Mike Chen's Hockey Blog

Category: NHL

General NHL posts

How To Get Kicked Out Of Honda Center

by Mike Chen on 11/02/09 at 06:56 PM ET
Comments (6)

How many times has the drunk guy next to you yelled, “Ref, you suck!” during a game? How many times were you that guy? Did you think the people around you were offended? I doubt it, and I think the majority of readers would agree.

Ok, well, what about carrying a sign that says that? After all, if we can mock Chris Pronger or Sidney Crosby or whoever else is Public Enemy #1, shouldn’t it be ok to mock the refs? This is pro sports we’re talking about here.

Now put something like “Ref, You Suck” on a t-shirt and, well, that’s apparently over the line, at least at Honda Center.

Filed in: NHL | Mike Chen's Hockey Blog | Permalink
Tags: Arenas, Honda+Center, Referees,

What Tarnishes A Legacy?

by Mike Chen on 10/30/09 at 11:46 AM ET
Comments (0)

A few weeks ago, I heard a debate on XM Home Ice regarding the Hall-of-Fame worthiness of Theo Fleury. The discussion didn’t involve his numbers per se, but rather whether or not his battle with addictions immediately disqualified him from such an honor. The hosts acknowledged that Fleury’s issues were tied into horrible childhood abuses, and he didn’t have the proper outlets for dealing with them. Nonetheless, they generally felt that the Hall of Fame was the type of honor that shouldn’t be bestowed on people who’ve given into their personal demons—even when the context of what caused them is somewhat understandable.

I found this debate in my head revived with this week’s revelation that tennis great Andre Agassi used crystal meth and covered it up during a time when his personal and professional life were spiraling downward. Suddenly, critics were coming out to say that his entire legacy was tarnished, some even saying they couldn’t look at Agassi the same way.

Me? I tried to look at Agassi the same way I look back at Fleury—they’ve made choices that they’re not proud of, but they’re honest about it and they’ve grown from it. They weren’t cheating during their performances, so why should it take away from Agassi’s Grand Slam wins or Fleury’s career goal totals? They’re human, and they made human mistakes in their personal lives. I don’t think that should be terribly shocking. Even if their actions violated a league/association policy, that’s a suspension and a fine at most, not a giant asterisk next to their career accomplishments.

I’m sure this point can be debated and picked apart from every possible angle, but I’m of the mindset that as long as the substances in question don’t enhance performance, then any sort of honor should be based strictly on the person’s career in the sport—not their personal demons. That’s why I view these situations as different compared to something like the Barry Bonds fiasco.

Filed in: NHL | Mike Chen's Hockey Blog | Permalink
Tags: Hall+of+Fame, Theo+Fleury,

How Will Tavares Compare?

by Mike Chen on 10/08/09 at 12:47 PM ET
Comments (2)

In his first NHL game, John Tavares scored a goal and put up a secondary assist on a Mark Streit goal. For what it’s worth, those two points beat out the first games of Sidney Crosby (one assist), Patrick Kane (scoreless), and Evgeni Malkin (one goal). Of course, those guys turned out to be ok players (though not necessarily the best car passengers), and history has given us plenty of brilliant starts that tailed off into oblivion.

Then there’s the slow starters: Steven Stamkos took a half-season and a mullet-less coach to get going while Eric Staal and Joe Thornton had pretty unspectacular rookie years. Where will Tavares end up? Let’s look at how Crosby, Kane, Malkin, and Alex Ovechkin did in their first ten games.

Filed in: NHL | Mike Chen's Hockey Blog | Permalink
Tags: Alexander+Ovechkin, Evgeni+Malkin, John+Tavares, Patrick+Kane, Sidney+Crosby, Steven+Stamkos,

A Timeline For Panic

by Mike Chen on 10/05/09 at 03:47 PM ET
Comments (3)

Colorado wins the Stanley Cup! Detroit is the worst team ever! Alexander Ovechkin will score 200+ points!

Sweet Jebus, people, grab a pint of Newcastle and take a deep breath. The season’s less than a week old and it seems like everyone’s already making all sorts of weird proclamations about their team and/or players. The most absurd of these things had to be whether Ovechkin would break Gretzky’s scoring records this season (though the discussion of whether or not Craig Anderson would win the Hart comes in second); come on, guys, it’s only been a handful of games. There was a time in San Jose’s history when the line of Owen Nolan/Vincent Damphousse/Jeff Friesen had a combined dozen points or so in the first two games, but I don’t think Sharks fans had any delusions of Friesen scoring 150.

It’s not time to panic. It’s not time to claim a winner. Let’s just enjoy the early games, ok? In the meantime, I tend to look at December as the most critical month of the season. However, you can almost consider it like a three-strikes rule, with October, November, and December each being a potential strike—and three strikes and you’re out of the playoff picture.

Filed in: NHL | Mike Chen's Hockey Blog | Permalink
Tags: Predictions, Standings,

DTV & Versus…For What It’s Worth

by Mike Chen on 09/29/09 at 11:00 AM ET
Comments (37)

Pretty much everyone knows that the NHL has suggested that DirecTV subscribers call DirecTV and bug them about Versus. As a longtime DirecTV subscriber, I decided to do just that to see what they’d say. After doing a little research, I saw that some people were getting free stuff for complaining.

I’m not necessarily advocating that you do this, but it never hurts to try. Here’s what happened and what I got:

Filed in: NHL | Mike Chen's Hockey Blog | Permalink
Tags: Center+Ice, DirecTV, Versus,

Would You Sign This Guy?

by Mike Chen on 09/28/09 at 09:09 AM ET
Comments (2)

It’s the end of September, which means that we’re subjected to the annual Peter Forsberg comeback rumors. (Everyone collectively roll their eyes right now.)

Been there. Done that. Excellent player when healthy. Still has great vision and hands. Fragile, capable of straining a groin while reaching in the cupboard for cereal. Has an alien-infested foot that can’t seem to fit in any skate.

Oh, but the temptation. Just imagine, if—this time, really!—Forsberg was healthy, wouldn’t he be a fantastic addition to a team? Sure, maybe not a #1 center (even the most desperate GM would be delusional if he counted on Foppa to be his top guy), but if you needed another playmaking forward, a fiery competitor, a veteran presence who knows how to win at the most crucial of moments...boy, that sounds inviting, doesn’t it?

Well Peter, what do you have to say for yourself? “But my foot felt better tonight, and it feels like it’s going in the right direction.”

Filed in: NHL | Mike Chen's Hockey Blog | Permalink
Tags: Peter+Forsberg,

Versus vs. Common Sense

by Mike Chen on 09/21/09 at 09:46 PM ET
Comments (6)

(Apologies for being MIA over the last little while. We’ve had a family medical situation, which causes priorities to shift quite a bit. Fortunately, things look much better this week. Don’t worry, I won’t go all Dwayne on you with soap-operaish details about my life other than that things are probably gonna be ok.)

The NHL season is two weeks away. I still don’t have Versus on my DirecTV, and it looks like I probably won’t have it anytime soon.

According to Puck Daddy, folks with Time Warner Cable may not be able to enjoy Center Ice at the season’s start.

Great time to be a hockey fan with all this technology, right? Fortunately, there are other options, such as online streaming (both the official Center Ice Online and...uh...other not-so-official means, but you didn’t hear that from me).

Still, this whole mess just seems to be a game of chicken that doesn’t really need to be happening. While the collateral damage here is a bunch of big companies pissing off fans, Versus has the most to lose here. Sorry guys, but you’re just not important enough to most people to cause a seismic shift in how a broadcast provider measures its performers.

Filed in: NHL | Mike Chen's Hockey Blog | Permalink
Tags: Center+Ice, ESPN, Versus,

Kessel Can’t Go To The Sharks (Directly)

by Mike Chen on 09/04/09 at 01:49 PM ET
Comments (4)

Ok, so the Phil Kessel-to-San Jose rumors are flying about now thanks to the Sharks’ cap-clearing moves last week. However, a simple look at numbers shows that a trade between the two teams is pretty much impossible without a third party getting involved.

Please recall that the trading of Christian Ehrhoff and Brad Lukowich to the Vancouver Canucks opened up about $4 million of cap space. That’s why everyone thought the trades were a precursor to something else. However, the Sharks promptly signed Torrey Mitchell, Brad Staubitz, and Thomas Greiss, which took up about half of that $2 million cap space. As it stands right now, the Sharks are hovering around the $54 million mark. That leaves them with about $3 million in cap space.

The Bruins, on the other hand, have about $1.5 million to play with thanks to buyouts of Glen Murray, Peter Schaefer, and Patrick Eaves, along with the $3.3 million signing of Derek Morris. However, this is a best-case scenario as it doesn’t factor bonuses in there (bonuses count against the cap); if all bonuses are achieved, then the Bruins are technically around $1.5 million over the cap—and that’s even without Kessel’s new contract.

(For anyone interested, those bonuses are for Milan Lucic, Blake Wheeler, and Tuuka Rask. So you can be pretty sure that the first two will achieve their bonuses. The latter? Not so much.)

Filed in: NHL | Mike Chen's Hockey Blog | Permalink
Tags: Boston+Bruins, Phil+Kessel, San+Jose+Sharks,

Appropriate Use Of Hockey Terminology

by Mike Chen on 08/31/09 at 01:33 AM ET
Comments (0)

Heard these terms lately?

Stoned: “Well, if you mean stopped a shot on goal, yes.”
Puck Bunny: “No. But I’ve met them.”

Who is this and what’s he describing? Here’s a hint—I think the world of the guy who was interviewed and I’ll still be sticking with the rival product in a few weeks.

Filed in: NHL | Mike Chen's Hockey Blog | Permalink

Can’t You Remember?

by Mike Chen on 08/25/09 at 02:34 PM ET
Comments (8)

With each passing day, I think I better understand just why Dany Heatley stayed silent for so long. It’s cause every time he opens his mouth, he appears worse and worse.

Today, he gave us this gem (hat tip to the Illegal Curve guys): “I love playing in Canada. I think there were some Canadian teams on the list that I gave the Senators earlier in the summer.”

Wait. You demanded a trade, you identified the teams you wanted to go to, and now you can’t remember them? You think there were some Canadian teams on the list? Maybe Jim Balsillie’s Make It Seven campaign made it confusing for you?

Ok, Dany, seriously, let’s do the math. There are the 30 teams in the leagues. Six of them are Canadian. You’re on one of them, so you can only go to five other ones. Reports suggest that you had a list of about a half-dozen teams.

Filed in: NHL | Mike Chen's Hockey Blog | Permalink
Tags: Dany+Heatley,

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About Mike Chen’s Hockey Blog

Mike Chen prides himself in being the only hockey writer integrating puck discussion with both Morrissey quotes and Star Wars references. Since 2004, he’s blogged about all things hockey and currently contributes to FoxSports.com, the Battle of California, and RotoRob.

Questions? Comments? Hate mail? Contact Mike here.