Category: Hockey

A Tough, Sad Off Season For Hockey

Pavol Demitra spent two years with Ottawa, but...
Pavol Demitra

Unbelievable summer. First the Vancouver Stanley Cup riot, then Derek Boogard dies, followed by Rick Rypien then we lose Wade Belak, and now a plane crash that took the lives of almost an entire hockey team in Russia. As the plane crash was being reported, Sidney Crosby holds a press conference to communicate that he is still suffering from his concussion and will return “sometime”.

I have posted in memory of Rick Rypien and Derek Boogard in the past. I had a shallow connection with Wade Belak, having watched him play on several occasions when he was a Saskatoon Blade. A first round pick in the annual NHL draft, he earned a niche in the league as a big strong defenceman, with enforcer qualities. I feel that even though he had the build for it, and the toughness, he would have been a much more successful player being that number 3 or 4 defence guy, the one that is stable as a rock, few mistakes and a goalies best friend. Another one gone to young.

The crash in Russia was mind boggling. The team, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, was decimated in the crash, which killed 43 of the 45 people on board. The connections to the North American game included the coach, Brad McCrimmon, an ex: Brandon Wheat King, who played with the Boston Bruins, Calgary Flames and the Philadelphia Flyers during a successful and lengthy NHL career.

The Europeans who had played in the NHL were

Igor Korolev, who was assistant coach of the team. He played with the old Winnipeg Jets, following the team to Phoenix. He also played with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Pavol Demitra, a star with the St Louis Blues and several other teams.

Karel Rachunek, who played with Ottawa Senators, New York Rangers and the New Jersy Devils.

Ruslan Salei, a solid defencemen, best know for his time with the Anaheim Ducks and the Detroit Red Wings.

Karlis Skrastins, another solid defenseman that spent time with Nashville Predators and the Colorado Avalanche, enough time to set the NHL record for consecutive games played by a defenceman, 495.

Josef Vasicek, who played most of his career with the Carolina Hurricanes.

Rest in Peace.

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The Blue Tongues Update – August 28, 2011

Gold Coast Blue Tongues
Gold Coast Blue Tongues

It is with a heavy heart that I must report that the Gold Coast Blue Tongues have been eliminated from contention for the AIHL championship.  They split their series on the weekend with the Newcastle North Stars, losing the final game of the season in a nail-biter, 2-1.  A victory would not have changed things as the team they were chasing, the Adelaide Adrenaline won both their games on the final weekend.  The Tongues needed them to lose at least one of, if not both of their games in order to overtake them for 4th place.

All in all though, the season  was reasonably successful.  Matt Amado led the league in goals, setting a new league record on the way.  They were also the only team to beat the Melbourne Ice all season, and they did it twice.

This bodes well for next year if they can keep their nucleus and make a few tweaks.  This will be my last post on the Blue Tongues this eason, but I will follow the league championship and report on who will be the Champions for this season.  Best of luck to the top 4.

Final Standings

TEAM GP W L OW OL TP
Ice 28 18 2 3 5 65
North Stars 28 18 6 1 3 59
Ice Dogs 28 17 9 2 0 55
Adrenaline 28 12 9 5 2 48
Blue Tongues 28 13 12 1 2 43
Mustangs 28 8 17 2 1 29
Knights 28 8 20 0 0 24
Bears 28 2 21 2 3 13
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The Blue Tongues Update – August 21, 2011

Gold Coast Blue Tongues
Gold Coast Blue Tongues

Houston, we have a problem.  After splitting their games on August 13 and 14, only to see Adelaide win both theirs, we see the Gold Coast Blue Tongues in 5th place, looking up at the 4th place Adelaide Adrenaline.  They are 2 points down with 2 games to go (wins are worth 3 points in this league) and have a tough series on the road next weekend against the second place Newcastle North Stars.  The Adrenaline play 2 at home, one against the 7th place Canberra Knights, the other facing the 8th and last place Sydney ice Dogs.  The Blue Tongues need to win at least one and have the Adrenaline lose both, or one if the Tongues sweep.  If not, the season is over for our heroes.

In Blue Tongue news, Matt Amado set an AIHL record with his 41st goal of the season.  He held the previous record of 39, which he also held and set in 2007 in only 20 games.  He currently has 41, with 2 games to go.  It would be great if he scored 10 next weekend.

Good luck next weekend.

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Remembering Rick Rypien

Vancouver Canucks forward Rick Rypien prior to...
Rick Rypien

Rick Rypien was laid to rest on August 20.  The funeral was held at Albert Stella Arena in Blairmore, Alberta.  Around 1,000 people attended to pay their respects.  I add my respect and offer my condolences to the family.  Rick was one heck of a hockey player.  The prototype Canadian player, hard nosed with a strong commitment to team and winning.  It is a tragedy that he suffered from depression and it finally took him from the world.  He will be missed.  I was looking forward to seeing him in a Winnipeg Jets uniform.

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Where Is The Stanley Cup – Part 9 – Zdeno Chara and Tuuka Rask

BOSTON, Mass. (Nov. 4, 2007) - Boston Bruins t...
Zdeno Chara - Image via Wikipedia

Doing a double post today as I have fallen behind a bit doing some summer stuff.

The Stanley Cup does indeed get around.  On July 22 it reached Trencin in Slovakia for a huge public celebration in the town square.  Zdeno Chara had taken possession of the cup from David Krejci in Bratislava and headed for home.  As an additional perk, he also had the Norris Trophy, emblematic of being the NHL’s top defenseman, an award he won he 2009.  The Norris also points out another reason the Boston Bruins won the Stanley Cup this year.  The Vancouver Canucks have no past, present or future Norris winners on their roster.  I would say that Chara is very happy to be a Bruin at this point in his career after stints with the Ottawa Senators and the New York Islanders.

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The Cup was passed on to Tuuka Rask on the 24th of July.  The Cup moved to Savonlinna, Finland for it’s day with the Bruin’s back up goalie.  As a twist to the norm, the Stanley Cup was accompanied by the World Cup, as Finland won the IIHF championship this year.  We had the standard parades and speeches, but Tuuka’s day ended with something a bit different, a sauna and hot tub night with the Cup.

This was the end of the Cup’s European tour and is heading back to Canada.

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Stay Classy Canuck Fans

Milan Lucic
Milan Lucic - Image via Wikipedia

Milan Lucic‘s plans for his day with the Stanley Cup in Vancouver have been scaled back due to fears of loonballs creating some havoc.  Read more in the attached articles.  The Canuck’s and their fans (some of them) are surely digging themselves a hole that will be difficult.  They are well on their way to becoming the most reviled team in the NHL.

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Where Is The Stanley Cup – Part 8 – David Krejci

David KrejÄŤĂ­
Image via Wikipedia

July 21 was David Krejci‘s turn to have his day withe Stanley Cup.  He took the cup to his home town of Sternberk in the Czech Republic.  The day began with a visit to his parents and his girlfriend Naomi.  From there he headed to the town square.  The driving rain did not stop 3000 people from showing up to see the Cup and to get autographs from David and Tomas Kaberle, who came along.  The day ended with a small party at David’s parents back yard.

David was a key component to both the Boston Bruins season and their history making playoff run.  He scored 12 goals, had 23 points and scored 4 game winning goals during the run to the cup.  He will be an important cog in the Bruin’s drive to repeat in 2012.

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The Blue Tongues Update – August 9, 2011

Gold Coast Blue Tongues
Image via Wikipedia

What a great week it was for our heroes, the Gold Coast Blue Tongues.  Needing as many points as they could get against the first place Melbourne Ice in order to keep their tenuous hold on the 4th and final playoff spot, the Blue Tongues split the series.  They handed the Ice only their second defeat of the season in regulation time.  The Blue Tongues are putting it all together at the right time of the year (for Australia that is).   Next weekend is in Melbourne with games against the Ice and the Mustangs.  Very important games.  We will play our final 2 games, on the road against the second place Newcastle North Stars in a must win situation.  The 5th place Adelaide Adrenaline are a mere 2 points behind in the standings.  Stay tuned for the results.

Video is a recent promo that explains some stuff about Australian hockey and the league. (AIHL)

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Where Is The Stanley Cup – Part 7 – Tomas Kaberle

Czech Republic defenceman Tomáš Kaberle in act...
Tomas Kaberle - Image via Wikipedia

The Stanley Cup flew off to Europe on July 19 to meet up with Tomas Kaberle in Prague, Czech Republic.  Unfortunately for Tomas it rained all day, fitting as he turned tail on the Bruins and signed with the Carolina Hurricanes.  Serves him right.  Beside the rain, Tomas had a great day with the cup, receiving a motorcycle escort to home town of Velka Dobra and then carried on to Kladno, where he played his hockey growing up.

I won’t spend much time on this journey as he is no longer a Boston Bruin, so he kind of bores me now.

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Where Is The Stanley Cup – Part 6 – Nathan Horton

Nathan Horton scores in overtime
Nathan Horton beats the hated Habs Image by slidingsideways via Flickr

On July 15, it was Nathan Horton‘s day with the Stanley Cup.  Unfortunately, the TSA had other ideas.  Nathan and the keeper of the Cup arrived in Buffalo and were waiting at the over size luggage area for the cup to appear, and it didn’t  It did not make the flight and was still in Boston.  Nathan had big plans for his day and had to leave without the prize to make the planned festivities in Dunnville, Ontario, his hometown.

Howie Borrow, the cup keeper, remained in the airport to await the arrival.  Fortunately it made the next flight and it was off to Dunnville, better late than never.

In the mean time, Nathan arrived in Dunnville without the cup.  The decision was made by the organizers to delay the parade by an hour, but to go, with or without after the hour was up.  Fortunately, it ended up being without as Howie and the cup did not make it within the hour.  Howie, who now had the cup, grabbed a cab and headed for Dunnville.  He arrived after the parade, but made it for an event at the town bandstand.

Now in possession of the cup, Nathan continued on with the scheduled events for the day which included a stop at his mother’s house, a trip to Niagara Falls to visit his father, a visit to the OPP and a stop with a young cancer patient.  The final stop was a backyard party at the home of one of his friends.

An eventful day, and one for the books.

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