Breaking News: Ovechkin Latest "Shanaban" Victim

Brendan Shanahan, NHL's Vice President of Hockey and Business Development and head disciplinarian, has released the video explaining the reasons why the League chose to suspend NHL superstar Alex Ovechkin after a vicious hit to the head on his Penguin opponent during yesterday's high-profile nationally broadcast NBC game.

Watch the video and decide for yourself to see if you agree with their conclusions as well as suitable punishment. Then check out what I have to say about the hit as well as the reputation that should stick to Alex Ovechkin.
This type of behavior has been seen from him before. I don't know why many people chose to turn a blind eye toward his goonish style of play. It's as if the goal scoring trophies and the #1 overall status can inoculate himself against criticisms of his dirty play. He continually gets called "greatest player in the game today", yet would one of those qualifications to make him as such to be a cheap shotting thug? If Alex is the standard in which all players are measured, then this would make Sean Avery a hall-of-famer.

I don't think that the suspension went far enough for someone who is a repeat offender and for the amount of money (in the form of game paychecks) can be easily remade with "Ov8"'s budding rap career. For a person who makes over 100 million dollars, the fine is just pocket change.

What do you think of this hit and weather or not it was appropriate. Won't you please leave a comment below?

AHL Outdoor Classic at Hamilton

With the enormous success of the outdoor hockey game concept, it seems like every team is going outdoors to grow the game in their regional areas. From every level - major juniors to US colleges, to even local high schools here in Pittsburgh have been romanced by the outdoor tradition. Then along comes the giant spectacle of an Outdoor classic that features two American Hockey League rivals the Hamilton Bulldogs and Toronto Marlies. I didn't get to watch this game live, as it was not aired on TV in my area. So, I wrote this a day later having watched the tape delay on the NHL Network (US).

The positives....

Cathie Coward/The Hamilton Spectator

First off, the noticing of the uniforms of the participating Marlies and 'Dogs. It altered the notion that an Outdoor game would be a "turn back the clock" game where each participating team uses a heritage design in their jersey. Unfortunately for the Marlies, their team is only a few years old having been relocated from St. Johns, Newfoundland. In my opinion, I think they could have invoked the heritage of their namesake the OHL's Toronto Marlboros of 1903 (currently existing as the Guelph Storm), but since there is currently a Junior 'A' team using the Malboros name and logo, I'm guessing that's not an option for them. On the other side of the ticket was the home team of Hamilton Bulldogs playing in the historical Ivory Wynn Stadium where the CFL's Hamilton Bulldogs play. I liked their throwback jersey featuring the drawstring tie and red white and khaki color scheme. It lets you know that the Bulldogs are the Canadians affiliate while maintaining their own local Hamilton identity. Compared to the Flames Outdoor classic uniforms of last year, the Hamiltonians actually made me want to search around to see if I could buy a replica jersey.

The second thing was impressive was that the reported 20,000 seats sold in the old Hamilton football stadium. While not exactly the kind of star-powered line-up and backed by a multi-million dollar advertising campaign, the event organizers should consider this a big success.

Some of the negatives,....
Thirdly, based upon the broadcast that I saw, it truly looked second rate to have the Rogers Sportsnet media crew sharing one folding table while talking about the game? They braved the cold air at rinkside huddled together. Could they not do it from the press box? There they would also be aided by additional media needs like monitors for replay. Could Rogers Sportsnet have been going through it "throwback style" as well as minimalists?

Then there was the matter of the game itself. If you were a Toronto fan, you enjoyed the game. But if you are hoping for the Bulldogs to show up on their home ice, there was something missing. Goals. The 7-2 lopsided event had to have quieted the crowd. It wasn't an nail-biting finish in OT or nearly a low scoring close game as the NHL has hosted, but the

So, should this game actually overshadow the other recent outdoor AHL game featuring the Phantoms and Bears at the Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia? That game went to OT and instead got second billing to the Jan. 2nd Winter Classic. Should the AHL and other leagues around the continent host their own outdoor classic? Will the upsurge in all these new events water down the NHL's mega corporate sponsored telecast once a year spectacle? Please leave your thoughts in the comments section of this website.

Rest In Peace, Versus Network

When Comcast first approached me to advertise for them about the new channel Versus and talk about the new forms of programming, I was elated that soon I was showing just how viable I was as a blog source and respected among the mainstream media. I was glad to help them out hopefully during that time. It was a cleverly named channel, I'd thought.
Versus, the name, was the epitome of what sports was about. It was the antagonistic competition that drove the compelling narrative story - something that the audience can follow.

In the time that Versus was a sports network that dared take a chance on a lot of new programming, it grew itself into a familiar brand of sports broadcasting that featured my favorite sport of hockey. Versus was going to position itself as an alternative channel to the established networks of familiar names. They were banking on a proportional backlash that fans thought that the snobbish "Entertainment and Sports Promotion Network" looked down on. But it wasn't the only people who looked down upon the channel. Soon, some fans would turn negatively towards versus and suggest that it really wasn't legitimate because of the difficulty finding it on the channel locater or have it on at all.

It was the re-defined OLN network that Comcast used to air the outdoor sports like hunting, fishing, cycling, and motor sports. Sure, other channels did that, but not with the Comcast budget.

But as the popularity of hockey returned after the lockout, Versus grew an audience of hardcore hockey fans. They got familiarized with Keith Jones, Brian Engblom, and of course the ever-present Bill Clement. It was slowly but surely delivering the kind of content that the fans expected. When the Comcast company finally moved it to a respectable slot on the cable dial, the "stain" of a second-rate sports network was already upon it.

And don't forget the short lived gimmick PR campaign that had some unintended backfire. "Show us your V" campaign was laughed at all over the internet.

So, it had to go. Once the NBC-Universal merger came through, it was only natural to rename the Versus channel to the more familiar multi-spectral peacock of NBC Sports branding and compete with CBS, ABC/ESPN, and FOX. Today, marks the first day of that new format, so..

RIP

VERSUS

(2006-2012)

Confessions of a Hockey Fanatic - Christmas 2011

I am truly grateful that you have come here and decided to check out my blog once again for this year's holiday greeting. I've made a new video that had to be a little shorter than I wanted. But hopefully, I want you to enjoy the video anyway
Here's to spending the time in between holidays catching up on a lot of things in the hopper as well as tying to balance a home life with the kind of day job that's been a true challenge of patience.

Stop back again in 2012 as I'll be making some new things for the new year!

Project for Awesome 2011 - DEFENDING THE BLUELINE

Here is a video that I made this year on site of the new fantastic outdoor rink that the Pittsburgh Penguins have helped build called Penguins Pond at SouthSide Works This year, I've been working to help build and promote the DEFENDING THE BLUELINE non-profit organization that helps provide hockey equipment for the kids of our military servicemen and women.

I hope you enjoyed this video and certainly choose to help me pass along this message of good will. Please remember those who have sacrificed their home family life so that we could all be free to enjoy this great game of hockey.

Celebrating American Thanksgiving 2011 with Hockey

Philadelphia Fans Provide More Examples of Classless Behavior

As it was reported among several social media websites that Philadelphia Flyers fans had displayed another less than favorable behavior towards their arch-nemesis in Sid Crosby. But, in their fervent furor, their knee-jerk reactions to boo automatically any Crosby appearance has now collectively cost them another deep wound to the soiled reputations.

During the intermission, of the Wednesday's home opener of the Flyers game against the Vancouver Canucks, a promotional video for Hockey Fights Cancer featured several celebrity players including the aforementioned Sid Crosby. Many fans jeered and booed causing shock to the remaining decent souls in the arena that night. Instantly, it was known all around the hockey world of what Flyers fans had done. By then, it was too late.

Almost immediately there were some in the media as well as better fans of the sport who did their best to repair the damage done. Some bloggers and Flyers homers put blinders over their eyes failing to see the infraction. They tried to distract others by suggesting that the fans were booing Crosby only and not the message.

My own opinion on the fact that you cannot separate the despicable actions of the Philly subculture and the untimely moment that it occurred is truly what staples this poor sportsmanship on the Philadelphia reputation. When a anti-cancer PSA is on display, fans should suspend their own biases when a rival player is displaying some humanitarian goals. It's just basic decency.

To those Flyers fans who did their best to condemn the behaviors of the disgusting fans while marginalizing them to a smaller minority has my respect.

[Via: Philadelphia Inquirer]


[Cross-posted at: Confessions of a Hockey Fanatic (Blogathon Edition)]