Door Open For a Third Party Candidate in NL Wildcard Race

The National League wildcard may be the last real playoff race left in Major League Baseball, and it figures to be an exciting one because it looks like a race that none of the favorites really seems quite good enough to win. Coming into September, the race appeared to be between Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and the New York Mets, and it now appears entirely possible that none of those teams may end up in the Wildcard spot. The Phillies have won five straight, and with the Mets Faltering, appear to be the favorites to win the NL East. The Brewers appear to be struggling to stay in the race, with a 3-12 record in September, and they showed the urgency of their situation with their surprise firing of manager Ned Yost monday. It may be too late to turn the Brewers’ ship around with the uncertainty of a new manager, and five of their last eleven games coming against the Chicago Cubs, who have been a nightmare for the Brewers all season. The Mets can hardly be considered a strong favourite either, having lost four of their last five, and with absolutely no one in the baseball world forgetting their collapse out of the playoff picture last September.

With the Mets and Brewers showing their weaknesses, and both teams’ September shortcomings of a year ago still fresh in our memories, the door may have opened for a sleeper pick to emerge. A well timed hot streak may allow the Houston Astros – out of the playoff picture all season until very recently – to pull ahead of the pre-season playoff favourites and into the franchise’s third National League Wildcard spot since 2004.

Houston has been one of baseball’s hottest second-half teams, and must now be considered in the NL Wildcard picture at only three games out, with twelve left to play. The Astros are a late entrant to the playoff picture, and got there on the strength of winning 21 games in August, and winning 15 of 16 between August 27 and September 14. That streak came to a halt in two hurricane-displaced “home” games versus Chicago in front of a Cubs-partisan crowd in Milwaukee, in which the lineup combined for a total of one hit.

The Astros still remain a factor because in their twelve remaining games, nine are against teams with records well below .500 (Pittsburgh, Cincinnatti, and Atlanta); and their final seven games of the schedule will be played at home. Houston has struggled offensively of late, scoring only two runs in their past three games, but should get a needed offensive boost with Ty Wigginton, and Kazuo Matsui both expected to return from injuries soon. Wigginton has been out of the lineup since September 7th with a groin injury, and the Astros have struggled to score runs in his absence. Wigginton was an important part of the team’s offensive success in August, hitting 12 home runs in the month. While a hot streak like that may be difficult to repeat, Wigginton’s bat will still surely spark the Astros’ slumping lineup upon its return, and Matsui may offer similar help with his return to the top of the batting order.

The Astros have had a tough three games, but have definitely earned their place in the NL Playoff picture. The returning pieces of their lineup, and the team’s return to Minute Maid Park should certainly help the Astros return to form. The Astros still have 12 games left to decide whether or not they can become this year’s Colorado Rockies (and if the Mets and Brewers can become this year’s New York Mets and Milwaukee Brewers). If nothing else, they’ve helped make things interesting, and given a reason to stay tuned to Houstonians, and lovers of the underdog alike.

I’ve hit the big time – I’m on ebay now!

There’s five free listings this week for ebay.ca users. I have nothing worthwhile to sell, so I decided to sell the American League East Division Title instead. If you own the Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees, I’m looking at you to go to this auction right now, and ensure that I never have to work another day in my life!… I’m more than happy to accept bids from players as well… Throughout the division, there’s someone on every team with a vested interest in paying millions for this thing.

… Alex Rodriguez – put your bid in, and maybe the Yankee fans will like you! I bet they’d even build a statue of you out of their discarded, burnt Derek Jeter jerseys – come on, A-Rod, hook me up and buy that title! I promise I’ll be your friend!

… Manny Ramirez, this is a contract year for you, so you know how important it is to make a valuable contribution! If you single-handedly win the division, your contract will make Donald Trump and Bill Gates look like homeless people digging through the garbage for discarded pizza crust!

… A.J. Burnett, if you make the Blue Jays a division champion, no one will ever again say you’re a fragile, worthless piece of shit who will never amount to anything in baseball! (or at least I won’t say it anymore)

… Evan Longoria – I know you’re only making AAA money right now, but think of this as an investment – if you prove you can make a contribution like this, you’ll have shown you have something to offer to a baseball team. Which means you’ll be out of the Devil Rays organization in no time!

… Brian Roberts… I don’t know why you’d buy it, but now that Erik Bedard is gone, you’re the only player on the Orioles anyone’s ever heard of; and I’d just like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that you’re on steroids!

The listing

Trash the NHL (all-star edition): Part 2!

“It’s not going to help me much, I’ll tell you that.” – Rod Brind’Amour

As expected, the new jerseys they unveiled were pretty stupid. In case you don’t understand what I just said, let me put in in hockey terms: The new uniform system they unveiled… was pretty stupid. The players don’t like them, and they’re just something more for the league to ram down the throats of its players and fans. They supposedly ‘improve the comfort, speed, and saftey of the players.’ First of all, a shirt made of different material is going to do nothing to improve safety. In fact, in USA Today, Kyle McLaren pointed out that they may in fact do the exact opposite by making a player’s injuries more visible, and painting a bullseye on the injury for opposing players. That same USA Today article points to the decreased weight of the new uniforms. A decrease of 14% – or “more than a six ounce puck in weight.” Let’s assume those scientists really worked overtime, and were able to reduce the weight of the uniform by seven ounces. Zdeno Chara weighs 260 pounds. Or 4,160 ounces. They’ve managed to reduce his weight by 0.0016%. The only place where you can weigh 260 pounds and care that you lost seven ounces is at a Weight Watchers meeting, not in the National Hockey League.

Furthermore, the ’14% weight reduction’ figure strikes me as flawed to begin with. They claim through the “uniform system” – which includes a jersey, socks, and a “core body protector” (a.k.a. hockey pants) – the weight of the uniform is reduced by ‘over six ounces.’ However, a standard hockey jersey and a pair of socks may or may not even weigh six ounces to begin with. Where they seem to have made a great deal of this ‘weight reduction’ is in the new pants. This is flawed for a number of reasons. One being the obvious reason that they’re greatly distorting the truth, and their data by using it in this way. Another is that every year hockey manufacturers make lighter hockey pants, as well as making every other piece of equipment. This is neither revolutionary, nor the sole domain of the NHL and Reebok. But likely the biggest matzah ball that has stained their argument of reducing the uniforms’ weight through the weight of the pants is this: They will require every player in the league to wear the new jerseys and socks, but not the pants. So the only way in which the “uniform system” could possibly make players lighter is the only one that they are not expected to wear, and presumably will choose not to wear.

They will choose not to wear the new pants for a crucial reason, and it is also a crucial reason that the new uniforms are an ill-conceived, heavy-handed cash grab. Hockey players more than anything else, are creatures of habit with their equipment. They by and large do not care if a new piece of equipment makes them 4 degrees cooler at the end of the game, or generates 9% less wind drag in MIT wind-tunnel testing. There are pairs of shoulder pads that will be worn under the new jerseys that are probably older than I am. And this is because above what science tells them, hockey players value their own comfort and personal choice with their equipment. They make a change when they want to, and when they see a new product as being truly to their benefit, and in the case of the “RBK Edge Uniform System” (or “the new hockey sweaters” if you don’t work for the NHL head office) they are not being given that choice.

If these new uniforms actually provided any real, noticeable benefits to the players, they would not need to force them upon them. They could give them the option of the old uniforms or the new ones, and they would just pick the new ones, because they wanted to be dryer, faster, and safer, and could see how the new uniforms did that. But the fact is that I have never heard an NHL player complain that his jersey was too sweaty at the end of the game, that he was getting too much wind resistance, or that he didn’t feel safe with his uniform. The NHL can say this is for the players’ benefit all they want, but it is transparent as can be that this move, like any others the NHL makes, is not for the benefit of its players or its fans, but for the benefit of Reebok’s, and its own bottom line. The real change made by the new “uniform system” will not be felt at ice level, but at the retail level. Where they can sell the “Edge” jersey to fans (whose old jerseys are now obsolete) and to college, high school and minor hockey teams accross North America who want the look and reduced wind drag that the pros enjoy. All at a mere three hundred dollars a pop. My hat goes off to the National Hockey League for the great care it continues to take for the interests of its fans and players.

Anyone know why I haven’t written about the All-Star Game?

Hopefully you could take a wild guess and determine that the answer to that is “because it sucked.” Nothing much to write home about with this year’s edition. And maybe it’s because I hadn’t seen one in so long and the only remaining memories were fond ones, but this year’s NHL all-star game seemed even worse than they usually are for some reason. Every player’s play seemed just that extra little bit less inspired than usual. I had to see it to believe it, but this year I think they actually found a way to turn the intensity down to a new low.

I certainly do not think it would be fair to place the blame for this on any players’ shoulders in particular – they all weren’t trying. But since the all-star game is supposed to be the showcase for the brightest stars of the game, it is to be noted that it may have been the brightest stars of the game who shone the dimmest in Dallas. In what was likely to be the first of many times we saw Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin start the game together, they failed to produce anything spectacular. It was only a shame that they couldn’t have traded Martin Brodeur to the West. I realize the goalies don’t want to pull their groins or anything, but Brodeur’s goals against average is likely the same number that would have come about if they’d just taken his jersey and tied a sleeve to each goalpost. The less said the better about the formerly exciting Young Stars Game. If anyone made more than one hard skating stride in that game, I didn’t see it. I know it’s maybe not an ideal arrangement for the NHL, but this year they were lucky they held the game in the middle of the week, and aired it on Versus. If anybody had actually seen it, they would have risked losing the few remaining American fans they have.

Little known fact about the NHL all-star game: in case your arena burns down or something the day before, they require you to have an NHL-sized backup venue where they can hold the game as planned, despite the terrible earthquake/fire/mudslide that has destroyed your arena. As a result of this, they never have; and for the forseeable future, never will hold the game in Ottawa. This is a reality that used to make me angry as an Ottawa hockey fan. I am happy to say that that time is now over.

I know it’s the all-star game, but I could have put on my skates and hopped the boards and taken the place of anyone on the ice. It’s supposed to be an entertaining spectacle of the greatest players in the game showing off the skills that made them the best, but this year’s edition of the NHL all-star game was none of those things. It unquestionably was not worth watching, so the only question that remains is whether or not it’s worth holding another one. This year’s all-star game answered that question quite to my satisfaction, and the answer is no.

There are a number of other things they could do instead of what they do now to make the all-star game matter. One of them is to play it on the weekend, airing it on a TV channel somebody actually watches. For that to work, it has to be something that people actually want to see, and there is little viability in the current format for that. Given the current nature of the league as a more gate-driven game than a television one, perhaps their great spectacle need not be primarily a television event. Perhaps rather than “All-Star Week,” they could give “National Hockey Week” a try. There are unlimited possibilities for ways that the league and its teams could get involved with their local communities. They could furnish some time off for the players by having each team play just one home game – two games in the week for each team – play them saturday and sunday – a home-and-home with the much lauded ‘divisional rivals’ that every team is supposed to have now (entertaining ‘rivalry games’ like Toronto and Ottawa, Edmonton and Calgary, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, and Nashville and… Columbus!), and give the players the rest of the week off. Then give away a whole lot of free tickets – not in secret to pad attendance figures like they do now, but in a well-publicized effort to create goodwill with the community, to introduce new fans to the game, and to say thank you to the ones they already have. Have players from every team visit local schools and community centers, and build a life-long relationship between the team and the fans and seasons ticketholders of the future. Hold as many meet-and-greet and public appearances with the team as possible, and get the stars of the NHL on as many TV shows and in as many newspapers as possible. It is truly pointless for the league to try and showcase its stars if nobody knows them from a hole in the ground anyway. They must create recognition for the magnetic names, faces, and personalities of which there is no shortage in the league. It is in all its failures that the NHL all-star game is a metaphor for the years of much more grand failures of the league in marketing itself.

I have no expectation that any of this will happen. This is the National Hockey League after all, where nothing changes but the uniforms. However, I have presented a new idea, and that’s something that nobody at the league offices has done in quite some time. It doesn’t have to be my idea, but the NHL has to do something different. Things couldn’t get much worse than they are now, so I see no harm in trying. In the all-star game’s place, what they need is something to help create a broader audience of people who enjoy the game of hockey, and want to come to games. What they currently have is an unrepresentative, unentertaining shinny game played on a day where people have better things to do than watch sports, on a television channel nobody could find even if they wanted to watch it, showcasing “stars” that they’ve never heard of anyway. The National Hockey League indeed faces an uphill battle in attracting an American mass audience to its game. In the end, the all-star game is just another example of how they try to go up that hill on a tricycle, while other sports speed by in all-terrain vehicles.

Ron Mexico: Answer your phone, it’s the Toronto Argonauts calling!

Michael Vick was arrested at an airport after security guards smelled a marijuana-like odour eminating from his water bottle. The bottle was found to have a secret compartment in it containing ”dark particulate with the pungent aroma closely associated with marijana.”

I wonder what was in there!

I don’t have a lot to say about this as far as morals, or his status as a role model or any of that stuff, because it’s not really a big deal to me anyway, and if that were the worst crime ever committed by an NFL player, the league would be in pretty good shape. All that piqued my initial interest in this story is that I just liked the “dark particulate…” phrasing. And I do not mean to say that pro athletes doing drugs isn’t a big deal, because I’m sure kids look up to them and all that, but what is really at the heart of this issue is how absolutely heroically stupid, and illogical this whole thing is!

I’m pretty sure Michael Vick makes a lot of money, and to my knowledge doesn’t vacation in Amish Country or at the Vatican. Could he not have just waited until he got wherever he was going, and BOUGHT some marijuana when he got there?! He went to at least some trouble in buying this marijuana, and obtaining – either by buying, or making – a water bottle with some sort of obviously crude secret compartment in it; which I can assume was for the express purpose of smuggling drugs – not for smuggling peanut butter, or sugar packets, or pumpkin seeds – smuggling drugs. If he was willing to go to all that trouble to smoke some pot, couldn’t he just go to a tiny bit more trouble and just find a drug dealer in whatever city he was going to, as soon as the plane landed? And despite the fact that every airport security checkpoint in North America has at least one sign posted, that says that ‘liquids and gels will not be allowed through security;’ he elected to try and hide his drugs in a WATER BOTTLE?!… Which brings me to another minute flaw in his planning with this brilliant drug smuggling operation: Water bottles are made of clear plastic. I make no claims of being an expert drug smuggler myself, and honestly would likely not know how to do it if I wanted to. However, I do have at least some fragments of knowledge on the subject that I have picked up through common sense, movies, and time spent on a college campus, and for any high-profile athletes who may be reading, here’s what I’ve come up with: if I’m going to try and smuggle drugs in a container of any kind, I will not do the following:

I firstly will not put my narcotics inside something that signs posted everywhere in the airport say I am not allowed to bring with me. Furthermore, I will not walk around the airport and attempt to go through security with that container in my hand, not concealed in any way. Thirdly, I will take all care necessary to ensure that neither that container, nor the airspace surrounding me distinctly and absolutely reeks of marijuana. And finally, I have hereby made a mental and blog-al note to myself and the world that if I fail in doing all of those things, and am walking around the airport carrying a very stinky container full of illegal drugs in my hand – I will at the very least ensure that the container with my drugs is not made of CLEAR PLASTIC!

I would like to give my heartfelt congratulations to someone, and give them some kind of ficticious award for being a moron. Deserving a candidate as Michael Vick may be, another strong nominee exists in the people running a fine educational institution at Virginia Tech. Because however idiotic Michael Vick may be; not only does he have a super secret water bottle full of pot; thanks to Virginia Tech’s commitment to excellence, he also has a college degree to fall back on if neither football nor drug smuggling work out. As such, the Vikingblog “Morons of the Millenium” prize must be shared by all of the parties responsible for helping make Michael Vick the scholar and the citizen he is today. Both a college graduate, and a multi-millionaire; despite apparently possessing as many brain cells as a hot pocket.

I don’t know exactly what Michael Vick was smoking when he thought he would get away with this. Nor do I know exactly what was in that water bottle. But I suspect the answer to both is “a dark particulate with the pungent aroma closely associated with marijuana.”

Vote or Die

So no posts in a while. I was away from hockey, and away from the computer. No, not in jail.

And it’s almost NHL All-Star Game time. The fans have made their choices, and some of them were the wrong pick (I like Jonathan Cheechoo and Brian Campbell, but there is no shortage of better candidates), but that’s democracy for you, and it’s the right of the fan to simply pick the big name, the guy they like, or the guy that plays for their team. The all-star ballot was once one of my favourite parts of attending first-half NHL games. I remember missing a lot of first periods of childhood trips to Maple Leaf Gardens because I spent the whole time with a stack of paper all-star ballots in front of me. A pen borrowed from my dad’s jacket pocket; repeatedly, carefully punching out the tiny holes beside the names of my favourite players. The concept of “one man, one vote” occurs to a young man at a later age – an age where those favourite players are either subject to slightly less god-like worship, or are retired with bad knees and have gone bald - at this age, you’d rather watch the game anyway, and your hands are too big to punch those little holes.

My dad always did a ballot too. Only one, and he did it between periods, because he was paying a little closer attention to the action than I. After the first period, the Leafs were losing (this was the Ballard years after all), he’d vote, and we’d compare ballots. My favourite was Ray Bourque, and the hole beside his name was always thoroughly punched out on each one of my ballots, and the little paper circle left carefully removed. It looked different than the other votes do when you vote for the same guys on as many ballots as you can, as fast as you can – only punched half way, or dimpled or hanging chad. The pen always went all the way through for the Ray Bourque vote, and it was always the first name I selected on the ballot, because he was the vote I was absolutely sure of. Punching that one out had an air of importance to it that perhaps Mario Lemieux’s name deserved more; but Mario would not get it from me. If the spots on an NHL All Star ballot were elections (which would have been a major step down in importance in my mind), the vote to play defense for the Wales conference was the vote for president of the United States, and all other positions were just city councillors or something. My dad always voted for Bourque too, but I still don’t know if that was just for me, or because of the possibility that he actually was the best defenseman in the league all those years. I didn’t care – the point was that he’d made the right choice, and most years, we helped put the right man in office. Ray Bourque was a first-team all star 13 times in his great career; and even if a couple of them were before I was born, I’d like to take a little credit for that.

As time marches on, unfortunately, so must my rituals surrounding the NHL All Star Game. There are no more games at Maple Leaf Gardens, and as such, no more trips there with my dad. They will no longer accept my votes for Ray Bourque, and I don’t think they have the stupid paper ballots anymore. If they do, Scotiabank place kept them well hidden, because I didn’t see any at any of the games I attended in the first half. Despite all of these changes; not only do I still somehow find life worth living, but I still also find all-star voting (now at nhl.com instead of at the arena) worthwhile. As such, here are the vikingblog picks for your 2006-07 NHL All-Stars!

Eastern Conference

Forwards (select 3)

Sidney Crosby – Pittsburgh -

Dany Heatley – Ottawa -

Alexander Ovechkin – Washington -

Defensemen (select 2)

Sheldon Souray – Montreal -

Dan Boyle – Tampa Bay –

Goaltender (select 1)

Martin Brodeur – New Jersey -

Western Conference

Forwards (select 3)

Teemu Selanne – Anaheim -

Jarome Iginla – Calgary -

Joe Thornton – San Jose -

Defensemen (select 2)

Scott Neidermayer – Anaheim -

Nicklas Lidstrom – Detroit –

Goaltender (select 1)

Miikka Kiprusoff- Calgary -

Honourable Mentions:

Yanic Perreault – Phoenix

Tom Preissing – Ottawa

Yutaka Fukufuji – Los Angeles

Evgeni Malkin – Pittsburgh

Rory Fitzpatrick – Vancouver

Also, I think they’re unveiling the new uniforms tomorrow. I’ll reserve comment on them until I see them, but I’ll wager I’ll have plenty to say.

We still love you, Ovie… Not that nickname, though.

Since this entry is not coming in the immediate aftermath of Alexander Ovechkin’s hit saturday night on Daniel Briere, it will not encompass just what the NHL should do about it – which anyone decides right away when they see something like that - so much as what they did do. What they did, of course, was nothing.

They opted not to fine, or suspend Ovechkin in any way, despite the immediate outrage of the Buffalo Sabres players on the ice, who responded with flying fists in Ovechkin’s direction. The league did nothing despite the fact that their own official at ice level felt it was appropriate to hand out a ten minute major penalty, and a game misconduct for boarding. That official on the ice did his job, and handed out the appropriate punishment, while Colin Campbell in his office, did not.

 And it is very clear why that is. The fact that Alexander Ovechkin is one of the pre-eminent faces of the National Hockey League is not lost on anyone. He is an embodiment of the league’s public persona, and it is decidedly not to their benefit to suspend him, or have him miss games for any reason. However, if he is their public persona, and their public persona is checking other players from behind, headfirst into the boards, I would argue that great player or not, this is not the way that they, or the game of hockey want to be represented. Because I have no misconceptions that the National Hockey League is an organization based on compassion for their fellow man, it is first that I propose disciplinary action for Ovechkin for the sake of their image, and fanbase.

Todd Bertuzzi’s assault on Steve Moore was a disaster for the NHL, and likely garnered them more mainstream American media coverage than any other event in the league’s history. And that attention was all for how dangerous, and dirty the NHL, and the sport of hockey were. Luckily, on this play, Daniel Briere did not sustain a career-ending broken neck, but what if he had? After a season-erasing lockout, and amid an ever-eroding American fanbase, it is in the best interest of the NHL to send the message to its players, and its fans that they will never again tolerate anything like that, and that hockey is not a sport that would allow that to happen. One that is actively trying to wipe plays like this out of their game.

 Whether or not the violence, physicality, or even ”goon” aspects of hockey bring people into hockey rinks, a play such as this is separate from that in any case. This was a dangerous play on a player who had no chance to protect or defend himself. The attraction of fans to fights – in hockey, but also in boxing, or or anything else; in theory, is to see two guys duke it out to see who is the biggest, the strongest, the toughest, or the best. Nothing along those lines was proven in this case, and there was no competition to be seen.

This also was not an standard bodycheck, acceptable in the context of a hockey game. Where one player has the puck, and another plants a shoulder in his chest, and knocks him on his rear end and makes him think twice next time he handles the puck. This was a dangerous, and unneccessary play that had no place within the context of the game, or the play. Daniel Briere was nowhere near the puck, and there was no need for him to be engaged by any Capitals player in body contact, let alone of this kind. There was no possible result of this action that related to the game itself – the only result that could have happened is that Daniel Briere would be badly injured.

 The only reasons not to suspend Ovechkin for this play are only because of who he is. Because of his stature in the league, and the possibility that he is the most exciting player they’ve seen in thirty years. And because there is no pattern with him for this. He is not a dirty player, but this was a dirty play – and one that if committed by a player like Todd Bertuzzi, Brian Marchment, or Darcy Tucker would have been condemned immediately. These things considered, it just doesn’t matter who did it when something like this happens. Alexander Ovechkin is likely my favourite player in the NHL today, and likely wins that by a pretty decent margin. But there is no excusing what he did saturday night, and the National Hockey League is failing its players when they decide not to take disciplinary action for this. It is disregarding them as men at the expense of their value as exciting athletes, and centerpieces for marketing campaigns. Being that they are men with families, and lives outside of hockey (unlike myself), the NHL must respect this, and do what is within their power, and their mandate to protect their safety, whether they like it or not.

All the news that’s still fit to talk about two days after it happened…

So I’m a little late to write about Saturday as promised. Lots of school stuff to do, so it’s not that I wasn’t writing, it’s just that writing was about Depression-era German photo-montages. I have to say, the last few days are the only time I’ll ever be visiting the Babelfish online German-English translator more than a website that has hockey scores on it.

 I think I have actual things to talk about this week, in addition to three stars, but I’ll elect them first. Number three is Teemu Selanne for being a fantasy hockey all-star all year long, and keeping it up on the weekend. He scored two powerplay goals, and added an assist to help the Ducks beat the Kings. In addition to that, Teemu proved that he really is a superhero. That superhero: Fantasy Hockey Man! Nothing can stop him – he didn’t score on sunday, so what does he do? He goes out and gets a misconduct at the end of the game, and picks up ten penalty minutes that may not have helped his team, but they sure helped my fantasy team! Teemu Selanne’s play recently has been a dictionary definition of a player being “on a tear.” I would not want to be a Pacific division goaltender right now. He’s putting up points at a pace that resembles a young number 13 on the 1993 Jets, and as a result, the Ducks are putting up impressive wins at a pace that doesn’t particularly resemble any Jets team that I can remember.

For number two, it’s Saku Koivu, for leading the Canadiens to a come-from-behind win in Toronto. Koivu scored twice, including the tying goal in the late stages of the third period, and scored another one in the shootout. Also, he doesn’t get a star for it, but I couldn’t get enough of Sheldon Souray’s goal in the shootout. I have nothing but love for it when a defenseman pulls out a nice breakaway move and scores. Next breakaway I get, I’m trying that one.

 Number one is the Islanders’ Viktor Kozlov, and he gets it as much on the merits of his whole weekend as for a good saturday. He scored two goals and added an assist saturday night in Pittsburgh, and then four more goals on sunday in Madison Square Garden. Multi-goal games in back-to-back games (both road games, too if you can count playing the Rangers as a road game) has to earn a star, and an additional blog-atory high five. A guy scores six goals in a weekend, and the least I can do is make up a new word for him.

 That’s your three stars, the “actual things” to talk about will be tomorrow. One is the Ovechkin-Briere hit. Stay tuned.

Hockey Night In Vikingblog!

Being that Saturday is the busiest night in the NHL in a normal week, and often the most interesting, and that I need something to make me write in this thing or I won’t bother; and because to myself, and most of Canada, Saturday night is simply when it counts the most: I now introduce a new feature in Vikingblog. I’ll talk about the events of the NHL’s saturday, and this week, I’ll elect my three stars of the night for saturday, but I don’t know if that will be the regular format or not. I haven’t decided. It’s the format for this week, so here they are:

 3 - Kari Lehtonen, Atlanta, G – Lehtonen stopped 37 shots saturday night en route to a 1-0 shutout for the Thrashers over the Panthers. I don’t think anyone in Atlanta or Florida would know Kari Lehtonen if they got hit by his car, but he toils not in total obscurity, for this week he is Vikingblog’s third star for Saturday night. Congrats, Kari. As an added bonus, you earn one week’s immunity from ridicule for being named Kari.

 2 – Simon Gagne – Philadelphia, W – Simon Gagne scored two goals saturday night, and assisted on Mike Knuble’s game winner in the Flyers’ 4-2 win over Montreal. This makes two wins in a row for the Flyers, and that can be officially classified as “a streak!” Gagne’s play, and production have also improved lately, and as such, he’ll be happy to learn that he’s saved himself for another day from being placed on waivers from my fantasy hockey team. I congratulate him for his continued presence on my team – they’re called The Vikings, by the way –  and for his sake, I hope he really has turned the corner for good with his play recently. Even if the Flyers’ improvements don’t last, he’ll at least be on one first place team this year.

1 – Wojtek Wolski – Colorado, W - Wolski scored a goal, and picked up three assists in the 4-1 Avalanche victory over the Canucks. This comes one game after Wolski was left out of the lineup as a healthy scratch, and as such, his saturday night performance showed every NHL coach the value of “sending a message.” In addition to the Vikingblog fist star, I am also awarding Wojtek Wolski a brand new NHL Award. He is the recipient of the NHL’s first ever Bram Stoker award. To be awarded to the player ajudged to have the name that most makes him sound as if he will pin another player against the boards, spit out his mouthguard and bite the other guy’s neck for the purposes of sucking his blood, and draining his life force. Congratulations, Wojtek. I wish you continued success, and a schedule that doesn’t force the Avalanche to play any afternoon games.

I Said I Live in Ottawa!

Sometimes Vikingblog entries get started, and remain in my “drafts” folder for quite some time before they are finished to my satisfaction, and then published to the blog. This is not one of those entries. It is not, because if it were written a week ago, this entry may have echoed the sentiments of many an Ottawa sports observer - and even some national and international hockey media (a fraternity of which I officially became a member a moment ago), because the Senators’ situation actually became so severe that the team began to receive media attention outside of Ottawa. About the same level of attention garnered by a change in line combinations by Paul Maurice in practice, but attention nonetheless. 

First, the boring backstory, because you have to understand how truly groundbreaking it is that I’m going to have positive things to say about the Ottawa Senators. If you read the Ottawa sports pages with any regularity, you’re used to this, but outside this city, you only need to buy one Ottawa newspaper to know what the sports section says. I’ll kill the suspense. The Ottawa sports page has the scores and standings like any other sports page, but it only has two columns. The first one says “Hey, it’s not Ottawa’s fault the Lynx, Rough Riders, the Carleton football program, the Rebel (that was our 20 minute flirtation with professional lacrosse, by the way), and the Renegades failed; it was those boobs that owned, and ran the teams!” That one comes out when an Ottawa sports team folds. So with roughly the same frequency as a Canadian federal election. The other column is the Senators column. The Senators don’t win the Stanley Cup, so there’s something wrong with them, but they are a profitable, competitive, and successful team by every other measure of an NHL team. Because of this, it is up to journalistic license to determine what their problem is. So “What’s wrong with the Senators?!” is a regular feature, with an interchangeable cause. The “problems” are the general manager, the coach, the captain, the goaltender, one other scapegoat player (think Radek Bonk, Jason Spezza, et. al.), and a “wild card” problem for when plausible causes get old (i.e. the fans, the location of the arena, the schedule, and CBC). With a slow start to this season, all the pieces have come together for the writers. According to these writers, the first month of the Ottawa Senators’ 2006-07 NHL season went as follows:

John Muckler should be fired because he let Zdeno Chara and Martin Havlat leave. These are major losses because Tom Preissing “doesn’t fit in” on their now inadequate defence, and they don’t have secondary scoring. Trade Preissing for a number 2 center so they’ll score some goals. Martin Gerber stinks, so Muckler should be fired for that too, because he signed him. Jason Spezza coughs up the puck too much, so Brian Murray should be fired for letting him do that. Daniel Alfredsson needs to be traded, because he’s supposed to be the leader on this team, and ain’t no Swedish meatball sissy going to lead no team to no Stanley Cup. Mike Fisher, Antoine Vermette, and Patrick Eaves need to be scoring goals. Why the hell did they build the arena in Kanata?! They’re not going to make the playoffs!

That was last week’s column, I believe. I haven’t read much of the sports sections this week, but I have followed hockey, and Senators hockey specifically, so I hope that’s been put on hold for now. Lest this entry be considered an all-is-well-Go-Sens-Go cheerleading diatribe, I will concede that I agree with some of the media criticisms – I’ve wanted John Muckler fired since he was hired. More than once this year, I’ve likened Martin Gerber to the second coming of Patrick Lalime. Why the hell did they build the arena in Kanata?!

All of these grave issues notwithstanding, the Ottawa Senators are a great hockey team. They are going to make the playoffs, and they are likely as much of a threat as they ever have been in previous years when picked as Stanley Cup favourites, and here’s why:

Zdeno Chara or not, they still have one of the best defense corps in the league. Wade Redden is a perrenial Norris trophy candidate. Chris Phillips is an experienced, solid presence on the blue line that any team would be lucky to have, even if he doesn’t score 20 goals, or check opposing forwards through the boards. If not for the greatest rookie class in NHL history last year, Andrej Meszaros would have been a Calder trophy candidate, and logged big minutes as a 20 year old defenseman, and is only going to get better. Joe Corvo and Tom Preissing are excellent defensemen made for ‘the new NHL.’ Both scored 40 points, and sat comfortably on the plus side of the plus/minus last year. They can reasonably be expected to do the same this year, and if they do, there should be no complaints about their play. They can skate, shoot, and move the puck in the ‘new NHL’ and fit whatever ‘the Ottawa Senators mold’ is just fine. The new guys aren’t Chris Pronger or Zdeno Chara, but they also will not earn six or seven million dollars, and were underrated acquisitions who will get the job done. My hat is tipped to John Muckler for them, even if it is a “firemuckler.ca” baseball cap.

The bottom line in all of this is that there has been a lot of alarmism in the Ottawa, and national hockey media over the state of the Senators. But an early season slump is not an iron-clad indicator of the season to come. They have a perfectly good team that is capable of competing with any other. While they have not performed to expectations thus far, that does not last forever. Let’s save our anger and terror until the playoffs when it really counts, and when the Senators really justify it.