NHL Schedules

Of the two big NHL scheduling events last Wednesday, the first announcement was the worst kept secret: the annual Winter Classic will be held at Boston’s Fenway Park. This outdoor festivity has quickly become a huge success for the NHL, as represented by great TV ratings and pure excitement around the New Year’s event. Much of the debate has not been about the venue, as I think it should be, but about the teams that are involved. Some experts think that two-time Hart trophy winner, Alex Ovechkin, fresh off of his dominating regular season and playoffs, should be the showcase of this spectacle. I do not agree. I don’t agree for the simple reason that it has already been seen that people watch no matter who is playing. In 2008, a matchup that featured the big “rivals”, Penguins and Sabres, drew a 2.6 overnight rating and a 5 share for NBC. Last season, when two actual division rivals faced off, the Red Wings and Blackhawks earned a 2.9 overnight rating and a 6 share. These are very impressive numbers for a sport drowning in obscurity. I can back up the league for once in their selection of two major markets, Boston and Philadelphia, to participate. Hockey is very important in these cities and deserves to be seen by its large number of fans residing there. Besides, we all know the NHL will be pushing for a Rangers game at Yankee Stadium next year, most likely against the Capitals and Ovechkin, so this is Bean-town and Philly’s year.

Which brings me to the venues the league has selected this year. I understand they are trying to lure fans into ball parks with rich history, but they are limiting themselves by sheer numbers alone. I think they had it right the first year with a NHL-record crowd of 71,217 in Ralph Wilson Stadium, a football stadium seating almost 74,000 people. Now, all of sudden, they are limiting themselves to the only 30,000-40,000 fans that can fit into a baseball stadium. I am not a marketing genius by any means, but I know that leaves about 40,000 less tickets they can sell. The profit loss is obvious, but perhaps even more important is the “emotional” statistic of losing possible future fans for life that could have emerged from such a unique game experience. I heard that Beaver Stadium at Penn State (107,282 capacity), TCF Bank Stadium in Minnesota (50,000), and even Fed Ex Field (91,704) were considered, but the final vote went to the Green Monster….? The NHL has to get off this baseball kick and go back to football fields and get more people and fans involved in this wonderful idea.

The second event after the big non-surprise announcement was the releasing of the NHL regular season schedules. Other than the Chris Pronger debut as a Flyer, I have certain matchups circled on my calendar the first month of the season. I will be watching the NHL Premier Games in Stockholm (Wings vs. Blues) and Helsinki (Blackhawks vs. Panthers) mostly to see how the Blues and Panthers have improved in the off-season. No, but really, what I’m really watching for is how will the Red Wings bounce back? How will Hossa fit in with his new team and how the world perceives the NHL this year? In October, of course, there are a lot of debuts with new teams (Tavares, Hedman, Gaborik, and the whole Canadiens) and players facing their old teams (Hossa on Oct 8, Pronger on Oct. 10, Kovalev on Oct. 17, Gaborik on Oct. 30). We even have two nights where all 30 NHL teams will be in action on October 3 and 24, and this in just the first month of the season! We should be in for a great year.

A Captain's Legacy

On a nice summer day-yes we finally have those in central Connecticut- I was sitting by the pool reading the magazine every hockey fan should have a subscription to, “The Hockey News,” and I saw an interesting blurb that needs to be told in more detail. I credit “The Hockey News,” “The Windsor Star” and ESPN.com Page 2 write Gare Joyce for quotes and inspiration about this heartwarming story.

The Windsor Spitfires won this year’s CHL Memorial Cup, the first in their 34-year run in the OHL, and when captain and defenseman Harry Young lifted the big trophy over his head (yes, this time it did not break), he lifted it with the help of the spirit of Mickey Renaud.

Renaud, a fifth round pick of the Calgary Flames, was a “hard to miss 6-feet-2, 210 pounds, blond-haired, smiling, outgoing, always saying hello first” player and that personality made him a perfect fit as captain of the Windsor Spitfires. A teammate they called “mousey” was nothing of the sorts both on and off the ice. Then on February 16th, a day that started like any other, Renaud invited some of his teammates over for breakfast and suddenly collapsed at his parent’s kitchen table. Later that day he was pronounced dead at the tender age of 19. Later, it was diagnosed that he died of a genetic heart condition known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

The season took an unexpected turn for a bunch of teenagers who dream of making it to the big leagues and who youthfully think that they are indestructible on and off the ice. Their leader, their rock, was all of a sudden gone, and it was devastating. The team was forced to move on because that is what Mickey would have wanted. But he was never forgotten, and the team took inspiration from their late captain.

The wins kept piling up for the Spitfires, including a division crown and run to the OHL championship, one they celebrated with a Renaud jersey for the team picture with the trophy. As written in the “The Windsor Star” about the Memorial Cup, the tournament to crown the champion of the CHL, “The club also had new undershirts made for the tournament with Renaud's No. 18 on the sleeves and Whatever it Takes written on the back.” Whatever it takes, a motto fit for the team that has already been through so much together, for a team that has seen the darkness and wants to move towards the light of a better day.

They started 0-2 in this round robin tournament; no team has ever won the Memorial Cup starting the series with 2 loses. Both were tough one goal losses, the first one in OT. Then came the “whatever it takes” nothing to lose attitude for the team from Windsor. They went on to turn their tournament around winning the next two games, setting up a big matchup with the QMJHL champion Drummondville Voltigeurs. After taking an early 2-0 lead in the first, they gave up 2 goals in the second, sending the nail biter to OT. While in overtime, Adam Henrique won the third straight win or go home game for the Spitfires.

Then came what this team had been fighting for, a chance at the Championship, a chance to win one for their leader with a matchup vs. WHL champion Kelowna Rockets. The game’s outcome was never in doubt in a 4-1 win, and once again during the celebration Renaud’s jersey found its way on the ice for the team picture. As tournament MVP Taylor Hall summed it up, “"Maybe Mickey was watching over us and wanted to teach us a lesson."

The lesson learned was to win a championship in sports, a team needs heart, determination and resilience. The Windsor Spitfires embodied all these qualities, especially the resilience needed to bounce back from tragedy. This was a team that only 3-months prior lost so much, and had so much to overcome, but kept at what was important to their leader and did “whatever it takes” to honor the legacy of their captain, Mickey Renaud.

Free Agent Frenzy

Let the games begin! The opening of the NHL free agency saw many teams move forward towards the 2009 -10 NHL season while some (Detroit and Los Angeles) just sat on the bench with David Spade. The main trend of yesterday’s contract was not in dollar signs but in the years given out. With the national 401K packages going down in flames, it seems like being a 30 year-old hockey player is the best retirement package. Well, let’s break it down Pucking-Awesome style.

Best Signing:

This one is going to be the most debated for sure. We had some huge moves when the bell rang at high noon, but I have to go with the 12-year gamble of the Chicago Blackhawks with Marian Hossa. It took me a while to be okay with giving a 30-year-old a TWELVE YEAR deal, but I finally get it. General Managers very rarely last 12-years at the same place, so if you are Dale Tallon why not give the guy that was on the team that beat you in the Western Conference Finals that many years. I think the biggest reason I like this deal is for the amount of cap hit per season. For Hossa, a contract at $5.23 is a steal. Obviously, Hossa who took a one-year risk to win a cup, was willing to pass up millions per season for the security and the Blackhawks took the risk that I think is worth taking. With the reasonable cap hit, this will allow them to re-work contracts for both cornerstones Kane and Toews.

Worst Signing:

This one was tough also, only because I had to shake my head at A LOT of the big signings yesterday, so I am going with a whole team: the Montreal Canadiens. This team has done nothing right since being knocked out as the number one seed in the 2008 playoffs. Mike Cammaleri was their big signing with a 5-year/$30 million contract, and yes he had a huge year playing alongside some top notch centers in Calgary, but this guy is a step down from mainstay Alexei Kovalev. The other big signing was undersized Brian Gionta for 5-year/$25 million; he is a system player who is living off of a one year post lockout and almost scoring 50 goals. And don’t get me started on Hal Gill and Jaroslav Spacek for a combined $16 million. This a team that had a lot to do on their off-season checklist and, so far, this one time contender is looking more and more like a fraud with no chemistry.

Underrated signing:

Someone who is not at the top of the free agency list, but whom I think will change the culture of the team, is John Madden. The Blackhawks, with the Hossa move, have said this is their year to make a run and Madden is the type of player that will give the Blackhawks the much needed toughness and veteran cup winning presence. They also got him to sign a one year deal which not only helps with the cap but puts up the front of "prove you still got it old lad" after a subpar year last season.

Get back to you signing:

The Rangers cleared caps space on the eve of free agency to make a big splash, but struck out on Hossa and with the trading for Heatley so late Wednesday that they made a belly flop into the pool and signed the risky Marian Gaborik to a 5-year/$37.5 million contract. The $7.5 million annually was the biggest per year contract given out yesterday. Look at the Czech's goals numbers and you know he is worth the big contract. Look at the Rangers offensive numbers, and it seems like the right fit, but can he stay healthy? This could be a huge signing for the Rangers and a huge move for Gaborik to be on a main stage. So, we'll revisit this one in a year or two and see how it works out.