Articles

[hockeygod]

NHL moves towards four division format

DAVID SHOALTS, Globe and Mail, Dec. 04, 2011

The annual board of governors meetings under NHL commissioner Gary Bettman are always carefully-scripted affairs. A master of backroom dealing, Bettman will assess team owners' positions on important decisions, allow argument before the actual meeting, and arm-twist as needed to put an agenda in place. When the meeting is over, everyone comes out smiling and it's announced the matter was passed by unanimous vote.

This year however, in one of the few times since Bettman took office in February, 1993, a major issue remains unsettled in advance of the meetings on Monday and Tuesday. Realignment of the league must take place before next season, and there is a lack of consensus among the governors.

Bettman himself acknowledged this on his satellite radio show last week, admitting a concrete plan might not come out of the sessions. While asserting a plan for next season needs to be in place by the governors' meeting on Jan. 28 in Ottawa during the all-star break, he pointed out examples of the complexity.

“Dallas, who's in the Pacific, plays a lot of its road games very late at night,” Bettman said. “Minnesota is in a place where they're playing a lot of their games west in the Northwest. And then you say, well, okay, if we put Winnipeg in the Northwest and we move Minnesota to the Central, isn't that great? And then Colorado says, ‘Wait a minute, then I'm the only U.S. club in a division with four Canadian ones.'“ There are believed to be two plans on the agenda – the first being a four-division plan, the second a simple move by Winnipeg to the Western Conference with the Detroit Red Wings replacing the Jets in the Eastern Conference.

Several governors contacted by The Globe believe a four-division concept will carry the day. The concept, first proposed last summer, would do away with the present two-conference, six-division setup and be organized generally by time zones, with two divisions of eight teams and two of seven teams. Each team would play home-and-away against every other team in the NHL, with the remainder of the schedule contested within the divisions.

The top four teams in each division would make the Stanley Cup playoffs. The first two rounds would take place within the divisions. In the semi-finals, the division winners would be seeded according to their regular-season point totals – the No. 1 team would play No. 4, while No. 2 would meet No. 3.

The four-division plan would likely result in fewest complaints, and should get the required 20 out of 30 votes. For example, both the Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets, who want to play in the East, could be accommodated.

The original four-division proposal had rivals Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers in different divisions, which did not please either team. One solution is to put them both in a division with the more northern teams as long as closer rivals like the New York Rangers do not object. The accompanying chart shows that possibility.

Another complaint is that it would be easier to make the playoffs in a seven-team division. But there's no perfect scenario.

ALSO ON THE AGENDA

While realignment will occupy most of the governors’ time, they will discuss some other issues like the state of the Phoenix Coyotes’ sale, the St. Louis Blues and their European operations. There will also be the annual report from the hockey operations department about on-ice matters like concussions (down from last season) and competitive balance.

Blues chairman Dave Checketts announced a month ago he was selling the majority share of the team (held by an equity fund) to Chicago businessman Matthew Hulsizer and a group of partners that will include former Tampa Bay Lightning owner Oren Koules. But there has been silence since then and it is not expected the governors will vote to approve Hulsizer as an owner.

In the meantime, Blues minority owner Tom Stillman is waiting in the wings. He has some serious money in his group, chiefly the Taylor family, which owns Enterprise Rent-A-Car and St. Louis-based Enterprise Holdings, which is the 16th-largest private company in the United States, according to Forbes magazine.

EUROPEAN AFFAIRS

NHL chief operating office John Collins will have good news to report about the league’s business in Europe and Asia. After a slow start, the television rights to the league’s overseas markets are now sold, with a deal in Russia the latest to fall into place.

In a confidential memo to the governors two years ago, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said the league took in $14-million (all figures U.S.) in European television rights, which it split 50-50 with Comcast, which then owned Versus, the league’s main U.S. carrier. Bettman also outlined a strategy of building the league’s presence on multiple platforms to show international advertisers it has a substantial audience in European, Asian and Middle Eastern markets.

Last summer, the deal with ESPN America, which covered Europe and the Middle East, expired and Bettman decided to negotiate deals individually in each country. He took some heat for the slow start but Collins is expected to tell the governors the NHL will now earn more than double the previous deal, some $30-million, from its overseas broadcast revenue on different platforms.

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

The governors will get a report from deputy commissioner Bill Daly on where things stand with the NHL Players’ Association in the final season on the collective agreement. The deal expires in September, 2012.

At this point, the owners seem to have a leg up since the NBA players were the most recent group to agree to a big cut in their share of the league’s revenue. The NBA lockout ended when the players agreed to take 50 per cent of overall revenue, while the NFL Players Association settled for 48 per cent last summer.

No one thinks the NHLPA will maintain the current 57-43-per-cent split in favour of the players. A 50-50 split is the betting favourite but don’t be surprised if the owners try hard for more.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

McGuire a rare breed: A former NHL coach who’s a good analyst

BRUCE DOWBIGGIN, Globe and Mail, Dec. 04, 2011

Somehow it doesn’t seem like a hockey season without Pierre McGuire. McGuire is alive and thriving on NBC and Versus, of course, but the man who made “active sticks” a household phrase is seldom heard in Canada these days on TV. How you feel about that can range from nostalgia to relief, but there’s little doubt McGuire, a former coach in Hartford and Pittsburgh, changed the role of analyst from his perch between the benches.

McGuire tirelessly explored the coaching strategy, relayed by-play between benches from his spot at ice level, and soldiered on against some of the hammerhead tendencies in the game.

So why don’t more hockey coaches make good TV analysts? With the exception of one very prominent former coach, it’s hard to think of many former bench bosses who’ve made the impression on the medium that McGuire has since popping up at TSN. Only Harry Neale, the droll former Detroit and Vancouver coach, carved out a niche similar to McGuire’s. Neale made his mark through his wit and personality; McGuire through his chalk-talk-on-Red-Bull style.

TSN has had a steady parade of former coaches to its panel – from Craig MacTavish to John Tortorella to (now) Marc Crawford. (We can expect Paul Maurice, now done in Carolina, any day now.) But none of the former coaches remained long enough to make an impression. It’s even harder to name former coaches who’ve sat in the booth as analysts. Crawford had a stint at CBC working beside Mark Lee. Scotty Bowman long ago tried the job on during a period of coaching unemployment.

But after that, it’s a short list. For whatever reasons, if you want to be a hockey analyst, it helps to have been a (short) goalie, a fourth-line winger or a former Edmonton Oiler.

That’s in stark contrast to basketball where a number of the top analysts are former coaches. Mike Fratello, Hubie Brown, Mike Fratello, Doug Collins and P.J. Carlesimo are among the coaches who’ve taken to the analyst role. Basketball is a more technical game than hockey perhaps, but these former coaches often bring insights that former players can’t consider.

Football has the greatest former coach, John Madden, as the exemplar of TV analyst. With “Pow!” and “Zap!” shouts over his telestrator virtuosity, Madden set the template for critiquing a game when he burst to prominence beside Pat Summerall at CBS in 1981 (the same year ol’ what’s-his-name debuted on Hockey Night In Canada). While never duplicated, Madden has spawned a series of former coach disciples from Brian Billick to Jon Gruden to Steve Mariucci.

Plus Madden has supplied comedian Frank Caliendo with a tidy living imitating the ex-Raiders coach doing “tough-acting Tinactin” routines.

What To Do

ESPN is finding itself in a tight journalistic spot regarding the Bernie Fine sexual scandal at Syracuse University. The network had a taped interview in 2003 with the wife of the Orangemen’s long-time assistant coach in which she claims to know all about Fine’s alleged sexual interference with young boys and men. Lacking a second corroborating witness, ESPN declined to go forward with the story at the time. Having heard that there was a police and university probe at the time ESPN says it did not take the tape to police.

In the wake of last month’s sexual scandal at Penn State, ESPN decided to run with the story when a second (and third) source appeared. The network is now drawing fire from child-advocacy groups saying it should have taken the tape to police at the time. Human rights should trump journalistic rights, say the critics.

But it’s not that simple. Many news organizations refuse to divulge sources and only surrender materials gathered in a story under subpoena. “We’re not an arm of law enforcement,” goes the logic. Separation of journalism from police is a distinction that is often difficult for lay people to fathom – like the photo journalist who has the choice of preventing a crime or dispassionately recording it. There’s no comfortable answer to ESPN’s decision, but it’s not out of line with journalistic ethics.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Travel key to realignment + 30 Thoughts

Elliotte Friedman, CBC Sports, December 5, 2011

How do you feel about 20 teams in the Stanley Cup playoffs? Jim Rutherford likes the idea.

The Hurricanes president and general manager proposed such a setup as the NHL headed into its contentious, cantankerous and certainly truculent realignment debate this week in Pebble Beach, Calif.

"If we shorten the exhibition season, we could end the regular season a week and a half earlier," Rutherford said last Friday. "And that way, the first weekend would have the teams ranked 13 through 20 playing a best-of-five series."

Now, a best-of-five would probably be too long. But a two out of three would be terrific. The four winners would join the rest in the "main draw." Those top 12 teams would get the benefit of a short break between the tough regular season and even more brutal playoffs.

Honestly, I love the idea. I'm for anything that increases excitement and that certainly qualifies.

Unfortunately, it didn't catch on with the NHL because it involves a one through 16 post-season setup. As was pointed out by one league executive, "That could actually make playoff travel worse."

As many of you know by now, the board of governors may vote on changing the current two-conference, six-division alignment in favour of a "four-conference" system — and make no mistake, the NHL wants them known as conferences and not divisions. Included in this proposal is two rounds of intra-conference playoffs and a re-seeded Final Four, where the team with the highest-remaining point total plays the club with the fewest.

This is all about air miles and travel, which is why Rutherford's idea didn't fly — no matter how interesting it is. It's been widely reported that, if the new plan fails, there will be a trade with Winnipeg going West and either Detroit or Columbus going east. Here's the problem with that scenario: There will be a lot of unhappy teams.

It doesn't really address the western travel issue and whichever of those two doesn't go east is going to be furious. And make no mistake, geography is an issue.

"If those eastern teams say, 'The current situation is good for us,' we're going to tell them, 'Well, it isn't good for us,'" one Western Conference governor said.

Said another: "If Toronto likes it so much, we should vote to send them west."

The best news for them (and other western-based teams) is attitudes like Lou Lamoriello's. The Devils' uberboss said Saturday that he likes the current situation, "but I'm willing to listen to other ideas. You have to do what's best for the league."

On his weekly radio show, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said: "If we don't get it done now, we're going to be in really tough shape if we don't get it done by the all-star game … I don't even think we can wait that long. But I haven't figured out what we'll do if it doesn't happen."

Other NHL governors think Bettman is playing coy. Several of them said some version of "nothing ever gets put to a vote unless he knows he's got what he needs." (Bettman needs 20 votes.)

Personally, I've believed major realignment was a done deal ever since the powerful Ed Snider said as much during Hall of Fame Weekend. Now we're going to find out.

30 THOUGHTS

1. Many of you have asked about the fact that some conferences would have seven teams and others eight. One governor suggested he would propose a setup where, if a fifth-place club in a larger group had more points than a fourth-place squad in a smaller one, there would be a one-game playoff to determine who advances. When I ran that idea through an NHL source, he said: "We considered that. But it eliminates the geographical integrity of the new conferences."

2. Too bad I didn't think of it then, but what if the teams who finish fourth and fifth in those larger groups have a "winner moves on" showdown? That would be pretty exciting.

3. Phoenix: The NHL wants to keep the Coyotes in Arizona and will likely adopt the "Atlanta timeline," ie. waiting until the last possible minute before announcing any move. It's been reported the four potential sites are Seattle, Las Vegas, Quebec City and Kansas City. (Technically, the league can't talk to another city until Jan. 1). If it is one of the first two, the team wouldn't have to switch conferences. If it's Quebec, you're looking at the Montreal grouping. Kansas City? No idea.

4. It's believed that Toronto Maple Leafs president and GM Brian Burke is one of those who hates the new realignment proposal. But the Globe and Mail reported last month that Bettman added Maple Leafs chairman Larry Tanenbaum to the league's powerful executive committee. Do you think Tanenbaum gets that spot without supporting the commissioner's plan?

5. Funniest conversation of the week: While talking with Lou Lamoriello, he said he'd consider supporting the radical change even though "our division would be very difficult." (That's Devils, Islanders, Penguins, Flyers, Rangers, Capitals, Hurricanes). At the time, we hadn't confirmed that Florida and Tampa were grouped with three Canadian teams and Boston and Buffalo. So I asked him exactly who the Devils were with. You could almost see his "nice try" smile over the phone. Think I had a better chance of obtaining President Obama's launch codes.

6. Okay, enough realignment. Front-office rumour No. 1: That this is Lamoriello's final season as GM of the Devils. "No," he said. "Not unless you know something I don't." Uh, that's unlikely.

7. Front-office rumour No.2: That Rutherford will focus on the Hurricanes presidency and cede the GM job to Ron Francis. "That may happen at some point," Rutherford said. "But it's not just around the corner." He is skipping the board of governors meeting to go on Carolina's road trip that starts in Calgary and Edmonton. Those aren't the actions of someone planning on easing up.

8. Rutherford had a great line when told Boudreau's first NHL goal came against him: "I must have forgotten my glove that night."

9. Unlike Anaheim Ducks GM Bob Murray, who announced that he's not trading Bobby Ryan as he sees how a coaching change affects his group, Rutherford plans to make moves. Top candidates: Tuomo Ruutu (UFA-to-be, making $4.4 million in cash this season) and Tomas Kaberle (tough contract, two more years at $8.75 million — cash total).

10. One agent and a couple of GMs made an interesting comment about in-season trading. They pointed out that, sometimes, the toughest thing about making deals is not what's owed on a contract in future seasons, it's what owed this season. ("If you want, you can dump a contract in the summer," one GM said). So many teams are at their budgets — or over — because of injuries. Carolina might have to wait a little bit before it can move either player. There is interest in Ruutu. Rutherford seems confident he can trade Kaberle in a month or two as long as the defenceman starts playing better.

11. Same rule goes for Derick Brassard, who has two more years at $7 million in cash. There is a belief Columbus can move him because he's got skill and could blossom in a different situation. But interested teams need to wait to fit him under this years budget (I would guess, for example, that's Ottawa's issue).

12. Last month, I was in New Jersey for a Martin Brodeur interview and saw Patrik Elias, who is represented by agent Allan Walsh. Asked what he thought about

Walsh's controversial tweets in favour of his clients. "I don't think he does anything without anyone knowing about it," he said. Then Elias added: "Has anyone fired him after he's done it?" The clients in question are Jaroslav Halak, Martin Havlat, Tomas Vokoun and Brassard. The answer is no.

13. My biggest issue with Walsh's move is that it kicked Blue Jackets head coach Scott Arniel when he's really down. Walsh, undoubtedly, would reply that his client is down, too, and going public was the last option to get something done.

14. Solution? Well, Brassard will get dealt at some point. But in situations like this, I remember talking to former Calgary Flames GM and current NHL Network analyst Craig Button. Button traded Marc Savard to Atlanta for nothing because head coach Greg Gilbert wasn't a fan. Savard then totalled 491 points in 463 NHL games until the Matt Cooke hit. Calgary lost a supremely skilled passer and Gilbert would eventually be fired so, as Button said, his organization got nothing out of it. The Blue Jackets feel they've given Brassard plenty of chances and were 4-2-1 in the seven games he was scratched. If other teams do like him, could this happen to Columbus?

15. One GM on the amount of injured players this season: "I hope [Brendan] Shanahan keeps [bleeping] suspending guys because too many are [bleeping] throwing themselves recklessly at each other." (Not any GM quoted in this blog).

16. There was some complaint about how Anaheim handled Randy Carlyle's firing. Murray was on the east coast when he closed the deal with Boudreau and wanted to tell Carlyle face-to-face. Because he was flying cross-country, he had to wait until after the Montreal game. It's far from ideal, but it was 100 per cent the right thing to do.

17. Murray said teams called him about Ryan. Other execs said they thought Ryan was being "auctioned off." And there was a lot of interest — Toronto, Philadelphia, Rangers, Vancouver, Florida, Carolina, Minnesota, among others (You would expect that for a 24-year-old with 100 goals the last three seasons).

"All of a sudden, it went quiet," said one of those competing execs.

18. Second-funniest conversation of the week: Told Murray there was talk he'd asked about John Tavares. He almost drove off the road.

19. Murray on speculation about asking Teemu Selanne if he wanted to be traded: "He will retire an Anaheim Duck."

20. The Ducks were trying everything last week to raise morale. On Tuesday, George Parros handed out prizes for best and worst Movember moustaches. Niklas Hagman (best blonde) won some kind of fur jacket; Selanne (best overall) got a terrific leather jacket; Matt Beleskey (worst effort), a too-tight vest. Judging from the quotes after Sunday's loss to Minnesota, they still have the same problem — when something bad happens, they fall apart. Dangerous lack of confidence.

21. Radical idea heard this week: Maybe new Capitals head coach Dale Hunter should try using Alexander Ovechkin as a penalty killer. It's time to try something different to get him going.

22. A story to watch: What are contenders San Jose ($2.5 million in cap room), Boston ($4.5M), Chicago ($5.5M) and Detroit ($5.6M) going to do? All of them are expected to add for the Cup run. Who will go first?

23. It's kind of funny, but it's believed the Blackhawks will try to add a Brian Campbell-type defenceman. They miss his game. However, it's likely they will go after someone whose contract ends this summer.

24. Two major reasons Tyler Seguin has improved so much in Year Two: He's adjusted to creating offence when you're waiting for the puck on the wing as opposed to carrying it at centre and the great work of the Boston coaches in teaching him to play along the boards.

25. Florida was one of the teams interested in Kyle Turris. But you can't help but wonder if the Panthers would want to tinker with their excellent chemistry.

26. With all of the talk about Jarome Iginla, I wonder if the Flames would ever consider making a Miikka Kiprusoff trade as the centrepiece of a rebuild.

He's still very good and, even though his cap hit is $5.83 million US, his actual salary drops to $5 million next season and $1.5 million in 2013-14. Also, his no-move ends after this season. Not starting any rumours here, just wondering.

27. Los Angeles Kings owner Philip Anschutz brought the team to his Colorado ranch before the season. All rookies and newcomers (eg. Mike Richards) had to give a speech in front of the team.

28. Saw Nicklas Lidstrom break up a two-on-one attempt last week. Why does anyone even try to pass in that situation?

29. There is some kind of end-of-the-month deadline for Matt Hulsizer's purchase of the St. Louis Blues. Told that if it's not done by then, it's not necessarily off the table, but sounds like the NHL wants a clearer idea of the plan.

30. Great charity contest to win the Movember mask that Tim Thomas wore during his 9-0 November. Go to In Goal Magazine for the details. It's not an auction. A $10 donation enters you in the raffle.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Campbell: NHL's realignment look still up in the air

Ken Campbell, The Hockey News, 2011-12-05

On his radio show last week, commissioner Gary Bettman expressed an uncharacteristic amount of uncertainty when it came to the issue of realignment. All of which is surprising since when it comes to his control over the board of governors, Bettman has an Arthur Fonzarelli-like hold over the 30-men who employ him. (If you don’t get the reference, kids, look it up.)

This could mean one of two things. Either Bettman was playing possum or the issue of realignment is so contentious with so many different moving parts that he truly doesn’t know which way things are going to go. In the 48 hours leading up to the meetings, it’s fair to say Bettman and other governors were extending their monthly cell phone plans in an effort to get everyone on the same page.

If it were just a simple matter of switching the Detroit Red Wings and Winnipeg Jets, this wouldn’t even be a story at the moment. But there is far more at work here because it’s a scheme that pits owner against owner and divides sentiments along geographical lines. Instead of the haves feuding with the have-nots, this particular imbroglio pits east versus west.

And what exactly to do about the Phoenix Coyotes, the NHL’s problem child who stands a very good chance of being kicked out of the house by this time next season? There isn’t a sane hockey person who truly believes there is anyone out there who will buy the Coyotes and make a firm commitment to keep them in Phoenix, not with expected losses of about $36 million this season – $25 million of which is being covered by the good people of Glendale – and a similar number next season.

How can the league possibly prepare a realignment scheme with so much uncertainty in the desert? Well, you’d have to presume that’s why the proposal calls for two seven-team conferences in the east and two eight-team conferences in the west. The league has maintained that regardless of what the future holds for the Coyotes, its proposed realignment would have the flexibility to accommodate the situation in Phoenix.

If and when the Coyotes move, there is nowhere for them to go in the west of either Canada or the United States. Las Vegas was once a possibility, but Hollywood mogul Jerry Bruckheimer has lost his enthusiasm for placing a team there in a tanking economy and even though Kansas City has a ready-made NHL arena waiting for a tenant, that seems to be a non-starter.

So the Coyotes will likely move to one of two places and this is where things get interesting. The two leading candidates for a relocated team in Canada are Quebec City and the Greater Toronto Area. Either one of those would fit seamlessly in a conference that would also include Montreal, Boston, Buffalo, Toronto, Ottawa, Tampa Bay and Florida.

You can bet one team that would be lobbying hard, and we mean hard, for the choice to be a second team in Toronto over a return to Quebec City are the Montreal Canadiens, a franchise that would stand to lose a good chunk of its provincial popularity and revenue by having to deal with a competitor in Quebec’s capital city. And if the ownership group that plans to build a 20,000-seat arena in the Toronto suburb of Markham can convince the NHL quickly enough that its plans are going to become a reality, the better the chance it would have of becoming the landing spot for the Coyotes.

(One dark horse possibility for either Quebec City or Toronto are the Florida Panthers, who represent the next trouble spot for Bettman after Phoenix. Despite a new owner, the Panthers are a losing proposition and have just four sellouts in their first 11 home dates this season, despite the fact they lead the Southeast Division, have reduced their seating capacity by about 2,500 seats in 2010 and sell some tickets for as low as four dollars.)

As has been frequently reported over the past couple of days the other conferences would be as follows:

Rangers, Islanders, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington and Carolina

Detroit, Chicago, Dallas, St. Louis, Winnipeg, Minnesota, Columbus and Nashville

Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Colorado, San Jose, Los Angeles, Anaheim and Phoenix

We’re presuming this is how it’s going to end up, but we’re not betting the farm on it being set in stone after just two days of meetings with a croquet match sandwiched in there. The all-star break is a more likely possibility for confirmation.

WILD TURNAROUND

Should the league’s GMs simply dispense with the formalities and give their executive of the year award to Chuck Fletcher of the Minnesota Wild immediately? Fletcher has changed the complexion of the roster, hit a home run with his coaching hire and restocked the Wild’s prospect crop, all while guiding his team to first overall through the first quarter.

Interesting that Fletcher apprenticed under, among others, Ray Shero, whose team is one point behind Fletcher’s in the standings. And Shero earned his chops under David Poile, one of the most respected GMs in the game…

THE GOAL IS GOALS

Early favorite for the Cy Young Award (more goals than assists) is Milan Michalek of the Ottawa Senators (16-6), followed by Evander Kane (14-7), Matt Moulson (13-6) and Jordan Staal (12-6).

At the other end of the spectrum is Michalek’s teammate Erik Karlsson (2-21), followed by Kimmo Timonen (0-17).

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Summitt, Krzyzewski honoured by Sports Illustrated

The Associated Press, Dec. 05, 2011

Pat Summitt and Mike Krzyzewski were selected Monday as Sports Illustrated's sportswoman and sportsman of the year.

The two Hall of Famers are the winningest coaches in women's and men's college basketball.

Tennessee's Summitt announced in August she had been diagnosed with early onset dementia, Alzheimer's type. She pledged to keep coaching and show others they can live their lives with the disease. She earned her 1,075th career victory Sunday.

Duke's Krzyzewski passed mentor Bob Knight on Nov. 15 when he won his 903rd game.

Time Inc. Sports Group editor Terry McDonell lauded Summitt and Krzyzewski as “transcendent figures.”

“The voices of those who have been inspired by Pat Summitt and Mike Krzyzewski echo from everywhere and will continue for decades,” he said.

The magazine said they joined UCLA's John Wooden in 1972 and North Carolina's Dean Smith in 1997 as the only college basketball coaches to receive the honor.

—–

Both coaches have written a couple of good books… check them out!

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

NHL governors approve four-conference format for 2012

David Shoalts, Globe and Mail, Dec. 05, 2011

The NHL will have a new look next season.

After a surprisingly short and amicable discussion over two and a half hours Monday night, the NHL’s 30 governors voted to abolish the Eastern and Western Conferences and go with four geographically-based conferences next season.

This will allow the Detroit Red Wings, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild to all play more games suited to their time zones.

There will be two conferences of eight teams and two of seven, with each team playing one game at home and one game on the road against every other NHL team. The rest of the schedule will be played within the conferences.

The governors coming out of the meeting said the plan was adopted so smoothly because NHL commissioner Gary Bettman did his usual masterful job of laying the groundwork for a solution before the meeting. He was familiar with what each team wanted and managed to work around that with the four-conference plan.

“This makes sense for our league,” Toronto Maple Leafs president and general manager Brian Burke said. “It helps a couple of partners.”

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Canadian minor hockey risks stalling as boy's enrolment sinks, costs rise
Canadians want corporate Canada to pony up, survey says

RACHEL BRADY, Globe and Mail, December 5, 2011

An overwhelming number of Canadians involved in hockey believes that corporate Canada must do more to help the sport's grassroots programs, according to results of a new survey being released Tuesday.

RBC surveyed 1,006 parents and volunteers across Canada last month from varying levels of minor hockey and found that only 46.2 per cent felt their league is sufficiently funded, while 82 per cent felt corporate Canada should offer more support.

The average Canadian hockey household spends approximately $1,500 on hockey-related costs, according to their results. About 5.4 per cent said they spend more than $5,000 a year.

Respondents said the single greatest issues facing their hockey communities were increasing ice costs (35.7 per cent), and a lack of sufficient business support (22.0 per cent).

The survey included participants who have been involved in hockey in the past two years. Of the parents who didn't register their kids this year, 38 per cent said it was because it was too expensive. Despite the increased spotlight on concussions in the sport, just 4.8 per cent said it was because the game was too violent.

According to Hockey Canada's registration numbers, total enrolment has dropped to 572,411 players last season from 584,679 in the 2008-09 season. Male registration dropped during that time while female registration increased slightly. Numbers for the current season won't be ready until February.

"In Canada, our demographics are changing, and ice prices have gone up dramatically at municipal rinks," said Bob Nicholson, president of Hockey Canada. "More people are moving to larger cities, so there is a rink shortage in the big cities when people move. In small-town Canada, there is excess ice because people have moved away."

In Canada, minor hockey is run mostly by volunteers and played at municipal arenas, with a few private rinks and companies starting leagues. But in the United States, minor hockey associations are largely run by corporations, such as the Little Caesars Amateur Hockey League in the Midwest, the largest youth hockey league in the United States. USA Hockey had 465,975 registered players in 2008-09 and had grown to 500,579 by last season.

"In many countries around the world, particularly where I live in the U.S., the sport is growing," said Steve Yzerman, general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning and of Canada's 2010 gold-medal Olympic team. "If we want to continue to be successful on the international level, we have to keep up with the growth at the grassroots level that these other countries are seeing. They are catching us."

Hockey Canada and RBC are both working on initiatives to help make the sport more accessible. RBC has awarded 36 $25,000 grants for everything from coaching clinics to street hockey and after-school programs across Canada this season, and will do the same next season.

"Because of the investment we have made in this hockey marketing program, it's important to do this temperature check and understand what the hockey environment is like in Canada," said Josh Epstein, RBC's senior manager of sports marketing.

"Support in minor hockey needs to be organic, so it's difficult to figure out one corporate magic bullet. We want to support the people who are driving minor hockey who know the unique challenges in their area."

RBC, which is a partner of Hockey Canada and USA Hockey and finances programs in both countries, is looking into conducting a similar survey in the United States next year.

Hockey Canada is establishing more used-equipment programs across the nation. Expensive new technologies and materials that have resulted in exorbitant prices for sticks, so Hockey Canada has encouraged stick manufacturers to put cheaper sticks on the mainstream market. They are also establishing programs to help new Canadians into the game.

The federal Conservative government introduced a children's fitness tax credit in 2007 that allows parents to claim up to $500 in eligible expenses, for a maximum tax rebate of $75. Prime Minister Stephen Harper promised during the 2011 campaign to double the credit once the federal deficit is erased, but the government has since announced that it might not balance the books before the next federal election.

With a report from Bill Curry in Ottawa

Dean
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Bettman got one right:
Not always the most popular man in the NHL, Commissioner Gary Bettman seems to have made a good move.
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Mark Spector, TSN.ca, December 6, 2011

PEBBLE BEACH — It was the Toronto Maple Leafs who gave us the most accurate picture of how the National Hockey League’s board of governors were chewing on this realignment idea.

General manager Brian Burke, speaking before the meeting had begun, sounded sour on the idea of increased travel and expense for his hockey team. But his owner, he admitted, was ready to vote for whatever was best for the league, so Burke likely had an inkling he was going to be talking about a four Conference NHL by day’s end.

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"It had very strong support and we support it too," said Burke as he walked out of the meeting, acknowledging that the hockey man in him might not be in love with taking on more travel to help teams like Dallas, Columbus, Minnesota and Nashville. "Sometimes you have to vote with your team’s interest in mind, but there are times when you can vote with the league hat on. That’s what we tried to do."

The National Hockey League will no longer have Divisions after this season, but instead will move to four Conferences. (Note: The NHLPA must still be consulted on the realignment, but it seems impossible to put the toothpaste back into this tube.)

In seven team Conferences, teams will play each other six times, plus a home and home with the 23 other clubs. In eight-team Conferences, teams will play each other five or six times on a rotating basis yearly, plus home and home against the rest of the NHL.

Winnipeg moves out of the Southeast and into a Conference chalk full of Central time zone teams. That also helps the Blue Jackets, Stars and Predators, whose televised road games against Pacific Division teams started as late as 10:30 locally. Yet, the Red Wings stayed in that Central time zone Conference, which was also important.

"Detroit going to the East is not good for us," said Nashville GM David Poile. "They’re one of our biggest draws."

"This certainly gives us a chance to grow our TV revenues," said Columbus GM Scott Howson, whose club’s finances are in desperate need of this type of a boost. "Our gates are significantly better with Eastern Conference teams. So, I think we’ll certainly see an uptick in our per-game revenue based on that, and not losing Detroit. If Detroit had of gone East and we stayed West … Detroit’s our biggest draw."

The Eastern Canadian teams are affected little, gaining Tampa and Florida in their Conference. The Western Canadian teams join up with the three California clubs, Colorado and Phoenix. With two eight-team Conferences in the West and two seven-team Conferences in the East, relocating the Coyotes if need be will be easily done.

For the Flames and Oilers, that means more 8:30 pm TV starts for road games, with now four Conference opponents in the Pacific time zone.

"For us, it’s only one hour," said Oilers president Kevin Lowe. "That’s a compromise that a team like ours has to make. Some of these other teams are really struggling — the likes of Dallas, Columbus — in terms of attendance. Matters get even worse when fans can’t even watch them on television (at a decent hour). We were a willing partner to make sure this things works for everybody."

In the end, as predicted, this came down to 30 teams thinking selflessly, not selfishly. The Philadelphias, New Yorks and Bostons were all happy to cash those expansion checks when many of the troubled teams were invited into the NHL. Now that they’ve been around a while and figured out that the current alignment is killing them, it was incumbent on the established owners to lend a hand.

In return, theoretically at least, those younger teams should become financially more stable, and less of a drain on the league. And with two Conferences of seven teams and two of eight, there is the very real possibility of expansion on the NHL’s horizon, an influx of cash that would more than cover the increased travel costs of the Eastern clubs.

"More teams are going to have to do more travel," said Detroit GM Ken Holland. "There's things in there that everybody likes to a degree, and some they wouldn't like. Ultimately it's about compromise. From the Detroit Red Wings perspective, we like it."

Give commissioner Gary Bettman credit for sowing the seeds of agreement over the past few months. The discussion, expected to be so contentious, only lasted little more than an hour.

As for the playoffs, the first two rounds will take place in Conference — 1 versus 4, and 2 versus 3, then a meeting of the winners.. Once four Conference champs are declared, they might re-seed for Round 3, or perhaps Central will play Pacific, and the two Eastern Conferences will meet.

"This is a decision I’ll let the general managers make," at their next meeting, said Bettman.

Smooth day, Gary. Very smooth indeed.

NHL REALIGNMENT PLAN
Conference A Conference B
Anaheim Ducks Chicago Blackhawks
Calgary Flames Columbus Blue Jackets
Colorado Avalanche Dallas Stars
Edmonton Oilers Detroit Red Wings
Los Angeles Kings Minnesota Wild
Phoenix Coyotes Nashville Predators
San Jose Sharks St. Louis Blues
Vancouver Canucks Winnipeg Jets

Conference C Conference D
Boston Bruins Carolina Hurricanes
Buffalo Sabres New Jersey Devils
Florida Panthers New York Islanders
Montreal Canadiens New York Rangers
Ottawa Senators Philadelphia Flyers
Tampa Bay Lightning Pittsburgh Penguins
Toronto Maple Leafs Washington Capitals

Dean
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Rumor Focus: Coaches on the hot seat

Lyle Richardson, The Hockey News, 2011-12-06

Three coaching changes within two days dominated the NHL headlines entering December.

On Nov. 28, the Washington Capitals fired Bruce Boudreau, replacing him with Dale Hunter, while the Carolina Hurricanes replaced long-time bench boss Paul Maurice with Kirk Muller.

Not even three days later, the Anaheim Ducks announced they'd hired Boudreau to take over for Randy Carlyle, who was sacked 40 minutes after his Ducks defeated the Montreal Canadiens for only their second win in November, and their seventh of the season.

These moves left observers pondering if more coaching changes were in the works around the league.

The most obvious candidate are the Columbus Blue Jackets, who've had the dubious distinction of being the worst team in the league since the season began.

By early November, rumors were rampant coach Scott Arniel would become the first coaching casualty of the season.

The front office, however, has stubbornly stuck by the embattled Arniel, laying blame for the Jackets’ poor performance on injuries to first-line center Jeff Carter and a lengthy season-opening suspension for top defenseman James Wisniewski. Goaltender Steve Mason’s struggles were also a factor.

While management's patience toward Arniel is admirable, it's not improving the Blue Jackets, who remain mired at the bottom of the Western Conference standings.

At some point, a coaching change in Columbus is inevitable, though it may not come until after the season.

With the New York Islanders struggling through another disappointing start, coach Jack Capuano's job appeared in jeopardy.

Since Nov. 26, however, the Islanders have shown signs of improvement, going 3-0-1, winning the back end of a home-and-home split with New Jersey, edging Buffalo and Dallas and losing in overtime against Chicago.

Team owner Charles Wang gave a vote of confidence to Capuano and GM Garth Snow, but if the coach is to retain his job, the Isles must build on this recent improvement.

The Colorado Avalanche, meanwhile, struggled through November and tumbled down the standings, leading to questions over the future of coach Joe Sacco.

Like the Isles, however, the Avs have shown signs of life since Nov. 26, winning four of their past five, taking close games over St. Louis and Detroit.

Picking up eight of a possible 10 points shot the Avalanche back into the Western Conference playoff chase, meaning Sacco's job is safe, for now.

In Calgary, speculation over right winger Jarome Iginla's trade status has dominated the news in recent weeks, but there's also been some chatter over Brent Sutter's future.

GM Jay Feaster squashed the Iginla trade rumors and also rejected the notion Sutter could be fired.

The flickering Flames have also been showing signs of life, going 3-1-1 in their past five dating back to Nov. 27. They downed the league-leading Minnesota Wild and rallied from an early two-goal deficit to beat their hated rival, the Edmonton Oilers.

Given Feaster's vocal backing, the possibility of Sutter's firing appears as remote as an Iginla trade.

Finally, there are the Montreal Canadiens, who entered this week with an 11-11-5 record and perched just outside a playoff berth.

The Canadiens’ inconsistency in recent weeks led to calls for Jacques Martin to be replaced.

It's not the first time Martin has been mentioned as a potential coaching casualty this season. When the Habs stumbled out of the gate with a 1-5-2 record, his firing was anticipated in the press.

Instead, GM Pierre Gauthier surprised everyone by handing assistant coach Perry Pearn his walking papers, a move seen as a “shot across the bow” of Martin.

The Canadiens subsequently rallied, winning seven of their next 10, but since mid-November have struggled again, winning only three of their past nine.

Injuries to veteran defensemen Andrei Markov and Jaroslav Spacek, a recent three-game suspension to left winger Max Pacioretty, and the possibility right winger Brian Gionta and left winger Mike Cammalleri are playing hurt will make Gauthier reluctant to shake things up behind the bench.

With the NHL schedule now in the second quarter of the season, however, none of the aforementioned coaches can relax.

A lengthy losing skid that jeopardizes their team’s playoff hopes could see one or more of those coaches sharing the same fate as Boudreau, Maurice and Carlyle.

Dean
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[hockeygod]

Portland Winterhawks Wedding / Teddy Bear Toss

Dec 5 2011

If you check out the link below, it will take you to a three-minute video clip of the Winterhawks’ Wedding from Fox 12 Oregon. There is entertaining stuff here, including video of the bride waiting and her reaction when the Teddy Bear goal is scored.

http: //www. kptv.com/video? autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=6517171

Dean
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Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Realignment fallout: Score one for the NHL

ERIC DUHATSCHEK, Globe and Mail, Dec. 06, 2011

There is a lot to like – and maybe one small objection to raise – about the NHL’s realignment plan, approved by the board of governors and now subject only to NHL Players’ Association approval (something deputy commissioner Bill Daly believes will happen without major wrangling).

The proposed four-conference format divides teams along sensible time zones, ensures each team plays every other home and away each year, and ultimately brings back the best elements of the 21-team era – when playoffs were conducted in frantically contested divisional battles.

“Down the road, if it means Calgary plays Edmonton in a playoff series, that would be a great thing,” assessed Kevin Lowe, the Edmonton Oilers president of hockey operations, who was once an active participant in those legendary wars.

Renewing age-old rivalries in the playoffs is only one of the benefits of the NHL’s new look, however. The idea of tucking the Florida-based clubs into the same conference as teams in the Ontario-Quebec corridor is brilliant, too. It gives all the snowbird Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators fans more chances to buy tickets when they’re wintering in the Sunshine State.

“I remember, for a few years, we used to play Montreal around Christmas time, or just after Christmas, and it would be like playing in Montreal because there were a lot of French Canadians who spent the winter down there or other Canadians on vacation,” former Florida Panthers (now Calgary Flames) defenceman Jay Bouwmeester said.

Realignment became a more pressing issue this year, after the Atlanta Thrashers were relocated to Winnipeg, where the Jets – for this season anyway – grapple with the league’s most-challenging travel schedule, playing out of the Southeast Division.

All that changes next year, and team president Mark Chipman is satisfied with the new home in what is effectively a mid-west conference.

“There are lots of benefits for us,” said Chipman, citing less wear-and-tear on his players and the presence of two Original Six teams (Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks) in the Jets’ new conference. “Put it all together and it was a win for us for sure.”

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman indicated Tuesday the league was still pondering what to name the new conferences.

Once upon a time, they were the Smythe, Norris, Adams and Patrick – named after hockey legends of the first half of the 20th century. There is a move afoot to update them with the greatest names of the past 50 years: Orr, Gretzky, Howe and Lemieux.

Under the new scheme, teams in the east will need to travel more, adding costs. But it creates a more equitable playing field: they’ll now get to see what the current Western Conference clubs have been dealing with.

Consider how many times Detroit had to play the Phoenix Coyotes or San Jose Sharks in the playoffs the past few years. It took a toll, and meanwhile, on the Eastern side, teams were on a commuter schedule, sometimes for the first six weeks of the postseason.

“Travel-wise, I heard the East has to travel more, which is great,” said Flames captain Jarome Iginla, who liked most of what he saw about the new proposal, except the idea that his team will play in an eight-team conference and thus, have a mathematically more challenging time qualifying for the playoffs.

(It was like that in the old days, too – an extra team in the Patrick Division – but hey, who can remember that far back?)

“I’d rather be in a conference with seven teams, with four making it [to the postseason], but it is what it is, and there’s got to be some pretty tough decisions, with every team wanting it to benefit them,” Iginla said.

Yes, they do.

Ultimately, it means that after years of realignment bluster, the fact they could get matters settled this easily and this sensibly proves the NHL can get it right every now and then.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
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Game Intelligence Training
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[hockeygod]

NHL realignment earns player approval

James Mirtle and Eric Duhatschek, Globe and Mail, December 6, 2011

When it comes to their league’s grand plans for realignment next season, NHL players seemed to be mostly onside with the plan on Tuesday.

Some were in favour of the fact that travel will be lessened for what was formerly known as the Western Conference.

Others questioned the conference-only format of the first two rounds of the playoffs.

And most liked the idea of seeing every NHL city, even if only once, in every season.

“I think it's great for fans that they can get superstars from around the league in their rink at least once,” Leafs winger Colby Armstrong said.

“A team like ourselves, we go everywhere and there's millions of Leafs fans all over the place at every rink. To get us to go to every rink, I think it's good for the game and good for the fans.”

“I like playing in every building,” Calgary Flames winger Tanguay added. “I think it’s really nice that every team goes everywhere. It’s fun for the fans. Everybody wants to see Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Jonathan Toews in their building.”

Flames teammate Jay Bouwmeester said that, after playing in Florida for years, he can see how the realignment proposal should be good for business there with both the Panthers and Lightning joining what was the Northeast Division.

“I remember, for a few years, we used to play Montreal around Christmas time or just after Christmas,” he said, “and it would be like playing in Montreal because there were a lot of French Canadians who spent the winter down there or other Canadians on vacation.

“The thing you realize when you’re down there is everybody is from somewhere else – so they go to cheer on the team they grew up with.”

Cutting down travel time between games, meanwhile, is another added benefit, one New Jersey Devils sniper Ilya Kovalchuk felt was worthwhile for teams in the West despite never having played there.

“It's better for teams in the West because some of them have horrible travel schedules,” Kovalchuk said. “That'll be nice for them. On our side, they didn't change much. We'll kind of play the same teams almost.”

While a lot of players in the Western Conference applauded the fact that their Eastern counterparts will need to travel more, however, Bouwmeester made a sensible point: Realignment doesn’t change the geographic challenges or bring Calgary any closer to Los Angeles or Phoenix.

“Out west, the biggest problem is just the distance between the cities,” he said. “If you go for a three-game trip and you’re playing back-to-back games, it’s not a half-hour flight or a 45-minute flight (as it is in the East), but it’s a two- or three-hour flight. That’s where it adds up.

“Philly and New York are still going to be right beside each other. That’s just the way it is; there’s nothing you can do about it.”

If there was a concern among players surveyed on Tuesday, it’s that making the playoffs in some conferences could be more difficult than others – especially those with eight teams or even those with four or five teams who have traditionally had a lot of financial muscle.

“As far as some conferences having eight and some having seven, I’m just not sure,” Tanguay said. “Because personally, I’d like to have the same shot at making the playoffs as everyone else and if you’re in one of those conferences that has eight teams, it’s definitely going to be much tougher to make the playoffs than in one that has seven teams.”

“It's going to be tough,” Devils veteran Patrik Elias said of New Jersey’s conference with the Penguins, Capitals, Flyers and Rangers. “On the other hand, I like playing those teams. You always have to rise up to the occasion. That format's interesting and intriguing for the fans.”

Elias added that he hadn’t heard all that much dressing room conversation about the changes.

“We talked about it a little bit,” Elias said. “But we're just hockey players. We'll just play wherever we play and travel wherever we have to go next. That's all we've got to worry about.”

The players may, however, have some say on realignment as part of the collective bargaining agreement, and the NHLPA has already voiced some concerns to commissioner Gary Bettman.

“Realignment requires an agreement between the league and the NHLPA,” union spokesman Jonathan Weatherdon said. “‘We look forward to continuing our discussions with the league regarding this matter.”

Bettman is expected to talk about the issue with union head Donald Fehr before the league’s plan is implemented in time for next season.

Dean
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NHL collective bargaining in the spotlight

David Shoalts, Globe and Mail, Dec. 06, 2011

Once the major issue of realignment was settled, there was little of substance left for the NHL board of governors to deal with on the second and final day of its annual meetings.

Much of Tuesday was taken up with layout out the collective bargaining scene, as the NHL is in the final season of the current agreement and expects to begin bargaining with the NHL Players’ Association after the all-star game on Jan. 29. The governors heard a report on the recent collective agreements struck by the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball and were told where things stand with the NHLPA.

Also on the agenda was a report from the NHL’s hockey operations department, which informed the governors the rate of player concussions was down one-third so far this season from a similar period last year. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said this was due mostly to the adoption of more flexible plexiglass and safer stanchions around the players’ benches in league arenas.

Kevin Lowe, the Edmonton Oilers president of hockey operations, said management is more optimistic heading into this round of collective bargaining than it was in 2004, when a lockout wiped out the 2004-05 season.

He did not want to discuss specifics but said one reason is in 2004, the NHL was the first of the four major North American professional sports to try and strike a collective agreement. This time, the NHL can use the other leagues’ deals as examples.

“It’s a better feeling than last time around,” Lowe said. “But until we know what the other side is asking or expecting, it’s kind of an odd feeling, quite frankly. I guess we’ll know in a couple months where we stand.”

The NHLPA is keeping quiet about its demands but conversations with those on the management side show the league is expecting a major clawback from the players in their share of hockey related revenue. Under the current agreement, the players receive 57 per cent of the hockey related revenue.

But the NFL and NBA, the other leagues with a salary cap, received concessions from the players on the revenue front. The NFL players signed a 10-year deal in which their share of the revenue dropped from 50 per cent to 48 per cent; the NBA players went from 57 per cent to a range of 49 per cent to 51 per cent over the life of their agreement.

Bettman was non-committal about the labour negotiations, saying only he expects them to start after the all-star game.

In other business, NHL chief operating officer John Collins delivered good news about the league’s business operations, although no specifics were given to reporters. He said numbers were up on all the league’s platforms, from its website to its mobile service to all of its television carriers.

In a release, the league said unique visitors to its website, NHL.com, were up 17 per cent through October and November from “record numbers” a year ago. But the number of visitors was not released.

The league also said merchandise sales were up 15 per cent at its store in New York, its online sales outlet, and in arena and retail locations across the league.

Dean
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Game Intelligence Training
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[hockeygod]

Minor hockey costs add up; Canadians keep paying

RACHEL BRADY, Globe and Mail, Dec. 06, 2011

Theresa Dostaler hadn’t exactly budgeted for two extra hockey tournaments this season. Two more costly weekend trips that her sons’ hockey teams had earned by qualifying at regional Silver Stick tournaments.

Thrilled for the excited teammates of her seven- and nine-year-olds, Dostaler hadn’t thought about the extra expenses that will pile up travelling from their home in Madoc, Ont., to finals in Forest, Ont., and Port Huron, Mich. Other tournaments have cost the family between $500 and 1,000 a weekend in gas, hotels, food and other fees.

“Once you’ve signed on for the season, you’re expected to be there and play, whether you budgeted for it or not, and you wouldn’t miss it for anything,” said Dostaler, who estimates she will spend at least $5,600 this season for her three kids to play hockey (two boys on rep teams and a three-year-old daughter in tyke).

“We know the costs can get ridiculous, but we try to find creative ways to make it work for our kids, because we love it.”

Released Monday, a Royal Bank of Canada survey of parents and volunteers across Canada from varying levels of minor hockey found families spend an average of $1,500 a year on hockey-related costs. Many involved in hockey say they spend much more, which they must get creative to afford.

Less than half of respondents felt their leagues were sufficiently funded, and some 82 per cent said corporate Canada should be give more to the sport.

Dostaler runs a popular Facebook.com page called Hockey Mom in Canada. On the topic of costs, many parents posted they don’t keep a hockey budget, but just close their eyes to the tally and pay up.

“I’m just like an ostrich, head in the sand,” one wrote. “I’m sure it is [$10,000 to $15,000] a season for one AAA-novice son. The gas gets us, as we live almost two hours from the arena.”

Dostaler said Tuesday parents are savvy about cost-saving ideas on those wallet-busting tournament trips, like car pooling, packing food to avoid drive-thru stops and sharing team pot-luck meals in the hotel in lieu of restaurant food. Some even travel in mobile homes or trailers.

Tom Thomas said he spends upwards of $10,000 a year for his 17-year-old daughter to play AAA midget in Winnipeg. The city’s ice time has shot up from about $135 an hour to $185 in the last three years due to a shortage of rinks. Plus, the team will travel to Ontario so their players can compete in a marquee tournament in front of university scouts.

“I know families who take out lines of credit to allow their kids to play hockey,” said Thomas, the director of female hockey for Hockey Winnipeg.

Several programs across the country have helped families with the costs, like Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd.’s Jumpstart or RBC grants. (Hockey Winnipeg received one such grant, which will be used in part to help introduce new Canadians and aboriginal youth to the sport.)

In Toronto, the Moss Park Hockey League is free, catering to families who could not otherwise afford to put their four- to 15-year-olds in hockey.

Ice time is donated by the rink, while equipment is on loan to those in need. The league now has 300 children active, plus a waiting list. It got an RBC grant and also hold creative fundraising events like dances and auctions.

The University of Prince Edward Island is attempting to give new Canadians a chance to try the game in a low-cost, low-commitment setting. Its grant will fund introductory skill sessions by providing players equipment on loan.

“The biggest financial challenge for families can be just getting to try the game in the first place,” UPEI women’s hockey coach Bruce Donaldson said. “If they want to play, we will do our best to give them the opportunity.”

Dean
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Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
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[hockeygod]

‘A lot harder on me,’ Sutter about facing son

Scott Cruikshank, Calgary Herald, December 6, 2011

Flames bench boss Brent Sutter grinned when asked about coaching tonight against his son Brandon, centre of the Carolina Hurricanes.

“Obviously, he’s excited about being at home, playing at home, playing here in front of friends and family and stuff,” Papa said after this morning’s skate. “But it’s game day and our makeup, our DNA, is that he’s focused in on helping the Carolina Hurricanes as a player and my job here is to help the Calgary Flames as a coach. When the game’s over, it’s over.

“It’s never an easy thing, believe me. And it’s a lot harder on me than it is him. That’s the way it is.

“Like I told him yesterday, I hope he has a great game — as long as we finish one goal ahead of them. Then that’s a good day for me and a (crappy) one for him. And he’s probably feeling the same things. It’s just the way it is when you’re coaching and your son plays in the National Hockey League.”

And what about Connie, the wife and mother — who will she be cheering for this evening?

“I guarantee she’s not cheering for her husband,” laughed Sutter.

Dean
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Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
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