- The New York Rangers are riding high on a 5-0 record to start out the season. After five games, who’s going to be the worst? The Kings? The Lightning? The Ducks? Unless there’s a miracle in net, my vote is on the Avalanche. Peter Budaj has looked nothing short of mediocre so far.
- Speaking of the Rangers, the season opener games in Europe seemed to be a hit. It’s a stunt that clearly panders to fans of the game that are WAY out of market, and also the diehards here in North America. Good to see the NHL didn’t forget us.
- Michael Peca has been suspended indefinitely for making contact with an official. He defends himself with the explanation that he just tried to slow down referee Greg Kimmerly so he could plead his case. The league says Peca won’t play until a hearing is scheduled sometime within the next week. Mike, if you’d broken a new rule, we might have understood. This just makes you a bonehead.
- However, Michael Peca isn’t the biggest bonehead of the new season. That title belongs to the Vancouver Canucks, who named Roberto Luongo as their captain. The rules state a goalie can’t be captain, but the ‘Nucks don’t care! “What’s that NHL? He can’t wear the ‘C’? He can’t perform the duties of a captain? No matter! We’re going to paint a ‘C’ on his mask anyway!” Hey Vancouver, just stick to the rules and quit with the silly publicity stunts.
- Speaking of publicity stunts (these are great segues, I know), The Philadelphia Flyers decided to have GOP VP nominee Sarah Palin drop the puck at their home opener. Naturally, she was booed (Philly hasn’t elected a Republican mayor in decades). Hey Flyers, unless you’re trying to make great YouTube videos for the election season, keep politics and hockey seperate. It’s a much smaller headache for us all.
- The majority of teams are unveiling some kind of alternate jersey this season. Some observations:
- NHL.com has finally gotten it right by doing a nice multimedia-rich redesign and integration with NHL.tv, the sister site for NHL Network. It’s clean, easy to navigate, and full of useful content.
- According to Gary Bettman, the NHL hasn’t been affected by the downturn in the economy. Single game ticket sales are up 13 percent, and season ticket sales are up 4 percent. On the flip side, the NBA is looking at laying off 80 employees, becoming the first pro sports league to show a negative effect from the slowing economy. NOW can the mainstream media show hockey some love?