Detroit Red Wings & the NHL

[Optimus Prime]

It's official, the NHL will participate in WInter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. The NHL will interrupt its season from Feb. 9-26 for the tournament, which will take place from Feb. 12-23.

120 NHL players are expected to participate in the Tournament. Defending Gold Medal Champion Canada is the team to beat, Russia on home soil will be problematic and Sweden will contend with a young but solid defense.

Canada is expected to announce its coaching staff in the coming days. Reportedly Mike Babock will be back as head coach, joined by assistants Claude Julien, Lindy Ruff and Ken Hitchcock. Steve Yzerman will serve as Executive Director again.




Canada will be in Group B along with Austria, Finland and Norway. Group A is made up of the United States, Russia, Slovakia and Slovenia, while Group C is made up of the Czech Republic, Sweden, Switzerland and Latvia.

[Optimus Prime]

NHL realignment. Only 4 Divisions now.

The Metropolitan is made up of the Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, Carolina Hurricanes and Columbus Blue Jackets.


The Atlantic has the Maple Leafs, Canadiens, Senators, Sabres, Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Central has the Jets, Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators and St. Louis Blues.

The Pacific has the Canucks, Flames, Oilers, Sharks, Los Angeles Kings, Phoenix Coyotes and Anaheim Ducks.

[Optimus Prime]

Player insurance critical
Player insurance was one of the major issues the NHL needed to resolve. Reports suggest the cost to be as much as $2 million US per Olympic team.

"There is obviously a risk involved when you bring over a projected 160 [to] 180 NHL players where the total contract value would be around $3 billion [US]," Daly told reporters in May. "This is a risk which must be insured, especially in cases of season-ending or career-ending injuries.”

Also, the eight-hour time difference will force the games to be played at odd hours in North America, and the NHL would like to receive concessions from the IOC that haven't been made before.

Olympics 2014 Men's hockey schedule
DATE/TEAMS TIME (ET)
FEB. 12
Czech Republic vs. Sweden noon
Latvia vs. Switzerland noon
FEB. 13
Finland vs. Austria 3 a.m.
Russia vs. Slovenia 7:30 a.m.
Slovakia vs. United States 7:30 a.m.
Canada vs. Norway noon
FEB. 14
Czech Republic vs. Latvia 3 a.m.
Sweden vs. Switzerland 7:30 a.m.
Canada vs. Austria noon
Norway vs. Finland noon
FEB. 15
Slovakia vs. Slovenia 3 a.m.
United States vs. Russia 7:30 a.m.
Switzerland vs Czech Republic noon
Sweden vs. Latvia noon
FEB. 16
Austria vs. Norway 3 a.m.
Russia vs. Slovakia 7:30 a.m.
Slovenia vs. United States 7:30 a.m.
Finland vs. Canada noon
FEB 18: QUALIFICATION PLAYOFFS
TBD 3 a.m.
TBD 7:30 a.m.
TBD noon
TBD noon
FEB. 19: QUARTER-FINALS
TBD 3 a.m.
TBD 7:30 a.m.
TBD noon
TBD noon
FEB. 21: SEMIFINALS
TBD 7 a.m.
TBD noon
FEB. 22: BRONZE MEDAL GAME
TBD 10 a.m.
FEB 23: GOLD MEDAL GAME
TBD 7 a.m.

[lineygoblue]

NHL realignment. Only 4 Divisions now.

The Metropolitan is made up of the Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, Carolina Hurricanes and Columbus Blue Jackets.


The Atlantic has the Maple Leafs, Canadiens, Senators, Sabres, Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Central has the Jets, Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators and St. Louis Blues.

The Pacific has the Canucks, Flames, Oilers, Sharks, Los Angeles Kings, Phoenix Coyotes and Anaheim Ducks.

They should flip-flop Columbus and Boston.

[Mike]

Boston is our Atlantic foothold. Lol

[Optimus Prime]

Never too early for Winter Olympics and as usual, the Russians are F'in it up!

Sochi Games could prove to be fiasco of Olympian proportions
Enormous cost overruns, rampant corruption, allegations of systemic doping — the Sochi Olympics are already promising to be one of the most controversial in history.

Toronto Star July 19th, 2012
When the worst-kept secret in hockey was revealed on Friday afternoon, the moment only begat mystery.
Now that we know NHL players will participate in the Olympics for the fifth straight Games — now that we know the league will take a 17-day hiatus to allow Canada the privilege of defending its 2010 gold medal — there are a zillion questions to answer. For example: how many minutes into Canada’s Feb. 12 opening game against Norway will the nation be questioning the yet-to-be-named coach’s choice for starting goaltender?
But if Canada is of the belief it’s got Olympic problems — and the impending National Goaltending Crisis is no small thing — it should be comforting to know that the overseers of the Sochi Games have a far more daunting set of challenges in their view. Sochi’s woes go well beyond the hard-to-fathom fact that Russia’s first crack at hosting a Winter Games is being planned for a subtropical seaside locale that makes balmy Vancouver look like Siberia. To tackle that problem, organizers have reportedly stored a winter’s worth of snow should none fall in February.

NHL draft prospects talk BFFs, beefing upNHL draft prospects talk BFFs, beefing up
As for the ever-expanding raft of other issues — well, the solutions might not be as cold and soft.
Less than seven months from the opening ceremony, the 2014 Olympics are already promising to be one of the most controversial in history — and that’s just among the folks in the accounting department. Various reports suggest that the costs of the Games have careered out of control. The price to run Sochi, initially budgeted at $12 billion, is said to have reached $50 billion according to a recent article in The Economist. (The Vancouver Olympics, by contrast, billed out at about $9 billion.) There are accusations that widespread corruption is gobbling up large chunks of this cash. Critics of Vladimir Putin are already suggesting that the Russian president’s most famous act of sporting larceny is no longer the petty pocketing of Robert Kraft’s Super Bowl ring.
Boris Nemtsov, an opposition leader, has called Sochi “an unprecedented thieves’ caper.”
As Garry Kasparov, the Russian chess master turned politician, tweeted in the wake of The Economist report: “I never doubted (Putin) and his cronies would ‘take the gold’!”
It’s true that every Olympics comes with plenty of naysaying. Anti-poverty groups always point out the folly of spending so much in a world where so many have so little. In 2010, Canada took its share of justifiable criticism for hoarding practice time at Olympic venues in the lead-up to the Games, and for being otherwise boorish in its ownership of the gold-medal podium.
But the line to gripe about Sochi’s downsides seems a little longer than usual. The anti-corruption types don’t like the dodgy financials. The folks at Human Rights Watch aren’t enamoured that much of the construction work is being done by low-paid migrant workers. Risk-management experts don’t particularly appreciate the idea that the Games are being held in close proximity to the North Caucasus, the volatile region where a leader of an Islamist insurgency recently called on fellow jihadists to do their best to prevent these “satanist games” with terrorists attacks.
Nearly four years after Canada was justifiably accused of hogging its ski hills, Russia is being accused of overdoing it with the syringe. More than 40 Russian athletes are currently serving drug bans; five were suspended for using undisclosed banned substances this week. With next month’s world track and field championships set for Moscow, let’s just say the Jamaican sprint team isn’t the only squad inspiring worldwide suspicion.
“It’s difficult to believe that Russia does not have a systematic, national (doping) problem,” British javelin thrower Goldie Sayers told Britain’s Daily Mail. “I don’t think they’re fit to hold the world championships, let alone the Winter Olympics in Sochi next year.”
Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko has chalked up such denouncements to British jealousy. And if the cheating isn’t systemic, there are those who’ll tell you the discrimination certainly is. There’s currently a bill winding its way through the Russian political channels that would outlaw “homosexual propaganda.” Under the legislation, Toronto’s Gay Pride festivities would be illegal, as would public displays of affection by same-sex couples. So while the past two Olympics have played host to a Pride House for gay and lesbian athletes and spectators, so far Russia’s will not.
With all that in mind, perhaps you’ll understand why at least one Russian hockey talent has vowed to keep an arm’s length from his country’s home Olympics.
“Even if I was offered a role (to promote the Games), I wouldn’t take it,” Alex Kovalev told the Montreal Gazette recently. “At this point, I want nothing to do with Russian hockey. There are a lot of people who come to the hockey world in Russia who don’t have any idea. It’s all family relationships: ‘I got this job, I can get you a job on this team, too,’ and that person doesn’t know anything about hockey.”
The beefs are myriad. If you look beyond the apparent cronyism and corruption, the Club Med weather report, the nearby war zone, the allegedly rife doping, the proposed hate law . . . well, one supposes there’s a lot to like about the Sochi Olympics. For one, palm trees. For another, NHLers playing hockey. Russia’s national men’s team, coming off a sixth-place finish in Vancouver, hasn’t been to an Olympic final since 1998 and will be primed to claim gold. And as for the defending champions — now that Vancouver is a triumphant, break-even memory, it’s comforting to know that dicey goaltending will be the cross-country fixation in the coming months. Certainly Canada’s successor as the Olympic movement’s winter host, in a moment when it hopes to showcase itself to the world, has concerns beyond weak glove hands, beyond the Games.

[WingsFan]

Well, according to Forbes he earned 54M last year, not too bad and apparently he used to play hockey in Ontario....

So, he's your guy too aah OP (along with Cindy) b/c he makes a lot of money. That's lame and pretty shallow if you ask me. ;-) You own it.

Blackhawks fans erupted in anger on Twitter and Facebook, and Hawks player Andrew Shaw wanted no part of Bieber.

Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/madh...#ixzz2Zex2sTSC

[WingsFan]

Follow the NBA at all? Miami Heat fan? Or just Lebron?

[WingsFan]

The fight that changed hockey

I remember this as a youngster, it was before the game so it wasn't on TV live. Claude Lemieux with Montreal was a turtle for Ed Hospodar - way before Darren McCarty pummeled his ass. He was shooting the puck into the Flyers net before the game - big no no.

Chris Nilan the poor fellow just drawn the short straw of hanging on for dear life with the feared (unless your Probie) Dave Brown who came out on the ice like the terminator without a jersey on.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/the-fight-that-changed-hockey/article4184523/

[WingsFan]

[ame]http://youtu.be/xHNBoMuY8uc[/ame]

[WingsFan]

Short version looking back... Look at the turtle Dick Irvin (name suits him well) is here, a total Montreal suck up and terrible announcer for HNIC

[ame]http://youtu.be/6e-3hRGjbH0[/ame]



Not great video and (in French). This brawl went on for almost 10 minutes. Keep in mind there was nobody to separate the teams on the ice since it was during warm up. Lots of big names out there, John Kordic - tough guy at the time, but with no officials - stayed far away from Dave Brown. Chelios wants no part either, but got out of Browns way. :-)


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-faqk7hBdw"]Full version of famous Flyers vs. Canadiens pre-game bench clearing brawl - YouTube[/ame]

[Tony G]

I would say this is a fight that changed hockey....

[ame]http://youtu.be/6ef1YVXM9IU[/ame]

[ame]http://youtu.be/9utVFNxydZw[/ame]

[Optimus Prime]

So, he's your guy too aah OP (along with Cindy) b/c he makes a lot of money. That's lame and pretty shallow if you ask me. ;-) You own it.

Sorry to disappoint Packy but frankly I'm a hockey fan and not a Hippidy-hoppidy hommie.

Sure the kid obviously suffers from a gender and cultural identity crisis.... a flippin' rooster-NWA wannabe, ridiculous.

Still tip my cap to him, 54 M a year for abhorrent behavior when Hack essentially gives it away for free.



btw....If you thought you have seen it all, then this will for sure top it off. French luxury brandHerm?s is known for its at times outrageous prices, but when we saw the price tag of this new crocodile leather t-shirt, we were shocked as well. The above tee goes for $91,500 USD in Herm?s boutiques around the globe. This has to be the most expensive t-shirt in the world.

[Tony G]

Is it a t-shirt if it has buttons all the way down it?

[geo weidl]

Dick Irvin (name suits him well) is here, a total Montreal suck up and terrible announcer for HNIC

And Mickey Redmond was a suck up for the Detroit Red Wings, but I don't see his name listed in the HHOF under the broadcasters category. Danny Gallavin and Dick Irvin were one of the premier duos broadcasting hockey games for the Montreal Canadiens during the late 60's, 70's and 80's for HNIC.