Halloween costumes

It's the night before the Great Pumpkin rises up and gives toys to all of the good children in the Peanuts comic books. Before our favorite hockey players go trick-or-treating, I got a sneak peak at some of their costumes. Check it out.

Vesa Toskala: Sometimes, our Halloween costumes reflect the way we really wish we could approach daily life. For Vesa, things aren't that rosy for him. He's having some difficulty resolving his issues with this whole "No defense in front of me" thing. To compensate for that, Vesa is dressing up as a big brick wall -- big enough, in fact, to cover the whole net. If only there weren't those nasty regulations on goalie equipment size.

Hal Gill: Unlike Toskala, Gill is dressing as a charicature of what he really is:


(I know, I know, Gill's a +7. But he's just too darn easy to make fun of.)

Mike Modano: Being a child of the 70s, Modano loved The Greatest American Hero. Trying to become the greatest American-born hockey player in history, Modano's mired on the 4th line, struggling to together his superhuman abilities for good use. Believe it or not, Modano's (not quite) skating on air...

Sean Avery: Fresh off his break-up from Elisha Cuthbert, Avery's got a dose of the green-eyed monster. He's no longer the hockey player with the hottest starlet girlfriend, and he is pissed. To make up for this, Avery is dressing up as Mike Comrie for Halloween in hopes of fooling Hillary Duff.

I wonder what Rangers fans would do if Avery showed up to practice wearing an Islanders jersey -- even if he did have Hillary Duff on his arm.

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Crappy Player Pick 'Em: Update

I've updated the leaderboard for the Crappy Player Pick 'Em and really, all it says is that we should all feel really dumb for doubting Nik Antropov (AKA The Only Good Thing Going In Toronto). Hey, who would have guessed that years of mediocrity would have finally been shed? At the very bottom of the list, Curtis Brown (Sherry) and Blair Betts (Bryce) are the only ones left without a point. Brown's a better player, but he's getting squeezed out of the lineup -- in fact, the veteran's only played four games so far! Don't worry Sherry, at least he's got a shorter games-without-a-point streak than Betts!

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I'm guessing he's not for European captains

You know, I've been at this blogger game for about two years now (and I've been published on hockey in different forms for about seven or eight years prior to that), and I've gotten all sorts of goofy feedback and even the in-jest death threat from New York Ranger fans, but this is the first racist comment I received.

Judging by this fellow's expert grammar skills, I'm guessing fifth grade English class wasn't a priority (call me if you ever want a lesson on capitalization and punctuation). And something tells me you're not going to get a lot of support for "Sissy Euro" captains out of this anonymous mouth.

As for us "orientals" and hockey, it must be the non-Asian part of Paul Kariya's heritage that's got him tied for second in the league in assists. And don't even get the commenter started on this venture.

Still, I suppose being good at math and science isn't exactly the worst stereotype to have. I'm not as good at hockey statistics as this guy from Nashville though...oh wait, since when did Nashville residents become hockey experts?

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Best place to buy a new jersey?

Even though I think many of the new NHL jerseys are absolutely hideous, I'm going to wind up buying one because 1) I am dumb 2) I am a Jeremy Roenick fan 3) I am a Sharks fan. Put all of that together and that means that I'm shelling out bucks for an ugly-ass Roenick jersey. C'est la vie and all that.

So I've been doing my research about the best places to buy a new jersey and here's what I came up with. If you know of anything better, please post it in the comments.

Standard replica price: $115 -- found pretty much everywhere + shipping costs (varied)
Best price I've found: $99 at Hockey Monkey + $14 shipping
Second best price I've found: $105 at River City Sports + ??? shipping (server was down)
At the Sharks store: $135 (nice in-game impulse buy mark-up)
At the NHL.com website: $115
eBay: $80 - $100 + shipping (they can screw you on shipping)

That's what happens if you get a blank. If you want customization, that's where it gets a little tricky:

-Hockey Monkey does NOT do customization or name-plating, so you can only get a blank jersey there.
-River City Sports charges $80 for customization for a total of $185 + shipping
-In-person at the Sharks store, you can get it for $75. If you bought it elsewhere, you'd probably spend $120 or so after shipping, so that's about $195 total. Not sure what other teams charge for this.
-On NHL.com, replica + customization = $170

Now, here's the REALLY stupid thing. Suppose you're a Sharks fan and you want a Joe Thornton jersey. Depending on where you click at the NHL.com shop, you could either pay $150 or $170 for it. See, pre-made Thornton and Jonathan Cheechoo (and other certain players on teams) jerseys can be found on the catalog for $150 BUT if you click on the jersey, you get a customization pull-down with each roster player's name. If you order it through there, it's $170 (and you can customize it to whatever name you want to).

So while NHL.com is usually a rip-off compared to the other stores, for a replica with a player name on it, it's actually the best price at $170. Still, I gotta think that you can get it for cheaper SOMEWHERE, right? Anyone found any better deals?

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What makes Ryan Smyth cry?

Boy, what an emotional week for Ryan Smyth. I mean, the last time Alberta saw their Captain Canada, he was making a teary goodbye at the airport, and when the Avs got back into Edmonton, Smyth let the tears flow again thanks to a moving tribute by the Oilers organization and the Edmonton faithful. Smyth's an emotional guy; I mean, that's part of the reason why he earns the big bucks. He's a passionate player and a passionate person, and he ain't afraid to let loose and cry when things get emotional. Ryan finally decided to let some more emotional moments from his private life come through exclusively in this blog. Why me? Well, you'll see at the end of this post.

First off, you may have missed it when some OTHER Britney Spears fan made headlines, but that douche bag stole Ryan's thunder. See, Ryan was the first Britney Spears fan to scream, "LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!" and I have the picture to prove it:


The fact that Ryan's emotional pleas were ignored for the other fan made him -- you guessed it -- cry even more. Unfortunately, the camera was off during that time.

Now, a little known fact is that Ryan Smyth isn't just a great hockey player -- he's also a superhero. There's a reason why he's known as Captain Canada. And as Captain Canada, he was close friends with the late Captain America. At Captain America's funeral, Smyth could be seen barely holding in his tears while representing our friends to the north as a pallbearer:


Ryan Smyth also LOVES to rock out, and when he got a chance to see U2, something special happened. You see, at some point during the set -- usually during With Or Without You -- Bono usually pulls a hot girl on to the stage and sings with her. However, this time, Bono pulled up Ryan Smyth. Smyth, so overcome with awe being around a guy who's won every award in the history of time sans the Conn Smyth, just couldn't hold it in anymore. He was, in fact, in a placed called Vertigo.

The other thing that Ryan is absolutely passionate about is Harry Potter. Yes, Smyth was there in line waiting for the imminent release of Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows. When the doors opened, Smyth -- in his wizard's robe and hat -- couldn't believe that the journey was finally over. As he pushed his way into Barnes & Noble, Smyth's face was filled with tears.

What makes everyone cry? Weddings, of course, and Ryan was at one of the biggest weddings of the past millennium. Yes, a wedding so big that only celebrities and an intergalatic space lord named Xenu could attend.

Ryan's top hat, by the way, was hand-picked by Tom and Katie just for the wedding.

Now the question you might be asking yourself is just how did I get access to all of these beautiful, emotional private moments from the Ryan Smyth photo albums? Well, you see, Ryan happens to be a close personal pal of mine through the magic of Facebook. And because of that, he just happened to be at MY wedding a little while back. Of course, he was so overcome with emotion that he kept stumbling into the photos.


Even though this was a formal event, Ryan was so overjoyed with his new Avalanche contract that he had to wear his hat in all the pictures. Thanks for spoiling the mood, Ryan.

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Crunching free agent values

What does $1,000,000 buy you? In the case of Scott Gomez, not a hell of a lot. In the case of Jeremy Roenick, quite a bit. Free agency's always a gamble, and there's always that mix of busts and jackpots. Here's a look at a wide spectrum of this year's big-name free-agent signings. I've taken their paid salary (not cap hit) and their point totals and calculated a value based on points-per-game per million dollars.

For you fellow number crunchers out there, I used this formula:

(Total Points / Games Played) / Paid 2007 Salary

The result for the first month of the NHL season? Any way you cut it, Scott Gomez sure ain't pulling his weight.

Scott Gomez ($10 million): 8 GP, 2G 1A = 3 P
0.0375 points-per-game per million dollars

Daniel Briere ($10 million): 7 GP, 4G 7A = 11 P
0.157 points-per-game per million dollars

Ryan Smyth ($7.5 million): 9 GP, 3G 3A = 6 P
0.088 points-per-game per million dollars

Chris Drury ($7.1 million): 8 GP, 1G 5A = 6 P
0.105 points-per-game per million dollars

Scott Hartnell ($5.2 million): 7 GP, 0G 2A = 2 P
0.055 points-per-game per million dollars

Bill Guerin ($4.5 million): 8 GP, 4G 6A = 10 P
0.277 points-per-game per million dollars

Dustin Penner ($4.25 million): 9 GP, 2G 2A = 4 P
0.105 points-per-game per million dollars

Michal Handzus ($4 million): 10 GP, 1G 1A = 2 P
0.050 points-per-game per million dollars

Mike Comrie ($3.375 million): 8 GP, 5G 5A = 10 P
0.370 points-per-game per million dollars

Petr Sykora ($2.5 million): 8 GP, 4G 3A = 7 P
0.350 points-per-game per million dollars

Jeremy Roenick ($0.5 million): 7 GP, 3G 2A = 5P
1.428 points-per-game per million dollars

Looking at the pure numbers here based on these early statistics, Jeremy Roenick's provided the most value while Scott Gomez has been the biggest bust by far (as predicted by myself and many other hockey pundits). However, the salary structure here is a bit skewed; if you're basing player salary strictly on point totals, Chris Drury and Ryan Smyth are overvalued while Dustin Penner really hasn't done anything to warrant such a gigantic payday. Drury and Smyth get extra compensation for intangible qualities and Penner gets extra compensation because, well, Kevin Lowe's had a not-so-momentary lapse of reason.

With that in mind, Drury and Smyth's point totals are falling in line with what seemed to be reasonable considering career expectations to this point. Mike Comrie's great point total isn't necessarily a surprise given his inherent talent; his downfall has always been lack of consistency and questionable work ethic. If Ryan Smyth's heart was transplanted into Comrie's body, we probably would have seen a consistent 80-point output from him; however, the constant questions surrounding his work ethic dictates his career fluctuations and relatively low salary. Comrie could easily have just a few points on the season and no one would really be surprised.

Gomez has started off his New York Ranger career disastrously and is danger of receiving Bronx Cheers whenever he touches the puck. This signing, though, wasn't necessarily made with a short-term perspective. When Jaromir Jagr finally returns to the Czech Republic for good, the Blueshirts will belong to Gomez and Drury; at that point, we'll know what Gomez's true value is. His averaged cap hit of just over $7 million may look like a bargain at that point -- but whether that's because of salary inflation or because of Gomez's performance is still to be determined.

Keep in mind too that there's not exactly a linear correlation between what you earn and what you produce. In theory, the average NHLer pots in about 30 points and makes about $1.5 million for a 0.244 point-per-game per million dollars. Someone who averages about 60 points usually makes around $4.5 million for a 0.162 points-per-game per million dollars while someone who's clicking at a point-per-game or above is making anywhere from $6.5 million to $10 million.

So, in keeping that context in mind, along with factoring in age, track record of consistency, and intangibles, most of these free agent signings are falling into what was reasonably expected of them. The biggest busts so far (and it is still early) really have to be Gomez, Penner, Hartnell, and Handzus, while the gem has been Roenick, whose performance makes a 15 goal/40 point season a reasonable projection.

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Random find of the day

I was checking out a few different online shops for jersey prices and I saw that River City Sports had a bunch of USA Hockey stuff on sale. If you want a replica Team USA jersey (scroll to the bottom of the link), it's only $60. Oh, and they've got shot glasses too at about half off.

And no, I don't get an affiliate fee for this. Maybe I should ask them for one!

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More Crosby than you can shake a stick at!

Versus is giving us a special called Sidney Crosby: Revealed on Tuesday prior to the Rangers/Pens game. Here's some exclusive video goodies from the special. Apparently, Sid hasn't dropped the "New NHL" vernacular like a lot of us are trying to.



Sure seems like he's pumped about the league, huh? I wonder how he'll feel once Chris Chelios and Paul Kelly get a hold of him. And what does he think of Versus signing up Dennis Miller? And that leads to the next question -- will Miller even acknowledge the NHL?

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Your Crappy Players : Final Lineup

Wake the neighbors and call the kids, here's the final list of contestants in the Crappy Player Pick' Em, with current stats to make everyone feel stupid for not picking Nik Antropov. I'll update the leaderboard on the right column too.

Matt: Nik Antropov 6G 5A = 11P
James Mirtle: Eric Belanger 3G 4A = 7P
Mike (me!): Chris Gratton 3G 1A = 4P
Gary: Aaron Asham 2G 2A = 4P
Drew: Jason Chimera 1G 3A = 4P
The Forechecker: Vern Fiddler 1G 3A = 4P
PB: Niko Kapanen 1G 3A = 4P
Andrew: Radek Bonk 3G 0A = 3P
Ron: Alexei Ponikarovsky 2G 1A = 3P
RudyKelly: Derek Armstrong 0G 3A = 3P
Jeremy: Manny Malhotra 1G 1A = 2P
Earl Sleek: Sammy Pahlsson 1G 1A = 2P
Danny: Pascal Dupuis 1G 0A = 1P
Alanah: Matt Cooke 1G 0A = 1P
Mike: Yanic Perreault 0G 1A = 1P
Kyle: Ian Laperriere 0G 1A = 1P
Steve: Jed Ortmeyer 0G 1A = 1P
vakfan: Mark Smith 0G 1A = 1P
Rob: Chris Clark 0G 0A = 0P
Bryce: Blair Betts 0G 0A = 0P
Sherry: Curtis Brown 0G 0A = 0P
Ninja: Boyd Devereaux 0G 0A = 0P

For what it's worth, I found some a javascript fantasy hockey tracker. I'm not sure if this is something that can create a live leaderboard for this, but I really don't know anything about javascript coding, so if someone who has experience with that can check out this code and let me know if it's worthwhile (and how to install it), that'd be great.

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Screaming Banshees + Stupidity = PAIN

(Some language here ain't age appropriate. Parents, cover your kids' eyes and ears.)

Dear Crazy Woman Who Sits Somewhere Behind Me At Sharks Games:

Look, I try to appreciate everyone who's passionate about our game and our team. In a crowded sports landscape, it's nice to get someone who knows names and teams, who cares about something that's ignored by so many in the US.

But seriously, I think you need to get counseling or something. I think you may have Borderline Personality Disorder or something along those lines. Not only do your fits of rage scare the people in front of you (I think I've grown numb to your screeching, but single-game ticket buyers are scared shitless by you), but your flip-flopping between emotional family discussions and bloody (and probably drunken) rage is quite disconcerting. For me, I'm just not sure how you can go from being all teary-eyed about your son's upcoming wedding to screaming bloody murder at the opposing team. Here's a sample exchange:

"It seems like yesterday I was holding him in my arms as a baby and now he's getting married. Where does the time go? WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING? GET THE FUCKING PUCK OUT THE FUCKING ZONE, YOU STUPID WORTHLESS PIECES OF SHIT! I CAN'T BELIEVE I FUCKING PAID MONEY FOR THIS! GOD! YOU GUYS ARE KILLING ME! KILLING ME! And it's going to be a beautiful wedding. So much fun, but you know, time goes by so fast."

(It's amazing how this woman's voice carries even though she's a few rows behind and a number of seats over from me. In fact, I'm actually not sure what she looks like, but that voice is like nails on a freakin' chaulkboard)

I have no problem with passionate fans, but when passionate fans don't understand the rules, it really irritates me. Here's quick primer on some rules you really need to understand:

1) Touching the puck with a high stick: If the puck gets touched by a high stick, it's NOT a penalty. If the team that did it touches it again, it's a whistle. If the other team touches it, play goes on. Please, please, please stop screaming for a penalty when this happens. Jesus.

2) Slashing: "SLASH HIM IN THE FUCKING HEAD" would get your beloved Sharks in the penalty box. We all know that their PK's been having problems as of late, so this team that is frustrating you so much would only be put in a worse situation.

3) Boarding: "BOARD HIM!" would also warrant a penalty and/or suspension and/or possible catastrophic injury. It might even be a 5-minute major and a game misconduct. That's not good for your team.

4) Killing: "KILL HIM!" would also warrant a major penalty. I'm guessing any sort of attempted murder would be at least a one-game suspension.

Also, a quick primer on strategy:

1) The Penalty Kill: When you're on the PK, you're outnumbered. That means you have to play a zone defense. If you play man-to-man, you'll always leave one guy open to walk right in. That's why they have the box and diamond formations. Also, screaming for your defense to "FUCKING HIT HIM IN THE FUCKING HEAD" would wind up taking your defense out of the play, thus leading to an odd-man situation and potential scoring threat. Not a good idea.

2) In Front: While I agree with you that the Sharks aren't necessarily the best at driving to the net, you don't want a guy in the crease at all times. There's an ebb and flow to cycling the puck, and when you have a rotation with the three forwards, it means there will be times when no one's in slot, especially if the puck is stuck along the boards.

3) Shooting: As with #2, I agree with you that the Sharks don't shoot nearly enough on the power play. However, when there's a defender blocking the shooting lane, taking a shot won't do anything. If you want to yell "SHOOT THE FUCKING PUCK FASTER", that would make more sense, as getting a quick shot off before the defender can get into the lane would be a smart play.

4) Evgeni Nabokov: Not everything is Nabokov's fault. See the fancy new HD screen we've got at the Shark Tank? I suggest you watch the replays on there to get a sense of who's screening Nabokov, where the defense is out of position, and if the puck is tipped. I'm not saying Nabby's never at fault, I'm just saying look at the bigger picture before you throw him under the bus.

I'm not sure how I can convince you to turn down the volume or the shrillness of your yelling, but I think it'd be more bearable for all of us around you (hell, in the whole section, since your voice carries a freakin' mile) if you'd A) learned to yell about the right things and B) got some anger management. Hey, I appreciate passion and I love my sport and my team, but I don't think it's particularly healthy to have aneurysm-inducing screaming over spectator sports. I'm guessing if your kid was playing junior hockey, you'd be one of those headline-making parents.

Besides, life ain't that bad -- at least you have money to afford season tickets, right? Calm the fuck down, already.

One suggestion my friend had for you: how about getting tickets right on the glass? You could make a bunch of money selling some of the games above face value at the Sharks Ticket Trader, you could offer all of your suggestions to the players and they'd probably hear you, and you would spare the people around you from your shrill voice. Of course, your voice might bounce off the glass and kill the people in the front row, but that wouldn't necessarily be the problem of us good folk in the upper bowl, would it?

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Dubious records

Longest losing streaks to start a season (courtesy Couch Potato Hockey):

11 Games-New York Rangers, 1943-44
7 Games-Montreal Canadiens, 1938-39
7 Games-Chicago Blackhawks, 1947-78
7 Games-Washington Capitals, 1983-84
7 Games-Chicago Blackhawks, 1997-98

The Atlanta Thrashers are crawling into dubious territory with a 4-0 shutout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. One more regulation loss and they tie a dubious second-place record most recently accomplished by the 97-98 Hawks:

10/1/1997 at Phoenix Coyotes 2 - 6
10/4/1997 at San Jose Sharks 2 - 3
10/9/1997 Tampa Bay Lightning 1 - 4
10/10/1997 at Dallas Stars 0 - 7
10/13/1997 at Phoenix Coyotes 1 - 2
10/15/1997 Washington Capitals 0 - 2
10/17/1997 St. Louis Blues 0 - 2

Atlanta's next five games are at home against the New York Rangers, then four on the road against Tampa Bay, Toronto, Nashville, and Chicago. The Thrashers have some luck on their side in that Marian Hossa's back from an early injury and the Rangers are in a bit of a funk. However, they've got a long road trip ahead. If the Thrashers lose all of those games, they'll have tied the worst start in NHL history with the record-breaking game at Montreal.

Unfortunately for Thrashers fans, this next streak will make or break the season. Don't believe me? Ask St. Louis about last season.

Update: Well, that didn't take long. Bob Hartley was just fired. The good news is that teams usually win their first game under a new coach, so maybe these Thrashers won't be making history. As for who'll take over behind the bench, let the rumors begin.

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Remember the roar?

A long time ago (about, oh 15 years) in a galaxy far, far away (Chicago Stadium), the Chicago Blackhawks were considered one of the NHL's best franchises. From the early-to-mid 90's, going into Chicago meant a unique mix of speed, grit, and skill, led by a wide mix of players from Jeremy Roenick to Chris Chelios to Denis Savard to Steve Larmer; later on, that mix included Bernie Nicholls, Tony Amonte, and Gary Suter.

For about half of the 90's, the Hawks were scary good, and the roar at Chicago Stadium let everyone know that they should fear making a trip into the Windy City.

Many people point to the changeover to United Center as a point where the Hawks began their demise, but that really isn't true. For its first few seasons in existence, the United Center was packed with 21,000 very loud and very loyal fans. During that time, the roar from Chicago Stadium seemed to have successfully migrated over to the cavernous United Center.

And since then? One hapless playoff appearance and the loss of fan favorites such as Roenick, Chelios, Amonte, Steve Sullivan, JP Dumont (yeah, remember how he started out in Chicago and was traded for forgettable Michal Grosek? Whoops.), and Ed Belfour. It wasn't so much losing those players as it was the way they exited: always over money, with the Hawks looking cheap and disinterested. And the blame, rightly or wrongly, was always placed squarely on owner Bill Wirtz.

Don't look now, but here come the Hawks. And the roar that we all thought was dead? It's still alive. Just barely, but it's there, and there's a potential for a comeback should everything work out right.

The Hawks have started out this season with a modestly successful record, but what's more important is the fact that for once, the fans in Chicago have a team they just might be able to rally around, and it all starts with Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. These two players may just be teenagers, but they're the most exciting thing on Chicago ice since Roenick and Amonte zipped and zoomed around in their prime. Kane's already won over the remaining Chicago faithful with a wicked shootout-winning goal over Dominik Hasek and the hated Red Wings while Toews' first NHL goal has already drawn media comparisons to a certain #66's debut.

To put things into perspective, the Blackhawks' recent draft history is bad. Captain-of-the-future Eric Daze had to give it up thanks to a bad back, and while their first-round picks have produced a few reasonable NHL players (Ethan Moreau, Dan Cleary, Mark Bell), the number of never-weres is long: Remi Royer, Mikhail Yakubov, Dmitri Nabokov, and Eric Lecompte, just to name a few. The fact that Toews and Kane appear to have a fine mix of speed, grit, and skill mean that for the first time in ages, the Hawks fowards appear to have a future that isn't tied to Martin Havlat's fragile shoulder.

Behind the bench, coach Denis Savard has Chicago playing an exciting brand of hockey that emphasizes speed. More importantly, his young team appears to have bought into his system, and that means that what remaining Hawks fans there are have seen a youthful exuberance that's not afraid to go headfirst into the corners to retrieve a puck. Already, Kane's shown a willingness to throw his body around with men twice his age carrying much more bulk.

You could also point to the talented Havlat (whenever he's actually healthy), the emerging blueline, or the return of Nikolai Khabibulin, but the truth of the matter is that the present and the future of Chicago is in the hands of Kane, Toews, and to a lesser extent, Savard. The 10,000 or so remaining Hawks fans have already embraced the young duo and the crusty Hall-of-Famer behind the bench, and in emotional wins over Detroit, the chant of "Go Hawks go!" was loud and vibrant. It wasn't sung by as many people as in, say, 1995, but the emotion was there. The roar, on life support and heavily drugged up, was there.

The Blackhawks aren't going to win a Stanley Cup this season. They'll come crashing back down to earth and, if they're lucky, shoot for .500 and maybe the 8th seed at best. But Chicago fans need heroes they can identify with and rally around. They need heart-and-soul players who can deke defense as quickly as they run over them. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane aren't saviors, but for Blackhawks fans, they represent everything the team's been lacking for more than a decade.

History will probably look back at this time and point to the passing of Bill Wirtz as a turning point in the organization. From a fan perspective, Rocky Wirtz appears to be more progressive than his father, sending longtime stalwart Bob Pulford off to the side and giving local fans hope that the team can come into the 20th century, let alone the 21st, by actually broadcasting home games on television. Perhaps it's just a twist of fate or a little bit of karmic ripple that Kane and Toews have arrived just as the old regime is swept away; for the sparse crowds that have taken in the Hawks this season, "Remember the Roar" isn't just a throwback to Chicago Stadium nostalgia, it's a chance to look at a bright future for the first time in years.

Update: Now that FoxSports.com has posted the official version of this article, I can have a fanboy geekout. When Wirtz died, I told myself I could give the Hawks another chance and I watched a few games. I have to say, Patrick Kane is quickly becoming one of my favorite players. Yes, that icy layer around my Hawks fandom is starting to melt. They'll never be #1 again, but hey, we can still be friends.

Update 2: I've got some feedback that pointed out a "duh" momoment -- Hawks fans chant "Let's Go Hawks" which I should know, I've been watching the damn team for half my life. Apologies, "Go Hawks Go" was a brain fart slipped in by the evils of listening to Toronto sports radio.

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Crappy Player Pick 'Em lineup

We've got a great turnout for this year's Crappy Player Pick 'Em. This is the lineup for our little exhibition:

Mike (me!): Chris Gratton
Kyle: Ian Laperriere
Danny: Pascal Dupuis
Andrew: Radek Bonk
Mike: Yanic Perreault
James Mirtle: Eric Belanger
Rob: Chris Clark
Ron: Alexei Ponikarovsky
Gary: Aaron Asham
RudyKelly: Derek Armstrong
Alanah: Matt Cooke
Bryce: Jon Sim
Jeremy: Manny Malhotra
Earl Sleek: Sammy Pahlsson
Steve: Jed Ortmeyer
Matt: Nik Antropov
PB: Niko Kapanen
The Forechecker: Vern Fiddler
Sherry: Curtis Brown
Ninja: Boyd Devereaux
Drew: Jason Chimera

Vakfan (Southern Bohemian Hockey) picked Jaroslav Hlinka but I'm making an executive decision to disqualify him since he hasn't played an NHL game before. Vakfan, go ahead and make another pick if you want.

If I missed your pick, leave a note in the comments. Also, if you still want in, I'll give a grace period of Tuesday night; just leave a comment with your pick. After then, I'll create a new leaderboard over on the right side of this blog.

Finally, I'm still looking for any sort of widget that might be able to track these players' stats in real time. Right now, I'm just planning on updating the HTML code by hand periodically, but it'd be cool if there was something that could automatically display them. Anyone know of any sort of fantasy tracking widget?

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14,000, or lack thereof

Update: I just posted this, then The Forechecker had this link up. There's some legal-ese about the 14,000 mark that I can't quite decipher yet, but it sounds like SOMETHING's being made in good faith about the Nashville community. Until then, mark me as still skeptical about Balsillie's true intentions.

With all of the commotion being made about hits to the head and suspensions, one little piece of news seemed to slip by without too much notice: Jim Balsillie wants to make nice with the city of Nashville and buy the Predators. Again.

You all remember what happened last time, right? Balsillie went guns-blazin' into the NHL boardroo, started hootin' and hollerin' about moving the team to Hamilton, and even had a ticket drive and advertisement in the local Hamilton paper. People in Hamilton were delighted. Fans in Nashville were bewildered and pissed off. Gary Bettman and company weren't particularly happy either, not necessarily at the fact that Hamilton was in the running, but because some hotshot billionaire went in and bucked all the rules.

Then a local group decided to come in and try and save the Preds, and now, depending on who you believe, the sale may or may not be in jeopardy. Balsillie, perhaps salivating at the chance to re-enact his master plan, apparently wants in.

But the difference this time with Balsillie is that instead of pointing and laughing at Nashville and Predators fans, he's trying to sweet-talk the faithful. Oh sure, he says, we'll keep the team in Nashville. We'll make it work. We'll win a Stanley Cup here. Just come and support the team, k?

Of course, Balsillie can talk all he wants. The real number here is 14,000 -- the magic attendance average that must be met in order to really keep the team in Nashville. And right now, the Predators are averaging around 13,800 (there's a secondary debate that could be had right now as to why that's happening and the whole corporate sponsorship debaucle, but that's another issue). So, considering all this, I'm guessing that Balsillie's looking at that early season number and thinking that he's got a good chance to move this team unless things play out differently this season.

In essence, Balsillie's doing what he should have done in the first place: pay lip-service to the Nashville community, then bide his time to see what his chances were to actually relocate the team. Instead, he made everyone mad and lost his chance.

So now, he's making up for it. He's saying the right things and letting the numbers dictate for themselves. If the local bid fails and Balsillie comes in, then it really just comes down to a attendance-per-game watch. Balsillie can talk all he wants; we all know that his true intentions aren't to keep the team in Nashville.

The real people who get screwed here are the fans -- the die-hard Preds fans who sit in the upper bowl and the fans in Hamilton who are getting their hopes up yet again. There's no real easy way around this situation; you can blame Balsillie for screwing up the first bid and putting a bad taste in everyone's mouth, you can blame Bettman and company for putting a team in a market that's struggling for 14,000 attendance, you can blame the previous ownership regime for failing to capture corporate support, or you can blame the city of Nashville's corporate society for failing to step up when needed.

Any way you cut it, it's an ugly situation with no simple answers. Balsillie's re-entry just makes it even more complicated.

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This is My NHL? Yikes

A quick scan across the NHL scoreboard yesterday showed that there were 12 games on the slate. Of those 12 games, 7 games scored under four goals. Including the 8-2 ass-whooping of the Canucks by Philly, the average goals-per-game for yesterday's matches was 4.4. Taking that out of the equation (and I'm sure Alanah's trying to erase it from the history books), and the goals-per-game drops to 3.9.

Look, I've usually been one of the first people to defend the whole "scoring chance over goals" theory when it comes to excitement, but this season's lack of goal scoring has been noticable in this early year. The weird thing is that the players SEEM faster on the ice (and I don't know if it's because the jerseys are slimmer and it's a visual trick), but my unquantified observations look like:

-Shot blocking is better
-Penalty killing is better and/or power plays are looking awful
-Goalies are coming up with more ridiculous saves
-Defense is better (except in Toronto)

Of the dozen or so games I've seen so far this season, it seems like a lot of teams have cloned Roberto Luongo, and a lot of teams have borrowed the last-place Chicago power play playbook from last season. Maybe a lot of teams are still fiddling with their chemistry, but it just looks like a lot of teams are disjointed still. I think of when Homer Simpson was mad at bad TV shows and said, "Stupid TV. Be more funny!" I'd like to reach through my ugly non-HD screen and grab the players to say, "Stupid offenses. Be better passers and shooters!"

All I know is that even with all this, I STILL don't support the whole bigger nets thing.

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The season starts now

We're one week into the regular season, but I've always considered the first week kind of throwaway. Not because the points don't matter, but because the first week does what the preseason is supposed to do (but doesn't really) -- work out the kinks and figure out the flaws.

Everyone says they skate hard during the preseason but here in the real world, we all know that the goal from the veterans is to not get hurt. That's why the first week is really the best time to assess what's working and what's not. With real points on the line, you can see how the rookies react under pressure (in the case of Patrick Kane, remarkably well; in the case of Bobby Ryan, not so well) and you can see how the veterans are meshing with the new rosters.

So now that everything's getting settled, we've learned that Chicago can be competitive, Anaheim is depleted, San Jose's still wishy-washy, and Washington can win. Does that predict the season? No, but it sets a precedant for what's to come.

If your team's been winning, you know you have potential. If your team's been losing, you know you have flaws. As St. Louis and Colorado showed us last year, bad starts and early games can bite you in the ass during the stretch run; this is the time when bad starts can become mere bumps in the road or a precursor to disaster. This is also a time when good starts can be a pipe dream or a real sense of things to come.

Here's some of the stories that will make or break a team early on. We'll know the answers to them in a few weeks, and those answers could very well determine what happens in February and March:

-Will Viktor Kozlov continue his chemistry with Alex Ovechkin?
-Can Tomas Vokoun rediscover his game?
-Will Vesa Toskala actually get some defensive help in front of him?
-Will Bill Guerin, Mike Comrie, and Ruslan Fedotenko be a flash in the pan or an actual effective front line for an extended period of time?
-Will Chris Drury continue to mesh with Jaromir Jagr? Will Scott Gomez continue to look lost?
-Will Jason Arnott continue to carry the flag for a Kariya/Forsberg/Hartnell-less Nashville?
-Will Edmonton's young guns make a lasting impact?
-Will Paul Stastny keep up at least a point-per-game pace?
-Will Mike Keenan manage to get the Flames playing with fire (no pun intended)?

With a full slate of games starting tonight, I'm guessing the kinks are starting to be worked out and we'll get a true sense of where teams are going starting tonight.

And on a completely unrelated note, I'm glad to see that the mainstream media has started to notice just how god-awful the Sharks' away jerseys are. I'm reserving judgment on the dark home jerseys until I see them in person Saturday night, but there's no way in Hades that I'm buying one of those white ones.

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My bad on Crappy Player rules

Ok, so my goofy little contest has ruffled a few feathers with the way the rules were selected. To everyone participating -- MY BAD on this one. I didn't really think out the logistics too far ahead (I guess that's why I'm not the commish in any fantasy leagues). When I finally realized a good guideline to balance points, games played, injury-skewed seasons, etc., well, some of you already made your pick, and because of that, it's biting a few people in the ass.

Again, my bad. But, like David Letterman's Stupid Pet Tricks, this is only an exhibition -- no wagering please. So please, if your pick's been screwed over by this, just bear with us for this year and join in the fun. I promise next year I'll actually think things out (rather than have my friend remind me that I have to set it up again and put up a knee-jerk reaction post).

But hey, it is actually a little more sorted out than last year. I think last year it was basically based on a judgment call and good-faith picks. At least we have SOME rules this year! But seriously, just have a laugh with it and slog me later for being dumb enough to pick Chris Gratton.

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Crappy Player Pick 'Em update

Here's the current lineup of our little competition. You can still join in the fun until 10/10/07. If you want to make a pick, check out the rules and then leave a comment in the original post. And don't try and cheat like Golbez -- Mirtle will catch you! If you don't see your name on this list and you made a pick, check out the original post comments -- you may have been disqualified.

Mike (me!): Chris Gratton
Kyle: Ian Laperriere
Danny (Battle of Pennsylvania): Pascal Dupuis
Andrew: Radek Bonk
Mike (Shaved Ice): Yanic Perreault
James Mirtle: Eric Belanger
Rob (RotoRob): Chris Clark
Jes Golbez: NOT Andrew Brunette or Mike Knuble
Ron: Alexei Ponikarovsky
Gary: Aaron Asham
RudyKelly (Battle of California): Derek Armstrong
Alanah (Canucks & Beyond): Matt Cooke
Bryce: Jon Sim
Jeremy: Manny Malhotra
Earl Sleek (Battle of California): Sammy Pahlsson
Steve (Puck Update): Jed Ortmeyer
Matt (Battle of Alberta): Nik Antropov

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My bad, JR

An open letter to Jeremy Roenick:

Hey, JR -- can I call you JR? -- I've gotta tell you the truth. Way back when, back when you were the core of the Chicago Blackhawks, you scored a goal late in the third period to send a playoff game with the Colorado Avalanche into overtime. I was watching the game with my dad (who, unlike me, has not give up his Hawks fandom), and just before that goal, he remarked about how it's been a good season. As the puck crossed the line, I turned to him and said (well, more like yelled -- I was pretty excited at the time) to never give up when JR's on the ice.

Of course, the Hawks lost the game and series in OT. But that's besides the point.

I've mentioned on this blog that I was ridiculously stoked about you coming to the Sharks. Even when the preseason seemed to be dismal, I kept up my optimism. Not going to start opening night? Hey, that's fine -- you'd get your time. Devin Setoguchi's too hurt to play? Sweet, here comes JR, he'll prove them all wrong.

Well, damn if my fanboy-vision didn't get cleared up with that first game. Things weren't looking too good for you, so bad that you only had one shift in the third period. The next day, I told a friend (who is also a fellow lifelong JR fan) that I thought you were done, that you should hang them up.

Essentially, I did the exact opposite of what I told my dad the night of the Hawks/Avs playoff game. I gave up on you. And I just wanted to say that was totally my bad.

Last night, you played JR hockey. You threw your body around, you crashed the crease, and you got in the right place at the right time. You even were able to keep up with Milan Michalek and the ridiculously fast Torey Mitchell. For one night, you proved me wrong, and I'm pretty damn happy about that.

Look, I'm sure you'll have good nights and bad nights in a Sharks jersey. You're definitely not going to keep up the 82-goal pace you're currently on, but last night showed me that you've still got some gas left in the tank. You showed me that you can shake off a bad game and still play some of that JR hockey that I've seen over your career. Realistically, I think a good season for you, considering age and the youth of the Sharks' roster, would be 15 goals and 25 assists over 60 games.

You think you can get that done? I think you can. Let's see a good season of JR hockey (and don't make me look stupid in my new #27 jersey -- I already blew it last year with my Mark Bell jersey).

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The three-year turnaround

Since a lot of people are talking about how teams like Chicago, Phoenix, and Columbus are stuck in the middle of go-nowhere hell, here's some food for thought. The last three Stanley Cup champions were able to turn things around in three years or less. What's the formula for this success? Let's take a look.

Tampa Bay Lightning
2001-02: 27-40-15, out of playoffs
2002-03: 36-25-21, lost in 2nd round
2003-04: 46-22-14, won Stanley Cup

The reason for the Bolts' turnaround? A great power play, Nikolai Khabibulin providing stability in net, and the emergence of Vincent Lecavalier, Brad Richards, Martin St. Louis, and Dan Boyle, along with a John Tortorella-influenced commitment to team defense.

Carolina Hurricanes
2003-04: 28-34-20, out of playoffs
2005-06: 52-22-6, won Stanley Cup

How did the Hurricanes storm (pun intended) out of the lockout to win the Cup? A new, up-tempo system emphasizing speed, transition, and forecheck by Peter Laviolette, stability in goal by Martin Gerber (regular season) and Cam Ward (playoffs), and the emergence of Eric Staal, Erik Cole, and Justin Williams as legit and consistent scoring threats.

Anaheim Ducks
2003-04: 29-35-18, out of playoffs
2005-06: 43-27-12, lost in conference final
2006-07: 48-20-14, won Stanley Cup

Did dropping the word "Mighty" out of the name make the biggest difference for Anaheim? No, the Ducks' ascension really came in four stages. First, shedding overpaid veterans like Sergei Fedorov and Vaclav Prospal. Second, Randy Carlyle and Brian Burke taking over the team and instilling a sandpaper mentality with the squad. Third, the addition of Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger, along with the return of Teemu Selanne. Finally, the emergence of Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, and Dustin Penner to give the team secondary scoring depth to go with a monster defense and solid goaltending.

There are similarities and differences with each of these teams. In all cases, the emergence of young talent was part of the key, along with instilling a new system in the mold of the new coach. However, Tampa's victory was focused on superstars meshing with a defensive system, Carolina was focused on an effective, relentless system, and Anaheim was focused on an unbeatable defense. Three different approaches, three championships, which goes to show that you really can't copy the previous Cup champion since league parity is at an all-time high.

What does this mean for current bottom feeders? It takes the right combination of smart drafting, good coaching, and that special intangible to go from the zero to hero. That doesn't mean that Chicago or Florida will necessarily be hoisting Lord Stanley in the coming years, but the old notion of a five-year rebuilding process doesn't apply anymore, and that should give fans of those teams hope.

The key to all of this really is making sure that the team is focused in going the right direction. That's why Columbus finally can see the light at the end of the tunnel by ditching Doug "Fast Fix" Maclean. This season, I think the team poised to make the first step in this turnaround is Florida. With young talent like Stephen Weiss, Nathan Horton, and Jay Bouwmeester ready to take center stage and Tomas Vokoun anchoring the crease, Olli Jokinen's team seems to have the right ingredients for a turnaround. Whether that special spark will be there, however, only time will tell.

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Ok, for real this time: Crappy Player Pick 'Em

Upon soliciting the wisdom of Mirtle, Golbez, and a few others, I've come up with the actual rules for this competition:

1) Players must have a career point average of less than 45 points per season.
2) Player must be a forward that's 27 or older. As Mirtle points out, if you're still getting 30-40 points at that age, you're a lifelong plugger.
3) Player has to be making $2 million or less (this is updated from $1.5 million -- I checked and there's a lot of crappy players making $1.9, so I opened it up to some flexibility). To check, go to NHL Numbers.
4) We'll be judging total points (goals + assists). Tiebreakers will be goals.
5) Make your pick by leaving a comment in this post. Players are picked on a first-come, first-serve basis, so if someone snags Radek Bonk

As an example, last season's players included such superstars as Todd Marchant, Wayne Primeau, Chad Kilger, and Dan Hinote. Remeber, this pool's really more about making a stupid pick and laughing at each other rather than serious competition, so my suggestion is to go with a crappy player you've got a soft spot for. Why do I get the feeling that Alanah and Golbez will have a drinking contest to take Matt Cooke?

I'm throwing the gauntlet down by making the first pick with perreniel underachiever and three-time Tampa Bay Lightning not-so-superstar Chris Gratton with a $1.5 million salary and a career points average of 44.3. Take that, last year's champion Boltsmag!

Oh, and I'm still looking for any advice on web widgets that might be able to grab automatically individual player statistics for the leaderboard. Leave a comment if you know of any.

Update: Just to clear it up, this is open to anyone, not just bloggers.

Update 2: More clarification -- calculate your player's average points by taking career points, divide by total games played, then multiply by 82 games per season. In mathematical terms:

Points per season = (career points/total games played) x 82 games per season

That eliminates any skewing due to injury.

Update 3: The list so far...
Mike (me!): Chris Gratton
Kyle: Ian Laperriere
Danny (Battle of Pennsylvania): Pascal Dupuis
Andrew: Radek Bonk
Mike (Shaved Ice): Yanic Perreault
James Mirtle: Eric Belanger
Rob (RotoRob): Chris Clark
Jes Golbez: Andrew Brunette
Ron: Bryan Smolinski
Gary: Aaron Asham
RudyKelly (Battle of California): Derek Armstrong

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Update to Crappy Player Pick 'Em rules

Ok, my lackadaisical approach to the rules has created mass confusion. Give me a day to create a more defined guideline and check back tomorrow.

Basically, we've got to keep the players cheap (under the average salary), crappy (below 45 points), and show that they've maxxed out on their potential. Maybe it will have to be an age requirement, like someone over the age of 27, since they usually don't go on giant scoring tears after that.

But yeah, try to think of a player along the lines of Shean Donavon or Curtis Brown and I'll come up with stricter rules tomorrow.

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Return of the Crappy Player Pick 'Em

Update: Please read this post for updates rules.

It's that time of year again -- time to pit your favorite 3rd/4th liner against someone else's favorite 3rd/4th liner to see who's the best of the worst! Here are the (loose) rules:

1) Player must be a forward who scored less than 45 points last year
2) Player has to be making LESS than the average salary ($1.5 million). To check, go to NHL Numbers.
3) We'll be judging total points (goals + assists). Tiebreakers will be goals.
4) There may be some logistical rules I'm forgetting. As this is, as David Letterman would say, just an exhibition done mostly to laugh at each other, let's be flexibile at my poor GM skills.

Last year's winner was John from Boltsmag with Eric Perrin. He won illustrious bragging rights
and a cash prize of $0.00.

To participate, leave a comment in the post. Players are picked on a first come, first serve basis, so if you just HAVE to have Curtis Brown, be quick!

Also, for any web coding whizzes out there, are there any modules or widgets that pull a player's stats automatically from an RSS feed? That'd make updating the standings way easier.

Oh, and try to get your picks in by October 10th.

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It's not expansion, it's marketing

Listening to XM Home Ice this weekend, I got a good dose of several of the hosts freaking out about NHL expansion to Europe, as if this jaunt to the UK was about getting teams skating around the Thames within the next three years.

Ok, until we get Star Trek-esque transporters moving us from place to place (or at least planes get much, much faster), European expansion is logistically impossible. Some people also complained about how the NHL should be catering to markets that yearn for hockey rather than exploring the UK.

Well, here's the thing. The UK's really, really close to mainland Europe. And in a lot of places in mainland Europe, hockey is king. So yeah, perhaps this doesn't satisfy people the way putting a team in Hamilton, Ontario might, but this is all about globalization and market expansion. Think of it this way. The NHL brand is pretty strong wherever hockey is strong -- Sweden, Czech Republic, Russia, etc. These places are untapped sources of revenue stemming from merchandise to Internet traffic to TV broadcasts.

The packed O2 Arena was an example of Europe's embrace of NHL hockey; from all reports, you had jerseys of representing all sorts of different club teams from European nations, as well as global fans of the NHL. Sure, it might not have made to much of a dent in the UK sports landscape, but it was a convenient, media-friendly location for the NHL to try and drive its European interests (re: branding and cash-grabbing).

The big picture here is that there is ample room for growth when it comes to European revenues and it doesn't have to require expansion teams. Exposure and brand-strengthening can lead to further interest in hockey hotbeds, and that means bigger international bucks for the league. Frankly, I'm surprised that the PA puts up any resistance to this; if the NHL can drive greater revenue from international markets, then it's more money to be shared with the PA and a higher salary cap. Isn't that something the PA wants?

From all reports, the people who attended this weekend's Ducks/Kings games had a great time and were just appreciative to see NHL hockey as opposed to, say, the Swiss Elite league. If you're a European hockey fan who gets further exposed to the NHL product, there's a chance that you might catch international game broadcasts and go to NHL.com to buy merchandise. It's that simple.

If there's no PA opposition, I could this growing in two ways:

1) An annual Premiere Series that rotates around Europe. If next year's reports of Prague are true, then I could see the third year being Stockholm, then rotating back to the UK. That way, you hit the different geographies of Europe to cater to the different fans. Think a Vancouver (Sedins)/Ottawa (Alfredsson) game in Stockholm wouldn't make the Swedish fans go nuts?

2) An annual exhibition between the Stanley Cup champion and a European Champions League winner. This would probably have a harder time going through PA approval because it's very difficult to plan and you put the team at risk to injury. However, it would be good publicity for the league in Europe and the potential for additional revenue and growth are certainly there.

So for all you fans worried about Munich and Prague getting NHL teams before Hamilton, relax -- the logistics will make it impossible until air travel technology gets better (I recall reading about a development of a new type of aircraft that skims the atmosphere rather than flying at traditional heights, and that experimental craft was supposed to cut flight times down by a signifcant factor, but I can't remember details. Any science nerds reading this blog?). However, for those fans and pundits that didn't understand the need to go to Europe, folks, it's all about untapped markets and revenue, and that's something both the league and the PA want.

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