Leading American scorer Modano retires
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Sportsnet.ca, September 21, 2011
One of the greatest American hockey players is hanging up his skates for good.
Mike Modano announced Wednesday that he is retiring after 21 seasons in the NHL, a career that includes a Stanley Cup championship along with 561 goals and 1,374 points -- both of which are records for U.S.-born players.
"It's just time," he said in a phone interview from Dallas, taking a break between playing 36 holes of golf. "I didn't get any calls after July 1 and I figured that was it."
Only it wasn't. The 41-year-old Modano said Vancouver assistant general manager Lorne Henning offered him a chance last week to continue his career with the Canucks.
"I told him I had to pass because I hadn't touched a weight or unzipped my bag since we lost in San Jose," he said.
Modano ended his career as a banged-up player who had lost a step and some zip off his shot during his one-season stint with his hometown Detroit Red Wings. A skate sliced a tendon in his right wrist and limited him to 40 games and career lows with four goals and 15 points with the Red Wings.
"He was on the verge of really producing for us before he got injured," former Red Wings teammate Chris Osgood said. "By the time he was able to play, it was too late. But back in the 1990s, few guys could skate and shoot like him. I can still see him flying down the ice, cutting down the lane and snapping off a shot toward the high glove."
In Modano's prime, he was among the best hockey players on the planet -- shifty, speedy and with a tough-to-stop wrist shot. He also played in three Olympics, helping the Americans win silver in 2002.
"His speed was his strength," said former NHL player Chris Chelios, a teammate in the Olympics. "He had a great shot -- hard and heavy -- and he was tough to stop once he made a turn and generated speed. He was a great ambassador for the U.S. team."
The executive director of USA Hockey agreed.
"Scores of kids grew up pretending to be Mike Modano, not only in our country, but across the world," Dave Ogrean said. "That fact alone helps frame the enormous impact he's had on the game. His accomplishments on the ice speak for themselves. He's one of our greatest players ever."
The Minnesota North Stars selected the native of Westland, Mich., No. 1 overall in 1988. Following the franchise's move to Dallas, he helped the Stars hoist the Stanley Cup in 1999.
Modano was in his prime when the Stars were among the NHL's elite a decade ago, including a stretch of 34 home playoff games at rowdy Reunion Arena over three seasons from 1998-2000. When the Stars were at their best, Modano was the most popular player on a team full of fan favourites. The success fuelled a 238-game sellout streak and a youth hockey boom that led to the Stars building ice rinks all over the heart of football country.
Stars general manager Joe Nieuwendyk, who made the difficult decision not to bring his former teammate back a year ago, called Modano an icon in the sport.
"He was invaluable in helping sell the game of hockey in Dallas," Nieuwendyk said. "Mike is the face of our franchise and I think it is safe to say that no one else will wear No. 9 for the Dallas Stars."
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman congratulated Modano on an outstanding career.
"We thank Mike for giving National Hockey League fans 21 years of thrills with his speed, his skill, his craftsmanship and his class," Bettman said. "Mike also excelled on the international stage, representing the NHL and USA Hockey with great distinction."
Who goes to training camp?
Daniel Tkaczuk, The Hockey News, 2011-09-21
This time of year brings back many memories for me. Players are full of anticipation and excitement to finally put all that hard work during the summer months to good use at an NHL training camp.
Most teams will have 50-60 players come to camp. Here is a basic breakdown of a few types of players you will see in the pre-season.
Established Vets
The faces of the franchise. Your Jarome Iginlas, Joe Thorntons and Nicklas Lidstroms. Their spot and role on the club is assured, but they are integral in setting examples for the culture of a team.
Experienced Players
These are players with NHL experience who still have a lot to prove to hold onto their existing spot from incoming competition. These players are also looking to increase their roles/minutes in upcoming years.
American League Prospects
These are players who have spent time inside the team’s farm system and are on the cusp of making the jump. They usually range from 22-24 years of age and are starting to display the physical ability, skill set and maturity required to play at the NHL level. In many cases these players have an existing two-way contract and are in a tough battle for an opening day roster spot.
European Prospects
These are players who have played and had success in high-level European Division I leagues and are trying to make the crossover to a North American game. Mats Zuccarello of the New York Rangers fit this mold last year. Some have existing contracts, while others are coming in to give management a closer look to judge if their game is transferable.
Top 10 Draft Picks
These players are under the microscope during their first two training camps. Florida’s Erik Gudbranson, Edmonton’s Ryan-Nugent Hopkins and Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele are all in this boat. Each club has difficult internal decisions to make: what would be best for the prospect? Can he help the team this year? Will he be better off in junior? Can he compete at this level yet? They will be tested, but given an opportunity.
Draft Picks and Undrafted Free Agents
These players have shown some promise and skill, but are hard-pressed to crack the club during their first two training camps. Most come unsigned and are looking to make a splash to earn a contract. These players are driven to prove they have value and deserve the same attention afforded a top pick. Many will be cut in the first week without playing an exhibition game.
Free Agent Tryouts
These are players such as Manny Legace, Owen Nolan and Steve Begin who are trying out for the Vancouver Canucks – guys with experience and the ability to add reliable depth to a winning team. They are driven to prove they still belong and deserve a contract. They will get exhibition games to test their mettle.
Pure Walk-ons
These are the unknown assets - players who have, for one reason or another, slipped through the cracks. Maybe they have struggled with injuries, are super-late-bloomers or play in a less-scouted circuit. Somebody (inside the organization) has seen something they like from this player. The player may be there as a fill-in, but he has nothing to lose. Nobody is expecting anything out of him and the odds are stacked against him, but he may show enough to earn some time in the system.
Summary
The players listed above will be mixed and matched for intra-squad games. Clubs will try to balance the teams to make the games as close and competitive as possible. They will give each player the same amount of ice time and opportunity to display their skills.
DANTON HAS DIFFERENT TAKE ON HOCKEY AFTER YEARS IN PRISON
THE CANADIAN PRESS, Sept. 21 2011
Mike Danton says he cried for a good 20 minutes after a Swedish teammate survived a scare on the ice.
The former NHL player sees life differently after spending five years behind bars.
"I used to take hockey for granted, as well as a lot of things for granted," Danton told The Canadian Press on Wednesday. "After I tried to commit suicide (he tried to hang himself in his cell) and started turning my life around, I promised myself I wouldn't take the little things for granted anymore. Because if it wasn't for family and friends and morals and principles and things of that nature, I wouldn't be able to play hockey.
"Prison really changed the way that I think."
The Brampton, Ont., native, who spent five years in prison for conspiracy to commit murder, made headlines earlier this week for rushing to the aid of teammate Marcus Bengtsson -- also Danton's best friend on the squad -- during a game with his Swedish team IFK Ore.
Danton signed with the squad in the summer after his parole ended, lifting restrictions on his travel.
The team, with a home rink that seats 796, is a long way from the bright lights and big contracts of the NHL. But it's also a world away from confinement. And the 30-year-old, speaking from the team bus after a 14-5 rout of Lindlovens IF (Danton had a goal and an assist), said he's learned to love and appreciate the game's "little things."
"The friendships that you make, the camaraderie in the dressing room at practice, the joking around with the guys that you spend your time with every day -- those are the best things about hockey," Danton said. "It's not scoring goals and even winning championships, it's the quality time you get to spend with 20, 25 guys that you really care about."
Danton obtained a first aid certificate in prison and put it to good use Sunday when Bengtsson collapsed and started convulsing after taking a hard hit. Danton said Bengtsson is fine -- he was diagnosed with a concussion and Danton put his teammate on a train home to visit his family Wednesday.
But the close call left him shaken.
"A situation like that, I don't know, maybe we were 10 seconds away, maybe 10 minutes away from Marcus not being there anymore," Danton said. "When he came to I started asking him questions and he started talking to me like normal. I just started crying, I couldn't help myself, even when I went into the dressing room when I talked to the guys. It was just that close that one of my friends almost wasn't there anymore."
Danton admitted he'd love to one day lace up his skates in the NHL again.
"I'm pretty sure that I would get some opportunities to head to training camps, in fact, I know I would," he said.
But he added he's happy with IFK Ore, which plays in what is essentially Sweden's third division, with top salaries averaging about $3,000. It's based in Furudal, a tiny town that's a four-hour drive west of Stockholm and boasts a population of about 450.
"I have more Facebook friends than the town's population," Danton said, laughing. "I am in the sticks. There is nothing but woods and water around me. But it's great. It's just the type of town where you're walking down the road, and everyone waves at you, everyone knows everybody there. They look out for everyone. It's a really nice place."
Danton has no doubt everyone knows him, and all about his troubled past.
"The only thing I've understood is I've been called a 'midget' (in Swedish) by one of the opposing teams," he said, laughing. "I've had a couple players say some things to me, but I've been used to that since I've been out of jail. When I get a penalty, the opposing crowd cheers, just little things like that. That's what I expected. It's quite entertaining, it's OK."
The fifth-round pick by New Jersey in 2000 played in 87 career NHL games for the Devils and St. Louis. But in 2004, he was arrested following a playoff game in San Jose, Calif., and convicted in a murder-for-hire plot.
U.S. prosecutors said Danton's intended target was David Frost, a controversial figure who was his agent at the time. However, Danton suggested to the National Parole Board in 2009 that the target was his father, with whom he has been estranged.
Danton played for Saint Mary's University for two years after being released from prison, and helped the Huskies claim their first Canadian university title. He's about halfway toward his degree, a double major in psychology and criminology, and is taking a full-course load through correspondence from Saint Mary's. He's maintained a straight A average throughout.
"I find it fairly easy this time around, school," he said. "I'm a little bit more mature, take things a bit more seriously, and I'm doing well, I enjoy learning."
He wants to play hockey as long as he can, but sees himself pursuing a career in some facet of sports.
"Whether it's coaching players or coaching athletes to make better decisions in their lives, who knows?" he said.
The player also writes a blog for DT, the largest local newspaper in the region of Dalarna where IFK Ore is located.
"I guess ever since I went to prison, I had some practice writing letters and that. I've always been book smart, it's been my street smarts that have kicked me around a little bit," he said.
He's also writing a book, which he began writing in prison.
"I think that will be pretty interesting," he said. "But I won't conclude that until after my hockey career, I don't want any distractions or anything like that."
http://www.uscho.com/2011/09/21/report-western-michigan-st-cloud-state-to-nchc/
College Hockey:
Western Michigan, St. Cloud State invited to join NCHC
USCHO Staff Report • Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Western Michigan and St. Cloud State have received invitations to join the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, according to a press release issued Wednesday afternoon.
“After a thorough and deliberate evaluation process, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference is delighted to extend invitations to St. Cloud State and Western Michigan to become members of what we believe will be the premier college hockey conference in the United States,” said Brian Faison, director of athletics at North Dakota and spokesperson for the NCHC athletic directors committee, in the press release. “Both universities fit perfectly with the established goals of our conference membership.”
The Kalamazoo Gazette, citing sources, reported earlier Wednesday that the Broncos and Huskies will bring the NCHC to eight teams when the league begins in the 2013–14 season.
Western Michigan also had an offer to join the WCHA, part of an invitation extended to five CCHA schools in August. Alaska, Ferris State and Lake Superior State accepted that offer; Bowling Green has yet to commit despite a 30-day deadline that ends this week.
Notre Dame, meanwhile, has also not announced its intentions for the 2013–14 season, when the Big Ten and NCHC form.
As it stands, the NCHC will consist of charter members Colorado College, Denver, Miami, Minnesota-Duluth, Nebraska-Omaha and North Dakota, along with Western Michigan and St. Cloud State.
The Big Ten is forming with Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin. Notre Dame is frequently linked in media reports to a possible move to the Big Ten in all sports, and a shake-up of the Big East Conference, of which the school is a member in many sports (it is an independent in football), has launched that speculation again.
After losing seven members to the new conferences, the WCHA added Northern Michigan from the CCHA, then offered its invitation to five CCHA schools. It appears that the best it can do now is add four, while also losing St. Cloud State. The latter could be interpreted as somewhat unexpected, given that St. Cloud State was part of the WCHA group that banded together in the aftermath of the original changes.
In July, St. Cloud State president Earl H. Potter III told the St. Cloud Times that the school was expecting to be part of the talks in forming the NCHC. “But as we looked at it we intended to say no,” he told the newspaper then.
Read more: http://www.uscho.com/2011/09/21/report-western-michigan-st-cloud-state-to-nchc/#ixzz1YeEKmbMW
How the Tacoma Dome could be the future home of the NHL in the Pacific Northwest
With a number of teams struggling financially, there have been various cities talked about for relocation. One of those places is Seattle. I'd hoped to get a more comprehensive write-up about the pros and cons of Seattle this offseason, as I grew up in that area, but that didn't happen and might be for another time. Which is too bad since one of our readers and friends of the site, MTBoltFan, has a really nice write up ready to be incorporated into such a thing. But I digress.
The problems with Seattle boils down into two things: ownership possibilities and an arena. The ownership situation is a bit murky, and I think we'll leave that for another day. There are potential owners, but nothing serious at this point.
As for the arena situation.... Seattle doesn't have a suitable arena, as the entire building called Key Arena is built around a basketball court, and Mercer Arena was demolished. There's been talk about building a facility in the suburb of Bellevue, but that's still being discussed. The two major junior team arenas seat 8513 (Everett Silvertips) and 6500 (Seattle Thunderbirds), respectively, which are far too small for an NHL-caliber team.
Simply put, there is no building available in Seattle, and almost no chance that Key Arena will be torn down and rebuilt - because it would have to be to work for hockey. It is physically impossible for Key Arena to be adapted for an NHL hockey rink. And due to many state construction projects in the Seattle area, there is no public money to build one, either.
And that leaves us with Tacoma, which is approximately 30 miles (50 km) south of Seattle.
Star-divide
A report surfaced yesterday in the Tacoma News Tribune that the Tacoma City Council is fielding the idea of a feasibility study to renovate the Tacoma Dome in order to lure in another NBA team and/or an NHL team. This is at the absolute beginning of the process. Approval for the feasibility study hasn't even been voted on by the council yet.
The Tacoma Dome, as it currently stands, is completely unsuitable to host a major league professional sport of any kind. While it is one of the largest free-standing wood-framed domes in the world, it is also nothing but an empty shell with removable seating. There are concessions, but they are very few. There is nothing resembling luxury suites - or suites at all, really. It's just one very big, empty room.
I watched my very first live hockey game in 1992 in the Tacoma Dome when the Tacoma Rockets (now the Kelowna Rockets) of the Western Hockey League (WHL) played there. The seating, which sounds like it hasn't been upgraded since then, has the sight lines for a football field. They play some of the state high school football playoffs there, and that's what the seating is obviously geared towards.
The poor sight lines are the real reason why major junior and minor league hockey failed in Tacoma. The seats are set too far from the rink, and they rise very shallowly. It's just not a good place to watch hockey, and never has been.
So in order to make the Tacoma Dome suitable for hockey, they're going to have to build up the interior to meet league specifications. I believe that the place seats around 18-20,000 for hockey, which are actually pretty good numbers for the NHL, but building a suitable interior will likely reduce that number.
And, yes, there is a hockey fan base in the Puget Sound region. Not only from the numerous military bases there, but also from the constant inflow of people moving into that area. The two major junior teams do very well for themselves as well; and the Seattle Thunderbirds / Breakers have been around since 1977. All this, despite the fact that the Vancouver Canucks try to do their very best to ignore that Washington State exists.
The location of the Tacoma Dome is very convenient to the freeways [MAP]. It's so convenient, in fact, that it's a notorious place for traffic congestion - even if there isn't an event going on there. And, yes, people would definitely drive down from Seattle to go watch games there. And they'd definitely drive up from Portland, too, which is two hours or so away. They'd also drive from Spokane as well, which is about a five-hour drive away.
(I've gone to Seattle Mariners games and have frequently run into people who had made the trip from Alaska and Montana just to come watch baseball - not as a vacation, and not to sight-see, but just to come watch baseball for the weekend.)
Then comes the cost of renovation. The city of Tacoma will have to foot the bill alone. They may be able to get Pierce County to go along, but they'll never get the state to. The state taxpayers are still paying for Safeco Field and CenturyLink (formerly Qwest) Field in Seattle - and will be paying for the Husky Stadium overhaul at the University of Washington. Not to mention some desperately needed transportation infrastructure upgrades in Seattle and around the state. State taxpayers are not going to agree to any measure to renovate the Tacoma Dome on top of all of that. Especially not with the economy the way it is right now.
So what the feasibility study, should one be done, will say is that a renovation needs to be done. It'll say that there is a fan base for both sports, and that it'll bring a lot of money into Tacoma and its surrounding communities. And it'll also say that it's going to cost a great deal of money and take a few years to do.
Potential owners will step up at that point and say that they'd be willing to buy a team and relocate it to the Seattle-Tacoma area - just as long as they won't have to pay for any of the renovation. People will scream and complain and protest about it, saying it shouldn't happen, for various reasons. And the people behind the potential arena in Bellevue will try to tell everyone that it'll never work in Tacoma. You know; the same old song and dance routine.
Then the city council will vote as to whether it should be done or not, or if they should put it up to a general vote among the city taxpayers.
And at that point, it'll be anybody's guess as to whether or not it'll go through. It probably will, since the Tacoma Dome is in need of major renovations, but the money available will dictate how extensive those renovations will be. It could all end up a watered-down version of the plans that would still leave the area without a facility to host an NHL team.
The NHL's been determined to put a hockey team in the Seattle area, and many are willing to help do that. But it all comes down to a building, as it has all along. Right now, Tacoma's thinking about fixing up what they have, but there's no guarantee that even if they do, it'll be suitable for the NHL or the NBA.
And that's assuming that the city of Bellevue doesn't beat them to it first.
Stanislav Galiev is living large in the U.S. capital thanks to Alexander the Great.
Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals celebrates his 26th birthday Saturday.
Attending the Washington Capitals' training camp for the second straight year, the Saint John Sea Dogs forward is getting a whiff of the NHL and staying as a house guest of fellow Muscovite Alexander Ovechkin.
Saturday night, quite likely, Galiev will join Ovechkin as the hockey superstar celebrates his 26th birthday.
"He is a pretty fun guy,'' Galiev said this week. "I knew him before this because we both played for the Dynamo in Moscow, but I didn't know him that well. This summer we hung out a few times, and now we are good friends."
The Capitals' third-round pick in the 2010 NHL entry draft, Galiev arrived in Washington on Aug. 15. He stayed in a hotel at first, but after it became too expensive for him, Ovechkin took the young winger under his wing.
"He told me, 'You can move in with me if you want to' '' Galiev said. "I have been staying with him for two weeks."
Galiev, who rooms with fellow Sea Dog Jason Cameron in Saint John, is enjoying somewhat more luxurious accommodations at Ovechkin's residence in Arlington, Va., near the Capitals' training complex. The only player to be named a first-team All-Star in each of his first five NHL seasons, Ovechkin signed a 13-year contract with Washington in 2008 worth $124 million.
"It is a pretty nice house,'' said Galiev, who is sharing the residence with Ovechkin and Dmitry Orlov, another prospect from Russia. A 19-year-old who has scored 125 points in 131 regular-season games with the Sea Dogs, Galiev was thrilled when his mother moved from Moscow to Saint John two years ago to provide him with a little tender loving care and a lot of Borscht.
But there is little home cooking being done at Chez Ovechkin.
Giving a tour of his crash pad to the Sports.com network a few years ago, he showed off his kitchen and then confessed that he needs a few pointers.
Perhaps Gordon Ramsay will make a house call.
"I tried to cook with my brother,'' Ovechkin said. "We were going to make a salad, potatoes and filet mignon.
"The salad was good, but we had no meat and no potatoes.
"There was a lot of fire."
Criticized previously for not taking on a big enough leadership role, Ovechkin showed up at training camp a week early and 10 pounds lighter, and has been skating with the rookies. In a Crosby-esque moment, he even did a floor hockey clinic this week at a Catholic school in Falls Church, Va. for 220 fifth- through eighth-graders.
"For me to get to skate with a player like him, it is a big thing for me,'' Galiev said. "It is like, 'Wow.' "
Galiev was nervous when he came to Washington for his first training camp a year ago, but is more comfortable the second time around. On Thursday, in fact, he had an assist in a game against the Flyers' rookies in Philadelphia, and has caught the eye of Capitals' coach Bruce Boudreau with his hard work.
"When I was drafted by the Capitals, I was super happy,'' he said. "They were my favourite team, and some of my favourite players are here. So it was amazing. But when I came here for the first time I was a little uncomfortable because I didn't know the coaching staff or many of the guys.
"Now I feel like I am in my hometown. I am happy to see everybody again."
Especially Ovechkin, who, quirky as he is, is showing Galiev and the rest of the Capitals' prospects a serious side.
"He tells us what we have to do off the ice, that we have to be disciplined and not to do stupid stuff,'' Galiev said. "He is a real professional and a great guy, and I am happy to be friends with him."
There is of course the other side of Alexander the Great; the fun-loving Ovie side.
Among other things, he boasts that he has Vladimir Putin's home telephone number - "He is never home when I call" and has a keen interest in anything Dolce & Gabbana. He has his own clothing line, a girlfriend he met on a Russian dating site, and a knack for dead-panning in funny TV commercials. He is also extraordinarily talented at video games.
"Every night we go out together and then come back and play FIFA soccer on a Sony PlaySation,'' Galiev said. "We always play two to a team, with me and Dmitry (Orlov) on the same side.
"The first three times we played Alex and his teammate, we beat them."
Then Ovechkin challenged them to another game, with the winner buying dinner. Picture a mongoose inviting a cobra to supper.
Ovechkin easily won his dinner.
"He wanted to go to a steakhouse,'' Galiev said. "Not Subway."
Marty Klinkenberg is the senior writer of the Telegraph-Journal. He can be reached at martyklinkenberg@hotmail.com.
OK. Here’s one that you absolutely have to read. You may even want to bookmark the blog address and revisit it from time to time.
The blog is titled: Eastside Stories — Diary of a Vancouver Beat Cop.
This particular entry details the visit made earlier this week by Tim O’Donovan, the Kamloops Blazers’ communications and media co-ordinator, and six of the team’s veteran players.
http://www.beatcopdiary.vpd.ca/
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An ounce of prevention
September 20, 2011 by saddison
The solution to the scourge of the Downtown Eastside seemed more black and white when I began working down here. I figured then, as some do now, that the salve for this neighbourhood’s problems was strict enforcement and harsh penalties for people who commit crimes, regardless how petty or severe.
Put a police officer on every corner. Show zero-tolerance. Send a drug addict to jail enough times and he’ll eventually clean up. If not, he’ll at least move out of the area. Right?
Not so much.
That hard-line view is shared by many, including a few who e-mailed to criticize my recent blog post in which I describe catching two people making a drug deal, then letting both walk away without putting them in jail.
While there are few things in this job that are as satisfying as putting a bully, a cheater or a predator behind bars, it’s painfully obvious that we simply are not going to arrest our way out of this crime and drug epidemic. The Downtown Eastside already boasts the highest number of arrests in the city. Still, it continues to be the most violent and drug-adled neighbourhood by far.
So, while putting people in jail is often necessary and quite satisfying for those of us who walk the Hastings beat, enforcement is just part of the fix. The real solution, I’m beginning to learn, is to stop people from getting addicted to drugs in the first place.
Last night I had an opportunity to work with a group of beat officers that is doing just that.
Constables Brian Hobbs, Tyler Urquhart and David Steverding are part of the Beat Enforcement Team. They are also volunteers with the Odd Squad Society, a group of officers that works to educate youth about the importance of making smart choices when it comes to drugs.
They let me tag along as they took a group of players from the Western Hockey League’s Kamloops Blazers on a reality tour through the Downtown Eastside. The young athletes, all trying to punch their tickets to the NHL, spent the afternoon and evening touring the back alleys and rooming houses of Hastings Street, and hearing from addicts whose lives have been wasted because they made once bad decision – to try dope.
I walked with them and listened as they talked to people on the street about addiction and how they ended up down here. I was surprised how many people’s hard-wired addictions started with social drinking or smoking a bit of pot, then led to a never-ending search for a more powerful high, a search which took them through every drug and back alley they could find.
We ran into one female at the corner of Hastings and Columbia Street. She had just shot heroin into a vein in her neck, and was still clutching the uncapped rig in her right hand while swaying on the corner. After she put the needle down, she spent 20 minutes telling her story.
An admitted “dope pig,” she talked about how she got hooked on heroin at age 16 and has spent almost half her adult life on skid row. Now 30, she sells her body for sex just to make money and get high. On a good night, she’ll give oral sex up to 10 times, to 10 different men. If she’s lucky, she’ll make $40 a date.
What affected me most was when she admitted that every time she gets in a car, she knows she might not live to get out. But she doesn’t care. The need to get high overpowers her better judgement.
It was a message that was neither lost on me, nor the guys from the Kamloops Blazers.
The WHL team is part of a program created by Odd Squad that aims to get the athletes, who are all role models in their community, talking to students about the dangers of drug use. The idea is that impressionable and at-risk youngsters are more likely to heed the warnings of 18- and 19-year-old hockey studs than they are to listen to another scared-straight message from a group of cops.
So, each time a WHL team rolls through Vancouver, they spend a day with the Odd Squad, learning about the Downtown Eastside and talking to people who have made the wrong choices in life. Accompanied by RCMP members from their respective communities, the players are sent home with all of the Odd Squad’s presentation material. Their job is then to go into the schools of the towns they play hockey in, and spread the message.
Last year, after receiving a similar presentation from the Odd Squad, players from the Blazers went back to Kamloops and gave more than 20 presentations throughout their community, reaching approximately 4,000 youngsters.
I remember being in the audience for a similar presentation when I was growing up in North Delta. Years later, when it came time for me to make difficult choices, it was that sobering talk that helped me stay on the right path.
As the idiom goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. And if a group of hockey players can convince just one at-risk youth to make the right choice, that’s one less person that’s going to show up on my street corner. It’s one less person whose potential could be lost due to a single bad choice.
Backchecking: Laurie Boschmann
Laurie Boschman scored 229 goals and 577 points in 1,009 career NHL games.
Murray Pam, The Hockey News, 2011-09-24
This season will mark the Ottawa Senators’ 20th anniversary since their return to the NHL. During the season, the Senators are taking the opportunity to honor their legendary early-20th-century clubs and players, including Frank Nighbor and Cyclone Taylor. But opening night will be reserved to celebrate the 1992-93 expansion team that included first-ever captain Laurie Boschman.
Boschman, a 13-year veteran when he was acquired by the Sens, was a member of the New Jersey Devils the previous two seasons where he was a consistent checking center and penalty-killer. He was assured by both Devils GM Lou Lamoriello and Senators GM Mel Bridgman that he would not be selected in the expansion draft. However, Lamoriello surprisingly left Boschman unprotected and Bridgman quickly took the opportunity to select the hard-working forward.
Boschman, understandably, was caught off guard when he learned he had been selected by Ottawa.
“My wife (Nancy) and I were flying back to our summer home in Winnipeg,” he recalled. “We were going through customs and the agent said that I was picked up by the Senators. He asked me how I felt about that.”
One of the senior players on the expansion Senators, Boschman was easily the best choice to become the club’s first captain and he said he felt “privileged’ to become the leader of a new team.
The Senators had more downs than ups in their debut season. The club’s highlight came early with a 5-2 opening night victory over the Montreal Canadiens.
“The Canadiens had Denis Savard and others,” Boschman said. “They went on to win the Cup that season, but we won (that game). The fans were 100 percent behind us. The community was excited to have NHL hockey.”
During the post-game, Boschman overheard a conversation between Senators starting goalie Peter Sidorkiewicz and center Jamie Baker. An excited Sidorkiewicz declared “we may be able to win 20 games this season.” Alas, this was not meant to be. After toppling the Habs, it would be another 22 games before they won their second of the season and Ottawa was victorious on only 10 occasions in their inaugural season. In fact, they did not win on the road until their fourth-last game of the season.
Even though the year was a trying one, Boschman and his family became enamored with Ottawa and made Canada’s capital their permanent home when he retired at the end of the season.
Hockey writers sometimes say some of the toughest competitors on the ice are the Lady Byng candidates off the ice and Boschman fits this description. The ninth overall pick of the 1979 draft, he is one of only 16 NHL players to have totaled more than 500 points and 2,000 penalty minutes over his 14-year career.
Boschman, 51, is now heavily involved in local charities and is an active member of the Sens Alumni. His pride and joy is being the Ottawa and Eastern Canada director of Hockey Ministries International. Cantankerous former Toronto Maple Leafs owner Harold Ballard once criticized Boschman for his religious beliefs, but he has remained true to his faith and has been involved with Hockey Ministry camps for the past 16 years, running Chapel programs for Christian athletes from junior to the NHL.
Kelly's Ducks influence Winterhawks' Johnston
Jason Vondersmith, The Portland Tribune, Sept 23, 2011
Oregon Ducks football coach Chip Kelly has often visited other college football programs, and he welcomes coaches to the team's practices and offices.
Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra paid a visit this summer.
So did Mike Johnston, general manager and coach of the junior hockey Portland Winterhawks, who open defense of their Western Hockey League Western Conference title with a home game tonight against the Everett Silvertips (7 p.m., Rose Garden).
Kelly and Johnston met at the annual Oregon Sports Awards earlier this year and found out they had a mutual friend in New Hampshire (Kelly's home state).
Later, Johnston contacted Kelly about attending a practice this summer.
Johnston went through a training camp day with the Ducks, which included a 2 hour, 40-minute practice, after which Johnston left completely impressed with Kelly's and his coaches' administering of the practice, along with the pace and detail.
"It was incredible," says Johnston, a coaching guru himself in hockey who has reshaped the Winterhawks' fortunes in recent seasons. "Two hours, 40 minutes, all to music. Really lively."
Johnston admired how the Ducks practice with such pace.
"We're very organized for our practice, but the speed and pace in your game, you have to practice that way," he says. "We practice fast, but sometimes there are breaks between. They had no breaks. There were two five-minute practice segments, a walk-through, a time to catch their breath. That's all they had."
Johnston says he and assistant Travis Green ran a couple of their own training camp practices like the Ducks do theirs.
"Between drills we did sprints," Johnston says. "We practice at a good pace, but (players) weren't used to it."
Johnston says he plans to have more uptempo practices, and also incorporate music as a means to inject fun into the workouts and noise to help players cope with distractions.
"You can always learn and get better," Johnston says. "Sometimes what happens is you stick to your own environment and don't go outside to see what you can learn from football, basketball or soccer.
"Football is a sport that I can understand, I grew up around football, I know the game."
Arena honours Burns' legacy
THE CANADIAN PRESS, September 25, 2011
STANSTEAD, Que. -- Ten months after his death, legendary hockey coach Pat Burns has an arena in his name.
The Pat Burns Arena was officially opened today in Quebec's Eastern Townships.
Burns' widow Line was to be joined at the ceremony by old hockey friends including former coach Jacques Demers and former players Henri Richard, Guy Carbonneau and Patrice Brisebois.
The three-time NHL coach of the year died last Nov. 19 after a long battle with cancer.
Burns said last year he didn't expect to live until the opening of the arena but hoped he could look down and "see a young Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemieux."
The federal and Quebec governments together pledged two-thirds of the roughly $8-million cost, while the city of Stanstead raised the rest through donations and charity auctions.
Getting To Know: Rod Gilbert
Rod Gilbert scored 406 goals and 1,021 points in 1,065 career NHL games
Mark Malinowski, The Hockey News, 2011-09-25
Status: Former NHL right winger for the New York Rangers from 1960-1978.
DOB: July 1, 1941 In: Montreal
Nicknames: "Blackie. Noireau - it's Blackie in French. Because my hair was pitch black. When I came up here my brother's nickname was Rock, so he named me Rocky, because I was injured quite a lot. They got me to go into the corners, so because of my perseverance they called me Rocky."
Hobbies/Leisure Activities: “My favorite is golf actually, in the summer. I picked up golf when I was 15-16, coming home from junior hockey. I enjoyed emulating the same motion (as a slap shot) and I was good at it and I enjoyed the game. It was a beautiful pastime."
Favorite Movies: "I'm a big Jack Nicholson fan. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. I enjoyed that probably the most."
Hockey Inspirations: "Growing up in Montreal my main man was ‘Boom Boom’ Geoffrion of the Montreal Canadiens. The reason is, his uncle used to hang out with my father at his blacksmith shop. And he kept telling me how his nephew ‘Boom Boom’ could really slap the puck and the reason they nicknamed him ‘Boom Boom’ was because of his slapshot. He was playing the point and he scored 50 goals for the Canadiens, where it was unheard of. And even won the scoring title when he beat Rocket Richard (he won the title twice). And of course my other favorite player was Jean Beliveau. And then at the age of 16 Jean Ratelle and I went to Guelph, Ontario. Andy Bathgate, star of the New York Rangers, played in Guelph. He left his legacy there as one of the best juniors, so I started emulating him. And then I got to meet him and play with him on the Rangers for three years. And I also got to play against him - he played for Toronto Maple Leafs. He's one of my favorite people."
First Job: "Worked with my dad shoveling horse manure in the garage for 25 cents a week. My first real paying job. I was an altar boy for five cents a mass. I got to save my money, put it in the bank, and bought me my first pair of skates. It took me probably from six years to probably 12 years old when I first accumulated $14.00 with all the five cents to buy me my first pair of skates. But it was a good pair."
Favorite Meal: "My whole career my pre-game meal was a steak, baked potato and string beans."
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: "Vanilla. Very boring. But I usually dress it up real good with hot fudge, butterscotch, caramel."
Embarrassing Hockey Memory: "Embarrassing stuff is like when you're trying to control your anger out there. And I put my whole team in the hole one time. I got a penalty that I didn't deserve. I sort of tried to throw my stick on the side, pretending to hit it against the boards. And it got caught in my glove and went into the stands. It was one of my best sticks. And I'm begging to get it back. Guy said, 'Yeah, right.' So not only did I get a penalty, I lost my stick. (This happened in) Boston, in the playoffs. I was very upset and embarrassed, too. It was in 1972, when we played in the final. That's why it's so vivid. We were playing for the Stanley Cup."
Greatest Sports Moment: "As a player, probably when we defeated Russia in 1972. Team Canada had been challenged by the Russians for the first time as professionals. Confrontation - four games in Canada, four games in Moscow. And it got voted the Sporting Event of the Century. So we happen to win in Moscow. The series had been tied 3-3, one tie. We won the eighth game. That's probably my Stanley Cup in my career. And in Canada, when we came back, all the people there, we had some reception. And people, some 30 years later haven't forgot. We were introduced in the Hall of Fame as a team - in the Hockey Hall of Fame and the Canadian Hall of Fame. So it's wonderful."
Most Painful Moment: "Oh boy, my career took a bad turn when I was 19. I stepped on a piece of debris on the ice and cracked my fourth vertebrae and was paralyzed for two months. A possibly career-ending injury. Took me to the Mayo Clinic and performed a spinal fusion. (It happened in) Guelph with one game left in junior. I was scheduled to come up with the New York Rangers. It was really traumatic, psychologically. I didn't skate for eight months. I was pretty positive the whole time, but there was doubt that I'd ever skate again."
Favorite Uniforms: "New York Rangers. I was really upset after playing many years when (GM John) Ferguson had changed the uniform to the square (shield logo). I was upset. So Fred Shero brought it back."
Closest Hockey Friends: "I admired and became almost like a brother to Brad Park. He came in maybe six years after me. And I became his mentor. He showed me a lot of dedication and leadership. I was the godfather to his first child. And to this day we're still friends."
Funniest Players Encountered: "One of my favorite one-liners was Pete Stemkowski. We're still friends and I see him a lot. He always comes up with one-liners. I like to wear new suits an awful lot. Every time he sees me with a new suit, 'Geez Rock, nice suit. Who shines it for you?' That type of humor. He's wonderful."
Toughest Competitors Encountered: "I classify two types of individuals: played the game hard and hit clean; then there were the Gordie Howes of the world, who when you weren't looking, you'd receive an elbow on the side of the head or a butt-end in the ribs. I never appreciated the tactics of cheap shots. There was a lot of guys in the league who got away with stuff and I didn't respect that. There were some clean hitters, guys like Tim Horton, Leo Boivin. The guys who you knew were going to hit you, but you took it. You were upset, you were hurt, but you say: 'Well at least it wasn't cheap. I should have kept my head up or something.' There were some good hitters."
Funny Hockey Memory: "Yeah, there are a million stories. All the players - we all had our little idiosyncrasies and jokes and practical jokes. And everybody was playing tricks like sending guys on a date with a girl who doesn't show up. Calling for wake-up calls. Putting soda machines in front of doors so guys couldn't come out. There were a number of things that we could write books about. But we choose not to (smiles)."
Favorite Players To Watch: "There are a number of stars today. I enjoyed watching Mario Lemieux. My days of course, I hope I didn't watch him too much - Bobby Orr. We could probably have done better against them if I wasn't so mystified by him. Wayne Gretzky was a tremendous playmaker. I enjoy finesse - like Yvan Cournoyer was incredible. Dymanic. Jumpin'. Burst of speed. Very admirable."
People Qualities Most Admired: "I've surrounded myself with people who are generous and take care of other people and support the different charities of New York."
New and improved NHL discipline, courtesy of Brendan Shanahan
BRUCE DOWBIGGIN, Globe and Mail, Sept. 25, 2011
Traditionally, innovation and the NHL have gone together as well as a fish and a bicycle. Had the NHL been a telephone, it would have been rotary. But light is making its way into the league’s New York City sepulchre. Whether it’s the Winter Classic or Brendan Shanahan getting ready for his close-up, the NHL is in danger of losing its reputation as the crusty neighbour who won’t let you get your football out of his backyard.
Shanahan’s simple public videos explaining the NHL’s discipline calls are a perfect example of the league actually leading the way for team sports. (We cannot recall any team sport where the discipline calls have been distributed as a video, let alone explained so succinctly.) From Shanahan’s first appearance this week on NHL.com, looking like some character from Desperate Housewives in a raffish, open-necked shirt, the genius is in the simplicity.
Shanahan is direct, logical and pitiless as he rolls the video to underpin his findings. The ease with which he dispenses his calls lays waste to the NHL officials and their media sycophants who’ve tried to tell us for years what a torturous process it was to give a habitual offender 10 games for trying to deliberately injure someone. Colin Campbell, you are now free to move about the nation.
Here’s a sample of Shanahan’s jurisprudence as he sends Calgary’s Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond to the sin bin for pasting Vancouver’s Matt Clackson: “Letourneau-Leblond took a direct route toward Clackson, hit him squarely from behind into the boards and drove through the check high and hard. Clackson’s back was turned toward Letourneau-Leblond well before the contact, requiring that Letourneau-Leblond avoid or minimize the check completely. He did neither.
“Letourneau-Leblond is considered a repeat offender under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement because he was suspended for one game on Oct. 9, 2010. Under the terms of the CBA, Letourneau-Leblond has to forfeit his salary based on the number of games in the season [82] instead of the number of days in the season [185].” Ouch.
Now, was that really so hard? Granted, Shanahan had some batting-practice fastballs to start with as recidivist types such as Letourneau-Leblond, Jody Shelley and James Wisniewski offered up acts of idiocy that almost anyone could punish. Will Shanahan be so bold when Alex Ovechkin performs his annual act of lunacy? No doubt there will also be jealous NHL types who feel Shanahan is pumping his own tires by appearing in the videos.
But the fan-friendly bits are already a success with both consumers and many players. They’re state of the art for other leagues to emulate. We at Usual Suspects can’t get enough of the summary justice as Shanahan goes old-school Judge Mills Lane on NHL rockheads. Will the message get through to them? Hard to say, but until it does, we’ll simply quote the immortal George Michael, “Let’s go the video …”
Selanne can't wait to play in Winnipeg
Has Dec. 17 game against Jets circled on his calendar
By PAUL FRIESEN, QMI Agency, Sept 27 2011
WINNIPEG - Teemu Selanne may be one of the NHL’s senior citizens, but he remembers exactly one of the first things he did on June 23.
“Right away when the NHL schedule came out, I checked out the date, when we’re going to Winnipeg,” the 41-year-old Anaheim Ducks star said. “It’s in my calendar. I’m excited.”
Saturday, Dec. 17 figures to be one of the more memorable nights in the inaugural season of the new Winnipeg Jets, as Selanne makes his first and only appearance of the season, and first as a player since he was traded midway through the final season of the original Jets.
Even though he played just two-and-a-half seasons here, Selanne remains one of the most popular Jets of all time, based mostly on his record-setting, 76-goal campaign as a rookie in 1992-93.
The Finnish Flash acknowledges he had a few flashbacks when news broke the NHL was returning.
“I was so happy. I have great memories from there and I know how much hockey means to the people. I was very thrilled. I know how much they’ve been wishing it.
“I’ve talked to a lot of my buddies that still live there. They’re extremely excited they finally got the team back. They’re pumped. It’s awesome. The people are so nice and friendly there. They really deserve the hockey franchise there.”
Selanne almost didn’t get the chance to return as a player.
More than once over the last several years he’s flirted with retirement, most recently this off-season, after surgery on his left knee.
But with a clean bill of health, one of the NHL’s most prolific and enduring goal scorers is back for a 19th season.
Drafted 10th overall by the original Jets in 1988, Selanne is coming off a 31-goal, 80-point campaign — the 10th time he’s scored at least 30.
He never did get a proper sendoff as a Jet, as the Ducks didn’t play in Winnipeg during the second half of that final, fateful season.
Dec. 17 could mark the loudest ovation a visiting player has ever received, here, when No. 8 steps onto the ice.
“Obviously they don’t have the old Winnipeg Arena, so it’s going to be a little bit different,” Selanne said. “But it’s a very special place for me. So I’m really looking forward to going there.”
The Winnipeg trip won’t be the only time Selanne is the most popular visiting player, this season.
The Ducks open the season in his home town of Helsinki, Finland, Oct. 7.
The waiting game
Patrick King, Sportsnet.ca, September 28, 2011
The Portland Winterhawks are one of many junior teams watching NHL training camps closely.
If Mike Johnston made one mistake, it's that he did his job too well.
The head coach and general manager of the Portland Winterhawks could be on the verge of another championship-worthy season, but is in limbo where some of his biggest stars are concerned. Nino Niederreiter, Ryan Johansen and Joe Morrow have yet to return from National Hockey League camps, which would be a feather in his cap if not for the big skates those players leave to fill.
"You catch yourself every once in a while looking at the board," Johnston said. "If we had that group of players, this would be a special year. That is the nature of junior hockey and you look at organizations like the Kitchener Rangers … they're losing players all the time."
The Winterhawks certainly aren't alone in playing the NHL waiting game, but it's hard to argue any junior franchise could be influenced more by the decisions of NHL teams than the Winterhawks. The list also included Sven Baertschi until he was returned to junior on Monday. Baertschi's camp with the Calgary Flames left Johnston looking at that board wondering if he too would be missing in action.
"We were a little bit concerned because he was having a good camp that he may stay," said Johnston. "We weren't projecting that we would have three or four guys as under-agers stay this year. In our plans, we were probably banking on two would stay and we'd probably get the rest back."
Those two he isn't expecting back are Johansen, the fourth-overall pick by Columbus in 2010, and Niederreiter, the fifth-overall pick by the Islanders that same draft. Morrow, drafted 23rd overall by Pittsburgh last summer, is the only remaining player the Winterhawks anticipated in Portland this season. Since all are younger than 20 and haven't played four years in the Western Hockey League, their only other option is junior.
By producing so many players for the NHL, the Winterhawks are simply filling one of the team's mandates. Unfortunately, that mandate doesn't always coincide with what's most important: winning games.
"These young kids come to our program to try and work as hard as they can for three or four years to become a pro," he said. "Getting our players to NHL camps, having our players signed, having our players play as an underage -- those are all positive for our program.
"When you're losing a player like Johansen, we're getting excited about two or three of our younger players … you tend to almost look ahead and say, ‘Well, those guys are going to be gone. Now we have to have some replacements.' As long as you continue to replenish your team at the lower end with the 16 and 17-year-old kids, as an organization, you should be fine."
The Winterhawks will be fine this season. But the difference between getting Johansen and Niederreiter back could be the difference between being a top team or a generational team discussed decades later. Johnston knows his team can still compete for that elusive WHL championship and possibly the MasterCard Memorial Cup even without those two.
One of the bigger differences he noted is that his team won't score at the same propensity as it did a year earlier, but should be stronger along the backline. Among those players who will fill the skates of Johansen and Niederreiter are Baertschi and Ty Rattie.
Rattie, a second-rounder to St. Louis last June, arrived in Seattle just three hours before game-time on Saturday after playing an exhibition game against Colorado the night before. He proceeded to score twice and pick up one assist, the same totals he would also produce against Tri-City on Sunday, upon returning.
"I was a little bit tired," Rattie professed after playing second line and second power-play with St. Louis on Friday. "I think just being excited for the moment and all the adrenaline rushing through helped a lot."
Johnston is doing his best to stop the Johansen and Niederreiter watch from becoming a distraction for his players. His message has been to look within the room and focus on which players are in Portland right now.
"Obviously we know guys like Johansen and Nino are well on their way to the show," said Rattie, "but you can't help but think in the back of your mind, ‘What if they come back?'"
The Winterhawks' goal is the same as it was a year ago. Portland returned to the WHL final for the first time in 10 years, but bowed out to a veteran-laden team from Kootenay in five games. Rattie and his teammates set the bar last season and they know the target is on their back.
"We're the team to beat in the Western Conference now," he said. "Every team is coming for us."
Another run at a WHL title is within reach, even if their top two forwards don't return. But if this team is going to be remembered when lists of top teams are being compiled in the decades that follow, a championship is a must.
"It's a disappointment for every team if they don't win the WHL finals," Rattie explained. "Our goal from Day 1 is to win a WHL championship, so if we don't win, it is a disappointing season."
James dynamic, fiery and candid
Biography of two-sport legend released
By Rob Vanstone, The Leader-Post, September 27, 2011
Gerry James, who is one of a kind, was once two in my mind.
Until the early 1980s, I did not make the connection between the Gerry James who starred in Canadian professional football and the Gerry James who made a name for himself as a hockey player and coach.
I was introduced to his good name in 1972 when a friend of the family - legendary football referee Paul Dojack - gave me a copy of the Canadian Football League's record manual. Flipping through the pages, I saw frequent references to James, who achieved his greatest gridiron successes with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He was twice named the league's outstanding Canadian (in 1954 and 1957), scoring 19 touchdowns in the latter season.
Later in the 1970s, I became familiar with a Gerry James who was coaching in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. I was aware of the fact that he had previously played in the National Hockey League with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
But it was not until I watched a sportscast on Yorkton television station CKOS that I learned that there was only one Gerry James. It was to marvel. One person did all that?
I told him this story on Saturday morning, when he was at the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame and Museum to launch a new and long-overdue biography - Kid Dynamite: The Gerry James Story.
"A lot of people wouldn't admit that they couldn't put two and two together,'' James responded, "but you, being the honest person that you are ...''
Honesty has always been one of James' traits. Ask him a question and you shall receive an answer. His responses are seldom sugarcoated. They are often humorous - although James, who is blessed with a classically deadpan delivery, does not always join in the laughter.
I discovered this late in 1987, when James was hired to coach the WHL's Moose Jaw Warriors. He would routinely dispense quotes that left me cackling, without once cracking a smile himself.
It was a brief tenure in Moose Jaw, lasting a mere 97 games, but I came to understand why so many people thought he was a big deal. For example, he was a virtual father figure to a great friend, Peter Loubardias, while he handled playby-play broadcasts for the SJHL's Estevan Bruins in the 1980s. Peter often told me how much he learned about life just by being around James.
James had left Estevan after coaching the Bruins from 1984 to 1987. Previously, he had called the shots with the Yorkton Terriers (1972 to 1974, and 1980 to 1984) and Melville Millionaires (1975 to 1980).
"When I was in Melville, one of my players asked me, 'Did you play hockey with Eddie Shore?' '' said James, who turns 77 on Oct. 22. "I said, 'Are you kidding me? He played in the '20s.'
"I think he was just trying to get me going. Unfortunately, I couldn't bench him, because he was one of our better players.''
James was himself a junior hockey player, with the Toronto Marlboros, when he first played for the Blue Bombers. He was only 17 when he signed with Winnipeg in 1952.
"I was making $50 a week from the Bombers,'' James said during a questionand-answer session that included moderator Darrell Davis (formerly of the Leader-Post) and Ron Smith (who wrote the 366-page book about his friend and golfing partner).
"I thought, '$50 a week to do something I love to do? Are you kidding me?' ''
In his first game with the Bombers, he returned a kickoff for a touchdown against the Saskatchewan Roughriders (with whom he played in 1964). The tone was set for a phenomenal gridiron career that included four Grey Cup championships and two 1,000-yard rushing seasons. He peaked statistically in 1957, rushing 197 times for 1,192 yards - an average of 6.1 yards per carry - and 18 TDs. He added another major on a reception.
Even more remarkable were his exploits during a span that included 1959 and 1960. After helping the Bombers win the 1959 Grey Cup, James rejoined the Maple Leafs and helped them reach the 1960 Stanley Cup final. In so doing, he became the only athlete to compete in the CFL and NHL finals in the same season.
And he did all that with limited vision in his right eye - the result of an injury suffered when he was hit by an errant puck while playing for the Marlboros in 1955.
"A lot of people didn't realize that I couldn't see properly out of my right eye,'' James said.
"My career, despite my eye injury, was pretty well done.''
He wasn't being immodest - just honest. That was typical of the man, who is portrayed in an appropriately honest book.
Smith does not gloss over the relationship between James and his father, Eddie (Dynamite) James. The elder James, who starred for the Blue Bombers and the Regina Roughriders, entered the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1963. When Gerry James was inducted 18 years later, his bust was placed alongside that of his late father.
"I never got to know my father the way I should have,'' lamented James, who is retired and living in Nanoose Bay, B.C. (on Vancouver Island) with his wife of 57 years, Marg.
The book is so revealing that James' children learned new things about their father by poring through the pages.
Smith conducted his research by spending untold hours going through archival material, such as newspaper accounts of James' career. But it was especially important to spend time with James, and to earn his trust, if the book was to become a comprehensive portrayal of Gerry James - both of him.
For his part, James is very pleased with how the book turned out. When asked for his appraisal, he responded with a patented deadpan answer: "I know the ending.''
Pats' Conacher team-ing with excitement
By Rob Vanstone, The Leader-Post, September 28, 2011
Regina Pats head coach Pat Conacher prefers to see his first name in the plural form.
The Pats - not Pat - are most important to him.
"At the end of the day, it's all about team,'' Conacher stated.
Conacher is not the first hockey coach to accentuate the team-first approach. The mantra of every successful coach pertains to the interests of the collective and how players should subjugate individual goals.
The "all for one'' approach can become cliched, or even trite, to those of us in the media. If you hear it enough times, the eyes glaze over, the mind wanders, and the notepad slams shut.
But there is something different about Conacher. He isn't merely dispensing platitudes when emphasizing team, team, team. The words are spoken passionately, as opposed to robotically. The more he talks about team concepts, the more animated and engaged he becomes - to the point where he is almost evangelical.
When the topic is coaching - part of the Pats' new order - Conacher is quick to mention assistants Malcolm Cameron and Josh Dixon.
When the good name of Jordan Weal is mentioned, Conacher is quick to emphasize: "It's not the Jordan Weal Show. It's the Regina Pats hockey team, and that's what it is at the end of the day.''
That comment was made shortly before the ultra-talented Weal was scratched from the lineup for Friday's season-opening game against the visiting Swift Current Broncos.
The Pats proceeded to win 5-1, earning two points while Conacher proved a point of his own: No player - not even someone as sublimely talented as Weal - is of greater importance than the team.
Conacher insisted that he was not sending a message by sitting out Weal, but the absence of the Pats' marquee player from the lineup on opening night nonetheless spoke volumes.
Weal responded with two assists Saturday as the surprising Pats improved their record to 2-0 by winning 4-2 in Swift Current.
The smooth-skating Weal was returned to the Pats on Thursday by the Los Angeles Kings - one of two NHL clubs with which Conacher was a teammate of Wayne Gretzky. In the spring of 1984, Conacher shared in the Edmonton Oilers' first-ever championship celebration, during which The Great One held aloft the Stanley Cup.
Friends of Gretzky are seldom immune from namedropping. Conacher is of a different ilk. When he mentions No. 99, it is to underline the importance of team - a concept to which Gretzky subscribed.
"I was very fortunate to play with the greatest player in the world, and he always made everybody else feel more important than himself,'' Conacher said. "He did, and that's why they won, and that's why he was the greatest leader in the game and why he was such a success. Each and every day, he was the first guy out on the ice and the hardest worker. He was the best person off the ice.
"It didn't matter whether you were the 23rd player on the roster or the second player on the roster. He made everybody feel more important than himself. He didn't talk it. He walked it.''
Conacher noticed a comparable team-first mindset when he played for the New Jersey Devils under general manager Lou Lamoriello.
"Look at the success,'' said Conacher, who will be back on the bench tonight against the host Medicine Hat Tigers. "No one's bigger than the New Jersey Devil emblem. No one's bigger than the Pat emblem. No one's bigger than the organization. I don't care. At the end of the day, it's all about team, so that's what I'm trying to come here with.
"I think the one area where maybe I'm a little bit of a throwback is that I demand team. No one is bigger than the team. If anyone thinks that they're going to be an individual on this team and step outside the box, and step outside what our team does each and every day, that ain't happening.''
With the right mix of players and coaches, the whole can exceed the sum of the parts. Saskatchewan Roughriders fans can attest to that, having seen head coaches Kent Austin and Ken Miller in action. The Roughriders have appeared in three of the past four Grey Cups even though their overall talent level has not been awe-inspiring.
When that example was presented to Conacher, he turned the discussion back to hockey.
"Go to the Boston Bruins,'' he said. "Look at the Stanley Cup champions this year. Were they more talented than the Vancouver Canucks? I don't think so. Look at the adversity they fought through. How many Game 7s did they have to win? They didn't win because of one individual. They did it because 20 guys saddled up and went to war and won that Game 7 in Vancouver for themselves and for that entire organization.
"That's what it's about. That's it right there. That's 20 men pulling in the same direction, doing the right things. That's culture. That's what it's about. To me, it's the only way to go.''
Octogenarian Paterno worth rooting for this season
By Tim Dahlberg, The Associated Press September 1, 2011
Joe Paterno has coached college football for, well, forever.
Only recently, though, did he question his toughness after a player blindsided him in practice, sending him to the hospital for two days. The hit came just after Paterno chastised his players for “babying themselves” over minor aches and pains.
“The good Lord has a way of doing things,” Paterno said, “because he said to me after shooting my mouth off, ‘Bounce back, kid. Let’s see how tough you are.’ ’’
Plenty tough. So tough that he plans to be coaching Saturday when Penn State opens its season against Indiana State despite still recovering from his injuries. And in a U.S. college football landscape that looks quite different from the one Paterno saw in 1966, when he became head coach, that’s comforting no matter where your loyalties lie.
Hard not to root for Paterno, the only octogenarian on the sidelines this season in major college football. This is a guy who was already eligible for Social Security at the time his current players were just being born.
And, finally, JoePa’s health. That’s something of a concern to every 84-year-old, but there are no other 84-year-olds coaching major college football from the sidelines. That’s Paterno’s plan, and he says there’s a “50-50” chance he’ll be with right there with his team Saturday, though doctors are advising him to begin his 46th season as head coach from an upstairs booth while he continues to heal.
“Being upstairs is for the birds,” Paterno said.
The bigger question is whether an increasingly frail Paterno should still be coaching at all. Personally, I’m with the group that wants him there as long as he wants to be there.
I can’t wait for his 50th anniversary season.
Puck Money 2011: Hockey Greats vs 2011 Stars
Canadian Business, Sept 30 2011
http ://list.canadianbusiness. com/rankings/puck_money/2011/yesteryear/Default.aspx?sp2=1&d1=a&sc1=0
Who is the greatest player ever? How would the stars of the past do against in today’s NHL? These are the age-old questions that fans love to argue about. We can concede that there can’t be a definitive answer. Comparing Maurice Richard with Sidney Crosby must take into account elements that are immeasurable; the overall quality of play in the league and on an individual’s team, training and coaching, equipment enhancements, rule changes, travel and physical size. However we can rely on statistics to put the achievements of the past and present into a clearer perspective.
The following 12 great players from past years were selected; Maurice Richard, Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, Dave Keon, Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Paul Coffey, Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky, Marcel Dionne and Mike Bossy. We also took a previous career-high season of Sydney Crosby’s. In the cases of Gordie Howe and Bobby Hull, post-1967 expansion seasons were eliminated and for Maurice Richard, the war-time years were not considered.
Each player’s best point season was normalized (see below) using the same methodology as above for the 2010-2011 season. We then pro-rated the normalized point total to account for extra games scheduled in current seasons. So 74 points in a 70 game season becomes 87 points in an 82 game season (74*(82/70))
We then placed the normalized and pro-rated point totals within the context of last year’s top players to see how the greats of the past lined up against the current stars of the NHL.
Normalizations
Players benefit from playing on a strong team and can be held back by being on a weaker team. In order to make them more comparable, we normalized the total points for forwards and defence and the shots against-saves ratio for goalies. This was done by measuring each team’s points and goals for performance in the regular reason as a variance from the average for the whole league. So a player on a team that over performed the league had his points reduced and a player on a team that under performed the league had his points increased.
(Go to the web address at the top to see the top 30 players...)
NHL expansion to Sweden appears unlikely
Janne Bengtsson - Stockholm— Globe and Mail, Sept. 30, 2011
Sweden loves the NHL.
Just not in Sweden.
The NHL would be in for rough treatment if it tried to expand into Europe.
René Fasel, president of the International Ice Hockey Federation, said at a hockey summit in Toronto last year that he would fight “like hell” against NHL expansion into Europe and that it would never happen “as long as I’m sitting in my chair.”
Still, the idea has its followers in Europe, but they are outnumbered by the skeptics.
Ninna Engberg is the CEO of the Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, the largest hockey arena in Scandinavia. She’s also on the board of directors of AEG Sweden, which is affiliated with U.S.-based Anschutz Entertainment Group.
The Anschutz group, which owns the Los Angeles Kings of the NHL, among other pro sports teams, has never discussed expansion to Sweden.
“It’s hard to see that the Swedish market would be able to swallow a full season of NHL hockey, even if it is only one team,” Engberg said. “Hockey in Sweden is a family business, and the crowd is mostly youngsters. To see one or two games a year is possible, but over a season? I don’t think so.”
The Globe Arena will play host to two NHL regular-season games this year: the New York Rangers vs. the Kings on Oct. 7, and the Rangers vs. the Anaheim Ducks on Oct. 8. The two Stockholm teams, Djurgarden and AIK, play in the nearby Hovet Arena, with a capacity of 8,000.
“The Globe Arena would welcome an NHL team in Sweden, but at the same time there has to be teams from the Elitserien playing alongside the NHL,” Engberg said. “And I doubt there is room enough for that.”
Mikael Renberg, who once played for the Philadelphia Flyers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Phoenix Coyotes and Toronto Maple Leafs, is now working as a hockey analyst for Swedish state TV. He doesn’t foresee an NHL team in Sweden.
“It’s just not possible,” Renberg says. “It’s not even worth thinking about. It’s charming that the NHL plays their season premiere in Stockholm, but let it stay with that. After all, people are not running to get tickets for those games. And to play regular-season games, it wouldn’t be possible to get people to pay for that.”
Micke Nylander, chairman of the Djurgardens fan organization Jarnkaminerna, is also a non-believer.
“The NHL is too much [about] business,” Nylander says. “Supporters are not interested in that. We don’t care about stars. We like to see players who play their heart out for the local team.”
But there are voices that would like to see an NHL team in Sweden.
“I’m surprised they haven’t pursued that issue more aggressively,” says Percy Nilsson, a Malmo contractor and hockey entrepreneur who, in the 1990s, built a team that won two Swedish league championships. “There will be an expansion to Sweden, and if it’s not from the NHL, it will be the [Russian league] KHL that establishes one or a couple of teams here.”
Two years ago, the KHL tried to recruit AIK to play in the Russian league. But the Swedish hockey federation quashed that idea, declaring that if AIK went to the KHL, the team would be barred from all Swedish hockey.
Former Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin could also see an NHL team in Sweden.
“But it has to be as part of a European division,” Sundin says. “And I’m not sure if it’s financially possible. Stockholm is big enough, for sure, but everything will have to be adjusted to Swedish size wallets.”
There are only three arenas in Sweden that hold more than 10,000 spectators. Malmo Arena, which is close to the bridge between Malmo and Copenhagen, seats 13,500 spectators. The Globe Arena in Stockholm holds 13,850, while the old and worn down Scandinavium Arena in Gothenburg has a capacity of 12,000, but no corporate boxes or suites.
“The limited capacity in Swedish arenas might drive the ticket prices up, and to pay around a 1,000 kronor [$150], forget it. No one will do that,” Nilsson says. Team supporters in Sweden went wild last year when the price for a playoff semi-final ticket skyrocketed to the equivalent of $45.
The Hockeyligan, which oversees the 12 teams in the Elitserien, has tried to fend off speculation about NHL or KHL expansion by having Sweden’s top eight teams play in the European Trophy this season. As of now, the European Trophy is a preseason tournament with 24 teams from the six leading hockey countries in Europe, except Russia. But the tournament could develop into a full-blown European league as early as next season.
“I don’t think there’s room for NHL expansion into Europe, and definitely not into Sweden,” Jorgen Lindgren, CEO of the Hockeyligan, says. “I think the NHL would have a hard time competing with the Swedish League.
“As we see it, it would be much better if they [the NHL] play there and we play here. Then the Stanley Cup champion could play the European champ for a world hockey title.”
Janne Bengtsson is the hockey reporter for Svenska Dagbladet (Swedish Daily) in Stockholm.
The explosive world of the hockey goaltender
ROY MacGREGOR, Globe and Mail, Sept. 30, 2011
They are the Tiger Woods of hockey.
No, we are not talking about text messaging or personal “indiscretions,” but about overanalysis both from within and without. Tiger Woods only has to rebuild his swing every now and then; most modern goaltenders have to reinvent themselves constantly.
It has never been easy being a hockey goaltender. Fitness expert Lloyd Percival once estimated that an NHL goaltender entering a playoff game is dealing with a stress load the average person might encounter a couple of times in an entire life. Hall of famer Bill Durnan shed 17 pounds one game and retired early to escape the pressure.
It’s bad enough what roils inside you, but then add on the changes to the game itself that dramatically affect the position.
1917-18 Goalies are permitted to drop to the ice to make a save. Previously, it means a penalty.
1921-22 Goalies are allowed to pass the puck forward as far as their own blueline.
1924-26 Goalie pads are restricted to 12 inches.
1927-28 Goalie pads reduced to 10 inches.
1929-30 Goalies are forbidden to hold the puck. If they fail to clear it, a faceoff is held 10 feet in front of the net. The forward pass is allowed in all zones, more than doubling the number of goals scored.
1934-35 Penalty shots are introduced, with the goalie not allowed to move more than one foot in front of his goal line.
1938-39 The penalty shot is modified to allow players to skate in with the puck before shooting.
It never ends. They change the crease size. They bring in overtime, shootouts. They restrict the goaltender to playing the puck inside some bizarre trapezoid back of the net. And sometimes there doesn’t even appear to be any actual rule that changes things: goalies used to be considered fair game outside the crease but untouchable inside; now it seems they are untouchable outside and fair game inside …
But nothing – with the possible exception of the introduction of the forward pass in 1929 – has so affected the goaltender as much as the multiple rule changes that were brought in following the 2004-05 lockout. Much has been made of what it did for skaters – the crackdown on obstruction opening up the ice to more-skilled players – but little said about the effect the changes have had on goaltending.
“But it really has,” says Chris Mason, the 35-year-old Winnipeg Jets goaltender who played his first NHL game for the Nashville Predators during the 1998-99 season and has seen duty in four professional leagues, including in Europe.
“Before the lockout you could get away with going down early and trying to play percentages by trying to cover the majority of the net. But they took out all the clutch and grab and that changed how much you can do to hold guys up.”
The result, Mason says, is that a game that previously was played in relatively straight lines, end to end, has become increasingly a game where plays are made side to side.
“It’s become a lot more east-west game,” Mason says. “Guys use the width of the ice to make plays and it’s a lot easier for guys to play with their head up as opposed to the way it was before the lockout. It was so positional and a lot of times you’d get guys coming down the wing and they’d just shoot the puck and try and drive to the net. Now it’s guys slowing up in the zone, they have their head up, D-men are jumping up into the play all the time – every team wants them to join the rush now – so it’s definitely become a lot faster and you’re seeing a lot more skilled players. So it’s definitely become tougher for goaltenders.”
The other major shift in strategy in recent years has been the universal shot blocker. Hockey always had its valiant defenders – Toronto’s Bobby Baun, Detroit’s Bob Goldham – who could go down to block a shot, but in today’s hockey everyone is expected to block shots. Don Cherry’s preaching for defencemen to get out of the way – especially their sticks – and let the goalies see the shots is history.
“Without a doubt it has changed,” says Wade Flaherty, who played goal for 16 professional teams – NHL to China Sharks – in his 21-year career. “Now it’s the more shots you block, the less shots are going to go in. You have the shot that goes bing off the player and in the top corner, and that’s frustrating. But now you have shot blockers in the shooting lanes and some guys make careers out of it.”
Flaherty, however, is okay with the way the game has changed in this aspect. “I like the idea of blocking shots,” says the former Chicago Blackhawks goalie coach, currently working with the Jets’ Mason and young Ondrej Pavelec.
“The less shots you have to handle is better. But I don’t want the guy not in the shooting lane trying to stop a shot with his stick. That’s the one you’ve got to be careful of. There’s a grey area there, but if you can get body position and you’re in the shooting lane, then sure, I want that shot blocked.”
“You have to be in synch,” Mason adds. “As players you’re always told, ‘Get in the shot lane! Get in the shot lane!’ and it’s tough when you have to make that decision whether you’re there in time to block the shot or whether you’re too far back and you’re just going to get in the way.
“The key with that is you have to get close to the shooter. It’s hard when you’re standing close to the net and you’re virtually doing the goalie’s job. Whatever gets by you is tough for the goaltenders to see.”
This requirement for lightning-quick reaction side to side has led to a new requirement for goaltenders, what Flaherty calls “goalie explosiveness.” At practices he will work with Mason and Pavelec near the penalty box, having them practice quick moves – gloves, stick, pads – with no one shooting on them.
The standup goaltender of the 1960s who became the butterfly goaltender of the 1980s is now an exploding goaltender expected to moved from one side of the net to the other as quickly as he once moved up and down.
This, Flaherty says, is another consequence of the lockout and the shift to “east-west” attacking. “What the goalies have had to do,” he says, “is back off a bit. They stay closer to the blue paint so they don’t get caught out of position as much and you work on their explosive power so they are able to stay with that player going east-west and the passes.
“But even if you go back to the first lockout [1994], goalies were getting more athletic. It’s a long time since they put the little guy who couldn’t skate in net. Goalies are stronger, bigger and they’re getting more explosive. You got 18-year-old kids coming into camp and they’re 6 foot 2, 6 foot 3 and they’re in unbelievable shape.”
To Flaherty, it is all part of the evolution of the game and the position, a position that has been forced to adapt by rule changes and has had to adapt to the way the game itself is played. But they no longer do it alone, and this is perhaps the largest change of all. Just as Tiger Woods has a swing coach, or several, and a putting coach, goalies now all have goalie coaches.
“There’s a lot more attention being paid to the goaltenders than there used to be,” says Flaherty, who himself didn’t experience a goalie coach until he was into his 30s and nearing the end of his NHL career.
“Back in the early ’90s,” he says, “the guys just went out and worked on their own. Now the other coaches, with the help of the goaltending coach, try and design practice drills to help goalies work on various aspects of their games.”
Mason says the proliferation of “goalie gurus,” as they are called around the league, has also changed the way the position is being played: “I remember growing up and watching goalies back then and every goalie had a unique style, every goalie had a unique way of playing and it was really individual. But now I do a camp in summer and I see a lot of young goalies and they’re all taught the same movements. It’s almost fair to say they’re robotic, to some aspect.
“They’re all great skaters and athletic, but a lot of times I think you kind of get hauled into that thinking that every movement is this way, that you have to do it the same every time.
“The position has just taken on such a technological view with all the video and all the coaching.”
And this again has had a ripple effect on the position. The days of Patrick Roy or Martin Brodeur owning the position seem to be a thing of the past. Increasingly, the backup goaltender is not just someone sitting at the far end of the bench in case of an emergency; he plays, and is expected to play well, and if he plays well enough, starting goaltender and backup goaltender can often switch places, sometimes several times a season.
“The level of goaltending has improved to the point where you just don’t have that one guy,” Flaherty says. “You have that capable guy behind him that the coach has confidence in. There’s good goaltenders everywhere now. Not just this league. But everywhere.”
The one thing that hasn’t changed – despite the never-ending evolution of goaltending – is the reality that Frank (Ulcers) McCool pointed out when he tended net for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1940s.
“If you lose,” Ulcers lamented. “the fans blame the goalie … and the reporters take up the cry. After a while the other players believe what they read and the goalie feels like it’s one man against the world.”
The loneliest position in professional team sport.
IIHF World Girl’s Day intended to boost recruitment
DONNA SPENCER, The Canadian Press, Sept. 30, 2011
The International Ice Hockey Federation's first World Girls' Hockey Day on Sunday may seem like preaching to the choir in Canada, where there are a world-leading 85,000 female hockey players registered.
But there are regions within Canada lagging behind others in the sport, says Hockey Canada's manager of female development.
“We still have a lot of room to grow,” Trina Radcliffe said. “We have the same problems in Canada that the game does globally, where we have those few dominant provinces and then the rest are still building.”
Roughly 40 minor hockey associations across Canada have scheduled clinics, festivals, games or fundraisers Sunday. The majority of them are in Ontario, but the Nunavut capital of Iqaluit, plus Yellowknife and Inuvik, Northwest Territories have scheduled events, as has Richmond and Parksville, B.C., and Tignish, P.E.I.
“I think it's huge for some of our Atlantic provinces and for Hockey North to jump on board with three communities was great to see,” Radcliffe said.
The event is part of the IIHF's strategy coming out of the 2010 Winter Olympics to develop women's hockey and close gaps between countries in international competition.
After those Games, the IIHF committed $2.1 million to a four-year plan called “Women's Hockey to Sochi 2014 and beyond.” The IIHF is supplying recruitment material to federations for World Girls' Hockey Day.
In Canada, events range from try-hockey clinics for four-to-eight year olds to games involving midget, university and Canadian Women's Hockey League teams. The OneGoal Hockey Foundation has donated money to run “Try Hockey” seminars.
“Those are brand new players, never played the game before,” Radcliffe explained. “They'll have access to jerseys, equipment, the whole deal, to give hockey a try.”
USA Hockey, which has 65,000 registered girls and women, says it has 76 local hockey associations and five NCAA colleges hosting events Sunday.
Australia, Belarus, Finland, France, Britain, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Russia, Switzerland and Sweden have all bought into what will be an annual girls' hockey day, according to the IIHF.
Finland and Sweden each have less than 10,000 females playing hockey, while a country like Belarus has less than 100.
Radcliffe says she's in regular contact with her counterpart in Finland and has heard of some 60 events planned in that country for Sunday.
“For me, it's mostly that we have this one day of celebration finally for girls' hockey, but we want it to continue,” Radcliffe said. “We don't want it to be just like ‘OK girls' hockey, let's do all our events here and then forget about it.’
“We want our branches and associations to continue to support throughout the year and create events and celebrations ongoing.”
VETERAN NHL TOUGH GUY FEDORUK FAILS TO STICK WITH CANUCKS
THE CANADIAN PRESS, 9/30/2011
VANCOUVER -- Veteran tough guy Todd Fedoruk has failed to land a job with the Vancouver Canucks.
Fedoruk and veteran Swedish defenceman Anders Eriksson were both released by the Canucks on Friday.
Vancouver also sent Nicklas Jensen, the team's first-round pick in this year's NHL draft, back to Oshawa of the OHL.
Fedoruk, 32, didn't play hockey last season and in the past he battled alcohol and drug problems. The native of Redwater, Alta., said he came to camp clean and sober.
"That year away from hockey I could just focus on the thing that was dragging me down for years," he said in an earlier interview. "There were so many people behind me in the decision to come back and play."
In 545 NHL games with six teams Fedoruk had 32 goals and 1,050 penalty minutes.
Two other veterans attending the Canucks training camp, forward Owen Nolan and goaltender Manny Legace, were released earlier.
Players assigned to Vancouver's American Hockey League team in Chicago included goaltender Eddie Lack, forward Mike Duco, defenceman Yann Sauve and centre Jordan Schroeder.
The Canucks play their final exhibition game Saturday at home against the Edmonton Oilers.
Vancouver begins the regular season Thursday against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Rogers Arena.
Here is a good opinion piece by Ken Dryden regarding the NHL and head injuries.
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7036426/time-nhl-get-head-smart
Swedish 3-sport star Sven Tumba dies at 80
The Associated Press, Oct 1, 2011
Sven Tumba, the three-sport star who was honored as the best hockey player in Sweden and later became a golf pioneer in his country and the former Soviet Union, has died. He was 80.
He died overnight at a Stockholm hospital after an illness, the Swedish Ice Hockey Association said on its website Saturday.
"Swedish ice hockey has lost one of its biggest players through time," said Christer Englund, the association chairman. "With his ice hockey knowledge and with his enthusiasm he made ice hockey popular and attracted more people to our sport."
Tumba was inducted into the International Hockey Hall of Fame in 1997. He also played on Sweden's national soccer team in the early 1950s and became a Swedish champion while with Djurgarden in 1959.
Starting in 1951, Tumba also played hockey for Djurgarden and won eight Swedish championships and three goal-scoring titles. He represented Sweden at 14 world championships and four Winter Olympics. He was honored as the best forward at the 1957 and 1962 worlds, and top goal-scorer at the 1964 Winter Olympics when Sweden's amateurs finished second behind the Soviet Union's state professionals.
In 1999, he was lauded as the best hockey player in Swedish history, beating out such players as former NHL MVP Peter Forsberg and Mats Sundin, both Olympic champions.
In 1957, he helped Sweden win the world title ahead of the Soviet Union before an outdoor crowd of more than 50,000 at Lenin Stadium.
The organizers did not have the Swedish national anthem ready for the postgame ceremony, so the Swedish players sang Sweden's most famous schnapps song that was broadcast over the PA system.
"Hockey was my whole life, that's what my heart was in," he told Swedish Radio in an interview this summer.
According to the association, Tumba in 1958 became one of the first European players to attend an NHL training camp, but never signed with the Boston Bruins and returned to Sweden.
After retiring from hockey, Tumba turned his attention to playing golf, though he also took on course design and became an ambassador for the game. In the early 1960s he took his first swing on Sweden's oldest golf course on Lidingo island outside Stockholm, putting his ball on the green before two-putting for par on the first hole. He was hooked on the game thereafter.
"Golf is not a sport, it's a disease," he told Swedish media after discovering his newfound love for the sport.
As a golf pro, he founded the Scandinavian Enterprise Open, now the Nordea Masters and one of the best attended European Tour events. Tumba designed several courses in Sweden and the first in the Soviet Union, a 10-minute drive from Red Square in Moscow.
"I started thinking seriously about it after taking the Soviet hockey players to my indoor driving range in Stockholm in the late 1960s", Tumba said in an interview with The Associated Press in Moscow a year before the course opened in 1989.
Mike Tyson and Pele were among those attending a crowded ceremony when the driving range opened.
During the Swedish Golf Federation's centennial in 2004, Tumba received an award as the most influential individual in Swedish golf, ahead of Annika Sorenstam among others.
"They laughed at me in the 1960s when I predicted that golf would become one of the most popular sports in Sweden," Tumba told the AP in the late 1980s. "But I was right. Anyone can play golf in Sweden, not only the wealthy."
Swedish golfer Robert Karlsson told the AP at the back of the 18th green at St. Andrews at the Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland on Saturday that Tumba leaves a great sports legacy.
"He will be up there with the best of all the Swedish sports people. He definitely has a legendary status," he said. "He was a fantastic person and helped our sport a lot. He will be greatly missed. He was such an inspirational person, full of energy, with huge vision and dreams. He achieved a lot of them."
During his final years, Tumba devoted much of his time to the Sven Tumba Education Fund, a global project using sports to help children develop interests in reading and writing, teamwork, sharing and self-respect. In 2006, the fund was endorsed by FIFA.
Tumba was born Sven Johansson, one of the most common family names in Sweden. In 1965 he changed his family name to Tumba — after a small town south of Stockholm where he was born.
During most of his retired life, Tumba lived with his wife, Mona, in West Palm Beach, Fla., visiting Sweden in the summer.
In addition to his wife, Tumba is survived by four sons — Tommie, Johan, Stefan and Daniel.
Funeral arrangements were not immediately known.
FEDUN INJURY PROMPTS PLAYER OUTCRY ON NO-TOUCH ICING
TSN.CA STAFF, 10/11/2011
It's the kind of injury no one ever likes to see.
Early in the second period of Friday's preseason game between the Oilers and the Wild, Oilers rookie hopeful Taylor Fedun went back to touch the puck for an icing call when he got locked up with Minnesota winger Eric Nystrom and slammed his knee hard into the boards.
Fedun immediately hit the ice in serious pain and had to be stretchered off. The result of the play was a broken right femur.
Former Oiler Kurtis Foster immediately felt for the young defender.
In 2008, amidst his first tour of duty with the Wild, Foster broke his left leg in several places after crashing into the boards chasing the puck for an icing call. That injury forced him to miss the final eight games of the 2007-08 season and the first 50 of 2008-09.
Last night's incident was all too familiar for Foster. After contacting Oilers forward Ryan Jones for Fedun's number, he reached out to the young defender via text. He also offered his support to the Oilers medical staff should they need it.
"To be honest, I was hoping and wishing I would never have to see anyone go through what I had to recover from," said Foster. "I really hope this will lead to the changes of the icing rule that need to be made!
With the crackdown on player safety the NHL is currently undergoing, Foster was left to wonder how long the potentially-dangerous play would be part of the game.
"Touch icing is a dangerous play that is not needed in our league and maybe this will open the eyes of the NHL and the NHLPA. A fractured femur for the second time is awful, but let's hope nothing worse happens to somebody someday!"
The injury delivers a serious blow to Fedun's career after he'd worked his way into the fight for jobs on the Oilers blue line. Fedun had been impressing Oiler management in his first pro camp and was a pleaseant surprise.
Teammates were also vocal in their support for the Princeton grad.
"Hoping for the best with Fedun. Need to get rid of touch icings. If not this kind of thing will keep happening," Oilers sophomore Taylor Hall said via Twitter.
There has been no word yet on how long Fedun is expected to miss, only the likelihood that his absence will be prolonged, given the usual recovery time needed for femur injuries.
Fedun was signed as a free agent out of Princeton by the Oilers to a two-year entry-level contract on March 8, 2011
Campaign aims to get visually-impaired hockey across Canada
By LARISSA CAHUTE, QMI Agency, Oct 1 2011
OTTAWA - Blind hockey player, Mark DeMontis is hoping Ottawa’s visually impaired can have a chance at the national game.
DeMontis is the founder of Courage Canada, a charity helping the blind and visually impaired play hockey.
DeMontis is inline skating from Halifax to Toronto to raise awareness of his campaign. He stopped off at Ottawa City Hall Friday.
“We’re looking to work together with communities in the Ottawa region to ensure we can get Canada’s youth and adults who are visually impaired on the ice and in the game,” he said.
At the age of 17, DeMontis was on his way to a professional hockey career, until he was diagnosed with Leber’s Optic Neuropathy — a rare condition that left him legally blind.
So in 2009 he launched Courage Canada.
One of the organization’s goals is to develop blind hockey schools helping visually impaired children cope with their disability.
“It’s important that we give this equal opportunity to Canadians who are blind and visually impaired to get a shot at the nation’s game,” he said.
While blind hockey schools exist across the country, there are none in Ottawa.
“We’re going to learn more about the City of Ottawa and get the visually impaired here on the ice,” said DeMontis.
But Ottawa is still a special place for the hockey fan: It was Ottawa Senators owner, Eugene Melnyk who initially sponsored Courage Canada.
DeMontis’ awareness campaign will come to an end when he arrives in Toronto mid-October.
The story of Johnny Wilson
By STEVE SIMMONS, QMI Agency, Oct 1 2011
TORONTO - When Ron Wilson walked in to the Joe Louis Arena Friday night he instinctively looked around but something was missing. It had never been like this for him in all the years he’s been visiting The Joe as a coach. His Uncle Johnny, the former Red Wings head coach, the fixture at Wings games forever, the one-time NHL ironman, the four-time Stanley Cup champion, wasn’t there.
He was home watching on television.
“When I’m sitting down, I feel like a million bucks,” said Johnny Wilson, 82, talking loudly into a telephone. “But when I get up, I’ve got this oxygen thing I’ve got to carry around with me. I’ve had a little trouble with my lungs after an operation. I’ve got to have this damn thing with me all the time. I’m hanging in there as best I can for an old guy. But sometimes you need to slow down.”
This isn’t necessarily one of those times. This is the weekend he adores. Toronto in Detroit on Friday night. Detroit at Toronto on Saturday night. Never mind it’s pre-season. The Leafs don’t visit Detroit any time this upcoming regular season. He began his playing career for the Red Wings, ended it for the Maple Leafs. The two teams he cares passionately about playing each other. Both are in his blood for all kinds of reasons.
“Just had a good talk with my nephew, Ron,” said Uncle Johnny. “These may be exhibition games but I don’t look at it that way. Tomorrow it’s Hockey Night In Canada. Don Cherry and all that. I coached against Don Cherry when I was in Pittsburgh and he was in Boston. Harry Sinden was the GM. I don’t miss a game on Hockey Night.
“He’s (Ron) got a tough job in Toronto. I told him, he’s got to get those players fired up. He knows the game. He knows what has to be done. You can stand in the dressing room sometimes and give these kids all kinds of advice but the problem is, once they hit the ice, it’s all turned over to the players. I was a left winger. I don’t know how I’d react to all this coaching today. I’d go out there and react to the situations as they transpire. I’d do it instinctively. Today, you’ve got somebody telling you, you shouldn’t do this, you shouldn’t do that, I think I’d go out there and be too afraid of making a mistake.”
Johnny Wilson loves talking hockey. And he liked nothing better than to hang with his old teammates and watch the current Red Wings play. But now the visits come to the house instead of having meet and greets at the Joe. And the visits come regularly. One day it’s Ted Lindsay. One day it’s Alex Delvecchio. One day it’s either Gordie Howe or Bill Gadsby. “I’ve been deeply involved with the Red Wings alumni for years,” said Wilson. “I want to stay as involved as I can.”
Wilson listens to all the conversation about what’s right and wrong and needs to be corrected in hockey with all the patience of someone who played in another generation. He looks at four players — Jacques Plante, Bobby Hull, Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky — as having more to do with changing and improving hockey than anyone else. They, along with Howe, are the legends he likes to talk about most.
“Jacques Plante was the first goalie to play the puck,” said Wilson. “Before that, goalies just stayed in their net. But he came out behind the net and started stopping it and setting it. Nobody had ever done that before. That revolutionized how we played and how defenceman got to move the puck.
“Bobby Hull had the first great slapshot. Maybe Boom Boom Geoffrion had a slapshot before him, but nothing like Hull’s. He started taking those slapshots and nobody knew what to think. And then he came up with the curved stick — and the combination of the two. That was something.
“What Bobby Orr did back then was unbelievable. Defenceman didn’t rush the puck. They would pass it to the forwards and stay back. Very seldom did anyone go end-to-end. Bobby Orr did it all the time. There’s been nobody like him.
“And in our era, the puck went behind the net and the wingers went digging for it while the centre stayed in front of the net to score. Gretzky started going behind the net. He turned it into an offensive play. He’d look out and see a winger on one side, a winger on the other, and two defenceman. And you didn’t know where the puck was going. That changed the way everybody plays.”
In between talking Plante and Gretzky and Orr and Hull, Johnny Wilson needed to reflect on his junior days in Windsor, where he got to play on the same team with his brother, Larry (Ron’s father) and his good friend and school mate Marcel Pronovost.
“I remember one time, the three of us were seated on a bench not far from the Ambassador Bridge on the Windsor side. And I remember Marcel looking across the river and you could see the arena, and he said: “Do you think any of us will ever get there?”
All three ended up playing for the Red Wings: Pronovost became a Hall of Fame defenceman; Johnny had a wonderful NHL career, including not missing a single game over an eight season period; Larry played two full seasons in Chicago, parts of three years in Detroit and mostly made his living in that six-team era in the American Hockey League.
The four Stanley Cup wins were memorable enough for Johnny but the AHL championship he won as a coach in Springfield in 1971 stands out in his mind for personal reasons.
“I have a picture in my family room that I love. I was coaching Springfield. My brother, Larry, was coaching Providence. We won the Calder Cup against his team and we both went on the ice after the Cup was presented and he came over to me and lifted my arm in victory and you know what he said to me? 'You’re the greatest brother in the world.' That was an amazing moment for me. My mother and father had come down to the games and my mother had a hard time knowing who to cheer for. I told her to pull for the home team in each game. And she used to cry before every game. The series, I think, went seven games and we won it at home in Springfield.
“Billy Smith was my goalie on that team and I think he was a rookie. I said to him one day that season, ‘The next time I see a player in front of our net, whack him in the ankles. I don’t want to see anybody in front of our net.” And after that, Billy did that all the time.
“And after he won his first Stanley Cup, he called me and thanked me for all I’d done for him. I thought that was really nice.”
Maybe Toronto should thank Johnny Wilson for all he did for the Leafs in the 1960s. “You know,” he said, “I got Red Kelly traded to Toronto.”
The Leafs were practicing at Ted Reeve Arena one afternoon and afterwards Wilson mentioned to a writer that he thought the Leafs could get Kelly from Detroit in exchange for a young player they had named Marc Reaume.
“Kelly and another guy were traded to New York for Eddie Shack and somebody else. But they didn’t report. I was in Toronto and I talked to Red about it. The deal had fallen apart. I said ‘It’s too bad you can’t come back to Toronto. It’s a great place to play.’ And I knew we had a guy on our team, Marc Reaume, that Jack Adams liked. So Punch Imlach came up to me after practice and said ‘Did I hear something that you told a writer that if I called Adams, the deal would be made.’ So he called him, and true enough, the deal was made.
“Red Kelly came to Toronto, moved from defence to centre, and the rest is history.” A history of four Stanley Cup wins in Toronto.
For Wilson, the connection, still, with Toronto and Detroit. “I hope the Leafs get in the playoffs. Detroit has been there for years. They’ve got a good team but I’ve got a soft spot for Toronto. Blood is thicker than water, you know. My nephew is a member of my family. That’s my brother’s boy. I think of Larry all the time. He’s the one who got the kid’s interested.”
Turned hockey into something of a family business.
Taking Note: Funnies
Gregg Drinnan, Kamloops Daily News, Oct 2 2011
When Wayne Gretzky signed his first professional hockey contract, he received a US$250,000 signing bonus. His son, Trevor, was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the seventh round of the June draft and later got a $375,000 signing bonus. "Back in my day, you'd get a signing bonus and the first thing you were thinking of was going out to buy a car," The Great One told Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal. "I asked Trevor what he wanted to buy, and he said he was going to go on a Disney cruise. We were laughing at that. He gets seasick. He doesn't even like boats." . . . Headline at Fark.com: ‘Tiger Woods gets third new caddie. Well . . . the fourth if you count the Escalade.’ . . . After hearing that Arnold Schwarzenegger was preparing his autobiography, Jack Todd of the Montreal Gazette wrote: “Just what the world needs, an Arnold Schwarzenegger memoir. Let us boil it down for you: ‘I was born, I took steroids, I became a fake athlete, I got famous, I made a whole bunch of hilariously bad movies, I was elected governor, I cheated, I got divorced. The end.’ ”
Puck ready to drop on NHL’s season of uncertainty: The Look Ahead
David Shoalts, Globe and Mail, Oct. 02, 2011
There must be a palpable sense of relief around the NHL’s headquarters in New York now that the regular season is upon us.
Over the past nine months, from the point Sidney Crosby sustained a hit to the head he is still recovering from, professional hockey went into a freefall. Bob Probert died at 46 from a heart attack. Then three other current or former players, also known as fighters, died either by their own hand or by their addictions. The worst came a month ago when the entire Jaroslavl Lokomotiv team was killed in a plane crash.
“It’s as if a dark cloud descended on our game,” an NHL general manager said while discussing a player accused of making a homophobic slur, which came days after the same player was on the receiving end of a racial slur.
Finally, then, with the arrival of opening night on Thursday, there is a chance to put the worst off-season in memory in the past. The traditional optimism that fuels all 30 NHL cities on opening night can be embraced.
Or maybe not.
At this point, the only feel-good story in sight is the Winnipeg Jets. Even if they don’t make the playoffs, their move from Atlanta should make them every Canadian fan’s second-favourite hockey team.
But if the preseason is any indication, there is little relief in sight for a league buffeted by tragedy and stupidity. Every few days, it seems, an issue blows up that makes headlines across North America, whether it’s hits to the head or the recent racial and homophobic controversies.
Crosby may provide some good news by returning to the ice within a month but the fact remains the NHL is opening the season still without its biggest star and still grappling with concussions. That war on head injuries looks like it will disrupt the first half of the season at least.
Brendan Shanahan, the NHL’s new judge and jury for on-ice conduct, is aggressively enforcing new standards for hits to the head. He suspended a long list of players for such hits in preseason games, extending their punishment into the regular season, and shows no sign of slowing down, at least not until the players adapt to the change in culture. The goal of Shanahan and the league is laudable but the process is sure to be uncomfortable.
As the season moves on, the spectre of another long labour dispute will come into view. No, it really doesn’t seem that long since the 2004-05 season was lost to a lockout and the possibility of another one will be back when the collective agreement expires almost a year from now.
Fans and the media may tell themselves the sport barely survived that lockout and neither players nor management would risk alienating U.S. fans with another one, but it cannot be ruled out. The most important fight here, at least in the early going, is not between the players and owners but between the have and have-not owners. The have-nots are looking for big concessions from the players.
Behind the scenes, NHL insiders say, the small-revenue teams are marshalling their forces, vowing not to be pushed into an agreement they don’t want by their richer colleagues.
Mike Danton comes to teammate's aid
Associated Press
STOCKHOLM -- Former NHL player Mike Danton was sent to prison for plotting to take a life. In his return to professional hockey, the skills he learned while incarcerated may well have saved one.
Danton, who received first-aid training while incarcerated, sprung into action during a game and quite possibly saved the life of a teammate.
Danton, who served a five-year jail term for conspiracy to commit murder, was playing in his first game with Swedish third-division club Ore on Sunday when his linemate Marcus Bengtsson hit his head on the ice after a hard hit and started convulsing.
Using the first-aid training he received in prison, Danton dropped to the ice as well, waited for Bengtsson's jaw to unclench and then shoved his hand into his teammate's mouth to stop him from choking on his own tongue.
Danton was convicted in a failed murder-for-hire plot in 2004, and wrote on his blog that "one of the luxuries" of his jail stint was the chance to become a certified first-aid responder.
"I have seen seizures before. In prison, druggies would come in off the streets and have withdrawals," he wrote. "So, when the convulsions did not (stop) after a couple of minutes, I knew something was wrong."
After Danton stopped the choking, other teammates helped him put the 21-year-old Bengtsson on his side before an ambulance arrived and took him to a hospital, where he was diagnosed with a concussion and kept overnight.
"There have been so many tragic injuries in hockey lately and this incident was very close to being another," Danton wrote. "These types of scenarios get you asking yourself questions and realizing the important things in life -- like friends."
“
I have seen seizures before. In prison, druggies would come in off the streets and have withdrawals. So, when the convulsions did not (stop) after a couple of minutes, I knew something was wrong.
” -- Mike Danton, in blog posting
The incident happened about six minutes into the third period of Ore's opening game against Soderhamn-Ljusne. The game resumed, and Ore won 4-3.
Bengtsson told Tuesday's edition of local newspaper Dalarnas Tidning that the only thing he can remember from the incident is feeling his leg starting to shake before passing out -- and then seeing Danton and other teammates standing over him when he woke up.
"I can't describe how thankful I am to Mike and all the others who helped me," Bengtsson said. "It could have been a lot worse."
Danton said he realized quickly that Bengtsson was in danger of choking on his tongue.
"With several players and other help surrounding (Bengtsson) on the ice, his face went from normal tone to Christmas red to snow white," he wrote. "In that process, he was on his back and his jaw became locked while bubbles of blood began to spew between his teeth. Only one thing came to mind. His tongue, I thought."
Danton said he had to wait several minutes for Bengtsson's mouth to open before he managed to get his fingers inside "and clawed at his tongue."
When the jaw started to clamp down on his fingers again seconds later, "I ripped them out before I lost them," he wrote.
Danton was sentenced to 7½ years in prison after pleading guilty in a plot that prosecutors said targeted David Frost, Danton's former junior coach who went on to become his mentor and agent. However, he was released on parole in 2009 after admitting that the intended target had actually been his father, Steve Jefferson.
Danton was a fifth-round pick by New Jersey in 2000 and played 87 career NHL games for the Devils and St. Louis. He was arrested while a member of the Blues in 2004 following a playoff game at San Jose.
In July, he announced his move to Ore after spending the past two seasons with the Saint Mary's Huskies in Canadian university hockey.
Ore is based in the small village of Furudal, around 185 miles north of Stockholm. The team plays in the 32-year-old Furudals Hockeycenter, which has a capacity of 796 people.