Link

********************************************I've noticed a lot of folks entering Odd Man Rush through this page which is many, many, many months old. If you'd like to link to the current main page please go >>> HERE.

Hope you're having a great Year....

********************************************







2005 mercifully comes to a end...

Because the lockout wiped out all but three months of last season, the NHL has little reason to look back on 2005.
A look ahead is more in order.
It's no surprise that the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers are neck-and-neck atop the Eastern Conference and are already on a collision course for the right to go to the Stanley Cup finals.
What has raised eyebrows are the teams right on their heels.

Read the rest about hockey in 2K6 >>>>>>>>>>>>> here.

My own team the Av's are floundering (and I do mean floundering) around the .500 mark and I don't see much improvement coming from them unless Pierre Lacroix pulls a rabbit.... errr I mean a Luongo out of his hat. He's worked magic before to conjure up Cup Champs and we true believers trust in his powers to do it again. A good friend of the blog sent me this beautiful good luck charm to help out the cause. It's much appreciated (Av's win 5-2 on the road, I do believe the charm is already working).

Here's some hockey stories that would be pretty cool to see in print next year but most likely we won't.

Like this gem...

June: Los Angeles defeats Montreal for its first Stanley Cup. But Jeremy Roenick sulks when he doesn't win the Conn Smythe Trophy and the victory parade gets separated by smog and bad L.A. freeway traffic. The Cup ends up at a roadhouse in Cucamonga.

or this one..

December: Rather than be shamed by the coming 40th anniversary of the Leafs most recent championship, MLSEL cashes in. All season-ticket renewals get a 1967 retro Leafs sweater, a shaker snow globe of George Armstrong's Cup-winning goal and a 40th anniversary DVD of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Actually that last one might not be too far fetched.

For my Canadian friends looking for a more general sports overview of the year that just was check out.... The Year That Sucked.

If they auctioned off a century's worth of "years in sports" do you think anyone would bid a plug nickel on 2005?
We can suppose Gary Bettman would be in there bobbing his head at the auctioneer. How about Dick Pound? Maybe Steve Nash. Roger Federer. Sid the Kid, of course. Damon Allen. Tiger Woods, but he would be bidding for every year.
Who else? Anybody? And if so, why?
If ever there was a year that cried out to have its knuckles rapped or maybe even do some hard prison time, this was it.

I couldn't agree more.

Other Year End Puck Stuff

Stick(er) SHOCK

SHOOTOUT Science

The RISE of U.S. Talent

From NASCAR to Hockey Coach

More Women are... PLAYING ...Hockey

Finally this last one is non-hockey related... it just cracks me up. Most cops I think would've simply started blasting the little buggers away. What a sight that would've been... eh?

Happy New Year Everyone!

Everybody Wang Chung tonight and don't forget to add a leap second to your countdown to 2006. Here's Steve Martin (chanelling Bill O'Reilly) explaining why the leap second is a anti-american plot... HA!

Ban Glitter From Hockey

Lifetime Suspension for Gross Misconduct

My all-time favorite arena anthem that I'm sure a lot of you have also liked used to be Rock and Roll part 2 by Gary Glitter (AKA Paul Francis Gadd). For me it was the perfect song to hear after goals were scored because of the way it gets the whole crowd loud and involved. However in recent years I and a growing list of others cringe every time we hear it played because of the disgusting history of the man who wrote it. As much as I've loved hearing his song played at games I've always feared he may be receiving royalties as a result which continue to fuel his despicable perversions. That possibility sickens me. His latest acts of depravity with children have got me thinking that maybe it's time to retire the song from hockey arenas so as to ensure no money from it reaches this monster as a result of it being played.

Others are starting to feel the song should be done away with also.

Time to Silence "Rock and Roll Part 2"

...sex with children? Perhaps it earns a Vietnamese peasant girl more money than she can make harvesting rice, but leveraging a child's poverty, naivete or both is high on the list of the vilest things a person can do.

Likewise, I think any sensitive, intelligent music programmer ought to know better than to roll out Glitter's big hit at a well-attended football game, whatever the recent tradition. He is an atrocious human being, the tune is stupid anyway, and there's a big world of great music out there. At least as far as high-profile sporting events are concerned, good taste and decorum require that "Rock and Roll, Part 2" be retired to the compost heap.

Finally, a wish for 2006:

Musically Glitter is best-known for the Cro-Magnon and mostly instrumental anthem “Rock and Roll Part 2.” It has become a staple at virtually every sports arena/stadium in America, where fans usually augment Glitter’s Shakespearean prose (“Na-na-na-na-na, hey!”) with the testosterone chant: “We’re gonna beat the hell out of you.”

Not to pour warm beer on a timeless ritual, but the guy gets royalties every time the song is played anywhere, whether it’s a commercial for Starbucks or in the middle of a game at Arrowhead Stadium or Allen Fieldhouse. It’s time to start a new ritual with a different song and deliver this guy and his music into oblivion.

As much as I hate the idea of censorship... I HATE child abuse even more and feel this song should be boycotted so as to not provide this pervert any more financial support for his activities.

In Other More Pleasant Hockey News:

NHL's Mojo Rising

Puck Nuptials on Ice

Zamboni Cruising

Pack of Wolves

The Next Next One

And finally...

The Top Hockey Songs... NOT including R & R pt. 2.

Personally I would've ranked the "Zamboni Song" by the Gear Daddies a bit higher.

UPDATE:
The good folks over at BoA have put together the most extensive list of hockey music I've see yet... check it out.

Requiem for the Heavyweights

R.I.P. ???
I've noticed a large number of obituaries appearing lately that morn the loss of the fight game aspect of the sport under the new NHL rules. It seems like it's really being missed by a substantial cross-section of players, press and fans alike.

New NHL features a lot less fighting

Fighting has not totally disappeared from the NHL. Go to a game and there's still a 29 percent chance you will see a fight. But that 29 percent is on pace to be the lowest since the NHL has kept such records. So much so that it appears time to retire the old joke of "I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out."

Fighting is being weeded out of the NHL.

Where's the black and blue NHL ?

DENVER - Dan Hinote had bitten his lip long enough that it was nearly black and blue. But Hinote says in the new NHL that's about the only body part black and blue anymore.

"There's no testosterone in the game right now," the Colorado Avalanche's veteran right wing said, breaking a taboo on league criticism since the game returned from the labor dispute canceled the 2004-05 season. "They've taken a lot of the physical aspects out of the game. It's predominantly special teams now. It's unfortunate, because there's no more battling in the corners. I won't say there's none, but there's a lot less.

New Rules Taking Grit Out of Game

I get it, the NHL doesn't want fighting. Spike TV has Ultimate Fighting, so if you're looking for the brawling, that is were I go for my fix of pugilism. Hockey is about accountability. You are accountable to your teammates and to your opponents. What ever happened to the times when the other team ran your goalie and you did something about it? How about the good ole days when the tough areas of the ice was in front of the net. Wait a minute, it is the tough area, for all NHL goaltenders getting trampled by oncoming forwards.

Today's NHL rules punch pure pugilist out of the game

According to the NHL and Elias Sports Bureau, there had been 300 fighting majors through the first 408 games this season. That is down from 558 fighting majors through the first 408 games of the 2003-04 season, a staggering 45 percent decrease. Consider the fate of several tough guys: Ken Belanger (knocked cold once by Laus) recently retired. Krzysztof Oliwa was cut by the Devils and Andrei Nazarov by the Wild. And former Panthers tough guy Peter Worrell, who led the NHL with 354 penalty minutes in 2001-02, is trying to survive in the ECHL with the Charlotte Checkers.

Once a badge of courage, a way to make a mark in the league, fighting has become passe during the post-lockout era.

New NHL rules have cut fighting penalties dramatically

What in the name of Dave Schultz is going on here?

Welcome to the "new NHL," a relatively kinder and gentler version of the brand of hockey on display less than two years ago before the National Hockey League closed its doors for a season while settling a labor dispute.

Personally I'm not too worried about these developments, I think the dramatic decline in fighting we're currently experiencing is a evolutionary moment in time rather than a permanent state of affairs for the NHL. We're in a period of transition where the dinosaurs of the fight game are being weeded out and a new breed of players like... Derek Boogaard... Brian McGrattan... and George Parros ...players who can both PLAY and FIGHT are slowly starting to establish themselves and their games in the new and improved NHL. It's a different fight game that we're seeing evolve compared to the old traditional model we've had for so loooong and once that process has taken place I think we'll see the pugilist aspect of the game pick up from these record lows... although we'll never see a return to the wild days of the 70's and 80's, you can definitely kiss those times goodbye (sniff, sniff).

BUZZING THE NET:

Are We Getting The BEST Game Possible ?

NOLAN Wants Back In NHL... I say let him back in.

The NHL Has Been FULL Of Surprises

TEN to Watch

NHL MUST Stand By New Rules

LOVE CUSTOMS of the Frozen North

YOU KNOW YOUR A HOCKEY FAN IF...

You refer to your own team's enforcers as "character guys" and you refer to other teams' enforcers as "freaking little pieces of monkey s#@t."

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on Earth, good will to men!

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Swoosh on Ice

Nike and Team USA recently introduced the revolutionary new uniforms that the team will be wearing in the upcoming Olympics. Wind tunnel tested the high-tech uni's are designed to dramatically cut air resistance and reduce drag thus allowing players wearing them extra speed and endurance... theoretically.

Aerodynamics in hockey? It's a genuine revolution.

There are those who call hockey the fastest game on earth. Unlike any time in hockey's history, the action on the ice is faster and quicker, with blinding speeds and unfathomable power. With pucks traveling at 100 miles per hour, and players slicing the ice at 20 mph, demands on player performance have never been greater. And that goes double for apparel.
Without sacrificing an ounce of heritage, and passing rigid International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) standards, the Nike Swift Hockey Jersey and Sock reduces overall weight, adds increased mobility and comfort while making the jersey aerodynamically the most advanced in the world.

Many attempts over the years have been made at introducing new concepts into the hockey uniform, each one has failed and the traditional design remains largely unchanged. Shortly we will witness the success or failure of the latest attempt at updating the sports standard uniform. With the outlook for Team USA at the Olympics not looking to good at this point we'll need every advantage we can get to medal... even if it should come from space age uni's.



BUZZING THE NET:

Guitars, PUCKS and Rock & Roll

It's an AGE OLD Question ?

Bizarre game ends with EVACUATION

" I DON'T like the rule ! "

On-Line Puck Contests... for CA$H

I'd like to take a moment to congratulate those crazed puckheads up north at Battle of Alberta for hitting the 20,000 mark on their site odometer and for this bit of late-breaking Canadian news that I'm sure they're all very excited about up there. I guess our northern neighbors have to allow their consenting adults the flexibility to stay warm anyway possible. WOOHOO ! Anyways, we here at oddman central will be hitting the 10,000 mark sometime today and I'd like to personally thank everyone who has been stopping by these past months. The oddman will use this momentous occasion to get s@#t-faced tonight while watching the CenterIce puck offerings because afterall the odd one never really needs much of a excuse to party.

Remembers kids...

The future's uncertain
And the end is always near.
So, Let it roll, baby, roll.
Let it roll, all night long ........ JM

The Number Crunching Game

Billy Beane has revolutionized the way baseball GM's put together teams based on his system of Moneyball which is refined analysis of players performance numbers. There are those who believe the same approach could be used in hockey.... Moneypucks.

Hockey, like most sports, has scads of numbers and statistics. But there is not yet a well-established system that tracks these numbers to tell you what kind of player brings you the best results in the course of a year.

The obvious point, one that many in baseball made in response to Moneyball, is that talent wins. If you do not have the horses in any sport, you won't cross the line first. Yet it is the refinement in interpreting just what "talent" means that gave Moneyball its validity.

... Perhaps it is time for the hockey geeks to put away the fighting tapes and work on a program that connects hockey's statistical dots to wins.

I think with the introduction of the salary cap to the NHL landscape you'll see some GM's start to explore the possibilities of applying Moneyball to hockey.

PUCKS UNLIMITED:

Former NHL coach stunned by racial slurs

Morale UP with on-ice Officials

The Roots of Hockey being played today

Last Minute Holiday Hockey Gift Ideas

My NHL includes a good, honest donnybrook

Let's see, something else happened over the weekend, what was it? Ooooh yeah I remember now... it was revealed that the...

*****XXXXX*****
.....Other than that I guess nothing much else happened.

The Big Six

Here's a look at the top Hockey playing countries and their chances at the upcoming Olympics in Turin, Italy.

We're less than a week away from the United States and Canada naming their Olympic hockey rosters (Dec. 19 for the U.S., the 22nd for the Canadians). It should be a tough tournament for both teams, who will vie with 10 other countries for medals. Others in the tournament include likely quarterfinalists Slovakia and Germany as well as Italy, Switzerland, Latvia and Kazakhstan.

Basically things are looking pretty good for the Canadians... not so good for the Americans.

In Other News:

The Habs say they ONLY accept advertising for products they use.


"Alright, boys! Let's keep it up!"

caption courtesy of Michael from over at
Confessions of a Hockey Fanatic.
Thanks Mike.

Fiery Coach finds Fit

Hockey nerds, this one's for you... (scroll down)

NHL Tilts Toward the Wealthy

Who's Next to be Fired ?

International Police Blotter Hockey:

Drunk Russian Hockey Fans Hijack Train

Hockey Day in Canada

The Unofficial Puck Holiday

For the past six years the CBC and specially chosen host communities have been celebrating the great game of hockey in Canada by setting aside a special day to honor and watch this grand sport. Hockey Day in Canada this season will be gloriously celebrated on January 7, 2006.

Hockey Day has become somewhat of an unofficial holiday for Canadian hockey fans.

This year's 13.5-hour broadcast showcases our game at the grassroots level, highlighting how hockey defines both the parent-child and adult-child relationship.

Stephenville won't be the only Canadian community bustling with action. Hockey Day will also carry remote video feeds from Florenceville, N.B., Parry Sound, Ont., Winkler, Man., Calgary, Alta., and Burnaby, B.C.

Former Toronto Maple Leaf forward Wendell Clark will join hosts Ron MacLean, Don Cherry and Dick Irvin in Stephenville for all the festivities, which begin at noon ET.

There is also the traditional NHL all-Canadian tripleheader starting with Ottawa at Montreal at 2 p.m. ET, followed by Toronto at Edmonton at 7 p.m. ET and Calgary at Vancouver at 10 p.m. ET.

Hopefully this annual event will continue to grow and be supported until it becomes an "official" national holiday... just as it should be.

For this years host community of Stephenville being chosen for Hockey Day in Canada was the first bit of good news the town has received in quite awhile.

Dozens of children who lost their hockey equipment in a flood last fall, or whose families have been affected by the closure of the local paper mill, are getting a little help from some hockey-loving friends.

This hard-hit Newfoundland town was chosen to host CBC's annual Hockey Day In Canada broadcast. But when organizers showed up to make plans, they found a town where hockey enrolment and community morale was down.

"They've had some tough times there lately," said Joel Darling, executive producer of Hockey Night in Canada. "Some of the kids had lost some equipment in the floods. I think, with the plant being uncertain whether it was going to close . . . people were hesitant to join. Some kids were actually moved right out of their houses, relocated."

For more info. on Hockey Day in Canada go >>> here.

MORE NEWS FROM THE WIDE WORLD OF PUCKS

Xmas Presents for NHL Teams

NHL Season of Giving... Maybe

The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

The World according to Grapes

2005's Most Influential Sports Figure

And finally...

Here's some players I wouldn't want to go into a corner and fight with for the puck.

They might be appearing at the 2006 ice hockey world championships.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hockey Day everyone!

CURRENT POSTS:

A lot of folks seem to be entering OMR through this page, if you're interested in current posts they're located >>> here.

The Canadian Cup

It's A Small Hockey World After All


The Canadian Multicultural Hockey League (CMHL) will be holding a tournament this December in Toronto that will bring many of the traditionally non-hockey playing communities of Canada together to compete for the Canadian Cup and multicultural hockey glory.

The CMHL is motivating those communities, would-be players and spectators alike, to fully appreciate one of Canada's biggest legacies—the game of hockey!

...Teams include; Hellenic Lightning, Italian Gladiators, Portuguese Sea Wolves, Nubian Kings, First Nation Thunder, Chinese Ice Dragons, Serbian White Eagles, South Asian Vipers, Croatian Knights, Macedonian Lions, Polish Hussars, Russian Kremlins, Finnish Sisu, Irish Shamrocks, and the Japanese Arashi.

With all these different ethnic backgrounds participating you may ask why there is no Canadian team? The CMHL promptly answers: Because we are all Canadians! This is not about country versus country. This is about Canadians playing against other Canadians.

I'm pulling for the Irish Shamrocks.

If your interested in more info on the tournament go >>> here.

In other Puck News:

NHL Fan Demand Causes Shortages

Owners Get Together

Hockey History on the Block

Gretz says "hair is OK"

Hockey Rockers... The Zamboni's

Police Blotter Hockey:

Hockey dad charged with attacking player in an act of rink rage.


Hockey Quote for the Day:

"All hockey players are bilingual. They know English and profanity."

Gordie Howe

Penguin Exodus

Where o where will they end up ???

Whatever you do don't worry about them because lots of places would love to give them a good home.

Mario Lemieux has hammered the For Sale sign into the Pittsburgh Penguins' proverbial front lawn and speculation has already started.

Could the "Return of the Winnipeg Jets Campaign" finally bear fruit? Would the Penguins move from one Steeltown to another? Does the NHL adore Quebec City? And what about new possibilities on the NHL map, places like Houston, Las Vegas and Kansas City?

Well, while they look for that new home they're searching for maybe they'll be able to catch and devour that RED HERRING the NHLPA just released.

Trent Klatt, a former Los Angeles Kings forward and a onetime NHLPA vice-president who is among more than 100 players who have contested Saskin's hiring, said the announcement that the league is increasing revenue is designed to take the attention away from the controversy.

"It's a red herring," Klatt said yesterday. "Revenue has nothing to do with why we're here. We need to tell the players the truth and the (player) agents are another tool we can use to get that information to them."

By what I understand Penguins LOVE to eat Red Herrring and hopefully they'll make short work of this one.

Meanwhile...

In another development related to the dispute over Saskin's hiring, prominent NHL agent Mike Liut, a former goalie who was a member of the players' committee that originally hired former NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow, contends Saskin has the support of less than half the league's 700-some players, and that several hundred players may consider mounting a bid to decertify the union because of the controversy.

Now there's an idea maybe worth looking at... union decertification.


********* PENGUIN EXODUS NEWS UPDATE *********
Deal possibly in place to save the Pitt. Pens

Just days after Mario Lemieux struck fear in the hearts of Pittsburgh hockey fans, suggesting it may be too late to keep his team in town, KDKA Investigator Andy Sheehan has learned about a new deal that could keep the Pens here for a long time.

Under an "agreement of terms" reached yesterday with city and county leaders, the Penguins will get development rights to the current Mellon Arena site if the team can come up with $300 million to build a new arena.

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BUZZING THE NET:

Canada Looking for Leaders

Fighting Words

The NHL cure for Insomnia

Size Doesn't Matter... anymore

Lost in TV Land

And finally...

YOU KNOW YOUR A HOCKEY FAN IF...

You punish your kids with "minors," "majors," and "misconducts."

NOT Your Typical Hockey Player

I love seeing "characters" make it in the NHL. Players who express and/or conduct themselves a little differently than the norm, true individuals who walk their own path. The NHL has a long tradition of having "characters" playing in their league and here's a new one who in addition to definitely skating to the beat of his own drummer also happened to set a NHL record recently.

(he).. is wearing a shockingly bright white track suit, drawing attention to the diamond stud earring flashing from his right ear lobe. The look is in stark contrast to the standard jeans-sweatshirt-ball cap outfit favoured by most NHL players on practice days.

...Over the years, the culture of hockey has created a "one for all and all for one" mantra as a necessary part of teamwork. That has tended to breed conservatism in players away from the ice. With a few exceptions, players generally dress, walk and talk from the same playbook.

Then there's Emery.

I think the NHL would help itself greatly if it would do more to highlight and promote the various characters like Ray Emery that are and have always been so much a part of the game of hockey.

OTHER PUCK NEWS:

Pens to leave Pittsburgh ?

OLN... The NHL's Remote Outpost

Tweaking the Rules

Panthers - Luongo to Part Ways ?

Lets Get Physical

And last but not least... Everything you always wanted to know about driving a Zamboni but were afraid to ask.

Now ever since I was young it's been my dream
That I might drive a Zamboni machine
I'd get the ice just as slick as could be
And all the kids would look up to me

I want to drive the Zamboni...hey
I want to drive the Zamboni...Yes I do!

- Gear Daddies, "The Zamboni Song,"

It's ALL about the F-U-N !!!

OR...

How I learned to stop worrying and love the... Shootout.

Think about that shootout game between the Rangers and Capitals a few weeks ago. Did you see Marek Malik's unbelievable goal to win it? Talk about F-U-N! Here's a 6-foot-6 defenseman, who up until that point hadn't really shown an iota of offensive skill in the NHL, and he scores a highlight reel goal that I'm pretty sure brought Jagr to climax. Seriously, it was so good that, for about 15 minutes, the sports talk stations in New York actually stopped discussing the Mets' pitching rotation to talk about hockey.

Never mind the fact that the 15 rounds of shootout could have instead been a prolonged 4-on-4 sudden death overtime under goal-friendly "new" NHL rules. And never mind that Malik's goal is no different that a jaw-dropping move in the NBA's slam dunk exhibition: an athletic feat that could never be repeated in an actual competition because it's flashy sideshow garbage.

It was super duper candy-coated F-U-N!

Straight out of Kazakhstan... a new shootout star is born.

OTHER PUCK NEWS:

Creative Hockey is BACK

Original Six Mystique... fading

Offensive Explosions have Died Down

Gretzky Goes for the Three-peat

Junior Hockeys' Dirty Little Secrets

Police Blotter Hockey:

Bavis and Head-Butt

and finally...

YOU KNOW YOUR A HOCKEY FAN IF...

You went into a bank because it advertised "Free Checking"....and walked out disappointed.

U.S. Super Squad

Gets Ready for World Tournament

The American Junior team may have the greatest collection of talent ever assembled as it heads north to Canada with high expectations of winning a World Championship.

...it is here, at the U-20 level, where the first real bumper crop of talent is ready to be harvested. The 22-man American squad will feature 18 NHL draft picks, four 2006 eligibles, and previously unimaginable depth across the board.

"Our talent is so much deeper than before," Kyle said in a telephone press conference. "We had to cut a number of [NHL] first-rounders from this team. That's never happened before."

It's also a team that's properly motivated. The stands at last year's tournament in Grand Forks, N.D., were filled with red and white sweaters, the rink becoming an extension of Canadian soil as the Canadians celebrated a gold-medal win over Russia, while the U.S. squad failed to medal. Gaining revenge in Vancouver is clearly a priority for the U.S.

"We're going up there to defend something we lost last year," says Jim Johansson, USA Hockey's senior director of hockey operations.

Good Luck Boys.

Buzzing the net:

For the first time in nearly two decades all the Canadian teams could end up in the playoffs.

Hockey tales from a simpler time and place.

I just love all the various mutations of the sport that people have come up with to compete at including… Sled Hockey.

Some think although it's down now eventually we’ll see more fighting in the NHL as the season progress with it’s rival intense schedule.

Guess what’s sneaking back into the game… The Trap.... YIKES!

Police Blotter Hockey:

Team foils bar holdup.

Breaking... "The Code"

Just Don't Do It

Even though this is the New NHL with it's New Rules it's good to see that some of the games traditional laws never change, nor should they... especially the unwritten ones.

One aspect of the NHL game that the penalty crackdown will not be able to deter is "The Code" an unwritten rule that, once broken, comes with a violent, underlying message: "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."

Certainly, those watching the Ottawa Senators-Los Angeles Kings game Friday night at the Corel Centre saw "The Code " broken more than a few times and the consequences for doing so subsequently delivered.

Meanwhile Ottawa's Chara has no regrets.

Today's Puck Buffet:

Carnival Cattle Call

Recipe for Ideal Defensemen

NHL looking at Hiring Euro-Refs

Hockey's Red-Light District

NHL... SkillJam ?

Oddman's Odd Blog Pick of the Week:

It's a Sports Groupies Gone Wild With Webcams kind of place that's good for a few chuckles and isn't that what we all need a little more of now days... chuckles.

Enjoy.

Famous Canadian Quote for the Day:

It's better to die on your feet than to live on your knees

Neil Young

Puck Trip

I've fantasized for along time about being able to take a hockey vacation like the one Ben Sturtevant was fortunate enough to take recently.

I studied the NHL schedule and a road map and discovered it would be fairly easy to hit several NHL cities in a week. I informed my friend, Josh, an equally demented pucks fan, of my plan and he was quickly on board. The plan was to go to games in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Detroit. The trip would allow us to see three Original 6 teams (the Montreal Canadiens, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings) in three hockey-crazed cities, and possibly the NHL's best all-around squad in the Ottawa Senators, who also happened to have one my favorite all-time players, 40-year-old Dominik Hasek, in goal. Since the trip would take us through Toronto, we'd also be able to hit the Hockey Hall of Fame. It was the ultimate pucks pilgrimage.

Best of all, we'd be free to act like little boys again.

Read more about >>> Ben and Josh's excellent puck adventure.

If I ever get the chance to fulfill my fantasy puck vacation it would go something like this...

Montreal... watching games from the Bell on CentreIce is incredible, the crowds are just so totally into the games from beginning to end, chanting, singing, booing, cheering... LOUD. No nuance of the game escapes their attention or appreciation in Montreal. It's just a totally immersive hockey atmosphere bordering on worship that I just GOT to go and experience someday. Plus it's got all that history.

Laval... Ever since seeing the movie Les Chiefs I just have to make a pilgrimage to this Montreal suburb and experience the primal and crazed hockey sub-culture of the Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey... the infamous LNAH. Maybe even visit the apt. under the bleachers where the enforcers live.

Toronto... Not so much to catch a Leafs game (which would be cool) but really more to visit all the rinks, bars and other haunts of Dave Bidini's great book "The Best Game You Can Name" which is set in this city which arguably is the most hockey fanatical of them all. The Best Game... is a great hockey book that I've really fallen in love with and I highly recommend as a great X-mas present.

Calgary... Another place with a super highly charged hockey atmosphere that I think would be a lot of fun to experience especially a night on the Red Mile after a Flames win.

Vancouver... Any city voted the Most Livable Place on Earth ...AND... has all kinds of hockey played in it's incredibly beautiful surroundings is definitely on my must visit list.

Well, that's my fantasy road trip through Puck World. What's yours ?

Other News:

Young Gun Era of U.S. Hockey ?

"All HELL Broke Loose"

Stranger in a Strange Land

No Canadian Expansion Any Time Soon

Yet another NHL2K6 4 XBOX 360 Review

Quote for the Day:

I'm sitting on my watch so that I'll be on time.

Bob Dylan

Les Chiefs de Laval

Are you looking for a hockey gift for that special puckhead on your X-mas list that has a interest in and a fascination for the fighting aspect of the sport ? Well if you are let me suggest...

LES CHIEFS

"The Chiefs!" is a 75-minutes documentary film that digs its fingernails into a truly bizarre sub-section of Canada's National Sport. The LHSPQ is the NHL's perverted little cousin. Here you may see 10 fights in a single period, or a bench-clearing brawl in the warm up. Coaches beat on each other. Goalies go at it. And players hike through the stands to slug it out with fans. Welcome to Laval, Quebec, home of The Chiefs de Laval, the toughest team in the Quebec Semi-Pro Hockey League. The story begins underneath the bleachers in the back of an old arena. Once a ramshackle storage area, it is now a ramshackle apartment, home to several of the team's tough guys. Although it is cold, noisy, and a fire exit on game days, it is rent free and the players don't seem to mind scaling the fire escape, or climbing through second-story windows to get in and out of their home.

Throughout the season, the arena dwellers fight their way to celebrity status but when the playoffs begin, the Chiefs find themselves in a viable position to win it all and the goons end up watching from the bench. As the team progresses closer to the championship game, the battles once fought on the ice become battles within themselves. Am I a hockey player or a circus clown? The plot turns even more on end, when an underground boxing promoter surfaces with an offer that seems too good to be true.

With characters like a crazed ex-military strong man, a six foot seven, 320-pounds giant, and a French Canadian superfan who believes that hockey is religion and The Chiefs are gods, "The Chiefs" has all the makings of a cult classic.

oddmanrush gives Les Chiefs DVD a 3 out of 5 pucks rating, I bump that up to 4 out of 5 pucks when considering the DVD extras in the overall rating like the directors cut commentary, the fight club highlights and the cut scenes which are all excellent. I highly recommend this DVD and I too think Les Chiefs is destined to become a hockey cult classic. You can get this DVD through amazon.ca

In other Puck News:

Speaking of the Devil

More U.S. fans watching TV hockey

...but NOT on OLN

Black Hockey Hero Inspires Others

More on the movie... "The Rocket"

Enforcer in Exile Update

Play by Play... in Print

Police Blotter Hockey:

The continuing sad and strange saga of Mike Danton.

Hockey Quote for the Day:

"Ice hockey is a form of disorderly conduct in which the score is kept."

Doug Larson

Little BIG Man Hockey

With the games this season being played under new rules fourteen of the thirty NHL teams have players UNDER 6' tall leading their clubs in scoring.

The list of little guys making a big impact crosses the National Hockey League's generational divide. From Camille Henry and Henri Richard to Denis Savard and Theo Fleury, there was always a smallish dervish that defied expectation and put up big scoring numbers, against all odds.

Even the last year before the NHL lockout, the MVP and scoring leader was a 5-foot-9, 185-pound winger named Martin St. Louis.

However, in the new NHL -- with its crackdown on obstruction and its emphasis on skill and speed over brawn and bulk -- it looks as though the trend toward smaller players is taking hold.

Of all the major sports ONLY Hockey has the rules and the conditions that allow a lot of athletes of normal or even smaller stature to compete and even dominate. It's another one of the many reasons I love this sport so much.

From the Wide World of Pucks:

The Trap makes a comeback

Beer Tanker Truck Hits Hockey Bus

Home-ice advantage in NHL is melting

Sid and Dion go head to head tonight

and finally...

.......

Click the Pic for another ^ NHL2K6XBOX360 Review

Today's Hockey Joke:

St. Peter and Satan were having an argument one day about hockey. Satan proposed a game to be played on neutral grounds between a select team from the heavenly host and his own hand-picked boys.
"Very well," said the gatekeeper of Heaven. "But you realize, I hope, that we've got all the good players and the best coaches."
"I know, and that's all right," Satan answered. "We've got all the Referees!!!"

Man, ain't that the truth.

Are Goalies Different ?

I would think any fan of the game would know the answer to that question.

To the long list of marginalized segments of society, be sure to include a group of athletes that is widely misunderstood, and often ridiculed. Decked in cumbersome pads and colorful masks, hockey goalies are derided as an eccentric breed, a group whose very existence is defined by a willingness to ignore a basic human impulse

Most of us see an object hurtling in our direction at speeds of 100 mph and think, "Duck." A goalie wants only to get in the way.

"We're looked at as psychos," said Tom Natoli...
..."People don't understand. They say, 'Why do you do that? Why do you stand in front of those things?' "

Why ?

Well, if you haven't figured it out by now the answer is because goalies are different.... Very different.

BUZZING AROUND THE NET:

NHL sets ANOTHER Attendance record

Annus Horribilis

The best rookie NOT named Sidney, Alex or Dion

NHL no longer on thin Ice

And last but not least it's...

TABLE HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA

Bumper Sticker Quote of the Day:

My Hockey Mom Can Beat Up Your Soccer Mom.

That certainly was true of my mom.

Dangerous NHL Duos

Like Butch and Sundance... the Lone Ranger and Tonto...Lennon and Mcartney... sometimes you need that certain particular partner... side kick if you will ...that makes everything ... click.

Here's some of the two man combos making the most noise this season.

Becoming a dangerous duo requires two things: playing together a lot and knowing each other previously or bonding quickly.
...Many coaches assemble lines by finding a strong twosome and rotating in the third member. Keeping all three together helps even more.

Forsberg and anyone gets my vote as best scoring combo out there.

Today's Smorgosboard of Pucks:

NHL Surprises and disappointments

If your into DOMINANCE, the Sens are where it's at

Ted Mouths OFF

Honoring the man behind "THE MASK"

TONIGHT'S Hockey Picks

And finally as a public service we present:

The Official Canadian Temperature Conversion Chart

50° Fahrenheit (10° C)
New Yorkers try to turn on the heat.
Canadians plant gardens.

40° Fahrenheit (4.4° C)
Californians shiver uncontrollably.
Canadians Sunbathe.

35° Fahrenheit (1.6° C)
Italian Cars won't start
Canadians drive with the windows down

32° Fahrenheit (0 ° C)
Distilled water freezes
Canadian water get thicker.

0° Fahrenheit (-17.9° C)
New York City landlords finally turn on the heat.
Canadians have the last cookout of the season.

-40° Fahrenheit (-40° C)
Hollywood disintegrates.
Canadians rent some videos.

-60° Fahrenheit (-51° C)
Mt. St. Helens freezes.
Canadian Girl Guides sell cookies door-to-door.

-100° Fahrenheit (-73° C)
Santa Claus abandons the North Pole.
Canadians pull down their ear flaps.

-173° Fahrenheit (-114° C)
Ethyl alcohol Freezes.
Canadians get frustrated when they can't thaw the keg.

-460° Fahrenheit (-273° C)
Absolute zero; all atomic motion stops.
Canadians start saying "cold, eh?"

-500° Fahrenheit (-295° C)
Hell freezes over.
THE TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS WIN THE STANLEY CUP

Cracks in the Crackdown?

After such a promising start are the refs now starting to swallow their whistles thus letting some of the clutching and grabbing calls go that they were making earlier in the season? Some think so.

"If you compare the first two weeks to now, it's a big difference," said Sundin, moments after scoring the winning goal in overtime against Montreal on Saturday night.

"I talked to one of the refs during the game. Now it's not back to where it was (two years ago) but I told him there's more clutch and grab out there. There's some hooking and holding going on.

"Guys are getting away with it. I have nothing against it. But the game is not exactly every call where it was earlier when, if you put a stick on a guy, you were sent off.

"It hasn't gone all the way back, but it's definitely different than it was at the beginning of the year."

And how did the referee respond to Sundin's theory?

"He said: 'You think so?' I said: 'A little bit. I don't mind it.'

"He said: 'Well, maybe ...' "

I'd agree that there appears to be some back sliding going on in terms of the strict enforcement we saw earlier in the season. Hopefully it's not a sign of a return to the old days. Stay tuned.

Other Puck Stuff:

Cell Phone Hockey

Canadian fans think NHL 'significantly improved'

Playoff - Playins coming next year?

Renaissance in the Art of Hockey

Ex-NHLer's playing Hockey in Japan

Police Blotter Hockey:

A puck love triangle gone bad.

Bad boy, bad boy, what you gonna do when they come for you?

Today's Hockey quote:

"There are still two or three guys who aren't willing to pay the price to win a game. This is not Wal-Mart. There are no discounts in this league."

- Former San Jose coach Ron Wilson

Global Warming Threatens Hockey

Turns out that not only are the Polar Ice Caps in danger of melting... so are the outdoor hockey rinks of the world.

...this quintessential slice of Canadian life in wintertime is slowly melting away due to global warming, says a collection of young environmentalists.

"A bunch of us are fairly avid hockey fans and hockey players and we noticed that we were waiting longer and longer every year to play, and then we started phoning rink operators and were told the same story," said Mike Hudema of Global Exchange.

"It's not only that the season is getting shorter but it's also the (fewer) number of the cold days in a row. Suddenly you get a real warm spell where your entire rink will melt, and so getting a nice clean surface is really hard."

Hudema, a 28-year-old from Edmonton, said the campaign, launched over the weekend, has been joined by about a dozen environmental groups, including the heavy-hitting World Wildlife Fund.

...They are also organizing a series of protest outdoor hockey games. One game scheduled for Whitehorse was cancelled last week because of warm weather.

They also plan to stage a mock funeral for shinny hockey outside the Montreal conference on climate change that opens today.

Well, if you were looking for another reason to get serious about this environmental threat we face this it... the melting of outdoor hockey.

More on this story:

Outdoor hockey threatened by global warming

Hockey fans launch effort to fight climate change

Today's Hockey Quote:

"The goalie is like the guy on the minefield. He discovers the mines and destroys them. If you make a mistake, somebody gets blown up"

- Arturs Irbe, Dallas goaltender

Greatest Shootout Ever

Trick Shot Heroics from a unlikely source

Granted, this is only the first quarter of the first season the shootout ever has been used by the league but this one between NY and Washington was one for the ages... a true NHL classic.

Malik, who has not scored in nearly 21 months, skated in on Kolzig and dropped the puck slightly behind him before snapping a between-the-legs wrist shot right under the crossbar for the game-winner.
"I was watching everything before me," said Malik, who has taken just 28 shots through New York's first 26 games. "Olie was unbelievable, he stopped everything from shots, moves ... guys tried everything on him. I just thought to myself, 'Maybe I'll surprise him.' I tried the move and it worked."

Boy, did it ever.

What made this incredible game all the sweeter was that it took place in the Media Capitol of New York City in front of a crazed packed house at the Garden. All the sports cable outfits are absolutely buzzing about it today and the league and it's new game are getting great publicity out of this unbelievable shootout ending. If you haven't seen the highlights from this contest yet try to catch them.

IN OTHER PUCK NEWS:

The Early Season NHL Award Winners

Should Rookie Honors Exclude Foreign Pros?

Bad Blood Rising in the NHL

The League's New Public Enemy #1

Don Cherry says... "Sue Dick Pound"

Today's Hockey Humor Moment:

Top Ten Reasons Hockey Is Better Than Sex

10. It's legal to play hockey professionally.
9. The puck is always hard.
8. The protective equipment is reusable and you don't even have to wash it.
7. It lasts a full hour.
6. You know you're finished when the horn goes off.
5. Your parents cheer when you score.
4. A two-on-one or three-on-one is not uncommon.
3. Periods last only 20 minutes.
2. You can count on it at least twice a week.
1. You can tell all of your friends about it afterward.

...and finally in other sports news:

Remember kids, always be careful what kind of bets you make.

Pre-Natal Hockey

This story has been out for awhile and you may have already seen it but even if you have it's important and bears repeating....

It's never too early to get kids involved in Hockey. So don't wait, act now and get them into...

PRE-NATAL HOCKEY CAMP

"We have couples who haven't even conceived yet who are putting down deposits to get on the waiting list. With all of the money in the pro game, can you blame them?"

At his Pre-Natal hockey school, O'Heffernan puts the unborn children through all of the paces.
"Just because they're not born yet, that doesn't mean we baby them. Hockey's a hard, gruelling game. The sooner they learn that, the better off they'll be in the long run."

Drills at the school include motivational yelling at the mothers' stomachs, in-class instructional sessions on modern defensive systems, as well as tutorials on effective forechecking techniques in the ultrasound room.

"The modern game is so complicated, it's imperative that we teach them as soon as possible. If you wait to educate them on the complexities of the left-wing lock after they've been born, they won't be able to grasp all of it, even when they're 18.

And what do the parents who've enrolled say about the program?

This is way more useful than those stupid lamaze classes
...Nigel and Yolanda Bicklethwaite of Etobicoke said that they enrolled at the O'Heffernan Pre-Natal hockey school out of a desire for their forthcoming baby boy to experience life to its fullest...

"And if that kid doesn't make it to the NHL, he's out of the f@#king will.

Yes, as you've probably figured out by now this story is just a joke. HOWEVER, the way things are headed in our society as far as fast-tracking kids goes nowdays maybe we'll actually see something like Pre-Natal Hockey soon.

It wouldn't surprise me... at all.


Hockey Quote for the Day:

"This is the only thing that has seen more parties than us."

Steven Tyler, Aerosmith's lead singer, after admiring the Stanley Cup.

The "Rocket's" Red Glare

A movie about the complex and controversial times of Maurice "Rocket" Richard and staring many current and former NHLer's opens in Canada this week.

The story takes Richard from his teenage years, when he worked as a machinist and played hockey on the side, to the fabled 1955 riot where angry fans tore apart downtown Montreal after the league suspended him for the rest of the season after his frenzied attack on a Boston player.
Along with his ice exploits (eight Stanley Cups) and loving marriage, the movie also recounts how Richard stepped up and fought to have French Canadians treated as equals.

In Canada, particularly Quebec Richard remains a hugely historic figure both because of his play on the ice and for his importance to the French-Canadians and their struggles off-ice.

Here's more on the making of... The Rocket.

Buzzing Around the Net:

Ex-Hockey Players with Laptops

OLN... STRUGGLES to find a Hockey Audience

Hold your Breath Hockey

Woman Playing Hockey with Men has the Write Stuff

The Crosby Show, it's been BETTER than expected

Police Blotter Hockey:

Hockey Mom convicted in a case of... RINK RAGE

Hockey Thought for the Day:

Hockey captures the essence of Canadian experience in the New World. In a land so inescapably and inhospitably cold, hockey is the chance of life, and an affirmation that despite the deathly chill of winter we are alive.

~Stephen Leacock

Finally, I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving... at least I hope it was better than the one Nick and Jess had.

Thanksgiving Hockey

Shawn P. Roarke writing for FOXSports.com thinks the NHL, it's fans and it's teams have much to be thankful for on this holiday. I agree.

Most important, we should all give thanks that we have the game we love, being played at its highest possible level, back for our enjoyment. It wasn't easy and it wasn't very pretty, but somehow the league bosses and the players found a compromise that allowed the NHL to pick itself up off the mat and return with a vengeance.

Check out what he thinks each team in the league should be grateful for this season.

Here's a sample:

Calgary Flames Character. This team has more stand-up guys than any other club in the league. Iginla, Donovan, Reinprecht, Yelle, Ference, McCarty, Regehr, Warrener are just a handful of the class acts coach Darryl Sutter can call upon to set an example or solve a problem. The quiet confidence this group has, as a whole, carried the team throughout last year's playoff run and is a testament to the franchise and the city in which they play.

I couldn't agree more with that assessment.

Have a great and safe Thanksgiving everyone... and thanks for visiting my site, I'm very grateful.

Cheating Death in the NHL

It's happened before

The Jiri Fischer incident the other night wasn't the first time a NHL player cheated death while on the ice playing. Suprisingly there's actually been quite a few near death experiences during NHL games over the years.

They've all cheated death on the NHL ice. They are all alive and well today thanks to the lightning-quick response of medical teams as well as some lady luck.
...this was not the first time the NHL has been gripped by a real-life medical drama and it probably won't be the last. NHL players are elite athletes, but they are also humans and things happen.

The only other encounters I'm aware of that players over the years have had with the Grim Reaper were with Stu Grimson the "official" Grim Reaper of the NHL and many of those I'm sure also ended up being near death experiences.

In Other Puck News:

Streaking Returns

NHL Fan-tasy Fan Figures

Luongo's Panther Blues

Crosby Wins Round 1 against A.O.

Salary Dumps Q & A

As long as the league is dumping salary I'd like to help them out by allowing them to dump some of it my way. Just trying to do my part.

Hockey Joke of the Day:
Why is the Hockey Hall Of Fame in Toronto?
It's the only way Leafs fans can get to see the Stanley Cup!

Hey, it's just a joke Leaf fans... Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Goonies Nearing Extinction

Fighting despite reports to the contrary is not yet dead. However, a place in the game for players who can ONLY fight is ending fast as the NHL under the new rules force Puck Pugilists to become more than one dimensional players.

"The days of the guy who just comes off the bench to fight are long gone," Vancouver Canucks general manager Dave Nonis said.
The tough guy isn’t taking leave of the game. They’re merely going back to the future.

...Back in the day, hockey was equally as tough as it is in the modern era, but the guys who handled the fisticuffs could also handle the puck.

Those NHL enforcers unable to adapt to the new game yet are having to hit the road and take their fighting talents to the minors... like Peter Worrell.

From the Wide World of Pucks:

Winning Hearts and Minds for Hockey

Dissident NHL Players Revolt

BIGGER Players becoming Expendable

Everybody LOVES A.O.

Native Players face TOUGH road to NHL

My thoughts for the Day:
J.F.K. R.I.P.
and
Jiri get well soon

GM's in Jeopardy

In the old NHL when a team started struggling badly the coach would usually be the first to go... but times have changed. NOW under the new CBA GM's can't hide behind the old "the playing field is not level" excuse anymore and as a consequence they now may be the first to walk the plank when things go bad.

Just as there are many players and some coaches who have been slow to adjust to the new NHL, there are general managers who have been revealed as sluggish to adjust, as well, and it eventually will cost people their jobs, one former NHL executive said.

"You may not see it right away," added a top agent. "But it's definitely going to come. The playing field's been leveled, and owners are going to ask, 'Why aren't you succeeding?' That's what the attitude's going to be. Now you're going to have questions, 'What's so special about you?'"

These are wild, exciting and revolutionary times for everyone in hockey.... even GM's. Don't you just love it ?

I do.
Viva La Revolucion!

Today's Puck Buffet:

How to spot a Hockey Sally

The NHL @ the 1/4 of season point

St. Patricks new Hockey Mission

A League of Extraordinary Actors & Divers ?

NHL on the move >>> BUT to where ?

Hockey Quote for the day:
Half the game is mental; the other half is being mental.
- Jim McKenny

Olympic Hockey... NHL Style

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery then the NHL I guess should be a little flattered because the Olympics want their Hockey to be played exactly the same way the NHL plays their Hockey. Free... Fast... Flowing... with lots of SKILL showcased.

"We're going to have the same level at least -- if not stronger," Fasel said Tuesday. "We'll have four NHL officials and other officials from the IIHF and we will work together and follow the line set by the NHL.

"I'm very, very pleased to see how it works in the NHL. That's the way we should play the game all the time."

It's good to see the whole World led by the NHL coming together to end the plague of clutch and grab Hockey. It gives me hope for all humanity. Well, at least a little hope.

Bettman for a Nobel ?

Pucks Unlimited:

The Crosby vs Ovechkin Battle Update.

Emotion and Intellect go head to head over pucks

NHL 2K6 4 XBOX 360 A REVIEW

A GOALIE... in King Gary's Court

It's the Spring following NHL's NUCLEAR WINTER

Hockey thought of the Day:
Hockey belongs to the Cartoon Network, where a person can be pancaked by an ACME anvil, then expanded - accordion-style - back to full stature, without any lasting side effect.
- Steve Rushin

You GOT to be TOUGH

...to play Hockey

We all know how Hockey is a incredibly rough sport and obviously some nights at the office are going to be a little rougher on a player that others. Check out the game Scott Hannan had for the Sharks the other night. To top it off his poor mother was in the stands watching her boy play for the first time. Such is the life of a Hockey Player.
I'm convinced no other athletes in any other sport... anywhere... play hurt with as much pride as Hockey players do. Some I think play better that way. It's amazing.

IN OTHER NOOZ:

NHL BLOGGER BABE... more >>> HERE.

Overrated >>> GOALIES <<< Underrated

NHL 2K6 4 XBOX 360 ........... SHIPS

MELROSE: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly.

It's not just for Boys... GIRLS HAZE TOO

Ask not what Hockey can do for you but rather what you can do for Hockey.

Save a Horse... Ride a Goalie

They've been ridden hard, beat up and worn down. The New NHL has been HELL on goalies... in a number of ways.

The problem isn't that they're getting beaten. It's that they're getting beat up. They're dropping like save percentages. In the first month, 23 had been injured...

Remember... Mommas don't let your babies grow up to be goalies.

BUZZZING AROUND THE NET:

RATING ROOKIES <<< Tops of New NHL Class
Steve Avery feels they're after him >>> DIVER DOWN
FLAMES ON FIRE <<< After a slow start
It's a Canadian TV Show >>> PSYCHO PUCK PARENTS
DISSENTING VOICES <<< NOT happy with New NHL
Have a nice day.

The Fight Club

It's Open But Business Is Slow




To the consternation of many hockey fans fighting majors continue to be way off this season compared to the last time the league played... 42% off. Like with so many other aspects of how the game is now played the new rules have also impacted how the sweet science is now practiced in the NHL.

During a recent speech in Washington, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman hailed the drop in fights as an example of how the game has opened up and become more exciting since the lockout.

Bettman's claim was challenged on the weekend by Don Cherry on his Coach's Corner segment.

"Everyone knows everybody loves fights," Cherry said. "They better start listening to the people who are at the game and pay the money than the twits upstairs who get in for free."

If that's the case, fans are getting much less bang for their buck.

Through 264 NHL games this year, the league says there have been 227 major penalties. In 2003-04, there had been 393.

Even with the decline, many feel it's not something that's likely to vanish from the game completely.

"I don't think that fighting is going to disappear -- I think it's part of our game and it always will be," said Vancouver Canucks GM Dave Nonis, who has enforcer Lee Goren on his roster. "The players have to be able to play.

The fight crowd has been one of the most passionate and loyal demographics that the league has enjoyed and I don't think it'd be too smart for them to lose that segment of fans completely. Not smart at all.

BUZZLESS IN HOCKEYTOWN

Even though they're off to a great start and they have a traditional hockey crazed base to work from Detroit can't get much buzz or excitment generated in the early season. Although officially all games are sellouts actual attendance is down and so are the TV ratings.

Some of those season ticket-holders haven't been arriving on time -- or at all. That leaves the curious sight of clumps of empty red seats, mostly in the lower bowl.

The weekend games showed fewer empty seats in the lower bowl (estimated to be only about 20 per section). But the weekday games, especially Monday nights, have produced an eye-catching number of season-ticket no-shows.

...The mythical "can't get tickets" status for the Wings has been shattered, and that's left some to wonder if everything was still OK in Hockeytown.

So, is Detroits early season no-show woes a ominous sign in regards to the leagues' recovery or just a early season blip ? I think playing all those games against Columbus and Nashville probably doesn't do much to excite the locals yet but once they get deep into the season Detroit will get it's groove back.

ODDS & ENDS

NHL writer Shawn P. Roarke has plenty that he'd like to share.

Like this one for instance.

Herb Brooks was a positive thinker as well. The fact that he is not in the Hockey Hall of Fame yet is a travesty. Even without the "Miracle on Ice" accomplishments, Brooks remains one of the greatest hockey minds of his generation.

I concur on that one... and most of the others too.