Anybody for a glass of whine?

We Americans live in a strange culture. Despite the fact we all know that not every person will get ahead and not everyone will win everything, we do our best to make sure that version of reality is as skewed as possible, especially at a young age. No one fails, no scores are kept, and everyone gets a trophy. My brother's girlfriend Beth teaches young kids and told me over Thanksgiving break that she is not allowed to give her students a grade lower than a 50 or fail them. Even if all they write for an assignment is "Hey teach, you suck," they still can't get lower than half credit and they will pass that class. It seems every youth league either declares every game a tie or just simply doesn't keep score. Well you know what folks, these kids are going to fail at something sometime in their lives. Their high school team won't make it to the championship game, that girl they like won't want to date them, and they will not get that job they want (anyone wanna tell me what that's like? I have no idea). It is definitely better to have them understand this aspect of life early so they can get used to it and learn how to cope with defeat when they get older. Or not.

See, I thought this nonsense was limited to children and that the adults in this country were able to handle disappointment themselves. I was wrong. After an embarrassing 7-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, a loss that in the dying seconds of a game in which the away team won the crowd was in a frenzy, the Columbus Blue Jackets management threw a hissy fit and instituted a dress code for fans of opposing teams who come to see the games. Apparently, the real travesty here was Penguins fans riding the Zamboni but you have to think they just didn't want their opponents to be cheered, especially after an embarrassing loss. The Blue Jackets have some of the worst attendance numbers in the league, they should just be happy people showed up and not worry that half were there to see the greatest player in the world. Worry about trying to find a center to play with Rick Nash, something they haven't come close to doing yet.

This scenario reminds me a lot of the New England Patriots during their (almost) perfect season a few years ago. So many teams complained about the Pats running up the score on them. Well, if you really don't want them to score, stop them. Quit your bitching, man up to your mistakes, and make sure it doesn't happen again. The Titans did then and the Blue Jackets should now. So here's an idea, instead of wasting their breath trying to keep opposing fans from cheering on their teams, something they have every right to do once they purchase their ticket, try putting a team together that won't lose such an embarrassing game on home ice. Defenses could have shut their mouths and put their energy into stopping Brady and Co., Blue Jackets management should do the same thing here.

So, to the Blue Jackets, get over yourselves and let the fans have their fun. They paid for the over priced tickets and not letting fans (most of which are kids anyway) ride the zamboni because of the sweater they are wearing only teaches them things that are different are bad and you should always get your way.

Surprises and thanks

Only one team, Detroit, has played fewer than 20 games. Here are some thoughts on the season so far:

• Some growing pains should have been expected, but a season as bad as this one is a total shock. The Devils haven't won three games in a row in almost a year and are looking less and less like the team that frustrated me and every other Flyers fans for years. Does anybody else think Martin Brodeur should go back to his old style mask? For years, the Devils were all about the team, now it seems they are thinking more on individual terms. A player like Ilya Kovalchuk would never have been signed by the Devils a decade ago and for the past three years it seems their main focus has been getting Martin Brodeur his records. If there's one thing that shows this transition, its Marty's mask. It used to feature half the logo because he wasn't sure if he was good enough to make the team when he was younger. Now it says MB 30, like he just wants to promote himself, again, something that would not have happened a decade ago. 
• Henrik and Daniel Sedin lead the Canucks with an identical 26 points in 21 games. Three other Canucks are tied with 14 points. The difference between the two brothers is that Daniel has 13 goals while Henrik, last season's Hart Trophy winner, has two. For those too lazy to do the math, that is a pace of eight over an entire season. That's right, stylistically, I am not allowed to write the projected goal totals of last season's Hart Trophy winner numerically, I must write it out. Does that seem wrong to anyone else?
• The Buffalo Sabres are in 12th place in the East and the Devils sit in 14th while the Rangers and Thrashers occupy the 7th and 8th spots. In the West, the Blue Jackets are in 4th, the Blackhawks are in 7th, and San Jose sits in 9th place and out of playoff position. I know its early, but if you thought any of those teams would be where they are (not counting fans of those teams), maybe you should be interning for The Hockey News instead of me (but not really).

There's plenty to be thankful for, both in hockey and in life. I am thankful:

• for Danny Briere's fist pump on one knee after each goal.
• for Ryan Miller's spectacular performance during the Olympics that had many non-hockey fans coming up to me and talking about hockey in the weeks after the Games. 
• I get to watch the Ovechkin/Crosby rivalry from start to finish, whenever that may be.
• for Jeremy Roenick and the three years he spent in Philadelphia. Few are as passionate about hockey as he is and unlike many players, he is never afraid to show a little emotion. We need more of that in today's game.
• for being able to witness history twice last year: the Flyers completing the greatest comeback in sports history after being down 3-0 (twice) and the Blackhawks winning their first Cup since Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull were a couple of young guns in 1961.
• Ray Bourque's Avalanche beat the Devils in 2001 in a series that marked my official beginning as a hockey fanatic.
• for Eric Lindros, John LeClair, Eric Desjardins, Keith Primeau, Mark Recchi, Rod Brind'Amour, Brian Boucher, Simon Gagne and all the other Flyers I watched when I was younger.
• for playoffs beards and those who can't really grow them but try anyway.
• for my Mom winning a trip to the Olympics which led to my chance meeting with Ken Campbell in what what was beyond the greatest trip I could have ever dreamed.
• I live in a place where I will be able to spend my life talking about a game I have loved since I was six.
• for my parents loving hockey as much as I do and taking me to all of those games.
• my Mom did everything in her power to make my high school somewhat tolerable and got it a hockey team.
• for my Dad's willingness to drive for several days to watch a hockey game that means nothing to us as Flyers fans but everything to us as hockey fans.
• my brother loves sports in a fashion other than 'my team rules and your team sucks because I say so' and that it rubbed off on me (eventually).
• my sister makes an effort to like sports and even when she doesn't for the uncanny ability to make me laugh.

Steven Stamkos' Sizzling Season

During last year's playoffs, the NHL ran an ad campaign that featured the phrase "History Will Be Made." It sure was as there were many memorable stories in the playoffs including the Flyers' comeback against Boston after being down 3-0 (twice) and the Blackhawks winning the Stanley Cup for the first time in 49 years. They should have kept that slogan for this season as well, at the very least just for Steven Stamkos. With his hat-trick against the Flyers in a wild game on Thursday, Stamkos now has 19 goals in 19 games to start the season. If he is able to keep up this pace, Stamkos will join the exclusive 50 in 50 club, a group whose emebers include Maurice "Rocket" Richard, Mike Bossy, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Brett Hull, and well...thats it. From what I hear, those guys were pretty good at hockey so thats not a bad group to join. It's still early in the season, but since the halfway mark of his rookie season, Stamkos has been the best goal scorer in the league.

This is the second best start to a season since the lockout. Even Alex Ovechkin hasn't scored this many goals through 19 games; the most he has had was 17 last year when he finished with 50 goals. When he scored 65 in 2007-08, he only had 13 through the first 19. The best start so far has been Simon Gagne in 2005-06 when he scored 20 goals in the first 19 games, though a large part of that was the play of Peter Forsberg (remember him?) who had 30 assists in the first 19 games. Gagne would finish the season with 47 goals in 72 games.

The last two seasons, Martin St-Louis has played the Forsberg to Stamkos's Gagne as evidenced by his career high 65 assists last season and career pace of 18 in 19 games, a pace of 78 over a full season. Since the 2002-03 season, St. Louis has been by far the most consistent and important member of the Lightning. Its no coincidence whenever a player in Tampa Bay has a career, they see the tenacious winger on their right side the majority of the time. When Lecavalier won the Richard Trophy with 52 goals, St. Louis was right there with him the whole season, adding a then career high of 59 assists. St. Louis is a very crafty player with a strong chemistry with Stamkos and should be able to consistently set him up.

Stamkos has a lot more going for him than just a great linemate. His shot is easily one of the best in the league. Having already proven his one-timer from the left circle is money (seriously, how do teams keep letting him get open?) he has shown to be as accurate as anybody. He can put the puck where ever he wants from where ever he is on the ice, even from his butt. He is also durable having only missed three game thus far in his career and those were due to being healthy scratch by Coach Melrose. He is a strong skater and while he is always in the play, does not play with the kamikaze style of an Ovechkin or, to a lesser extent, a Crosby. There's no telling what may happen over the course of the next 31 games. He has quite a pace to maintain, one the NHL hasn't seen since 1991-92 when Brett Hull did it. Fortunately, Stamkos is smart as well as skilled and should be able to find new ways to score on the off chance teams remember to pay attention when he drifts towards the stick-side faceoff circle on the power-play. As was proved last Spring, it is really exciting to watching long-standing barriers and records broken or matched. On January 23, the Thrashers visit the Lightning, tune in to see if Stamkos pumps his fists for the 50th time this season.

It's been a while. Let's get started shall we...

• I was watching the Bruins-Canadiens game last night when Jeff Halpern had a goal waved off because he kicked the puck into the net. According to NHL rules,  a goal can be allowed off of a skate as long as there is no distinct kicking motion. Is it just me, or does that allow for too much grey area? For those who didn't see the disallowed goal, Halpern was going hard to the net, took a pass off his skate, and the puck bounced into the net before he could get his stick on it. This is where the grey area comes in. When watching the replay, it can easily be argued that Halpern was simply trying to stop in front of the net, rather than run over Tuukka Rask. The key to situations such as these, is the leg must be going in a pendulum motion for the goal to be disallowed, something rather hard to see in a game where players' legs churn as quickly as in hockey. It is just too hard to judge just what it is the player in question was intending to do. Here is what I would recommend: allow a goal that is kicked in as long as the puck is not in the crease at the time. It is a simple, black and white rule that can be easily judged by the refs calling the game. At least if this were the rule, one inconsistency in the game (and there are plenty of others) will be taken away.
• With the exception of Steven Stamkos, if the season ended today there would be a chance that all three finalists for the Hart Trophy would be goaltenders. As of November 12, five goaltenders have a GAA under 2.0: Mathieu Garon (1.28), Tim Thomas (1.39), Jonathan Quick (1.58), Jaroslav Halak (1.79) and Antero Niittymaki (1.80). Sure, its early in the season, but these goaltenders are playing out of this world. Each of them has their team in a position well ahead of what was expected of them; the only exception is Niittymaki's Sharks who currently sit in 12th place in the Western Conference, though that is largely do to the play of last year's Stanley Cup winning goalie Antti Niemi who cannot seem to find his groove in San Jose with his 3.91 GAA and .870 save percentage. Garon is definitely the most surprising name among those. The career backup has been exceptional, keeping former rookie of the year Steve Mason on the bench while he is leading the Blue Jackets into playoff position for just the second time. One of the feel good stories of the year so far, Thomas has regained his Vezina Trophy winning form from two seasons ago. This is a player who has had to fight and scrap for years in order to get into the NHL and even then many though he would be out of the league n a few years. He remains undefeated and went six games this season before giving up more than one goal in a game. The Bruins have full confidence in Thomas and it is east to tell the team is more relaxed when he is in goal as compared to Tuukka Rask. Quick and Halak are both leading their teams to surprising starts. Quick's Kings are at the top of the Western Conference and the Blues are tied with the Red Wings for the top spot in the Central Division. Both teams were expected, by me at least, to have good seasons this year, but stingy goaltending has transformed them into two of the most dominate teams in the league. Of course, it would be ridiculous to expect these goalies to keep up this pace for an entire season, but few players are more instrumental in their teams' success than these players. There hasn't been a Hart Trophy winning goalie since Jose Theodore in 2001-02; how Miller didn't win it last year I can't figure out. Goaltending may be the most important position in sports, these guys deserve more respect and credit for their teams' success.
• This year's All-Star Game will feature a new format for selecting teams, and in tern, eliminating the East vs. West format altogether. Two captains will choose the teams, with the fans voting in the starting line-up. The list of players eligible to be picked can be found here. It will be interesting to see who are picked to be the captains. I know to East-West format is officially gone, but I think a fair way to do this every year, if this format becomes the norm, would be to have the captains of the previous year's Stanley Cup Final do the picking. Other than a fan vote, which would probably produce Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin as captains every year, this seems the fairest way to pick the captains. If that is the case, it will be fun to watch Mike Richards and Jonathan Toews square up against each other again. In terns of who is on the ballot, it seems every year the players eligible to be selected are picked before the season even begins. It will be just as interesting to see who is picked last as the All-Star game is becoming gym class all over again. Every year there are snubs and players on the ballot that do not deserve to be there. I understand the NHL wants a representative from each team, but does anyone on the Devils really deserve to be there? Zach Parise is injured and Ilya Kovalchuk and Martin Brodeur are in the middle of the worst season in each of their careers. Among other players on the ballot who aren't having All-Star caliber seasons are Boston's Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci (2 goals in 13 and 11 games respectively), Calgary's Jarome Iginla (2 goals and 8 points in 15 games), Montreal captain Brian Gionta (3 goals and 6 points in 16 games), New York Rangers' Marina Gaborik (2 assists in 4 games), San Jose's Antti Niemi (.872 save %, 3.91 GAA), and Toronto captain Dion Phaneuf (4 assists and a -6 in 11 games), just to name a few. All have been great players in the past, but are simply not getting it done this year. They may be the big names that could possibly draw in audiences (I think I get the point now, actually) but are in the place of more deserving players like Colorado's Chris Stewart (10 goals, 18 points in 15 games), Chicago's Patrick Sharp (10 goals, 17 points in 17 games), New York Rangers' Brandon Dubinsky (10 goals, 15 points in 16 games), Philadelphia's Sergei Bobrovsky (9-2-1 record, .931 save %, 2.09 GAA), and Washington's Alex Semin (12 goals, 21 points in 16 games), as well as plenty of others. One other thing they did was take away the Young Stars game. It was an interesting idea, highlighted by Kovalchuk's 6 goals in 2002, but players there give even less effort than the All-Star Game. Instead, 12 rookies will be invited to take place in the skills competition, though they won't make an appearance in the game itself. It seems its like this every year though, and I guess for an every where even the players don't put much effort into anyway, it won't make much of a difference. 

Say It Ain't So Lappy

According to reports, Philadelphia Flyers grinder Ian Laperriere has been told to retire by at least two neurologists due to post concussion syndrome and nerve damage to his right eye.

If this doesn't prove that visors should be mandatory, than nothing will. It seems each year at least one player gets seriously injured in an incident that could have been avoided had the player been wearing a visor. Isn't that right, Al MacInnis? Or Bryan Berard, Steve Yzerman, Dany Heatley, or the host of other NHLers who had to almost go blind before smartening up and putting on a visor? Bill Masterton had to die before the NHL made helmets mandatory, what is it going to take before visors are mandatory as well?

Laperriere was named the toughest player in the NHL last season by The Hockey News for reasons such as this; that's right, he lost seven (7!) teeth and came back in the same game in November; and this. Keep in mind those block came from last season alone and it's no wonder why his nose looks like that.

The latter is highly unfortunate because it not only caused the major problems he is suffering now, but it came late in a game, and a series, the Flyers had essentially already won. You have to love his willingness to put his team first time and time again, but it is a shame such a classy person may have to retire this way.

The Hockey News Internship

OK so, for those of you who don't know, the whole purpose of this blog is to get used to writing about hockey, mainly for the purpose of sending it to The Hockey News as I try and get an internship with them. About that...

So I sent Jason Kay (the editor of THN) an email last week and he responded by saying he would pass along my email to Edward Fraser. About a half hour later there was an email in my inbox that simply read:

Hey Tim. Glad to hear you’ll be joining the team. What exact date did you want to start and for how long?

So there you have it; the newest member of The Hockey News is yours truly.

I know its been a while since I posted anything, the crappy internet service at my school combined with all the work I have to get done for Thesis is making it rather difficult to find time to work on this. I still need to raise my GPA slightly (I have a 2.47 and need a 2.5) in order to be allowed to do this internship next semester. Its not much but I will be making absolutely sure there is nothing that will get in my way of this opportunity.

So, anyone who doesn't know the whole story, here is what happened. Lou Lamoriello, the GM of the New Jersey Devils, decided to show appreciation to the season ticket holders by offering prizes a few years ago. One of them was a trip to see a hockey game at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games, which my mom won on the day of my 20th birthday. any one who knows me well would know that the one thing I have always wanted to do was see an Olympic hockey game in Canada, and here I am being handed this opportunity by a man whose purpose in life seemed to be to frustrate the hell out of Philadelphia Flyers fans.

So, after a year of trying to figure out what games we (my mom, dad, and brother Nick) wanted to go to, what other events to see, and preparing for a very cold week (which never came, seriously, Vancouver in the winter was nicer than Mass in March), there I am at the Olympics. We saw curling the first day, which was surprisingly entertaining by the way, then on the second day the hockey games started. The first game was Russia vs the Czech Republic, which to most was highlighted by Alex Ovechkin obliterating Jaromir Jagr. That was nothing compared to what happened during the fist intermission.

There I am, standing around just enjoying the atmosphere when I look to my left  and, after a double take, notice that Ken Campbell is standing right next me me. Now I saw plenty of famous people at these games, hell the pairs figure skating gold medalists stayed in the hotel room right next to me, and he is the one person I went and talked to. There was on way I was going to blow this chance to meet an established writer and get my name in the inner circle of the hockey world. I found out in an article he write a few days later that the only reason he was there was because one of his childhood friends just happened to be working the scoreboard that game.

Anyway, we're talking about hockey and I mention that I am looking for an internship and my dream job is to work for The Hockey News. He tells me to get in touch with Jason Kay and ask him about it. I don't think I have ever put more though into anything as I did in the letter I sent him, I must have revised it 10 times at least. I hear back from him and, as if that wasn't good enough, he asked me to send him some sample articles, which I did as soon as I got back to school (after watching the gold medal game of course). Fast forward a week or two to Spring Break.

I was expecting this, but it was still a shock when Jason Kay gave me a call one day. We talked for about 15 minutes; about the Olympics, my background in hockey, and what I would be doing if I happened to get this internship with them. He told me to get in contact with him again in the fall and that brings us to right now. I really wish I could describe to you all what this feels like, but those words just haven't been invented yet. Somehow, wicked stoked just doesn't quite cover it.

On a completely unrelated note, the Minnesota Wild's sellout streak has come to an end. Does this strike anyone else as odd? Do preseason games really count for that statistic? I don't think the streak should be stopped because of a meaningless exhibition game. Minnesota may be the State of Hockey, but I think Wild fans may have something better to do on a Wednesday night than watch a bunch a skaters who may not even be on the roster once the season begins and the games actually mean something. If they fail to sellout then, by all mean the streak is over, but for now one of the most passionate fanbases in all of sports still has a sellout streak of 409 games and counting.

$6.66 M: The Number of the Beast...

...or at least the average cap hit on Kovalchuk's monster 15 year, $100 M contract that was finally approved on September 3.

There has been a lot of talk about the whole ordeal, whether or not this contract was really any worse than Marian Hossa's or Chris Pronger's. Here are Kovalchuk's thoughts on the contract situation. It seems for now that those three players, along with Roberto Luongo and Marc Savard, are safe from investigation for now. The loophole in the CBA was closed, but the issue will undoubtedly be brought up during the next negotiations. Scott Burnside of ESPN.com explains what this means for the salary cap hit:

Under the new guidelines, the salary cap hit of any deal five years or longer that takes a player into his 41st year is calculated on all the years leading up to the year in which the player turns 40. The remaining years, traditionally when the value of the contracts has fallen off the map, would act as their own separate cap hit.

The new ruling means we've seen the end of these so-called "cheat deals" that front-load contracts that take a player well into the retirement zone with payments falling completely off the map to drive down the average cap hit. The league had been warning GMs about those deals for a couple of years, and it finally drew a line in the sand this summer right outside the Prudential Center in Newark.

More information about how this contract will affect the rest of the league can be found on NHL.com.

But what exactly will this mean for New Jersey?

Devils GM Lou Lamoriello is either losing his touch or is more of a genius than anyone thought. My vote is on the latter. For nearly two decades, the centerpiece of the team has been Martin Brodeur who is only under contract for two more seasons. He will not be around forever and when he leaves, the Devils will need to find a new identity. They have been a defense first team since they won the Stanley Cup in 1995, but that foundation has slowly been eroding for a few years now. Nevermind that they led the league in goals in 2000-01, they have always won through defense.

The exodus began after the 2001-02 season when grinding center Bobby Holik crossed the river to New York. After each of the next two seasons, major components to their defense would play their last game in Ken Daneyko and Scott Stevens respectively. Scott Niedermayer would leave to join his brother in Anaheim once the lockout ended. Underrated plugger Sergei Brylin left for the KHL two seasons ago. One of the top defensive duos in John Madden and Jay Pandolfo was broken up when Madden wasn't resigned after 2008-09. Pandolfo will not be back in New Jersey next season.  Once Brodeur is gone, the Devils will need to be able to score goals if they want to win.

Enter Ilya Kovalchuk and his six consecutive seasons of at least 40 goals. He only had 10 in 27 games last season after being traded from Atlanta, a pace of 30 goals over 82 games. Should Lamoriello be able to sign Zach Parise long term too, the Devils should be able to roll out two scoring lines. Think about it, Parise had a down year and still scored 38 goals last season. He, along with Travis Zajac who is blossoming into a top points producer should form a formative duo for years to come. Jamie Langenbrunner is getting better with age and Patrick Elias should have a few more 60-70 point seasons in him. According to The Hockey News Yearbook, the Devils have a few strong offensive players waiting in the shadows. They include Mattias Tedenby from Jonkoping in Sweden and Adam Henrique who had 38 goals and 77 points in 54 games for Windsor in the OHL last season.

The Devils appear to be headed towards a new identity as a team, hopefully one that will actually bring fans to The Rock.