Do Patrick Kane and Leif Garrett Look Alike? and Other Random Thoughts

What do you think?

I now figured out what drives me nuts about Patrick Kane.  He looks like Leif Garrett.

What do you think?

On other notes, what is it with the NHL having the Winter Classic in Fenway Park and why don’t fans complain about this blatant lack of concern for their comfort or their pocket books?  Just like in Wrigley Field, the fans will be nowhere near the ice and in fact will be even further away because of the Green Monster in left field.  I’m sure Boston College has an outdoor stadium, or  MIT perhaps?

Thoughts?

New Hockey Point Proposal and AHL Goal Video Review

Let me first say, I actually like shootouts.  Yeah, I know, it’s not the best way to end the game, but it’s exciting and I like it- though I actually like the AHL’s version better with 5 shooters vs. 3.

Having said that, I don’t like the fact that losing teams come away with a point in shootout games.  Why?

Because it actually rewards a team’s lack of finishing ability. 

Let me explain.  What do you usually hear when games end regulation in a tie?

“Each team earned a point.”

Fine.  They then play 5 more minutes and each team still comes away with a point.  Therein lies the problem.

The purpose of overtime is for the team with the most guts and gumption to put away the other team.  If a team can’t do it, they don’t deserve to be rewarded with a point, especially if they lose in the pseudo-chaotic arena of the shootout (which, as I said before, I actually like).

So this is my solution: If you make it out of regulation with a tie, fine, you get a point.  But if you don’t win in OT,  both teams lose the point.  The MOST a team can then get for the game is one point.  So the breakdown is as follows:

Win in Regulation- 2 points

Tie at end of regulation – 1 point each team

Win in OT – two points total for winner, one for loser.

Tied at end of OT – Teams lose the one point they earned during regulation. Zero points for either team

Winner of Shootout – One total point for winner, none for loser.

So what do you think?  Would it make OT more exciting and make teams want to win?  Heck, teams might pull goalies in OT to get two points instead of one.

Oh, and the AHL still not video reviewing goals? A college game on tv had video review and the AHL can’t do it?  What gives?

Time to Kick it in to Gear-Don Granato Gone as Coach of the Wolves

I’m here in Cincinnati checking my email and there is the press release I’d been hoping for.

Don Granato and Jason Christie have finally been let go.

I know they tried but something never quite clicked under them.  I appreciate the effort but this team has seemed like it’s been going through the motions for too long.  The change was needed.

Now it’s on the players and it’s time to kick it in to gear and start playing like they can.

Go Wolves!

Don Granato Has Got to Go…

Jason Krog has never received a misconduct in his professional career…until tonight when he slammed his stick against the glass and shattered it (the glass not his stick!) during the Wolves’ 4-1 loss to the Rockford IceHogs.

This team looks as bad this year as it did at the end of last year.  At this rate the Wolves will be out of the playoffs before the season gets underway.  Although Coach says he hates to lose, apparently there’s a disconnect because with the exception of Jason Krog, losing has become the norm with this club.

Wendell, I know that letting someone go is never easy, and it’s a drag that as the new GM you’re going to have to be the heavy to a guy you coached with, but it needs to be done. 

Like now…

Cheli Coming to the Wolves?

My 8 year old called me a little over an hour ago.

“Hey, Uncle Mikey, did you hear the Chris Chelios is going to play with the Wolves?”

I was stunned, “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.  This should help them and maybe help them go all the way this year!”

Still stunned and clutching the phone to my head I got on the internet and found this article.

I can’t say it’s a bad move.  Having Cheli around will give some stabilization and toughness to the defense and supply some defensive leadership. 

I know, I know, he’s 47 years old.  But if he’s been staying in shape, and if he wants a crack at the NHL then why not?

The more I think about it – the more I like it.  But, don’t just take my opinion – ask my nephew…

Hockey is Underway! (Drew MacIntyre – Get a New Mask, bro…)

Hockey is officially underway.  The Blackhawks came away with three of four points against the Panthers.  They looked good in the second game and they capitalized on Florida’s flatness.  The first game the Hawks had a tougher time putting the Panthers away and it cost them a point.  It looked  a lot like last year in some ways, but the season is too young to jump to any conclusions.

The Wolves also started out with a loss tonight against the Milwaukee Admirals.  Great crowd of over 10,000 but the Wolves fell flat for a period and it cost them the game.  What bothered me about the game though was not so much the play  of any particular players but Wolves goalie Drew MacIntyre’s, Milwaukee Admirals mask.

Drew,  I know you’re playing against your former team but that’s even more a reason to get your new mask done before you play them.   Also, I know goalies like their equipment but while you’re at it, could you ditch those blue pants and get some black ones?

Wolves fans everywhere thank you.

Kane Agrees to Plea Deal

Well, as expected, Kane pleaded guilty to lesser charges and as a result has to issue a written apology to the cab driver and stay out of legal trouble for a year.

What this essentially says is that the evidence against Kane was strong enough that he most likely would have been convicted of more serious charges had this gone to court.  In other words, odds are him and his cousin beat the cabbie up over twenty cents.  I still can’t believe a person can be that shallow.

Speaking of shallow, his apologies, though I realize they’re crafted in legal-eze,  for “causing pain” to everyone and for being in a “regrettable situation“, don’t really get to the core of what happened and instead perpetuate the perception that he really didn’t do anything wrong,  he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and the fact that people are emotionally hurt and scarred by this, to the extent that it was due to his being in the wrong place at the wrong time, he’s sorry for that. 

Dude, step up and apologize publicly to the cabbie for beating him up.  If not that, go face to face with the dude and be a man.

It will be interesting to see how he’s treated by the fans when the season starts.

Patrick Kane – Fact and Spin

Patrick Kane Arrested – How Much Did Management Contribute?

Is 20 Cents Worth it? Is 15 Dollars Worth it?

Unfortunately the sports world is filled with people who give a pretty good impression to most of the world and then come home and beat their wives….or cab drivers.

Kaner looks like a good kid.  When he talks he doesn’t give the impression of being a scholar but that’s okay - intelligence doesn’t necessarily correlate with peaceful behavior.

Right now we assume he’s innocent until proven guilty.  The cab driver doesn’t seem like the sharpest tool in the shed either but he does have marks around the face and neck that are consistent with his story.

Regardless,  things like this don’t happen with ‘character’ players.

We can make excuses and say “boys will be boys” but that’s what they are: excuses.

If Kaner  really did say something like, “Do you know who I am?” then this sounds a lot more like a kid where fame has gone to his head, where the accolades of an adoring crowd and management has fueled a mentality that he is entitled to something more.  That the Blackhawks came out and said they, “stand behind him” (without putting anything up about this incident on their website!) corroborates this but what else could they say?  They’ve contributed to this problem by putting out a team with no veteran, seasoned leaders who can help young players adjust and grow when subjected to new found fame and fortune.

Being on a professional team is about more than playing a season – it should also be about growing as human being and being more than just a cog in wheel.  It should be about showing people athletic prowess is just one facet of being human. 

This whole situation d0es not smack of maturity or growth over the past year.   One has to wonder if this would have happened if the Hawks spent more time molding their kids as opposed to feeding them the line “they’ve already arrived.”

Well folks, they’ve arrived and the fare is more than $13.80.

Pay up.

Say it ain’t so!!

"Chevy" During a town hall meeting

Just received the following information:

WOLVES CHEVELDAYOFF JOINS CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

The Chicago Wolves longtime general manager, KEVIN CHEVELDAYOFF, has been

named Assistant General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Chicago

Blackhawks. This marks CHEVELDAYOFF’s first NHL position.

CHEVELDAYOFF’s 12-year tenure with the Wolves saw the club net four league

titles – the 1998 and 2000 Turner Cup championships and 2002 and 2008

Calder Cup championships – and compile a .616 regular-season winning

percentage (544-320-24-31-49).

He guided the Wolves to back-to-back International Hockey League Midwest

Division championships in 1997-98 and 1998-99; the American Hockey League

West Division titles in 2004-05 and 2007-08; the club’s first IHL

Regular-Season championship in 1999-2000 and five Western Conference

championships in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005 and 2008.

“I am very proud of Chevy and everything that he has accomplished with the

Wolves in these last 12 years,” said Wolves Chairman of the Board DON

LEVIN. “This is akin to me having a son going off to college. He has been

a fantastic asset and a great general manager for our organization. I am

very proud of him and he certainly deserves this opportunity. I know this

is the next step towards his goal of becoming an NHL general manager.”

In the last 14 years, the 39-year-old CHEVELDAYOFF has earned two AHL and

four IHL championships as a coach and an executive. Eight of the 14 teams

he has helped build have cracked the 100-point mark in the regular season,

which includes six Chicago squads.

“I will always be grateful for my time working with the Chicago Wolves, and

would especially like to thank Don Levin and Buddy Meyers,” CHEVELDAYOFF

said. “The memories and friendships that I have gained over the last 12

years will stay near to my heart always. The Wolves have been more than

just a hockey team that I have worked for, they have been like my family. I

know that the tradition and the commitment to excellence that begins at the

top will continue to guide this organization as it moves forward. I am

excited about the opportunity to move from one successful organization to

another.”

The Blaine Lake, Saskatchewan, native, joined the Wolves before the start

of the 1997-98 season after serving as the assistant vice president of

hockey operations and assistant coach for the 1995 Denver Grizzlies and

1996 Utah Grizzlies – both Turner Cup Champions.

Thanks for everything Chevy and all the best!!!