One of the perks of the job that is covering the NHL for theScore was getting to participate in the media game before the Winter Classic.
A film crew captured the game, then interviewed Rob Pizzo and I “24/7″ style and put this feature together for you.
The game itself? …Meh, it was okay.
With sincerest apologies to Coyotes fans, who are in an especially difficult position.
Dale Hawerchuk was born in Toronto and played major junior in Montreal. He was drafted by Winnipeg, where he set records for nine years, and then traded to Buffalo. He skated briefly in St. Louis, ended his playing career in Philadelphia, and now coaches in Barrie. And yet it is only in an arena in Arizona that his number 10 hangs, retired, over the ice.
There’s something absurd and slightly grotesque about that banner, as if it represents in one swath of fabric the whole Kafkaesque enterprise that is the Coyotes, the entire labyrinthine edifice of white lies and half-truths that keep the dream no one ever actually dreamt of ice hockey in the desert tenuously alive. It is a monument to a history that didn’t happen, a memory that no one has. It is, fundamentally, the glorification of a technicality. Nearly every other banner that hangs in the NHL gives someone the warm fuzzies; this one gives nearly everybody the heebie-jeebies.
Arguably the secret behind the Sedins' success
At one time, protection may have meant a Dave Semenko for your Wayne Gretzky, or an Ulf Samuelsson for your Mario Lemieux. I can also remember a day when Vancouver Canucks’ Mike Gillis brought in Darcy Hordichuk for Henrik and Daniel Sedin.
Turns out, that’s the old way of thinking. Protecting your stars through toughness is no longer something that the top teams in the NHL, or, at least in the Western Conference, do. At the end of his career, Dave Bolland won’t be remembered quite as fondly as Dave Semenko or Dave Schultz. He may not be anything other than a footnote on the team page of the 2010 Stanley Cup Champions, but his current role is instrumental in the Chicago Blackhawks successes this season, at least, when Jonathan Toews is on the ice and healthy.
When I was a kid, the NHL skills competition was one of the best days of the year. Back in the days before you could easily watch any player in the league, this was not only one of the rare times where you could see them in action, but without helmets in a fun atmosphere. It was during the skills competition that I first became aware that Al Iafrate was bald. He had been employing the hockey equivalent of a comb-over, better known as a “helmet”.
It was also a place where things that were often talked about were officially confirmed…
Mike Gartner was fast.
Al MacInnis could hammer the puck.
Patrick Roy was…well…really good.
So with that, I give you my all time skills competition 3 stars
The willing combatants
To call this year’s Fantasy Draft predictable and over the top would be fairly apt. In sum, every teammate is on the same team as every other teammate, as are guys who fall along the same national team lines as their respective captain. At any rate, the teams were decided and the rosters for the skills competition and all-star game were set.
One of the few surprises of the night came early when Team Chara took Pavel Datsyuk first overall. Datsyuk had been joking about his desire to go last so he could get a car and despite his immense talent he was ultimately a surprise to go first. Unsurprisingly, Alfredsson took Erik Karlsson and Jason Spezza with his first two picks.
The other big surprise came when Logan Couture was taken last in the draft, meaning a lot of people lost money on Jason Pominville going to Team Alfredsson a few picks earlier. Here are the full rosters courtesy of NHL.com: Read the rest of this entry »
A man on an island
There’s something painfully awkward about Phil Kessel that made last year’s NHL All-Star draft so uncomfortable to watch. There he was, sitting there, with that awkward grin on a folding chair. It was like that guy on a subway who’s just kind of looking around that nobody wants to sit next to. There’s no reason why you don’t want to sit with them, you just don’t. Clearly, Phil is not an extrovert and it showed. Class clown Alexander Ovechkin giggling and taking pictures of Kessel being uncomfortable in his own skin clearly exacerbated the situation.
Who went last? I missed the end of the draft?
— Logan Couture (@Logancouture) January 27, 2012
Fast forward one year and Logan Couture really put Phil the Thrill to shame. It helps that Couture is not off to a bad start with the Ottawa Senators faithful because he plays for a team that is largely anonymous (unfortunately) to Canadian hockey fans, but he also has the swagger to make up for the uncomfortable situation. Plus, no class clown taking pictures of him which helps.
Social competence aside, here’s the vid of Logan Couture accepting his Mr. Irrelevant trophy (read: car) in style. Read the rest of this entry »
Pre-hugging it out
I feel like the Boston Bruins locker room is a pretty interesting place, no? What a bizarre clash of personalities. Between Tim Thomas and his bomb shelter blueprints (I kid, I kid), Tuukka Rask’s temper, Shawn Thornton chirping everyone, Brad Marchand taking out people’s knees, and the rest of that sitcom worthy cast it would be a lot of fun. Somewhere a 24/7 producer is re-thinking a Bruins-free Winter Classic.
Tonight the Bruins showed that they all love each other after all. They’re all going to be playing for Team Chara, and don’t seem to be holding any grudges about where they were picked. And by “they” aren’t holding grudges, I mean Tyler Seguin isn’t holding a grudge despite being one of the last players picked. While I’m sure some people would be a little ticked off that they were drafted after Kimmo “Freaking” Timonen (I kid, I kid), Seguin is not. Why? He and Chara opted to hug it out.
Chara...Lupul... wait...what?
You know those moments of pure shock that catch you at inopportune times? Like when a friend of mine had a girl he had known for three months talk about them getting married. I’m not sure what his reaction was other than running out of that room, but had he had a beverage in his mouth it would have likely ended up all over the walls after a projectile reflex.
Carey Price came pretty close to that tonight when two guys he wouldn’t expect to make him their All-Star goalie made him their All-Star goalie. Price had clearly just taken a swig of something or other and wasn’t quite sure what to do with himself after the selection. After some general indecisiveness, Price makes his way to the podium to collect his jersey.
“Will you be our All-Star goaltender?…After Tim Thomas?” – Chara and Lupul Read the rest of this entry »
Chara laughs at you, not with you
It’s no secret that Zdeno Chara isn’t exactly the Chad Ochocinco of the NHL. Not only does he lack the general grasp of English that is required to be sassy, he seems like a generally rigid and no-nonsense type of guy. As a team captain, you better believe he doesn’t appreciate people messing with his teammates. He probably doesn’t enjoy jokes at Tim Thomas’ expense too much. He probably really dislikes being the Mother Hen when Tyler Seguin goes out for a night on the town. The latter isn’t so important here.
However, like the age-old saying, what Chara doesn’t understand can’t hurt him and it holds true in this press conference exchange. When asked if his reluctance to draft “all right wingers” will prevent him from drafting Timmy Thomas, Chara is left with no words for you to mull. In fact he may has well have dropped a Tortorella-esque “Okay, see ya” on his way out of the room. Unlike Torts, I feel like Chara just didn’t quite grasp it enough to drop the mic.
See for yourselves. Read the rest of this entry »
With only one game last night and none for the next few days (unless you count that crazy All-Star event as a “game”), theScore’s video team is making sure everyone is still entertained.
Below, we have our latest edition of “Ice Chips.” My favourite part: Andy Sutton laying a dude out at center, and being, so, so cautious about keeping his elbows down and not hitting him in the head (though it doesn’t look like it in the picture above). He’s learning!
Ice Chips: the best hits, saves and goals from the past week.
Rob Pizzo, Jo Innes, Ryan Lambert, Daniel Wagner, Cam Charron, Ms. Conduct, Chris Lund, Ellen Etchingham
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