Dear Lord Stanley...

June 8, 2007

Paris Hilton Is The Most Important Person In The World

How could I not jump into the "All Paris, All The Time" news orgy going on right now? I don't really have anything of substance to add to the hilarious legal clusterf-ck that is her life right now, or the emotional disaster that being subjected to actual reality has made her, but maybe I'll score some Google search hits with these dated but still-amazing photos of her helping Jose Theodore ruin his personal life.

That's really what it's all about. The more unique visitors the better!

Funny, that's also the official policy of Paris Hilton's sex life...zing!

UPDATE (6/9/07): It seems Paris, god bless her, has even single-handedly shoved the Stanley Cup-winning Ducks out of the Los Angeles media spotlight, which they got to enjoy for a whole day. Not that a local "bear on the highway" story couldn't do the same, of course.

Hockey Bloggers Write About Hockey

The Stanley Cup Finals are over. The dust has settled and the Anaheim Ducks have waddled away with the best trophy in professional sports.

For your enjoyment, I'll roundup the partisan celebrations and obituaries:

Earl Sleek at the Battle of California's initial reaction is to get extremely drunk, but then sobers up long enough to pat his team on the back for finally not choking.

His colleague Rudy Kelly offers the perspective of someone on the complete opposite side of the Winner/Loser spectrum---that of a Kings fan.

Anaheim Duck Fan brings to us the many happy words of the Cup winners themselves. And Girl With A Puck adds photos of the champions.

As for the other side, the Senators, a collective stiff upper lip among the few and the proud that call Ottawa their favorite team.

The Battle of Ontario lists what the Sens have going for them, despite "not winning anything" by losing in the Cup Finals. Uh, I know for a fact that they won the Prince Of Wales trophy, and that's not too shabby. AND they crushed the collective dreams of everyone in Buffalo. You can't put a price on that.

DLS-favorite Sherry over at Scarlett Ice has been on an emotional roller coaster since the Senators dropped game one of the finals. Her initial reaction to the series and the loss of her team follows that theme pretty well. She's a good sport, though.

Five For Smiting has a bit of an existential meltdown. And finally, Kyle at Sens Army Blog takes the role of movie critic and starts throwing his thumbs at things.

Now, enough of the Cup and actual hockey. Time to worry about contracts and money---the offseason is here baby!

June 7, 2007

Crybaby Watch™: Cox Wishes They Were Bigger

Not exactly sure how I missed this a couple of days ago, but Damien Cox on ESPN.com has cast his vote for the the same silly gimmick oft-proposed by otherwise-heroic colleague John Buccigross.

The premise: goal scoring is down. The subtext: the more goals scored the better.

Cox blames defense first, which of course has become absolutely stifling in the past few seasons. He also cites the obvious:

By the late 1980s and early 1990s, however, all goaltending equipment was being revolutionized by new materials and ideas. While the size of goal pads had always been regulated, most of the rest of goaltending gear hadn't. Quite naturally, that motivated many to go bigger. And bigger.

The result was that, by the late 1990s, the available shooting area had shrunk drastically from the 1960s to the modern era.

So, the two reasons goal scoring is down are 1) defensive dominance and 2) bloated goalies. Obviously, the only solution is to make the goals bigger!

I'm no genius, but wouldn't it be easier just to tell the goalies "enough of the crap, you sissies" and draw up strict rules for their equipment sizing? It's not like that technology hasn't advanced by leaps and bounds in recent years. Thin is in. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the NHL would be much better if Martin Brodeur looked more like Ken Dryden.

Scott Burnside Finally Gets Something Right

It's no secret that DLS isn't a big fan of ESPN.com hockey columnist Scott Burnside. We've definitely had our differences in the past. But, as part of his "memorable moments of the playoffs" article today, he includes a jab at the favorite target of every Avs fan: Detroit.

As for the place that likes to call itself Hockeytown, Detroit, they should be forced to loan that title to Buffalo after failing to sell out a single home date during the playoffs. Guess that's what you get for driving up your playoff ticket prices when the local economy is in the tank.

Finally he gets something right.

So what if the Avs didn't make the playoffs this season? The Wings ultimately lost in the Western finals anyway so all their hard work got them nothing. The Avs, in the meantime, got to rest an extra month and a half and work on their golf swings. I'd say Colorado got the better end of that deal.

PS - You don't think I'd actually waste more space talking about the stupid Ducks, did you?

Santa Claus Leads Water Fowl To First Stanley Cup Victory

photo courtesy Getty Images

The Anaheim Ducks did what many a hockey pundit predicted they would do back when the season began: they won the Stanley Cup. The Mighty Senators Of Ottawa played well all year and crushed their playoff opponents, but just couldn't seal the deal in the final series. Now, for the first time ever, the Cup is going to California.

How did the Ducks do it? Through a combination of good sportsmanship, clean play, and a classy demeanor on the ice at all times. It's always good to see that.

As for individual players, Scott and Rob Niedermayer get to take the Cup home to mom together, and now Rob might be included in the will. No more suffering in Scotty's shadow. No sir.

Oh, and everybody loves Chris Pronger, so his hoisting of the Cup will forever be a cherished moment in NHL history. ..

June 6, 2007

Avs Beat Writer Adrian Dater Wastes Shares His Time With DLS

Six months have now passed since the release of Denver Post writer Adrian Dater's excellent book Blood Feud, a summary of the once-infamous, now-defunct Avalance/Dead Wings rivalry of the mid 1990s. I read it and enjoyed it, and the reviews have been generally positive.

Adrian took some time out of his busy schedule covering the Stanley Cup Finals in Ottawa for the Post to sit down with Dear Lord Stanley (I assume he sits while typing). What follows are his thoughts on writing the book, the future of rivalries in the NHL and the sometimes-heated relationship between bloggers and trained journalists.

Dear Lord Stanley (DLS): Describe your overall experience writing Blood Feud. It is your first book, correct? Was the process as painful as many first-time authors describe?

Adrian Dater (AD): No, it wasn't too bad for me. I enjoyed writing it, as most of it was from my own memory of things. But obviously I did a lot of interviews for it, and went back into the library and dug up a lot of old newspaper stories, and researched a lot of other things about the two cities. There were times when I struggled over certain areas, but mostly it was a pretty smooth process for me. I'd just take a couple hours a day for a few months and crank it out.

DLS: Which areas did you struggle over specifically? Any particular reason why those areas were more difficult to complete?

AD: I guess there's no real subject where I struggled, as much as what I was saying there were times when the writing was a little tougher on certain days or times. I wrote some of this book while doing my "day" job of covering the Avs, so it got a little stressful at times. And then the publisher pushed the deadline up on me by about a month, which rushed things a bit. I guess one of my struggles was how to start out the book. Should I lead off with the Draper hit, which I did? Or what about the March 26 game? Or, maybe some other big game? In the end, I think I made the right call, going with the hit on Draper as where to begin the story.

DLS: You've said in an earlier interview that Patrick Roy and Marc Crawford declined to speak about the Wings-Avs rivalry. Did you have trouble convincing anyone else to share their memories?

AD: Roy and Crawford claimed they were too busy to talk, and that's too bad because obviously their insights would have made it a better book. I covered those guys for many years with the Post, and we had a few run-ins over the years - some of which I document in the book. So, they might have been worried I was going to do a hatchet job on them or something, I don't know. I don't think I did, but I presented a couple of warts on the lives and careers of both men. Most of the other people that I really wanted to talk to for the book, I got. I never talked to Steve Yzerman, however, but let's face it, Stevie Y. was never much of a talker anyway. Most everybody was happy to talk, although it took a long time to get Kris Draper to open up.

DLS: Of those you interviewed for the book, whose recollections were the most enlightening?

AD: I'd have to go with Mike Vernon's. I thought he was very insightful on the night of the March 26, 1997 game, of which I dedicated a whole chapter about. Scotty Bowman was very good, and was kind enough to write the foreword to the book. I had a really good, long talk with Darren McCarty, too, and got some good insight into his family background (most people didn't realize that Craig McCarty was not his biological father). It was good to talk to people like Brendan Shanahan, Kenny Holland and Jimmy Devellano, too. The Wings were all very accommodating to me. It was some of the Avs I had trouble with!

DLS: Did any of the Wings ever express concern---at least initially---that you, being an Avs beat writer for the Post, would write a biased book?

AD: They didn't say that specifically, but I did kind of go out of my way to reassure them that it would be a balanced book, and that it would not be a one-sided book on behalf of the Avs. I think Scotty Bowman was a little concerned at first, but it wasn't long before he opened up. Same with Kris Draper. He was the last interview I did for the book - but he starts off the whole story. So, it was worrisome for a while with him.

DLS: Your book has been out for six months now, and has been fairly well-received among fans and hockey bloggers. The reviews on Amazon.com have been generally very positive. What has been the reaction among your colleagues in the press? Has Blood Feud been successful in your mind?

AD: Yeah, most people seem to like the book, and that's been nice. The players who have read it liked it, too, including Joe Sakic. Adam Foote thought I had a little too much of the Wings' perspective in it, actually, but he liked it. I'm a tough critic of myself, so of course I'm actually kind of sick of it. I also have a couple of errors in it, which bug me to no end. I got the name of the Detroit Free Press sports editor wrong, and also got wrong the name of the paper that Chuck Carlton used to write for when he covered the Wings. That pisses me off to no end, but if there's another edition, we'll get them fixed. But overall, I think I accomplished what I set out to do with the book, which was give a detailed, historical and inside account of a great, great sports rivalry. So, that makes it a success to me.

DLS: If you were to write Blood Feud again, what would you do differently? Is there anything you included that you would omit in hindsight, or vice versa?

AD: I probably would have had more on Pierre Lacroix if I had to do it over again. He's a fascinating character, but there's not a whole lot on his personality in the book. Part of the reason is that he was still the GM of the Avalanche when I was writing it, and my paper - which I needed permission from to be able to write the book - didn't want me writing too much about people I still might have to cover on a daily basis, for conflict-of-interest reasons. But then he retired as GM soon after the book was done. So, I wish he'd done that a little sooner. I probably would have had a whole chapter just on him. Getting more from Patrick Roy would be something I'd want, and maybe more on Stevie Y. If I were to omit anything, I might omit the page or so I spent detailing the departure of Eric Lacroix from the Avalanche. I thought hard about whether to keep it in the book, and decided to do so in the end, only because that was part of a crazy, crazy year for the Avs. But I know it was a bit painful for Pierre Lacroix to see that about his son in a book. Then again, it happened, it's part of history and you can't always ignore things just to spare peoples' feelings.

DLS: It is generally accepted that the Red Wings-Avalanche rivalry is now dead. Do you think, in this day and age considering the "new" NHL and the declining influence of newspapers, that a rivalry such as that will ever be possible again?

AD: That's a good question, and tough to say. The media is so big and vast now, that having the kind of rivalry where two newspapers are going at it back and forth from different cities might be unrealistic. They might get lost in the shuffle, their voices drowned out by their own 24-hour websites and the millions of other babbling baboons on sports TV and talk radio, along with bloggers and the like (no offense). But I do think that a vicious and great rivalry is still very much possible. All it takes is two very good teams going for a top prize, and you've always got that potential. And we've seen, with the Colorado-Detroit rivalry, that the cities don't have to be close together geographically or even in the same division. As long as they keep meeting in the playoffs, as they did, it's possible.

DLS: There seems to be a growing debate among traditional newspaper journalists and up-and-coming sports bloggers about who should have access to the press boxes of major league teams. Teams like the Capitals have already granted access to several blogs. Teams like Ottawa have rejected them wholesale. Do you think some bloggers have a place alongside beat reporters when it comes to covering sporting events? Or do you believe bloggers should be excluded from press boxes and locker rooms?

AD: That's another tough question, and one that was actually talked about quite a bit at the Stanley Cup Finals among all the "mainstream" media. I think I'm on the side of anybody getting a credential who diligently "covers" a sport, and that means someone who travels to different cities to do it. That creates a problem perhaps to many bloggers, but to me, if you're going to get a real credential in the press box to a real big-league event, you've got to put in the hours, the time and the money getting the job done - not just sitting in your underwear and delivering sermons from the mount. To me, there are starting to become too many self-proclaimed "experts" in this business who like to think of themselves as serious journalists who deserve credentials to all the big events, but too many of them have never really done the job. But if you have a blog that has an established proof of very high popularity, and if you are totally dedicated to the sport and want to be at a game to do a better job, then I'm OK with that.

DLS: Finally, in your completely non-biased, journalistic opinion, who won the fight between Patrick Roy and Mike Vernon?

AD: Hmmm, tough one, but I'd probably give a slight edge to Vernon. He opened a cut to Roy with a suprise left hook, and won the wrestling match. Roy landed more actual punches, though, and nearly ended the fight early on with a big right hand that staggered Vernie.

June 5, 2007

Elisha Cuthbert Likes It Rough

Elisha Cuthbert, currently the chronic female companion of Sean Avery, made an appearance last night on Late Night With Conan O'Brien to promote her new movie Captivity. In addition to the usual mindless fare of celebrity interviews, Cuthbert took a moment to comment on fighting in hockey; namely, her boyfriend's supposed talent at it.

In addition to claiming that Sean Avery can fight, Cuthbert also called out players that don't fight, calling them, in her words, "a word that rhymes with wussy."

Now, the ability or inability of Sean "The Nicest Guy In Hockey" Avery to fight is for others to debate. Here at DLS, we play nice. But to send your hot, hot girlfriend on TV to pump your image as a tough guy when you only fought four times in the entire regular season just doesn't strike me as all that convincing, you know?

But yeah, she's totally hot. So whatever.

Sens Decide They Don't Want The Cup After All

Despite their heroic efforts to win game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals two days before, and the absence of vertically-gifted Ducks defender Chris Pronger, the Senators decided they didn't really want to win the Stanley Cup after all and dropped game 4 with a score of 3-2.

Things started off well, with Ottawa out-shooting Anaheim 13-2 in the first period, but they only scored one goal and subsequently allowed Andy McDonald's neck to score twice for the Ducks in the second. Anaheim outshot the Sens 13-4 in that one. Later on, Dany Heatley remembered how to play hockey just long enough to tie the game at two goals each, but Dustin Penner (who?) got some help from Teemu Selanne and McDonald to score a gorgeous one-timer on the edge of the crease (the game-winner) just four minutes into the third. The game may as well have ended at that point.

Of note was an incident involving Sens captain Daniel Alfredsson, who shot the puck directly at Ducks captain Scott Niedermayer as the horn rang to end the second period. The puck bounced harmlessly off of the Duck (they don't absorb water, either) but tempers flared after that. Despite the natural protection offered by his human beard shield, Niedermayer went after Alfie and tried to rough up the dirty foreigner for his transgression. No one was actually injured in the end.

The series now returns to Anaheim, where the Ducks will likely finish off the Senators and claim the third Stanley Cup in a row for the Sun Belt states. Only Gary Bettman and the 27 fans of the Ducks will be happy with that.

June 4, 2007

Hot Hockey Prospect Man Meat

The NHL Draft is coming up, and the top prospects are being put through their paces in the annual combine. On June 22-23, they'll be picked by the teams in Columbus, OH and then begin what could be a long, frustrating minor league career. Or they'll finish college, or maybe even play in the NHL someday. It's all up in the air with draft picks---they're so unpredictable.

But if stat sheets and scout summaries just don't fulfill your raw lust for sweet hockey prospect ass, look no further than the Edmonton Oilers website. Now, for the first time, you can download and watch the NHL Central Scouting's videos of each top player for yourself! Oh baby, grab some popcorn or maybe some tissues, because this is going to be a long night!

(via On Frozen Blog)

Dead Rivaly Punching Bag: DLS On The Radio

With the ten-year anniversary of the infamous "Brawl In Hockeytown" just passed and the Stanley Cup Finals ongoing, the NPR show Weekend America decided to run a short piece on the once-great Avalanche/Dead Wings rivalry and role of fighting in the game. Christy from Behind The Jersey and I were interviewed and the five-minute segment ran this past weekend.

Listen here (real audio).

They did a pretty good job with it, I think, but the use of more audio from the fights themselves would have been better. I can't believe they left out the one bit of sound I remember the most from the brawl:

"Vernon and Roy!! Mike Vernon with a great left!! Follows up with the right!"

Though the numerous right-handers thrown by St. Patrick were completely ignored, the call of that fight is one of my favorites in all of hockey. I wish the show had included that small bit. Overall a good job, though.

I'm also glad I didn't sound like an idiot (too much), especially since the Avs didn't exactly come out of that game the winners (physically or score-wise). I wasn't exactly speaking from a position of strength as the fan of the losers, you know? And thankfully they included my "Lemieux was sucker-punched" point, which I was afraid they'd leave out.

At any rate, I had fun. Doing a radio interview is a unique experience, and it's always nice to play a part in promoting the sport to an audience (NPR listeners) that probably doesn't own too many team sweaters, you know?

UPDATE (6/9/07): Christy has posted her own take on the experience.

June 3, 2007

Pronger Suspension: A Major Blow For Head-Elbow Relations?

Despite Chris Pronger's best efforts to help his elbow become better acquainted with the heads of his opponents, the NHL decided to suspend him for game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals. The reason? Dean McAmmond's selfish refusal to be over six feet tall. It's not Chris Pronger's fault that his elbows are naturally seven feet off the ground, or his fault that other player's heads keep getting in the way of them. He was just finishing his check. Sure, it might have been an illegal check, but he was just finishing it. Can't blame a guy for that, right?

No word yet on the impact the suspension will have on ongoing skull/elbow peace talks, but the Ducks should be fine regardless. They beat Detroit the last time Pronger got suspended for being too tall---the Western Conference Finals. Three weeks ago.

This is just more evidence that the NHL's recent rule change to crack down on players with a natural height advantage is working.

Representative Government Defeats Water Fowl 5-3

photo courtesy Paul Chiasson/AP

It seems we may actually have a series after all. Despite the long odds against recovering from a 2-0 deficit in a Stanley Cup Finals series, the Senators struck back hard against the Ducks in a game filled with controversy, animosity, and the playing of hockey. Lots of hockey.

Daniel Alfredsson finally scored for Ottawa, but had to use a lucky bounce off his skate to do it. Some would say he kicked it. Toronto says they're wrong, so shut up. And in other controversial news, Chris Pronger will probably be suspended AGAIN for a nasty elbow to Dean McAmmond's head in the third period. But before he went off to the land of chronic headaches and ammonia sniffers, McAmmond scored the game winner at 18:34 in the second by bouncing the puck off of Pronger and into the net. I wonder if that had something to do with the hit...

The teams face each other again in Ottawa on Monday, where the Senators will once again try to defy their almost certain defeat at the hands (wings?) of small, waterproof birds.

June 2, 2007

New Month, New Look

I've decided to significantly upgrade the layout of DLS. I have also totally sold out, having signed up for Google AdSense, which ~~should~~ will start displaying ads in the left-hand column ~~within a few days~~ today. While I may now be a corporate shill, I will be a shill with an appreciation for fine blogging aesthetics, and will never allow ads to be displayed within the actual content column in the center of the screen. I hate blogs that do that.

One cool new feature I've added in the brand-spanking-new column on the left is a news ticker that feeds Avalanche- and NHL-related stories via Google News. How about that? Fancy, huh?

Anyway, hope you enjoy.

June 1, 2007

Trade Bait Or Future Star?

The Avalanche today announced the signing of Czech league superstar Jaroslav Hlinka. Despite being 30, Hlinka is super-fast and super-strong on the puck, and is a prolific scorer. The only problem: the Avalanche club has about as many forwards as it can handle.

The only possible explanations for the signing are: 1) Hlinka, being older, would immediately fill an opening in the top two lines along with Paul Stastny or Joe Sakic, easing the pressure on young winger Wojtek Wolski; 2) Hlinka, being older, would be a great bargaining chip in a trade for a big-name defenseman and prevent the Avs from trading away a young player still in development in the team's system; 3) The Avs just figure you can never have too many scoring forwards---a la 2003-04 (even though that didn't work out too well).

At any rate, the addition of Hlinka can't be a bad thing for the Avalanche. Unless of course they're paying him $6 million to sit on the bench...

Dance Monkey! Dance!

It's that time of year again: the NHL is now holding its annual Draft Combine to test the physical and mental abilities of the young players eligible for this year's entry draft. Top prospects from North America and elsewhere have converged in Toronto to perform once more for the league's top scouts.

TSN.ca is keeping a diary, starting today. They also have a quick video report available on the site.

Some interesting tidbits so far:

--Jakub Voracek, a sure-fire first-rounder who weighs around 190, struggled to bench press 150 pounds. Looks like he won't be putting any brutal body checks on anybody soon.

--Stefan Legein, ranked 13th by NHL Central Scouting, won the fastest skater competition.

--And surprising to no one, defensive giant Alex Plante is dominating in the strength categories. He better, since he's 6-3 and 225 pounds. Maybe that will make up for his lousy skating.

--Finally, Akim Aliu may speak Russian---to everyone's surprise---but he's got the worst hair ever. Watch the video and see what I mean.

And speaking of prospects, NHL.com is running profiles of a few top prospects, including one yesterday of Tommy Cross, a young defenseman from Connecticut, who could be on the Avalanche radar come draft day. He's committed to playing for Boston College next year.

And if you just can't get enough of all this prime young man-meat, NHL.com has set up blogs for a number of the prospects expected to go high in the draft on June 22-23. Read along and enjoy as a bunch of hockey jocks struggle with the written word. Fun!

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