Tragic Plane Crash Shakes Hockey World

- photo via AP

Just now from AP:

TUNOSHNA, Russia (AP) — A private Russian jet carrying a top ice hockey team slammed into a riverbank moments after takeoff Wednesday, killing at least 43 people in one of the worst plane crashes ever involving a sports team.

Both Russia and the world of hockey were left stunned by the deaths of so many international stars in one catastrophic event. Two other people on board were critically injured.

[...]

The plane was carrying the Lokomotiv ice hockey team from Yaroslavl to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, where the team was to play Thursday against Dinamo Minsk in the opening game of the season for the Kontinental Hockey League. The ministry said it had 45 people on board, including 37 passengers and eight crew.

The Emergency Ministry said Czech players Josef Vasicek, Karel Rachunek and Jan Marek, Swedish goalie Stefan Liv, Canadian coach Brad McCrimmon, Latvian defenseman Karlis Skrastins and defenseman Ruslan Salehi of Belarus were among those killed. Slovakian national team captain Pavol Demitra, who played in the NHL for the St. Louis Blues and the Vancouver Canucks, was also among the dead, officials said.

NHL Tragedies

Derek Boogaard was found dead in his home on May 13, 2011 from a lethal combination of alcohol and painkillers. He was 28 years old.

Rick Rypien was found dead in his home on August 15, 2011. The cause of death was determined to be suicide. He was 27.

Yesterday, August 31, 2011, Wade Belak was found dead in his home. It was released today that the death was suicide. He was 35 years old.

All three of these men were NHL players and their combined number of career Penalties in Minutes (PIM) is 5,583. That number includes games played in minor leagues. Total NHL PIMs is 2,078. Total number of goals scored in the NHL between all three players in the entirety of their careers: 20.

Call them what you like: Enforcers, Goons, Fighters. It is an unofficial and controversial role in hockey. [Note: Rick Rypien has been mentioned in this blog before, with a video posted of him yanking a fan out of the stands.] The debate about whether fighting should be allowed in hockey is ongoing. Recently the NHL has shown less tolerance for head injuries, but fighting has been around as long as the game of hockey. Nothing gets the fans on their feet and cheering quicker than when two players throw down the gloves.

The off-season in hockey is only about four months long, yet this short period of time has seen a great deal of tragedy in 2011. This pattern is troubling, and while it does not appear that the deaths are immediately related, it does shine a brighter light on the enforcer role, and further the debate of the place of fighting in hockey.

The NHL playoffs just got a little more interesting

Last night the Boston Bruins scored the lone goal in an exciting game 7 and secured their position as the Eastern Conference champs. They are now on their way to meet the Vancouver Canucks in the Stanley Cup finals. I'm a huge hockey fan, but this post-season I have been more intrigued with the NBA than the NHL. I have no affection for any of the final four teams - Vancouver Canucks vs. San Jose Sharks in the west; Boston Bruins vs. Tampa Bay Lightning in the east. Who cares? I can't get excited about any of these teams and the drama in the NBA playoffs has been irresistible. After last night, the NHL got a whole lot more interesting. I still don't have any strong feelings about Vancouver or Boston, but goalie-for-goalie, this could prove to be an amazing series.

The goalie matchup for the Stanley Cup finals is Roberto Luongo for Vancouver and Tim Thomas for Boston. Both are nominated for the Vezina trophy for their regular-season performance this season, and it is not the first nomination for either. Thomas won in 2009, Luongo has previously been nominated twice, losing to future Hall-of-Famer Martin Brodeur both years. They have both made All-Star appearances and have proven themselves to be among the best goaltenders in the NHL. Despite all of these accolades, this is the closest either of them have ever been to securing their name on the Stanley Cup.

Luongo and Thomas have strikingly similar statistics over the past few seasons, and they have both proven themselves to be outstanding goaltenders. But it is also their reputations that make for a spectacular matchup. Both goalies are consistently inconsistent. I have seen them both on top of their game, worthy of the Stanley Cup. I have also seen them both choke on huge games when it mattered most, to the point where I had to wonder if they just had problems performing under pressure. Every great goalie gets lit up from time to time. Even Brodeur (who has won the Vezina 4 out of the last 7 seasons) has broken the hearts of New Jersey Devils fans by allowing repeated soft goals. Every goalie has a bad day. Until now, it has seemed that Luongo and Thomas have a bad day at the most inopportune times. So far this season they have led their teams through the conference finals. If they are both on their game, this could be a hard-fought seven-game series. If one or both of them buckle under pressure, it could be a heartbreaking series.

After a month of apathy, I am rejuvenated and looking forward to watch two of the best goalies in the league battle it out for the Stanley Cup. I still don't have any affection toward either team, but I have to pull for Tim Thomas in this battle. Luongo was chosen #4 overall in the 1997 NHL draft and began his NHL career in 2000. Thomas was not exactly on the same fast-track. Thomas was selected in the 9th round in 1994, #217 overall. Despite being five years older than Luongo (almost to the day, Luongo was born April 4, 1979 - Thomas on April 15, 1974,) Thomas had a longer wait to get the call up to the NHL. Thomas put in his time in the minors and overseas until securing his place as the Bruins netminder in 2005. Thomas also grew up in the deteriorating city of Flint, Michigan. How can you not pull for this guy?

The Stanley Cup finals begin on Wednesday, June 1st and games will be broadcast on either NBC or VS.

NHL Center Ice Sneak Preview

If you are a die-hard hockey fan [who subscribes to Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Bright House Networks, Cablevision Systems, Bresnan Communications, Charter Communications, Midcontinent and Verizon FiOS, or a number of independent affiliates] you have probably already tuned into the Center Ice Package preview. If you're a casual fan this may have slipped by you, but not to worry - you can still watch free hockey through this weekend!

The Center Ice package is a wonderful thing, but if you're only a fan of the home team, it may not be worth nearly $200. Games that are broadcast locally are blacked out from the NHL Center Ice channels so that they don't compete with local markets. If you happen to be, say a Washington Capitals fan who lives in Texas, this is a great way to watch your team. If you are like me and you will watch any hockey game, regardless of the teams playing [I drove halfway across the country to watch the Quad City Mallards play the Adirondack Ice Hawks and I'm damn proud of it] the free preview weekend is a great way to watch a lot of hockey. Sometimes it's hard for a Caps fan to know who to cheer for [Vancouver Canucks or Minnesota Wild? Luongo or Niemi?] but the beauty is, sometimes you don't have to pick a side, you can just appreciate hockey for the beauty of the sport. Other times, like last night, you get a heads up on who the next NHL player to get a suspension is going to be.




Obviously that is the broadcast from Vancouver, as one can tell from the announcers' support of these fans being thrown out. The Minnesota broadcasters had this reaction:



With Center Ice, you can watch them all. For the record, Minnesota has it right. The fan was probably being a douchebag, but it does not warrant having a professional athlete yank him out of the stands into the tunnel. Look for the NHL to hand down a punishment very soon. Canucks: This is seriously uncool. Center Ice free preview: I am in love with you.

Another Case of Bad Parenting

In Toronto, the parents of two 15 year old boys are suing the team for damages after both sons were cut from a youth team. 70 boys between the ages of 13 and 16 tried out for the team. The team had expected to carry a 17 man roster. That means that going in, everyone knew that 53 of the 70 boys were going to get cut. I have a few years of youth coaching under my belt, and I've dealt with some bad parents, but this is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.

The lawsuit is asking for $25,000 from each of the four coaches and another $25,000 from the league for a total of $125,000. Seriously? If your sons were "irreparably damaged" by getting cut from a youth hockey tryout, you are shitty parents. There is no way around that. The frivolity of this lawsuit is an affront to honest parents and coaches of youth athletes everywhere. I sincerely hope that the judge laughs at the allegations and demands the plaintiffs pay legal costs for both sides if this nonsense ever goes to trial.

Local hockey fan continues to watch boring television

Yes, my off-season sports chats sound like headlines from The Onion. I got called out after my last rant about the NHL Network by a facebook friend-of-a-friend. (Sad, I know. It wasn’t even a friend of my own. I have a very Charlie Brown-like existence.) But, my new FFOF pointed out that there is plenty going on in the hockey world right now to keep a fan (okay, fanatic) engaged. There have been shocking trades, the new schedules have been released, the recent NHL awards and NHL draft, and July 1 will open up free agency. She’s right. There's still plenty of action around the NHL, and the awards and draft have been broadcast on Versus. It’s not exactly the body-crushing action of watching a game every night, but it keeps things interesting. And for some reason, watching teams I mostly don’t care about draft young players I’ve never heard of is way more interesting than whatever else is on TV these days. I don’t know if that speaks to how much I love hockey, or how bad television programming is these days. Probably a little of both.

The first round of the NHL draft was Friday night and the only players I knew by name were the number one and number two draft picks: Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin. I’ve heard plenty of speculation about which one would be chosen first, but I still have no idea which one is which. I think that Taylor is the one that turns into a werewolf and Tyler is the vampire that sparkles. Or is it the other way around? Whoever they are, you never hear about one without a mention of the other. It’s a good thing NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was behind the podium, because the pre-packaged marketing opportunity of this rivalry must be giving him a raging hard-on. Next season the NHL can branch off from the constant comparisons between Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin. Except this Taylor/Tyler thing may be even easier for the league to exploit. I bet no one has ever had a problem telling Crosby and Ovechkin apart.

So, the 2010 NHL draft is over. The Oilers have Taylor Hall, the Bruins have Tyler Seguin, and the Maple Leafs have to live with the fact that they gave up two draft picks this year, including their shot to acquire a promising young player with a built-in marketing ploy (along with a 2011 first round pick!) to the Bruins for Phil Kessel. For last year's draft, Toronto’s GM Brian Burke tried to trade up for a shot at John Tavares (spoiler alert! His attempts were ill-fated. Tavares just finished his first season with the Islanders and did very well for them.) This year they essentially gave up one of the –ylors. Better luck next year, Toronto. Oh no, wait – you traded away your first round 2011 draft pick too. Well, better luck in 2012 then.

Now that the NHL Awards show and the draft are over, I know I can count on the NHL Network to replay them for the remainder of the summer alongside old playoff games. I wonder how many more times I'll see Kevin Connolly. I was totally not expecting to see E from Entourage announce the Islanders pick.

Jeremy Roenick is not my ex-boyfriend

While some J.B. Sports Chat bloggers were watching international sporting events, others were back home in the U.S. of A. coping with life in the off-season. I don't know what other hockey fans, NBA fans, or NFL fans watch on television, but I always catch myself flipping to the NHL Network like it's an ex-boyfriend's facebook page. I know it's over, but sometimes it's nice to check in and see if there's anything going on.

Much like my exes, the NHL Network programming has gone downhill since it ended. The Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup on June 9th and effectively played the last NHL game until the pre-season starts up in September. In between seasons, the network often replays recent playoff games, or shows classic finals games from any time during the last 40 years or so. These are hard to watch when you already know the outcome. Over the weekend, I watched something I hadn't seen before. They aired several episodes of the Pokerstars.net NHL Charity Poker Tournament. This is exactly what it sounds like - NHL stars playing poker for charity. Surprisingly, it wasn't that boring. I saw Jeremy Roenick, Mats Sundin, Eddie Olczyk, Alex Ovechkin, and many other NHL stars alongside some professional poker players. And Kevin Connelly (E from Entourage.) ?? It was like watching a competitive poker tournament, but with celebrities you recognize.

I watched the poker games pretty passively as I was multitasking at home, but I knew they were not recent because at one point Scott Hartnell (Flyers) was playing against Kris Versteeg (Blackhawks) and there was no mention of the series they just finished weeks ago. I went online to find out just how long ago the games were played, and it turns out I had been watching poker games from one year ago.

My question is this: Which is sadder, watching NHL players (and E from Entourage!) playing a year old game of poker, or stalking an ex's facebook page? Because right now, they are both feeling equally pathetic. It's time to move on, but baseball just doesn't satisfy me the way that hockey does.

Man, this relates on so many levels. I'm just going to go on with my life and thank ESPN for making poker an official sport. Maybe later this summer I can watch Chris Pronger and Chris Chelios compete in a spelling bee from 2008. Thank God for sports television networks.

Take this pink ribbon off my eyes

Thanks to my fellow J.B. Sports Chat blogger, Beau, for inviting everyone to watch Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals Saturday night. A sports bar sounds like a great place to go at 8:00 this Saturday. I wonder if there's anything else in the wide world of sports going on Saturday night. Anything else going on? Anything at all?

Sure, you can come out and watch Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals. Or you can watch game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals. This year is particularly exciting for me because it's the first time since 2007 that I won't have to pick between the Penguins and the Red Wings, two teams I love to hate. It's also the battle of the comebacks. Chicago has only seen the finals once since 1973. The last time the Flyers won the Cup was in 1975, although they have made several ill-fated appearances in the finals since then. Chicago and Philly both making it to the finals this year is the most surprising comeback since Mickey Rourke in the Wrestler.

I am vexed by the oversight on my fellow blogger's invitation and I was all set to make this into a snarky, faux-feminist rant about how I'm being oppressed as the only female blogger here at J.B. Sports Chat. At once I took the omission of my favorite sport as a personal insult. But the truth is, any exclusion against me probably has less to do with me being a chick, and more about me being a hockey fan. These guys will pick their bright orange bouncing ball over my three inches of vulcanized rubber any day, and they have a history of excluding hockey. What can I say? They love balls. I respect that.

Still, my favorite sport was left out of the original invite. Even though it has been fixed now (thank you Beau) I still feel there is a score that needs to be settled. So that's right, Saturday night is now Lakers vs. Suns, Blackhawks vs. Flyers, and Kathleen vs. Beau. I will seek to settle the score throughout the night by challenging Beau to random games of both skill and chance. This may or may not include drinking games, arm wrestling, and seeing who can walk longer in stiletto heels without falling down (Beau has totally got that one.) The smart money on Saturday night is on Lakers, Blackhawks, and Kathleen.

Are the habs unstoppable?

The Flyers victory over the Bruins on Friday night made this blogger very happy. My BFF (best Flyers fan) and I sent simultaneous text messages at 9:33 p.m. with identical reactions: OMFG!! The Flyers will advance to the Eastern Conference finals beginning this evening when they face the Montreal Canadiens.

The Flyers ended the regular season as a number 7 seed - unsure if they would even make it to the playoffs until they beat the New York Rangers in the last game of the season. The Canadiens were the number 8 seed in the Eastern Conference, but don't let that fool you. In the first two rounds they have defeated two of the most daunting opponents in the east (and perhaps the entire NHL): the Capitals - who finished the season with the best record in the league; and the defending Stanley Cup champs, the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Conventional wisdom would predict that after facing the crafty offense of the Capitals and the Penguins, Montreal should have no problem shutting down the Flyers. The secret weapon for Montreal has been some remarkable goaltending from Jaroslav Halak. If Halak stays on this streak, the Flyers are going to have big trouble getting past him. This series is going to come down to goaltending.

While they Flyers don't have a star goalie for the playoffs this year, they certainly have a well-rested netminder. Their last series had the Flyers returning from an 0-3 deficit to Boston thanks to the effort of not just one goalie, but two. Brian Boucher was between the pipes up until an injury in game five against Boston. Relieved by Michael Leighton to finish out the 7-game series, the Flyers were still able to take down Boston and advance to the conference finals. Leighton has only played in three games during the playoffs this year, but has had a solid performance in all three.

Goaltending has been a problem for the Flyers all season, but so far they have been able to hold their own through the first two rounds of the playoffs. Tonight with Leighton in net, they will face a goaltender on a hot streak. I'm still cheering for Philly, but it's all going to come down to Halak. The regular season shows the Flyers and the Canadiens to be a pretty fair match-up (both teams finished the season with 88 total points; the Flyers beat the Canadiens in 2 out of 3 regular season match-ups.)

I don't think Montreal is unstoppable, but this is going to be a very hard-fought series. Nothing has come easy to either team this far in the post-season. We will see how far Halak can take his hot streak, and just how rested and ready to go Leighton is for this round. The semi-finals for both conferences should be great match-ups. The top two teams in the west will compete against the winner of the bottom two playoff teams in the east. No matter who you are cheering for, we will see some incredible hockey in the next few weeks.

Hockey is for Everyone!

If you don't have plans this weekend, head out to Laurel, MD with me. If you do have plans this weekend, cancel them and head out to Laurel, MD this weekend for the 6th Annual Hockey Disabled Festival at the Gardens Ice House.

I am a big fan of the Olympic Games, but the Paralympics are even more near and dear to my heart. The Olympics are an exciting time full of competition, determination and athleticism; but the Paralympics are all that and then some. If I had to describe it in one word, it would be perseverance. If I had more words to describe it, I would write this blog post about the Vancouver Paralympic Games.

The Hockey Disabled Festival will feature hockey games like you have never seen before. There will be games all weekend long in four categories: Special hockey, sled hockey, standing amputees, and deaf/hearing impaired. You can also meet the US Paralympic Sled Hockey team and check out their gold medals (the Vancouver medals were way cooler than all previous medals, by the way.) And the Stanley Cup will be making an appearance at the festival.

If that's not enough to convince you to head out to Laurel this weekend... can I interest you in some cake?

Rock the Redskins

This video is from tonight's Caps game against the Ottawa Senators. Instead of giving a depressing game recap, I will opt to just show this video of Redskins on tricycles instead.

The box score to end all box scores

Last week I blogged in amazement at a minor league hockey box score revealing 158 minutes worth of penalties in a single game. Ladies and gentlemen, the Southern Professional Hockey League has outdone themselves. You have to see it to believe it.

Once again it involves the Knoxville IceBears, but this time their opponent was the Fayetteville FireAntz. (Yes, the team name is actually FireAntz.) As you scroll through the penalties, you will see that the majority of minutes were racked up at the end of the second period. Hit Ctrl+f and search the page for the words "game misconduct" and you will find that phrase 23 times. Twenty-three times!!! One of those game misconducts belongs to Fayetteville's head coach, Tommy Stewart for Inciting an Opponent. Also at the 20:00 mark of the second period, the starting goalies from both teams each received a game misconduct. Are you wondering how they had enough players left to continue the game? Scroll down to the last line of the box score for an answer to that question:

Game was forfeited at 10:45 3rd period due to 2 skaters remaining for Fayetteville

That was an interesting way to end the season for both teams. The first round of the SPHL playoffs begins this week. The Knoxville IceBears play the Fayetteville FireAntz in the first round.

When you see "team makes history" in the headline, your bracket is screwed

Only one game into the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championships and a #1 seed is already out. University of Denver was the top ranked team in their conference and ranked #2 overall. They have won seven hockey championships (only one school has won more championships than Denver but I'm not going to tell you who it is; as a Hawkeye I am obligated to hate them.) Denver's hockey program has a long history of excellence. A number of Denver alumni have gone on to play in the NHL, including Paul Stastny, who plays for the Colorado Avalanche and helped Team USA win a silver medal at the Olympic Games this year. Matt Carle, another Denver alum, won the Hobey Baker award in 2006 and currently plays for the Philadelphia Flyers.

Rochester Institute of Technology is a Division III school in every sport except for Men's Ice Hockey. They became Division I for hockey in 2006.

Redeem yourself with a whole new tournament!

Were you certain that Georgetown would make it to to the Final Four? Did you pick Kansas to go all the way? Do you wish you never heard the words "Northern Iowa"? Now is the time to redeem yourself! The NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship starts this afternoon. The first and second rounds are this weekend. The Frozen Four is April 8-10 at Ford Field in Detroit.

A more legible version of the bracket can be found here. Anyone brave enough to go in on a bracket contest?

but I still hate Sidney Crosby

This was a beautiful moment in last night's game against the Penguins. Alexander Semin tied it up in the third with this sweet short-handed goal. It was credited as an unassisted goal, but now that I see it again, it was a pretty nice pass from the Crozz.

Thank you, Sidney Crosby! (p.s. you're still a douche.)
Love,
Kathleen

I am no longer afraid of getting old

The future suddenly has so much more promise. I have been a hockey fan for many years, but it was not until today that I learned about a little team called the Gerihatricks. Who knew we had so many options for local sports around here!? From their website:

The Gerihatricks are a loosely knit group of senior hockey players, 60 plus and 70 plus years of age, that play primarily at the Gardens Ice House in Laurel, MD.

Yeah, that's right. Things are gonna get real interesting in my golden years and I'm gonna start the smacktalk now. You hear that, Quincy Bald Eagles? I'm talking to you too, Central Mass Rusty Blades! Don't be fooled by the fact that I've never played hockey, and never even been on ice skates before. I'm going to spend the next few decades training and molding myself into a sleek, fast, and fit hockey machine that does not look a day over 50 even when she's 85! When I'm eligible to be in this league, you better take your teeth out before you hit the ice. Cuz I play to win, grandpa!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go hit the gym.

ECHL Honors Kolzig. Are You Listening, Capitals?

The East Coast Hockey League has formally inducted former Caps goalie, Olaf Kolzig into the ECHL Hall of Fame. Kolzig played two seasons in the ECHL with the Hampton Roads Admirals between 1990-1992, with season records of 11-9-1 and 11-3-0.

It may seem strange that they should induct a player who logged so little time in the league. It all comes down to classification. He was inducted in the "Developmental Player" category. According to ECHL Hall of Fame guidelines,

Development Players must have begun their career in the ECHL and went on to a distinguished career in the NHL, playing a minimum of 260 regular season games in the NHL, AHL and ECHL.

That would definitely describe the former NHL All-Star, Vezina Trophy winner, and all-around fan favorite Kolzig. He deserves recognition. Enough so that we should all overlook the fact that Kolzig played more games for the AHL Baltimore Skipjacks during those same seasons that the ECHL is taking credit for developing his talents.

I think it's a safe assumption that Kolzig will someday have a banner hanging from the rafters of the Verizon Center next to Dale Hunter, Mike Gartner, Yvone Labre and Rod Langway. Olie the Goalie belongs in the Capitals Hall of Fame. I just hope we get to see those honors bestowed sometime before Ovechkin reaches retirement age.

The Game I Wish I Saw: Minor League Hockey Edition

Beau blogged about a box score from the Spurs/Warriors game on Friday, and I think this should be a regular feature: writing about sporting events you never watched, but wished you had.

This is a box score you need to see.

I have yet to speak with any of the 889 people in attendance at this SPHL game last month. (Southern Professional Hockey League. Yes, it's a real league.) And I doubt that many readers of J.B. Sports Chat are familiar with the Knoxville Ice Bears or the Louisiana IceGators, but the important thing here is that you can interpret a hockey box score. Actually... I take that back. The important thing is that you understand math and can identify disparity in numbers for the two teams. Here are a few highlights:

Power Plays: Knoxville was 4 for 13, Louisiana was 0 for 2.
Penalty Totals: Knoxville had 4 minutes on 2 infractions, Louisiana had 158 minutes on 25 infractions.

Yes, 158 penalty minutes were collected by one team in a 60-minute game. The third period penalties were all on Louisiana. Fighting Majors, Game Misconducts for Abuse of an Official, Gamers for Inciting an Opponent, and all sorts of fun stuff. But my very, very favorite is the last two penalties listed: Dave MacIsaac and Frank Jury, 10 minute game misconducts each for Verbal Abuse of Officials. Scroll through the active roster and you will not find those names. MacIsaac is the Head Coach and Jury is the Equipment Manager.

What the hell happened?!? Most of the penalty minutes were from the third period, but they didn't even occur all at once. The first major penalty in the third was at 10:21 and the last was the equipment guy with just over a minute left in the game. At 17:18 in the third, three players got misconducts for slashing, charging, and fighting (third man in.) Who were they fighting?!? Each other? Officials? Fans? No one from Knoxville had any fighting penalties.

That is one of the most perplexing box scores I have ever seen. I wish I had been at Blackham Coliseum that night to see what happened. I would have been happy to boost their attendance to a solid 890.