NHL – Page 3

Hartnell Down to Columbus…..for BJs

I don’t usually comment or write about the bigger stories that the NHL warrants because they’re a dime a dozen. Every hockey blogger on earth will have a reaction, either positive or negative, to every single thing that happens in the NHL. I like focusing my time and words to the lesser known stories and not as popular hockey leagues and teams of the world.

However being as my favourite NHL team, the Philadelphia Flyers, has made the first blockbuster trade of the offseason, (and…a bit of a stupid one at that), I figured I’ll poke my head into the dilemma and give my two cents.

Newly acquired General Manager Ron Hextall has made his first big splash since becoming reacquainted with the Flyers organization. Today he sent forward Scott Hartnell to the Columbus Blue Jackets for another former Flyer, Columbus assistant captain R.J. Umberger and a fourth round pick in 2015.

For those of you who have heard the name R.J. Umberger before but can’t remember why, well, this is probably the reason:

Hextall’s reasoning for the trade is trying to get the Flyers quicker up front and have more leverage and cap space to work with. Granted, that’s exceptional reasoning but to throw one of the teams’ best forwards in recent memory and one of the best players who do so much for the community down the drain and to another squad? Well, I think there has to be more to it than that.

Columbus was going to buy out Umberger and he was set to become a UFA; that was no secret. For the Blue Jackets, trading him and keeping their buyout is a fantastic win and probably one that shocked them. On Philly’s side, they retain a shorter contract with Umberger with gives them flexibility with the cap even though they’re only saving $150,000.

This deal seemingly came out of nowhere which leads me to believe that something went on behind the scenes and Hexy had to scramble and go for anything that was out there to unload Hartnell. Hell, Hartnell even changed his Twitter bio to “Columbus, Ohio” not even 10 minutes after the trade was announced. He even also would have had to waive his No-Trade Clause. I don’t know any insider info so take what you will of this with a grain of salt.

On another note, is the Columbus Blue Jackets the only team the Flyers can trade with?! Over the past three years, the Flyers have traded Jeff Carter, Sergei Bobrovsky and now Scott Hartnell to the BJs.

One more little stat: Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, James Van Riemsdyk and now Scott Hartnell were all traded on June 23^rd. A day that lives in Flyers infamy now.

Now let’s get ready for the Leafs to do something stupid this summer so we can put this behind us.

Sports Apparel and Women

This is going to be more of a rant than anything else so bare with me.

Us women have come a long way. Now there’s still a ways to go between equality and the sporting world but this isn’t about what happens on the ice, field, court, diamond, whatever. I’m not going to get all political or feminist on you because quite frankly, that’s not my thing. (Kudos to those who do however.) I’m going to talk about something that has been bothering me for years.

Sports fashion.

I’m not talking about the latest Versace, Stella McCartney, Thierry Mugler threads. (Shocked that I know who they are, aren’t you? Yeah, I surprise myself too sometimes.) Nor am I talking about the pink jerseys and t-shirts or diamond encrusted logos. I’m talking about sizing.

Let me paint a picture. I’m about 5’8′ and all my life I’ve been referred to as being well built. By that I mean, broad manly shoulders, broad hips, huge muscular legs and to put it bluntly…..a large rack. (Sigh. Go ahead and picture it, I’ll wait…..done? Moving on.) You can easily see where I’m going with this, can’t you?

There are many other women in the world who are just what I described above and here’s our dilemma. When it comes to wanting to support our favourite teams through apparel, we are faced with two categories. Women’s section or men’s section.

In the women’s section we have the best designed shirts, beautiful logos and colours, unique abstract patterns, tailored perfectly to fit a women’s curves but there’s one problem. A size XL won’t even fit my left arm. Okay, no worries! (Don’t even get me started on plus size.) We’ll just head over to the men’s side.

The men’s side has the more generic looking t-shirts and whatnot but it’s our team so let’s get pumped! Problem? Yeah, a size small fits me like a dress.

See the dilemma? There’s no happy medium for women who are built like I am. I’ve heard people tell me to just lose weight and I’ll fit into it. Sorry sweetie, but it’s kinda hard to change my bone structure. Well, buy from the mens and shrink it! Yeah, no, a shirt will only shrink so much.

This isn’t a shot at smaller women either so don’t get me wrong. They wear that apparel with pride and I couldn’t be happier seeing more women in teams colours that perfectly accentuate their curves and bodies.

I just wish I could join them some day.

Enforcers, Goons and Fighters, oh my! A list of NHL tough guys from March’s eyes Part One

In my humble opinion, the NHL of the 1980s and 1990s was the best time to be a fan of the league. Little to no sponsorships, endorsement deals were few and far between, no insane physical testing and if you could throw a few punches while balancing on skates well, you had yourself a job.

The fighter, goon, or tough guy if you will is long gone from today’s NHL. Yes of course there are still fights but if you don’t know how to use your stick and score more than a few goals, say goodbye to the big leagues and welcome to the LNAH. (Unless you’re John Scott apparently but he’s a whole separate post waiting to be written.) With the additions of European and Russian players into the league, emphasis was brought upon speed and skill. Combined with the rough and tumble, hard-hitting North American style, we have the league that we see now.

Without going into the obvious choices for the best of the best, like Bob Probert and company, the players I’m listing here may not be house hold goon names. A lot of my readers are hockey fans from the United Kingdom who are relatively new fans of the game. I figured I would give you all a look at some of the lesser known fighters that I grew up with.

Growing up I was an avid hockey card collector. Along with my infamous collection I would pick up old VHS hockey blooper and hockey fight tapes from yard sales and flea markets throughout the area. I used to watch these over and over. I’d have a sick day from school and I’d spend hours watching them with my Uncle who would babysit me. We’d have a blast. So without further ado, here’s part one of a list of NHL enforcers (in no particular order) from my eyes.

1. John Kordic

Kordic was insane. He obviously knew how to throw a few punches but he also knew how to take them mostly to being coked out of his mind every game. His drug and alcohol problems were well documented and after a short seven year career, Kordic overdosed and died at the age of lucky number 27. Along with fellow enforcer Chris Nilan, Kordic was a part of the 1986 Stanley Cup champions; the Montreal Canadiens. He is also famous for being in an epic trade that sent him to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Russ Courtnall. Some of his more famous fights are with other players on this list.

2. Jay Miller

At 6’2, 210 pounds, Miller was drafted by the Quebec Nordiques in 1990. The feisty American left winger was eventually picked up by the Boston Bruins and split his career between them and the Los Angeles Kings. After 8 years, Miller amassed 1723 penalty minutes in only 446 games. Most of his fights included the aforementioned John Kordic which added more fuel to the ever growing rivalry between the Canadiens and the Bruins.

Continue reading “Enforcers, Goons and Fighters, oh my! A list of NHL tough guys from March’s eyes Part One”

2014 Stanley Cup Playoff Predictions

Time to finally give my home continent league a little love on the blog. It’s been a long while since I’ve written about the National Hockey League so the next few weeks should be full of amazing highlights and banter. I probably should’ve posted this yesterday before the start but there’s no time better than the present! Only one day of games has been played and well, my predictions aren’t off.

EASTERN CONFERENCE – FIRST ROUND

Series A A1 Boston Bruins vs W2 Detroit Red Wings

Boston in 6.
Detroit’s good luck AHL team’s steam has to run out at some point and the Bruins are just the roadblock to do it. Boston will play the body as they usually do leaving the Red Wings looking mighty small. Both goaltenders will be up to the task and this matchup will come down to pressure in the offensive zone.

Series B A2 Tampa Bay Lightning vs A3 Montreal Canadiens

Tampa in 6.
One game has already been played in this series and I took in the whole thing. From watching 9 goals get scored in a Montreal win, it’s quite obvious to point out that the goaltending and defence was a train wreck. While that is somewhat normal for the Habs in pressure-cooker games, it’s unusual for the Lightning. Watch for them to regroup and come out in full force in game two. Their spirits will continue to rise with the welcoming addition of Ben Bishop back in the lineup.

Series C M1 Pittsburgh Penguins vs W2 Columbus Blue Jackets

Pittsburgh in 6.
Holy cow, what a game was game 1 of this series. I don’t think anybody had the Jackets having two leads in this game. I don’t know what it is with Pittsburgh, their defence, and Marc Andre Fleury in big games. Ever since they hoisted the Cup a few years ago, they’ve been terrible in the post season ever since. However they’ll be able to get to round 2. Unfortunately as much as I want Columbus to succeed, especially with Sergei Bobrovsky, the mighty Sid the Kid and Evgeni Malkin will silence their parade. Continue reading “2014 Stanley Cup Playoff Predictions”

This week in hockey: tragedy and death. They’re just like us.

They say bad things come in threes. That sentiment could not have been more true this week in the hockey world. Between the WHL’s Tim Bozon contracting meningitis and put into a coma, Matt Stajan and his wife losing their week old child, Rich Peverley collapsing mid way through the first period of a game and the tragedy of Terry Trafford, it’s times like these where you have to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. That bigger picture being these men that we look up to are just like us.

Behind the fame, notoriety, money and everything else that comes with being a professional hockey player, there’s something that we always fail to see. They are human beings with private lives and deal with problems and issues very similar to ours. We’re not much different when it comes down to the thick of things.

I remember when I was about 7 or 8, my Dad took me to see the Cornwall Aces play. The St. John’s Maple Leafs were in town and Brent Gretzky just happened to be suiting up for them that day. In the second intermission my Dad noticed that Walter Gretzky was sitting a few rows above us. He tried to coax me into going up and getting an autograph. “No, Dad! He’s a celebrity.” I replied. My father laughed and shook his head. “He’s not going to bite you. He’s just like us.”

He’s just like us.

It’s hard to differentiate between hockey player/celebrity and human being at times. My Dad ended up going over and chatting with Walter Gretzky for the whole third period, he seemed happy to oblige; maybe even shocked that somebody actually picked him out of the crowd in little old Cornwall, Ontario.

I’ve read a countless number of hockey player autobiographies over the years and I don’t know how many times I’ve related to certain issues these hard driven characters have went through. They struggle with adversity in the same kind. Some more than others. Just remember to when you’re hearing all of these unfortunate stories that come out in the hockey world that they’re dealing with the same issues we all are. We’re all just trying to be accepted in this crazy society and world. They just happen to have the spotlight shine brighter on them with some not even wanting it.

It’s a thankless job to be a role model in today’s world. The world is flying by too fast and the next person to become said role model is just waiting around the corner. Hold on to these players you idolize as they won’t be around forever.

They’re just like us.

Stadium Series – How many is too many?

Another weekend of outdoor hockey games has come and gone for the NHL. Another weekend where I didn’t spend a minute watching either game.

I don’t hate the idea of outdoor games but they have seemed to have lost their luster. The first couple of Winter Classic and Heritage Classic games were great. They brought back that old time feel of playing shinny out on the pond or on your backyard rink growing up with snowflakes cascading all around you. After the third one though, that was enough for me as I was watching at home on television.

Raanta at Soldier Field. (Photo: Jason Kessenich www.aepoc.com) — Raanta at Soldier Field. (Photo: Jason Kessenich http://www.aepoc.com)

These outdoor games played in baseball stadiums and football fields are meant to be watched in person. The experience of being in a famed sporting venue while watching a game of hockey under the lights and dark of night. Not at home on your couch squinting to see the puck because the camera is 8 million miles away.

Essentially, it’s a money grab. The whole Stadium Series shtick was brought up, at least in my mind anyway, as a way to suck fans back into the game from last year’s lockout and make money from all the revenue lost. New merchandise to be bought, crazy ticket prices and what have you. Great idea, marketed insanely well and it worked. Maybe too well. I mean hell, some of the baseball teams can’t even sell out their own stadiums.

How many more are we going to see of these though? It’s already lost its appeal to most hardcore fans around the league because of what I stated earlier; the camera angles are atrocious. The build up to them is kind of stupid as well. It’s nothing special, just another game albeit played outside.

My thinking is I hope the NHL will stick with what they know. Keep the Winter Classic and the Heritage Classic. If you really want to dabble with the Stadium Series, have one or two games. Not 5 or 6. The human mind gets sick of things quick. It’ll be just a matter of time before the next big marketing ploy comes knocking at Bettman’s door.

The Dallas Stars are shining. You should probably take notice.

Since my beloved Philadelphia Flyers are off to what some may call a rough year, (I’d call it something much worse but I digress.), I’ve come to pay more and more attention to my adopted second team and favourite west coast team, the Dallas Stars.

What a couple of nights they’ve had in Alberta. If you combine both games, the Stars outscored the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames, 10 goals to 3. Backstopped by two amazing performances from Kari Lehtonen, the Stars first line of Tyler Seguin, (thanks Boston!), Jamie Benn and 2013 first round draft pick Valeri Nichushkin exploded in a way that this Dallas team hasn’t seen for a very long time. The poor Flames were stunned as Seguin scored 4 goals on route to a 5 point night and Benn finished in his own fine fashion with 6. Both players are now tied for the team lead in points with 22. There’s no doubt that the Team Canada brass will be taking a closer look at both Seguin and Benn. Benn over Giroux at this point.

I’m glad for Tyler Seguin as well. Since he’s gotten away from Claude Julien’s defensive style of play in Boston, he’s been adapting insanely well with Lindy Ruff’s more offensive system.

Take into consideration that the average age of that line is 21. Assuming that nobody has a freak injury, gets traded or goes back to Russia (Hey, it COULD happen. *shrugs*), this line could spell trouble for a very long time, at least a good 10 years. These boys are just starting out their careers and have plenty of hockey to play.

And that’s just the first line.

The second line of depth features veteran Erik Cole, Cody Eakin and breakout sensation, Quebec native, Alex Chiasson. Chiasson is going to be another player to watch and a key player to Dallas’ success. He’s racked up 11 points in 19 games and has proven that he belongs up in the show. His speed and head for the ice is astounding.

I can’t write this article without mentioning how great Kari Lehtonen has been playing. The man is posting a .929 save percentage and will definitely be a shoe in for Team Finland in Sochi. It’s great to finally see him thrive as he is one goaltender who deserves it.

Dallas also have a very strong farm system in the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League. Travis Morin, Colton Sceviour, Jamie Oleksiak, and plenty more are just one step away from their big leap into the show. Believe me when I say that Dallas will be a force in the next couple of years. There definitely is a New Star Rising.

Sean Pronger’s Journeyman, The Life of a 4th Liner

Unfortunately I’ve been a little under the weather lately and it doesn’t seem to be letting up; hence the lack of posts. However, while not being able to be feeling up to par to manage some interesting pieces, it’s given me the chance to do a lot of reading. So I figured hey, why not a book review.

I first heard of this book about 8 months ago. I had just gotten out of surgery and was bedridden for a long time with pretty much nothing to do. I had gotten into the habit of tuning into Jay Onrait and Dan O’toole’s weekly podcast and one week the “special” guest happened to be Sean Pronger.

Pronger, (the lesser known Pronger at that), was promoting his new book, “Journeyman – The Guy Who’s Seen Everything In Hockey“. He was recalling a couple of stories in it; how he was traded to the New York Rangers and got to be on a line with Gretzky during his last year. (There’s a huge and hilarious story behind it. It’s not on a line you would think.) and how Ray Ferraro thought Steve Duschesne was everything that was wrong with the Los Angeles Kings in the late 1990’s.

So motivatied with this information, I finally got around to picking it up last week. Now, I do a lot of reading, no joke. Most of it is either biographies or serial killer dramas and most biographies are hockey related. I must say that this is one of the BEST hockey books I have read in such a long time.

Of course it’s about Pronger’s life of being the dreaded 4th liner and journeyman of the NHL. For those of you who don’t know what a journeyman is, it’s constantly being sent up and down between leagues, being traded (he played 29 games in an NHL season between 3 team. Yeah.) and all the ins and outs and frustrations tied with it.

Nobody ever thinks of the 4th line. What’s always going through their minds. Are they gonna be sent down today? Will do good enough to get a promotion on the squad? Will they be considered a healthy scratch? Should they start packing their bags? Everything that runs through a player’s head in these circumstances are covered in this book and that’s what makes it great to read. It’s about the other guys.

Pronger is very humourous and pokes a lot of fun at himself which makes it very great to read. The book flows at an even pace but after every chapter, you’re always captivated to read more and find out which team (or league….shoutout East Coast…) he got sent to next.

If you’re not a reader but at least a hockey fan, do yourself a favour and pick this up. It gives you a lot more respect for the grinders on our favourite teams.

An apology from a disgruntled Philadelphia Flyers fan

For some of you that know me, you will know that I’ve grown up a die hard and faithful fan of the black and orange, my beloved Philadelphia Flyers.

While I’m not old enough to remember the magic of winning back to back Stanley Cups, the days of the Broadstreet Bullies or the dreaded Cooperalls, I am old enough to have witnessed the glory days of Ron Hextall, the “Legion of Doom” line, Roger Nielson leading the team from behind the bench and many more exciting and amazing memories.

However, what happened last night has left me disgusted and embarrassed for the first time for being a fan of my team.

Granted the year is not playing out like we have hoped. A couple of bone head moves made by Paul Holmgren and company can leave the team deflated. I’m sure the tension throughout the entire organization is not something I’d like to endure but this is hockey and in times of rebuilding, these things happen.

I miss Ilya Bryzgalov. (Photo: Jai Agnish. Flickr)

Tension, frustration, the pressure from the ridiculous Philly media and fans came to an abrupt halt in last night’s game against the Washington Capitals. While I commend Wayne Simmonds for trying to spark some life into the arena and his team, I don’t think it was warranted when your team is already down by 7(!?). Should’ve tried a little earlier Wayner. All jokes aside, I have nothing bad to say about your actions.

What happened next was appalling and I KNEW something like this was going to happen when we announced the signing of Ray Emery. Did nobody remember him attacking a trainer in the KHL? Guess not.

For those of you who don’t know what happened or don’t follow hockey, Emery is a goaltender who skated the length of the ice to fight the opposing Capitals goaltender, Brayden Holtby. Holtby did not want anything to do with this and tried backing away. Instinctively, Emery grabbed him and started a 2 minute assault by pounding fists into the back of his head. The referee stopped players from jumping in to aide Holtby. What’s even more disgusting is that Emery gave up 4 goals, earned 29 penalty minutes, beat the shit out of Holtby and the Philadelphia media gave him third star of the game. Ridiculous.

Brian McGratton once said that Ray Emery would be a top 5 fighter if he wasn’t a goaltender. The man is a boxer on skates with a screw loose. This is just the sort of thing that is going to get people to jump on the “fighting should be banned from hockey” bandwagon.

I cover a lot of the LNAH which is a league known for its fights, whether staged or not. I am disgusted to think that guys like Emery and Jon Scott will most likely ended up in this league based on that reason alone.

How do you fix this mess? I’m not sure. With Ed Snider around, I’m not sure if Paul Holmgren will be leaving anytime soon. Homer, take a page out of Bobby Clarke’s book and maybe step down. A whole overhaul needs to take place.

In closing, on behalf of this Flyers fan to the rest of hockey fans across the globe, I apologize for the stupid actions in last night’s game. I will be sitting with a paperbag over my head for the rest of the season.

The decades old debate: Hockey and Fighting

Well since everyone has jumped on the bandwagon, I figured I might as well hop aboard and give my two cents.

Hockey and fighting.

This debate has been going on for decades. While I could get into a whole spiel on the cons of fighting and why in this day and age it should possibly be taken out, I would not agree with what I what I had wrote. Fighting belongs in hockey.

It’s not just about beating somebody’s face in. It’s much more than that. It’s about taking punches to the face to ignite your team to rally from a deficit. It’s about sparking the home town crowd to build an erupting atmosphere in the arena. There’s a lot more to it and has to stay. It’s there for a reason.

Chin meet ice. (Photo by Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images)

Yes, what happened to George Parros on Tuesday night during the Canadiens home opener was frightening and of course nobody likes to see someone get hurt but that was not the result of a fight. It was not a punch that got him concussed; it was his chin hitting the ice on an awkward fall. That could have happened at any point in the game to any player regardless of a fight. The guy is not stupid, he went to Princeton for christ sakes, he knows what he was doing.

However with that being said, fighting has changed. Gone are the days of the tough men like Bob Probert, Stu “The Grim Reaper” Grimson, and Jon Kordic, Wade Belak (shoutout Coventry fans),among others. The way hockey is being played now is completely different. It’s a mesh of both North American and European styles. More rules are being implemented whether it helps the game flourish or not.

This whole helmet debacle thing is a joke. I realize they are trying to protect the players and do what’s right but it’s down right silly. Hockey is a dangerous game; it’s meant to be. It’s the fast strides by the players; the verbal and physical altercations that keep fans coming back for more.

Fighting will never be banned. You may see limits on how many fights per year but it will never be taken out of the game entirely and rightfully so.

We wish the best for George Parros and hope he gets back in the lineup soon. I’m just disappointed I won’t be seeing him fight in person Saturday night.