Why 82?

I was talking hockey at school today when I was asked a question that I really couldn't answer with any definitive reasoning. It's not that I didn't know the answer, but it was tough to answer simply because the answer always pointed back to the almighty dollar. On one hand, money pays the bills for hockey's owners and players, but, on the other hands, you never want to sound like hockey is being greedy. But when asked why hockey insists on an 82-game schedule, there aren't a lot of good reasons to give outside of "owners need to make enough money to pay the bills". And it's especially difficult to justify 82 games when some teams consistently lose money season after season.

Let's be honest: there are a lot of people on the planet that think that the NHL season is just too long. I might be one of them, in fact, but I do like the intrigue and storylines that some teams experience over the course of an 82-game schedule. From injuries to hot streaks, there are a number of ups and downs that a team can face.

However, the follow-up question made me think a little deeper today: wouldn't it be better for the game as a whole if each game in the season meant a little more? After all, if professional sports' model is the NFL and they only play 16 games, how important is each game to an NFL team? If you lose three of four games in a row, your season is essentially over unless you can turn things around in a hurry.

In hockey, there has to be a happy medium. 82 games, to most people, is more hockey than they may watch in their lifetime. There are, admittedly, games where teams don't play as hard as they should simply because the rigors of the season have caught up to them through injuries and fatigue. As a result, it looks like teams are "going through the motions" in a lacklustre effort.

If we go back to the 1995 season where only 48 games were played, this was an interesting situation because of how short the season actually was. Detroit went 33-11-4 that season to start their tradition of annual Stanley Cup runs in the 1990s. Does anyone remember who finished as the second-best NHL team that year? If you said "Quebec Nordiques", congratulations to you because not many people would have jumped on that answer.

So why 82? Why not 48? Or 60? Who decided on an 82-game schedule as be-all, end-all for NHL scheduling?

Well, for starters, there are six games - three at home and three on the road - against the other teams in its division for a total of 24 games. Teams then play the other non-divisional teams in their conference a total of four times - two at home and two on the road - for 40 more games. Throw in fifteen more games against the other conference's teams, and we're up to 79 games. Three additional games have three of those opposite conference teams playing against your team once more in the opposite arena as the first game, and you get a total of 82 games.

Let's be honest: that's a lot of games, and there are probably a lot of throw-away games in there where teams simply go through the motions in another meaningless game on the schedule. Let's grab the scissors and start cutting this scheduling idea up.

Let's lose one home and road date against divisional opponents. If familiarity breeds contempt, it would be a different story, but the Battles of Alberta, Ontario, and New York have seen very little tenacity or fire in recent memory. If we shave off those two games, we're already down to 16 games from 24. That works for me, but let's keep going.

Let's shave one game from the other conference teams. If you play twice at home in Season A, you'll play once at home in Season B against the non-divisional conference team. That reduces the non-divisional conference games from 40 to 30. Again, that's a manageable number.

Finally, we'll keep the non-conference games. That's 15 guaranteed games, and it allows every team to play every other team once. Toss in four games against select opponents from the opposite conference, and that's 19 more games. Overall, we have a total of 65 games, 17 games less than what we currently have. That translates into nearly one month less of games, meaning that the season could end in early March rather than early April. I'm starting to like this idea.

With 65 games, there are still a few of those games that don't really matter in the standings. Except now they matter a little more than when you were playing 82 games. A loss now counts in the standings a little. Those lost points in the shootout now have a bigger impact at the end of the season. A season-series sweep in a divisional battle could mean the difference between a playoff spot and watching from the outside when the season ends. Laying an egg against a non-playoff team could cost you dearly once the season plays out.

Of course, a shorter schedule should mean a lower cost for season tickets. It should also mean lower salary costs for owners, but there's almost no way that the NHLPA will agree to this. Cutting salaries will never fly, but let's assume that the NHLPA agrees to shorten the schedule and reduce salaries for its members. I think this could actually work in theory.

So I ask you, readers: would you prefer a shorter NHL schedule to increase the drama, or do you like the 82-game schedule as we have it? Do you see faults? Can you improve on this idea, or is the status quo the best we have?

Comments are certainly appreciated and encouraged on this one!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Quietly Carving Out A Niche

I was at school the other day, and someone asked me if I had ever heard of the Canadian Women's Hockey League. I have, in fact, heard of the league as I had done a story on the draft that took place to get the inaugural five teams up and running. It was then that I realized that I have seriously neglected the highest professional hockey league that women can compete in against other women. Because of this oversight, today is all about the Canadian Women's Hockey League, how each team is doing, what they are wearing, and where you can catch a game or two if you're interested.

I want to preface this article with this statement: if you spend the time telling me that no one cares about women's hockey through comments or email, your comments will not only be denied entry on to this article, but I'll categorically go back and delete any and all comments you have ever made. And any future comments will be denied entry as well. I'm tired of hearing "hockey fans" crap all over women's hockey like it means nothing. If that's the case, your kid's Timbits hockey or any minor hockey in general is just as meaningless. As a true hockey fan, this won't fly with me. Capisce?

First off, there are a lot of recognizable names playing on the five teams in the CWHL. The five teams are based out of Brampton, Burlington, Toronto, Montreal, and the lone American-based team in Boston. These teams were assembled through a draft that happened in early August of 2010, and the teams have been battling since the season started.

If you're a fan of Burlington Barracudas, you want to keep your eyes on Danijela Rundqvist, Becky Kellar, Ashley Riggs, and Shannon Moulson. Burlington has had a rough start in the inaugural CWHL season. They currently sit fifth out of five teams with a 4-17-1 record, including being 1-11-1 away from the friendly confines of the Appleby Ice Centre.

If you cheer for the Brampton Canadettes-Thunder, Jayna Hefford, Gillian Apps, Cherie Piper, and Lori Dupuis are probably household names. Brampton has been on a major tear recently having won eleven straight games, and this streak has propelled them into second-place in the CWHL with a 17-6-0 record! Brampton is pretty consistent when it comes to their play as they are 9-3-0 at the Cassie Campbell Comnmunity Centre and 8-3-0 away from home. Hefford is the CWHL's all-time leading scorer in the previous incarnation of the CWHL, so there's some history there too!

The Toronto Aeros are sitting in fourth-place in the five team CWHL, but trail third-place by only two points at the time of writing. Their 8-12-3 record sees them playing well at home where they are 5-3-0, but Toronto needs to be better on the road with their brutal 3-9-3 record. Jennifer Botterill leads the team in scoring, and she's joined by familiar faces Tessa Bonhomme and Sami Jo Small. The Toronto club is stocked with former NCAA players, so this young squad is coming along nicely as they mature through this season.

The Montreal Stars are the class of the league at this point, leading in wins and points in posting a record of 18-2-2. Caroline Ouellette is dominating the league with 58 points in just 22 games. Joining her on the Montreal squad are Emmanuelle Blais, Julie Chu, Sarah Vaillancourt, and Kim St-Pierre. Montreal is 11-2-1 on home ice at Aréna Étienne-Desarteau, but has yet to lose in regulation on the road with a 7-0-1 record.

The lone American-based team is the Boston Blades, and they currently sit in third-place in the CWHL. Boston is 10-13-1 through 24 games thus far, but are significantly better on American soil. The Blades have a 7-6-1 record at the University of New Hampshire's Whittemore Center Arena, but have struggled to a 3-7-0 record while traveling through Canada. Led by Angela Ruggiero, Caitlyn Cahow, Erika Lawler, and Kacey Bellamy, the American-based team recently put an end to Montreal's undefeated season thanks in large part to a 74-save effort by by goaltender Mandy Cronin!

Just so you're aware, the Blades will play 16 of their 26 games at “home” – six apiece at Harvard and UNH, and single games at Providence College, Kennedy Memorial Rink in Hyannis and Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. Essentially, the "New England" Blades are making the tour through the NCAA circuit!

As you can see, some of the best women to ever lace up the skates are playing regularly in the CWHL. This will, of course, make the women's game much better as the women will regularly get to play at a high-level, and I commend the CWHL for its commitment to the teams, cities, and women who are putting their best game forward day in and day out.

In terms of recognizing the teams, there are some clear similarities between the CWHL and a few NHL teams. The first jerseys put forth were clearly designed from NHL templates. As you can see, the Aeros look like the Maple Leafs, the Stars look like the Canadiens, the Thunder are wearing the colours of the Ottawa Senators, and the Barracudas are shown in the colours of the Buffalo Sabres. All of them have the Dallas Stars' treatment on the front in this image.

Well, there were a few teams that stuck with those similarities, but one team decided to stick with their original colours and their original logo that they wore in a previous league. I have to say that there are very few images of CWHL players in comparison to other leagues. In saying that, here are how the teams look today.

Toronto is definitely blue at home and white on the road. The roster photos shown on their roster page have the players in this mock-up, but I have not seen this uniform used in any picture where the players are playing. I also have yet to see the alternate uniform proposed above, so I'm on the hunt for some of those images still.

Montreal proudly wears red at home and white on the road. Again, no sign of the alternate uniform, and I'm thinking this may be a cost-saving measure. Why create a third uniform in your first year of existence? Or when your uniforms look extremely sharp already?

Montreal should go down in the CWHL as the first team to wear a promotional jersey as well as the team wore pink jerseys on February 1 to help promote breast cancer awareness and to raise funds for the Fondation du cancer du sein du Québec to battle the disease. After the game, the Stars and their moms took to the ice for a photo! The Stars raised over $5000 for the charity on the night! Good on the Stars for helping this charity, especially since it hits close to home for a number of women playing in the game!

The Boston Blades look very familiar as they wear black with yellow at home and white on the road. Much like the Stars and Aeros, I have yet to see a third yellow jersey being worn by Boston, but I am still looking.

The Brampton Canadettes-Thunder have gone opposite to the norm, adopting the black third jersey as their home jersey while wearing white on the road. Instead of going red like the Senators do, the Canadettes-Thunder are wearing black. For a five-team league, you would think that Brampton could choose a different colour, but I'm not going to rain on their parade.

Burlington is the wild card in this five-team league as they decided to go with the template of the New York Islanders instead of the Buffalo Sabres. This may have been due to the fact that they wore orange and navy blue in their previous seasons, so this keeps their colour scheme intact. As you can see, the Barracudas wear white on the road while going navy at home. As you can see, Burlington has opted to keep their logo as they display it proudly across the front of their jerseys.

So there's your introduction to the Canadian Women's Hockey League. I'll be following these teams and players as the season progresses, and we'll have a full run-down of how well each team did at the end of the regular season along with a synopsis of how the players did in the race to win the scoring title!

I'd just like to point out that some of these amazing photographs were taken by Pasquale Stalteri and used with his permission. Please respect the copyright this amazing photographer has done, and I encourage you to check out his website or his blog where all of his amazing photography can be seen. I am truly thankful for the work Monsieur Stalteri has done with the CWHL, and for his generosity in allowing me to use some of his fantastic photography! A link to his site can be found on the menu to the right!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Hockey Day In Canada

I'm not sure where these two had this picture taken, but today is a very big day for Whitehorse, Yukon as CBC sets up shop there for the 2011 version of Hockey Day In Canada! Of course, the two men in that image are Ron MacLean and Don Cherry, Canada's Abbott and Costello from Hockey Night In Canada's "Coach's Corner". It's also a big day for some lucky kids as well as they made the trek from New Brunswick to Whitehorse to take part in Hockey Day In Canada!

First off, a big congratulations goes out once more to the Petitcodiac/Salisbury Bantam "A" Flyers from New Brunswick who won the right to be the featured team on Scotiabank's Hockey Day In Canada. The 17 players and their "entourage" of coaches and parents will be treated to a great week of hockey and fun as the city of Whitehorse welcomes them to town!

This is such a great contest, and I'm glad that Scotiabank is helping young kids save money while promoting sports in Canada. I am truly envious of the players on the Flyers, and I wish them nothing but the best on Hockey Day In Canada!

As for Whitehorse, this glimpse into life in a northern town should show the sparkle about which many already know. I, for one, have always wanted to visit this city, and CBC has given us a quick look through a video. Check it out.

Not bad, right? I'd like to visit there. Sure, it's a little cold, but where is it NOT cold in the winter in Canada?

There are three games on today, and all of them feature Canadian teams squaring off. The early game at 2PM ET has Ottawa visiting Edmonton in a battle of non-playoff teams. The second game at 7PM ET has Toronto visiting "la belle province" as the Maple Leafs battle against the Montreal Canadiens. The late game at 10PM ET features the surging Calgary Flames heading west to Vancouver to battle the division-leading Canucks.

The best part of this entire day is that you don't need to be a CBC viewer or a Canadian to get the full schedule of hockey today. NBC Sports' ProHockeyTalk has a full line-up of the day's activities for American viewers and how to view the action! How cool is that?

Get your hockey fix on today, kids. There's approximately ten hours of hockey goodness for you to bask in!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Friday Night's Alright For Fighting

When a soldier falls in war while bravely defending rights, liberties, and freedoms, there's a general sense amongst the troops that he must be remembered and honoured for his sacrifice. However, I'm not here to talk about the brave warriors who have pledged their lives to protecting freedoms and liberties we seemingly take for granted on a daily basis. No, I'm here talking about hockey, and the Islanders and Penguins had themselves a wild night where they went to battle this evening. Bloodshed? Check. Fallen bodies? Check. A response to a fallen comrade? Check, with an asterisk.

Why an asterisk, you ask? I want to make it clear that there are rules of engagement in both battle and in hockey. We reference those rules of engagement in hockey as "the code", and there were a vast number of rules broken by both teams in this brawl-filled game.

The reason that "the code" exists is to ensure that fights in hockey are fair and that no player ends up injured, humiliated, or disrespected. Injuries do happen as a result of the fight, but "the code" is an examination of who the fighters are and how those fighters engage in battle. This is what I think is most important in hockey's "code", and we're going to see why these infractions have me a little steamed about this game as a whole.

First off, here is the penalty summary for the game. Micheal Haley, whose name appears frequently on the summary, was called up on an emergency basis earlier today as the Islanders look to fill spots with bodies.

While the Islanders can certainly use someone who can score, Haley leads the AHL's Bridgeport Sound Tigers in both goals (12) and penalty minutes (144). Considering he was pinned to the bench for most of the game, which number do you think had more influence? If you don't think he was underutilized as a legitimate goal scorer, how many scoring threats play a total of 5:31 in a game? Four shifts in the first period, six in the second, and a whopping one shift in the third period - quite the game for a scorer, no? And his work in the third period on that one shift is quite well-documented on the penalty summary. Nothing like maximizing your opportunities on one shift when you fight with three different guys - Maxime Talbot, Brent Johnson, and Eric Godard. But he was there for his offensive abilities, right?

Secondly, what is up with Trevor Gillies? Fu manchu aside, his blatantly obvious check to Eric Tangredi's head was something out of Slap Shot. To make matters worse, though, he then decides to pummel the fallen Tangredi as he lay on the ice. Just to add a little insult to injury, Gillies then taunted and yelled at the fallen Tangredi as he stood off the ice in the zamboni runway. Really, Gillies, was all of this necessary?

For a guy who saw less ice-time than the Ice Girls, you really shouldn't be running your mouth or taunting a fallen player. He spent all of 1:40 on the ice in tonight's game! Should you really be running your mouth when you played three shifts in the first period, two in the second period, and all of one shift in the third period? If you want to brawl, get it over and done with, shut your mouth, and move on. There was nothing honourable about what Gillies did in any way, shape, or form.

The code ensures some basic fundamentals in fighting:

1. All fights are fair. No fighter creates an unfair advantage for himself. Gillies' elbow on Tangredi and Haley's sucker-punch on Talbot created unfair advantages, and both men continued to assault their opponents after they created the unfair advantage. STRIKE ONE.
2. The rules of "Fight Club" apply. If someone says "stop", goes limp, or taps out, the fight is over. Both Talbot and Tangredi went down after Haley and Gillies delivered their cheap shots, and both were dazed and confused. While Talbot got up and continued the scrap after regaining his senses, there was no reason for either Gillies or Haley to continue to pummel their respective opponents as they lay on the ice. STRIKE TWO.
3. You do not embarrass your opponent. In both cases, Haley and Gillies broke this rule in spades. Haley dropped Talbot with a cheap shot, scrapped with him, and then went for broke by skating down the ice to fight Penguins' goaltender Brent Johnson. The Haley-Johnson fight was clearly a mismatch, so Eric Godard came off the bench to protect his goalie. In Gillies' case, he dropped Tangredi with an elbow, pummeled Tangredi while he laid on the ice, and then trash-talked Tangredi as he stood in the zamboni runway. STRIKE THREE.

Neither men should be proud of what they did simply because they went outside the realm of acceptable protocols during a fight. I expect major suspensions and fines to be handed down in this one - Godard will most definitely be suspended for leaving the bench during the melee - but this kind of stuff isn't what you expect from professional hockey players. I'm all for retribution for the injury to DiPietro, but this was a little over the top from the Islanders as a team.

The case now rests in the hands of the NHL. What retribution they bring with regards to the carnival that went on tonight is anyone's guess. The asterisk on getting retribution is that you can't act like a savage in doing so when you're a professional.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Homework Up The Ying-Yang

You might have noticed that this blog has been falling behind the times a little over the past week. I have noticed it as well, and I assure that I am working to bring this place back up to par. However, this school endeavor that I've embarked on has me working furiously every night until the wee hours of the morning, only to repeat the same process again and again and again over the last few nights. Needless to say, I'm tired, I'm busy, and I have little time to sacrifice with all these major assignments and projects being due. However, I am working feverishly on this blog when I'm burying my nose in a textbook, so I'm hoping to have this apparent disregard for this blog fixed by early next week.

Tonight, I'm just doing homework. Sorry, kids, but I am officially mailing this one in because I'm not interested in failing any of these courses. Now, I'm no liberal arts major or anything, but Calvin & Hobbes is classic literature in my books. Since this comic strip makes me laugh and I'm studying computer stuff, I thought this strip would be appropriate. If you need to see it bigger, please click here.


Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!