Paul Lukas of Uni Watch fame has published his NHL preview, chock full of hockey uniform photos from new sweaters, to memorial patches, to the sneaky “C” that Roberto Luongo added to his mask since by NHL rules no goaltender may wear the captaincy “C” on his jersey. So if you’re into the details of hockey uniforms, check out his article here and geek out to the hockey-gear minutia.
Category Archives: Northwest Division
Hockey Sweater Obsessives, Your Ship Has Arrived
By OrderedChaos (Mike Rucki)
Friday, October 10, 2008
Great TV
By pucksandbooks
Thursday, August 7, 2008
As one who criticized the NHL Network for a meagerness of programming this summer, I need to be quick on the draw to commend the outlet for what it did for hockey fans last night. Wednesday night’s documentary on the 1988 trade of Wayne Gretzky from Edmonton to LA, labeled ‘A Day that Changed the Game Forever,’ may end up serving as the segment that changed the network forever.
For puckheads, this was must-see TV. For 60 minutes it was compelling and riveting and thought-provoking. It offered assessments from the most important players in that August drama of 20 years ago — and not mere soundbites or cliches but rather heartfelt, pull-no-punches post mortems. The program seemed premised on an outlandish claim — that the movement of one superstar, admittedly hockey’s greatest-ever talent, in his prime — forever altered the landscape of hockey. And yet its 60 minute-argument offered up a darned persuasive case.
On August 9, 1988, Gretzky was the centerpiece of a deal that required two press conferences — one in Edmonton and the other in LA. At his morning presser in Edmonton, an hour before its start, Oilers’ GM Glen Sather approached #99 with an offer to block the trade. After it had already been made. Obviously the decision to make the trade came from Oilers’ owner Peter Pocklington. Blocking the deal would certainly have cost Sather his job, and yet he told Gretzky that’d he’d resign rather than carry out the deal if the move would be the source of unbearable anguish for his star.
Which, last night’s documentary richly illustrated, it initially was. But Gretzky was willing to endure the personal pain of being traded from the team and city he adored out of a sense of needing to grow the game’s economics — especially for smaller market teams. His headed-for-the-Hall-of-Fame teammates in Edmonton were inked to contracts for about a quarter of a million bucks while lesser names in big cities in the U.S. were earning four times as much. The Great One was aware, too, of the Kings’ struggles. It is hardly overstatement to suggest that Gretzky’s greatness was matched as much off the ice as on.
Sather alone during that August’s heady moments seemed to possess a sense of the hockey-world-altering moment. His reflections in last night’s documentary carried a searing quality of personal anguish that he appears to carry to this day. Pocklington comes off as a business guy just cutting a deal. Mark Messier lost a best friend, a buddy who was “like a brother,” and their brief reunion in New York as Ranger teammates years later now seems fitting but far too fleeting.
There was particular poignancy in the program’s snippets of Edmontonians offering their reactions to the deal. Young and old, male and female, they articulated heart-felt outrage and shock. “I can never think of the Oilers in the same way,” one lamented. Gretzky has spoken of his concern for the fans he left behind that August day; his concern, this program illustrates, was well-founded.
As the program drew to a close I was left with two powerful impressions. First, isn’t it remarkable that while American hockey was indeed profoundly changed by Gretzky’s trade to LA — both the volume and accomplishments of youths playing hockey in California today are stunning — in the totality of the Kings’ existence, the deal proved to offer only a fleeting improvement for the organization. Second, with this program, the NHL and its network demonstrated that it can conceive and produce a special product befitting a distinguished occasion and rejuvinate a slumbering offseason fanbase.
May it be the first of many more.
Programming Fit For a King … and Blue, and Ranger, and Oiler
By The OFB Team
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
In commemoration of the 20 year anniversary of “The Trade“, the NHL Network has designated the remainder of this week as Gretzky Week. While one might argue that it is not as terrifying as Shark Week, we would bet a number of netminders from the ’80s would beg to differ.
NHL NETWORK SCHEDULE FOR GRETZKY WEEK
Wednesday, August 6
9:00 p.m., ET: A Day That Changed The Game: August 9, 1988 - One-hour documentary chronicling the Gretzky trade. Features interviews with Wayne Gretzky, Peter Pocklington, Glen Sather and Bruce McNall
10:00 p.m., ET: Red Wings @ Kings from October 6, 1988 — Gretzky’s first Kings game in Los Angeles.
Thursday, August 7
9:00 p.m., ET: Frozen In Time: Wayne Gretzky Trade.
9:30 p.m., ET: Top 10 Wayne Gretzky Moments.
10:00 p.m., ET: Kings @ Oilers from Oct. 19, 1988 — Gretzky’s first game as a visitor in Edmonton.
Friday, August 8
9:00 p.m., ET: Top 10 Wayne Gretzky Moments.
9:30 p.m., ET: NHL Cool Shots: Extended Play — Wayne Gretzky.
10:00 p.m., ET: Kings @ Oilers from Oct. 15, 1989 — Gretzky breaks Gordie Howe’s career points record.
Saturday, August 9
7:00 p.m., ET: Kings @ Maple Leafs from May 29, 1993 — Gretzky’s Game 7 Hat Trick propels LA into the Stanley Cup Final.
9:00 p.m., ET: A Day That Changed The Game: August 9, 1988.
10:00 p.m., ET: Canucks @ Kings from March 23, 1994 — Gretzky becomes the NHL’s all-time goal scoring leader.
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.
The 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.]
“Washington Got an Elite Goaltender”
By The OFB Team
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
The Russian reaction to Capitals’ goaltender moves from Sovetsky Sport, including Alex Ovechkin’s take on things (translation courtesy of Dmitry Chesnokov):
The Caps management did everything right. The club saved about $1 million. The club also got an experienced goaltender. And now they will start to develop Varlamov and bring him closer to the first team, even though he will most likely start the season in the AHL. Considering the fact that Theodore’s contract is only for two years, the plan is to have Varlamov as the number 1 starter by the start of the 2010-2011 season.
Alex Ovechkin thinks this is the case. He confirmed his opinion in a conversation he had with Pavel Lysenkov:
“I think there is a possibility for Varlamov to debut in the NHL this season. At least Semion will compete for the number 2 role with Brent Johnson.”
What do you think about Theodore’s arrival in Washington?
“We needed a good goaltender because we were losing Huet. And our management made a thought-out move. I have only played once against Theodore in my career. It was last season; we played Colorado at home and won 2:1. Although, I didn’t score.
It is a shame that Huet didn’t stay [with Washington]. He was a great goaltender. But our future now lies with Theodore, and I am sure he won’t let us down.”
Washington’s New View in Net, Take 2
By OrderedChaos (Mike Rucki)
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
As Pucksandbooks pointed out in his recent post, his assessment of the Capitals’ goaltender situation was his own. Now I don’t dispute Pucks’ facts, nor are his conclusions irrational — but from my perspective they seem a bit dire and premature mere hours after the signing. So, as a counterpoint, here’s my take on the situation which, while hardly sunny, is a more optimistic outlook.
Let’s start with the bad: There’s no doubt that a combination of bad planning and bad luck has left the organization with a goaltender dilemma — one that has been hanging over the team, Sword of Damocles-like, for years now. Olie Kolzig’s career naturally progressed from stellar to solid to adequate as he aged; a successor needed to be a top team priority before Kolzig’s ability to carry a starter’s workload was in doubt. As Pucks pointed out, the organization made such an attempt by bringing in Maxime Oulett from Philly; sadly, Maximus turned out to be more of a minimus.
Varlamov and Neuvirth are top prospects and progressing quickly; it is certainly feasible to see one if not both in Caps’ uniforms come 2010-11. Yet, really, a top-tier netminder was needed five years ago to avoid the team’s recent stop-gap measures. Easier said than done, to be sure . . . building and maintaining a team is tough. But if it were an easy job then it wouldn’t pay well, and GMGM couldn’t afford all those snazzy suits.
While the team’s need for a “bridge” goaltender, and its difficulty in addressing that need earlier, led to their shaky netminder situation this offseason, the team could do little to change the past on July 1, 2008.
So let me say this: the organization made the right call with Huet. The information slowly revealing itself indicates that, while the Capitals tried to lowball Huet initially, they were more than flexible in eventually giving him exactly what he asked for . . . only to have Huet reject the contract like James T. Kirk scoffed at alien STDs.
Once Huet made the business decision to squeeze a bit extra from another team, the Caps immediately snagged the best guy still available: Jose Theodore. General consensus saw Huet and Theodore as the two best ‘tenders in this year’s admittedly goalie-light free agent pool. Some would say they were equal; some feel Huet was #1 and Theodore #2 or #1A.
Regardless, once Huet made it clear that he wanted more money and a four-year deal, the Caps acted quickly to get the remaining free agent with the best potential as a starting netminder.
Huet returning for 3 years at a reasonable price would have likely been the best outcome for the Caps. But Theodore is no slouch; their styles are different, yet in many ways Huet and Theodore have similar pasts, similar potential, and similar stats. Remember, too, that expectations for Huet would have been intense based on his 20 games in a Capitals sweater . . . a mercenary like Huet may be one of those archetypal contract-year wonders who slip back to normalcy once they get their big deal. Tying up $22 million for four years of average play is not what the Capitals need — particularly not with a pricey Alexander Semin contract just a year or two away.
Has the loss of Huet impacted the Capitals’ chances of a deep post-season run in the next two or three years? Perhaps a bit — but mostly due to the team adjusting to their third starting goalie in less than a year, and the impact that may have on defensive strategies and cohesiveness, than a significant drop-off in goaltender skill.
Change is scary; changing a goaltender doubly so. But with a well rounded roster, stars like Ovechkin and Green, and top-notch coaches and staff (notably in Theodore’s case, superstar goalie coach Dave Prior), the 2008-09 Capitals hardly project to be bottom-feeders.
Let’s see Theodore don his new Capitals’ sweater and get a few games under his belt before deeming his signing a failure or a success.
A Day of Dastardly Dichotomy
By The OFB Team
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
On this the opening day of ‘08-09 NHL free agency Washington Capitals’ fans confronted the opposing twins of personnel movement outcome: morning elation with Mike Green’s signing and afternoon agony in the club’s failure to come to terms with season-salvaging, starting netminder Cristobal Huet. The Capitals this afternoon, having reached an impasse with Huet and his agent, signed Colorado’s Jose Theodore to a two-year deal.
An absolute bulwark of the Caps’ stunning late-season surge to a Southeast division crown, Huet’s heroics won’t be returning, the fallout of which is this sobering question: have the Caps’ Cup contention plans necessarily taken a step back? It’s a demoralizing outcome, most particularly in light of widespread reports, from reliable organization sources, that Huet’s return was largely a fait accompli.
It would be difficult to imagine a netminder better auditioning for the role of go-to guy, of in-his-prime, no. 1 stud, than Huet’s with the Caps this past spring. He went 11-2 in his 13 regular season starts with the Caps, posting two shutouts, a stunning .936 save percentage, and a microscopic 1.63 goals against. Those numbers weren’t as impressive in the playoffs against Philadelphia, but after the Caps fell behind three games to one in the series, Huet was rock solid and at times spectacular in net in nearly leading the Caps to a dramatic series comeback.
As for Theodore, this from the Caps’ press release:
Theodore, who will turn 32 on Sept. 13, won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player in 2001-02. The 5’11”, 182-pound native of Laval, Quebec, is a 12-year professional who spent the last two seasons with the Colorado Avalanche. He was 28-21-3 with three shutouts, a 2.44 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage in 2007-08, including a 21-13-2 record, a 2.24 GAA and a .919 save percentage in his last 37 starts.
2007-08 was indeed a rebound year for Theodore, but that’s also cause for concern for Caps’ fans. His has not been a career of model consistency, to put it charitably (he was run out of Montreal). In his previous two seasons, with Montreal and Colorado, Theodore put up sub-.900 save percentages and above 3.00 goals-against numbers. Perhaps more troubling is this: Avalanche Head Coach Joel Quenneville collapsed a trap around him this past season, almost certainly boosting his numbers.
Disappointment over Huet’s departure should not necessarily draw savage criticism of General Manager George McPhee, who was poised today with a viable Plan B. According to the Washington Post’s Tarik El Bashir, the Caps met Huet’s demands of three years and $5 million per only to learn of his wish to test the proverbial waters, apparently with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Tonight a stunned HockeyWashington, still in mid-summer swoon over so spectacular a 2007-08 season, has seen the sport’s best momentum here in 30-plus years come to a screeching halt.
Today in D.C. there’s palpable disappointment surrounding the personnel outcome for the most important position on the ice. A beautiful bride has run off; left behind is her ok-looking bridesmaid.
Well His Name Isn’t Gary Fretman
By The OFB Team
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
The NHL ownership scandals continue; and it’s beyond Boots Del Baggio and his shady tactics for buying the Nashville Predators . . . Anaheim Ducks owner Henry Samueli has pleaded guilty to lying to federal authorities. Gary Bettman seemed unperturbed:
“The Samuelis have been terrific owners. They’re perhaps the most community-minded and charitable people in all of Orange County,” Bettman said. “I am not going to fret about something that may or may not be substantiated at the end of the day.”
Read all about it at The Star.
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 |
Versus’ Overtime Plan
By The OFB Team
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Tonight’s slate of playoff games are exclusive to the Versus network with the Rangers / Penguins starting at 7 pm ET followed by Detroit / Colorado at 10 pm ET. So what happens if the first game goes to overtime and extends past the start of the second game?
Versus has announced how the possible scenario will be handled in advance.
- Cable viewers in the Detroit and Colorado markets will be switched automatically to the beginning of Detroit Red Wings vs. Colorado Avalanche semifinal Game 4.
- Cable viewers in the rest of the country will join the Detroit vs. Colorado game in progress at the conclusion of the New York vs. Pittsburgh game.
- Satellite viewers on DirecTV and Dish Network will be able to watch the Detroit vs. Colorado game in its entirety on an auxiliary channel.
- DirecTV - Channel 659
- Dish Network - Channel 452
Watching Other Teams Flirt With the Stanley Cup
By OrderedChaos (Mike Rucki)
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Watching the Washington Capitals get bounced from the playoffs was a bit like getting dumped, hard. The team and its fans may have recovered from the initial stomach-punched feeling, but it’s still hard to watch all those other teams flirting with the Stanley Cup.
Nonetheless, we can all look back fondly on the good times the Capitals had during the season and in the 2008 Playoffs, and then move on. After all, the Capitals are young, confident, and fun–I’m sure they’ll meet someone even better next year . . . er, will have an even better playoff run next year.
That said, is another team in this year’s playoffs catching your eye? As we mentioned a few weeks back, Toronto Maple Leafs fans seemed to be rooting for the Capitals (for who can resist watching Ovechkin play?), and after the sweep some Senators fans jumped on board as well.
So have you been able to watch the Playoffs dance with other teams? If so, for whom are you rooting to “go all the way” this year?
Which team are you supporting for the rest of the playoffs?
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.
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?
Beating a Dead Horse
By DC Sports Chick
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
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.
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:
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.
