Archive for the 'Video' CategoryPage 3 of 4

Bootland on Tootoo

Published
by
Matt Saler
on March 16, 2007
in Darryl Bootland, Jordin Tootoo, Quotes and Video
. 9 Comments

Via the Free Press:

“He asked me to go, so I was ready to go,” Bootland said. “He was just trying to suck me in, and it worked out. Just happy they didn’t capitalize on the power play.” Bootland said Tootoo didn’t come near him the rest of the game. “It’s pretty frustrating,” Bootland said. “He comes in (Wednesday) and throws a sucker punch right off the hop — I thought it was. Usually, most guys have the respect that if you’re going to ask a guy to go, you’ll get ready and go.”

I know there are those people who would say Bootland is just whining, but he has a very good point. There’s such a thing as proper etiquette and Tootoo didn’t follow it. Now, Bootland probably should have known better, as one of Tootoo’s few redeeming qualities is his ability to goad players into taking penalties. Still, it’s not to Jordin’s credit that he proposed a fight and then backed down.

For an example of proper etiquette, see the video below:

That’s how fighting is different than leveling players as they touch up an icing.

As for the comment about Tootoo not coming near him for the rest of the game, I’m not surprised. Bootland only played one more shift after that so unless Tootoo buzzed the bench, he wasn’t going to be around. Had Darryl played more than a minute and a half, I’m sure the two would have found each other and maybe the results would have been different.

It’s doubtful that Bootland will get another chance at him until next season, since he should be back in Grand Rapids before the last game with the Preds, which will take place on March 29th in Nashville. Of course, he’ll have to make the Wings’ NHL roster if he wants another shot at Tootoo, as he is still only in the AHL, despite the fact that legions of fans around the League hold his brief stint with the Wings in ‘03-’04 against him like he’s an NHL regular. Why he’s such a special object of hate, I don’t know, since most fans who aren’t up to speed on the AHL have rarely seen him play (whereas Tootoo has been pissing people off for his play in both leagues for three seasons). I’d say he has a pretty good chance of making it, though.

NHL Center Ice now online

Published
by
Matt Saler
on March 12, 2007
in Links, NHL and Video
. 0 Comments

Update (5:50 PM): The press release:

NEW YORK (March 12, 2007)—The National Hockey League (NHL) today announced that NHL Center Ice, the League’s out-of-market subscription package, will now be available to fans in the U.S. and Canada on NHL.com. NHL Center Ice Online provides fans the opportunity to watch up to 40 games per week through a broadband connection on their personal computer or laptop.

NHL Center Ice Online features comprehensive game coverage through the regular-season finale on April 8, plus select games from the Stanley Cup Quarterfinal and Semifinal Rounds (all games subject to local blackout). Current NHL Center Ice television subscribers can purchase NHL Center Ice Online for half price with proof of television package purchase.

“This is another step in the League’s effort to make its content available, across multiple platforms and screens, while preserving the critical relationships between our clubs and local rights-holders,” said Keith Ritter, President, NHL Interactive Cyber Enterprises. “Other than being at the game, there is nothing of greater interest to our fans than seeing broadcasts of live game action.”

Fans wishing to purchase NHL Center Ice Online can log on to NHL.com or CenterIce.NHL.tv to register. NHL Center Ice Online is a portable service; once registered from a home location, the service can be accessed remotely throughout the U.S. and Canada.

The NHL has chosen Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the leading global service provider for accelerating content and business processes online, to be the technology provider for its NHL Center ICE online service.

“We are excited to support the NHL’s launch of its first Internet TV experience to hockey fans in the U.S. and Canada,” said Bill Wheaton, Vice President, Digital Media Solutions, Akamai. “For a growing number of consumers, the Internet is becoming their main source for the most up-to-date content on sports, news and music programming. Akamai provides sophisticated online media delivery solutions, enabling forward-thinking companies such as the NHL to address the increasing interest in Internet TV content and programming.”

NHL Center Ice is currently available in the U.S. and Canada on the following League cable and satellite distributors: DirecTV, Dish Network, iNDEMAND, Bell Express Vu, Rogers, Cogeco, Access, Eastlink and others.

- Matt

The package is $119. Just go to centerice.nhl.tv to sign up to watch up to 40 games a week online, if you have broadband internet.

With the NHL Network’s “NHL On the Fly” also now available online, that’s two big video announcements today by the League.

The Kronwall hit on Lupul

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 24, 2007
in Niklas Kronwall, Oilers, Opinion and Video
. 4 Comments

Update (25. Feb, 1:53 PM): Joffrey Lupul has been quoted in the Edmonton Sun as saying he thought the Kronwall hit was borderline dirty, but said he wasn’t going to complain. By contrast, his head coach, Craig McTavish told the paper,

“People have long memories at this level and it’s not something we’ll quickly forget. He’s got a history of that. When you blindside guys like that viciously, that says something and we’ll remember it.”

“He’s got a history of that”? When, pray tell, has Kronwall given a guy a concussion with a shoulder-to-head hit before, McTavish? It was not vicious, it was just unfortunate timing and placement. If you want a suspension because it was a headshot, say that, but don’t spew that kind of whining crap. - Matt

Update (9:47 PM): I’m obviously not the only one who wants the League to rethink their policy on hits to the head, but I think this is the first time a person in authority has spoken out against it.

The recent Senators/Sabres conflagration was kick started by a headshot on Chris Drury by Ottawa’s Chris Neil. Drury is out with a serious concussion now and Buffalo’s owner has written a letter to the NHL asking for change.

Neil’s hit was far more malicious than Kronwall’s hit, so the fact that he went unpunished is far more telling than the fact that Nik didn’t for his check, which didn’t demonstrate an intent to injure. - Matt

Someone has YouTubed a video of Niklas Kronwall’s hit on Joffrey Lupul. Dirty or not dirty? See for yourself.

Call me biased all you want, but I say more ill-advised than dirty. It was all shoulder and, though he did power through it with his legs, it wasn’t malicious and it would have just been a big open ice hit had Lupul not just dished off the puck and looked away.

Still, at the risk of being called a Red Wings heretic (but I’d rather be wrongly accused of being a heretic than rightly accused of being a hypocrite), I will say that it was not a safe hit or a smart hit, and almost certainly one deserving of a suspension as a head-shot. However, the League doesn’t punish hits to the head because of an irrational and ridiculous fear that it would make the game less physical. Like I wrote in November, I think it’s criminal of the League not to police hits like that more, regardless of whether or not a Red Wing is delivering them, and regardless of intent. Hits to the head should not go unpunished, period.

Bill Guerin beats Predators

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 17, 2007
in Bill Guerin, Blues, Predators and Video
. 3 Comments

This was the only goal of the game in the Blues’ shutout of Nashville last night.

I have to say that I’m a bit more interested in Guerin after seeing that replay. He’s not making it any easier for the Wings to pursue him, though, by scoring goals like that. His price is rising fast.

By the way, he inexplicably reminds me of Staff Sergeant Martin from Band of Brothers. They don’t really look alike at all, do they? (via. St. Louis Game Time)

The new NHL ad

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 13, 2007
in Alexander Ovechkin, Dion Phaneuf, Eric Staal, Joe Thornton, Jordan Staal, Links, Martin Havlat, Marty Turco, Phil Kessel, Roberto Luongo, Sheldon Souray, Sidney Crosby and Video
. 0 Comments

Update (4:05 PM): The Globe and Mail’s Allan Maki has more on the NHL’s current marketing campaign, including the interesting bit that Brendan Shanahan had a hand in its creation. Shanny is really getting involved in everything these days, isn’t he? Maybe Maki’s suggestion at the end of the article won’t seem so far-fetched in 10 years. - Matt

This is great:

Pretty funny, eh? Nice to see the NHL continue to make great commercials (the last batch, with the Ovechkin/Leonsis spot, in particular, was great too). (via Kukla’s and Japer’s Rink.)

2/4 Notes

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 4, 2007
in Brendan Shanahan, Brett Lebda, Chris Chelios, Chris Osgood, Dominik Hasek, Injuries, Jimmy Howard, Jiri Fischer, Mikael Samuelsson, Scott Hartnell and Video
. 2 Comments

… Helene St. James has an interesting piece on Jimmy Howard in today’s edition. Howard, who has been out most of January with an ankle injury, is slated to return Wednesday and will be facing high expectations from management in Detroit. He has a 12-12-1 record when healthy, but the Wings are looking to see how he performs down the stretch as the eight-place Griffins fight for a playoff spot.

St. James touches on an issue that I don’t think has gotten a lot of press here in Detroit: the question of the condition of the team’s goaltending after this season. She writes that the Wings have not ruled out extending Dominik Hasek’s 1-year contract, noting that it depends on his health, his interest in playing, and the team’s performance in the playoffs. However, there’s a good chance Hasek won’t be back next season, and, pending Howard’s performance in the coming months, the Wings may decide he’s ready for the NHL.

Chris Osgood has one year remaining on his contract and would be a good mentor for Howard, so it’s at least possible that the Wings will go with a two-goalie system, with neither goalie having the declared starting job. They would probably like to get a bona fide starter, but given the fact that much of their cap space will be taken up by signing skaters this off-season, that may not be possible.

… Funny story: Chris Chelios badly wanted to fly to Miami to watch his hometown Chicago Bears play the Indianpolis Colts in the Super Bowl, but he didn’t have the nerve to ask Mike Babcock for permission. He considered going through Nick Lidstrom, but decided not to. Considering the Bears haven’t been to the Super Bowl in 21 years (i.e. when Cheli was a Hab), it says a lot that he’s sticking with the team and not looking for special treatment.

So, the team will be watching the game in New York instead and Brendan Shanahan has been invited to watch it with them.

The Freep has the team’s picks for the game here. The concensus seems to be that the Colts will win, though Brett Lebda is pretty confident his hometeam, the Bears, will emerge victorious (whereas Chelios seems pretty fatalistic). Gotta love Hasek’s reason fore picking Indy:

“Colts. I have Colts, so I cheer for them to win. I think Colts by 10. I think their quarterback will be the difference.”

When I first read that, I thought he meant he has horses, but I guess he means he has the Colts in some kind of fantasy league.

… Ansar Khan wrote yesterday that Mikael Samuelsson (broken right foot) is about a week away from returning. He skated through the whole practice yesterday and felt pretty good, though he still has trouble stopping and starting.

… And the video of the day (via Gorilla Crouch):

That warm and fuzzy feeling you’re getting comes from seeing Scott Hartnell get owned (in the crowd). Of course, the focus of the video is the shot in the dark by Moen, which is also heartwarming if you’re a Wings fan.

For old time’s sake, here’s another fight involving Scott Hartnell. It’s one of my favorites.

More on Google-hosted NHL game video

Published
by
Matt Saler
on November 2, 2006
in NHL and Video
. 0 Comments

Writing on the Globe and Mail’s hockey blog about the deal Google and the NHL announced yesterday, James Mirtle has a little detail that I had missed:

To celebrate its 89th season and this increased access to video content, the NHL will be offering its content for free — without ads — for the first two weeks of November.

So, will there be a charge after that point, or will there just be ads? If they start charging, then my excitement over the deal will be gone. I wouldn’t mind ads so much, though, as long as they were just text ads on the side or something, and not video ads that would add to an already long load time.

Link

Google and NHL announce video deal

Published
by
Matt Saler
on November 1, 2006
in NHL and Video
. 1 Comment

Update (7:17 PM): I  was so excited about the game content that I neglected to mention the other aspect of this deal. The NHL will allow some select user-created content to be showcased on the site, therefore moving slightly away from the copyright police. - Matt

Paul Kukla has the details but here’s the important part:

The NHL will provide in-season full-length games on delay to Google Video at http://video.google.com/nhl.html. Google also will receive select NHL classic games.

Pretty cool, huh? Now there’s no excuse for missing a game. You can start here.

First impression? The sound sucks but that may just be my computer. I was disappointed to see that it’s Fox Sports Southwest instead of FSN Detroit for the Dallas game, but I’m more than willing to put up with it.

Ron MacLean and Colin Campbell on rule changes

Published
by
Matt Saler
on June 14, 2006
in Colin Campbell, Hockey Media, Links, NHL, Ron MacLean and Video
. 0 Comments

From the After Forty segment of Game 4. Worth watching, even though CBC doesn’t have the rights to play the clips that are being discussed. Ron MacLean makes some good points about the rule changes and I have to say I find it somewhat frightening that Colin Campbell, not just some random puckhead but a person of real power in the League, thinks the way he does. Link opens Real Player. Tom Benjamin has more here.

Get NHL hightlights from the iTunes Music Store

Published
by
Matt Saler
on May 24, 2006
in NHL and Video
. 2 Comments

From the NHL’s press release:

The iTunes Music Store is offering a “Season Pass” for each Stanley Cup Playoff series for $4.99. Each package includes 15-20 minutes of expanded highlights of each game in the Eastern or the Western Conference Finals or the Stanley Cup Final. For $1.99, fans can download expanded highlights of individual games. Videos downloaded from the iTunes Music Store can be viewed on a computer or iPod.

This would be pretty cool if it weren’t for the fact that you can get free highlights from NHL.com (”Video highlights are free!”) or YouTube. Seems to me a better idea would have been not to charge for these. How is this going to attract new fans? Experienced fans already know where to get free highlights and prospective fans aren’t going to want to pay to see them, however cheap they are.

Link (opens iTunes, via. The Unoffical Apple Weblog)

Update (11:31 AM): A reader over at TUAW points out the irony of the fact that these are not available in the Canadian iTMS, just the US version. That’s real smart. I’d have thought the League wanted to make at least some money out of this.