“Goalgate” is the term being thrown around for the major screwup/conspiracy by FSN Pittsburgh. A producer has been suspended over this, but I’ve heard a couple people say that Gagne should get his goal. Not going to happen. From Rule 78.1 – Goals and Assists:
In case of an obvious error in awarding a goal or an assist that has been announced, it should be corrected promptly, but changes should not be made in the official scoring summary after the Referee has signed the game report (except by the League’s Chief Statistician).
While there is no way to affect the outcome of the game, does the league have the power to affect the Penguins for this?
Marek Svatos is being shopped by the Avs, according to Adrian Dater at the Post. Some other names I’d like to see go (but probably won’t): John-Michael Liles and David Koci.
Surprise! Peter Forsberg is hurt again. He may miss the Olympics, but how many of you were expecting him to play anyway? I will take this opportunity to once again call for Forsberg’s retirement.
If there is one argument I can make against the shootout, and I like the shootout, it would be Tuesday’s Rangers/Devils game. Martin Brodeur had 51 saves and Henrik Lundqvist stopped 45 shots. Both goalies earned a shutout, but Patrick Elias of the Devils scored during the fourth round of the shootout, giving New Jersey a “1″ on the scoreboard and cheapening Lundqvist’s performance a little bit. But it wasn’t a Real Goal®! This was the first game in many years that I wish had ended in a tie.
Redundant is an understatement when it comes to describing the ad blocks on the NHL Network. Instead of just sitting there, why not utilize this time between the actual programming to have some fun with your friends. I present to you…
Drinking is for Everyone! – The NHL Network Drinking Game
1. ASPCA or any other animal rescue ad – last person to bark like a dog has to drink.
2. Any repeat ad during the same program – DRINK
3. Any ad for a product with a $19.95 price tag – DRINK
4. “Hockey is for Everyone” ad – CHUG. When drink is finished, yell “Drinking is for Everyone!” just like Henrik Lundqvist.
These should be enough to keep you pretty busy, but I’d love to hear any additions you may have. Just drop them in the comments. Remember, if you’re going to drink, do so responsibly and don’t be stupid.
Every time the Avalanche don their new alternate sweater, we are all instantly reminded of blueberries. As delicious as blueberries are in muffins and pancakes, the nickname is not an endearing one. I am among many that make it no secret how much we hate these jerseys. Not only are they unimaginative, but the swaths of blue have earned the team a nickname that strikes giggles in the hearts of opponents more than any sort of fear.
Let’s look at the Avs’ current record when wearing the third jerseys:
12/22 – 4-2 L vs Ducks 12/15 – 6-1 L vs Capitals 12/11 – 2-1 SO W vs Lightning 11/25 – 4-3 OT L vs Predators 11/14 – 8-2 L vs Canucks
Yes, you can argue that the team did manage to squeak out a win against Tampa Bay, but I would like to point out that the Lightning are currently sitting at 24th in the league, while the Avs are in 6th.
This team’s roller coaster performance seems to be adversely affected by the blueberry sweater. The Avs have only scored 8 goals and have allowed 23 while wearing them. When wearing regular jerseys, the Avs are 102 compared to the 85 their opponents have scored.
I hope after these jerseys are worn the 12 times we were promised, they will disappear and we can all have a good laugh as we talk about the Mooterus, the Wild Wing, and the Blueberry. Until then, it looks like we’ll have to endure bad looking hockey played by bad looking players.
I got the chance to meet my one true hockey hero this morning – Philadelphia Flyers (formerly Colorado Avalanche) forward Ian Laperriere.
My daughter has a friend whose brother is a juvenile cancer survivor. Lappy is well known in our community for his work on behalf of children with serious illnesses, and that’s how her family came to know him. They’ve kept in touch since he left for Philadelphia, and asked if we’d like to tag along when they went to meet him before the Flyers’ morning skate at the Pepsi Center. Thanks to my incredibly supportive wife — who volunteered to pick up my father at the airport — I was able to take them up on their very generous offer.
A little background is in order: I came late to the game of hockey. I never watched a game until I was an adult with a family of my own. Nevertheless, the game quickly became my passion and I quickly became a fan of the Avalanche, the NHL and hockey players in general. When I started playing hockey I gained a new level of understanding of the game and a greater appreciation for the talent, skill and hard work required to play in the NHL. There have been a few players that stood out as my favorites along the way. Some are obvious choices like Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Ray Bourque and Patrick Roy. More so I’ve always admired players who weren’t considered the brightest stars but accomplished a great deal through sheer effort and determination: Adam Deadmarsh, Steve Konowalchuk, Dan Hinote and Adam Foote to name a few.
But, Ian Laperriere is the only player I’ve ever considered to be a hockey hero. I’ve always loved to watch him play the game. I know I’ll never approach that level of hockey skill, as anyone who’s seen me skate will attest. Lappy models the best qualities in a hockey player: game sense, hard work, and unquestioned loyalty to his teammates. He also displays his pure joy at being able to play the greatest game ever invented. Those are all things I can emulate. But it’s his commitment to making better the lives of others that marks him as special.
This morning I witnessed this professional taking time away from his preparations to reconnect with a couple of children and their families. It was obvious that he wasn’t doing community service, he truly felt that these children were special. He also took time to chat with the siblings and parents – even a couple of “friends of friends” like my daughter and myself. I feel honored beyond words that he was able to sign a couple of autographs for us and take a picture with us.
I don’t use the word “hero” lightly. Ian Laperriere has earned the honor by the way he lives his life, and I feel honored to have been given a first-hand glimpse. It was exactly what I expected to see. I’m glad to know my heroes are worthy.
Adrian Dater, the Avs beat writer for the Denver Post, has deleted his Twitter account. In his blog post titled “So long Twitter“, Dater attributes his departure mostly to the controversy surrounding his tweet about the alleged shouting match involving Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf and another member of the team. The information in the tweet was overheard from other reporters and wasn’t confirmed.
Dater used his Twitter account for a variety of things, including linking his articles, on the fly analysis of games, and small glimpses of his personal life. All of these are perfectly acceptable uses, but the casual nature of the medium seemed to cause a momentary lapse of judgment. This caused some criticism to come down on Dater, but this isn’t the first time the @adater account had been the focus of negative feedback. After a Versus column by Dater suggested the Nashville Predators should give up, the Preds Twitter community rained down on Dater with some pretty serious fury. How is this situation any different?
The only difference this time around is that nobody disagreed with Dater’s opinion, they called out a major journalistic faux pas. Why not use this as a learning experience instead of an excuse to cut and run? We’ve heard so many people in the “old media” camp say that blogging and other forms of “new media” breed journalistic irresponsibility. What are we supposed to think when it’s a journalist that’s committing those very sins? Everyone is capable of misusing these new forms of media, but that’s no reason to shun them.
UPDATE – @adater is back on Twitter after 3 days of hating it.
Yes, I realize this is old news thanks to some pretty accurate leaks. However, now that the Avalanche have an *official* third jersey, I’d like to offer my opinion.
This is a pretty poor excuse for a jersey. It recycles many current and past elements and offers nothing new or notable. The color scheme is just an inverted home sweater. The diagonal lettering on the front is the exact same as the old third jersey. We waited a year and a half for this?
A recent trend with some teams is surrounding the logo with the name of the team. Minnesota and Pittsburgh both have jerseys like this, and after @rboulding showed me a jersey concept that’s been floating around the web, I believe the Avs could have really done well with this idea.
click to enlarge
That logo is about the only thing I like about that concept, though. Just like the actual third jersey, there’s too much blue! Personally, I would have loved to see the Avalanche unveil an entirely new concept that presented some fresh ideas. And for pete’s sake, either give that foot logo some real use or just get rid of it already!
Do you like the new jersey? What would you change? Let your opinions loose in the comments!
Remember Tyler Arnason? Of course you do. As forgettable a hockey player as he was here in Colorado, that’s exactly what made him so unforgettable. He was a slow, ineffective, and seemingly indifferent player that put up modest numbers at best. He was the butt of many jokes and stood out as the worst player of the worst team in the West. Oh, and don’t forget that hilariously doofy team photo that really sums up his attitude about hockey.
Naturally, the Avs didn’t bring him back this year and the New York Rangers picked him up on a two-way deal. He was promptly sent down to the Hartford Wolfpack, something that (surprisingly) hadn’t happened since his rookie season. How does the most boring player I have ever known respond to this? He does something so unboring that the entire hockey community is actually talking about Tyler Arnason once again.
After signing a contract with KHL team Dinamo Riga, the Rangers and the Wolfpack have suspended Arnason and put him on waivers. This bold move by Arnason is probably the boldest of his career, so let’s take a look at the tepid tenure of Tyler Arnason. Thanks for the memory or two.
Drafted 183rd overall by the Blackhawks in 1998 while attending St. Cloud State
Made his debut in the 01-02 season, playing 20 games and scoring 3 goals
Arnason scored a whopping 57 goals with the Chicago Blackhawks through 4 seasons, and 0 with the Senators through 1.
Arnason’s era with Colorado starts in 06-07. He scores just 31 goals before leaving in 08-09.
08-09 goal total – 5
Arnason made the playoffs twice, once his rookie year, and again in 07-08. His goal total was an unimpressive 2.
140 career penalty minutes
1 NHL Young Stars Game appearance, 0 NHL All Star Game appearances
The stats don’t lie folks; with Tyler Arnason across the pond, the NHL just got exponentially more talented. Please feel free to share your favorite memory of Mr. Mediocrity in the comments.
How bout them Avs? They set yet another record for attendance last night against the Coyotes. Their 11012 butts in the seats is the worst showing ever for the team. Many of you may wonder how this could happen with the Avs being the best team in the Western Conference. Yes, the economy can be to blame for part of it, but there’s much more to it than that.
The Hangover
You usually hear about a Stanley Cup hangover affecting a team the next season, but a poor showing the year before is most definitely going to affect the current year. Any casual fan isn’t going to immediately turn to optimism this early in the season. The team is going to have to ride these good fortunes for more than a month to get more than the hardcore fan excited.
Marketing
The Avalanche were spoiled for quite a few years. The product on the ice sold itself. Guys like Patrick Roy, Joe Sakic, and Peter Forsberg were instant household names in Denver all thanks to a first-year championship and consistent success after that. Now that the big names have moved on and the team isn’t in the limelight, marketing can no longer be an afterthought. Yes, there are billboards all over town with “The Avalanche Experience” plastered on them, but that experience doesn’t have a name anymore. The team could learn from their roommates, the Denver Nuggets, who also have billboards all over town. The big difference is that their ads feature the players on the team. It’s much more effective. One big step the team/ownership has taken is using their own ticketing company, Ticket Horse, to sell seats. These guys are MUCH better than Ticketmaster and their fees are much cheaper.
The Coyotes Curse
The Phoenix Coyotes have never been a huge draw, and probably won’t be for a while. Couple that will the absolute circus their ownership is right now, and you have a team that doesn’t get much respect. With everything else that’s keeping people away from Pepsi Center, bringing in a lackluster team is the straw that breaks the camel’s back. I’d much rather spend my money to see a team like Detroit or Washington than a team that’s got the problems that Phoenix does. The Yotes aren’t the only team that causes this phenomenom, but they are the perfect example of it this season (*cough*Panthers*cough*).
To close, here is some photographic evidence on how empty it really was last night at the Can.
- Peter Budaj is all better, and will start tonight against Phoenix. Adrian Dater of the Denver Post also reports that McLeod will play too.
- After the Vancouver/Colorado game at GM Place on November 1, a little fight broke out and an Avs fan got a little stabby. Puck Daddy reminds us that hockey is not worth stabbing over. especially a regular season game.
- @NHL_Shop tweeted a link to their new “Be Luv’d” line of ladies jerseys. The response was less than enthusiastic. My favorite response?
SnipeDangle says: I would feed the $60 to my dog before I shelled out for one of those.
- Haven’t gotten your tickets to the home games this week yet? The Avalanche Guild has teamed up with the Avs to offer discounted tickets with another great perk on top of that. Each ticket comes with a free kids’ lunch at Outback Steakhouse! Head over to the Avalanche Guild and grab your tickets to tonight’s game against Phoenix or Friday’s game against Chicago. Not only will you support Colorado Adult Hockey, but save some money on dinner and a show too!
- Thanks to so many generous donations, NHLTweetup.com reached its goal of $1,000 for Hockey Fights Cancer 23 days early! The next challenge is $2,000 before November 24th, so help out a great cause by donating at the top of the page. There has been over $10.5 million raised since 1998, and any donation you make will help the NHL and NHLPA drop the gloves against cancer.
There’s no question about it after watching the video of the fight. Let’s go over the rules regarding abuse of an official, courtesy of NHL.com.
Rule 40.5 -Abuse of Officials / Game Misconduct Penalty
(iii) Any player or goalkeeper who deliberately applies physical force in any manner against an official, in any manner attempts to injure an official, physically demeans, or deliberately applies physical force to an official solely for the purpose of getting free of such an official during or immediately following an altercation shall receive a game misconduct penalty and the guidelines set out in Rule 41 – Physical Abuse of Officials are to be applied.
Colton Orr pushed an official away to get free of him and continue fighting. Not only does this physically demean the official, but it also is a deliberate application of force. So, what does rule 41 have to say about this?
Since Colton Orr wasn’t intending to injure the official, his actions fall under the following clause of Rule 41 – Physical Abuse of Officials:
41.3 Automatic Suspension – Category II – Any player or goalkeeper who deliberately applies physical force to an official in any manner (excluding actions as set out in Category I), which physical force is applied without intent to injure, or who spits on an official,shall be automatically suspended for not less than ten (10) games.
Colton Orr needs to sit 10 games. Any less is a slap in the face to the linesman he shoved and every other NHL Official.
“Goalgate” is the term being thrown around for the major screwup/conspiracy by FSN Pittsburgh. A producer has been suspended over this, but I’ve heard a couple people say that Gagne should get his goal. Not going to happen. From Rule 78.1 – Goals and Assists:
