NHL Coaches remain ‘hired to be fired’

Roy MacGregor, Globe and Mail, Dec. 02, 2011


Hey, come on now, at least these days they’re either telling them to their face or giving them the courtesy of a telephone call.

Billy Reay got canned after more than a dozen seasons as coach of the Chicago Blackhawks when his wife found a note from owner Bill Wirtz slipped under their apartment door. She thought it must be a Christmas card, the holiday being only days away, only to discover her husband was no longer coach.

Even so, three fired NHL coaches in one week is surprising even for the trigger-happy NHL. Paul Maurice is out in Carolina, Kirk Muller is in. Bruce Boudreau is out in Washington, Dale Hunter is in. Randy Carlyle is out in Anaheim, while in comes Bruce Boudreau.

This week’s multiple firings bring to more than two dozen the number of canned NHL coaches since the lockout ended in 2005, four already this year if you include the St. Louis Blues’ replacing Davis Payne with Ken Hitchcock less than a month into the season.

There is some evidence that it works – the Pittsburgh Penguins went on to win the 2009 Stanley Cup after replacing Michel Therrien with Dan Bylsma – though it has not paid off immediately for either Washington or Carolina, as both teams lost twice in the days following the firings. No wonder coaches accept the defeatist notion that they are “hired to be fired.” As Tommy McVie, once coach of the Capitals, the Winnipeg Jets and the New Jersey Devils so nicely put it: “I can be out of town in 20 minutes, 30 if I have stuff at the cleaners.”

Harry Neale has been on both sides, being fired and replaced in the years he coached in the old World Hockey Association and with the Vancouver Canucks and Detroit Red Wings of the NHL. He also fired a coach, Roger Neilson, when Neale was general manager of the Canucks. Neale is also legendary in coaching circles for a line he delivered to the media in the early 1980s: “Last season we couldn’t win at home. This season we can’t win on the road. My failure as a coach is I can’t think of any place else to play.”

Today, Neale works as a colour analyst on the Buffalo Sabres’ broadcasts but still feels a twinge when another hockey coach takes the fall. “Let’s be honest,” he says, “when teams don’t live up to expectations – even when those expectations are sometimes unfair – everyone from the owner to the general manager is asking, ‘What can we do to help?’

“I’d say 90 per cent of coaches who get fired have worked harder in the month before the firing than ever before. Not to save his job, but to find a solution. I don’t think the possibility of getting fired enters their mind as much as it does others.”

When that team doesn’t get going, the coach is usually the first one to pay the price. Not the GM, who provided the players who aren’t delivering, but the coach, for failing to prove the GM correct in his talent assessments.

It is one of the realities, however unfair, of NHL hockey. The GM not only has the power to fire, but he usually has the ear of the owner, often the only one with access to that all-important ear. Coaches get blamed first and quickly, GMs only down the line and rarely.

Firing the coach, Neale says, is increasingly the only possible solution available. Trades, especially big impact ones, have become difficult in the age of the salary cap and long-term multimillion-dollar contracts. Sending non-performing stars to the minors, where they continue to be paid at the NHL level, is a luxury only the richest clubs, such as the New York Rangers, will attempt.

The days of powerful coaches like Punch Imlach, Fred Shero and Scotty Bowman – “guys who ruled the roost” – are likely long gone, Neale says. “I don’t even know if those guys could coach the way things are today.”

Firing the coach, he says, actually makes strange sense in the current NHL. “Today’s coaches don’t make even what the average player makes in salary,” Neale says, “so it’s not a major financial decision.”

As for today’s coaches, they increasingly have fewer levers available with which to manipulate and motivate their players. “The coach hasn’t much of a hammer,” Neale says. “The only penalties you’ve got is to withhold shifts, change the lines or sit out a player. And all of them only work temporarily.”

A fresh coach, however, brings certain advantages. “It’s the one chance that coach has to look the players in the eye and say, ‘I don’t know who will play with whom, who will play the power play, so you’re going to have to show me.’

“It’s also a beautiful opportunity for a guy who’s not been playing as well as he should be to show something. So there are positive reasons for changing coaches.”

There are also positives, he says, for no longer living with such uncertainty as today’s coaches are under.

“I haven’t lost a game in 24 years.”

OHL: Knights invite unwanted scrutiny putting Rob Ramage on bench

By Neate Sager, Yahoo! Sports, Dec 2 2011


OHL: Knights invite unwanted scrutiny putting Rob Ramage on benchOn some level, the London Knights had to know putting Rob Ramage behind the bench would bring both the former NHLer and the organization's past to light.

On one level, perhaps the most important one, this is a redemption story for the former NHLer, trying to rebuild his life. Ramage served a prison term for for impaired and dangerous driving in the death of his friend Keith Magnuson. He accepted responsibility and no one can ever fully understand what is like to live with that. He deserves a chance. At the same time, the Ontario Hockey League likes to play up the fact that it is ostensibly about mentoring young men. So some people in London, Ont., are having trouble squaring Ramage moving behind the bench for the Knights with some unflattering moments in the franchise's recent past. Presented without comment, here's one take from Nathan Smith.

Ramage remains on probation until 2014, but more importantly — the London Knights are also on probation, at least in the eyes of the public.

Ramage is not the first member of the organization to face a serious charge of impaired driving.

He's just the latest.

Knights forward Logan Hunter was charged with impaired driving in 2004. Two years later, his uncle — and the team's head coach — Dale Hunter was also charged with drunk driving. Neither Hunter was convicted. Still, two years later, in 2008, the team's assistant coach Dave Gagner was charged with impaired driving. He rear ended a vehicle just outside the John Labatt Centre.

In all three cases, the team chose not to suspend or discipline those involved. (AM 980 London)

Is that fair or foul?

Norman James of CTV London and AM 980 noted the Knights are "pretty pissed" about Smith's piece. That's understandable. No one likes having their dirty laundry aired in public or seeing someone cast aspersions on their organization's culture.

It comes with the territory, though. There's not much grey area in the public conscience when it comes to impaired driving. Every level of government in North America, over the past few decades, has been very effective on disseminating information about the risks of drinking and driving. Yet we continue to read about sportspeople being arrested for impaired driving. The media pays more attention to an athlete or coach getting arrested than some average Jane or Joe, but every time it happens people raise questions about the culture of the sport or team. It comes with the territory.

Were it not for the incidents involving the Knights, would have anyone have an issue with Ramage taking a more publicly visible role with the Knights? Perhaps not. He paid his debt to society, accepted responsibility and as the London newspaper noted, he was already working for the Knights.

He was granted day parole this past May and joined his former junior team in a role the Hunters [GM-coach Mark and then-coach Dale] described as 'defensive consultant.'

He helped the Knights' defencemen during practice and, before Friday's announcement, served as an 'eye-in-the-sky' during games. (London Free Press)

There's been no evidence that Ramage ever jeopardized a player's welfare in the past, to reference another contentious coaching hire recently in the OHL (Bill Stewart becoming a bench coach with the Guelph Storm). It's a sucker play to debate the moral equivalency there, but it is worth citing. Point being, the Knights will have to suffer some slings and arrows, but it might be worth it as part of giving Ramage a second chance.

Before I Made It: Adam McQuaid

Adam McQuaid was drafted in the second round (55th overall) by Columbus in 2005, but traded to Boston in 2007.

With Kevin Kennedy, The Hockey News, 2011-12-03


I grew up in Cornwall, P.E.I., and I played hockey with the North River Minor Hockey Association. They’ve built a new rink since then, so the building is still there, but it’s used as kind of a warehouse now. It was an older rink and that’s where I had my first game and played most of my minor hockey.

Oddly enough, I can remember my first game. My parents hadn’t had the chance to get me a pair of hockey pants so I went out without them and obviously I was still learning how to skate and we were doing circles and stuff. I can remember falling a lot and with not having pants on, I got pretty bruised up.

I can’t remember the first time we went ‘off island,’ but I can remember how exciting it was to be in a hotel and have all your buddies there and play mini-hockey in the halls and run around from room to room. That was probably the most exciting thing about going to out-of-town tournaments. It wasn’t so much the hockey itself, but hanging out and going to the pool - that kind of stuff.

I got into hockey because my parents wanted to get me into something so that I could be more social. I was a bit of a shy kid so they just wanted me to play a team sport and socialize with other kids my age. My parents were awesome. They were always encouraging and never gave me any advice really - probably mainly because they were just fans of the game, but never really played too much themselves. So it wasn’t like they were ever critiquing me, they were more just there for support.

As a kid, hockey for me was just a winter sport, not a year-round thing. I maybe went to one hockey camp over the summer, but just for a couple days, not even a weeklong thing. I played soccer in the summer and a lot of badminton and basketball in school. I was always on the go and school was very important in our household.

Growing up, I originally thought if hockey didn’t work out I would try to become a gym teacher. I love all kinds of sports and loved gym class and thought I’d be a good role model for kids as a teacher, but as I got a little older I started to move more toward the business world. My father runs a real estate type of business, which was something I had some interest in and maybe something I’ll look into once my career is done. When I was a teenager I had a part-time job working at a golf course one summer and when I was younger I did a paper route, cut grass, that type of stuff.

I watched a lot of hockey as a kid and when I was really young my favorite player was Patrick Roy. Around the time he got traded to Colorado I kind of jumped ship and became a fan of Felix Potvin and Doug Gilmour. I’m not sure why, but I kind of gravitated toward goalies.

On my Ontario League draft day I was at home following on the Internet and I remember we kept hitting the refresh button. Finally, my name appeared - I was selected by the Sudbury Wolves. Being from P.E.I., I wasn’t really familiar with Ontario and didn’t know where Sudbury was. I got a call soon after from management in Sudbury and I was just really excited to get to camp and it was also a bit of a scary time, moving away from my family and friends when I was 16.

I was originally drafted into the NHL by Columbus, but was later traded to the Bruins. My last year in major junior we made the OHL final, so the season ended in late-May. A couple days later is when I found out I’d been traded to Boston and they were going to sign me right away. I got the contract faxed right to Sudbury and signed it there.

I was in the American League for two-and-a-half years and I really think the trade to Boston helped me. They really worked with me and there were a lot of areas I had to improve on, including my skating and puck skills, and they were willing to give me an opportunity. That’s all you can really ask for.

When I got the call to go up to the Bruins, it was a Tuesday night and I was just lying on the couch watching TV. I saw on my phone that it was the assistant GM Don Sweeney calling me in Providence. You always get a little nervous when you get that call. You hope it’s a positive thing, but you never know. He just asked me if I was ready and I said I was and right away I called my family.

It was only an hour drive to Boston so I drove up that night to make practice the next morning and then we actually flew out to Chicago. We had a couple days in Chicago and it worked out well because I could get some practices in and get comfortable with the team.

My parents flew in for the game in Chicago, but unfortunately I didn’t dress. I did get to take warmup, though, which was pretty neat at the time. We actually flew to Toronto a few nights later and I got in the game and I think again it worked out even better because my billet family from Sudbury and my brother, who was going to school in Ontario, all got to come see the game. I followed the Leafs a lot as a kid so it was a pretty special night.

East-West battle at NHL meetings

Bruce Garrioch, QMI Agency, Dec 3 2011


This will be no Pebble Beach holiday for Gary Bettman.

The NHL commissioner has a fight on his hands as the board of governors meetings begin Monday with the touchy subject of realignment as the No. 1 item on the agenda, with several teams trying to get their way.

As QMI Agency first reported in June, league sources say Bettman is trying to push through a proposal to scrap the current format and realign with four divisions: Pacific, Midwest, East and South.

The top four teams in each division would make the playoffs. The first round would be divisonal play, the teams would then re-seed for conference play. Bettman’s idea would not affect a East-West Stanley Cup final matchup.

“I do think he’s going to get his four divisions, but I believe only two teams are going to move: Detroit will come East and Winnipeg will go West,” predicted a league executive.

This has turned into a bigger battle than Bettman could have imagined when he first presented the scenario to the board in June. Three months ago any chance of it happening was considered remote. Now, it’s alive but there are as many as nine proposals on the table.

That’s because several teams want to move. The Red Wings have wanted to get back to the East for 10 years, while Columbus, Minnesota and Dallas have all petitioned to play in the East. Dallas has been the most aggressive, but that may fall on deaf ears.

“The league owes it to the Wings to move them East,” said the executive.

OFF THE GLASS: Don’t be surprised if the Wings add a veteran forward before the February deadline. They’ve got the cap space to make a deal and GM Ken Holland has always made shrewd moves. They’d just like more depth up front and don’t be surprised if they make a pitch for Carolina’s Tuomo Ruutu ... Winnipeg GM Kevin Cheveldayoff could be facing an interesting question: Do the Jets fire coach Claude Noel to make room for former Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle? The belief is the Jets are “high on Noel” and “don’t operate that way,” but if they’ve got a shot at a coach who has won a Stanley Cup, don’t they have to consider it? The biggest concern about the Jets is their lack of discipline — they are the NHL’s most penalized team it. Somebody is going to grab Carlyle. The Jets might want to bring him home ... The Stars have contacted the Flames about RW Jarome Iginla, but have been told he’s not availabe.

AROUND THE BOARDS: Russian RW Nail Yakupov, playing with the OHL’s Sarnia Sting, is regarded as the top prospect in the 2012 NHL draft. “He sees the ice and anticipates the play the way few can,” said one NHL chief scout. “He is dangerous everytime he’s on the ice with a release as quick as (Tampa’s Steve) Stamkos. (Yakupov) scores when the team really needs him.” The scout said Swede RW Filip Forsberg and RW Mikhail Grigorenko (Quebec) are close, but “Yakupov has been consistently good since coming to the OHL.” ... The Canucks haven’t given up hope on Phoenix C Kyle Turris. After signing a two-year deal, the 21-year-old made his debut on the fourth line Thursday in Winnipeg. Many believe Turris won’t finish the season in Phoenix. Vancouver is a good fit.

THIS ’N’ THAT: The Flames are going to have to go looking for a blueliner after losing Mark Giordano for an extended period. Expect Calgary GM Jay Feaster to at least make a call to the Senators about D Filip Kuba, who’s out with an upper-body injury at the moment. Once Matt Carkner returns, the Senators will have eight healthy defencemen ... Habs GM Pierre Gauthier will wait until his team has completed its Western swing and then will decide about changes. Hard to imagine anyone being thrilled with Gauthier’s performance and he’s on the hotseat. The decision to fire Perry Pearn has put the focus on the GM.

RUMOURS DU JOUR: Didn’t take long for the Bobby Ryan sweepstakes to end in Anaheim after Carlyle was fired. The Rangers, Hurricanes, Leafs and Flyers investigated the possibility of dealing for the power forward. The asking price was a high-end young player already in the NHL, a top prospect and a No. 1 pick. “Did they really want to trade Bobby Ryan?” asked one league executive. “I don’t really think so.” The Hurricanes wanted Ryan to play alongside a struggling Eric Staal ... Controversy is brewing with G Roberto Luongo with backup Cory Schneider playing lately in Vancouver. The talk among league executives is the Canucks have dangled Luongo in trade circles, but haven’t been able to find anybody interested in his $5.3-million cap hit and contract that runs through the 2021-22 season. Schneider will be shipped out at some point ... Columbus C Derick Brassard ruffled feathers when his agent Allan Walsh sent out a statement Thursday calling out coach Scott Arniel and demanding a trade. There are several teams looking at Brassard, including: Los Angeles, Ottawa, Montreal, Phoenix, Florida, Tampa and the Rangers. Bolts coach Guy Boucher and Brassard were together in junior. Two years left at $3.2 million is a stumbling block.

Have a nice Sunday.

Zize Matters: The pressure's on

By Mike Zeisberger, QMI Agency, Dec 3 2011


Sometimes we forget just how much pressure is heaped on those kids who tug on that red-and-white Team Canada jersey for the world junior hockey championship every December.

Sometimes we forget that these hockey heroes who carry the hopes of an entire nation during each and every holiday season are just teenagers, some not even old enough to legally go out for a golden frosty beverage after one of their games.

Brayden Schenn hasn’t forgotten.

Two years ago, Schenn, representing Canada at the tournament for the first time, was on the losing end of a gut-wrenching 6-5 overtime defeat to the rival Americans in the title game.

One year later, Schenn, despite winning tournament MVP honours, was crushed after his Canadians blew a 3-0 third- period lead en route to a frustrating 5-3 setback to the Russians in the gold medal tilt.

As the candidates for this year’s edition of the Team Canada juniors gather later this week in Calgary for a training camp that runs Dec. 10-14, history will show that Canada’s two-year gold-medal drought is a disappointment. Some critics would go as far as to say the past two squads have been failures.

Brayden Schenn doesn’t see things that way.

Maybe those teams failed in their goal to win a championship. But that doesn’t make the individual players “failures.” Not when you poured so much blood and sweat trying to reach the dream, gold or no gold.

To that end, Schenn, now a member of the Philadelphia Flyers, regularly stays in touch with Mark Visentin, the Niagara IceDogs goalie who returns to Team Canada’s selection roster after being beaten for all five of those Russian goals in the championship game last January in Buffalo.

“I actually just talked to him,” Schenn said during a phone interview from California, where the Flyers are in the midst of a west-coast trip. “I really hope they do well.”

Schenn acknowledges he will be following as many Team Canada games as possible, Of course, he understands that, as he watches the broadcasts, there will be constant reminders of how the past two Canadian sides were forced to settle for silver.

“Obviously, for myself and a few others who were on those teams, it’s tough to see those highlights, especially with the streak of (five gold medals) Canada won before that,” Scehnn said. “Obviously Canada wants redemption.

“As for me, I’ve moved on. You have to.”

To put into perspective what these kids go through each and every year, keep in mind that your NHL heroes do not have an annual all-star tournament like the world juniors in which entire nations follow the action shift by shift.

The Olympics? Those only take place every four years.

The world hockey championship? While that tournament means a lot to the countries on the other side of the Atlantic, it does not feature the so-called “best-of-the-best” because the NHL playoffs are on at the same time.

The world junior, on the other hand, is an all-star showcase of under-20 talent that kicks off every December and runs into January. The only stars of this age group who aren’t featured are the draft picks whose NHL teams have opted to keep them up at the pro level.

In Canada, the tournament has become a holiday tradition, much like U.S. college football bowl games used to be on New Year’s Day before the BCS scattered the schedule.

“There always are huge expectations,” Schenn said. “Millions of people are watching you wearing those jerseys. Little kids at home are dreaming of one day being in your shoes.

“It’s probably one of the most fun things I ever watched growing up.”

Schenn admits that, for every player who wears the maple leaf on his chest, it’s gold or bust. He has no problem with that. Everyone knows the lofty expectations that are omnipresent once the first puck is dropped.

Eleven months ago in Buffalo, Schenn set a record by registering 18 points, the most ever recorded by a Canadian player in the tournament. But that was no consolation for the heartbreak he and his teammates felt at watching those coveted gold medals dangling around the necks of the champion Russians.

In the end, it’s your prerogative to consider the outcome produced by this edition of Team Canada a “failure” if it does not bring home the gold medal from the upcoming tournament in Edmonton.

Just don’t call the individual kids like Visentin “failures” if that happens. From the moment they are selected to pull on that jersey, they are anything but.

FRASER: WHY THE KINGS COULD PICK THE RICHARDS' PENALTY

Kerry Fraser, TSN.ca, Dec 4 2011


Happy Holidays Kerry! I enjoy reading your column. It gives great insight for us fanatics that want to know why.

My question: I am an avid Los Angeles Kings fan and I was watching the Kings vs. Panthers game Thursday night. In the second period the Kings' Mike Richards took a slashing penalty after a hit by Florida's Bergenheim. A scrum ensued, Richards and Jarret Stoll took roughing penalties and Bergenheim also took a roughing penalty. So that left Florida with a two-minute penality and the Kings had four minutes to Richards and two minutes to Stoll. The Kings had a choice of a two man disadvantage or a 4 minute double minor disadvantage. Why did the Kings get a choice? Is seems like Florida should have gotten to choose. How is it in the rules? Thanks!

Dan Hauptman
Palmdale, CA

-----

At 16:52 of the second period on Thursday - Florida Panthers and LA Kings.

Kings forward Mike Richards took exception to a hit from Panthers forward Sean Bergenheim.

Richards gave Bergenheim a slash and followed him up ice to rough him up some more.

On the play, Bergenheim ended up with a roughing minor. Richards got a slashing minor and roughing minor. The roughing penalties occur seconds apart, not 'coincidental.'

According to the in-game announcers, the Kings were given the choice of:

1) A two-minute 5-on-3
2) A four-minute 5-on-4

Didn't realize this happens, what is the background on why teams are given a choice - and when does it apply?

Thanks Kerry,
Phil Ross


Dan and Phil:

I'll take you through some of the history of the coincidental minor penalty rule but first let me quickly clarify Phil's question regarding the "real time" difference between infractions/incidents that are treated as "coincidental."

Even though Mike Richards' delayed slashing minor occurred during play and the minor penalties to Jarret Stoll, Sean Bergenheim and additional minor to Richards resulted from the ensuing scrum after play was stopped, the time on the clock is the determining factor with regard to application of rule 19—coincidental penalties. The penalties were all assessed at 16:52 and therefore treated as "coincidental."

The coincident minor penalty application changed back and forth during my 30 year NHL career. When the Edmonton Oilers were dominating during the early 1980's, their power-play could often be a game breaker with the likes of Gretzky, Messier, Kurri, Anderson, Coffey and so on.

Being the intelligent coach that he was and hockey man that he is, Glen Sather recognized that near the end of regulation time in close or tied games his best weapon (beyond a power-play) would be to open up the ice for his young guns by creating a four-on-four situation.

At times like this an Oiler player would engage an opponent (usually in a scrum after the whistle) and a face-wash would result in a push or punch back and forth that escalated to minor penalties being assessed to a player from each team. While "Slats" never said thank you for making this call his lack of protest and usual grin was a signal that the rules were working to his team's advantage.

You might suggest that the other team just needed to be disciplined and not get drawn into the battle but that didn't usually happen. An "Oiler Rule" was created where these penalties were treated as coincidental and not served for a few years just like major penalties causing the teams to play five-on-five.

The aspect of the rule eventually returned to what we currently operate under which states, "When one minor penalty is assessed to one player of each team at the same stoppage of play, these penalties will be served without substitution provided there are no other penalties in effect and visible on the penalty clocks. Both teams will therefore play four skaters against four skaters for the duration of the minor penalties."

If a team was to perfect the art of drawing an opponent into mutual roughing minors like the "Oilers of old" it could be a huge benefit to certain teams. Just think of the teams with personnel that thrive when a four-on-four results in OT.

The coincidental penalty rule was expanded to include not just major penalties and majors where minor penalties were attached but to include multiple minor penalties as well. Rule 19.1 in the current rule book states, "When multiple penalties are assessed to both teams, equal numbers of minor and major penalties shall be eliminated using the coincident penalty rule and any differential in time penalties shall be served in the normal manner and displayed on the penalty time clock accordingly."

Rule 19.5 attempted to make it less complicated by stating:

(i) Cancel as many major and/or match penalties as possible.
(ii) Cancel as many minor, bench minor and or double-minor penalties as possible.

We received this new rule at training camp the year it was instituted. As was often the case, the guys that were most familiar with rule application and consequences one rule might have on another (the officials) started posing various "what if" scenarios. We came up with a whole bunch where a team could end up being forced to defend a five-on-three situation. Some concern was expressed that a minor penalty might be overlooked to avoid putting a team in this spot (even though deserved). The referees did not want to be perceived as "accountants" balancing the books as so often was the case. (Did I just hear someone say "even-up"?)

It was then our recommendation and sent up the chain of command for approval that a team should have the choice as to which minor penalty they wanted cancelled against that could result in an option of a five- on-three for two minutes or five-on-four for four minutes. That "choice" was a no brainer even though I had one coach tell me he needed a minute to think about it and the present application was approved.

Please don't get wigged out by the math but here are just some of the scenarios from Table 17 in the rule book that provide for a Captain's Choice and the refs have to know and apply:

Team A Penalties Team B Penalties
A3 2+5 B10 2
A5 2 B12 5

Team A will play one player short-handed for 2 minutes. Team A Captain's Choice to determine which penalty would go on the clock. Should A3 be chosen, then an additional team A player must be placed on the penalty bench to serve the minor penalty for A3.

A3 2+2 B10 2
A5 2

Team A Captain's Choice to play one player short-handed for four minutes or two players short-handed for two minutes. Should he choose the latter, an additional team A player must be placed on the penalty bench to serve the minor penalty for A3 (*Mike Richards situation)

A3 2+5 B5 2+5
A4 2+2+5 B7 5+5

Team A will be short-handed either one player for four minutes, or two players for two minutes (Captain's Choice). Team B will be short-handed for five minutes (Captains Choice which major serves.)

A3 2+5 B5 2+2+5
A4 5 B7 5+5

Team B will be short-handed either one player for seven minutes or two players, one for two minutes and one for five minutes (Captain's Choice)

A3 2+5 B5 5
A4 5

Team A will be short-handed, either one player for seven minutes, or two players, one for two minutes and one for five minutes (Captain's Choice)

While these are only a small sampling from the Coincidental Penalties Table that the referees must know, it is my hope that you will take this as a weekend homework assignment and memorize each one of these situations.

Try and appreciate how you would need to recall each of them in an instant while under pressure in a game with 20,000 people in the Staples Arena in Los Angeles looking on.

TGIF! Have a wonderful weekend everyone and Happy Holidays to all.

Post Weekend Update on Ryan Getzlaf double minor in OT:

It appears as though everyone is either busy completing the homework assignment by studying Table 17, could care less about the captain's choice or is suffering from mathematical hangover. Whatever the case, I hope you now recognize that rules can sometimes be complicated and the referee's task not all that easy.

In response to the questions back at Supermanpaulsson and perma-dissapointed-Torontonian with regard to Ryan Getzlaf's untimely and undisciplined outburst in OT, I provide you with the following answer.

Rule 39-Abuse of Officials is intended to provide for the assessment of an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to any player that challenges or disputes the ruling of an official. "A player, goalkeeper, coach or non-playing person shall not display unsportsmanlike conduct including, but not limited to, obscene, profane or abusive language or gestures, comments of a personal nature intended to degrade an official, or persist in disputing a ruling after being told to stop or after being penalized for such behavior."

The officials apply a graduating scale from unsportsmanlike conduct to a misconduct followed by a game misconduct if the player persists in abusive conduct.

So in the first instance, a minor penalty is assessed Getzlaf as spelled out in rule 39.2 and includes a player who bangs the boards with their stick: "A minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct shall be assessed under this rule for the following infractions: (iii) Any player or players who bang the boards with their sticks or other objects at any time, or who, in any manner show disrespect for an official's decision."

This penalty is elevated to an additional misconduct if the player persists in his dispute of the referee's ruling under rule 39.3—Misconduct Penalty: (iii) Any player or players who bang the boards with their sticks or other objects at any time, showing disrespect for an official's decision, for which they have already been assessed a minor or bench minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Ryan Getzlaf received the appropriate penalty (an unsportsmanlike conduct minor) for his dispute of the initial penalty call. Had Getzlaf persisted in his abusive actions, the next step would have included the assessment of a misconduct penalty.

I trust a valuable and costly lesson was learned by Ryan Getzlaf.

What Coffey misses most

Luke Fox, TSN.ca, December 4, 2011


Paul Coffey is decked out in a crisp suit and dress shoes, and he’s sliding around in a boardroom swivel chair demonstrating how to beat the trap by quick passes and speed down the wings.

The Hall of Fame defenceman is 50 years old, and -- as is the case with a lot of baby boomers -- his knees, hips and lower back ache from time to time. But his joints don’t seem to be bothering him today.

Which is kind of the point: Coffey is now a businessman, and he’s hitting up media outlets to plug the 12-hour relief he gets from Aleve and the importance of rest, proper diet and exercise in helping Canadians deal with arthritis and joint pain.

Ironically, Coffey is moving about the Sportsnet conference room like a well-oiled machine. He makes it clear that he doesn’t have arthritis himself and that the soreness in his body doesn’t prevent him from doing anything (“I just pop an Aleve and go,” he dismisses, which may or may not be the medicine’s slogan, but it should be.)

The second-highest point-scoring defenceman of all time (to Ray Bourque) stays busy these days running a couple of car dealerships in Bolton, Ont., where he lives with his wife and three children. He plays golf in the summer and enjoys getting on the ice to coach both of his boys’ minor teams, head-coaching his 13-year-old’s team and assisting with his young guy’s squad. He brings his daughter along for today’s interview circuit.

All of that is beside the point, though. Coffey is keen to talk hockey, and his eyebrows raise when asked about his legendary speed.

"Wow, you must be an Oilers fan," he says. "I’d be lying if I told you I worked harder than everybody else."

Not that Coffey didn’t practice with intent, but his natural stride was God-given. He can’t remember a moment when he was faster than the rest of the kids. He just… was. Call up Coffey highlights on YouTube, and his steps on the ice appear smooth and effortless. Coffey says he always had a powerful running stride, too.

In order to get that strong push-off, when Coffey entered the NHL, he famously jammed his feet into a pair of skates two sizes too small, like the Grinch’s heart but with better results. With his foot slipping inside his size 8, Coffey’s socks got thinner and his boots shrunk until he was getting the control he needed. A fun anecdote, but Coffey doesn’t recommend it, figuring the size 6s contributed to some of his aches today.

The subject turns to the 2011 NHL, specifically the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 1-3-1 trap scheme and their game against the Philadelphia Flyers in which Philly’s defencemen refused to play rush the puck up the ice and the Lightning refused to forecheck. Our conversation with Coffey occurs the day after the Toronto Maple Leafs flew into Florida and walloped the Lightning 7-1.

“I don’t know the coach in Tampa,” Coffey says of Guy Boucher, “but there’s no way Toronto should beat that team 7-1. Not with the horses they have. Are you kidding me? The attitude should be, if they score seven, let’s go score eight.”

Coffey says today’s NHL is over-coached, that not enough trust is given to the players to use their own instincts, to let their talent loose.

“Everyone is trying to reinvent the wheel. It’s a simple game. The rink has always been this big.” Coffey outlines a rectangle with his fingers. The imaginary rink is not to scale, but his point is clear. If his argument were an end-to-end rush, Coffey is just rounding his own net, puck on the tape, building a head of steam.

“The modern game has too many statistics. They shouldn’t have started keeping track of all this stuff. There’s only a couple stats that matter. No one cares how many blocked shots a guy has, how many hits,” he says. “Your job is to entertain that guy in the stands who paid $100 to be entertained.”

Make no mistake, Coffey still watches the NHL. He just wishes the game were more entertaining. As a resident of the Greater Toronto Area, he roots for the home team (“C’mon, were all Leafs, though, aren’t we?” he says, as if those in Ontario have no choice), still follows Detroit, Pittsburgh and Edmonton. Those were the cities in which Coffey enjoyed his greatest success, before a series of forgettable wind-down stints in Hartford, Philadelphia, Chicago, Carolina, and Boston, the longest of which lasted 113 games.

More than teams, though, Coffey says he follows players. He mentions Nashville’s Shea Webber, L.A.’s Drew Doughty as examples of defencemen he likes to watch. Both are defenders with booming shots, both can create offensive opportunities.

It makes sense in retrospect, considering his nose-for-the-net forward speed and corner-picking shot: Coffey wasn’t always a defenceman. He vividly recalls the day his junior coach told him he was getting shifted back to the blue line. Crestfallen, young Coffey complained to his father on the ride home from the arena. He didn’t want to play the game from the back.

“How many forwards are on the ice?” his dad asked him.

“Three,” Coffey answered.

“And how many defencemen,” his dad asked.

“Two.”

“Right. There’s less of them. That means more ice time for you.”

Coffey grew to love the position. “Everything’s in front of you. You see it all. You see everything develop, you see where to go,” he says. And once Coffey was drafted sixth overall by the Oilers in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft, he joined Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Jari Kurri on one of the most thrilling young sports teams ever. The give-and-go, Coffey’s bread and butter, was a revelation to him—especially with the NHL’s all-time leading giver setting him up.

Coffey says not once did a coach encourage him to play more stay-at-home. “If anything, it was the opposite,” he says. They wanted him up blasting into the opposition’s zone. “Gretzky would come in across the blue line and do his curl. He would get mad if I wasn’t coming in with speed, looking for the pass.”

Wielding heavy wooden sticks and leather skates, the Oilers of the ’80s caused offensive records to fall and Stanley Cups to rise.

On March 14, 1986, the score-at-will Oilers were playing the Detroit Red Wings. Coffey, having already notched his four point of the game with plenty of time remaining on the clock took at seat on the bench next to Gretzky.

“Wayne turned to me and asked, ‘Do you know the record for points in a game by a defenceman?’ I didn’t know, but Wayne knew all the stats, all the records. ‘No,’ I told him,” Coffey remembers. “ ‘It’s eight,’ Wayne said. ‘Let’s go.’ And I went out and got four more. Didn’t beat the record (held by Tom Bladon), but I tied it.”

In 1984-85, Coffey snapped Bobby Orr’s record for most goals by a defenceman with 48. (To put things in perspective, last season, only one forward, Bobby Ryan, scored that often.) Was it frustrating coming up only two goals shy of a nice, round 50?

“No,” Coffey blurts. “Because it tough enough to get the 48. You have to remember. That year I only had nine goals at Christmas, so getting to 48 was hard.” He pauses. “I guess I could have scored more before Christmas, though.”

Coffey seems confident today in his suit, content, happy to talk about his kids, proud of his car business, that he’s found something different after 21 years in the league. But how does a man adjust from being the fastest guy on the ice to being another dad coaching minor hockey, from drinking out of Stanley Cups and lifting Canada Cups and breaking more than 10 individual points records to selling Toyotas?

“Some guys say stuff like, ‘I miss the guys…’ Nah, I still have friends. What I miss is the emotion. That feeling in the dressing room after you win—nothing comes close to that. You can’t get that in any other career.” Coffey thinks for a second. “Maybe in the stock market back in the ’80s when people were making tons of money, maybe they felt something similar. Maybe. But look at the market now. Nothing gives you that emotion like sports. Nothing. Am I wrong?”

Coffey scans the boardroom, looking at the faces of the journalist and p.r. folks, none of whom will taste Stanley’s champagne or party with Mario Lemieux in victory or win three Norris trophies or one-time a buttery pass from 99 and stretch the twine.

No, Paul Coffey is not wrong.

The Edmonton Oilers: Young, fast and on the mark

JOSH WINGROVE, Globe and Mail (includes correction), Dec. 02, 2011


Ryan Nugent-Hopkins took part in Movember, but you’d have hardly noticed. He sheepishly called it his “muzzy,” a collection of wisps numbering little more than his 18 years, netting $1,021 in donations.

Not bad for a bashful teen whose mom just ordered his grad photos, who sleeps away much of the day and who loves video games. But Nugent-Hopkins’s time as an average teen ended at the NHL draft last June when he was selected first overall by the Edmonton Oilers.

The slick centre, who repeated as rookie of the month in November, is among the league’s hottest stars, and typically has two others on his line: right winger Jordan Eberle, a 21-year-old sniper and former world juniors MVP, and Taylor Hall, 20, a bull-in-a-china-shop left winger drafted first overall in 2010. They’re averaging nearly a point a game each in a hockey-mad city where they’re noticed in malls, on the street or at bars. Hall’s mother worries he can’t go grocery shopping, while he assures her he can.

Such pressure has overwhelmed veteran players, much less those a year removed from the Western Hockey League. Nugent-Hopkins entered Friday tied for fifth in league scoring with 11 goals and 16 assists, and there are only four cities he can legally buy booze in. He’s not even a year older than Justin Bieber, and was in diapers when teammate Ryan Smyth played his first NHL game.

“I always joke, but it’s probably true, he’s still growing,” says Oilers forward Ryan Jones, 28, who is billeting the young star at the suggestion of team management. “He’s a really good roommate. He just sleeps.”

As he grows, “Nuge” (his old nickname, Hoppy, was deemed too Disney-esque for the pros) carries the weight of a city. Crowds scream “Nooooge” whenever he gets a goal or assist, and they’ve been yelling it a lot lately.

Last Monday, for example, Nugent-Hopkins spun quickly away from a defender – the crowd gasped and the defender fell – before passing to Eberle, who took the puck around the net and scored. It was the Oilers’ only goal that night. On Wednesday, Nugent-Hopkins was the first skater on the ice for an optional practice. That night, he and Eberle had a goal and an assist each, again, the only two goals the Oilers scored, with Eberle, a sophomore tied for seventh in league scoring with nine goals and 17 assists, adding another in the shootout. “I don’t know if they’re carrying our team,” coach Tom Renney says. “But they’re vital to our success.”

Only Toronto’s Phil Kessel has scored more points on home ice this season than Nugent-Hopkins, who is on pace for the best rookie season since Sidney Crosby. Nuge’s name echoes through Edmonton these days, with even teammates in awe. “Sometimes you kind of look back and say: ‘How could it be that easy?’ It’s pretty impressive,” Oilers forward Sam Gagner, 22, says.

At practice, though, you wouldn’t know he’s a star. He looks like any other rookie, something of a polite loner, weaving in and out of older, slower players, cracking smiles with each deke and shot. He’s giddy.

“The big thing most guys have told me is to just take it all in, learn as much as you can,” Nugent-Hopkins says. “You only go through your rookie season once.”

RYAN’S ROAD TO THE NHL

Two years ago, Nugent-Hopkins departed his hometown of Burnaby, B.C., for the WHL in Red Deer, a city of 80,000 halfway between Edmonton and Calgary. He excelled, scoring 106 points in 69 games in his final season. As the NHL draft rolled around, pundits questioned whether his small frame – a wiry six feet, listed generously at 175 pounds – could endure life in the NHL. The Oilers weren’t deterred.

“He’s not overpowering against anyone, but he never gets overpowered,” says Kevin Lowe, the Oilers’ president of hockey operations. “It’s just a really crafty game.”

Two months later, the teen made the team in training camp.

“New equipment guy for the year,” Hall, now a sophomore, wrote on Twitter. Nugent-Hopkins became an instant star. “All of a sudden there’s this huge group of people around us,” says his mother, Deb Nugent, overwhelmed by her youngest son’s stardom. “I’m still not used to that.”

Nugent-Hopkins, however, is in an ideal situation for a rookie. He joined a locker room stocked with young talent, including Anton Lander, Magnus Paajarvi and defenceman Corey Potter, another of the season’s big surprises. Hall and Eberle are best friends who live together (and crave a certain measure of anonymity; for Halloween they dressed as the Green Men, the Vancouver Canucks’ fans clad scalp to heel in green spandex).

A former sixth overall pick himself, Gagner joined a much more veteran Oilers team after being drafted. “These guys are going through something completely different,” Gagner says. “They’ve handled it very well.”

Eberle, Hall and Nugent-Hopkins all shrug off the pressure, saying it’s an honour to be inundated with attention.

“Who wouldn’t want to play here?” Eberle says. “As a Canadian and a hockey fan, you get to play in a Canadian city where fans love their game, they love the sport and they love their team.”

They’re taught to tell people exactly that; the league, coaches, veteran players and the National Hockey League Players’ Association all train top prospects to be ambassadors. They can’t train for everything. Hall once had his Twitter account hacked, had someone pose as him on Facebook and, when he tweeted about voting in his first federal election, he was grilled for voting Conservative.

“I do [worry], to be honest with you,” Hall’s mother, Kim Strba, says. “It’s not really normal to be at a red light and look over and have someone take your picture.”

That happens in Edmonton, where the young guns simply can’t be normal kids.

“No, not here,” Gagner says. “They’re going to get recognized. Sometimes you want your privacy, too. It weighs on people, but like I said, we’ve got a good group of guys here. It kinds of keeps everyone level-headed and on the same page.”

It’s through young players that Edmonton sees a chance to rebuild. This is a franchise with an onerous travel schedule, bone-chilling climate and a small population. It has tried and failed to attract top-tier free agents, overpaying for those it could lure or convince to stay (captain Shawn Horcoff’s salary of $6.5-million is higher than that of either Sedin twin).

Young players, however, more easily embrace Edmonton.

“As a kid, you don’t dream of playing down south where, you know, you get 10,000 a game and fans are kind of into it,” says defenceman Theo Peckham, 23, another young Oilers standout. “You dream of coming into the rink, it’s sold out, everybody’s screaming, the energy’s amazing.”

The public pressure may not be as big an issue for the rookie. It’s Eberle and Hall who are extroverts seen often in Edmonton bars; Nugent-Hopkins is a Call of Duty fan.

“We try and hang out with Nuge as much as possible, but for the most part he kind of likes to be off on his own,” Hall says with a shrug, a pack of ice wrapped around an aching left shoulder that will sideline him for at least another week. “He’s that kind of kid. I think Nuge has a good head on his shoulders. He doesn’t get too wound up about anything. And I think that benefits him, especially in a market like this, where you can just kind of relax and think about hockey. That’s pretty much what he does.”

Amid the tweets, video games and practices, Nuge, Ebs and Hallsy are coping with the pressure. They could form a line for years to come and emerge as superstars, but they hope their day has already come.

“We don’t want to be a team that has a lot of potential, that can be good in the future,” Hall says. “We want to be a team that makes something happen and does the best with what we all have. That’s what we’re trying to do.”


Editor's note: Oilers captain Shawn Horcoff’s salary, not his cap hit, is $6.5-million. Incorrect information appeared in a previous version of this article.

McGuire a rare breed: A former NHL coach who’s a good analyst

BRUCE DOWBIGGIN, Globe and Mail, Dec. 04, 2011


Somehow it doesn’t seem like a hockey season without Pierre McGuire. McGuire is alive and thriving on NBC and Versus, of course, but the man who made “active sticks” a household phrase is seldom heard in Canada these days on TV. How you feel about that can range from nostalgia to relief, but there’s little doubt McGuire, a former coach in Hartford and Pittsburgh, changed the role of analyst from his perch between the benches.

McGuire tirelessly explored the coaching strategy, relayed by-play between benches from his spot at ice level, and soldiered on against some of the hammerhead tendencies in the game.

So why don’t more hockey coaches make good TV analysts? With the exception of one very prominent former coach, it’s hard to think of many former bench bosses who’ve made the impression on the medium that McGuire has since popping up at TSN. Only Harry Neale, the droll former Detroit and Vancouver coach, carved out a niche similar to McGuire’s. Neale made his mark through his wit and personality; McGuire through his chalk-talk-on-Red-Bull style.

TSN has had a steady parade of former coaches to its panel – from Craig MacTavish to John Tortorella to (now) Marc Crawford. (We can expect Paul Maurice, now done in Carolina, any day now.) But none of the former coaches remained long enough to make an impression. It’s even harder to name former coaches who’ve sat in the booth as analysts. Crawford had a stint at CBC working beside Mark Lee. Scotty Bowman long ago tried the job on during a period of coaching unemployment.

But after that, it’s a short list. For whatever reasons, if you want to be a hockey analyst, it helps to have been a (short) goalie, a fourth-line winger or a former Edmonton Oiler.

That’s in stark contrast to basketball where a number of the top analysts are former coaches. Mike Fratello, Hubie Brown, Mike Fratello, Doug Collins and P.J. Carlesimo are among the coaches who’ve taken to the analyst role. Basketball is a more technical game than hockey perhaps, but these former coaches often bring insights that former players can’t consider.

Football has the greatest former coach, John Madden, as the exemplar of TV analyst. With “Pow!” and “Zap!” shouts over his telestrator virtuosity, Madden set the template for critiquing a game when he burst to prominence beside Pat Summerall at CBS in 1981 (the same year ol’ what’s-his-name debuted on Hockey Night In Canada). While never duplicated, Madden has spawned a series of former coach disciples from Brian Billick to Jon Gruden to Steve Mariucci.

Plus Madden has supplied comedian Frank Caliendo with a tidy living imitating the ex-Raiders coach doing “tough-acting Tinactin” routines.

What To Do

ESPN is finding itself in a tight journalistic spot regarding the Bernie Fine sexual scandal at Syracuse University. The network had a taped interview in 2003 with the wife of the Orangemen’s long-time assistant coach in which she claims to know all about Fine’s alleged sexual interference with young boys and men. Lacking a second corroborating witness, ESPN declined to go forward with the story at the time. Having heard that there was a police and university probe at the time ESPN says it did not take the tape to police.

In the wake of last month’s sexual scandal at Penn State, ESPN decided to run with the story when a second (and third) source appeared. The network is now drawing fire from child-advocacy groups saying it should have taken the tape to police at the time. Human rights should trump journalistic rights, say the critics.

But it’s not that simple. Many news organizations refuse to divulge sources and only surrender materials gathered in a story under subpoena. “We’re not an arm of law enforcement,” goes the logic. Separation of journalism from police is a distinction that is often difficult for lay people to fathom – like the photo journalist who has the choice of preventing a crime or dispassionately recording it. There’s no comfortable answer to ESPN’s decision, but it’s not out of line with journalistic ethics.

Campbell: NHL's realignment look still up in the air

Ken Campbell, The Hockey News, 2011-12-05


On his radio show last week, commissioner Gary Bettman expressed an uncharacteristic amount of uncertainty when it came to the issue of realignment. All of which is surprising since when it comes to his control over the board of governors, Bettman has an Arthur Fonzarelli-like hold over the 30-men who employ him. (If you don’t get the reference, kids, look it up.)

This could mean one of two things. Either Bettman was playing possum or the issue of realignment is so contentious with so many different moving parts that he truly doesn’t know which way things are going to go. In the 48 hours leading up to the meetings, it’s fair to say Bettman and other governors were extending their monthly cell phone plans in an effort to get everyone on the same page.

If it were just a simple matter of switching the Detroit Red Wings and Winnipeg Jets, this wouldn’t even be a story at the moment. But there is far more at work here because it’s a scheme that pits owner against owner and divides sentiments along geographical lines. Instead of the haves feuding with the have-nots, this particular imbroglio pits east versus west.

And what exactly to do about the Phoenix Coyotes, the NHL’s problem child who stands a very good chance of being kicked out of the house by this time next season? There isn’t a sane hockey person who truly believes there is anyone out there who will buy the Coyotes and make a firm commitment to keep them in Phoenix, not with expected losses of about $36 million this season - $25 million of which is being covered by the good people of Glendale - and a similar number next season.

How can the league possibly prepare a realignment scheme with so much uncertainty in the desert? Well, you’d have to presume that’s why the proposal calls for two seven-team conferences in the east and two eight-team conferences in the west. The league has maintained that regardless of what the future holds for the Coyotes, its proposed realignment would have the flexibility to accommodate the situation in Phoenix.

If and when the Coyotes move, there is nowhere for them to go in the west of either Canada or the United States. Las Vegas was once a possibility, but Hollywood mogul Jerry Bruckheimer has lost his enthusiasm for placing a team there in a tanking economy and even though Kansas City has a ready-made NHL arena waiting for a tenant, that seems to be a non-starter.

So the Coyotes will likely move to one of two places and this is where things get interesting. The two leading candidates for a relocated team in Canada are Quebec City and the Greater Toronto Area. Either one of those would fit seamlessly in a conference that would also include Montreal, Boston, Buffalo, Toronto, Ottawa, Tampa Bay and Florida.

You can bet one team that would be lobbying hard, and we mean hard, for the choice to be a second team in Toronto over a return to Quebec City are the Montreal Canadiens, a franchise that would stand to lose a good chunk of its provincial popularity and revenue by having to deal with a competitor in Quebec’s capital city. And if the ownership group that plans to build a 20,000-seat arena in the Toronto suburb of Markham can convince the NHL quickly enough that its plans are going to become a reality, the better the chance it would have of becoming the landing spot for the Coyotes.

(One dark horse possibility for either Quebec City or Toronto are the Florida Panthers, who represent the next trouble spot for Bettman after Phoenix. Despite a new owner, the Panthers are a losing proposition and have just four sellouts in their first 11 home dates this season, despite the fact they lead the Southeast Division, have reduced their seating capacity by about 2,500 seats in 2010 and sell some tickets for as low as four dollars.)

As has been frequently reported over the past couple of days the other conferences would be as follows:

Rangers, Islanders, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington and Carolina

Detroit, Chicago, Dallas, St. Louis, Winnipeg, Minnesota, Columbus and Nashville

Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Colorado, San Jose, Los Angeles, Anaheim and Phoenix

We’re presuming this is how it’s going to end up, but we’re not betting the farm on it being set in stone after just two days of meetings with a croquet match sandwiched in there. The all-star break is a more likely possibility for confirmation.

WILD TURNAROUND

Should the league’s GMs simply dispense with the formalities and give their executive of the year award to Chuck Fletcher of the Minnesota Wild immediately? Fletcher has changed the complexion of the roster, hit a home run with his coaching hire and restocked the Wild’s prospect crop, all while guiding his team to first overall through the first quarter.

Interesting that Fletcher apprenticed under, among others, Ray Shero, whose team is one point behind Fletcher’s in the standings. And Shero earned his chops under David Poile, one of the most respected GMs in the game…

THE GOAL IS GOALS

Early favorite for the Cy Young Award (more goals than assists) is Milan Michalek of the Ottawa Senators (16-6), followed by Evander Kane (14-7), Matt Moulson (13-6) and Jordan Staal (12-6).

At the other end of the spectrum is Michalek’s teammate Erik Karlsson (2-21), followed by Kimmo Timonen (0-17).

NHL governors approve four-conference format for 2012

David Shoalts, Globe and Mail, Dec. 05, 2011


The NHL will have a new look next season.

After a surprisingly short and amicable discussion over two and a half hours Monday night, the NHL’s 30 governors voted to abolish the Eastern and Western Conferences and go with four geographically-based conferences next season.

This will allow the Detroit Red Wings, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild to all play more games suited to their time zones.

There will be two conferences of eight teams and two of seven, with each team playing one game at home and one game on the road against every other NHL team. The rest of the schedule will be played within the conferences.

The governors coming out of the meeting said the plan was adopted so smoothly because NHL commissioner Gary Bettman did his usual masterful job of laying the groundwork for a solution before the meeting. He was familiar with what each team wanted and managed to work around that with the four-conference plan.

“This makes sense for our league,” Toronto Maple Leafs president and general manager Brian Burke said. “It helps a couple of partners.”

Bettman got one right:
Not always the most popular man in the NHL, Commissioner Gary Bettman seems to have made a good move.
share

Mark Spector, TSN.ca, December 6, 2011


PEBBLE BEACH — It was the Toronto Maple Leafs who gave us the most accurate picture of how the National Hockey League’s board of governors were chewing on this realignment idea.

General manager Brian Burke, speaking before the meeting had begun, sounded sour on the idea of increased travel and expense for his hockey team. But his owner, he admitted, was ready to vote for whatever was best for the league, so Burke likely had an inkling he was going to be talking about a four Conference NHL by day’s end.

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"It had very strong support and we support it too," said Burke as he walked out of the meeting, acknowledging that the hockey man in him might not be in love with taking on more travel to help teams like Dallas, Columbus, Minnesota and Nashville. "Sometimes you have to vote with your team’s interest in mind, but there are times when you can vote with the league hat on. That’s what we tried to do."

The National Hockey League will no longer have Divisions after this season, but instead will move to four Conferences. (Note: The NHLPA must still be consulted on the realignment, but it seems impossible to put the toothpaste back into this tube.)

In seven team Conferences, teams will play each other six times, plus a home and home with the 23 other clubs. In eight-team Conferences, teams will play each other five or six times on a rotating basis yearly, plus home and home against the rest of the NHL.

Winnipeg moves out of the Southeast and into a Conference chalk full of Central time zone teams. That also helps the Blue Jackets, Stars and Predators, whose televised road games against Pacific Division teams started as late as 10:30 locally. Yet, the Red Wings stayed in that Central time zone Conference, which was also important.

"Detroit going to the East is not good for us," said Nashville GM David Poile. "They’re one of our biggest draws."

"This certainly gives us a chance to grow our TV revenues," said Columbus GM Scott Howson, whose club’s finances are in desperate need of this type of a boost. "Our gates are significantly better with Eastern Conference teams. So, I think we’ll certainly see an uptick in our per-game revenue based on that, and not losing Detroit. If Detroit had of gone East and we stayed West … Detroit’s our biggest draw."

The Eastern Canadian teams are affected little, gaining Tampa and Florida in their Conference. The Western Canadian teams join up with the three California clubs, Colorado and Phoenix. With two eight-team Conferences in the West and two seven-team Conferences in the East, relocating the Coyotes if need be will be easily done.

For the Flames and Oilers, that means more 8:30 pm TV starts for road games, with now four Conference opponents in the Pacific time zone.

"For us, it’s only one hour," said Oilers president Kevin Lowe. "That’s a compromise that a team like ours has to make. Some of these other teams are really struggling — the likes of Dallas, Columbus — in terms of attendance. Matters get even worse when fans can’t even watch them on television (at a decent hour). We were a willing partner to make sure this things works for everybody."

In the end, as predicted, this came down to 30 teams thinking selflessly, not selfishly. The Philadelphias, New Yorks and Bostons were all happy to cash those expansion checks when many of the troubled teams were invited into the NHL. Now that they’ve been around a while and figured out that the current alignment is killing them, it was incumbent on the established owners to lend a hand.

In return, theoretically at least, those younger teams should become financially more stable, and less of a drain on the league. And with two Conferences of seven teams and two of eight, there is the very real possibility of expansion on the NHL’s horizon, an influx of cash that would more than cover the increased travel costs of the Eastern clubs.

"More teams are going to have to do more travel," said Detroit GM Ken Holland. "There's things in there that everybody likes to a degree, and some they wouldn't like. Ultimately it's about compromise. From the Detroit Red Wings perspective, we like it."

Give commissioner Gary Bettman credit for sowing the seeds of agreement over the past few months. The discussion, expected to be so contentious, only lasted little more than an hour.

As for the playoffs, the first two rounds will take place in Conference — 1 versus 4, and 2 versus 3, then a meeting of the winners.. Once four Conference champs are declared, they might re-seed for Round 3, or perhaps Central will play Pacific, and the two Eastern Conferences will meet.

"This is a decision I’ll let the general managers make," at their next meeting, said Bettman.

Smooth day, Gary. Very smooth indeed.

NHL REALIGNMENT PLAN
Conference A Conference B
Anaheim Ducks Chicago Blackhawks
Calgary Flames Columbus Blue Jackets
Colorado Avalanche Dallas Stars
Edmonton Oilers Detroit Red Wings
Los Angeles Kings Minnesota Wild
Phoenix Coyotes Nashville Predators
San Jose Sharks St. Louis Blues
Vancouver Canucks Winnipeg Jets

Conference C Conference D
Boston Bruins Carolina Hurricanes
Buffalo Sabres New Jersey Devils
Florida Panthers New York Islanders
Montreal Canadiens New York Rangers
Ottawa Senators Philadelphia Flyers
Tampa Bay Lightning Pittsburgh Penguins
Toronto Maple Leafs Washington Capitals

Portland Winterhawks Wedding / Teddy Bear Toss

Dec 5 2011

If you check out the link below, it will take you to a three-minute video clip of the Winterhawks’ Wedding from Fox 12 Oregon. There is entertaining stuff here, including video of the bride waiting and her reaction when the Teddy Bear goal is scored.


http: //www. kptv.com/video? autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=6517171

NHL realignment earns player approval

James Mirtle and Eric Duhatschek, Globe and Mail, December 6, 2011


When it comes to their league’s grand plans for realignment next season, NHL players seemed to be mostly onside with the plan on Tuesday.

Some were in favour of the fact that travel will be lessened for what was formerly known as the Western Conference.

Others questioned the conference-only format of the first two rounds of the playoffs.

And most liked the idea of seeing every NHL city, even if only once, in every season.

“I think it's great for fans that they can get superstars from around the league in their rink at least once,” Leafs winger Colby Armstrong said.

“A team like ourselves, we go everywhere and there's millions of Leafs fans all over the place at every rink. To get us to go to every rink, I think it's good for the game and good for the fans.”

“I like playing in every building,” Calgary Flames winger Tanguay added. “I think it’s really nice that every team goes everywhere. It’s fun for the fans. Everybody wants to see Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Jonathan Toews in their building.”

Flames teammate Jay Bouwmeester said that, after playing in Florida for years, he can see how the realignment proposal should be good for business there with both the Panthers and Lightning joining what was the Northeast Division.

“I remember, for a few years, we used to play Montreal around Christmas time or just after Christmas,” he said, “and it would be like playing in Montreal because there were a lot of French Canadians who spent the winter down there or other Canadians on vacation.

“The thing you realize when you’re down there is everybody is from somewhere else - so they go to cheer on the team they grew up with.”

Cutting down travel time between games, meanwhile, is another added benefit, one New Jersey Devils sniper Ilya Kovalchuk felt was worthwhile for teams in the West despite never having played there.

“It's better for teams in the West because some of them have horrible travel schedules,” Kovalchuk said. “That'll be nice for them. On our side, they didn't change much. We'll kind of play the same teams almost.”

While a lot of players in the Western Conference applauded the fact that their Eastern counterparts will need to travel more, however, Bouwmeester made a sensible point: Realignment doesn’t change the geographic challenges or bring Calgary any closer to Los Angeles or Phoenix.

“Out west, the biggest problem is just the distance between the cities,” he said. “If you go for a three-game trip and you’re playing back-to-back games, it’s not a half-hour flight or a 45-minute flight (as it is in the East), but it’s a two- or three-hour flight. That’s where it adds up.

“Philly and New York are still going to be right beside each other. That’s just the way it is; there’s nothing you can do about it.”

If there was a concern among players surveyed on Tuesday, it’s that making the playoffs in some conferences could be more difficult than others - especially those with eight teams or even those with four or five teams who have traditionally had a lot of financial muscle.

“As far as some conferences having eight and some having seven, I’m just not sure,” Tanguay said. “Because personally, I’d like to have the same shot at making the playoffs as everyone else and if you’re in one of those conferences that has eight teams, it’s definitely going to be much tougher to make the playoffs than in one that has seven teams.”

“It's going to be tough,” Devils veteran Patrik Elias said of New Jersey’s conference with the Penguins, Capitals, Flyers and Rangers. “On the other hand, I like playing those teams. You always have to rise up to the occasion. That format's interesting and intriguing for the fans.”

Elias added that he hadn’t heard all that much dressing room conversation about the changes.

“We talked about it a little bit,” Elias said. “But we're just hockey players. We'll just play wherever we play and travel wherever we have to go next. That's all we've got to worry about.”

The players may, however, have some say on realignment as part of the collective bargaining agreement, and the NHLPA has already voiced some concerns to commissioner Gary Bettman.

“Realignment requires an agreement between the league and the NHLPA,” union spokesman Jonathan Weatherdon said. “‘We look forward to continuing our discussions with the league regarding this matter.”

Bettman is expected to talk about the issue with union head Donald Fehr before the league’s plan is implemented in time for next season.

Minor hockey costs add up; Canadians keep paying

RACHEL BRADY, Globe and Mail, Dec. 06, 2011


Theresa Dostaler hadn’t exactly budgeted for two extra hockey tournaments this season. Two more costly weekend trips that her sons’ hockey teams had earned by qualifying at regional Silver Stick tournaments.

Thrilled for the excited teammates of her seven- and nine-year-olds, Dostaler hadn’t thought about the extra expenses that will pile up travelling from their home in Madoc, Ont., to finals in Forest, Ont., and Port Huron, Mich. Other tournaments have cost the family between $500 and 1,000 a weekend in gas, hotels, food and other fees.

“Once you’ve signed on for the season, you’re expected to be there and play, whether you budgeted for it or not, and you wouldn’t miss it for anything,” said Dostaler, who estimates she will spend at least $5,600 this season for her three kids to play hockey (two boys on rep teams and a three-year-old daughter in tyke).

“We know the costs can get ridiculous, but we try to find creative ways to make it work for our kids, because we love it.”

Released Monday, a Royal Bank of Canada survey of parents and volunteers across Canada from varying levels of minor hockey found families spend an average of $1,500 a year on hockey-related costs. Many involved in hockey say they spend much more, which they must get creative to afford.

Less than half of respondents felt their leagues were sufficiently funded, and some 82 per cent said corporate Canada should be give more to the sport.

Dostaler runs a popular Facebook.com page called Hockey Mom in Canada. On the topic of costs, many parents posted they don’t keep a hockey budget, but just close their eyes to the tally and pay up.

“I’m just like an ostrich, head in the sand,” one wrote. “I’m sure it is [$10,000 to $15,000] a season for one AAA-novice son. The gas gets us, as we live almost two hours from the arena.”

Dostaler said Tuesday parents are savvy about cost-saving ideas on those wallet-busting tournament trips, like car pooling, packing food to avoid drive-thru stops and sharing team pot-luck meals in the hotel in lieu of restaurant food. Some even travel in mobile homes or trailers.

Tom Thomas said he spends upwards of $10,000 a year for his 17-year-old daughter to play AAA midget in Winnipeg. The city’s ice time has shot up from about $135 an hour to $185 in the last three years due to a shortage of rinks. Plus, the team will travel to Ontario so their players can compete in a marquee tournament in front of university scouts.

“I know families who take out lines of credit to allow their kids to play hockey,” said Thomas, the director of female hockey for Hockey Winnipeg.

Several programs across the country have helped families with the costs, like Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd.’s Jumpstart or RBC grants. (Hockey Winnipeg received one such grant, which will be used in part to help introduce new Canadians and aboriginal youth to the sport.)

In Toronto, the Moss Park Hockey League is free, catering to families who could not otherwise afford to put their four- to 15-year-olds in hockey.

Ice time is donated by the rink, while equipment is on loan to those in need. The league now has 300 children active, plus a waiting list. It got an RBC grant and also hold creative fundraising events like dances and auctions.

The University of Prince Edward Island is attempting to give new Canadians a chance to try the game in a low-cost, low-commitment setting. Its grant will fund introductory skill sessions by providing players equipment on loan.

“The biggest financial challenge for families can be just getting to try the game in the first place,” UPEI women’s hockey coach Bruce Donaldson said. “If they want to play, we will do our best to give them the opportunity.”