Video Hockey - NHL '97 Trade Analysis

You can read my analysis of the Wild's trade in the previous post. But here's some reading you just can't miss. The people over at Teapot Dome Scandal have done a thorough analysis of some of the recent trades in the NHL. If you're a fan of the EA Sports video hockey series for Sega, you really need to read this. Here's a teaser:

"I'm not sure what the big deal was about San Jose picking up Bill Guerin. The guy's a 73 Overall, which is more or less Nelson Emerson / Paul Ysebart territory, plus his alarming 66 Endurance really calls into question his commitment to conditioning. Which I imagine occurs while the system is turned off."

Indeed.

Ivy Leaguers? Really? Really???

The NHL trade deadline came and went today. Some notable players were available: Bill Guerin, Todd Bertuzzi, Gary Roberts, and others. So who did the Wild pick up? Dominic Moore, from the Penguins. That's him in blue in the pic above. Presumably, Todd White took him down. (Also, Todd White is 5'8" about 150).

If you don't know who the hell this guy is, don't worry I'm pretty sure no one in the state of Minnesota knows about him either. Although, apparently he's ranked 11th on Harvard's all-time scoring list. So that's great. We've got Harvard's 11th all-time leading scorer. Now we're well on our way to a Cup parading down Nicollet Mall. Maybe next year we'll pick up a Dartmouth guy who's ranked 15th in all-time penalty minutes, because that would really put the fear of God into our opponents. Shit.

Case in point, here's a clip from the Star Tribune article on the trade:

"Because he pays little attention to Eastern Conference teams, coach Jacques Lemaire admittedly knows "nothing" about Moore, saying even assistant coach Mario Tremblay said, "Who?" when told of the deal."

Read the rest of the story here.

The Wild gave up a 3rd round pick for this guy. Honestly, was it even worth the time, energy, and money spent by dozens of people to get this deal done? Was it? The answer, no. No way. If somehow this guy scores the game 7 winner the Cup Finals, I'll, I'll...sit on my balls for an hour. Really.

NHL Celebs Part Two

Awhile ago, I wrote about how the NHL needs to attract more A-list celebs to its games. Well, apparently, the NHL was way ahead of me on this. An article in the Wall Street Journal from April, 2006 details how the NHL has been courting celebrities, offering VIP tickets to games and such things. Judging by this excerpt, I don't think it's going too well:

As the race for the Stanley Cup heats up, the NHL is trying various ways to raise its profile -- and erase memories of last year, when a labor dispute canceled the season. Taking a page from basketball, the league is on a mission to get celebrities in the stands where they can see and be seen.

It isn't always easy. The league wooed Steve Carell, the star of NBC's "The Office," and fellow cast members to show up at a game. Mr. Carell declined; the NHL wound up with the supporting actress who plays Jan, along with two other co-stars. To tempt George Clooney, the NHL sent a VIP pass to any playoff game anywhere. Mr. Clooney's representative says "he's strictly a basketball, baseball and football guy," and in any case hasn't received the pass. (The NHL says some passes are still en route.)
Check out the rest of the article.

Okay, two things. First, Steve Carell is a pretty big star. Too bad he wouldn't go. Also, too bad "the supporting actress playing Jan" went nameless in the article. She's not even star-enough to be named in the article?!?! But I'm sure she caused a stir at the game she attended. I can just hear fans whispering to one another, "Who's that?" "Oh, that's the supporting actress who plays Jan on the 'The Office.'" "Oh. Right." Now that's star power. It's like the NHL just gave up when Steve Carell said no thanks and left the tickets at the set for anyone to pick up. The league is lucky a couple of lighting technicians didn't show up.

Second, George Clooney hates hockey. Basically, what his rep was saying is that George likes all the other sports, just not hockey. So that's great. One of the world's biggest stars hates hockey. I guess we have to be content with Lil Jon.

"Riding his stick like a horse..."

This has to be in the running for best hockey story of the year. If you're too good to click my links, here's a teaser:

"Mickey Meyer rode his stick like a horse, dropped his bulky pants, mooned the crowd and slapped his buttocks during a game against Brigham Young University, police said."

So far, I haven't been able to find video of the excitement. Would love to post it if anyone has a copy. Another example of why hockey is the greatest sport on this planet.

Also, did I mention this guy is one of the best players in the NHL. And who says the NHL doesn't have marketable players?

They're just scrappin'!

Well, if you watch hockey you certainly saw arguably the best bench-clearing brawl of the year last night. It was...excellent. The clip above does a good job describing the details of what went down and how it started. Please note Chris Drury's bleeding head, probably the best indication of why it started. Let's give some credit to Drew Stafford (Fighting Sioux alum) for immediately dropping the gloves with Neil after the hit on Chris Drury. Drew Stafford - um, we learned is not a fighter, as Neil immediately pulled the jersey over his head and punched him in the face a couple times. But, he came back and got the shootout game winner. Nice.

P.S. These two teams play again tomorrow night. That will be interesting.

The Wild and Sub Sandwiches

In a great game last night, the Wild won on a shootout goal by Mikko Koivu. That link won't show you the actual goal, but it's pretty much the same thing. Unfortunately, the big win over the Stars was overshadowed by this quote from Mike Greenlay, Wild tv analyst:

"He delivered that (hit) like a big ol' sub sandwich!!! [Pause] I don't even know what that means."

Okay Mike, settle down. I can just see Mike's partner in the booth sliding him a note, "STOP TALKING! YOU'RE RUINING IT! ARE YOU HUNGRY OR SOMETHING???"

Also, my dreams of a Stanley Cup parade down Nicollet Mall are pinned on this guy. Seriously, you'll really regret it if you don't click that link.

Another Tip for the NHL

The Wild play another big game at home tonight against Dallas. (I should stop saying that, because at this point they're all big games.) Gaborik and Demitra have been pretty much unstoppable for the last 10 games. Here's a quote from Brian Rolston about making sure other guys are contributing:

"We'll be just fine. Gabby and Pav have been going for a long time here. But I agree we need to get goals from other places. I don't think Butch and me are doing a terrible job, but obviously we need to get scoring again, there's no question."

Okay, so here's my beef. What's with the nicknames??? Read that again. Gabby, Pav, and Butch!?!? Three nicknames in three sentences. You rarely here nicknames tossed around in interviews from athletes in other sports. I'm convinced this is a hockey thing. And it needs to stop. Rolston, you're giving an interview. Try to pretend you're not sitting in a bar talking hockey. It's a good thing if people know the names of the players. It is. Really. Can we start acting like a legit professional sports league now? Can we? Please? I blame Gary Bettman and Russians.