Hall of Famer Igor Larionov hoping for hockey detente

The Hockey Hall of Fame inducted its four newest members on Monday night, including three-time Stanley Cup winner Igor Larionov. Larionov, a Calabasas resident, might not be a household name on this side of the U.S.-Canadian border, but the man who embodied glasnost on ice while with the Detroit Red Wings is hoping there won't be a new cold war between the East and West. No, this has little to do with the cooling political relations between the United States and Russia. The war Larionov is hoping to avoid deals with the growing tension between the Continental Hockey League (KHL). Larionov told the Canadian National Post, "We don't need a cold war right now in hockey, the game should be growing." Since the.nhl lockout, the hockey world has been dividing. Only 23 Russian-born players are in the.nhl this season and a number of talented players such as Jaromir Jagr, Alexander Radulov and Sergei Brylin left North America for Russia over the summer. There are a number of reasons behind the recent defections even though the bulk of the tension between the.nhl and KHL derives from the absence of a player-transfer agreement between the two leagues. Plus, is it a coincidence that Europe once again hosted the first two.nhl games of the season? What about Commissioner Gary Bettman's dream of establishing "a more permanent presence for the league" in Europe? Hmm ... that's an interesting thing for him to say, especially when the KHL is also thinking about expanding into Europe. The.nhl should seriously think about making Larionov in charge of warming up East-West hockey relations. "The Professor" would be the perfect mediator between hockey's spheres of influence -- after all, he played for more than a decade behind the Iron Curtain before embarking on a 14-year.nhl career. Fortunately, Larionov sees detente happening soon. "The KHL is starting to make its first steps toward recognition," Larionov told the Toronto Star. "We should be working together [with the.nhl] to make the game globally recognized and to find new markets." -- Austin Knoblauch Top photo: Igor Larionov, center, celebrates with Mathieu Dandenault, right, and Steve Duchesne after scoring the winning goal during the 2002 Stanley Cup finals. Credit: Associated Press Inset: Hall of Fame inductee Igor Larionov during Monday's news conference. Credit: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images Source

The StaalShank Redemption. PENS WIN.

[ThickAndy]We're not going to lie.We were prepared to make a cruel joke about Vladimir Konstantinov and go to bed.But sometimes the hockeygGods like to remind us how lucky we are.At 9:15, it was just another whatev November night.It's getting cold again, Pens are losing, work/school in the morning looms.At 10:00, you're walking around like its May and the Pens just won a playoff game.Texts are flying in, you want to tell as many people as you can about what just happened.What a great day to be a hockey fan.What a great day to be an American.Before we get into the bulk of the game, it simply must be said that in the SCF last year, the Red Wings had the young Penguins intimidated and made them play their game. That's what beasts do. Last night's game shows what happens when the Wings play the Pens game. Punch for punch, offense for offense, the Pens prevail. Did Hossa even play last night?Is this redemption for losing in the SCF? No way. The Red Wings skate away from last night knowing they weren't up to snuff against a solid team in the early stages of the 2008-09 season. For a Pens team still trying to figure out what's going on, it's a big win. It exorcises demons. It's a statement game.Overshadowed in all of this is the performance by the Bee Gees.And Chris Osgood is horrible.This is what happens when his defense chokes. Watching the Penguins destroy him puts an extra hop in our step this morning. Finally.We've seen a lot of stuff. And without rushing to judgment or speaking in the moment, Jordan Staal played one of the best regular-season hockey games we've ever seen. Wow, just wow.[Jon W.]"OH, YOU DON'T USUALLY SAY A GOALIE'S PLAYED SPLENDIDLY IN A GAME WHERE HE'S GIVEN UP 6 GOALS, BUT TONIGHT CHRIS OSGOOD HAS DONE JUST THAT."-- Mike EmrickSERIOUSLY?AWFUL GOALTENDING PERFORMANCE. JUST PITIFUL.AND WINGS FANS HAVE ALWAYS KNOWN WHAT THEY HAVE BETWEEN THE PIPES.Hossa was late showing up for the game. Derek won the Cup in his NHL 09 dynasty Tuesday morning, and Hossa showed up at his house in the afternoon wanting to join the team.The Red Wings were the ones looking nervous early on.Crosby heads to the net.1-0Johan Franzen picks up where he left off in the SCF and is still a joke. Power play blog.The big deal there was Zigo being on the top unit to win some faceoffs.And he was up there all night.In what's becoming a common occurrence, a Pens giveaway at the blue line led to a 2-on-1 for the Wings.Goligoski takes a page out of Osgood's book and lies.This time, it was on the ice, and he thwarts a cross-crease pass.During that power play, Hossa handles the puck, and boos were clearly audible.Must suck being booed in your own building.Oh, wait, he's only renting it until he wins a Cup. We forgot.That penalty was killed, and then it was the Pens turn to go to the box.Eric Godard heads to the box.The penalty was killed faster than the Detroit auto-industry job market.Rob Scuderi puts his health on the line and blocks a shot.What a player. What an American. He was peaced-out for the game.We headed into the second half of the first, and play had shifted towards MAF.Another loose puck. 80 people in front of Fleury. 1-1.Zigomanis was headed to the box soon after that swift boot to the scrote.The Stroms took over.Niklas takes his Geritol and gets a shot off.Tomas deflects it past MAF. 2-1.Goligoski took a penalty to put the cap on the first. Vomit. We've seen this before.[J.S]Getty Images ain't no jokeTo start the second, the Pens poop all over the world, and Franzen has time to make out with his mother before putting one top shelf. 3-1.The Pens get another penalty for giving up the goal. Killed.Most uncomfortable hockey fan we've ever seen.[Jason M]Chris Osgood hadn't seen a shot since the Civil War and was cold as ice when Crosby and Co. jobbed around in the zone.Talbot heads to the net. Boobjob. 3-2.Osgood is such a baby.The Pens were given a golden chance after that with a powerplay.Marian Hossa works hard on the PK and streaks down the wing, but veers to the corner because he sees a 50-dollar bill laying on the ice.He sucks.[CoffeyTalk]After the busy start to the game, it started turning into Red Wing hockey: a bunch of nothingness in between Zetterberg and Datsyuk not scoring 100 points in a season.A Penguin finally hit someone towards the end of the second.Thank you, Matt Cooke.Late in the second, Fedotenko dumps it in and goes after it.Oh wait. Brad Stuart impeded his progress along the boards. What a play.At the end of the period, Pavel Datsyuk puts some bullshit goal home.4-2.That's the end of the second.Buckle up.Five minutes into the third, the Pens were moving to KC.Zetterturd makes his only appearance of the game. 5-2.[Mike D.]We were visiting with [Puck Daddy's] live blog when the goal was scored.Check out the joke Wing fans taunting us.oopsTempers were flaring. The Bingo Hall Louis Arena was rabid.Lee P. was planning a parade.The Wings, though, got lazy and stopped trying to mask their penalties.A couple of quick ones gave the Pens a 5-on-3.There's nothing like a 5-on-3 to get you started.Pass, pass, pass, shoot, salma hayek, pass, pass, pass, vas deferens, shoot.Finally, Malkin put one home. 5-3. Osgood looks around for someone to blame. It never fails.A little over a minute later, Osgood had to look around again.Jordan Staal switches to the rinse cycle with some nice stickwork in front. 5-4.Fist pump/woo[Will Smith]Uh-oh. Detroit's running scared.They better score a weak goal somewhere. Letang just misses from keeping it out.There it is. What crap. 6-4. Hudler is a joke.::::::::::::::::And then the Meltdown In Michigan began.[Derek K]The Pens weren't dying. They work hard. They see the mountain in front of them.Jordan Staal says F U with a loose puck. 6-5.That dude is pissed.Maybe because that's his wife.Uh-oh. Detroit's running scared.They better score a weak goal somewhere.Woops. Instead, they curl back into their shells.As the clock ticks down, deja balls sinks in.MAF races to the bench. Extra attacker. Casket match.Bing almost smokes Osjoke, but he actually makes a save.Babcock calls a timeout. Huge mistake.Mike Zigomanis rolls out for the faceoff. Bottom line is, last season, the Penguins just don't win that faceoff.Zigomanis wins it with ease back to Go-go, who gets it to Malkin.Malkin with a blast. Even Jesus Christ doesn't know where it's at.Jordan Staal does, making him better than Jesus. 6-6.Osgood, as expected, blames Jesus for the big goal.[Akus]Jordan Staal comes rolling down the ice again.Brian Rafalski and his experience take a stupid penalty at the end of regulation.The anticipation leading up to the Pens power play to start up OT should have its own blog.But no dice.The game was spiraling toward what would have been an anticlimactic shootout with Hossa probably trying to ask for a trade to the Pens then changing his mind.. We were ready to go until 2am, then we realized it's 4 degrees outside.That's where Jordan Staal takes over. Again.[Coren]Pavel Datsyuk gets embarrassingly lazy and lets Staal steal it from him.Staal to Tenk.GAME. That fast.MISCELLANEOUSThis would have been nice a couple months ago.Matt Cooke= Difference makerMatt Cooke > Joko RuutuTrade Staal. What a game. Get him some Advil.We rattled off photoshops. So if we missed one sorry. Thanks to all who sent stuff in. Credit for the title of this post goes to David D.What a game for Zigomanis.Staal scored set up Tenko at 1:11 of OT on 11/11.[Abel To Joke] will be sending his thoughts in at some point today because he lost our bet.WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOBee Gees are back, jack.[Chris C]----[Kyle K.]*****We didn't have time to credit everyone for their 'shops/stunned pics. To make it easier, so everyone gets credit, write your intials in the photoshop you make in the corner or something that way no one can steal them from here, and you'll get credit too.********

Wake-up call: Kings, Jim Harbaugh, Lakers, Matt Holliday

First things first: The Kings' shootout victory last night was special precisely because special was not expected. This was their second shootout, and this time they came up with a win against the Dallas Stars, thanks in part to goaltender Erik Ersberg and rookie Wayne Simmonds. But the Kings wouldn't have gotten to the shootout without a strong performance by Dustin Brown in regulation and then the whole team in overtime. Near the end of the third period, though, Brown slammed Mike Ribeiro into the boards and was hit with a major penalty for boarding. How good would the Kings be with Brown ejected? As Helene Elliott writes in her game column this morning:The Kings, though short-handed for the last minute of the third period and the first three minutes of overtime, held firm. That's due to the ferocious example set by Brown and matched by his teammates after he left. Meanwhile, the Stars' Brenden Morrow, who jumped Brown after the boarding incident, is facing possible suspension for instigating a fight. Both players were given a game misconduct. The weird thing was watching the two captains going at it. *Update: The.nhl today rescinded both the automatic one-game suspension to Morrow and the $10,000 fine to Dallas Stars head coach Dave Tippett. Slow grit: The Lakers last night fought it out with the Dallas Mavericks and pulled out a 106-99 victory. In Dallas. Tough. Which is what the Kobe Bryant-led team proved to be. Tough. One thing Mike Bresnahan also mentions in his game story today is something that is worth repeating here: slowtime. The Lakers have started out slowly each game -- looking like a windup Victrola, where the record player starts out slowly and winds up speeding along at 78 revolutions per minute. Committed means committed: Stanford football coach Jim Harbaugh is committed to the university, was zoned in on the Cardinal's next opponent (USC) and didn't want to talk about the Oakland Raiders top job. That's what he told Dan Patrick this morning. Three times. Eloquently. And after being pressed again and again, Harbaugh said: "I guess we have a difference of the definition of commitment. I'm committed to Stanford." Harbaugh has been mentioned repeatedly as the guy Al Davis will turn to at the end of the season. The two men reportedly talk a lot, and the Harbaughs know football -- brother John is the coach of the 6-3 Baltimore Ravens. It doesn't help interim Coach Tom Cable to turn things around when the players hear the same rumor. Meanwhile, the Raiders fans can take solace that their team is 2-7 and not 0-9 like the Detroit Lions. Oakland Holliday: It's official. The Oakland Athletics completed their trade for star outfielder Matt Holliday from the Colorado Rockies this morning. The Rockies get right-handed reliever Huston Street, left-handed starter Greg Smith and promising outfielder Carlos Gonzalez. So Oakland, despite the Raiders, has something to cheer about. -- Debbie Goffa *Updated at 12:30 p.m. Photo: Dustin Brown, right, body checks Dallas Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas into the Kings bench as left wing Brenden Morrow handles the puck in the second period of Tuesday night's game. Credit: Kirby Lee / Image of Sport / US PresswireSource

Suspension.

I have no problem today that Sens forward Jarkko Ruutu has been suspended for two games for his cheap shot last night in Montreal. While I know the/nhl doesn't suspend based on injury, but rather intent I do find it odd that Ruutu is getting 2 games for an infraction that caused no injury while Tom Kostopoulos is gone for 3 games for his hit on Mike Van Ryn.Van Ryn suffered a concussion, a broken nose, a broken bone in his handand a cut to his forehead. He is expected to miss a month.Maxim Lapierre was back on the ice for his next shift.No problem with the suspensions, just think the latter deserved more than 3 games.Source

NHL made the right call

The made a good no-call in rescinding Brenden Morrow's suspension and taking no further disciplinary action against the Kings' Dustin Brown. The rule was put in place to prohibit coaches from sending in players to administer frontier justice in the closing minutes of games, especially when games are out of reach. In reviewing the situation, the league felt that Morrow was acting within the "`spirit of the game'' when he dropped the gloves with the Kings' Dustin Brown. And the score was tied. Stars fans could argue that Brown intended to injure Ribeiro, who was in a defenseless position, taking a shot, when Brown hit him. Kings fans will counter that Brown was simply defending Ribeiro, who just as easily could have been passing the puck from where he was. Regardless, Morrow showed why he wears the 'C,' dropping the gloves once he saw his linemate injured. They served their penalties. Case closed.Source

More Than Just Two Points

Going into last night's showdown between the Penguins and the Red Wings I had pretty easily convinced myself that it was, despite all the hype surrounding the game, 1 out of 82 games the Penguins will play this season and nothing more. I'm not one of those people who thinks beating a team in the regular season after they beat you in the playoffs the season before is any kind of revenge, so that angle was lost on me. It was 2 points just like any other game.Somewhere in the third period last night that all changed. The Penguins came back from 5-2 and 6-4 defeceits in the third period on the road against one of the best teams in the/nhl. That counts for a lot more than just two points. This will be one of those moments that this team can look back on for the rest of the season and remember that even when they are down, they are never out of a game. Even under some of the worst possible circumstances.Here are my thoughts on the game:Have to start with Jordan Staal. The way he played in the last 10 minutes of the third and OT was a dominant a performance as you will ever see from any player. Jordan made himself a lot of money this offseason with this game. And it was not lost on me that #11 had the game of his life on 11/11 and set up the OT winner with 1:11 remaining.Red Wings fans are a joke. Nice of them to show up in time for the second period.Letang and Goligoski both looked really good to me. They did not have mistake free games, but they both looked really poised down the stretch.I know he had 2 assists, but really... did Marian Hossa even play last night?Mike Zigomanis may be the pick-up of the year. His dominance on face-offs can not be overhyped as it is a big boost for the Pens both in the defensive zone and on the power play. If he doesn't win that offensive zone draw at the end of the third I'm writing about a 6-5 Detroit win right now.Red Wings fans are a joke. This game was so big and such a statement while they were winning, but as soon as Fedo sent them packing in OT it was just another regular home game against some random non-conference team.Marc-Andre Fleury was much better than the numbers tell. The Hudler goal was the only one he had any chance of stopping. The bottom line is that right now if MAF can see it he is going to stop it 99% of the time.Red Wings fans are a joke. They love to go on and on about how good Datsyuk and Zetterberg are defensively and all the turnovers they create and then turnaround and dismiss Staal picking Datsyuk's pocket in overtime as lucky or a fluke. Just watch Zetterberg flop around on the ice during the Pens' 5-on-3 goal and then explain to me how great he is defensively.I have never been happier watching one of my fantasy goalies give up 7 goals.Hearing Hossa getting booed on his "home" ice was priceless. Penguin fans definitely had the edge at "The Joe" last night.Red Wings fans are a joke.And this post would not be complete without a highlight package:Source

How much longer can Luongo shut the door? Avs-Nucks Preview

(Yeah, what the heck, I had to bring back that Photoshop image and put Woody's head over Pyatt's. And no, I did not come up with Sir Finebark of Windsorshire either. That was a combo of the brilliance of the Yankee Canucks and Temujin.)I'll add to this post more as the day goes on. What I really like about Luongo's streak, besides the obvious fact that it's badass, is that the team will play so well in front of him to try help hm achieve a shutout record. That bodes well for Vancouver tonight.Unfortunately, what could happen is the Avalanche score early and then the wheels fall off the team machine.From TSN: Jannik Hansen will return tonight after missing 4 games with a groin injury. That line has not scored since Hansen left due to injury. Imagine that.No Demitra yet. Yay.Even better: NO JOE SAKIC! He has a sore back. This is terrific news!How far into the first period do the Canucks have to get without allowing a goal for Luongo to start setting records? According to Canucks.com: The Canucks will need to surpass the 11:04 mark of the first period against the Avalanche to set a new franchise mark, while Luongo will need to be in the net past the 12:09 mark of the first period to beat his own personal milestone. More on that here.Luongo is downplaying the shutouts, naturally. I don’t think shutouts get you into the playoffs. The win is what matters the most and going into Wednesday [against Colorado] I’m not really concerned about that [shutout]. I’m concerned how I’m playing.That is what he told the Province. Ah, BS! Louie's a gamer. You KNOW he's got this streak on his mind.The Avalanche owned the Canucks in 8 games last season. They won 6 of them, outscoring the Canucks 24-11 in the process. But this Avs team is different. Gone is the more consistent goaltending of Jose Theodore. They sit last in the Northwest Division, 5 points behind the Oilers. They are 14th spot in the West, 1 point ahead of the Blues. These guys are praying for Peter Forsberg to come back to them.The Avs have lost 4 of their last 5, being outscored 18-9 in the process. Poor Tony Granato must wonder if he's cut out to be an/nhl coach in his second tenure behind the bench.So it looks positive for Vancouver tonight, unless we come out completely flat.I say we win about 4-1. Source

Polls Open, Time to Rock the Red

A week ago the nominees for the.nhl All-Star Game were announced, and today the polls have opened at vote.nhl.com. Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, and Mike Green are on the ballot, but feel free to write in your favorite Capital. Since.nhl voting is not restricted by Federal or State election laws (nice thought though, Starbucks), the league is offering fans an extra incentive to submit their ballots: all those voting will be entered into a contest for a trip to Montreal and tickets to the All-Star Game. Source

Support Our Pens - VOTE Them Into the 2009 NHL All-Star Game!!

[UPDATE]It seems that alot of you are having as much trouble as I did with voting (but it's odd that the other teams seem to be having no trouble at all since they're SO MANY votes ahead of all of our Penguins). If this lasts much longer, I think complaints are in order -- it could be the difference between Penguins players being in the All-Star game or not!!Voting for the 2009 All-Stars began yesterday, so I urge you to vote (and vote often) for our Penguins on the ballot - FORWARDS: Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin; DEFENSEMAN: Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney; and GOALTENDER: Marc-Andre Fleury. And be patient because everytime I've gone to the site, it takes awhile to load (and sometimes doesn't load at all).You can also view the results in real-time (the last I checked, most of the Penguins were trailing in votes, let's join together as a Penguins Nation to get our boys on the All-Star team)!!I will have the All-Star voting graphic in the sidebar to the right so that you have easy access to the voting link daily. You can also vote FOR ALL 5 PENS using your mobile phone by texting PENS to 31812 (standard rates apply)!Source

Past Is Prologue

First things first.REQUESTBLOGWhen you submit a photoshop, if there is anyway you could put your initials in any part of the photoshop it would be greatly appreciated. This would protect against photoshops being stolen, and makes it easier for us to get the ball rolling on getting the 'shops into the post.If you don't do it, we'll send you a virus.::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Winner: SEAN K. Winner: CORY W.-- RON --Detroit fans have already circled February 8th on their calendar for the Pens/Wings rematch.It's got to be annoying to watch your team collapse at home.We've been there.But Pens fans have Thursday, November 13, circled.The Flyers are coming to town tonight.The Flyers have no talent. Nothing to respect.[Hutch]:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::And ADAM G. found douche of the year.:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Scuds is listed as day to day. [ PENS ]Can't afford to lose him for an extended period.:: [ THE CONFLUENCE ] compares Matt Cooke and Ruutu.:: [ Mark Madden ] is getting into the recap business. Good read.:: TSN's Darren Dreger asks why Crosby is slumping.No one in Pittsburgh even cares. The Pens have won four straight.Crosby is Crosby. Find something else to phone in, Dreger. TSN Pens goals from games 8 through 15, courtesy of ERIC P.We don't commend him enough considering the amount of time he puts into these montages.::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::PUCK DADDY brings us this YouTube clip.Hopefully he's back to titling his posts correctly again:wooooooooooooothanks to everyone who spotted the fail. That's just vicious.When did Jarkko Ruutu become a dirty player?Honestly, he was never head-hunting in a Pens uniform.He was just a pain in the ass.He got suspended for two games.::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Speaking of the Canadiens, their fanboys are already stuffing the ballot box for the.nhl All-Star Game.We'd hate to be "that site" and go and find a way to rig the balloting to get the Pens in there.They're not gonna need help, anyway.We'd start a Scuderi campaign, but he's on Secret Service duty during the All-Star Break.Personally, we hope none of the Pens play in it. Rest up during the break.If anyone should go, it should be Zigomanis.You really have to commend those fans in Canada.Since their votes only count as .8 of a vote compared to 1 American vote,they've actually voted more than what's seen above.Saku Koivu isn't an all star in his own house.[ VOTE HERE ]::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Lauren Z.Go PensSource

Habs leading all-star voting ... by a lot

As of 7:05 am ET today, the six Canadiens on the ballot for January's All-Star Game in Montreal are atop their categories by a healthy margin, Habs fans clearly keen on seeing six – can you imagine that? – of their favourites on the Eastern Conference starting lineup.(Geez, their numbers are so high that you'd swear they were a blogger who's hired a chimp to hit the Refresh key a thousand times a day to spike the hits to their site.)We've never been the biggest fan of the popularity contest that is the All-Star Game, but it is what it is. If the.nhl is going to encourage fans to stuff the ballot box, why not do it for the team that will host the event?Go here to vote often, as you've already been doing, and good luck to Koivu, Kovalev, Tanguay, Markov, Komisarek and Price. And to Roman Hamrlik, who's garnering decent support as a write-in candidate. Source

The Cablization of Television Sports Properties - Part I

Costa Mesa, CA (Nov 13, 2008) - There were four news "events" this week related to the rights ownership of broadcast sports properties. First, you had what some called the "Heidi game" of NASCAR. The second was news that the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) is entertaining the thought of leaving Fox Sports for ESPN, to be broadcast on cable only. The third was Turner Sports passing on an extension of their contract with the R&A for the The Open Championship. Finally, ESPN announced today the exclusive rights to broadcast the property on cable only for the next eight years. Already, a couple of notable sports blogs, Fang's Bites and Sports Media Watch, have written very good pieces about this trend.The 10,000 Foot LevelIn looking at this trend of broadcast properties moving to cable only, particularly to ESPN, should be of concern because of the marriage of monopolies that can (and has) been occurring. In moving the properties to cable only, those who do not have cable or satellite access to cable are cut out of the loops. No longer will they be able to see their sports over the air. When that happens, how will leagues such as the NFL, which has an anti-trust exemption from Congress, spin that?The NASCAR Heidi Race on ABCPeople and media outlets have been critical of ABC Sports from cutting away from the conclusion of last Sunday's race. They were upset that the race was cut off in favor of America's Funniest Home Videos. This was not a Heidi incident, as viewers had the opportunity to switch over to the ESPN family of Networks to watch the conclusion. Well, that is viewers who had access to those networks could switch.So for the most part, no one really lost and ABC/ESPN won across the board with this business decision. Why? Because it is the November Sweeps period, a period in which ratings are used to set advertising rates for the next 6 months or so. So if you are ABC, do you sacrifice ratings success on your best night of the week to show the conclusion of a race to a sister network?Sports Media Watch recently reported thatThe Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 drew a 3.6/7 final rating and 5.7 million viewers on ABC Sunday afternoon, down 5% and 6% respectively from a 3.8/7 and 6 million for the same race in '07. Ratings peaked at a 4.7/8 from 7:15 to 7:30 PM, the last fifteen minutes the race aired on ABC. From 7:30-7:45 PM, ABC drew a 3.4/5 for the first half of America's Funniest Home Videos -- a drop of 28%.So why move the race instead of letting it go on? The answer is not because of America's Funniest Home Videos. The answer may be because of Desperate Housewives, as shown in the Nielsen Ratings from last week:1 60 MINUTES CBS 18,471 11.5 18 12 2 CSI CBS 18,175 11.2 17 5 3 NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL NBC 17,564 11.0 18 1 4 DANCING WITH THE STARS ABC 17,089 11.1 16 15 5 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES ABC 15,854 10.1 15 3 6 DANCING W/STARS RESULT SP(S) S ABC 15,848 10.2 16 28 7 GREY’S ANATOMY-THU 9PM ABC 15,740 10.1 15 2 8 SNL PRESIDENTIAL BASH ‘08(S) S NBC 14,436 8.7 13 4 9 CRIMINAL MINDS CBS 14,304 9.3 14 22Source: TV By The NumbersCould ABC have sacrificed these numbers in favour of a low rated NASCAR race? Could they have sacrificed the family audiences for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, with its heavy cross-promotion of Disney properties? At the same time, ESPN2 picked up ratings friendly content, albeit for a brief period.Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News complained that;Let's get this straight: CBS doesn't abandon NFL games to go to 60 Minutes but ABC left a NASCAR playoff race for a AFHV, a show with no redeeming social significance other than to fill an hour of air time.This statement assumes that NASCAR offers any more redeeming social significance than other network offerings, but that is a discussion for another forum. You do not see this happen with the NFL on CBS because the numbers for those games are significantly higher than NASCAR (for the most part). Die hard viewers of 60 Minutes are perhaps more willing to wait than those on ABC. In addition, CBS does not have the ability to switch to a widely subscribed sister network on Cable. Even if CBS College Sports has as much market penetration as the ESPN networks, the ability to switch may be hampered by multiple games at the same time AND the willingness of the NFL to allow it to happen. That is a key as the NFL has a heck of a lot more clout than NASCAR, the NHL and/or the PGA Tour.It appears that it all came down to a business decision, and the losers were the people who do not have cable. The people who could not take the time to switch the remote did not lose anything.Coming Up in Part IIIn the next part of this series, we will take a look at the impact of the just announced deal between ESPN and the R&A for The Open Championship, and the impact of moving the BCS games to cable only.Related Link(s)Barry Horn: If ABC/ESPN considers NASCAR really big time this 'incident' never would have happenedFang's Bites: Is ESPN Forcing ABC To Get Out of the Sports Business?Sports Media Watch: BCS could be the first of many to go to cable.

Offensive Leaders - 13 Nov, 2008

.nhl Stats Leaders" target="_new" href="http://www.nhl.com/ice/statshome.htm"> Source

"Sports Soup" probably had something to do with this - 11-13-08

According to a Versus press release (via The Confluence), that Penguins-Red Wings fray on Tuesday generated the highest ratings for a regular season/nhl game ever on that plucky little cable access channel."The game garnered a .5 national HH rating, matching the best rating fora regular-season/nhl game ever on the network. Locally, Pittsburghreceived a 5.8 HH rating and Detroit delivered a 3.3 HH rating, makingVERSUS the #1 rated cable network in both markets for the 7:00-9:45p.m. ET period. "True story: During the/nhl's first season on OLN, we were in a bar and wanted to watch a playoff game between the Red Wings and Oilers. We asked the bartender if they had OLN. He responded, "What about an oily onion?"Source

Voting Controversy!!

A reader of the Pensblog has "exposed" the Montreal Canadiens fans (and the reason why our boys are behind with votes and the Canadiens are TOPS)!! You can get a better view of this at PensblogPensblog explains:That's right. That is what you call a javascript, and that is the reason the Habs fans are getting all the votes through.I don't know about you, but I think this little secret needs exposed to the right people and something needs done, but then again, as the Pensblog points out - it'll give our boys a much needed rest (and we can kick everyone's ass the week after)!!! However - unless we want this to get out of hand and allow the All-Star Game become nothing more than a joke (some of you may already think it is), I think this needs stopped!!And Pensblog goes on to say:We are in the possesion of a Penguin Javascript, but we aren't going to use it. We respect thenhl and we don't want to negatively affect the Penguins organization.However, if thenhl doesn't fix this joke, we will unleash it to the world. We'll contact every radio station, penguin blog, and message board we know.You have 48 hours.Already got your back, boys!!Source

Melrose's place? Tampa Bay says it's the unemployment line

Barry Melrose had finally found a place where the mullet was still in style when he went off to Florida as the Tampa Bay Lightning's coach last June. Well, Melrose didn't stick around long enough to let his hair grow out, as he was fired today by the Lightning after 16 games. The punch line? Rick Tocchet was elevated to interim coach. Yes, the same Rick Tocchet who is still serving a two-year probation after pleading guilty in a gambling investigation into a sports betting ring in 2007. For Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon fans, the connection goes like this: Bacon starred with Matt Dillon in "Wild Things." Dillon starred with Janet Jones in "The Flamingo Kid." Jones became Janet Gretzky and allegedly booked bets with Tocchet, then an assistant coach with the Phoenix Coyotes. Tocchet was Melrose's assistant coach. Melrose walked away from ESPN (three years after ESPN walked away from the.nhl), ending a 12-year career as an analyst. That followed two-plus years as the Kings' head coach, taking them to the 1993 Stanley Cup finals. The Kings won the first game against the Montreal Canadiens and were leading by a goal in Game Two when ... ah, everyone knows the rest. Still, Marty McSorley's illegal stick was the high-water mark in Melrose's coaching career. Grading on that curve, he has a 45-77-16 (12 ties, four overtime losses) record since that moment. So what will Barry do now? Odds are, he will try to find Versus, just like those with TV remotes. --Chris Foster Photo: Barry Melrose, with Rick Tocchet in the background, in September. Credit: Mike Carlson / AP.Source

Contact NHL.com!!

So the voting controversy has been exposed and.nhl.com is obviously aware of it (they recently put up a verification system in place that must be completed before your vote can be submitted and counted); however, they're not certain as to what they will do with the votes this far. Until this is corrected / resolved, I believe there's still a problem here!THANKS TO 71crush FOR BRINGING THE ARTICLE, Habs boosted by suspicious all-star voting, TO TSCSF'S ATTENTION!!Honestly, as far as I'm concerned, none of these votes are legitimate and should therefore not be counted. The voting should start over from square one with every player given an even playing field and eliminate any advantages up to this point!! How fair is it for them to include the votes that were already submitted when they're aware there was voting fraud?And how I see it is if they don't correct this and start the voting over again, this entire All-Star event will become a joke!My plea to you, Pens Nation, is to send the.nhl a message loud and clear -- we may not be taken seriously if just one or a few of us send a message, but they'll have no other choice but to listen if we unite and let them know what an injustice this is and how this would totally cast a shadow on this event as well as the organization's credibility!Support our Pens by not only voting for them, but also by speaking your mind and taking a stand for what's right (and fair).CLICK HERE FOR THE.nhl FAN FEEDBACK SUBMISSION FORM!!Source

Wait Until After The Season To Fire The Coach

As first seen on LiveScience.comYour high school guidance counselor should have steered you away from these three career paths: hand grenade tester, freezer salesman in Siberia and head coach of just about any sport. The longevity and success potential of each is limited.Just halfway through the current 16-game NFL season, three coaches, Lane Kiffin (Oakland Raiders), Scott Linehan (St. Louis Rams) and Mike Nolan (San Francisco 49ers), have been asked to "pursue other opportunities."Add to that two/nhl coaches, Denis Savard (Chicago Blackhawks), who only made it to the fourth game of this year's 82-game schedule and now Barry Melrose, who was just fired after only 16 games. On the other end of the season, Ned Yost (Milwaukee Brewers), led his baseball team through 150 regular season games only to be fired with 12 games left in the season, even though the Brewers were still battling for a playoff spot.Of course, we all should be so lucky to be bought out of our multi-million dollar contracts, so that we could contemplate our vocational options from a Caribbean beach. But do all of these pink slips and "interim" coaches help a team?Since 1970, no NFL head coach hired in midseason has even made it to the playoffs, never mind the Super Bowl. And, while the Brewers did make the postseason this year, their record was only 7-5 in those last 12 games and then they lost in the divisional series, four games to one.Yet team owners continue to panic and react rather than stick with the coach that, at one time, they felt was the man for the job. On the off chance that these owners enjoy reading academic research papers, two recent studies could confirm for them that reaching for the hook during midseason is not supported by results.Economics professors from the Universita della Calabria, Maria De Paola and Vincenzo Scoppa, looked at the top Italian soccer league, Serie A, over five seasons from 2003-04 to 2007-08. Serie A is one of the most well-known leagues in the world, and an average of 41 percent of its 20 teams changed coaches during any given year in this five-year dataset. The researchers measured team performance before and after each of the 40 changes, using team points (3 for a win, 1 for a tie, and 0 for a loss), goals scored, goals against and their difference, known as goal differential. The results showed no statistically significant improvements in team performance.For several reasons that De Paola and Scoppa point out, this makes logical sense. So much of a team's success is determined when they first step on the field at the beginning of the season. The quality of the players on the roster, the tactical system that is in place and the influence of the fans and local media are variables that a new coach may not able to affect.The game schedule can also play a role. If a team faces a string of tough opponents early in the season, the old coach may be unfairly compared to the new coach who has an easier schedule after the change. Also, over the course of a season, each team's record will statistically gather around its expected performance level. Since most coaching changes are made after a run of poor results, the new coach may benefit from a simple "regression to the mean" by enjoying a string of good results that may have nothing to do with the coach.Change the sport and the league and the results are still the same. Three researchers led by Leif Arnesson at Mid Sweden University collected data from 30 years of the Elitserien or Swedish Elite League, the/nhl of Sweden, to measure the impact of changing head coaches midseason."The results of our study indicate rather clearly that it was a mistake to replace the coach in all of these cases," says Arnesson. "If you're thinking about getting a new coach, you should at least avoid making your move while the season is under way. A word of advice to those who are in charge of recruiting coaches is therefore: 'Don't replace the coach, at any rate if you have a good coach, if you're in the middle of the season, or if the team is in trouble."While the old saying, "you can't fire all the players so you might as well fire the coach", seems like the quick fix to a underperforming season, owners and fans should probably be patient. At the end of the season, however, its a "whole new ball game" so we can "get 'em next year"! Source

RDS: Penguins deal Sydor 11-16-08

RDS is reporting the Penguins have dealt defenseman Darryl Sydor (right) to the Stars for Philippe Boucher who is also a defenseman. Each player is in the final year of $2.5 million deals.EN Says: Boucher's a right-handed shot which is definitely a luxury for the Penguins but he's been part of a weak defensive corp for the Stars this season. While dealing Sydor prevents any potential locker room issues, it almost seems like a lateral move for each team on paper at least.Boucher reached double-digit figures in goal in 2005-06 and 2006-07 but was limited to 38 games last season due to injuries. He was selected to the All-Star game in 2006-07.He has a nice point shot and has a fairly decent all-around game, but is prone to inconsistency and isn't all that physical despite his large frame (6-foot-3, 218 pounds). He is 12th in the/nhl this season with 39 blocked shots. He was third on Dallas with an average of 21:43 of ice time.Boucher was a healthy scratch last night in Dallas' 3-2 win against the Coyotes. Of the scratch, Tracy Myers or the Fort Worth Star Telegram said:"Another message sent (I believe): Philippe Boucher's healthy scratch.He just hasn't been where he needs to be so far this season, and it ledto his sitting. I know Matt Niskanen hasn't been so great this yeareither, but I believe Tippett's wanting to send messages to longtimeplayers, not sophomores."Sydor wasn't playing for a team missing it's two best offensive defenseman and he definitely would be less likely to get any ice time with their returns. He's shown ability to provide solid, steady play off the bench. This move benefits him in that he goes to a team that could use some help on the blue line. Sydor is familiar with Dallas as he has spent parts of nine seasons there.We'll have a "eulogy" for Sydor on Monday.(Kudos to The Pensblog for the heads up.)(Photo: Harry How/Getty Images)Source

For Those Who Still Rock, We Salute You

One of the best hockey arena songs ever written is now 18 years old: "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC. 1990's The Razors Edge yielded the aforementioned classic along with "Moneytalks" and the album's dark, driving title track; it's an uneven album, but it is "Thunderstruck" that hockey fans who weren't yet born when it was recorded know from rinks across the country. When Angus Young's fast-fingered fretwork blares forth from the big arena speakers, you can feel the crowd's energy level spike. Few tracks rival Thunderstruck to fire up a crowd; in fact, many of those similarly effective songs are by this same band ("Back In Black", "Hell's Bells", "You Shook Me All Night Long", etc.). As John Buccigross put it in his recent paean to AC/DC's classic album Back In Black, "AC/DC is the official music act for the sport of hockey." It's been a long time since AC/DC released an album that mattered, and 8 years since they released anything at all. In that time, modern music has yielded fewer and fewer arena rockers (Foo Fighters excepted). Sure, bands still produce interesting and high-energy music, but as much as I enjoy Radiohead, for instance, even their heavier-guitar tracks don't fit the vibe of a hockey game.Well last night AC/DC hit the Phone Booth in support of their new album, Black Ice. As one of the definitive arena rock bands and a band whose catalog is in heavy rotation at rinks around the world -- for example, we heard "Shoot To Thrill" in Moscow -- AC/DC was overdue for an album that would would rise to the occasion . . . a double-entendre that the band would likely appreciate. So how does Black Ice fare in the context of AC/DC's catalog? Well it's actually terrific, their best since For Those About To Rock, We Salute You. Mind you, AC/DC isn't exactly known for being particularly innovative -- but they do what they do, and they do it better than anyone else does. On Black Ice they inject fresh energy into an old formula, and it works as well as it ever has.Despite AC/DC's mildly irritating distribution strategy of selling Black Ice exclusively at Wal-Mart and notoffering online downloads, AC/DC's new album topped the charts with784,000 units sold in its first week, good for the second-best debut of 2008. That's an impressive tally given the economy and the recording industry's continuingdecline. Pretty sweet for a bandwhose first album hit stores 33 years ago. Black Ice is filled with classic Angus Young riffs, Brian Johnson's gargling-nails growls and screams, and the band's classic driving-to-destruction rhythm section. Like Chris Chelios, this band's age seems to have little impact ontheir ability to perform (yes, I know, another double-entendre). A few tracks on the new album stand out as perfect for hockey arenas. "Spoilin' For A Fight" seems custom-written for an/nhl pugilistic highlight reel . . . that, or Donald Brashear's entry music/theme, like some WWE wrestler. The dirty shuffle and wicked slide guitar of "Stormy May Day" is reminiscent of Physical Graffiti-era Led Zeppelin; its title and lyrics ("Storm is ragin' / No one's gonna rescue you") would be ideal for playoff run deep into May.Radio-friendly rockers like "Big Jack" and "Rock N' Roll Train" are also well-suited for hockey; the latter has already made the Capitals' song rotation. And the title track has more going for it than just its hockey-apropos name -- the riff-and-groove jam makes for a menacing prowl of a song that's guaranteed to lodge firmly in your brain. After a prolonged absence, AC/DC is back with a classic album of riffsand roars that stands among their best, still rocking and rolling likepros. So schlep over to Wal-Mart (or their website), crank Black Ice up to 11 in your car, and enjoy AC/DC proving the maxim that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Source

Vancouver Sun petition to get NHL to allow Luongo to wear the "C"

I didn't even realize this was happening or I would have rallied the cause earlier. The Vancouver Sun will present this petition to the HQ in New York tomorrow. It reads as follows: Mr. Bettman, More than 2,200 Vancouver Sun readers have spoken and implore you to alter National Hockey League rules to allow Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo to wear the 'C' as the team's captain. The Canucks have named him their leader, on and off the ice, and we join fans of the team, and the league, in requesting you address this matter with the utmost urgency so he can finish the season recognized by the league as the team's captain.Enclosed in this package is a collection of names we received online. A reply would be appreciated as soon as possible so we can let fans know your response to this burning issue.Only 2200-plus have signed this petition so far. More need to step up. Follow this link to sign the petition. Do it! He's our captain.T Tags: Roberto+Luongo+petition wear+the+c Vancouver+Sun Source

A Night To Remember: Jose Theodore Guides Montreal in the NHL's First Outdoor Regular Season Game

This week marks the 5-year anniversary of the Heritage Classic, the's first-ever experiment with outdoor, regular season hockey. The game was contested on November 22, 2003, at Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium, pitting Montreal and Jose Theodore versus the Edmonton Oilers. It's difficult to overstate the appeal and novelty the game generated; the Oilers characterized fan interest as "easily the hottest ticket in Edmonton sports history." That's saying something, as there have been a few notable hockey games played in Edmonton over the years. As far as heat goes, there was precious little of it that Arctic November night. Factoring in wind chill, temperatures actually sank below -20 F. Water in the pipes of Zambonis actually froze. And necessarily, the 57,167 Edmontonians in attendance loved every minute of it. CBC broadcasted the game, which established a record for the most viewers for a single hockey game in the outlet's history (about 10 percent of Canada watched the game live on television). It was also CBC's first high definition hockey broadcast. Montreal defeated Edmonton 4-3. We got a chance last week to reminisce with the Heritage Classic's winning netminder, Jose Theodore, after practice at Kettler Capitals. One of the iconic images associated with that November night was Theodore donning a touque over his mask to help ward off the extraordinary cold. We asked him if he'd be interested in playing in another outdoor game, this time potentially involving Washington and Pittsburgh, and we asked him to sign a team touque to award to a patron at tonight's screening of 'Pond Hockey,' which he was glad to do.If you're wondering what inaugurated the's interest in perpetuating an annual outdoor game, you have to go back to that frosty night in Alberta 5 years ago. Theodore shared vivid detail with us about that extraordinary night. Source

Sound off: MacTavish on Penner and NHL on headshots

MacT pulled no punches with Dustin Penner today, saying "He's not competitive enough or fit enough to help us, so why put him back in? He's never been fit enough to help us," Oilers head coach Craig MacTavish told the Sun. "We signed him to be a top-two line player and that's kind of where it ended. The difference was we thought the contract was a starting point, and he's viewed it as a finish line. "It's been one thing after another. I can't watch it for - certainly not another two and-a-half years." Wow. That was awesome! Penner did score over 20 goals as an Oiler last year but only has 3 goals and 1 assists in 16 games this season. His conditioning has always been a problem. In that case, the Canucks should sign him and put him on Wellwood diet. Problem solved. I am growing very weary of the headshots issue in the/nhl. You see the analysts over-analyzing a lot of shots that knock players out or hurt them. Some of these headshots are absolutely fine in my opinion. If a taller guy like Pronger decks a shorter guy like Richard Park and his elbow makes contact, well, that's not intentional. But the/nhl released a memo to all teams today regarding intentional headshots. "Recently, we have had two (2) supplemental discipline incidents involving direct elbow blows to the head. This is a play that we have been trying to remove from our game for a number of years. In one case there was no injury and in the other incident the elbowed Player received a concussion. Both Players delivering the elbows had never before been involved in supplemental discipline. "We cannot and will not tolerate blows to the head that are deliberate, avoidable and illegal. Furthermore, both the history and status of the offender (first time versus repeat) and the nature of the injury caused (if any) will be taken into consideration as they have been in the past. The length of suspensions for illegal blows to the head will be increased if these incidents persist across the League. Taking steps to maintain the safest on-ice environment possible for the Players remains our most important priority."Fair enough. Wait, explain the "avoidable" part. This is just going to create another decision for the refs and league officials to make when a head shot occurs. Some are more blatantly obvious than others (see Jarko Ruutu). Others can be circumstancial. I hope the/nhl is fair in their assessments. How would they judge Doug Weight's crunching head shot on Brian Sutter? I would hope that would be called legal and not "avoidable."For more on this, including some whining by Simon "headcase" Gagne, check out TSN's article.T Tags: ruling memo Craig+MacTavish+calls+out+Dustin+Penner Oilers Source

Canucks kick off 4-game road trip today against Islanders

It's tough to say what can be expected from the Islanders tonight. The Islanders are a not-so-surprising 6-9-2 this season, with 2 of those wins coming in their last 2 games...back-to-back wins against the Senators. In the absence of Rick Dipietro, Joey MacDonald is doing all he can to make his mark. He has stopped 96 of 101 shots over his past 3 games, as Canucks.com mentioned.I'm curious as to how well the Canucks will play 3 times zones away after handing the Leafs their asses on Saturday night. Vancouver is 4-4-0 on the road this season, and needs to establish some kind of consistency there. We'll see how well a great home stand by the Canucks translates out east. It won't be easy. The 4 games are against the Isles, Rangers, Wild and Penguins, in that order.So how lousy are the Islanders? They are currently 28th in the.nhl. Their goals per game is 21st overall. Their goals against is 22nd. Their powerplay efficiency is 26th overall at a 14.6% rate. Their PK is 9th overall at an 84.3% kill rate. The Islanders have more shots per game than the Canucks do, but they allow more shots against per game than most teams.Islanders scoring stats. Look at Doug Weight still putting up points. Isn't he a Canuck killer? It's about time Trent Hunter started scoring again. 7 goals and 13 points in 17 games is an improvement for him.Looking forward to seeing how Wellwood and Demitra click again tonight. We're gonna need it. Wellwood has developed hero status here and recognition around the League. He's so popular, even Hillary Duff dropped Mike Comrie for Woody because he "scores more." Woody has 7 goals Comrie has a piddly 2.I'll guess a 5-2 Canucks win tonight. T Tags: Canucks Islanders game+preview November+2008 stats Source