Is Olympic hockey still worth watching without the NHL?

I make my living as a hockey writer. I’m also as big a fan of the sport as there is, and I love Olympic hockey.

But now that N.H.L. players won’t represent their countries in the Pyeongchang Games, will I even watch?

For hockey fans, the N.H.L.’s decision to send its players to the Winter Olympics beginning in 1998 was a dream come true. There had been major international tournaments, but never with these sorts of stakes on this big a stage. Finally, fans would get a true best-on-best Olympic tournament played in front of a worldwide audience, with dream rosters and genuine suspense over who would win the gold.

Through five Olympics, fans witnessed some of hockey’s most memorable moments, from Dominik Hasek’s brilliance in Nagano, Japan, to Sidney Crosby’s golden goal in Vancouver.

When the N.H.L. said it would not send players to the 2018 Games, many of us assumed it was a bluff. Surely some sort of last-minute deal would surely be found?

But it wasn’t a bluff. Fans were furious; players were furious. After the anger, the question: Is it worth watching?

>> Read the full post at the New York Times

2013 NHL Season Preview - Western Conference

"Uh, guys, somebody better call Fehr,
I don't think he's going to let go.

Today we continue our pre-season tour through the NHL's 30 teams. Yesterday we went through the Eastern Conference, so today let's turn out attention to the West.

Calgary Flames - Expect Jarome Iginla's trademark smile and infectious laugh to light up the dressing room, right up until he realizes the reporters were actually serious when they asked about the Flames making the playoffs.

St. Louis Blues - Every contender has to go through adversity at some point, so it will be interesting to see how the team responds in late March when they give up their first goal.

Phoenix Coyotes - Kings' goalie Jonathan Quick earned a $58 million deal in part based on his dominating performance against Phoenix in the conference finals, so it will be interesting to see how the Coyotes react to being owned by somebody with actual money.

Los Angeles Kings - Have lost some momentum in the fickle LA market due to the lockout, but should gain it back by the season's second week when they pass the Lakers in wins.

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Other Montreal Canadien fan complaints

Montreal Canadiens fans aren’t very happy these days. The team has been a disappointment all season, with a combination of injuries and lacklustre play leaving them well outside of the current playoff picture.

But apparently that's not even the biggest problem facing the franchise. That honor would be reserved for interim Canadiens' coach Randy Cunneyworth, who's hiring generated controversy because he can't speak French. Tension over that issue may be taken to new heights today, when Canadiens fans (or at least groups claiming to represent them) are reportedly planning a pre-game protest outside of the Bell Centre.

But while the language-based outrage is getting all the attention, it's actually only one of several demonstrations planned for today by fans in Montreal. As it turns out, Canadiens fans are fed up and they're not going to take it anymore.

So forget about which language the coach is speaking. Here are some of the other issues that Montreal Canadiens fans are currently upset about.

• Whenever you call Montreal's 911 emergency line, the automated attendant doesn't get to "report a Boston Bruins body check" until like the third or fourth option.
  
  
• The team has refused to release details of team captain Brian Gionta's recent health issue beyond calling it a lower body injury, which on that guy doesn't really narrow it down.
  
  
• While it was nice to see them borrow our patented "stuff the ballot box to elect all your mediocre hometown players to the All-Star Game" move, foolish Senator fans forgot the part about including an unrestricted free agent for Brian Burke to overpay in the offseason.
  

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Beyond the 1-3-1: Other NHL team defensive systems

What's the difference between a hockey
puck and Mike Richards? The Flyers will
honor a no-movement policy for the puck.

The latest NHL controversy surfaced during Wednesday night's action. Although in fairness, "action" probably isn't the right word.

Early in a game between the Lightning and Flyers, Tampa Bay settled into their patented 1-3-1 defensive system which sees all five skaters take up passive positions in the neutral zone to break up an incoming attack. The Flyers responded by refusing to advance the puck - their defencemen simply held the puck in their own zone.

The result, predictably, was a farce. The game ground to a halt, the officials were forced to repeatedly blow the play dead, and the fans who thought they had paid to see an entertaining game made sure everyone involved knew that they weren't happy. Now there's talk that the league needs to outlaw Tampa Bay's system.

But why single out the Lightning? After all, they're not the only team that employs a specific defensive system. In fact, these days most teams have their own unique ways of keeping the puck out of their net.

Here are just a few of the team-specific defensive systems currently in use around the NHL.

Boston Bruins - Attacking forwards are met in the neutral zone by a winger who attempts to use lateral pressure to direct them towards the far boards as they cross the blueline, at which point Zdeno Chara unhinges his jaw and devours them.

Columbus Blue Jackets - Winger Rick Nash forechecks deep to apply pressure, then follows the defencemen around for the rest of the shift frantically begging them to convince their general manager to trade for him.

Nashville Predators - As soon as opposing players break into the offensive zone against Pekka Rinne, Ryan Suter and Shea Weber casually skate to the bench and let Mr. Moneybags back there handle it.

Calgary Flames - Opposing players entering the attacking zone are told of the details of the Dion Phaneuf for Matt Stajan trade, and then spend the rest of the game standing around trying to figure out how that ever seemed like it would be a good idea.

Read the rest of this post...

NHL referees and linesmen head to the bargaining table

Everybody click that ad over there,
baby DGB needs a new pair of shoes.

There's plenty of concern these days about an impending work stoppage in the NHL. From the hiring of potential hard-liner Donald Fehr as NHLPA head to the bitter fight over Ilya Kovalchuk's contract, there's good reason to believe that players may be headed to the picket line in time for the 2012-13 season.

But there's more labour strife on the horizon, and this time it comes with a much closer timeframe. The NHL's referees and linesmen have been without a contract since August 31, and while negotiations on a new CBA are ongoing there are reports that the league is in the early stages of contacting potential replacement officials.

What's behind the stalemate? Sources tell me that while money is a focus, it's only part of the discussion. As it turns out, NHL referees and linesman have a long list of issues they'd like to see addressed in a new agreement.

My spies have supplied me with some of the officials' demands:

• When we agreed to the clause in the last CBA about always giving 110%, we didn't realize it was referring to our escrow payments.
  
  
• We're willing to accept the league's demand that we no longer publicly vow to target Canucks winger Alex Burrows with bogus penalty calls, as long as everyone agrees that we can still secretly vow to target Canucks winger Alex Burrows with bogus penalty calls.
  
  
• We don't want to seem like spoilsports, but we're really not big fans of that "everyone in attendance wins one free slice of pizza if the referee takes a puck in the throat" promotion.
  
  
• Every time anyone calls a penalty against Tomas Kaberle, they get an angry phone call from his father.
  
  
• We're getting a little tired of ignorant coaches calling us blind, when in fact many of our members don't meet the technical standards for legal blindness in several states and provinces.
  
  
• Let's just say that it's not exactly fun breaking up fights between Colton Orr and Matt Carkner knowing that one linesman is inevitably about to get 230 lbs of dead weight dropped on top of him.
  
  
• We just want the same thing any other union gets: Time-and-a-half for working overtime.
  
  
• Whenever we skate onto the ice we can't tell if the fans are saying "boo" or "I hope somebody boo-urns your house down you soulless cretin", although now that we see it written down like that it probably doesn't matter very much.
  
  
• We find this whole "mandatory penalty for high-sticking" thing way too restrictive, and would prefer to go back to it being optional like during the 1993 playoffs.
  
  
• Hey, just a thought, but maybe when the league feels like taking a break from buying high-def TVs for the video review war room they could invest a few dollars so that we don't have to call them on a phone with a twisty cord from 1983.
  
  
• If we're being completely honest, not a single one of us knows what that trapezoid thing behind the net is supposed to accomplish.
  
  
• Now that Brian Gionta is apparently going to be named captain of the Canadiens, it's going to be murder on our knees having to kneel down every time he wants to discuss a call.
  
  
• Look, we know the media has a job to do, but it would be nice to be able to work just one game without Ines Sainz throwing herself at us afterwards.
  
  
• While we understand that the mascot with the hot dog gun is popular with fans, that still doesn't explain why he gets to kick in the door to our dressing room and fire off multiple rounds at point-blank range during every intermission.
  
  
• It's been years since any coach was kind enough to offer us a donut.