Articles

[hockeygod]

Red Wings GM to make pitch for 3-on-3 extra OT

ERIC DUHATSCHEK, Globe and Mail, Mar. 08, 2012

Mr. (Ken) Holland’s latest opus will be brought to the attention of his fellow NHL general managers at their semi-annual meetings, which begin in hockey country – sunny Boca Raton, Fla. – on Monday.

Holland, the architect behind the most successful NHL team of the past two decades, the Detroit Red Wings, will pitch a new/old concept that would see overtime periods extended to 10 minutes from five.

The twist? The second five-minute period would be played 3-on-3, in the hope games would be decided in a more conventional hockey environment, rather than in a shootout.

Holland’s thinking is that playing 3-on-3 would open up the ice so much that a goal would almost certainly be scored. On the rare occasions it didn’t happen, the shootout would be the last-resort tiebreaker.

Shootouts might eventually become as rare as ties in the NFL – something theoretically achievable, but in practice almost never happens. Through Thursday, 13.54 per cent of NHL games were decided in shootouts this year, the second-highest total since the league introduced the format in 2005-06.

If successful, the measure would further devalue the shootout in the NHL standings – which can only be a good thing to all the purists and old fogeys out there. The GMs made a similar, but far-less radical shift a couple of years back, when revamping the criteria for playoff qualification.

It used to be the first tie-breaker for teams tied in the standings at the end of the regular season was total wins. Holland, and a handful of like-minded peers, convinced the league that only regulation and overtime wins should count for such an important matter – and no one should slip into the playoffs because of an ability to win games on penalty shots.

Once upon a time, Holland was also in favour of revamping the NHL points system, so regulation victories would be worth three; overtime or shootout victories would earn two; overtime and shootout losses would be rewarded with a single point; and regulation losses count for zero.

However, Holland’s thinking has shifted there, he says, because of the closeness of the playoff races.

“I was a big believer that we should go to the three-point game three or four years ago,” the Wings GM said. “I’m not a fan any more. What do you want? More separation? Less races?

“In the [Western Conference], you could maybe say there are two teams out of it, but from [No.] 13 on, they have a chance. I mean, we’re sitting here in early March and realistically, 28 teams can say, if they win nine out of 10, they would make the playoffs,” he said.

“I like it the way it is. If you look at the West, Vancouver, St. Louis, Detroit, Nashville, you’ve got four teams at the top, all within about six points. You’ve got about five teams at the eight-hole, between seventh and 11th, within four or five points. What more do you want? It’s stretch run time. We’re all rounding the bend and it’s a horse race. I think the races are incredible. So I’m not a fan. I was a fan. I’m not a fan any more.”

Still, there is something a little nonsensical about a standings system in which some games are worth three points and others just two. That creates a scenario which is mathematically improbable: a false .500 that makes it look as if 23 out of 30 NHL teams have winning records. And even though Holland understands that is not a rational system exactly, he thinks the ends justify the means.

“I agree … from the mathematical point of view,” he said, “but last year, on the final day of the season, we beat Chicago in the afternoon and Dallas lost to Minnesota [to decide the last playoff spot]. In the East, Carolina lost their last game. If they win, they get in. Two or three years ago, Philadelphia and the Rangers had a shootout to decide a playoff spot. Why do you want separation?

“History shows there are great races right until the last weekend. Why would we change that – and run the risk of losing that intrigue?”

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

[hockeygod]

What does the future hold for Canada’s outdoor rinks?

As if we didn’t already sense the devious work of global warming, scientists say outdoor ice rinks are threatened in Canada, the nation that put them on the map.

Wayne Scanlan, National Post Mar 10, 2012

OTTAWA — In the early morning air, the hose flow was more white than clear, flashing in the sunlight like a child’s sparkler on Victoria Day.

To the veteran icemaker, the sparkles were a sure sign the air was so cold the water was turning to frozen crystals before it even hit the ice surface. Luscious ice-making weather, this, making the task as simple as spraying layers of quick-drying latex paint on a floor.

Here in the nation’s capital, one of the last bastions of winter, there was a morning such as this as recently as Monday, when temperatures plunged to -25 C with the wind chill. By Thursday afternoon, under the onslaught of two near-record mild days, outdoor rinks were a puddly mess, yet again — this time likely done for the season as they say of critically injured hockey players.

A few days before, when it was time for the morning shuttle to high school, the 14-year-old in our household disappeared suddenly, as if I didn’t know where. To the rink, of course, for perhaps one last look at it in a dignified state, before the thaw shot it to pieces. As his buddy, Matt, explained, “He’s paying his respects.”

Hours later, after an early morning university class, the 20-year-old was out on the rink for a light spin and a few shots at the net, just in case this might be a “last skate.”

Other families celebrate early spring. My sons mourn lost winter, global-warming-shrunk winters, more specifically anything that robs them of days and weeks on their precious backyard rink.

For 17 consecutive years, starting with our backyard on Keyworth Avenue — a longer, narrower surface — continuing on to Java Street, the rink beyond the back steps has been a mainstay. Soft, puddly or bumpy on its worst days. Crisp, hard and almost even at its best.

Once, I was a one-man show back there, packing the snow, old-school style, before layering thin spray after thin spray until the white mass gradually shifts to a pallid grey colour. One day each winter, still a magical day after all these years, a rink appears, firm enough to withstand a hockey player on skates and the outdoor season is renewed. Heaven help the picture windows of the family room as pucks fly off crossbars, into window panes and over the fence into the yard of Elmdale Public School.

Over time, I’ve more or less been replaced as the chief ice steward by my 14-year-old apprentice. Long before the first snow flies, he urges me to think rink. If the temperature is right but snow lacking, we’ve been known to borrow a few cartons of snow from J.A. Dulude Arena, scooping from the white mountain outside the Zamboni room, which the two boys and their old man pack down like Stompin’ Tom Connors in his prime.

Don’t bother emailing me about the wonders of tarp and a snowless rink, the weird slope of our yard makes it problematic (the boy has landscaping ideas to counteract this and would dearly love to pave or tile the entire yard for its winter ice benefits. His mom has other ideas).

I hear parents complain of ice sitting lonely, but ours is used every day that winter doesn’t yield to the growing ebbs and flows of thaw and rain and freeze again. After school, after supper, one or both of them are out there on that tiny 40-by-40-foot surface. When they were small, they had friends over for mini-shinny, sometimes a warm-up for the bigger games at the Fisher Park rink. Now that they’re older, bigger, the backyard surface seems shrunk, a glorified shooting pad, still no less precious.

With a Jan. 3 opening this winter, we had a nine-week run, give or take a few soggy days, not bad under the circumstances. Many community rinks, without daily maintenance, did not fare as well, leaving kids looking, longing, but not skating.

What does the future hold, when winter is losing its fastball?

As if we didn’t already sense the devious work of global warming, scientists say outdoor ice rinks are threatened in Canada, the nation that put them on the map. This would be a cruel blow to the nation’s capital, home to the world’s largest skating rink, the Rideau Canal, but also to every province with a tradition of community rinks, frozen rivers, lakes and ponds — which on those rare, beautiful occasions, freeze just so to make a surface so pure and flat and smooth the sensation is of skating on silk.

If the trend to a shrinking outdoor ice season persists, as outlined in research by scientists from McGill and Concordia University published earlier this week, outdoor ice of any kind will become rare. Climate strange.

Imagine how the course of hockey history might have changed, had this weather shift struck sooner. Without real winter, Canada might not have produced Gordie Howe, who grew up skating on the frozen farm sloughs of Saskatoon. Howe says he didn’t play on artificial ice until age 14.

Long before he broke Howe’s NHL scoring records, Wayne Gretzky learned how to skate and stickhandle on the most famous backyard rink in the country, groomed by Wayne’s father, Walter, in Brantford, Ont. This season, Walter could have not have had a rink unless he bought a refrigeration unit, to combat what climatologist David Phillips has called the “most unusual winter in Canadian history.

“A season we’ve grown famous for, is missing in action,” Phillips told CBC Radio the other day.

Winter certainly bypassed Toronto, which required no mayoral calls to the military to clean up snowstorms. In the Leaside neighbourhood, my brother David tried to make ice, but unwittingly made a flavourless backyard Slushie instead. He estimates his children were able to skate on it perhaps five or six times.

Interestingly, as a hockey parent and coach, he noted less adept puck handling skills this season, which he attributed to kids being unable to doodle on backyard ice. His daughter’s hockey team traditionally has a parents shinny game on a backyard rink — bowing to the local weather, they played street hockey instead.

Threatened shinny rinks are not just some old-timers’ lament for lost days of youth. The young NHL stars of today also cut their teeth — sometimes literally — on backyard and community rinks. On CBC’s Hockey Day In Canada last month, when the Edmonton Oilers were in Ottawa to play the Senators, Oilers forward Taylor Hall, 20, told me he learned to dangle on the backyard ice his father made for him, in Calgary and in Kingston, Ont.

Hockey players would dearly miss the fascinating culture of outdoor shinny, a curious blend of adults and children of all ages and sizes that should not work but somehow does.

Each rink has its own curiosities, personality. When we ski in Quebec over the Christmas holidays, we make daily trips to a lovely shinny rink in Saint Jovite, where the games are lively and uptempo. It took a while for us to figure out that players don’t just leap into the game there. When there are more than six-on-six aside, the extras stand on the side boards by turns, waiting to spell off players who grow tired, helping the game flow. French- and English-speaking peoples don’t get along any better anywhere than on the shinny ice of Saint Jovite.

And yet it isn’t hockey players alone who would miss natural and man made outdoor ice. Pleasure skating by definition is . . . a pleasure. Children taking their first strides, with mom or dad or a public school class. Visitors from China, Australia, South America, sampling what they know to be a rite of Canadian winter.

The next Bobby Orr could be on that outdoor ice . . .

By all means, enjoy the early spring.

Me, I worry that a Canada without legitimate winter loses a piece of its soul.

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

[hockeygod]

FRASER: SOME SUPERSTAR MOMENTS – AND FINALLY LETTING GO

KERRY FRASER, TSN.CA, March 9 2012

From the time that I arrived in the NHL in 1980, it was plain to see that the Edmonton Oilers were Wayne Gretzky's team. In his rookie season, 1979–80, Wayne tied Marcel Dionne for the scoring lead with 137 points… The next year, it was Gretzky's turn, as his 164 points outpaced Dionne by 29. Wayne was a 19-year-old sophomore in 1980–81, while I was a 28-year-old rookie!…I can tell you without hesitation or reservation that Gretzky was the very best player I ever skated on NHL ice with over my 30 seasons in the league. What may come as a shock is that, in the early going, we clashed on more than one occasion.

Wayne Gretzky did not enter the NHL and become a phenom; he arrived fully formed. In many ways he was mature well beyond his years, but at times he was still just a kid, not unlike those who followed him – Super Mario, "Sid the Kid," and others. All needed to scale a learning curve and endure some growing pains; some completed the process more quickly than others.

The same is true of officials. Even though I was a man with a family, I was a long way from possessing the maturity I now know is required to handle the pressure and abuse that often came my way. Unfortunately, when I was challenged on the ice, I did not always respond appropriately. I too had a lot to learn…

What infuriated me most was when a player, especially in his home rink, would take a dive in an attempt not only to draw a penalty but to unleash the wrath of the crowd against me…

Wayne's young Oilers were playing host to Bobby Clarke and the Philadelphia Flyers in Northlands Coliseum. It had been a close-checking, hard-fought game from the very beginning and Gretz had, in my judgment, fallen down a couple of times in an attempt to trick me into calling a penalty and give Edmonton the man advantage… The dead giveaway when a player is trying to draw a penalty is that they look at the referee before they hit the ice…. There was no penalty on the books for embellishment back then… With under a minute to play, the Oilers were down by one goal. They were attacking hard in the Flyers zone, and at that stage of the game their very best option was to get on the power play and try to tie it up. Wayne was positioned in "his office" behind the goal line and to the side of the Flyers net as Pelle Lindbergh caught the puck and I whistled the play dead. With no one around him, Wayne leaped into the air, threw his hands forward, his feet stretched out behind him, and executed a belly flop worthy of a perfect score. Bobby Clarke skated up to Wayne and said, "Get up, you effin' baby."

I was on the scene and said, "Wayne, what are you doing? There was nobody within 10 feet of you." Wayne hit the boiling point as he responded, "You wouldn't have called it anyway; you haven't called an effin' thing all night!"

I said, "You're right, and I'm going to start right now: you've got two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct." As Wayne stormed past me on the way to his dressing room, he shouted, "Good! It's about effin' time you called something!" That was the first, but not last, time a player would thank me for giving him a penalty…

While Wayne Gretzky's exploits on the ice are legendary, what he contributed off the ice can never be accurately measured or, as we have come to realize, truly appreciated. "The Trade" from Edmonton to Los Angeles on August 9, 1988, rocked Canada. The New Democratic Party even put forward a motion in Parliament to block the trade, declaring Gretzky a national treasure. The popularity that the NHL enjoys in the United States today would not have been possible had it not been for Wayne's move south…

I want to share just one story of the kindness that this man displayed to a child in need at a time when some might not have bothered. Prior to leaving from my home in New Jersey for Calgary, my wife, Kathy, learned of a young boy who was suffering from a serious illness. The youngster had asked if it would be possible to get an autograph from Wayne Gretzky. On that night in Calgary, the Kings were being beaten badly once again. Wayne looked physically drained. His eyes were sunk back in his head and he had beard stubble that gave him an unkempt appearance I had never seen on him before. This trip had obviously beaten him up pretty good. [The previous season 1987-88, Mario Lemieux won the scoring title by 19 points over Gretzky. When I caught up with Gretz in Calgary Mario was on a real tear. Wayne was questioned by the press after every game if Super Mario was the new "King" in the NHL.] During the final commercial timeout, I approached Wayne as he came out to take the faceoff. I apologized for bothering him at a time like this, but quickly explained about the little boy and asked him, if he thought of it after the game, to just sign a piece of paper and I would make sure he got it.

Wayne nodded and dragged himself over for the faceoff. The game ended and I hadn't even untied my skates when there was a knock at the door. It was David Courtney, the Kings' travelling secretary, who said, "Wayne asked me to give you this and to wish the little boy well for him." [It was Wayne Gretzky's signed game stick.] …

What makes Wayne exceptional off the ice is that he never puts himself above anyone. He is a compassionate, quiet gentleman who often said, "Nobody is above the game."…

Mario [Lemieux] was beyond the real deal; he was the saviour of the franchise – as it would turn out, on more than one occasion. His immediate impact as a player was felt on the ice, at the gate, and in the buzz he created throughout the hockey community.

He was a giant of a man who was unique in that he had the hands of a surgeon, the wingspan of an albatross, and he always knew where the net was. Much like Mike Bossy, he always knew where to shoot the puck and could thread a needle with his passes… As an extremely skilled player, Mario was way ahead of the curve. And he didn't have much patience for the clutch-and-grab style that prevailed at that time. And why should he? People pay to see skill and grace, especially the type that Mario—and few other players of the time—possessed… [I describe, (in detail) a feud with Mario that boiled over on April 5, 1994 when Lemieux charged out of the penalty box after me.]

While several failed attempts were made to crack down on obstruction, real change wouldn't occur until 2005–06, the first season after the lockout, and Mario's last in the NHL… After his playing career, he was called upon again to save the franchise, this time as the owner, and then to acquire the next-generation superstar, the next saviour of the Penguins and the new face of the game: Sidney Crosby… Sidney brings intensity to every game, has a tremendous work ethic, and competes hard night in and night out. He's a leader.

He and I experienced some initial growing pains as we tried to build a working relationship, not unlike my experience with his boss and landlord (Sidney moved into Mario's house with his family when he arrived as a rookie in 2005)…

Sid the Kid came into the league with a little bit of an edge to him. For budding superstars like Sidney, their celebrity status is thrust upon them at a very early age… We had moments of confrontation during his rookie season… One night in Toronto, he felt he had been fouled and he retaliated with a slash to the ankle of a Leaf player. I whistled him for the infraction, and on the way to the penalty box he gave me the kind of grief that I deemed inappropriate. ..[Even though Malkin scored a short-handed goal Sid continued to rail on me over the penalty] At the next commercial break, I decided we needed to have a "father–son" chat. I asked his permission to talk, which he granted. We huddled near the penalty box, and I told him: "You are the face of the game. You are a superstar."

To which he responded, "No, I'm not." Perhaps he thought I was chiding him.

"No, I'm serious," I said. "You are the new face of the NHL. And I say that with the utmost respect for your skill and ability. With that comes huge responsibility, and I'd just like you to be aware of the impression you will leave on youngsters who are watching your every move, and that they will turn around and emulate everything you do. So I recommend that you use that responsibility wisely"…

There was a game the next season in Philadelphia when he approached me after a play on which he thought he might have been fouled. Now the captain, he skated over with a different, more kindly demeanour and said, "I know you're not my number-one fan. I just want you to know the guy brought his stick up and caught me."

"I really am a fan," I assured him. "I've always been a fan of excellence. Concerning your question, I didn't think the stick had contacted you. If it did, I apologize. I missed it."

He said, "Okay, no problem," and skated away.

Over the years, I've been blessed to watch at close hand some of the greatest players the game has ever seen. Mario and Sidney, bookend superstars for the Pittsburgh Penguins, certainly fall into that category…

While my final call as an NHL referee may have been made on Sunday, April 11, 2010 in Philadelphia, the future for me appears to be anything but final—in fact, it's wide open. The game of hockey is still the greatest on earth and one of the fastest-growing professional sports in North America. TSN, Hockey Night in Canada, Comcast, and NBC and their affiliated networks, provides you, the fan, the most exciting and extensive coverage of this sport we all love. I'm proud to be part of that and to help clarify (and occasionally vindicate) the role of the referee. While I'm still unsure about what my future holds, I can only hope it will continue to involve the sport I've dedicated my life to. The whistle and jersey may have gone away, but my love of the game remains. Hope to see you at ice level!

[Letting go is not an option for me at this point of my second career. After writing that last line for my update in the paperback edition of The Final Call, my exciting work with TSN and C'mon Ref continues to expand. Recently I also joined NBC Sports Network as a hockey analyst. I obviously cannot condense an entire book into a five day blog. I've left much more for you to read in "The Final Call;" stories about the greatest on-ice captain/leader ("Captain Courageous," Mark Messier), about the "Legion of Doom" and how they put me down one night (literally onto the ice) and the hilarious story of how Brian Burke, VP of Hockey Ops had to dress me and send me back onto the ice following an injury I suffered during the opening face-off. Read about zany lines of defense employed by Tiger Williams and Chris "Knuckles" Nilan in hearings with Brian O'Neill following match penalties I had assessed them. And for the Leaf Nation, I dedicated a whole chapter on the infamous "Missed Call!" Come, join me at ice level. I return to my regular column on Monday, so get your questions ready.]

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

[hockeygod]

Johnny Bower still stopping them cold at 87

CHRIS JOHNSTON, The Canadian Press, Mar. 09, 2012

Johnny Bower didn't miss a beat.

With photographers crowding around during an appearance at the Hockey Hall of Fame on Friday morning, the legendary Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender urged everyone to take a step back. “You'll get all the lines on my face,” he said with a laugh.

Surprisingly spry, Bower is still going strong at age 87. Not only did his week include the stop at the Hockey Hall, he also earned huge applause after being shown on the Air Canada Centre scoreboard during Tuesday's Leafs-Bruins game.

He loves staying close to the sport.

“It's a great feeling here,” said Bower, motioning towards his heart. “I just can't believe the ovation I get here all the time. It makes me really feel good inside to be remembered by the fans.”

Bower has long been a man who belied his age.

He was the oldest member of the 1967 Leafs Stanley Cup team — at the time, his exact age was shrouded in mystery — and would go on to play parts of three seasons beyond that.

All these years later, he remains loyal to the blue and white. The majority of the people who stop him on the street want an autograph and some assurance that everything will be fine with the current Maple Leafs. He often has to remind people he doesn't work for the team.

“I'm still sticking up for them,” said Bower. “I'll be a Maple Leaf until I die.”

On Friday, he was at the Hall of Fame along with five other honoured members to unveil a renovated wing of the building. Since being inducted in 1976, Bower has seen the Hockey Hall move from a small space on the exhibition grounds in Toronto to its much bigger location downtown.

He and the other Hall of Famers took a few playful swipes at one another.

“I remember Johnny Bower having breakfast with Moses one time,” cracked former Philadelphia Flyers goalie Bernie Parent. “He's been around a long time, right?”

“Johnny's always been a professional and represented the game well,” he added. “He was a great goalie.”

Bower has been married to wife Nancy for 63 years — “I wouldn't trade her for all the tea in China,” he says — and credits his good health to all the household chores he's had to do over the years.

“I've got four doctors I have to go through every three months or something like that,” said Bower. “They say I'm getting on real good. Right now I've got a bit of a sore back there — a little bit of a pinched nerve I guess — but outside of that I feel pretty good.

“I do a lot of walking, I do a lot of dishwashing at home, I mop the floor, I do everything.”

But every once and awhile there are reminders of the passing of time. On Friday morning, he surveyed the group on stage that included Parent, Yvan Cournoyer, Harry Howell, Denis Potvin and Darryl Sittler.

At 79 — eight years his junior — Howell was the next closest in age.

“I'm not a young man any more,” said Bower. “I look down here at these older guys and I think I'm the oldest guy here. Can you imagine that? I can't believe it.”

You'd never know it to see him.

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

[hockeygod]

The Evgeni Malkin translator

Luke Fox, Sportsnet.ca, March 9, 2012

"Hi, I've been informed you are the s—, my knowledge about the game of hockey is premature at best but your name keeps ringing," NFL wide receiver Chad Ochocinco tweeted this week to @malkin71_, the twitter account of the Pittsburgh Penguins' leading scorer.

We'd like to think Ochocinco is the last to learn that Evgeni Malkin is the s—, but we're not entirely sure there aren't others out there walking around uninformed.

Although Malkin is gunning for the NHL scoring crown and has led the Penguins to the second-best record in the East, his team's other star centre, Sidney Crosby, remains the focal point despite playing a total of eight games since January 2011.

On Friday morning, nhl.com streamed a live feed of the Penguins' morning skate; the camera was fixed on No. 87 even when Crosby stood resting his chin on the butt end of his stick, waiting for his turn to run the drill. Conversely, the last time Malkin was in Toronto, the centre of the hockey media universe, a "scrum" of three reporters waited long enough for his 6'3", 205-pound frame to emerge from the visitors' dressing room and coax a few broken-English sound bites.

But if the improvement of 71's game is fine print to the "Crosby Undecided About Sunday" headlines, then the improvement of Malkin's English is merely a footnote.

"My English is a bit better. I can talk to my teammates, same with my coach between periods and after games," explains the Russian, whose response tweet to @ochocino ("thanks") was one of only a handful of English messages you'll read on his Twitter feed.

Though the 25-year-old is deep into his sixth NHL season, he explains that through his improved comprehension of the language, this year he has been benefitting from the team meetings. Malkin says he can now grasp what he does "not right" when the Penguins' staff goes over the X's and O's, and he has seen his plus/minus, which dipped into the red the previous two seasons, jump to a +11.

"Right now, Malkin is the one," Vancouver Canucks star Henrik Sedin says when asked who the best player in the NHL is. Out on the West Coast, the Sedin twins find themselves frequently catching Penguins games at 4 p.m. PT. "Pittsburgh is the team we like to watch. They're a good team. We watch Malkin quite a bit. He's big, he's strong, he's got a great shot, he makes the players around him better. He's the whole package."

Because you're not (yet) going to get lengthy, nuanced anecdotes from a player who is arguably the NHL's best right now, we ran Malkin's quotes through our translator. Here's what the Geno3000 spat out.

"I have great summer, work hard."

Translation: When my collision with Buffalo Sabres defenceman Tyler Myers on Feb. 4, 2011, resulted in a torn ACL, a knee operation and a season cut short to just 43 games, I flew back to Russia and devoted my off-season to intense training in order to be ready for training camp.

Watch: Malkin returns to Russia last summer to train

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2012/03/09/evgeni_malkin_pittsburgh_penguins/

"I'm hungry because I missed lots of games, not two or three games. I missed 50 games. Of course, I'm hungry to play hockey."

Translation: Not only did I miss half of the 2010-11 regular season, but I also missed the playoffs. If you recall, even though I've had two 100-point seasons, the postseason is where I shine. In 2009, it was me who won the Conn Smythe Trophy and the playoff scoring title when the Penguins won the Stanley Cup. So, of course I was eager to prove myself this year, especially after scoring less than a point per game in 2010-11 (37 points in 43 games) — the only season I've done that.

"I have great linemates now. Kunitz and Nealsy are the best linemates I've had in my career. They help me a lot. We try to play 100% every game."

Translation: Centering Chris Kunitz and James Neal, we have formed the NHL's most dangerous offensive line. Combined, we have scored 87 goals for this team. Playing on my wing, Neal made the All-Star Game for the first time in his career. And 32-year-old Kunitz hasn't put up numbers like this since he was in his mid-20s and playing with the Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks.

"(With Crosby out) maybe I play a bit more time, a bit more power-play time, and I understand I have to play better. If we not score, it's tough to win."

Translation: We are enjoying a seven-game winning streak because we are scoring so much. As of Friday, my 81 points are right on the tail of Tampa Bay Lightning sniper Steven Stamkos's 82, even though I've played eight fewer games than Stamkos, and fewer games than anyone on the NHL leaderboard's top 20. To make winning easier, sometimes I score in bunches. On three separate occasions this season I have scored five points in one game. It's easier to win that way. Oh, and I also scored what could go down as the goal of the year:

"The season's not over, but we'll see where we are after 82 games."

Translation: Despite missing three of our best players — Kris Letang, Jordan Staal, and Crosby — for long stretches this season, our team has still amassed the second-best record in the Eastern Conference. We just passed the champion Boston Bruins and are now looking to dethrone the New York Rangers atop the Atlantic Division. (You know we play in the toughest division in the NHL, right?) Just imagine how dangerous we'll be once Sid gets back.

"Whole Pittsburgh organization, we work towards one thing: to win Stanley Cup…. I know we can do it. We can win the Stanley Cup. I believe in my teammates, and they believe we can win…. I have great confidence now."

Translation: Look out.

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

[hockeygod]

NHL looking at return of the red line

JAMES MIRTLE, Globe and Mail, Mar. 09, 2012

It’s the sort of debate that rages only in the background, far away from fans and the games, in the NHL.

Is the league too fast?

Was it a bad idea to take out the red line and allow two-line passes coming out of the lockout seven years ago?

Ask a different general manager and you’re likely to get a different answer, something that will come to a head next week in Boca Raton, Fla., as all 30 head honchos assemble for their semi-annual meeting to discuss potential rule changes.

Several high-profile GMs, like the Boston Bruins’ Peter Chiarelli and the Florida Panthers' Dale Tallon, are set to stump for the return of the red line, citing two key issues created by no longer having it:

First, the speed through the neutral zone, which has led to concerns over concussions and too many high-impact hits.

Second, how the game has changed due to what Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke calls “the tennis effect,” where defencemen fire pucks down the ice to forwards waiting at the far blueline who then chip them into the offensive zone.

“I think we’ve done a lot of different things to speed up the game,” Chiarelli added, “and I think maybe looking at putting that back in in some way, shape or form would help moderate the speed.”

“The restoration of the red line would add to the skill level needed to play,” Burke acknowledged, before explaining he is "not in favour of any changes to the ice surface."

Chiarelli and Tallon's opinions are far from unanimous, however, with some GMs even disagreeing with their own head coaches about what, if anything, needs to change in the middle of the ice.

Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland said this week that he and coach Mike Babcock have had the debate often, with the man behind the bench of one of the most successful teams in the league saying he feels the dreaded trap remains prevalent and has been helped, not hindered, by not calling two-line passes.

“He [Babcock] thinks that right now, because of the red line being out, everybody’s defensive scheme is really at your own blueline,” Holland said, “because you’re afraid to get people in behind you. For me personally, I like the game. But I am open to hearing other opinions. I mean, I’ve got Mike’s opinion, but he hasn’t sold me.”

The consensus is that it will take a considerable sell job by Chiarelli, Tallon and others to push a change to the red-line rule through in time for next season, but it is significant that it’s even up for serious debate.

Of the six general managers surveyed – three from each conference – in the past few days by The Globe and Mail, two indicated they’d like to see the change made, while three were in favour of the status quo and another was on the fence.

The discussions in Florida beginning on Monday may even swing a few of the undecided GMs over, with a majority decision to recommend the rule change required to push it through to the competition committee.

“We have a really good game now, certainly a game that people like to watch,” said Carolina Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford, who admitted he hasn’t made up his mind on the issue. “It’s a fast game. But in some ways it might be a little too fast for players to react and protect themselves. I think we have to recognize that the speed of the game could very well be putting players in a more vulnerable position.”

St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong countered that by saying that NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan has done a good job weeding out questionable hits. Armstrong also strongly believes that limiting the league’s newfound speed – one of the main changes made since the low-scoring Dead Puck Era – is the wrong way to go.

“I go back to, well, why did we take it out?” said Armstrong, whose coach, Ken Hitchcock, wants the red line to return. “Because the neutral zone got clogged up, and it was very difficult to gain the red line. It was like going through kelp or seaweed through the neutral zone.

“I wouldn’t be in favour of going in there and saying let’s make our game slower. I’m not sure that’s the right message to our fans, that we want to play slower. I think we can accomplish player safety with the game staying at a high pace and entertaining.”

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

[hockeygod]

Hockey pioneer Herb Carnegie dead at 92: Never given NHL shot because of colour barrier

By Signa Butler, CBC Sports, Mar 10, 2012

Herb Carnegie, who many believed was the best black player never to play in the NHL, has died. He was 92.

Carnegie, a dazzling centre man, businessman, philanthropist, championship golfer, and Order of Canada recipient, died Friday in Toronto, his daughter Bernice Carnegie told the New York Times.

Born on Nov. 8, 1919, to Jamaican immigrants, Carnegie fell in love with the game of hockey at an early age, playing on the frozen ponds in north Toronto and listening to Foster Hewitt call hockey games.

Playing alongside brother Ossie, Carnegie played in the Ontario junior ranks before moving to the semi-professional Quebec Provincial League, where they teamed up with Manny McIntyre of Fredericton, to form the first all-black line in pro hockey.

They were given nicknames like les Noirs, the Black Aces, the Brown Bombers and other far from politically correct labels, but they made noise on the ice, with the smooth-skating Herb winning several most valuable player trophies over the years.

In the 1950s, Carnegie played on the Quebec Aces in the Quebec Senior League, where he was a teammate of future Montreal Canadiens great Jean Béliveau, who became a longtime friend and wrote the forward in Carnegie’s autobiography, A Fly in a Pail of Milk.

“When I was 13 or 14, I never missed a game when Sherbrooke [Carnegie's team] was in town,” Béliveau is quoted saying in the Times. “I tried to duplicate what Herbie was doing at faceoffs and making passes onto the blade, not behind the wingman.”

Dream never given a chance

But like Bud Kelly and many other black players before him, Carnegie, despite his tremendous hockey skills, was denied an NHL career because of an unwritten colour barrier.

In 1948, a year after baseball pioneer Jackie Robinson broke into Major League Baseball with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Carnegie was invited to try out for the New York Rangers. He felt he performed well enough at camp to deserve a job, but was told to report to the minors. He didn’t.

It wasn’t his first brush with the pros.

Eleven years earlier, then-Leafs owner Conn Smythe saw his talent but wouldn’t look past his skin colour.

In an emotional interview on Inside Hockey with Hockey Night in Canada’s Elliotte Friedman in 2009, Carnegie broke down in tears recalling what happened.

In the late 1930s, Carnegie was a member of the Young Rangers Junior A club in Toronto. The team would often practise at Maple Leaf Gardens.

“I was good enough for the Leafs because, according to Conn Smythe, ‘I would take Carnegie tomorrow for the Maple Leafs if someone could turn him white,’” Carnegie recalled, choking back emotion.

“I got that statement when I was 18. How would you feel? I can’t forget it because he cut my knees off, he broke my legs … it’s horrible.

“I loved the game and I feel cheated. I didn’t get the chance to prove myself. I just had a door closed where I couldn’t participate. As much fun as I had in the game, I had pain because I couldn’t have that other step.”

It would take another decade for a black player to break the colour barrier in the NHL, the last of the four major professional sports league to open its doors to black players.

Willie O’Ree owns that distinction. He appeared with the Boston Bruins in 1957-58 and, while he paved the way for other notable black players, including Tony McKegney, Grant Fuhr and Jarome Iginla, it was Carnegie who blazed the trail.

Fulfilling life and legacy

Outside hockey, Carnegie became a very successful businessman and philanthropist. He was married for more than 60 years to his wife, Audrey, who died in 2003, and had three daughters, Bernice, Goldie and Rochelle, and a son, Dale.

Carnegie started a popular hockey school called Future Aces, then created a foundation under the same name to help empower youth through athletics and academics. His foundation also awards college scholarships.

Carnegie was also a successful golfer, winning the Canadian senior amateur title twice and several other amateur tournaments.

He was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2001 and was named to the Order of Canada in 2003.

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

[hockeygod]

IIHF CALLS SUMMIT TO REVIVE CLUB COMPETITION, WORK WITH NHL

ASSOCIATED PRESS, 3/14/2012

ZURICH, Switzerland — Ice hockey's governing body has invited European national federations, leagues and clubs to talks about reviving a continental competition, and their relations with the NHL.

The International Ice Hockey Federation says stakeholders will meet at a June 12-14 forum in Barcelona, Spain.

IIHF President Rene Fasel says "the focus will be on finding a format for a competitively and commercially viable top European club competition."

It would follow the Champions Hockey League which folded with financial problems after its debut 2008-09 season.

Fasel says "key points" will include co-operation with the NHL, the NHL players' union and the Canadian (Junior) Hockey League.

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

[hockeygod]

RENNEY'S CRITICISM OF YOUTHFUL OILERS OUT OF CHARACTER

THE CANADIAN PRESS, 3/13/2012

EDMONTON — Reluctant to publicly criticize his team for the better part of two seasons despite mounting defeats, head coach Tom Renney raised eyebrows when he lit into the Edmonton Oilers after a 3-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Monday.

Renney has always been mindful to put the process of rebuilding a team that has finished 30th the past two seasons on equal footing with results during a tenure as head coach that has produced just 51 wins in 151 games. But he let the Oilers' players have it after they opened a four-game homestand by losing for the eighth time in nine games at Rexall Place.

While Renney's players had their say in a meeting before practice Tuesday, the response that matters will come Wednesday against the last-place Columbus Blue Jackets.

"My frustration is that we don't play to our potential," Renney said when asked about Monday's comments. "We didn't last night. We can be a good hockey club.

"We went out last night and played not to lose. Go play. Go play, you know? Appreciate the experience and the opportunity, those type of things. Play on your toes and not your heels. We can be a real good hockey club when we apply ourselves that way.

"You can't play in fear of losing. You've got to go play hard. The least you can do is just leave it out there."

Renney didn't mince words Monday night after the Oilers (26-36-7) lost their fifth straight home game.

"It doesn't take many for the wrong approach, the wrong attitude . . . to kind of make its way through your dressing room," Renney said. "It doesn't take many guys at all.

"We have a few people who have to look in the mirror here because this is unacceptable. You're the Edmonton Oilers, you're a millionaire, you have an opportunity to play the game . . . Suck it up and play hockey."

Renney didn't single anyone out for criticism after the loss, but his frustration was obvious.

"There's going to be times where frustration is going to happen in games, especially when you're 29th," captain Shawn Horcoff said. "You know, to tell you the truth, that's the first time it's kind of maybe got to the point where he (Renney) had to address it this year. In years past, it's been much more. Actually, I view it as a good thing.

"Today, we had a good chat and we talked about things among ourselves that we'll keep between teammates. We've re-grouped and we'll be ready to go (Wednesday)."

Pat Quinn publicly chastised his team more than once during the 2009-10 season en route to a 27-47-8 record and 30th-place finish. But the rant Monday was a rarity for Renney, who served as an assistant under Quinn before becoming the head coach to start the 2010-11 season.

The Oilers finished 30th again under Renney last season, going 25-42-12 and are 51-89-18 under Renney, who doesn't have a contract for next season.

"Frustration creeps into a lot of people's games," Ryan Smyth said. "It's a matter of overcoming it, not as an individual, but as a team.

"Not one guy is going to carry the load, you know? One guy can sure lead, but it takes everybody to be an impactful group. We've got to get back to doing that, doing the little things that make this team successful. We've got fight for each other's pride in here."

Despite Edmonton's struggles, Renney has been a picture of patience. He has always stressed process and the development of youngsters like rookie Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and second-year players Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle as the foundation of long-term success.

"I think if frustration didn't happen at this point, you'd have a problem," Horcoff said. "The thing is, we've got 20 guys who care. We've got guys who want to be better. They want to do better, individually and team-wise.

"That's going to happen. We addressed it (Tuesday) and re-grouped and got a little bit of our frustration out. We talked about some problems we were having maybe, things we wanted to change and things we didn't want to change going forward. We look forward to coming back and having a better effort against Columbus."

GM Steve Tambellini, in Florida attending a meeting of NHL general managers, didn't have an issue with Renney's post-game comments.

"You expect your organization, your team, to be emotional," Tambellini said. "They prepare to win every night and you expect the very, very best from all of your payers. Obviously he wasn't happy with a couple and voiced his opinion. I don't have a problem with that."

—–

Oilers get Renney's message

By DEREK VAN DIEST, QMI Agency, March 14, 2012

EDMONTON – It is not in Tom Renney’s nature to criticize his players publicly.

In fact, during his tenure with the Edmonton Oilers, Renney has often gone out of his way to protect his players and defend them when things get ugly.

So it was a surprise when the Oilers head coach lambasted his team following a lackluster 3-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Monday.

It was either a sign of a coach finally losing patience with his club, or of a coach who felt he needed a new method to get his message across.

“He pretty much said the same thing to us in the locker room,” said Oilers captain Shawn Horcoff. “It really wasn’t anything new for me, when I was reading the comments. He’s frustrated, he felt like our body language was going a little south and there was a little too much fighting and bickering. We have to be better.”

Renney appears to be at his wit’s end trying to get what he can out of the Oilers this season.

Having long ago lost any hope of reaching the playoffs, Renney and his coaching staff have had to find creative ways to motivate the team down the stretch.

It’s like trying to squeeze water from a stone some nights.

“I think he just kind of had the end of it,” said Oilers winger Ryan Jones. “He’s such a quiet and positive guy, but he can only take so much.

“I think (Monday) you started seeing a little bit of what he wanted to say, said. The message was taken. When you have a coach that doesn’t say stuff like that very often, when he says it, you pay attention really quick.”

Renney boiled over during his post-game press conference Monday. He criticized his team for their lack of effort and apparent unwillingness to try and win games.

“It doesn’t take many for the wrong approach, the wrong attitude, the wrong give a s- -t to make its way through the dressing room,” Renney said Monday. “It doesn’t take many guys at all. We have a few people who have to look in the mirror here because this is unacceptable.

“You’re the Edmonton Oilers, you’re a millionaire, you have the opportunity to play the game … Suck it up and play hockey.”

Heading into Monday’s game, the Oilers were saying all the right things. They were talking about having to play with pride and for the crest in the front of the jersey and not the name on the back, and whatever other cliché they could come up with.

Yet they came up with another poor effort at home, where they’ve lost five straight and eight of their last nine.

That set off the head coach, who tore into the team in the dressing room after the game, before piling on to the media.

“It’s part of the process. It’s not going to be pretty every night and it’s not going to go your way every night,” Renney said Tuesday. “As a coach and as a coaching staff you try to impart the right principals and the right way you have to play and they’re be departures from that. (Monday) was certainly an opportunity to address things that we have to do in order to improve and we have to improve as a team, it’s that simple.

“It may be out of character for me to display that often. But I don’t think it’s out character for me to make it clear to my players, even through you people (media) what needs to be done by them.”

Whether the message was received won’t be known until Wednesday, when the Oilers play host to the Columbus Blue Jackets, the only team lower in the NHL standings.

The Blue Jackets have had issues of their own this season and are expected to clean house this summer, starting by moving captain Rick Nash.

If the Oilers come up with a poor effort again Wednesday against the worst team in the league, many expect there’ll be some house cleaning done in Edmonton as well.

“I think we should all be a little bit embarrassed,” said Oilers defenceman Ryan Whitney. “Tom made good points. You can’t just try and finish out a season and not play hard.

“(Monday) night is the closest we’re going to get to play something like a playoff game, so we have to really treat them as such.”

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

[hockeygod]

GMs favouring hybrid icing

Postmedia News, March 13, 2012

After two days of National Hockey League general managers’ meetings, it has become clear that — of all the new rules up for discussion — hybrid icing has gained the most traction.

If adopted, the rule would see a change in how icing was called — an effort to protect the players from dangerous hits.

In its simplest form in the new rule, icing gets called if the first player to pass the faceoff dot is from the defending team. The defender would no longer need to touch the puck.

“I think what you’re doing is removing the dangerous portion of it,” said Chicago Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman to the NHL Network. “When guys are usually lunging for pucks, it’s when they are most likely to be off-balance and you can have a high rate of speed collisions happening. We’re trying to do our best to remove the dangerous plays.”

Among Calgary Flames players queried on the subject, there are those in favour of a change, and other who like the status quo.

Defenceman Jay Bouwmeester favours a switch.

“It’s probably been a long time coming,” Bouwmeester said. “There’s been some injuries and there’s been lots of talk about it for a few years now. If it will eliminate some of those dangerous collisions three or four feet from the boards, then that’s good.

“It doesn’t happen very often,” Bouwmeester added of injuries, “but when it does, it’s big. If you can eliminate that, or try to eliminate that, it’s probably best for everyone.”

Veteran forward Tom Kostopoulos respectfully disagreed.

“Personally, I like the icing rule the way it is,” Kostopoulos said, knowing full well he is in the minority. “I’ve had conversations with a lot of guys on the team, and they don’t agree with me. I like the race. I think it’s an exciting part of the game. I know injuries do happen, and that’s unfortunate. But I kind of like it the way it is now.”

The league’s GMs wrap up their meetings on Wednesday.

Any rule changes proposed go to the NHL competition committee and then on to the board of governors for final approval.

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

[hockeygod]

Avery hanging up his skates

QMI Agency, March 14 2012

Unwanted forward Sean Avery, recently cut loose by the New York Rangers, says he has retired.

The controversial 31-year-old told Bravo TV host Andy Cohen during an appearance on 'Watch What Happens Live' Monday that he had retired and "threw my skates in the Hudson (River)."

Not so fast, Avery's agent says. His client was "not serious," Pat Morris told ESPNNewYork.com on Tuesday.

Wait, maybe he wasn't kidding.

Avery told the New York Post, "No, that wasn't a joke; yes I'm retiring at the end of the season, and it's OK. I guess that was my retirement press conference." He added that he was taking a post-hockey gig with an advertising agency.

Avery then followed that statement up by telling ESPNNewYork.com he won't make it his retirement official until after his four-year, $15.5 million contract expires at the end of this season.

Leave it to Avery, one of the most reviled and polarizing players in recent NHL history, to muddy up the waters about his own retirement.

If he has retired, though, his final season was filled with much of the same controversy as the rest of his 10-year career. He spent most of this season with Connecticut of the AHL after being waived — twice — by the Rangers but the minor-league team didn't include him on its post-season roster and told him he was no longer required to show up for practices.

In 580 NHL games with four franchises — New York, Dallas, Los Angeles and Detroit — Avery had 90 goals and 157 assists.

—–

I hope it's true…!

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

[hockeygod]

Determined players take to snowmobiles to get to Nunavut hockey tournament

Nunatsiaq News March 16, 2012

Two hockey clubs used this mode of transportation to make it to a tournament this week in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut.

Two hockey clubs used this mode of transportation to make it to a tournament this week in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut.

Players attending a major hockey tournament in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut proved this week it takes more than a blizzard warning to keep them off the ice.

The adverse weather was a rocky start for the annual Sakku First Avataq Cup. At least five of the 10 participating teams were grounded.

While three teams opted to wait for better weather, two hopped on their snowmobiles to make the trek.

Normally three hours away, it took the Whale Cove team six hours late on Wednesday, travelling through gusting winds and low visibility to reach Rankin Inlet.

"There were a lot of prayers being said, but all of them made it," said David Clark, tournament organizer.

The players had just enough time to rest, eat and lace up before hitting the ice Thursday to play the Rankin Inlet Miners, who beat them 5-3.

Next up, players from Chesterfield Inlet opted to trek more than 100 kilometres by snowmobile on Thursday, arriving in Rankin Inlet in the afternoon.

"It definitely adds to the challenge," Clark said. "But you do the best you can with the energy you have."

The last of the 10 participating teams — from Iqaluit, Baker Lake and Coral Harbour — were scheduled to arrive Friday, with the forecast showing the weather gradually clearing.

The Sakku First Avataq Cup, now in its 11th year, runs until Sunday.

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

[hockeygod]

A look inside the NHL’s video-review headquarters

Bruce Dowbiggin, Globe and Mail, Mar. 16, 2012

“Hey, Murph, look at that,” says former NHL player Kris King, alerting Mike Murphy, his fellow senior vice-president of NHL hockey operations, to the Boston Bruins-Washington Capitals game playing on his TV screen.

“I’m putting it up there so you know. Linesman makes a great call, [Bruins forward] Krejci’s pissed and fires it at the linesman.”

Murphy asks: “They give him a penalty?”

King points to a monitor on the far wall of the 11th-floor NHL war room. “Unsportsmanlike.”

In the replay, Krejci does indeed launch a puck at linesman Jean Morin. The video will be sent to NHL offices in New York within minutes for the perusal of player safety commissar Brendan Shanahan.

Murphy turns in his chair in the centre of the league’s video-review headquarters.

“If someone wanted to know what happens, we can send that clip in seconds to anyone who wants to know,” he says. “The commissioner [Gary Bettman], [deputy commissioner] Bill Daly, Brendan Shanahan, even the referee. It takes about 10 minutes, and we can send it to everyone who needs to know.”

On the next screen, the live feed of the Bruins-Capitals game plays, flanked by two dedicated live-time overhead cameras above the nets occupied by Boston goaltender Tim Thomas and Washington counterpart Tomas Vokoun. It’s the first of 10 games that day and, as such, gets maximum attention from the staff in the room.

The array of monitors on the wall (there are 14 separate screens) at 50 Bay Street resembles a casino sports book – without the slots. It is no coincidence: the league’s operations department consulted with the tech people who create casino sports-viewing rooms when it moved its operation down a floor to this new room at the start of the 2011-12 NHL season.

Each work station also contains a mini version of the video wall for the staffer assigned to watch a particular game. The goal of this sparkling new room is not only to get the close calls right but to reduce the time an in-game video review takes and to convey the decision via e-mail and NHL.com to the world wondering, “What happened?”

Because of the live overhead net cameras now available, lag time is being greatly reduced.

“We probably know within 20, 30 seconds what the call is going to be,” Murphy says. “By the time the referee gets to the headphones, we have a pretty good idea already. We’re quicker and more accurate and more consistent.”

When those decisions are made they’ll be posted online (later with video) within 90 seconds of the call being made. (Using Twitter.com as well is being debated.)

Murphy is asked about the notorious time-clock snafu in Los Angeles on Feb. 1 that allowed the Kings to score a late goal in a crucial decision over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

“When the goal was scored, I went to my video-booth guy, and he said there was still time left on the clock,” he says. “We have the official time clock burned into the feed. But he didn’t go back further to see where it paused. None of us did.

“How did the clock pause? Was it user error, was it a flaw with clock? I’m not about to accuse anybody. I know the man who ran the clock, I trust the fact that he said he didn’t stop it. But I also understand that we’ve tested it before and never had an issue with it. Now, when we have a late-second goal, we go back to the last stoppage and chase it down from there.

“That changed our procedures.”

The league is also ensuring that all buildings and broadcasters have access to the official time clock. “When you’re talking about hundredths of a second, there can be a slight discrepancy in time among the TV people and us. In one game, the signals had three distinct and different times.”

So far, the afternoon has been quiet. The NHL staff are like firemen, however, on alert. So they cue up a contentious call from the night before in Pittsburgh, where referee Marc Joannette called a goal against the Florida Panthers that was soon overturned.

Murphy points to the monitor. “You can see that the way [Panthers goalie] Jose Theodore’s arm came down, the puck could never have been in the net. Joannette first seems to call no-goal and then seems to change his mind. We were pretty sure very quickly. The combination of all the new net cam and the overhead helped us make the call to overturn.”

On the video, Joannette can be seen announcing, “After review, it was determined that the puck did not completely cross the line” – followed by a cascade of boos from Pens fans.

“When Bob Errey’s doing the commentating [for the Penguins], anything in the blue is in the net,” Murphy says with a laugh. “But he admitted afterward that the NHL had made a real good call on that one.”

The hardest calls?

“High sticks,” Murphy says. “Because it’s almost impossible judging a three-dimensional play with two dimensions. Trying to find the puck, the stick and the crossbar. You can’t get it exactly where the stick contacts the puck. It’s hard to overrule the referees on those ones.”

How about kicking the puck?

“Kicking, we have more refined,” he says. “Now, it has to be a defined kicking motion. People used to talk about the skate staying on the ice, but you can still kick it in that way. We’ve permitted a lot more pucks off skates. A guy can turn his skate and it’s still good. It’s much more liberal in that way.”

And who gets the tie-breaking vote in case of a disagreement in the NHL war room?

“Whoever’s sitting here is the consensus guy,” Murphy says. “We’ve never had an argument about a play. … Not that we’d ever tell a reporter.”

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

[hockeygod]

Toronto school uses hockey to offer cool taste of Canada

Sean Fitz-Gerald , National Post, Mar 17, 2012

TORONTO — He was thin, soft-spoken and, four months after moving to Canada from Nepal, he was becoming a legend in the halls of Ted Reeve Arena. And that was before he stood in the hallway between the ice and the dressing rooms, fresh out of his equipment, with a sore tooth wiggling free.

It was aching and bothering Rupkrishna Dangol before he left home, but his dedication to Thursday morning hockey was unshakable. An on-ice instructor spoke in awe of the time Dangol pulled an overnight shift at the fast food restaurant where he works, then arrived to play hockey before taking a full day of high school classes. The instructor laughed and joked Dangol must have thought participation in hockey was mandatory in Canada.

“I love Canadian things,” Dangol said. “I just love it. I never thought … see?”

He paused, reaching to his mouth.

“My tooth is coming out,” he said.

Really?

“Yeah,” he said. “It’s out.”

It was in his left hand, which he closed quickly, embarrassed. He would see a dentist later in the day, after hockey, which had just ended for another week. Dangol and more than a dozen students from Eastern Commerce Collegiate Institute, in Toronto’s east end, were on the ice until the Zamboni engine roared, sounding the international signal to leave.

“I don’t want to miss hockey,” Dangol said in the hallway after. “I love to be here.”

Another student was playing with torn ligaments in her shoulder. Another got up early to commute from the eastern fringe of the city. They skated with rock music playing on the speakers, with coaches offering gentle instruction to teenagers who were playing for free in donated equipment that would have been fit for use in the National Hockey League.

Not all of them were new to Canada, but they were all new to hockey.

From September to April, an Eastern Commerce drama teacher and his dedicated band of volunteers run a hockey program open to students at the inner-city school. Eamonn Nolan estimates about 75 students have given it a try since it launched two years ago, meaning a fifth of the entire enrolment has been exposed to a game it might not otherwise be able to afford.

Another teacher handles the paperwork. Coaches from Beach Sports Academy, a training business based nearby, volunteer their time to teach the fundamentals of the game. Nolan, the dreamer behind the project, a beer-league veteran and married father of two, holds the belief that hockey can be used as a vehicle for inclusion in Canada, even in Toronto.

“Kids who go through high school at Eastern Commerce are not always as connected to the Canadian way of life,” Nolan said. “The things that we take for granted aren’t always taken for granted by Eastern Commerce kids. So hockey is kind of a cultural currency, you know? They learn through hockey that they can be just as much a part of the Canadian scene as any other kid.

“It doesn’t really matter that they’re not at an upper-middle-class school when they know the language, the nuances, the routines of hockey. If you know the order in which you should put on hockey equipment, you’ve got a passport for Canada, you know what I mean?”

Nolan was born in New York City, to Irish immigrants, but landed in Canada at age four and quickly fell in love with hockey. He lives near Eastern Commerce with his wife, Canadian Paralympic rower Victoria Nolan, and their hockey-playing children. Without factoring in the cost of gas, skate sharpening and Gatorade, Nolan estimates the couple will spend about $4,500 to have their own children play minor hockey this year.

Nolan launched his first program for less privileged students four years ago, after he left his job teaching in a wealthy uptown school for Sir Sandford Fleming Academy, a school in a less affluent part of north Toronto. It was move spurred by the realization he enjoyed “making a difference, making an impact and high-fiving the kids.”

There was no hockey equipment and limited funds. Nolan embarked on a scavenger hunt for equipment among his friends and the hockey people he knew around the city, yielding a bounty of leather elbow pads, ancient brown gloves and skateboard helmets.

He sought funding and failed. And then he was directed to the National Hockey League Players’ Association and its Goals and Dreams fund. The union has made $20-million in donations since it launched the program in 1999. Goals and Dreams sent Nolan 25 sets of equipment in a mountain of boxes that landed at Sandford Fleming.

“The caretaker was furious with me,” Nolan said with a broad smile.

There was an unused change room in the drama class he taught — “the drama program I teach is amazing, but it’s not Fame” — that was quickly converted into a hockey storage locker. The NHLPA followed up with invitations to the Hockey Hall of Fame, offering a chance to meet players from the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“A kid just comes from Afghanistan, he doesn’t know the Leafs; he could think I play for the Leafs, you know?” Nolan said. “So that was amazing.”

Two years ago, Nolan transferred to Eastern Commerce, a school known for basketball. Toronto Raptors centre Jamaal Magloire stands perhaps the tallest among its recent alumni.

“I’d say it’s a tough school,” Magloire said. “The demographics are very diverse, so a lot of different ethnicities there. It’s an inner-city school.”

And it is not known for hockey, though Magloire said if they had a program like Nolan’s when he was in school, “I would have given it a try.”

When Nolan changed jobs, he called the NHLPA again, which provided 25 more sets of gear. Last year, his new school and his old school met in a friendly game, the Goals and Dreams Cup. Leafs defenceman Luke Schenn was there, as was then-Leafs forward Tim Brent.

“To know that some of the money that we raised goes to kids who wouldn’t necessarily get the chance to have those types of days — whether it’s once or twice a week — it’s really all you can ask for,” said Brent, now with the Carolina Hurricanes. “It’s fantastic.”

“I take it more as a luxury rather than an extra-curricular program, just because I never really received the opportunity to go and play hockey,” said Sadaf Ahmed, a Grade 12 student at Eastern Commerce. “My parents could never afford such expensive equipment. So just the fact that I get to play hockey and do something that I love, and with the satisfaction that my parents are never burdened by the pricey costs, it’s just great.”

Ahmed grew up in Regent Park, a historically rough Toronto neighbourhood, and moved with her family last year to Scarborough. She has been accepted by two universities, but was still waiting to hear back from her preferred choice, the University of Toronto, after playing hockey one recent Thursday morning.

“I’m surrounded by violence, drugs, everything,” Ahmed said. “There’s a lot of negative influences around me, but when I come to see a positive influence like this, I take advantage of it.”

Another student, Carlie Manners, skated that day despite a badly injured shoulder. She is a first cousin of the late Jordan Manners, who died of a gunshot wound to the chest five years ago at C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute, in northwest Toronto. He was 15 years old, and he was close with his cousin.

Carlie Manners lives near Eastern Commerce and plays a variety of sports. She has also been snowboarding as part of another program Nolan has started.

“There’s a lot of different kids at Eastern who have even less than me,” she said. “So when they get this opportunity, and especially when they’re new to Canada, playing Canada’s pastime is huge for them.”

“I see my students, who’ve come from every part of the planet — and who come from Toronto, but come from a part of Toronto that’s like a different planet to many Canadians, I think — seeing them feeling included and being part of what we do is great for me,” Nolan said. “I’m a teacher, foremost, and that’s really important to me.”

And hockey, in turn, has become a weekly staple for some of his students. Dangol could not stand when he started, and if he managed to get to his feet, the accomplishment was followed swiftly by a fall. He has learned, gliding carefully through a scrimmage at the end of a recent session.

He had left his home, in the west end, at 7:15 a.m., to reach the east-end arena in time for the 9 a.m. skate. It is on the subway that he does a lot of his reading for school. He works up to 35 hours a week at the fast food restaurant, but had this one particular Thursday off.

“I’m here every Thursday,” he said. “I don’t miss a Thursday.”

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

[hockeygod]

Hockey World: Bigger is better when it comes to guarding goal in today’s NHL

Jim Matheson, edmontonjournal.com March 17, 2012

Who’s Hot: Dallas winger Loui Eriksson has 65 points and only 11 on the power play, hammering home how good he is playing 5-on-5.

Who’s Not: Rene Bourque only has four goals in 28 games for the Canadiens and is minus 16.

Marquee Matchups:

Tuesday: Coyotes in Dallas for Pacific Division lead and No. 3 seed overall.

Wednesday: Another instalment of the bitter Hawks-Canucks rivalry with Vancouver at the Madhouse on Madison.

Goalies like Oilers’ six-foot-five Devan Dubnyk are taking puck stopping to new heights

Could Andy Moog play in today’s NHL? How about Mike Vernon? Both were five-foot-nine and 170 pounds.

Grant Fuhr looked as big as a sumo wrestler in net some nights, the way he covered every inch of space, but he was only five-foot-11 and 185.

Now? Tall is in, baby. Look up, look way up.

“The average height of NHL goalies now is six-foot-two,” said Fred Chabot, the Oilers’ goalie coach, who played at five-foot-10.

Tim Thomas in Boston, Jaroslav Halak in St. Louis and Jose Theodore in Florida are small today, and they’re five-foot-11” Jimmy Howard is only six-foot even.

Contrast that with Ben Bishop, the NHL’s Hi-Rise at six-foot-seven as he tends net in Ottawa. Or Devan Dubnyk here, at six-foot-five. Or Pekka Rinne at six-foot-five in Nashville. Even the ones you think are average are big. Semyon Varlamov? He’s six-foot-two and 209 pounds, the same as Antti Niemi, who plays at 215 pounds.

“When I found out Varlamov was six-two, I said ‘really?’ ’’ said Phoenix goalie coach Sean Burke.

Scouts will look at junior or European goalies under six feet, but how closely? Under quick feet, good glove, competes hard, there’s the but … he’s under-sized.

“I don’t know if I’d have been drafted,” said Chris Osgood, who won 401 games and was only five-foot-10 and 180.

The question is this: does tall automatically equate to more saves?

“There’s an article you should write … which big ones will make it and which ones won’t?” said Ken Hitchcock, who’s got Halak and Brian Elliott (six-foot-three) and had Bishop knocking on the door until he was traded to the Senators for a second-round draft pick.

There is a theory that tall guys have to fall farther to the ice to handle shots along the ice, so pucks can skip under them. That was Bishop’s problem at one time, coming out of college, but Blues’ goalie coach Corey Hirsch worked hard with the giant to spread out. He gets to all the low shots now.

Chabot says size counts but they have to have agility to go with the ability, and it doesn’t matter if you’re built like Rinne (“he’s like Gumby in the net,” said Dubnyk) or the Vezina and Conn Smythe winner Thomas, the most unorthodox of today’s goalies who lives for making snow-angels in the crease.

“You can’t coach size. You can’t teach size,” said Chabot. “A little guy can’t be bigger. That’s how big he is.”

“Doesn’t matter how big a goalie is if he cannot move, though. If he’s six-four and he cannot move around on his feet, he’s not going to be good. Tall goalies also have to play a simple game. They don’t have to challenge a lot because they’re so big,” said Chabot. “The disadvantages? The holes are bigger. The five-hole is bigger. Playing along the post is more difficult, too, because there seem to be holes between them and the post. I’ve seen more and more goalies of that size and that’s a problem. Big goalies giving up goals along the ice? I don’t see that as a problem.”

“Size makes a difference because the forwards have so much freedom around the net. If a big goalie can move, it’s an advantage, for sure. All the screens, all the traffic, if you’re one of the tallest goalies, that helps.”

Every day Dubnyk wakes up he’s glad he’s six-foot-five not five-foot-10. He says he doesn’t have any trouble getting down to the ice and back up at his size. “Depends how your body is scaled. I’m six-five but most of my height is in my torso, from my hips up. From my hips to my feet, they’re the same as somebody who is six-one. The height is an advantage but it doesn’t affect how I move around the ice. Now, the higher your hips are off the ice, the harder it is to get down and the harder it is to recover,” said Dubnyk. “I think anybody at this level is quick enough to get to shots on the ice, but you might have to modify your stance a bit, wider, lower to the ice. I don’t think I could play like, say, (Evgeny) Nabokov (six-foot). He has his feet really close together. I know I couldn’t play like Thomas.”

To make himself bigger (upper body), he turns his knees inward and stands on the edges of his skates.

Dubnyk concurs with Chabot that “there are more holes for tall guys. The bigger goalie moves and the holes under the arm, the five-hole, there’s more room there. That’s why you see big goalies playing deeper in the net; the holes are bigger once you start to move. They’re looking for minimal movement.”

“There are times when I’d like to be smaller and closer to the ice, quicker movements, but when I make a shoulder save from a sharp angle sometimes, Khabby (Nikolai Khabibulin, who is six-foot-one) will get on me that it’s not fair,” laughed Dubnyk.

Burke, who played at six-foot-four and tutored Ilya Bryzgalov and now Mike Smith (two tall guys too), knows size matters. “It’s like seeing a Chara. It can be an advantage out there,” said Burke. “A bigger guy can look a little awkward, but if you’ve got good feet, that’s the key.”

“You go scouting now and if you find a goalie who’s as agile at six-three as a goalie who’s five-11, you’re going with the bigger guy. It’s no different with, say, a quarterback. You get a five-11 quarterback who’s quick and good, but if you have a six-five who is the same, you go with the six-five guy.”

Marty Turco (five-foot-11, 184) looked pretty small in net for the Bruins this week when Steve Stamkos whipped his 50th goal past him.

Burke, whose boy Brendan (six-foot-three) just turned 17 and plays for the Portland Winterhawks, knows big goalies are intimidating when a shooter is coming down the wing. It really is a psychological thing. “When you see a smaller goalie, I do think the shooter is thinking ‘this puck is going in,’ ’’ said Burke.

Western Conference:

Hyperbole is the staple of the sports world, so nobody should be surprised they’re calling Alex Radulov “the best player outside the NHL.”

OK, he lit up the Kontinental Hockey League but that’s only a cut above the AHL. How good is he really?

He bolted the Nashville Predators when he was 21 for fame and fortune in Ufa, a city of one million 1,500 kilometres from Moscow. He was MVP in that league, with 80 points one year. But will that translate to the NHL if the Predators ever end this soap opera and get the winger back? It would be nice to see him Tuesday night when the Oilers are in Nashville, but nobody knows if or when he could get his release from Salavat.

“The one year he was here we played him with (Peter) Forsberg in the playoffs. The next year he played with (Jason) Arnott and those guys and they didn’t treat him very well. I don’t know what happened off the ice but he decided he wanted to make big money right away. But, boy, he’s a dynamic player. He loves to score, loves to go to the net. He gets there because he wants to get there,” said Nashville’s former associate coach Brent Peterson.

He acknowledges the KHL isn’t the NHL, but believes scorers can score anywhere. Point-producers are point-producers.

Radulov was on the Russian Olympic team in Vancouver in 2010

“He led the KHL in scoring and was MVP twice,” said Peterson. “He had 25 goals for us as a 19-year-old. He was our best scorer then. He had only scratched the surface when he left us.”

Radulov, who played junior for Patrick Roy (152 points and 61 goals in 62 league games and 55 in 23 playoff games in 2006) was the MVP in the Memorial Cup that spring. He started the season in Milwaukee in 2006 like all their draft picks but only stayed a few weeks. “He was the only one we ever sent there who dominated the league. We had to bring him up. Had to. He had four goals one night,” said Peterson.

“He’s a playmaker too, not just a scorer. He loves hockey, loves to play the game. He wants to be on the ice. Some guys are players but they don’t like to play. They want the money and toys but not to play the game. Rads loves to play,” said Peterson.

Would Radulov riding in on a white horse to save the day, upset the chemistry in Nashville? I doubt it. Players want to win. He’ll help them win.

“It’s too bad he kind of left us hanging there, but he’s a good player, a great player. Hopefully if he comes back, he plays well and stays a while,” said defenceman Ryan Suter. “There will be a feeling-out process, but when he was here before he was a great guy.”

Peterson, like everybody else in Nashville, is in limbo.

“We have no idea what’s going on. If he’s coming or not,” said Peterson.

By the numbers:

0: Tim Thomas is a perfect 6-0 in shootouts this season.

1: The Devils lead the league in shootout wins.

28: Games between goals for Danny Briere, until getting one into an empty net against New Jersey.

This ’n’ that:

Theo Fleury, just in town for a Legends of Hockey game with the city police team at Rexall Place, says his country band with brother Ted will be playing a series of venues in Western Canada in the next little while. “We’re opening for a big name. A really big name,” said Theo, who wouldn’t say who it was. Ash Koley guitarist/keyboard player Phil Deschambault was with the Fleurys in a recording studio recently … The Predators will have to make due without centre Paul Gaustad (wrist). “He’s been great for us on faceoffs. He can take them from both sides, right or left. He wins about 70 per cent of them,” said Peterson … The Stars sorely miss Sheldon Souray, out with a charleyhorse the last four games. Souray isn’t the offensive weapon he used to be, but he’s fourth in minutes played (20:20) a night and he’s plus 20. They want to re-sign him. He’s making $1.65 million this year from the Stars and his buyout (two-thirds of $4.5 million Oiler salary) … The feeling is Canada won’t automatically give their world junior coaching job to either of Don Hay’s assistants — Ryan Huska (Kelowna) or George Burnett (Belleville). They may go in another direction for the worlds in Russia next Christmas … Injuries to Andy McDonald (separated shoulder, out for three weeks) and concussions to Alex Steen and Matt D’Agostini opened the door for Canadian world junior captain Jaden Schwartz to play and score a goal his first NHL game with the Blues in Tampa … He left Colorado College after two years. Blues’ coach Ken Hitchcock got a scouting report from Hay and it was two thumbs-up for Schwartz, even if he is joining the best team in the NHL. Schwartz may be used to kill penalties to start with … Ducks’ goalie Jonas Hiller, who stood on his head in a 4-2 (empty-net goal) loss to the Kings on Friday, has started 31 games in a row, every game going back to Jan. 10 when Jeff Deslauriers got a rare start in a 5-2 win over Dallas. Have there been that many must-win games for Anaheim in the last two months? Guess so … Wild captain Mikko Koivu, who has missed 14 games with a bum shoulder, might get into a few games before the season ends, but he might also need surgery in the off-season. Minnesota forward Pierre-Marc Bouchard has skated in a track suit, but you can forget seeing him until the fall as he rehabs a second concussion. Same story with Guillaume Latendresse. This would be three of the Wild’s top six forwards on the shelf. Little wonder, they can’t score … Former Oilers’ centre Colin Fraser is the Kings’ Masterton trophy nominee. Getting his hands dirty, often unnoticed, has long been his calling card. He comes by it naturally. As he said this week on the Kings website, his dad worked six days a week in a sawmill in B.C. and now he’s a longshoreman, unloading ships.

Eastern Conference:

We keep tossing out Quebec Remparts centre Mikhail Grigorenko as a possible Oilers’ pick in the June draft, but if they are going on need to fill a hole on the back-end, former Everett Silvertips GM Doug Soetaert says it’s a slam-dunk. It has to be Ryan Murray. “I was talking to Steve Yzerman and he told me Murray reminded him of Mark Howe,” said the one-time NHL goalie. Not Scott Niedermayer, as many people think? “No,” said Soetaert. “I’m not just saying this because I had Ryan and I saw him play all the time, but Ryan could play in the NHL right now. For me, he’s better than (Cam) Fowler (when he came into the NHL). I think he’s better than Luke Schenn and Tyler Myers (WHL first-round picks of the Leafs and Sabres). He’s a coach’s dream. At 16, he was playing against 20-year-olds in our league. Makes a great first pass.”

Soetaert, who once upon a time played for the Oil Kings with partner Larry Hendrick, was surprisingly let go in early February. He was GM and coach in Kansas City in the IHL for 11 years, joining Everett in 2002 with a one-year detour to be the Flames assistant GM. He’s a good man. He should be working somewhere.

This ’n’ that:

Ilya Bryzgalov became only the second Flyers goalie to ever record three straight shutouts, and set the club record of 249:33 minutes without giving up a goal until Michael Grabner beat him. The three-straight shutout goalie beside him? Not Bernie Parent or Pelle Lindbergh, who crashed his Porsche into a retaining wall. Instead, it was The Beezer, John Vanbiesbrouck, who also put up three zeros in a row. Bryzgalov, by the way, is taking his run low-key. He didn’t even skate out to acknowledge the Philly faithful after being named first star against Jersey in a 3-0 shutout … Most players go through a couple of pairs of skates in an NHL season, but Zdeno Chara figures he uses about 12 pair, wearing them out in about three weeks. “With my equipment on, I’m about 270, 280 pounds. That’s a lot of twisting and turning. The skates get wet and break down,” said Chara … If it’s true that Evgeny Kuznetsov, a slam-dunk to be on the Russian Olympic squad in Sochi in 2014, says he wants to stay in the KHL rather than come to Washington next year, it’s a kick in the head for the Caps, who were counting on Kuznetsov, the captain of the Russian world junior squad, to be a No. 2 centre. “With the uncertainty with the CBA (up on Sept. 15), he feels it’s better if he stays in Russia,” said a KHL source. Betting is he goes to either St. Petersburg where Denis Grebeshkov, Patrick Thoresen and Alexei Semenkov are playing or Ufa to replace Radulov … Adam Larsson, the second name on the Oilers scouting list after Ryan Nugent-Hopkins last June, has struggled in the last month with the Devils. First he hurt his back when P.K. Subban knocked him into the boards and missed 10 games, then he got benched against the Flyers. “Just a bump in the road. The league is at a different level now,” said Devils’ coach Pete DeBoer, who sat Larsson down to have a chat with Larry Robinson, the assistant coach. The message: less is more, simple plays preferred … Teams are always looking for quick fixes in trade deadline deals — the Oilers got a great return out of Sergei Samsonov in 2006 when they got him from the Bruins — but usually, there are growing pains. Cody Hodgson is still looking for his first point with the Sabres in nine games and has one shot on net his last three. He only played 11:08 against the Habs this past week. Not the first impression you want to make after a trade. Alex Sulzer, a defensive D-man, has two more points. Zack Kassian hasn’t been a huge factor in Vancouver, either … Nikita Filatov, who went back to play for Red Army in Moscow this winter after the Blue Jackets said goodbye to their failed first-round pick and he couldn’t crack the Senators after showing little inclination to go to where goals are scored in North America (around the blue paint), just got scratched from a junior team playoff. What a waste of talent. “You have to get a result, just not skate around,” said the junior Red Army coach, as relayed by ace Russian scribe Dmitry Chesnokov.

He Said It:

“It’s not the standard boo-yea, boo-yea. The fans come up with different things. They’re ruthless”

Jets’ coach Claude Noel after the fans at the MTS Centre started chanting “Crosby’s Better” every time Alex Ovechkin touched the puck Friday.

Matty Short Shifts:

• Face-offs are overrated. Evgeni Malkin wins 46.9 per cent of his draws, but always seems to have the puck and Steve Stamkos is just 45.7. The puck is always on his stick, too. You’d be surprised how many top-drawer centres are very average in the faceoff circle. They’re not all Jonathan Toews or Joe Thornton

• Can the Blackhawks win a playoff round without Toews, who likely has been texting Sidney Crosby on how to deal with a concussion? I can’t see it, although Marian Hossa, their best forward outside of Toews who was an MVP candidate before getting hurt, and Patrick Kane, now playing centre, are picking up the slack. Can Toews make it back before the post-season after skating four days and shutting it down? “Let’s hope so. That would be great,” said coach Joel Quenneville. Wishful thinking?

• Hands up, how many people thought Matt Cooke would be in the Lady Byng running this year? The kinder, gentler Cooke has had 15 minors and not one fighting major. Thirty penalty minutes. And he’s got 31 points, 16 goals in Pittsburgh. That’s the same number of goals as Pavel Datsyuk. OK, Datsyuk also has 43 assists.

• Could the Minnesota Wild finish with the league’s second-worst record? Everybody talks about the Leafs’ in free fall, how about Minny? Eight losses in their last nine, four times shut out in that span, a measly seven wins in the last 28 games going back to mid January. They’re only five points (68-63) ahead of the Oilers. Will they win three more games? Hawks twice, with the Preds, Canucks, Rangers, Coyotes, Panthers, Flames, Capitals, Kings, Sabres on their dance card?

• Not to beat a dead horse, but Crosby (349th in NHL scoring) has more points (17) in his 10 games than Dustin Penner (14) has in 54 games for the Kings. An lamentable season for Penner, who is 394th in scoring.

• Tim Thomas has looked bagged and every bit of his soon-to-be 38 years in the Bruins net — maybe because he’s played 133 games the last two years, counting playoffs — but he was back on his game against the Flyers Saturday. Was this a blip on the screen or are the Bruins ready to snap out of their half-season funk? They’re a .500 team the last 2 1/2 months. Patrice Bergeron, the most consistent Boston player this year has a sore knee. He got the shootout winner against Bryzgalov.

• Is there a more improved player in the league than Blake Wheeler in Winnipeg? His skating has come in leaps and bounds. When he’s attacking now, teams are in trouble. He’s got 59 points in 69 games Max Pacioretty in Montreal? Same story. Big body who eats up the ice. He’s got 58 points in 69 games. Can Teemu Hartikainen, who looks ungainly now, get his skating to match Wheeler and Pacioretty? If so, the Oilers, who desperately need his size on the wing, could be laughing. Hartikainen, who had seven hits against the Flames Friday, does have a touch around the net.

• Everybody talks about how the Red Wings almost never fight (only 15 majors all season). But the Oilers have only had 22, which puts them 23rd in the league. The Rangers are the most pugnacious with 58, and they just got six-foot-eight John Scott to add to their pugilistic arsenal.

• Marty Brodeur had a pedestrian start in Jersey but his goals-against average is down to 2.42 (17th best) and his save percentage is up to .907 in 51 games. He’s also 7-1 in shootouts this year (20 shots, 17 saves). He’s won more (42) than any other goalie since the skills contest came in.

• Funny how the Red Wings can’t beat anybody now without 41-year-old Nick Lidstrom, who is still in considerable pain with that bone bruise on his ankle that pains him every time he puts his foot in a skate boot, never mind takes a stride. Is this what we have to look forward to if he ever hangs up his skates? OK, they haven’t had Datsyuk (knee) either. He’s the second-best player in the league after Crosby in most recent players’ poll for The Hockey News. The Wings are going to draw Nashville in Round 1 (worst-case scenario), unless they get No. 4 seed and start at home where they’re dynamite.

• Former Atlanta Thrashers prez/GM/coach Don Waddell, now working for Pittsburgh, says the unsung hero for the Penguins is goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. “Honest to god, I don’t know if I’ve seen him have a bad game,” said Waddell, who was working with Team USA at the world junior tournament here at Christmas. Fleury and Carey Price have a leg up on being Canada’s 2014 Olympic guys, if the NHL sends its best to Sochi, in Russia.

• Take this to the bank: If Ken Hitchcock had still been unemployed, Caps’ GM George McPhee’s first call after firing coach Bruce Boudreau would have been to Hitch. Instead, it went to Dale Hunter. I don’t think Hunter will be back as coach; I think he really misses his London Knights junior team where his brother Mark is minding the store now as coach and GM. I don’t know if he actually likes being an NHL coach.

• Don’t be surprised if NHL clubs take a look at Oilers’ fourth-line winger Lennart Petrell who is an unrestricted free agent July 1. He’s a big body who can skate and finishes his checks. Also a good penalty-killer. Heavy shot, but almost never shoots. “He’s older, knows how to play,” said one scout.

• Former NHL GM Mike Smith (Winnipeg, Chicago), who has been living at Martha’s Vineyard on Cape Cod for years, is the North American recruiter for Yaroslavl as the Russian team rebuilds after the plane crash wiped out the whole team last fall. They will be back in the KHL next season after playing in a lower league in Russia this winter. “I don’t think it’ll be a problem getting players to go there. The pay there was beyond belief in some cases and the planes are better. The league is using Boeing planes now,” said KHL executive Igor Kuperman.

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

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