| Jan. - Apr. 2008 Archives |
milwaukeehockey.com |
| 22 April 2008 |
A rope, a tree, hang the refereeAfter the first two games in Chicago, Wolves coach John Anderson was in the newspapers complaining about the officiating - game one by Shaun Davis and game two by Pochmara. Was the slanted officiating in game 3 an attempt to appease Anderson? If I were a ref, I wouldn't want Anderson's tobacco-laden spittle in my face, so I'd probably do what I could to keep that from happening. I doubt that conspiracy theory has any merit, but you never know. Since the Admirals joined the AHL in 2001, I have been pleased by the performance of the refs. Sure, over the last seven seasons there have been some poor games here and there (mostly by Justin St. Pierre), but when I hear fans at the BC scream about a call/non-call... the ref usually made a correct (or close judgement) call. Prior to 2001, the referees in the IHL made my blood boil on several occasions. There were games where fans littered the ice in protest (Derek Martin), and many in which the refs were screamed at along the tunnel coming off the ice. Pochmara called game 3 like an IHL ref. Sigh... I'm not surprised this series against Chicago has been so tight and chippy. All three have been one goal games - two in overtime. Several group shoving matches and curse words thrown about. No matter who is on the roster, these two teams have always hated each other over the years. I'm still wishing we could have finished 5th in the division to cross over to the North Division playoffs. Not only have I believed the Admirals would have an easier time against Toronto in the first round (Milwaukee won both games in the regular season), but even if the Marlies would prevail, it would not be as bad as a loss to the Wolves. Not many Toronto fans come to Milwaukee to talk trash. In fact, I think San Antonio tanked it in the final regular season game to face Toronto instead of Chicago. After all of the other games in the league were wrapped up (and San Antonio's chances at a 3rd place finish were erased), they allowed Quad City to come from behind to win in the 3rd period. Smart move. Do not be surprised if San Antonio advances to the Conference Final. |
| 7 April 2008 |
The end is nearAs I write this... 2. Rockford - 94 points, 4 games remaining 3. Houston - 92 points, 4 games 4. Milwaukee - 92 points, 3 games 5. San Antonio - 90 points, 4 games Because the North Division is a wasteland this season, the fifth place team in the West Division will cross over to play as the #4 seed in the North. In fact, it's possible the entire 8 team West Division will finish with a better record than the four non-playoff teams in the North (Hamilton, Grand Rapids, Lake Erie, and Rochester). As a logical fan, I'd LOVE to see the Admirals finish 5th and play in that weaker division. Of course, it wouldn't be bad to see Milwaukee fight on and finish 2nd, but I prefer our possibilities against Toronto than anyone in our division. The one team in the North that scares me is Syracuse. They are on a 16-0-0-3 run, with former Admiral midget goalie Karl Goehring earning recent league hardware for Player of the Week and Goalie of the Month. Then again, they have several doormats in their division, making a run like that easier to accomplish. But worrying about Syracuse is forward thinking... the Admirals would not face them until at least the 2nd round. As of today, Milwaukee could possibly face Toronto or any of the other four West teams in the first round. Bring on the Marlies! I did some math to illustrate how dominate Milwaukee's division is... Average points per team 88.75 - West 86.43 - Atlantic 84.71 - East 79.43 - North Average wins per team 40.5 - West 38.7 - East 38.4 - Atlantic 35.1 - North If Milwaukee doesn't finish fifth, I hope they climb to 2nd or 3rd in order to avoid Chicago in the first round. Houston, San Antonio, and Rockford are fairly equal in my mind. I really have no preference among those three teams. Regardless of who they face, to go far in the playoffs, the Admirals need to put more pucks on the net, get more output from their anemic power play, win more key faceoffs, and get consistent goal scoring from guys like Ellison, Langfeld, and Pihlström. -------- Last night, I began a project to change the layout of my web site. I've always kept my site friendly to people using a screen resolution of 800x600, aligning everything to the left with a text area at a width of 750 pixels. That size was acceptable to me on my 1024x768 monitor. I had a small amount of blank space on the right side, but that didn't bother me much. It did limit some of what I could and could not do with my site, as I had to squeeze everything into that 750px wide space. I now have a widescreen monitor (1440x900), and I found it painful to see all of that wasted space on my screen. So, last night, I changed the layout on the main page to feature a wider text area that is centered on the screen. In time, I will change all of the pages to a wider size - a task that involves not only widening the layout, but also creating different graphics and tweaking the presentation to make it look right. Anyone using a screen sized at 800x600 will have to horizontally scroll to see the whole page. To those who are bothered by this, I recommend changing your screen settings, or better yet, upgrading to a high resolution monitor. -------- I found it refreshing to see Claude the Happy Trumpeter at the games this past weekend... not that I'm a huge fan of his schtick... but rather it meant I didn't have to listen to as many annoying songs (Jump on It, Put Your Hands Up, YMCA, Everybody Clap Your Hands, ETC!) The best hockey arenas mix in classic rinkside organ music, which is sorely lacking at the BC. -------- Why do the BC cameramen search out shirtless boys in the crowd? In the times we live in, glorifying that is in poor taste... especially after the team was mentioned several times in the local newspaper for having an employee who really, really likes young boys. Chances are, there are a few gay pedophiles at every game who get their "inner drool" going when they see half naked kids up on the Jumbotron. -------- Before I go, I want to warn everyone... if the web site stops getting updated, I probably died. No, I'm not suicidal... I've been getting signs that my time is approaching. Recently I experienced a string of eight straight days of coming across a funeral procession in eight different parts of my hometown. The streak ended when I stayed home one day... but since then I've been seeing one every few days. When the time comes, please don't send flowers... after all, I'm a hockey fan, not a nancy boy. |
| 28 February 2008 |
Entering the fourth quarter |
| 22 February 2008 |
Ten years and counting
Back in the 1997-98 season, I connected to the internet for the first time. It was my fourth season as an Admiral fan, and when the idea of creating a web site entered my mind, my first thought was to make one on the Admirals. In the early days, the site was very crude. I spent a little bit of time every day tweaking it and coming up with ideas... some that worked, and some that didn't. I experimented with graphics and layouts and learned from my mistakes. Back then, the Admirals were still an independent team in the IHL. Eric Fenton, Mike Tomlak, Shannon Finn, Ken Sabourin, and Danny Lorenz were a few of the team's key players. A lot has happened since then. The NHL affiliation with Nashville. Two major logo and jersey changes. The passing of one owner and the long search for a new one. The move from the IHL to the AHL. Nine playoff runs. Two division titles. Two Finals appearances. And the 2004 championship season. Yep, it's been a wild and memorable ten years. And I'm glad to have been able to share it all with you. The original title of the site was "The Admiral's Log", a name that I never really liked. I adopted the easy-to-remember rhyme milwaukeehockey as my domain name and site title in 1999. You can view what it was like back in May 1998 on the Wayback Machine at archive.org. At times, the site held so much information, that it completely consumed my free time to maintain. Recently, I've had less free time to devote to it, so there is less content now than in the past, but I fully intend on keeping the site going for as long as I am a fan. It's only appropriate that I take this time to thank all of the readers and contributors from the past decade. All of the kind words of encouragement I have received has been the fuel to keep me doing what I do. Here's to the next ten years! ------------  Anyone notice the new paint job on the mask of Dov Grumet-Morris? I didn't realize it until seeing a few photos from the last game, but it appears that he has the old Admirals logo used from 1982-98 on the top of his mask. The Predators logo also appears on the chin of the mask. Very cool.------------ Flipping through the channels the other night, I came across Wolves highlights on a Chicago newscast. In a game against Manitoba, the Wolves lost the game in overtime after Steve Martins sent the puck the length of the ice into his own goal. On a delayed penalty, Chicago pulled their goaltender for a sixth attacker. Martins intended on passing the puck back to a defenseman, but it missed his intended teammate and cost his team the win. Manitoba goaltender Drew MacIntyre got credit for the goal as he was the last Moose player to touch the puck. Here's the replay on YouTube... |
| 18 February 2008 |
Conflict of interestThat's a shame. My two most passionate sports interests are hockey and auto racing, and for the most part, they coexist without too many conflicts. Local race tracks generally hold their seasons from April-September, which fits nicely with the hockey calendar. One event I always look forward to watching on TV is the Daytona 500. NASCAR's biggest event kicks off the season on a mid-February Sunday afternoon. Honestly, if the scary winter storm the local news glamorized for the past 72 hours would have actually happened (10-16" - "Run for your lives!!"), I would have stayed home to watch the race. I've only missed one Admirals home game in the last seven years by choice... which was to go to a Predators game in Chicago. If you look around the crowd at any given game, you'll see racing hats, shirts, and jackets in the crowd, and decals in the parking lot. The Admirals work hard not to compete with Packers games when making the schedule, even rescheduling the hockey games if Green Bay manages to make the playoffs. I wish the Admirals would recognize the number of NASCAR fans who fight with the decision of staying home on that particular Sunday afternoon and keep that date open. (psst... next year it's on February 15) In 2001, I had to learn about the death of Dale Earnhardt on a muted TV screen in the concourse of the Bradley Center. I remember being in a daze for the rest of the game, wishing I was at home. Next year, I hope I will be. ------------ I know I usually use this space to complain. This season, there hasn't been a whole lot to be positive about, but I will applaud a few things this time... - How about the turn-around by Cal O'Reilly lately? Shortly after Rich Peverley was promoted to the NHL, Cal stepped up his game and has been on a tear. Six goals and 21 assists in the last 14 games, which included a nine game scoring streak and an AHL Player of the Week Award. I mentioned in the mid-season report card that he was in a sophomore slump, but maybe he's kicked it to the curb. - And Amen and Hallejuleh that the gloves have been dropped on a regular basis again! Another item I criticized earlier this season, but lately, the boys have not let themselves get bullied around. Alex, Kelsey, Nolan... well done! Hell, even Antti and Cal each got into a scrap! After only 11 fights in the first 28 games, the team has had 21 in the last 27, and they would have had more if Kelsey didn't break his nose last month. - I gotta admit, I was mildly amused by the Valentine's Day visit by Roscoe's girlfriend. Who knew he was getting some action away from the BC? In case you missed it, they dusted off the spare Roscoe costume, and dressed it up with a skirt and a long blond wig. She could have used an Admirals jersey, but instead she wore a sweater. ------------ A couple more thoughts before I go... Someone ought to advise the youth hockey groups that participate during intermission that they should not take it too seriously. Many groups waste a minute or two of their alloted time by making sure all the kids are in their proper position before letting them play. Even worse, some groups will sit a couple of players on the bench instead of playing 7-on-7. Let the kids have fun. No one is keeping score. Just drop the puck and let them enjoy their five minutes of ice time. The cheer stick fad is not dying soon enough. I had to move from my seat on Sunday after enduring ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, just over my right shoulder. Those who use cheer sticks show a lack of respect for the people they sit near. In most cases, the blame lies on lazy parents who encourage their kids to use them, as it keeps them occupied, giving the parents an escape from, well... actually being parents! The cheer sticks ought to come with a ziplock bag of earplugs to be handed out to anyone within earshot. Better yet, I encourage the use of your hands. The sound of natural applause is louder and more pleasant than the annoying ping. There is no need for plastic toys that will find their way to the area's landfills. Ok... so I couldn't resist a complaint... but I still have the headache 12 hours later. |
| 12 February 2007 |
A view from the road
I am a frequent contributor at virtualglobetrotting.com, where people share cool and interesting scenes found on Virtual Earth and Google Maps. As someone who loves to travel, but doesn't get to do so as much as I'd like, this is the next best thing... Picking a random area and exploring it using the internet. Google and Virtual Earth keep expanding their sites, and earlier today, Google added Street View scenery of much of the Milwaukee area. Sometime last summer, a car fitted with a 360 degree rooftop camera drove around the area, taking a panoramic photograph every few seconds. Those photos were then married with the Google Maps web site, allowing users to go on a virtual drive around the area. A small view of the Bradley Center... View Larger Map Click and drag your mouse to experience the panoramic photograph. Click on the arrows along the street to advance to the next panoramic scene. There are now 30 metro areas in the United States with Street View coverage available. Most of the cities, including Milwaukee, are in low definition, but some cities (Bay Area, Phoenix, Tuscon, San Diego, and downtown Chicago) can be seen in a higher resolution. The difference... when zooming in on something in low definition, it does not become easier to see... in high definition, when zooming in, things appear much more clearly. Google adds a few cities every month, and soon cities in Canada and Europe will be available. Feel free to send me links of any cool scenes you may find in the area. |
| 30 January 2008 |
Rewriting historyMy first reaction was "no way". The Admirals were formed in January 1970. The Pettit's bought the team in 1976. Just another Wikipedia mistake. But then a possible scenario hit me... 1977-78 was the first season for the Admirals in the International Hockey League. They stepped up from a lower-tiered United States Hockey League. The Gems stopped playing after the 1976-77 season. Is it possible that the Admirals had to buy their way into the IHL in 1977? Perhaps they purchased a dormant franchise license from the Gems to gain entrance to the IHL. It's the only possibility that gives some bit of truth to the since removed Wikipedia entry. It's not an unheard of situation. Just look at the Rockford IceHogs. They purchased the dormant Cincinnati Ducks franchise in order to join the American Hockey League. History books will show that the IceHogs have been around since 1999, but it will also be mentioned that the Cincinnati Ducks "became" the IceHogs in 2007. I dug out a few 1977-78 programs that I own to see if I could prove or disprove this theory. Nope. Some interesting reading, but nothing that helped to answer my question. If I have to, I'll try to plan a trip to the library to pour through reels of microfilm to find an answer... a time consuming task for which I don't have the time. So I'm hoping someone reading this can shed some light on any connection between the Gems and Admirals. Let me know. ------------ While paying some attention to the history of the Admirals, another thought came to mind. Milwaukee had several hockey teams in the 40s, 50s, and 60s before the Admirals came around in 1970. The Clarks, Sea Gulls, Chiefs, Falcons, and Metros played in various leagues, such as the IHL and USHL. My question... where did those teams play? The Milwaukee (U.S. Cellular) Arena opened in 1950. I'm curious to know what other rinks existed back then. ------------ Recently, I missed my first Admirals game in years. Not by choice. Sunday, January 20th, that frigid cold day on which the Packers would lose to the Giants in the NFC title game later that evening. I just hopped onto I-94 in Kenosha to make my way to the game, when I saw a cloud of steam in my rear view and a climbing temp gauge on my dash. I quickly turned off the engine and coasted down an off ramp. I found that my upper radiator hose had slipped off my radiator, leaving me stranded on the shoulder. Adding to my misery... I didn't exactly bundle up before leaving the house. I figured I would be ok with my regular winter jacket as I would just have a quick walk to and from my car in Milwaukee... and my car had not been running long enough to heat up the car, so I didn't have much protection from the bitter cold temperature as I waited for help to arrive. Yep... I was frozen, miserable, and pissed off. Just a few days before, I had my radiator flushed at a place that rhymes with 'Sniffy Boob'. Turns out, they left my hose clamp loose, and a few days and a few potholes later, the hose worked itself free from the radiator, spilling all of the antifreeze I just paid for all over the highway. They later denied responsibility, so I will deny them my future business. My brother arrived to help about an hour later, and we spent about fifteen f'n frozen minutes trying to reattach this hose, which is in a real tight spot under the hood. One broken socket adapter and a few scraped up knuckles later, I was ready to roll. A little hesitant on the reliability of my car, I chose not to risk driving to the BC for the last half of the game, instead settling in to watch 6 hours of football with my brother. ------------ Although it really doesn't affect me, I have to raise a practical question. Why do so many of the in-game giveaways at Admirals games only involve people sitting in rows C-H? T-shirt tosses seldom get more than a few rows up, and Roscoe always makes his way down to those rows for whatever he has to hand out. Sure, the blimp drops coupons (and whatever else) in the higher rows, but I feel like a butthole if I grab one while a mob of unsupervised kids are climbing over seats around me in a fit to get at whatever is falling from the blimp. I don't go to games to get free stuff. I do not need a t-shirt or a pizza. I'm fine if I leave the game with what I brought with me. Still, the people who prefer a clean view over the scuffed up glass should be shown the same amount of love as the up-close crowd. Am I wrong here? ------------ Former Admiral Kris Beech had a busy month. The Columbus Blue Jackets tried to send him to their farm club in Syracuse, when the Vancouver Canucks claimed him off waivers on January 10th. Two weeks later, Vancouver waived him, and he was claimed off waivers by the Washington Capitals (meaning that Columbus passed on reacquiring him). Over the All Star break, Washington tried to send him to their farm club in Hershey, when the injury-plagued Pittsburgh Penguins claimed him off waivers. In other former Admirals news, enforcer Raitis Ivanans signed a two year contract extension with the L.A. Kings. He is one of just a handful of true enforcers left in the NHL. Former Admirals goaltender Tomas Vokoun and defenseman Kimmo Timonen represented the Eastern Conference in the NHL All Star game this past weekend. Vokoun stopped 18 of 20 shots in the second period of the 8-7 victory. ------------ Some of you may have caught a recent item in the news about an Admirals employee who has been charged with several counts of felony sexual assault of a child. The media has chosen to make mention that he was an Admirals employee, thus casting some unjust negativity towards the hockey team. The Admirals, or any employer for that matter, can only do so much when hiring a person. Background checks work to a degree, but they do not weed out every potential criminal. If someone commits a crime, their employer shouldn't be dragged into it, unless they are part of the story. In this case, the Admirals are innocent victims of an overzealous media. |
| 16 January 2008 |
Midseason report card
The team finds itself in a crazy divisional fight. Unlike the other divisions, the West does not have a couple of obvious doormats. Rockford and Chicago have pulled away from the rest of the pack, but the other six teams have pretty much won about half of their games. Because of this, Milwaukee's games within those other five teams are crucial if they are to climb to at least fifth place in the eight team division. Four teams from each division make the playoffs, but because there is an extra team in our division, the fifth place West division team with a better record will replace the fourth place team in the North division, which appears very likely. So what will the Admirals have to work on to extend the season beyond 80 games? Plenty. 1. Eliminate defensive meltdowns. There have been 10 periods this season in which Milwaukee has allowed three or more goals... six times in the third period. Only once did they manage a win after a meltdown. The team doesn't light the world on fire on the offensive end, so when the puck gets into their own zone, they need to get the job done. 2. On the flip side, the team doesn't have a killer instinct on offense. Only four wins by more than 2 goals, and only two since October 24. Injuries haven't helped... Shane Willis, Josh Langfeld, and Jason Guerriero have missed a combined 70 games, but the team has enough talented players who could step up to fill the void, but it hasn't always been carried out. And no one on the team has notched a hat trick. 3. Power up the power play. The team ranks 21st in the league with a man advantage. I do not see enough creativity. Not enough one-timers or slick back door passes. More often than not, the team's intentions seem to be easy to read, and thus easy to defend. The team also lacks a big cannon from the blue line. 4. Two Europeans have defected. Are they the only ones, or will someone else abandon ship? How many other players on the team don't give a shit? The Admirals need to find a few depth guys with some heart. What is working? 1. The penalty killers have been great... ranked fifth in the league. They've only allowed more than one power play goal in six games. 2. The team is one of the least penalized teams in the league, largely because the team only has one guy (Kelsey Wilson) willing to drop the mitts on a regular basis. Still, I do not see too many stupid penalties. Some player evaluations... - Maxime Daigneault has not gotten many opportunities (6 games played), and it's hard for backups to excel in that situation... he has a 2-4 record and a 2.56 GAA - Matt Ellison is having a career year offensively. His pro career milestone is 14 goals, and he already has 10. - Cody Franson has been a slight disappointment. He's still young and is improving, but I expected more from him based on his reputation in juniors. - Jason Guerriero's season has not lived up to last season (2 goals in 24 games). With the Cinderella story of an undrafted teammate making it to the NHL (Peverley), I'd expect him to be motivated to follow that lead. - Alex Henry appeared to step up as a veteran leader after being named captain. His game remains consistent... not real flashy, but effective. - Josh Langfeld has missed half of the season due to injury, but has been as effective as I had hoped... 11 goals in 21 games. - Ryan Maki has not shown much... in fact nothing at all on the scoreboard, but he's not getting very many minutes, and is after all a rookie. - Mark Matheson has often been a healthy scratch and has an average game at best when he does play. - Janne Niskala has performed up to his reputation... if Nashville wasn't fully stocked with defensemen on one way contracts, he probably would have gotten a brief callup to the NHL. - Cal O'Reilly... I really like the guy, but he's in a sophomore slump. Still one of the better playmakers on the team, as 4 of his 7 goals have been shorthanded, but a disappointment with only 2 even strength goals. I really thought he would elevate his game to the next level this season. - Antti Pihlstrom has been the best new player... he has used his blazing speed to score a team high 16 goals... I was disappointed he was not named to the All Star team. - Pekka Rinne has been the workhorse goalie on the team... still doing a great job, but his numbers are off a little from last season. - Mike Santorelli is having a decent rookie season with 10 goals. - Bryan Schmidt has been alternating with Matheson as the team's sixth defenseman... average at best. - Alexander Sulzer seems to be adapting to the North American game... he plays confident and usually makes a good pass out of the zone. - Andreas Thuresson... he looks like he's doing a lot, but he's not... seemingly out of control on the ice. - John Vigilante has matched his rookie scoring totals already and is playing more confidently in season number two. - Kelsey Wilson seems to be getting more minutes than last year... although he's scoring less, he seems to be making fewer mistakes with the puck than last year. - Nolan Yonkman is staying healthy (knock on wood), and is playing at about the same level as last season. It's not too late for the team to gather steam to make a strong postseason run, but I'm not too confident it will happen. Perhaps Nashville will acquire a player or two at the trade deadline that will make a difference. Anything can happen - just look at Hamilton last year. In case you didn't see it, here's a clip of a fight between former Admirals Raitis Ivanans and Zack Stortini from last night. |
| 6 January 2008 |
Time for a timeout
Now, I do not pretend to be smarter than a hockey coach, and perhaps some things can be explained to me, but I gotta believe it's one of those things that is not given much thought by the coaching fraternity. Why do almost all timeouts get used in the final few minutes of a game? Each team gets one to use in regulation, and it's fairly rare to see it used in the first 3/4 of a game. I've heard it's good to use late in the game to give exhausted players a break before a last ditch effort to tie a game... but if you always save it until then, you may either be in too far of a deficit for a comeback, or on the winning end with no reason to slow down the game. I really believe it can be used effectively earlier in a game to turn the tables in a game that is not going your way. In the game against Chicago last night, the Wolves scored three goals in less than four minutes in the second period. In my head, I'm screaming at Lane to use the timeout and get the team to regain it's composure... point out their flaws... or perhaps come up with a new game plan to stop the bleeding. Didn't happen. Sure enough, it was used in the final minutes of the game as the Admirals yanked the goalie and attempted a panicked comeback attempt from a two goal deficit, ultimately resulting in an empty netter. Way too little, way too late. ------ One thing I liked about the pre-game Goo Goo Dolls concert arrangement was the on-ice tickets sold for twenty bucks to people who wanted an up-close view of the concert. That created a less awkward experience for the band, who is used to having people in front of the stage. In past concerts, you can sense that many acts were uncomfortable in playing towards an empty sheet of ice. And as those tickets did not gain admission to the game, that also results in a more pleasant experience for the hockey fans in attendance. I've seen friction in past crowds by non-fans making it a miserable night for the people who are there to see the game... people from upstairs moving down to sit in the lower level... people constantly getting up from their seats while the game is underway... people who generally show the sport no respect. The team sold out of the on-ice passes (I'm guessing about two hundred). I hope that more on-ice passes are available for future concerts. Heck, fill the rink if possible. It's money in the bank. ------ A request was made for my opinions on the outdoor NHL game held on New Years Day between Buffalo and Pittsburgh. Held at the Buffalo Bills football stadium, a crowd of over 70,000 people braved a cold windy day with snow and sleet to see this much anticipated game. As a native of the Pittsburgh area, I've been a Pens fan since the mid-80s, so I was geared up to see this game, even though the Pens wore the powder blue colors of the team's darkest era. While I was watching it, I made a short mental list of positives and negatives of how this game affected the league... On the plus side - Great national TV exposure on a holiday can lure in some new fans - The game created a buzz within sports media outlets that normally ignore hockey - It was a rewarding experience for existing fans, especially for those of the teams involved And the negatives - the winter weather slowed down the play and resulted in a game that would not impress non-fans of the sport - there were several unfortunate delays due to problems with the temporary ice surface, as well as the extra stoppages to switch sides at the 10:00 mark of each period... the broadcast lasted about four hours The uncertainty of winter weather makes this a gamble by the league if they choose to make it an annual event, and I would hope they can guarantee a better ice surface in the future, as it's also a gamble for the players to avoid injuries on less than ideal ice conditions. A few suggestions - Instead of having the players walk a mile in their skates from the locker rooms to the rink, they should have created an icy path for the teams to skate in on (as seen in "Mystery, Alaska") - Play the game in a more intimate venue... football stadiums have plenty of seats to sell (ch-ching), but I'd prefer to see fans sitting closer to the action... perhaps using a baseball field, where the rink could rest along the infield wall, allowing for rinkside seats, and temporary grandstands can be set up along the far boards Of course, I was happy Pittsburgh won. Appropriately, the face of the league, Sid the Kid, was the hero of the game in the shootout. Besides, they need every point they can get this year if they want a realistic shot in the playoffs. |
| Click here for October - December 2007 Archives |
The regular season is now 75% complete. 60 games down, 20 to go. And I have some real concerns of the Admirals chances to make the playoffs. |
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