How did this Happen?

To steal a line from Lowetide “This is Pierre McGuire.”

It came to my attention earlier today that Mr. McGuire was nominated and won an award for the Best Game Analyst from the Gemini Awards, which “recognize the best of Canadian Television”.

Now you have to be freaking kidding me. McGuire actually won this award? In my mind he should not even have been nominated. Or if he was nominated should have lost to guys like Bob Mackenzie or Kelly Hrudey (both of which actually were not even nominated).

Here are the top three things that I hate about Pierre McGuire’s broadcasting:

1. Grandstanding of minute plays

When I listen to Pierre McGuire on the NHL on TSN I think to myself, does this guy actually know what is going on? During games he will grandstand minute plays and make them the key to why a player is successful. For example a player is in a scrum along the boards and kicks the puck to a teammate. That team mate then undresses a defenseman; make a complete mockery of the goaltender and scores. McGuire will build that simple little kick pass to be the play of the year.

2. Continual ranting about certain aspects

Pierre will see something happen in a game and continually complain about it. For example one player is hitting with his elbow a little high, but he will continually point this out time after time. It gets a little repetitive because as a hockey fan I can plainly see that too, I do not need to be reminded of it time and time again in an annoying fashion. Show a replay of a move, do not show me clip after clip of how you are right and a player hits leading with his elbow.

3. McGuire’s "monster"
   

I like the idea behind this in rewarding a player for individual effort in a team game. But seriously some of the guys that he picks are mind boggling. There are some games that you could have a player have 2 goals and played lights out and McGuire will give the monster to a plugger that made the inconsequential kick pass mentioned in #1 (Buffalo vs. Ottawa Feb 7, 2006)

Sure he was a coach (with a great record of 23-37-7), but that obviously does not make him a great hockey analyst. You become a good hockey analyst by looking at all the sides to the game. Not grandstanding plays, continually ranting about such and such play, or making people out to be “monsters.” All I can hope is that next year a real analyst like Mckenzie or Hrudey gets the nod. But, then again maybe I am just biased towards Mr. MrGuire.

Early Attendance Figures

I have been hearing a lot of concern on the Team 1260 over the attendance records of some NHL teams this year. So I thought that I would take a look at the attendance through the league and found some interesting things. But, before we get to the points here is the break down ranked according to average attendance. (Note: I did not calculate the percentage of Los Angles or Anaheim because of the games played in London)

Rank	Team	Games	Total	Average	Percentage
1	Montreal	1	21,273	21,273	100.0
2	Philadelphia	1	19,714	19,714	100.1
3	Toronto	5	96,913	19,382	103.1
4	Calgary	2	38,578	19,289	112.4
5	St. Louis	2	38,300	19,150	91.2
6	Tampa Bay	3	57,214	19,071	96.5
7	Ottawa	4	75,721	18,930	102.3
8	Buffalo	3	56,070	18,690	100.0
9	Vancouver	3	55,890	18,630	101.1
10	Minnesota	3	55,704	18,568	102.8
11	Carolina	2	36,496	18,248	97.4
12	New York Rangers	3	54,600	18,200	100.0
13	San Jose	1	17,496	17,496	100.0
14	Los Angeles	4	69,948	17,487	-
15	Anaheim	2	34,585	17,292	-
16	Dallas	3	51,793	17,264	93.2
17	Detroit	4	68,848	17,212	85.8
18	Pittsburgh	2	34,138	17,069	100.7
19	Edmonton	3	50,517	16,839	100.0
20	Washington	1	16,741	16,741	89.7
21	Colorado	3	49,516	16,505	91.7
22	New York Islanders	3	47,763	15,921	97.7
23	Atlanta	3	47,064	15,688	84.6
24	Florida	3	45,898	15,299	79.5
25	Columbus	2	29,796	14,898	82.1
26	Phoenix	3	43,974	14,658	83.8
27	Nashville	4	54,749	13,687	80.0
28	Chicago	3	40,758	13,586	66.3
29	Boston	0	0	0	0
29	New Jersey	0	0	0	0

Being a couple games into the season I thought that I would do a preliminary report of the home attendance record of the teams in the NHL. Let’s look at a few key points from the chart that I have complied thanks to ESPN and Sportsnet:

1. The Oilers are off to a great start and really I expect them to sell out each of their home games this year. However, it really shows that we might need a new building because we are selling Rexall out and still are ranked 19^th in the league. Too bad none of the mayoral candidates want the new arena

2. A couple teams have surprisingly low attendance currently.

1. Detroit being one of them. I guess hockey is struggling in hockey town. Most sports writers chalk this up to a declining economy, however, when you look that the Michigan State Wolverines sell an average of 110124 tickets at an average of 58 dollars. That means there is more than enough money to go around. I think the real reason is fans are sick of losing in the first round and that the lockout really hurt hockey in established markets in the United States. All you have to do is look to the attendance before the lockout and Detroit was #2 right behind Montreal.

2. Colorado being another. At one point Colorado had a near 11 year and 487 game sell out streak. Now this year they are only selling 91.7% of their tickets. Again I would say this is due to the lockout and fans waning interest in the United States towards the NHL.

3. That three of the top four teams in the league attendancewise are Canadian teams. As well as, Canadian teams have sold out each home game and that half of the teams with a 100% attendance rate are Canadian teams.

4. I would have to assume that some of the American team’s attendance figures will start to drop soon as the home opener seems to draw better than the later games. However, that could work the opposite way if a team is in a playoff race.

5. Had the Balsillie sale of the Nashville Predators gone through we would have a 7^th Canadian team next year as there attendance is below 14,000 and I do not see how it will ever get above that mark.

With those points being raised I would not be disappointed to see a team located to Canada, where it seems a sure thing it would do well. I just hope that the NHL soon realizes that its bread and butter is Canada and stops attempting the relocated to places that are almost certain to fail. Just look, 5 of the bottom 6 teams to have played a home game are from the “recent” expansions or relocations.

Top 20 Right Wingers

While reading The Hockey News Oct 2, 2007 edition I came across an article by Mike Brophy ranking the top 20 players at each position in the NHL. Out of the supposed top 100 players the Oilers hold only one position. Sheldon Souray is rated as the 18^th best defenseman in the NHL. Maybe being an Oiler fan made one thing jump out at me. This would be the absence of Ales Hemsky from the top 20 right wingers. Here is the list the Mike Brophy has come up with including the complied point totals and point per game average for the past 2 years:

1. Jarome Iginla 152 GP 74G – 87A PPG = 1.05

2. Dany Heatley 164 GP 100G – 108A PPG = 1.27

3. Jaromir Jagr 164 GP 84G – 135A PPG = 1.34

4. Martin St. Louis 162 GP 74G – 89A PPG = 1.01

5. Marian Gaborik 103 GP 68G – 55A PPG = 1.19

6. Marian Hossa 162 GP 82G – 110A PPG = 1.12

7. Daniel Alfredsson 154 GP 72G – 118A PPG = 1.23

8. Jonathan Cheechoo 158 GP 94G – 69A PPG = 1.03

9. Martin Havlat 74 GP 34G – 39A PPG = 0.99

10. Rick Nash Listed as a Left Winger on NHLPA

11. Brendan Shanahan Listed as a Left Winger on NHLPA

12. Tomas Holmstrom 158 GP 59G – 52A PPG = 0.70

13. Andrew Brunette Listed as a Left Winger on NHLPA

14. Milan Hejduk 154 GP 59G – 69A PPG = 0.83

15. Justin Williams 164 GP 64G – 79A PPG = 0.87

16. Brian Gionta 144 GP 73G – 61A PPG = 0.93

17. Chris Clark 152 GP 50G – 43A PPG = 0.61

18. Jere Lehtinen 153 GP 59G – 36A PPG = 0.62

19. Nathan Horton 153 GP 59G – 50A PPG = 0.71

20. Shane Doan 155 GP 57G – 64A PPG = 0.78

Now let’s see how Ales stacks up compared to these guys

Ales Hemsky 145 GP 32G – 98A PPG = 0.90

Here are my reasons why Hemsky should be on this list:

1. There are three players on the top 20 right wingers that actually play on the left side. Was that a brain cramp or did Brophy just not research what he was putting down?

2. If you go by points per game average then Hemsky has a better rating than 7 other players on this list

3. I can see where Brophy is going by putting Lehtinen on this list as he is probably the best defensive forward in the NHL and has been for a while. But, when it comes down to it would you rather have Lehtinen or Hemsky?

4. Why is Chris Clark even on this list? If he didn’t play with Alex O he would have much worse stats. Imagine if you had Hemsky skating with Ovechkin.

Maybe I am wrong maybe Hemsky does not deserve to be in the top 20. However, if he doesn’t then probably 10 players on this list don’t really deserve to be there too. Maybe Brophy and The Hockey News have it wrong. I mean in this same issue they did pick Rob Schremp to be the 6^th most likely rookie to win the Calder Trophy this year.

Road Woes and Tough Guys

I have to confess, I've kind of been obsessing about this team lately, and its probably due to a lack of social life. I'm on two subjects with this post, sort of.

Anyways, I made sure to watch tonights game because I think it was the first true test for a lot of players. No longer can MacT get his line matchups so some of the players he was protecting were exposed tonight, and it showed. The second Detroit goal by Chelios was horrible defensive coverage specifically by Gagner, and that whole shift had Detroit dominating the Oil in their own zone. When that goal was scored Gagner, Pouliot, Grebeshkov, and Gilbert were out on the ice. Basically four rookies against a veteran Detroit team. That just can't happen. We have a lack of solid defensive forwards, even our shut down line has Sanderson who has never been known for his stellar two-way play. When Moreau returns it will bring more veteran players to the forward depth chart but this team is young.

Clearly we will have ups and downs being so young, and tonight had both. On the up was how good we were on the rush, with our team speed creating a lot of our chances. MacTavish clearly built a team that is going to out skate anybody and against slower teams its going to pay dividends, just not tonight.

But as I look at our youthful, skilled, and fast team I wonder about the ability to play physical. Tonight Detroit played a relatively physical game and was hard on the forecheck. This gave the young guys a tough time, especially the Grebeshkov - Gilbert pairing. This got me thinking, if anyone is going to hit somebody who will it be? Torres? Maybe Greene? Then who? When we let Laraque walk the organization talked about team toughness over having a fighter and that we would have a lot of players fight a little, instead of one or two players fight a lot. It has its benefits in that you replace that roster spot with someone who can bring other elements to the game such as defence or maybe throw in 10 - 12 goals. But like Laraque has stated, that can have a negative affect because there is no one "marshalling" the ice.

So we look at this team today. No heavyweight (or middleweight for that matter) and a serious lack of team toughness. We've gone run n' gun and hope for the best. But this is the new CBA and smaller skilled forwards can have more affect along with a crack down on bigger players clutching and grabbing so maybe we're alright. I thought I'd look up how fighting was doing in hockey. Heres what I found:


So it looks like early in the season that fighting is back up to pre-lockout rates. I'm not sure if its a custom for fighting to be up early in the season due to players trying to establish themselves, but this is what i've got to go with and this is where i'm going with it. This years version of the Oilers have a lot of skill players, and those players are going to need protection. Do you want Souray's shot in the box for 5min? or Moreau throwing out a shoulder? Staios? Then who? the only 2 veteran defenceman we have need to be out on the ice, not in the penalty box. Your first response is probably to call up Stortini. But where does he play? With the kids? maybe at home where we can get a match up but definitely not on the road. And lets be honest, he's not known to be a great fighter so what kind of a deterrent does he provide. This team needs to seriously upgrade its ability to play in a physical game because when that game comes we are going to get run over. And if we make it to the second season, its going to be like that every game. Just ask the pre-lockout sens.

Someone call Power 92 and see if they have Laraque's phone number.

I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.

One Idiots Predictions

The Western Conference

1. San Jose Sharks – Basically the same team as last year without a goaltending controversy makes this a great team that will go a long way this year.

2. Colorado Avalanche – Will be challenged all year for the top spot in the North West, but have more firepower than the Flames. However, what happens if Budaj has an off year? Theodore anyone?

3. Detroit Redwings – No real losses in this group. Schneider replaced by Rafalski and they play is possibly the weakest division so they should put up some good numbers in those 32 games

4. Anaheim Ducks – Lost too much in Niedermayer, Selanne and Penner that their offense is a real question mark. This makes them not as good as the Sharks in the Pacific

5. Calgary Flames – Kipper going into a contract year spells nothing but good things for this team. Iggy sparks enough offense to make them better than the other teams in their division

6. Dallas Stars – Turco and Smith win enough games against Los Angles and Phoenix while stealing some from the other forces in this division

7. Chicago Blackhawks – This years Nashville Predators, get in due to playing St. Louis, Nashville, and Columbus a combined 24 times

8. Vancouver Canucks – The sisters and Luongo pull this team through into the playoffs by playing the Oilers and the Wild enough times

9. Minnesota Wild – Strong goaltenders, but a lot rides on the groins of Gaborik, if he is healthy for an entire year they will likely beat out Vancouver for the 8^th spot.

10. St. Louis Blues – improved over last year, but, having Manny Legace as a starter puts them in a lower position than the Blackhawks with Khabibulin

11. Edmonton Oilers – Vastly improved defense but still too many hopes riding on young shoulders. Still without a bonafide top line center, this is likely Horcoff’s last year in Edmonton

12. Los Angles Kings – Lots resting on some young players with an unproven goaltender, just can not compete with the Sharks, Stars, and Ducks to gain enough points.

13. Nashville Predators – Who is left on this team other than Chris Mason? Look for them to be a target of many other teams

14. Columbus Blue Jackets – Only reason they will finish ahead of the Coyotes is Nash being feed by Voracek or Brule

15. Phoenix Coyotes – No real offense, one decent defense man and a load of unproven goaltenders have Gretzky and the Coyotes vying for the #1 overall pick in June

The Eastern Conference

1. Ottawa Senators – Heatley, Spezza, Alfredsson dominate the league again. Gerber has a rebound year; Emery has a strong campaign as well. Last year for Redden in Ottawa

2. New York Rangers – New additions Drury and Gomez added to a crew that has Jagr, Shanahan, and Straka have a strong year. Only question is if Lundqvist goes down with injury.

3. Carolina Hurricanes – Better than the Lightening in goal so they will win the South East sweepstakes of crappy teams

4. Pittsburgh Penguins – Crosby and crew are good, but not as good as the Sens

5. Buffalo Sabres – Despite the losses this off season this team still has enough fire power and goaltending to pull them into the playoffs

6. Philadelphia Flyers – Headed in the right direction under a new GM but not there yet in the ultra competitive North East division

7. Tampa Bay Lightening – Lecavalier, Richards, St. Louis will put up enough points against division rivals to gain entry into the playoffs

8. New Jersey Devils – Parise, Elias, Gionta barely produce enough for Brodeur to win enough games to get in.

9. Atlanta Thrashers – Even Hossa entering a contract year is not enough to right the ship that gave up so much for the run to the playoffs last year. Cough Tkachuk Cough

10. Washington Capitals – Better Crew around Ovechkin this year, but too much rides on their goalie to get them into the playoffs

11. Toronto Maple Leafs – No real improvement, this team is one injury away from being one of the worst teams in the league. Here’s to 41 cupless years in TO

12. Montreal Candiens – Inexperience, weak defense and a green goal have this team getting crushed by the Senators and Buffalo and not winning enough against the other teams in the Eastern Conference

13. New York Islanders – One DiPietro concussion away from being the worst team in the Eastern Conference with a goalie signed to a 14 year contract

14. Florida Panthers – Still too inexperienced with no goaltending

15. Boston Bruins – Hockey has hit a low point in Boston, not even a new goalie will help them