Canes weekend

So Friday night I got to attend my first Hurricanes game of the year. They looked extremely sharp, just playing at a totally different level than the Washington Capitals. They won 6-2, outskating, outshooting and outclassing the Caps, who played Brent Johnson, their backup goaltender. He let in two weak goals in the first period (the second was an ESPN highlights play by Rod Brind d'Amour, who totally undressed a Caps defenseman, crossed past Johnson and waited til he was flat on the ice before roofing one), then after his team rallied to tie, he and his defense gave it up for good, with 'Canes scoring three times in the period. By game's end, the fans were in a very Madison Square Garden-type of mood. They sarcastically serenaded Johnson with a sing-song chant: John-son, John-son, John-son. Followed quickly by the staccato: "You suck!"

But it was a home-and-home series, and Caps started Ollie the Goalie Saturday night and it showed. The Caps trounced the 'Canes 7-3. I didn't see all of it, but caught enough on cable to see the 'Canes had little energy. Perhaps it would have been smart for the 'Canes to give Ward a break in the second of a home-and-home and play Grahame in net. Keep in mind, this is Ward's first full year of goaltending. He's not used to back-to-back play (the Stanley Cup playoffs last spring always had a day of rest after games) or the long grind of NHL season.

One other note: While at the game, I had the chance to say hello to Paul Strand, who is the 'Canes' youth and amateur hockey coordinator. Paul handles the organization's youth outreach, such as leading the 'Mighty Mites' who scrimmage to fans' delight between periods. Paul was a youth hockey coach in Greensboro for a couple of years, and my son had the good fortune to work with him for a couple of summers. As an observer of youth hockey in two states and for 12 years, I don't think I ever saw anyone do a better job working with teenagers than Paul. The 'Canes are fortunate to have him on their staff.

Saving hockey?

This is an interesting story out there about a protest by hockey fans. How do folks feel about this?


Hockey Fan Website Promotes 'Save the NHL Night Out' on January 20th
Website promotes "Save the NHL Night Out" and provides a fresh perspective on how to
improve the current state of hockey
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Jan. 4, 2007 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- Fed up with the
current state of the NHL? You're not alone. Thousands of traditional hockey fans are stock
piling their picket signs and they have set a date to be heard. On January 20th, fans across
North America are being called on to bring personalized signs, to each of the 13 NHL home
games, that display their displeasure with "the new NHL." A website,
www.hockeyfansunite.com, has been established to promote what is being called the "Save
the NHL Night Out."
The goal of the site is quite clear, with content ranging from links to articles about declining
television and attendance, polls on what might bring fans back to hockey, suggestions on
how to improve current rules, and articulate columns written by contributors to the site.
According to the Night Out promoter, Matt Sigafoose, "Traditional hockey fans have had it
with the state of today's game and the NHL is paying the price. [NHL Commissioner] Gary
Bettman can feed the average uninformed sports fan what he wants about attendance
numbers. But what is truly appalling is that Mr. Bettman would try to convince loyal hockey
fans that attendance shot up after a season long strike. That is 100% impossible. It took
Major League Baseball years to recover after their strike. NHL television and attendance
ratings are down this year and will continue to tumble if the game continues down its current
path."
Another rant. Another cry from a loyal hockey fan. Well, yes, but it doesn't stop there. While
it is easy enough to complain, the hard part is offering suggestions for improvement. And
hockeyfansunite.com delivers. According to Mr. Sigafoose, "The goal is to bring back a
more traditional style of hockey. While Gary Bettman thought that the solution to bringing
back fans was to increase scoring, he was mistaken. His grand plan of marching players to
the penalty box every few minutes for yet another obstruction call disrupts the flow and
emotion of the game for fans. North American hockey fans, especially American hockey
fans, crave emotion and physical play in their game. These are the characteristics that make
the National Football League so popular and these are the characteristics that, years ago,
made the NHL popular."
"Emotion" along with "physical" are indeed themes that the site is pushing.
Hockeyfansunite.com is adamant that an increase in fights is not what they are looking for.
According to Mr. Sigafoose, "It's simple. Pre-meditated, emotionless fights don't belong in the
NHL. If players want to drop the mitts to boost their team morale or deter another player from
taking cheap shots, so be it. The league absolutely needs more of that. For every one guy
that gets hurt in a hockey fight, five guys get hurt for cheap shots. Players know there are
rules, like the instigator, there to protect them. So they whack and hack away at other
players with their stick and then turn around and dive to draw a penalty when touched. It
works in the context of today's rules, yet it sickens hockey fans to watch it."
While it doesn't take long to figure out that the hockeyfansunite.com isn't particularly
pleased with the NHL Commissioner's resume, they don't blame him solely. "The Todd
Bertuzzi incident was a major black eye for the sport and I think it made the NHL tighten its
stance on fighting," Sigafoose remarks. "What non-hockey fans don't understand is, that
wasn't a straight up fight. It was a mugging. And it wasn't the mugging that drew attention; it
was the end result (a broken neck and ended career for Steve Moore). It's a shame that the
success of hockey has paid for such a misguided reaction."
Putting the Bertuzzi reaction aside, hockeyfansunite.com is most concerned with the new
rules implemented after the strike. According to the site, there are ways to increase scoring
and keep emotion and physical play in the game; the combination of the two is what will
ultimately bring back the average hockey fan.
According to Sigafoose, the answer isn't too difficult. "If Mr. Bettman wants to fill seats and
boost television ratings, he has to truly mean it when he says things like the league needs
rivalries. His actions, to this point, don't support his words. He suspends players for sticking
up for their teammates. He has created rules that have killed the emotion in the game. Bring
back the emotion, the passion, and the physical play that once defined hockey and he will
fill those empty seats. The research and anecdotal evidence is overwhelming. He just has to
listen to those that pay the bills... the NHL fans."
To learn more about January 20th's Save the NHL Night Out, visit
http://www.hockeyfansunite.com.

On the other hand

This is a screwy season (and can make bloggers like me looks silly).

Yesterday night, hours after I posted on how Detroit does a great job not allowing other teams to get shots on goal, the Red Wings jump to a 3-goal lead on San Jose before giving up 9 straight goals en route to 9-4 loss. Ouch.

Then there are our Hurricanes, shut out for the second straight game after a stretch in which they played their best hockey of the year and looked more like the offensive machine they showed they could be last season.

Speaking of streaky, there's my NY Rangers, who have now won 3 straight after a stretch of 7 straight losses, after a stretch of 5 straight wins.

Most fascinating was what happened in the Oilers-Stars game last night. I did not see it, but caught the highlights on ESPN. Stars had a 5-4 lead and had a sure thing empty net goal with less than 10 seconds in the game when Patrik Stefan had the puck jump off his stick. His teammates were already coming to congratulate him, and as he fell, the Oilers got control, quick passed up the ice, hit Hemsky on a breakaway who scores with 2 seconds left. And this all happened after Dallas had overcome a 4-1 deficit to take the lead in Edmonton. So of course the momentum goes right back to the home squad for the win, right? WRONG. Stars win the shootout.

Once again, go figure.

Seeking your picks

With the new year, we are closer to the more serious time of the hockey season, the chase to get into the playoffs.

So I pose a question to the general public: Which teams are the teams to watch and why?

Personally, every time I catch the Sabres play, I'm impressed, more so than Anaheim. I think Buffalo has an incredibly fast team that puts on a lot of pressure and doesn't seem to have trouble scoring. Plus, a great young goaltender.

What do y'all see?