24 July, 2008

Category Archives: Calgary Flames

Your Presence Is Requested - 2008-09 Washington Capitals Schedule

By The OFB Team
Thursday, July 17, 2008

The NHL released the regular season schedule for all 30 teams today. The NHL will open its 91st season in Stockholm, Sweden and Prague, Czech Republic with a pair of games between the Rangers and Lightning in Prague and the Senators and Penguins in Stockholm on October 4th and 5th.

Washington Captials - secondary logoThe Capitals begin the season on the road in Atlanta on Friday, October 10th with the first home game the next day against Cristobal Huet and the Chicago Blackhawks.  Olaf Kolig visits the Phone Booth for the first time on November 10th.

This season’s schedule is under a new matrix that has each team to playing six games against each team in its division (24 games), four games against the non-division teams within its conference (40 games), and 18 non-Conference games — at least one game against each club in the other conference (15 games) and three home-and-home series against non-Conference teams.

Some schedule notes:

All thirty teams will be in action on the same day on Saturday,  October 25th.

The 2009 Winter Classic will take place on January 1st at Chicago’s Wrigley Field with the Blackhawks facing the Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Redwings.

The NHL All-Star Game will be held in Montreal’s Bell Centre on January 2tth.  Montreal will also host the 2009 Entry Draft on June 26th and 27th.

Hockey Day In Canada returns to its all-Canadian lineup on Februay 21st with Ottawa at Montreal, Vancouver at Toronto, and Calgary at Edmonton.

[Full Capitals Schedule after the break.]

Continue reading ›

Filed in Anaheim Ducks, Atlanta Thrashers, Atlantic Division, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes, Central Division, Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Eastern Conference, Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild, Montreal Canadiens, Nashville Predators, National Hockey League, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Northeast Division, Northwest Division, Ottawa Senators, Pacific Division, Philadelphia Flyers, Phoenix Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins, San Jose Sharks, Southeast Division, St. Louis Blues, Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, Washington Capitals, Western Conference| Permalink| Comments (13)

First-Round Flops Over the Years

By pucksandbooks
Friday, June 20, 2008

No team can get it right in round one every year, even drafting very high. And at times all teams get it really wrong then. A survey such as this is a powerful reminder of the crapshoot that is selecting 18-year-old hockey players. However, it is also an invitation for fans to react with, “What the *@^* were you thinking?”

I’ve included picks made by the Whale with those of the Hurricanes, and of those made by the Nordiques in association with Colorado, to even out the survey period. No need however to add Winnipeg to Phoenix’s draft woes — the Desert Dogs know how to screw the draft pooch up high all on their own. Take a look:

Team Player Picked Comment Studs Selected After
Anaheim Stanislav Chistov (5th, 2001) The ‘07 Cup win offers serious salve for the Stanislav screwup Mike Komisarek, Pascal Leclaire, R.J. Umberger, Ales Hemsky, Mike Cammalleri
Atlanta Patrick Stefan (no.1, 1999) The ‘99 harvest wasn’t swell to be sure, but this still is a serious stinker The Sedin twins, Martin Havlat
Boston Lars Jonsson (7th, 2000) A good recipe for Swedish meatballs would have delivered more Brooks Orpik, Alexander Frolov, Anton Volchenkov, Niklas Kronvall
Buffalo Shawn Anderson, (5th, 1986) This was a Shawn of the Dead selection Vincent Damphousse, Brian Leetch, Craig Janney, Teppo Numminen
Calgary Bryan Deasley (19th, 1987) The Flames’ no. 1 from ‘86, George Pelawa, died in a motorcycle crash that summer, making this a two-year strikeout stretch John LaClair, Eric Desjardins, Mathieu Schneider, Stephane Matteau
Carolina/Hartford Fred Arthur (8th, 1980) No relation to Bea Arthur, except in NHL impact Paul Coffey, Brent Sutter, Craig Ludwig, Steve Larmer, Andy Moog, Jari Kurri
Chicago Tony Tanti (12th, 1981) Wirtz maybe thought he’d sign cheap? Al MacInnis, Chris Chelios, Mike Vernon, John Vanbiesbrouck
Colorado/Quebec Aniel Dore (5th, 1988) Who doesn’t own an Aniel Dore Nordiques’ sweater? Jeremy Roenick, Teemu Selanne, Rob Blake, Rod Brind’Amour, Martin Gelinas
Columbus Alexander Picard (8th, 2004) Inspector Clousseau isn’t going to look into this pick — he made it Alexander Radulov, Drew Stafford, Andrej Meszaros, Wojtek Wolski
Dallas Jason Bacashihua (26th, 2001) Played with the ECHL’s Johnston Chiefs in ‘07-08, which for a first-rounder seven years after being drafted is a fairly moderate pace of development Derek Roy, Fedor Tyutin, Mike Cammalleri, Jason Pominville, Dave Steckel
Detroit Shawn Burr (7th, 1984) I thought briefly of exluding the Wings from this exercise, they draft so well, and you have to go back a bit to find a serious screwup Shane Corson, Sylvain Cote, Gary Roberts, Kevin Hatcher, Scott Mellanby
Edmonton Marc-Antoine Pouliot (22nd, 2003) Overlooked this scouting report by the rest of the league: “Thin, weak, won’t hit or backcheck or play in traffic. Other than that, he’s dandy.” Mike Richards, Corey Perry, Patrice Bergeron, Matt Carle
Florida Petr Taticek (9th, 2002) Why no postseasons in Sunrise, Cats’ fans ask? Look at this pick Alexander Semin, Chris Higgins, Alexander Steen, Cam Ward
Los Angeles Wally McBean (4th, 1987) Not a new lunch item at MickeyD’s Joe Sakic, Andrew Cassels, Mathieu Schneider, Luke Richardson
Minnesota (Wild/Stars) Brian Lawton (no. 1, 1983) The bridesmaid to Daigle Pat LaFontaine, Steve Yzerman, Tom Barrasso, Cam Neely
Montreal Terry Ryan (8th, 1995) Terry Hatcher would have looked better here Jarome Iginla, J.S. Giguere, Petr Sykora, Martin Biron
Nashville Brian Finley (6th, 1999) The day the music stopped in Honkeytonkville Barret Jackman, Martin Havlat, Mike Commodore, David Tanabe
New Jersey Adrian Foster (28th, 2001) Yo, Adrian! Legend has it that Foster wasn’t even on other teams’ lists — anywhere! Fedor Tyutin, Mike Cammalleri, Peter Budaj, Ray Emery, Patrick Sharp
NY Islanders Dave Chyzowski (2nd, 1989) Can’t blame Mad Mike for this one — he didn’t arrive until ‘95 Bill Guerin, Pavel Bure, Olaf Kolzig, Stu Barnes
NY Rangers Hugh Jessiman (12th, 2003) Hughe mistake! Brent Seabrook, Steve Bernier, Zach Parise, Ryan Getzlaf
Ottawa Alexander Daigle (no. 1, 1993) The Mother of all Misses; to “Daigle” in round one is every GM’s nightmare Chris Pronger, Paul Kariya, Todd Bertuzzi, Brendan Witt, Adam Deadmarsh
Philadelphia Claude Boivin (14th, 1988) Philly does real well in the first round; this year, not so much Rob Blake, Alexander Mogilny, Tony Amonte, Bret Hedican, Tie Domi
Phoenix Blake Wheeler ( 5th, 2004) Wheeler of misfortune; think Gretz & co. reached here? Rostislav Olesz, Alexander Radulov, Drew Stafford, Wojtek Wolski
Pittsburgh Zarley Zalapski (4th, 1980) ZZ FlopTop and agonizing alliteration Paul Coffey, Jari Kurri, Steve Larmer, Craig Ludwig, Brent Sutter
San Jose Pat Falloon (2nd, 1991) Plus, Pat had to don that original San Jose teal sweater on the ‘91 draft stage Scott Niedermayer, Peter Forsberg, Martin Lapointe, Brian Rolston, Alexei Kovalev
St. Louis Perry Turnbull (2nd, 1979) 188 goals in an NHL career is nothing to snicker at, but methinks Ray Bourque would have helped out more Ray Bourque, Mike Gartner, Brian Propp, Kevin Lowe
Tampa Alexander Svitov (3rd, 2001) Tampa (Nikita Alexeev) hasn’t exactly struck Lightning with first-round Russians Pascal Leclaire, Alex Hemsky, R.J. Umberger, Shaone Morrisonn
Toronto Gary Nylund (3rd, 1982) This is the stuff of Cup droughts Scott Stevens, Phil Housley, Dave Andreychuk, Doug Gilmour
Vancouver Jere Gillis (4th, 1978) The Canucks have no home-grown Hall of Famers, including Gillis Mark Napier, Don Maloney, Doug Wilson, Bengt Gustafsson
Washington Greg Joly ( no.1, 1974) Good Golly what a stinker! “The next Bobby Orr” it was said of Joly in ‘74. Umm, not so much. Clark Gillies, Pierre Larouche, Bryan Trottier, Doug Riesbrough
Filed in Anaheim Ducks, Atlanta Thrashers, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, DraftGeek, Edmonton Oilers, Entry Draft, Florida Panthers, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild, Montreal Canadiens, Nashville Predators, National Hockey League, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Philadelphia Flyers, Phoenix Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins, San Jose Sharks, St. Louis Blues, Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (4)

We Look Like Postseason Calgary

By pucksandbooks
Saturday, April 5, 2008

If you saw Calgary Flames’ playoff games when “Red Outs” were declared, that’s what Verizon Center looks like tonight.

All three levels.

Comcast’s Lisa Hillary spent part of her broadcasting career in Calgary.

“This looks just like Calgary’s ‘Red Mile’,” she told me.

Filed in Calgary Flames, Lisa Hillary, National Hockey League, Stanley Cup Playoffs, Washington Capitals, Western Conference| Permalink| Comments (0)

Hockey That Matters

By Gustafsson
Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Here’s a promo for tonight’s Flames vs. Oilers game from Rogers SportsNet West. Think we’ll ever see a similar promo on Comcast SportsNet or Versus?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntw843Nq5ug

Filed in Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Rogers SportsNet, TV, Video Clips| Permalink| Comments (0)

Beating a Dead Horse

By DC Sports Chick
Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Jarome Iginla- NHL.com

This week featured two very different columns from opposite sides of the country about Hart candidacy. Let’s start with Ross McKeon’s head-scratching column from Yahoo! Sports:

People in Washington and Pittsburgh won’t like to hear this, but if the season were to end today, Jarome Iginla is the league’s most valuable player…He may not have as many goals and not as many points as others, but Iginla is the living, breathing, skating definition of the award: the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team.

Wow, he uses fancy words like “adjudged!” Yet it takes him three-quarters of the way through the article to actually explain why Iginla is worthy. The reader eventually gets to McKeon’s point:

So then why is Iginla the MVP? First off, remember that while Canada is plenty passionate about its hockey, and Alberta is very proud of Iginla, Calgary is not that big of a media market. It’s not as bad as a Thornton in San Jose or a Ryan Getzlaf in Anaheim, but Iginla’s games start later and the Flames aren’t featured as often on late-night highlight shows as eastern-based teams.

What a convincing argument. (Let’s not even discuss the media coverage of hockey in Washington, which pales in comparison to Calgary.) Somehow, I fail to see how Iginla gets less coverage because he’s in the West as opposed to players in the East and games out there end later. Other Western Conference teams, like the Ducks and Canucks, get plenty of play on shows like “NHL on the Fly” despite the late-ending games. But wait, it gets better:

Iginla is a fierce leader who is the best money player in his sport. When the game is on the line, Iginla is going to do something to help his team. He is clutch.

Can’t one argue that all of the top candidates are clutch players? I’d certainly say that about Ovechkin and Malkin.

But Iginla’s game goes beyond numbers. He’s the only captain among the top three candidates. He’s tough as nails, a willing combatant if he feels he needs to drop the gloves. He’s engaging, inspiring, relentless, the total package.

Iginla is definitely all of that. However, why does it matter if he’s “the only captain among the top three candidates?” How is that relevant? And how convenient that numbers suddenly don’t matter. McKeon also trots out the trite and hackneyed “Ovechkin won’t win because the Caps won’t make the playoffs” excuse. Luckily, one writer sees past that. Dan Sernoffsky of the Lebanon (Pa.) Daily News recently wrote a glowing column about Ovechkin:

But for now, just watching Ovechkin play, to see the passion he brings to the game, and to see the sheer, unadulterated joy he exhibits, has unquestioningly become a major attraction to a game that all-too-often is denigrated by those who fail to really appreciate the skill and athleticism inherent in the players and instead focus on the actions that result in suspensions or injuries.

Ovechkin seems to react the same way no matter who scores. When he’s on the ice, whether he has a hand in the goal or not, he is usually among the first to embrace the goal-scorer, and to do it with the joy and enthusiasm of a 6-year-old on Christmas morning. It is unscripted spontaneity, a huge breath of fresh air on the landscape of professional sports where athletes sometimes appear to be more interested in what shows up on the highlight clips than what transpires in the game.

Despite those who consider Ovechkin’s celebrations “showboating” (Don Cherry, I’m looking at you), Sernoffsky is one of many who actually like to see a player enjoy a moment with teammates.

He continues:

It should also put to rest, once and for all, the notion that a prerequisite for consideration of most valuable player honors must include the team for which the player plays reaching the playoffs…But there should be no question about Ovechkin. It’s doubtful that any other player has even had the impact on the Capitals that Ovechkin has had — his 60 goals account for more than 30 percent of Washington’s goal total this season — and there’s little question few players have ever had the same overall impact on the league Ovechkin has had. He is the best in the league.

Really, how much more valuable can a player be to his team? I’d ask Ross McKeon, but numbers are irrelevant to him.

Filed in Alexander Ovechkin, Calgary Flames, Evgeni Malkin, Internet, Media, Pittsburgh Penguins, Print, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (4)

Misguided Mike Strikes Again

By DC Sports Chick
Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Another day, another post about who should win the Hart. Mike Brophy, THN columnist, treated us to his completely original ruminations that featured suggestions like this:

I will say, though, I have narrowed it down to four candidates – goalies Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils and Roberto Luongo of the Vancouver Canucks, left winger Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals and right winger Jarome Iginla of the Calgary Flames.

All fair choices. However, he follows up with this:

I firmly believe, had Sidney Crosby not missed so much action with that high ankle sprain, he would have repeated as the Hart winner. Oh well.

It’s the Sidney Crosby machine at its finest. Any shred of credibility that Brophy may have had went out the window with that statement. Does he understand the whole point of the Hart trophy? Yes, Crosby is an asset to his team. However, it’s not like the team fell apart in Crosby’s absence; if anything, they improved and now sit fourth in the Eastern Conference. Brophy does make this concession in regards to Ovechkin:Hart Trophy- NHL.com

And if the award were for the best player this season, he’d win it hands-down. Voters are supposed to reward “The player adjudged to be most valuable to his team.� Has anybody been more valuable to his team than Ovechkin?

No argument there. But that’s not good enough for Brophy. He proceeds to throw out Iginla’s statistics; while impressive, they don’t match Ovechkin’s. Then he puts down the Canucks and the Devils’ defense in order to make his point for Luongo and Brodeur. No one is suggesting that those players aren’t worthy of consideration, but shouldn’t the candidates be presented in a more positive fashion than “without them, the team would be gunning for a lottery draft pick and not a playoff spot?”

But that’s all right. Brophy is still looking for a winner:

With a few weeks to go, the Hart Trophy is still wide open from my perspective. So wide open, in fact, Daniel Alfredsson might sneak into the pack with a strong finish.

Alfie definitely is valuable to his team, but this suggestion goes against his logic for the other candidates (except for Brodeur and possibly Iginla). Ottawa is a team who went through much of the season in the number one spot in the conference, but they’re now in a bit of a decline. Yet, according to Brophy’s logic, because the Sens are going to the playoffs, a player like Alfredsson would be a good candidate.

I’m not the only one who feels this way about him- other bloggers don’t quite worship at the Church of Brophy. The Battle of Alberta said this about him last year:

Note to print, television and internet editors everywhere: hire about five to ten of us, give us some money and support, and we’ll put out a product a hundred times greater than the boring, illogical and demeaning junk being put out by Mike Brophy and others of his ilk.

DMG of Caps Blue Line felt similarly about Brophy:

Mike Brophy is becoming my favorite hockey writer. Because he’s so damn easy to mock.

The compliments go on and on. You also have to wonder about a guy who allegedly champions convicted child molesters, but that’s neither here nor there. That’s Mike Brophy, mental genius.

Filed in Alexander Ovechkin, Calgary Flames, Media, New Jersey Devils, Sidney Crosby, The Hockey News, Vancouver Canucks, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (15)

Losing Skid Halted - Caps 3 / Flames 2 / AO 55, 56 / Kolzig 300

By The OFB Team
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Filed in 2 Points, Alexander Ovechkin, Calgary Flames, Olaf Kolzig, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (5)

Fire on Ice

By The OFB Team
Monday, December 3, 2007

This is not the Calgary Flames’ idea of a dramatic entry for its players.

Filed in Calgary Flames, Video Clips, Zambonis| Permalink| Comments (3)

Quarter Mark Report Card

By pucksandbooks
Wednesday, November 21, 2007

My three stars of the season’s first quarter are:

(3) Pascal Leclaire — the backstopper of the BlueJackets, disbelievingly into playoff contention, with a .940 save percentage, 1.59 goals-against (second-best in the league) and five shutouts. He’s my Vezina Trophy winner for the first quarter;

(2) Henrik Zetterberg — previously a terrific scoring forward, now a superstar, and clearly a more dynamic talent up front for the Wings than Pavel Datsyuk. Soon to be paid so?;

(1) Vincent Lecavalier — simply having his best season as a pro, the league’s leading scorer with 32 pts.; dominating his opposition and making what was believed to be a top-heavy corps of Bolts’ forwards into a first line that’s so good it matters little what contributions, if any, follow. He’s my Hart Trophy winner for the first quarter.

Honorable mention: Jarome Iginla (26 points in 19 games) is having an MVP quality season, but he’s laboring on a struggling Flames club. And Comcast, for coming through with NHL CenterIce, the NHL Network, and Lisa Hillary.

Cup'pa JoeFalling stars:

(3) the Washington Capitals

(2) Marc Andre Fleury

(1) Reebok

Midwest Mojo: Rebuilds in Chicago and St. Louis are ahead of pace and impressive. Patrick Kane is my Calder Trophy winner for the first quarter. Robert Lang, with 19 points in 20 games, and skating a +7, is giving the Hawks precisely the kind of productive, veteran leadership they’d hoped for on the top line. Still, the Hawks have issues — in their back end. They’ve surrendered 61 goals, and both Khabibulin and Lalime sport sub-.900 save percentages. But after a decade of dreariness, the Hawks are fun to watch again. The leading scorers for the Blues are greybeards Paul Kariya and Keith Tkachuk. After that, it’s a lunchpail outfit that’s outworking its opponents. There’s a lot of youth of that roster, so it may strengthen as the season progrsses. And what of Clumbus, the claimers of Jiri Novotny and Kris Beech? They are eighth in the West, and 6-2-1 at home.

In the East, Montreal and the Islanders have been stunning success stories. It’s a balanced attack in Montreal: the Habs already have eight players in double digits in scoring. And remember how everybody in hockey was pitying the Isles after the opening hours of free agency, when guys like Jason Blake, Tom Poti, and Viktor Kozlov bolted? Ted Nolan is working his second consecutive miracle on the Isle.

Might in the Michaels. Mike Richards and Mike Cammalleri have staked out take-it-to-the-bank All Star game selections. Richards (23 points in 19 games) is Philadelphia’s most consistent and dynamic performer, a point-per-game player who this season has transitioned from promising youngster to elite, captain-quality talent. His three shorthanded tallies lead the league. Cammalleri (12 goals, 7 assists) is beginning to look a lot like the Western conference’s version of Martin St. Louis.

Jolly Ole Productive St. Nik. Nik Antropov is healthy and playing virtually a point-a-game hockey for the Leafs, and skating a +9. Who knew he could? He had 33 points last season, and a high of 16 goals and 29 assists in 2002-03. Obviously he’s on pace for a career year. Alex Kovalev is on pace for 40 goals. Meanwhile, Jonathon Cheeechoo has just 3 goals in 21 games for the Sharks. Jaromir Jagr, I’m sad to report, is on pace for 16 goals this season, and Chris Drury (3 goals!) even less. Still, their Rangers have seriously heated up in the Atlantic.

Jeremy Roenick — remember him? — is outscoring Mike Modano, Brendan Shanahan, Thomas Vanek, Drury, Chris Higgins, Brian Gionta, and Patrick Marleau. One of the reasons Tampa was able to survive the loss of Dan Boyle for much of the season’s first quarter was the play of Paul Ranger: 4 goals, a +11, and an able distributor on the power play point.

It sure appears as if Peter Forsberg has played his last game in the NHL, and perhaps in pro hockey period. Next stop, the Hall of Fame. Less honorably sidelined, in my judgment, are Scott Niedermayer and Teamu Selanne, who appear to want to allow their Ducks teammates to shoulder the early regular season’s bumps and bruises before perhaps rejoining them for the stretch run and postseason. I’m sorry, but hockey players play hockey when hockey starts, not finishes. Without them, the defending champion Ducks are holding it together rather well.

Guy Carbonneau and Ted Nolan share the Jack Adams Trophy for the season’s first quarter, from my vantage. Honorable mention: Ken Hitchcock.

Filed in Calgary Flames, Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings, Eastern Conference, Lisa Hillary, Minnesota Wild, Montreal Canadiens, Morning cup-a-joe, Nashville Predators, National Hockey League, New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins, Sidney Crosby, St. Louis Blues, Western Conference| Permalink| Comments (0)

OFB Season Preview

By The OFB Team
Wednesday, October 3, 2007

What would a band of hockey bloggers be without predictions for the new NHL season?

We don’t claim to possess either a crystal ball or spy’s eyes inside the training camps of 29 other clubs, but we thought it might be helpful to our readers to compile a list of offseason (and late last season) player movement, in a concise file, and have a little fun offering up none-too-accountable “Thumbs Up” or “Thumbs Down” forecasts for all 30 teams.

Basically, a team earned a “Thumbs up” if we thought its manuevering and maturation suggested that it’d improved upon its 2006-07 points total. Clubs that “stayed pat” or engineered boneheaded signings and/or inexplicable, high-end free agent farewells were awarded “Thumbs down.”

So we’ve provided everything “primer” a puckhead could need here.

Except the beer.

Team Comings Goings Youth is Served Verdict
Mathieu Schneider Selanne and Neidermeyer (for now?), Dustin Penner Bobby Ryan Thumbs Down
Eric Perrin, Ken Klee, Todd White Scott Mellanby, Shane Hnidy,
Glen Metropolit, Keith Tkachuk,
Denis Hamel, Eric Belanger,		 Bryan Little (?) Thumbs Down
Glen Metropolit, Aaron Ward,
Peter Schaefer		 Shane Donovan Matt Lashoff (?) Thumbs Down
Jocelyn Thibault Almost everyone Dan Paille, Drew Stafford Thumbs Down
Adrian Aucoin, David Hale,
Cory Sarich, Owen Nolan		 Tony Amonte, Jeff Friesen,
Roman Hamrlik, Brad Stuart,
Andrei Zyuzin		 Eric Nystrom (?) Thumbs Down
Matt Cullen Jack Johnson, Anson Carter,
David Tanabe		 None Hmm . . .
Brent Spoel, Robert Lang,
Sergei Samsanov, Andrei Zyuzin,
Yanic Perreault		 Michal Handzus, Adrian Aucoin,
Peter Bondra, Jason Cullimore		 Jonathon Toews, Patrick Kane,
Jack Skille		 Thumbs Up
Scott Hannan, Ryan Smyth, Ken Klee, Pierre Turgeon,
Ossi Vaananen, Patrice Brisebois		 None Thumbs Up
Michael Peca, Jiri Novotny Brian Boucher, Bryan Berard Gilbert Brule, Derick Brassard (?) Hmm . . .
Todd Fedoruk Matthew Barnaby, Jon Klemm,
Eric Lindros, Ladislav Nagy,
Patrik Stefan, Darryl Sydor		 Niklas Grossman Thumbs Down
Brian Rafalski, Dallas Drake Robert Lang, Todd Bertuzzi,
Kyle Calder, Danny Markov,
Mathieu Schneider		 Igor Grigorenko Thumbs Down
Sheldon Souray, Joni Pitkanen,
Dustin Penner, Denis Grebeshkov,
Dick Tarnstrom		 Ryan Smyth, Joffrey Lupul,
Petr Sykora, Jason Smith		 Sam Gagner, Ryan O’Marra (?) Hmm . . .
Richard Zednik, Radek Dvorak,
Tomas Vokoun		 Ed Belfour, Alex Auld, Martin Gelinas, Chris Gratton, Todd Bertuzzi None Thumbs Up
Brad Stuart, Tom Preissing,
Kyle Calder, Michal Handzus,
Ladislav Nagy		 Mathieu Garon, Jamie Heward,
Tom Kostopoulos, Jamie Lundmark,
Aaron Miller		 Jonathon Bernier, Jack Johnson Thumbs Up
Eric Belanger, Sean Hill, Manny Fernandez, Todd White Benoit Pouliot (?) Hmm . . .
Roman Hamrlik, Bryan Smolinski,
Tom Kostopoulos		 Sheldon Souray, Radek Bonk,
Sergei Samsanov, Mike Johnson		 Carey Price, Kyle Chipchura,
Andrei Kostitsyn		 Thumbs Down
Martin Gelinas, Radek Bonk Almost everyone Ville Koistinen, Kevin Klein (?) Thumbs Down
Dainius Zubrus, Vitali Vishnevski,
Kevin Weekes, Karel Rachunek		 Scott Gomez, Brian Rafalski Nicklas Bergfors (?) Thumbs Down
Bill Guerin, Mike Comrie,
Ruslan Fedotenko		 Almost everyone Sean Bergenheim (?) Thumbs Down
Scott Gomez, Chris Drury Michael Nylander, Karel Rachunek,
Matt Cullen, Kevin Weekes,
Brad Isbister		 Marc Staal, Ryan Callahan (?) Thumbs Up
Shean Donovan, Luke Richardson,
Denis Hamel		 Mike Comrie, Tom Preissing,
Peter Schaefer, Oleg Saprykin		 Nick Foligno, Brian Lee Thumbs Down
Daniel Briere, Joffrey Lupul,
Jason Smith, Martin Biron,
Scott Upshall, Kimo Timonen		 Peter Forsberg, Joni Pitkanen,
Kyle Calder, Robert Esche,
Todd Fedoruk, Mike York		 Braydon Coburn, Ryan Parent Thumbs Up
Alex Auld, Radim Vrbata,
Niko Kapanen, Mike York		 Owen Nolan, Jeremy Roenick,
Curtis Joseph, Mike Ricci		 Peter Mueller Thumbs Down
Darryl Sydor, Gary Roberts,
Petr Sykora		 Eric Cairns, Joel Kwiatkowski,
Jocelyn Thibault, Michel Ouellet,
Nils Ekman, Josef Melichar		 Kristopher Letang Thumbs Up
Craig Rivet, Jeremy Roenick Scott Hannan, Bill Guerin,
Vesa Toskala		 None Hmm . . .
Paul Kariya, Keith Tkachuk Radek Dvorek, Dallas Drake,
Glen Metropolit, Jamie Rivers		 Erik Johnson Thumbs Up
Michel Ouellet, Chris Gratton,
Jan Hlavac		 Cory Sarich, Ruslan Fedotenko,
Eric Perrin		 Karri Ramo (?) Thumbs Down
Jason Blake, Mark Bell, Vesa Toskala Jeff O’Neill, Michael Peca,
Yanic Perreault, J.S. Aubin		 Jiri Tlusty (?) Thumbs Down
Brad Isbister, Ryan Shannon Bryan Smolinski, Brent Sopel, Jan Bulis, Rory Fitzpatrick, Luc Bourdon (?) Thumbs Down
Michael Nylander, Viktor Kozlov,
Tom Poti		 Dainius Zubrus, Kris Beech,
Bryan Muir, Jiri Novotny		 Nicklas Backstrom, Mike Green,
Tomas Fleischmann		 Thumbs Up
Filed in Anaheim Ducks, Atlanta Thrashers, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes, Central Division, Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Eastern Conference, Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild, Montreal Canadiens, Nashville Predators, National Hockey League, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Northeast Division, Northwest Division, Ottawa Senators, Pacific Division, Philadelphia Flyers, Phoenix Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins, San Jose Sharks, Southeast Division, St. Louis Blues, Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, Washington Capitals, Western Conference| Permalink| Comments (6)

Ice Girls of the NHL

By Gustafsson
Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Japers’ Rink let the Capitals’ limited season ticket survey out of the bag that once again broached the subject of “Ice Girls”. Neither OrderedChaos nor I received the season ticket survey, so we don’t know if it included more than the five questions mentioned by Japers’.

Although we have pondered the idea of Washington Capitals’ Ice Girls, we don’t know if this is a done deal or not. Most of the other teams have already held their tryouts. Is Washington behind the curve, so to speak? Or have super secret auditions already been held and ice girls are ready to hit the ice on September 8th?

In any case, we were curious as to how many other teams have such squads. The answers may surprise you.

New York Islanders Ice Girls

[update: Dan Steinberg is at Kettler and has not seen any "ice-based cheer persons".]
[update 2: Dan Steinberg received confirmation from Nate Ewell, Director of Media Relations, that there will be no ice-based cheer persons roaming the Phone Booth this season.]

Filed in Anaheim Ducks, Atlanta Thrashers, Boston Bruins, Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Dallas Stars, Florida Panthers, Ice Girls, Nashville Predators, New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators, Philadelphia Flyers, Phoenix Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Vancouver Canucks, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (13)

Mike Keenan is The Highlander

By OrderedChaos (Mike Rucki)
Friday, June 15, 2007

I’m not a big fan of ESPN’s Scott Burnside. He knows hockey and loves the game, but is too reactionary — he seems to decry every big hit as dirty, for example — and he clearly has no love lost for the Capitals and other small-market teams. But I totally agree with Burnside’s assessment of Flames’ GM Darryl Sutter’s bizarre decision to hire the apparently immortal Mike Keenan . . . and any article that compares Mike Keenan to a cockroach is worth a read.

The fiery coach is now far removed from his greatest triumph, the 1994 Stanley Cup win with the New York Rangers. He has been living off that success for every minute of the past 13 years with absolutely no tangible indication he can coach an NHL team anymore.”

Filed in Calgary Flames, ESPN| Permalink| Comments (5)

Awash in Colors of Passion

By pucksandbooks
Wednesday, April 18, 2007

cupajoe.jpegThe most vivid illustration that, to borrow a phrase from Mike Vogel, it’s hockey’s most wonderful time of the year, was on display last night in the Calgary Saddledome: a Stampede of Red, a Sea of Red-Out, the Calgary iteration of the novel fashion spirit begun more than 15 years ago in Winnipeg. Remember all those Jets’ fans and their white-out of their home arena? Why Winnipeg? My hunch: spring in Winnipeg generally starts in July, and so it wasn’t so much a concerted fashion effort on the part of Jets’ fans as their simply arriving at the rink in April and May blanketed in snow.

Whatever their origins, color-outs by the home crowd have retained their vitality through the years. They’ve avoided fading into fad or cliche. That’s because they’re only hauled out of closets in the postseason. It’s a special act reserved for a special time.

It occurs to me that they’re a novelty unique to the arena spectating experience. For one thing, it’s far easier organizing the fashion sense of 15,000 than for 75,000. But it’s also the arena fans’ proximity to the playing surface that delivers the color-outs their visual dynamism.

I’m not sure they have any appreciable impact on the games themselves. But I’m sure that doesn’t matter. They’re unifying, in perfect taste, and they’re indigenous to hockey.

But it also occurs to me that there’s a cultural component to their durability and devotion. Notice that they emerged and took a lasting legacy in two of the NHL’s smallest markets, Winnipeg and Calgary, while never gaining a chest-hold in the league’s grander markets. When the Jets moved to Phoenix, the desert citizenry commendably carried on the tradition. It’s a grassroots uprising, a passion of the Plains and the plain-speaking, the counterpoint to cosmopolita.

You know for a while the Caps and their fans copy-catted with their own postseason whiteout. When it runs again on ESPNClassic, Game 7 of the Caps’-Flyers heartstopper in ‘88, at venerable Capital Centre, carries a magnificent backdrop of the Big Pringle being awash in white. An OFB reader last week reminded us that amid the delerium of Dale Hunter’s overtime series winner the television broadcast pans in on a fist-pumping Warren Strelow seated in press row.

Can you tell yet where I’m going with this?

Phoenix Netminder

Since it’s a summer of change in hockey Washington, I thought I’d propose one of my own: a fresh fashion statement by Caps’ fans next season at Verizon Center, but beginning not with the postseason but rather with the first visit by the Penguins. Gracious but we need to do something dramatic to counteract all the ugliness — and here I’m not referring merely to the prevalence of visiting colors and their allegiance — clotting our rink by mullets and slugs.

We can have fun sorting out the specifics, but in general, I’d like to see Verizon Center enveloped in Red, White, and Blue. Maybe you have a half dozen rows in alternating bands of red and white, representing the bars of our flag. Maybe you have variance of the colors section by section. But you do it for Pittsburgh. Not Tampa, not Atlanta, not Carolina. Division alliances, middling as they are, be damned. Our rival today is clear. A fresh war was declared here on March 27. Management will do its part this summer to answer it. We as fans need to as well.

Filed in Calgary Flames, Morning cup-a-joe, Philadelphia Flyers, Phoenix Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (3)

Knee-jerks: Playoffs, Weekend 1

By The OFB Team
Monday, April 16, 2007
  • Color us increasingly impressed with both Versus and NBC. Versus has a delightful habit of expanding its coverage with “in progress” transitions to late-night games. More puck for your buck. And it’s come so, so far from its primitive studio sets and sterile analysis there circa autumn 2005. We still think Bill Clement better at color work than studio hosting. Mike Emerick? Simply one of the best play-by-play guys in all of sports today. And Peter McNab! His ice-level analysis was so chock full of poise and polish and penetrating insight that NBC more or less converted him to a second color guy in the booth. His work surely shamed that of the ice-level puck bunnies of recent years . . . Erin Andrews (where has she gone??) exempted . . . for aesthetic reasons . . . of course.
  • Sean Avery with the luckiest/weirdest of all goals . . . off a crazy bounce from a dump in Saturday. Fortunately it wasn’t the Rags’ game winner. That trade deadline acquisition is fast turning out to be one of the better ones.
  • Finally . . . finally! . . . some decent use of “Mic’d up” and “Sounds of the Game.” We’ve waited about two seasons for it. While a scrum was broken up by the refs Saturday in Atlanta, Thrasher Brad Larsen said to New York’s Thomas Pock “Don’t fool yourself . . . it’ll be the end of the period for you . . . you don’t want that!” And Sidney Crosby actually articulated some insightful reflections for NBC Saturday.kneejerk.jpg
  • Brett Hull laments Ottawa fans’ “respectful booing” of Crosby. Why? Is his memory that short? Mario got it pretty good on the road in the Patrick Division postseason in his day.
  • The final minute in the Mullet zone late Saturday afternoon was high octane incredible pressure by Ottawa, playoff puck at its regulation time most dramatic. That was one fabulous game for 80 percent of the U.S. to receive.
  • Saturday night: It’s HNIC and no Canadian teams are playing, yet they aired the complete singing of the U.S. National Anthem. There was a time when the U.S. broadcasters did the same. We miss those days.
  • Not the normal early game HNIC announcers on Saturday — they must have the main guys for the earlier Senators’ game. Which also means no ‘Coach’s Corner.’ Is this why we haven’t seen Grapes on NBC yet?
  • Speaking of NBC, both Saturday’s Sens/Pens’ and Sunday’s Wings/Flames’ games seemed to be a bit dark and yellowish. Saturday’s broadcast of Rags/Thrash, however, was bright. Is the lighting in Philips Arena that much better, or is it something else?
  • Scott Gomez can dramatically obliterate the meager numbers from his injury-plagued regular season with a prosperous postseason. Let’s hope he does, and that he seriously considers trading in that red, white and black for red, white, and blue.
  • It’s only one game, but in Buffalo Saturday night it was the Rick DiPietro Show, squashing talk of a SlugSweep, and as veteran Caps’ fans, we’ve seen enough Isles’ postseason heroics in net for four lifetimes.
  • Marty St.Louis with a killer one-timer from a sharp angle — the little guy always comes up with large goals.
  • Daniel Alfredsson can look uninvolved and marginalized for large portions of a game and then, as in Sunday in Pittsburgh, in a flash release a laser shot from the faceoff circle that sours the spirits of the Iron City-swilling faithful.
  • The Stars again are in an early postseason hole, but does anyone want to scapegoat Marty Turco? The margin between victory and defeat in this series, in all three games, has been sheer agony for Stars’ fans — it could very easily be a 3-0 lead in games for Dallas this morning.
Filed in Atlanta Thrashers, Buffalo Sabres, Calgary Flames, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Knee-Jerk, National Hockey League, New Jersey Devils, New Yo