Articles

[hockeygod]

Grapes goes 1-on-1 with the Sun

Tim Baines ,Ottawa Sun, January 28, 2012

OTTAWA – Don Cherry is outspoken, controversial … and loved by hockey fans across Canada.

In town for Sunday's all-star game, the Coach's Corner co-host stopped by the Ottawa Sun for an exclusive 1-on 1-interview.

No question was out of bounds. Ever the straight shooter, Cherry let it all hang out.

SUN: You're 77 years old and still going strong … how long can you keep this going?

CHERRY: Well, I'm going to keep it going as long as I'm having fun. I'm as excited now as I was for the very first Coach's Corner. I have my steak and my nap, just like I did when I played and coached. If CBC only knew, I'd do it for nothing.

SUN: How has the game changed over the years?

CHERRY: The guys are bigger and they're faster. And they can shoot harder. Is it better? I don't know. But the respect for one another has dropped.

SUN: You talk about the respect level having dropped. Is there a correlation between that and the rising number of concussions?

CHERRY: People are upset when I blame the victims. You cannot do what they do, turn their backs, and expect not to get hit. When I see guys run guys from behind. We never used to do that. We knew it was coming. I think it comes from when they're playing minor hockey. There's nobody that sees more minor hockey than me. What they do, they turn their backs. Nine of 10 guys, they don't hit them. But that 10th guy, he gets him. I've never seen so many concussions — it's sad.

SUN: Do you think there were a lot of guys playing concussed back in the day?

CHERRY: We couldn't afford to have concussions back in those days. You got your bell rung, you got back out there. If you were dizzy and kind of wobbly going to the bench, the next day in practice, the guys would make fun of you. We never said we had a concussion or we had a headache or we were nauseous. We just went out and played. If you missed too many games with a headache and feeling dizzy, you wouldn't be around too long.

SUN: If you could make one change to the game of hockey, what would you do?

CHERRY: There's two. One is the instigator rule. So many injuries are a result of the instigator rule. All I have to do is mention Gretzky. He had a credit card when he was in Edmonton. It was unbelievable. He never got hit. I think he got hit once the whole time he was in Edmonton. I used to talk to the people in the States when I was down there and they said there's a rule in the National Hockey League that you can't hit Gretzky. I said it's not that, the rule is Semenko and McSorley. Today, nobody can protect anybody. It's absolutely asinine. The governors actually said they'd put the instigator rule in so tough guys wouldn't pick on the stars when it was the exact opposite. Now you've got little weasels running around with their visors — sticking and acting brave. A few years ago, you'd take and cuff them and they wouldn't do it.

The other one is touch icing. There have been more guys retired, careers ruined, from touch icing than there has been for concussions. But it's not the buzzword right now. Touch icing is ridiculous. Take that Foster kid — Kurtis Foster — he's never been the same since they broke his leg. He has a rod in his leg. For what? It's exciting to see a guy go head first into the boards? It's exciting? For me, no.

SUN: Talk about the dynamic between you and your Hockey Night in Canada sidekick, Ron MacLean … Has there ever been a moment where you wanted to take a poke at him, or where he wanted to take a swing at you?

CHERRY: Well, he'd never want to take a poke at me because it would be the last poke he takes. I've really been ticked off at him. When he first started out, we didn't get along at all. I told him one time in Vancouver if he did something on TV, sincerely I was going to knock him right off that table. He started to do it anyway and I said 'OK, be ready to go.' He's been bailing on me the last 2 or 3 weeks. I told him to be prepared, no more Mr. Nice Guy. Four or five times, I could have drifted him.

SUN: Is there a point where CBC offers you a lifetime contract?

CHERRY: No. In fact, a few years ago, the boss of CBC called me reprehensible and despicable. So they tolerate me now. That's all I can say.

SUN: Ratings and money speak.

CHERRY: That's for you to say, not me. Too bad they weren't at the airport today. I met (Ottawa) mayor (Jim) Watson. And I posed for pictures for half an hour while I was waiting for my bags. I'm a popular guy and I know it.

SUN: Does CBC give you feedback on comments you make?

CHERRY: They said to me this thing with (Stu) Grimson and the two other guys, you've got a right to say it, but we don't agree with you. I've got to admit CBC has been pretty good to me. I said to them: 'When I go and you're going to fire me, it won't be because I misinterpreted something. I mean what I say.'

SUN: Have you said anything on air that you've regretted?

CHERRY: Yes. It was Edmonton and Chicago. I can remember it was like it was yesterday. I was on with Dave Hodge. It was a defenceman. Dr. Randy Gregg. He did not like me, for some reason, I guess because he was an intellectual college guy. He had a breakaway against Chicago and he muffed it up. I said, 'How would you like to have Dr. Randy Gregg operate on your heart with those hands?' My mother phoned me the next day and she (didn't like that I got) personal … and I felt bad about that.

SUN: You were selected as one of the 10 greatest Canadians. Your reaction?

CHERRY: The people that voted for me did not think I was the greatest Canadian. It was a time that the right wing, the hard-working guy in the factory, the construction worker could finally have a say. They didn't think I was the greatest Canadian, maybe the most popular. The ordinary working guy like myself had a chance to say something. Maybe I was the most popular, certainly not the greatest Canadian.

SUN: Who was the greatest Canadian?

CHERRY: Sir. John MacDonald. Kingston boy. Sat with him at the airport today, got a picture taken with his statue. You could go on and on. But I think Terry Fox, to me, is my hero.

SUN: You get emotional on the air when you talk about soldiers, any one moment choked you up?

CHERRY: There was one particular moment. I'm getting choked up right now talking about it, one young kid, looked about 18, I sort of had his resume so I wouldn't make a mistake. I couldn't do it. I pushed it over to MacLean. He pushed it back to me. I remember the first time we ran all of them. I walk in there and Kathy Broderick was reading the soldiers. I sat down to watch. But I had to leave.

BAINES: Do we not care enough about our soldiers, about our country?

CHERRY: Nobody cares. Nobody really cares like the States. I lived in the States. I lived on Elm Drive. All the houses had flags out. In my neighbourhood, I'm the only house that has a flag out. Yeah it bothers me. I think of all those guys that are dying.

SUN: Does it bother you that some people don't respect this country?

CHERRY: The first thing you do is try to make this country like the country you came from where you were persecuted or you couldn't eat? If you don't think Canada is No. 1 when you take our milk and honey, and you don't think we're the best, then you should go back to where you came from, where you think is No. 1. If you don't think Canada is No. 1, go back to your country and don't let the gate hit your ass on the way out.

SUN: What's your stance on fighting?

CHERRY: Most of the players like it. The coaches don't seem to mind it. And the owners don't seem to mind it. The people that love it the most are the fans. And they're the ones that pay the freight. The only ones that don't like it are the reporters. And they get in free. And if you want violence, you should see in the pressroom when the roast beef comes out. The TV reporters go out and ask fans if they like fighting and the people answer yes, yes, yes. And the one that says no, that's the one they show on the news. If you take away fighting, you take a lot of excitement out of the game.

SUN: Does any fight stand out?

CHERRY: Stan Jonathon vs. Pierre Bouchard. He broke Bouchard's nose, his cheekbone and he had 60 stitches. There was blood everywhere. Bouchard broke his nose so bad, there wasn't blood coming out, there were membranes coming out. They asked Pierre if he was ever going to play again in the National Hockey League. He said: 'Yeah, if I take up the organ.' He said: 'Serge Savard is a good friend of mine, but I didn't want a nose like his.'

SUN: Brian Burke put Colton Orr on waivers, suggesting there might be an end to that kind of player, the fighter.

CHERRY: Isn't it funny, you used to be able to push around Ottawa. Here comes soft Ottawa again. Let's push Ottawa around. We don't have any worries. Now they bring up guys to face them. All of a sudden they're knocking on first place. And the most-penalized team is the Boston Bruins. That kind of tells you something. You don't push Ottawa around.

BAINES: Should each team carry fighters?

CHERRY: The guy has got to play. And if you notice Ottawa, all the guys play. They all play about eight minutes, and that's about perfecdt for me. They're not goons sitting there. I don't like using the word goons. All the guys are trying to make a living.

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

[hockeygod]

Here is a website: "The Science of NHL Hockey", which shows the science behind the game.

http://www.nbclearn.com/portal/site/learn/science-of-nhl-hockey

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

[hockeygod]

Bassin 'strips 'er down' for shot at 3rd Memorial Cup:
Longtime junior hockey executive rebuilding OHL Otters through trades, draft

Doug Harrison, CBC Sports, Jan 30, 2012

It’s early in the season and another losing, injury filled month for Sherry Bassin’s Erie Otters and time for the longtime junior hockey executive to make a critical decision about the team’s future.

Hang tough with a group of hard-working Ontario Hockey League players coming off a 40-win season, or sell off a number of assets and reload?

If you know Bassin, or just a fraction of his 30-plus year history in the league, he has a knack for getting teams back on their feet and building a winning program.

So, the Otters’ 72-year-old general manager and majority owner went to work on Oct. 31 with his team in a 2-12 funk, dealing centre Brett Thompson to the Sarnia Sting for a 2012 third-round draft pick and a second-rounder in 2013.

Five trades followed leading up to the Jan. 10 OHL trade deadline with Bassin accumulating nine picks and four players in the process. Six of those picks will be made in 2014 and beyond.

“We had some real serious injuries and made a decision to go with a real young team,” Bassin said in a telephone conversation from his Pennsylvania office. “It’s just hard to watch what you’re going through. When you’re playing five, six 16-year-olds at a time and 14 rookies, it’s tough.”

The Otters occupied last place in the OHL and Canadian Hockey League at 6-37-4 through Jan. 29, putting them on track to shatter the 16-year-old franchise’s single-season record of futility (15 wins in 2006-07) and on pace for one of the worst marks in the OHL’s 36-year modern era.

A positive outlook to the season — Erie’s 40 victories a year ago was its most productive season since 2002 — took a dramatic turn with a series of injuries to top players.

It started in September when defenceman Adam Pelech, who’s in his National Hockey League draft year, fractured his wrist. Left-winger Connor Crisp (shoulder surgery), top centre Mike Cazzola (fractured hand) and Thompson (flu, initially feared to be mononucleosis) also went down, followed by defencemen Brett Cook (bruised knee ligament) and Kris Grant (concussion).

“We’ve had 13 or 15 [injuries],” Bassin said, “but excuses only satisfy those who make them. When we got into that [losing] spiral that’s when I said, ‘Hey, let’s be realistic [about our prospects for this season].’

‘Good people’

“Now that we’ve chosen this route with these young people, how soon are they going to be ready to win? That’s what we have to evaluate. Who’s going to be part of it? We’ve got some good people in our system, so we really have to do some self-analysis here. … What am I doing to make this better? Is it enough?

It was enough in the late 1980s when Bassin ran the show in Oshawa, Ont., where he guided the Generals to first place in the Leyden Division with a 49-win, 101-point campaign in ’87. They fell to fifth the next season with 67 points, only to have Bassin build things back up.

“I said, “Boys, we’re gonna strip ’er down,’” Bassin said of the rebuilding process. “It’s never fun, but if you have the right vision and providing you do the right things, you get pretty good results, in time, but it doesn’t feel like that when you’re going through it.”

In each of the next three seasons, the Generals finished no worse than second in the division, highlighted by OHL and Memorial Cup championships in ’90 after Bassin left mid-season to save the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds program.

With the ‘Hounds in the midst of a second straight losing campaign and up for sale, Bassin was able to persuade his fellow OHL governors to change a rule that prohibited teams from trading their first-round selections.

He then used his connections in Oshawa, moving highly touted forward Eric Lindros to the Generals for right-wingers Mike DeCoff and Jason Denomme along with goalie Mike Lenarduzzi, two second-round picks in ’90 and ’91, and $80,000.

“He made the Lindros trade and built that [Greyhounds] team into three championship teams,” Brampton Battalion head coach and director of hockey operations Stan Butler said of Bassin, referring to the Soo’s OHL titles in 1991 and ’92 and Memorial Cup victory in ’93.

“He’s a guy that when he puts his mind to something, I think his peers around the league feel there’s a very good chance that he’s going to be able to pull it off.”

Good feedback

In Erie, Bassin said, feedback from the new players has been positive, noting centre Dane Fox and defenceman Troy Donnay — formerly of the London Knights — “couldn’t say enough” about Otters bench boss Robbie Ftorek, who has managed to outlast seven NHL head coaches this season.

Ftorek arrived during the 2007-08 season, replacing current assistant coach Peter Sidorkiewicz. Erie went 18-46-4 that season, but put together three consecutive winning records and playoff appearances prior to 2011-12.

“This isn’t finger-pointing time. You don’t become a bad coach all of a sudden,” Bassin said, adding “he has no reason to believe” Ftorek wouldn’t start next season behind the Otters bench. “He’s highly principled, a real good teacher and nobody outworks him. Let’s give him the tools to build a house here.”

'The kids we’re picking, we better know if the nurse dropped them when they were born because we pre-determined this is how we want to build it.'— Sherry Bassin on Erie's preparation for OHL draft

A key component of the rebuild is this spring’s OHL draft. Bassin will look to replenish the Otters’ system after dealing four of his past eight first-round picks early in their OHL careers and either trading or releasing five of his top seven selections from the 2009 draft.

Bassin said the Otters are in position to draft a franchise player, with many OHL observers believing Toronto Marlboros AAA minor midget centre Josh Ho-Sang could be calling Erie his new hockey home. The Hockey News described Ho-Sang, 15, as having “game-breaking speed and explosive puck skills.” In his first 30 games this season, he had 30 goals and 73 points.

“The kids we’re picking, we better know if the nurse dropped them when they were born,” Bassin said, “because we pre-determined this is how we want to build it.”

The father of three has told his scouting staff to prepare for a lot of pre-draft meetings and not bother with generalities when sharing information on prospects.

“They better know specifics … and I told them, ‘You better justify it, not just say a guy’s a real good player.’ You better justify why he should be ahead of somebody else [in the draft order] or why somebody else should be behind somebody else. You better be dissective.”

For now, Bassin will watch his young group gain a ton of experience — “we don’t need shaving cream when we go on the road” — and hope they hate every minute of the team’s rebuild.

“People are making fun of us,” he said. “They have our visit circled on the calendar and are looking forward to our bus coming to town. I tell my boys: ‘There’s going to come a time when they’re not going to like that bus comin’.’

“A lot of guys are happy because they make the playoffs. I want to make more than the playoffs here before I come and sit beside you with a season ticket. The object is to win the big one. I’ve been there a number of times and I want to go one more."

—–

Delegate wisely, expect a lot: Bassin

Sherry Bassin’s hard lesson learned nearly a decade ago now serves as good advice for fellow Ontario Hockey League general managers.

Nine years ago Bassin, who’s also majority owner of the Erie Otters, was pulled away from the team frequently by visits to his seriously ill daughter Zalena, who was fighting for her life in a Las Vegas hospital with bladder cancer and an aggressive case of Crohn’s disease.

At the time, Bassin, a tireless worker, didn’t give much thought to handing off some of his GM duties to someone else in management, so he often multi-tasked.

He now realizes how much of a mistake that was, considering the Otters endured six straight poor to middling seasons after capturing the OHL championship in 2002.

“I didn’t delegate properly,” Bassin told CBCSports.ca. “I didn’t give the team proper attention. We got ourselves into holes and with my experience I should have recognized it. I should have done something. The hockey team’s my family, too.

“Delegate wisely and expect a lot,” he said. “That’s the secret.”

The good news is Zalena is cancer-free.

“She has aggressive Crohn’s now but her problems are not life-threatening. It’s just not a good quality of life,” Bassin said.

Bassin, 72, expects a lot of himself and his staff after hearing whispers from critics that he’s old and the game has passed him by.

“The great mumblers of the world,” said Bassin, who grew up in Semans, Sask. “They’re entitled to their thoughts. It just makes me more determined.”

Bassin is so determined that Erie’s trying season has pushed him further away from retirement. The Otters are in full rebuild mode following a series of trades, with Bassin looking to one day add a third Memorial Cup championship to his name.

To help him achieve his goal in quick fashion and stay a step ahead of his competitors, Bassin is reading The Two-Second Advantage, which explains how companies, with the use of a new generation of predictive technology, will have the ability in the near future to anticipate customer needs before customers even know what they want.

“Geographically, we’re challenged when it comes to scouting Toronto kids [for the OHL draft],” Bassin said, “but let’s not make an excuse. Let’s find out how we’re going to get it done.”

Perhaps delegating is at the top of the list.

— Doug Harrison, CBC Sports

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

[hockeygod]

Cherry: Battle with Burke 'sad'

TIM BAINES, QMI Agency, Jan 30 2012

OTTAWA – Brian Burke is waging a war against Don Cherry.

But Cherry, the co-host of Hockey Night in Canada’s Coach’s Corner, doesn’t understand why the missiles are being launched from Leafland.

It’s a shame, really. Cherry loves the Maple Leafs. And he says he used to be good buddies with the GM.

Burke is steamed with Cherry for frequent criticism of Maple Leafs coach Ron Wilson … so ticked off that sources say he is considering airing his beefs with CBC.

“I like Brian Burke. I have nothing against Brian Burke,” said Cherry in an exclusive sit-down interview with the Ottawa Sun on Saturday. “But Brian Burke doesn’t like me. That’s the sad thing. We used to be the best of friends. I used to get St. Patrick’s Day cards from him … no more.

“Brian Burke does not like what I say about the Leafs. But what am I supposed to say about them? They haven’t made the playoffs in (seven) years. I say what I mean and I mean what I say. I guess he doesn’t like it. But I am what I am.”

The Burke rants are kind of puzzling for Cherry, never afraid to air out his beefs on-air.

“The Leafs are my favourite team outside of the Boston Bruins. I wear Leaf ties and I wear Leaf cufflinks. I get letters that I’m too pro-Leaf. Ask anybody in Ottawa if I’m anti-Leaf. They’ll say: ‘Are you nuts?’

“(Burke) doesn’t get criticized and I tell it like it is.”

Cherry has little respect for Wilson, a guy he has called Napoleon.

“I don’t like him. I don’t like the way he treats the players … like (Nazem) Kadri, he’s my favourite kid,” he said. “I don’t think (Wilson) respects them. When some reporter reads this, he’ll go to a player and ask: ‘What do you think of Ron Wilson?’ What do you think the kid is going to say? I don’t like the way he throws his players under the bus.”

Cherry says his opinions aren’t ill-informed.

“A lot of guys know more about hockey than me, but nobody knows hockey more than me,” he said. “I know what I’m talking about. I want (the Leafs) to get to the playoffs. And I say that as a season-ticket holder.”

And is he worried about Burke whispering in the CBC’s ear?

“I’ve been around a long time,” said Cherry, 77. “I’ve seen a lot of people come and go. And as I said to (former executive director of CBC Sports) Nancy Lee: ‘We’ll see.’ If they came to me and said: ‘Don, you’re fired,’ I told my wife to be prepared. Someday it’s going to be over.”

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

[hockeygod]

Agent doesn't deny Crosby's miffed

BRUCE GARRIOCH, QMI Agency, Jan 30 2012

OTTAWA – As the NHL all-stars went their separate ways after Sunday’s spectacle at Scotiabank Place, the hockey world’s focus will turn to Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby.

Will Sid the Kid play again this season?

After it was revealed late Saturday night that Crosby also had a broken bone in his neck, along with a concussion, the NHL will be waiting on pins and needles for the news coming out of Pittsburgh as teams return to practice Monday.

Penguins GM Ray Shero told reporters Saturday he’ll sit down with doctors, look at reports from a recent visit to a spinal specialist in Los Angeles, and then make a decision on what the best course of action will be.

It will be interesting to watch because a report on Rogers Sportsnet revealed Crosby isn’t happy with the Penguins doctors, and his agent, Pat Brisson, didn’t deny it during a discussion with reporters after the game.

“I’ve always been behind Sid,” said Pittsburgh D Kris Letang. “I’ve had the same kind of problem. The only thing I wish is that he’ll get better.”

The whole hockey world is waiting to see if that happens.

THIS’ N’ THAT

Senators owner Eugene Melnyk would like to see another team in Canada, but only if it makes economic sense. “Would I like to see more Canadian teams? Absolutely. What you don’t want to do is set up a Canadian team and set it up for failure,” said Melnyk. “That’s horrible for the fans in that city to go through those struggles. People know what happened here when there was a question whether the team would stay or not. It’s very painful for parents to see their children watch their superstars walk out the door.” … Don’t think Boston G Tim Thomas is going to get moved just because he didn’t go to the White House with his teammates last week. Yes, his no-movement clause expires July 1, but as long as he’s stopping the puck, he’s going to be with the Bruins.

OFF THE GLASS

Should the Canadiens go shopping at the deadline — and they haven’t decided whether they’re a buyer or seller — then GM Pierre Gauthier is going to be looking for a big centre. The issue: There aren’t many on the market. There was talk of the Habs having interest in Buffalo’s Derek Roy, but at 5-foot-8 and 190 pounds, he’s not an answer to the problems … Since it looks like Nashville Ds Ryan Suter and Shea Weber aren’t going to be moved at the deadline, the Flyers are going to have to turn their attention elsewhere to get a replacement for the injured Chris Pronger. GM Paul Holmgren will certainly take any one of the three Carolina D-men being shopped: Tim Gleason, Bryan Allen or Jaroslav Spacek.

AROUND THE BOARDS

Columbus GM Scott Howson has been strangely quiet. The Blue Jackets are expected to start tearing things down with the club hopelessly out of the playoff race. There will be interest in C Jeff Carter, but it’s going to be difficult to move his contract at the deadline. It makes more sense for a deal like that to happen in the summer … Leafs GM Brian Burke wants to add a centre and the talk Sunday was he’d like to get it done in the next 48 hours. Carolina’s Tuomo Ruutu is a possibility, but the asking price is still high.

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

[hockeygod]

Oilers: The Next Generation

TERRY JONES, QMI Agency, Jan 30 2012

Oklahoma City Barons head coach Todd Nelson has brought a winning attitude to the Edmonton Oilers AHL farm team.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Is the next Oilers head coach here?

Or the next Edmonton general manager, too?

Or both?

Steve Tambellini, as first reported in the Edmonton Sun, is expected to be extended for another year or two as general manager. And Tom Renney will likely get a similar extension as coach if the Oilers return and play the way the team did for him in the last two games after the players contemplated the concept of him coaching from the edge of a cliff for the rest of the season.

But the Oilers aren’t just growing their own future players on the farm.

“The Oilers are developing everybody here. Coaches. Trainers. Everybody,” said GM Bill Scott.

“I think it’s an exciting time for Oilers hockey. The talent for the future coming into the system is very strong. I’m very excited to be part of the rebuilding process,” said coach Todd Nelson of what he sees as an excellent situation to develop himself into a future NHL coach.

“I think it’s a fantastic situation to grow with a real opportunity to succeed here.

“The staff here is phenomenal. I have two assistant coaches and a GM who are up and comers.

“We’re no different than the players. We’re all young.”

Nelson is 42.

Assistant coaches Gerry Fleming and Rocky Thompson are 45 and 34 respectively.

And GM Scott is 31.

“Todd has been successful wherever he’s been,” said Scott. “He won two championships with Muskegon. He won another with John Anderson with the Chicago Wolves. He expects to win and does it. He has a lot of credibility in the room.”

Nelson coached the Barons to a 40-29-11 record last year and has his team first overall in the 30-team American Hockey League with a 39-11-5 record this year as he headed to coach the Western Conference team in the All-star Game in Atlantic City.

Nelson spent the previous two seasons with the Atlanta Thrashers as an assistant. Prior to that, he spent two seasons as an assistant coach for the Chicago Wolves where he won the 2008 Calder Cup.

A native of Prince Albert, Sask., who played five seasons for the Raiders in the WHL, Nelson made the transition to coaching as a player/assistant coach with the Muskegon Fury of the USHL.

He spent a season as an assistant with the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL before returning to Muskegon to make his head coaching debut in 2003-04, leading the team to back-to-back 50-win seasons and two Colonial Cup championships.

As a player, Nelson was a fourth-round pick of the Penguins, 79th overall. He played pro for 12 years, including cups of coffee with Pittsburgh and Washington in the NHL. He spent two years playing in Europe, one in Berlin and the other in Helsinki. But most of his time was spent in the AHL with the Portland Pirates, Hershey Bears, Rochester Americans and Grand Rapids.

Nelson won a Calder Cup in 1994 playing in Portland.

He has a big believer in Doug Sauter, the second winningest coach in hockey history to Scotty Bowman (but only a handful of wins ahead of Brian Kilrea).

“I really like the whole coaching staff. They’re great guys and very good coaches with three totally different personalities,” said Sauter, the old WHL coach with Medicine Hat, Regina and Brandon who had pro coaching stops in Wheeling, Springfield and Winston-Salem before spending 15-years here with the CHL Oklahoma City Blazers.

Assistant coach Gerry Fleming came here with Nelson last year after eight seasons as a head coach in the ECHL, seven with the Florida Everglades including back-to-back trips to the ECHL Kelly Cup finals in 2004 and 2005. He broke into coaching as an assistant with Montreal’s AHL Fredericton franchise after an entire playing career in the Canadiens system, making it up for 11 games with the NHL team.

Rocky Thompson is more than familiar to Edmonton fans, having played for the AHL Edmonton Roadrunners during the lockout year and spending the 2009-10 season as an assistant coach with the Edmonton Oil Kings. The former Golden Gloves champion boxer and former WHL player with Medicine Hat and Swift Current was an enforcer throughout his 10-year pro career including 591 games, 25 of which were in the NHL with Calgary (15) and Florida (10).

“I couldn’t be any happier with a staff than the one I have here. I think we have the best staff in the league with the assistant coaches, the week-long visits once a month by Billy Moores and Mike Sillinger overseeing player development,” said Nelson adding people like skills and skating coach Steve Serdachny, goalie coach Freddie Chabot, assistant GM and director of hockey operations Ricky Olczyk and pro scout Dave Semenko, all of whom were here this week.

“The Oilers are trying to run this like an NHL team. It has to be at the top of the league. I’ve been with two other AHL organizations and it wasn’t anything like this,” said Nelson.

The Barons also have their own hockey operations general manager in Scott, one of only five provided by the NHL teams of the 30 teams in the league.

Scott was hired by Tambellini as GM last season after serving the four previous years working as director of hockey operations for the AHL.

His duties included the creation of the league schedule, dishing out player fines and suspensions, supervising playoff games and interpreting bylaws and the collective bargaining agreement for the clubs.

Nelson, who hails from Unionville, Ont., worked as a student manager with the Michigan State Spartans the year they hosted the Cold War first outdoor game which inspired the NHL Heritage Classic in Edmonton and subsequent NHL Winter Classics.

Graduating in 2003 with a degree in business management, he got his start in pro hockey as an intern with the Nashville Predators before moving to the ECHL as manager of hockey operations for three seasons.

“I had a really enjoyable time in the league offices.

“As a player I didn’t play at the pro level but I really wanted to stay in hockey. In the league jobs, I was able to see how all 30 NHL teams worked, how each NHL team was run. My goal has always been to be an NHL general manager.

“When the Oilers were working on setting up this project, I reached out to Steve Tambellini. We share a lot of the same philosophies and I really believe in the rebuild.

“And it’s a really good fit in OKC. It’s a really fun situation to be in.”

The last word goes to 39-year-old captain Bryan Helmer.

“I tell the young guys ‘Appreciate Todd, Gerry and Rocky. They are three of the better coaches I’ve had in this league.’ ”

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

[hockeygod]

Lupul's road to stardom: 'I didn't know what the future held'

CHRIS STEVENSON, QMI Agency, Jan 30 2012

OTTAWA – There might not have been a guy on the ice at Scotiabank Place who better appreciated a 12-9 pond hockey game and getting booed lustily in the process.

Toronto Maple Leafs winger Joffrey Lupul missed almost a full year of hockey after back troubles and a post-surgery infection.

He always figured he would be able to overcome it all and resume his career, but to be on the ice Sunday — and potting two goals in Team Chara’s win over Team Alfredsson — was beyond even his most lofty expectation.

“I didn’t know what the future held for me as far as hockey went. To be here, somewhere where I’ve never been before, post-injury, is almost surreal,” he said in the jammed Team Chara dressing room.

“I never would have guessed it. I knew I could come back and play, but to play at a higher level than ever before, it feels pretty good. The season is not over and there’s a lot of hockey to be played, but this is definitely a good accomplishment.”

Lupul, who is tied for fifth in NHL scoring with 52 points, embraced the spirit of the weekend. He was booed as Chara’s assistant captain when he made selections at the Fantasy Draft Thursday night and again, along with Leafs teammates Phil Kessel and Dion Phaneuf, during the game as Senators fans embraced the spirit of the Battle of Ontario.

“The weekend is, first of all, it’s for the fans. Everything we do is for the fans, the behind the scenes, the interviews, wearing a microphone during the game, if you’re going to do all that stuff, you’re not really going to expect a competitive 3-2 game,” said Lupul. “This event is about more than just the game. It’s to show the fans another side of the guys and have fun. I think everyone in the crowd today had fun. I know I had fun today wearing the microphone.”

The Leafs will resume play after the all-star break in ninth place in the Eastern Conference, though they have the same number of points (55) as the seventh-place Florida Panthers and the New Jersey Devils in eighth. The Leafs have played one more game than either team.

Lupul and Kessel, who scored his first all-star goal and added assists on both of Lupul’s goals, had plenty of room Sunday, a luxury that will be diminishing by greater amounts with each game as the NHL enters its stretch run.

“We had a lot of fun and we did all right,” said Kessel. “It was a good time out there.”

Lupul was quick to put his game face on after frivolity of the all-star game had begun to quickly evaporate and he looked at the road ahead for the Leafs.

“We have to do what it takes to get our team into the playoffs. That’s kind of the bottom line there. What we’ve accomplished in the first half is good and to have the amount of points we have and play in the all-star game is great, but at the end of the season if our team doesn’t make it into the playoffs, it’s tough to be proud of personal accomplishments. This is where the intensity has to pick up and maybe we’re not going to score at the same rate as we did in the first half, but we can still help our team win games.”

With the success Lupul and Kessel have enjoyed so far this season — Kessel is just a point behind Lupul in the scoring race — they have begun attracting more attention from the opposition.

“They’re just paying a little more attention, trying to get out different defencemen. We’ve noticed guys, especially with Phil, playing more physical. That’s just going to continue and in the playoffs, that will just pick up again. We both know it’s coming and we have to be up for the challenge,” said Lupul.

“It’s our job (to score) regardless of who we’re playing against. If you’re going to play against a guy like Chara all night, you’ve got to know that right when you get to the rink and be up for the challenge. It’s not going to be easy. It’s never going to be easy. But we know it’s coming and have to prepared and we have to produce.”

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

[hockeygod]

McCown stands by Crosby story

BRUCE DOWBIGGIN, Globe and Mail, Feb. 01, 2012

Bob McCown, the host of Prime Time Sports, laid a broadside on the NHL BlackBerry brigade last weekend with his tweet about Sidney Crosby’s injury: “Sydney [sic] Crosby has injury to C1 and C2 vertebrae”.

As the hockey media swirled around Ottawa looking for the scoop on Crosby, McCown revealed on television that MRIs showed Crosby had a problem with neck vertebrae. After digesting that for a couple days, the Penguins and Crosby updated Tuesday, saying that a soft tissue neck problem rather than a vertebrae injury is responsible for Crosby's continued absence.

Reached Wednesday, McCown stood by his story.

“I never reported it as a fracture to the C1 and C2,” McCown explained Wednesday. “I deliberately said it was an injury to the C1 and C2. But [Crosby's agent] Pat Brisson confirmed it as a fracture. So did Alex Guerrero and Dr. [Robert] Bray who both saw the fractures in the MRIs.

“Just because the Penguins now say there was no fracture, why should we believe them? Why are they the most credible source? They've had this file in front of them for months, and the story keeps changing. Are they saying Guerrero and Dr. Bray, who've worked with many top athletes and teams in the past, aren't accurate?

“Look, I'd be okay if someone could prove it one way or the other. But this idea that the Penguins and their doctors are the final word on this doesn't stand up after all that's happened in the past on this file.”

McCown [and New England quarterback Tom Brady] confirmed that Crosby was put in touch with Guerrero and Bray by Brady and his wife Giselle who've used them in the past. McCown also revealed that after he'd agreed to protect Brisson by not naming him in the tweet, but “next thing I know he's confirming the story on the record to CBC's Elliotte Friedman. I'm not happy.”

Whatever the accurate diagnosis, there's no doubt that McCown's story smoked out the Penguins and Crosby's representation from previous narratives about what was ailing the Pittsburgh star. This from a guy who never goes to the rink, rarely talks to players and watches hockey reluctantly unless it’s televised. Funny old world.

Gazette Withdraws Todd’s Accusation: Perhaps it’s because politics are so foreign to hockey folk. But Tim Thomas’s decision to take a pass on visiting the White House last week with his teammates has unhinged some of our domestic media. Suddenly, our typical civil discourse has become rather uncivil.

Columnist Jack Todd of The Gazette in Montreal belatedly weighed in late Sunday with his own screed against Glenn Beck’s biggest fan on the Bruins. Todd, an expatriate American whose autobiography was titled, The Taste of America: A Deserter's Story, posted this on The Gazette’s website:

“Look, if this cretin wants to stand outside the White House and spew his drivel, that’s free speech. But standing up the president? All that does is show that Thomas has the class of a swamp-rat. What’s worse, you know Thomas would not have done this with the liberal Democrat Bill Clinton in the White House. Truth is, he felt free to dis Barack Obama, because Obama is black.”

A-hem. It wasn’t long before Todd’s allegation of racism was making the rounds of social media. @nanceyboy “I don't agree w/ what Thomas did but saying it was racially motivated is ignorant. Thx for embarrassing Mtl, Jack Todd. #timthomas #jacktodd” Then this: Jaret Dicks @SoPoHab “For #JackTodd or anyone to suggest #TimThomas is a racist, I think they are just plain ignorant! #WillieORee means a lot to #Bruins and #NHL”.

Shortly after The Gazette realized it had a problem and deleted Todd’s allegation, Sports editor Stu Cowan emailed us this comment on Tuesday: “The Gazette's policy is not to post columns online until an editor has been through them. An error was made on that front on the weekend desk Sunday night. I only saw Jack's column after it had already been posted online and edited it myself, with the changes made in time for the first edition of print. We also ran a note online informing readers: “Note: The Gazette apologizes for previously posting an unedited version of this column.”

He added: “Anything concerning any discipline would be an internal matter for The Gazette,” he responded.

Previously, TSN’s Dave Hodge used the names of Thomas’s kids to imply that the Boston goalie was a member of the Ku Klux Klan. Hodge later apologized for his tweet and TSN declared his attempt at political humour “in bad taste”.

He Protests Too Much: A CBC spokesman tells Usual Suspects that, contrary to reports elsewhere, no protest has been received from Toronto GM Brian Burke over criticism from Don Cherry of Hockey Night In Canada. “I'm not aware of any protest from Brian regarding comments made by Don,” Chuck Thompson told us in an e-mail.

But don’t let that get in the way of a good story. Speaking of good stories, why is everyone in hockey so knocked out about Patrick Kane ripping off Dwight Howard's superman act? Right, they're hockey people… basketball doesn’t exist.

End of An Era: Former program director at The Fan 590, Nelson Millman, is leaving Rogers. Millman was in charge as the station (then owned by Telemedia) went to the all-sports format and then switched from the 1430 to the 590 frequency. He rode Bob McCown’s popularity to establish all-sports as a viable format in southern Ontario.

As an alumnus of the FAN stable, we can say Millman was loyal to his people. So much so that when new owners Rogers wanted change at the station, Millman was a reluctant camper. He moved onto the TV side allowing changes to the morning show and other features. This week, he left the company.

“It was a good run,” Millman told Usual Suspects in an e-mail, “and I was lucky enough to work with a lot of incredibly talented, passionate and dedicated people. We had a lot of fun, we did a lot of great radio and we built a brand and a business.”

Ratings Game: The NHL all-star contest was a pretty pallid affair, but it looked like Run Lola Run next to the NFL Pro Bowl later on Sunday. There have been pillow fights with more solid contact than the best NFL players exhibited in Hawaii. On one play Usual Suspects was sure we saw the AFC’s offensive line spread a blanket and break out a picnic basket. Then again, who can blame the NFL stars for not tearing up a knee or shoulder as they head into the offseason?

Oh, just the people in Honolulu who paid good money for the lei-strewn letdown and the TV audience expecting something more than patty-cake. And NFC QB Aaron Rodgers. “I was just surprised that some of the guys either didn't want to play or when they were in there didn't put any effort into it,” Rodgers said afterward.

Despite the non-aggression pact between the teams, the Pro Bowl still drew a 7.9 rating on NBC, down 8 per cent from last year. Nielsen says 12.5 million people watched Sunday’s Pro Bowl compared with 11 million for last year's MLB all-star game, 8.1 million for the NBA all-star game last year and 2.4 million for Sunday’s NHL All-Star Game.

More ratings News: The UFC's first full-length show on FOX was down from the debut last November, the numbers are still not tapped out. The show drew 4.37 million viewers, down 27 per cent from the 5.7 million viewers drawn in November for the Cain Velasquez/Junior dos Santos heavyweight fight. Still, the numbers will keep FOX happy as it won the night’s ratings in the U.S.

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

[hockeygod]

Is it time for Sidney Crosby to retire?

Robert MacLeod, Globe and Mail, Jan. 31, 2012

Sid the Kid, meet Sid the Ambassador.

Hockey Ambassador. Concussion ambassador.

No skating involved.

Nobody trying to leave an imprint of your body in the boards.

Just one very influential hockey superstar deciding enough is enough, step away from it all with his faculties still in place.

And instead of risking life and limb to continue to try and play a sport that has already extracted an immeasurable toll, become the chief spokesperson and poster boy for the one issue that is threatening to lay to waste Canada’s national obsession.

Concussions.

Sidney Crosby, the National Hockey League’s most recognizable star, has suffered one – probably more than one – and it may be time for him to retire. At age 24.

Retirement, no matter how distasteful it may seem to the NHL and to hockey fans in general, is an option that must be seriously considered, according to some in the medical community.

Over lunch recently with a respected Toronto sports orthopedic surgeon that point was driven home repeatedly – that Crosby has no choice but to retire, that his efforts to resume his spectacular playing career after suffering a concussion early in the NHL season in 2011, aren’t worth the risk.

“Crosby would be far better off quitting the game and becoming the chief spokesperson for concussions and speaking out against head shots in the game,” said the doctor. “He is taking a huge gamble with his health by trying to come back.

“He has nothing left to prove in the game. And imagine the impact he would have, especially to younger kids, by getting out now. That alone would force the NHL to take serious steps to clean up its act.”

When it comes to his playing career, Crosby has done it all.

The first overall pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2005, the Halifax native became the only teenager to win a scoring title in any major North American sports league in his second season at age 19.

He has scored 50 goals in a season, won a Stanley Cup with the Penguins, and tallied the gold medal overtime winner for Canada at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

But his career has been in a tailspin ever since he was clocked by David Steckel during the 2011 Winter Classic game.

Crosby has played in just eight games since and over the weekend his situation got even murkier when it was revealed that at some point Crosby had also suffered a previously undiagnosed neck injury in addition to the concussion, a crack in the C1-C2 vertebrae.

That’s the same bone that breaks when a person is hanged.

The doctor said, depending on when that injury happened, Crosby was perhaps fortunate that his concussion symptoms continued and kept him off the ice where another body check might have led to paralysis or perhaps even death.

Those of a certain age will remember Bobby Orr’s valiant attempt to postpone the inevitable, signing with the Chicago Black Hawks in 1976 for one last comeback attempt after his aching knees derailed his fabulous career in Boston with the Bruins.

Over the next three years, Orr only managed to play 26 games before calling it quits and to many it never seemed quite right how his career came to an end.

Here’s hoping that Crosby can at least leave on his own terms, with his head on straight.

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

[hockeygod]

Burke can't win this fight: GM won't get a free pass this time

STEVE BUFFERY, QMI Agency, Feb 1 2012

TORONTO – Is there anything more hilarious than two old rich guys feuding over sports? It’s fascinating and fun.

And while I loathe to sit on the fence, I can see all sides to this crazy Brian Burke-Don Cherry feud.

Starting with … Burke is right to be pissed at Cherry for suggesting that Leafs coach Ron Wilson “couldn’t care less” about the Canadian Armed Forces — a comment Cherry made when he noticed that Wilson didn’t join in the mass applause for the troops during the Canadian Forces Appreciation Night festivities last month. Wilson may be a lot of things, but he is respectful when it comes to the military. It seems to me he always claps during those Luke’s Troops introductions.

However, that Burke accuses Cherry of being overly critical of his Leafs is laughable. Yeah, Cherry is hard on Wilson. Clearly he doesn’t like or appreciate the man. Many Leafs fans don’t. But to suggest that Cherry viciously attacks the Leafs is a knee slapper. Cherry’s a homer when it comes to the Leafs. He’s been known to wear Leafs paraphernalia for Pete’s sake. Ask an Oilers fan, or a Flames fan or, especially, a Senators fan, if they think Cherry is hard on the Leafs.

As for the issue of Burke going to the CBC with his complaints about Cherry … well, if it’s true, nobody likes a tattler.

Personally, I believe Big Burkie’s motivation in lashing out at Cherry for Grapes’ supposed “vicious” attacks on the Leafs is … well, he’s trying to create a bunker mentality on his team — the old ‘Us against the world’ deal. His Leafs are fighting for a playoff spot, and what better way to take some pressure off the players?

It’s a funny thing. When the Leafs lose, the majority of fans blame Wilson. Burke seems to get the benefit of the doubt in Leafs Nation, for whatever reason. But in this feud, more people seem to be siding with Cherry. For once, Burke isn’t being given the benefit of the doubt. He’s learning that, in this country, you’re not going to win a pissing match against Cherry.

WOMEN VS MEN COMPARISONS HARDLY FAIR

That women’s Olympic soccer qualifier in Vancouver last week reminds me of the women’s hockey world championship — two decent teams, the rest not very good. But that’s the nature of women’s international sports. In many, perhaps most, countries, girls are not encouraged to play sports. Or they’re discouraged.

Because of that, the few nations that do encourage female sport participation, like Canada, tend to do well in international competition. And that’s why you’re going to see more Canadian women’s teams at the 2012 London Olympics than men’s.

The depth of field is much shallower in women’s sports. It’s not that Canadian men aren’t as tough or talented as the women. It’s just that they have a much tougher road to travel to qualify for the Olympics. And I say this because following Canada’s win over Mexico at the Olympic soccer qualifier, a number of people tweeted about how great the Canadian women are compared to the men. One tweeting twit suggested Canadian sportsmen were pathetic in comparison. Not fair.

THROW THE FANS A BONE

Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos emphasized the point during the State of the Franchise gathering on Monday that he has lost out on free agents because some players simply don’t want to play on the lousy Rogers Centre turf. Team president Paul Beeston, meanwhile, said bringing grass into the RC is feasible. So, if Rogers won’t spend money on a big time free agent to compliment the talent the Jays already possess, shouldn’t bringing grass to the dome become a priority? Throw the fans a friggin bone.

WHILE I’M AT IT

From now on, when a hockey superstar like Sidney Crosby suffers an injury, I’m going to ignore every media update, particularly anything on Twitter, and wait for the official word AFTER the player returns.

WEENIE OF THE WEEK

Who else but Tracy McGrady for the clown act he pulled during the playing of O Canada on Tuesday night at the ACC. At the very least, it was unprofessional.

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

[hockeygod]

THN.com Top 10: Most bizarre owners

The Hockey News, 2012-02-01

Winning any kind of popularity contest is a gigantic long shot for the grand majority of those fortunate (and fortuned) folks who have owned an NHL team.

Unless you’re someone like Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch, who delivers a Stanley Cup championship, or late Blue Jackets owner John H. McConnell, to whom local fans gave a standing ovation on a number of occasions for bringing the pro game to Columbus, odds are you’ll be painted as a money-hungry businessman first and a hockey fan a distant second.

In some cases, that type of portrayal is unfair. But in other cases, it is well-deserved. And in a few select cases, the bizarre behavior of owners puts them in a league of their own. Like the 10 men listed here.

10. Barry Shenkarow

The former owner of the Winnipeg Jets, Shenkarow maintained he did everything within his power to keep the franchise in town, but turned a tidy profit when the team was sold and moved to Phoenix.

9. Bruce McNall

One in a long line of former NHL owners convicted of fraud, McNall was a coin collector and Hollywood movie producer who assumed majority control of the LA Kings in 1987 and shocked the hockey world by acquiring Wayne Gretzky from the Oilers on Aug. 9, 1988. Less than six years later, he’d defaulted on loans, was forced to sell the team and was sentenced to 70 months in prison.

8. Jeremy Jacobs

He may not be as outlandish as Harold Ballard was, nor as creative as Islanders owner Charles Wang, but just ask Boston residents what they think of the longtime Bruins owner and then cover your ears if you don’t care to hear expletives. Jacobs has penny-pinched many a Bruins legend out of a black-and-gold uniform, and as a result, went through a 39-year Cup drought.

7. The Rigas Family

Former cable TV magnate John Rigas and his sons owned the Buffalo Sabres from 1996-2005, but wound up being stripped by the league of their ownership after they were arrested for bank, wire and securities fraud in relation to the embezzlement of more than $2 billion from their Adelphia Communications company. It seems the John Spano-inspired crackdown on NHL owners wasn’t working as well as the league had hoped.

6. Norm Green

Considered the savior of hockey in Minnesota when he bought the North Stars franchise in 1990, Green eventually came to be known as ‘Norm Greed’ when, after pressuring the city and state to build a new arena, he packed up the franchise and moved it to Dallas. The mention of his name still draws howls of hatred in Minnesota to this day.

5. Charlie O. Finley

The late owner of the Oakland/California Seals franchise, Finley owned many sports teams and always left his individual imprint on them. One of his most infamous marketing decisions came when he made the team’s players wear white skates, to match the appearance of major league baseball’s Oakland A’s, which he also owned. Finley lasted only three seasons as Seals owner before relinquishing control of the franchise to the league when he could find nobody to buy it from him.

4. Charles Wang

The first team owner who handed out a decade-long contract in the post-lockout NHL? Check. A man who seriously entertained the notion of putting a sumo wrestler in his team’s net? Check. The person who hired a GM (Neil Smith), only to fire him mere weeks later and replace him with the team’s then-backup goalie (Garth Snow)? Check. That’s business as usual for the Islanders owner.

3. John Spano

At the young age of 32, Spano convinced NHL brass in 1997 he was worth nearly one-quarter of a billion dollars and that he wanted to buy the New York Islanders. The league believed him at first and allowed him to run the franchise for half-a-year before the ugly truth was revealed: the man was a fraud artist who didn’t have anywhere close to the amount of capital required to assume ownership. Rarely has the league been so embarrassed, which is why Gary Bettman subsequently insisted on much more stringent checking of potential owners’ background.

2. Bill Wirtz

He always claimed to be a devout supporter of the game, but Wirtz really was always more interested in arcane business principles that handicapped his Chicago Blackhawks for decades. The liquor magnate stubbornly refused to televise Hawks home games right up until he passed away in 2007, and alienated the team’s alumni and fans alike with his insistence in putting profitability before Stanley Cup championships.

1. Harold Ballard

When he owned the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1972 to his death in 1990, Ballard ran the organization more like a circus than a hockey team with a constant barrage of sideshows that always seemed to take precedence over the on-ice product. Whether it was firing his coaches and GMs, ostracizing and trading away the team’s best players, or refusing to draft players from the former Soviet Union, no NHL owner wound up in the headlines more often than ‘Pal Hal.’

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

[hockeygod]

U of Calgary Dinos' Hayley Wickenheiser plays in front of small Regina crowd

ROB VANSTONE, Regina Leader-Post, January 30, 2012

REGINA — The score was two-nothing. The crowd was next to nothing.

Saturday’s attendance at Co-operators Arena — 243 — was but a blip compared to the largest gatherings Hayley Wickenheiser has seen and experienced.

While donning a national-team jersey, Wickenheiser has performed before sellout crowds at some of Canada’s premier hockey venues. In 2010, for example, Wickenheiser captained Canada to a 2-0 victory over the United States in the Olympic women’s hockey gold-medal game at a jam-packed GM Place in Vancouver.

Wickenheiser played an integral role in another 2-0 victory on Saturday, when she powered the University of Calgary Dinos past the host University of Regina Cougars in Canada West action. Watching her play in person for the first time, I marvelled at the incongruity of seeing a Canadian sporting legend — someone who has been labelled the Wayne Gretzky of women’s hockey — play in front of a small audience.

“It is a very extreme type of existence that you live as a female hockey player,’’ the Shaunavon-born Wickenheiser said after the game. “You’re playing in front of 20,000 people at the Air Canada Centre and then you’ve got 200 in Regina.

“Whether it’s 20,000 or one, you try and play the same way. You always think that there are people there who have never seen women play hockey before and you want to showcase the game and try and be the best you can be. That’s kind of how I look at it. You don’t really notice the crowd all that much, except that 20,000 people can give you a lift every once in a while.’’

Wickenheiser provided the necessary lift on Saturday, snapping a scoreless tie with 5:28 left in the third period. She also set up Tanya Morgan’s empty-net goal with 27 seconds remaining.

Off the ice, there was also evidence of Wickenheiser’s fame — such as fans wearing Canadian hockey jerseys that included her good name. But, overall, it was a low-key appearance by a three-time Olympic gold medallist, who in November was invested in the Order of Canada.

“I think with the CIS in general, it’s disappointing with the crowds that teams get,’’ Wickenheiser said. “Even on the men’s hockey side, people don’t realize that it’s better hockey than Western Hockey League hockey. People should come out and appreciate it, I think. From that standpoint, I think it’s undermarketed, so women’s hockey gets a piece of that, too.’’

Canadian university sport has never had a marquee player quite like Wickenheiser. At 33, she is more than 10 years older than most of the other players. Her resume of sporting achievements is a scroll.

Yet, she does meet the criteria for admission into the CIS ranks. A second-year member of the Dinos, she is working toward a degree in kinesiology. She expects to complete that degree next year, meaning that another full season of Canada West hockey is likely in her future.

The 2013-14 season will be spent concentrating on the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. After that, Wickenheiser will assess her situation. Post-hockey, she plans to study medicine.

Although Wickenheiser is just what the doctor ordered when it comes to enhancing the visibility of university sport, there are inherent challenges. The myriad demands upon her time make it impractical for her to play in every game.

While appearing in 15 of the Dinos’ 20 games this season, Wickenheiser has amassed 14 goals and 15 assists. Last season, she had 17 goals and 23 assists in 15 games en route to earning player-of-the-year honours in Canada West and the CIS.

“It’s not the highest level I’ve played at, for sure, but in a tight game like this — with six minutes left and nobody had scored — there’s the pressure,’’ Wickenheiser said.

“You get in tight situations. Every game’s kind of a dogfight, whether you’re last or first in this league, so I like that challenge every night. I have to try and bring it, and my team’s relying on me, so it works out well. I also like the fact that we skate every day and train like you would be if you were a pro player.’’

Ideally, there would be a professional women’s league in which Wickenheiser and her peers could compete. However, reality dictates that the CIS ranks are the best option. As a result, the Dinos/Cougars game was the best option for a Regina sports fan on Saturday night.

It was certainly an evening well-spent — even if there was a little too much elbow room.

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

[hockeygod]

NHL, Olympic legend Scott Niedermayer highlights new B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame inductees

Elliott Pap, Vancouver Sun January 31, 2012

VANCOUVER — As one of hockey's most decorated players, retired defenceman Scott Niedermayer is almost certainly going to be honoured and feted and named to every hall that is seeking a valued member.

Niedermayer's latest accolade arrived Tuesday when he was announced as one of five inductees into the B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame, class of 2012. The 38-year-old grew up in Cranbrook and played junior in Kamloops before graduating to the NHL and a wonderful career with the New Jersey Devils and Anaheim Ducks.

Along the way, Niedermayer won everything there is to win in hockey from the Memorial Cup to four Stanley Cups, two Olympic gold medals, world junior and world senior championships and a World Cup. Individually, he also captured a Norris Trophy and a Conn Smythe. He was captain of the 2007 Stanley Cup champion Ducks and the 2010 Olympic team.

“You receive an honour like this, it means a lot,” Niedermayer told a news conference at Rogers Arena via telephone hook-up. “Having been out of the NHL for a year and a half now, I've had a chance to kind of sit back and appreciate how lucky I was through my career and moments like this help with that. So it's nice to get recognized for what I did on the ice.”

Niedermayer is joined in the class of 2012 by Campbell River's Rod Brind’Amour, play-by-play announcer Jim Hughson, long-time executive coach Bob Hindmarch and hockey scout and B.C. Hockey Hall founder Scott Carter. The induction ceremony will be held July 27 in Penticton.

“B.C. is home,” Niedermayer continued. ”I have a lot of great memories playing hockey all over the province, obviously a lot in the Kootenays growing up and then junior in Kamloops and winning a Memorial Cup there. I played with so many great players, right from the time I was a mite. That's probably why, at the end of the day, I'm getting these honours.”

Brind'Amour, 41, played 20 NHL seasons with the St. Louis Blues, Philadelphia Flyers and, finally, the Carolina Hurricanes, winning a Stanley Cup as 'Canes captain in 2006. He was a two-time Selke Trophy winner as the NHL's premier defensive forward.

“I never would have expected anything like this, it's a wonderful achievement,” Brind'Amour said. “It's been a while since I played hockey in British Columbia but it was obviously where I got my start. There were some great memories, so it's just a real honour to be inducted.”

Brind'Amour agreed that his greatest moment in hockey was capturing the Cup in 2006.

“The reason you play hockey as a kid is to have the opportunity to win that,” he said. “Not many kids get an opportunity to live their dream and I can honestly say I was one of them. So I'm very fortunate.”

Hughson, 55 and from Fort St. John, broke into play-by-play announcing as an 18-year-old, doing a South Peace Hockey League game between his hometown Flyers and the Dawson Creek Canucks. His first NHL game was in 1980, a 4-1 Vancouver Canucks loss at the Montreal Forum. He's done countless games since then but has never kept track.

He admitted Tuesday he had always hoped to make someone's hall of fame but as a player.

“Those hopes were dashed early,” Hughson quipped. “I think halls of fame are largely built by the players but I'm glad that they keep a nice little tiny spot in the wing of most of them for people who make a difference — and add something to the game in a different way.

“I'm very proud to bring my passion to every game I get a chance to watch and broadcast.”

Hindmarch, a native of Nanaimo, has had an impact on many aspects of the game of hockey. He coached the UBC Thunderbirds from 1965 to 1972 (210 wins). He authored numerous publications, articles and studies on hockey development. He established, along with Father David Bauer, the Canadian national men’s team at UBC. Manager and assistant coach of the Canadian Olympic Team in 1964. Director of the CAHA, chairman of several hockey committees and recipient of the Gordon Juckes Award. He was inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame, B.C. Sports Hall of Fame and received the Order of BC in 2010.

Carter was a founding member of the B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991. He was a key figure in establishing a venue and providing a significant hockey historic attraction, honouring B.C.’s teams, players, media and builders of the sport. Carter has had a lifelong association with hockey at all levels of the game, including the Penticton franchise of the BCHL. He has scouted for the Vancouver Canucks, Anaheim Ducks and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Carter is an executive with Vaughn Custom Sports.

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

[hockeygod]

The man behind the Lightning bolt

Paul Waldie, Globe and Mail, Feb. 01, 2012

Jeffrey Vinik has already revitalized the Tampa Bay Lightning and many people in this city are hoping he’ll do the same thing for the Rays.

Vinik has become something of a hero in Tampa since he bought the Lightning for about $110-million (all currency U.S.) in 2010. He spent $40-million revamping the county-owned Tampa Bay Times Forum, he hired hockey great Steve Yzerman to run the team, and started donating $50,000 at each home game to various local charities.

Now Vinik, who runs a hedge fund, has been approached about an even bigger challenge – turning around a downtown shopping and restaurant complex called Channelside Bay Plaza. The 230,000-square-foot mall has been in receivership for nearly a year and up for sale since last summer. It’s located just down the road from the Tampa Bay Times Forum and it was supposed to be the key part of a new entertainment district in the area when it opened in 2001. But the mall fell victim to the recession, squabbling owners and angry lenders. Today the mall has several empty storefronts and a visit on Wednesday afternoon found only a handful of vaguely interested shoppers.

Vinik has been asked to help breathe new life into Channelside. There have been reports that he is interested in building a baseball stadium on a nearby piece of empty land and suggestions he’d either buy or lure the Rays to the site. A spokesman for Vinik denied the Lightning owner is making any attempt to buy the Rays. “Absolutely no truth to the Rays rumour,” the spokesman said. “We were approached about Channelside, but to say it has gone farther than that is inaccurate.”

What’s keeping the rumour afloat is the sad state of the Rays and their current venue – Tropicana Field in nearby St. Petersburg. The Rays had the second-worst attendance in baseball last season, averaging barely 19,000 a game, and attendance has been dropping steadily. Rays owner Stuart Sternberg is eager to find a new location for the team and he has been pushing city officials to get out of the club’s lease at Tropicana Field. The lease runs until 2027.

The Lightning have been held up as an example for how to reinvigorate a sports franchise. One of Vinik’s key hires after buying the team was Tod Leiweke as chief executive. Leiweke, who is also a co-owner of the Lightning, arrived from Seattle, where he ran the company that owned the Seattle Seahawks, Portland Trail Blazers and Seattle Sounders. His brother, Tim, runs Anschutz Entertainment Group in Los Angeles, which owns the Kings, L.A. Galaxy, part of the Lakers and the Staples Center. Anschutz also helped develop an entertainment district around the Staples Center called LA Live, which includes music venues, restaurants and nightclubs. Some in Tampa hope his brother can do the same thing here.

For now, though, the Lightning still have plenty of work to do. While season ticket sales doubled this year to 10,000, there are signs the team continues to struggle attracting fans. The team offers plenty of promotions, including a $35 package that includes one ticket to a game on a Tuesday and free food. There is also a $99 “four pack” that includes four tickets, four hot dogs, four drinks and a free movie rental.

But Vinik has brought recognition to the team and some badly needed publicity, as well as real lightning bolts during games and a statue of Phil Esposito, the hockey legend and Lightning co-founder.

“He’s really, really involved,” Lightning captain Vincent Lecavalier said of Vinik. “He’s really working hard.

“I think people are really excited about the Lightning and everything because of Mr. Vinik,” added Lecavalier, who has become the face of the franchise, so much so that his voice greets air travellers riding the tram at the Tampa Bay airport.

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

[hockeygod]

Kennedy: Expect CHL-NCAA rivalry to heat up
Will the Air Canada Centre play host to the NCAA's Frozen Four in 2015?

Ryan Kennedy, The Hockey News, 2012-02-01

It’s no secret tension between the NCAA and the Canadian League has been high in the past couple years, but just wait until the next few seasons. That’s when the two venerable agencies have designs on literally invading each other’s turf – and fortunately, fans will be the winners.

Though nothing is written in stone, two high-profile events will be the accelerators. For major junior and, specifically, the Ontario League, the Winter Classic planned for Detroit and Ann Arbor, Mich., will be the point of entry. Obviously the OHL already has a few teams in the state, but with the NHL’s Red Wings and Maple Leafs playing at the University of Michigan’s Big House, an opportunity for undercard games sent pundits buzzing with possibilities. No way would one of college hockey’s biggest programs allow major junior kids to play on their outdoor ice, but since Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch also lays claim to the deed at Comerica Park in Detroit, a second venue has been tabbed for open-air goodness.

Teams rumored for a double-header at the home of baseball’s Tigers include Michigan squads Plymouth and Saginaw, with nearby Canadian teams Windsor and London as potential opponents.

The idea of Windsor – whose Spitfires have enticed American talent such as Cam Fowler, Jack Campbell and Kenny Ryan away from the NCAA in recent years – playing a showcase for major junior on such a big American stage can’t be a nice one for the college game, but the NCAA is not without its own bullets.

The Frozen Four, college hockey’s championship tournament, may be coming to Toronto as soon as 2015. Tampa hosts this year, with Pittsburgh and Philadelphia following (Penn State will be a full-fledged Division I school by the time the tourney hits Philly and though it’s a lot to expect the Nittany Lions to qualify right away, it will add to the overall buzz of the new Big 10 conference they helped form).

Bidding is still open after that and the idea of Toronto playing host is appetizing for all involved. Though the Air Canada Centre has proven less than ideal for tenants not wearing blue and white – the CHL’s Prospects Game last year was not well attended – the Frozen Four has an ace up its sleeve. Because the event is a destination for hardcore college fans, a majority of tickets to the showdown are generally sold well in advance, even before the combatants are established. So the onus on the locals to turn out is lessened greatly.

Toronto is always painted as a Leafs-or-nothing town when it comes to hockey, but I wonder what the Frozen Four dynamic would mean if some future Buds were involved. Tyler Biggs, a 2011 first-rounder currently with the Miami RedHawks, would be a senior in 2015, while fellow draftees Tony Cameranesi (committed to Minnesota-Duluth for next season) and Max Everson (a freshman at Harvard) would also likely still be in school. There’s no rush on any of those prospects and with Miami and UMD both evolving powerhouses, the chances of at least one of those teams making it are pretty decent. The Leafs also have three more drafts to bring in other NCAA prospects and it goes without saying there will be some of those in the future.

There’s a war going on for the hearts and minds of the best teen hockey players in North America and with the stakes so high, it is no surprise marquee events may become the latest weapon. At least it’ll be fun for fans to watch.

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

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