Notable Quotable of the Day

"Pucks were supposed to be bouncing in more than they were bouncing out and I don't know, I kind of found it the other way around. It all depends on the angle that you shoot it on. The posts and the crossbar all funnel in towards the net but you have to be kind of shooting straight on from the net in order for it to work."

- Toronto Maple Leafs forward John Mitchell on the NHL's failed attempt to increase scoring with a new slimmer, angled post design. Read more about the net experiment in Toronto here.

Struggling In The South

The NHL winter meetings wrapped up last week and the news wasn't good for a third of the league. That's 10 teams for all you non-mathemoligists out there.

According to the Toronto Sun, the troublesome ten are: Atlanta, Carolina, Columbus, Florida, Nashville, New Jersey, N.Y. Islanders, Phoenix, St. Louis and Tampa Bay.

Those teams are reportedly suffering from low ticket sales and are in some serious economic trouble. There's a line in the paper's article which made me laugh that says, "Unfortunately, there's not enough room north of the border to relocate all of them."

Okay maybe there aren't 10 good Canadian cities to relocate all the teams, but I easily thought of eight. That list includes, Winnipeg, Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Quebec City, Halifax, Saskatoon, Mississauga, and Surrey.

What to do with the other two teams, I don't know. I mean I don't have all the answers here. And if I did, I would probably be using my powers for more important things like solving world hunger. Or maybe the hockey team relocation issue is a bit more important. I should probably figure out the answer to that one first.


[Source]

Ratings Gold

The NHL scored some big ratings for Tuesday night's game between the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

In the first rematch between the two clubs since last year's Cup final, Versus scored a .5 national HH rating (364,645 households), matching the best rating for a regular-season NHL game ever on the network. Just imagine the type of ratings the game would have got if it were on a network that most people actually get.

Locally, Pittsburgh received a 5.8 HH rating and Detroit delivered a 3.3 HH rating, making Versus the #1 rated cable network in both markets for the 7:00-9:45 p.m. ET period.

Here in Canada the game was aired on TSN2 which is still unavailable on most television providers' lineup. So because of that I was unable to watch. Didn't really bother me though, because it was Tuesday and that's the night I stare into my mirror and practice my pick up lines I'll use at the bar. You can never be too prepared.

[Source]

Stats and Figures from October

The first month of the season is over, and now we're on to November. The month when it starts to get cold and darker more often. And no I am not talking about how Leaf Nation will start to feel about their team.

Before we move forward, let's take a look at how October was for the NHL. They've just released a press release (imagine that), with all sorts of stats and figures from the previous month and of course it's all positive. They don't get into the negatives like one of the main reasons why hockey has received so much more coverage than usual is due to a certain embarassing hockey mom Vice Presidential candidate.

Here are the biased stats and figures. Try not to drink too much of the NHL kool-aid. Mmmmm, NHL brand kool-aid...

October Attendance Records
The per-game attendance average of 17,388 and the percent of capacity (94.1%) set NHL records. It was the first time in League history that average October attendance surpassed 17,000 per game. October's total attendance was up 3.1% over October, 2007. Leading the way were dramatic percentage increases in Chicago (+71%) and Washington (+24%).

Goal-Scoring on the Rise
The 149 games in October averaged 5.9 goals per game, up three percent from the 5.7 of October, 2007. While the number of power-play goals was virtually the same (265 in 2008 vs. 264 in 2007), the 588 even-strength goals represented a six-percent increase from the 555 in October, 2007.

Close Games a Staple of October Menu
The number of overtime games during the month almost doubled from a year ago. Of the 149 games, 40 (or 27%) required overtime or shootout to determine a winner compared to 21 such games in October, 2007.21 games were decided in a shootout, up 91% from the 11 shootout games in October, 2007.

Of October's 149 games, 70 featured lead changes -- up 25% from the 56 such games last October. There were 14 third-period comebacks during the October schedule, up 75% from the eight in 2007.

Ratings Rise
Hockey Night in Canada's October schedule of games saw a 12% increase in ratings, TSN's rating were up five percent while unprecedented interest in the Montreal Canadiens resulted in a 23% increase in October ratings for RDS. October ratings for games on VERSUS produced a five-percent increase in the number of viewers. Of the 30 teams, 21 had local ratings that were up from, or on par with, a year ago. (ed. note: So 9 teams have lower ratings than last year. Whomever could that list of teams include?)

Fans Watching Live Games Online In Record Numbers
In October, the NHL unveiled NHL GameCenter Live, its new interface for watching NHL games live online. Fans cheered its innovation, and for October, the League increased its subscriber base nearly 270 percent year-over-year.

More Web Traffic
The number of unique visitors to NHL.com in October 2008 was up 7% month-to-month over last year -- despite six fewer regular-season days than October, 2007.

Consumer Products and Retail
Sales of NHL-licensed product on NHL.com for October 2008 increased 26% compared to the same period last year.

[Source]

Trade Deadline Day Delayed One Day

Take a break from making inappropriate harassing advances towards your secretary and tell her to change your schedule for next March, because the NHL is changing things up.

The NHL trade deadline has officially been moved one day later from Tuesday March 3, to Wednesday March 4.

The League and the Players Association came to the agreement largely because there are 12 games on the NHL slate on the 3rd and only two games on the 4th.

Last season there were 25 deals on deadline day that saw 45 players change sweaters.

So great, frauds like Eklund and Al Strachan have an extra day to make rumours up from sources that don't actually exist. That's just fantastic.

Because it's never too early to shamelessly self promote yourself, make sure you check into The Power Play for all your Trade Watch 2009 needs! Some of your other needs I can't take care of, but when it comes to Trade Watch 2009, I'm your man!

[Source]

European Vacation

First of all, any excuse to reference Chevy Chase or any of the National Lampoon vacation movies is a good excuse in my books.

It appears as if much like the Griswald family, the NHL would like to try things out in Europe.

According to a report in Friday's Globe and Mail, NHL execs hope to have a few teams in Europe withing the next 10 years. Whaaaaaaaat? It's National Hockey League, not International Hockey League right?

"As time goes on, you'll see us making increasing movement into Europe," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told the newspaper. "Certainly, it's a possibility that within 10 years time we will be playing games there."

The league has already experimented with games overseas with exhibition games in Europe in the early 1990s and regular season games in Japan prior to the 1998 Winter Olympic Games in Nagano. The Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings played in London, England last year, while four more teams - the New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Tampa Bay Lightning and Pittsburgh Penguins - will play in Europe next month.

NHL expansion into Europe has been talked about for years and has has been hot debate among the league's executives.

Kevin Lowe, President of Hockey Operations for the Edmonton Oilers, was on sports radio show Hockeycentral Friday and thought that it's a great idea and an important step to grow the game of hockey.

Meanwhile, although not opposed to European expansion, Carolina Hurricanes president and general manager Jim Rutherford questions whether European cities can support NHL teams financially and would like to to see the league put teams back in Canada first.

"European cities do a good job for international hockey tournaments, but can those cities afford NHL prices for 42 regular-season games plus playoffs?" Rutherford told the Globe. "I don't know the answer, but if they can, then at some point there will be expansion in Europe."

"But first we have to expand a couple more teams back into Canada, get back into Winnipeg and put another team in Ontario before we see expansion to Europe."

Good call by Rutherford. Let's make sure everything is okay here in North America first before we look at that whole European thing guys. Frankly I'm even surprised this is a concern for Gary Bettman and the rest of the NHL big wigs. I thought they were all about putting hockey in non-hockey market American cities and letting them financially struggle for years and years. Nice to see them thinking out of the box on this one.



[Source]

Radulov Suspended Indefinitely

The Nashville Predators have suspended forward Alexander Radulov indefinitely without pay for the 2008-09 season.

This past off-season, Radulov signed a contract with UFA of the Russian super league KHL despite having one year remaining on his existing contract with Nashville.

Radulov said that he informed the Predators that he wanted to return to play in Russia and that because there was at the time no active transfer agreement between the leagues, he did not believe he could be forced to return to play for Nashville.

So you showed him Nashville? He didn't want to play in Nashville and you have made that possible. It's kind of like when you suspend a kid from school as if it's supposed to be punishment but it's really a three day vacation.

Mark Your Calendars!

On one of the deadest, least busiest day in sports, the NHL has grabbed the spotlight by releasing the 2008-09 schedule.

Everything gets kicked off on October 4th as the Lightning, Rangers, Penguins, and Sens head over to Europe to open the season in Sweden and the Czech Republic. Or as John McCain still refers to it, Czechoslovakia. Hey, he's old, he's allowed to be ignorant.

Speaking of old, two of the oldest teams in the league, the Red Wings and Leafs get things started here in North America on October 9th at Joe Louis Arena when the Wings will raise their Stnaley Cup Championship Banner up the rafters. I love that it's when the Leafs are in town. 41 years and counting Leaf fans.

Other exciting dates in this season are:

- The Hall of Fame Weekend on November 8-10. The Montreal Canadiens will come to Toronto to do battle with the Leafs that weekend. Then two nights later the Class of 2008 will be inducted.

- For the second season in a row, the NHL will hold it's Winter Classic on New Year's Day. Last year was at Ralph Wilson Stadium between the Sabres and Penguins. This year we'll get to see the defending Cup champion Red Wings head into the windy city and play the Chicago Blackhawks outdoors at Wrigley Field.

- The second half of the NHL season begins Jan. 27 with a slate of 11 games, including Washington at Boston, Carolina at the New York Rangers, Detroit at Columbus, New Jersey at Ottawa, Montreal at Tampa Bay, Philadelphia at Florida, Toronto at Minnesota, Atlanta at Dallas, San Jose at Colorado, Buffalo at Edmonton and Anaheim at Phoenix.

Right around then the rumors start to fly as trading season heats up, culminating on March 3, Trade Deadline Day, easily one of the most anticipated days of the season for any hockey fan.The last day of the regular season will be April 12, when four games are on the schedule and perhaps some playoff berths or divisional titles could be on the line.

The biggest story of this season though will be the Montreal Canadiens celebrating their centennial anniversary. They will be involved in some major events all year long including the afformentioned Hall of Fame weekend.

Les Canadiens will welcome the All-Stars of the NHL to the Bell Centre for the 57th All-Star Game. All-Star weekend is scheduled to take place January 24-25. Then a few months later after they've won the Stanley Cup - you'll see - The Habs will host the NHL Entry Draft where the Toronto Maple Leafs will have the 1st overall pick. Trust me on that one. The draft will be held June 26-27.

As for the actual games the Habs will play, their season opens up on the road on October 10th at HSBC Arena in Buffalo where they will do battle with their division rivals, the Sabres. Montreal then has two more road games against the Leafs and Philly before coming home to the Bell Centre. Their home opener goes Wednesday October 15th when they will host the team they eliminated in the 1st round of the playoffs, the Boston Bruins.

Click here for the full 2008-09 NHL Schedule
Click here for the full 2008-09 Montreal Canadiens Schedule

To And From Russia With Love

A Cold War was diverted today as the NHL reached an agreement with the new Russian hockey league, the Continental Hockey League.

The deal temporarily ends the threat of players being lured away by big money deals from Russian clubs.

The pact to respect player contracts across all borders followed offers made last month by teams in Russia's Continental Hockey League - which begins play in September - to entice Evgeni Malkin out of the final year of his deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

It was reached at a meeting of the NHL, the NHL Players' Association and international hockey leagues in Zurich, the home of the International Ice Hockey Federation.

"Everyone in the room agreed that for the foreseeable future everyone will respect everybody's contracts." NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said.

The Continental league, known as the KHL in Russia, will have 24 teams - including one each in neighbouring Belarus and Kazakhstan - that can have five overseas players on a 25-man roster.

I hope there's a team in Kazakhstan and that it is somehow affiliated with Borat. Maybe their mascot can be a bear, or Pamela Andersen.

I just noticed that I've written two stories about Russia in the past two days. Hope nobody thinks I'm some sort of communist sympathizer. Because you know, I certainly do not support that...*nervous laughter*

Halak Re-Ups With The Habs

The Canadiens have re-signed RFA back up goalie Jaroslav Halak to a two year deal. According to TSN the deal is worth $1.55 million which will see him get paid $750k in 2008-09, and $800k in 2009-10.

Jaro, a native of Bratislava, Slovakia, was selected in the ninth round by the Canadiens, 271st overall in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. They don't even go past seven rounds anymore!

Halak, who is only 23, will begin his third season in the NHL this fall. In 2007-08, he played six games with the Canadiens, posting a 2-1-1 record, a 2.11 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage. He played in 28 games with the AHL Hamilton Bulldogs, posted a 15-10-2 record, a 2.10 goals against average and maintained the AHL's second-best save percentage (.929).

What a fantastic deal for the Habs. If he would've been a UFA he would've easily got $2-$3 million a year. I'm just surprised nobody put out an offer sheet on him. Maybe everyone fears the wrath of one Robert Q. Gainey. By the way, I don't think his middle name actually starts with a Q.

Doing Business With The Enemy

Has hell frozen over? Are monkeys flying? Are pigs flying out of various people's butts?

I ask this because bitter rivals, Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs have made a trade. It's the rarest of rare to see these two teams work together and get something done. It would be like if the Red Sox and Yankees made a trade in baseball. Perish the thought!

The Habs traded German forward Mikhail Grabovski to the Leafs for the rights to 2008 fifth round pick Greg Pateryn and a second round pick in 2010.

"Mikhail had tremendous success at the most recent World Hockey Championships," said Fletcher in a statement. "He has great upside and we will look for him to contribute for us right away at the centre position."

It was rumoured on internet message boards that Grabovski would head to the Leafs as compensation if Montreal was able to sign Mats Sundin. When that didn't happen by July 1st, Leafs GM Cliff Fletcher got on the phone and tried to figure out another way to land Grabovski.

Though he is pretty unknown to Leaf fans, as a devoted Habs fan I have of course seen Grabo play many times both in Montreal and in Hamilton. Fletcher was right in his statement that he does have tremendous upside. But he's pretty far away from making any sort of an impact unless he's playing in the AHL. He's speedy but makes a lot of bad passes, and is very physically weak and gets pushed off the puck very easily.

The one thing I do like about this trade is that Montreal got more for Grabovski in Pateryn and a 2nd round pick than they did when they traded Cristobal Huet back at the deadline. Oh trusty Leafs. Always making bad moves and overpaying for things.

Whole Lot Of Tampering Going On?

I'm not one to make wild assumptions. When I see a homeless guy asking for money on the street, I don't assume he's going to go spend it on drugs, even though he most likely will. Like the song by Canadian band Sloan, I see the good in everyone.

So imagine my shock, my horror, my sheer disgust when I found out that some NHL GM's might be acting a bit shady and speaking with some future UFA's before they actually become UFA's.

Now keep in mind, this involves the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens. The two cities where the media are fast and loose with the facts and will report anything. Fast and loose, that reminds me of this girl I met this weekend...I kid, I kid.

First let's cover the Leafs. This afternoon on the Fan 590, Leafs beat reporter Howard Berger - mmmmmm, Burgers - mentioned that as soon as the free agent frenzy begins, as soon as it's 12:01pm, we could see Curtis Joseph sign with Toronto. Now of course this move doesn't make sense for the Leafs as they have a great young goalie in Justin Pogge that they should be bringing up, but thats besides the point.

Secondly, (I feel like I'm writing a college thesis) word is coming out of Montreal that as soon as the Free Agent Frenzy begins, we should expect to see Gorgeous Georges Laraque sign with the Habs. Leaving Pittsburgh, the team that got him to the Stanley Cup finals last year, for Montreal, the team that will win the Stanley Cup this upcoming season. You heard it here first!

In conclusion, (again with the college thesis format) do we really know if Cliff Fletcher and Bob Gainey (Bobby G. as I call him. We're tight) are tampering and negotiating with players while they're still under contract? Short of tapping their phones and reading their emails, which unless you work for the American government is illegal, there's no way of knowing. But if both Cujo and Laraque sign right away when the frenzy begins, this hockey blogger will be suspicious.

The Cap Goes Up

For the fourth straight year, the NHL's salary cap is on the rise.

This upcoming season the cap will jump to $56.7 million. That's a $6.4 million increase from this past season.

The floor, or the least amount the cheap bastard teams have to spend also rose to $40.7 million.

The most an NHL player can earn in a new contract next season is $11.34 million/year.

This is the fourth straight season the salary cap has risen since the end of the NHL lockout when the cap was set at $39-million.

This is obviously such a great system right? Right? American teams struggle as owners are busted for fraud or file for bankruptcy because their team can't sell tickets. Meanwhile hockey thrives in Canada as usual and because of high Canadian revenues, it drives up the salary cap. Yet another wonderful idea from Gary Bettman that has worked magnificently...

Source: TSN

Sundin Montreal Bound?

According to a just recently filed report by TSN, the Montreal Canadiens have been granted permission by the Toronto Maple Leafs to negotiate a contract with Mats Sundin.

You read that right. Take a minute to digest that.

Mats Sundin, the face of the Toronto Maple Leafs for the past 15 years - maybe less, not sure - could start next season with the Leafs' arch rival, the Montreal Canadiens. Wow!

It is believed that Bob Gainey, the GM of the Habs, is speaking with Sundin's agent J.P. Barry about a two year deal for the Swede at this very moment. And if the two sides can work something out, we may see the Leafs trade the rights to negotiate with Sundin to Montreal during tonight's draft.

According to a sports radio station out of Montreal, the Habs will trade the rights to their 1st round pick (25th overall) in tonight's draft, for the rights to Sundin with an agreement already in principle.

As a Habs fan I'm excited. I'm more than excited. I'm beyond excited. I don't even know if there's a word for how excited I feel. I love sticking it to Leaf fans and this would be the ultimate way to do so. I know at times I have doubted you Bob Gainey, but now I bow to you. Well done sir.

Source: TSN

Head Of The Class

The Hockey Hall of Fame has announced it's Class of 2008 inductees.

The class features two players, a builder, and a referee. Igor Larionov and Glenn Anderson are the two players to be inducted. They will be joined by the late Ed Chynoweth, former WHL president, and NHL referee Ray Scapinello.

Jim Gregory of the Hockey Hall of Fame said, ''The Hockey Hall of Fame is proud to welcome these four hockey legends as Honoured Members. Their contributions to the game of hockey are well documented and their election to the Hockey Hall of Fame is richly deserved.''

Larionov and Anderson won a combined 9 Stanley Cups over their illustrious careers. And both contributed to their home countries in Canada Cups and World Championships.

Chynoweth and Scapinello have done great things too, but it's nothing you couldn't find out by googling it on your own time. What am I? Some sort of encyclopedia?

There is some controversy regarding these inductions as on some hockey message boards, people - Leaf fans - are crying foul that Doug Gilmour wasn't inducted. But those insufferable Leaf fans will find something to complain about either way so does it really matter?

Congrats to all inductees. The induction ceremony will take place on Monday, November 10th at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

Class of 2008 To Be Announced Tuesday

On Tuesday the Hockey Hall of Fame will announce it's Class of 2008.

As you may remember, the class of 2007 was one of the greatest of all time. Featuring legends Scott Stevens, Al MacInnis, Ron Francis, and Mark Messier. This time around, it won't be so amazing.

You see, there are no first time eligible players this year. That's because of the lost 2004-05 season due to NHL labour issues, there are no first-time eligible candidates as no player officially retired in 2005. Players that did not return after the return to duty, they were deemed to have retired in 2004, and therefor eligible for induction in 2007.

Due to that lost season, this is basically a catch up year for the Hall. A chance for players who have been overlooked in the past to finally be inducted.

It'll kind of be like when you're out at the club and it's getting late and you settle for whatever you can find. It's actually quite a lot like that.

Here is a look at some of the looked over front runners...

Glenn Anderson - Every year the inductees are announced, everybody scratches their head in bewilderment as to why this guy wasn't inducted. A career resume that includes 498 goals, 1,099 points, 6 Stanley Cups, and 2 Canada Cups, this finally may be the year the Edmonton Oilers great joins his fellow teammates such as Gretzky and Messier.

Doug Gilmour - Dougy is a legend in Toronto, and you'd be hard pressed to find a hockey fan in the home of the Hall that doesn't believe he deserves a spot. He's got the stats, that's for sure with 450 career goals and 1,414 points. The most points of any eligible player. The only knock against him is just one career Stanley Cup and that came with a Calgary Flames team that he didn't play a big part in.

Dale Hunter - Hunter is another one of those guys where you could see him in the Hall, but it's really no wonder as to why he's never been inducted as of yet. Hunter never won a Cup in his lengthy NHL career, and he doesn't exactly have the best image, as the one thing most people remember about him is that cheap shot hit on Pierre Turgeon in the playoffs. The real question though, is has all that Hunter has done with the London Knights in addition to his NHL career earned him an induction?

Pavel Bure - When the Russian Rocket burst onto the scenes in the early 90's, he seemed like he would become one of the all time greats and a for sure 1st ballot Hall of Famers. But then injuries struck and limited his playing time. 437 career goals are impressive, but is it enough? Will the induction committee factor in the injuries? Many believe that if Cam Neely got in, then Bure should too.

Tom Barrasso - Barrasso started out his career by amazing everybody. He came into the league as a teenager with the Buffalo Sabres and in his rookie season he won both the Vezina and the Calder. He finished his career with 369 wins, 38 shutouts and two Stanley Cups, all of which are impressive stats. But most say that the reason why he hasn't been inducted is because of his reputation as a jerk. It was widely reported that during his playing career he would charge kids $15 for an autograph. That doesn't bode well when being considered by an induction committee that has a history of preferring to induct players who give back to the hockey community.

Coaching Carousel

The coaching vacancies are now filling up in the NHL as two big announcements have come across the wire today regarding new hirings. Add those to a third this week with Ron Wilson signing with the Leafs.

The two announcements are that Craig Hartsburg has signed a 3 year deal to coach the Ottawa Senators. And Peter DeBoer has reportedly signed a deal to coach in the NHL. But where is a mystery. Get Scooby and the Gang to solve this one!

DeBoer, currently the head coach and GM of the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL, has had a lot of success with the Rangers, guiding them to two Ontario Hockey League Championships and a Memorial Cup Championship during his seven seasons in Kitchener..

It was the Rangers' team website that broke the news of DeBoer leaving saying that he has signed a contract to coach in the NHL but no details would be released until Monday.

TSN meanwhile is reporting that the deal is with the Florida Panthers, but do claim that he was a candidate for the job with the LA Kings and supposedly had an interview scheduled with them this weekend.

The Florida Panthers' website is confirming that DeBoer is the new head coach though, and he will be introduced at a press conference on Monday at 11am at their arena.

I think we figured out that little mystery. It's amazing what doing some investigative journalism will clear up.

Earlier this week it was reported that DeBoer was a shoe in for the Senators head coaching gig, but late Friday morning it was announced that Craig Hartsburg of the OHL's Soo Greyhounds got the job.

I thought Peter DeBoer would have been a great fit in the nation's capital. I've been lucky enough to have dealt with him firsthand on numerous occassions over the years while covering the Rangers for a Kitchener based TV station. And from those experiences I can tell you that DeBoer is a great coach but he takes no crap from nobody. And if you screw up, he'll be the first to let you know. He would've been the ideal guy to finally knock some sense into Ray Emery.

A big congratulations is in order to Peter DeBoer as it couldn't have happened to a more deserving guy.

Something Stinks?

Picture this; Sidney Crosby hoisting the Stanley Cup over his head. The NHL's golden boy winning hockey's most cherished trophy.

It's an NHL marketing department dream come true. And according to Tony Gallagher of the Vancouver Province, NHL officials were doing all they could to get that to happen.

On Monday, Tony wrote an article for The Province titled "Now that it's over, the truth: Officiating Stunk."

It's an excellent read, though I was a little disappointed. That's because when I saw it was written by a guy named Gallagher I thought it would involve somebody smashing a watermelon with a mallet. Unfortunately this features none of that.

Coming off the officiating scandal in the NBA, this article has the hockey world talking, even though there is no watermelon smashing. Here it is in it's entirety...

As momentum grew, TV ratings rose and the smell got worse
Tony Gallagher, The Province Published: Monday, June 09, 2008

Now that the Stanley Cup has been awarded and any emotion from any one particular game has faded, we would be remiss if we didn't seriously ask some questions about what actually took place in that final series with respect to the officiating.

Having been around the NHL pretty much since the dawn of man, I have watched a lot of games and have seen a lot of good and bad calls by good and bad referees, and I rarely address this topic.

By and large the NHL officials are outstanding individuals whom any corporation would be thrilled to have represent them in almost any situation.

When the way the game was officiated swung back and forth in pendulum fashion over the years, you knew that these guys were always just doing what they were instructed to do by the New York office.

And when the most important games were played, the most experienced, senior officials were front and centre.

And even though the referees of the day would frequently call virtually nothing once the third period began and the game moved into overtime, there was never any sense of anything fishy.

In all the years the Canucks have played, no matter what fans in this town might think, there has never been any sense that the local team or the opponent was any more persecuted, the breaks involved in officials' judgments always balancing out over a series of games.

There was no such feeling at this year's final. While nobody really wanted to say so, how could you have possibly watched the calls in that series and not had the feeling that somehow, consciously or more likely unconsciously, there was a slant toward favouring the Penguins?

While it seemed to be prevalent most of the series, at times to a far lesser extent, the final 20 seconds of Game 6 illustrated the problem perfectly.

With Detroit just having given up a power-play goal that allowed Pittsburgh to get to within 3-2 with under two minutes to go, the Pens had their goalie out and the Wings under siege.

But with about 18 seconds left, Pavel Datsyuk of the Wings managed to skate free with the puck, skate it out over the blueline, but as he readied a shot toward the open net, he was hauled down with an abundantly obvious stick foul so naked that Helen Keller would have been forced to raise her arm.

No call.

As everyone knows, Pittsburgh got the puck, stormed the other end and nearly tied the game in the last second.

This call wasn't missed. There is absolutely no conceivable way it could have been missed.

But the officials chose not to end the Penguins' season. In fact, for the first time in all my years of viewing hockey, I was overwhelmed by a sense that there existed a desperate need to keep this series going for the good of the game, no matter how far rule interpretations had to be stretched.

The most difficult part came once the series began to gain momentum and it became abundantly obvious the television ratings in the U.S. were building with every game and the league was sending out press releases to one and all that this was the case.

That's when things began to get a touch malodorous. With Detroit leading 2-1 in the third period of Game 4, the 1:26 of five-on-three time awarded Pittsburgh comes to mind.

In OT of Game 5, with the series a goal away from extinction, the goalie interference call that had Mike Babcock steamed enough he felt compelled to complain to the media the following day didn't seem to pass the smell test.

There was Dallas Drake's charging penalty when in fact he was scarcely moving and barely made contact. The fact that one team had virtually all the five-on-three time, often for extended periods, was troubling.

And then there was the Datsyuk no-call, one that would have set off an absolute firestorm for hockey had the Pens sent it to overtime.

Of 10 experienced media types consulted about the officiating after the series, not one said they thought it was all right.

The responses of most can be summed up with a simple head shake and the response "not good."

Much has been made by some of the fact that the league didn't seem to use the most experienced people, but instead those who were vigilant about calling the touch stick fouls that have improved the game. And that may have been a factor. But the fact remains, the officials who were used are generally very good at their craft.

Sorry, but there was something just not right about the way that series went down.

Source: Vancouver Province

Ron Wilson Named Leafs Head Coach

Ron Wilson will look to steer the ship in the right direction as he has been named head coach of a Toronto Maple Leafs team that has missed the playoffs for three consecutive seasons.

It was widely reported for several days that Wilson and Interim GM Cliff Fletcher verbally agreed to terms on a four-year contract over the weekend after contemplating the team's offer for a few days. The deal, believed to be worth about $6.8 million in total over the four years, was signed Tuesday.

Wilson said he took his time to try and take the emotion out of his decision.

"I needed a little bit of time to wrap my head around this and make sure I was ready to handle this kind of responsibility," Wilson said on Monday. "It's been pretty unanimous from all of my colleagues, that they think I can handle this responsibility. I just needed a little bit of time to let the whole decision-making process percolate and I feel very comfortable right now."

During the press conference held on Tuesday at the Rogers Media Centre in the ACC to announce his hiring, Wilson did nothing to dispel any rumours of his nastiness with the media, often replying sharply and grumpily [is that a word?], to their questions.

My favourite part of the presser was when he compared the Leafs to the New York Yankees. I see what he was going for but there's a huge difference. The Yanks are the winningest team in sports history with 26 World Championships. Meanwhile the Leafs have only won 13 cups and haven't won anything in 41 years. So you've got a bit of work to do before you can compare yourself to the Yankees. Maybe you should just try and make the playoffs first. Baby steps Ron, baby steps.

Return Of The Mullet

As reported in Friday's Toronto Star, ESPN hockey analyst and mullet icon Barry Melrose is set to return behind the bench to coach the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Melrose, who coached the Kings to the 1993 Stanley Cup Final, would replace John Tortorella, who still holds the post.

According to the Star, incoming team owner Oren Koules has pushed for the hiring of Melrose in an effort to further sell the team and the sport in Florida. His group is awaiting approval from the NHL's Board Of Governors to take over the team, with the vote set to take place on June 18.

The Lightning, which won the Stanley Cup in 2004, missed the playoffs this year and won the first overall pick in the lottery last month for the June entry draft.

I wonder how Melrose would further sell the team down in Florida? Maybe their fans have a thing for bad hair?

If you recall back in the 2004 Cup Finals, the Lightning had Hulk Hogan do pre game introductions. The Hulkster, much like Melrose, sports a mullet except his is referred to as a "skullet". For more great information on different types of mullets and their history check out this site. You'll be glad you did.