A Photoblog. Phlog. Blackhawks @ Coyotes, February 12th

 

Okay friends, it’s time to run some of the pics I took from sitting on the glass at the Chicago/Phoenix game (tomorrow I’ll run the Washington/Phoenix ones if I get the pics downloaded in time), sorry I’m a little late on this.  Complete with my own snide comments, as you’ve all come to expect.

Chicago Blackhawks @ Phoenix Coyotes

I look startled.

Interesting things of note, at least in my opinion:

*The assistant coach was taking notes on Phoenix, not his own team (it was whichever assistant that runs the forwards – Mike Kitchen?).  I wonder if they have one guy watch their opponent and the other tends to the Blackhawks?

*Phoenix was apparently playing a 1-2-2 in the neutral zone, and was utilizing the reverse after winning d-zone face-offs (DZFO).

* The Vrbata note is from right after he scored - He seems to note that it was 8′s fault (Nick Leddy), who apparently effed up a hinge/pinch decision.

* He’d like to see more body contact, which I presume is out of obligation to the Laws of Coaching, which means you have to request more body contact from your team.

* Ummm apparently he wasn’t impressed with Pyatt’s goal off the wing, double underlining the word (WEAK).  I’m pretty sure after seeing the replay Corey Crawford was screened and it was tipped.

The rest is pretty generic.

This:

World Cup, Toews Signing Bonus

 

Finally, the good part of the sports year can get started – World Cup baby! 

…..Yeah that was saracastic.

I watched the entirety of this morning’s South Africa/Mexico match as a preemptive strike for ”you haven’t even watched a game” comments.  I’m well aware they’re coming, since I plan on telling people I don’t like watching it. 

I feel like when people say they don’t like watching a sport, it’s because they don’t understand it (in my experience this is especially true with US football), but I understand soccer just fine.  And I LOVE playing it.  But like baseball, it’s just not that fun for me to sit down and soak in.

I respect the game enough, and I can see why it might be fun to be a fan of (other fans, plus soccer highlights are awesome), but without any personal connection to it, it’s just not for me. 

Thoughts?

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So, I thought the biggest post-Stanley Cup story to come out was that Jonathan Toews gets a 1.3 million dollar signing bonus for winning the Conn Smythe, which counts against the Hawks salary cap next year (yes, bigger than the “Pronger is gay” story).  As Joe Biden might put it: that extra cap hit is a big f**kin deal.

I wonder how Toews feels knowing that his good play somehow managed to hurt his team for next year.  Gotta be mixed feelings, right?  I’d be rattled that I’d have to feel bad for earning a bonus.  Turns out that offering that incentive in the first place wasn’t very well thought out.

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I watched some of an old hockey game last night (an Oilers/Blackhawks fiasco) and I refuse to believe players have less respect now.  I saw a large number of humans get crosschecked in the head, and goalies getting slashed.

I did have to chuckle at the evolution of goaltending though.  The topic is well discussed, but when Roenick scored ON THE ICE glove side and the commentator called it “the perfect shot”, I enjoyed my giggles.  YOU’RE ALLOWED TO GO DOWN, RANFORD!

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As we wrap up a few of the final tidbits from the NHL season (the Blackhawks had a parade, yay!), I’m turning my focus to our yearly Fantasy Camp.  The thing is, frankly, awesome.  We get more than our share of “best week of my life’s” and are trying to fill the last available spots.

You can register at www.bournevents.com, contact me at jtbourne@gmail.com, or just send me a signed, blank check and I promise I’ll totally call you when I get it.  I go by “Director of Operations”, because it’s our company and I get to pick my name, so there.

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Should a guy ever drink out of the straw in his mixed drink at the bar?  Strictly for stirring, right?

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Today kind of marks the first day of my free agency as a writer.  While still employed by hockeyprimetime.com, who I contribute to next season is completely up in the air.  I’m hoping by the time our fantasy camp is over in mid-August, I’ll have something solid locked down for the 2010-2011 NHL season.  Ideally something that gets me out of the house more, and comes with health insurance.

Have a great summer weekend!  Think the ‘Hawks are?

My Finals Picks – Best Goalie, D-Man, Forward and Team

 

Let’s get to it – here are my answers from yesterday’s poll questions:

Which goalie would you most like to have on your team in the Finals?

I’m 100% sold on Antti Niemi.

His situation in Chicago this year felt like one of those “let’s try and keep this kid down and give our other goalie every chance to be the starter so people don’t realize we’re paying the wrong guy” deals.  Just like Carey Price over Jaro Halak, and for awhile, Tim Thomas over Tukka Rask.  In the end, you want the best goalie in the net, and teams relent.

I thought he was absolutely dynamite in the early games of the San Jose series, and he played great against Vancouver.  He’s not that awkward “how is he doing it?” style that I hate so much (*coughNabokovcough*).  He does it the right way.

In the game Philly lost to Montreal, Leighton let in a couple of those “oh god, is he gonna crumble?” goals, before regrouping nicely.  He’s had an exceptional year (for a guy who’s played around 30 games), and is certainly capable of succeeding.  For now though, he’s played in seven total playoff games, facing a Krejci/Sturm-less Bruins team and a fizzling, content-with-where-they-got Montreal offense.

Which Defenseman would you most like to have on your team in the Finals?

I hate this question because of the “in the Finals” part.

I’d take Duncan Keith during the year, and probably even most of playoffs.  I’m completely torn on this one, but if I’m being honest, I think I’d prefer to have Chris Pronger.

My heart wouldn’t let me vote for him in the poll.  I picked Duncan Keith, thinking that Duncan creates offense from defense (uses quickness to intercept pucks, move them the other way) and creates defense from offense (makes such solid decisions his team often plays entire shifts in the offensive zone).

But I couldn’t lie to myself a second day in a row.  Pronger is impossible to play against.  He’s one of those guys that when you play him, your line is on the bench frustrated going “man, we just can’t seem to get anything going today.  Not getting the bounces”.

He uses his long stick like a scalpel to just hinder every f**king play you’re trying to make.  He gets his big body in the right spots, has a bomb from the point and moves the puck like guys a foot smaller than him. 

I hate him, but he’s one of the best.  I’d have to take Chris stupid Pronger.

Which forward would you most like to have on your team in the Finals?

This one inevitably boils down to the two leaders, Richards and Toews.

My general thinking is this:  Toews is going to have a better career than Richards.  He’s 22 and already more of an offensive threat.  He steps up in big games, is crazy responsible for his talent-level (doesn’t have to be, but is), and is just an all-around star.

But Mike Richards wants this.  I’m sure Toews does too, but sometimes Richards’ passion scares the shit out of me.  He plays with a fire I never had.  I think he knows this may be one his last chances to compete for a Stanley Cup in a conference likely to be dominated by Washington and Pittsburgh for awhile.  After all, how often are both those teams going to get eliminated before Philly has to deal with one of them?

He has all the tools to succeed, and he’s in his prime.  Plus, I can’t help but remember that I’ve played Toews in college, and occasionally he gets his three points in such a quiet way that he’s rarely on your radar.  I felt comfortable enough to play my heart out, since I wasn’t looking over my shoulder for him.  I look over my shoulder for Mike Richards before typing (hey, that guy could be coming from any angle).

At the same time, if you read my column yesterday, Philly has that (negative) something that makes them just be so bad once in awhile, and a part of me can’t help but wonder if he’s the common thread.  Toews just smells like winning, so it’s a tough call.

I’ll stick with Richards for now, but ask me Sunday and I’ll probably change my mind.

What’s your Finals prediction?

Picking Chicago in six gets you no love.  It’s the safest thing on the planet, and a lose-lose.  The number of games, six, shows no balls, because you’re always “close”.  The team shows no balls because they’re the (significantly) higher seed.  And that’s why you see pundits go out on a limb, because they have the small chance to be “right” and the guy who “really saw things the right way”.

But at what point is picking like an idiot beneficial to your career?

Chicago is a little better at every position, which means they’re A LOT better team.

I can see Philly winning a game or two.  I mean, it’s the NHL, Edmonton can beat Washington and it’s not exactly the Detroit Lions beating the New Orleans Saints.  So I can’t pick that short of a series.

So I’ll give the Flyers their due (and play it safe) and go with Chicago in six.  Hey, it’s what I think is gonna happen, I can’t be blamed for that, can I?

Happy Thursday folks.  See ya back here tomorrow!

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Toews, The Itty-Bitty Slapshot Committee, and Scott Gomez

 

During my first full year in the ECHL, I had the privilege of playing with Travis Rycroft, our team captain in Utah (for one of my better pieces, on Travis and team chemistry click here.  I wrote it in my second month of blogging – you can tell because I don’t make every damn sentence it’s own paragraph like I do now – and it was good enough that I was inspired to keep doing this).

While I learned a lot about work ethic and character from the guy, I also picked up an infinitely valuable (and apparently common) trick from him that I’m sure many of you already use:  When you go to the bar on a work night, always get the stamp on the underside of your wrist.  That way, if it’s not washed off the next day, it still won’t be visible, and your boss/coach won’t get mad and make you start bag-skating/…collating?

Random bag skating tangent: Can we unify what we call doing the lines that go from goal line to blue to goal line to center to goal line… etc?  Lightnight lines, suicides, ladders, whatever…. can we get on the same page here, my international friends?  How about plain and simple “lines”?  Suicides are on a basketball court, and we hardly need to tack “lightning” on to something that, by the end, moves like a slow motion replay.

I’m wandering big time here, but we used to do the “Peter Zezel” – which was basically that same set of lines, but after you went all the way down and came back, you had to go all the way down around the net and back to the blue line, then go back around the net to get back to the goal line.  We had to the entire rink in that direction too before doing it all again on the way back.  Guh.

Maybe it’s time to start this blog.

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Hey look, it’s a random thoughts catch-up post!

How about Jonathan Toews wearing #16 for team Canada at the Olympics, out of respect for the more senior Joe Thornton?  In the Conference Finals, with the two going head to head, I couldn’t help feel like Toews finally surpassed Joe as the games current best #19.  What is it about that number that attracts talented, respectful, likable stars?  Steve Yzerman, Joe Sakic… Toews could fit right in that conversation at the end of his career.

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Recently-wrong friend-of-the-blog Ms. Conduct (Ms. C: Richards beat two d-men and a goalie to the puck, laid out just as aggressively, while your poor-decision-making Halak got plowed by Hamrlik, and Richards emerged from the smoke unscathed) called MA Bergeron “The Itty Bitty Slapshot Committee”, and I couldn’t love that assessment more.  He’s like those toys that do a backflip when you wind ‘em up.  You’re like “hey, neat!”, and after the fourth backflip it’s…”soooo, what else ya got?”

When Mike McKenna tweeted about him being like a field goal kicker – wait on the bench until it’s time to do your one job – I didn’t realize how accurate it would be.  I mean, when Richards hit him he looked like a last-guy-back kicker trying to tackle Ed Reed or something.

{Random note: I should probably note he was one of the funniest, nicest guys at Islanders camp.  Don’t get me wrong, I fully mean the stuff in the two paragraphs above, I just feel obligated to note he’s an all-around nice guy.}

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Okay, so think about Scott Gomez skating up-ice with the puck, and the hilarity that is people trying to hit him.  Now imagine us in college watching him play on an Olympic sheet in the ECHL.  One game I went to, he was running a powerplay, and literally stopped with the puck at his feet, stood up, and pointed with his glove for where guys should move to.  One pass later, goal, Alaska Aces.  Okay, you’re good, we get it.  He only scored 13 times in the 61 games he played, but found time to get 73 assists.  Man he’s deadly.

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I’ve often wanted to put polls in my blog, but couldn’t figure out how.  And by “couldn’t figure out” I mean “didn’t try to figure it out”.  I’ve got some columns to bust out, and four guys are on my radar for a story.  Which would you most like to read?  Also, anyone know of a good free poll site?

Dustin Byfuglien
Mike Richards
Matt Carle
Patrick Kane

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I wrote a piece on the Chicago Blackhawks and the phrase “41 thunderfuck” today for Puck Daddy (though I called it 41 thundertruck for their sake).  When the article is up, I’ll put the link here.  Happy Tuesday, and thanks for all the comments on skate sharpening.  FBV apparently FTW, I guess, or something!

Hockey Quick Hits

 

(Yes, that’s Dustin Byfuglien and TWISTA playing NHL 2K9 in the preview picture.  Twista hardly looks stoned.)

UPDATE: I forgot to mention this earlier, because I have the memory of a goldfish, but I was supposed to plug THIS.  My brother is auctioning off an autographed Bryan Trottier Hall of Fame stick for charity.  Bryan gave it to Jeff to help raise money for Kelowna Sledge Hockey.  Go place a bid, you Isles-loving bastards!

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Look, I’m all-Isles over here, and not trying to sabotage my own team, but… HEY. REST OF THE LEAGUE.  Tavares is lurking backdoor on the powerplay for tap-ins.  Might wanna address that in your pre-game discussions.

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The first heavily circulated Tiger joke, as I tweeted yesterday: “What’s the difference between Santa Claus and Tiger Woods?     Santa stops at three ho’s.”  Ba-doom-boom-ching!

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As Bill Simmons explained, sports hate and real hate are different.  Sports hating a player has nothing to do with needing a reason or an explanation, sometime you…. you  just… god I HATE that Bob Barker Milan Lucic.  Who do you inexplicably sports hate?

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Head to head fantasy hockey is like the card game “war”.  This is how I’ve justified performing worse than Ashley Simpson on SNL.  Sometime you play your ace against a two (y’know, put up 30 points in a week your opponent has like, 12), and it feels like a total waste.  Sometimes you play a queen against a king.  The draft is really just the “deal”.  Looking forward to contrarian comments from other league members (whom I sports hate.  Like, all of them.)

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If you billet junior hockey players in hopes of saving a nickel on the money the team gives you for boarding a kid, you’re pure evil, and should let the kid move out today.

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Beer of the completelyarbitrarylengthoftime: Yardhouse Pale Ale.  Maybe I was just in the mood for one, but man, I thought it was great.

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The only thing more frustrating than Dustin Byfuglien is the spelling of his last name.  I do like that there’s a “fugli” in there, because he is.  And the hint of “alien” at the end would explain his general on-ice appearance.  I figure it’s a mish-mash word, like Butt-f****ing-ugly-alien or something.  I sports hate him.

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Don’t you get the impression that Toews reputation for being Serious Steve makes the Blackhawks that much more of a legitimate playoff threat?  He can keep 20-Cent and The Butt-fugly One focused on the right goal, you know?

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Do the Kings have the most underrated jerseys in the league?  Those whites are sick.  Other than the original six (we all get it, they rule), who has the leagues most underrated jersey in your opinion?  All votes for the Panthers will earn you permanent site dismissal.

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And last, I’d like to thank Handsy Kopitar for snapping his 214 game goal-less drought last night.  He morphed into a crappy fantasy pick-up faster than Kirstie Alley circa Cheers.

(Thanks to Jeff from Illinois for helping keep the blog in business with a donation.  Happy Thursday, all!)

Top Ten Canadians in the Game

 

NHL.com lists the ten best Canadians in the game today (in order) as:

1. Sidney Crosby   2. Martin Brodeur  3.  Jarome Iginla   4.  Marc-Andre Fleury   5. Chris Pronger   6. Ryan Getzlaf   7.  Rick Nash   8. Roberto Luongo   9. Joe Thornton   10. Vincent Lecavalier

Though not ridiculous, it’s a tad nostalgic.  Chris Pronger is the fifth best Canadian hockey player alive today?  Don’t take the following as not liking any of the above guys, I just thought I’d mix in my own thoughts, and hear some of yours (okay, you can take it as me not liking Pronger).

{First, I’m finally impressed with a US hockey team, which makes me a tad nervous for Canada.  It was a hassle when every country in Europe starting getting really good (go back to producing bums with eight “i’s” in their name, Finland), but now the US?  That’s annoying.

Names like Parise, Stastny, Kane, Kessel, Kessler, Ryan and Booth point to a pretty strong future.  Young, fast and a talented — all of ‘em.}

But back to our Canadian top ten.

1. Sidney is a given.

But I just can’t give Martin Brodeur the title of #2.  This is always a tough point to make, because folks can drag up stats (career GAA of amazing-point-five, save percentage is ninetywhatever-point-awesome), but come on.  I could drag up Bobby Orr’s amazing numbers too, but you wouldn’t want him (the 61 year old him) starting at defense in 2010, would you?  Brodeur’s great, but on the downslope of his career (and never exactly been known for his fitness).

Marty has become a staple of Canadian big game hockey and I love him to death for that.  But, Canada should probably move on.  Cam Ward didn’t crack the NHL.com top ten, but wouldn’t you like to see him wearing a Team Canada jersey at the Olympics?  It’s not like Carolina’s teams have been stacked, but he’s made them successful – this guy is a big game goalie too.

Our best Canadian goalies today are Luongo (what goalie would have won a cup backstopping the teams he has?  Don’t give me that argument), Cam Ward, and Marc-Andre Fleury (who I’ve always liked, despite the fact that everyone in Canada hated the disappointment he “was” before June of this year).

One – that’s right, ONE – defenseman made that list, and it was Pronger.  More than taking away from Chris, who admittedly is still in the upper echelon of defenseman (hanging on… losing… grip… must… hang on), I have to give credit to two other guys, Mike Green of Washington, and Shea Weber of Nashville.

I got more texts from hockey-playing friends watching NHL playoff games last year about Mike Green than anyone else.  He does some amazingly nifty little things that make a big difference.  To be a scorer in the NHL today is tough to do, but this guys’ stat-line from last year as a defenseman was 31 goals, 42 assists for 73 points… in 68 games.

Oh, and he’s 24.  His defensive game has gotten better every year, and will continue to.

As ridiculous as it seems now, I was Shea Weber’s instructor at Dave Roy’s “Edge of Excellence” hockey school.  I was 18, and Shea was 15.  He was probably bigger than me by three inches then and just under twice as fast.  I made a huge difference in his life. 

“Yep, you’re doing it right.  Yep.  That was good.  Uh-huh.”

At this point, he’s not even freaking human.  Punishingly physical, with a booming slapper and great foot speed, I bet there’s a lot of GM’s who’d take him over Green.  He’s Pronger 2.1 – the next edition.  Toting less lumbering largeness (a mere 6’3″ 210), he carries his size more like Duncan Keith than a Todd Bertuzzi, and is frighteningly better every time I see him play.

Oh, and he’s 24.

I think a list of our top ten Canadian players today needs to pay closer attention to the way the game is being played now.  Vinnie Lecavalier is a great player, and plenty physical to boot.  But remember how it looked when the international teams were bombing around and we were trying to Eric Lindros/Keith Primeau them into the ground?  We couldn’t catch them.

Vinnie isn’t that big slug type of player; I just think the new type of goal scorer is more evasive than invasive.  Doesn’t Jonathan Toews strike you as a more effective guy in today’s game?  The guys scored 34 times as a 21 year old captain last year.  He’s following in Lecavaliers footsteps as the young captain, but is already trouncing the numbers Vinnie put up at that age.

So without further ado… My list:

1. Sidney Crosby

2. Ryan Getzlaf

3. Jarome Iginla

4. Roberto Luongo

5. Rick Nash

6. Mike Green

7. Jonathan Toews

8. Joe Thornton

9. Shea Weber

10. Cam Ward

I’d put those guys out against any country, any day.  (Wait, except Russia.  Not sure what they’re doing over there, but it’s starting to resemble cheating).

NHL Playoffs – April 16th

 

(4) Chicago vs. (5) Calgary

Game one between these teams was more pivotal than any other series, easily (honorable mention to Canucks/Blues).  I mean pivotal like Peter’s decision to go to the hypnotherapist in Office Space.

The Flames, a team on the decline, badly needed that to right the ship.  Nothing like being up 2-1 with five minutes left and choking to blow a major hole in the hull.

The Hawks, a young team, needed that too.  As a player, when you get off to a good start, it’s just so much easier to keep the ball rolling than it is to start it up.  Dangly guys like Havlat and Toews don’t have to second guess themselves now; if they fall down a few games in this series, they start thinking “boy, I guess I need to change the way I ____”.  This little bit of confidence was huge for them.

And by the way, does Olli Jokinen drink like, 80 cups of coffee prior to everything he’s ever done ever?  He looks shocked every time I’ve ever seen him.  Maybe he’s still in awe that an NHL team committed over 20 million to an 11 year NHL vet with zero games playoff experience.

(2) Detroit vs. Columbus

Hey, I can’t watch ‘em all.

Despite my fellow contributors article on The Hockey News site about Columbus being perfectly tooled for an upset, let me respectfully say this:  The foregone conclusion that is this series started as planned, 4-1 Wings.  Babcock is the best coach in the NHL.

(1) San Jose vs. (8) Anaheim

Interesting… very interesting.

I’m wondering, if the Sharks were to manage to puke in another three games like they did tonight (and they did puke… 137 goals at home this year, and not one on a goalie who’s name I’d literally have to google to print here), is it possible for an organization to get a complex?

I mean really, with the point totals they’ve had in past years (90+ five straight years, 100+ in four of those) and their struggles in playoffs, wouldn’t it be impossible to enjoy next season as a fan of theirs?  Every game they won, their entire fan base and every sports pundit would be going, “well sure, but… ”

(1) Bruins vs. (8) Montreal

Since this game went exactly how it would have played out had we let a Playstation run a “what-to-expect” simulation, let me use it as a forum to discuss this:

How. Goddamn. Hard.  Are guys shooting the puck now?  Kovalev shot a puck that Al MacInnis watched from home and went “whoa”.  Then Chara decided to swing his stick that was probably ordered triple-stiff but flexes like an intermediate shaft because it’s eight feet long, and shot a puck so hard a modern day goalie thought “I’m not sure if I’m wearing enough gear to justify standing in front of that”.

Even Getzlaf in the Anaheim game drove the nail in the Sharks coffin with a snapshot from the top of the circles that came out of the net quicker than a roadrunner on blow.  Goalies must love that we keep making their gear smaller, which, by the way, I’m in favour of.  But I’ll save that rant for another soapbox.  Guess I’ll need something to write about in the off-season.