Who: Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
Where: Maple Leaf Gardens
When: *shrug* Some time in the '90s
Final Score: I'm pretty sure TO won by a couple goals
At full disclosure, I really haven't been to that many NHL games, and none have been in the playoffs, but I wanted at least one pro game on the list, so this is kind of like the CHA/AH autobid of the list.
This one wasn't necessarily a fantastic or dramatic game--I'm not really sure a regular season NHL game could be given how long the season is--but it does crack the list for being one of the coolest hockey experiences of my life. I watched Hockey Night in Canada fairly religiously growing up, and the Leafs were my favorite NHL hockey team, so actually going to Maple Leaf Gardens was like going to Hockey Mecca.
I'm probably dating myself quite a bit with this, but the Leafs were a pretty good team, and tickets were hard to come by--the Leafs sold out every game at the Gardens for like 50 years. My dad and I were literally chased down the street by a scalper as someone tried to sell us their tickets.
There were a lot of great facets about the old Maple Leaf Gardens, and the place practically oozed history. I think my personal favorite quirk about the arena was that there was literally nothing separating the stands from the benches. The aisle behind each bench extended all the way onto the bench. Nowadays, I don't believe there is any professional rink where you can reach the bench from the stands. And what seems even weirder, there was no security--at least no visible security--blocking off the opening between the stands and the bench. I mean, if the Chicago White Sox' US Cellular Field had that, I'm pretty sure people would die. It's just one example of how when the Leafs moved to the shiny new Air Canada Centre, they gained some modern amenities, but lost some of the uniqueness that made their home arena so legendary.
Showing posts with label nhl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nhl. Show all posts
Monday, December 22, 2008
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Where Do NHL Players Come From?
James Mirtle has been creating some interesting graphs mapping out where NHL players have come from throughout history. Today, he took a look at NHL players from the big three hockey states in the US: Minnesota, Michigan, and Massachusetts.
Here is the graph.
The biggest trend is one that has been talked about a couple of different times here, and that is the decline of hockey players from Massachusetts. While Minnesota and Michigan are on the rebound after a slight decline near the turn of the century--during the NHL's europhilia phase--Massachusetts has been in a steady decline, and as Mirtle points out, with vets like Jeremy Roenick, Keith Tkachuk, and Bill Guerin near the end of their careers and few promising reinforcements on the way, those numbers should continue to decline.
The most common theory for why it be how it be is that the Boston Bruins have almost completely fallen off the sports radar in the city of Boston. The good news is that with the recent creation of a salary cap, the NHL has become egalitarian to the point that even the penny-pinching Bruins are able to compete, and if there is one thing the city of Boston loves--besides white people-- it's a winner. I mean, their baseball team somehow gained sovereignty after winning a title. The Bruins currently lead the NHL's Eastern Conference and a couple years of playoff success could change the sporting landscape there.
Here is the graph.
The biggest trend is one that has been talked about a couple of different times here, and that is the decline of hockey players from Massachusetts. While Minnesota and Michigan are on the rebound after a slight decline near the turn of the century--during the NHL's europhilia phase--Massachusetts has been in a steady decline, and as Mirtle points out, with vets like Jeremy Roenick, Keith Tkachuk, and Bill Guerin near the end of their careers and few promising reinforcements on the way, those numbers should continue to decline.
The most common theory for why it be how it be is that the Boston Bruins have almost completely fallen off the sports radar in the city of Boston. The good news is that with the recent creation of a salary cap, the NHL has become egalitarian to the point that even the penny-pinching Bruins are able to compete, and if there is one thing the city of Boston loves--besides white people-- it's a winner. I mean, their baseball team somehow gained sovereignty after winning a title. The Bruins currently lead the NHL's Eastern Conference and a couple years of playoff success could change the sporting landscape there.
Monday, October 13, 2008
At This Very Moment...
Aaron Voros is tied for the lead league in NHL scoring.
I just wanted to capture this moment in history.
I just wanted to capture this moment in history.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
That Just Happened
Erik Johnson injured his knee two days before the start of training while getting out of his golf cart. Brilliant.
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Goligoski Gets the Call
The Pittsburgh Penguins have called up Alex Goligoski, who had a great playoff run in the AHL with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
It sounds like Goligoski will be the 7th defenseman for tomorrow's game. Technically, he only needs to dress for one Stanley Cup final game to get his name on the Cup, but it's likely a moot point since by all accounts, Detroit is practicing the button combination for their Fatality finishing move.
It sounds like Goligoski will be the 7th defenseman for tomorrow's game. Technically, he only needs to dress for one Stanley Cup final game to get his name on the Cup, but it's likely a moot point since by all accounts, Detroit is practicing the button combination for their Fatality finishing move.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Wheeler a Free Agent
Phoenix's 30 days to sign Blake Wheeler have run out, meaning he is now a free agent. As compensation for not signing Wheeler, Phoenix will get the 35th overall pick in this year's NHL draft. Wheeler is now free to sign with any NHL team, but will be bound by the new NHL collective bargaining rules when signing a contract.
Friday, May 09, 2008
Not So Fast, My Friend
WCH favorite Mike Emrick made a comment in the third period of last night's game between Detroit and Dallas that caught the attention of TNABACG.
Emrick was wondering aloud how Toby Petersen, a kid that played at Bloomington Jefferson HS just outside of Minneapolis, ended up going to Colorado College, rather than becoming a Gopher. The implication is that it's basically a given that the top players from the Twin Cities area will matriculate to the University of Minnesota, and ultimately on to the NHL.
It's a seemingly logical theory, except that it doesn't seem work in practice. It's undeniable that Minnesota gets basically their pick of the top-rated high school players from the Twin Cities, but the numbers look much different by the time you get to NHL alums. Out of the 25 players to hail from the Twin Cities and their suburbs that played at least one game in the NHL last season, only 6 are alums of the University of Minnesota, just slightly worse than one out of four.
Here's what the list looks like. (Note: I used Let's Play Hockey Magazine's list of former college players that played in the NHL, and used Hockeydb for hometowns. I don't have a specific definition for Twin Cities suburb, but basically Maple Grove, Hastings, Coon Rapids, and Blaine all made the cut; Red Wing didn't.)
Minnesota Alums
Jordan Leopold
Paul Martin
Barry Tallackson(The NHL lists him as from North Dakota, but Minnesota listed him as from St. Paul)
Kyle Okposo
Jeff Taffe
Erik Johnson
Non-Minnesota Alums
Andrew Alberts(Boston College)
Casey Borer(St. Cloud)
Tim Conboy(St. Cloud)
Bret Hedican(St. Cloud)
Joe Jensen(St. Cloud)
Dave Tanabe(Wisconsin)
Toby Petersen(Colorado College
Tom Gilbert(Wisconsin
Mark Parrish(St. Cloud)
Brandon Bochenski(North Dakota)
Josh Langfeld(Michigan)
Zach Parise(North Dakota)
Jack Hillen(Colorado College)
David Backes(Minnesota State)
Ryan Carter(Minnesota State)
Mike Lundin(Maine)
Matt Smaby(North Dakota)
Tom Preissing(Colorado College)(Born in Illinois, but grew up in Minnesota)
Tim Jackman(Minnesota State)(Born in North Dakota, but grew up in Minnesota)
It would make sense that the non-Minnesota alums list would be a little longer since there are so many players in the Twin Cities and Minnesota can only recruit so many, but it's kind of surprising that there is that big of a gap, considering Minnesota is starting with the better talent in nearly every case.
Emrick was wondering aloud how Toby Petersen, a kid that played at Bloomington Jefferson HS just outside of Minneapolis, ended up going to Colorado College, rather than becoming a Gopher. The implication is that it's basically a given that the top players from the Twin Cities area will matriculate to the University of Minnesota, and ultimately on to the NHL.
It's a seemingly logical theory, except that it doesn't seem work in practice. It's undeniable that Minnesota gets basically their pick of the top-rated high school players from the Twin Cities, but the numbers look much different by the time you get to NHL alums. Out of the 25 players to hail from the Twin Cities and their suburbs that played at least one game in the NHL last season, only 6 are alums of the University of Minnesota, just slightly worse than one out of four.
Here's what the list looks like. (Note: I used Let's Play Hockey Magazine's list of former college players that played in the NHL, and used Hockeydb for hometowns. I don't have a specific definition for Twin Cities suburb, but basically Maple Grove, Hastings, Coon Rapids, and Blaine all made the cut; Red Wing didn't.)
Minnesota Alums
Jordan Leopold
Paul Martin
Barry Tallackson(The NHL lists him as from North Dakota, but Minnesota listed him as from St. Paul)
Kyle Okposo
Jeff Taffe
Erik Johnson
Non-Minnesota Alums
Andrew Alberts(Boston College)
Casey Borer(St. Cloud)
Tim Conboy(St. Cloud)
Bret Hedican(St. Cloud)
Joe Jensen(St. Cloud)
Dave Tanabe(Wisconsin)
Toby Petersen(Colorado College
Tom Gilbert(Wisconsin
Mark Parrish(St. Cloud)
Brandon Bochenski(North Dakota)
Josh Langfeld(Michigan)
Zach Parise(North Dakota)
Jack Hillen(Colorado College)
David Backes(Minnesota State)
Ryan Carter(Minnesota State)
Mike Lundin(Maine)
Matt Smaby(North Dakota)
Tom Preissing(Colorado College)(Born in Illinois, but grew up in Minnesota)
Tim Jackman(Minnesota State)(Born in North Dakota, but grew up in Minnesota)
It would make sense that the non-Minnesota alums list would be a little longer since there are so many players in the Twin Cities and Minnesota can only recruit so many, but it's kind of surprising that there is that big of a gap, considering Minnesota is starting with the better talent in nearly every case.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
WCHA Still A Gentleman's League
The WCHA held their league meeting last week prior to the National Coaches convention in Florida. One of the big issues discussed was the league's gentleman's agreement of not recruiting players that have already made verbal commitments to other schools.
The agreement survived, but just barely, with four schools opposing it. I'm not sure who the four schools were, but Minnesota has been one of the most vocal in opposition to it.
Personally, I don't think it's a bad idea to have that agreement in place. I'm definitely not of the opinion that a verbal commitment should be super-binding. I have no problem is a kid decides he wants to go somewhere else, but I think he should come to that decision on his own.
One of the more anticipated events at the national coaches convention was a meeting with Paul Kelly and Bill Daly, the NHL's deputy commissioner and NHLPA executive director respectively, to discuss NCAA players leaving for the NHL.
But it sounds like any major changes in the relationship between the NCAA and NHL are still a few years down the road. The talks with Kelly and Daly were pretty informal, and it's unlikely any changes will come out of it, but it was a start to dealing with some of the issues brought up by so many players leaving early.
The agreement survived, but just barely, with four schools opposing it. I'm not sure who the four schools were, but Minnesota has been one of the most vocal in opposition to it.
Personally, I don't think it's a bad idea to have that agreement in place. I'm definitely not of the opinion that a verbal commitment should be super-binding. I have no problem is a kid decides he wants to go somewhere else, but I think he should come to that decision on his own.
One of the more anticipated events at the national coaches convention was a meeting with Paul Kelly and Bill Daly, the NHL's deputy commissioner and NHLPA executive director respectively, to discuss NCAA players leaving for the NHL.
But it sounds like any major changes in the relationship between the NCAA and NHL are still a few years down the road. The talks with Kelly and Daly were pretty informal, and it's unlikely any changes will come out of it, but it was a start to dealing with some of the issues brought up by so many players leaving early.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Trotter Called Up
Former Denver Pioneer Brock Trotter was one of six players called up by Montreal today to join the team for the playoffs.
Trotter probably won't see any game time unless Montreal is hit with a rash of injuries. I'm not even sure the extras practice with the team.(I know they didn't with Anaheim last year, but I'm not sure if that's common practice). Still, it shows he's one of the top prospects from the AHL team, and at least now there's a possibility of playing in the playoffs.
Trotter probably won't see any game time unless Montreal is hit with a rash of injuries. I'm not even sure the extras practice with the team.(I know they didn't with Anaheim last year, but I'm not sure if that's common practice). Still, it shows he's one of the top prospects from the AHL team, and at least now there's a possibility of playing in the playoffs.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
NCAA and the NHL
Let's Play Hockey Magazine had an interesting article by editor Kevin Kurtt that counted all of the former NCAA players in the NHL. By their count, 252 former NCAA players played at least one game in the NHL last season, which is almost a third of the players to play in the NHL this season.
Regardless of which side of the fence that you sit, it's impossible to deny that the NCAA is doing a great job preparing kids for the NHL, and that NHL opportunities for NCAA players are increasing.
The article also points out that seven of the top 20 rookie scorers in the NHL last year, which is promising. It was pointed out to me last week that the NCAA has a fairly low representation among the very top scorers in the NHL. Part of the reason for that is that college hockey seemed to have a pretty down cycle of talent around the turn of the century. The other reason is that most of the players in that super-elite category are top 5 draft picks that were ready to play in the NHL at 18 or 19. For those players, the CHL may be the best route. The league allows them to play against slightly older, more talented competition as a 16 and 17 year old. The NCAA has a pretty strong barrier to underage players in that you have to graduate high school before playing college hockey. Were it not for academic requirements, players like Pat Kane and Peter Mueller probably would have been NCAA players as well. The same will likely be true of a kid like Matt Duchene one day.
The problem is that there is a huge gap between the number of kids that get told they fall into that super-elite category and the number of kids that actually fall into that category.
For the vast majority of kids, they'll be on the borderline of the NHL, and it looks like the NCAA is doing a tremendous job of getting those borderline NHL players into the league.
Regardless of which side of the fence that you sit, it's impossible to deny that the NCAA is doing a great job preparing kids for the NHL, and that NHL opportunities for NCAA players are increasing.
The article also points out that seven of the top 20 rookie scorers in the NHL last year, which is promising. It was pointed out to me last week that the NCAA has a fairly low representation among the very top scorers in the NHL. Part of the reason for that is that college hockey seemed to have a pretty down cycle of talent around the turn of the century. The other reason is that most of the players in that super-elite category are top 5 draft picks that were ready to play in the NHL at 18 or 19. For those players, the CHL may be the best route. The league allows them to play against slightly older, more talented competition as a 16 and 17 year old. The NCAA has a pretty strong barrier to underage players in that you have to graduate high school before playing college hockey. Were it not for academic requirements, players like Pat Kane and Peter Mueller probably would have been NCAA players as well. The same will likely be true of a kid like Matt Duchene one day.
The problem is that there is a huge gap between the number of kids that get told they fall into that super-elite category and the number of kids that actually fall into that category.
For the vast majority of kids, they'll be on the borderline of the NHL, and it looks like the NCAA is doing a tremendous job of getting those borderline NHL players into the league.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Where Have You Gone Badger Bob?
Greg Wyshynski of the AOL Fanhouse's NHL page had an interesting post on the NHL's TV situation.
In particular, he highlighted a quote from USA Today's Kevin Allen on the need for the NHL to be on ESPN. The quote:
Johnson was staying at a national hotel sometime during the mid-80's. This was during the NHL's first run with ESPN, back when ESPN was just a fledgling station, before it became the annoying monolith known as the World Wide Leader, filled with Shouting Heads and discussion of Who's Hot? Anyway, Johnson was dismayed to find out that the cable package for that particular hotel chain did not carry ESPN. Johnson wrote a letter to the president of the hotel chain, explaining how important it was for kids to be able to see hockey games on television, and thus, why it was essential that ESPN be part of the hotel's cable package. Apparently the letter was so convincing that that hotel chain made of point of making sure every room was capable of watching ESPN.
I'm not sure how much of that story is truth, and how much is legend, but it's a good story nonetheless.
In particular, he highlighted a quote from USA Today's Kevin Allen on the need for the NHL to be on ESPN. The quote:
"One of the major beefs from many players is that Versus is not available in any hotel that they have ever stayed in. If a network isn't on a hotel cable package, is it a real network?"That quote reminded me of a story Doc Emrick told about former Colorado College and Wisconsin coach "Badger" Bob Johnson after Johnson passed in 1991.
Johnson was staying at a national hotel sometime during the mid-80's. This was during the NHL's first run with ESPN, back when ESPN was just a fledgling station, before it became the annoying monolith known as the World Wide Leader, filled with Shouting Heads and discussion of Who's Hot? Anyway, Johnson was dismayed to find out that the cable package for that particular hotel chain did not carry ESPN. Johnson wrote a letter to the president of the hotel chain, explaining how important it was for kids to be able to see hockey games on television, and thus, why it was essential that ESPN be part of the hotel's cable package. Apparently the letter was so convincing that that hotel chain made of point of making sure every room was capable of watching ESPN.
I'm not sure how much of that story is truth, and how much is legend, but it's a good story nonetheless.
Monday, January 07, 2008
Goonery
It was another proud moment for the Philadelphia Flyers this past weekend. NHL discipline guy Colin Campbell, apparently playing the role of a parent who has given up, isn't handing out suspensions, but that doesn't mean there weren't plenty of opportunities.
Among them:
Derian Hatcher bit Travis Zajac. No, really, I'm not making that up.
Steve Downie, fresh off his most recent suspension, took a cheap shot at Andy Greene. Pay special attention to the "hit" Andy Greene dishes out to deserve said cheap shot.
After seeing the ante upped, Derian Hatcher tried to kill Alex Steen, and instead took out his own teammate. If you ignore the sad consequences for Lupul, it's actually quite funny that Steen knows that in order to protect himself, he has to get low, because Hatcher is going to try to hit him in the head.
And then Downie, in final attempt to show he's the most gutless player in the NHL, sucker-punched Jason Blake, while Blake was being restrained by an official. Sadly, as egregious as that is, it's actually a step up for Downie, who is at least now cheap-shotting opponents, rather than his own teammates.
What's funny is that any time you ever see a former NCAA player involved in one of these incidents, he's always on the receiving end. Furthermore, how many of these incidents do you see in NCAA hockey? Very few, if any. And ultimately, I believe that should cause the death of fighting in the NHL. There are referees out on the ice to hand out justice. Any time you allow a biased party to start handing out their own justice, you end up with gross over-reactions like the ones seen above. Take the guys who are just out on the ice to cause trouble off of the ice, and you'll end up with less trouble on the ice.
Among them:
Derian Hatcher bit Travis Zajac. No, really, I'm not making that up.
Steve Downie, fresh off his most recent suspension, took a cheap shot at Andy Greene. Pay special attention to the "hit" Andy Greene dishes out to deserve said cheap shot.
After seeing the ante upped, Derian Hatcher tried to kill Alex Steen, and instead took out his own teammate. If you ignore the sad consequences for Lupul, it's actually quite funny that Steen knows that in order to protect himself, he has to get low, because Hatcher is going to try to hit him in the head.
And then Downie, in final attempt to show he's the most gutless player in the NHL, sucker-punched Jason Blake, while Blake was being restrained by an official. Sadly, as egregious as that is, it's actually a step up for Downie, who is at least now cheap-shotting opponents, rather than his own teammates.
What's funny is that any time you ever see a former NCAA player involved in one of these incidents, he's always on the receiving end. Furthermore, how many of these incidents do you see in NCAA hockey? Very few, if any. And ultimately, I believe that should cause the death of fighting in the NHL. There are referees out on the ice to hand out justice. Any time you allow a biased party to start handing out their own justice, you end up with gross over-reactions like the ones seen above. Take the guys who are just out on the ice to cause trouble off of the ice, and you'll end up with less trouble on the ice.
Monday, December 03, 2007
Niskanen in the News
...for being on the receiving end of this hit by Flyer goon(note the redundancy) Riley Cote, which earned Cote a three game suspension.
The AOL Fanhouse's Jez Golbez wasn't pleased with the length of the suspension, noting that Philadelphia has received 5 of the 9 suspensions so far this year.
The AOL Fanhouse's Jez Golbez wasn't pleased with the length of the suspension, noting that Philadelphia has received 5 of the 9 suspensions so far this year.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Mike Brown: The Mercenary
It's kind of hard to get overly excited about any NHL regular season game, but there is a fair bit of excitement surrounding tonight's game between the Minnesota Wild and Vancouver Canucks.
There is a fairly lengthy history of animosity between these two teams. The most recent incident came last week when Vancouver defenseman Matthias Ohlund snapped Mikko Koivu's leg with a slash.
It just so happened that the Wild are scheduled to take on Vancouver again tonight, while the anger from the incident is still pretty fresh. Minnesota Wild goon/...well, actually he's just a goon Derek Boogaard didn't exactly take the incident with grace and aplomb and made it clear that he's ready to drop the glove tonight. In related science news...
Anyway, since Ohlund won't be on the ice tonight, and Boogaard has to fight somebody because...actually, I'm not sure how to finish that, former Michigan Wolverine Mike Brown has been called up by the Canucks for his first NHL game to play the role of designated fighter.
Brown showed flashes of real talent while at Michigan, but is probably best known for his fighting exploits, including an epic beatdown of some guy from Western Michigan. He left Michigan after two seasons to play in a league that allowed his type to fight without serious consequences, and has racked up over 130 PIMs in each of his first two full pro seasons.
Jon Marthaler over at TNABACG thinks not much will happen tonight in terms of violence. I'm not so sure about that. I will go out on a limb though and say that besides any fisticuffs, Boogaard and Brown will have absolutely no positive impact for their team tonight.
There is a fairly lengthy history of animosity between these two teams. The most recent incident came last week when Vancouver defenseman Matthias Ohlund snapped Mikko Koivu's leg with a slash.
It just so happened that the Wild are scheduled to take on Vancouver again tonight, while the anger from the incident is still pretty fresh. Minnesota Wild goon/...well, actually he's just a goon Derek Boogaard didn't exactly take the incident with grace and aplomb and made it clear that he's ready to drop the glove tonight. In related science news...
Anyway, since Ohlund won't be on the ice tonight, and Boogaard has to fight somebody because...actually, I'm not sure how to finish that, former Michigan Wolverine Mike Brown has been called up by the Canucks for his first NHL game to play the role of designated fighter.
Brown showed flashes of real talent while at Michigan, but is probably best known for his fighting exploits, including an epic beatdown of some guy from Western Michigan. He left Michigan after two seasons to play in a league that allowed his type to fight without serious consequences, and has racked up over 130 PIMs in each of his first two full pro seasons.
Jon Marthaler over at TNABACG thinks not much will happen tonight in terms of violence. I'm not so sure about that. I will go out on a limb though and say that besides any fisticuffs, Boogaard and Brown will have absolutely no positive impact for their team tonight.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
NHL All-Star Fan Balloting
Remember last year when a bunch of fans got together on the internet and tried to get journeyman defenseman Rory Fitzpatrick voted into the NHL All-Star game? It was the most interesting thing to happen in the NHL since they came back from the lockout. So obviously the NHL had to put a stop to it.
The NHL recently started this year's fan balloting, and their message to fans was pretty clear: You try to rig our all-star voting, and we'll rig it right back.
First off, the NHL added a verification code to prevent computers from voting for the same player over and over again. There's nothing wrong with that. I doubt the NHL needed much more. But just to make sure, they took out a little insurance to make sure another "Vote for Rory" campaign didn't happen again.
Fans vote for 3 forwards, 2 defenseman, and one goalie per conference. The problem is, all all-star candidates apparently weren't created equally. The ballot lists 30 forwards, 13 defenseman, and 9 goalies per conference. If you want to vote for somebody not on the list, you are allowed one write-in vote per conference.
The problem is, in order to submit a ballot, you must have a full ballot. So let's say that you, sporting a keen eye for hockey talent and being an overall superior human being, want to write-in Steve Wagner as an all-star. In order to vote for him, you must also vote for one of the defenseman on the list. Same goes for forward. If you're the type of fan that wants to vote for Chris Kunitz(I'm assuming they have internet access in prisons), you must also vote for two of the 30 forwards the NHL lists. If you have two favorite players that are write-ins, you have to fill out two ballots, and effectively, you're voting against whichever write-in you picked on the first ballot with the second ballot, because you're giving more votes to the listed players.
Do you only want to vote for one conference? Too bad. You have to vote for both, which once again, funnels even more votes to the players the NHL selected, which by the way, includes players like Dan Boyle, who is an impressive -7 with no points in 4 games played this year.
Since the players the NHL selected are guaranteed to get a certain amount of votes, it makes things next to impossible for a write-in player to be chosen. So what is even the point of fan balloting if it's limited to such a select number of players that the NHL chose? If those are the players the NHL listed are really the players that everyone wants to see, then they should have no trouble getting the most votes without the NHL rigging the voting.
The NHL recently started this year's fan balloting, and their message to fans was pretty clear: You try to rig our all-star voting, and we'll rig it right back.
First off, the NHL added a verification code to prevent computers from voting for the same player over and over again. There's nothing wrong with that. I doubt the NHL needed much more. But just to make sure, they took out a little insurance to make sure another "Vote for Rory" campaign didn't happen again.
Fans vote for 3 forwards, 2 defenseman, and one goalie per conference. The problem is, all all-star candidates apparently weren't created equally. The ballot lists 30 forwards, 13 defenseman, and 9 goalies per conference. If you want to vote for somebody not on the list, you are allowed one write-in vote per conference.
The problem is, in order to submit a ballot, you must have a full ballot. So let's say that you, sporting a keen eye for hockey talent and being an overall superior human being, want to write-in Steve Wagner as an all-star. In order to vote for him, you must also vote for one of the defenseman on the list. Same goes for forward. If you're the type of fan that wants to vote for Chris Kunitz(I'm assuming they have internet access in prisons), you must also vote for two of the 30 forwards the NHL lists. If you have two favorite players that are write-ins, you have to fill out two ballots, and effectively, you're voting against whichever write-in you picked on the first ballot with the second ballot, because you're giving more votes to the listed players.
Do you only want to vote for one conference? Too bad. You have to vote for both, which once again, funnels even more votes to the players the NHL selected, which by the way, includes players like Dan Boyle, who is an impressive -7 with no points in 4 games played this year.
Since the players the NHL selected are guaranteed to get a certain amount of votes, it makes things next to impossible for a write-in player to be chosen. So what is even the point of fan balloting if it's limited to such a select number of players that the NHL chose? If those are the players the NHL listed are really the players that everyone wants to see, then they should have no trouble getting the most votes without the NHL rigging the voting.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Over the Line.....Mark it Zero
MGoBlog wrote a very fascinating article questioning the offsides rule in hockey. Brian argues that calling offsides hurts the flow of the game, by causing a lot of unnecessary face-offs, and hurts offense by making it too easy for the defensive team to clear the zone. The comments are just as good, with a lot of discussion about potential rule changes to improve the game.
I'm not necessarily sure I agree with Brian here. Taking away offsides would cut down on a couple whistles per game. But as was noted in the comments, it would also create a lot of icing calls as teams tried to get the puck out of their zone.
I also think it might even take away from the speed of the game a little bit. Without a blueline keeping all ten skaters in one section of the ice, it would spread everyone out more. There would be a lot more long passes instead of quick, sharp passing. Plus, defenseman wouldn't be forced to try and hold the blueline. They could play much more conservatively and the game would lose a lot of breakaways and odd-man rushes.
To be fair, Brian is a bit more conservative in his suggestions, saying that the blueline should either be made wider, or that hockey should try the "Red Berenson Rule" where once a team crosses the opposing team's blueline, the opposing team must clear the red line in order to clear the zone. I'm not sure how the former would change things, though I think that the latter would be very interesting, especially on powerplays.
Another suggestion that got brought up a lot was making every rink Olympic-sized. I do like the wider ice, but an extra couple feet won't change a lot. The CCHA predominantly uses NHL size rinks, while the WCHA is predominantly Olympic-sized. Last year, the average CCHA team scored 6 more goals in league play than the average WCHA did.(Obviously there are other factors that go into those numbers, but I think you can see that there isn't a big difference in scoring between rink sizes).
Back in the early to mid 1930's, scoring dropped pretty significantly in the NHL. There was a lot of talk various rules playing in a big role of that, but Detroit's legendary coach Jack Adams once told the New York Times, "Talk about the rules keeping down the scoring; it's the goalies who keep it down." Adams also called the drop in scoring one of the "outstanding developments in modern hockey." Of course, two years later in the same paper, Adams was bemoaning the fact that teams got an early lead and played a tremendously boring-paced game to sit on the lead(while simultaneously being known as the greatest perpetrator of said tactics, according to the rest of league).
Anyway, I tend to believe Adams. It's the goalies, stupid. If hockey wants to increase scoring, they should make the nets a little bit bigger, and make goalie pads a lot smaller. We don't need soccer nets, just a couple inches on either side to give players a little more net to look at. Goalie pads have gotten way out of control too. Not only would shrinking them increase scoring, it would allow goalies to show off their athleticism by forcing them to make more acrobatic saves. I know I'd much rather say "Wow, he's quick" instead of, "Wow, he takes up a lot of space".
I know a lot of people cringe when it comes to changing rules to try to make the game "more exciting," but I think it's time for hockey to try something. There's a lot of great things about the game that I think just need a little help to be shown off a little more.
I'm not necessarily sure I agree with Brian here. Taking away offsides would cut down on a couple whistles per game. But as was noted in the comments, it would also create a lot of icing calls as teams tried to get the puck out of their zone.
I also think it might even take away from the speed of the game a little bit. Without a blueline keeping all ten skaters in one section of the ice, it would spread everyone out more. There would be a lot more long passes instead of quick, sharp passing. Plus, defenseman wouldn't be forced to try and hold the blueline. They could play much more conservatively and the game would lose a lot of breakaways and odd-man rushes.
To be fair, Brian is a bit more conservative in his suggestions, saying that the blueline should either be made wider, or that hockey should try the "Red Berenson Rule" where once a team crosses the opposing team's blueline, the opposing team must clear the red line in order to clear the zone. I'm not sure how the former would change things, though I think that the latter would be very interesting, especially on powerplays.
Another suggestion that got brought up a lot was making every rink Olympic-sized. I do like the wider ice, but an extra couple feet won't change a lot. The CCHA predominantly uses NHL size rinks, while the WCHA is predominantly Olympic-sized. Last year, the average CCHA team scored 6 more goals in league play than the average WCHA did.(Obviously there are other factors that go into those numbers, but I think you can see that there isn't a big difference in scoring between rink sizes).
Back in the early to mid 1930's, scoring dropped pretty significantly in the NHL. There was a lot of talk various rules playing in a big role of that, but Detroit's legendary coach Jack Adams once told the New York Times, "Talk about the rules keeping down the scoring; it's the goalies who keep it down." Adams also called the drop in scoring one of the "outstanding developments in modern hockey." Of course, two years later in the same paper, Adams was bemoaning the fact that teams got an early lead and played a tremendously boring-paced game to sit on the lead(while simultaneously being known as the greatest perpetrator of said tactics, according to the rest of league).
Anyway, I tend to believe Adams. It's the goalies, stupid. If hockey wants to increase scoring, they should make the nets a little bit bigger, and make goalie pads a lot smaller. We don't need soccer nets, just a couple inches on either side to give players a little more net to look at. Goalie pads have gotten way out of control too. Not only would shrinking them increase scoring, it would allow goalies to show off their athleticism by forcing them to make more acrobatic saves. I know I'd much rather say "Wow, he's quick" instead of, "Wow, he takes up a lot of space".
I know a lot of people cringe when it comes to changing rules to try to make the game "more exciting," but I think it's time for hockey to try something. There's a lot of great things about the game that I think just need a little help to be shown off a little more.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Kessel Wins The Masterton
At the NHL's Awards Shows tonight, former Minnesota Golden Gopher Phil Kessel was named this year's winner of the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. It is given annually to the player that best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey.
Kessel joins a long list of great names to win the prestigious award, named after former University of Denver forward Bill Masterton. A player may only win the award once in his career.
Kessel became the front-runner for this year's award when he returned to the ice after a cancer scare earlier this season. It's nice to see Kessel recognized for his accomplishments in what must have been a difficult and emotional season.
Kessel joins a long list of great names to win the prestigious award, named after former University of Denver forward Bill Masterton. A player may only win the award once in his career.
Kessel became the front-runner for this year's award when he returned to the ice after a cancer scare earlier this season. It's nice to see Kessel recognized for his accomplishments in what must have been a difficult and emotional season.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
The Tavares Question
Things are a bit slow now that we're in the heart of the summer, so I don't mind veering a little bit off topic now and again.
Today, I'll look at whether or not the NHL should make a special exception to allow Oshawa Generals John Tavares into the 2008 NHL Draft.
Click here to read the entire post.
Today, I'll look at whether or not the NHL should make a special exception to allow Oshawa Generals John Tavares into the 2008 NHL Draft.
Click here to read the entire post.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Grand Ole Hockey
This was originally going to go into the last post, but it got long enough that it deserves its own.
I mentioned that Matt Donovan of the Dallas Stars committed to Denver. I find it interesting that this news came on the same day that it was announced that the Nashville Predators were sold, essentially becoming the final nail in the coffin for hockey in Nashville. After next season, the Predators will likely be playing hockey somewhere north of the border.
How are the two related? Dallas provides a perfect example of everything the NHL's much-maligned southern expansion can be, and could be.
The Stars moved from Minnesota to Dallas for the 1993-1994 season. It was a tough loss for Minnesota, but in all honesty, Minnesota didn't really need a pro team for hockey to thrive in the state. Dallas on the other hand didn't have much in the way of hockey infrastructure.
It was slow moving, but as the Stars became successful, more rinks were built and more kids started playing hockey. In 2001-2002, as some the first generation of young Stars fans grew, the Dallas Stars AAA program started. Since then, the program has sent dozens of players on to junior hockey, and a few on to the Division I collegiate level. The status of the program has grown to the point that players are now committing to colleges straight from the Stars program.
Dallas is slowly becoming a hockey hotbed. Other than David McKee, Texas' impact on the hockey world hasn't necessarily been felt on the NHL level, but that looks likely to change soon with some of the young players currently playing in Texas.
Nashville hasn't had the same success with junior hockey as Dallas. Nashville has really only produced one major prospect in Blake Geoffrion, and he can be considered an anamoly due to his bloodlines. Though the Predators have only been in existence for 9 seasons, and haven't really had any playoff success to really energize the city and get them excited about hockey.
Nashville struggled to draw decent crowds, and if they move to Ontario, as is being rumored, they'll likely make more money. But in the long run, which place would be better for the sport? Which place will grow the game more? Ontario is probably pretty close to maximizing their potential in terms of developing hockey players. Nashville is no where near maximizing their potential to produce quality hockey players. Without an NHL team in Nashville, chances are much greater that the next potential NHL star will choose to play football, or baseball, or God forbid, soccer, instead of hockey.
The biggest problem facing the NHL today is a lack of skill players. Watching a boring clutch and grab style of hockey is no fun to watch. So how do you get more exceptionally athletes? You get them by expanding to untapped areas and finding more exceptionally gifted athletes. You can't do it by cramming another team into a country of only 31 million people. There just aren't enough people to produce that many great athletes.
So on the surface, Nashville losing a team may only look bad for the 50 diehard Predators fan out there. But seeing hockey fail in such an untapped market is bad for hockey fans all over the world.
I mentioned that Matt Donovan of the Dallas Stars committed to Denver. I find it interesting that this news came on the same day that it was announced that the Nashville Predators were sold, essentially becoming the final nail in the coffin for hockey in Nashville. After next season, the Predators will likely be playing hockey somewhere north of the border.
How are the two related? Dallas provides a perfect example of everything the NHL's much-maligned southern expansion can be, and could be.
The Stars moved from Minnesota to Dallas for the 1993-1994 season. It was a tough loss for Minnesota, but in all honesty, Minnesota didn't really need a pro team for hockey to thrive in the state. Dallas on the other hand didn't have much in the way of hockey infrastructure.
It was slow moving, but as the Stars became successful, more rinks were built and more kids started playing hockey. In 2001-2002, as some the first generation of young Stars fans grew, the Dallas Stars AAA program started. Since then, the program has sent dozens of players on to junior hockey, and a few on to the Division I collegiate level. The status of the program has grown to the point that players are now committing to colleges straight from the Stars program.
Dallas is slowly becoming a hockey hotbed. Other than David McKee, Texas' impact on the hockey world hasn't necessarily been felt on the NHL level, but that looks likely to change soon with some of the young players currently playing in Texas.
Nashville hasn't had the same success with junior hockey as Dallas. Nashville has really only produced one major prospect in Blake Geoffrion, and he can be considered an anamoly due to his bloodlines. Though the Predators have only been in existence for 9 seasons, and haven't really had any playoff success to really energize the city and get them excited about hockey.
Nashville struggled to draw decent crowds, and if they move to Ontario, as is being rumored, they'll likely make more money. But in the long run, which place would be better for the sport? Which place will grow the game more? Ontario is probably pretty close to maximizing their potential in terms of developing hockey players. Nashville is no where near maximizing their potential to produce quality hockey players. Without an NHL team in Nashville, chances are much greater that the next potential NHL star will choose to play football, or baseball, or God forbid, soccer, instead of hockey.
The biggest problem facing the NHL today is a lack of skill players. Watching a boring clutch and grab style of hockey is no fun to watch. So how do you get more exceptionally athletes? You get them by expanding to untapped areas and finding more exceptionally gifted athletes. You can't do it by cramming another team into a country of only 31 million people. There just aren't enough people to produce that many great athletes.
So on the surface, Nashville losing a team may only look bad for the 50 diehard Predators fan out there. But seeing hockey fail in such an untapped market is bad for hockey fans all over the world.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Fun Fact
After losing to Ottawa today, Ryan Miller has now been the starting goalie for a team that had the best regular season record, but failed to make the league finals at the NCAA, AHL, and NHL level.
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