Tonight, be sure to catch the HNIC pre-game show, Hockey Tonight. As the Rangers are in Montreal, you may see some familiar faces. (NHL Network - 6:30pm for those in the States).
Meanwhile, it's been one of those weeks so I'm just now getting to LAST week's show,...so here's what we missed:
* The Ron McLean interview with Colin Campbell. I missed it (obviously) but heard rumblings about it on Team990. And there was apparently some bad feedback to the CBC on it, from Burrows parents, even. How their son was being shown in a bad light.
I think McLean did fine (and I'm a big fan of his). I think he did fine with how he conducted the interview.
In the case of Burrow's parents, I perhaps can see what they were saying. For those that didn't watch, they showed kind of a "this is what Burrows has done" timeline with video and, yes, some of it paints him like the "Sean Avery of the West." Surely. But I think it wasn't done badly. I don't.
And let it also be said, "Burr, what are you thinking Burr..." constantly laughed about here didn't make it clear, I am a Burrows fan. I think he can be a punk at times, and I certainly didn't appreciate his whack to Vrbata's leg late last year, but I don't think he goes out there to injure anyone. I think he is a little bit of a pest. I see the similarities to Avery, too, but again, I don't make apologies for Avery. He is a good hockey player. And even though we've seen players like Anson Carter benefit from being on a line with the Sedins, I'm pretty sure Burrows has paid his dues in his journey to the NHL and he's here because he too is a good player and can play with those boys.
* On After Hours, Bill Guerin was a guest. Who doesn't appreciate Billy Guerin? He's just a high class guy.
The funnier parts were when PJ Stock joined in via video. Here is some of what was said:
Oake: PJ Stock counts you, I think, as his best friend in the game of hockey. And you're even willing to own up to that.
Guerin: I am. I accept that position. PJ is a great guy and a good friend for a long time. So it's good to see him doing well out here.
PJ: ...Buddy, that's the worst Tom Selleck moustache I've seen in a long time. Why?
Guerin goes on to explains that the day before games, they have a shootout contest, and the loser on the 1st of the month has to grow a moustache for the month and be "moustache boy." LOL!
PJ: What toll did it take on your body, with that shortened summer, especially at your 46, 47, you are at now, how has that short summer affected you this year?
Guerin: Yeah Stocky, it's kinda funny, I'm creeping up there. But unfortunately for you, you stopped growing at the age of 12. I kept going until about 18, 19, 20.
Oake: Hey PJ, thanks a lot for contributing to the program tonight, we really appreciate it.
PJ: Anytime I can carry you Oakie, anytime. See ya Billy, good luck.
Healy: Good questions.
Oake: PJ had to run off to the Irish Embassy. Going to try to catch Rudy there.
Billy, when aked about the US Olympic team, said he felt very confident in the group of players that Burke had put together, that they could do very well. He spoke about a passing of the torch. He had his time; it's their time now.
Good stuff, they should invite PJ in more often to contribute to After Hours, and Bill Guerin is always a treat.
Showing posts with label PJ Stock. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PJ Stock. Show all posts
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
HNIC Wrap-Up ~ 1/9/2010. . .
There haven't been HNIC wrap-ups, mostly because the World Junior Championships (Congrats USA) were being shown on NHL Network and when I wasn't in front of the TV on Saturday it became too hard to manually record the CBC broadcasts at the right moment.
Anyway...this made me laugh.
Cassie Campbell interviewed Scott Gomez on Hockey Tonight. Now Rangers fans now how, we won't say silly, but non-serious Gomez appeared during interviews. That much has not changed.
Cassie: Scott has 12 points in his last 10 games. Ron?
McLean: You're amazing. Now you don't like Scott Gomez's game face.
Milbury (mockingly with hand motions): Just happy to be here. $7 million a year.
You've got a big game against New Jersey coming up, have a little serious side. I guess that's just me, though, right, Ron?
The times I've agreed with anything Mike Milbury has said are few, oh so few, and far between. This, however, may be one of them.
I'm still shocked he has 12 points in 10 games. Yikes.
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"The PJ Stock Classic today" says McLean, as PJ does update of Rangers/Bruins game, PJs two longest tenured stops in his NHL career. New York was his first team, Boston his last, although he was with the Philadelphia farm club, the Phantoms, when he had his career ending injury. (I MISS YOU PJ!!!)
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Top 10 Goals from the Western Conference did not include Prucha's vs Pittsburgh (French Canadian Network RDS did at #3!!!!). It did include a Fred Sjostrom goal at #10 though.
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For those that missed (me included) Vancouver and Calgary went to a shootout. Dawes got the first goal in the shootout for Calgary. And after scoring earlier in the game, one time Ranger Jamie Lundmark got the deciding goal in the shootout putting Calgary ahead in the division. A beautiful goal. He was called, "a warrior," "an underrated guy," and "a victim of the salary cap." Named #1 star of the game by HNIC.
"This is just a genious move with unbelievable skill and unbelievable patience."
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After Hours presents "The Sedin Triplets" - Henrik, Daniel, and Alex Burrows!
It didn't even take til the first commerical break, before Scott Oake brings up one of my FAVORITE After Hours moments when Alex Burrows does his Marc Crawford impression:
"Burr, what were you thinking there."
LOL! Never gets old.
If you haven't seen it yet, here it is (not super clear but condensed):
The three then proceeded to have a rousing game of who knows their linesmates better.
Burrows not knowing name of Sedin's hometown - minus one.
Daniel automatically knowing "Baton Rouge" was one of the places Burrows toiled in the minor leagues - plus one.
Burrows being able to tell the twins apart (even with a trick!) - plus one.
Sedins not knowing that Burrows was named best ball hockey player in Canada in 2006 - minus one. (Although they both seemed super surprised and happy for him).
Burrows being able to say Hank was six minutes older than Daniel - plus one.
Burrows wins with a +1, but unless I missed a question in there - no fair!
Burrows, when asked about the Sedins soccer deficiency, said they were the two best players on the team but that Hank played with both feet, Daniel only used his left.
I love photo time, they show a picture of Alex Burrows as a model.
Burrows: That's my Calvin Klein ad.
Oake: You know's body that is?
Henrik: Yeah it's not Burrs.
Alex may have been a jerk for slashing Vrbata in the leg late last year, but the guy is funny and he's one of only around 50 players to score hat tricks in back to back games, which he did last week.
Love it.
Anyway...this made me laugh.
Cassie Campbell interviewed Scott Gomez on Hockey Tonight. Now Rangers fans now how, we won't say silly, but non-serious Gomez appeared during interviews. That much has not changed.
Cassie: Scott has 12 points in his last 10 games. Ron?
McLean: You're amazing. Now you don't like Scott Gomez's game face.
Milbury (mockingly with hand motions): Just happy to be here. $7 million a year.
You've got a big game against New Jersey coming up, have a little serious side. I guess that's just me, though, right, Ron?
The times I've agreed with anything Mike Milbury has said are few, oh so few, and far between. This, however, may be one of them.
I'm still shocked he has 12 points in 10 games. Yikes.
___________________________________________________
"The PJ Stock Classic today" says McLean, as PJ does update of Rangers/Bruins game, PJs two longest tenured stops in his NHL career. New York was his first team, Boston his last, although he was with the Philadelphia farm club, the Phantoms, when he had his career ending injury. (I MISS YOU PJ!!!)
_______________________________________
Top 10 Goals from the Western Conference did not include Prucha's vs Pittsburgh (French Canadian Network RDS did at #3!!!!). It did include a Fred Sjostrom goal at #10 though.
__________________________________________
For those that missed (me included) Vancouver and Calgary went to a shootout. Dawes got the first goal in the shootout for Calgary. And after scoring earlier in the game, one time Ranger Jamie Lundmark got the deciding goal in the shootout putting Calgary ahead in the division. A beautiful goal. He was called, "a warrior," "an underrated guy," and "a victim of the salary cap." Named #1 star of the game by HNIC.
"This is just a genious move with unbelievable skill and unbelievable patience."
___________________________________________
After Hours presents "The Sedin Triplets" - Henrik, Daniel, and Alex Burrows!
It didn't even take til the first commerical break, before Scott Oake brings up one of my FAVORITE After Hours moments when Alex Burrows does his Marc Crawford impression:
"Burr, what were you thinking there."
LOL! Never gets old.
If you haven't seen it yet, here it is (not super clear but condensed):
The three then proceeded to have a rousing game of who knows their linesmates better.
Burrows not knowing name of Sedin's hometown - minus one.
Daniel automatically knowing "Baton Rouge" was one of the places Burrows toiled in the minor leagues - plus one.
Burrows being able to tell the twins apart (even with a trick!) - plus one.
Sedins not knowing that Burrows was named best ball hockey player in Canada in 2006 - minus one. (Although they both seemed super surprised and happy for him).
Burrows being able to say Hank was six minutes older than Daniel - plus one.
Burrows wins with a +1, but unless I missed a question in there - no fair!
Burrows, when asked about the Sedins soccer deficiency, said they were the two best players on the team but that Hank played with both feet, Daniel only used his left.
I love photo time, they show a picture of Alex Burrows as a model.
Burrows: That's my Calvin Klein ad.
Oake: You know's body that is?
Henrik: Yeah it's not Burrs.
Alex may have been a jerk for slashing Vrbata in the leg late last year, but the guy is funny and he's one of only around 50 players to score hat tricks in back to back games, which he did last week.
Love it.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
HNIC Wrap-Up ~ 12/12/09. . .
The biggest point I took out of HNIC Hockey Tonight was what Alex Ovechkin said. I know not eveyone loves the guy. I have had my moments of doubt in his most recent season, I won't lie, but I think overall he is good for the game. If for no other reason than this.
"I play every game as if it is my last game, because you never know what can happen on the ice."
I think the game, our game, would be a better one overall if more players played that way. Not reckless, not dangerous, not wild. But played the game with passion, love, and appreciation for how wonderful it is and how precious and short the time of playing it may be.
_________________________
Some funnies:
Turco had a quite a shootout versus San Jose on Friday night. To the Christmas Goose song, they showed Turco out poke-check three of the Sharks skaters.
PJ comes on screen and said "I got to follow the Christmas goose!"
LOL at PJ!
PJ then says Kelly never gets any credit. People always pick Gretzky first overall. PJ says he's picking a team, he's going with Kelly.
Although after he asked if Kelly is buying drinks, and Kelly refuses, PJ takes it back.
Ron McLean: "On HNIC where blue eyes can be PJ, Kelly, or Frank Sinatra."
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The "interrogation" of Mason Raymond on After Hours:
* Ryan Kesler said that Mason was a good dancer when he had a few. Mason says Kesler, Wellwood and O'Brien dance it up in the locker room after Canucks wins and that Kesler is one of the best dancers on the team.
* He had a border collie named Champ that used to retrieve balls/pucks that went past the net when he would shoot them. Unfortunately sounds like poor Champ stood in the net and got a few pucks as well. Ouch! See, how wonderful are dogs? Man's best friend, man's best game.
* How do you know you can marry a girl? When you take her cattle roping. Apparently worked for Mason and his wife Meg.
* Scott Oake started calling him Masie. Over and over and over. Apparently this was something new to Mason and his teammates were all over him for it. Masie. Ha!
* His name was "pulled from a hat" or so he says and his name was used in a skit on How I Met Your Mother. I didn't know they liked hockey on this show. I may have to watch. You can too here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPBEkoNqwQk (can't get to link properly)
* Who would be the worst hunting companion? "Hordy or Shane O'Brien" essentially because they talk too much!
Great interview. Raymond seems like one of those quiet, but funny guys.
"I play every game as if it is my last game, because you never know what can happen on the ice."
I think the game, our game, would be a better one overall if more players played that way. Not reckless, not dangerous, not wild. But played the game with passion, love, and appreciation for how wonderful it is and how precious and short the time of playing it may be.
_________________________
Some funnies:
Turco had a quite a shootout versus San Jose on Friday night. To the Christmas Goose song, they showed Turco out poke-check three of the Sharks skaters.
PJ comes on screen and said "I got to follow the Christmas goose!"
LOL at PJ!
PJ then says Kelly never gets any credit. People always pick Gretzky first overall. PJ says he's picking a team, he's going with Kelly.
Although after he asked if Kelly is buying drinks, and Kelly refuses, PJ takes it back.
Ron McLean: "On HNIC where blue eyes can be PJ, Kelly, or Frank Sinatra."
___________________________
The "interrogation" of Mason Raymond on After Hours:
* Ryan Kesler said that Mason was a good dancer when he had a few. Mason says Kesler, Wellwood and O'Brien dance it up in the locker room after Canucks wins and that Kesler is one of the best dancers on the team.
* He had a border collie named Champ that used to retrieve balls/pucks that went past the net when he would shoot them. Unfortunately sounds like poor Champ stood in the net and got a few pucks as well. Ouch! See, how wonderful are dogs? Man's best friend, man's best game.
* How do you know you can marry a girl? When you take her cattle roping. Apparently worked for Mason and his wife Meg.
* Scott Oake started calling him Masie. Over and over and over. Apparently this was something new to Mason and his teammates were all over him for it. Masie. Ha!
* His name was "pulled from a hat" or so he says and his name was used in a skit on How I Met Your Mother. I didn't know they liked hockey on this show. I may have to watch. You can too here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPBEkoNqwQk (can't get to link properly)
* Who would be the worst hunting companion? "Hordy or Shane O'Brien" essentially because they talk too much!
Great interview. Raymond seems like one of those quiet, but funny guys.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Follow NHLPA Goals and Dreams 10 Countries in 10 Days Trip. . .
Goals and Dreams is a fantastic cause supported by the NHLPA and currently they are involved in a trip to 10 Countries in 10 Days to give away hockey equipment to continue to expand the sport of hockey.
Personal favorite PJ Stock and Rob Zamuner lead the group, and meet up with many former NHL players (and NYR players) along the way including Markus Naslund, Martin Straka, and Martin Ruchinsky.
Enjoy these clips and look for more here courtesy of the NHLPA.
Some of my favorites:
DAY ONE: (Naslund/Forsberg)
DAY ONE: (Naslund)
DAY TWO: (Tikkanen)
DAY FIVE: (Stock as Professional)
DAY FIVE: (Straka)
DAY SEVEN: (Stocker coaching kids)
Personal favorite PJ Stock and Rob Zamuner lead the group, and meet up with many former NHL players (and NYR players) along the way including Markus Naslund, Martin Straka, and Martin Ruchinsky.
Enjoy these clips and look for more here courtesy of the NHLPA.
Some of my favorites:
DAY ONE: (Naslund/Forsberg)
DAY ONE: (Naslund)
DAY TWO: (Tikkanen)
DAY FIVE: (Stock as Professional)
DAY FIVE: (Straka)
DAY SEVEN: (Stocker coaching kids)
Sunday, October 18, 2009
HNIC Wrap-Up ~ October 17, 2009. . .
In the pre-game to HNIC, PJ, Milbury, Hrudey, McLean talk with former Habs coach Guy Carbonneau.
Carbonneau mentioned his relationship with former Hab Alex Kovalev was better than the media/city let on. They used to golf together on off days. And the two day break he was asked to take? Purely to rest his mind. Not personal at all.
PJ said the Habs top big/small line of Gomez/Cammalleri/Gionta is getting pushed out of plays because of their size and that both Ottawa and the Canadiens are suffering from defensive breakdowns and no offense from the backend.
On the New York Rangers, Milbury - yes, that Milbury - praised the Rangers for actually having a first line again. Said Dubinsky could be a bonafide star in this league, said Prospal was a nice surprise, and that Gaborik was ...well Gaborik. Said this enabled Drury to go down to the #2 line where he they can mix and match between Callahan, Higgins, Avery, whomever.
The group spoke about camp "Torture-ella" and how it made such a big difference, because the team was in shape and were having great third periods. Hrudey credited the new Tortorella in-shape motto and system of play, for helping make Wade Redden better this season so far.
Elliotte Friedman interviewed Tortorella who admitted Redden was in "terrible" shape last year when he took over as coach. And said that the biggest difference was Wade being in such good shape this year. Said he wasn't "chasing the game" like he was last year.
He also, for the record, said he and Avery had a good relationship and were on the same page.
For the sake of the team, let's hope so.
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HNIC does such a great job with Inside Hockey and this week is no different with the story of Scott Walker.
Scott asked out his wife 20 years ago, with a free dinner coupon for being player of the game, and they have never been apart since.
During the playoff series with Boston, where he scored the game winning goal in overtime, his first ever playoff goal, he was going through personal turmoil.
The day that he punched out former Bruin (and now teammate Aaron Ward) was the day he found out his wife had cervical cancer.
Kinda puts that in perspective a little more, doesn't it?
He and Aaron Ward have put the incident behind them. His wife is now healthy.
She urges women to never miss their annual appointments, something I myself must encourage. You just never know.
___________________________________________
My DirecTV turned off After Hours once the Wild/Canucks game was over, so I had to play catchup today. I was not thrilled with that - pretty angry, in fact - but since it was 12:30 I decided to read a book and not make what I'm sure would have been an angry phone call.
Brent Burns was their first guess. I haven't caught up with him since the Inside HOckey segment they alluded to, from 2 years ago, and apparently his then girlfiend Susan, is now his wife, and he still has around 100 animals in his home. Mostly lizard/snake type animals, which makes my skin crawl, but he still has four Siberian Huskies, which makes me smile.
Sykora and Havlat, the new Czechs, have apparently been bugging him to come see.
All I have to say is WHAT an understanding wife he has!!
__________________________________________
Later on Kevin Bieska, a Bowling Green graduate, says he and Willie Mitchell constantly argue who is smarter on finance. Bieksa gives the nod to himself.
"I don't think we have the smartest team in the league," he continues. And then he points out Hordicuk and Burrows as examples of needing financial advice.
Ouch!
And on the funny side, he fought one time Ranger Fedor Federov when he at a pub w/players from the Manitoba Moose, and was so nervous he was going to be cut before he even played w/the team. Guess he didn't have to be nervous. Burke liked him and signed him immediately.
____________________________________________
And lastly, a new After Hours Feature: Tips from Weekes' Beauty Bag.
This week: Use facewash and facial cleanser. Guys, girls, everyone!
Til next week...
Carbonneau mentioned his relationship with former Hab Alex Kovalev was better than the media/city let on. They used to golf together on off days. And the two day break he was asked to take? Purely to rest his mind. Not personal at all.
PJ said the Habs top big/small line of Gomez/Cammalleri/Gionta is getting pushed out of plays because of their size and that both Ottawa and the Canadiens are suffering from defensive breakdowns and no offense from the backend.
On the New York Rangers, Milbury - yes, that Milbury - praised the Rangers for actually having a first line again. Said Dubinsky could be a bonafide star in this league, said Prospal was a nice surprise, and that Gaborik was ...well Gaborik. Said this enabled Drury to go down to the #2 line where he they can mix and match between Callahan, Higgins, Avery, whomever.
The group spoke about camp "Torture-ella" and how it made such a big difference, because the team was in shape and were having great third periods. Hrudey credited the new Tortorella in-shape motto and system of play, for helping make Wade Redden better this season so far.
Elliotte Friedman interviewed Tortorella who admitted Redden was in "terrible" shape last year when he took over as coach. And said that the biggest difference was Wade being in such good shape this year. Said he wasn't "chasing the game" like he was last year.
He also, for the record, said he and Avery had a good relationship and were on the same page.
For the sake of the team, let's hope so.
______________________________________________________________
HNIC does such a great job with Inside Hockey and this week is no different with the story of Scott Walker.
Scott asked out his wife 20 years ago, with a free dinner coupon for being player of the game, and they have never been apart since.
During the playoff series with Boston, where he scored the game winning goal in overtime, his first ever playoff goal, he was going through personal turmoil.
The day that he punched out former Bruin (and now teammate Aaron Ward) was the day he found out his wife had cervical cancer.
Kinda puts that in perspective a little more, doesn't it?
He and Aaron Ward have put the incident behind them. His wife is now healthy.
She urges women to never miss their annual appointments, something I myself must encourage. You just never know.
___________________________________________
My DirecTV turned off After Hours once the Wild/Canucks game was over, so I had to play catchup today. I was not thrilled with that - pretty angry, in fact - but since it was 12:30 I decided to read a book and not make what I'm sure would have been an angry phone call.
Brent Burns was their first guess. I haven't caught up with him since the Inside HOckey segment they alluded to, from 2 years ago, and apparently his then girlfiend Susan, is now his wife, and he still has around 100 animals in his home. Mostly lizard/snake type animals, which makes my skin crawl, but he still has four Siberian Huskies, which makes me smile.
Sykora and Havlat, the new Czechs, have apparently been bugging him to come see.
All I have to say is WHAT an understanding wife he has!!
__________________________________________
Later on Kevin Bieska, a Bowling Green graduate, says he and Willie Mitchell constantly argue who is smarter on finance. Bieksa gives the nod to himself.
"I don't think we have the smartest team in the league," he continues. And then he points out Hordicuk and Burrows as examples of needing financial advice.
Ouch!
And on the funny side, he fought one time Ranger Fedor Federov when he at a pub w/players from the Manitoba Moose, and was so nervous he was going to be cut before he even played w/the team. Guess he didn't have to be nervous. Burke liked him and signed him immediately.
____________________________________________
And lastly, a new After Hours Feature: Tips from Weekes' Beauty Bag.
This week: Use facewash and facial cleanser. Guys, girls, everyone!
Til next week...
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Some Radio Ramblings . .
Not as much time listening to sports radio this week as I would have liked, but I have a few things I thought I'd chat about for a little bit.
Team1040:
Lots of chatter on what a disaster the Kelly firing is for the NHL earlier in the week. During the afternoon hours I usually listen, it was like impending doom was going to fall on the NHL. And you know, I'll be honest. I didn't immediately think that, but with a league as seemingly fragile as ours, and let me think of a not to mean word - MORON - running it, it's hard to imagine anything is impossible. So I will just leave it as, I hope not. For the game we all love and for us in the states having seemingly no other option than the NHL, I hope not.
For the record, XM204 had similar sentiments as well. Scott Laughlin suggested it would have been best to dismantle the Players Association entirely - get all the people out of there that may be too comfortable or too involved - and start from scratch. Honestly...maybe that isn't such a bad idea.
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A big topic, obviously, today, was the 12-year signing of Roberto Luongo. Now, I ask, has anyone learned yet? From Rick DiPietro's contract that he may never even play out. From Hossa's contract suddenly not looking so good in Chicago. I think any contract of that length, unless given to someone like Ovechkin, is nuts. I just do. And a goalie, there is even more of a risk to it. So much can change with a given team, and with the league on a whole. Heck, I hate the 7-year contracts the Rangers gave out. I don't want to be saddled with anyone for that long. Again, you make exceptions for the Crosby's and Ovechkin's but other than that...too long, just too damn long.
Team1040 was making fun of Canucks GM Mike Gillis for referencing Luongo in the same sentence with Johnny Bauer and Dominik Hasek. Those wouldn't have been my first choices, but - you can read his quotes here.
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The rest of today's conversation was how Roberto Luongo differs from Trevor Linden or Marcus Naslund as Canucks Captain and how they the fans, the team, the ownership may be looking at Roberto as a savior of sorts. I think nothing but the highest of Trevor Linden. He was a fans player. A person truly devoted to the team, the city, and the people of British Columbia. He deserves every kind word he gets. They referenced this photo on air today; again, I didn't need to look it up. It is ingrained.
Naslund, they said, was loved when he was scoring, and certainly not beloved when he wasn't. He kept himself separate from the fans, not showing much emotion either way. Sound familiar Rangers fans? I always liked the guy because he was respected for doing his job and being a good person and player in this league. It's not easy to play hockey in Vancouver. He was a quiet-type person, who had a few remarkable years, a few not so remarkable ones, but who always led as a professional, in my memory. And despite his only being in NY one season, that is how I viewed him coming in, and that is how I will choose to remember him.
Roberto Luongo, they discussed, can be fickle at times - and they didn't mean on the ice. Sometimes he gives a lot, sometimes he closes off. Not at all untypical of a goalie. But when I think of Roberto Luongo, I think of a couple things. I think of a guy who was harassed for wanting to be with his wife when she was going through the end of a difficult pregnancy during the All-Star game a few years back, which I thought was a horrible thing for him to have to endure. And I think of a guy who was one of only two or three players that came to the locker room to speak to the media after they lost to Chicago in that game last spring (the Kane hat-trick game), and the guy who had to, subsequently, leave the room after he choked up in tears because he was so upset. I'll take a guy that cares that much any day.
There may not be a perfect leader. Or a perfect player. A perfect captain. And we'd certainly be hard pressed to find a perfect person. But, I'd like to think that pinning all hopes on one player is not the only way. You can look to them to lead, to be the best player they can be, to make their teammates better, and to care. And I think all three of them did that or can do that in their own right, and in their own time. I do.
I follow the Canucks when I can. I do wish them luck. While I'd never take back 1994, a tiny part of me always felt for Trevor Linden being on the wrong side of that. I hope, someday, they can get there too.
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Team990:
Monday had a lot of chatter and what Tony called "the best 10 minutes of radio [he's] had in a long time."
They were talking Tom Cruise, Top Gun, reading, vocabulary, speeches, and whether or not PJ had gone to McKibbins (Irish Pub in la belle city for those of you not from MTL) before the show, as he kept screwing up John F Kennedy's "Country" speech. Apparently he bought a book of best American speeches and read that one the first night. And he had a really hard time saying "ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."
=)
I'm with Tony. That was fantastic radio.
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In hockey related topics, two things we can elaborate on here.
I already posted on Twitter what PJ said: "Coaches are stuck with these players. Yes you want them to win, you want them to be successful...But you just don't have the talent to win." "I think everything falls on the GM"
Now, if you are a fan of the Rangers, you have got to be nodding your head. I said often enough last year that the Rangers, while not the utter train wreck that was the Canadiens, still paralleled that team a lot. Questionable decisions. Lacking passion from those supposed to lead the team. Questionable chemistry. The firing of a coach, but more questions for the GM. A lot was similar.
So, I thought about PJs comment. And, despite knowing - absolutely knowing - that Glen Sather can be blamed for a great portion of the Rangers ills, he simply cannot be blamed for them all.
He may have overspent unhealthy sums of money, over, and over, and over, and over again, on bringing in older, suckier, crappier, lazier crops of past-their-prime or never-had-a-prime athletes, yes.
And he might have done this without ever standing up for his decisions, or showing his face in public, prompting thoughts that he, much like a Meyer-esque vampire, could not go out on sunny days - or, well, frankly, on any types of days, yes.
And he might be still clinging desparately onto a status he gained by building a team of nothing out in Edmonton, in the model of a team like the Winnipeg Jets of the one-time WHA, while instead in his time in NY seems to be modeling the team's success after another local team of the same name.
*sigh* - where was I going with this again?
Okay, back on target. While Mr. Fischer-Price calculator and I-love-$7 million has his faults - many, many faults - last year's disaster can be blamed on two other groups just as easily:
The players themselves - and they know who they are - who refused to try, sometimes, seemingly at all to even be worth half of what they were being paid.
The coaching staff - finally and justifiably fired in February - who somehow continued to play the same horribly lazy and inefficent players in the same horrible and inefficient ways over, and over, and over, while perfectly good and hard-working players wasted away in street clothes, over, and over, and over...
Look. A new season is less than a month away. In fact one month tonight, the Rangers will open their season on the road. I will not spend tonight dwelling any more on the particulars than I already have.
BUT - yes, the GM has, as PJ suggested, every opportunity to wreck and disable a team by his poor choices. This is evidenced well in NY. But if these players tried just a bit harder; if the coach stopped trying to be so damn nice and tried to actually fix what could be fixed - I don't think it would have been as painful as it was. I just don't. Everyone is to blame. Some more than others, perhaps, but...
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And lastly, to close, PJ speculated today on what had perhaps gone on in Ottawa. (The great mystery of them all!) He said that if you looked at Jason Spezza's wedding party - which we did, back when photos were first posted - you'd notice two familiar faces. Former Senators Ray Emery and Brian McGrattan stood up for their one time teammate.
Now PJ speculated that these might not have been the guys Ottawa would have deemed the most harmless, let's say. (That's my word, not his). But he said, perhaps, Spezza being young and impressionable, started hanging with particular company and got away from being focused on the game. Split groups. Tension arose in the lockerroom. Perhaps a divide among all the top players that we never knew for sure about.
Trust me, lots has been speculated about Ottawa, and whether Heatley talks or not, whether he moves teams or not, I'll always be curious. Curious how a team that went to the Final led by Ray Emery in 2007 and started the following year so hot, could fall from grace so horrifically by the end. And not only not recover, but fall further in such speculation of some greater evil than just bad ice hockey.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Just some things to think about with less than one month to go til the regular season opens...
I can't wait! =)
Team1040:
Lots of chatter on what a disaster the Kelly firing is for the NHL earlier in the week. During the afternoon hours I usually listen, it was like impending doom was going to fall on the NHL. And you know, I'll be honest. I didn't immediately think that, but with a league as seemingly fragile as ours, and let me think of a not to mean word - MORON - running it, it's hard to imagine anything is impossible. So I will just leave it as, I hope not. For the game we all love and for us in the states having seemingly no other option than the NHL, I hope not.
For the record, XM204 had similar sentiments as well. Scott Laughlin suggested it would have been best to dismantle the Players Association entirely - get all the people out of there that may be too comfortable or too involved - and start from scratch. Honestly...maybe that isn't such a bad idea.
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A big topic, obviously, today, was the 12-year signing of Roberto Luongo. Now, I ask, has anyone learned yet? From Rick DiPietro's contract that he may never even play out. From Hossa's contract suddenly not looking so good in Chicago. I think any contract of that length, unless given to someone like Ovechkin, is nuts. I just do. And a goalie, there is even more of a risk to it. So much can change with a given team, and with the league on a whole. Heck, I hate the 7-year contracts the Rangers gave out. I don't want to be saddled with anyone for that long. Again, you make exceptions for the Crosby's and Ovechkin's but other than that...too long, just too damn long.
Team1040 was making fun of Canucks GM Mike Gillis for referencing Luongo in the same sentence with Johnny Bauer and Dominik Hasek. Those wouldn't have been my first choices, but - you can read his quotes here.
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The rest of today's conversation was how Roberto Luongo differs from Trevor Linden or Marcus Naslund as Canucks Captain and how they the fans, the team, the ownership may be looking at Roberto as a savior of sorts. I think nothing but the highest of Trevor Linden. He was a fans player. A person truly devoted to the team, the city, and the people of British Columbia. He deserves every kind word he gets. They referenced this photo on air today; again, I didn't need to look it up. It is ingrained.
Naslund, they said, was loved when he was scoring, and certainly not beloved when he wasn't. He kept himself separate from the fans, not showing much emotion either way. Sound familiar Rangers fans? I always liked the guy because he was respected for doing his job and being a good person and player in this league. It's not easy to play hockey in Vancouver. He was a quiet-type person, who had a few remarkable years, a few not so remarkable ones, but who always led as a professional, in my memory. And despite his only being in NY one season, that is how I viewed him coming in, and that is how I will choose to remember him.
Roberto Luongo, they discussed, can be fickle at times - and they didn't mean on the ice. Sometimes he gives a lot, sometimes he closes off. Not at all untypical of a goalie. But when I think of Roberto Luongo, I think of a couple things. I think of a guy who was harassed for wanting to be with his wife when she was going through the end of a difficult pregnancy during the All-Star game a few years back, which I thought was a horrible thing for him to have to endure. And I think of a guy who was one of only two or three players that came to the locker room to speak to the media after they lost to Chicago in that game last spring (the Kane hat-trick game), and the guy who had to, subsequently, leave the room after he choked up in tears because he was so upset. I'll take a guy that cares that much any day.
There may not be a perfect leader. Or a perfect player. A perfect captain. And we'd certainly be hard pressed to find a perfect person. But, I'd like to think that pinning all hopes on one player is not the only way. You can look to them to lead, to be the best player they can be, to make their teammates better, and to care. And I think all three of them did that or can do that in their own right, and in their own time. I do.
I follow the Canucks when I can. I do wish them luck. While I'd never take back 1994, a tiny part of me always felt for Trevor Linden being on the wrong side of that. I hope, someday, they can get there too.
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Team990:
Monday had a lot of chatter and what Tony called "the best 10 minutes of radio [he's] had in a long time."
They were talking Tom Cruise, Top Gun, reading, vocabulary, speeches, and whether or not PJ had gone to McKibbins (Irish Pub in la belle city for those of you not from MTL) before the show, as he kept screwing up John F Kennedy's "Country" speech. Apparently he bought a book of best American speeches and read that one the first night. And he had a really hard time saying "ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."
=)
I'm with Tony. That was fantastic radio.
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In hockey related topics, two things we can elaborate on here.
I already posted on Twitter what PJ said: "Coaches are stuck with these players. Yes you want them to win, you want them to be successful...But you just don't have the talent to win." "I think everything falls on the GM"
Now, if you are a fan of the Rangers, you have got to be nodding your head. I said often enough last year that the Rangers, while not the utter train wreck that was the Canadiens, still paralleled that team a lot. Questionable decisions. Lacking passion from those supposed to lead the team. Questionable chemistry. The firing of a coach, but more questions for the GM. A lot was similar.
So, I thought about PJs comment. And, despite knowing - absolutely knowing - that Glen Sather can be blamed for a great portion of the Rangers ills, he simply cannot be blamed for them all.
He may have overspent unhealthy sums of money, over, and over, and over, and over again, on bringing in older, suckier, crappier, lazier crops of past-their-prime or never-had-a-prime athletes, yes.
And he might have done this without ever standing up for his decisions, or showing his face in public, prompting thoughts that he, much like a Meyer-esque vampire, could not go out on sunny days - or, well, frankly, on any types of days, yes.
And he might be still clinging desparately onto a status he gained by building a team of nothing out in Edmonton, in the model of a team like the Winnipeg Jets of the one-time WHA, while instead in his time in NY seems to be modeling the team's success after another local team of the same name.
*sigh* - where was I going with this again?
Okay, back on target. While Mr. Fischer-Price calculator and I-love-$7 million has his faults - many, many faults - last year's disaster can be blamed on two other groups just as easily:
The players themselves - and they know who they are - who refused to try, sometimes, seemingly at all to even be worth half of what they were being paid.
The coaching staff - finally and justifiably fired in February - who somehow continued to play the same horribly lazy and inefficent players in the same horrible and inefficient ways over, and over, and over, while perfectly good and hard-working players wasted away in street clothes, over, and over, and over...
Look. A new season is less than a month away. In fact one month tonight, the Rangers will open their season on the road. I will not spend tonight dwelling any more on the particulars than I already have.
BUT - yes, the GM has, as PJ suggested, every opportunity to wreck and disable a team by his poor choices. This is evidenced well in NY. But if these players tried just a bit harder; if the coach stopped trying to be so damn nice and tried to actually fix what could be fixed - I don't think it would have been as painful as it was. I just don't. Everyone is to blame. Some more than others, perhaps, but...
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
And lastly, to close, PJ speculated today on what had perhaps gone on in Ottawa. (The great mystery of them all!) He said that if you looked at Jason Spezza's wedding party - which we did, back when photos were first posted - you'd notice two familiar faces. Former Senators Ray Emery and Brian McGrattan stood up for their one time teammate.
Now PJ speculated that these might not have been the guys Ottawa would have deemed the most harmless, let's say. (That's my word, not his). But he said, perhaps, Spezza being young and impressionable, started hanging with particular company and got away from being focused on the game. Split groups. Tension arose in the lockerroom. Perhaps a divide among all the top players that we never knew for sure about.
Trust me, lots has been speculated about Ottawa, and whether Heatley talks or not, whether he moves teams or not, I'll always be curious. Curious how a team that went to the Final led by Ray Emery in 2007 and started the following year so hot, could fall from grace so horrifically by the end. And not only not recover, but fall further in such speculation of some greater evil than just bad ice hockey.
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Just some things to think about with less than one month to go til the regular season opens...
I can't wait! =)
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Radio Ramblings: The Debate of Sweet Caroline
There was a wonderful surprise waiting for us fans in the 1:00pm hour of the Team990. PJ Stock made a surprise appearance on the show bareing his name, after 2 months of staying in hotels and working on the CBC for the playoffs.
As thrilled I was PJ was back, I was even more thrilled when it became a vintage PJ day. Vintage how? In that another one of the days that you'd never be able to get away with on radio in the States. =) And I loved it!
The debate of the day, literally, was whether it was proper to, when singing along to Sweet Caroline, sing "Sweet Caroline - bom, bom, bom" or "Sweet Caroline - Oh, Oh, Oh."
The rest of the Team990 gang felt it was definitely of the "bom, bom, bom" variety and that PJ had obviously been going to the wrong type of weddings.
Andie was the only Team990 member to agree with PJ. They others said it was only because she missed him.
They went to the phones and 3 of the first callers immediately sided against PJ.
Not to be outdone - is he ever? - PJ continued, on and and off for the next hour and twenty minutes, to have them play, pause, stop, re-play "Sweet Caroline" and sing along.
He even asked Vinny Lecavalier's brother, an agent and guest on the show, his opinion. Phil agreed with PJ.
On the Sweet Caroline debate:
"Are you going to give this up?"
PJ: "Not until I get everyone in Montreal to change it to oh, oh oh!"
=)
Thatta boy PJ.
Other highlights included some of PJs assessment of the playoffs:
*In the "hat-trick game" Ovechkin's goals were "sexier" than Crosbys.
*Chelios got a very nice send-off after warmups during the Finals in Detroit/Chelios was one of PJs favorite players growing up (I will not hold this against him).
*He didn't agree with the Crosby not shaking hands of all Detroit but said from his pearch in the arena he saw he was being overwhelmed from all angles. He said if he were Crosby he would have gone over to the bench to say his remarks. And that there is "not a more classy guy in the game than Lidstrom. I would have gone over to him." He hopes there would be a text message or a phone call later to apologize, even if it was circumstances.
Plenty more but I can't even do justice to today's show.
Again, I love it.
As PJ would say:
Peace.
As thrilled I was PJ was back, I was even more thrilled when it became a vintage PJ day. Vintage how? In that another one of the days that you'd never be able to get away with on radio in the States. =) And I loved it!
The debate of the day, literally, was whether it was proper to, when singing along to Sweet Caroline, sing "Sweet Caroline - bom, bom, bom" or "Sweet Caroline - Oh, Oh, Oh."
The rest of the Team990 gang felt it was definitely of the "bom, bom, bom" variety and that PJ had obviously been going to the wrong type of weddings.
Andie was the only Team990 member to agree with PJ. They others said it was only because she missed him.
They went to the phones and 3 of the first callers immediately sided against PJ.
Not to be outdone - is he ever? - PJ continued, on and and off for the next hour and twenty minutes, to have them play, pause, stop, re-play "Sweet Caroline" and sing along.
He even asked Vinny Lecavalier's brother, an agent and guest on the show, his opinion. Phil agreed with PJ.
On the Sweet Caroline debate:
"Are you going to give this up?"
PJ: "Not until I get everyone in Montreal to change it to oh, oh oh!"
=)
Thatta boy PJ.
Other highlights included some of PJs assessment of the playoffs:
*In the "hat-trick game" Ovechkin's goals were "sexier" than Crosbys.
*Chelios got a very nice send-off after warmups during the Finals in Detroit/Chelios was one of PJs favorite players growing up (I will not hold this against him).
*He didn't agree with the Crosby not shaking hands of all Detroit but said from his pearch in the arena he saw he was being overwhelmed from all angles. He said if he were Crosby he would have gone over to the bench to say his remarks. And that there is "not a more classy guy in the game than Lidstrom. I would have gone over to him." He hopes there would be a text message or a phone call later to apologize, even if it was circumstances.
Plenty more but I can't even do justice to today's show.
Again, I love it.
As PJ would say:
Peace.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Rangers Season In Review/Part Two: The Question of Captaincy and Leadership. . .
While I don't think these things - captaincy and leadership - doomed the hockey club as much as the so many mediocre players being paid as superstars payroll snafu, I do think it would be wrong to not believe this played a role in some way.
How significant a role? It may be impossible to ever tell.
The Quiet Captain:
As the team got set to begin their season in Prague with their plethora of Czech players on their roster - *ahem, little sarcasm there* - Tom Renney was carefully selecting his choice for captain of the New York Rangers.
Whether he put a lot of thought into this decision or none at all, we'll never know, but he settled on the guy known as Mr. Clutch, Chris Drury.
I have nothing personally against Drury; I have found him in every instance I've seen him to be a polite and kind human being. In fact, The Hockey Rodent said it best when he said he'd "'like' to like" Chris Drury. But...
I never, not for one second, thought he was the right person to be a captain here. Not at all.
Personally, I would not have named a captain so soon. And was pretty upset they chose to do so. When you have arguably the greatest European scorer in the history of the game who has set numerous team records and carried, at many times, the entire Rangers team on his own shoulders leave, and leave under the not so best of circumstances, to me the worst thing you can try to do is try to immediately replace someone of that stature.
Because you will inevitably fail. Whoever it is will never live up to what you need him to be.
My vote would have been for no captain at all. Instead name three alternate captains perhaps based on seniority with the team, or seniority in the league, and let a true captain step up during the season. Let the day in, day out routine of playing in this league and in this city name the captain for you.
But, no. Tom Renney chose to name Chris Drury as captain. Because, presumably,
Drury loved NY, because he wanted to Be a Ranger!, because he was a rotating captain on a successful team in Buffalo, and because he was a winner.
Or, in my opinion which I stated here this season, I think on some level, Tom Renney named Chris Drury captain because he was the most easy-going, and would never say anything but what the media and the brass wanted to hear in the most boring and monotonous way possible - after every single game.
And he lived up to that perfectly.
As for the rest of our expectations, he came up short.
I have my own favorite captains, both on the Rangers and in the NHL. Obviously I loved Mark Messier and think he was always a remarkable captain. He did everything.
My current favorite NHL captain, Jarome Iginla, kind of fits into that mold. He scores points and is, on many nights, the best player on his team. He is supportive of his teammates and will drop the gloves to settle something. He's eloquent and a respected presence in the league, respected by teammates, opponents and those that cover the game. He's the "do-everything" poster boy.
Shane Doan is a close second for me (and yes, it was before this year's trade deadline). He is a very talented player - very underrated in fact. He's humble. He's eloquent. And he's got a great sense of humor. If I were a player, I'd love to have a captain that would be able to keep me loose and laughing when I was uptight or give me a a speech to get me pumped up when I needed that - and most importantly, to know when each situation was necessary. He's a prideful guy, and a guy that wants to succeed. He knows how to work with everyone - veterans, rookies, coaches. Canada has many of the best hockey players in the world and when it comes time to name their captain for their international teams, Doan is always right there. I find that very, very telling in terms of his character.
Chris Drury, on the other hand, does not seem to inspire the same reaction in me, or his teammates. I think he threw one shove this year, maybe accidentally. He showed emotion four times, perhaps. I alluded to it during the season. Once after scoring the goal against the MM squad in Bern. Twice when he was angry he didn't score and a) threw his stick and b) smacked his stick on the boards nearly decapitating Steve Valiquette. And once again, when he scored his "clutch" goal in the playoffs.
As for inspiring in general, the Rangers team didn't seem inspired. Now whether or not that all had to do with the captain remains to be known, but I am of the opinion that it wouldn't have hurt if he had been more vocal.
I mean, seriously, there were so many spans of time his play was dismal, he appeared absent, and I'd swear I had yet to see him have a pulse, whether on the ice or in the post-game interview. I may expect that from a bunch of the non-factors on my team, but the captain?
That can't happen.
A captain, to me, is the right guy if he is that guy that can inspire - inspire others to play better, inspire them to love the game, inspire - anything.
Look the Rangers were blessed to have Mark Messier, the best leader in sports, and one of the greatest captains.
In between Messier's two runs, my favorite player Brian Leetch became captain. Favorite or not, I did not think Leetch was a good captain. That may have been because he loathed the fact Mark was no longer around or maybe he just wasn't able to translate his knowledge of the game to others.
The big difference though was that Brian Leetch was the best player on the team. He was the best player on a team that also had Wayne Gretzky. Leetch had no apologizing to do if he wasn't the perfect captain, because he was always the team's best player.
Drury, gosh forgive him, was not the team's best player. We can't even make a fraction of an argument for him in this case.
See you can get away with being a captain even if you aren't typical captain material if you are the best player on the team. Also true to note that you can be a leader without being a captain, but it is pretty hard to be a captain without first knowing how to lead others.
Now, all that very much aside, I do believe, pretty strongly in fact, that Drury did care very much for this team and his teammates and desire to do well. Perhaps too well. You know how Tom Renney's greatest folly in the end was his loyalty to his players, something we'd normally admire.
Well, Chris Drury's greatest downfall, perhaps, is in caring too much. And not knowing how to focus that emotion.
Instead of seeing a guy that is firing on all cylinders and go-go-go on the ice, we see a guy that was often playing timid, nervous hockey, which is no fun for us to watch and not at all effective.
I didn't necessarily come up with this theory alone. His teammates praise the heck of Chris. Renney and Torts both alluded to how much Chris cared.
So, I decided, perhaps it's not a lack of caring. It probably isn't. But more likely, it's a lack of translating that caring into something that works.
Drury made a bunch of people, myself included, very unhappy with his "won't let this ruin my Christmas" quote after the Christmas Eve-Eve massacre loss to the Capitals last December. Now, I don't really believe that Drury didn't care, or that he wasn't embarassed by the loss, BUT...to say what he said gives the opposite impression. And that is not a good thing.
As fans, I think we expect to hear some more honesty. Some more truth. Some more passion! Some more pulse! Some more anger! Some more - anything, for goodness sakes!
The utter lack of that, in addition to all else, compounded why Drury's leadership style, whatever it may be, just does not translate in New York.
And that is why he being captain was never going to work. A very nice guy, decent hockey player at times, but just not a good captain.
Leadership:
Chris Drury aside for a moment, this team, on a whole, lacked a leadership figure or figures for the young kids to latch onto. Believe it or not, this is a big problem.
I'd like to borrow some thoughts from PJ Stock to hilight this. In the weeks following the Canadiens demise, PJ talked about how when he was in NY and he wasn't doing the right thing, he always had an assistant coach telling him who to look up to.
He was told to look up to Adam Graves, Brian Leetch, Mike Richter. See how they practice. See how they approach the game. See how they work.
And PJ did. And goodness knows PJ had three amazing examples of great people and great hockey players right there. He, he was lucky.
PJ pondered just who the young Canadiens had to show them "the way."
He said in Pittsburgh, guess who sits next to Sidney Crosby. After the trade from the Isles, it's been Bill Guerin.
Guess who sat next to Drew Doughty all season in Los Angeles, he asked. Sean O'Donnell, the veteran.
He wondered who the young Canadiens, namely Carey Price and the Kostitsyns, who they had showing them what to do, telling them what not to do.
He feared they had no one.
I do not for a second think the situation is the same in New York as it is in Montreal, although there are some similarities, surely. And I think the young Rangers - especially the young Rangers - are miles beyond in maturity than many others may be. I think in that way we are blessed. Marc Staal, Lauri Korpikoski - they are 22-years-old! The great majority of the team is 24 or younger. They may be young but they do not strike me as needing people to show them how to act professionally.
HOWEVER. That does not mean that they did not lack for leadership ON the ice.
Tom Renney might not have said all the right things when he was here, but after he left he gave an interview in the NY Post where he got something very right. He said, "
I'm not knocking #23 and #19 (well more than I already have), but there is no way - no freakin' way - that the young guys, after playing next to guys like Jagr, Shanahan, and Straka, didn't feel a little lost looking at the quiet-man Drury and jokester Gomez.
That's just a fact. Did they need Gomez and Drury to show them how not to end up tied in controversy outside the hockey arena? - no. But they perhaps needed them to show a consistent example of putting in effort on the ice.
I am being brutally honest here, but I just do not think that our new "leaders" did that at all. Perhaps had they played with more conviction and heart, perhaps more than just Staal, Callahan, Hank, would have followed.
Sometimes young people need examples. Maybe they just wanted team unity.
But let's be honest, folks, for the most part the only thing this team was unified in was mediocrity.
Bottom line here. The Rangers might have picked the perfect captain, for the group of boring, lifeless players they were for most of the season. They did not pick a captain who knew what it meant to lead or to inspire. The team suffered for it.
The Rangers also suffered for having their young guys display more leadership captabilities and professionalism than 2/3rds of the guys wearing letters.
It's not Drury or Gomez's fault they are not Jagr or Shanahan. The Rangers were blessed to have two of the leagues all-time greatest play for their team and show their young players what it meant to play and succeed in this league. Blessed. And we fans were blessed too.
But while it perhaps wasn't Drury and Gomez's fault that they were put in that position, they had to have known that it was part of the package deal. Accepting the letters. Accepting the contracts. Because they are here, getting paid, other players cannot be here, and cannot help them do everything they aren't doing.
But in reality, they really weren't being asked to do everything.
Honestly, I'd have been happy if they came to play every night and showed a better example for the rest of the team.
**Sorry, these entries are slow in getting written. Apologies too, again, for the rambling, but it's hard to hammer these points down in general. This is a very hard team to wrap explaination around, which I'm sure no one can argue. A few more thoughts in my head - more soon.
Also, I do not want to make it seem as if I am absolving the 2nd alternate, Naslund, of all blame. But I kinda am. He was not perfect nor was he the solution, but I do not think that he was anything but professional here. He said the right things, win or lose, but he wasn't robotic. He was self critical when he needed to be, and critical of the team. And again, I saw him complain to the refs many more times than I ever saw Drury or Gomez. Credit Naslund for doing his job, but I still do not get the hesitancy of the other two to do theirs. I'm sorry but if any veteran with a big contract was setting a good example of professionalism and class, my bet's on it being #91.**
How significant a role? It may be impossible to ever tell.
The Quiet Captain:
As the team got set to begin their season in Prague with their plethora of Czech players on their roster - *ahem, little sarcasm there* - Tom Renney was carefully selecting his choice for captain of the New York Rangers.
Whether he put a lot of thought into this decision or none at all, we'll never know, but he settled on the guy known as Mr. Clutch, Chris Drury.
I have nothing personally against Drury; I have found him in every instance I've seen him to be a polite and kind human being. In fact, The Hockey Rodent said it best when he said he'd "'like' to like" Chris Drury. But...
I never, not for one second, thought he was the right person to be a captain here. Not at all.
Personally, I would not have named a captain so soon. And was pretty upset they chose to do so. When you have arguably the greatest European scorer in the history of the game who has set numerous team records and carried, at many times, the entire Rangers team on his own shoulders leave, and leave under the not so best of circumstances, to me the worst thing you can try to do is try to immediately replace someone of that stature.
Because you will inevitably fail. Whoever it is will never live up to what you need him to be.
My vote would have been for no captain at all. Instead name three alternate captains perhaps based on seniority with the team, or seniority in the league, and let a true captain step up during the season. Let the day in, day out routine of playing in this league and in this city name the captain for you.
But, no. Tom Renney chose to name Chris Drury as captain. Because, presumably,
Drury loved NY, because he wanted to Be a Ranger!, because he was a rotating captain on a successful team in Buffalo, and because he was a winner.
Or, in my opinion which I stated here this season, I think on some level, Tom Renney named Chris Drury captain because he was the most easy-going, and would never say anything but what the media and the brass wanted to hear in the most boring and monotonous way possible - after every single game.
And he lived up to that perfectly.
As for the rest of our expectations, he came up short.
I have my own favorite captains, both on the Rangers and in the NHL. Obviously I loved Mark Messier and think he was always a remarkable captain. He did everything.
My current favorite NHL captain, Jarome Iginla, kind of fits into that mold. He scores points and is, on many nights, the best player on his team. He is supportive of his teammates and will drop the gloves to settle something. He's eloquent and a respected presence in the league, respected by teammates, opponents and those that cover the game. He's the "do-everything" poster boy.
Shane Doan is a close second for me (and yes, it was before this year's trade deadline). He is a very talented player - very underrated in fact. He's humble. He's eloquent. And he's got a great sense of humor. If I were a player, I'd love to have a captain that would be able to keep me loose and laughing when I was uptight or give me a a speech to get me pumped up when I needed that - and most importantly, to know when each situation was necessary. He's a prideful guy, and a guy that wants to succeed. He knows how to work with everyone - veterans, rookies, coaches. Canada has many of the best hockey players in the world and when it comes time to name their captain for their international teams, Doan is always right there. I find that very, very telling in terms of his character.
Chris Drury, on the other hand, does not seem to inspire the same reaction in me, or his teammates. I think he threw one shove this year, maybe accidentally. He showed emotion four times, perhaps. I alluded to it during the season. Once after scoring the goal against the MM squad in Bern. Twice when he was angry he didn't score and a) threw his stick and b) smacked his stick on the boards nearly decapitating Steve Valiquette. And once again, when he scored his "clutch" goal in the playoffs.
As for inspiring in general, the Rangers team didn't seem inspired. Now whether or not that all had to do with the captain remains to be known, but I am of the opinion that it wouldn't have hurt if he had been more vocal.
I mean, seriously, there were so many spans of time his play was dismal, he appeared absent, and I'd swear I had yet to see him have a pulse, whether on the ice or in the post-game interview. I may expect that from a bunch of the non-factors on my team, but the captain?
That can't happen.
A captain, to me, is the right guy if he is that guy that can inspire - inspire others to play better, inspire them to love the game, inspire - anything.
Look the Rangers were blessed to have Mark Messier, the best leader in sports, and one of the greatest captains.
In between Messier's two runs, my favorite player Brian Leetch became captain. Favorite or not, I did not think Leetch was a good captain. That may have been because he loathed the fact Mark was no longer around or maybe he just wasn't able to translate his knowledge of the game to others.
The big difference though was that Brian Leetch was the best player on the team. He was the best player on a team that also had Wayne Gretzky. Leetch had no apologizing to do if he wasn't the perfect captain, because he was always the team's best player.
Drury, gosh forgive him, was not the team's best player. We can't even make a fraction of an argument for him in this case.
See you can get away with being a captain even if you aren't typical captain material if you are the best player on the team. Also true to note that you can be a leader without being a captain, but it is pretty hard to be a captain without first knowing how to lead others.
Now, all that very much aside, I do believe, pretty strongly in fact, that Drury did care very much for this team and his teammates and desire to do well. Perhaps too well. You know how Tom Renney's greatest folly in the end was his loyalty to his players, something we'd normally admire.
Well, Chris Drury's greatest downfall, perhaps, is in caring too much. And not knowing how to focus that emotion.
Instead of seeing a guy that is firing on all cylinders and go-go-go on the ice, we see a guy that was often playing timid, nervous hockey, which is no fun for us to watch and not at all effective.
I didn't necessarily come up with this theory alone. His teammates praise the heck of Chris. Renney and Torts both alluded to how much Chris cared.
So, I decided, perhaps it's not a lack of caring. It probably isn't. But more likely, it's a lack of translating that caring into something that works.
Drury made a bunch of people, myself included, very unhappy with his "won't let this ruin my Christmas" quote after the Christmas Eve-Eve massacre loss to the Capitals last December. Now, I don't really believe that Drury didn't care, or that he wasn't embarassed by the loss, BUT...to say what he said gives the opposite impression. And that is not a good thing.
As fans, I think we expect to hear some more honesty. Some more truth. Some more passion! Some more pulse! Some more anger! Some more - anything, for goodness sakes!
The utter lack of that, in addition to all else, compounded why Drury's leadership style, whatever it may be, just does not translate in New York.
And that is why he being captain was never going to work. A very nice guy, decent hockey player at times, but just not a good captain.
Leadership:
Chris Drury aside for a moment, this team, on a whole, lacked a leadership figure or figures for the young kids to latch onto. Believe it or not, this is a big problem.
I'd like to borrow some thoughts from PJ Stock to hilight this. In the weeks following the Canadiens demise, PJ talked about how when he was in NY and he wasn't doing the right thing, he always had an assistant coach telling him who to look up to.
He was told to look up to Adam Graves, Brian Leetch, Mike Richter. See how they practice. See how they approach the game. See how they work.
And PJ did. And goodness knows PJ had three amazing examples of great people and great hockey players right there. He, he was lucky.
PJ pondered just who the young Canadiens had to show them "the way."
He said in Pittsburgh, guess who sits next to Sidney Crosby. After the trade from the Isles, it's been Bill Guerin.
Guess who sat next to Drew Doughty all season in Los Angeles, he asked. Sean O'Donnell, the veteran.
He wondered who the young Canadiens, namely Carey Price and the Kostitsyns, who they had showing them what to do, telling them what not to do.
He feared they had no one.
I do not for a second think the situation is the same in New York as it is in Montreal, although there are some similarities, surely. And I think the young Rangers - especially the young Rangers - are miles beyond in maturity than many others may be. I think in that way we are blessed. Marc Staal, Lauri Korpikoski - they are 22-years-old! The great majority of the team is 24 or younger. They may be young but they do not strike me as needing people to show them how to act professionally.
HOWEVER. That does not mean that they did not lack for leadership ON the ice.
Tom Renney might not have said all the right things when he was here, but after he left he gave an interview in the NY Post where he got something very right. He said, "
"But we had a struggle all year with internal leadership, and I have to think it was very difficult for guys, especially the younger guys, to look over the locker that used to belong to No. 68 and see someone else there, and the same about the locker that used to belong to No. 14.
It's a very heavy cross to bear to be a captain or in a leadership role with the New York Rangers or any pro team in New York City. It becomes that much more of a burden if you're not accustomed to it, and struggle to reach expectations in an attempt to justify your contract."
I'm not pointing fingers at anybody. I'm not blaming Scott Gomez or Chris Drury. I know they want to win. But it's different, that's what I'm saying. And I should have recognized that."
I'm not knocking #23 and #19 (well more than I already have), but there is no way - no freakin' way - that the young guys, after playing next to guys like Jagr, Shanahan, and Straka, didn't feel a little lost looking at the quiet-man Drury and jokester Gomez.
That's just a fact. Did they need Gomez and Drury to show them how not to end up tied in controversy outside the hockey arena? - no. But they perhaps needed them to show a consistent example of putting in effort on the ice.
I am being brutally honest here, but I just do not think that our new "leaders" did that at all. Perhaps had they played with more conviction and heart, perhaps more than just Staal, Callahan, Hank, would have followed.
Sometimes young people need examples. Maybe they just wanted team unity.
But let's be honest, folks, for the most part the only thing this team was unified in was mediocrity.
Bottom line here. The Rangers might have picked the perfect captain, for the group of boring, lifeless players they were for most of the season. They did not pick a captain who knew what it meant to lead or to inspire. The team suffered for it.
The Rangers also suffered for having their young guys display more leadership captabilities and professionalism than 2/3rds of the guys wearing letters.
It's not Drury or Gomez's fault they are not Jagr or Shanahan. The Rangers were blessed to have two of the leagues all-time greatest play for their team and show their young players what it meant to play and succeed in this league. Blessed. And we fans were blessed too.
But while it perhaps wasn't Drury and Gomez's fault that they were put in that position, they had to have known that it was part of the package deal. Accepting the letters. Accepting the contracts. Because they are here, getting paid, other players cannot be here, and cannot help them do everything they aren't doing.
But in reality, they really weren't being asked to do everything.
Honestly, I'd have been happy if they came to play every night and showed a better example for the rest of the team.
**Sorry, these entries are slow in getting written. Apologies too, again, for the rambling, but it's hard to hammer these points down in general. This is a very hard team to wrap explaination around, which I'm sure no one can argue. A few more thoughts in my head - more soon.
Also, I do not want to make it seem as if I am absolving the 2nd alternate, Naslund, of all blame. But I kinda am. He was not perfect nor was he the solution, but I do not think that he was anything but professional here. He said the right things, win or lose, but he wasn't robotic. He was self critical when he needed to be, and critical of the team. And again, I saw him complain to the refs many more times than I ever saw Drury or Gomez. Credit Naslund for doing his job, but I still do not get the hesitancy of the other two to do theirs. I'm sorry but if any veteran with a big contract was setting a good example of professionalism and class, my bet's on it being #91.**
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Boudreau's Son, Jumbo Joe, and Mats With Hair. . .
So I finally got around to watching last weeks After Hours on HNIC. Only five days late, but I was so tired after the Rangers/Ottawa game I didn't stay up as late as I usually do. I know, excuses, excuses.
The highlights:
Bruce Boudreau's son - Brady - is adorable. He interviewed Brooks Laich, Dave Steckel, and Mike Green on a segment shown on Hockey Tonight. For those of you keeping track, Green's new nickname is Lambor-greenie, for his new vehicle. Good stuff.
Mats Sundin was the guest on After Hours after the Sharks/Canucks game. Shocking I know. Scott Oake said, it only took Mats sitting out six months and signing with a western Canadian club for him finally to appear on After Hours. He then asked if he regretted the decision now that he was here. On the show. Ouch. They did tell him he boosted their ratings though.
Mats was given a test to see which Sedin twin was which. I, by the way, think I've finally figured it out. But, sorry Mats, I'm not telling.
Mats fielded a phone call of questions from Glen Healy, former teammate with the Leafs and a genuinely good guy. Mats responded not so much in answers, but with a "fact" that the reason Scottish people, like Glen, wear kilts, was because the Vikings came downt to Scotland and made them.
He said he's still waiting for a response from Healy.
The best part, though, was watching clips of Mats from Draft Day - with hair. People think he's unattractive or menacing, and while I've never agreed with them on either front, he was an adorable little blond kid. He really was.
Like him or not, and I honestly always did, he's had a great career in this league.
Lastly:
Jumbo Joe Thornton gave another good interview, pre-Mats, with a few laughs. First he takes off his shirt pre-interview so appears with only a towel draped around his neck.
Not far into the interview, a voice heard in the background says, "Joe, put your shirt on. You are going to scare the kids!"
The voice?
Jeremy Roenick.
:)
At the close of interview Scott Oake asks Thornton to say something to PJ Stock who is coming on to do score updates. Joe says, "how am I looking buddy," or something along those lines. [Joe joked weeks earlier that there was an over 30 (or 40) league PJ could join in San Jose].
When we finally get to PJ after McClean, Hrudey, and Milbury joke about how cold Joe must be in that hallway, he jokes about how he looks and why aren't they getting on him because he looks like:
"A milk bag."
You can't make this stuff up.
On PJ's list of those snubbed for the All Star game - Patrick Marleau, Mike Green, Brian Rafalski, David Kreiji.
To which McClean said, "I"m working the game and I might not even watch it."
Gotta love it.
The highlights:
Bruce Boudreau's son - Brady - is adorable. He interviewed Brooks Laich, Dave Steckel, and Mike Green on a segment shown on Hockey Tonight. For those of you keeping track, Green's new nickname is Lambor-greenie, for his new vehicle. Good stuff.
Mats Sundin was the guest on After Hours after the Sharks/Canucks game. Shocking I know. Scott Oake said, it only took Mats sitting out six months and signing with a western Canadian club for him finally to appear on After Hours. He then asked if he regretted the decision now that he was here. On the show. Ouch. They did tell him he boosted their ratings though.
Mats was given a test to see which Sedin twin was which. I, by the way, think I've finally figured it out. But, sorry Mats, I'm not telling.
Mats fielded a phone call of questions from Glen Healy, former teammate with the Leafs and a genuinely good guy. Mats responded not so much in answers, but with a "fact" that the reason Scottish people, like Glen, wear kilts, was because the Vikings came downt to Scotland and made them.
He said he's still waiting for a response from Healy.
The best part, though, was watching clips of Mats from Draft Day - with hair. People think he's unattractive or menacing, and while I've never agreed with them on either front, he was an adorable little blond kid. He really was.
Like him or not, and I honestly always did, he's had a great career in this league.
Lastly:
Jumbo Joe Thornton gave another good interview, pre-Mats, with a few laughs. First he takes off his shirt pre-interview so appears with only a towel draped around his neck.
Not far into the interview, a voice heard in the background says, "Joe, put your shirt on. You are going to scare the kids!"
The voice?
Jeremy Roenick.
:)
At the close of interview Scott Oake asks Thornton to say something to PJ Stock who is coming on to do score updates. Joe says, "how am I looking buddy," or something along those lines. [Joe joked weeks earlier that there was an over 30 (or 40) league PJ could join in San Jose].
When we finally get to PJ after McClean, Hrudey, and Milbury joke about how cold Joe must be in that hallway, he jokes about how he looks and why aren't they getting on him because he looks like:
"A milk bag."
You can't make this stuff up.
On PJ's list of those snubbed for the All Star game - Patrick Marleau, Mike Green, Brian Rafalski, David Kreiji.
To which McClean said, "I"m working the game and I might not even watch it."
Gotta love it.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
The extra (although somewhat dated) stuff. . .
Alright, so there are a few things I’ve been delaying in blogging about. Either because I’ve been busy (which is true) or because I guess I was trying really hard to forget about them (which I guess I won’t try to deny). Here’s the random conglomeration one, because the other one turned from a paragraph into a giant book about #93. So. . .
-Mike Millbury being tapped to do Hockey Night in Canada. Really? Having to watch him on NBC (which I only watched during the playoffs or when the Rangers were on, for the most part) attacking people left and right wasn’t enough? Watching him with the Islanders wasn’t enough? Having him breathe the same air as me. . .okay. Okay. I’m done. But I really do not like the guy. Maybe he’s a nice guy. Maybe. But he strikes me as a moron. A smug, pompous moron. A moron who’d rather bash someone. A moron who’d rather talk loudly to try to make a point rather than think clearly and really make one that matters. Let’s just say he’s just not for me. Now maybe some people like him. That may be. Maybe Canada will love him. But as a fan who really for the first time this past year avidly took advantage of watching HNIC, it makes me want to puke. Just what role is he going to have? A Don Cherry like one? Please do not tell me they will have him on with Ron MacLean. Or mess up the tandem of Scott Oake and Kelly Hrudey on After Hours (not that I really think they would). But honestly, if they mess with what I like about HNIC, I’m going to be very, very disappointed. You already lost a long honored and highly respected theme song. What’s next? Seriously. I might have to get a l…li….life on Saturday nights – you know, go out and not watch hockey. And that is just unacceptable for me, because I happen to believe that watching hockey on Saturday night is very much a life and one that I very much enjoy. Oh and if he’s replacing PJ Stock. . .I am going to be livid. I’m still laughing about the “t-he” comment from last March. Hilarious stuff.
-Now, I know, I know, the Summer of Sundin still rages on. Or is losing steam? If the Rangers still weren’t rumored to be one of the teams still in it, I’ll admit I would have given up paying attention a long time ago. And I must apologize because this is horribly dated now because I must have listened to that segment on Vancouver’s Team 1040 more than three weeks ago? But it was still funny how the people and businesses of Vancouver took to trying to bribe Mats to come to town. Cars! Free pizza for life! These are just some of the things that people were using to lure the great #13 to Canuckville. See below in an article from Vancouver’s The Province for more details and offers. Very funny:
http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/sports/story.html?id=6bbcc025-f02e-42f5-8a59-c9fa094c32fc
Now who said $20 million can’t buy everything? :)
-Mike Millbury being tapped to do Hockey Night in Canada. Really? Having to watch him on NBC (which I only watched during the playoffs or when the Rangers were on, for the most part) attacking people left and right wasn’t enough? Watching him with the Islanders wasn’t enough? Having him breathe the same air as me. . .okay. Okay. I’m done. But I really do not like the guy. Maybe he’s a nice guy. Maybe. But he strikes me as a moron. A smug, pompous moron. A moron who’d rather bash someone. A moron who’d rather talk loudly to try to make a point rather than think clearly and really make one that matters. Let’s just say he’s just not for me. Now maybe some people like him. That may be. Maybe Canada will love him. But as a fan who really for the first time this past year avidly took advantage of watching HNIC, it makes me want to puke. Just what role is he going to have? A Don Cherry like one? Please do not tell me they will have him on with Ron MacLean. Or mess up the tandem of Scott Oake and Kelly Hrudey on After Hours (not that I really think they would). But honestly, if they mess with what I like about HNIC, I’m going to be very, very disappointed. You already lost a long honored and highly respected theme song. What’s next? Seriously. I might have to get a l…li….life on Saturday nights – you know, go out and not watch hockey. And that is just unacceptable for me, because I happen to believe that watching hockey on Saturday night is very much a life and one that I very much enjoy. Oh and if he’s replacing PJ Stock. . .I am going to be livid. I’m still laughing about the “t-he” comment from last March. Hilarious stuff.
-Now, I know, I know, the Summer of Sundin still rages on. Or is losing steam? If the Rangers still weren’t rumored to be one of the teams still in it, I’ll admit I would have given up paying attention a long time ago. And I must apologize because this is horribly dated now because I must have listened to that segment on Vancouver’s Team 1040 more than three weeks ago? But it was still funny how the people and businesses of Vancouver took to trying to bribe Mats to come to town. Cars! Free pizza for life! These are just some of the things that people were using to lure the great #13 to Canuckville. See below in an article from Vancouver’s The Province for more details and offers. Very funny:
http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/sports/story.html?id=6bbcc025-f02e-42f5-8a59-c9fa094c32fc
Now who said $20 million can’t buy everything? :)
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