The Double Standards in the NHL

The NHL's double standard for its players is disgusting. Thursday night, Sidney Crosby decided the best way to fight someone was to punch someone in the back of the head and in his groin while his teammate held the guy in a headlock. It was a clear attempt to injure, and just an awful display of sportsmanship. However, it's been three days, and by not punishing him at all, the NHL is giving tacit approval to Crosby's actions. Crosby already acts like he's above the rules of the game, and this latest incident is just further proof that he knows he can get away with whatever he wants. Had this been anyone besides Crosby, he would have been suspended for several games. Case in point: Sean Avery uses the phrase "sloppy seconds" and is shut down for the rest of the season. Or last year, Steve Downie gets suspended for punching Jason Blake in the face. Here's a clip of Crosby's actions from Thursday:

And here's a clip of the punch that got Downie suspended:

Which is more worthy of a suspension? If Gary Bettman and Colin Campbell refuse to act upon Crosby's situation, then they are practically admitting that they will let the stars of the game run wild, but if you're not one of the league's superstars, you'd better never step out of line. Prove me wrong Bettman. And please, Penguins fans, I want to hear you defend his actions. I really want to see what you'll come up with.

This Just In: The Flyers Love to Party... College Style

After the Flyers historic rally from a four goal deficit, several Flyers decided to go party at a Temple fraternity. SPORTSbyBROOKS posts several pictures here But I'll post a few of my favorite below. I just find it funny that many of these players are making millions of dollars a year, but they decide to go to a frat party to get their drinks. It's also cool that they feel comfortable enough and safe enough to go to Temple's campus and get drunk there. Anyways, picture time!

Mike Richards looks like he's trying to get some action:




















Richards is cleverly hiding the two beers he's holding. Double fisting like a champ:
















Nitty looks like he's drunk:















Aaaaaand there is Carter hanging out at the bar:

lolPenguins

Ahh it's always nice to beat the crap out of the Penguins. And what's a Penguins loss without them pulling a chicken move? I mean really, why do you try and fight Hartnell with six minutes left in the game? What a loser move, but then again, I've come to expect that lack of class from the Pittsburgh organization. But I would bet that the next time the Flyers and Penguins play, it'll take about two seconds into Godard's first shift for Cote to send him a message. Anyways, I'll take the win as it will move us a couple points behind the Rangers for first in the Atlantic. The Flyers are 12-1-3 in their last 16 games which has taken them from fourth in the division to second. They're one of the hottest teams in the league right now and This was also the first game in which Cindy hasn't scored against the Flyers, so it's nice to know that we can keep her quiet from time to time. 4 power play goals was the difference today, as the Flyers special teams continue to completely dominate the competition. Next up for the Flyers is a mediocre Colorado team, but the Flyers have struggled to beat Colorado in past years despite being the better team. So we'll see how it goes.

Wow What a Win!

So the Flyers just came back from a 5-1 deficit? I'm not sure I've ever seen that happen in my life. After listening to the first two periods, I shut the radio off because I was disgusted after listening to us give the game away to Carolina... after watching The Office, I check my fantasy team, and I'm shocked see that the Flyers have come back to tie the game at 5 by the end of the 3rd period. Scott Hartnell got things going with, what else, a shorthanded goal, and ended the game with a power play goal, a short handed goal and a even strength goal. Not a bad night. The Flyers killed off another penalty in overtime to force the shootout, which the Flyers are generally terrible in, but a Christmas Miracle happened and both Simon Gagne and Mike Richards scored while Nitty stone Rod Brind'Amour (still one of my favorite players) and Eric Staal (I think) to win the game. I'm pretty shocked.

So Apparently We Can Kill Penalties this Year

Since the NHL hasn't decided to return any of my emails about allowing Flyers games to be broadcast in State College, I have taken to listening to the games on NHL.com (at least, until the NHL decides that this is Pittsburgh's radio territory now. But since I've started listening to games, I've noticed that the Flyers have a potent penalty kill and get several shorthanded chances a game. Who knew. Last season the Flyers biggest problem was the penalty kill, but they figured something out during the off-season and now every time I listen to a game it seems like we're the ones who are dominating the play while we're supposedly short handed. Chris Therien and Tim Saunders are loving this. Inevitably, every time the Flyers take a penalty one of them jokes "Well now [insert opposing team here] is at a disadvantage as the Flyers are going on the penalty kill". Anyways, it's pretty cool to be a feared team when killing penalties. iI seems like over the years, that's always been a struggle for the Flyers, but now they've worked it out.

Can it be March Please?

Just saw the new Watchmen trailer... I cannot wait for this movie

You Gotta Love Berube

Craig Berube, former Flyers forward and current assistant coach, thinks that part of the reason why you see so many dangerous hits these days is because players have stopped policing themselves because the league no longer allows it. He recalls a day when it only took a few words to the other team's best player to stop aggressive players from making dangerous hits.

"What happened was they had this guy who was running around toward the end of the game, just taking runs at our guys and trying to hurt them," he said. "I didn't say a word to that guy. But I went up to their best guy and said, 'You see that guy. If he hurts someone on my team, I'm coming after you. It's not him that's going to pay the price. It will be you. So you better calm him the heck down.' That's all I said. The next game we played them, the guy that was running around spent most of the warmups apologizing to us. That's the way we handled things. If a player on the other team did something to deliberately hurt someone or take a shot at someone's head, there was a price to pay. We policed ourselves."

I just love how the Flyer mentality is so evident here. You don't like what the other team is doing? Threaten their best player. I'd sure love to see that type of mentality return to the game.


Story

Sorry guys

I've been swamped with schoolwork these past few weeks before Thanksgiving break. Hopefully after next week I'll be able to update more often.

Just curious though, for those of you who read my blog, would you mind leaving a comment and letting me know how you found it?

Breaking News: Martin Brodeur is Out Indefinitely

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=3678676

The best goalie in the league will be sidelined for awhile as he is getting elbow surgery. Get your wins in against the Devils now!

Wow, this is Ugly

Doug Weight, I used to like you. There was no reason for that hit, you should have been suspended. You are a disgrace to my number and the game.

Game 6 Preview: San Jose Sharks v. Philadelphia Flyers

So the Flyers have gotten off to a worse start than they did in the season-that-must-not-be-named. Luckily, the media is focusing on the Phillies run to the World Series, and no one has called for John Stevens' head yet. The Flyers blew a 3-1 lead to the Sharks on Saturday and lost in overtime. Hopefully in the rematch they will be able to nab their first win of the season.

The Game: San Jose Sharks (5-1-0) @ Philadelphia Flyers (0-3-2)

What's Good:
The Flyers are coming around slowly, but they're getting there. The problem isn't goal production.

What's Bad:
The problem is defense. The Flyers continue to break down on D and the goalie play has been shaky at best.

What to Expect:
The Flyers realize that their coach could go soon if they don't start winning. They come out flying against the Sharks and hang on late for a victory.

The Prediction:
Flyers 4 Sharks 3

Panic Time

So after an uninspiring loss to the Avalanche today, I'm in full fledged panic mode. 11 penalty kills tonight?!?! Come on guys, you're better than that. Oh and, someone besides Gagne and Richards needs to learn how to put the puck in the net... ugh.

Game 4 Preview: Philadelphia Flyers @ Colorado Avalanche

The Flyers have gotten off to a miserable 0-2-1 start this year, despite playing a great game against the Penguins on Tuesday. I'm starting to get a worrisome feeling about the Flyers. They're hanging with the teams they're playing, but they haven't been able to get over the hump. Luckily, the Avalanche are winless as well. Someone has to walk out a winner tonight, why not us?

The Game: Philadelphia Flyes (0-2-1) @ Colorado Avalanche (0-3-0)

What's Good:
The Flyers that need to score have been scoring. Throughout the first three games, the Flyers have three goals from Simon Gagne, two goals from Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, and a goal from Scott Hartnell.

What's Bad:
The Flyers have been prone to allowing quick, consecutive goals this season. In a loss to Montreal, they watched a 2-1 lead turn into a 3-2 deficit in just 44 seconds. In an overtime loss to Pittsburgh, they allowed the first two goals of the game 42 seconds apart in the second period.

What to Expect:
The Flyers finally put it together tonight and get that elusive first win.

The Prediction:
Flyers 4 Avalanche 1

Phillies!

Why I Hate Gary Bettman

So after several emails and phone calls exchanged with Comcast, it turns out that it is the NHL's policy to black out Flyers games in the State College area. So now the NHL can expect an angry email from me as soon as I find the proper place to send it. It is complete b.s. that Penguins games can air here and Flyers games can't. The Phillies and Pirates are both shown here. The Sixers are shown here and I'm sure if Pittsburgh ever had a basketball team they would get aired here too. It's not right that I am forced to watch Cindy tip toe around the ice, but I don't get to see Mike Richards careen around and hit people. Gary Bettman, I hold you responsible for my anguish.

This is the email I tried to send to them:
I am a Flyers fan that attends Penn State University. Two years ago I arrived here as a freshman, and was disappointed to find out that Comcast Sports Net wasn't carried on the dorm TV network. Last year, I moved into an apartment which did carry CSN, so I was excited to finally be able to watch Flyers games again. Much to my dismay, I found out that Flyers games were blacked out all season. During the playoffs, the Philadelphia/Washington series was NOT blacked out on CSN in the State College area. However, once the Montreal/Philadelphia series started, games were once again blacked out. For most of the year I chalked up the games being blacked out to the fact that the Flyers were the worst team in the league in the 2006/2007 season. Since the Flyers made the Eastern Conference Finals last season, I expected that the Flyers games would not be blacked out again this season. I was shocked when I tried to turn on the game on Monday to see that the game was again blacked out. After talking to Comcast over the past few days it has been determined that it is the NHL blackout rules that are preventing Flyers games from being shown in State College. This is complete b.s. Penn State is right in the middle of Pennsylvania and there are just as many Flyers fans as Pittsburgh fans in State College and it isn't fair that only half the fans get to see their team play. This situation NEEDS to be fixed promptly.


But unfortunately they only allow 512 characters in the email so I cut it to this:
I am a Flyers fan at Penn State University. I was shocked when I tried to turn on the Flyers game on Monday to see that the game was blacked out. After talking to Comcast it's been determined that it is the NHL blackout rules that are preventing Flyers games from being shown in State College. This is b.s. Penn State is right in the middle of Pennsylvania and there are as many Flyers fans as Pittsburgh fans in State College and it isnt fair that only half the fans get to see their team play. Please fix this

I will be emailing them every day until I get a response I like.

Comcast, I'm Impressed

So yesterday I wrote a short entry about how I was pissed off that Comcast was blacking out Flyers games in State College. On my walk home from class today, I was thinking about who I could email to inquire about the situation. When I logged onto my computer, I already had an email that said:

K-Mart! How are you?



I read your post about games on Comcast. What channel were you trying to watch the Flyers game on? Also, what area were you trying to watch the game from? If you could let me know, I will try to provide the best answer to address your concern.



Thanks for the opportunity to assist. I apologize for any inconvenience.



Best Regards,



Mark Casem

Comcast Customer Connect

National Customer Operations
----

So I would just like to say, that I am impressed and pleased with Comcast right now, and hopefully, I'll be able to watch Flyers games soon.

Game 3 Preview: Philadelphia Flyers @ Pittsburgh Penguins

This is the first of six battles for Pennsylvania this season. Last year the Flyers won the season series 5-3, but lost the Eastern Conference Finals 4-1. This season the Flyers have gotten off to a slow start, and it doesn't help that their first road game is at Pittsburgh. The Penguins started off the season in Europe, and split the two games with Ottawa, but then lost in overtime to New Jersey on Saturday.

The Game: Philadelphia Flyers(0-0-2) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1-1-1)

What's Good:
The Flyers won twice in Pittsburgh last season. Mike Richards and Simon Gagne have both scored in each game this season.

What's Bad:
Martin Biron has given up 8 goals in 4 periods of hockey.

What to Expect:
The Flyers have come close in both of their games this season, but couldn't hang onto a lead last night, and couldn't complete a comeback on Saturday. They will need to figure out a way to get a point tonight, or the beginning of this season will begin to mirror the terrible 2006-2007 season.

The Prediction:
Pittsburgh 5 Philadelphia 2

Game 2 Preview: Montreal Canadiens @ Philadelphia Flyers

Game 2 of this young season pits a rematch of the 2008 Eastern Conference Semi-finalists; the Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers. The Canadiens are off to a good start already, as they've gone 1-0-1 in their first two games. The Flyers started really slow against the New York Rangers on Saturday and were never able to recover. They'll have to avoid that if they want to win tonight.

The Game: Montreal Canadiens (1-0-1) @ Philadelphia Flyers (0-1-0)

What's Good:
The Flyers looked really good during the second and third periods on Saturday, they just couldn't complete the comeback. Look for that energy to continue today.

What's Bad:
The Canadiens have a lot more speed on offense than the Rangers did, so their forwards could present match-up problems for the Flyers defense all night.

What to Expect:
Marty Biron to bounce back and have a monster game. Biron played out of his mind against the Canadiens in May, maybe he just needs a foe he knows how to beat to get him on his game again this season.

The Prediction:
Flyers 3 Canadiens 2 (OT)

I HATE COMCAST

They're STILL blacking out Flyers games at State College. I call bull shit on that. But props on the NHL's game center for streaming 610 WIP flawlessly out here.

Flyers/Rangers Recap

I only got to watch the first and third periods of this game. But if one bounce would have gone our way, the game would have been completely different. Ugh. We should have won that one.

Rangers 4 Flyers 3.

Phillies!

In honor of the Phillies bid to break the 25 year title drought of Philadelphia, I've changed my blog colors temporarily.

Go PHILLIES!

5 down, 6 to go.

Game 1 Preview: Flyers vs. Rangers

Happy Rosh a hockey everyone! The new season is upon us, and tomorrow the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Rangers face off at the Wachovia Center in Philly. It's gonna be a good season, so I'm going to try my hardest to blog everything I can this year.

The Game: New York Rangers (2-0-0) @ Philadelphia Flyers (0-0-0)

The Good:
The Flyers will pick up where they left off last season. New captain Mike Richards has (according to Kristen) looked great this preseason and the team is following his lead. Simon Gagne is back and hopefully his chemistry with Daniel Briere and Mike Knuble will still be there. The Flyers can roll three good lines and will have a dangerous fourth line that teams won't want to mess with.

The Bad:
The defense is still a big question mark. While Braydon Coburn and Kimo Timonen will be solid all year, the jury is out on how newly acquired defensemen Steve Eminger, Ossi Vaananen, Danny Syvret and Patrick Hersley will need to step up early. The loss of Sami Kapenen and R.J. Umberger may hurt the Flyers more than expected.

What to Expect:
The Flyers get a win in their first game, it will take them a little while to get started, but they will pull it out in the end.

The Prediction:
Flyers 4 Rangers 2

What Are They Thinking?!?!

It's time for me to get a little political. The Flyers' home opener is Saturday, and while I have a deep love the Flyers, sometimes the front office makes decisions that make me go "WTF?". The decision to let Sarah Palin drop the puck at their home opener is one of those decisions that make me quizzical. Flyers owner Ed Snider had this to say when questioned about his choice of Palin for Saturday night: "Because of the tremendous amount of publicity she has brought to our sport, we invited the most popular hockey mom in North America to our home opener to help us get our season started. We are very excited she has accepted our offer and we are very proud of the publicity she is generating for hockey moms and the sport of hockey." Call me crazy, but the image that Palin gets from being portrayed as a hockey mom, that is an image of a cute, homely mother, is not the image I want my potential leader projecting. Can anyone really take her seriously anymore? I have this feeling that if (god forbid) she and McCain get elected next month, the rest of the world will be snickering that America has elected a hockey mom to one of the most powerful positions in the world.

The Daily News columnist Will Bunch has called for a protest of the Flyer's home opener Saturday night. He says that anyone offended by Snider's choice of Palin should turn their back to her when she comes on the ice. Hockey is not the proper forum for making a political statement, and Ed Snider should be ashamed that he is shamelessly using the Flyers to promote the Republican agenda.

Links: Yahoo! Sports article
Will Bunch

Fantasy Hockey

I'm creating a fantasy hockey league on ESPN as I write this. Let me know if you want in and I'll send out an invite.

Further Proof Why Pittsburgh is Not as Awesome as Philly

They still don't understand it's soda and not pop.

And Now for Something Slightly Different

Wow has it really been a month since I last posted? I've been super busy... I finished up my internship in Philly, went to Cape Cod for a week and now I'm back up in State College. Classes start tomorrow :-/

Anyways, I've been watching the Olympics over the past few weeks and I've been seeing this Nike commercial that I really like. I've posted it for your viewing pleasure.

Hockey Player for Life

I've been really busy of late, so I haven't been able to keep up with my logo posts. However, I got this email from a friend, and I am happy to pimp his book on my site. So take a look:

In anticipation of the October 7th release date of Howard Shapiro's new book, "Hockey Player For Life", Supersonic Storybook Productions (SSP) is very pleased to announce that the book's back cover will feature quotes in praise of it from noted hockey writer and author Brian Kennedy and ESPN's John Buccigross.

"Having attended Book Expo Canada in Toronto in June, I came away really energized," said Howard Shapiro. "I received a lot of good feedback about the book and decided to tweak the front cover a bit and I think we've now got a great cover that will hopefully entice folks to pick up the book and check it out. As far as the story itself, I've received some rave reviews from the hockey blogging community. The folks who have read the pre-release electronic version of the book have enjoyed it thoroughly."

"And through the youtube video I've been able to target and reach a worldwide audience of hockey fans eager for a story about the sport they are so passionate about. In six weeks my contacts on youtube have gone from about 130 to over 1,000 and my website mailing list and myspace contacts have both doubled in size as well. My viral marketing campaign will continue through the rest of summer to hopefully continue to build a buzz for the book."

"It was a phenomenal honor to have Brian Kennedy, who's book "Growing Up Hockey" was a great influence on my writing along with the great John Buccigross contribute to the back cover of the book. Having the opportunity to work with them along with Keith Primeau means a tremendous amount to me and I cannot thank them all enough for their time and efforts."

Excerpts of a review of "Hockey Player For Life" by K. Kniazev - The story kept me involved the whole time. I particularly enjoyed the twist in the story and I think that just about anybody who ever played a sport as a kid, in school, in college, etc… can relate to this. Even though I have never played hockey, I could easily identify with all of the trials and tribulations which Tom goes through. This is absolutely an every-athlete book with an excellent teen appeal. I think - if I were 13 - I would just as easily dig in to the book. You did an amazing job writing this from the perspective of a teen, and have put together a fantastic collection of thoughts and situations. I can already see this book being a great success. For some reason, I pictured this as a movie script with a great story that could easily translate from the written to the visual.

The "Hockey Player For Life" video can be seen at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfkIl1VMakE

Howard was a recent guest on "The Book Chick" show which is broadcast from Regina, Saskatchewan on CJTR FM: http://www.cjtr.ca/index

For a sneak peek of "Hockey Player For Life" and for further information, please log onto www.howardshapiro.net

To receive the electronic version of "Hockey Player For Life" please contact Supersonic Storybook Productions at 866.520.4286 or send an email to howard.shapiro@hotmail.com

Ranking the Five Worst Logos in Hockey: #3

Minnesota Wild


The Wild went for an abstract idea rather than an actual, tangible thing for their team name. Now it's not a bad name, the Wild sounds pretty cool, and it's at least as good as the Ducks and much better than the Blue Jackets (seriously, WTF kind of mascot name is that?). However, it's pretty hard to come up with a logo for an abstract idea. Apparently the designers who made the logo decided that a "Wild" is a cat-like looking thing with some Christmas trees in the background. The Wild picked a great color scheme (they pull of the Evergreen green and dark red better than the Devils did), but their logo leaves a lot to be desired. It's hard to tackle an abstract idea like the Wild, but if they couldn't have come up with something good, maybe they should have just spelled Wild or Minnesota diagonally across their jersey (I LOVE when teams do that). But no, they went with this animal/forest/desert moon hybrid and it just has too much going on.

Ranking the Five Worst Logos in Hockey: #4

In this installment of the worst logos in hockey, I'm taking a look at the New York Islanders. Their logo is one of the ugliest in the NHL. While the fact that they turn the Y in NY into a hockey stick is pretty cool, the Islanders color scheme is what kills the logo. I am not a fan of the orange and blue mixture that they have going on. It's an eye-sore. The Islanders current logo is a slightly darker shade of blue than their original logo (which also sucked).
The Islanders tried a new logo for a couple of years in the 90's, but the new fisherman logo was so bad that they reverted back to the circular logo that they currently have now. Here is the Fisherman logo that they used from 1995 to 1997:
No matter which direction the Islanders go, it seems, they can't figure out a way to mix blue and orange and come up with something that looks good. Hopefully they'll wise up and try a different color combination.

Ranking the Five Worst Logos in Hockey: #5

So one of the reasons hockey is my favorite team sport is that the logos are so much better than they are in any other team sport. The sweater allows the logo to be prominently displayed, so it is important that a team has an appealing logo. Over the next few weeks, I will be ranking my favorite five, and my least favorite five logos. Just because a team makes the list, it does not reflect how much I like the team or not. I am basing this solely off the logo design. I will start with my least favorite logos beginning with the fifth worst (#1 being the absolute worst) logo which goes to...

Buffalo Sabres



The Sabres logo is one of my least favorite logos in the NHL because of one factor: it looks like a yellow slug. I realize that upon further study, it is obvious that it is a buffalo and not a slug, but that brings me to my next point: you would never know that Buffalo were the Sabres from that logo. Nowhere on the logo do I see any reference to a curved sword. The logo is more geared towards the city in which the team plays, rather than their mascot (which is what the other 29 teams in the NHL try to depict with their logo). The Sabres had a nice mix of their city and their mascot with their original logo:
I don't know why they completely went away from the Sabre when they changed their colors back to blue and yellow.

Banners and Such for Your Blog

So I dunno if you guys like the photoshop job I did for my banner (I'm kinda partial to it) but I enjoy playing around with photoshop, and if you would like me to make something for your blog, I would be happy to help. I would need you to send me the pictures you want me to use and a description of what you want. So yea, let me know if you're interested.

R.I.P. George Carlin

So sad to see you go, thanks for making us laugh for the past few decades.

The Owners of the Country (NSFW)

Malkin Back to Russia?

TSN reports that a Russian Super League team has offered Evgeni Malkin an untaxed $12.5 million contract (the equivalent of a $15 million contract in the NHL) to leave the Penguins and come back to Russia to play. The funny thing is that Gary Bettman is complaining that Malkin is under contract and new offers shouldn't be allowed to be made to him until the expiration of his current contract. Wait a second Gary, didn't the Penguins steal Malkin away from his Russian team when he still had a year left on his contract there? I wouldn't expect you to remember that though because you do live in your own little world. I suggest the NHL offers the Russian team Cindy, Malkin and Bettman for nothing and call it even. That way everyone wins, the NHL gets a new commish (maybe one that hasn't ruined the game) and all the fans get to stop putting up with all the worship that is lauded on the shoulders of Crosby and Malkin. Bettman is happy because he gets to see his vision fulfilled: a league that worships the ground that he and Crosby walk on. I see no reason not to make this happen... for the love of god get it done!

2008 NHL Entry Draft Update

The Flyers traded R.J. Umberger and a fourth round draft pick to Columbus for their first and third round draft choices. What a steal for the Flyers. I loved Umberger, but the rest of the league has him over-valued. This will also help pave the way for Claude Giroux to make the team next year. So thank you R.J. for your service to the Flyers, you always gave it your all, it's only fitting that your trade will further benefit the Flyers. We'll miss you though.

The Flyers ended up drafting defenseman Luca Sbisa who played for Lethbridge of the WHL. Versus compared him to Thomas Kaberle, who was a defenseman the Flyers have tried to acquire several times over the years, so they finally got their guy...

In a continuing mission to upgrade their blue-line, the Flyers shipped their second first round choice to Washington for defenseman Steve Eminger. That is the second defenseman they have traded for this offseason, so the Flyers should have a very different look in their top six come October.

Also, what do you think of the new banner for the site? It's not what I originally wanted, but I think it looks good.

Flyers 2007-2008 Highlight Video

So this is actually a great video of the Flyers 2007-2008 campaign. Kudos to the first person who can tell me what is conspicuously absent from the video.

Rule Changes for the 2008-2009 Season

The NHL board of governors recently adopted three rule changes for the upcoming 2008-2009 NHL season. The focus of these rule mainly regarded the placement of face-offs following the whistle in certain situations.

The first change is to rule 76.2, which determines the face-off position after a penalty is called. It used to be that when the team about to be penalized touched the puck, the ensuing face-off would take place in the closest face-off circle as long as it wasn't in their offensive zone. The rule now states that the first face-off of a powerplay will take place inside the penalized team's defensive zone, no matter where they touched the puck. I do not like this rule change because I feel like it's extremely unfair to the penalized team. Yes, they did just commit a penalty, but the team going on the powerplay already has enough of an advantage, they don't need one more offensive zone draw. The rule is also not clear on what happens if the touch up is on an icing call. Which face-off takes precedence? The new rule or the icing?

The second rule that was changed dealt with the way icings are handled. For years commentators have talked about how dangerous it is for two players to go racing full tilt for the puck. One of the Minnesota Wild defensemen actually broke his leg on a play like this in March. Rule 81.1 now says that any contact between two players going for an icing is only allowed if they are going for the puck. Any dangerous or unnecessary hits are now subject to penalties. The idea of the no-touch icing was tossed around, but it got no real support. This is a rule I like, it's being put in place to try and protect the players and it shouldn't have that much effect on the flow of the game, which is nice. So I applaud this change to the rulebook.

The final rule that has been changed is 85.5. It used to be that if the attacking team shot the puck and it deflected off the post or crossbar and into the crowd, the ensuing face-off would be moved outside of the zone. However, now if this happens, the face-off will remain inside the zone. I'm not a big fan of this change either. Why should a player be rewarded for missing the net? It's not the defending team's fault that the shooter cannot hit the goalie with his shot, so why should they be punished for that?

Anyways, so there is a quick rundown of the rule changes that we will be seeing next year... any questions?

Gary Bettman vs. New York Rangers

So the New York Rangers and Gary Bettman are butting heads over the Rangers' website. The group that owns the Rangers, Madison Square Garden L.P. does not like that the NHL wants to take full control of their website, and I don't blame them. Bettman and the NHL have responded with a threat to remove them from ownership if they don't comply with the NHL on this issue. Bettman has asked a judge to declare that the ownership has breached their contract by challenging the rules of the NHL, while the Garden has said that they will not put up with Bettman's "bullying tactics". MSG ownership took the case to court the day before the NHL began pressing $100,000 a day fines for the Rangers' lack of compliance.

On one hand, I'd love to see the Rangers' ownership forced out because I personally can't stand the Rangers and it's always nice to see a rival go down in flames. On the other hand, I operate under the belief that Bettman knows nothing about managing the NHL and needs to go move to some remote island so the sport can be fixed. So I have to side with the Rangers on this one, Bettman needs to back off. Besides, if Bettman and the NHL win this battle and removes the Rangers ownership, it sets a scary precedent: Comply with all of the NHL's wishes or you're gone. It gives too much power to the NHL to enact new rules and get rid of the people that cross them. Today the Rangers... tomorrow the Flyers? You never know, so I hope Bettman gets his hand slapped by a judge and the Rangers are allowed to continue as normal.

Read the article here.

Welcome

Well I'm launching my own hockey blog. I'll still post about other sports over at Stu's Eye, but I wanted my own separate hockey blog. So from now on, to talk hockey with me, slide on over here. Anyways, I have a few articles in the works that I'm hoping to get out this weekend, so look for something new soon.

Coming Soon...

Coming soon to this blog: Hockey analysis with a Flyers bias