Give Lalime his due already…

I am really tired of hearing everyone say how the Hawks need Nikolai Khabibulin in net; or without him they don’t have a starter in net…Patrick Lalime has better stats lifetime and in the playoffs.  They just said on the Hawk telecast that “Lalime is playing like a number one goalie.”  He is a number one goalie.  Give the man his due already!

Who’s Your Daddy?

When speaking about the relationship of NHL teams to AHL teams the term, “Parent Club” is often used.  It struck me that a Parent would never useher child.  Yet that is precisely what the AHL/NHL relationship is-it’s utilitarian.  Even certain AHL rules  (players can only have played professionally for x years, or only x veterans are allowed to dress per game) doesn’t necessarily lend itself to creating the most competitive environment but instead can result in the AHL being a glorified conditioning leaue when it can be so much more. 

But then, maybe the NHL wants the AHL to be a beat down child of a league.  After all, in no other professional sport is the quality of the minor league this close to the major league (if it wasn’t players couldn’t be called up and down on a regular basis). Maybe the NHL is afraid of the AHL, it’s cheaper, decent quality, fun and family friendly….

What do you think??

It’s About Family (A Fan’s Reflection on the Life of Blackhawk Owner Bill Wirtz)

I’ve been thinking long and hard since the news of Chicago Blackhawks’ owner Bill Wirtz’s death (may he rest in peace).  What is it about this man that caused myself (and no I’m not proud of this) to smile when I first read the news upon waking?  What is it that caused coworkers who heard the news to thrust their arms up in the air as they approached me, smiles beaming from ear to ear?  Each time I caught myself and reminded myself that a man had died and that those that loved him will spend sickeningly quiet nights with the sensation of an unexplainable foreign object sitting in their chests -only it’s not a foreign object, it’s a gaping hole torn from a fabric woven of love and a lifetime together…I don’t wish that feeling on anyone and yet, I smiled when I read the news…I needed to know why…

I play sports, I follow sports and would be considered much more than a casual fan, but yet, it’s still sports and the world does not revolve on who wins what game, when.  I realize that.  There are things more important than sports like love, loyalty and family, to name a few.  Players and management from around the NHL claim we have lost a giant of a man, a philanthropist, a man who gave to charity and helped amateur hockey.  They say Bill Wirtz was a loyal man who loved his family.

Like a goalie facing a Bobby Hull slapshot that found its way through a tangle of bodies only to reappear in a panting breath directly in front of my eyes…it hit me…

All Bill Wirtz’s loyalty, his love for the game, was at the expense of the fan.  When he gave money to players who needed it in a pinch, or didn’t give it to players when the team was in a pinch, he was doing it with my money, your money, anyone who’s got an Indian-head sweater in his or her closet’s money.

Bill Wirtz used his money and power to make more money (which is what businesses usually do) but it started out as our money-it belonged to the fans. It was the fans who shelled out hard earned dollars to watch teams that weren’t often worth watching.  It was the fans who cheered and hollered and tried with every ounce of lung capacity to rattle the Chicago Stadium to the ground.  We invested sweat, tears and cash and had nothing to show for it.  We were kept from watching our team on TV, and our pleas for better talent went unheard. 

Instead of feeling we were co-investors of sorts of the Blackhawks, we felt we were being taxed for following a team we loved. Nobody enjoys being taxed and people dislike it even more when their taxes aren’t used well.  As in the world of government and politics,  there was the group “at the top” that was viewed as the or-gan-eye-zay-shun that got all the benefits, that was loyal only amongst themselves, that knew they were safe and had a support structure.  We, my friends, were the foundation of that support structure and not once were we appreciated for it.

When Owner Bill Veeck (who eventually went on to own and love the Chicago White Sox) tried to trade Lou Boudreau from the Cleveland Indians in 1947, it was met with an outcry of petitions and protests from the fans.  Veeck responded by not trading Boudreau and then is reported to have visited the bars and pubs of Cleveland apologizing to the fans and assuring them he wouldn’t trade Boudreau.  The management of the Chicago Blackhawks, led by Bill Wirtz, were the antithesis to this.

The same Bill Veeck later said, “It isn’t the high price of stars that is expensive, it’s the high price of mediocrity.”  Bill Wirtz failed to ever realize this.  He made his money but at the same time it cost him dearly in mediocrity.  It caused fans (myself included) to view him as the money-mongering guy at the top who was loyal to everyone but us.  It was hard to believe, and is still now, the mantra that he cared about the Chicago Blackhawks, because the record both on the ice and in the front office was at best, mediocre.

If he were truly loyal to the Blackhawks he would have been loyal to us - the fans - all of us, not just those who buy season tickets (and who are often corporate non-individuals as well).  No one likes to be taken, or taxed.  No one wants to be thought of as the “sucker that’s born every minute”.  Fans want to experience things like love and loyalty and the feeling of being family.  The Chicago Blackhawks under Bill Wirtz offered none of the above to us, the fans.  

It is indeed a shame that a man who by all measures outside the hockey world was a decent man, whose passing left a hole in the hearts of his loved ones, occupies a place in the minds of most fans that elicits a smile because of his passing.  No one deserves to be thought of in that way.  Yet fans of the Chicago Blackhawks have been ignored, have not felt the love, have not been part of the family that everyone calls the Blackhawks.  We all know that’s not right as well.  Chicago Blackhawk fans have hope that they won’t be looked at that way again…

Rest in Peace, Mr. Wirtz and condolences to all those close to him. I know it’s only a sport but I’m looking forward to the day when the Blackhawks are a family again, a family that includes the fans and players and owners, a family that together rejoices in the hoisting of the Stanley Cup. 

Realistic Expectations

The other night while the Blackhawks were being shelled by Detroit and Nikolai Khabibulin was miraculously keeping the Blackhawks in the game, broadcaster Troy Murray said something like, “the Blackhawks need to tighten up here and not let Detroit freewheel-not that the Blackhawks can’t skate with Detroit…”

I was stunned.  He couldn’t be serious. The Blackhawks skate with the Red Wings?  The Hawks won that game in the shootout but thanks to Khabibulin and the 15 pounds he lost that game-not because of any great play by the Blackhawks.

Fast forward to today: Hawks lose 7-2 to Detroit in a match that showed, The Blackhawks can not skate with Detroit.

Sticks and Stones…(part deux)

Interesting thoughts from someone who still uses wooden sticks.

The Seven Year Rookie

After the last Blackhawks loss at the hand of the LA Kings, Head Coach Denis Savard said the following about Martin Havlat in this article from the Daily Herald:

“He’s learning to be the go-to guy because he wasn’t the go-to guy in Ottawa,” Savard said. “That’s a process for him, too. I know he’s been in the league seven years, and that’s a long time, but he’s still learning.”

The question is, is Havlat a go-to guy?

As an aside, would anyone say something this ridiculous about Sidney Crosby?

Sticks and Stones…

The hockey stick has evolved from a widdled branch to a sophisticated, high-tech, computer designed piece of equipment.

 Only, they break….all the time!  Oh, they’ve gotten better over the last year, but those woven, composite, tubular works of technology shatter at the worst possible moments.

When the defenseman is at the point and he gets the perfect feed for the one-timer…it breaks…

When the draw is won back to the point…it breaks…

When a player charges to the net and gets down on one knee and leans on  his stick, gets the perfect pass…it breaks…

Now really…what advantage is there to a lighter, whippier stick if it breaks at the worst times?

Ask any soldier this question: “If I gave you this gun- it’s light, cool looking, made using the highest technology, and it could mow down the enemy in droves, would you take it?”

The answer is, “Yes!”

Now, tell him the bad news, “It’ll jam every 100 shots.”

“$^#(%$(# if I’m putting my life on the line with that type of #((!$&#!!!”

 The hockey player’s stick is his weapon…it simply cannot jam!! When will stick manufacturers realize this? More importantly, when will players start realizing it and demand better quality?

Going to the Wolves…

I’m sitting here watching the Blackhawks be outshot by San Jose, 15-1, fifteen minutes through the first period.  Whoops..16-1 in shots.  Blackhawks are losing 2-0. 

I hear people say, I don’t watch the Wolves because the AHL isn’t as good as the NHL.  Excuse me…

First of all, the Blackhawk roster has multiple people that, for all  intents and purposes, are from Norfolk.  They are AHL’ers.  And they’re not AHL veterans, they could very well be playing in Norfolk.

Second, hockey is about competitiveness.  While AHL players will admit that the speed of the NHL is slightly faster, if there is parity in a league, it’s not discernable. 

The Chicago Wolves are competitive and Champions.  They have an organization that wants Championships.  When the Wolves failed to make the playoffs last year, Season Ticket holders received a letter from management apologizing for not making the playoffs.  An apology!!  When was the last time a Blackhawk Season Ticket holder received anything other than a bill from the Wirtzes??

Three championships for the Wolves…I drank from the Turner Cup the night of their first Championship.  Earlier in the post-game celebration (waaaay earlier!) I bumped into an 80 year old man.  He looked at me, my stogie smoldering, and said, “Of all the hockey championships I’ve witnessed in Chicago, this is the sweetest!” How sweet indeed!!! 

Great, competitive hockey at a reasonable cost has been the hallmark of the Wolves.  Please tell me how the Blackhawks meet those criteria.  Right….I didn’t think you could.

I’m coming to the conclusion that those people who refuse to watch the Wolves at best don’t watch hockey, and at worst, don’t know hockey. 

The Devil’s Trapezoid

The Devil’s Triangle is a location in Bermuda that ships avoid because of unexplained disappearances. The Devil’s Trapezoid is located behind the Goalie on NHL/AHL rinks.  It’s a restricted area behind the goal line that limits where the goaltender  can play the puck because of unexplained stupidity by the NHL Board of Governors.

Don’t get me wrong. Rules are fine-but rules also have to follow common sense or they’re not rules at all but unnecessary constraints.  All other rules in hockey make sense-well, more or less.  Offsides rules prevent cherry picking: simply waiting next to the other net for the puck to come your way so that you can get an unencumbered crack at the goalie.  Icing prevents teams from avoiding the play by dumping pucks out of their own zones.  These rules all make sense.  Now we turn to this ridiculous trapezoid behind the net.

It is true that goalies already can’t touch the puck past center ice.  I’m not sure why a goalie would want to, but this rule exists, and I can accept it because it rarely comes into play.  However, forcing a goalie to not play the puck outside the Devil’s Trapezoid happens all the time and it does nothing for the flow of the game other than to delay the game in some instances, and irritate the goalies in all instances. 

Looking back, this change was one of many made by the “New NHL” after the lockout.  It was supposed to help the game.   How does one determine whether a certain change helps or hinders? By metrics.  Changes meant to speed up the game at faceoffs have sped up the game. It’s measurable.  How can one measure the impact of having goaltender forbidden zones?  You can’t.  Problem number one.

Problem Number Two: Goalies have to play tic tac toe to themselves.  Everyone has seen occasions where goalies pass the puck to themselves, thus avoiding touching the puck in the forbidden zones.  It defies common sense.

Problem Three: With the desperation of a person trying to catch an open face peanut butter sandwich before it hits the carpeting, goalies have to race out and attempt to get the puck prior to crossing the goal line in the corners.  If he grabs it, he still has to wait in some cases for his teammate to come by and pick up the puck, or he plays tic tac toe (see Problem #2).  However, if the goalie is unsuccessful he must gaze longingly at the puck on the other side of the line with the look that a dog has after seeing said peanut butter sandwich hit the shag.  He can’t touch it, even though he could, because he’ll get slapped.  Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think this speeds up the game.

As a goalie myself, I’m thankful I haven’t had to deal with this rule (which is thankfully non-existent in certain amateur and international levels.)  I can only hope that the NHL will wise up to the absurdity of this rule and change it so that future generations’ only exposure to it will be the memories of the times that goalies had to live in fear of the Devil’s Trapezoid.

Does Nationwide Hockey Translate into Nationwide Talent?

There are ice rinks springing up all over the country especially in those areas where traditionally the only ice has been in margaritas.  But, does this actually translate into an increase in the development of talent?

It will be interesting to see, but I have a feeling it won’t.  Great baseball players come from those areas (like the Dominican Republic) where playing baseball in any way, shape or form is the norm.  Great basketball players were playing hoop early in their lives on neighborhood courts.  Both of these sports can be played anywhere at anytime where the weather cooperates.

Hockey, by default, requires ice.  While ice can be made artificially and ice time rented, it is not the same as waking up in the morning, walking out your back door and playing your neighbors in a game of pond hockey.  In the Southern states, ice time must be rented and ice time is precious.  There is a lack of spontaneity.  Not to mention there is a lack of toughness bred.

Shoveling off your ice, playing in less than ideal weather situations, skating on less than perfect ice, with less than perfect skates, all breeds a certain type of player, a certain type of passionate person.   It’s the type of person that most people point out is usually the humblest of all professional athletes. 

It all comes from “playing” hockey on one’s own-having fun with the sport.  Humans learn best when practice and playing are separated by a blurry line.  They learn deeper when playing and having fun. Until  ice time becomes free in the South and children can spontaneously have pickup games after school, the best hockey talent will come out of those areas of the country where frozen water is more common on the ground than indoors.