Archive for the 'Hockey Media' Category

4/13 Links

Published
by
Matt Saler
on April 13, 2008
in Canucks, Ducks, Fabian Brunnstrom, Hockey Media, Links and Stars
. 2 Comments

… Steve, the Media guy at Kukla’s Korner, has some hard words for those who say NBC’s coverage of the Wings/Predators game yesterday was biased in Nashville’s favor.

He presents a good argument, but as someone who watched the game, it was hard not to come to the conclusion that the NBC people were disappointed the Predators didn’t win.

… The Ducks are in trouble after losing 5-2 at home to the Stars last night. They are down 2-0 in their series. Awesome.

… Not so awesome: apparrently, Fabian Brunnstrom is about to become a Canuck. Obviously, I’d love to see him come to Detroit and add to our Swede total, but if the kid wants guaranteed playing time, I can’t blame him for chosing Vancouver. Even if the organizaiton leaves much to be desired.

… “The Red Wings are ripe for the pickin’,” says Aaron Portzline. That guy really hates Detroit, doesn’t he?

… With the Griffins wrapping up their season with a pair of wins, the Wings have called up a group of players to help sharpen things up in practice: Jimmy Howard, Jonathan Ericsson, Jakub Kindl, Kyle Quincey, Cory Emmerton, Darren Helm, and Matthias Ritola.

Emmerton and Helm, by the way, looked great Friday night.

The coaching staff and equipment manager have also been called up.

4/10 Links

Published
by
Matt Saler
on April 10, 2008
in Canadiens, Dan Cleary, Devils, Flames, Hockey Bloggers, Hockey Media, Johan Franzen, Links, Penguins, Playoffs, Predators, Rangers, Senators and Tomas Holmstrom
. 3 Comments

Update (6:42 PM): This a must-read for bloggers as well as journalists. It’s Deadspin so it’s got elements of NSFW-ness, but it has a message I think both sides of the debate over “New Media” need to hear.

This piece by Daryl Shilling, a former contributor here at OtW, is similar in philosophy.  - Matt

Update (6:01 PM): Slapshot has a great piece on the special hockey fervor in Montreal this season. - Matt

Update (5:24 PM): This is just a great piece of writing. - Matt

Update (4:29 PM): The guys at Orland Kurtenblog look at the “NHL Experts Picks” for the Wings/Predators series. - Matt

Update (4:18 PM): Heh. (via A2Y) - Matt

Update (4:16 PM): Steph has a preview of the Wings/Predators series posted. - Matt

Update (3:15 PM): This is great. For the background, read this and this. Kevin Schultz has a good response. - Matt

Update (1:25 PM): IwoCPO presents the keys to the Wings/Predators series. - Matt

… James Mirtle reacts to the first night of the playoffs.

… HockeyTownTodd comments on the Wings/Predators series as only he can.

… Rangers fans made a good showing as their team opened the playoffs across the river in New Jersey.

… The Flames beat the Sharks in Game 1. I’ll be honest. I didn’t see that one coming.

… This one, however, came as no surprise: Pittsburgh 4, Ottawa 0.

… Ansar Khan says the Wings aren’t looking past the first round. They’re also ready for the physical challenge of the post-season.

… This year’s under-the-rader player, Johan Franzen, is the subject of a Khan profile.

… Bruce MacLeod has a piece on the Wings’ big three net front players: Franzen, Dan Cleary, and Tomas Holmstrom.

… The Forechecker gives Predators fans reason to believe.

4/9 Links

Published
by
Matt Saler
on April 9, 2008
in Henrik Zetterberg, Hockey Bloggers, Hockey Media, Injuries, Ken Holland, Mike Babcock, Playoffs, Predators and Sergei Fedorov
. 3 Comments

Update (3:53 PM): Bruce MacLeod provides some perspective here. - Matt

Update (12:29 PM): Over at the NHL Fanhouse, the gang has a roundtable on the Western Conference playoffs. - Matt

Update (12:15 PM): Here’s yesterday’s obligatory read, in case you missed it: Scotty Bowman’s Q&A with the fans on Slapshot. Be sure to check out George Malik’s question. - Matt

Update (10:55 AM): Dave of Gorilla Crouch has a look at the Wings’ faceoff trends against Nashville this season here. Direct link to his handy Google Spreadsheet on the topic here. - Matt

Preview coming. For now, some links:

… IwoCPO, who’s been a veritable posting machine the past couple days, has his first round predictions up at Abel to Yzerman.

He also appeared on the New York Times’ Slapshot blog here.

… Bruce Ciskie previewed the Wings/Predators series over at the NHL Fanhouse.

… For those fluent in Portuguese, Humberto Ferndandes has a preview of the series at Red Wings Brasil. Here’s a rough translation.

… One of the few Predator bloggers, PredJoe, has some comments on his team here. His outlook is positive.

… Most media are writing the Wings off, but James Mirtle is one journalist who isn’t. He has them going all the way.

So does the Denver Post’s Terry Frei.

… Ansar Khan “dispels” some myths about the Wings in his latest. It’s pretty basic stuff and what’s surprising is so much of the hockey media just doesn’t get it.

… The Wings have noticed the animosity coming out of the media and, predictably, they are less than appreciative. George Malik has a brief roundup here. Note McCarty’s quote especially.

… Malik also has a roundup of the latest injury updates.

… Did you know that Mike Babcock is on the hot seat? Neither did Ken Holland.

… The News’ Bob Wojnowski has a nice long piece on Henrik Zetterberg in today’s edition. The best part? Hank’s final quote:

“Hopefully, we can come to an agreement and I can stay here for a long time. I’ve noticed the last two years, when I’m in Sweden at the end of August, I really want to come back home. They take care of us here and we have a good team. It’s nice.”

… The Washington Post has a piece on former Red Wing Sergei Fedorov that’s worth reading. (via Abel to Yzerman)

… TSN has a new look, but still doesn’t have sport-specific RSS feeds. What’s that about? On the new look: it’s slick, but will take some getting used to.

… On a related note, the new NHL TV portal has launched. It looks good. The Hockey Show is on at 11:30 AM ET today.

4/8 Notes

Published
by
Matt Saler
on April 8, 2008
in Brad Stuart, Hockey Media, Injuries, Kris Draper, Mikael Samuelsson, Playoffs and Scheduling
. 0 Comments

Update (2:34 PM): Helene St. James reports that Stuart told her he has “recovered enough that he can shoot and pass like he wants to.” That’s good news. - Matt

Update (1:12 PM): MacLeod has updated now that practice is over. The two most interesting bits of information:

First, Brad Stuart (broken finger) told MacLeod that he’s still looking at a Game 1 return, though he apparently still has trouble shooting the puck. As far as I’m concerned, as long as he can play a sound positional game and pass with authority, he should be in the lineup.

Second, Justin Abdelkader will skate on the wing of a definitely returning Kris Draper in the opener with Jiri Hudler. That’s quite a turnaround for the kid.

Also, Mikael Samuelsson skated and still think it’s possible he’ll return Thursday. I’m very skeptical about that. Kirk Maltby did not skate. - Matt

Update (11:42 AM): Bruce MacLeod reports from practice here.

Apparently, neither Kirk Maltby nor Mikael Samuelsson are on the ice. Sammy’s absence is a definite sign that he will not be back Thursday.

Also, neither Darren Helm nor Jonathan Ericsson have made an appearance. My guess it they have  been returned to Grand Rapids for the duration of the week as they prepare to finish their season on Saturday.

MacLeod also provides the practice lines:

Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Holmstrom
Cleary-Flippula-Franzen
Hudler-Draper-Abdelkader
McCarty-Hartigan-Downey
Drake

Expect the Eurotwins to see a lot of time together when the Wings are at home and a lot of time apart when they are on the road. - Matt

I plan on adding to this post throughout the day, so check back. I’m short on time at the moment so I can only pass along a couple thing nows:

… The Tennessean has the times for Games 3 and 4: 7:30 ET and 9:00 ET respectively. Game 3 presents a problem for me as I have a class until 8:40 that night and missing time is very much frowned upon. Hmm.

… According to Helene St. James, Brad Stuart (broken finger) is no longer the lock for Game 1 he was expected to be. Ken Holland told her “It’s how he feels.”

Obviously, the sooner Stuart can make it back, the better, but whatever it takes to get him healthy.

… Kris Draper, on the other hand, is expected to be back from his groin injury.

… Mikael Samuelsson (groin) is unlikely to play in Game 1 because the team would prefer he go through a few practices first. If he can make it through the full practice today, I believe that would be the first time since he went down with the injury March 25th.

… If you read nothing else this morning, read this post by George Malik. The hockey media is really making itself look silly these past few days.

… Lastly, I’ll have a series preview up Wednesday evening or Thursday before 1:00. I have some school things I have to take care of before I can devote energy to that. Sorry.

MacLeod: Match Game

Published
by
Matt Saler
on April 26, 2007
in Hockey Media, Jiri Hudler, Links and Mike Babcock
. 2 Comments

Bruce MacLeod has a brief but highly interesting post up in which he relates some comments by Mike Babcock on his reasoning behind the decisions to bench Jiri Hudler in the first round. Basically, he wanted to be able to dictate who little Jiri was playing against through the home ice privilege of last change. I hadn’t thought of it that way, but it obviously makes sense.

4/24 Injury Update

Published
by
Matt Saler
on April 24, 2007
in Hockey Bloggers, Hockey Media, Injuries, Playoffs and Sharks
. 1 Comment

Ansar Khan has the latest:

  • Tomas Holmstrom is out until the blood in his eye clears, which means the team doesn’t have any idea when he’ll play. There’s an outside chance he could be ready for Game 1, but it’s more likely he won’t be.
  • Brett Lebda’s headaches are no longer a problem, but his ankle is still bothering him, so his status for Game 1 is uncertain. Babcock is confident that Kyle Quincey will fill in ably.

Khan also makes some suggestions as to what the lines may look like with Holmstrom’s absence. I think Babcock will be loathe to break up either the second or third line, so a Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Filppula top line seems likely. Still, Khan rightly points out it would mean a high concentration of centers on there, but I think he’s wrong to assert it would be at the expense of the fourth line (Calder-Hudler-Samuelsson). Jiri is a capable center and I think he would do fine centering for a game or two.

Lastly, a Sharks blogger has posted a series preview, but the author lost just about all credibility with me when they referred to Valtteri Filppula as “Valeria Flipaburger.” And, the “Wings-are-ancient” meme has grown really, really stale. I could go on, but I’ll restrain myself. Do go read it, though, and learn about the Sharks, a team, I must confess, I don’t know much about. Believe me, I’ll be studying up on them, though! Expect my own preview on Thursday.

The Hat on Pavel

Published
by
Matt Saler
on April 19, 2007
in Hockey Media, Links and Pavel Datsyuk
. 5 Comments

The Globe and Mail’s Eric Duhatschek has a good piece on Pavel Datsyuk worth checking out.

MacLeod on player matchups

Published
by
Matt Saler
on April 18, 2007
in Flames, Hockey Bloggers, Hockey Media, Links and Playoffs
. 0 Comments

Bruce MacLeod has a nice post up on player matchups thus far in the series, with an emphasis on last night. It’s well worth checking out.

Bruce MacLeod: Penalties Drawn

Published
by
Matt Saler
on April 16, 2007
in Hockey Bloggers, Hockey Media and Stats
. 2 Comments

By posting items beyond updates from practice or immediate reactions to games, Bruce MacLeod is showing that he’s taking his new blog somewhat more seriously than his colleagues. His latest post is an interesting one that provides numbers on the penalties drawn per player thus far in the Wings/Flames series. Perhaps of more interest is the bottom section, which lists all the Detroit players who drew penalties during the regular season. Who was #1? Henrik Zetterberg, with 38.

These kinds of things give you some idea of who’s being most active offensively (defenders are more likely to commit penalties against standouts) as well as who’s getting under the opposition’s skin the most (such as Kirk Maltby, who drew 33).

4/14 Bertuzzi Update

Published
by
Matt Saler
on April 14, 2007
in Hockey Media, Injuries and Todd Bertuzzi
. 1 Comment

Update (2:20 PM): Ansar Khan has more, including a couple quotes from Bertuzzi. He’s hoping to return for Game 3. - Matt

Update (12:53 PM): Helene St. James has posted her report from practice and she says Bertuzzi will not play in Game 2. Apparently, Todd feels fine, but the team is being extra cautious just in case.

Well. That’s disappointing, but hopefully it’ll mean he’ll have extra jump Tuesday night, if he plays then. The positive part of this is that Babcock won’t yet have to disrupt the lineup that won Game 1. Given how well everyone played, scratching someone would have been a heck of a bad reward, especially if it would have been one of the Young Guns. - Matt

In what reads like a live dispatch from practice, Bruce MacLeod reports that,

“Todd Bertuzzi is on the ice for Saturday’s full practice. He’s skating with Josh Langfeld and Tomas Kopecky.”

If you’re keeping score at home, Langfeld and Kopecky are the Wings’ two reserve players. MacLeod goes on to say that Mikael Samuelsson, Kyle Calder, and Robert Lang - the second line in Game 1 - were still together today.

So, basically, it doesn’t sound like the Wings are counting on Todd to play tomorrow. It’s still a possibility, of course, but by using those lines, they seem to be assuming he won’t. That’s not good news, especially if the Flames are going to get Robyn Regehr back. But that doesn’t sound like a certainty, either.