Bad Boys, Bad Boys 2013 edition

A new season has arrived (finally) and no doubt a new set of case files will start to arrive for the review of the NHL's Chief Justice Brendan Shanahan, who will pick up where he left off when last the NHL had physical contact

Shanahan, who also carries the more formal title of NHL Senior Vice President of Player Safety, will once again make much use of video to outline how the infraction under study and to showcase how the infraction has violated NHL rules.

The visual review was one of the much appreciated changes to the justice process in the NHL, the new more transparent mode of advising fans as to the crime and the punishment actually seems to put the NHL ahead of other leagues in communicating with their fans.

Through this shortened season we will follow his efforts, watching with interest how he works to keep NHL players on the straight and narrow road. Our listings can be found below, outlining those that have been summoned to the tribunal.

Offenders may now approach the bench, the court is now in session, Chief Justice Shanahan presiding:

Cases up to date as of April 8, 2013


March 30-- Tampa Bay-- Nate Thompson-- Suspended for 2 games (details) (video)

March 22-- Vancouver -- Alexander Edler-- Suspended for 2 games (details) (video)

March 21-- Toronto -- Joffrey Lupul -- Suspended for 2 games (details) (video)

March 20--  Florida -- Eric Selleck-- Suspended for 1 game (details) (video)

March 13-- Anaheim -- Corey Perry -- Suspended for 4 games (details) (video)

March 8-- NY Islanders -- Brent Thompson -- Suspended for 2 games (details)
(Thompson is the Islanders Assistant Coach)

March 4-- Buffalo-- Patrick Kaleta -- Suspended for five games (details) (video)

March 3-- Philadelphia -- Harry Zolnierczyk -- Suspended for four games (details) (video)

February 25-- San Jose-- Ryane Clowe -- Suspended for two games (details) (video)

February 22-- Edmonton-- Taylor Hall-- Suspended for two games (details) (video)

February 20-- Vancouver-- Jannik Hansen-- Suspended for one game (details) (video)

February 2-- Washington -- John Erskine -- Supsended for three games (details) (video)

January 30 -- NY Islanders -- Colin McDonald -- Suspended for two games (details) (video)

January 23 -- Philadelphia -- Brayden Schenn  -- Suspended for one game (details) (video)




Regular Season suspension tally by team

Anaheim-- 1 suspension (4 games)
Boston-- 
Buffalo--  1 suspension (5 games)
Calgary -- 

Carolina -- 
Chicago--  
Colorado-- 
Columbus -
Dallas-- 
Detroit -- 
Edmonton - 1 suspension (2 games)
Florida--  1 suspension (1 game)
Los Angeles-- 
Montreal--
Minnesota --  
Nashville-- 
New Jersey--
New York Rangers -- 
New York Islanders- 2 Suspensions (2 games) (2 games Asst coach)
Ottawa--
Philadelphia  -- 2 Suspensions (5 Games)
Phoenix-- 
Pittsburgh --  
San Jose-- 1 suspension (2 Games)
St. Louis -- 
Tampa Bay-- 1 Supsension (2 Games)
Toronto -- 1 Suspension (2 games)
Vancouver -- 2 Suspension (3 games)
Washington-- 1 Suspension (3 games)
Winnipeg-- 



Total regular season games suspended in 2012-13 (33)

Cash out of pocket  (Fines but no suspensions)


San Jose-- Marc-Edouard Vlasic $8,378.38 (April 4)
Los Angeles-- Jordan Nolan $1,436.94 (March 24)
Dallas-- Jamie Benn $10,000 (March 2)
Nashville-- Rich Clune $1,452.70 (February 20)
Minnesota-- Devon Setoguchi $8,108.11 (February 19)
Calgary-- Mark Giordano $10,000 (February 19)
Columbus-- Brandon Dubinsky $10,000 (February 6)


Notes: Other Notes of interest from the Department of Player Safety

February 28-- Player Safety video examines kneeing incidents
February 27-- Player Safety video examines tripping/slew footing
February 25-- Player Safety video examines goalie interference
February 22-- 'Evolution of a Suspension' video explains process

He's back!!!

For those that sit on every word of Donald S Cherry, this is going to be a very, very enjoyable opening night come Saturday.

For those that recoil in horror with every mangled syllable, ear plugs perhaps are your best bet.

Donald S, will double shift on Saturday nights.

The CBC announced that the King of the Coach's Corner throne will work double duty on opening night, holding court in his usual spot in the first intermission of the early game featuring the Leafs and Habs and then making a return engagement in the same place in the second game of the evening's fare when Anaheim plays in Vancouver (we are going out on a limb here to suggest he won't be involved in the Ottawa at Winnipeg afternoon opener)

Whether you love him, or you're on the other side of the emotional scale there, one thing is certain, controversial or not, he's a money magnet for the CBC, which normally sees spikes in their broadcasts whenever Mr. Cherry steps up to the pulpit.

Perhaps, having missed half a season, the CBC is seeking to get full value for their salary envelope and is hoping that the option of Cherry testing the producers nerves twice a night, might provide for even more viewers (and with it we assume more revenue).

CBC-- Don Cherry has his pulpit back
Toronto Star-- Don Cherry to get more time on Hockey Night in Canada
Globe and Mail-- CBC's plan to win back hockey fans - more Don Cherry, social media

Pucks Drop and TV screens come to life January 19

While hockey fans may still be a tad annoyed that they were held hostage for four months or so, we imagine for the majority the resumption of the NHL day to day will be a welcome thing come Saturday.

And for those fans who frequently are heard to say that the regular season of the NHL is too damn long anyways, 2013 may offer up the tempting concept of a short jog for the lengthy playoff runs.

Training camps, such as they are, have opened, the GM's (those that kept their jobs anyways) are busy looking to fill voids, weighing options, calculating cap space and scouting out roster wire  movements to see what may fit where.

There may yet be a mad dash of player moves heading into Saturday's puck drop, with more than fair amount of drama and discussion to come as to which team comes out of the lockout in the best position to capture Lord Stanley's Cup.

With hockey back on the ice as of Saturday, television networks are busy handing out their broadcast assignments, sending play by play, colour and technical personnel to the far reaches of Gary Bettman's fiefdom, eager to share word of this game of hockey upon its return.

Canada's usual Saturday night appointment kicks off with a triple header, as Hockey Night in Canada launches season number 60, no doubt in the nick of time for the accountants at the CBC who probably had a scorched earth financial forecast prepared had the madness continued much longer.

TSN as well is ready to roll, with hockey on tap to carry the network through the late winter and into the spring and God help us, maybe towards the summer solstice as well..

Sportsnet will not be left outside in a snowbank, their regional schedule offers up no shortage of hockey to follow for fans of all of Canada's NHL teams.

And much to relief of Gary Bettman, the NHLonNBC and the NBC Sportsnetwork will finally get to highlight their comprehensive hockey package.

Having been denied the showcase of the Winter Classic and the All Star Game this season, they will no doubt be hoping for some great rivalry games to help fill in the gaps between episodes of Poker after dark, The Dakar Rally and American Outdoors and all those other programs that fill the broadcast day.

The full NHL schedule can be found from the NHL website here.

Folow your favourite team from here.

The network offerings can be found below:

CBC's Hockey Night in Canada

NHL on TSN
NHL en RDS

Sportsnet

Canucks
Flames
Maple Leafs
Senators

NBC Sportsnet and NHL on NBC

NHL Network Canada

NHL Network USA

12 Angry Men

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The weekend brought hockey fans one step closer to the rink and the start of the 2013 NHL season, but not before a little bit of housekeeping between the NHL and the NHLPA.

Before anyone took a physical or sat in for a team meeting, the NHLPA conducted its vote on the contract agreement put together by Don Fehr and Gary Bettman and the stable of lawyers involved in the latest labour disruption to the game.

While the NHL ownership group signed off on the deal on January 9th, the NHLPA membership took a more leisurely look at the paperwork before weighing in with an opinion on it.

Over the course of Friday and Saturday NHLPA members took part in an electronic vote, registering their approval or dissent at the proposal provided to them by their executive.

As the results were released, the vote totals provided for an interested tally, 98.2 percent of the players  voted said yes, 12 however remained steadfast and voted NAY.

No word on who the 12 Angry men might have been,  though we're pretty sure hockey fans probably can pick out one or two players over the last four months of discussions and anger festered as the negotiations to the many twists and turns to ratification day.

One thing seems certain, NHL observers will be watching with interest as to who does and doesn't find an invitation to an NHL roster spot and let the imagination roam from there.

Still, despite the dissent of the dozen, the majority carried the day by a wide margin, setting in motion abbreviated training camps, what could be an amazing trade and free agent scramble and most importantly of all, the much anticipated resumption of the schedule to come on January 19.


The Hockey News-- Lockout Over: NHL, player's association finalize memorandum of understanding
Calgary Herald-- NHLPA ratifies new CBA
CBC-- NHL, players' association officially end lockout
Sportsnet-- NHL Players Agree to Ratify New CBA
Bloomberg-- NHL Players Approve Agreement as Hockey season set to start

Brian Burke's day timer opens up

It wasn't quite on the scale of historical importance of  MacCarthur's I shall return speech, though there was a vow of sorts that he "would return", all be it not to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

But for the hockey world, Saturday afternoon brought to the Leaf Nation, Brian Burke's farewell address.

And as might be expected there was a lot of material to work with.
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It was an event broadcast live on Sportsnet One and a press conference that seemed to offer up the "A" list of Canada's hockey journalists and hockey broadcasters as key observers and participants.

For those hoping for the full bluster of Burke, he didn't disappoint.

In an opening statement and follow up wander down memory lane, he was at times funny,  sometimes snarky, cryptic and yes, honest as well. Sometimes all of them in the same sentence, in short, it was vintage Burke as we've come to expect from the Irishman with the gift of gab.

He expressed shock and said he was stunned at his dismissal from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Over the course of the mid day session he didn't duck many of the questions, deflected a few with the ever popular "you would have to ask them" and for the most part took ownership on the main point of any firing, public or private, that success dictates your longevity and in Toronto a lack of success seemed to be the main theme of his dismissal.

In the course of his press conference which ran about twenty five minutes or so, he reviewed the events of Wednesday, directed a few glances towards the upper offices of the new owners of the Leafs, a direct shot or two at the media, in particular Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun who we gather he doesn't particularly like and as always, never seemed to surrender any ground.

He made a point of thanking Larry Tannenbaum, which suggests that the minority opinion on the Maple Leaf Board wasn't to fire him, though Burke was cautious enough not to mention any further personal insight into his relationship with the executive offices of the MLSE empire.

He offered up the thought that he wished that the deed had been done prior to his departure to Russia over the holidays for the World Juniors, not so much we imagine that it was a trip that offered up less than enjoyable hospitality from the Russians, but rather that it seems to have accounted for a cold, which probably has added to his misery of the last few days.

The outgoing theme of his departure from the MLSE spotlight being that he wasn't going to change his way of conducting his business, though perhaps he might like to work for a company "that doesn't get sold while he's in charge". 

A scenario that has provided for unemployment twice in recent times for Burke, first in Vancouver and now in Toronto.

As for his immediate plans, his title is special assistant to the Board, the same board that for the most part decided that they didn't want him around anymore and which apparently changed the dynamic of the position after the firing of Wednesday.

So, much as he said he loathes collecting a cheque and doing nothing; for the short term, one imagines that would seem to be his fate.

Or as his daytimer might suggest:

1.     Arrive at work, open the doors,  turn on lights, sweep the entrance way
2.     Water the plants
3.     Adjust the shades on office window
4.     Make coffee, wait,  no that should be number one
5.     Cancel cel phones with Bell and Rogers
6.     Cancel cable subscrpition, open up Shaw Direct account
7.     Open up Koodo account
8.     Read up on cel phone etiquette, review section on when to turn phone off (ha, I was right)
8.     Cancel Toronto Sun subscription
9.     Phone Toronto Sun, ask for Steve Simmons, hang up
10.   Call Gary Bettman, see how things are going in the NHL these days
11.   Open door to office, see if anyone has any photo copying to do
12.   Try and arrange lunch date with...
13.   Adjust shades on office windows to account for sunlight
13.   Learn how to hook up electronic equipment on own
14.   See if anyone wants to talk hockey at coffee break
15.   Close shades on office window
16.   Get early start on the rush hour traffic on the Don Valley Parkway

And well, that's pretty well the day, repeat and rinse (minus the cancellation phase).

Though, as the Irish like to say, "truth be told" we suspect that Brian won't have to hang around the office for long.

Either MLSE starts mailing his cheques to the homestead, or considering the state of many NHL teams these days, he finds himself a new GM's offering, and we suspect that will be sooner rather than later.

Like any fine theatrical presentation, and with only the top line of reviewers in attendance the recap of  Burke's farewell have been most instructive.

Toronto Star-- Maple Leaf's new ownership gives knife in Brian Burke's back another twist
Toronto Star-- Brian Burke on Maple Leafs firing: "Like getting a two-by-four upside your heard"
Toronto Star-- Fired Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke wants a job "tomorrow"
Toronto Sun-- Brian Burke press conference recap
Toronto Sun-- Brian Burke dismissal shrouded in mystery
Toronto Sun-- Hopefully, Burke firing was for the right reasons
Globe and Mail-- Questions remain as bombastic Burke exits Toronto stage
National Post-- Brian Burke tells us how he really feels about Maple Leafs firing
National Post-- Brian Burke admits his 'brand' probably played a part in Maple Leafs firing 
CBC-- Former Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke "stunned" by firing
CBC-- Even Peter Puck felt Brian Burke's brusqueness
Sportsnet-- Belligerent to the end
TSN-- Burke points to lack of success for early dismissal

Mr. Bell, in the boardroom; with a hatchet?

We're not particularly big on conspiracy theories, but the timing of the announcement from MLSE that Brian Burke was going to be pushed aside, for his own protege as it turned, got us to thinking and looking at time lines, personal connections and maybe a grudge or two for good measure.

The Breaking News out of Toronto on Wednesday, left this Gary Bettman Welcome back to Hockey mea culpa I'm sorry, oh so sorry, address, more or less the kind of stuff that ends up on the cutting room floor of television stations everywhere (well back in the day where actual cutting took place we guess, now it's more a case of delete, delete, delete).

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Anyways, while the Commish was busy thanking the fans for their patience and all the assorted participants in our last four months of angst (we particularly found amusing the term "those players that made it clear that they would rather be on the ice rather than negotiating...") most of the media up in Canada (not to mention the world of twitter which just plain blew up for a few hours) where the game actually for some reason still resonates with a sport loving public, were already past his speech, instead weighing in on the latest of theatre from the PT Barnum of hockey clubs, the Maple Leafs.

Now, we're not privy to how the negotiations went over the course of the last four months, but the owners of a cashbox such as MLSE surely were none too happy that at the end of the day, they were out some four months of box office receipts, television revenue and oh yeah fan goodwill and all of that.

Not to mention that perhaps the new era of NHL hockey once again will see the successful end up subsidizing the weak, incompetent and/or Phoenix.

When you look at the other sports leagues around there, your baseball, basketball and that Holy Grail of all that is successful the NFL, you rarely if ever have the member clubs usurping the Commissioners moments of sunshine moments.

Not so the NHL, where revenge is best served as soon as you can find a microphone it seems.

So, maybe the timing was just a little bit of payback to Gary Bettman, knowing that he's friends with Brian Burke, (who of course spent a fair bit of his time as Director of Justice for the league) and perhaps is indicative that not all of the team players in the boardroom at NHL central are particularly impressed with Le Chef...

Every Hockey Fan's Dream, a Chance to be GM

Just in time for all of those arm chair General Managers is word that soon on your television will come the opportunity to run your very own Imaginary team, which would put you just about on par with what's been happening over at MLSE these days, but we digress.

Canada's Broadcast regulator the CRTC has given approval to Leonard Asper's Fight Media to operate a fantasy sports TV Specialty channel,  tentatively to be called The League (unless we imagine the folks over at FX have some thoughts on that).

Asper the son of the late Canadian Television pioneer Izzy Asper, has hopes of getting his project on the air by early summer (disappointing news no doubt for Leaf fans who probably would like to see how they stack up with Dave Nonis right out of the gate) pending negotiations with Canada's cable and satellite television providers.

He would like to see his new offering aspire to be the "CNN" of fantasy sports, which considering the lambasting that CNN is taking of late for its performance, perhaps wasn't the best choice for comparison.

The definition of the League would still seem to be in the development phase at the moment, but the use of social media appears to be a key component to whatever shape the channel will take.

The channel will have call in shows and talk shows designed to provide advice for those that take part in the growing fascination with Fantasy sports leagues, and on that theme, Asper may be on to something.

As any regular listener to current radio and television sports shows knows, one of the favourite past times of participants seems to be the floating up of some trading scenario, which normally features the likes of Sidney Crosby, Kobe Bryant or Peyton Manning getting traded to some other team, normally for a sack of pucks, trolley of basketballs or collection of footballs and chin straps.

Or as Asper put it to Metro News:

"Clearly, there are a lot of people who played sports and didn’t quite make the big leagues and want to be the general manager now,”

Not to mention owners of professional sports franchises!

No doubt MLSE will be the first one up on the subscription list.

After all, you just never know when you may have to make a change!

Ottawa Citizen-- New channel will cater to fantasy sports fans
Mediacaster-- Asper's Fantasy Sports Specialty Channel Approved by CRTC 

Get the Irishman!

There's a scene in the movie The Untouchables, when Al Capone takes a baseball bat to the head of an unsuspecting compadre, a pivotal event in the movie that leaves many sitting around the board room table sitting in stunned silence.

Perhaps this clip will best explain the power of the Big Boss, making sure the message gets across... (little children and the sensitive should NOT click on the little red square with the arrow below)

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Kind of a similar event (metaphorically speaking of course) took place in Toronto today in a little gathering of the gang at MLSE.

 By now you know who took the bat to the head.

And while there has been no confirmation, we're pretty sure that WE might have an idea which Board member played the role of Alphonse.

(Collective belief is that a few of the Board Members were inclined to remove the presence of Burke around the MLSE bunkers, eventually as we found out today, reaching a majority opinion)

And if you're looking for the guy sitting in an uncomfortable silence, look no further than Dave Nonis, who went to work as Brian Burke's right hand man and before the noon hour had arrived, found himself Boss of all sub bosses...
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Welcome Leaf fans to the return of the Ghost of Harold Ballard, where decisions are made that don't seem to make much rhyme, nor reason. Decisions that leave you either shaking your head in wonderment, or for those that don't live in Toronto, or support the Leafs, leave you laughing maniacally, much like Al did in one of those anger management moments.

The dismissal of Brian Burke today by the Maple Leafs was about as bizarre an event as one could conjure up (well, then again these are the Leafs and well there are standards of bizarro that they frequently do seem to test), not so much that the deed was done, but by the timing of it all.

With a shiny new (if somewhat delayed season of dysfunction set to get underway, all be it four months late) the concept that the Leafs made a decision to change their leadership as the team heads into a truncated training camp is baffling at best, astounding to most that follow hockey.

But a reminder, this is MLSE, where the motto on the door, surely is "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet".

It would seem that some of that much cherished truculence that Burke often mentioned about his hockey team, rubbed some of the Board the wrong way when provided by Burke himself, his brusque demeanour and apparently salty language gaining him a reprimand last fall.

Shocking we know, but it would seem that in Leaf land, bad words and a flash of Irish temper is not a welcome thing where civilized men conduct business.

On the record of Brian Burke's resume in Toronto a good case for change could be made, playoffs are but a rumour to the faithful of the Blue and White, they've gone through no shortage of "Goaltenders of tomorrow" each one losing confidence quicker than the last.

Burke heard the season ticket base rise up in rebellion at his tardiness in discarding head coach Ron Wilson, the chants of Fire Wilson probably still rattling around those rafters at the Air Canada Centre.

There's been the handling of Nazem Kadri (and all that TV studio advice from a guy named Don) and any number of other troubles that dotted his time as the Grand Poobah of all things Maple Leaf.

Still, in a season where surely no one expects much of anything except for a mad dash for playoff positioning til April, dispensing with the architect of the team that will move forward into the abyss seems a tad strange.

Especially, when as has been pointed out by more than a few observers, the bulk of the crew remaining behind, were hand picked by the guy you just whacked with the baseball bat.

Surely, if he were to be taken out, it should have been either at the end of the last season or when the lockout started, allowing his replacement, in this case Dave Nonis, a bit more lead time to plan that always promised Stanley Cup parade down Yonge Street.

The Leafs always seem to find ways to grab the spotlight, they at times appear to be like a kid that craves attention, in this case, grabbing as much of the spotlight of the return of hockey as they could, in as short a period of time as possible.

It will be interesting to see how Dave Nonis takes charge of the rather strange situation delivered to him  by the MLSE Board on Wednesday, though judging by how his predecessor was taken out, sitting with your back to the wall may be the best strategy for Nonis.

Some of the more informative and interesting of reviews of today's developments can be found below:

National Post-- Brian Burke firing about more than Leafs' on-ice struggles
National Post-- Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke fired: "There's no good time to do this"
Toronto Star-- Brian Burke fired: An era ends: Cox
Toronto Star-- Brian Burke fired: Leafs stunned by ouster of Toronto GM
Toronto Sun-- Leafs simply didn't want Burke as face of  franchise anymore
Globe and Mail-- Leafs' owners channel their inner Ballard with Burke firing
Globe and Mail-- The curtain finally falls on Burke's drama
CBC-- Brian Burke firing was personal
CBC-- Brian Burke clashed with new MLSE Board Members
Yahoo Sports-- Why Brian Burke had to go, and how his Toronto Maple Leaf Legacy can be saved
TSN-- Maple Leafs Replace Burke With Nonis As New GM
TSN-- Burke tenure with Leafs falls short of expectations
Sportsnet-- Why Now?!
Sportsnet-- MLSE Explanation needed
Sportsnet-- Luongo Affair Cost Burke His Job

And a little attention for Toronto please?

Well, we were going to slowly edge ourselves back into our hockey blogging with the arrival of the truncated regular season and all of that, but hey, who can let the latest from Leaf land pass by...

So without further ado, we have for you, exclusive video footage of the MLSE Board of Governors upon their arrival today at the fateful meeting that gave Brian Burke his walking papers.
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And then the deed was done!
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We shall of course weigh in with much more later on, but for now, really the pictures tell this particular story!

Features of the 2011-12 season

Our Archive of Items from the 2011-12 NHL Season.

Path to Stanley 2012
NHL Suspensions 2011-12
Attendance Watch 2011-12
The Trading Post 2011-12
Hired to Be Fired 2011-12
The Owners Box 2011-12
Entry Draft 2012

Kraft Hockeyville 2012
Winter Classic Philadelphia 2012
Spengler Cup 2011-12
World Junior Tournament (Alberta) 2011-12
Memorial Cup (Shawinigan) 2012
IIHF Championships (Helsinki-Stockholm) 2012
HockeyNation Headlines 2011-12

Gary and Don channel Bono

With apologies to all members of U2, they're legion of fans and lovers of music everywhere...

All is quiet on New Years Day
Gary and Don don't have much to say
They will be with us
Be with us Night and Day
Monday night, negotiations adjourned for the day
Now we just wait to see if they'll ever play, On New Years Day...


At any rate, sing along with your own interpretations if you will,  we all do seem to have some spare time on our hands... While you're at it, marvel at Bono's hair stylings from our period piece.

Now that's a near NHL style mullet if ever there were one!
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Below some of the reviews of Monday's New Years Eve negotiations and where perhaps they will lead us to in 2013.

Keep you change handy, we suspect that there's a few more tunes on the U2 jukebox to go before the current labour situation becomes a little clearer.

National Post-- League, union tight-lipped on details as talks re-enter the realm of actual negotiation
National Post-- League, union back at negotiating table after three week hiatus
National Post-- Players expected to make counter-offer during Monday meeting with league
National Post-- Don Cherry worried union will push league to brink in labour dispute
CBC-- NHL owners, players continue talks on New Year's Day
CBC-- NHL, Union break off talks for the day with no deal
CBC-- NHLPA set to make crucial next move
Canada.com-- Back on track as year closes: NHLPA files counter-proposal to NHL
Canada.com-- Are we there yet? NHL's useless trip
Toronto Star-- Reason for hope amid New Year's Eve hoopla
Toronto Star-- League mulls NHLPA counter-offer talks likely to resume Tuesday
Toronto Star-- Owners, players set to meet on eve of breakthrough or destruction
Toronto Star-- NHLPA files counter-proposal
New York Post-- Times' come for No Honor League
New York Daily News-- NHL players' union makes counterproposal to NHL on New Year's Eve, league plans to respond on New Year's Day
The Hockey News-- Long day ahead as NHL and union make plans for full day of labour talks in search of deal

Bounce back day at the Spengler for Team Canada

They may have been disappointed at how the Spengler Cup tournament got under way, an unexpected  overtime loss to Mannheim, but game number two was a much more positive experience for the Canadians.

Team Canada routed the defending Spengler Champs HC Davos by a score of 5-0, a dominating performance that saw the Canadians in control of all facets of the game from the opening face off.

With single goals from John Tavares, Ryan Smith and Jason Williams, as well as a pair of markers from Byron Ritchie

The only thing in question by the time period three started up was whether Canadian goaltender Devan Dubnyk would claim the shutout on behalf of Canada.

Canada has the day off on Friday, no doubt cheering for the Davos squad to top Mannheim, which would move Canada to the top of their pool and put them in a fine position heading towards New Years Eve and the Championship game.

The Spengler Cup this year is showing some fine flashes of the kind of hockey that North Americans have missed out on since the NHL lockout, the players in effect having joined the witness protection program of professional hockey, as they play out the lockout with European clubs.

Still, for the short burst of the holidays, North Americans will once again hear the names of Thornton, Spezza, Pominville, Tavares and a host of others, a familiar theme from the thirty member teams of the NHL. Now exiles to a fashion, playing their game for Davos, Ufa, Mannheim and others club teams stretched across the European continent.

When New Year's Eve comes and goes, TSN's helpful broadcast journeyman Paul Romanuk might want to pitch the idea of a game of the week to some of the North American networks looking for some  hockey to fill in the scheduling gaps of a long, long NHL lockout.

Should the NHL pull the plug on hockey for 2012-13 in mid January, maybe a certain Hockey Night institution might want to pick up that particular torch, giving Donald Cherry and his sidekick Ron MacLean even more opportunity to weigh in on some of that fancy skating and such from the continent once a week.

Before that might happen however, there is still the matter of determining a champion for Spengler 2012, the Canadians did themselves a huge favour with such an impressive showing on Thursday, keeping up the pressure and finding that chemistry will be the key to making it through til New Years Eve.

Some of the reviews of the shutout of Davos can be found below

CBC-- Canada rebounds against defending Spengler Champs
CBC-- Unheralded Canadians getting job done at Spengler Cup
Sportsnet- Canada responds at Spengler, beats HC Davos

Gary Bettman's keys to NHL financial success

As they used to say on the A Team, you have to love it when a plan comes together...



When and if, or is that if and When? The NHL lockout ever comes to an end, we suspect that there will be an instant book out on the market, destined for the financial section of your local bookstore, e reader or for the old timers out there, the library...

Gary Bettman's keys to financial success...

Chapter One

Don't play a game

Chapter Two

Don't pay your taxes

Other Chapters to come... With a forward no doubt from Gordon Gekko

World Junior Notes 2012

Team Canada seeks to return to Gold Medal status at the 2012-13 World Junior Championships, looking to return the favour to the Russian hosts for their claiming of the title last year.

The path however will be a tough one, along with the obvious time change requirements that brought Canada to Ufa, the competition seems to get tougher and tougher as the tournament grows in stature.

One team looking to block Team Canada's way to gold will be the USA squad, which always relishes the opportunity to send notice to the Canadians that they aren't the only ones from this side of the pond that can play the game.

Full background on Team Canada and the World Junior Tournament can be found from the following web hosts...

National Post
Globe and Mail
Toronto Star
Sun Newspapers
Canada.com
CBC.ca
Hockey Canada
TSN


We'll update the scores and standings in the tournament, as well as offer up some notes from the tournament below.  Following both Team Canada and Team USA as they work their way through the preliminary games and perhaps for one or the other (maybe both), on to the Gold Medal game.

December 30

Canada 2 - USA 1

Goaltenders steal show in Canada's win over U. S. at world juniors
Subban rides to the rescue for the Canadian Junior Team
Malcolm Subban earns cape as hero for Canadians
Canada beats USA 2-1 at world junior championships

December 28 

Team Canada 6 - Slovakia 3

Canada comes back to beat Slovakia in penalty-marred affair at world juniors
Canada rallies to 6-3 win over Slovakia after slow start
Canadian juniors beat Slovakia after early wake up call
J. C. Lipon faces suspension for short-handed Canadians

Russia 2 - Team USA 1

Russia goalie Andrei Makarov stifles United States at world juniors
Russia downs Team USA 2-1
USA loses to Russia at wold juniors hockey

December 27

USA 8 - Germany 0

Team USA hammers Germany 8-0
Montreal Canadiens hopeful Alex Galchenyuk scores in Team USA debut
Galchenyuk, Barber lead USA to rout of Germany at WJHC

December 26

Team Canada 9 - Germany 3

Nugent-Hopkins powers Canada past Germany at World Juniors
Ryan-Nugent Hopkins enjoys impressive world junior debut
Nugent-Hopkins makes a statement in Canada's 9-3 win over Germany
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins' five points leads Canada to rout of Germany in world junior opener

Spengler Cup Notes 2012

An archive of notes from the short blast of high temp hockey known as the Spengler Cup. We'll provide some of the items of note we come across as the tournament works its way towards the New Years Eve finale.

Scores, schedules and such can be found on our main Spengler page, the day by day reviews of the Spengler action can be found below.



December 27

HockeyNation-- Bounce back day at the Spengler for Team Canada
CBC-- Canada rebounds against defending Spengler Champs
TSN-- Shedden on Familiar Ground at Spengler Cup

December 26

Toronto Star-- Adler Mannheim stuns Canada 2-1 in opener
National Post-- Jason Pominville sinks talent-laden Canada in Spengler Cup opener
National Post-- Canada's Spengler Cup team forced to find quick chemistry ahead of tournament opener
TSN-- Spengler Cup tradition moved to Christmas Day

December 25

The Score-- If you're really missing NHL hockey, you'll want to watch the Spengler Cup
CBC-- Canada must come together quickly for Spengler Cup success

December 7

CBC-- NHL Lockout impacts Canada's Spengler cup roster

Spengler Cup puck drops for 2012

Canadians will be able to see some professional hockey with familiar names this week as the Spengler Cup provides our Boxing to New Years Eve hockey fix.

Normally, the tournament is kind of like one of those old TV shows "whatever happened to..." as former NHLers, AHLers or past juniors and university hockey players ply their trade in the more relaxed atmosphere of European hockey. The tournament also has the added bonus of a pay cheque for Paul Romanuk, who once a year returns to the TSN screens, bringing us the play by play and background of the names that lead us all to go, ah that's where he is.

Not this year however, where many of the names on your TV set and called out by Romanuk will sound rather familiar

Europe has become the storage shed of NHL players this year, with many of the locked out players heading to points east, north, south and west across the continent, for some this week will make for  a bit of a reunion of the ex-pats as the Spengler tournament brings them all together in Davos, Switzerland.

Six teams are entered in the Spengler Cup, five club squads and one coalition of the Canadians playing for European based teams.

You can pick up some background on the tournament from the Hockey Canada website and from the Spengler Cup site itself.

We'll update the scoreboard below and offer up items of note from the Spengler as the tournament moves on.

Friday, December 28th

HC Fribourg-Totteron vs HC Vikovice Steel
Adler Mannheim vs HC Davos

Thursday, December 27th

Canada 5 vs HC Davos 0
HC Vitkovice Steel 4 vs Salavat Yulaev Ufa 5 (OT)


Wednesday, December 26th

HC Fribourg 5 - Salavat Yulaev Ufa 1
Canada 1 - Adler Mannheim 2 (OT)

Just remember Mr. Bettman, you're just borrowing the game

Nike hits the mark with a look at the impact of hockey on Canada, sure the pro game is gone til the New Year and well, the way these two sides are behaving most likely for longer, but the game, nah the game is fine.

The short ad which features a variety of players both pro and amateur, captures the essence of the game, far away from the professional palaces and the never ending bickering of the negotiating table.

We just need a place to pull on the skates, grab a Zamboni or two, shoot a puck (or reasonable facsimile there of) and away we go.

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Game On Canada, go find one to take in.

 You may find that you don't miss the battling bunch, as much as they seem to think we do.

In short, the take away message for the powers to be around the table is:  The fans, we're ok, you guys, well not so much!

The Juniors take the spotlight

Hockey starved fans will find some relief with the Christmas Holidays about to arrive, as the annual holiday ritual of the World Junior Hockey Tournament is once again upon us.

The World Junior has long been a mainstay on Canadian viewing schedules, though the early, early morning start times (4AM ET, 1 AM PT) will probably test the resolve of some, still the tournament has long been one of TSN's most popular programming options and one which regularly brings in huge viewership for the Sports network.

This year's festival of puck is coming from Russia, the tournament which in the last few years had set up residence returns to the other side of the ocean, it will be with interest that we watch the attendance figures, these trips to Europe in the past haven't had quite the same interest with fans as the Canadian hosted events.

The World Junior's for whatever reason seems to have been adopted by Canadians as one of the more important of hockey tournaments that there are, perhaps it's all those years of minor hockey tournaments that have Canadians conditioned such, regardless of the reasons if it wasn't for Canadian hockey fans we imagine the tournament would be the thing of sports network crawler alerts and little more.

The tournament gets underway on Boxing Day, the pre tournament games already underway as the North American teams try to get their skating legs up to speed before the real drama gets underway once the Christmas presents have been unwrapped.

Both Canada and the USA are in Group B, Canada opens up the tournament on Boxing Day with a match up with the German team, the USA won't see action until Thursday when they also draw the Germans to get things underway.

The full schedule for the tournament can be found here.
Standings for the tournament as it moves forward can be found here.

For more on International hockey you can check out the IIHF home page here, TSN's comprehensive page dedicated to the World Junior's can be found here.

We'll provide updates on all the tournament action from links below, as well as with a look at things from the Team Canada and Team USA perspectives as the tournament moves on towards  the January 5th Gold Medal Game.

Pre Competition Results

December 20 -- Canada 2, Finland 3
December 20-- USA 3, Sweden 2 (OT)
December 22-- Finland 5 vs USA 1
December 22-- Canada 2 vs Sweden 1 (OT)
December 23-- Czech Republic 7 vs Germany 2
December 23-- Russia 7 vs Switzerland 5

Preliminary Round

December 26-- Latvia 1 vs Finland 5
December 26-- Germany 3 vs Canada 9
December 26-- Czech Republic 1 vs Sweden 4
December 26-- Slovakia 2 vs Russia 3 (OT)
December 27-- Switzerland 7 vs Latvia 2
December 27-- USA 8 vs Germany 0
December 28-- Finland 1 vs Czech Republic 3
December 28-- Canada 6 vs Slovakia 3
December 28-- Sweden 3 vs Switzerland 2
December 28-- Russia 2 vs USA 1
December 29-- Latvia 1 vs Sweden 5
December 29-- Germany 0 vs Russia 7
December 30-- Finland 5 vs Switzerland 4
December 30-- Canada 2 vs USA 1
December 30-- Czech Republic 4 vs Latvia 2
December 30-- Slovakia 2 vs Germany 1
December 31-- Switzerland 3 vs Czech Republic 4 (OT)
December 31-- USA 9 vs Slovakia 3
December 31-- Sweden 7 vs Finland 4
December 31-- Russia 1 vs Canada 4

Quarter Finals

January 2-- Czech Republic 0 vs USA 7
January 2-- Russia 4 vs Switzerland 3 (Shoot Out)

Semi Finals

January 3-- Canada 1 vs USA 5
January 3-- Sweden 3 vs Russia 2 (Shoot Out)

5th Place Game

January 4-- Czech Republic 4 vs Switzerland 3

Bronze Medal Game

January 5-- Canada vs Russia

Final

January 5-- Sweden vs USA


Relegation Round

January 2-- Finland 8 vs Germany 0
January 3-- Slovakia 5 vs Latvia 3
January 4-- Germany 5 vs Latvia 2
January 5-- Finland vs Slovakia

So, do we have your attention yet?

And the surveys say...

Has the NHL and their fellow non-negotiators at the NHLPA finally crossed the line of fan loyalty?

A resounding yes would be the answer, if the results of a CBC commissioned online poll is to be divined.

A survey pool of around 7,102 respondents offered up their thoughts on ten questions, the results which provide proof that anger, disappointment and a growing sense of indifference to the product at hand may very well be the lasting result of this latest labour disruption from the game.

High on the list of wishes for hockey fans would apparently be that both Gary Bettman and Don Fehr just take a nice long walk into the sunset, never to be heard or seen again. 55 percent of the respondents said that both should step down once the lockout is brought to an end.

Perhaps that anger is responsible for perhaps the most worrying thing for a gate driven league, 78 percent said that they would NOT buy a ticket to an NHL game this season if play resumes, making for the prospect of vistas of empty seats should fans hold firm to their convictions

For those that will forgive the NHL and its players for the mess, the best way to court their return is to lower ticket prices, 58 per cent of those surveyed said that was the first thing the NHL should do upon the resumption of play, should that ever come to pass. 27 per cent feel that a public apology would be a nice gesture as well.

It's all moot at the moment anyways, with the two sides not even discussing anything and Christmas fast approaching, perhaps reflected in the belief that there will not be a season for 2012-13, 68 percent feel the season is lost, 21 per cent are hedging their bets with a maybe while 11 percent clearly believe in Santa Claus with all their heart.

You can review the full ten question survey here.

More extrapolation of the results can be found below.

CBC-- NHL lockout Survey

The lack of hockey is proving to be a gold mine for research companies with a plethora of surveys keeping puck heads busy in lieu of actual product to watch on the ice. And in each and every one of them offer up bad news for Mr. Bettman, Mr. Fehr and the game they seem determined to banish from our memories.

NRG Research Group and Peak Communications found that 58 per cent of those that responded to their survey just don't care if the NHL comes back or not. 25 percent believe that it's now too late to salvage the season.

Vancouver Province-- Hockey's heartland tells the NHL three words Gary Bettman never wanted to hear: 'We don't care'

And things get worse for the NHL when it comes to their brand, another survey, this one conducted by Level 5 marketing for the Globe and Mail shows that the NHL lockout is causing much damage to the brand.

The most startling of their findings is that passion for hockey from Canadians has now slipped to 33 percent, a dangerous drop in emotional attachment for a sport that once commanded over 50 percent of the nation's affections.

For the NHL that should be the final alarm bell that this Armageddon strategy is going to have some nasty repercussions, when you've lost your base, the one part of your geography where the game still (or used to resonate) dangerous times will be yours going forward.

Then again, as we've seen, what four times now? The interests of the fans and protection of the base of support for the game in Canada rarely, if ever, seem to be a discussion topic with the NHL or the NHLPA.

They say the neon lights are bright on broadway...

Should the NHL ever get around to playing that historical shinny thing again, we suspect that a new TV contract should be the first order of business.

After Thursday night's double bill of theatre, the NHL needs to tear up their TSN, CBC, Sportsnet and NBCSports deals, there really is only one place for such theatre to be that's PBS, for Thursday night gave us Drama and Comedy the likes of Masterpiece Theatre.

Hockey fans who might have found a glimmer of hope in Donald Fehr's stand up at the Westin (we're looking at you James Duthie) were brought back down to earth when Gary Bettman took to his own podium (twitter feed preparing an update as we speak) to deliver the downside of Fehr's upside, that being that Fehr apparently wasn't on the same page as the NHL.


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But before we got to Darth Vader, er, Gary delivering news of the attack on the rebels, there was the sideline humour of the NHLPA learning that all offers were off the table, by way of a message left on a phone.

To reply to this message press one, To save press two, To discard press three... To give up and find other work, press four...

Yes, after how many days of face to face discussions, the pivotal moment of the breakdown of negotiations was handled as though you or I were a) breaking off a dinner engagement or b) breaking off an actual engagement, depending on your tendency to cowardice we imagine.

Perhaps, the NHLPA couldn't be reached, hence the phone message, but really a simple "call us" might have been helpful, if for no other reason than to appear like adults and not teenagers dumping their once BFF.

At any rate, the drama continued on with Mr. Bettman growing in anger with each passing sentence, given to some serious snark whenever he gathers in a press conference, he was in full dudgeon by the time his full spleen venting was complete.
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The added bonus to all the dramaramarama being the arrival of a platoon of the NHLPA Praetorian guard, there to observe, occasionally scowl and cross their arms from time to time..

The post speech scrums provided some interesting sideshows as well, word that at one point owners we're trying to pull their players from meetings, suggesting that things might go better if only that snarly Mr. Fehr was to be sent away.

Players tweeting their anger over the now common forum of twitter, where everyone it seems defaults for their stream of consciousness thinking these days.

All in all, a bizarre spectacle that had all the appearances of a warm up to Armageddon Day.

Duelling press conferences, with conflicting opinions and nothing in the way of a blue print it seems to move forward.

The end takeaway from it all being that for the moment there will be nohockeyforus(tm), no discussions between union and management and a clock continues to talk to some magic moment when all discover that the best skating days on the pond have passed them by for the season.

Some of the reviews (enjoy them while they last the paywall craze is spreading) from Broadway have come in, both performance receiving a critics choice and a critics pan in equal doses.

National Post-- NHL labour negotiations come crashing down in blink of an eye
National Post-- League wastes no time in rejecting NHLPA's latest offer
Globe and Mail-- Are NHL PLayers ready to roll over?
Globe and Mail-- Latest breakdown reminiscent of 2004
Calgary Herald-- Hockey world dazed and confuses as sport remains stuck in a boardroom
Edmonton Journal-- Arrrgghh. I'm sick of the whole labour battle
Montreal Gazette-- NHL owners have to deal with Fehr
Montreal Gazette-- Ken Dryden weighs in on NHL lockout
Ottawa Citizen-- Lockout standoff continues to amaze
Ottawa Citizen--  NHL lockout talks break off, as league, players point fingers
Toronto Star-- Owners skating circles around players in labour fight: Kelly
Toronto Star-- It's getting 'surreal', says labour expert
Toronto Star-- Putting on a show rather than doing a deal: Cox
Toronto Sun-- As NHL lockout talks collapse, angry Gary Bettman questions integrity of NHLPA
Toronto Sun-- NHL determined to have meaningful season
Toronto Sun-- Season hangs in balance after NHL rejects offer
Toronto Sun-- Cherry tweets he's never seen Bettman so fired up
Winnipeg Free Press-- Time for players to cast ballots
Winnipeg Free Press-- Players not surprised
Vancouver Province-- All that hope now gone up in smoke
Vancouver Sun-- Seething step backward as deal disappears
Sportsnet-- 30 minutes of madness
Sportnset-- The NHLPA's Bady Boyfriend
Sportsnet-- NHL Carrying the Play
Sportsnet-- NHL, NHLPA Say Goodbye to Good Feelings
ESPN-- Labor talks bring high drama
TSN-- NHL, Rejects NHLPA's Offer, No Future Talks Planned
TSN-- The Bizarre Week of CBA Talks
TSN-- Crosby, Players show frustration with Breakdown in Talks
CBC-- Implosion in NHL talks leaves players with few options
CBC-- NHL, NHLPA down to final 40 days to save season
CBC-- Time for NHL, players to get real
CBC-- Don Cherry on Gary Bettman "I have never seen him so livid"
The Hockey News-- NHL, NHLPA negotiations break down in big way