No Words Needed

That photo, taken by The Canadian Press' Frank Gunn, shows the results of a rather tense game between Canada and Russia. Canada had a 5-1 lead at one point, but managed to hang on during a furious Russian onslaught in the second period for the 5-4 win to earn the gold medal at the 2015 World Junior Championship.

Congratulations to Team Canada on their win, and here's hoping things will be go as well as they did this year when Canada travels to Helsinki, Finland for the 2016 World Junior Championships! Their pool will consist of Sweden, USA, Denmark, and Switzerland - no easy task for the defending champions. It will be interesting to see who Canada takes to Finland next year!

Once more, congratulations to Canada on their victory, to the Russians on earning the silver medal with a fantastic tournament, and to the Slovaks who captured just their second medal with their victory in the bronze medal game today!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Blame Game

I have to say that the Canada-Slovakia game was quite entertaining. Winnipeg Jets fans are probably salivating at watching Nic Petan's performance tonight while Ottawa Senators fans have to be impressed with Nick Paul and Curtis Lazar. However, as I was watching the game, I found myself reading multiple reports over who is to blame for the poor attendance numbers in Montreal at this year's IIHF World Junior Championships. The IIHF came out today and pointed the finger directly at hockey Canada, stating that ticket prices were far too high. I find this to be a bit hypocritical by the IIHF as they profit from the tournament greatly, but there should be concern as there were a lot of empty seats in Montreal when this tournament usually sets attendance records in Canada.

Hockey Canada, who is the host committee for the tournament, has the final say on what the ticket prices should be set at in their venues, and it's clear that prices were set way too high. Tickets in Montreal started at $71 and ranged to $336 for the New Year's Eve game - nearly the same prices as tickets to Montreal Canadiens games! Tickets for the round-robin games against Slovakia, Germany, and Finland ranged from $66 to $261. No offence to anyone on the committee, but those ticket prices are insane.

If Hockey Canada was smart, they would cap prices at the highest amount for a ticket to the closest CHL team's games. These are still junior-aged players, so paying junior hockey prices would be an attractive way to bring fans out to see the next wave of NHL superstars. When you consider that you can get tickets to next Tuesday's game between the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Canadiens and the second-place-in-the-Western-Conference Nashville Predators for anywhere between $54 and $228 right now, seeing Canada beat the hell out of Slovakia or Germany in the round-robin at $261 per seat seems just a little extravagant.

I am a huge supporter of Hockey Canada in its many forms, but when hockey parents are saying that prices to keep kids in hockey is out of control, Hockey Canada will now shoulder some of that blame. Hockey Canada has its own programs to run and I realize that those cost money, but gouging the fans who come out in droves to support the junior players in what is arguably the biggest tournament in Canada behind the Olympics is completely wrong.

When asked by reporters at his press conference regarding the tournament about the masses of angry fans on Twitter complaining about ticket prices, IIHF president Rene Fasel turned the tables on Hockey Canada by stating, "I was really surprised. If you would have done this pricing in Europe, you would have nobody in the arena."

Therein lies the rub for Mr. Fasel and the IIHF.

By bringing this tournament to Canada every three years, they guarantee themselves a major windfall of money because fans in Canada are rabid for this tournament. Sponsors line up, fans buy tickets en masse, broadcasters pay through the nose to cover the tournament, and the IIHF smiles like a pig in mud because they see the bundles of money pouring in. Pointing the finger at Hockey Canada frames them as the bad guys in this experiment despite the IIHF making a bundle of money off Hockey Canada's back. I'm sorry, IIHF, but you can't be two-faced in this one when you come to Canada and suckle like a hungry baby at the teat known as the Canadian love of the game.

Instead, as stated above, Hockey Canada should cap the most expensive tickets at the top price of a local junior team or, if more than one team is in the immediate area, the average of the top prices of those teams' ticket prices. That would put the most expensive tickets in Toronto around $40 and those in Montreal at $45. Call it even at $50 per ticket at the upper price point, and you have a sold-out Bell Centre for all of the round-robin games.

According to Scott Stinson's article in the National Post on December 1, 2014, "[t]he last time the WJC was held in Canada, a reported $6-million went back to the CHL and its teams, out of an estimated $22-million in profits." Yes, you read that correctly - $22 million in profits! More than a quarter of the profits made went back to the CHL. I don't want to say that it's wrong to do so, but charging NHL prices for tickets and then greasing the palms of the teams who supply the players seems a little shady. If CHL prices were charged, you wouldn't hear me say peep about it since fans would be charged those prices as it is to watch the junior-aged talent. Seems elementary, no?

However, a pile of the money that is made by the tournament goes back into local hockey programs from the host communities. This money is used to grow the game by improving and implementing programming through those communities. That's a pretty good reason to continue to raise prices, right? But I counter that Hockey Canada could grow the game and have more children exposed to the game by putting them in seats. Tickets should be affordable for all fans, not just those who have a corporate account and an large credit card balance. While I get that the money wouldn't be as plentiful in terms of helping local programs, but the growth of the game by having more young fans in the stands would make up that shortfall.

Secondly, isolating a number of those available tickets for families and youth teams would also be a massive gain for Hockey Canada, the CHL, and the IIHF. The women's game has grown through the grassroots community in amazing ways, and you still see crowds at those games dominated by the younger fans. The World Junior Championships has become more corporate-based than grassroots-based despite the fact that none of the players in the tournament are earning a dime for their efforts. Bring back the younger fans to watch their heroes play the world's best without charging parents an amount equivalent to a small country's GDP.

I have nothing against the idea of going into Montreal in 2017 and hosting the tournament there. It's a city with a rich hockey history, and the fans in Montreal deserve a chance to show that they are as passionate as the fans anywhere else in the great country. They just shouldn't have to pay through the nose to have that opportunity. Hockey Canada has the chance to do something revolutionary with the World Junior Championship: make it accessible to all.

And in the end? Who cares what the IIHF says about that.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

None For The Road

And so it begins again for Toronto: the calls for Randy Carlyle's head, the outrage and disbelief that the Leafs went 1-for-5 on the road, and the staring into the rear-view mirror as teams inch closer to Toronto's playoff spot. The Jets rolled into Manitoba to play the Jets tonight, and were outplayed in almost every aspect of the game in dropping a 5-1 result to the injury-ravaged Jets. Once more, it might be time to remind everyone in The Big Smoke to relax. The world isn't ending. The sun will rise tomorrow. The Leafs will undoubtedly lose again this season.

The Leafs played horribly. There's no questioning that view. Between watching Phil Kessel float for most of his shifts to seeing the Leafs' defencemen look like they were juggling grenades all night, this was not a highlight-reel performance for any of the Leafs. Five in games in seven nights would understandably have most players seemingly out of gas, but the Leafs were simply awful tonight.

Carlyle wasn't buying the fatigue notion, though. ""We know that back-to-backs are going to be challenging when the other team has been rested for days," he said to reporters. "Usually what you try to do is you try to get your structure and you play simple. You stop in the defensive zone. You don't get above the puck. You're always on the defensive side. Our group did none of that tonight."

The Jets, to their credit, looked like a team that's had three days to work out the kinks after being beaten soundly by the New York Islanders on New Year's Eve by a 5-2 score. Dustin Byfuglien was an absolute monster out there while the Jets saw TJ Galiardi notch his first in Jets' colours. The Jets controlled the play all night long, and the results on the scoreboard showed.

The Leafs - more specifically, head coach Randy Carlyle - need to forget this idea of playing James Reimer in Winnipeg. He's played five games in the Manitoba capital now, and he has a frightful 1-4-0 record with a .857 save percentage. That's also a large reason why Toronto rolls into Manitoba and leaves with a loss.

In their defence, the Leafs, like Winnipeg, are suffering through some injuries down the middle as Joffrey Lupul, Nazem Kadri, and Peter Holland are all on the shelf with injuries. The Leafs dressed Tyler Bozak and Mike Santorelli as regular centermen, but they forced Danniel Winnik, Trevor Smith, and Greg McKegg to fill in the remaining time down the middle. If two of three of those names seem a little unknown to you, you weren't the only person flipping through the program to figure out who #23 and #36 were, respectively.

However, this isn't just about one game in Winnipeg. This is the same Toronto team that led 4-2 in Florida after two periods before dropping a 6-4 decision to the Panthers. This is the same team that led 2-0 after one period before dropping a 3-2 decision in Tampa Bay. This is the same team that led 3-1 through 30 minutes in Boston before defeating the Bruins in a shootout by a 4-3 score. The fact that this team can't hold a two-goal lead in three games isn't a reflection of coaching. That's simply a brutal effort by the players on the ice.

"It's been a terrible trip for our team," Dion Phaneuf said after the loss to Winnipeg. "We did not get near the results that we wanted or that we needed."

Understatement aside, the Leafs head home for a little rest from this whirlwind road trip as they prepare for a very good Washington team on Wednesday followed by a resurgent Columbus Blue Jackets squad that is looking to make a push for the playoffs. Toronto needs points as they sit two points ahead of Boston and Florida, both of whom are in the Leafs' division.

For a team that is 3-7-0 in their last ten games and a brutal 7-8-3 on the road, grabbing points at the Air Canada Centre should be a priority right now. Pick up two wins at home, and then worry about going on the road. Right now, those four points against Washington and Columbus are all that matters.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Look Away, Children

The first Friday night of 2015 in this NHL season proved to be one that will be remember for how many cringes it induced. We're not talking about performances because those will be forgotten over time. No, we're talking about a couple of incidents that had fans turning their heads away from the action as things got a little gross on the ice. One was an accident as Claude Giroux almost had his season ended against the Hurricanes while referee Mike Leggo had to leave the game between Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay after he had an unfortunate evacuation. One is far worse than the other, but both had that "oh my god" factor you don't really need in hockey.

Claude Giroux and Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk went into the corner after a puck, and only one player came out. As Giroux skated out from the corner, Faulks skate inadvertently caught the back of Giroux's leg, and Giroux went down. He tried to get up, but things looked grim as he lied on the ice. Dave Lozo grabbed the image to the right where you can see blood leaking through Giroux's sock. Immediately, thoughts of Erik Karlsson's injury came back, but, thankfully, there would be some good news at the end of the night on this story. The Flyers needed some good news based on the standings coming into 2015, and the hockey gods seemingly smiled on them today.

After the game, it was announced that Giroux suffered a cut to the back of his leg, but had no significant damage. Frank Seravalli reported that Giroux would be probable for their game against the Devils tomorrow, and that Steve Mason said that kevlar socks saved Giroux from some serious damage. I'm pretty certain that Mason isn't just pushing some kevlar sock manufacturer, so it might be time for the NHL and Reebok to consider making these socks mandatory.

Thankfully, Giroux is alright. If you're a little queasy with some blood, the next part of this article may not be for you. It ups the gross factor by ten. Or more.

Referee Mike Leggo is a respected NHL veteran official, having been with the NHL since 1996-97. He was chosen to work the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, so you know the guy has this refereeing stuff down. This past year, he worked his 1000th NHL game when the Oilers played the Kings at Staples Center on October 14. Mike Leggo is a true professional when it comes to his work.

Leggo was working the Tampa Bay-Pittsburgh game tonight when he was overcome by the urge to throw up. Officials do their best to keep themselves out of the limelight when ti comes to the games - including playing through illness - but Mike Leggo couldn't hold it in last night. Again, I warn you about this next image. It's not for the faint of heart.

Ok, that wasn't so bad, I guess, unless you were Mike Leggo. In any case, Leggo excused himself from the game after coming down with something at the 7:37 mark of the first period, leaving referee Paul Devorski to fend for himself. The NHL has released no information on what felled Leggo, but you can be sure this is one time it wasn't the mumps.

The first NHL night of 2015 with blood and vomit. We're in for a great second-half of this season based on the first Friday night of 2015!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Unheralded Mid-Season Awards

Everyone likes to have a little fun on new year's Day with the Winter Classic. Today was no exception as the Washington Capitals used a rather questionable call - yes, it's hooking if one follows the rulebook by the letter - to help them beat the Chicago Blackhawks by a 3-2 score. The players looked like they were enjoying the weather and the game as they skated outdoors, and the fans at Nationals Park seemed to enjoy the hockey game played on their baseball diamond. However, we'll look ahead into 2015 with guys who will fly under the radar as award choices for the end-of-season awards, but definitely deserve a lot more praise than what they've received thus far. Some may surprise you while others may be no-brainers. All should generate some discussion.

HEART TROPHY

Generally, the Hart trophy goes to the guy whose team wouldn't have finished where it has without his contributions. For the Unheralded Awards, they go to the guy whose heart has propelled his team to new heights without getting a lot of attention. A lot of people had Mark Giordano as their run-away favorite for the Hart trophy a quarter of the way through the season, but Calgary has fallen back to earth as they sit in fifth-place in the Pacific Division. As a general rule, you're not the league's MVP if your team doesn't make the playoffs. This isn't baseball.

It might be nice to pick a Giroux, Getzlaf, Kane, or Malkin for this award, but the guy who has really made a difference for his team without the fanfare is Tampa Bay's Tyler Johnson. He leads the Lightning in scoring over heavyweights Steven Stamkos and Ryan Callahan. He's the NHL leader in plus-minus. He's eighth in NHL scoring and he's fourth in the NHL in assists, and he doesn't play on Tampa Bay's top line. Johnson averages a minute less of ice-time per game than any other player in the top-ten in scoring, and he only has six powerplay points. In short, Johnson is one of the best five-on-five players out there, and that makes him more valuable than anyone else in my books. After all, you spend most of your time on the ice playing five-on-five.

NO-RISK TROPHY

Defencemen who win the Norris Trophy are the guys who put up a pile of points in helping their teams to a high finish in the NHL. While offence is an important part of the game, defence also plays a factor if you're a rearguard, so the No-Risk Trophy factors the defensive side of the game as evenly or, in some cases, more importantly than the offensive side. After all, defence wins championships, right?

While Anton Stralman is the highest-rated defencemen when it comes to plus-minus, his offensive production isn't as great as other defencemen. Again, there will be no award winners from fifth-place teams in divisions, so that eliminates TJ Brodie and Mark Giordano despite their excellent work on Calgary's blue line. Both of them should be Norris-worthy candidates, but there is one player who is more deserving of the No-Risk Trophy. Kevin Shattenkirk of the St. Louis Blues is second in scoring by defencemen with five goals and 24 assists, but he's also a healthy +15 on the season for St. Louis. Shattenkirk's 19 power-play points leads all NHL defenceman while playing a respectable 23:04 per game. Did I mention he's on the second defensive unit with a guy by the name of Chris Butler? Yeah, he's the number-three guy in St. Louis behind Pietrangelo and Bouwmeester, and he's lighting it up from the blue line. There's no risk in throwing him out when you need to score or a stop.

AL ARBOUR TROPHY

The Jack Adams Award usually is given to the coach who has led his team to a vast improvement in points only. Generally, there's a regression seen in the following year as players begin to fall back into bad habits and the novelty of the "new sheriff in town" has worn off. The Al Arbour Award goes to the coach who has not only take over a team a year earlier, but actually seen them continue their strong play since his arrival in town. There's on one-season wonders here. This is an award that is handed out to a coach who has implemented systems and gotten the most out of his players in more than a season since his arrival.

Guy Boucher's departure in March of 2013 enabled the Lightning to move Jon Cooper up from the AHL, and the Lightning have never looked back. They have the fourth-best combined point total over the last two seasons with 153, bettered only by Anaheim, Pittsburgh, and Boston. Where the Lightning have excelled, though, is integrating their young players from, previously, Norfolk and, now, Syracuse into their system with ease, making them key contributors to the cause. They lost their heart-and-soul leader in Martin St. Louis after he demanded a trade out of town only to see several players step in and fill the void. Cooper's systems have the Lightning flying high since his takeover, and he should be recognized for the work he's done in making the Lightning and its affiliates a seamless organization. He won't lose my vote to a Paul MacLean or a Patrick Roy this season.

JACQUES PLANTE TROPHY

Since the Vezina Trophy is named after Georges Vezina, I thought it would only be appropriate to name my trophy after the guy who has won the most Vezina Trophies. After all, that should be the standard for this award where the best goaltender is picked, right? Coincidentally, this might be the only trophy that has the same winner for both the NHL voters and myself as one man has stood out on the blue paint where others have faltered.

There's no doubt that Pekka Rinne has played a large part in helping the unheralded Nashville Predators to their current standing of second-place in the Central Division, so I'll give the nod to him. Rinne is second in the NHL in both goals-against-average and save percentage behind the less-busy Michael Hutchinson. In 32 games this season, Rinne has only surrendered 61 goals, is 24-6-2 on the season, has three shutouts, and even has an assist on the season thus far.Is there anything that the Finnish netminding sensation can't do? Let's be honest when we look at Nashville's 51 points and realize that 50 of those points came on the back of Nashville's workhorse goaltender. Carter Hutton, who is 0-3-1 this season, hasn't even played enough games for NHL.com to recognize him as the second goalie in Nashville.

SERGEI MAKAROV TROPHY

The Calder Trophy usually goes to the highest-scoring rookie, but I want to give an award to the guy who has had to overcome the most hardship to make it to the NHL before lighting the place up. Sergei Makarov made the NHL change the rule in terms of age of eligibility after he jumped from the Soviet Union to the Calgary Flames and won the award, but I care not for a player's age. Sergei Makarov was an incredible hockey player, but it took quite a struggle for him to reach the NHL. It's that kind of struggle in becoming a top rookie that should be highlighted with this award, giving kids who may not be the next Sidney Crosby or Nathan MacKinnon a hero to look up to in their quest to reach the NHL.

Filip Forsberg and Johnny Gaudreau are making cases to the Calder Trophy winner, but I want to highlight a guy who has played 62 games as an NHL rookie already. Ottawa's Mike Hoffman has had quite the road to finding his NHL legs. He was cut from the OHL's Kitchener Rangers in 2007-08, picked up by the QMJHL's Gatineau Olympiques only to be cut again after 19 games, and then picked up by the last-place Drummondville Voltigeurs for the remainder of the season. He wasn't selected in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft - his first year of eligibility - but went to training camp with the Philadelphia Flyers who also cut him.

Hoffman returned to Drummondville where he went on a tear, scoring 52 goals and 42 assists in 62 games in 2008-09. He helped the Voltigeurs win the QMJHL Championship, losing in the 2009 Memorial Cup semi-final to the Windsor Spitfires in overtime. This prompted the Ottawa Senators to select him 130th-overall in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft at the age of 19. However, the Senators ended training camp by sending Hoffman back to QMJHL for one more season where his rights had been traded to the Saint John Sea Dogs. He had a great season with the Ice Dogs, and started the 2010-11 season with the Binghamton Senators where he helped the baby Senators win the Calder Cup! He spent the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons with Binghamton, occasionally being recalled by Ottawa for his scoring ability. He spent 25 games with Ottawa in 2013-14 before finding a roster spot with the Senators this season.

So why is he the Makarov Trophy winner? The 25 year-old is fourth in rookie scoring with 18 points, but is a +15 for a Senators team that is 15-14-7 and has a goal differential of -2. He was cut by two CHL teams in the same season, and an NHL team one season later. He was drafted at 19, and was sent back to his junior team by the team that drafted him after their training camp. Needless to say, Mike Hoffman has battled hard to get to where he is today, and he never let any of those cuts slow him down. His persistence in becoming a solid NHL player is the reason I'm tabbing Mike Hoffman as my unheralded rookie of the year.

So what say you, folks? Am I way off-base here? Remember, these are the UNHERALDED Mid-Season Awards - the guys who might get a vote or two in the final tally for the NHL's awards at the season's end, but they won't be a front-runner outside of Rinne. Thoughts? Likes? Dislikes? Do I need to be locked up in some asylum? Have your say below!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!