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.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
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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