Articles

[hockeygod]

Coach says attitude has cut down Blades: Lack of effort has hurt, Molleken says

Kevin Mitchell, The Star Phoenix November 30, 2011

It wasn't the crash that bothered Lorne Molleken; it was the way the crash happened.

Molleken, the Saskatoon Blades' head coach, said two home-ice losses this weekend can be pinned squarely on his team's demeanour during those games.

"We knew going into this year that we weren't going to win every hockey game, but there's no excuse for lack of effort," Molleken said prior to Tuesday's practice.

Saskatoon led the overall WHL standings heading into Friday, but 6-2 and 4-1 losses to Calgary and Vancouver, respectively, dropped them from that lofty perch. Those setbacks were the team's first home losses of the season.

The Blades, now 18-8-0-1, take on the 18-5-1-2 Kootenay Ice tonight at 7 p.m. at Credit Union Centre.

"When we're at our best, we're challenging people, we're taking pucks to the net, we're creating opportunities," Molleken said. "We got away from that. Going into this weekend, we were at the top of the standings in the overall league, and teams are going to be ready to play against us. If we're not willing and able to push back and counter what's thrown at us. you know what the end results are going to be."

Kootenay rides a five-game win streak heading into tonight, and the back-story adds to the intrigue – the Ice crushed Saskatoon's Memorial Cup hopes last spring by sweeping the heavily-favoured Blades four straight games in the second round of playoffs.

The Blades earned a small – very small – measure of revenge with a 2-1 victory Nov. 13 in Kootenay.

Molleken insists that "what happened last year was last year," but his players still have vivid memories of their unexpected collapse.

"Everyone remembers what happened," said Blades' forward Josh Nicholls. "Individually, you realize you want to beat these guys. As a group, you play for the crest on your chest. Anytime a team takes you down, you want to show you're the better team and can come back and beat them. That's what we're going to try and do.

"You definitely want to beat them, but it's never going to go away until you play them again in the playoffs. You want to beat them and show them you're the better team."

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

[hockeygod]

Team Canada's coach firing up golden run
Selection camp opens Saturday in Calgary

Vicki Hall, Calgary Herald December 9, 2011

Don Hay is the coach of the Canadian Junior Team. Hockey Canada and the Canadian Hockey League will announce the roster for Canada's 2012 National Junior Team Sport Chek selection camp on Monday at press conferences in Edmonton.

During those marathon bus rides through bleak prairie, Don Hay's mind occasionally drifts to his days with the Kamloops Fire Department.

"Especially after a tough loss, you look back and think, 'That fire hall doesn't look too bad right now,' " Hay says via telephone on yet another gruelling road trip through Saskatchewan.

"But this is a satisfying job."

The job he speaks of is head coach of the Western Hockey League's Vancouver Giants.

This week, he assumes the title of head coach for Team Canada at the 2012 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship.

Forty-one of this hockeymad country's top teenage prospects arrive in Calgary Saturday for a four-day selection camp. Twenty-two will survive the final cut and represent Canada in the tournament that runs from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5 in Edmonton and Calgary.

For millions of Canadians watching in their living rooms, anything less than gold is tantamount to failure.

"What my time in the fire department showed me is that sports isn't life and death," says Hay, who briefly served as head coach for the Phoenix Coyotes (1996-97) and Calgary Flames (2000-01). "You go to that car accident. You go to a young baby drowning and you have children the same age. You go to buildings where people are trying to get out.

"You have to put things in perspective. You realize the losses in hockey aren't as bad as you think they are."

These pearls of wisdom come from a coach who hates losing. Despises it, actually, but (thankfully) doesn't experience it all that often.

His resume includes three Memorial Cup championships and two Dunc McCallum trophies as the WHL's coach of the year. His WHL head coaching record is an astounding 540-290-66.

Much to his embarrassment, he was even named the WHL's coach of the century.

In 1995, Hay led Canada to a perfect 7-0 record and gold at the world juniors in Red Deer. With help from the NHL lockout, Hay constructed a dream team anchored by the likes of Ryan Smyth, Ed Jovanovski and Bryan McCabe.

His mission this time around? To capture gold in spite of seven junior-aged players toiling in the NHL (including Edmonton Oilers star Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Columbus forward Ryan Johansen).

Further complicating matters, star forward Jonathan Huberdeau (broken foot) and outstanding defenceman Ryan Murray (high-ankle sprain) are questionable due to injury.

As such, architect Hay and his staff have quite the challenge in front of them.

"Don is one of the best around at building teams," says St. Louis Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock, who hired Hay as an assistant some 25 years ago in Kamloops, B.C. "You're going to see his team is a very cohesive, hardworking group. You'll be able to identify the team game right away. He will hammer home details right from Day 1 and put a team game plan together.

"He creates a spirit in his group that's hard to play against. He's relentless in getting that spirit."

Once the team is officially announced Dec. 14, Hockey Canada will ferry the 22 teenagers to Banff for a week of team-building and practise.

The time to create chemistry is short with only four returning players from last year's world junior team, including Jaden Schwartz out of Colorado College – who has captain material written all over him – Quinton Howden of the Moose Jaw Warriors, goalie Mark Visentin of the Niagara IceDogs and Brett Connolly of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Perhaps buckling under the intense spotlight, the three played for a Canadian side that coughed up a threegoal lead in a 5-3 championship loss to Russia last year.

"We have support from all corners of the country." Hay says. "All Canadians are behind us 100 per cent and want us to have success. So I think we have to feed off the energy and the enthusiasm that the crowd provides for us.

"I look at it as a good pressure." Of course, pressure, to Hay, is relative.

"He came from a life and death background," Hitchcock says. "In the fire department – if they weren't a team and they weren't co-ordinated – people's lives were affected.

"I know he's excited about this opportunity. I know he's been wearing out the phone lines in making sure every detail is covered, because I've been the recipient of some of those phone calls.

"He's going to be relentless in making his team something that people are going to be really proud of."

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

[hockeygod]

Before I Made It: Jay Rosehill

With Kevin Kennedy, The Hockey News, Dec 10 2011

I played all my minor hockey in Olds, Alta., and only left there when I was 17 to play midget AAA in Red Deer. I was kind of a product of the hometown minor hockey system all the way through.

I had a lot of great coaches who really helped me along the way. When I was 15 I tried out for the bantam AAA team and I ended up getting cut and went back down to the AA team in Olds. The coach kind of took me under his wing and started to turn me into a more physical player. I kind of had a chip on my shoulder that season from getting cut and I felt had something to prove. I see that year as kind of a turning point for me. I started to build an identity for myself as a player that year.

My parents and my brother really got me into hockey. My brother is two years older and I always followed what he did. I ended up playing on his team with older kids, which I think helped my development. My dad also would flood the pond and keep it plowed for us, so in the winter we had tons of ice time.

I played a little baseball in the summer and some golf. Our family would also go up in the mountains and do some skiing, but that stopped once hockey got more serious. I didn’t have a ton of hobbies as a kid, but I would spend a lot of time in the fields shooting gophers. I liked being out on the ranch, running around. I was never much of a video game guy and I liked to ride my bike into town and find jumps and stuff.

These days I go to a lot of movies during my free time. I spend my summers back home in Olds and try to get outside as much as I can between training and working out. To be honest, I’d still rather spend my time being active outside than watching movies, but you need to give your body some rest. Maybe when I have kids I’ll be able to do that some more and chase them around outside.

I used to work with my dad part-time growing up. He runs a livestock auction company and he’s the auctioneer, so on sale days in the summertime I would do all the out penning and get all the cattle in the right pens and get them in the trailers after the sale and make sure they got to the customer. Other than that it was just the odd jobs at a buddy’s farm that I’d be able to do.

The Max Midget tournament would probably be my most memorable highlight from my minor hockey career. I was 16 years old and I’d played all my hockey up ‘til then in Olds, so going to an international tournament was unbelievable. I remember we played against the Swiss national team and just seeing them out there was crazy. I’d never played against a European team and they had logos all over their equipment and there was a big crowd with TV cameras. I’d never experienced anything like that before.

I remember my first NHL moment was when I made the team out of training camp last year, which was kind of nice because when you get called up during the season you don’t really know anyone and there’s a lot going on. You’re on the plane by yourself, packing your own bag and not sure what to expect and all the nerves that would come with that. It was nice to play some exhibition games and keep that momentum going right up to the first game of the season. I didn’t have to change my routine at all, which really helped my nerves.

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

[hockeygod]

Will Leafs sale cause CBC to cease?

CHRIS STEVENSON, QMI Agency, Dec 10 2011

MONTREAL – The Bell-Rogers marriage to take over Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment is being consummated and now I'm left wondering where this leaves CBC in the Centre of the Universe.

The Corp's biggest cash cow is Hockey Night in Canada — and HNIC's world revolves around the Toronto Maple Leafs. What happens if Rogers and Bell, which own the country's two biggest sports networks and now Canada's most important hockey franchise, decide they want the Leafs on Saturday night for themselves?

As partners in the Leafs, did it not just become a lot easier for Bell (TSN) and Rogers (Sportsnet) to team up and wrestle the Saturday night package from CBC?

CBC's biggest competitors just bought themselves a spot at the NHL table and, you would think, some influence over what will happen with the national television rights (think Comcast in the U.S. owning NBC, Versus, etc., and the Philadelphia Flyers and locking up the national rights for 10 years).

It only makes sense that Bell and Rogers would want the Leafs and Saturday night for TSN and Sportsnet when Canada's national broadcast rights come up for renewal. It's the biggest night of the week for hockey on TV.

Money always will be the ultimate decider so, unless CBC overpays, you have to think Bell and Rogers will make a big play for Saturday night.

Without the revenue from Hockey Night in Canada, does CBC continue to exist as we know it?

Something else to consider: Is it in the best interests of the NHL to see the CBC potentially damaged while losing a valuable bidder in the battle for rights fees?

It will be very interesting to see how hockey on television in Canada evolves from here.

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

[hockeygod]

Nugent-Hopkins 'pretty good player,' says Renney

By Terry Jones, QMI Agency, Dec 10 2011

Did Edmonton just watch a significant moment in hockey history?

Was Friday an important night to remember in the young career of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins?

In game 29 of his first season, did RNH just force head coach Tom Renney to use him the same on the power play and begin to give him the same kind of ice time as The Player Not To Be Mentioned?

Renney put The Nuge on both the first and second power play units in a 4-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche.

“I’d like not to have to play him on both units,” said Renney of watching the 18-year-old kid dance and dangle and make magic for 6:37 on the power play and a total of 19:41 of ice time in the game after playing 8:21 in the first period and 6:37 in the second and getting much of the third period off to rest and recover for tonight’s tilt in Calgary.

‘Pretty good player’

“But he’s a pretty good player. I just found that out,” Renney joked. “One thing that we did notice is that it works.”

Early in this home stand the knowledgeable fans of Edmonton were screaming for some sort of explanation from the coach about why he kept insisting on playing pointless, mostly useless Eric Belanger on the point on the power play.

“Left-handed shot,” said Renney, like no other explanation was necessary.

With Renney taking Belanger off the power play entirely Friday night and leaving The Nuge out there to play straight through on both units, the rookie was wonderful to watch even though he “only” managed a couple of assists on a night when linemates Sam Gagner (two goals and an assist) and Jordan Eberle (a goal and an assist) were the big benefactors.

But at the end of the day, Nugent-Hopkins was still the story as he has been all year, just with the contemplating that this could very well be a key moment in the career of the skinny kid who continues to remind of another skinny kid.

There have already been comparisons to Nugent-Hopkins looking here and there a little like that guy who wore No. 99 here. And there also have been some suggestions that Taylor Hall has looked on occasion a bit like the guy who wore No. 11.

But tell me Jordan Eberle isn’t starting to remind you a little bit of the guy who wore No. 17 with the way he one-timed a no-peek pass from The Nuge across the ice between the legs of Gagner to him for his 11th of the year?

Nugent-Hopkins now has 32 points and Eberle 31 as they sit fifth and eighth in the NHL scoring race and Eberle has no problem with the 18-year-old getting most of the notice.

“I love it,” he said.

“He deserves what he’s getting. It’s amazing what he does. A lot of what I’m doing has been created by him.”

And Eberle loved what he watched with Nugent-Hopkins staying out to play on both powerplay units.

“It shows he’s capable of playing high minutes and smart enough to conserve energy.

“When the first unit leaves the ice I’m huffing and puffing and he’s still out there. Most of what makes Nuge is how smart he is.”

It was a second straight one-timer Eberle has scored on a RNH pass between Gagner’s legs .

“You can kind of tell the way he’s looking right through me that’s what he was looking to do,” Gagner marveled.

Excited all day

Nugent-Hopkins said he was excited all day when he found out the plan of playing on both units.

“They told me in the morning,” he said.

“Obviously, I enjoy playing on the power play. It’s a big privilege for me.

“A power play is the kind of thing where you can have extended shifts. It’s not the same as five-on-five. Hopefully we can keep having some success there.”

Wednesday, when Edmonton reeked against Carolina, RNH became the fastest Oiler rookie ever to reach 30 points, and the team was so bad the feat barely drew a mention.

But with 32 points in 29 games he’s got a chance to equal Rick Nash (39), Hall (42) and Steven Stamkos (46) rookie totals before the World Junior is over.

Ilya Kovalchuk (51), John Tavares (54) and Patrick Kane (72) are all well within range. And you wonder how close he might come to Sidney Crosby’s 102 and Alex Ovechkin’s 106.

Scary to even think that. But the numbers keep coming.

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

[hockeygod]

Feeding the addiction: Rogers Communications, along with Bell Canada, is jointly acquiring a net 75 per cent stake in MLSE from the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan.

Michael Grange, Sportsnet.ca, December 9, 2011

If you are trying to make sense of the largest sports and media transaction in Canadian history, it really isn't that complicated.

Does the Internet rank slightly behind oxygen in terms of things you can't live without and ahead of food (which you can order online)?

If you misplace your phone do you keep reaching for it like a phantom limb?

Do you sweat when you're not sure where it is?

If that's you, and you happen to be a sports fan, the decision by Rogers Communications Inc. (who I work for) and BCE inc. (the mortal enemy, sort of) to drop $1.32-billion for a 75-per-cent stake in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Ltd. is pretty much all your fault.

You can't live without your phone or the Internet. You live for sports. You easily lined the corporate coffers.

Don't feel badly. You are in good company.

Bemoan corporate ownership all you want. Fantasize about a benevolent financial knight to arrive and carry on like a Mark Cuban or Arte Moreno sparing no expense to win if you like. The reality is our passion (sounds nicer than compulsion) for consuming sports has made properties with broad, loyal fan bases too valuable for any individual to sweep MLSE off its feet.

No one can afford to spend $1.32-billion for love.

The irony is that as fans we're so willing to go deeply into our pockets and even deeper into our spare time that companies like Rogers and BCE can't afford not to be in the game(s).

They have to take their piece of the action, even if it costs $533-million for their respective 37.5-per cent share.

How exactly the whole thing will shake out in cooperation with Larry Tanenbaum — the sole individual investor who upped his stake to 25 per cent — will remain to be seen. It's a complex deal not expected to close until next summer. Still to be determined is who will run MLSE when chief executive Richard Peddie leaves at the end of the year.

And based on the face-washing Rogers Nadir Mohamed, president and CEO was giving his BCE counterpart George Cope at Friday's unveiling, how exactly these entities will play nicely going forward seems like a less than sure bet.

Will it bring MLSE teams any closer to winning? Fans can at least take some comfort in knowing that unlike the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Rogers and Bell are consumer-facing brands. If fans are angry they can at least switch cell phone plans.

But for all the uncertainties what is known is that there are two things a particular kind of consumer can't live without.

One is an open faucet from which the Internet floods without stopping.

The other is sports.

The menu may change – for some it's all about the Leafs and the NHL; for others it's the NBA and the Toronto Raptors. The hope is that as the demographics of Southern Ontario change MLSE's investment in soccer will help keep the portfolio suitably diversified.

But the proof seems to be irrefutable. While the preferred delivery system is still the warm glow of our big screens, the secret is out: we'll watch anywhere, anytime and by any means necessary.

In the short term the rush will be to get more sports to you more ways. If you've ever hankered to watch the Leafs' morning skate on your smart phone, Friday was a big day for you.

How the vision will take shape is hard to know for sure. I'm certainly not going to sit here and try to predict the yet-to-be-invented platform you'll be watching the Raptors win an NBA title in 2022 (hey, if Rogers and Bell can get together, anything is possible). Congratulations to someone bold enough to try.

But I will bet that more people will be watching more and that sports – and by extension the brands that exchanged hands Friday – will continue to occupy a bigger place in our lives.

It wasn't long ago that professional sports were mom-and-pop. Maple Leaf Gardens may have been part of Canadian myth, but was simultaneously a run-down rink where you could slide in from Church Street and watch practice if you happened to be in the neighbourhood.

Kids with a Toronto Marlboros minor hockey jacket could get a ticket to see the Leafs for a buck. The first time Kobe Bryant played in Toronto it was at the Gardens (where the Raptors played when their dates at SkyDome conflicted with the Blue Jays), and he changed in what was the visiting junior hockey dressing room, which was roughly the size of not-very-luxurious hotel suite, minus amenities.

Harold Ballard owned the Leafs until 1990 and went out of his way, it seemed, to run them like a creepy popsicle stand. Steve Stavro, who won control of the team and the Gardens from Ballard's estate, would sit in board meetings and lecture his partners about the hot dog buns. This was not 20 years past.

The new owners won't be talking about hot dog buns. Those days are gone.

The passion for sports has always been there but with the advent of cable and satellite and cellular and digital there exists — more than ever – the mechanism to monetize those desires. Insatiable demand has met insatiable supply.

The talk Friday was about the future and mobile devices and distribution systems and real time, with the necessary nod to championships whenever anyone remembered.

But what it's really all about is never being able to have quite enough. It's about sports as entertainment creeping into the air we breathe and hard-wired into the way we think.

Whether it's good, bad, indifferent or forever, no one knows. But what used to mom-and-pop and is now Ma Bell, our founding father Ted (Rogers) and uncle Larry (Tanenbaum).

Our passions are their big business, and it's hard to see how we ever go back from here.

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

[hockeygod]

Boylen: Jason Garrison breaks out with Panthers
Jason Garrison is the surprise early leader in defensemen goals league-wide.

Rory Boylen, The Hockey News, 2011-12-10

Jason Garrison isn’t a well-known name around the NHL. In fact, when he was asked for an interview in the dressing room after a game a voice from the next stall over cracked at the request.

“Must be a slow day at The Hockey News,” said veteran Ed Jovanovski.

But despite Garrison’s low profile, he’s an intriguing talent. With nine goals through 29 games, Garrison leads all defensemen in the category and is on pace for a 25-goal season. Known more for defense than offense prior to this season, Garrison’s success can partially be pinned on the fact he plays alongside Brian Campbell, who sits second behind Ottawa’s Erik Karlsson in points from the blueline. The former Hawk knew little about his new teammate before he arrived in Florida, but the two have quickly become comfortable with each other.

“He’s got a big shot and we’re both lefties so I’m trying to find him as much as I can,” Campbell said. “He’s easy to play with. He’s solid in all areas, good skater, makes really good decisions and we feed off each other a lot so it’s been a good pair for us. He’s got a lot of upside and he’s still learning the game, too.”

And what better way for a defensively stout blueliner to learn how to round out his game than to play with the offense-minded Campbell? To anyone who has followed the Panthers in recent times, it won’t come as a surprise Garrison is again logging major minutes for the team. During his first full NHL season last year, Garrison pulled down 22:17 of ice time per game and hovered around level ground in plus-minus, even though Florida was the worst team in the East and allowed 34 more goals than it scored. He wasn’t a point producer and is already approaching his total for 2010-11, so the maturation of that side of his game has allowed new coach Kevin Dineen to trust Garrison with big minutes once again, even after the team added a couple of experienced players.

“Bringing Campbell in, obviously he logs a lot of minutes, so I definitely don’t expect to play more than he does,” Garrison said. “(The coaches) just told me I have to build off the year I had and they’ll put me in the same position and obviously partner me up with ‘Soup’ and be in a supportive role.”

When you play your first NHL season at 26 and have a breakout like this at 27, you get labelled a late bloomer. In fact, everything about Garrison’s game has been late developing. He was 18 when he played his first year in the British Columbia League with the Nanaimo Clippers and moved from forward back to defense. At 21, he was an undrafted college freshman and played three years for the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, where he didn’t take over on the offensive side of the puck, totalling just nine goals. He spent 2008-09 in Rochester of the American League and split the following season between the Americans and Panthers before staying in Florida full time last season.

Aside from the veterans he plays with, Garrison also credits assistant coach and Panthers expansion draft pick Gord Murphy with helping him refine his game at the NHL level.

“‘Murph’ played a long time and has shown me the way,” Garrison said. “There’s always something you can work on, be better offensively, better defensively. This year has been the year for me where I’ve tried to get my shot through as much as possible – focusing on finding the lane.”

So far it’s been working, even if it didn’t earn him a slot on the all-star ballot. But with the attention opponents have to pay to Florida’s hot top forward line and Garrison’s flashy defense partner, the Panthers would be happy to see their newfound blueline bomber continue to evade enemy radar – if only so the veterans can keeping taking pot shots at him.

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

[hockeygod]

Today's NHL stars are thinking outside the docs

SEAN GORDON, Globe and Mail, Dec. 09, 2011

This one was in a tricky spot as muscle injuries go, so they called in the guy with the needles.

It’s true NHLers are given access to all the surgeons and therapists they could ever need, but in many cases players are looking outside the field of traditional medicine for help.

The Montreal Canadiens’ Michael Cammalleri is merely one of many. A month ago he suffered a charley horse in an awkward place on his thigh that didn’t respond especially well to physiotherapy and stretching.

So the sniping winger turned to acupuncture.

“Whatever makes you feel good, right?” Cammalleri said.

Along with teammates P.K. Subban and Hal Gill, Cammalleri pays a retainer to Michael Prebeg, a Toronto chiropractor who practises “contemporary acupuncture” and comes to Montreal every few weeks to sort out the trio’s various aches and pains.

“Basically [Prebeg is] working a lot with nerves and functional stuff,” Cammalleri said, adding Prebeg works closely with the Habs’ medical staff.

In a business where fitness, performance and riches are intricately and inextricably linked, pro athletes are more than willing to wander beyond the bounds of evidence-based medicine for help with a wide range of problems from minor muscular niggles to career-threatening conditions such as postconcussion syndrome.

Seeking out novel remedies has long been a staple of human nature. (And not always a helpful one; anyone remember snake oil liniment?) Nor is it exactly a brand new phenomenon in the NHL. One doctor recalled a player in the early 1990s who was convinced the secret to fitness lay in the aggressive consumption of vegetable and fruit juices.

Several prominent NHLers have sought out acupuncturists over the years to help recover from concussions (1990s stars Paul Kariya and Eric Lindros chief among them).

More recently, former Philadelphia winger Simon Gagné, now with the Los Angeles Kings, turned to a controversial treatment called proliferation therapy – a regimen of injections, generally dextrose – to recover from chronic neck problems, and credited it with saving his career.

“I think players tend to look outside for reassurance,” said Maxime Gauthier, a Montreal physiotherapist who specializes in back and neck problems. “Don’t forget that trainers are really busy, there’s 23, 24 guys to look after. They want results, so sometimes they turn to people with a little different expertise.”

Gauthier has worked with Gagné, Toronto Maple Leafs forward Matthew Lombardi and Tampa Bay Lightning captain Vincent Lecavalier, among others. As a relative newcomer to the NHL scene, he says: “Some teams have welcomed me with open arms, it’s been more difficult with others.”

Perhaps the most discussed recent example of alternative treatment are the consultations that Pittsburgh Penguins centre Sidney Crosby had with Ted Carrick, a Canadian-born practitioner of chiropractic neurology, a field held in low regard by most medical neurologists.

Carrick’s treatment involved balance exercises and putting Crosby in a gyroscopic machine. There is little in the way of peer-reviewed literature on its effectiveness, but as a concussion doctor who is skeptical of the method put it: “Try telling Sid that. He obviously believed in it and he’s back playing.”

Treatments of that sort can illustrate the usual tension between traditional medicine and alternative practices (some of which are derided as quackery by the medical establishment), but Cammalleri and others point to a growing acceptance of practices that go beyond the mainstream.

“These guys have short careers, they want to do absolutely everything they can to be on the ice,” said James Kissick, an Ottawa sports physician and former Senators team doctor. “In general, team doctors don’t have too much of a problem as long as [players] are still doing what they need to be doing medically and it isn’t harmful.”

Almost every NHL team employs a full-time massage therapist, and most have chiropractic consultants. In many other cases, the players assemble their physical preparation entourages on their own dime; the modern NHLer usually has at least a personal trainer and dietitian on the payroll.

Cammalleri said the shift toward preventive and maintenance treatments has made it almost indispensable to have outside help.

“I kind of take a business-model approach to it,” he said. “I invest in my fitness both with time and money, and I think it’s very well justified. My business is my body.”

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

[hockeygod]

Rumor Roundup: The Coyotes situation

Lyle Richardson, The Hockey News, 2011-12-11

Since 2009-10, the Phoenix Coyotes have been a playoff contender in the NHL's Western Conference.

What's impressive is they've accomplished this feat against the backdrop of uncertainty over their future in Arizona.

Since being placed into bankruptcy by former owner Jerry Moyes in May 2009, the Coyotes were nearly sold by Moyes to Blackberry billionaire Jim Balsillie, only to have that sale thwarted when the league stepped in and made a successful bid for the club during the bankruptcy hearings, purchasing the team from Moyes for $140 million.

Efforts to sell the team to Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, Ice Edge Holdings group, and businessman Matt Hulsizer have since fallen through.

Despite these setbacks, the league continues its quest to find a prospective owner willing to keep the Coyotes in their current location.

League deputy commissioner Bill Daly informed the board of governors during its annual meetings this past week that efforts to find new owners were ongoing, claiming there were “continuing discussions with a couple of potentially interested purchasers.”

Hockey, fans for the most part, remain puzzled as to why the league has fought so hard to keep the Coyotes in their current location, especially given the quick relocation last summer of the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg.

The Thrashers move, however, was under different circumstances. Its ownership had tried unsuccessfully for several years to find new owners willing to keep the team in Atlanta, but when none turned up, had no choice but to sell to True North Sports and Entertainment.

Having taken over ownership of the Coyotes for the past two years, the NHL board of governors wasn't willing to take on another troubled franchise.

The main reason the league wants to keep the Coyotes in their current location is Phoenix is one of the largest cities, metro areas, and media markets in the United States, which the league believes could become a considerable source of revenue.

Having already lost Atlanta, the league would prefer not to lose another major American market.

Cynical observers scoff at this notion, pointing to low attendance numbers during much of the Coyotes existence as proof the Phoenix area isn't a hockey market.

That view, however, overlooks the fact the team was poorly run and managed for a number of years, resulting in a mediocre product, a seemingly steady parade of their best players dealt away in lop-sided trades or lost to free agency, and a disillusioned fan base.

Critics cite the club's poor attendance during the past two seasons as “proof” sports fans in the Phoenix area don't care about hockey.

When one considers, however, the team has been under threat of relocation for over two years, it's little wonder Arizona sports fans are leery about throwing their support to a team which could be gone the following year.

Despite the uncertainty, in September it was reported season ticket renewals were the highest in a decade, while overall ticket sales were up 25 percent from last year.

Still, with their average home attendance after 13 home games this season the lowest in the league at just less than 11,000 per game, it's clear that uncertainty is still having an impact, despite the Coyotes solid play.

Time is of the essence. The Coyotes were close to being moved earlier this year, until the city of Glendale, where their home arena is located, agreed to pay the league $25 million to cover part of the team's losses while the two sides continued to seek a new owner.

It's believed if no owner can be found by next spring, the Coyotes will be relocated to another city in time for the 2012-13 season.

If the Coyotes are moved, it will have an impact on the new realignment plan recently approved by the Board of Governors.

The Coyotes are currently grouped in “Conference A” along with the three California-based franchises, the two Alberta-based teams, plus the Vancouver Canucks and Colorado Avalanche.

It's believed the new alignment would allow for flexibility in the event the Coyotes are to be relocated.

Should they move to Seattle, which has been rumored as a potential target for an expansion or relocated franchise, they could stay in their current conference without any sort of shakeup required.

The two Western-based Conferences have eight franchises each, and the two Eastern-based ones have only seven allowing room for a potential move to the East, perhaps to a market like Quebec City, which intends to construct a new arena in hopes of enticing an NHL franchise.

As the uncertainty over the future continues, the Coyotes – who entered this weekend atop the Pacific Division – play on, hoping to make the playoffs for the third straight season and finally win their first playoff round since 1987.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
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Getting To Know: Drew Doughty

Mark Malinowski, The Hockey News, 2011-12-11

Status: Los Angeles Kings defenseman??

Ht: 6-foot Wt: 212 pounds

??DOB: Dec. 8, 1989 In: London, Ont.

??First Hockey Memory: "I remember I was really, really young. I loved the game of hockey, but I wasn't very good. I remember looking up at the clock – I wasn't a good skater – and looking up at the clock, kinda wanting to get off the ice. Just because I couldn't keep up with the other guys. (How old were you?) Probably three. I started playing when I was really young, with the late birthday, so I was three years old."

??Hockey Inspiration: "You know, I don't really know how I got into hockey. As a young kid, I guess my parents – I just picked up a stick and was playing in the basement all the time. And no one in my family had previously played, so, just watching it on TV. And the other kids in the neighborhood playing was kinda how I picked it up."

??Nickname: "I've had ‘Doughnut’ before, ‘Dewey’ and obviously ‘Doughts.’"??

Last Book Read: "Oh, that's a tough one…last book would have been wherever Grade 12 was. So maybe three years ago and I have no idea what it was called."

First Job: "Paperboy, some fliers in my hometown in London, Ontario."

??Current Car: "Range Rover and Mercedes CLS63."

Greatest Sports Moment: "Definitely winning the gold medal (2010 Olympics)."??

Most Painful Moment: "Probably being defeated in the playoffs last year was probably one of the most painful moments just because we thought we had the team to beat that team and we didn't come through."??

Most Memorable Goal: "My first ever goal in the NHL (vs. Colorado in 2008) was probably my most memorable. A goal I'll never forget. I remember like it was yesterday."??

Favorite Sweater: "I like the Blackhawks uniforms a lot. I think they're really nice."

Favorite Arena To Play: "Probably Montreal."??

Closest Hockey Friends: "I developed a lot of friends in junior, stuff like that. But definitely Wayne Simmonds, he was my roommate for two years, now he got traded. Definitely my best buddy in hockey."

??Funniest Players Encountered: "We've got some funny ones on our team. Matt Green is funny. I'm trying to think who else…I'll just say Matt Green."

??Toughest Competitors Encountered: "Sidney Crosby probably. Zach Parise. He competes really hard."

??Embarrassing Hockey Memory: "I remember when I was really young coming out for the starting lineup kinda thing – barely able to skate out to the blueline. I guess you could throw that out there."??

Favorite Sport Outside Hockey: "Soccer."??

People Qualities Most Admired: "Just have a lot of fun, honesty, trust. And just straight shooters."

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

[hockeygod]

Gretzky's daughter a wild child

By LINDA MASSARELLA, QMI Agency, Dec 11 2011

Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky persuaded his daughter Paulina to close her Twitter account last month, where she had been posting rather racy photos of herself. (Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images/AFP)

LOS ANGELES – By all accounts, Wayne Gretzky's 22-year-old daughter, Paulina, is a good kid.

But she is known for hanging with an iffy crowd, which includes a convicted felon, admitted drug addicts and a Las Vegas peep show performer.

Sure, there are lots of iffy people in Hollywood, so you can't judge a gal by her associations.

But that doesn't make it easy for a parent to swallow.

While the other four Gretzky kids are following their hockey legend dad's conservative, upstanding path — the oldest boys, Ty and Trevor are both in university on athletic scholarships — the Great One's first-born was always a bit of a wild child.

"Boys are easier to raise than girls," he has told friends on more than one occasion.

Of course, everybody heard how Gretzky last month persuaded his daughter to close her Twitter account, where she had been posting rather racy photos of herself.

"Wayne has always given her a lot of leeway, he always supported her in what she wanted to do," said a source close to the Gretzky family.

"At the same time, he realizes she still needs some guidance."

Paulina saw no need to attend university and moved out of the family home after high school to live with friends in Hollywood.

Fair enough — the lovely lass wanted to shine in her own limelight as a singer and a model. She did have some success when her song, Collecting Dust, was played on an MTV show and released on iTunes.

As for modelling, though, that hasn't quite happened — with the exception of a Flare magazine cover shoot with her mother, Janet, way back in 2005.

The first time I heard Paulina's name spoken in connection with some troubled teens was in 2009 while reporting on the infamous Hollywood "Bling Ring."

The "Bling Ring" was a group of a few rich, bored teens that got their kicks breaking into the homes of such stars as Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton and Orlando Bloom.

Paulina was in no way involved.

She was, however, good friends with a member of the group, Alexis Neiers, a pal she had known from high school and with whom she shared modelling aspirations.

It was Neiers' idea to film her own involvement in the burglary ring and make it into a reality TV show called Pretty Wild.

The first episode aired in 2010 — with Paulina co-starring as a "concerned friend."

Neiers, 20, was sentenced to 180 days in jail and three years probation on a felony charge of residential burglary for the Bloom break-in.

Paulina was also friends with Neier's adopted sister, Tess Taylor, Playboy's, 2010 Cyber Girl of the Year. Paulina has posted many photos of them partying together over the years.

In December 2010, Neiers was arrested on a probation violation when officers found her with a black substance that resembled tar heroin.

She was ordered to a year of rehab.

A few weeks later, Taylor confessed to an opiate addiction and checked herself into rehab as well.

Paulina's newest BFF is Holly Madison, the former Hugh Hefner concubine who appeared in his reality TV show, The Girls Next Door.

Madison, 32, currently stars in Peepshow, a stylized stripper show in Vegas and Paulina has often posted about their friendship.

What does all this mean for the future of the Gretzky firstborn?

Will she finally get her wish and become a star on her own merit?

Despite the fact Paulina closed her Twitter account, her followers doubled from last month to almost 50,000.

As they say in Hollywood, any publicity is good publicity.

Any bets Paulina's modelling career will finally get the kickstart it needs?

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

[hockeygod]

Visentin can find solace in Steve Smith story:
Goalie has already put 2011 meltdown behind him as he aims for gold in 2012

By George Johnson, Calgary Herald December 10, 2011

Being but 19, Mark Visentin can be forgiven for not being well-schooled on the subject of 1986 sports history, however infamous. He’s even, if pressed, a trifle fuzzy on the name Steve Smith.

He does, however, know acutely, can uniquely empathize with, the utter desolation Smith felt on March 30, 1986, when the rookie defenceman’s “own” goal, banking the puck off the left leg of goaltender Grant Fuhr in the third period of Game 7, derailed — only temporarily, as it turned out — the budding Edmonton Oilers’ Stanley Cup dynasty.

By the time the scurrilous media jackals had been allowed to storm the dressing room at Northlands Coliseum that night, the place was deserted, save one player. Steve Smith. Alone to face the wolves. Abandoned. Left to ’celebrate’ his 23rd birthday under guerrilla interrogation, hunched over at his stall, tears cascading down his cheeks.

No hiding in the back. No sneaking out a side door or skirting the mob disguised in wig, beard and dark glasses.

Hanging grimly in there through every leading question.

Those on hand for that almost viscerally painful moment back then knew instinctively that Steve Smith would be a solid pro.

Mark Visentin has also experienced the sickening sensation of the earth suddenly dropping away from underneath you.

Yet in the debris field of the five-goal third-period that cemented Canada’s inconceivable collapse to Russia during the 2011 IHF world junior hockey championship gold-medal game in Buffalo, the Phoenix Coyotes’ first-round entry draft pick of 2010 showed that he, too, is made of tough stuff.

Different circumstances. Different level. Identical emotions.

“There’s no words to describe it,’’ he said then.

To his credit, though, he tried.

Which is only one of the reasons Canada is once again looking his way to reclaim gold at this year’s world juniors.

“After a game, media’s just one of those things I try to get over with,’’ explained the Niagara IceDogs’ goaltender, one of Saturday’s late-arriving 11:21 a.m. group out of Toronto. “That’s my mentality. Some nights, like that night, it’s not a lot of fun. You’d rather be somewhere — anywhere — else.

“But it has to be done.

“Nights like that are not something you can just push aside. But they’re part of the game, something you just have to deal with. Be accountable for your actions — that’s what was going through my mind.’’

Visentin’s maturity, his assuming responsibility in such a gutting moment was impossible to ignore, and easy to applaud.

“I’ve always had a taste of winning and losing. After we lost the gold-medal game last year there was a sense of reality. This is the situation: You can either shut it down or use it to fuel yourself.

“The biggest thing for me was to move on and be the backbone of my team at Niagara. Because I know I had high expectations there and my team was depending on me.

“Obviously I didn’t have much experience last year but this time, having gone through it once, getting a taste of what to expect, I feel more confident, comfortable.

“It was a tough time but you learn and move on. I’ve had a lot of support.’’

From family, friends, teammates and his aging golden retriever, Sheba, a welcoming, forgiving presence in the bleakest of times, who briefly became something of a canine celebrity.

“The dog’s good,’’ a grinning Visentin reported Saturday. “Still going strong. Turned 15 in April. Dogs are always the best to come home to. They always make you feel better. She’s been there my whole life. She’s moving around more slowly these days but we’re happy to still have her walking around the house.’’

Visentin’s hoping he won’t be in need of more of Sheba’s tongue-lolling, tail-wagging backing to pull him out of the doldrums when he heads home from Alberta the first week of January.

“What happened last year is hard to get over at first. But I play for fun. My first game back (for the IceDogs) we were down 2-0 after the first period in Kingston and came back to crush them 6-2. A bittersweet start and a really good finish. You win, it always lifts your spirits.

“I use (what happened in Buffalo) as motivation when I practise and play. If I feel tired, I use it to spark myself, go the one or two steps further, the one or two reps more. To get better. And I think I am better now than I was.’’

Better versed in the nuances of international hockey. More toughened by the late-tournament trials of Buffalo.

The impetus for this tournament, he insists, isn’t about personal revenge, collective retribution, exorcising a ghost or cleansing a stain. It’s about putting this country back on top of the junior hockey world.

Shattered dreams can be mended.

That heartbroken kid sobbing alone in the Oilers’ locker-room in ’86, after all, went on to win Stanley Cups.

“We’re here for gold,’’ Visentin said flatly. “Whether we play Sweden, Finland, the U.S. . . .”

Or, perhaps, Russia?

“Doesn’t matter to me. A gold medal is a gold medal.’’

Mark Visentin is ready. He’s had enough hurt. If any telltale scars remain, they’ve been well hidden from public view.

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

[hockeygod]

Student athletes living a dream at hockey academy

By RON RAUCH, Times Colonist December 10, 2011

The Pursuit of Excellence Hockey Academy from Kelowna is a factory for producing Western Hockey League and NCAA players.

In the last three WHL bantam drafts, 26 players have been selected from the academy and another eight to 10 are expected to go this year, including some in the first round.

The Pursuit of Excellence team is in Victoria this weekend, showcasing its talents at the Rick Lapointe Memorial triple-A bantam tournament. On Saturday, the academy was denied a trip to today’s final after Richmond Seafair recorded a 2-1 overtime victory on Brett Gelz’s goal. Seafair will meet the Calgary Royals in today’s 1:45 p.m. final at the Ian Stewart Complex. Calgary tripped up the Abbotsford Hawks 5-1 in the other semifinal.

The academy had marched through the eight-team competition with five consecutive victories before running into Seafair and hot goaltender Jacob Latrace.

“After our demanding tryouts, we pick 110 players for our six teams [three midget, two bantam and one female],’’ said Troy Mick, the director of hockey operations for the academy. Mick played four years in the WHL with the Portland Winter Hawks and the Regina Pats before being drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1988.

“For kids who love to play hockey, this is the place to be,’’ said Mick. “We run our program 10 months of the year and from Monday to Friday, they are on the ice for two hours, have off ice skills for an hour and then another hour in the gym. The kids that play for us have to be very dedicated and disciplined. When the kids leave our program, they will be much better players and people then when they came. We stress things like character building, being solid in the community and life skills. We also talk them about dealing with the media.’’

A typical day for the academy players starts at 7 a.m. when they are dropped off at the arena by their billets. They all attend George Elliott Secondary in Winfield for part of the day and then are picked up at 5 p.m.

“These kids are living out a dream,’’ said Mick. “In those 10 months, they become one big family. Those memories will last a lifetime with these kids.’’

Defenceman Tanner Browne from Juan de Fuca is the lone Islander with the bantam team. He is the stepson of former Victoria Salmon King player and coach Ryan Wade, who coaches one of the midget teams at the academy.

In Saturday’s quarter-final action, Pursuit of Excellence blanked Team Seattle 5-0, the Royals downed the Coquitlam Chiefs 6-0, Seafair stopped the Wenatchee Wild 7-2 and Hawks defeated the host Victoria Racquet Club 5-4 in a shootout.

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

[hockeygod]

Canada’s best will be missing from world junior hockey championship

ERIC DUHATSCHEK, Globe and Mail, Dec. 11, 2011

As someone familiar with the transitional nature of junior hockey, Canadian world junior coach Don Hay knows the dangers of playing the what-if game. But just for fun, let’s do it anyway. What if Canada’s team had access to all the players eligible to play?

In a perfect world, where national team duty would trump everything, including professional hockey commitments, NHL reigning rookie of the year Jeff Skinner would be available to play in the 2012 world junior tournament, alongside the early-season favourite for the Calder Trophy this season, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

Hockey Canada has named a 41-player selection camp roster, which includes Howden, for the world junior hockey championships. Twenty-two of those will be chosen to play for Canada at the 2012 world junior hockey championship, which starts Boxing Day in Edmonton and Calgary.
Video
Hockey Canada invites 41 to world junior camp

But it doesn’t end there. The Boston Bruins’ leading scorer, Tyler Seguin, is also eligible, too, thanks to a January of 1992 birthday, as are rising stars Ryan Johansen (Columbus Blue Jackets) and Sean Couturier (Philadelphia Flyers). That’s five forwards who would play important roles, offensively and defensively, for Canada along with a defensive anchor, Erik Gudbranson, who is logging about 12 minutes a night for the surprising Florida Panthers.

That’s the mixed blessing of a Canadian development system that has firmly made its way back to the top of the hockey world.

Every year since the 2004-05 NHL lockout ended, more and more high-end talent tumbles out of the junior system, from Sidney Crosby to Steve Stamkos to Taylor Hall (who is 47 days too old to play in the world juniors this year).

The only time this precociousness ever becomes an issue is right now. As the tryout camp for the world junior tournament opened here Sunday, almost a third of the players who could be playing for Canada are off pursuing their NHL dreams.

“As a coach, you think about it for a very short period of time,” Hay said Sunday. “You always want your best players available to you because you know you’re going to be facing other teams’ top players.

“But you can’t dwell on it. You have to move on and work with the guys that are available to you. There is so much depth in Canada that the players here are going to be very excited to have this opportunity.”

Last September, there was a small hope that Nugent-Hopkins’ slight frame might keep him out of the NHL for a year and thus make him available for the junior tournament. But that quickly became a pipe dream, given his performance (32 points through 30 games).

Then there are Seguin, with his 26 points in 27 games for the defending Stanley Cup champion Bruins, and Skinner, who is following up his 63-point rookie season with a fine sophomore campaign. All three lead their respective NHL teams in scoring as teenagers and were seventh, 27th and 36th in the league scoring race heading into the NHL’s schedule Sunday.

“It’s tough for NHL teams to let guys go, because they’re paying so much money and the games mean so much,” Skinner acknowledged in an interview last week. “It’s a tough spot and I don’t know the solution. I don’t know if there is one.”

Instead of wearing the Maple Leaf, Skinner is preparing to play the Toronto Maple Leafs in NHL action Tuesday night. And though this is exactly where the Markham, Ont., native wants to be, Skinner will concede that there is a small part of him that wishes, just once, he could have played the world juniors.

“Yeah, definitely,” Skinner said. “Growing up, that’s the biggest thing you do at Christmas time – watch the world juniors, watch Team Canada. I was excited because [last season], at first, I didn’t know if I was going to stick with Carolina, so I was looking forward to maybe trying to make that team. Then I stuck with Carolina and it didn’t happen, but it would have been exciting. Yeah, I’ve definitely thought about it.”

The last time Canada had access to everybody was during the NHL lockout, when the world juniors were played in North Dakota and many players that otherwise would have been in the NHL – Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, Dion Phaneuf and Shea Weber to name just six – played on a Canadian team that included Crosby (who was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2005) and Patrice Bergeron, who had already played a full year in the NHL as an 18-year-old.

The beauty of the world juniors is that no matter who pulls on the sweater for Canada, the effort, the commitment and the try is there for all to see. It is that commitment that makes the event so attractive as a property – Edmonton and Calgary, joint hosts of the tournament this year, will set all kinds of revenue records.

But Hay won’t hide from the thought of Nugent-Hopkins dishing off to Skinner and Seguin.

“A couple of Swedes are going to get released,” Hay said. “The Russians, they release their guys in their top league to come play junior. You want to go best against best and you can’t.

“But again,” Hay said, “I still like the passion and the heart of the Canadian kid. It’s second to none.”

Dean
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[hockeygod]

Flyers founder Ed Snider set to enter U.S. Hockey Hall

DAN GELSTON, The Associated Press, Dec. 11, 2011

With his team in first place and the Winter Classic coming to town, it's a good time to be Ed Snider.

The Philadelphia Flyers founder and owner is set for a more personal honor: Snider will be inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday.

Snider brought hockey to Philadelphia, owned the Flyers during the days of the Broad Street Bullies and their rough-and-tumble heyday, and still takes his seat each home game to watch Claude Giroux and Jaromir Jagr lead this season's team to the top of the Eastern Conference standings.

The Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation has also thrived, providing free hockey and academic services to inner-city children. He calls the program his legacy — even greater than what he's done with the Flyers since the 1960s.

For all his accolades, Snider still appreciates the Hall of Fame honor.

“These honors are nice and I'm proud to be part of it,” he said.

Snider will be inducted Monday night in a ceremony in Chicago with longtime NHL defenseman Chris Chelios, play-by-play announcer Mike “Doc” Emrick, and former NHL stars Keith Tkachuk and Gary Suter.

“He's one of the few people in hockey who literally created a market for hockey,” Comcast-Spectacor president Peter Luukko said. “There was no hockey in Philadelphia. He created that and grew the sport unlike many people ever.”

Snider's next big weekend comes over New Year's when the Flyers play the Rangers in the Winter Classic, the league's annual international showcase. There's a star-studded alumni game that includes former Flyers greats like Eric Lindros and Bernie Parent, and their AHL team also hits the outdoor rink at baseball's Citizens Bank Park.

HBO's “24/7” cameras have been rolling at recent games, filming Snider during last week's win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

“The game is a league production, so we don't have that much to do with it,” Snider said. “We do have a lot to do with the alumni game, which is really big, and a few other events we're really involved in. Luckily, I don't have to do too much but show up.

“Who would have ever thought when I started the Flyers in 1967 we'd be playing a Winter Classic in any baseball stadium.”

In Philadelphia, the alumni game has received Stanley Cup finals-type buzz because of Lindros' return after a nasty split with the organization a decade ago. He clashed with management, specifically general manager Bobby Clarke, over treatment of his numerous head injuries. Snider had little interest in rehashing the Lindros Era, saying it was current general manager Paul Holmgren's decision to invite Lindros, and, “we're happy about it.”

Snider, the NHL's longest-tenured owner, supported the radical realignment plan announced last week that will give the league four conferences instead of six divisions and guarantee home-and-home series among all teams. The Flyers will be lumped in a seven-team conference with the Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes.

“Obviously, we preferred the way it was, but we knew that it would hurt a lot of teams if we continued with the status quo,” Snider said. “There were some features about this new system that we liked, therefore, we supported it to help some of our fellow owners. The game's better than it's ever been and I'm very happy right now with everything.”

That includes the Flyers. Their 5-2 victory over Tampa Bay on Saturday night kept the revamped team (18-7-3 for 39 points) atop the East standings.

“I think it's been really satisfying considering all the injuries we've had and all the new players and rookies we have,” he said. “It's been a very exciting start of the season. I hope we can keep it up.

“It looks like a very exciting team.”

Dean
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