One of the best ways to celebrate the greatness of a sport is by profiling it at the grass roots level and showcasing those who are the strongest representatives of the sport...everyday men and women and boys and girls for whom the game will always be just that...a game.
On Saturday, the CBC will train their cameras on the small town of Campbellton, New Brunswick on an inlet of Tracadish Bay to celebrate the simplicity of an event which amounts to be nothing more than child's play...the game of hockey.
For one day a year in Canada, a small town is featured to be shown in the context of a sport that is more than sport. It is an agent of community unity. A focal point of local pride. Campbellton will be putting its best foot forward this Saturday to display its love for an activity well-ensconced in the toy box of life.
And that is what will make the 13 1/2 hour celebration of the game on frozen pond such great television. It will feature ordinary folks doing their best to extend the legacy of hockey, a game of universal appeal that only has the strength it has from the thousands of communities across the globe like Campbellton, New Brunswick.
For those who have had enough of the drama of sports...the steroid scandals in baseball...will Brett Favre ever retire?...where will T.O. play next?...Hockey Day In Canada puts the game of hockey on stage for all to see in its simplest form of the community ice rink that is ubiquitous in villages, towns and cities all over the world. It's a program enveloped in the trio of games played by those who have made the simple sport a way to make a living at its highest offered level.
For those who have access to NHL Network, the programming from the CBC will begin at noon on Saturday. The first three hours will focus on Campbellton and there will be more features in between the play of the NHL games being shown that day.
Give Hockey Day In Canada a look on Saturday. It's one of the best showcases on all of television of the basic goodness and goodwill of sports.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Herb Score, R.I.P.
When you're a sports fan, you remember the voices that gave a team character. For the Cleveland Indians, that voice belonged to Herb Score.
Herb Score passed away this morning at the age of 75 after being in declining health for several years.
But, for me, Herb wasn't only a great Indians pitcher and even greater broadcaster and play-by-play announcer, he was a good a decent man.
I had the privilege to get to know Herb, his wife Nancy and the rest of his family when I worked for his daughter, Susan, at Our Lady of the Wayside, an agency which provides services to the mentally and physically challenged in Northeast Ohio. Susan had her share of problems. She was born with Down's Syndrome and had the full array of incumbent physical issues that went with that particular diagnosis. Nevertheless, she had an angelic spirit and was a truly beautiful human being.
Many families would allow the circumstance of having a disabled family member tear them apart. This never happened with the Score family and Susan's spirit was evident and transcended her family. But, I'll bet that spirit was a two way street all along. Even after Susan passed in 1994, the Score family was still very involved in the Our Lady of the Wayside community.
But the Herb Score that I knew best was obviously the one that many Clevelanders knew as the voice of the Indians. He was masterful and was a voice of reason in the frenzy commonly known as sports fandom. He was all about the home team, but was never a "homer" and always took great pains to avoid provincialism in his calling of a game. In the Terry Pluto book "The Curse of Rocky Colavito", he discussed his method of calling a game. Calling the home team "we" was verboten. So was second guessing the action on the field or the description of the action from the play-by-play booth. Herb believed in brevity and not adding too much description to the action, allowing the imagination of the scenario of the play on the field to be subject to the listener's discretion.(You can read a more detailed explanation of Herb Score's broadcast career in "The Curse of Rocky Colavito" by Terry Pluto, pages 176 to 188.)
Nevertheless, his description of the game was always engaging and many of Cleveland's finest sportcasters: Bob Neal, Joe Tait, Nev Chandler and Tom Hamilton had the opportunity to work with Herb. For Herb, he was gracious and thankful to work with these talented professionals while they endured his absence of graceful speech.
Herb was a great ambassador for the Indians. Just as the Tigers had Ernie Harwell. Or the Pirates Bob Prince. Or the Reds Joe Nuxhall. Or the Brewers Bob Uecker. The Indians had Herb Score and he was blessed to have the chance to serve in that role.
As we all get older, the distance from our youth grows longer. Today, mine got that much longer with the passing of Herb Score. He was a Cleveland original, a Legend, and a man to whom it will be hard to say goodbye.
Rest In Peace, Herb Score.
Herb Score passed away this morning at the age of 75 after being in declining health for several years.
But, for me, Herb wasn't only a great Indians pitcher and even greater broadcaster and play-by-play announcer, he was a good a decent man.
I had the privilege to get to know Herb, his wife Nancy and the rest of his family when I worked for his daughter, Susan, at Our Lady of the Wayside, an agency which provides services to the mentally and physically challenged in Northeast Ohio. Susan had her share of problems. She was born with Down's Syndrome and had the full array of incumbent physical issues that went with that particular diagnosis. Nevertheless, she had an angelic spirit and was a truly beautiful human being.
Many families would allow the circumstance of having a disabled family member tear them apart. This never happened with the Score family and Susan's spirit was evident and transcended her family. But, I'll bet that spirit was a two way street all along. Even after Susan passed in 1994, the Score family was still very involved in the Our Lady of the Wayside community.
But the Herb Score that I knew best was obviously the one that many Clevelanders knew as the voice of the Indians. He was masterful and was a voice of reason in the frenzy commonly known as sports fandom. He was all about the home team, but was never a "homer" and always took great pains to avoid provincialism in his calling of a game. In the Terry Pluto book "The Curse of Rocky Colavito", he discussed his method of calling a game. Calling the home team "we" was verboten. So was second guessing the action on the field or the description of the action from the play-by-play booth. Herb believed in brevity and not adding too much description to the action, allowing the imagination of the scenario of the play on the field to be subject to the listener's discretion.(You can read a more detailed explanation of Herb Score's broadcast career in "The Curse of Rocky Colavito" by Terry Pluto, pages 176 to 188.)
Nevertheless, his description of the game was always engaging and many of Cleveland's finest sportcasters: Bob Neal, Joe Tait, Nev Chandler and Tom Hamilton had the opportunity to work with Herb. For Herb, he was gracious and thankful to work with these talented professionals while they endured his absence of graceful speech.
Herb was a great ambassador for the Indians. Just as the Tigers had Ernie Harwell. Or the Pirates Bob Prince. Or the Reds Joe Nuxhall. Or the Brewers Bob Uecker. The Indians had Herb Score and he was blessed to have the chance to serve in that role.
As we all get older, the distance from our youth grows longer. Today, mine got that much longer with the passing of Herb Score. He was a Cleveland original, a Legend, and a man to whom it will be hard to say goodbye.
Rest In Peace, Herb Score.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
The NFL Fining Players For, Well...Playing? Bad Idea
I was sitting with a friend of mine last night at my high school alma mater's football game (Bay High School in Bay Village, Ohio) where his son is a sophomore offensive lineman who gets some varsity playing time at guard and tackle. He had his daughter sitting in his lap and she couldn't quite understand the violent nature of the sport. Her dad said something to the effect of "football is just a very rough sport".
And in that short exchange, my friend and his daughter pretty much summed up the nature of football: it is a violent sport filled with collisions. Sometimes those collisions are so violent that it causes permanent injury, careers to end suddenly and a lifetime of pain that just doesn't go away.
The comments of Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu this week regarding the fines levied against teammate Hines Ward over "unnecessary roughness" spoke volumes and elicited a typically buttoned down response from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. The comments were a clarion call coming from the relatively soft-spoken Polamalu, who looks like he just just stepped of the beach from a day of surfing.
The guys who play in the NFL have to know that...and most do. They accept the fact that their next hit could very well be their last. And they accept that after year upon year of repeated violent contact. And they still suit up and go in...they aren't willing to be pussies about the situation.
Goodell doesn't seem to understand this concept. Now, with all these fines being levied against NFL players for "excessive contact"...or whatever the new buzz words are...you'd think that players would tone it down to avoid further financial "hardship", right? Maybe some would. But that is not the nature of the game.
And the fines are coming on relatively routine plays, many of which cause no injury to any of the players involved. It's the place from where Polamalu's concern rises.
Maybe the commish is on a money grab. Maybe Good Ol' Rog is losing at the track and needs to make good on covering his sloppy betting habits.
But whatever it is, the entire matter of fining players for just playing the game is just plain stupid.
Somewhere, Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Fame linebacker Jack Lambert is getting a chuckle out of this...but he still knows that quarterbacks should wear dresses. Most players in the NFL share Lambert's sentiment. It's too bad that sentiment disconnects before it reaches the commissioner's office.
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Why Am I Watching This Game On Monday?
As a fan, I have grown accustomed to watching college football on Saturdays. Call me silly for saying that. On the other hand, most college football is still played on Saturdays. Saturdays = College Football. Yeah, that’s how it works.
The grand finale of the college football year happens on Monday night when The Ohio State Buckeyes play the Louisiana State Tigers for the BCS National Championship.
Wait a minute! Monday night?! Am I reading this right? No, no, no!!! College football is to be played on Saturdays. I just mentioned that, did I not? Or at least on a weekend, right?
The NCAA and the BCS, in their blood lust for money and ratings, have pushed this game back to a Monday night start. Never mind that after the usual 5,000 commercials and interruptions that accompany an event like the BCS National Championship (for future reference in this article, please note that this is an event, not a game), the event will probably end at some point around 2 a.m. on Tuesday morning!
Pardon me for being cynical, but couldn't the powers-that-be governing this event have seen to it that it be scheduled on a Saturday night or, short of that, Friday night. Call me unfamiliar with how the logistics work for an event like this, but wouldn't it make more sense to put it on a Saturday or Friday night when they have a greater chance to boost ratings and get casual viewers?
It is also important to note that all fans should want what's best for the NCAA and the BCS. It is the providence of those who pay the bills to always have their way. It makes no difference that they stand to lose money on a Monday night when they would probably make more money on Saturday or Friday night.
Gee, if Monday night works so well for the BCS Championship, let’s move the Super Bowl to Monday night. They play pro football on Mondays, right? Never mind that pro football is played on Sundays, mostly. So is the Super Bowl. Ironically, the Super Bowl actually works on the day when most of their activity happens.
It will never work for college football, or so the NCAA and the BCS will have you believe
The event already has Ohio State and LSU fans in the fold, but why would I care about this game after 10 or 11 p.m. on Monday night if my team weren’t playing? That sound you’ll hear is the pitter-patter of footsteps to the bedroom and that sight you’ll see is lights and televisions being turned off in places other than Ohio and Louisiana.
It could be a much greater event on a weekend. People can sleep in the next day. Fans can celebrate or commiserate without the worry of waking up for work the next day and feeling the after effects.
The event is on Monday night, just to let everyone know. It is not on Saturday or Friday night when it would actually make sense.
Then again, when was the last time the NCAA or college football made sense when scheduling anything?
(Pause)
I thought that would be my answer. Thanks for playing!
The grand finale of the college football year happens on Monday night when The Ohio State Buckeyes play the Louisiana State Tigers for the BCS National Championship.
Wait a minute! Monday night?! Am I reading this right? No, no, no!!! College football is to be played on Saturdays. I just mentioned that, did I not? Or at least on a weekend, right?
The NCAA and the BCS, in their blood lust for money and ratings, have pushed this game back to a Monday night start. Never mind that after the usual 5,000 commercials and interruptions that accompany an event like the BCS National Championship (for future reference in this article, please note that this is an event, not a game), the event will probably end at some point around 2 a.m. on Tuesday morning!
Pardon me for being cynical, but couldn't the powers-that-be governing this event have seen to it that it be scheduled on a Saturday night or, short of that, Friday night. Call me unfamiliar with how the logistics work for an event like this, but wouldn't it make more sense to put it on a Saturday or Friday night when they have a greater chance to boost ratings and get casual viewers?
It is also important to note that all fans should want what's best for the NCAA and the BCS. It is the providence of those who pay the bills to always have their way. It makes no difference that they stand to lose money on a Monday night when they would probably make more money on Saturday or Friday night.
Gee, if Monday night works so well for the BCS Championship, let’s move the Super Bowl to Monday night. They play pro football on Mondays, right? Never mind that pro football is played on Sundays, mostly. So is the Super Bowl. Ironically, the Super Bowl actually works on the day when most of their activity happens.
It will never work for college football, or so the NCAA and the BCS will have you believe
The event already has Ohio State and LSU fans in the fold, but why would I care about this game after 10 or 11 p.m. on Monday night if my team weren’t playing? That sound you’ll hear is the pitter-patter of footsteps to the bedroom and that sight you’ll see is lights and televisions being turned off in places other than Ohio and Louisiana.
It could be a much greater event on a weekend. People can sleep in the next day. Fans can celebrate or commiserate without the worry of waking up for work the next day and feeling the after effects.
The event is on Monday night, just to let everyone know. It is not on Saturday or Friday night when it would actually make sense.
Then again, when was the last time the NCAA or college football made sense when scheduling anything?
(Pause)
I thought that would be my answer. Thanks for playing!
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Ohio State...Why Be Jealous?
To those who will be jealous just because Ohio State is beautiful, There are three words to keep in mind.
Get over it.
Don't like that, here's five more.
You ain't seen nothin' yet.
If Coach Jim Tressel's tenure at The Ohio State University is anything like his tenure at Youngstown State, then he is just warming up. Even if the Buckeyes win on January 7 and have a mass exodus of juniors, they will still be loaded for next season. Surely they will be considered a top 5 team to start 2008.
Tressel actually got off to a faster start at tOSU, winning the BCS National Championship in just his second year. That win validated a theory about former tOSU head coach John Cooper: he recruited great athletes and didn't know what to do with them once he got them to Columbus. Tressel knew how to use the talent he inherited and led them to an improbable win over the University of Miami.
We'll see what Les Miles has to bring with Louisiana State. It should be a formidable challenge for Tressel, perhaps the biggest of his coaching career after the pasting tOSU received at the hands of the University of Florida just one year ago.
The irony is that Tressel has a pretty similar track record at tOSU as he had at YSU. He won the first time he had a team in the D-IAA National Championship at YSU and lost the second time.
After the loss he proceeded to qualify for and win two National Championships in succession to win three in a four year span.
Overall, he would win four titles total at YSU in six games and qualified for the playoffs in 10 out of 15 seasons. All four of his D-IAA titles came in a nine-year span.
Impressive, indeed.
Tressel has been at tOSU now for seven seasons. This is his third BCS title game appearance.
There is no reason to believe that he couldn't duplicate his Youngstown success in Columbus as well. He is rarely without a well-stocked and well-balanced roster of players and he addresses his needs from a recruiting standpoint very systematically. In other words, it isn't just about accumulating "talent" for Tressel; it's about getting the right talent.
If you must be jealous of anything outside of the Buckeye Nation, it is that Tressel has poured his heart and soul into tOSU at a time when coaches are mercenaries, looking, perhaps mistakenly, at their "next challenge".
For Tressel, his coaching values are very much the same as his father, the late Dr. Lee Tressel. He never aspired to a much higher level than his father had attained at Baldwin-Wallace. However, he was destined to go farther and he had enough recognition of his own talent as a coach to understand that he was capable of much greater things.
That is what the rest of the college football world is up against. Coach Jim Tressel may not run an immaculate program, which is hard to do in this day and age. But he does come close and he already has an impressive set of credentials that other college football "nations" would be well advised to emulate and not be jealous of.
Get over it.
Don't like that, here's five more.
You ain't seen nothin' yet.
If Coach Jim Tressel's tenure at The Ohio State University is anything like his tenure at Youngstown State, then he is just warming up. Even if the Buckeyes win on January 7 and have a mass exodus of juniors, they will still be loaded for next season. Surely they will be considered a top 5 team to start 2008.
Tressel actually got off to a faster start at tOSU, winning the BCS National Championship in just his second year. That win validated a theory about former tOSU head coach John Cooper: he recruited great athletes and didn't know what to do with them once he got them to Columbus. Tressel knew how to use the talent he inherited and led them to an improbable win over the University of Miami.
We'll see what Les Miles has to bring with Louisiana State. It should be a formidable challenge for Tressel, perhaps the biggest of his coaching career after the pasting tOSU received at the hands of the University of Florida just one year ago.
The irony is that Tressel has a pretty similar track record at tOSU as he had at YSU. He won the first time he had a team in the D-IAA National Championship at YSU and lost the second time.
After the loss he proceeded to qualify for and win two National Championships in succession to win three in a four year span.
Overall, he would win four titles total at YSU in six games and qualified for the playoffs in 10 out of 15 seasons. All four of his D-IAA titles came in a nine-year span.
Impressive, indeed.
Tressel has been at tOSU now for seven seasons. This is his third BCS title game appearance.
There is no reason to believe that he couldn't duplicate his Youngstown success in Columbus as well. He is rarely without a well-stocked and well-balanced roster of players and he addresses his needs from a recruiting standpoint very systematically. In other words, it isn't just about accumulating "talent" for Tressel; it's about getting the right talent.
If you must be jealous of anything outside of the Buckeye Nation, it is that Tressel has poured his heart and soul into tOSU at a time when coaches are mercenaries, looking, perhaps mistakenly, at their "next challenge".
For Tressel, his coaching values are very much the same as his father, the late Dr. Lee Tressel. He never aspired to a much higher level than his father had attained at Baldwin-Wallace. However, he was destined to go farther and he had enough recognition of his own talent as a coach to understand that he was capable of much greater things.
That is what the rest of the college football world is up against. Coach Jim Tressel may not run an immaculate program, which is hard to do in this day and age. But he does come close and he already has an impressive set of credentials that other college football "nations" would be well advised to emulate and not be jealous of.
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
The Hypeman Trophy...Not The Real CollegeFootball MVP
The Hypeman, er, Heisman Trophy winner will be announced this Saturday night. Can somebody wake me up when it is over?
Let me tell you something...there is nothing that will ever convince me that the Hypeman will ever be a legitimate award ever again until the selection committee starts putting players on both sides of the ball and from all positions on the field into contention to win the award.
I remember when Chris Spielman, the Ohio State linebacker who would go on to have a distinguished career with the Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills, was a senior. All the hype that year, 1986, was about Oklahoma linebacker Brian Bosworth and how Bosworth was going to be All-World. He would cure world hunger, this and that, on and on, ad nauseam. The Boz could do no wrong.
Bosworth, as I remember, was a finalist for the Hypeman. Go figure. Even if he didn't win the “award.”
The reality was that Spielman had more tackles and sacks that season than Bosworth. The Cleveland Plain Dealer published a small but very telling blurb on the comparative stats of the two linebackers just before the Hypeman vote in 1986. Perhaps he should have been in the Hypeman loop, but Spielman wasn’t even on the radar screen.
Spielman may not have had a Hall Of Fame caliber pro career, but he was pretty good by any objective analysis.
Bosworth chunked out of the NFL within three years of his overrated career. He was a Grade A self-promoter and a failure at backing up his own hype if there ever was one.
That was the first time that I felt a non-skill position player should have won the award. Never mind that I thought it should have been Spielman instead, but I digress.
Since then, only one player who hasn't been a QB, WR or RB has won the Hypeman. Go figure that it was Charles Woodson from That School Up North, even though he's gone on to have just as serviceable a pro career as Spielman.
There should have been other non-QBs, WRs, and RBs in the last 20 years that should have rated higher. Orlando Pace should have won the "award" the year before Woodson. I guess being an offensive lineman ain't sexy enough for the Hypeman. That's only one example, but there have been others over the last twenty.
And that is why I say Ohio State’s LB James Laurinaitis deserved consideration this year as opposed to the usual skill position suspects. I’m not saying that the finalists for this year’s “award” aren’t good players or won’t go on to have productive NFL careers. But are they decidedly better than Laurinaitis? That is very debatable?
Don't like Laurinaitis? Why not LSU ‘s DT Glenn Dorsey? Why not That School Up North’s T Jake Long? USC’s T Sam Baker? Illinois’ LB J Leman? I could go on and on...but I'm sure you are all smart enough to get the point.
Let me tell you something...there is nothing that will ever convince me that the Hypeman will ever be a legitimate award ever again until the selection committee starts putting players on both sides of the ball and from all positions on the field into contention to win the award.
I remember when Chris Spielman, the Ohio State linebacker who would go on to have a distinguished career with the Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills, was a senior. All the hype that year, 1986, was about Oklahoma linebacker Brian Bosworth and how Bosworth was going to be All-World. He would cure world hunger, this and that, on and on, ad nauseam. The Boz could do no wrong.
Bosworth, as I remember, was a finalist for the Hypeman. Go figure. Even if he didn't win the “award.”
The reality was that Spielman had more tackles and sacks that season than Bosworth. The Cleveland Plain Dealer published a small but very telling blurb on the comparative stats of the two linebackers just before the Hypeman vote in 1986. Perhaps he should have been in the Hypeman loop, but Spielman wasn’t even on the radar screen.
Spielman may not have had a Hall Of Fame caliber pro career, but he was pretty good by any objective analysis.
Bosworth chunked out of the NFL within three years of his overrated career. He was a Grade A self-promoter and a failure at backing up his own hype if there ever was one.
That was the first time that I felt a non-skill position player should have won the award. Never mind that I thought it should have been Spielman instead, but I digress.
Since then, only one player who hasn't been a QB, WR or RB has won the Hypeman. Go figure that it was Charles Woodson from That School Up North, even though he's gone on to have just as serviceable a pro career as Spielman.
There should have been other non-QBs, WRs, and RBs in the last 20 years that should have rated higher. Orlando Pace should have won the "award" the year before Woodson. I guess being an offensive lineman ain't sexy enough for the Hypeman. That's only one example, but there have been others over the last twenty.
And that is why I say Ohio State’s LB James Laurinaitis deserved consideration this year as opposed to the usual skill position suspects. I’m not saying that the finalists for this year’s “award” aren’t good players or won’t go on to have productive NFL careers. But are they decidedly better than Laurinaitis? That is very debatable?
Don't like Laurinaitis? Why not LSU ‘s DT Glenn Dorsey? Why not That School Up North’s T Jake Long? USC’s T Sam Baker? Illinois’ LB J Leman? I could go on and on...but I'm sure you are all smart enough to get the point.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
NHL Season Preview 2007-2008
Welcome to BuckeyeHoppy’s NHL Preview. The Stanley Cup Playoffs last year had lots of drama and I would expect this year's run to the Cup to be even better, as the competition level in the NHL seems to be more intense than recent years.
The mode of operation here is simple: I will rate each conference separately, in perceived order of finish from worst to first. I will be writing a short synopsis on each team stating my reasons for why each team is located where it is in the pecking order.
Now, this is, more or less, an educated guess and different factors will affect the order as the season progresses. Some teams are still in obvious need of making additions and others will find it necessary to tweak chemistry or cover injuries. But, for now, this is where I believe the teams in the NHL stand to start the 2007-2008 Season.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
They Will Be In The Playoffs (If They Buy A Ticket):
Philadelphia - the Kool-Aid on the Flyers off-season acquisitions will not be drunk here. It is still a team that lacks strong goal tending or a player who is a genuine “leading man” on any line. They should be better (obviously) than last year, but will not be a factor down the stretch.
Washington - many of the fortunes for the Caps rest on Ovechkin leading the attack and Kolzig minding the net. They are a bit deeper than the past few years but still seem to be a year or two away from being legitimate contenders.
Florida - the Panthers are a team who always seem able to bring it to the net, but the blue liners don’t seem able to return the favor. This year could be different, but the chemistry needs to be there. Adding Vokoun can only help but he needs to stay healthy. There are too many question marks here to justify a pick much higher than this.
Montreal - last year, the Habs had the look and the talent to back up qualification to the playoffs but just fell short. This year features a shed of most of that talent and another looming rebuild. Carbonneau, Gainey and Company appear to have their work cut out for them as this season has the look of building for the future.
Boston - re-signing Chara and adding Fernandez in goal can only help the Bruins, but the organization is once again in flux and it doesn’t look like they have the horses to finish in the money.
NY Islanders - the Islanders have key players in many of the right spots, but another off-season overhaul after qualifying for the playoffs on the last day of the season doesn’t inspire much confidence. Ted Nolan is a great coach and is as capable as any coach at steering the ship through rough waters, but it will be too much to ask him to do it two years in a row.
Carolina - they lifted the Cup two years ago, but the ‘Canes just don’t seem to have the blue line strength to protect Ward on a night-in-night-out basis. The attack is still solid, but in today’s NHL the teams with the best balance get to dance. The ‘Canes seem to be lacking a player or two to consider them playoff worthy.
They Will Be In The Playoffs (As First Round Goodies):
Tampa Bay - this team appears to possess exactly what Carolina lacks on the blue line and having Lecavalier and St. Louis doesn’t hurt either. Playoff qualification seems favorable for this scrappy and veteran Lightning team.
Buffalo - many would think that after the free-agent losses the Sabres have taken the last two years that they would be left in an insurmountable hole. But this team appears to be re-loading and have been able to secure some quality big league ice time for the players taking over for those who have exited. Couple that with a solid blue line, a good, young goalie and some talented holdover forwards and a trip to the playoffs still seems likely.
Toronto - the Leafs always seem to be on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoffs. Perhaps the injury bug will keep them in the cold again, but the tea leaves say that there is enough veteran presence coupled with some savvy off-season acquisitions to propel this squad to a date in the playoffs.
Atlanta - a good young team that is another year older and appear to be poised for greater things this year. Another division crown seems likely for the Thrashers if they can hold off Tampa and should give this team home ice advantage. The Thrashers are not there yet, but will be a tough out this season.
They Will Be In The Playoffs (But Are Not Yet Ready For Prime Time):
New Jersey - the Devils have been one of the steadier teams in the NHL over the last five years. It helps to have the league’s best goalie in Brodeur and the team saw fit to equip him with a competent backup in the off-season acquiring Weekes. That should improve his ability to have legs in the playoffs and give his team a better chance to go deep. A solid, top-shelf team, the Devils could be a fooler if they get on a roll.
Pittsburgh - was there any better story in the NHL last year than the Penguins? Not really. Crosby, Malkin and Company became The Team No One Wanted To Play in last years playoffs. The big thing for this young team is avoid a letdown, but having some veterans like Roberts and Recchi around and adding Sykora to this crew will make them a handful once again.
They Will Be In The Playoffs (…And Then There Were Four):
NY Rangers - on paper, this team should win it all…and they got richer in the off-season. But the Rangers needed a strong final push last year just to get to the playoffs. This team is mystifying. They will either run the table and lift the Cup, or…they might just get run out in the first round, since their don’t seem to be any light touches in the potential playoff lineup in the East. The question: Which New York Rangers will show up this year?
Ottawa - the Senators showed last year that they were an elite team, then they were able to get over the hump and reach the finals. With minimal adjustment to an already packed roster this team has the mojo to once again reach the Cup Finals. The competition should be slightly tighter than last year for a complete Cup run, but Ottawa appears to have the strength to get past all comers.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
They Will Be In The Playoffs (If They Buy A Ticket):
Chicago - a pretty young team will hit the ice in Chicago and the results will bear witness to the rebuilding project the Blackhawks will conduct. It’ll be a year for a young team to endure their harsh welcome to the National Hockey League.
Phoenix - last year, I mentioned that the Coyotes were about a year or two away from playoff contention. That forecast still hasn’t changed, although the team has pared some payroll and will be skating with a much younger team. It’s hard not to like the disciples of the Great One, but there simply isn’t enough on the shelf yet to call this a playoff team.
Columbus - if it’s another new season in the NHL it must be another rebuilding project for the Blue Jackets. Ken Hitchcock has never coached a team for a full season and failed to qualify for the playoffs. This team will be his first in that category. They should be a solid team from the blue line, but they will have trouble scoring and you don’t win in the West when you don’t score goals.
Nashville - the Preds have never won a playoff series and losing Hartnell, Kariya, Timonen and Vokoun will be too much for a suddenly younger team to take. They still have plenty of weapons at forward, but will give as many away as Mason will be called upon to be the first-team G for the first time. We’ll see if he is up to the task in the rugged West.
Los Angeles - there are lots of good teams in the NHL West. The Kings are among those good teams. Unfortunately, it takes greatness just to be in the playoff picture in this conference. The Kings are on the right track and have really ramped up their blue line and goaltending over the last year and in the off-season. It’ll be fun to watch this team this year, but I can’t help but think that they are still a year away.
Edmonton - it hard not to like what the Oilers have done in the off-season, adding Souray, Sanderson and Penner. But they have a large hole to dig out of from last year and the West doesn’t give much quarter to teams that don’t quite measure up. There are still a few moves away from legitimate playoff candidacy, but the Oilers appear to be headed in the right direction.
St. Louis - speaking of the right direction, John Davidson has the Blues nearly completely turned around from where they were two years ago. The blue line and goal still need some shoring up, but this looks like a team that contenders will want to avoid down the stretch. They appear to be a year away, but appearances can be deceiving.
They Will Be In The Playoffs (As First Round Goodies):
Dallas - a very good veteran core returns for this team who lost what might have been the best series in all of the playoffs last year. How the Stars respond to the first round lost from last year will tell the tale for this year. I suspect they will treat it like another day at the office, as good teams with lots of experience do. The Stars will be a commodity not to be fooled with.
Colorado - last year’s Avs looked like they’d be all about Joe Sakic and not much else. Instead, they failed to make the playoffs with the greatest number of points for a non-playoff team ever. Not bad effort and what you have in Denver is a fairly well-balanced attack with a rising star in Budaj between the pipes. Add some well-placed FA acquisitions to the mix and the Avs should be playing until the end of April.
Detroit - the Red Wings are the Over The Hill Gang of the hockey world. How they keep doing it defies logic, but they just might have done it long enough to allow for a pretty fair nucleus of young stars to emerge. The look of the Wings now is a fairly credible mix of seasoned veterans with youngsters who have been trained well in an already successful program in Detroit. This is another team in Hockeytown who will be a handful at playoff time.
Minnesota - this squad has a stone wall for a defense and that is a good thing, since they are merely middle-of-the-road on the attack. But if it is true that defense wins championships, then the Wild will cause nightmares for any team and that will be particularly true if Gaborik can stay healthy enough to be the leader on the attack.
They Will Be In The Playoffs (But Are Not Yet Ready For Prime Time):
San Jose - this is a team that, much like the NY Rangers, is fully capable of hoisting the Cup but they can’t seem to get out of the way of themselves. The Sharks are now a team who has had lofty expectations over the last three years and have disappointed every time. They have lots of star power and should at least play into May but there are still questions in goal and that could stall a deep run in the playoffs yet again.
Calgary - this is a strong team who now has the most strong-willed of coaches with Mike Keenan behind the bench. It is a move that could bring lofty results and Keenan has been successful with his methods in the past. It is a high risk move by the Flames FO, but if GM Darryl Sutter is right about his choice of coaches, this is a team that could win it all in June.
They Will Be In The Playoffs (…And Then There Were Four):
Anaheim - the defending Stanley Cup Champions have lost a little bit from last season’s squad. But, as long as they have the Giguere/Bryzgalov goalie tandem behind a rock solid blue line and a Selanne-led attack, the losses have every chance to be overcome and the Ducks have every chance to be skating the Cup again.
Vancouver - the Canucks, like many of the teams in the West, have stone walls on defense. The awesome Luongo in goal and the Sedin brothers as a very effective one-two punch stood toe-to-toe with the eventual Cup winners before bowing out. That means they belong at the table when mentioning potential teams to win the hallowed trophy in sports.
They Who Will Lift The Cup Will Be…:
This season’s eventual winner of the Stanley Cup is hard to pin down. There are at least half a dozen teams who could be skating it at the end of the playoffs.
But I will be going out on a limb this season and calling for the dreaded all-Canadian final that the NHL’s prized demographic…Americans…is just jumping for joy about.
The Ottawa v. Vancouver match-up I see happening has two teams who have been on the doorstep for the past couple years. Both teams have had the same line up long enough that each has spotless chemistry and can overcome lapses with good line depth and strong play between the pipes.
But the match up will come down to a battle between the stellar Heatley/Spezza/Alfredsson trio and the goal play of Roberto Luongo. Defense is the surest way to win titles many times, but the trip to the finals for Ottawa is the kind of exposure any team loves and can bank on in future Cup runs. It will pay of for the Sens this season.
It’ll go the distance, but figure on Ottawa winning Canada’s first Stanley Cup since Montreal in 1993.
Game On!!!
The mode of operation here is simple: I will rate each conference separately, in perceived order of finish from worst to first. I will be writing a short synopsis on each team stating my reasons for why each team is located where it is in the pecking order.
Now, this is, more or less, an educated guess and different factors will affect the order as the season progresses. Some teams are still in obvious need of making additions and others will find it necessary to tweak chemistry or cover injuries. But, for now, this is where I believe the teams in the NHL stand to start the 2007-2008 Season.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
They Will Be In The Playoffs (If They Buy A Ticket):
Philadelphia - the Kool-Aid on the Flyers off-season acquisitions will not be drunk here. It is still a team that lacks strong goal tending or a player who is a genuine “leading man” on any line. They should be better (obviously) than last year, but will not be a factor down the stretch.
Washington - many of the fortunes for the Caps rest on Ovechkin leading the attack and Kolzig minding the net. They are a bit deeper than the past few years but still seem to be a year or two away from being legitimate contenders.
Florida - the Panthers are a team who always seem able to bring it to the net, but the blue liners don’t seem able to return the favor. This year could be different, but the chemistry needs to be there. Adding Vokoun can only help but he needs to stay healthy. There are too many question marks here to justify a pick much higher than this.
Montreal - last year, the Habs had the look and the talent to back up qualification to the playoffs but just fell short. This year features a shed of most of that talent and another looming rebuild. Carbonneau, Gainey and Company appear to have their work cut out for them as this season has the look of building for the future.
Boston - re-signing Chara and adding Fernandez in goal can only help the Bruins, but the organization is once again in flux and it doesn’t look like they have the horses to finish in the money.
NY Islanders - the Islanders have key players in many of the right spots, but another off-season overhaul after qualifying for the playoffs on the last day of the season doesn’t inspire much confidence. Ted Nolan is a great coach and is as capable as any coach at steering the ship through rough waters, but it will be too much to ask him to do it two years in a row.
Carolina - they lifted the Cup two years ago, but the ‘Canes just don’t seem to have the blue line strength to protect Ward on a night-in-night-out basis. The attack is still solid, but in today’s NHL the teams with the best balance get to dance. The ‘Canes seem to be lacking a player or two to consider them playoff worthy.
They Will Be In The Playoffs (As First Round Goodies):
Tampa Bay - this team appears to possess exactly what Carolina lacks on the blue line and having Lecavalier and St. Louis doesn’t hurt either. Playoff qualification seems favorable for this scrappy and veteran Lightning team.
Buffalo - many would think that after the free-agent losses the Sabres have taken the last two years that they would be left in an insurmountable hole. But this team appears to be re-loading and have been able to secure some quality big league ice time for the players taking over for those who have exited. Couple that with a solid blue line, a good, young goalie and some talented holdover forwards and a trip to the playoffs still seems likely.
Toronto - the Leafs always seem to be on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoffs. Perhaps the injury bug will keep them in the cold again, but the tea leaves say that there is enough veteran presence coupled with some savvy off-season acquisitions to propel this squad to a date in the playoffs.
Atlanta - a good young team that is another year older and appear to be poised for greater things this year. Another division crown seems likely for the Thrashers if they can hold off Tampa and should give this team home ice advantage. The Thrashers are not there yet, but will be a tough out this season.
They Will Be In The Playoffs (But Are Not Yet Ready For Prime Time):
New Jersey - the Devils have been one of the steadier teams in the NHL over the last five years. It helps to have the league’s best goalie in Brodeur and the team saw fit to equip him with a competent backup in the off-season acquiring Weekes. That should improve his ability to have legs in the playoffs and give his team a better chance to go deep. A solid, top-shelf team, the Devils could be a fooler if they get on a roll.
Pittsburgh - was there any better story in the NHL last year than the Penguins? Not really. Crosby, Malkin and Company became The Team No One Wanted To Play in last years playoffs. The big thing for this young team is avoid a letdown, but having some veterans like Roberts and Recchi around and adding Sykora to this crew will make them a handful once again.
They Will Be In The Playoffs (…And Then There Were Four):
NY Rangers - on paper, this team should win it all…and they got richer in the off-season. But the Rangers needed a strong final push last year just to get to the playoffs. This team is mystifying. They will either run the table and lift the Cup, or…they might just get run out in the first round, since their don’t seem to be any light touches in the potential playoff lineup in the East. The question: Which New York Rangers will show up this year?
Ottawa - the Senators showed last year that they were an elite team, then they were able to get over the hump and reach the finals. With minimal adjustment to an already packed roster this team has the mojo to once again reach the Cup Finals. The competition should be slightly tighter than last year for a complete Cup run, but Ottawa appears to have the strength to get past all comers.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
They Will Be In The Playoffs (If They Buy A Ticket):
Chicago - a pretty young team will hit the ice in Chicago and the results will bear witness to the rebuilding project the Blackhawks will conduct. It’ll be a year for a young team to endure their harsh welcome to the National Hockey League.
Phoenix - last year, I mentioned that the Coyotes were about a year or two away from playoff contention. That forecast still hasn’t changed, although the team has pared some payroll and will be skating with a much younger team. It’s hard not to like the disciples of the Great One, but there simply isn’t enough on the shelf yet to call this a playoff team.
Columbus - if it’s another new season in the NHL it must be another rebuilding project for the Blue Jackets. Ken Hitchcock has never coached a team for a full season and failed to qualify for the playoffs. This team will be his first in that category. They should be a solid team from the blue line, but they will have trouble scoring and you don’t win in the West when you don’t score goals.
Nashville - the Preds have never won a playoff series and losing Hartnell, Kariya, Timonen and Vokoun will be too much for a suddenly younger team to take. They still have plenty of weapons at forward, but will give as many away as Mason will be called upon to be the first-team G for the first time. We’ll see if he is up to the task in the rugged West.
Los Angeles - there are lots of good teams in the NHL West. The Kings are among those good teams. Unfortunately, it takes greatness just to be in the playoff picture in this conference. The Kings are on the right track and have really ramped up their blue line and goaltending over the last year and in the off-season. It’ll be fun to watch this team this year, but I can’t help but think that they are still a year away.
Edmonton - it hard not to like what the Oilers have done in the off-season, adding Souray, Sanderson and Penner. But they have a large hole to dig out of from last year and the West doesn’t give much quarter to teams that don’t quite measure up. There are still a few moves away from legitimate playoff candidacy, but the Oilers appear to be headed in the right direction.
St. Louis - speaking of the right direction, John Davidson has the Blues nearly completely turned around from where they were two years ago. The blue line and goal still need some shoring up, but this looks like a team that contenders will want to avoid down the stretch. They appear to be a year away, but appearances can be deceiving.
They Will Be In The Playoffs (As First Round Goodies):
Dallas - a very good veteran core returns for this team who lost what might have been the best series in all of the playoffs last year. How the Stars respond to the first round lost from last year will tell the tale for this year. I suspect they will treat it like another day at the office, as good teams with lots of experience do. The Stars will be a commodity not to be fooled with.
Colorado - last year’s Avs looked like they’d be all about Joe Sakic and not much else. Instead, they failed to make the playoffs with the greatest number of points for a non-playoff team ever. Not bad effort and what you have in Denver is a fairly well-balanced attack with a rising star in Budaj between the pipes. Add some well-placed FA acquisitions to the mix and the Avs should be playing until the end of April.
Detroit - the Red Wings are the Over The Hill Gang of the hockey world. How they keep doing it defies logic, but they just might have done it long enough to allow for a pretty fair nucleus of young stars to emerge. The look of the Wings now is a fairly credible mix of seasoned veterans with youngsters who have been trained well in an already successful program in Detroit. This is another team in Hockeytown who will be a handful at playoff time.
Minnesota - this squad has a stone wall for a defense and that is a good thing, since they are merely middle-of-the-road on the attack. But if it is true that defense wins championships, then the Wild will cause nightmares for any team and that will be particularly true if Gaborik can stay healthy enough to be the leader on the attack.
They Will Be In The Playoffs (But Are Not Yet Ready For Prime Time):
San Jose - this is a team that, much like the NY Rangers, is fully capable of hoisting the Cup but they can’t seem to get out of the way of themselves. The Sharks are now a team who has had lofty expectations over the last three years and have disappointed every time. They have lots of star power and should at least play into May but there are still questions in goal and that could stall a deep run in the playoffs yet again.
Calgary - this is a strong team who now has the most strong-willed of coaches with Mike Keenan behind the bench. It is a move that could bring lofty results and Keenan has been successful with his methods in the past. It is a high risk move by the Flames FO, but if GM Darryl Sutter is right about his choice of coaches, this is a team that could win it all in June.
They Will Be In The Playoffs (…And Then There Were Four):
Anaheim - the defending Stanley Cup Champions have lost a little bit from last season’s squad. But, as long as they have the Giguere/Bryzgalov goalie tandem behind a rock solid blue line and a Selanne-led attack, the losses have every chance to be overcome and the Ducks have every chance to be skating the Cup again.
Vancouver - the Canucks, like many of the teams in the West, have stone walls on defense. The awesome Luongo in goal and the Sedin brothers as a very effective one-two punch stood toe-to-toe with the eventual Cup winners before bowing out. That means they belong at the table when mentioning potential teams to win the hallowed trophy in sports.
They Who Will Lift The Cup Will Be…:
This season’s eventual winner of the Stanley Cup is hard to pin down. There are at least half a dozen teams who could be skating it at the end of the playoffs.
But I will be going out on a limb this season and calling for the dreaded all-Canadian final that the NHL’s prized demographic…Americans…is just jumping for joy about.
The Ottawa v. Vancouver match-up I see happening has two teams who have been on the doorstep for the past couple years. Both teams have had the same line up long enough that each has spotless chemistry and can overcome lapses with good line depth and strong play between the pipes.
But the match up will come down to a battle between the stellar Heatley/Spezza/Alfredsson trio and the goal play of Roberto Luongo. Defense is the surest way to win titles many times, but the trip to the finals for Ottawa is the kind of exposure any team loves and can bank on in future Cup runs. It will pay of for the Sens this season.
It’ll go the distance, but figure on Ottawa winning Canada’s first Stanley Cup since Montreal in 1993.
Game On!!!
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