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Monday, March 23, 2009
This time of year you can't escape the talk about "March Madness." It's impossible to deny that the annual NCAA basketball tournament has firmly established its place on the current American pop culture landscape. The schools, the games, the players, the television coverage, the analysis, the brackets, and the betting have become a sports phenomena that only seems to getting more popular with each passing year.
It's also impossible to deny that the interest in college hockey pales in comparison. Far fewer schools have hockey programs and the sport itself is still largely regional in the followers it attracts. Only diehards fill out NCAA hockey brackets and the television coverage of the hockey tournament and the audience it attracts is a but a small sliver of the attention that basketball garners. Having said all that, I still find these attendance numbers from last weekend at least worthy of mention. Thursday night WCHA Final Five play in game between Minnesota and Minnesota-Duluth: 17611 Friday afternoon WCHA Final semi-final between Denver and Wisconsin: 14722 Friday night WCHA Final Five semi-final between North Dakota and Minnesota-Duluth: 17729 Saturday afternoon WCHA Final Five third place game between North Dakota and Wisconsin: 15254 Saturday night WCHA Final Five championship game between Denver and Minnesota-Duluth: 16749 These numbers are taken from the box scores of each game. From what I understand from people who were done at the Xcel Energy this weekend, the crowds were lighter than usual so I assume these figures are based on tickets sold. Still, considering that the hometown Gophers only played in one game, the average attendance of 16,413 is pretty good. With all the hype and attention that the NCAA basketball tournament receives, you would have imagined that hoops fans in the Twin Cities would have been ecstatic to learn the one of the regional sites for the opening rounds of 2009 big dance was the Metrodome in Minneapolis. And with North Dakota State bringing regional interest and big names like Kansas and Michigan State among the eight schools in the bracket, you might have expected that these fans would turn out in droves to catch the action in person. Again, let's go to the box scores. Thursday afternoon NCAA basketball regional session: 15794 Thursday evening NCAA basketball regional session: 12814 Sunday afternoon NCAA basketball regional session: 14279 So even on Sunday afternoon, with the prospect of a ticket to the Sweet Sixteen on the line, only slightly more than 14,000 people showed up at the Dome? I guess all the blue seats we were seeing on television were an indication of the crowd and not just the size of the venue. Like I said, I'm not drawing any grand conclusions from these numbers, I just find them interesting to consider. Labels: Basketball, Hockey Tuesday, March 10, 2009
The most venerable trophy in sports is coming to town:
The The Shjon Podein Children's Foundation (AKA: Team 25) is bringing the Stanley Cup to MN on March 23rd and 24th for a "Charity Cup Tour." We are excited to bring this opportunity to the great hockey fans of MN and at the same time help out a great cause, our local food shelves. In these challenging times, it is important that we come together to support the basic needs of our own communities. Shjon will have the Stanley Cup at the St. Louis Park Rec Center on Monday March 23 from 2:00pm-6:30pm and then at O'Gara's Garage in St. Paul (adults only) on Monday from 9pm-12am. Shjon and the Stanley Cup will then travel to Rochester, MN on Tuesday March 24th and will be at Graham Arenas from 2:00pm-7:00pm and at McMurphy's Sports Bar in Rochester from 9pm-12am. We ask that you make a cash donation to have a photo taken with the Cup. Donations taken will benefit the Second Harvest Heartland Food Bank in the Twin Cities area, Channel One Food Bank in Rochester, and Families Serving the Troops through O'Gara's. (Brian Leighton of G.B. Leighton will play an acoustic set at O'Gara's on Monday night at 9pm, further entertainment tbd.) Interestingly enough, after Podein won the Stanley Cup (which JB used to irreverently refer to as the "Stanley Strap") with the Avs in '01, my wife had a chance to see the prize up close and personal when the bachelorette party she was with happened to cross paths with Podein, who--in the great tradition of NHL champions--was escorting Lord Stanley's trophy about town. Needless to say, she wasn't nearly as impressed by the chance encounter as I was. This is a great opportunity for local hockey fans to catch a glimpse of hockey history and help a very worthy cause. Labels: Good Works, Hockey Tuesday, February 17, 2009
It's not easy being a hockey fan in Minnesota these days. The inconsistent Wild are struggling for the eighth and final playoff spot in the wild Western Conference. Their scoring is spotty and their defensive effort--usually a hallmark of a Lemaire club--is sporadic; at times stout, at times sieve-like. Even all star goalie Niklas Backstrom has looked shaky at times lately. Meanwhile, the once high-flying Gophers are still mired in a second-half of the season swoon (3-6-1 in conference play in '09). They too have trouble scoring and their defense too often plays soft and looks worn out. And goaltender Alex Kangas, who was the foundation of the team's first half success, has been ordinary so far in 2009. You know things are bad when taking three of four points from Alaska-Anchorage at home is hopefully viewed as a turnaround.
To add insult to injury for local pucksters, last week's rain and above average temps did a number on the outdoor ice rinks and pretty much ended the season in most communities. While there's still a lot of winter to endure, playing hockey outside is no longer an option to help make it more bearable. If all of the above wasn't bad enough, we must also endure the bizarre machinations of the hockey scheduling wizards. It seems like the Wild have played more back to back games on consecutive days than ever before. And they're almost always a home-road or road-home combo. Nothing wrong with that in principle. But then we also have the inexplicable gaps in games to deal with. For example, on Saturday night the Wild coughed up a 3-0 lead and kicked away a game to the Senators at home. The next time they take the ice? Thursday against Calgary. At home. So right in the thick of the season, with 27 games left and the team fighting for a playoff spot, fans have to wait four days between games? Inexplicable. How are you supposed to stay interested and engaged when you have gaps like this? Gaps that often alternate with flurries of back-to back games. You either have nothing or a deluge. There's got to be a better way to schedule than this. But don't look to college hockey for the answer. One of the nice things about following WCHA puck is you don't (or at least shouldn't) have to worry about the vagaries of the schedule. With a few exceptions, your squad plays on Friday and Saturday nights. After a long week of work, you know that when you get home on Friday night you can crack a beer, flip on the tele, and catch a game. Or at least you used to. This year it seems like there have been more "off" weekends for the Gophers than in recent memory. The long December-January break is bad enough to go through (who do these guys think they are anyway? students?), but this year the Gophers came back from said break to play the Dodge Holiday Cupcake Classic, played North Dakota one weekend, SCSU the next, and then were off. Why? There are ten WCHA teams so there should not be a need for byes. This schedule plays havoc with the rhythm of the season and also complicates the standings at a critical juncture of the season. With three weeks left in the WCHA, this should be a time of high drama with teams fighting for the conference title, home playoff seeds, and favorable matchups. But when you look at the standings, you can't just worry about points, you also have to consider the dreaded "games in hand." Right now, four teams have played 24 conference games, two have played 23, and four have played 22. Considering that nine points separate the first place team from the ninth place team, there is still a lot of movement possible within the standings. The Gophers for example are one point behind SCSU and CC for fourth and fifth place (and a home playoff seed). And they've also got one game in hand against CC and two against SCSU. So of those three teams who's really in the best position? Who knows? You can't just look at who they play the rest of the way, you also have to work the schedule differences. Life is already complicated and chaotic enough already. Is it too much to ask for a little order and symmetry in our hockey? Labels: Hockey Monday, January 26, 2009
 For the fourth straight year I had the good fortune, along with over a thousand other puckheads, to participate in the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships, which for the third straight year was held on Lake Nokomis in South Minneapolis. Once again, the squad I played on wasn't in the hunt for the vaunted Golden Shovel. Our goals are limited to having fun and winning a game or two if the opportunities present themselves. This year we went 2-2, which easily met our modest expectations considering our team was composed of three guys well north of thirty, a goalie skating out, and a couple of talented younger guys. And we had a great deal of fun, especially in our last game where we faced No Defense Outdoors, a team featuring former Gopher Matt Koalska and a couple of other guys who played for SCSU. In fact, I think everyone on the team played junior hockey for the Twin City Vulcans. Since both teams knew we weren't going anywhere, we played a loose, enjoyable game. They probably could have run it up on us a bit more if they really wanted to, but we managed to hang in and put out a respectable effort losing 13-10. No shame there. While the tourney is very well organized and run, there are a couple of areas for improvement. Both come via one of my teammates: 1. Instead of one tent where players change, visitors warm up, and both purchase food and drink, they should have one tent set aside for the players to gear up and down in and one for beer, food, and visitors. Perhaps a hallway of sorts could connect them. As it is now, the mixing of everything in one places leads to a lot of chaos and confusion. And it's really not an attractive atmosphere for non-players to hang in. 2. One of the biggest pains in playing is just getting out to the rink. After you lace 'em up in the tent, you ease you way down the stairs, hit a small area of ice where you can skate, and then struggle through a thin layer of packed snow to reach one of twenty-four rinks. Why not lay down an ice path that connects all the rinks and allows players to skate out to the rinks? 3. While I'm a huge fan of Summit Brewing and much enjoy the Summit Extra Pale Ale that is served at the tourney, it would be good to offer up a little more variety, especially some lighter beer fare. You don't have to pour Miller Lite, but at least have a couple of taps of Summit Pilsener. And while Lake Nokomis has proven a workable location, it would be nice to host it on a lake with better parking and closer to critical amenities such as bars and restaurants. Small gripes no doubt, but you need to consider them if you want to make a good and growing event truly great.  Labels: Hockey Tuesday, October 21, 2008
There's a on-line auction underway at work to raise money for the United Way. If you look at the current high bids for some of the tickets to local sporting events, it says a lot about the level of interest in the respective teams.
We start with two pairs of tickets to a Gopher football game against Northwestern. Current high bids are $25 and $35. A little low consider the Gophers are 6-1 (snicker) and ranked in the Top 25. Maybe people are waiting for the new stadium next year? Next up, two pair of tickets to a Gopher hockey game against New Hampshire. Current high bids are $55 and $50. Well, this is the state of hockey after all. Two pair of club level tickets to a Wild game against Phoenix. Current high bids $100 and $80. Not surprising considering the team's 4-0 and their overall popularity. Four pair of tickets to the Vikings game against Houston. Current high bids are three at $40 and one at $75. I know the Texans aren't the most exciting team, but forty bones for two Vikes ducs? Purple Pride has become Purple Apathy. Two pair of tickets to the Vikings game against the Packers. Current high bids are both $100. Carpetbagging Cheeseheads. Finally, two pairs of tickets to a Timberwolves game against Dallas. Current high bids for TWO TICKETS to an NBA game? Against a good team? $21. Ouch. Labels: Hockey Saturday, October 18, 2008
The chaos and tumult of the political campaign season can cause one to lose one's bearings and forget that not only are politics not everything, they're far from the most important things in life. So it's good on occasion to step back from the fray and remember what really matters.
Like the Wild being 3-0 and the Gophers opening their season with a 3-2 win over SCSU last night. Labels: Hockey Friday, October 17, 2008
Denis Savard fired as Chicago Blackhawks coach:
Four games into his third season as the Hawks' coach and 25th as a member of the organization as a star player, assistant coach and its 36th head coach, Savard was fired Thursday after the team's 1-2-1 start. Joel Quenneville replaces him. The dismissal came after a season in which the Hawks improved 17 points from the previous one and missed the Western Conference playoffs by three points. As a player, Dennis Savard was a whirling dervish whose speed and nifty moves (especially the spin) drove North Star fans to fear and despise (just the hit the little bastard!) him back in the hey day of the Hawks-Stars rivalry. But we had to respect him as a player. I'll also never forget the image of him sitting in the room after a game where he skated his arse off contentedly pulling on a heater. Those were the days. It sounds like he did a decent job as Hawks coach and probably deserved a better fate. Hopefully he'll land on his feet and get another shot behind the bench. Labels: Hockey Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Slovakia routs Bulgaria 82-0 in women's hockey:
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP)--With more goals than minutes in the game, Slovakia's women's ice hockey team claimed an amazing 82-0 victory over Bulgaria in Olympic qualifying. Slovakia outshot the Bulgarians 139-0 during the 60-minute game, played in Latvia. The margin of victory is a record for a women's International Ice Hockey Federation-sanctioned event. Geez. Giving up eighty-two goals is bad enough, but the Bulgarian keeper only faced 139 shots. That's a pathetic .410 save percentage. Even the most sieve-like of goalies should be able to stop half the shots that come their way just by standing in the crease. Labels: Hockey Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Wild trade Brian Rolston to Lightning:
Knowing they had no shot to sign Brian Rolston before he becomes a free agent on Tuesday, the Minnesota Wild traded him late Sunday to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Rolston and the Wild had been talking about a deal since the season ended in late April with a first-round playoff loss to Colorado. But the Wild had made three offers without a counteroffer from Rolston's agent, Steve Bartlett, and talks unofficially died last week. Not welcome news for Wild fans. Rolston was one of the few Wild players who has an established track record as a legitimate scorer. Yes, he was inconsistent at times, but you don't find many players with his skills and ability to finish. The only bright side of the deal is that at least he wasn't traded to Boston. Labels: Hockey Tuesday, June 03, 2008
If the Wings fall in OT after being on the verge of winning the Cup and I'm unable to watch the game, is it still a classic? Most definitely. Now, we just need the Pens to come through in Game Six and force a Game Seven on Saturday. For once in my life, I'm happy about the unnatural schedule delay dictated by television.
Labels: Hockey Friday, May 23, 2008
Gary Bettman finally realizes that his true goal should be To Make Fans Love Hockey (WSJ-sub req):
As the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings face off in the Stanley Cup finals, which start Saturday, Mr. Bettman, 55 years old, is that rare top executive who was behind the wheel when his business went over a cliff and now has the opportunity to put it back together. He is doing so by making a classic management choice: Instead of obsessing over growth, he is concentrating on keeping the league's existing customers happy. What a novel concept! I await Bettman's forthcoming apology for the years that he did spend obsessing over growth and damn near completely ruining the game. Mr. Bettman moves quickly, whether he is striding across his office to pull a book off a shelf or fetching a cookie for his wife on the other side of a Madison Square Garden luxury suite. He grew up in Queens, N.Y., and even in one-on-one conversation, he often speaks as though he is yelling on a street corner. Mr. Bettman made his name as the bulldog general counsel for the National Basketball Association. This is the root cause of the troubles with the Bettman administration. He was a basketball guy brought in to "fix" the NHL. The problem was (and is) that what works for the NBA does not necessarily work for the NHL. Basketball is a simple sport: put the ball in the hoop. I would imagine that the vast majority of all Americans across the country have at one time or another shot a ball at a hoop be it in a gym, on a playground, or in a driveway. By contrast, only a small fraction have ever laced up skates to hit the ice and even a smaller fraction have ever thrown a stick and puck into the mix. If an average American happens across an NBA playoff game on TV, they will have a basic understanding of what's going on. They won't appreciate all the nuances obviously, but they'll know that this team is trying to put the ball in this basket and that team is trying to stop them without committing a foul. Again contrast that to the NHL. Those of us who grew up with the sport fail to appreciate how complicated the game can seem to a newcomer. The most common question I hear from novice hockey fans is, "Why did they blow the whistle?" Offsides, icing, goalies freezing the puck, and especially penalties are often difficult to explain. This is why Bettman's plan to grow the sport by attracting legions of new fans in non-hockey areas was doomed to failure. In the United States, hockey will always be a sport with limited appeal. Rather than trying to appeal to the masses, the NHL would be much better served by working within its limits and better serving those that already appreciate the game. If I was running the NHL, I would be pursing expansion of a sort. Expansion back into Canadian cities like Winnipeg and Quebec City that once hosted NHL franchises. After that, I might look at smaller cities in American markets where hockey is known. Instead of trying to duplicate the other major pro sports leagues in the US, the NHL should try to come up with a scaled down model that allows them to put teams into towns that will support them rather than pushing into new areas in a futile attempt to build national appeal. The truth of the matter is that hockey is and always will be a niche sport. There's nothing wrong with that as long as those managing the sport understand and accept that. It took a long time (too long), but it looks like that reality has finally dawned on Gary Bettman. Labels: Hockey Wednesday, May 21, 2008
David e-mails to take exception with my post from last week on the demise of Hockeytown:
A couple of points. Large blocks of tickets at all professional sports events, including Wild games, are bought by businesses. Business is terrible in Detroit, so ticket sales are down. Unemployment is at least 10% and climbing fast, so individuals can't afford tickets. So "Hockeytown" started in the marketing dept. "State of Hockey" didn't? Red Wing fans follow every game of the season and not just the playoff games. Don't be so smug. I'd hate to see 10% unemployment here in MN but if it happened, I'd bet there'd be a few empty seats at Xcel. In theory, that sounds like a good explanation and the state of Detroit's economy was cited in the WSJ story. However, it doesn't jive with the reality that the Detroit Pistons Topped the NBA in Attendance: AUBURN HILLS, Mich.--In 41 home games this season, the Detroit Pistons were absolutely perfect. Sure, their record on the court was 34-7, but in the stands the Pistons were 41-0. For the fifth time in six seasons, the Detroit Pistons are the attendance champs in the NBA. With 41 straight sell-outs and an average of 22,076 per game, the Pistons hosted 905,116 fans during the 2007-08 regular season. "Our sell-out streak and leading the league in attendance are two things that we take a great deal of pride in," said Pistons CEO Tom Wilson. "They are an indication of the quality of the fan experience we provide, the excellence of our team, and, most importantly, they demonstrate the strong commitment and fierce loyalty of Detroit Pistons fans." While economic conditions in Detroit are less than ideal, it's pretty clear that the fans and corporations are still willing to pay the price to support the Pistons. Therefore, it would be perfectly legitimate for the city to claim the title "Hoopstown." Hockeytown however is no longer an appropriate moniker. Labels: Hockey 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 Wednesday, January 02, 2008
A slew of meaningless college football bowl games? Meh.
An NHL contest between Buffalo and Pittsburgh? Played outdoors in front of 70,000 hearty fans? With snow flying by the third period? That ends up in a shootout? And is won by a goal by the new face of the NHL, Sydney Crosby (I told you to remember his name)? Now you're talking about a happy New Year's Day. Labels: Hockey Thursday, December 27, 2007
Hilarious audio/video here of George Laraque asking his dancing partner if he wants to fight.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxFS2JAyleo Labels: Hockey Sunday, December 23, 2007
I've long trumpeted that the WCHA is the best conference in college hockey. Now in Patrick Reusse's annual hockey column in today's Star Tribune, we have affirmation of that claim (and more) from Tom Kurvers:
Kurvers played four seasons for Minnesota Duluth. He was the Hobey Baker Award winner in 1984. He played 11 seasons as an NHL defenseman. Now, he sees hundreds of games per year. "The best league in this country is the NHL, obviously, but do you know what's the second-best league?" Kurvers said. "It's the WCHA. "There are more people in the arenas than you find anywhere except the NHL. There are only two games a week, and that makes the games more intense than in the American League. "The WCHA is the second-greatest place to play hockey in the United States." Kurvers also goes on to point out what players miss by leaving early: Kurvers paused, then offered this example: "Look at Jack Skille. He scored the winning goal in the national championship game for Wisconsin. He still could be playing for the Badgers, twice a weekend in front of 11-, 12,000 cheering, fired-up fans in Kohl Center. "Instead, he's 60 miles down the road in Rockford [Ill.] in the AHL, playing three times in four nights in front of a few thousand people ... all in the name of development." Instead of the on-going rush toward "development" and always moving up to the next level, young hockey players should be advised to pause more often and enjoy where they're at. They're so busy chasing their dream, they may not realize that they're already living it. Labels: Hockey Friday, December 21, 2007
Gordie Howe Hat Trick by Sidney Crosby.
You gotta love this stuff! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRTF9F31ezY Labels: Hockey Thursday, December 20, 2007
What a game. Wild and Rangers. Shanahan, Drury, Gomez, and Jagr pay one of their rare visits to St. Paul to take on the streaking Wild. Up and down action. Great hits. A little scrap. And Marian Gaborik nets five, yes FIVE goals in a 6-3 Wild win. Incredible. I just hope JB enjoyed watching it as much as I did.
What's that? The game was on Channel 45 KSTC and they don't get that down Rochester way? What a shame. Labels: Hockey Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Okposo Departing Gopher Hockey Team to Sign With New York Islanders:
University of Minnesota sophomore Kyle Okposo has chosen to forgo the remainder of the 2007-08 season and his career with the Golden Gophers to sign a contract with the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League. Okposo was the Islanders' first-round draft choice and the seventh player taken overall in the 2006 entry draft. He is the eighth Minnesota player to leave college early for the professional ranks since the end of the 2005-06 season. Okposo is departing today for the Czech Republic as a member of the United States' under-20 national team that is competing at the International Ice Hockey Federation world championships and will join the Islanders following the tournament. "While I'm disappointed Kyle is leaving at this point of the season, his dream has been to play pro hockey," Minnesota coach Don Lucia said. "It is unfortunate that the Islanders put him in a very difficult position. I think our team has made strides the last few weeks and I'm looking forward to the second half of the season." It's been a disappointing season so far for the Gophers and for Okposo in particular. It sounds like the Isles were concerned (with good reason) about his development and were pushing him to leave. He probably figures (with good reason) that the Gophers aren't going anywhere so he has little to lose by leaving early. You never know how these things will work out, but at this point I don't think Okposo is ready for the NHL and could have used at least another half season of college hockey. He's also never going to get those carefree days of college life back either. Playing in the NHL is a job. It pays well, but comes with a lot of responsibility. And Okposo will likely spend some time with the Islanders AHL affiliate in Bridgetport before he's up for a regular stint in New York. The grind of minor league hockey may cause him to regret his decision on more than a few occasions. Good luck to Okposo. Let's hope he's another Vanek and not another ____ (fill in the blank with name of one of many college hockey players who left school early and failed to live up to expectations in the NHL). Somebody should make sure Sisyphus isn't around any sharp objects tonight. A long year for the Gophers just got a little longer. Labels: Hockey Friday, December 14, 2007
A couple of weeks ago, I had the distinct pleasure of attending a Russian Super League hockey game in Chelyabinsk. Hated Moscow Dynamo was in town to take on the hometown Traktor squad at the Sports Palace Yunost. Palace probably is not the best word to describe the 3500 seat Soviet era arena.
The scoreboard was straight out of the early '70s (other than the short-short wearing cheerleaders who danced underneath it--they're hard to see in this picture). The seats were really just long benches--with very little leg room--where upwards of sixty people squeezed in between the aisles (we were probably sitting in spaces #27-#32--smack dab in the middle). Ninety percent of the stands were on one side of the rink, the rafters were pretty low, and there was little in the way of amenities as far as food and drink went. The subterranean bathrooms smelled as if they hadn't been cleaned since the days of Brezhnev. The very visible presence of well over a hundred policemen in the arena didn't enhance my feelings of security. These weren't the "emergency response life-saving" kind of cops. They were the "beat your ass with a club until you submit and sort it out later" variety. Their uniforms and headgear was more paramilitary than police and they arrived at the rink in canvas-topped, open-backed army trucks. You got the impression that if there was any trouble at all their approach would be to crack heads and ask questions later. But the arena's shortcoming and daunting security were more than made up for by the passion of the fans and the quality of the hockey. When we walked through the parking lot before the game, we saw lots of fans partaking in the Russian version of tailgating: groups of three and four guys standing around the open trunks of their cars pounding beer and vodka in ten degree temps. It reminded me of high school. This pre-game imbibing proved necessary as alcohol was not served inside the arena. The crowd reminded me somewhat of the SRO crowd at North Star playoff games at Met Center. Male, mostly blue collar, tuned up, hardcore hockey fans who weren't shy about letting people know how they felt. There definitely wasn't a "family friendly" section. When the Dynamo players took the ice, they were greeted with a torrent of boos and profanities (as translated by my Russian coworker). It was a nice way to build up the energy in the building and establish dramatic tension before the national anthem and opening faceoff. When the puck dropped, EVERYONE was seated--their eyes intently focused on the game. And NO ONE got up during the entire first period of play. They were there to watch hockey and that's what they were going to do. It was a welcome departure from what you see at most professional sporting events in the US these days, where the action on the ice (or the field or court) is just a part of the overall entertainment package. One thing that was a little distracting was the prevalence of advertising. From the boards and ice to the players jerseys (by the way, I picked up a very sweet away Traktor jersey the day after the game and it drew rave reviews at Thursday morning hockey this week) extending even to the referees, there were logos everywhere. It was a bit like NASCAR on ice. A hell of lot more exciting though. There was no doubt that the fans were fully engaged in the game at hand. Even though there were only 3500 on hand (a sellout), they were quite loud. Constant chants would spontaneously break out (unprompted by the scoreboard). I couldn't understand most of them, but usually they evolved into some form of "Trak-tor Chel-ya-binsk! Trak-tor Chel-ya-binsk!" or just "Trak-tor! Trak-tor! Trak-tor!" The quality in this very short video clip isn't great (cell phone), but it gives you an idea what it was like. Judging by their reaction to close plays at the blue-line and appreciation for quality play in all three zones, the crowd was also very knowledgeable about hockey. They were also quite proud of the Russian style of play. After a Traktor player scored a nifty wrap around goal, a nearby fan (who obviously knew I wasn't Russian) tapped me on the shoulder, gave me a thumbs, smiled broadly, and exclaimed, "This Russian hockey. Good hockey!" I couldn't disagree with him. The style of play was notably less physical than the NHL, but the skating, stick handling, and passing was a joy to behold. Rather than just pounding the puck at the goal and crashing the net, the Russians really look for the pretty passing play. Make no mistake, they can still shoot, but the focus didn't seem to be on the booming slap shot as much as you see in the NHL. The play was up and down the ice. No one was playing a trap and usually they only resorted to dumping the puck when nothing else was available rather than as part of a system. It made for a crisp and relatively fast game (just over two hours total). The fact that they didn't wait for television commercials also helped keep things moving and keep your interest on the ice. The NHL is moving toward more of a blend between the North American and European (including Russian) styles. I wouldn't want the League to lose the physical side of the game (or the fighting), but putting a bigger premium on the sort of speed and skill you see in the Russian Super League will only make the NHL better and more enjoyable to watch. Because I certainly enjoyed watching the hockey in Chelyabinsk. It probably helped that when the buzzer sounded and it was time for the post-game handshake, the hometown squad had gutted out a 3-2 victory. The players and the fans were able to celebrate before heading out into the cold Chelyabinsk night. Labels: Hockey Friday, December 07, 2007
Willie Plett showing what he thought of Hockeytown.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpSQ3KJIIXg Labels: Hockey
...hockeytown:
After concluding that Detroit, with poor attendance at Red Wings games, no longer deserves the moniker "Hockeytown U.S.A.," Sports Illustrated's Michael Farber analyzed three cities, Buffalo, Philadelphia, and St. Paul, to find a city deserving of the title. The decision to go with St. Paul should hardly be a surprise, but Farber notes that St. Paul is Hockeytown for much more than simply its devotion to the Wild: The Wild has sold every ticket to every game since it entered the NHL as an expansion team in 2000, but it has never tried to bigfoot hockey in a city that was home to America's iconic coach, Herb Brooks; the No. 2 U.S.-born career NHL scorer, South St. Paul's Phil Housley; the only cartoonist to draw a Zamboni-driving bird, Charles Schulz; and the leading state high school tournament in the nation. About frickin' time. Detroit's claim to "Hockeytown" was always a joke. A bunch of bandwagon jumpin' Red Wing fans does not Hockeytown make. I can recall the good ol' days of the Norris Division when the Wings were not good and their attendance was pitiful. The title is now where it has always rightfully belonged. As the capitol city of the State Of Hockey, St. Paul is Hockeytown. Labels: Hockey Friday, November 30, 2007
This might be the best announced hockey fight I've ever seen/heard.
Listen to the detail the announcer gets into in describing Derek Boogaard's little bro scrapping. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUl6zZhKhdM&feature=related Labels: Hockey
Just got back from a hockey game between Traktor Chelyabinsk and Moscow Dynamo. We were packed ass cheek to ass cheek in the rink with 3500 other passionate and very knowledgable hockey fans. I mean that quite literally, for there was no room between you and the person next to you and very little in front or behind. The hockey was excellent and the crowd greatly enjoyed seeing their beloved Traktor team pull out a tight 3-2 win. My ears are still ringing from the chants of "Trak-tor! Chel-YAH-binsk!" that spontaneaously erupted every few minutes. A much more complete report will be posted at a future date including pics and possibly even a little video.
Labels: Hockey Wednesday, November 14, 2007
We've had four hockey games so far this year. Keeping in mind that I live in St. Louis Park--a suburb just west of Minneapolis--the locations haven't exactly been commuter friendly:
Ken Yackel-West Side Wakota Biff Adams Aldrich Arena Quite the swing through the East side of town. At least tonight at Aldrich we had showers for the first time all year. I think it's time for a little geographic diversity in the schedule. Labels: Hockey Monday, November 12, 2007
In the category of Best High School Football Captain In The Fifties Name For A Hockey Arena, the winner is Biff Adams in St. Paul. Don't see a lot of youngsters named Biff these days.
Labels: Hockey Saturday, November 10, 2007
This is beautiful.
Do not click if blood and hockey make you squeamish. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9TemTZlweo The Elder Throws A Right: Great clip. I love how the announcers enjoy a good scrap. And notice how the Bruins bench and the crowd react. Only an idiot would seek to take fighting out of hockey. JB Chucks a haymaker: One of the announcers says "Koci looks like he's making a donation to the Red Cross!" Great line. Labels: Hockey Saturday, October 27, 2007
Kangas Stands Tall as Gophers Hold Off Buckeyes:
Minnesota freshman goaltender Alex Kangas had a memorable first career start and the Gophers withstood a furious third period rally to defeat Ohio State 2-1 on Friday at Mariucci Arena. Kangas had 32 saves and stopped 21 shots in the third period, including several miraculous saves in the final three minutes as the Buckeyes outshot the Gophers 22-3 in the final period. However, Minnesota's two-goal lead entering the third period was enough as the Gophers improved to 4-2 overall and posted their first home sweep since Nov. 18-19 of last season against Wisconsin. Ohio State dropped its fourth straight and fell to 2-4 overall. The Buckeyes, who have lost 12 of 13 all-time meetings with Minnesota, had four shots in about a 30-second span late in the third period. Ohio State had another shot that was headed in the goal, but stopped by a Gophers' defender. The scramble came shortly after Minnesota killed off Ohio State's only third period power play. The big kid looked good between the pipes, but the Gophers overall lackluster offense--especially the lousy power play--is still a concern. Labels: Hockey Friday, October 26, 2007
Gophers Rebound for 3-1 Win Over Ohio State:
A dominant first period sparked the Minnesota men's hockey team to a 3-1 non-conference victory over Ohio State on Thursday at Mariucci Arena. The Gophers scored a pair of goals and outshot the Buckeyes 16-2 in the opening period, holding Ohio State without a shot on goal for nearly the first 16 minutes of the game. Minnesota's win overcame a pair of losses in its conference-opening series last week at Colorado College and improved the Gophers to 11-1 all-time against Ohio State and 3-2 for the season. Who own the Buckeyes? Owns, owns. Labels: Hockey Tuesday, September 25, 2007
We had our first good brawl of the NHL pre-season last night when the Rangers faced off again' the Islanders.
Skip to the 4:00 mark to see the goalies duke it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWU4dNgikZE The AP described the tussle thusly: "When [Simon] is trying to fight two guys at once, then I had to step in," DiPietro said. "All you're thinking is to help your teammates. It was a crazy game. A lot of crazy stuff happened. One good thing is that we're fighting for each other." DiPietro squared off in a position ready to fight, removing his gloves and mask and pulling up his sleeves. Montoya, who hasn't played in a regular-season NHL game, skated past DiPietro and seemed to not be interested in fighting or unsure of what to do. He had one fight last season in the AHL. DiPietro, who fought former Islanders teammate Arron Asham in practice last season, signaled to Montoya to take off his gloves and mask as if to teach him the tricks of the trade. With a wide grin on his face, DiPietro grabbed Montoya and punches flew. "You've got to defend your teammates," Montoya said. "The second you cross the blue line, that's what is going to happen. He's a tough guy, but at the same time he was going out of his way to try and start something. So I just had to do my part." As Montoya lost his balance, DiPietro pulled him and the two fell with Montoya on top. DiPietro quickly jumped up and landed on top as punches continued. It's kind of touching the way DiPietro would take a kid like that under his wing and show him how things are done in the bigs. Labels: Hockey Saturday, July 21, 2007
King heps me to The economics of hockey helmets:
James Surowiecki's new essay in the current issue of the New Yorker reminds one of an interesting insight from Thomas Schelling: Back in the nineteen-seventies, an economist named Thomas Schelling, who later won the Nobel Prize, noticed something peculiar about the N.H.L. At the time, players were allowed, but not required, to wear helmets, and most players chose to go helmet-less, despite the risk of severe head trauma. But when they were asked in secret ballots most players also said that the league should require them to wear helmets. The reason for this conflict, Schelling explained, was that not wearing a helmet conferred a slight advantage on the ice; crucially, it gave the player better peripheral vision, and it also made him look fearless.I'm not a hockey expert (and perhaps what I claim in the paragraphs below will prove it), but it seems that not all hockey players are created equal. Some are better than others. (Perhaps missing teeth are a sign that person is a better hockey player, because they tend to have control of the hockey puck more often, and are therefore frequently running up against beefy opponents determined to take it away.) Assume also that, as in any sport, the really good players are outnumbered by the lesser-skilled ones. So maybe the secret preference of a majority of hockey players for a helmet requirement is simply signalling that most mediocre hockey players are hoping to handicap everyone, on the chance that the better ones will suffer most. This would dovetail nicely with the incentives of the owners. Because the NHL is a business, I'd imagine that the owners would always prefer to have more spectators. I also suspect that I'm not alone in believing that hockey is more exciting when there are lots of players getting slammed into walls. But that sort of thing might happen less when nobody has an incentive to wear helmets. Thus, the helmet requirement prevails. Not sure I'm buying the talent evening angle on this one. I don't see the benefits of not wearing a helmet as being significant at all. Not wearing a face shield does offer one a better field of vision, but a helmet? Hockey helmets themselves don't interfere with your peripheral vision. The real explantion for the difference between the what the players did and what they said in the secret ballots is simple: image. Hockey players love the tough guy image. There's nothing worse than being thought of as "soft." The guys back in the seventies knew in their heads that wearing a helmet made sense, but there was no way they were going to risk looking weak in front of their peers so they went without a lid. Labels: Hockey Wednesday, June 27, 2007
King heps me to The Sports Guy on the NHL draft:
4:22: Here's a cool wrinkle for the first round: Before every pick, each GM walks up to the stage flanked by four cronies, then stands in front of the podium and announces his pick. Imagine if the NBA did this and we could see the likes of Elgin Baylor and Kevin McHale announcing their own picks? Can we make this happen? Anyway, Chicago GM Dale Tallon is "proud" to introduce tiny Patrick Kane as his No. 1 pick. This kid looks like an altar boy. I'm not kidding -- he actually looks like an altar boy. I hope his tremendous upside potential involves puberty. More importantly, what the hell happened to the NHL? As if things weren't already bad enough, the league's No. 1 overall pick is an undersized American who looks like the third singer in a boy band? Can we start sending them FEMA money or something? It's just too bad that the best the NHL could come up with is a clean-cut youngster as their number one pick. I'm sure Simmons would have been much happier if a multi-tatted bad boy sporting shades, bling, and 'tude had strode up on the stage. Maybe we'll get lucky and learn that Kane has failed the league's drug tests or been arrested for beating up a stripper. In a time where the sports pages are filled with news of drug-enhanced home run kings, the latest perp walk of the NFL's Most Wanted, and 'roided up wrestlers committing triple murder/suicides, the NHL's #1 draft choice looking like an altar boy seems to present the league with an opportunity to differentiate itself rather than a cause for concern. At least Simmons recognizes a sweet sweater when he sees one: 5:57: Minnesota takes centre Colton Gillies at No. 16. I'm digging some of these names. Colton Gillies. Keaton Ellerby. Logan Couture. I swear, Steven Seagal played a character with one of those names. (Wait, that's a sweet Minnesota Wild jersey Colton's putting on! What a beauty! It's a blood-red sweater with green patches on the arms, a green bottom and a circular green and white logo in the middle. Very handsome. Have you seen those? That's the first NHL jersey I've liked since the Original Six.) Labels: Hockey Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Interesting video links copped from Bill Simmons' highly entertaining online chat this afternoon at ESPN.
Ulf Samuelsson knocks out Wayne Gretzky's wife, with Swedish narration. Wendel Clark knocks out half the NHL, set to the music of Metallica. The savage beating of an old North Star at about 3:10 is particularly noteworthy. Howard Cosell calling an obstacle course race on Battle of the Network Stars, a competition sadly marred by a Cathy Lee Crosby groin injury. As I sit here flipping between MASH reruns and the BET '07 awards, I painfully remember all of that stuff was on the tube before the advent of triple digit cable bills. Labels: Hockey Thursday, June 14, 2007
It was a glorious morning. The first rays of dawn just starting to peek through hazy clouds. The sky streaked with color. Birds singing.
No better way to greet it then with a little pre-work hockey. A slight fog still hovered over the ice when we started skating and although it was quickly dissipated, the air was a good bit heavier than normal. Nothing like a little sweat to get the day started. Throw in some skatin', shootin', scorin' and even a nice little scrap (not involving me) that drew blood and it really don't get any better. Labels: Hockey Friday, June 08, 2007
Okposo Stays, Goligoski Still Undecided:
Kyle Okposo made his decision. He's staying on at the University of Minnesota for another season. The Sophomore forward passed up the opportunity to turn pro today. He was drafted by the NY Islanders last year as the 7th overall pick. "After meeting with the Islanders to discuss my future, I felt it was in my best interest to return for my sophomore year," Okposo said in a statement released by the University today. "This is where I want to be to develop into a better player. I'm enjoying my time as a Gopher and am looking forward to helping us defend our WCHA Championships." Somewhere Sisyphus' mighty heart is all a flutter. Labels: Hockey Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Sigh. Even without Pronger, the Mighty F'in Ducks were able to hold off the Sens and take a commanding 3-1 lead in the Stanley Cup Finals. It's going to be a sad day when we have to watch Lord Stanley's prize be paraded through the streets of beautiful downtown Anaheim. California will now join North Carolina and Florida as home to the most recent Cup winners. That just ain't right.
Labels: Hockey Thursday, May 24, 2007
There are a multitude of reasons that the NHL's television ratings are hovering slightly below Tommy Thompson's Q Score these days. It certainly doesn't help that the Stanley Cup playoff games are being televised by a "network" whose usual programming features heavy doses of rodeo and kickboxing and is located in the wasteland channels on most cable systems, sandwiched between "The Hallmark Channel" and "FitTV."
I also wonder how much the recent Stanley Cup Final matchups have hurt ratings. With Anaheim surviving a late onslaught by the Wings Tuesday night, this year's Finals will feature the Ducks facing off against the Ottawa Senators. While hardcore hockey wonks like JB Doubtless and Learned Foot will no doubt appreciate the intriguing nuances of the matchup, I imagine most casual hockey fans won't exactly be captivated by it. This year's pairing comes on top of these recent Finals: 2006 Carolina Hurricanes versus Edmonton Oilers 2004 Tampa Bay Lightning versus Calgary Flames 2003 New Jersey Devils versus Anaheim Mighty Ducks 2002 Carolina Hurricanes versus Detroit Red Wings Looking at the list, you only find one "Original Six" team. Half the Finalists are fairly recent expansion teams or, in the case of Carolina, a team that had relocated and has yet to really establish any kind of history or tradition. While having Calgary, Edmonton, and now Ottawa is great for Canada, you really have to go back to 2001 when Colorado (with Raymond Borque) faced New Jersey to find a Finals that had any real compelling storyline or teams that would attract TV viewers in the United States. So far this year, the Stanley Cup (or the Stanley Strap as JB prefers to call it) playoffs have been a bit of a letdown, which hasn't helped ratings either. Although there have been a few great individual games, there haven't been a lot of overtimes and, with only one series going to seven games, we have been left with a decided lack of drama. When they finally get around to dropping the puck again (nice scheduling there NHL) on Monday night, I hope to see this change and would love to see seven hard-fought, close contests in the Finals. With Ottawa hoisting the Cup at the end of course. It's bad enough that the Lightning and Hurricanes have recently had their names engraved on the hallowed trophy. If the team with the gayest (in the playground sense of the word) name in all of sport--Mighty (cringe) Ducks--wins the Cup, Lord Stanley will be spinning in his grave. Labels: Hockey Sunday, April 22, 2007
Near the tail end of last night's Canucks-Stars Game Six, Dallas captain Brenden Morrow injured his knee when he got tangled up in front of the Vancouver net. It was difficult to tell what happened from the replay, but apparently Morrow thought he had been done wrong.
He hopped on one leg over to the Canucks bench and appeared ready to go into it if necessary to achieve justice. Meanwhile, one of the Canucks on the bench was yapping at him the entire time, no doubt him with names which called his manhood into question. Morrow took a jab at the bench, before deciding that discretion was the better part of valor. From the Hockey News: Morrow hopped and skated off--putting no pressure on his left foot--with 2:20 left in the game. Before getting off the ice, Morrow stopped in front of the Vancouver bench and threw a punch at Alexandre Burrows, who appeared to slash the Stars captain's left leg only seconds earlier. "It took every part of me to hold back," said Morrow, who plans to play in Game 7. "I went over there for a reason and talked myself out of it." Morrow, who was done in the game anyway, was given a 10-minute misconduct penalty. So was Jeff Cowan after the Vancouver left wing got involved in the fracas with Burrows. Game Seven is tomorrrow night in Vancouver and it should be a fiesty affair. Will the Canucks choke away another 3-1 series lead? I certainly hope so. Labels: Hockey Monday, April 16, 2007
For a Wild fan, watching the first three games of their series against the Ducks has been an exercise in frustration. But, as a long-time hockey observer, I have to admire the game the Ducks are playing (despite the fact that they have perhaps the gayest name in all of sport). The Stanley Cup playoffs are a grueling marathon that have only just begun. However, if the Ducks can avoid serious injuries and continue to play their disciplined, almost flawlessly executed system, I would not be surprised to see them sipping from Lord Stanley's Cup come June.
There's been a lot of angst among the Wild faithful about their pitiful performance on the power play. And while some of criticism directed at the team's power play efforts are deserved---memo to Wild players: the back door ain't open despite your continued attempts to force it--a lot of credit has to go to the Ducks penalty kill. They stay home, shut down the passing lanes, don't panic with the puck, and almost always wait for the good clearing opportunity. It's textbook penalty killing. Overall the Anaheim approach is simple: keep the other team high and outside in your defensive zone, pound their D with your big, physical forwards in their zone, play smart on special teams, throw the puck at the net whenever you can (something the Wild could learn), and take advantage of your opponent's miscues. It's a solid game plan, which the Ducks are executing to perfection. Against such a machine, the Wild's Stanley Cup dreams are nearly extinct Labels: Hockey Wednesday, April 11, 2007
The Stanley Cup playoffs begin tonight. Pour yourself a tall glass of whisky, commandeer the remote, and sit back and enjoy the best drama in the world of sport. I know JB will following that routine this evening.
Hang on, I'm getting some breaking news off the wire here. What? The Wild/Ducks game won't be shown in Rochester? My that's a shame. Don't worry JB. It's just NHL playoff hockey. I'm sure you won't be missing much. Labels: Hockey Saturday, April 07, 2007
 Congratulations to the 2007 NCAA Hockey Champions, the Michigan State Spartans. Not too many people expected them to reach the Finals, but they definitely earned it tonight. It's also fitting the five-year WCHA stranglehold on the championship trophy should be ended by a former WCHA team. Let the party in East Lansing begin. Labels: Hockey Friday, April 06, 2007
The stage was set. All four of the teams that I had picked had reached the Frozen Four in St. Louis. I was leading every pool that I was in. Side bets were placed with shady characters to maximize my winnings. Come Saturday, when North Dakota beat Maine to win the NCAA championship, I would bask in the glory and new found riches.
But a funny thing happened on the way to my coronation as "College Hockey King." First, the now once again hated Black Bears from Maine choked away an early two goal lead and lost to a very average Michigan State team. Then, the Fighting Sioux played an inconsistent and at times downright idiotic game against Boston College and fell 6-4. Nice hustle on that first empty-netter boys. Just to add salt to my wounds, ESPN2 "gave" us the announcing tandem of Gary Thorne, the most overrated hockey announcer in history, and Barry Melrose. Melrose is pretty entertaining when he's talking NHL puck. But he knows nothing of the college game. Calling North Dakota "North Carolina" near the end of the game didn't exactly add to his college hockey cred. Thorne is simply insufferable. Clichés drip from his tongue like a leaky faucet, he often makes elementary errors in describing the action, and incorrectly identifies the players. And yet, he's considered the best announcer in the game. I just don't get it. I'd rather listen to that pompous Bahstan booster, who does some of the regional games from the East, and a milquetoast, yet competent announcer than be subjected to the Thorne/Melrose misery again. Oh, Saturday's game? I don't see Boston College having much of problem with Michigan State. Let's say 5-2. But then again, what do I know? JB Chimes: Thorne is indeed one of the worst announcers ever. What amazes me about his career is how he oversaw a ridiculous rating decline during his long tenure at ESPN yet was never held responsible for the mass of viewers that left and never came back. The man is a patsy, a brown-noser ("Who ever told you you could work with men? Where did you learn your trade? You fairy, you company man...I don't care whose nephew you are, I don't care whose *rump* you're *kissing*, you are going down. I am going to Mitch and Murray!" GGGR lines) . He glommed on to every new NHL trend and bullshit rule and toed the Gary Bettman line, accepting his new alien overlords with glee. Rot Thorne, rot! I would love to play Ricky Roma to his Williamson some day. And I wouldn't need the Glengarry leads or a Cadillac to do it. Labels: Hockey Thursday, April 05, 2007
...that their cause is futile. The puck has dropped in St. Louis and the first national semi-final is underway. It's very early, but Maine already has a 2-0 lead over Michigan State. I never thought I'd say this, but Go Black Bears! Pride and prizes on the line overcome my traditional antipathy toward Maine.
This also means our poll has closed. And 72% of you believe the University of North Dakota will take home yet another NCAA hockey championship. Six in a row for the WCHA would suit me, and my NCAA pool picks, just fine. UPDATE: The Spartans score to cut it to 2-1. UPDATE II: D'oh! The Spartans aren't dead yet and have tied the score at two headed to the third. UPDATE III: Final--Michigan State 4 Maine 2 Thanks for nothing Maine. Lousy Black Bears. Labels: Hockey Friday, March 23, 2007
I've already filled out enough NCAA hockey brackets and can barely recall who I picked to win what anymore. Since the first puck drops in about two minutes, I'll skip the analysis and scores and get down to my nitty gritty upset-laden predictions:
Northeast Regional New Hampshire over Miami BC over St. Lawrence BC over New Hampshire East Regional Clarkson over U. Mass Maine over SCSU Maine over Clarkson Midwest Regional Notre Dame over Alabama-Huntsville Michigan State over BU Michigan State over Notre Dame West Regional Minnesota over Air Force North Dakota over Michigan North Dakota over Minnesota FINAL FOUR IN ST LOUIS North Dakota over BC Maine over Michigan State North Dakota over Maine Game on. Labels: Hockey Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Someone might want to check the drinking water in Stearns County for traces of lysergic acid diethylamide. In his NCAA hockey breakdown, Sisyphus at Nihilist In Golf Pants notes that the St. Cloud Times has a posted an interactive NCAA hockey pool. And it looks like a number of delusional Husky fans are actually picking SCSU to win the national championship.
SCSU? The team that's never won a SINGLE NCAA playoff game and was thumped by North Dakota and beaten by the Badgers last weekend? C'mon, it's one thing to support the local squad, but you gotta be somewhat realistic, don't ya? UPDATE: I don't know what's worse: the delusional Husky fans believing that SCSU will win the title or Mark Yost (the guy who had SCSU and Wisconsin in the WCHA Final Five championship game) picking BU? Both teams are dogs. Me thinks that Mr. Yost should stick to subjects that he's a bit more versed in. Labels: Hockey Thursday, March 15, 2007
The WCHA Final Five kicks off tonight, so it's time for my annual college hockey prognosticating. Sometimes the crystal ball is quite clear, as it was a few years ago when I picked nearly every game of the WCHA Final Five and NCAA tournament correctly. Sometimes things are a bit foggier, like last year when I picked the Gophers to hoist the Crusaders on their own Holy Cross. Ouch, that one still hurts.
Let's get down to business: * Fans attending tonight's game between Wisconsin and Michigan Tech should be sure to down several cups of coffee before the contest. I see a real snoozefest a comin'. A tight game that could go either will go to the Huskies 2-1. * The WCHA team that I think is playing the best hockey right now is the extremely politically incorrect University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux. They shouldn't have too much trouble putting SCSU down 5-3 in the Friday semi. * I have no confidence in this Gopher squad and their silly hair-dyeing ways. Shaky goaltending and a young team does not usually get you far in the playoffs. I wouldn't be shocked in the Gophers fell on Friday, but I gotta think that they should have enough to get past Tech 4-3 in the other semi. * That sets up a UND-Minnesota final. The Sioux dominated the Gophers in a late-season sweep at Mariucci and I think they will do the same on Saturday, something along the lines of 4-2. My NCCA tourney picks will come out after the seedings are announced. I do want to note that Mark Yost, "pride" of Brooklyn, is picking a St. Cloud State--Wisconsin final. We'll see who has the true hockey cred after this weekend. UPDATE: Round one to Mr. Yost. Labels: Hockey Monday, March 12, 2007
After Saturday night's 5-1 loss to Roseau in the Class AA state high school hockey championship, I was feeling a mite sorry for the boys from Grand Rapids. For the second year in a row they had reached the championship game only to run into an overpowering opponent (last year it was Cretin). I was pulling for them for no other reasons than that they had the sweetest uni's in the tournament (unchanged for many a year) and that losing the big game two years in a row would be a bitter pill to swallow.
 However, this story reminds us once again that it's just a game: Saturday proved to be an emotional day for Roseau High School hockey coach Scott Oliver, and not only over the action on the ice. That morning, Oliver said his final goodbye to his nephew, Marine Sgt. Chad Allen, 25, of Maple Lake, Minn. The marine was killed in Iraq by a roadside bomb on Feb. 28. His funeral was held Sunday morning at Maple Lake High School. U.S. and Minnesota flags flew at half-staff in his honor at state buildings while, across town, Roseau became Class 2A boys' hockey champions. "It's been a long day, and it's a day that I knew was going to be coming" said Oliver. "Here you are, you're at the state high school hockey tournament, one of the greatest events you can be a part of. And we've got servicemen and servicewomen over there, and they're at risk." A fact that we don't do enough to remember here on the home front. Chad Allen R.I.P. UPDATE-- J.D. e-mails to ask: Speaking of unchanged uni's for the Grand Rapids hockey team, seeing them in this year's tournament reminded me of when I first saw them in a state tournament, decades ago. They were the Grand Rapids Indians then, and they had cheerleaders who took to the ice wearing Indian headdresses. Whatever happened to skating cheerleaders, anyway? Good question. The State High School League would probably make 'em wear helmets these days, thus destroying much of the appeal. Labels: Hockey Saturday, January 20, 2007
Hockey Day Minnesota:
Get your morning skate in early the morning of Saturday, January 20, 2007. Beginning at noon, you've got a date with your couch and television set for the rest of the day. The Minnesota Wild and FSN North have proclaimed January 20 as "Hockey Day Minnesota," and 11 consecutive hours of hockey will be shown, highlighting the game from peewees to the pros. Three games at three different levels ? St. Paul Johnson high school at Lake of the Woods high school at 1:00 PM, Denver University at the University of Minnesota at 5:30 PM and the Dallas Stars at the Minnesota Wild at 8:00 PM ? will highlight the day. Throw in the pond hockey tourney and Lake Nokomis and it don't get any better. Labels: Hockey Friday, January 19, 2007
Tomorrow, the 2007 U.S. Pond Hockey Championships kick off at Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis. The event was moved from Lake Calhoun after the most recent bout of unstoppable global warming made the lake's ice unreliable. We must ACT NOW! before another winter event is forced to relocate. What about the children?
I will be playing in said tourney (although not until Saturday) along with a few other names from team rosters that you may recognize from their days as big men on campus: -Jesse Bull -Garrett Smaagaard -Josh DeWolf -Ryan Trebil -Justin McHugh -Bryan Bonin -Peter Armbrust -Matt Henderson -Erik and Krissy Wendell (playing on the same team of course) Then we have some teams that appear well-stocked. First, playing on a team called "Johnny Upton & Associates": -Nick Checco -Mike Crowley -Brian LaFleur -David Paradise Then, another team named "Tail Gators" loaded with: -Brett Abrahamson -Daniel Hendrickson -Eric Pagel -David Spehar "Team Bullet" boasts: -Dan Trebil -Bob Dustin -Charlie Wasley -Greg Zwakman And finally "Team Duluth" with: -Dylan Mills -Ryan Coole -Stu Senden Last but not least the political: - Playing for the alleged "A lot better last year" team, 2002 candidate for Minnesota Secretary of State, Buck Humphrey Game on. Labels: Hockey Monday, December 04, 2006
Interesting article in Saturday's Wall Street Journal on the low rate of shootout success in the NHL:
This may seem like a nightmare for a goalie, but it doesn't work out that way. Last season, the goalie saved 52.4% of the shots and the skater missed 14.0%, leaving a 33.6% scoring rate. That rate has declined this year, with goalie saves up to 56.2%, misses staying about the same at 13.5% and goals declining to 30.3%. It's surprising that it's not higher. Before the advent of the shootout, I think that success rate for penalty shots was over 40% in the NHL. It makes Saturday night's shootout performance by the Dallas Stars all the more remarkable. They were three for three against the Wild, including an absolute beaut by Mike Ribiero that sealed the deal. A win in four or five shootouts could make the difference in whether a team makes the playoffs. Given the implications, you would think that NHL teams would be working hard on raising that rather pathetic rate of putting biscuit in basket. Labels: Hockey Monday, October 09, 2006
Yes it's true that the Twins magical ride ended with a train wreck last week. And the Vikings have about as much offensive fire power as U.N. peacekeepers (one side benefit to that is no longer having to listen to hacky announcers talk about "all the weapons" in the Vikings offensive arsenal as we did for so many years). And the Gopher football squad continues to major in finding creative ways to lose. The Timberwolves are already praying for that golden draft lottery ping pong ball. Heck, even the Gopher hockey team got off to poor start by losing to the hated Black Bears of Maine on Friday night.
But there is one brilliant ray of hope for the local sports fan. Your Minnesota Wild have flown out of the gate and opened the 2006-2007 campaign with a pair of victories. Only six more months until the Stanley Cup playoffs begin. So close we can taste it? Labels: Hockey Thursday, April 06, 2006
1941 USSR vs. Nazi Germany
1980 Iran vs. Iraq 2006 Wisconsin vs. Maine in tonight's college hockey national championship semi-final Labels: Hockey
More bad news for the Gopher pucksters.
Irmen Leaves For NHL's Wild: The Minnesota Golden Gophers' 2006-07 prospects sustained another blow Wednesday with the departure of junior forward Danny Irmen, who renounced his final year of college eligibility to move into the professional ranks. Irmen, a native of Fargo, N.D., signed a contract with the NHL's Minnesota Wild, team president and general manager Doug Risebrough announced. The deal begins with the 2006-07 season, but Irmen is expected to play the remainder of this season with the Wild's AHL affiliate in Houston. Somewhere, Sisyphus' mighty heart is breaking. Again. Labels: Hockey Monday, March 27, 2006
ATOMIZER: "I hold in my hand an envelope. As a child of four can plainly see, this envelope has been hermetically sealed. It has been kept in a #2 mayonnaise jar since noon today on Funk and Wagnall's porch. No one knows the contents of this envelope, but you, in your divine and mystical way, will ascertain the answers to these questions having never seen them before."
ELDER: "May the winds of the Sahara blow a desert scorpion up your turban." (The Elder holds the envelope up to his forehead) ELDER: "Mark Yost, Hugh Hewitt, and Sisyphus. ATOMIZER: "Mark Yost, Hugh Hewitt, and Sisyphus. (Sound of an envelope being ripped open) ELDER: "Name three people supposedly wise in the ways of hockey who picked teams to appear in the NCAA hockey championship game that were eliminated in their FIRST game of the tournament." Yes indeed, this weekend was a good time to separate the wheat from the chafe when it comes to college hockey wisdom. Mark Yost, columnist for the St. Paul Pioneer Press and host of the Patriot Insider radio show, picked Minnesota and Harvard to meet for the title in Milwaukee. Hugh Hewitt, geriatric talk radio host and alleged "Hockey Commissioner of Minnesota", had Miami of Ohio (snicker) and Harvard playing in the big game. And Sisyphus, humorist and founder and sole member of the Barry Tallackson Fan Club, went with his heart instead of his head by predicted that his beloved Gophers would face off against the Colorado College Tigers. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Meanwhile, I had a bit of trouble of my own going 7-5 overall. I missed the winner of the battle of Boston (for some reason I wrote BC at one point and BU later in the same post) and the hated Black Bears of Maine stuck it to me by winning the East Regional after I predicted an early exit for them. Then there was the Gophers gacking and Cornell getting lucky and rallying to beat CC. This is the second year in a row that Cornell was one game away from the Frozen Four and lost it in overtime. Such a shame. So I only have two of the Frozen Four. But those two are the teams that I have meeting for the National Championship in two weeks: North Dakota and Wisconsin. One final note. Last week, I grudgingly allowed that the CCHA was the second best conference in college hockey. After the CCHA's pathetic performance this weekend (1 win, 4 losses), I amend my statement to say that, with two teams in the Frozen Four, Hockey East is the second best conference in college hockey. Not that it's going to matter much in a couple of weeks when we see another all-WCHA final. Labels: Hockey Friday, March 24, 2006
Later this afternoon, pucks will be dropped and the NCAA Hockey Regionals will begin. Time for a quick skate around in response to my tourney picks before the fun starts.
Mark e-mails to complain about my lack of faith in our local lads: Damnit, Chad. ND 5, Gophers 3? Why? One bad game and you toss them over the side? I swear by all that is holy, if you've cursed my team I will never forgive you. Because of your parochial and misguided attempt to earn "street cred" with the college hockey watchers who read Fraters, you have forgotten the first rule of college tournament play: look at the sweater you have hanging in the closet and then pray for irritable bowel syndrome to cripple everyone else who tries to skate with the Gophs. Fine, Chad. Fine. Sorry Mark, but I'm a conservative. My views are founded on observation, facts, and reason. You and your bleeding-heart Utopian comrades can rely on your feelings and sing "Imagine" all you want, but wishing it does not make it so. Don't get me wrong, I'll be cheering for the Gophers as much as anybody (with the possible exception of this nutter). But I gots to calls 'em like I sees 'em. By the way, I don't need to earn any college hockey cred. I've already got that in spades. Next we have Dan, who's managed to sober up long enough to compose a semi-thoughtful e-mail: I'll give you some credit, picking Minny to lose to ND shows that you are able to maintain a modicum of objectiveness about the teams' various prospects. But, "Wisconsin is overrated"?? Well, as the #1 seed in the tourney, they couldn't be underrated, so you were working from a reduced set of options. And, "Saturday's loss in the third place game doesn't bother me much."? It only cost you the #1 overall seed, which means going through much easier competition, both in the opening rounds and the semifinal game of the frozen four. I mean just look at the 1's and 2's in each side: Cornell, Harvard and MSU versus NoDak, Miami and BU. Yikes on the latter. "Fragile psyche"? I'll admit, they looked a bit lost when Elliot went down mid-season, but I think they just realized that he was covering up for a lot of weaknesses on defense. They were coming around with a freshman in goal when Elliot came back. And 4 of the 7 losses were to Denver and (gulp) the Goophers, so not exactly easy competition. If Elliot is on his game, the Badgers are in the final game. OK, OK, you put the Badgers in the Semis, so how can I really complain? Well, you're a Goopher fan, so I can't help myself (and your colors are ugly). Here's to a Goopher/Badger final. Anybody but Maine, Dan I don't think that the third place game meant that much. The Badgers were already going to Green Bay. The Gophers and Sioux were set for Grand Forks. Sure, Bucky technically may have an easier opening game, but I wouldn't look past Bemidji State. Wisconsin's been overrated all year. There's something that's just not right about the team. They rely on Elliot too much and, despite some obvious big league talent (Gilbert, Pavelski, Burish, etc.), I don't know if they have the kind of clutch playmakers you need to win a championship. Take Ronnie Earl for example. No doubt that he's a heck of a talented player, but too often he looks soft in the heat of battle. He goes down easier than Paris Hilton. If it comes down to an overtime situation with the game on the line do you want him or Ryan Potulny? I thought so. I do like Dan's closing sentiments on Maine, although I have been getting a lot of e-mails like this one from Amy: I really do have to ask.... Why the intense antipathy towards Maine? I haven't seen this kind of antipathy outside of BU fans in Ages. Other than that one strike, you guys are fun to read. Keep writing. Amy (Incorrigible Minneapolis based Maine fan who is tired of paying for riots insighted by Gilded Rodents.) I've addressed this issue a couple of times in the past, most recently in a post called Remember (Why You Hate) The Maine (Hockey Team) : Outside of the WCHA, I can't think of a college hockey team that I dislike more than the Maine Black Bears. There's just something about the squad that rubs me the wrong way. There's an arrogance and attitude that they carry that transcends individual players and seems to be a trademark of the program. Perhaps it's the painful memory of the 2001 NCAA East Regional quarterfinal game in Worcester, MA (which JB Doubtless attended), when Adam Hauser literally handed the game to Maine in overtime. Hauser's choke led to my prediction that just as the Vikings would never win a Super Bowl with Denny Green as coach, so the Gophers would never win a NCAA title with Hauser between the pipes. Of course, just a year later Hauser would prove me wrong by helping the Gophers win the 2002 National Championship. And as sweet as it was to end a twenty-three year championship drought, it was all the sweeter for me because the Gophers beat Maine in the title game in St. Paul. The way that some of the classless Black Bears conducted themselves after the game did little to change my opinion of the team. Fortunately, the Gophers did defeat the hated Black Bears last year. I think that most real college hockey fans outside of Maine share my views. If you think I'm harsh on Maine, you should spend a little time with New Hampshire fans. They're brutal. Finally, a CCHA supporter who wishes to remain anonymous, comes out of the closet and admits the obvious: I love your blog and visit the site often. As much as it pains me to say this, your predictions on Michigan State are off by one game. Michigan State will likely come out on top of Wisconsin but like you I think NoDak will be crowned champion. I believe that the partisan sports writers who create the national polls feel sorry for the teams outside the Midwest (for confirmation compare the polls which are based on feelings and then look at the PWR and KRACH ratings on USCHO). I realize that this may be humbling to the WCHA partisans but the CCHA has more teams in the top 20 of the quantitative methods than the WCHA this year. However, I am inclined (grudgingly) to agree that overall historical performance favors the WCHA as the strongest league in Div. 1 hockey. This from a UAF (remember them from earlier this season Minnesota, Michigan, and Miami (Ohio)...don't forget the "(Ohio)" fans?) hockey fan who would desperately like to believe that my alma matter was only knocked out the NCAAs by a soon to be crowned champ. Please don't use my name if you choose to publish this as there are some who believe that Div. 1 Hockey is a code word for CCHA and I fear these people ;) This gentleman is to be commended for his honesty and forthrightness. And I will say that the CCHA is undoubtedly the second best conference in college hockey. Now, the time for chatting is over. The time for serious hockey begins. Stock up on your beverage of choice (Sierra Mist in the case of JB Doubtless). Secure the remote. Lock up the dog. Put the kids to bed ("But dad, it's still light out.") Settle in your couch's ass groove and enjoy a fantastic weekend of college hockey. Labels: Hockey Wednesday, March 22, 2006
The selections have been announced. The brackets are out. And this Friday the battle to reach the 2006 Frozen Four in Milwaukee begins.
If you prefer to view the college hockey world through maroon and gold colored lens you can get your Panglossian predictions here. But I believe that most of you want the straight scoop on the tournament from a source with a proven track record. That's why you seek the wisdom of The Elder. The guy who predicted that North Dakota would knock off Wisconsin in the WCHA Final Five semi-final. The guy who assured Mark Yost that St. Cloud State would lose to North Dakota on Saturday night and thus not earn a place in the NCAA tourney. Sure, I was wrong about Friday night's Gopher-SCSU tussle, but I doubt if even the most rabid Husky fan (no pun intended) saw that one coming. Anyway that was just the warm-ups for the real action that starts Friday. Let's make the rounds. Last year's all WCHA Frozen Four, and the subsequent whining from all the lesser conferences, led the selection committee to institute an affirmative action policy this time around. They put all four WCHA teams (read the good teams) in two regionals, ensuring that there will be at least two non-WCHA teams in the Frozen Four. Not that it will matter at the end of the day anyway, but it's pretty pathetic when unqualified schools are allowed to play in the Frozen Four in the interests of "fairness." We'll start with the weak sister regionals. East Regional (Albany) No. 1 Michigan State vs. No. 4 New Hampshire--One of these years, New Hampshire will put it all together and win the NCAA hockey championship. Right after hell freezes over. Michigan State 4 UNH 2. No. 2 Harvard vs. No. 3 Maine--For no other reason than my intense loathing of the Black Bears, I'll take the lads of Harvard by a 3-2 score. Regional Final: Michigan State is closer to being in the WCHA than Harvard, therefore they win 2-1. Northeast Regional (Worcester) No. 1 Boston U. vs. No. 4 Nebraska-Omaha--Jack Pah-kahs Terriers have too much bite for the cold Omahaians. BU 5 UNO 3. No. 2 Miami vs. No. 3 Boston College--Miami of Ohio. 'Nuf said. BC wins 4-3. Regional Final: Boston's not much of a college town, so this is a tough pick. Let's go with BC 3-2. Now let's get to the real games. Midwest Regional (Green Bay) No. 1 Wisconsin vs. No. 4 Bemidji State--Wisconsin is overrated. Bemidji almost knocked out Denver last year. Still, it's in Green Bay and they are from the premier conference in college hockey. Badgers 4-2. No. 2 Cornell vs. No. 3 Colorado College--Not one of CC's better teams. But Cornell? The Big Red? Not. CC 3 Cornell 1 Regional Final: An all WCHA affair just as God intended. Wisconsin's a team with a fragile psyche and if the Tigers get up a couple of goals early, Bucky will roll over. But I just don't think this CC team has enough. Badgers punch their ticket to Milwaukee 3-2. I just realized that so far I'm picking all the top seeds to advance, which is probably a certain kiss of death. West Regional (Grand Forks) No. 2 North Dakota vs. No. 3 Michigan The maize and blue might as well not even take their ugly football-looking helmets out of the bag. The Sioux are not only at home, they're on a roll. And they will roll all over Michigan. Sioux 6 Wolverines 2. No. 1 Minnesota vs. No. 4 Holy Cross One of the nice things about the NCAA hockey tournament is learning about quaint schools that you rarely if ever hear anything about. For example, Holy Cross is a Catholic college located in Worcester, Mass and they got into the tourney by virtue of their victory over hockey powerhouse Bentley. Yes, it's a good thing to become more familiar with these smaller programs. And then to kick the living crap out of them. Gophers 19 the politically incorrect Crusaders 2. By the way, no sooner does the horn sound than you pretty much forget everything about the little school that you've just blown out. Don't believe me? Where in the hell is Mercyhurst at again? Regional Final: What a showdown. Bitter rivals with long and storied histories meeting for a chance to go to the Frozen Four. Saturday nights in Grand Forks don't get any hotter. Last year, these two squads met in the Frozen Four (did I mention that it was an all WCHA affair?) with the Sioux coming away victorious. This year, the Gophers have taken three out of four from the Sioux including a sweep up in Grand Forks that marked a turning point in Minnesota's season. But in playoff hockey, it's all about what have you done for me lately. The Sioux are coming off a WCHA Final Five championship and seem to be jelling at the right time. Their youngsters are really starting to stand out and Parise has been solid, if not spectacular, between the pipes. The Gophers haven't done much for me lately. Saturday's loss in the third place game doesn't bother me much. Friday night's shootout with St. Cloud State does. Mediocre goaltending and inconsistent, at times lackadaisical defensive play will not get you far in a single elimination tournament. It appeared that the Gophers had tightened up their defensive game and both tenders had strong efforts as the season closed. But the sloppy play and weak goals cropped up again in the playoff series against Anchorage. The Gophers had too much firepower to lose either game to the Seawolves, but there were disquieting signs in the sweep. Those signs were fully on display on Friday as the Huskies downed the Gophers in OT 8-7. It was a poor defensive effort from top to bottom. Goalies, defensemen, and forwards all bore a share of the blame. After watching that fiasco, I just can't see this squad making the Frozen Four. Unless of course Briggs steps up and the team plays solid defense. For now, I'll take the team with the mo'. North Dakota 5 Minnesota 3. Frozen Four Semis: Wisconsin versus Michigan State--It kills me to do this, but I'll take the Badgers 2-1. North Dakota versus Boston U.--A rematch of the '97 title game. Let's go with same result and score. UND 6 BU 4 A rematch of the WCHA Final Five semi-final. Same result, slightly different score. UND 4 Wisconsin 2 That will make it five straight NCAA championships for WCHA schools. The way it should be. UPDATE--James from No Cal, a guy who actually knows his college puck, e-mails: Dammit, I was hoping you were going to convince me that the Gophs had a real chance at the Championship. Unfortunately, though I've been a Briggs fan for a couple years now, I have to agree that he's not turned out to be what I hoped. And the Gophs giving up 8 goals to the Huskies was just inexcusable. This was a Husky team that lived and died on defense and couldn't score on Courtney Love. The Gophs got lazy and complacent toward the end of the season. Six games against UAA and UMD do not make you playoff ready. So you're probably right. Unfortunately. I hope you're wrong (except abooot Maine. God how I hate them), but I fear you're right. Labels: Hockey Friday, February 24, 2006
In the aftermath of the US Olympic hockey debacle in Torino, it's time to take a good hard look at the roster. And then blow the hell out of it.
There are some who pine for a return to the days of an all amateur lineup. Tim from Colorado is one: Now that the Soviet Empire has been broken for a decade or so, can we please go back to letting true amateurs participate in the Olympics, including hockey, and basketball? If I'm only going to see one goal scored, I'd rather see it scored by a kid who, at that moment, is living the dream of all dreams. Is that so wrong? Yes Tim, it is. Very wrong. Don't misunderstand. Watching these overpaid, oversexed NHLers go over there and then bitch and complain about having to make their own travel arrangements is not exactly my idea of the Olympic ideal. But from what I understand they will be participating in the 2010 games in Vancouver. And I'm not real crazy about the amateur angle either. Why? Because you gotta consider where this amateurs would come from. College hockey teams. Good college hockey teams. Which means that the WCHA would be stripped of many of its top players for most of the season. Oh sure, just to be nice that's probably throw a token player in from the ECAC, Hockey East, and the CCHA. But c'mon, we all know that the best hockey and therefore the best players in college hockey are in the WCHA. And I don't want to ruin a season of WCHA hockey just for the Olympics. No sale. So we're back to a Team USA composed on NHL players. But not the current crop of desiccated husks that have long since withered on the vine. It's time for fresh blood. It's time to go Logan's Run on the roster: GOALIES Rick DiPietro--Not an impressive performance in Torino, but he's young. Keeper. Robert Esche--Esche? Meh. He's cut. John Grahame--He's thirty so he's the cutting edge. But with such a boring name, why keep him? Cut. DEFENSEMAN Chris Chelios--Old as the hills, but what a warrior. It's been a great run Chris and we thank you for service. But it's time to hang 'em up. Derian Hatcher--His best days are far behind him. Cut 'em like he cut Selanne. Jordan Leopold--Probably the second best USA defensemen in Torino. Definite keeper. John-Michael Liles--Another good young blue liner. He stays. Aaron Miller--Cut Brian Rafalski--I like your hustle Rafalski. That's why it's so hard to cut you. Mathieu Schneider--Cut. FORWARDS Jason Blake--Known as "Rat Boy" in college. Another hustler, but just a bit old. Cut. Erik Cole--Part of the wave of the future. Craig Conroy--See ya. Chris Drury--On the edge, but worth keeping. Brian Gionta--How can you not love this guy's work? Scott Gomez-Ditto. Bill Guerin--Bye bye Bill. Mike Knuble--Later Mike. Mike Modano--I like Modano's speed, but after his whining about not being treated "princessy enough" I'm don't want to see this primodano again. You won't have to worry about your hotel in Vancouver Mike, you'll be at home. Mark Parrish--Keep him, but get him on the ice more. Brian Rolston--Rolston played well in Torino, but he's just a tad too old. Keith Tkachuk--Thanks for showing up Keith. I noticed that you even made it on the score sheet a few times. By taking lazy, dumb penalties. Don't let the door hit you on the way out. Given your lethargic play in Torino it wouldn't surprise me if it did. Doug Weight--Time to toss this dead weight overboard. It's high time for a youth movement for Team USA. They might not necessarily win, but at least they would play with passion and intensity. UPDATE--Modano skips final meeting for U.S. team and heads home: Mike Modano packed up his stuff and left Italy on Thursday morning, skipping a final meeting with his Olympic teammates after they were eliminated a night earlier in the men's hockey quarterfinals. USA Hockey spokesman Dave Fischer said the longtime Dallas Stars forward -- who sharply criticized team management after the Americans' elimination Wednesday -- was the only member of the 23-player squad not to gather at the arena where the Americans were knocked out by Finland. Classy Mike, real classy. I guess he had to catch an early flight. That's what happens sometimes when you have to book on Priceline. Labels: Hockey Saturday, January 21, 2006
Later this morning, I'll be heading out to play in the inaugural U.S. Pond Hockey Championships, being held on Lake Calhoun. Based on the number of former Gophers and other guys who played D1 college puck on the team rosters (you'll recognize quite a few names), the chances of our squad bringing home the coveted Golden Shovel are probably not good. But that's not why we play game. It's all about having fun playing the greatest sport in the world (sorry Hugh, cribbage is not a sport). Did I mention that there's a Summit beer tent as well? It really doesn't get much better.
If you happen to wander down to the tourney and see a team sporting some of the ugliest yellow sweaters in the history of hockey, that's us. I'd tell you to look for the guy with the missing tooth, but that probably wouldn't narrow the field much. As our beloved governor might say, "Drop the Labels: Hockey Tuesday, January 10, 2006
If this state had a real hockey commissioner instead of an AWOL paunchy pretender to the throne, he no doubt would be on hand to drop the puck at the opening face-off of the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships, which will take place on the frozen surface of Lake Calhoun on January 20th-22nd.
As I true citizen of the "State of Hockey," I will be there playing with a team called the Minneapolis Millers. I understand that Governor Pawlenty will also be on hand for the festivities. Maybe I'll have a chance to chat with him about the possible political implications of having a hockey commissioner who lives in California and thinks a wrist shot is what the doctor gives you after you trip over the curb and fall while jogging. Labels: Hockey Thursday, January 05, 2006
Even by North American standards, this is a heck of a nice little scrum. Look for the bald dude to employ a few headbutts at around the three minute mark.
(Courtesy of da Cake Eater) Labels: Hockey Friday, November 25, 2005
If you tempt fate often enough, it's inevitable that you'll end up getting kicked in the teeth. Or taking a hockey puck there.
A while back, the face shield on my hockey helmet broke. I've been wearing a full-shield ever since I received a stick induced gash on my face playing roller hockey about seven years ago. A lot of blood, a trip to the emergency room, stitches, and a scar were enough to convince me that playing without a full-shield was fool hardy. So I planned to replace my recently broken shield at the soonest available opportunity. Soonest available opportunity being whenever I got around to ordering a replacement on the internet. In the meantime, I played a few times sans shield without incident. I happened to mention this to JB the other day and he advised me that he had an extra shield available that he was not planning on using. Yesterday, he handed off said shield to me at our Thanksgiving gathering. By the time we got home last night I was exhausted after a grueling day of eating, drinking, and being merry. My plans called for a little pick up hockey on Friday morning to work off the rust built up after not skating for a few weeks due to my recent traveling. Before I hit the sack last night, I briefly considered the idea of installing the shield. Nah, I thought, I'll skate without one tomorrow and put it on before my game on Sunday. So this morning it goes down like this. Guy on the other team is in the corner with the puck. I skate toward him with my stick extended so I can block any attempted pass. He does attempt to pass and I do block it with my stick. Actually it was more of a deflection with the puck leaving the ice and drilling me on the upper lip. Pain. Blood. Teeth? At first, I thought I lost my front teeth. But I couldn't feel 'em loose in my mouth and I couldn't see 'em on the ice either. I went to the bench and grabbed a towel to stem the flow of blood. One of the other guys who was playing was a doctor. He checked my mouth and recommended that I get stitches. And see a dentist. My teeth weren't gone. But a few had been pushed further back in my mouth by the impact of the hard rubber biscuit. And one had been fractured. The nice thing about the emergency room in the morning is that you don't have to deal with the usual late night suspects or the long wait times. I was able to get right in and received excellent care from the crew at Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park. Wife and son met me there and Nathaniel was quite interested in watching dad get sutured up. After being injected with enough Novocain to make an elephant comfortably numb, I received three stitches on the outside of the lip and five on the inside. And a prescription for Percocet. I was a little disappointed that I didn't get the good stuff that got Favre hooked (Vicodin), but, after having your upper lip rearranged by a hockey puck, any painkiller is a good painkiller. Target wasn't particularly crowded considering it's "Black Friday" (a light snowfall may have dampened shoppers enthusiasm) and I was able to score my Perc without undue hassle. I also picked up "The Simpson's" Season Six DVD since it was priced at a mere eighteen bones and I figured I might have significant couch time over the next few days. My appearance drew more than few odd stares at Target, enough so that I was tempted to go John Merrick on them and start screaming, "I am not an animal! I am a human being! I...am...a man!" I'm at home now and the 'Cain is beginning to wear off. It'll soon be time to start riding the Perc Train. More later (including a pic) if time and consciousness permits. Labels: Hockey Sunday, November 06, 2005
Local television news station Fox 9 lead off tonight's 9pm newscast with a shocking undercover expose that showed Gopher hockey players under the age of twenty-one drinking ALCOHOL at a Dinkytown watering hole. Shocked, shocked I am that the lads would dare engage in such behavior.
College students drinking illegally? Next thing you're going to tell me that they're also having casual sex! Memo to Channel 9: I have a hunch that you would find similar behavior among athletes at just about ANY college in the land. In fact, I KNOW that it's common at many other WCHA schools. I won't name any names, but if this such a BIG STORY in your eyes, you might want to take a drive up Interstate 35 some day. Memo to the Vikings: Thanks again guys. Your ill-advised actions have now brought every other local sports team into the glare of the media moral spotlight. Let's hope the Timberwolves are keeping a low profile. Labels: Hockey Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Bill e-mails to alert us to the announcement of the first ever U.S. Pond Hockey Championships:
Minnesota hockey fanatics are hoping Mother Nature will send a cold blast their way in January so they can pull off the inaugural U.S. Pond Hockey Championships. On a balmy fall morning Tuesday, two hockey-playing Minnesota governors - one current and one past - were on hand as organizers described the three-day event set for Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis. It's being billed as America's largest outdoor pond hockey tournament. "While we all enjoy the pristine venues of professional, high school and college hockey these days, there's something to be said for the elements, the unnatural, the unpredictable and irregular pattern of pond hockey," said Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who was flanked by former Gov. Wendell Anderson, a member of the 1956 Olympic team that won the silver medal. The tournament, set for Jan. 20-22, will feature up to 96 men's and women's teams of four people each. They'll play on 24 rinks shoveled off prior to the games by the two teams on deck. Winners of three divisions will have their names etched on a giant golden shovel. No word on whether they considered calling it the "Ralphie Classic" after the state's dishonorary hockey commissioner. If you want more information on the event you can check out the official site. I definitely plan on lacing 'em up for this baby. It could be interesting if the guy who claims to enjoy chasing people around with his big stick finds a team to play on as well. Just the latest example that demonstrates that Minnesota is indeed the State of Hockey. Labels: Hockey Friday, September 30, 2005
Kessel Impressing Teammates at Minnesota:
The Pittsburgh Penguins have Sidney Crosby. The University of Minnesota has Phil Kessel. Crosby has drawn comparisons to countrymen Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky, while many consider Kessel the top American prospect since Mike Modano. "He's the real deal," Gophers teammate Gino Guyer said. "He gets up and down the ice, he's a good playmaker and he has a really heavy shot." The Gophers won an intense recruiting battle for Kessel, who chose Minnesota over Wisconsin, located in his hometown of Madison. That really makes it all the sweeter for Gopher puck fans, doesn't it? The 6-foot, 190-pound forward played the last two seasons with USA Hockey's National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor, Mich. He led the Under-18 team in goals (52), assists (46) and points (98) last season on his way to breaking the team record for goals in a season. In two seasons with the bantams in Madison before he left for Ann Arbor, Kessel scored 289 goals in 157 games. That's what you call Talent with a capital T. Lucia has been hesitant to heap praise on a freshman, but one of the things that drew Kessel to Minnesota is the fact that he's one of a handful of stellar freshmen in this class. He joins goalie Jeff Frazee and forwards Blake Wheeler and Ryan Stoa as perhaps the best recruiting class in the nation. To paraphrase Bob Johnson: It's a great year for hockey. Gopher hockey, that is. Labels: Hockey
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