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Wednesday, May 14, 2008
For years, I've wondered what the origin of Detroit's claim to the title "Hockeytown" was. I assumed it had something to do with the glory days of the Red Wings when the likes of Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay, and Sid Abel skated in the Motor City. In a piece in today's WSJ called What Happened to Hockeytown? (sub req), we learn the cold truth:
After a dozen years of serving as the signature of the Motor City's sports fever, Hockeytown appears to have caught a cold. First conceived in 1996 as a marketing slogan aimed at revving up Detroit Red Wings fans starving for a Stanley Cup, Hockeytown evolved into part of the hardscrabble city's identity. Along the way, the team collected three championships. But after a generation of sellouts, the franchise is struggling to re-establish itself. So the whole "Hockeytown" mystique was nothing more than a marketing gimmick? For some reason I'm not surprised. I can recall the apathy of Detroit toward the Wings during the late Seventies and early Eighties when the team was struggling. The problem with such marketing gimmicks of course is that over time their appeal tends to fade even if the team continues to do well. So far the Wings have played nine home games in the post season, and Mr. Catallo hasn't bought tickets to a single one. He's not alone, either. With conference finals tickets starting at $75, the Wings have struggled to sell out Joe Louis Arena. At their last home game--a riveting 2-1 win Saturday over the Dallas Stars--swaths of red seats remained empty throughout the arena. Blocks of four tickets could be purchased online three hours before Game 2; blocks of 10 could be had before Game 1. Outside the arena, scalpers peddled tickets below face value. The whole concept of "Hockeytown" isn't about how good your team is on the ice. It's about how the city and fans embrace and support the game. The Red Wings also saw regular-season attendance drop nearly 6%, to an average of 18,912 fans, according to ESPN.com. That ranked them seventh in the NHL; they ranked second in 2006-07. I think it's safe to say that the "Hockeytown" title can officially be stripped from Detroit. It's time to move on from cheap marketing gimmicks and embrace a more authentic and genuine moniker that truly captures an area's passion for hockey. Something like "The State of Hockey*" perhaps. *Trademark Minnesota Wild 2000--Any reproduction or other use of "The State of Hockey" without the express written consent of the Minnesota Wild is strictly prohibited. Labels: Hockey Wednesday, May 07, 2008
The second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs proved to be a bit of a dud. Other than the four-overtime thriller that sent the Stars past the Sharks in six, the other series lacked excitement. Detroit throttled the Avs in four, proving just how pathetic it was that the Wild lost to the Avs in the first round. The Pens handled the Rangers without too much trouble in five games. While the Flyers taking out Montreal in five was an upset, it wasn't all that interesting of series. In summary, of the four second round series one was done in four games, two in five, and one in six.
Compare this to the first round where three series went the full seven games, three went six, and one each finished in five and four games respectively. Long series make for more drama, more intensity, and more interest. There's nothing better than a Game Seven, especially if it goes into overtime. Plus short series lead to ridiculous gaps in the NHL playoff schedule, as we're suffering through now with Sunday's Sharks-Stars game being followed by THREE DAYS of no hockey. Yeah, that helps create and hold interest. Let's hope that the third round matchups bring back the level of excitement that playoff hockey should have. I hate to say it, but I find myself in the uncomfortable position of pulling for Detroit in the Western Conference Finals. Two reasons: #1 The last three Stanley Cups have been won by Anaheim, Carolina, and Tampa Bay. If that doesn't make the hockey purist in you wince, I don't know what will. Thankfully, the only non-traditional hockey team still left in this year's Cup chase is Dallas. #2 From the perspective of purely entertaining hockey, the best Finals matchup would be Detroit and Pittsburgh. That would be a lot of fun to watch. Of course, I'd then be pulling for the Pens to knock off the Red Wings and win the Cup. In no less than seven games. Labels: Hockey Thursday, April 24, 2008
2008 MPLS/St. Paul International Film Festival--Pond Hockey:
SCREENINGS: THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 7:15PM; ST. ANTHONY (LIMITED SEATING) FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 7:00; OAK STREET--PARTY TO FOLLOW WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 7:30PM; ST. ANTHONY Director: Tommy Haines Pond Hockey examines the changing culture of sports through insightful interviews with hockey stars, experts, journalists and local rink rats who are all searching the open ice for the true meaning of sport. Labels: Hockey Friday, April 18, 2008
During the regular season, I didn't think the Wild television announcers were too bad. But after five playoff games, I don't know how much more of their cliché-riddled babbling I can take.
Here's one cliché that they (and certain Wild fans) should try: players make plays. It doesn't matter how many shots on goal you get. It doesn't matter if you "completely dominate" a period. If doesn't matter that you're "not getting any breaks." If you don't make plays, none of it matters. Last night, Jose Theodore made plays. Niklas Backstrom didn't. Yeah, I know. None of the goals were his fault blah blah blah. The bottom line is that Theodore made plays that saved what looked like sure goals, Backstrom did not. Andrew Brunette made a play. Yes, it was a bit of a lucky bounce. But he still finished it. As did Stastny. Gaborik didn't. Fedoruk didn't. You can continue through the Wild lineup ad nauseum (literally). If the Wild show up and make plays on Saturday, they can win and force a game seven. If they don't, their season is over. It's really very simple and doesn't require employing every clichéd excuse in the book. Labels: Hockey Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Earlier today, I took a run at Mark Kiszla's ridiculous piece on the Wild-Avs series that appeared in today's Denver Post. Now, Matt delivers the knockout blow in a letter he sent to Kiszla:
I know you didn't write that article - it had to be written by a 5th grader who's emotionally torn up over the home team's loss. I know a professional columnist couldn't possibly write such an ignorant article devoid of facts. It's also clear the author has never played hockey--on this point, I'm not sure if that fits your description or not. Both the Wild and Avalanche are more finesse than tough. Most teams get their nastiness from the blueline. Looking at the two teams defensive units, it's pretty clear Colorado has the more stout blueline as evidenced by its average penalty minutes per games played. I wouldn't be surprised if the Wild had the lowest penalized group of defensemen in the league. This wouldn't support your case though, so I can understand how you wouldn't do any research to see if your emotional tirade checked out with the actual facts.  You're going to say, but it's Minnesota's forwards (Simon, Boogaard, Fedoruk and Voros) that are the problem. You're making some ground up here, but taking a closer look at the two teams and one will find Colorado has 3 guys with more than 100 PIMs and the Wild with 2 (if you threw Salei into this mix [98 PIMs], the Avalanche would have 4 guys with more than 100 PIMs). If you were to exclude the goaltenders and look both rosters and its PIMs and GP, one would find the Avalanche average .72 PIMs/GP versus the Wild at .77 PIMs/GP over the course of the regular season. At this rate, the difference is almost statistically insignificant. Furthermore, I would argue that the regular season is more heavily refereed and so if the Wild were truly a "goon it up bunch" as you refer to them as, it would flow threw the numbers over 82 games. Additionally, don't lie to yourself - Simon didn't play the first two games of the playoffs and logged exactly 5 minutes and 50 seconds last night. Boogaard logged 3 minutes and 43 seconds last night and has averaged just over 6 minutes per game in these playoffs. Translation: these guys are never on the ice. Voros wasn't dressed in game one, played 7 minutes in game two and was then used much more in game 3 (+14 minutes) as a result of Parrish and Radivojevic going down with injuries. These guys don't get hurt - Voros doesn't play this series. So now we're talking the Wild have Todd Fedoruk to try and neutralize Cody McLeod and the idiot that is Ian Laperriere. You see, when you actually look at what's going on - Lemaire is dressing Boogaard and Simon only to serve as reminders for the opponent to be careful. Call it mental warfare if you will. Finally, over the 82 game regular season, your 'free-flowing-offensive-minded' Avalanche scored 227 goals - exactly 7 more than the 'goon-it-up-clutch-and-grab-defensive-minded' Wild. More unbelievable, you try and justify your tale because Minnesota is located in the upper-Midwest with cold winters and that the Wild uniforms are ugly. This is as bad as journalism gets - it's beyond amateur. I think you probably have a job only because your readership doesn't actually understand than game quite like Minnesotans (of which I'm not) - which of course allows you to write whatever nonsense you choose... And the linesmen are stepping in to stop the beating. By the way, the comments on Kiszla's article (378 at last count) are also priceless and almost uniformally dismissive: Could the Post please send Kiszla back to covering the latest in ladies handbags, and Major League Soccer's Colorado Rapids and let someone who knows something about hockey fill up space on the page. If you're looking for someone, there are thousands of 12 year old girls in Minnesota who would be much better suited for the job. Labels: Hockey
Up to this point, I've been holding back from writing anything on the Wild-Avs series. I thought it better to let the action on the ice speak for itself. So far we've had three hard-fought contests, all going into overtime, and all being decided by 3-2 scores. Solid Stanley Cup playoff hockey.
But then Mark Kiszla at the Denver Post decided to get a head start on "recreating '68" by consuming vast quantities of psychotropic drugs before writing this column on the series. How else to explain his complete detachment from reality? Let the mugging begin. It's the only way the Minnesota Wild can win. To advance in the NHL playoffs, the Avalanche must embrace the darkness. When playing this goon-it- up Wild bunch, hockey is a no-holds- barred battle of attrition, not skill. The only good thing that can be said about Minnesota's 3-2 overtime victory against Colorado was the game lasted so deep into the night that it ended past the bedtime of most kids who could be frightened by the way the Wild mauls all the beauty from the sport. Those who actually understand hockey saw a completely different game last night. Except for a few stretches (including too many power plays) when the Avs put pressure in the Wild end, the Wild for the most part controlled the game. They completely dominated the overtime and were clearly the better team. Minnesota, the land of 10,000 dead car batteries, has an inferiority about this hockey team. The Wild's style of play is as ugly and obnoxious as the uniforms, which look as if designed by a toddler who randomly pulled two crayons from the box of 64 and began scribbling. Here's a quick compare and contrast: Wild home and Avs home jerseys. Case closed. This hard truth makes the Wild faithful grumpier than they are after waking up to yet another subzero morning. But why deny what makes the team so successful? It figures. On a play that could have ended on an icing call, a weird, lucky bounce instead allowed the winning goal to be scored by Minnesota's Pierre-Marc Bouchard almost 12 minutes deep into the extra period. The Wild likes overtime, because it gives these grunts more time to knock the spirit from you with every cheap shot. Yes, it could have ended on an icing call if Brian Rolston (skill) hadn't hustled down the ice and beaten Jeff Finger (former SCSU Husky) to the puck and fed it to Pierre-Marc Bouchard (all skill). If you look at the three Wild goals last night, they all involved nice passing plays to guys who can finish. The play that Demitra made on the shorty was an unbelievable example of the finest of hockey skills. I missed the first Avs goal, but the second one--where Sakic knocked a weak backhander past Backstrom after an Avs player had fallen on top of him--was hardly a thing of beauty. By the way, how many times have the "skilled" Avs run the Wild goalie so far anyway? I know that the one last night was not intentional, but plenty more have been. At this point, Kislza's trip enters another dimension: When Avs forward Peter Forsberg turns his back, even for a second, he will get jumped and roughed up, in true back-alley fashion, by some Minnesota mugger. Or did you miss the assault on Forsberg during the second period by Wild defenseman Sean Hill, who owns the dubious distinction of being the first NHL player suspended from the league for steroids? Sniff, sniff. Are the big bad Wild being mean to sweet innocent little Peter Forsberg? The same Forsberg who has dished out more than his fair share of cheap shots over his career (ask Brendan Shanahan)? The same Peter Forsberg who Marty McSorely described playing against in The Code: The Unwritten Rules of Fighting and Retaliation in the NHL thusly? For instance, whenever I played against Peter Forsberg I knew that I was going to get slashed and whacked and chopped. The same Peter Forsberg whose diving skills were lauded in the The Code with this comparison? He has made embellishing almost an art form. Yes, Peter Forsberg is a skilled hockey player. He's also a skilled agitator, diver, and all around pain in the arse. He's the clichéd "guy you love when he's on your team and hate when he's on the other side." Weep not for Peter Forsberg. And speaking of cheap shots, Kislza's steriod snipe was real classy. Kislza continues to trip: The dark hockey arts are practiced by every member of the Wild. Even a player as remarkably talented as Minnesota center Mikko Koivu is not adverse to hacking and tripping when Colorado's Ryan Smyth is carrying the puck on goal. Clearly he's referring to the penalty called on Koivu last night when he had good defensive position on Smyth, who then dove toward the Wild goal over Koivu's legs and stick and got a cheap penalty call out of it. Apparently Kislza suffers from the same inability to distinguish legitimate penalties that the crowd at Pepsi Center exhibited last night when they booed every penalty called on the Avs and whined for a call every time the shadow of a Wild player crossed one of the beloved It's really too bad that a muddle-headed stoner like Kislza had to pen such an astonishingly ignorant piece and tarnish a series that was shaping up to be a classic. In the future, he should stick to a sport that he and his Colorado readers actually understand. The pow is really phat, dude--let's shred this half-pipe and then head in for a bipe and a dugan. Labels: Hockey Thursday, April 10, 2008
6-1? I haven't seen a Frozen Four butchering like that since '94 in Saint Paul when JB and I watched Lake Superior State slice and dice BU 9-1. My slim bracket hopes were dashed along with North Dakota's dream of a national championship.
UPDATE: Another shocker in progress as the Irish lead Michigan 3-0 after one. You know I thought the Wolverines had gay helmets, but those "golden domes" are the most God awful hockey lids I've ever seen. UPDATE II: Midway through the second, Michigan scores twice in fifteen seconds to cut the lead to one. We got ourselves a hockey game now. Labels: Hockey Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Stock the fridge. Take the phone off the hook. Settle in your favorite arse-groove on your couch. The Stanley Cup playoffs start tonight. Wild and Avs at 8pm.
Tonight, tomorrow night, and for weeks thereafter we get to watch NHL playoff games. Tomorrow night, we have the Frozen Four semis with the national championship game on Saturday. You gotta love this time of year. Labels: Hockey Monday, April 07, 2008
Good site here to keep track of your favorite Wild pugilist:
http://www.wildenforcers.com/index.php You can watch Avalanche player Ian (pronounced "een") Lapierre cheaply go after Marian (John Wayne) Gaborik in yesterday's game. It will be interesting to see which Wild enforcer gets to him first for payback when the playoffs open on Wednesday. Voros, Simon, Fedoruk, Boogie...so many to choose from. I'll go with Fedoruk. Labels: Hockey Friday, April 04, 2008
Check out this KO from last night's NHL activity:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFplN_FTMpE Labels: Hockey Thursday, April 03, 2008
All this talk by the Elder of fighting in the NHL has me missing my yoot, the Glory Days of fighting.
Check this one out from the late 80's (okay, so I wasn't exactly a yoot at the time) Bob Probert and Craig Coxe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FrpduV5vTU Players do not fight like this any more. Now it's all grabbing and ducking and clutching and hoping for the one big KO punch. Can't blame the dudes, I guess. But look at these two animals go at each other. They just stand there and throw, knowing that they are going to be tagged, hoping that they land more than the other guy and he'll go down. I can imagine both guys were thinking "Holy crap, I've hit this guy square in the face like 30 times now but he won't go down!" Labels: Hockey Wednesday, April 02, 2008
A quick example for you on why The Code: The Unwritten Rules Of Fighting And Retaliation In The NHL is such a great read. This is Rob Ray talking about fighting friends:
My best friend in hockey, Matthew Barnaby, I fought him three different times. We even went into business after I retired, and we own a construction company together up here in Buffalo. Once I knocked four of his teeth out. I will never forget it. He had been traded away to Pittsburgh, and during a game one time he was just running his mouth and he wouldn't stop yapping at our coach Lindy Ruff. I was just praying in the back of my mind that he would shut up before anything happened, but he didn't. So, sure enough, Lindy had finally had enough and he sent me out there after him. Hey, you can't disobey your coach in those situations, so I had to go out and fight him. I was actually really pissed at Barney because he knew that if he kept running his mouth the way he was that something was eventually going to have to happen. He just laughed about it afterward, but I thought his wife was going to kill the both of us. During his playing days, Rob Ray was one of the toughest guys in the NHL. He knocks out four of his friend's teeth durng a fight and what is he afraid of? His friend's wife. Classic. Labels: Hockey Monday, March 31, 2008
A few thoughts following this weekend's NCAA tourney action:
- As previously mentioned, it was a brutal weekend for prognostication. I went 6-6 and only have two of the Frozen Four teams. The good news is that I doubt if many people had a Frozen Four with BC, Notre Dame, North Dakota, and Michigan and I still could go 3-0 in Denver. - The Gophers loss to BC on Saturday wasn't surprising. At one point in the second period with the score tied 1-1 it looked like they had the Eagles on the ropes. But following a season-long pattern, they couldn't get the big goal when they needed it. The critical sequence of the game came when Barriball, Wheeler, and Carmen (I think) came down on a three on two. It was a great chance for the Gophs to score and take the lead, but they couldn't make the play. BC then went the other way and scored on a nice two on one passing play to go up 2-1. That was pretty much all she wrote. The good news is that the Gophers have found a goalie they can rely on and have developed a nice core of young defensemen. It forwards like White and Hoeffel can step up the scoring and the freshmen class delivers as expected, the Gophers should be back at the top of the heap next year. - The WCHA had a record six teams in the tourney, yet only one reached the Frozen Four. Meanwhile, the CCHA has two teams going to Denver and two more that played in regional finals. Top to bottom, I still think the WCHA is a stronger conference, but I will say that the top half of the CCHA is better than the WCHA. Next year's tourney should be seven CCHA teams, seven WCHA teams, BC, and one of the ECAC teams drawn from a hat. - The lack of television coverage is a disgrace. The opening weekend of the tourney used to be wall-to-wall college hockey. It was great to watch teams from around the country playing in venues that you don't normally get to see. This year--unless you had the Dish network--we had a total of TWO games available here in the Twin Cities. Not a good way to increase interest in the sport. Thanks NCAA. - The fact that Wisconsin--a team that finished below .500, sixth in their conference, and lost their two WCHA playoff games--was able to play on home ice and came within an eyelash of reaching the Frozen Four is also a disgrace. I understand the Pairwise rankings and I understand the attendance needs, but it's really hard to defend the integrity of the NCAA hockey tournament when you have something like that go down. Wisconsin probably did deserve to be in the tournament, but they did not deserve home ice. Labels: Hockey Sunday, March 30, 2008
Gameday final: UND 3, Wisconsin 2, OT.
It was a tough weekend for my picks and even tougher since I wasn't able to watch any of the action today. I only managed to get two of the Frozen Four right and North Dakota had to overcome a two-goal third period deficit to come back and beat Wisconsin. Hopefully, they will play better in Denver as my slim bracket hopes rest on UND winning it all. Labels: Hockey Saturday, March 29, 2008
When it comes to bureaucracy, few can match the NCAA. And when it comes to stupid bureaucratic policies that do far more harm (to the games and the fans) than good, they're in a league all of their own.
Two recent examples from the NCAA hockey tourney. Blog Police In The House: Upon picking up credentials yesterday, the NCAA required all media members to sign a three-page document on blogging restrictions. Ridiculous, yes. I'm allowed to update the blog three times per period and once at the end of the period. At first, the NCAA wanted to limit blogging because they felt it was a live representation of the game -- one that TV networks already paid for. (Do you really think anyone with access to the game on television is going to turn it off and sit on the computer and repeatedly click refresh on a blog?) Well, maybe Captain Ed... Yesterday, I'm told that blogging limits include every NCAA tournament. That is correct -- no blogging the Division II wrestling tournament. They feel that bloggers are getting away with a live representation of the game without paying for it. While the only people that would follow a Division II wrestling blog would probably be family of a competing wrestler, the NCAA would rather the family not be able to follow live coverage of their son since they are not going to make money off of it. So don't believe any garbage about the NCAA caring more about student-athletes than money. The idea that live-blogging could ever compete with live television coverage is ridiculous. What's even more ridiculous is that for most of us there isn't even television coverage available for most of the NCAA hockey games this year. More on Liveblogging, ESPN and the NCAA: Like I said yesterday, the NCAA will eventually lose this one, or back down. It's completely absurd epecially when you consider that ESPN is monopolizing the NCAA games. We've gone back 10 years with this tournament as a result. ESPN has the TV rights to all NCAA events. It bought them as a package. But in the last few years, they didn't have a natural home for regionals, so it would offer them up to stations around the country. Now, with ESPN-U in existence, ESPN is hoarding the games there - which would be fine, if anyone could get ESPN-U. Mainly, it's only people with the DirecTV sports pack. If you have Comcast Cable, forget it. Funny thing is, I've worked for both Comcast and ESPN in the past, and I have absolutely no love for Comcast or cable providers in general. In fact, they are pretty evil. But even if ESPN is "right" in its fight with Comcast, it doesn't make this situation right. Bottom line is, college hockey fans can't see the games. This is where the NCAA needs to jump in, but it hasn't. Instead, it invokes live blogging policies that has scared the be-jeezus from anyone wishing to live blog. Instead of trying to deliver more games to more fans (and maybe, I don't know actually try to promote the sport), the NCAA is spending its time and energy cracking down on live blogging. Bureaucracy at its worst. UPDATE: Bill e-mails with more: Liked your post on this subject. Lord is the NCAA ridiculous. Shhh...don't tell them about the forum at uscho.com where people provide scoring updates on college hockey games! Oh wait, it's probably okay to post about a game if you're watching on TV or on your computer - you just can't post about it if you're actually there. Regionals weekend used to be the best - usually six to eight games this weekend ... two on Friday, three or four on Saturday, and another one or two on Sunday. Load up the fridge with beer and stock the snack bar! Now we get whatever FSN North decides to pick up, which this year was only two games featuring Minnesota and North Dakota - two teams I see all season long anyway. Yeah, nice way to promote the sport. Good job NCAA and ESPN. Now that the Gophers are out, I'm wondering if we're even going to get to see the Sioux-undeserving Badger regional final today. No chance that we'd be lucky enough to see BC-Miami. Labels: Hockey Friday, March 28, 2008
Clarkson reaches East Region hockey final:
Shea Guthrie muscled his way through two defenders and backhanded a shot under the crossbar to break a tie and give Clarkson a 2-1 victory over St. Cloud State in a semifinal game of the NCAA East Hockey Regional at Times Union Center Friday. Lousy no-good Huskies. Nice call Sisyphus. UPDATE: Notre Dame 7 New Hampshire 3? This is not the start I expected. Lousy no-good Wildcats. UPDATE II: Nailing the Michigan score (5-1) provides a little consolation. UPDATE III: Spartans beat the Tigers 3-1. Sigh. A 1-3 day with one of my Frozen Four teams (CC) knocked out. A tough way to open for me. And for the WCHA which went 0-2. The CCHA meanwhile went three for three. It has to get better tomorrow, right? Labels: Hockey
Another great weekend of hockey on the horizon. The Wild wind down their regular season by taking on Vancouver tonight and Colorado on Sunday. And the NCAA tournament (the much sweeter sixteen) kicks off today at 3pm central when the pucks drops at the East Regional in Albany.
Unlike Sisyphus, I've actually enjoyed some measure of success with my NCAA brackets. Last year, I won a nice Alexander Ovechin jersey for coming out on top in a local pool. This year, I'll be gunning for another fabulous prize and, more importantly, adding to my vast reservoir of hockey cred. Once again, the St. Cloud Times Bracket Challenge is a great way to make your picks and follow your progress. And once again, a bunch of delusional Husky fans are picking SCSU to win the NCAA title (11% at last count). The toughest first round pick for me was SCSU against Clarkson. Normally, I would ALWAYS take a WCHA team over an ECAC squad, but the Huskies have a history of choking like dogs (pun intended) in the NCAA tourney. In fact, they've NEVER won a single game in the tourney. Yet this year some fans think they'll win the whole thing? Not bloody likely. Against my better judgment, I did go with SCSU over Clarkson by a score of 4-3. However, I wouldn't be shocked to see them wearing the choke collar once again. Since we started in the East, let's get on to the rest of that region's picks. Michigan has no problem with Niagara 5-1. Then they put down the Huskies 4-2 to reach the Frozen Four in Denver. In the West, New Hampshire defeats the Golden Domers 3-2 while hometown CC staves off Michigan State 2-1. CC then sends UNH packing and punches their ticket to Denver with a 3-2 win. In the Midwest, the back-in Badgers--probably the least deserving team to ever reach the NCAA tourney and get home ice--will lose to Denver 3-1. And there will be much rejoicing throughout the college hockey world. Meanwhile, North Dakota will run down the pretty boys from Princeton 4-2 setting up an all-WCHA regional final the way God intended. Denver looked great last weekend at the WCHA Final Five, but beating the talented Sioux twice in two weeks is a tough task. UND nips Denver 2-1 in OT to deny the Pioneers a chance to return home to the Frozen Four. Finally, the Nordeast. High-flying Miami should have little trouble grounding Air Force 5-2. Then the heart vs head game. The Gophers have had a nice run and good goaltending can make all the difference in the world (ask last year's champion Michigan State Spartans), but I think the lack of firepower--especially on the power play--will catch up to Minnesota on Saturday. Let's say BC 3-2. In the final, Miami will be too much for BC to handle and the Red Hawks will thrill the hockey fans of Ohio--all 63 of them--by reaching the Frozen Four. Which sets up an all WCHA/CCHA field in Denver. Not exactly a shocking prediction. Both semi games should be close and an overtime or two is a distinct possibility. I like Michigan to beat CC 3-2 and North Dakota to clip Miami 4-3 giving us a Wolverine-Sioux national championship matchup. This is the same final pairing that Sisyphus has, but unlike him I see North Dakota coming out on top 3-2. The Sioux have the most talented team in the country. If they can keep their heads and play smart, they should win it all. But they've shown a propensity for gooning it up this year. They got away with a lot of that in the WCHA. However, in the NCAA tourney the refs usually call a much tighter game and if the Sioux try to intimidate their way to a national title, they will fall short. If you spend too much in the box and give your opponent too many power plays, you will lose no matter how talented you are. I'm betting that wiser, calmer heads will prevail during the tournament and North Dakota will come through. Based on the behavior of the Sioux during the regular season, betting on North Dakota's better angels may turn out to be a foolish wager. Labels: Hockey Monday, March 24, 2008
What a great weekend for local sports on television. The Wild continued their quest for a Northwest Division title by taking on the Canucks on Friday night and the Flames on Saturday. A split of those two games along with their tie in San Jose gave them three of six points so far on a critical road trip.
Meanwhile, the Gophers--unlike the NIGP on his most recent job review--continued to exceed expectations by reaching the championship game of the WCHA Final Five. They fell to Denver 2-1 on Saturday night, but their two previous Final Five wins over SCSU (Thursday) and Colorado College (Friday) assured them a place in the NCAA tourney. All in all it was a great weekend for hockey. What, is there some basketball tournament going on or something? The field of sixteen for the NCAA Division One hockey tournament was released on Sunday. It includes a record six teams from the WCHA. Throw in four from the CCHA and you can see how far west the balance of power in college hockey has moved in recent years. The Gophers will face a tough challenge in their first game having to play Boston College in Worcester, MA (one of JB's favorite cities). But considering where they were at just a few weeks ago, everything is gravy at this point. Notre Dame's inclusion means we won't have to hear any whining from the NIGP about how unfair the Pairwise Rankings are. Said whining will begin after the Irish lose their first round game to UNH. According to all the analysis I've read, the selections did reflect the Pairwise Rankings and were pretty predictable. But the one obvious travesty is that the Wisconsin Badgers were invited. Yes, the 15-16-7 Badgers, who finished sixth in the WCHA, fresh of being swept by SCSU in the first round of the WCHA playoffs are in the NCAA tourney. And even better, they get to play their opening game in MADISON. Some might have a problem with a Gopher fan complaining of unfair home ice advantage given the numerous NCAA Regionals at Mariucci over the years that have featured the Gophers, but at least those Minnesota teams had an above .500 record. Having the Badgers in the tourney wouldn't be such am egregious affront to all that is good and holy if it was simply a matter of including them instead of one of those overrated Eastern schools. But the team whose bubble they popped was the Minnesota State Mavericks. The same Mavericks who finished fourth in the WCHA and lost a classic three game playoff series--with all the games decided in OT--to the Gophers. They don't get in and the Badgers do? Life is indeed not fair. Here's how College Hockey News and one of the committee members explains it: That leaves the final question--which those of us who follow the process know the answer to, but needs to be asked anyway: Why did a sub-.500 Wisconsin make it over Minnesota State. The answer, of course, is because Wisconsin had better Pairwise criteria--when all was said and done--than the Mavericks. But it does look funny to some. And should Wisconsin get in at under .500. "In all honesty, that's a discussion for the summer and our AHCA coaches meeting," Maturi said. "But the reality is, these are the directions we've been given (to follow the numbers). It's something the college hockey coaches have always wanted. It really takes it out of the hands of the committee as to who makes the field. As a result, there was no extensive discussion about it. "As challenging it might be to explain how they got there (to those unfamiliar with the process), how hard would it be to explain how they didn't get there when the numbers say they should....And I should mention, (Wisconsin) hosting had absolutely nothing to do with it." Cough, bulls***, cough. In the interests of justice, we can only hope that Denver destroys the Badgers in front of their besotted faithful on Saturday. In the meantime, there's plenty of time to work on your brackets. The road to Denver begins on Friday. Labels: Hockey
I was one of the critical naysayers when the WILD! picked up Chris Simon from the Islanders.
But Saturday night he proved me wrong with a great bout. Check it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzhLkmZOfoM Count the lefts that hit paydirt. The Elder Adds: I like Simon's fighting skills, but I can't believe how slow he is on his feet. When you watch him skate it's hard to tell if it's a live shot or a slow-mo replay. Lots of cement in them boots. Labels: Hockey Monday, March 17, 2008
This weekend's best-of-three WCHA first round playoff series between
The hockey itself was not great. The passing, stick-handling, skating, and shooting on display reflected the mediocre offensive skills of both teams. But those shortcoming were more than made up for by the grit, passion, and determination on display throughout the weekend. Did I mention the stellar goal tending from both keepers? The two teams could not have been more closely matched and it made for a fun, but nerve-wracking weekend of hockey. It started on Friday night, when the squads battled to a scoreless tie in regulation. It wasn't for wont of scoring chances. It was the two goalies coming up big again and again. The game finally ended in the second OT when the Gophers went on the power play and... ...the Mavericks scored a short-handed goal at the ninety-seven minute thirty-six second mark. For the game, the Gopher power play was a pathetic oh for five (more on that later). Alex Kangas stopped 44 Maverick shots and Mike Zacharias turned away 34 as he prophesied his way to a shutout. A heck of a game all the way around. Followed by Saturday's contest, where the Gophers drew even in the series with a goal by Mike Carman 7:33 into overtime giving them a 2-1 win. Another close game, another overtime, another goalie dual with Kangas stopping 27 of 28 Maverick shots and Zacharias 35 of 37 Gopher attempts. So it all comes down to Sunday night. No way we could get another overtime, right? [Dana Carvey doing his John McLaughlin voice] Wrong! [/Dana Carvey doing John McLaughlin voice] Try another double overtime, which finally ended with 3:01 remaining when Tony Lucia (who I had been savaging pretty much all weekend) poked a loose puck past Zacharias. Three OT games in a row with progressing scores of 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2. Great goaltending again, with Kangas stopping 44 shots and Zacharias 47. I thought the first goal that Kangas gave up was a little soft, but it's hard to rip a guy who had the weekend he did. He faced 119 shots and allowed 4 goals. A .966 save percentage ain't too shabby. Zacharias meanwhile saw 121 shots and only let 5 past him for a .959 save percentage. Those performances are outstanding any way you look at them. For a more Mav-centric look at the series, you can check out this blog, although I notice that it hasn't been updated since Sunday's game. Hmmm... The Gophers now move on to face St. Cloud State in St. Paul in the opening game of the WCHA Final Five (you think the tourney organizers might have been celebrating a bit on Sunday night?). It looks like they're probably secured a place in the NCAA tourney with last night's win (currently sitting at #11 in the Pairwise), but you never know how these things will shake out. If they hope to ensure that they keep playing past Thursday, they'll need the following against SCSU: - Kangas keeps playing great. He's been the bright light in what otherwise has been a pretty dismal season by Minnesota standards. No matter how the Gophers season ends this year, it looks like they've found a goalie for the future. If he stands on his head again, it wouldn't be surprising to see the Gophers trip up the Huskies. - The big names need to step up. Big names? Yes, they haven't all left early. It was nice to see Jay Barriball roof one on Sunday night, but the Gophers still need more from him and Blake Wheeler. Wheeler had a lot of shots in the series against the Mavs. Mostly shots from far out that posed little danger. He needs to go stronger and harder to the net and use his size and speed to create space for better scoring chances. - The power play against Minnesota State was about as potent as UN peacekeepers. I believe they were 0-13 during the series, gave up one shorthanded goal, and seemed to generate better scoring chances at even strength than with the man advantage. It was beyond anemic and reached the point where you almost wish they could decline the penalty like in football. I don't know what the exact answer is, but if they don't take advantage of power play opportunities (at least one!) against SCSU, it could be a long night on Thursday. Finally, there was this bracing news from Sunday night: Minnesota senior Tom Pohl is in intensive care following surgery resulting from an injury suffered in the Golden Gophers' double overtime victory over Minnesota State on Sunday in Mankato. Pohl sustained a skull fracture when his head hit the boards in front of the team's bench at 6:09 of the second period. The injury resulted in bleeding on the brain and Pohl was airlifted to St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester. Successful surgery was performed to stop the bleeding and stabilize the fracture. Pohl remains at the hospital for further observation. Our wishes for a full and complete recovery go out to Tom Pohl. Labels: Hockey Friday, March 14, 2008
The Opposite
Jerry : Yeah, I know; like yesterday I lost a job, and then I got another one, and then I missed a TV show, and later on they re-ran it. And then today I missed a train, went outside and caught a bus. It never fails! I always even out! Sigh. Another night, another frustrating shootout loss for the Wild. I know that his shootout numbers aren't great, but it's beyond me why you wouldn't have Gaborik take a turn. Oh and Rolston, that slap shot bit is played. Very played. But hey, at least they got a point out of it, right? Ever since the NHL adopted the shootout rules a few years ago, I've been of two minds on the matter. It's impossible to deny the excitement of the mano a mano showdown and the skills that you get to see displayed. And I like the idea of not having ties. But I've always been bothered by the fact that the "losing" team still gets a point. It just doesn't seem right. While mulling this over in more detail last night, I realized what really bothers me about it: the numbers don't add up. Professional sports (unlike economics) is or at least should be a zero-sum game. Two teams begin the contest. One wins, one loses. In professional baseball, basketball, and football (usually) this is how it works. At the end of the season, if you add up all the teams wins and losses (and occasional tie in the NFL) they balance out. No matter how individual teams do, there will be X number of games, 1/2 X number of wins, and 1/2 X number of losses. You know this at the beginning of the season and it is not subject to change. The NHL used to be this way (college hockey still is). There were two points available on the table at the beginning of each game. The winner would receive two. The loser zero. If the game ended in a tie, the teams split the points. But the total number of points available did not change. Each year there are 1230 regular season NHL games (thirty teams in the NHL playing eighty-two games each). That meant that there would be 2460 points available. It didn't matter how many games ended in a tie, that overall number stayed the same. Which allowed you to compare year over year point totals in a meaningful way. Now, consider what happens when a game goes into overtime. Suddenly, the skies open and another point is added to the pot. After battling for sixty minutes to win two points, the teams are now competing for five minutes (and maybe the shootout) to see how they split three. Now, every time a game goes into overtime, a point is added to the overall total available for the season. By my calculations, 234 such "extra" points have already been added this year. Next year, more may be added. Or less. So Detroit is having a great year with 100 points based on 47 wins, 18 losses, and 6 overtime losses. But what does this mean historically? How many of their wins would have been ties in the old NHL? The points just don't mean the same thing they used to. So what's the answer? Keep the OT and the shootout. But only award two points to the winner. If you lose in OT or the shootout, you get nada. If teams aren't good at shootouts, maybe this would lead them to take more risks in OT or the third period to win the game. This would also allow for more separation and meaningful games within the divisions. You want some intensity at the end of the season? Ensure that the games are two point swings instead of the one point advantage that we see too often today. For the sake of numerical balance and symmetry, the NHL needs to even it out. Labels: Hockey Monday, March 10, 2008
Saturday night, I attended the Gopher hockey game with the Nihilist In Golf Pants. It was the last home game of the season for the squad and the first game that I've been at all year. Fittingly, the Gophers played lazy, lackadaisical hockey and lost to the UMD Bulldogs 3-2. The outcome of the game didn't impact their standing in the WCHA (seventh place), but it was not the way they wanted to close out the regular season.
Other than a couple of decent scraps (much more of that in the WCHA this year), there wasn't a lot to get excited about. As a substitute for action on the ice, The Nihilist spent most of his time thinking and talking about food. What was and what was not available at the Mariucci Arena concessions (and how much it cost) became something of an obsession for him. After he was unable to find potato chips early in the evening, he noticed the Old Dutch logo on the boards. That set him off on a flurry of denunciation, speculation, and promises of recrimination. The only thing that saved Joe Maturi from receiving an torrent of abusive e-mails, phone calls, and internet hit pieces was The Nihilist discovering--between the second and third periods--that the Famous Dave's stand did indeed carry potato chips. Old Dutch in fact. My personal highlight of the evening came in the third period when the Subway giveaway was announced. During each game, everyone seated in a particular row in a particular section receives a free Subway sandwich. We were seated on the aisle in row eight of section eleven. Saturday's winners of the free Subways were in row eight of... ....section ten. When the people across from The Nihilist (no more than four feet away) realized that they were going to be the recipients of free Subway they began to celebrate and carry on. The Nihilist reacted as if his dog had just been run over by a car. Crestfallen doesn't even begin to describe the look on his face. Of course, being a caring and sensitive type, I leaned over and sympathized, "Wow. You were that close to getting a free sub. That's a shame." Labels: Hockey
Trent from St. Paul writes in regarding the public school/private school debate we had last week regarding the state high school hockey tournament:
First off, I love you guys and check your site at least several times a day. You present the perfect mix of non-suspect politics, sports, and alcohol. especially appreciate the recent links to hockey fights -- keep 'em coming! I just wanted to comment on your hockey tourney observations. I grew up in Woodbury, but attended Hill-Murray High School. As a youngster, I played hockey in the Woodbury Athletic Association (our teams always *ahem* sucked). When my big sister went to Hill-Murray (she is 8 years older than I), I knew where I wanted to play. Aside from being Catholic and wishing to attend Catholic schools, I was attracted to Hill-Murray -- and I know this is a revelation for some, so hold on -- because the hockey program was so successful. I know, I know, heady stuff for a kid who dreamed of playing in the NHL. Was I recruited? Yes -- when I was in 8th grade playing for the Woodbury Athletic Association traveling bantam team, I was approached by a Woodbury coach at the time (who I will not name). He asked me to reconsider my decision to go to Hill-Murray and guaranteed me a spot on the Woodbury varsity team as a freshman, even dangling the promise of a letter jacket in front of my slightly zitty adolescent face. My response? Why would I want to play varsity for a school with such a terrible hockey program where no college or NHL recruiters would take notice? I did go on to play for HM. Does Hill-Murray recruit? No. Why would they have to? When you build a successful program, there is no need to recruit. Some of the reasons a school like HM would attract students away from the closest public school: --Catholic faith-based education --Hill-Murray's enrollment for grades 8-12: approx 1,000 students --Student/Teacher ratio: 14:1 --Academics: Cited by ACT as one of 382 schools nationwide for rigorous coursework --Athletics: State Hockey Champs (again) How do you like me now? Anyway, I'm rather ecstatic the Pioneers are State Champs again, and glad Woodbury's hockey program is flourishing. Thanks for listening. Labels: Hockey
St. Mary's, Marquette are co-champs after 1-1 tie:
After eight overtimes in the Division 1 state championship hockey game Saturday, players from both Marquette and Orchard Lake St. Mary's huddled together, posed for pictures and lifted the state championship trophy. The score was 1-1 after 109 minutes of play, and the Michigan High School Athletic Association declared co-champions. Weak. Although in fairness to the Wolverine state, I can easily imagine our weenie high school athletic leaders doing the same thing. Labels: Hockey Thursday, March 06, 2008
Update from the Minnesota State High School Hockey tournament, the alma mater of the other three contributors to this fine blog defeats my alma mater:
2A quarterfinals: Benilde eliminates Woodbury 4-1 Isn't the lifetime handicap of an inferior public school education enough for you people? You have to crush our dreams in sports too? How much is enough for you? How many boats can you water ski behind? That's it, I'm voting for Obama. The Elder Throws A Butt End: You're whining about the exclusive suburban enclave of Woodbury losing to a small Catholic school? Please. Enrollment at Woodbury (grades 10-12)? 1847 Minnetonka (9-12)? 2600 Eden Prairie (9-12)? 3267 Lil' ol' Benilde only has 1124 students for grades 7 through 12. Instead of mourning the demise of another Goliath, you should be cheering for David. SP WHISTLES A PENALTY: Yes, but it's not like BSM is taking from a geographically limited population base. Like any exclusive private school, they draw from all over and of course recruit, I mean just happen to attract, the finest players in the area. Poor lil' ol' Hill Murray has been doing that to Woodbury's finest for years (what's their head count?). Which makes me suprised to see the scrappy, proletarian Woodbury *ahem* Royals at the State Tourney at all. Even in loss, its a victory for the people! You cake eater! O-ba-ma! The Elder Comes Out Of The Box Like Dino Going After Tim Trimper: Two words for you my friend: open enrollment. Unless you think it's just a coincidence that year after year Hopkins gets all the good basketball players, Eden Prairie gets the best gridiron talent, and all those parents from International Falls are being offered jobs at Marvin because they're window experts, you have to acknowledge that recruiting is not limited to private schools. By the way, it looks like those working class "Royals" (whose coat of arms no doubt includes the $) in Woodbury are doing okay for themselves. According to CNN Money Magazine the Median Family Income (per year) in 2006 was $95,695 and the Median Home Price was $250,000, Come to think of it, I guess that does sound like the demographic sweet spot for Obama supporters after all, doesn't it? Labels: Hockey Thursday, February 28, 2008
James from Folsom e-mails with a conundrum and asks what happens in a state...
Where hockey meets fiscal responsibility? Curious about your view on this: A Minnesota State Senate committee has approved a $1 billion public works bonding bill Tuesday which included funding for three Division I hockey arenas.My first reaction was as a hockey fan, which is probably in conflict with my fiscal conservatism. They are not arenas for professional teams, but for public universities, so it is not arenas for billionaires. But does the State of Hockey really need to be spending this money now? On the other hand, the new arena for BSU might be critical to saving the program as their hockey conference is nearing collapse and they need the arena if they ever are gonna get into the WCHA. Ultimately good for hockey, but for the taxpayers? These are definitely the issues that try fiscally conservative hockey fans' souls. As James mentions, since these are facilities for college and not professional teams, you can argue that the state has a legitimate role in funding them. However, with the economy slumping and the state of Minnesota facing a billion dollar deficit, you can also argue that the money might be better spent (not spent is apparently not an option) elsewhere. In the spirit of compromise that seems to be sweeping the land these days, I'll spilt the difference. BSU needs a new rink and they should be encouraged to stay at D1. The DECC in Duluth is badly in need of a facelift and the 'Dogs deserve a decent facility. But I think the good people of St. Cloud (and King Banaian) can live with their concrete mausoleum for a while longer. Check back with us after you've won A SINGLE NCAA playoff game. And spending $10M to build a rink for a DIII school is silly. Sorry Crookston, no sale. James closes his e-mail with: PS: Chris Simon? Chris F***ing Simon? Yes James, Chris F***ing Simon. And no James, for Wild fans there is no Santa Claus. Just another lump of coal. SP BRAVELY DISSENTS: There is no legitimate role for the government in building facilities for amusement or entertainment. If BSU or UMD or the Gophers feel they need multi-million dollar arenas to stage their precious little games, they need to find a way to pay for them without including the taxpayers. Student fees, ticket sales, endowments from proud alumni (does BSU or UMD have any of those?), bake sales, whatever voluntary means you can find. If that's not enough to cover the cost, that is sufficient reason to cancel the project due to lack of demand. The Elder Draws A Retaliation Penalty: How patriotic of you SP. I recall you were singing a different tune a few years ago when you were calling for state financing of a new theater at the U to host the Riverdance tour. I think this bumper sticker that I saw on Sisyphus' car nicely sums it up: It will be a great day when our D1 schools get all the money they need for hockey rinks and the Air Force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber. Labels: Hockey Monday, February 25, 2008
Hockey Fan, and Investor, Buys Bauer From Nike:
As a child in Montreal, W. Graeme Roustan regularly received hand-me-down Bauer hockey skates from his older brother, and he has continued to buy Bauer Supreme skates ever since. But on Thursday, Mr. Roustan, now a private equity investor in Florida, made a bigger purchase, buying the Bauer operation from Nike for $200 million. Mr. Roustan, whose holdings include companies that make ice rink equipment, spoke of his passion for the Bauer name on Thursday, but there was much less excitement for Nike shareholders. The price paid by Mr. Roustan and Kohlberg & Company, an investment firm based in Mount Kisco, N.Y., is well below the $395 million Nike paid for Bauer in 1994. You buy an asset, hold it for fourteen years, and sell it for HALF the price you paid? That's almost as bad as McClatchy's "investment" in the Star Tribune. When Nike acquired Bauer, inline skating was at its faddish peak in the United States. A critical component of the company's strategy was to transform that into a following for hockey played on concrete using inline skates. But inline hockey did not develop as anticipated. More important, Nike learned that performance was more important than styling flair in hockey gear. This ain't basketball people. Eventually Nike corrected its product missteps and maintained Bauer's lead in the skate market. But its early products made the Nike brand the hockey industry's rough equivalent of the Edsel. Eventually Nike was killed as a stand-alone hockey brand; only its swoosh logo now appears next to Bauer's name on products. As someone who once owned a pair of Nike hockey skates (hangs head in shame), I can testify to their lemony qualities. I didn't buy them because of their Nike "flair" though. I bought them because they were greatly discounted and I couldn't pass up the "bargain." It was yet another painful (literally) lesson in getting what you pay for. It's nice to see the good name of Bauer back in the hands of someone who knows hockey. Labels: Hockey Monday, February 18, 2008
This is a doozy from the Russian Super League involving the same Traktor Chelyabinsk team that I saw in person a few months ago. No fights in that contest, but this bench-clearer more than makes up for it. Look for the nice sweater pull move and post-fight celebration.
Labels: Hockey
In yesterday's New York Times, Charles McGrath looked down from high on his East Coast perch and declared the days of outdoor hockey over. For everyone:
In the New England of my youth, back when we still had winter, ice--the kind you skate on--was as reliable as the calendar. It usually turned up overnight, smooth and glistening, the week after Thanksgiving, and it lasted, with perhaps a minor thaw or two, until Washington's Birthday at least. What you did every day back then was skate--which is to say, play hockey. After school, your mom dropped you off at the pond, the lake, the frozen river, the flooded playground, and she picked you up when it was dark. On Saturdays she made you a baloney sandwich to take along, but by the time you remembered to eat it, it was it was frozen hard as a puck. Almost no one skates outdoors in New England anymore. People seldom do it even in Canada or Minnesota. For hockey players the indoor area has long replaced the backyard rink or the frozen prairie slough as the incubator of future talent, and even in those northerly climes skatable outdoor ice has become an uncertain commodity. Around here it's like oil, so scarce that its value goes up every year. Hmmm....as someone who A. lives in Minnesota and B. has more than a passing interest in outdoor hockey, I have to call Mr. McGrath on his ill-informed observations. This year has been the best year for outdoor hockey in Minnesota in at least TEN YEARS if not more. We had early ice and we've had consistently good ice all season long. In fact the City of Minneapolis has just extended their outdoor ice operations for another week because of the favorable weather. I know a group of guys who've been getting together every Saturday morning in the winter to skate (and drink Pabst Blue Ribbon) for years and this is the first year in some time that lack of cold weather hasn't been a problem at all. The only week that they weren't able to play was because of snow, not warm weather. If I look out the front window of our house, I can see the neighborhood rink. And it's been open longer and used more this year than any other time in the last eight years. I haven't been able to get out nearly as much as I would like, but when I drive past rinks and ponds in the Twin Cities this year, I nearly always see people skating or playing pick up hockey. While McGrath's piece does capture some of the joys of playing outdoors, his conclusion is drearily predictable: But it wasn't nearly as much fun as skating outdoors. Nothing is--or nothing you do in daylight, anyway--and it's sad to think that the practice could one day die out, another casualty of global warming. Perhaps Mr. McGrath should have been in Minnesota in January, when over a thousand skaters braved FIFTEEN DEGREE BELOW ZERO weather to play in the US Pond Hockey Championships. The only talk of global warming I heard there was sarcastic suggestions that Al Gore should have come out and dropped the opening puck. It's interesting to note that anecdotal evidence that supports global warming is nearly always mentioned in the media, while anecdotal evidence--like this year's winter in Minnesota--that may call it into question is usually ignored. Labels: Hockey Monday, February 11, 2008
But he did have a close call last night:
Florida Panthers forward Richard Zednik required lifesaving surgery after severing his carotid artery, his agent told The Associated Press on Monday. Zednik was in stable condition while recovering at a Buffalo hospital after losing a significant amount of blood during Sunday's game at Buffalo, agent David Schatia said. Schatia didn't have further details because he had just arrived in Montreal following a trip oversees. Zednik was sliced across the right side of the throat by teammate Olli Jokinen's skate in a frightening accident midway through the third period of Buffalo's 5-3 victory.... ...Zednik was circling the net behind the play and skating into the corner just when Jokinen was upended by Sabres forward Clarke MacArthur. Jokinen fell headfirst to the ice, and his right leg and skate flew up and struck Zednik directly on the side of the neck. Clutching his neck, Zednik left a trail of blood as he somehow had the capacity to race three-quarters the length of the ice to the Panthers bench. He nearly fell into the arms of trainer Dave Zenobi, who immediately placed a towel on the player's throat. With the help of defenseman Jassen Cullimore, Zednik was escorted up the tunnel behind the bench and loaded into an ambulance. That's a frightening injury. You sometimes forget just how sharp those blades are. I remember when Clint Malarchuk suffered a similar injury and the pools of blood on the ice. I forgot how fast he came back from it: Amazingly, after receiving more than 300 stitches to close the wound, Malarchuk returned to practice four days later, having spent only one night in the hospital. And about a week after that, he was back between the pipes against the Quebec Nordiques. "Doctors told me to take the rest of the year off, but there was no way", Malarchuk said. "The longer you wait, the harder it's going to be. I play for keeps." Our best wishes go out to Zednik for a similarly speedy recovery, both physically and mentally. Labels: Hockey Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Nike Puts Bauer Hockey Equipment Unit Up for Sale, NYT Reports:
Nike Inc. put its Bauer hockey equipment unit up for sale, having failed to promote the brand, the New York Times reported. Selling Bauer, which has annual sales of $160 million and was acquired from Canstar Sports in 1994 for $395 million, isn't expected to affect Nike's financial results, the newspaper said. Analysts said Nike may be unable to recover even half the amount it paid for Bauer, according to the Times. Ouch. Growing up and until quite recently, I was always a Bauer skates guy. In those days, it usually came down to Bauer or CCM, although a few rebels would opt for something outside the mainstream like Daoust (with blue blades for the truly daring). Now, I'm quite happy with my pair of Eastons. I actually tried a pair of Nikes some time back. It was not a happy consumer experience. Best case scenario would be for someone with a true interest in hockey to buy Bauer. Anybody got a spare $200 mil laying around? Labels: Hockey Monday, January 21, 2008
A few pics from last weekend's frigid US Pond Hockey National Championships.
A sunny day at the beach:  No need for a lifeguard:  The sun was bright if not necessarily warm:  Lucky Number Thirteen?  You can't play if you don't shovel:  The goal that everyone seeks:  While it looks pretty straight-forward, finding the twelve-inch wide openings on either side of the goal is trickier than it appears. Pond hockey is definitely a different animal. Speaking of animals, here's a shot of one very motley crew:  There's no doubt that we were the best one and three team in the tourney. Well, almost no doubt. Labels: Hockey Saturday, January 19, 2008
The air temp when the puck dropped for our first game this morning at the US National Pond Hockey Championships? A chilly minus fourteen. That ain't windchill, that's straight up temperature.
It was cold enough to freeze up the generator in the main warming house tent, which meant no heat until later in the morning. I was able to find space in another building to get dressed, but not everyone was so lucky. As players straggled out onto the frigid ice, in some ways we resembled the German troops who arrived at the gates of Moscow in 1941 completely unprepared for the Russian winter. Under our helmets, there was a variety of mismatched clothing employed to stave off the cold. Hats, hoods, headbands, masks, skull caps, scarves, kerchiefs, etc, I swear one guy was wearing a part of his kitchen curtains. Many faces bore the oily sheen of petroleum jelly. Some used hand and feet warming packets. It was a battle to stay warm, but one well worth fighting. And you know what? It wasn't that bad. Part of it is probably the expectation of extreme cold that you build up. When you experience the real thing it can't possibly live up to the hype (yes, I have been watching the local news). The other thing is that once you start playing, get your legs moving, and are in the heat of the action, you don't think about the cold. It's really a non-factor. By the time each of our games ended today, I was drenched with sweat and not in the least way cold. The coldest parts of the day for me were walking from the car in the morning and back in the afternoon. In between, out on the lake I was completely comfortable. The best part of the pond hockey championships is playing hockey (of course), making new acquaintances, and renewing old ones. The fact that there's a beer garden in the warming tent doesn't hurt either, The fact that said beer is Summit Extra Pale Ale and nothing but Summit EPA is icing on a very frozen, but delicious cake. Labels: Hockey Friday, January 18, 2008
Game one down. We didn't win, but the weather really wasn't that bad. I was actually quite cozy out on the lake. The ice was already pretty bad though. Game two this afternoon. Maybe I'll lose one of the layers by then.
Labels: Hockey Thursday, January 17, 2008
It's January. It's Minnesota. And it's cold. That must mean it's time for the third annual U.S. Pond Hockey Championships. For the second straight year the battle for the Golden Shovel will be played out on the frozen ice of Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis. And for the third straight year, I will be lacing 'em up, although not with the same squad as the previous two years. Apparently there was a registration snafu, the snafu in question being our captain who missed the registration deadline. Lucky for me, another team was looking for a skilled player with experience to fill in. One out of two ain't bad.
This year's tourney may be more about survival than skill anyway. The forecast high for our two games tomorrow is 6 degrees above zero. Which will seem downright balmy compared to Saturday when the HIGH temp for the day is expected to be 3 below zero. We have another two games that day, both before noon which means we'll probably be lucky to see -6. And don't even get me started on the wind chills which are predicted to hit between -28 and -38. There's not a lot of shelter out on the open ice of a lake either. These are the kind of conditions that separate the men from the boys. And may turn some of the men into boys if they don't protect certain sensitive areas. Lots of layers baby. If you take a look at the rosters you'll notice a score of familiar names with D1 and even some NHL experience. In the past couple of tourneys, teams loaded with such talent haven't been the ones that came away with the coveted Golden Shovel. However, if you're looking for a squad with a roster that you'll recognize, consider Johnny Upton & Associates: Nick Checco Larry Olimb Brian LaFleur Dave Paradise Dusty Anderson Corey Peterson Not as many team names stand out this year. You've got the return of "Snakes on the Pond" and the timely "Subprime." But my favorite entry has to be "Big Test Icicles" (think it about--Packer fans may need some assistance), a name which may well be very descriptive of what it takes to survive and thrive on the frozen pond this year. It's too bad that Hugh is so busy carrying water for Mitt that he can't fulfill his duties as Minnesota Hockey Commissioner on the ice. He could be doing his show live tomorrow from Lake Nokomis. That would truly be Hugh Hewitt On Ice. Oh well, there's always next year. It's not like he'll be doing anything during the Inauguration. Labels: Hockey Thursday, January 10, 2008
Leipold buys Minnesota Wild:
Minnesota Sports & Entertainment, the parent company of the National Hockey League's Minnesota Wild, has agreed to sell the Wild and all related entities to Craig Leipold, former owner of the Nashville Predators. Terms of the sale were not disclosed; the final sale still requires NHL approval and is expected to close within the next few months. Wild majority shareholder Bob Naegele and his fellow investors paid $80 million for the Wild's NHL expansion rights in 1997. Forbes magazine now estimates the team's value at $180 million. Naegele said at a press conference that he and other existing investors will retain some interest in the team. Wisconsin native Leipold, a businessman and hockey enthusiast, sold the Predators to a group of Tennessee investors for $193 million last month and rumors of his interest in buying the Wild have swirled for months. When is someone going to step up and do something about these foreign interests coming in and buying up our most critical assets? Labels: Hockey Thursday, January 03, 2008
I'm not usually one to be swayed by advertisements and it's rare that I experience an ad that seems directed especially at me. So when I saw this ad copy in the latest USA Hockey magazine, it definitely caught my attention:
Full Day At Work. Few Hours With The Kids. 30 Minutes To The Rink. 9:00PM Game. Will You Be Ready? Damn, that hits close to home. Almost too close. The next 'graph really sealed the deal: This isn't like all the other energy drinks you've tried. Slapshot Energy is geared to help you release your natural energy for a Saturday afternoon game and those late-night league rivals. We don't load you up with tons of caffeine and sugar so you can get to sleep afterwards. Because we all know you're gonna have to get up tomorrow and do it all over again. Bullseye. Slapshot Energy shoots and scores. Labels: Hockey |
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