Entries with the tag: hockey+fans

Immortalizing Chris Pronger

by Alanah on 05/08/08 at 01:03 PM
Comments (5)

A note from Greg Wyshynski, the NHL Blog Editor at Yahoo! Sports:

The following should be fairly straightforward, but here’s the short form: I purchased the Chris Pronger page on Hockey-Reference.com and I’m offering one lucky fan the chance to write the message that appears on the page.

The current page reads: “Chris Pronger: A suspension waiting to happen” and Greg thinks hockey fans can do much better. 

Go to Yahoo! Sports to read more about it and submit your best effort at ‘honoring’ Pronger.

Blackhawks Ticket Prices Shoot Up

by Alanah on 05/08/08 at 09:43 AM
Comments (2)

From Chris Kuc at the Chicago Tribune,

“I knew this day was coming—I think we all did,” said Eric Rabbers, a season ticket-holder in the 300 level of the United Center for three years who saw his tickets increase from $13.50 per game to $25. “We realized, especially in my section, the prices we were paying were pretty cheap.

“The problem I have is [accepting] an 85 percent increase for my tickets in one year. I think that’s out of line, especially seeing the team didn’t make the playoffs. I have a buddy who sits in the 100 level and his seats went up from $67.50 per to $115. I know the prices have been cheap for the past 10 years, but to try to make it up in one off-season is kind of ridiculous.”

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Technology & Hockey Fans

by Alanah on 05/05/08 at 02:17 PM
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Video may have killed the radio star, but HDTV has sure been good at resurrecting the hockey fan.  I came across this from Lynn Kiesling at the Technophobiac Finance Blog:

But the economics of technological change is reviving my love of hockey. When we moved back into our renovated house at the end of March, we also bought ... a 40” LCD 1080p high-definition TV. We hooked it up on a Sunday, and what was the first thing we saw when we turned it on? A Penguins-Rangers game. In Pittsburgh. And the Pens won.

All I can say is this: woof. Hockey is fabulous in HD. Of course I’m watching my Penguins (and I got home from my woolly weekend in enough time yesterday to see them win the series against the Rangers in overtime, yay!), but I’m also watching the other series. Because it just looks so freaking awesome in HD.

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Fans vs Fans

by Alanah on 05/02/08 at 04:55 PM
Comments (1)

On The Hockey Show hosted by the NHL Network Online, hockey fanatic Scott Ferrall encounters the heated rivalry between Flyers and Canadiens fans.  Video is below.

Also, while I’m on the subject of the NHL Network Online, I contacted their technical people this week with a request for more information being made available to those who are encountering technical problems viewing the material. They were working on it already, but responded quickly by letting me know they put this FAQ page up.  It’s a work in progress, but at least it will help troubleshoot some issues when accessing the available media on different computer systems.

Anyway, back to the video…

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Canucks Fans are Certifiable

by Alanah on 04/23/08 at 04:38 PM
Comments (3)

In ESPN The Magazine they’ve taken 122 sports franchises (MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL) and had 80,000 fans rank their favorite team by a variety of measures. (Check out all the rankings, or your own favorite team, here).

Looking at Vancouver, fans’ dissatisfaction is seen in ranking their team at 91st place—meaning fans of 90 other teams were happier with their organization than Canuck fans are.  (Of all the Canadian teams, only Toronto fans were more disgusted with their club, ranking at 121st place). 

Which prompted this quick assessment from ESPN’s Brian Kamenetzky:

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Habs Fan Beaten in Boston

by Alanah on 04/18/08 at 01:48 PM
Comments (9)

From Jason Magder at The Gazette,

Jean-Pierre Masse was beaten and kicked in the face several times about 10:20 p.m. after Game 4 of the NHL playoffs in which the Boston Bruins lost 1-0 to the Montreal Canadiens. The incident happened on Causeway St. outside the TD Banknorth Garden, minutes after the game had ended.

Witnesses said Masse, 28, was wearing a red Canadiens jersey as he was walking by a group of about 20 Bruins fans.

“They began yelling things like, ‘Go home, you French (expletive)’ - things like that,” Hugo Contant told the Herald.

more... on what is certainly an isolated incident, but a disturbing one.

Off-Ice Playoffs Feuding

by Alanah on 04/17/08 at 08:12 PM
Comments (3)

From NBC10.com,

In the column, tiled “Beaten To the Punch,” Wise called the club “an instant repudiation of what (Commissioner) Gary Bettman wanted the league to become” and “a reminder of the NHL’s pugilistic past that just won’t go away.”

“They flat-out market and sell violence here, sanctioned, unbridled assaults disguised as sport,” Wise wrote. He also said, “Many of the women and children in the crowd looked as if they could be security for Megadeth.”

The Flyers planned to distribute 20,000 copies of the article at Thursday night’s game, but the Post sent a cease-and-desist order. So, what did the Flyers do? They put the article up on the big screen over the ice surface, Clark reported.

One Flyers public relations official also wore a long-haired wig and a black shirt with the heavy metal band’s name emblazoned across his back Thursday night.

Read Mike Wise’s original article [link may require free reg.] that appeared in yesterday’s Washington Post.

Just Your Team or the NHL in General?

by Alanah on 04/14/08 at 01:37 PM
Comments (10)

From Paul Kukla at Hockey.com:

One quick question for you- Are you following all the games during the playoffs or are you just concerned about the results of your team?

The reason I ask is when the NHL came back after the lockout year, it seemed to me the majority of fans were just interested in their team. The league and the other teams really were not of interest; it was all about the team.

Now that we are three years into the redefined NHL, I am beginning to see more and more fans not only following their team, but also the NHL in general. Am I right?

and more, including a sample from the panicky emails showing up this week

Sharks Fans Getting the Shaft

by Alanah on 04/10/08 at 02:24 PM
Comments (8)

From The Consumerist,

Comcast SportsNet has more sports than they do channels. When fans of the San Jose Sharks tuned in to see playoff hockey last night they were surprised to see a baseball game in progress. When that game went into extra innings, ComcastSportsNet decided to stick with the game and drop playoff hockey.

And they might do it again tonight.

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More to be found from John Ryan at Morning Buzz, and from Eric Duhatschek at the Globe & Mail.

Pat Sajak Serious About the Caps

by Alanah on 04/10/08 at 01:52 PM
Comments (1)

From Dan Steinberg at the DC Sports Blog (Washington Post),

The Stanley Cup playoffs require a wide-ranging level of civic commitment. For Mike Green, that commitment was on display this morning, in the form of an early-morning mohawk. Dozens of fans will be receiving similar ‘hawks tomorrow. For Pat Sajak, that commitment might involve a red-eye flight back East from a “Wheel of Fortune” taping next Friday, to make sure he can get to Verizon Center in time for Game 5.

“If the Caps don’t sweep,” Sajak noted. “I’m pretty well at their mercy.”

Yeah, that’s right, Sajak has become a hard-core Caps fan, a front-row season ticket holder for the past two seasons who attends 30 games a year and was “Rocking the Red” throughout last week’s spasm of Caps passion.

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Unfortunately, there’s a good reason Sajak isn’t going to be able to pull off his own mohawk to support his favorite team. 

Hockey in His Blood

by Alanah on 04/05/08 at 06:24 PM
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From Vincent M. Mallozzi at the NYT (Sunday’s edition),

Also in his collection are 60 autographed jerseys, one of which was signed by 38 members of the Hall of Fame and 6 worn in games by Hall of Famers, including Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky, his favorite players.

“Wayne Gretzky was the most remarkable player I have ever seen,” Poitras said. “But Bobby Orr was a combination of greatness and toughness when the N.H.L. was a much tougher league.”

Poitras, who owns season tickets to the Rangers and the Islanders, has four rooms in his home filled with the kind of memorabilia that would make Lord Stanley raise his silver cup in appreciation.

“I do have a rather unusual collection,” said Poitras, a logistics and planning manager at Citigroup, who has turned his Long Island home into a veritable hockey shrine over the years, amassing much of his collection through auctions. “People who visit me get a real kick out of all my stuff.”

more... about one NY family’s passion for hockey

Hockey Has No Borders

by Alanah on 03/24/08 at 02:17 PM
Comments (0)

From Paul Kukla at Hockey.com,

Hockey fans are everywhere.  They can live in Key West, Florida, they may live in any European country or could be following the game from a remote island in the Caribbean.

Wherever they are, they have a common bond with all of us; they are hockey fans.  Fans who love the game, a certain team and no matter what it is, they are hockey fans, just like us.

Now I must ask, why do certain hockey scribes continue to play the “south of the border” card when writing about the state, both current and future, of the NHL?  According to those who write these types of rants, the only place hockey should be played is in Canada and if it is being played elsewhere, well, then it is a problem until it gets fixed.

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Leafs Fans Need a Safe Haven

by Alanah on 03/04/08 at 09:28 PM
Comments (4)

Toronto fans: Are you looking for a team to make it through the long, cold nights ahead?  William Houston at the Globe & Mail inspired me tonight when he questioned: Whatever will CBC do without Toronto on the schedule?  And it’s coming.

Despite the cheery optimism of Mats Sundin & Co., the Toronto Maple Leafs are unlikely to make the playoffs.

Still, the conversation on the most recent Hockey Night focused almost entirely on the Leafs, 12th in the Eastern Conference.

The national hockey media’s preoccupation with the Leafs is hardly news, but it does encourage me to extend an olive branch to Leafs fans. 

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A Polite Rebuttal

by George James Malik on 02/28/08 at 01:23 PM
Comments (13)

Hockey fans are all whiners who bitch and moan, never go to actual games, and sit around in a little circle of fellow bitchers and moaners who complain all day long.

How do I know this? Jamie Samuelssen told me, in a nice little 9:23 rant that’s available for your listening pleasure on WDFN.

Samuelssen claims that Red Wings fans and all hockey fans--with enough “you people” references to usually merit a lawsuit--are negative Nancies, each and every one, and he feels that the trade deadline brings out the worst in what hockey fans are.

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Winning Back Texas Fans

by Alanah on 02/20/08 at 03:33 PM
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From Richie Whitt at the Dallas Observer,

Admittedly stripped to a die-hard, bare-bones fan base after years of late-season flirtation begetting only playoff headaches, the Stars are at it again. Quietly, efficiently producing successful hockey that begs to be noticed. But for the most part playing to a city that doesn’t give a damn. [...]

“We’re down to the core,” says Stars president Jeff Cogen, charged with regenerating a hockey buzz in our disappointed, disjointed sports town. “It’s not ‘Woe is me.’ It’s just that, compared to who we once were we’ve fallen off quite a bit. We admit that, and we’re reacting to it to get those fans back.

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Hockey Kitsch

by Alanah on 12/17/07 at 01:09 PM
Comments (1)

Like nearly everyone else lately, I’ve had the urge to window shop around the internet for hockey-related gift ideas one might stumble across. 

I started out by thinking about what we, as fans, could give our favorite teams this year.  But nothing they need is all that easy to find (*or Vancouver would have picked up a couple of scoring forwards by now); and besides, they can afford their own presents. (I did manage to find a nice personal gift for Kirk Maltby however, which I’ll share later.)

Meanwhile, I wandered through some major retailers to find some unique hockey items for fans.* (Of course “unique” generally just means odd.)

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Sid Is Everywhere

by Paul on 12/04/07 at 04:34 PM
Comments (0)

from the CP via TSN,

Log on to the Facebook social networking website and there are 500-plus newsgroups dedicated to the 20-year-old from Cole Harbour, N.S.

One is dedicated to counting down the days until Crosby leaves Pittsburgh as a free agent to join the team of his childhood love, the Montreal Canadiens.

There’s an “I Hate Sidney Crosby” group, complete with his head pasted on a pink flower print dress. The antidote is the “I Hate Crosby Haters” group.

more

Bringing Back the Blackhawks Fans

by Alanah on 09/12/07 at 02:01 PM
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From the CP via TSN,

It might be time for hockey fans in Chicago to come out of hiding.

The Blackhawks have consistently been among the NHL’s lowest-ranked teams in attendance in recent years, but they believe that could start changing this season thanks to a revamped roster.

“We get plenty of walk-ups for our games,” said GM Dale Tallon. “They’re there. They’re wanting us to succeed. They’re waiting for an excuse to come to the United Center.”

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