to the big boys again for Saturday's game, and scored a goal less than five minutes in. The NHL could use more rags-to-riches story, to show off that it's not merely sport for middle-class (at worst) white boys with the money to play the sport. While Dustin's mother took out loans to help her boy play, there are now numerous programs in every NHL market that give any kid with the interest the ability to play. Dustin Byfuglien can show these kids the way if he sticks around.
Steve Lepore is a columnist for SportsFan Magazine.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
October 25th Column
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.
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.
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.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
April 2nd Column
I was ready to start off this edition with a big "Who's in, Who's Out" session. On Saturday afternoon, when I originally conceived the idea, seven teams were on the Eastern Conference playoff bubble. But then, just like that, it all cleared up like my facial complexion on the day I turned 17.
Saturday greatly cleaned up what has been one of the greatest playoff chases in the NHL's history. Montreal won, which meant Florida was out, and Carolina was hanging by a thread. The Islanders lost, which for all intents and purposes, meant they were out. Tampa Bay finally managed to string a couple of solid performances together, and almost guaranteed their chances. I decided, let's just break down the Habs and Leafs and talk about what went wrong for the others.
Of course, then Sunday happened. Carolina won in OT, and the Leafs were demoralized 7-2 at the Garden. That brought the Islanders, with a game in hand on those two as well as Montreal, plus a home game against the Canadiens, back to life.
Thank you Sunday. You ruined my column.
I was so eagerly ready to write the 'Canes and Isles off. Now I have to go back to my original, "Who's in, Who's Out" idea. We have a four-team race going into the final week of the season, let's look at all four in the running and tell you why they will and won't make it.
Montreal Canadiens
Remaining Schedule: Vs. Boston, @ NY Rangers, Vs. Toronto
Why They'll Make It: Because everyone seems to believe that this team is still on the meteoric downfall they were a couple of months ago. But people forget, five wins in a row will take you places if you're a bubble team in this incarnation of the NHL, which the Canadiens did from the 17th to the 27th. Halak has gotten this team on track, and Huet could drive it the rest of the way to a first-round loss to the Sabres.
Why They Won't: However, with Boston, the Rangers and the Leafs left, it's very possible that they could finish it off with four out of five in the loss column, and that'll do about as much bad as winning five in a row.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Remaining Schedule: Vs. Philadelphia, @ NY Islanders, Vs. Montreal
Why They'll Make It: Because when Kaberle isn't admiring his own pass while getting decked by Cam Janssen, he's a pretty darn good defenseman. He can rack up a lot of points in a quick span against an undisciplined team. Also, they have that all-important game in hand in their pockets, as well as one more meeting with the Flyers. A lot of factors work in their favor.
Why They Won't: Because they are simply too flawed to make it. McCabe gets more assists on opponent's goals than on teammates'. Raycroft will break down if this team shows the slightest weakness, and the offense is not necessarily anything to write home about. Finally, be honest with me here since most of the readers are based in the U.S., do you really want to see the Leafs in the playoffs? Is that something you can live with? Thought so.
Carolina Hurricanes
Remaining Schedule: @ Tampa, vs. Atlanta, vs. Florida
Why They'll Make It: Because every single time on this Web site, when I have counted the Hurricanes out - Round 2, Round 3, Round 4, Game 7 - I have failed to predict their demise. Why shouldn't they make the post-season? I don't think they will, so therefore the exact opposite will happen.
Why They Won't: Because, realistically, they just haven't been good enough. Aaron Ward and Matt Cullen really were difference makers. Anson Carter isn't. This team was depleted by injuries on defense all year and didn't do enough at the deadline. Cam Ward is Dwayne Roloson with a Conn Smythe Trophy and a ring, he got hot for a few weeks. He wasn't even consistent during the playoffs. (Few remember how he got pulled during the Eastern Finals?) Simply too much is working against them.
New York Islanders
Remaining Schedule: vs. NY Rangers, vs. Toronto, @Philadelphia, @New Jersey
Why They'll Make It: They have the most favorable schedule, in the sense that they have the most games. But don't count out the Isles. They're season kind of played out like The Producers. With Charles Wang out to put on the greatest flop in hockey history, he hired Garth Snow as Bloom to his Bialystock, signed aging veteran players and a coach who'd been out of hockey for a decade. Somehow, it almost worked.
Why they Won't: Because nobody with a starting goaltender who's nickname is "Dubie" should make the playoffs. If Ricky D. were still in their for New York, even if he was concussed, New York would still have a fighting shot. But the clock will strike 12 on these Isles before Sunday, and it's a shame. Until Chris Simon decided to become an Atlanta Braves fan and do a tomahawk chop, this was a team worth rooting for. A hard-working bunch with a coach who had a chip on his shoulder and a team everyone counted out. But time will run out on the Isles; it's just a matter of when.
Speaking of the postseason, for the first time since the start of this season I looked at my playoff predictions, where I stated that the following would happen:
East
West
Other then a few glaring mistakes, they look pretty good. But c'mon, how was I supposed to see Vancouver becoming New Jersey West? Or Pittsburgh being able to put it all together? Was I trashed on Robitussin when I picked Phoenix and Boston?
Answers:
Anyway, I'm very proud of my picks, for what it's worth. Seeing my talent as a prognosticator, that gives you ample reason to watch for my exclusive SFM Playoff Preview! (MMM...plug).
In last year's playoffs, I got five out of eight right in round one (Including a sweep of the East), and basically blanked out the rest of the way. See if I can do any better starting next Monday with the Eastern Conference primer, Tuesday with the West, and Wednesday - the day the playoffs open - with predictions. Expect expert opinions from some of the best minds that cover the game (or at least the people who returned my E-Mails). See you next week!
-SFM-
Saturday greatly cleaned up what has been one of the greatest playoff chases in the NHL's history. Montreal won, which meant Florida was out, and Carolina was hanging by a thread. The Islanders lost, which for all intents and purposes, meant they were out. Tampa Bay finally managed to string a couple of solid performances together, and almost guaranteed their chances. I decided, let's just break down the Habs and Leafs and talk about what went wrong for the others.
Of course, then Sunday happened. Carolina won in OT, and the Leafs were demoralized 7-2 at the Garden. That brought the Islanders, with a game in hand on those two as well as Montreal, plus a home game against the Canadiens, back to life.
Thank you Sunday. You ruined my column.
I was so eagerly ready to write the 'Canes and Isles off. Now I have to go back to my original, "Who's in, Who's Out" idea. We have a four-team race going into the final week of the season, let's look at all four in the running and tell you why they will and won't make it.
Montreal Canadiens
Remaining Schedule: Vs. Boston, @ NY Rangers, Vs. Toronto
Why They'll Make It: Because everyone seems to believe that this team is still on the meteoric downfall they were a couple of months ago. But people forget, five wins in a row will take you places if you're a bubble team in this incarnation of the NHL, which the Canadiens did from the 17th to the 27th. Halak has gotten this team on track, and Huet could drive it the rest of the way to a first-round loss to the Sabres.
Why They Won't: However, with Boston, the Rangers and the Leafs left, it's very possible that they could finish it off with four out of five in the loss column, and that'll do about as much bad as winning five in a row.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Remaining Schedule: Vs. Philadelphia, @ NY Islanders, Vs. Montreal
Why They'll Make It: Because when Kaberle isn't admiring his own pass while getting decked by Cam Janssen, he's a pretty darn good defenseman. He can rack up a lot of points in a quick span against an undisciplined team. Also, they have that all-important game in hand in their pockets, as well as one more meeting with the Flyers. A lot of factors work in their favor.
Why They Won't: Because they are simply too flawed to make it. McCabe gets more assists on opponent's goals than on teammates'. Raycroft will break down if this team shows the slightest weakness, and the offense is not necessarily anything to write home about. Finally, be honest with me here since most of the readers are based in the U.S., do you really want to see the Leafs in the playoffs? Is that something you can live with? Thought so.
Carolina Hurricanes
Remaining Schedule: @ Tampa, vs. Atlanta, vs. Florida
Why They'll Make It: Because every single time on this Web site, when I have counted the Hurricanes out - Round 2, Round 3, Round 4, Game 7 - I have failed to predict their demise. Why shouldn't they make the post-season? I don't think they will, so therefore the exact opposite will happen.
Why They Won't: Because, realistically, they just haven't been good enough. Aaron Ward and Matt Cullen really were difference makers. Anson Carter isn't. This team was depleted by injuries on defense all year and didn't do enough at the deadline. Cam Ward is Dwayne Roloson with a Conn Smythe Trophy and a ring, he got hot for a few weeks. He wasn't even consistent during the playoffs. (Few remember how he got pulled during the Eastern Finals?) Simply too much is working against them.
New York Islanders
Remaining Schedule: vs. NY Rangers, vs. Toronto, @Philadelphia, @New Jersey
Why They'll Make It: They have the most favorable schedule, in the sense that they have the most games. But don't count out the Isles. They're season kind of played out like The Producers. With Charles Wang out to put on the greatest flop in hockey history, he hired Garth Snow as Bloom to his Bialystock, signed aging veteran players and a coach who'd been out of hockey for a decade. Somehow, it almost worked.
Why they Won't: Because nobody with a starting goaltender who's nickname is "Dubie" should make the playoffs. If Ricky D. were still in their for New York, even if he was concussed, New York would still have a fighting shot. But the clock will strike 12 on these Isles before Sunday, and it's a shame. Until Chris Simon decided to become an Atlanta Braves fan and do a tomahawk chop, this was a team worth rooting for. A hard-working bunch with a coach who had a chip on his shoulder and a team everyone counted out. But time will run out on the Isles; it's just a matter of when.
Speaking of the postseason, for the first time since the start of this season I looked at my playoff predictions, where I stated that the following would happen:
East
1. Buffalo
2. Tampa Bay
3. New Jersey
4. NY Rangers
5. Boston
6. Montreal
7. Carolina
8. Ottawa
9. Atlanta
10. Philadelphia
11. Toronto
12. NY Islanders
13. Pittsburgh
14. Washington
15. Florida
West
1. Nashville
2. Anaheim
3. Calgary
4. Detroit
5. Minnesota
6. San Jose
7. Dallas
8. Phoenix
9. Edmonton
10. Columbus
11. Colorado
12. Chicago
13. Vancouver
14. St. Louis
15. Los Angeles
Other then a few glaring mistakes, they look pretty good. But c'mon, how was I supposed to see Vancouver becoming New Jersey West? Or Pittsburgh being able to put it all together? Was I trashed on Robitussin when I picked Phoenix and Boston?
Answers:
1. Fair, not that easy to see
2. Still should've seen it coming
3. Very, very possible.
Anyway, I'm very proud of my picks, for what it's worth. Seeing my talent as a prognosticator, that gives you ample reason to watch for my exclusive SFM Playoff Preview! (MMM...plug).
In last year's playoffs, I got five out of eight right in round one (Including a sweep of the East), and basically blanked out the rest of the way. See if I can do any better starting next Monday with the Eastern Conference primer, Tuesday with the West, and Wednesday - the day the playoffs open - with predictions. Expect expert opinions from some of the best minds that cover the game (or at least the people who returned my E-Mails). See you next week!
-SFM-
Saturday, March 31, 2007
March 27th Column
For those of you who hate it when I rant about the televised aspects of hockey, you're out of luck this week, because they're are a few issues that need to be talked about as far as hockey on TV goes this week, mostly negative things. I promise we'll talk more about what has been one of the most interesting NHL seasons in quite some time next week. If you can't wait that long, check out http://battleofny.blogspot.com for more insights. On with the madness...
Guess who's stopped caring about the NHL? That's right, VERSUS.
Remember all that great programming VERSUS used to air before and after NHL playoff games last year? Like that awesome documentary show "Legends of Hockey." Boy that was interesting. I could watch that 35 times (based on how many times VERSUS re-ran it, I probably did) and not get bored with it. What else? There was that hilarious show "The Tournament." Kind of "The Office"-style comedy with hockey parents substituted for Dunder-Mifflinites. There was a show about Jordin Tootoo's upbringing, and Mark Messier running a leadership camp. All that stuff was so interesting. It not only enhanced the experience for the diehard like myself, the best part was that you could be a novice and learn so much about the sport, and then enjoy Stanley Cup Playoff hockey.
Well, that stuff is gone. VERSUS will be airing none of that during this year's NHL postseason, something a VERSUS PR rep even clarified for me. This is very fishy to me. I'm convinced that there are some issues between the league and the network. Even the NHL's inadequacy to put on a good TV product couldn't be keeping the NHL Network in the U.S. (You know, the one Comcast is contractually bound to bring us) from us. There's been no "official" announcement even made about the NHL and VERSUS's supposed renewal through next season. Everyone around the game who I talked to over the weekend agreed with me -- something is definitely not right in VERSUS-land.
If the relationship between network and league are rocky, ratings have never been better. Both Buffalo-Pittsburgh on Tuesday, March 13 and Pittsburgh-NY Rangers on March 19 set ratings records for a regular-season NHL telecasts on the network. While a 0.4 might not sound like much, those are essentially ESPN's averages for the NHL for its last three years broadcasting hockey. ESPN2's average was a 0.2, which has been VERSUS' NHL average this season. We aren't losing eyes on the television sets, we're just losing exposure to the casual fan. It took NHL fans a while, but they've found VERSUS. Let's see if they'll have to search again next year.
Super-zoomed in cameras are not the answer to the NHL's television problem. Just because we're getting closer to the ice with the angle does not give you a better view of the game, it worsens it. Watching New Jersey-Florida from Sunrise on Saturday, you'll see exactly what I'm talking about. Grinding along the boards was a mystery, a few goals were out of sight. Tell you what: Put the camera wherever you want, use the crowd noise at the games (especially this time of year) to put the casual fan in the arena. Putting the camera in the 10th row and zooming in is not the solution.
The NHL on NBC provides us with a chance to hear numerous substitute announcers, be it at the play-by-play spot or the analyst's role. Steve Goldstein is a pro already at the radio level, subbing for Dave Strader on Panthers broadcasts. Steve Cangalosi, usurping Doc Emrick's usual post, is nowhere near a pro. If you think Emrick overuses the word "Drive!"...well, you've never heard Cangalosi. According to him, everything is either a "drive," or a "sharp-angle shot." Former NHL defenseman Brent Severyn is a big improvement on Brian Hayward with the Ducks. It just goes to show you that with hockey announcers, it's completely random in terms of who's good and who isn't.
This Week in the NHL is a great listen for the hardcore hockey fan. New York Rangers TV voice Sam Rosen hosts a 40-minute (hour-long with commercials) look around hockey. He brings in every authority on the coolest game to help analyze what's going on around the sport. Bob McKenzie discusses rumors and hot-button issues. Doc Emrick does a weekly feature on the history of the game. Pierre McGuire and Darren Pang (OK, they can't all be winners) debate the week's biggest issues. Rangers PA announcer Joe Tolleson recaps the plays of the week. Everything you need to know about this great league can be heard on This Week in the NHL, on NHL.com, iTunes, or if your lucky enough, your local Westwood One station.
This is just another example of how hockey fans have had to learn to hunt for their coverage. In addition to "This Week," NBCSports.com has some great videos each week of its coverage. Ray Ferraro, Brett Hull, Pierre McGuire and Eddie Olczyk all do web-exclusive rants each week, and show off various features on NHL players. That's all in addition to their 30-minute web-only pregame show. VERSUS.com does a weekly review and a weekly preview that varies in quality, but is worth the five minutes it takes to watch. If you're still hungry for hockey, go to KuklasKorner.com's "Everything Hockey" section. It will take you to NHL websites, blogs for every team, podcasts, historical sites, and anything else you could ever need to know. Paul Kukla and his merry gang of bloggers again show why, in comparison to the rest of the web, it's the hockey fan's only true online must-see.
-SFM-
Guess who's stopped caring about the NHL? That's right, VERSUS.
Remember all that great programming VERSUS used to air before and after NHL playoff games last year? Like that awesome documentary show "Legends of Hockey." Boy that was interesting. I could watch that 35 times (based on how many times VERSUS re-ran it, I probably did) and not get bored with it. What else? There was that hilarious show "The Tournament." Kind of "The Office"-style comedy with hockey parents substituted for Dunder-Mifflinites. There was a show about Jordin Tootoo's upbringing, and Mark Messier running a leadership camp. All that stuff was so interesting. It not only enhanced the experience for the diehard like myself, the best part was that you could be a novice and learn so much about the sport, and then enjoy Stanley Cup Playoff hockey.
Well, that stuff is gone. VERSUS will be airing none of that during this year's NHL postseason, something a VERSUS PR rep even clarified for me. This is very fishy to me. I'm convinced that there are some issues between the league and the network. Even the NHL's inadequacy to put on a good TV product couldn't be keeping the NHL Network in the U.S. (You know, the one Comcast is contractually bound to bring us) from us. There's been no "official" announcement even made about the NHL and VERSUS's supposed renewal through next season. Everyone around the game who I talked to over the weekend agreed with me -- something is definitely not right in VERSUS-land.
If the relationship between network and league are rocky, ratings have never been better. Both Buffalo-Pittsburgh on Tuesday, March 13 and Pittsburgh-NY Rangers on March 19 set ratings records for a regular-season NHL telecasts on the network. While a 0.4 might not sound like much, those are essentially ESPN's averages for the NHL for its last three years broadcasting hockey. ESPN2's average was a 0.2, which has been VERSUS' NHL average this season. We aren't losing eyes on the television sets, we're just losing exposure to the casual fan. It took NHL fans a while, but they've found VERSUS. Let's see if they'll have to search again next year.
Super-zoomed in cameras are not the answer to the NHL's television problem. Just because we're getting closer to the ice with the angle does not give you a better view of the game, it worsens it. Watching New Jersey-Florida from Sunrise on Saturday, you'll see exactly what I'm talking about. Grinding along the boards was a mystery, a few goals were out of sight. Tell you what: Put the camera wherever you want, use the crowd noise at the games (especially this time of year) to put the casual fan in the arena. Putting the camera in the 10th row and zooming in is not the solution.
The NHL on NBC provides us with a chance to hear numerous substitute announcers, be it at the play-by-play spot or the analyst's role. Steve Goldstein is a pro already at the radio level, subbing for Dave Strader on Panthers broadcasts. Steve Cangalosi, usurping Doc Emrick's usual post, is nowhere near a pro. If you think Emrick overuses the word "Drive!"...well, you've never heard Cangalosi. According to him, everything is either a "drive," or a "sharp-angle shot." Former NHL defenseman Brent Severyn is a big improvement on Brian Hayward with the Ducks. It just goes to show you that with hockey announcers, it's completely random in terms of who's good and who isn't.
This Week in the NHL is a great listen for the hardcore hockey fan. New York Rangers TV voice Sam Rosen hosts a 40-minute (hour-long with commercials) look around hockey. He brings in every authority on the coolest game to help analyze what's going on around the sport. Bob McKenzie discusses rumors and hot-button issues. Doc Emrick does a weekly feature on the history of the game. Pierre McGuire and Darren Pang (OK, they can't all be winners) debate the week's biggest issues. Rangers PA announcer Joe Tolleson recaps the plays of the week. Everything you need to know about this great league can be heard on This Week in the NHL, on NHL.com, iTunes, or if your lucky enough, your local Westwood One station.
This is just another example of how hockey fans have had to learn to hunt for their coverage. In addition to "This Week," NBCSports.com has some great videos each week of its coverage. Ray Ferraro, Brett Hull, Pierre McGuire and Eddie Olczyk all do web-exclusive rants each week, and show off various features on NHL players. That's all in addition to their 30-minute web-only pregame show. VERSUS.com does a weekly review and a weekly preview that varies in quality, but is worth the five minutes it takes to watch. If you're still hungry for hockey, go to KuklasKorner.com's "Everything Hockey" section. It will take you to NHL websites, blogs for every team, podcasts, historical sites, and anything else you could ever need to know. Paul Kukla and his merry gang of bloggers again show why, in comparison to the rest of the web, it's the hockey fan's only true online must-see.
-SFM-
March 19th Column
Hey, there was a big funeral going on this weekend, and it was most certainly for Gary Bettman's "New NHL". Well, actually, it's been on life support the past couple weeks. But after about 70 games of its second year of implementation, the refs have clearly finally given up on calling the hooks and holds. Honestly, I think we can live without it. Maybe it's a combination of the players learning that if you hook, you'll be boxed, and the refs not calling it when it does happen. I'm not annoyed that they've stopped calling it, I'm just peeved that I lost a season of hockey just to see it end.
This time of year, rookies aren't just showing up on teams without a prayer of postseason play. Some young players are making a difference on teams who are in the playoff hunt. The two players I'm going to key in on have very different development stories. Rangers forward Ryan Callahan, who scored his first two NHL goals in New York's 7-0 rout of Boston on Saturday, was a 4th-round pick of the Blueshirts and spent three years on the ride to the show, including a World Junior Championships appearance and four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League. (Usually a death knell for any prospect). He finally got his chance with the Rangers AHL affiliate in Hartford, setting a team record with goals in eight consecutive games. After getting a cup of coffee in two December stints, he was called up on Friday, played that night, and scored twice on Saturday.
Devils freshman David Clarkson, on the other hand, was completely undrafted. In a story that mirrors the road current New Jersey centerman John Madden took the big leagues, Clarkson, an Ontario native who spent most of the past year and a half in Albany and Lowell (New Jersey changed minor league affiliates during the past off-season), was the seventh player the Devils had called up from their AHL affiliate this season (just to show you how far he was down the depth chart). He also spent four years in the AHL, and was headed nowhere until Lou Lamoriello signed him to a minor-league deal. He got the call-up Thursday, and played well in a road tilt in Carolina. During the Devils 7-2 loss to the 'Canes on Saturday, however, Clarkson was easily the best forward on the ice for New Jersey. Drawing big cheers from the crowd every time he touched the puck, he scored his first goal that day, and set up a beautiful goal by another Devil rookie, Travis Zajac, in the third. It just shows you that teams are always finding new players in the places you'd least expect.
An extremely awkward moment on VERSUS last Tuesday night. Jack Edwards and Andy Brickley were calling the Buffalo-Pittsburgh game, the very same night the Penguins had reached their new arena deal. Gary Bettman was at the game, and the two men had him up in the booth for an interview. Both of them are lucky they weren't robbed and beaten coming out of the rink that night, the way Bettman punishes what he calls "Conduct detrimental to the league". In the early stages of the interview, Edwards said to Gary: "I know that you often deflect blame."
Gasp! You could almost hear Brickley say "Awkwaaaaard."
Anyway, Bettman and Edwards joked about it. What he meant to say was "credit." Sure. We'll leave it at that. When the interview reached its end, Brickley made a joke about Bettman's height. The big question is: Will we see Jack Edwards and Andy Brickley on VERSUS again? It's only really half-joking. The way this league does deflect blame and hand out punishment for criticism, I wouldn't be surprised if either of them got banned from national television work.
TPS began their second year of having the players use pink sticks for three days, and then auction them off to raise money for breast cancer. Perhaps no sport's athletes are bigger momma's boys than hockey players. Campbell's should hire them and their mothers to do those chunky soup commercial. Can you imagine Alexander Ovechkin's mom in the dressing room feeding Donald Brashear a bowl of Campbell's Chunky? Eh, bad visual. Nevermind.
Ted Nolan's claims that Steve Begin is to blame for Rick DiPietro's injury don't have a stick to swing at, er, a leg to stand on. "[Begin] could have jumped. He's a seasoned veteran. He's a fourth-line guy," said Nolan. "He knew exactly what he was doing: 'By hitting this goaltender, maybe I can knock him out, and we can get a chance to play in the playoffs.' It's one of those things." Watching the play over and over again, it's clear that the fault is at DiPi's hands. He had no reason to be that far out. He was well out of position. You don't prepare for a goalie to be in deep slot when you come charging in. If he had jumped, he'd have had a clear path to the goal, further proving Begin's innocence. Is Teddy Nolan going to cry about being blackballed again? Where's Bryant Gumbel when you need him?
Finally, the Nashville Predators are the first NHL club to 100 points, and it's difficult to see them not coming out of the West this year and going to the Stanley Cup Finals. You just have to hope that this team can survive. Clearly, they have made a connection with the fans in Nashville. No team sells more individual tickets per game. Obviously the casual fan is hooked. But no team can live on 12,000 casual fans. They need more hardcore supporters, and more importantly, more corporate support. It's shameful that Nashville's companies are willing to put their money behind a team with "Pacman" Jones on it, but can't support what is very likely the NHL's best team.
We'll see if a Stanley Cup can bring some bandwagon corporations to the most unconventional of unconventional hockey markets.
This time of year, rookies aren't just showing up on teams without a prayer of postseason play. Some young players are making a difference on teams who are in the playoff hunt. The two players I'm going to key in on have very different development stories. Rangers forward Ryan Callahan, who scored his first two NHL goals in New York's 7-0 rout of Boston on Saturday, was a 4th-round pick of the Blueshirts and spent three years on the ride to the show, including a World Junior Championships appearance and four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League. (Usually a death knell for any prospect). He finally got his chance with the Rangers AHL affiliate in Hartford, setting a team record with goals in eight consecutive games. After getting a cup of coffee in two December stints, he was called up on Friday, played that night, and scored twice on Saturday.
Devils freshman David Clarkson, on the other hand, was completely undrafted. In a story that mirrors the road current New Jersey centerman John Madden took the big leagues, Clarkson, an Ontario native who spent most of the past year and a half in Albany and Lowell (New Jersey changed minor league affiliates during the past off-season), was the seventh player the Devils had called up from their AHL affiliate this season (just to show you how far he was down the depth chart). He also spent four years in the AHL, and was headed nowhere until Lou Lamoriello signed him to a minor-league deal. He got the call-up Thursday, and played well in a road tilt in Carolina. During the Devils 7-2 loss to the 'Canes on Saturday, however, Clarkson was easily the best forward on the ice for New Jersey. Drawing big cheers from the crowd every time he touched the puck, he scored his first goal that day, and set up a beautiful goal by another Devil rookie, Travis Zajac, in the third. It just shows you that teams are always finding new players in the places you'd least expect.
An extremely awkward moment on VERSUS last Tuesday night. Jack Edwards and Andy Brickley were calling the Buffalo-Pittsburgh game, the very same night the Penguins had reached their new arena deal. Gary Bettman was at the game, and the two men had him up in the booth for an interview. Both of them are lucky they weren't robbed and beaten coming out of the rink that night, the way Bettman punishes what he calls "Conduct detrimental to the league". In the early stages of the interview, Edwards said to Gary: "I know that you often deflect blame."
Gasp! You could almost hear Brickley say "Awkwaaaaard."
Anyway, Bettman and Edwards joked about it. What he meant to say was "credit." Sure. We'll leave it at that. When the interview reached its end, Brickley made a joke about Bettman's height. The big question is: Will we see Jack Edwards and Andy Brickley on VERSUS again? It's only really half-joking. The way this league does deflect blame and hand out punishment for criticism, I wouldn't be surprised if either of them got banned from national television work.
TPS began their second year of having the players use pink sticks for three days, and then auction them off to raise money for breast cancer. Perhaps no sport's athletes are bigger momma's boys than hockey players. Campbell's should hire them and their mothers to do those chunky soup commercial. Can you imagine Alexander Ovechkin's mom in the dressing room feeding Donald Brashear a bowl of Campbell's Chunky? Eh, bad visual. Nevermind.
Ted Nolan's claims that Steve Begin is to blame for Rick DiPietro's injury don't have a stick to swing at, er, a leg to stand on. "[Begin] could have jumped. He's a seasoned veteran. He's a fourth-line guy," said Nolan. "He knew exactly what he was doing: 'By hitting this goaltender, maybe I can knock him out, and we can get a chance to play in the playoffs.' It's one of those things." Watching the play over and over again, it's clear that the fault is at DiPi's hands. He had no reason to be that far out. He was well out of position. You don't prepare for a goalie to be in deep slot when you come charging in. If he had jumped, he'd have had a clear path to the goal, further proving Begin's innocence. Is Teddy Nolan going to cry about being blackballed again? Where's Bryant Gumbel when you need him?
Finally, the Nashville Predators are the first NHL club to 100 points, and it's difficult to see them not coming out of the West this year and going to the Stanley Cup Finals. You just have to hope that this team can survive. Clearly, they have made a connection with the fans in Nashville. No team sells more individual tickets per game. Obviously the casual fan is hooked. But no team can live on 12,000 casual fans. They need more hardcore supporters, and more importantly, more corporate support. It's shameful that Nashville's companies are willing to put their money behind a team with "Pacman" Jones on it, but can't support what is very likely the NHL's best team.
We'll see if a Stanley Cup can bring some bandwagon corporations to the most unconventional of unconventional hockey markets.
March 12th Column
Why anyone would complain about the NHL's championing of the Warner Bros. film "300" is beyond me.
Here's an idea: Take a hip looking movie with great technology, lots of violence and comic book-nerd credibility (the kind the NHL's main 18-34 male demographic loves) and make a connection between the plot of the movie (300 Spartan soldiers' fight against the largest army ever assembled) with the chase for the Stanley Cup.
You know what? "300" made $70 million this weekend at the box office.
Think the NHL doesn't like being associated with that?
When it comes to Chris Simon's tomahawk chop on Ryan Hollweg, the NHL absolutely gave Simon the correct punishment. He sits out the rest of the season and the playoffs. Doesn't matter how far the New York Islanders go, he will not play. Now, if the amount of games the Islanders play in the postseason doesn't add up to 25 (The Isles had 15 games left at the start of the suspension, so they'd need to be in the 2nd round at least), Simon will sit out the start of the next season until it does. Absolutely the right call by the league. There were rumors that he would only sit out one playoff round, but that would not have been enough. They took Simon and made him an example. He may be too old to play again next year, so this may be it for him.
As far as the excuse that he was concussed on that hit? C'mon Chris; we would have to have been concussed to believe that excuse. The simple fact is you got up from the hit, had enough time to find Ryan Hollweg, take your stick in the air and line-drive it right into his chin area. It makes his entire apology useless. What he did was absolutely shameful to our game. It was worse than what McSorley did to Brashear and possibly even what Bertuzzi did to Moore, because most of the impact on those hits came from the receiver's head pounding the ice. Most of the damage was caused by Simon on this play; frankly, I wouldn't have had a problem with the NHL never letting him play again.
Remember, this is not Simon's first infraction. He's been suspended for elbows, cross-checks, and making racist comments in the past. This is someone who has played this way forever, and went too far. He lost his right to play for this year.
On to NBC, whom I've been praising for quite a while. It looks as if that praise has to end.
NBC has been dropping games that were crucial to the NHL's playoff race. Wanna get rid of St. Louis-Columbus on March 25? Go ahead, I don't think even Ken Hitchcock would notice. But March 4th's dropping of Carolina-Atlanta was already too much. Now, they've decided to lose themselves of April 1st's Boston-New Jersey game and April 8th's NY Islanders-New Jersey tilt.
Say what?
Now, there are numerous reasons why this is absolutely ridiculous. First of all, you're dropping three big markets, so it screws with NHL business sense. Second, these are key games in the NHL's playoff race. The Bruins and Isles will be fighting for there playoff lives those afternoons.
Finally, what else do they have those weeks? Detroit-Columbus and Los Angeles-San Jose on the first, and Chicago-Dallas with Buffalo-Philadelphia on the eighth. Oh boy, cannot wait.
NBC may be giving us great playoff coverage, but their regular season coverage needs to step up next year. By the way, how many Devils fans will think that this is just the Meadowlands' last chance to mess with them? The game on the eighth is New Jersey's final home tilt in The Swamp, and now it'll likely be moved back three hours because of NBC.
Biggest bust since the trade deadline: Bill Guerin. Zero points in six games since the deadline. In fact, there have been very few real big payoffs from the blockbusters on deadline day. Ryan Smyth has one goal in five games as an Islander. Peter Forsberg has six points in 11 games in Nashville, and three of those came in one game against bottom feeder Los Angeles. Keith Tkachuk and Alexei Zhitnik have played well, but this may very well turn out to be the year where GMs gave up too much and got too little in return.
-SFM-
February 28th Column
It's hard not to talk about what we witnessed in New Jersey and New York and Ontario this week. It is hockey in its element. Not a forced exposition of two team's skating until someone hooks the opposing player, goes to the box and watches a puck deflect in the net because no one can cover the slot. What they did this week, as author/3-time Oscar Nominee Greg Wyshynski said, was "Let hockey be hockey."
Puckheads, we can no longer pretend that what Larry Brooks calls the "6th Avenue League" is working after seeing this. This was hard-working hockey, regardless of the score, be it 6-5 or 3-2. I think that kind of action is something we can absolutely support going forward.
Looking at one set of games in particular, the Battle of the Hudson River, it's easy to see why the Rangers are struggling. It's just another episode of Jaromir being Jaromir. It's bad enough that he phones it in eight times a season whenever No. 20 in red and black lurks in the shadows. Now he has a shot to redeem himself. Go win the skills competition for us. My captain, my captain! Win us a freakin' game!
Fans in DC, is this kind of play beginning to look familiar?
Jagr is simply giving up. He sees the writing on the wall. He knows he can't lead the Rangers. Tom Renney made a huge mistake in declaring a moody, free-skating scorer his captain. It'll be Renney who likely pays the price if the Rangers fall any further this season, but can JJ be that far behind outta' town?
Best Trade: How can it not be Montreal, getting young Josh Georges and a 1st-rounder for Craig Rivet and a 5th-rounder? Bob Gainey has now completed what Dane Cook calls every gentleman's dream: Being part of a heist. Now, San Jose made the necessary upgrade to its blueline, but when Georges and Souray are combining for 110 points a year on the backline, Rivet will be long forgotten in the Bay Area.
Worst Trade: The Rangers deciding that Aaron Ward was the problem and not, as previously mentioned, Jagr. You need character players like Ward if you're going to do what New York should be doing: rebuilding. Getting only Paul Mara in return for him is inefficient.
Is the Isles trading Robert Nilsson and Ryan O'Marra and a 1st-rounder for Ryan Smyth really that risky of a deal? O'Marra's rumored to be quite the hot head and supposedly, according to many NHL experts, will be a journeyman at best. Nilsson's been in Nolan's doghouse, barely able to crack the Islander lineup, when about 20 guys in the same first round of his draft have made big strides. A 1st-round pick, if Smyth gets the Isles over the hump, will not be that big a parting gift in the end.
More importantly on the dealing of Captain Canada, where is the new NHL logic in this? The Oilers can't afford to keep Smyth because of monetary constraints? The purposes for Gary Bettman's lockout just keep dropping like flies. This economic stability is sure working out.
Speaking of economic stability, 11 of the 24 American NHL teams received revenue sharing last season. None of the Canadian teams did. This according to Edmonton Oilers president Patrick LaForge during an interview with Canada's Sportsnet. Apparently, many Canadian teams paid into revenue sharing. According to the Toronto Globe & Mail, this ranged anywhere from $3 Million-$12 Million U.S. This compounded by TSN analyst Darren Dreger claiming the Canadian teams, all six of them, made up for 33% of the NHL's revenues last year. All of a sudden, Gary Bettman's happy American dream doesn't look so great, does it?
Watching TSN in Canada's coverage of the trade deadline simply shows us how much Versus just fails to get it. Fine, you don't want to devote the 8 hours to the deadline that TSN did on their airwaves, that's OK. But, c'mon, coverage from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., or even 3 p.m. 'till 5 p.m., would be serviceable. Even if you don't want to do that, how about 30 minutes before your game that night to talk about the deals that went down? No sir. Jack squat. NHL.com, almost admitting that they were getting the shaft, simulcast TSN's TradeCentre07 on the website. The NHL continues to lose out when its American fans want it the most.
-SFM-
Puckheads, we can no longer pretend that what Larry Brooks calls the "6th Avenue League" is working after seeing this. This was hard-working hockey, regardless of the score, be it 6-5 or 3-2. I think that kind of action is something we can absolutely support going forward.
Looking at one set of games in particular, the Battle of the Hudson River, it's easy to see why the Rangers are struggling. It's just another episode of Jaromir being Jaromir. It's bad enough that he phones it in eight times a season whenever No. 20 in red and black lurks in the shadows. Now he has a shot to redeem himself. Go win the skills competition for us. My captain, my captain! Win us a freakin' game!
Fans in DC, is this kind of play beginning to look familiar?
Jagr is simply giving up. He sees the writing on the wall. He knows he can't lead the Rangers. Tom Renney made a huge mistake in declaring a moody, free-skating scorer his captain. It'll be Renney who likely pays the price if the Rangers fall any further this season, but can JJ be that far behind outta' town?
Best Trade: How can it not be Montreal, getting young Josh Georges and a 1st-rounder for Craig Rivet and a 5th-rounder? Bob Gainey has now completed what Dane Cook calls every gentleman's dream: Being part of a heist. Now, San Jose made the necessary upgrade to its blueline, but when Georges and Souray are combining for 110 points a year on the backline, Rivet will be long forgotten in the Bay Area.
Worst Trade: The Rangers deciding that Aaron Ward was the problem and not, as previously mentioned, Jagr. You need character players like Ward if you're going to do what New York should be doing: rebuilding. Getting only Paul Mara in return for him is inefficient.
Is the Isles trading Robert Nilsson and Ryan O'Marra and a 1st-rounder for Ryan Smyth really that risky of a deal? O'Marra's rumored to be quite the hot head and supposedly, according to many NHL experts, will be a journeyman at best. Nilsson's been in Nolan's doghouse, barely able to crack the Islander lineup, when about 20 guys in the same first round of his draft have made big strides. A 1st-round pick, if Smyth gets the Isles over the hump, will not be that big a parting gift in the end.
More importantly on the dealing of Captain Canada, where is the new NHL logic in this? The Oilers can't afford to keep Smyth because of monetary constraints? The purposes for Gary Bettman's lockout just keep dropping like flies. This economic stability is sure working out.
Speaking of economic stability, 11 of the 24 American NHL teams received revenue sharing last season. None of the Canadian teams did. This according to Edmonton Oilers president Patrick LaForge during an interview with Canada's Sportsnet. Apparently, many Canadian teams paid into revenue sharing. According to the Toronto Globe & Mail, this ranged anywhere from $3 Million-$12 Million U.S. This compounded by TSN analyst Darren Dreger claiming the Canadian teams, all six of them, made up for 33% of the NHL's revenues last year. All of a sudden, Gary Bettman's happy American dream doesn't look so great, does it?
Watching TSN in Canada's coverage of the trade deadline simply shows us how much Versus just fails to get it. Fine, you don't want to devote the 8 hours to the deadline that TSN did on their airwaves, that's OK. But, c'mon, coverage from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., or even 3 p.m. 'till 5 p.m., would be serviceable. Even if you don't want to do that, how about 30 minutes before your game that night to talk about the deals that went down? No sir. Jack squat. NHL.com, almost admitting that they were getting the shaft, simulcast TSN's TradeCentre07 on the website. The NHL continues to lose out when its American fans want it the most.
-SFM-
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
February 20th Column
So, the Forsberg deal. Nashville did not give up too much to get Peter Forsberg, I cannot reiterate that enough. A 1st Round Pick? That'll be around No. 30 the way the Preds are playing. Scottie Upshall? Has not lived up to his potential as a pro after being drafted No. 6 overall in 2002. Ryan Parent? Still a couple of years away. Frankly, if the Predators don't get Forsberg, he may have never have seen a game in Nashville anyway. The fact is that this Predator team is in trouble. They need the Stanley Cup to stay in town. That's it. Nothing less. Anything less than a Stanley Cup will leave them a forgotten lame duck in the Music City in 2007-08. Forsberg was not only a luxury move, it was a necessary one.
A couple of questions about the two new NHL promos, the latest in their series "Just Like You and Me." Does the Sedin twins commercial suggest that people like you and me dance at stag parties for, as Henrik says "A couple Loonies" (The Canadian currency, not the partygoers)? Also, the second promo, entitled "Road Trip," is not necessarily the best thing for a league that's players tore through a hotel room in Nagano, Japan just eight years ago.
If there is a goaltenders union, is there also a goaltending Mafia? At the Devils-Canadiens game on Wednesday, I had some time to speak to Chico Resch, former NHL goaltender and Devils color commentator on FSN New York. I told him how displeased I was with Brian Hayward's vapid, uninformed color analysis of the Devils-Lightning game Sunday on NBC. I said, quite jokingly, that he needed to live up to Chico's standards, and that it would help if he spoke to him at the next goaltender's union meeting. He responded, half-joking, but half-seriously, that "we goalies gotta stick together." Should I fear for my life, like that girl in the NHL ‘06 commercial who gets stalked by the Maple Leaf goaltender?
What has gone wrong in San Jose? They've gone 4-7-1 in their last 12, and until Sunday afternoon's tilt with Dallas, hadn't scored a goal in two games as a team. The Sharks are currently on their longest road swing of their season. They've got three left on an eight-game jaunt that will take them through Washington, Chicago and Calgary. They're performance in these last three road games will show everyone just what kind of team the San Jose Sharks are.
The Anaheim Ducks have the league's worst TV team. Whenever analyst Brian Hayward isn't talking over a goal, somehow, play-by-play man John Ahlers does. A recent look at Ducks highlights shows that either Ahlers or Hayward talked over four of the nine goals scored in the Ducks 5-4 win over Phoenix on Wednesday. It's like this every night with these two. The strange thing is, when split up -- like when Hayward works for NBC or Ahlers for VERSUS -- neither is singularly that bad. Hint hint, Ducks management — split up your TV broadcast and send one of them to where they can talk all they want.
When other papers fail you, USA Today is there. There is no newsprint in the U.S. that devotes more to hockey. Lead reporter Kevin Allen is easily one of the best hockey writers in the country. He may also be America's most knowledgeable hockey man. If there's something he doesn't know, then Ted Montgomery does. Say what you will about USA Today and it's penchant for graphics and biases and such, they do a fantastic job covering our game.
A couple of questions about the two new NHL promos, the latest in their series "Just Like You and Me." Does the Sedin twins commercial suggest that people like you and me dance at stag parties for, as Henrik says "A couple Loonies" (The Canadian currency, not the partygoers)? Also, the second promo, entitled "Road Trip," is not necessarily the best thing for a league that's players tore through a hotel room in Nagano, Japan just eight years ago.
If there is a goaltenders union, is there also a goaltending Mafia? At the Devils-Canadiens game on Wednesday, I had some time to speak to Chico Resch, former NHL goaltender and Devils color commentator on FSN New York. I told him how displeased I was with Brian Hayward's vapid, uninformed color analysis of the Devils-Lightning game Sunday on NBC. I said, quite jokingly, that he needed to live up to Chico's standards, and that it would help if he spoke to him at the next goaltender's union meeting. He responded, half-joking, but half-seriously, that "we goalies gotta stick together." Should I fear for my life, like that girl in the NHL ‘06 commercial who gets stalked by the Maple Leaf goaltender?
What has gone wrong in San Jose? They've gone 4-7-1 in their last 12, and until Sunday afternoon's tilt with Dallas, hadn't scored a goal in two games as a team. The Sharks are currently on their longest road swing of their season. They've got three left on an eight-game jaunt that will take them through Washington, Chicago and Calgary. They're performance in these last three road games will show everyone just what kind of team the San Jose Sharks are.
The Anaheim Ducks have the league's worst TV team. Whenever analyst Brian Hayward isn't talking over a goal, somehow, play-by-play man John Ahlers does. A recent look at Ducks highlights shows that either Ahlers or Hayward talked over four of the nine goals scored in the Ducks 5-4 win over Phoenix on Wednesday. It's like this every night with these two. The strange thing is, when split up -- like when Hayward works for NBC or Ahlers for VERSUS -- neither is singularly that bad. Hint hint, Ducks management — split up your TV broadcast and send one of them to where they can talk all they want.
When other papers fail you, USA Today is there. There is no newsprint in the U.S. that devotes more to hockey. Lead reporter Kevin Allen is easily one of the best hockey writers in the country. He may also be America's most knowledgeable hockey man. If there's something he doesn't know, then Ted Montgomery does. Say what you will about USA Today and it's penchant for graphics and biases and such, they do a fantastic job covering our game.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
February 6th Column
President Bush finally faced off with a Hurricane last week.
No, not the one you're thinking of. Hurricanes, as in The Carolina. You know, the Stanley Cup Champions? C'mon, didn't you guys all watch Versus' wall-to-wall coverage? Oh, never mind.
Anyway, Bush greeted the 'Canes to Pennsylvania Avenue and spent a whopping 14 minutes with them, if you read the speech on Whitehouse.gov. There were some very darkly ironic and truly humorous statements the leader of the free world made while talking to the Whaler-Canes:
and the truly hilarious...
Otherwise, it was a nice speech that mentioned the various charity ventures the players took the Stanley Cup on. Apparently, many of the players have liked President Bush personally. Martin Brodeur says in his new book that he found Bill Clinton (in 1995) to be introverted and Governor Bush (in 2000 and 2003) to be outgoing and friendly. I guess you gotta' be good at something.
Don Cherry's "Coach's Corner" has made itself a nice little site at CBC.ca/coach. I have to respectfully disagree with Grapes on his contention that Sidney Crosby wasn't butt-ended. If you look at the video, it's painfully clear that Maxim Lapierre had the butt-end of the stick into Sid the Kid on Thursday. But this should raise awareness among every NHL player that they have to learn to keep their watch of players on faceoffs. It's possibly just as dangerous as hits from behind.
I've been looking over the teams in the NHL who could use a rental player to take them over the top. A good idea might be, and stick with me here, Pittsburgh. The guy is Olli Jokinen. If Mike Therien isn't going to play Crosby and Malkin on a line, then Crosby needs a running mate to pass to.
Imagine how many points he would have if he had Jokinen to dish it to. It could be an equivalent of a Dwayne Roloson to Edmonton. Not that I think Pittsburgh is anywhere near as good as last year's Oilers, but Crosby and Malkin might be good enough to take on anyone. Or just take anyone from Columbus or St. Louis, they'll do just as well.
The best move of the entire year looks to be Craig Conroy back to Calgary. Darryl Sutter should win executive of the year for this. They finally realized that neither Jarome Iginla, nor Alex Tanguay could do it alone, or even with each other. Conroy appears to have stirred the drink in Alberta, and the Flames are now a contender to make a run in the chase for the Cup.
If I'm the Philadelphia Flyers, I re-sign Peter Forsberg and throw whatever money or players are left at Nashville's Chris Mason. Could he be the answer to Philly's goaltending problem? He's got the best save percentage in the NHL. Either he or Evgeni Nabokov seems a fair trade or free agent signing for Philly. They need a goaltender, they always have, but now more than ever to at least keep them in 1 or 2 of these games.
The New Jersey Devils' new arena in the safe few blocks in Newark is going up at a fervent pace, and they keep adding pieces to make the place a viable source of entertainment. Not only will the Devils house their home games and all of their practices on "The Rock's" two ice surfaces (Like Columbus, they'll have a sheet 24 hours for practice), but the WWE has decided to take their business to Newark, as well as the Big East's Seton Hall Pirates. Add concerts, and circuses, and a production of Disney's "Toy Story" that you could pay 99 cents for in the bargain bin at Wal-Mart for, and they are trying to get 200 dates open in Newark come Fall.
-SFM-
No, not the one you're thinking of. Hurricanes, as in The Carolina. You know, the Stanley Cup Champions? C'mon, didn't you guys all watch Versus' wall-to-wall coverage? Oh, never mind.
Anyway, Bush greeted the 'Canes to Pennsylvania Avenue and spent a whopping 14 minutes with them, if you read the speech on Whitehouse.gov. There were some very darkly ironic and truly humorous statements the leader of the free world made while talking to the Whaler-Canes:
"At the start of this season, this team was ranked 28th out of 30 teams. I like to be around people that keep expectations low."
"I appreciate the Coach. Peter, you've done a heck of a good job."
and the truly hilarious...
"Mr. Commissioner, thank you for coming. I'm proud that you're here."
Otherwise, it was a nice speech that mentioned the various charity ventures the players took the Stanley Cup on. Apparently, many of the players have liked President Bush personally. Martin Brodeur says in his new book that he found Bill Clinton (in 1995) to be introverted and Governor Bush (in 2000 and 2003) to be outgoing and friendly. I guess you gotta' be good at something.
Don Cherry's "Coach's Corner" has made itself a nice little site at CBC.ca/coach. I have to respectfully disagree with Grapes on his contention that Sidney Crosby wasn't butt-ended. If you look at the video, it's painfully clear that Maxim Lapierre had the butt-end of the stick into Sid the Kid on Thursday. But this should raise awareness among every NHL player that they have to learn to keep their watch of players on faceoffs. It's possibly just as dangerous as hits from behind.
I've been looking over the teams in the NHL who could use a rental player to take them over the top. A good idea might be, and stick with me here, Pittsburgh. The guy is Olli Jokinen. If Mike Therien isn't going to play Crosby and Malkin on a line, then Crosby needs a running mate to pass to.
Imagine how many points he would have if he had Jokinen to dish it to. It could be an equivalent of a Dwayne Roloson to Edmonton. Not that I think Pittsburgh is anywhere near as good as last year's Oilers, but Crosby and Malkin might be good enough to take on anyone. Or just take anyone from Columbus or St. Louis, they'll do just as well.
The best move of the entire year looks to be Craig Conroy back to Calgary. Darryl Sutter should win executive of the year for this. They finally realized that neither Jarome Iginla, nor Alex Tanguay could do it alone, or even with each other. Conroy appears to have stirred the drink in Alberta, and the Flames are now a contender to make a run in the chase for the Cup.
If I'm the Philadelphia Flyers, I re-sign Peter Forsberg and throw whatever money or players are left at Nashville's Chris Mason. Could he be the answer to Philly's goaltending problem? He's got the best save percentage in the NHL. Either he or Evgeni Nabokov seems a fair trade or free agent signing for Philly. They need a goaltender, they always have, but now more than ever to at least keep them in 1 or 2 of these games.
The New Jersey Devils' new arena in the safe few blocks in Newark is going up at a fervent pace, and they keep adding pieces to make the place a viable source of entertainment. Not only will the Devils house their home games and all of their practices on "The Rock's" two ice surfaces (Like Columbus, they'll have a sheet 24 hours for practice), but the WWE has decided to take their business to Newark, as well as the Big East's Seton Hall Pirates. Add concerts, and circuses, and a production of Disney's "Toy Story" that you could pay 99 cents for in the bargain bin at Wal-Mart for, and they are trying to get 200 dates open in Newark come Fall.
-SFM-
January 30th Column
Well done, John Davidson. In my Christmas column, if you had the misfortune of reading it, I called for JD to return to New York and the broadcast booth. But lo and behold, the St. Louis Blues have started to play some respectable hockey. Along with the Phoenix Coyotes, they might actually make a push toward the postseason (the two are currently tied for 11th in the West with 48 points, six behind No. 8 Minnesota). Billy Guerin looks to be thinking about someone other than himself, Keith Tkachuk seems to be thinking about something other than [insert fast food joke here], David Backes and Lee Stempniak provide solid young depth, and Manny Legace -- of all goalies -- is getting the job done. Andy Murray has a veteran team working hard and hungry for the postseason. Plus, the buzz is building in the Gateway City, obviously out of Cardinals happy hangover, as 16,000 or more have come out to the last few Blues games.
The Devils must be seen as a Cup contender with the hockey they've been playing as of late. That's Devils hockey, where the "D" stands for defense. Right now, take the top 8 from the East, and honestly tell me that New Jersey could not take them in 6 games or less. Buffalo-NJ is my current pick for the Eastern Finals, and I personally think they may be the Devils' only challengers. The defense is finally gelling, that Brodeur kid stops a puck every now and then and, as much as it pains me to say it, they are getting (ugh) timely offense from a depth-filled forward group.
The NHL Youngstars game has got to go. You know when Mike Emrick, Bill Clement and Eddie Olczyk of Versus can't foster any excitement over a game, it needs to be re-thought. You know when you have league officials in the locker room telling you to play harder, it has to be re-thought. A much more interesting angle would be an NHL version of the NBA's Freshman-Sophomore challenge. Of the 17 goals scored in the game, nine were scored by rookies rather than sophomores. I think Malkin, Kessel and Kopitar vs. guys like Parise and Jokinen and Getzlaf is much more interesting than East vs. West.
People have been looking for spots to peg Peter Forsberg, and why not throw Boston into the mix? Four points out of a playoff spot, with unrestricted free-agent Brad Stuart to deal, and you have Forsberg, Marc Savard and Patrice Bergeron going down the middle. That is a playoff team, and one that could challenge for a round.
The NHL and Versus have agreed to continue their partnership through 2007-08, according to the Toronto Globe & Mail. There is apparently an extra year in the contract at either party's discretion. (NOTE: Late word is that the deal will be for longer than that. Comcast's Versus network will televise NHL games nationally through 2011!)
The Edmonton Oilers are dangerously close to becoming what has been a staple in the NFL: the runner-up from last year missing the playoffs. You see it in football quite often, but the Oilers just aren't getting what they need from their defense. Roloson coming back down to earth after a superhuman postseason last year, as well as the loss of Pronger for the undeveloped Ladislav Smid and the underachieving, enigmatic Joffrey Lupul have made for an inconsistent club that's dangerously on the verge of missing the chase for the Cup.
If you call the Stanley Cup Finals "the NHL Championship," you will not be taken seriously. The Parents Family Network has launched an unsuccessful campaign to protest to the FCC after NBC let Ray Whitney's live F-bomb after winning the Cup go unbleeped. Of course, they referred to the tilt as "The NHL Championship Game". We are not college football, or basketball. We have traditions and we call things by traditional names. Until our commissioner decides we need to be like everyone else and turn into the "NHL Finals", you need to call it the Stanley Cup Finals, random right-wing complaining network.
Stephen Colbert has given hockey more publicity than anything the NHL has done this year. Putting his support behind the OHL's Saginaw Spirit (they named their mascot Steagle Colbeagle the Eagle) this season, the late-night comedy host was appalled when Oshawa Generals fans threw teddy "bears" on the ice during an Oshawa victory over Saginaw. Colbert then made a bet with Oshawa's mayor that if Saginaw lost, he would have to wear a Generals' jersey on his show. If Saginaw won, Colbert's birthday would officially be "Stephen Colbert Day" in Oshawa. Saginaw won, and now he is trying to make it so that the Oshawa mayor's birthday is "Stephen Colbert Day". Why can't every day be Stephen Colbert day? If I'm the NHL, I pay him money to keep mentioning hockey in a positive light.
-SFM-
The Devils must be seen as a Cup contender with the hockey they've been playing as of late. That's Devils hockey, where the "D" stands for defense. Right now, take the top 8 from the East, and honestly tell me that New Jersey could not take them in 6 games or less. Buffalo-NJ is my current pick for the Eastern Finals, and I personally think they may be the Devils' only challengers. The defense is finally gelling, that Brodeur kid stops a puck every now and then and, as much as it pains me to say it, they are getting (ugh) timely offense from a depth-filled forward group.
The NHL Youngstars game has got to go. You know when Mike Emrick, Bill Clement and Eddie Olczyk of Versus can't foster any excitement over a game, it needs to be re-thought. You know when you have league officials in the locker room telling you to play harder, it has to be re-thought. A much more interesting angle would be an NHL version of the NBA's Freshman-Sophomore challenge. Of the 17 goals scored in the game, nine were scored by rookies rather than sophomores. I think Malkin, Kessel and Kopitar vs. guys like Parise and Jokinen and Getzlaf is much more interesting than East vs. West.
People have been looking for spots to peg Peter Forsberg, and why not throw Boston into the mix? Four points out of a playoff spot, with unrestricted free-agent Brad Stuart to deal, and you have Forsberg, Marc Savard and Patrice Bergeron going down the middle. That is a playoff team, and one that could challenge for a round.
The NHL and Versus have agreed to continue their partnership through 2007-08, according to the Toronto Globe & Mail. There is apparently an extra year in the contract at either party's discretion. (NOTE: Late word is that the deal will be for longer than that. Comcast's Versus network will televise NHL games nationally through 2011!)
The Edmonton Oilers are dangerously close to becoming what has been a staple in the NFL: the runner-up from last year missing the playoffs. You see it in football quite often, but the Oilers just aren't getting what they need from their defense. Roloson coming back down to earth after a superhuman postseason last year, as well as the loss of Pronger for the undeveloped Ladislav Smid and the underachieving, enigmatic Joffrey Lupul have made for an inconsistent club that's dangerously on the verge of missing the chase for the Cup.
If you call the Stanley Cup Finals "the NHL Championship," you will not be taken seriously. The Parents Family Network has launched an unsuccessful campaign to protest to the FCC after NBC let Ray Whitney's live F-bomb after winning the Cup go unbleeped. Of course, they referred to the tilt as "The NHL Championship Game". We are not college football, or basketball. We have traditions and we call things by traditional names. Until our commissioner decides we need to be like everyone else and turn into the "NHL Finals", you need to call it the Stanley Cup Finals, random right-wing complaining network.
Stephen Colbert has given hockey more publicity than anything the NHL has done this year. Putting his support behind the OHL's Saginaw Spirit (they named their mascot Steagle Colbeagle the Eagle) this season, the late-night comedy host was appalled when Oshawa Generals fans threw teddy "bears" on the ice during an Oshawa victory over Saginaw. Colbert then made a bet with Oshawa's mayor that if Saginaw lost, he would have to wear a Generals' jersey on his show. If Saginaw won, Colbert's birthday would officially be "Stephen Colbert Day" in Oshawa. Saginaw won, and now he is trying to make it so that the Oshawa mayor's birthday is "Stephen Colbert Day". Why can't every day be Stephen Colbert day? If I'm the NHL, I pay him money to keep mentioning hockey in a positive light.
-SFM-
January 17th Column
The New NHL uniforms will be awful. Or really great. If you ask the players, the opinion you'll get. From the proponents (The St. Louis Blues, surprisingly, considering who wears No. 7 on that squad) to the opposition (The San Jose Sharks) you have to truly wonder how much this is going to affect the NHL. Is it a good thing that players will be allowed to be portrayed as muscular symbols of mighty manhood? I suppose so. Is it worth sacrificing the sacred emblems that define our league? Absolutely not. From the Indian head (Chicago) to the blue note (St. Louis) to the winged wheel (Detroit) to the map of Long Island (Wanna Guess?), team logos are more than just a picture on a sweater, they define us as hockey fans, and as people. They stand out more than anything on any other paraphernalia in sports, and if they are interested in changing that, then I want no part of it.
So let's say the logos are kept the way they are, and what they've chosen to change is the horizontal stripes on the sweaters. Heresy! Teams like the Blackhawks, Devils, Rangers, Bruins, Maple Leafs and Canucks are so recognized by the horizontal stripage on their sweaters; to remove any of them would simply be too much for me to stand.
Why can't the uniforms just be form-fitting? Why must everything change?
Some good news is coming from this mess. Apparently, teams will go back to wearing white, and only white, at home next season. This also means that team's will FINALLY stop wearing third jerseys, though it's unknown if vintage sweaters will still be allowed since, after all, they resemble and form of tradition that our game once had.
The NHL On NBC returned to mostly good reviews from hockey fans, as it usually does. Fans tend to be more sympathetic to NBC than Versus because NBC is our network broadcaster, and we're used to shoddy work done by the Big 4. But NBC seems to care about hockey. They've given us more games, an online pregame show, and have not skimped on personnel decisions. They could've saved money and just let Bill Clement and Ray Ferraro work the studio, but they felt they needed someone to stir the drink in that studio. So they got Hull. As for my thoughts on the golden boy? He got us talking, and that's a good thing, trust me.
What NBC does is they give us the game, and while there may be a little more talking over it than your normal local telecast, this must be done to sell the game to people who probably have spent half the year watching football and ignoring us, and are probably watching a game for the first time this season because they haven't had a clue to where Versus is. Let them sell the sport, they seem to be doing a decent job of it.
NHL Center Ice customers, while treated to Hockey Day in Canada on Saturday, were surprised that when 2:00 p.m. rolled around, the coverage was blacked out. According to many dissatisfied customers, this was done under direct orders to shut off the telecast. Coincidentally, or not so much, the coverage resumed at the end of the Penguins-Flyers game. Hmmm. Anyway, I'm absolutely disgusted that this 8-3 blowout was not on my television so that I could not ignore it! How dare they!
The St. Louis Blues are a desperate team, and desperate times call for desperate measures. Enter into action Free Food Day at Scottrade Center. To get people out for the nationally televised game, they decided to offer free most-everything-non-alcoholic to the good people of the Gateway City. Nearly 18,000 showed up and saw an exciting game, which included the first Japanese player to ever grace the NHL ice: Yutaka Fukufuji. This just proves that every time you go to a game, you'll see something you didn't before.
God bless Mike "Doc" Emrick, he just keeps finding out things nobody knows. On Monday night's telecast of Montreal-Detroit, Doc told us that Canadiens forward Guillaume Latendresse is the first ever NHLer to wear the number 84 in a game. If you knew that before-hand, good for you, but I'll guess about 90% of the audience didn't. It's good to have a historian like Doc as the main voice of the NHL because, as mentioned before, he is a tie back to the great past that hockey has.
The NHL has to be anticipating some juicy playoff match-ups this spring. Right now, if the season ended today, they'd be able to put Rangers-Devils and Red Wings-Sharks on TV every other night in April. Minnesota-Anaheim and an exciting potential Lightning-Sabres set has the NHL looking forward to an interesting postseason. Of course, the way things are rolling now, we could end up with all six Canadian teams in the playoffs and New York, Boston, Chicago, Detroit and Los Angeles all out of it.
Christie Brinkley, as she has been on several occasions this season, was in attendance for the Islanders game on Monday against Tampa Bay.
The NHL All-Star Rosters have lost for me whatever credibility the game had before. No, I'm not going to cry Rory fowls 'till the end of time, but still, any hockey "All-Star" exhibition not including the following names: Jagr, Iginla, Kovalchuk, Hasek, Semin should be disregarded.
-SFM-
So let's say the logos are kept the way they are, and what they've chosen to change is the horizontal stripes on the sweaters. Heresy! Teams like the Blackhawks, Devils, Rangers, Bruins, Maple Leafs and Canucks are so recognized by the horizontal stripage on their sweaters; to remove any of them would simply be too much for me to stand.
Why can't the uniforms just be form-fitting? Why must everything change?
Some good news is coming from this mess. Apparently, teams will go back to wearing white, and only white, at home next season. This also means that team's will FINALLY stop wearing third jerseys, though it's unknown if vintage sweaters will still be allowed since, after all, they resemble and form of tradition that our game once had.
The NHL On NBC returned to mostly good reviews from hockey fans, as it usually does. Fans tend to be more sympathetic to NBC than Versus because NBC is our network broadcaster, and we're used to shoddy work done by the Big 4. But NBC seems to care about hockey. They've given us more games, an online pregame show, and have not skimped on personnel decisions. They could've saved money and just let Bill Clement and Ray Ferraro work the studio, but they felt they needed someone to stir the drink in that studio. So they got Hull. As for my thoughts on the golden boy? He got us talking, and that's a good thing, trust me.
What NBC does is they give us the game, and while there may be a little more talking over it than your normal local telecast, this must be done to sell the game to people who probably have spent half the year watching football and ignoring us, and are probably watching a game for the first time this season because they haven't had a clue to where Versus is. Let them sell the sport, they seem to be doing a decent job of it.
NHL Center Ice customers, while treated to Hockey Day in Canada on Saturday, were surprised that when 2:00 p.m. rolled around, the coverage was blacked out. According to many dissatisfied customers, this was done under direct orders to shut off the telecast. Coincidentally, or not so much, the coverage resumed at the end of the Penguins-Flyers game. Hmmm. Anyway, I'm absolutely disgusted that this 8-3 blowout was not on my television so that I could not ignore it! How dare they!
The St. Louis Blues are a desperate team, and desperate times call for desperate measures. Enter into action Free Food Day at Scottrade Center. To get people out for the nationally televised game, they decided to offer free most-everything-non-alcoholic to the good people of the Gateway City. Nearly 18,000 showed up and saw an exciting game, which included the first Japanese player to ever grace the NHL ice: Yutaka Fukufuji. This just proves that every time you go to a game, you'll see something you didn't before.
God bless Mike "Doc" Emrick, he just keeps finding out things nobody knows. On Monday night's telecast of Montreal-Detroit, Doc told us that Canadiens forward Guillaume Latendresse is the first ever NHLer to wear the number 84 in a game. If you knew that before-hand, good for you, but I'll guess about 90% of the audience didn't. It's good to have a historian like Doc as the main voice of the NHL because, as mentioned before, he is a tie back to the great past that hockey has.
The NHL has to be anticipating some juicy playoff match-ups this spring. Right now, if the season ended today, they'd be able to put Rangers-Devils and Red Wings-Sharks on TV every other night in April. Minnesota-Anaheim and an exciting potential Lightning-Sabres set has the NHL looking forward to an interesting postseason. Of course, the way things are rolling now, we could end up with all six Canadian teams in the playoffs and New York, Boston, Chicago, Detroit and Los Angeles all out of it.
Christie Brinkley, as she has been on several occasions this season, was in attendance for the Islanders game on Monday against Tampa Bay.
One, how can you not love a woman dressed in a white Potvin No. 2 sweater? (Take that, pink jersey-makers).
Two, where was her husband, the mites game dressing room or the ice girls dressing room?
The NHL All-Star Rosters have lost for me whatever credibility the game had before. No, I'm not going to cry Rory fowls 'till the end of time, but still, any hockey "All-Star" exhibition not including the following names: Jagr, Iginla, Kovalchuk, Hasek, Semin should be disregarded.
-SFM-
January 8th Column
Was there a meeting this week at the NHL HQ in New York where everyone just said, "OK, let's put the puck in the net a few more times." In 45 contests this week, NHL skaters tickled the twine 264 times, for an average of 5.8 per game this week; 14 games featured a team striking 5 or more times. The Sharks ripped off 9 unanswered against Detroit, who led 3-0 before the onslaught. The Maple Leafs outscored the Boston Bruins 15-3 in a home-and-home series on Monday and Thursday. Nashville scored 8 on Chicago on Friday. It just proves that scoring will be unpredictable in this league as it always has been, and that while the goals per game will never matter, the chances and opportunities and exciting play will continue.
Speaking of exciting play, where The Desert Dogs are 7-2-1 in their last 10 and all of a sudden have 40 points and leapfrogged Chicago to 10th in the Western standings and 5 points behind 8th place Minnesota.
What madness is this?!
Owen Nolan has regained some of that magic touch, guys like Doan, Saprykin, Sjostrom and Ballard are doing the things Phoenix thought they would all along, and this team is showing some backbone. What a comeback against the Thrashers in front of a packed house at Phillips Arena Friday night. Oh, and while we're on the 'Yotes, is there any play-by-play man more fun to listen to than Curt Keilback?
Not that I'm extolling the virtues of VERSUS lately, but kudos for getting up an all-HD channel this week. Well, not exactly. It's The Golf Channel HD from Noon-7 p.m. and then VERSUS from 7 p.m. 'till Noon the next day. But every NHL game on VERSUS until season's end will be on in HD (I still haven't gotten the channel yet, so who knows). It is high time, because originally the NHL On VERSUS wasn't scheduled to go HD in a game west of Dallas for the rest of the season. While The NHL On NBC sticks with the one game a week in Hi-Def system (more on that later), The NHL On VERSUS finally gives HDTV owners the action they desire.
Now on to the opening week of The NHL On NBC (Saturday, 2 p.m.) is starting this week. There won't be too many changes personnel wise, but here are 5 things that are new:
So for those interested, 60% of the U.S. will get the Penguins and Flyers. Oh boy, a team that may move next year and the worst team in the NHL. How fun. Emrick, Olczyk and McGuire will have that one. Dave Strader, Brian Hayward and Joe Micheletti will have the Rangers and Bruins from the Garden in whatever's left of the non-local markets. Finally, don't expect the Kings and Blues (as previously mentioned, Cuthbert, McNab and Pang have this one) to air anywhere outside Missouri and California. To be frank, the NHL could've done a lot better with this Saturday (Devils-Isles, Avs-Ducks and Blackhawks-Red Wings were all being played the same day) but they've gotten the best markets and players they could.
For those with digital cable and satellite, NHL Center Ice will have a free preview all week, and boy are you getting a treat, with Hockey Day in Canada being completely covered by Center Ice. That, plus all three NBC games, and just flat-out good hockey. I'm still annoyed that "Rooming with Roenick" never was picked up for another season, but this shall suffice.
And finally, say what you will about the lockout, but the salary cap was a must for the NHL. Look at the standings right now: 40 games left all-around, so we'll say 10 points or less in back of the 8th place team gives you a shot at the playoffs right now. Logistically, everyone's in it except for the Flyers and the St. Louis Blues, and St. Louis has gotten a point in eight of its last 10 games. So 28 teams, possibly a 29th, out of 30 in the hunt? It will keep arenas full and players fighting until April 8th, the final day of the year.
-SFM-
Speaking of exciting play, where The Desert Dogs are 7-2-1 in their last 10 and all of a sudden have 40 points and leapfrogged Chicago to 10th in the Western standings and 5 points behind 8th place Minnesota.
What madness is this?!
Owen Nolan has regained some of that magic touch, guys like Doan, Saprykin, Sjostrom and Ballard are doing the things Phoenix thought they would all along, and this team is showing some backbone. What a comeback against the Thrashers in front of a packed house at Phillips Arena Friday night. Oh, and while we're on the 'Yotes, is there any play-by-play man more fun to listen to than Curt Keilback?
Not that I'm extolling the virtues of VERSUS lately, but kudos for getting up an all-HD channel this week. Well, not exactly. It's The Golf Channel HD from Noon-7 p.m. and then VERSUS from 7 p.m. 'till Noon the next day. But every NHL game on VERSUS until season's end will be on in HD (I still haven't gotten the channel yet, so who knows). It is high time, because originally the NHL On VERSUS wasn't scheduled to go HD in a game west of Dallas for the rest of the season. While The NHL On NBC sticks with the one game a week in Hi-Def system (more on that later), The NHL On VERSUS finally gives HDTV owners the action they desire.
Now on to the opening week of The NHL On NBC (Saturday, 2 p.m.) is starting this week. There won't be too many changes personnel wise, but here are 5 things that are new:
1. Brett Hull, in the studio. For a guy who said he would find calling an actual game too monotonous, how his he going to be able to stand seeing three at one time? Seriously though, Hull could end up being a big waste of time if he isn't interested in talking about what he truly thinks.
2. Cammi Granato is out, Darren Pang is in. For those of you who will have the misfortune of watching the Kings-Blues tilt on the Peacock, Darren Pang will replace Cammi Granato as the Inside the Glass reporter for NBC's number three team, working with the always stellar Chris Cuthbert and the always annoying Peter McNab. Granato's hockey prodigy child with NBC studio analyst Ray Ferraro isn't old enough to pop onto the ice, so she won't be seen this year at least.
3. Eddie Olczyk is the new lead game analyst, working with Mike Emrick and Pierre McGuire. Replacing JD is a daunting task, and I'm not so dead set on Edzo being our representative to talk to the casual fan of hockey. As a Devils fans, I will say that JD is probably the best color analyst the game in America has ever had. His work in the Stanley Cup Finals, especially Game 7, cemented his place as one of the best American network analysts maybe ever. Good luck Edzo.
4. New graphics. NBC decided to go all-black with its graphics packages, so expect it to be much of the same for the NHL games, and expect an all new "Score-strip" at the top of the screen.
5. More games, and that's the most important thing for the NHL nationally. Nine times during the regular campaign, 10 during the playoffs. This is the most regular season coverage the league has had on a network since 1998, when Fox aired 11 games. It's the most playoff coverage the NHL has EVER had on network television, as every Saturday and Sunday of the playoffs will have a game on NBC. It's particularly important with VERSUS in fewer homes that the league get as much exposure as it can from NBC.
So for those interested, 60% of the U.S. will get the Penguins and Flyers. Oh boy, a team that may move next year and the worst team in the NHL. How fun. Emrick, Olczyk and McGuire will have that one. Dave Strader, Brian Hayward and Joe Micheletti will have the Rangers and Bruins from the Garden in whatever's left of the non-local markets. Finally, don't expect the Kings and Blues (as previously mentioned, Cuthbert, McNab and Pang have this one) to air anywhere outside Missouri and California. To be frank, the NHL could've done a lot better with this Saturday (Devils-Isles, Avs-Ducks and Blackhawks-Red Wings were all being played the same day) but they've gotten the best markets and players they could.
For those with digital cable and satellite, NHL Center Ice will have a free preview all week, and boy are you getting a treat, with Hockey Day in Canada being completely covered by Center Ice. That, plus all three NBC games, and just flat-out good hockey. I'm still annoyed that "Rooming with Roenick" never was picked up for another season, but this shall suffice.
And finally, say what you will about the lockout, but the salary cap was a must for the NHL. Look at the standings right now: 40 games left all-around, so we'll say 10 points or less in back of the 8th place team gives you a shot at the playoffs right now. Logistically, everyone's in it except for the Flyers and the St. Louis Blues, and St. Louis has gotten a point in eight of its last 10 games. So 28 teams, possibly a 29th, out of 30 in the hunt? It will keep arenas full and players fighting until April 8th, the final day of the year.
-SFM-
January 4th Special Edition
How VERSUS Had Failed the NHL
By Steve Lepore
Thursday, January 04, 2007
To: VERSUS
CC: NHL
From: Hockey Nation
-SFM-
By Steve Lepore
Thursday, January 04, 2007
To: VERSUS
CC: NHL
From: Hockey Nation
To whom it may concern,
I am an NHL fan. No, I am not a corporate fat-cat or a millionaire. I am just a regular guy who can afford to go to 10, at most 15 games a season. I someday hope to be a season ticket holder, but I watch hockey all the time and I spend most of my time either blogging about it or legitimately writing about it. I am a true hockey fan.
I have been a staunch defender of The NHL On VERSUS over its 15 months of existence, telling other hockey fans to give it a shot. We're going to build the next ESPN like we did with ESPN2 a decade ago, or like the NBA did with TNT. You get to hear Mike Emrick and John Davidson call the game of the week, instead of the same ol' Thorne and Clement. The post game shows will be all hockey, and so will the intermissions. We will be in a few million fewer homes at the start but hey, once they add another league, it will be in great shape and in as many homes as ESPN within a couple of years.
I, being the once-optimistic NHL fan that I was, and many others saw this as somebody taking interest in us. We welcomed you, while accepting your obvious defects as a network. Like the idea that you'd never covered a team sport before, much less a professional one. The 20 million fewer households, the inability to find you in the households you are in. But we accepted you because we felt you represented a change in hockey broadcasting.
To be fair, at the start, you did. You had the best people working the games, like Emrick and Davidson, Sam Rosen and Pierre McGuire. Bob Harwood was a revelation between the benches. Bill Clement had gone from dull-as-dirt analyst to dependable host. While most of us still couldn't find you, you were delivering us what we wanted: The games. Then we saw your coverage of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and were overwhelmed at the time you gave us, to show those same 5 "Legends of Hockey" episodes again and again! Just pounding into the viewer's mind how much better the game used to be.
Then came summer, and a chance to bid on broadcast rights for the NFL and MLB playoffs, two sure things for ratings if there ever were one. If you had landed EITHER, you'd be in 90 million homes today. I will let you slide on the NFL package; that was their stupidity to take the games to their own network. However, the NFL Network was considered a more prominent bidder for the MLB games then you were! You failed in one of your primary goals: to get the programming that would let you be able to take on ESPN.
Fine, you've still got us. But this year, you've passed up every opportunity to impress us. The ancillary programming is gone. More and more, we are stuck with listening to the listless Joe Beninati and Darren Eliot. The studio show is dull as dirt. You're not giving us nearly enough All-Star game coverage. You couldn't pick up ONE World Junior Championship game. You refuse to try and get the rights to AHL or college hockey. You promised us Hockey Central, you gave us a hockey phone booth. And you're still only in 70 million households!
So please -- and this is the point in the letter where I turn my attention to you, NHL -- take your product away from VERSUS. Head to Spike TV, which is in 80 million homes and would get promotion from the UFC and CSI reruns, and be mashed in with a brand that exudes testosterone as much as Dion Phaneuf. Go to the USA Network, where corporate synergy would work with your broadcast partners at NBC. Go to FX, and get Denis Leary to host the intermission report. I'm not saying go back to ESPN, but if you have to, do that.
Because, you see, The NHL On Versus IS a failure. Of SportsChannelian proportions. It has knocked us out of the consciousness of the casual sporting mind as much as boxing has by going to pay-per-view for big fights.
Go somewhere else. I do not care, just leave VERSUS. As soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Hockey Nation.
-SFM-
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