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What a load of crap!!!!!
2007-03-09 04:52:14
To start with, HockeyDirt fans, as dwindling as you may be, I must apologize for spending so much time away from the keyboard over the first half of the the 06-07 season. I've kind of been caught up with other things, and to top it off, there really hasn't been that much happening in the world of hockey to set off my "rant" emotion, so I've been pretty quiet. For those of you who have been waiting for an opinion or two, you might think, "What a load of crap!" Well, let me tell you, enough has happened to, not necessarily get my blood boiling, but certainly to warm it up. Let's start with....hmm....the All Star Game. That seems timely, non?What a load of crap!!! Why do I always get rooked into watching this week of of the best hockey players playing against each other, disguised as a game of the best players on earth facing off against each other, disguised as a game of shinny, disguised as a TV event, disguised as an accurate representation of the best t...
More About: Hat , Crap , Load

HockeyDirt Solves the NHL's Scheduling Problem
2007-03-09 04:52:14
With this week's decision to stick with the status quo & retain the current unbalanced schedule, the NHL has satisfied no-one.  When the league's governors met in Dallas they agreed that the current scheduling arrangement is a disaster.  Unfortunately they were unable to agree on a fix.  The problems with the current arrangement are well documented.  The most ridiculous by-product of the current sked is that the league's most marketable young stars, Sidney Crosby & Alexander Ovechkin only make an appearance in Western conference arenas every 3 years.  You can only imagine how frustrated Western fans must get when they see NHL marketing focused on Sid the Kid and have to wait months or even years to see him. The league's inability to come up with a fan-friendly schedule is baffling & here at Hockey Dirt we think we have the answer.  Current Schedule - 32 divisional games, 40 conference games, 10 inter-conference games Proposal 1 - 24...
More About: The N , Problem

How to Become an NHL Head Coach
2007-03-09 04:52:14
Hey kids, wanna grow up to be an NHL head coach?  No problem, the "formula" is dead easy.  We'll even give you tips on the path you'll need to follow to get a top job in the NBA, NFL or Major League Baseball.  First, you will need to make it to the NHL as a player.  The majority (19 of 30) of active NHL coaches played in the league.  While a long playing career is not a necessity, it certainly helps.  Six current coaches played 1,000+ games and 4 more played over 500 games.  With 1,487 games under his belt no current coach has more playing experience than Wayne Gretzky, although Guy Carbonneau (1,318) & Denis Savard (1,196) are not far behind.  Gretzky, Carbonneau & Savard also have the distinction of being members of the Hockey Hall of Fame and all three are attempting to belie the theory that great players cannot become successful coaches.  Even if your playing career is short do not lose heart - quite a few coache...
More About: How To , Coach , Come , Head

Doing something wrong
2007-03-09 04:52:14
From today's Globe & Mail:Bloggers are living in a world where emotions may be real but everything else is make-believe, says a University of Calgary professor in a new book.  ...makes blogging as melancholic and illusionary as Don Quixote tilting at windmills," ...creating feelings of loneliness for those who aren't lucky enough to reach "celebrity" status.Clearly those of us responsible for HockeyDirt are doing something wrong & missing the blogging boat.  Producing HockeyDirt is having none of these effects.  Instead, the site has connected us to hockey fans from across North America & around the world & provided us with endless topics for discussion & debate with our hockey playing friends.  Thanks for reading.
More About: Methi , Wrong , Something , Thing , Doing

NHL TV Ratings: Not All Doom & Gloom
2007-03-09 04:52:14
The NHL's marketers and Commissioner Gary Bettman were universally slammed for moving the NHL All-Star game to midweek in Dallas.  US television ratings for the Versus broadcast of the game & the surrounding festivities were disasterous - down 76% compared to 2004.  NHL bashers took delight in pointing out that reruns of the Andy Griffith show had 85% more viewers than the game.  (Although ratings in Canada were up - indicating that the NHL's US All-Star TV troubles had more to do with Versus than the timing of the game.) It turns out that some Americans do like to watch the NHL on television, as noted by Mark Cuban of "Blog Maverick" fame.  (Thanks to Offwing Opinion for the pointer.)The NHL on NBC beat College Basketball on CBS, 1.1 to .70 Is College Basketball doomed ? Does no one care anymore about college basketball ? Is the NHL on a resurgent climb ? (This just in, NHL was up again to 1.3 on NBC) Is NBC just really good ? Are both great spo...
More About: Ratings , Doom

We're going to the Nationals!
2007-03-09 04:52:14
Reminiscing of their childhood experiences of skating on rivers, ponds, sloughs, backyard rinks, lakes, creeks and puddles in fields, the HockeyDirt.com team decided earlier this season to enter a team in the Canadian Nation al Pond Hockey Championships. With the "Open" category consisting of teams made up of much more skilled and youthful players, HockeyDirt.com determined that entry into the Master's 35+ category would be a much more prudent thing to do. And so, here we are. Starting tomorrow, HockeyDirt.com will be competing on one of 24 different 75'x150' natural ice surfaces (see picture) on the lake at Deerhurst Lodge outside Huntsville Ontario against teams from across Canada, the U.S.A (our first game is against a team from Conneticut) and from around the world. While we had intended to actually compete by entering the Masters 35+ category, little did we know at the time that this level of the tournament was still stacked. None other than New York Islanders...
More About: The N , Nationals , Going

HockeyDirt On the Pond
2007-03-09 04:52:14
by T.J. O'Connonr Our journey to hockey glory started with an early morning departure from Ottawa for the 350km to Huntsville. We probably should have known that things weren't going to go perfectly smoothly when, after saying "follow us" to Big Kelly, we turned right out of the parking lot and he turned left. Enroute from Ottawa to Huntsville we saw some unmistakable reminders that we live in Hockey Country, as we saw countless outdoor rinks and other hockey paraphenalia. We arrived in Huntsville with little time to spare before having to register and hit the pond for our first tilt. In a strange twist of concidence, upon hitting the rink we recognized that the team we were playing against, the Belle River Boozers, were the guys staying in the hotel room right beside ours. Unfortunately, our friendly game quickly turned into a 22-7 drubbing. Zut alors!! Things got better from there. We hopped on the ice again at 6:30 for a game under the lights (and in the middle...
More About: Pond , Dirt

We made The National!
2007-03-09 04:52:14
...CBC's Nation al News, that is...  Check out the story on the Pond Hockey Championships at about the 23:54 mark of the CBC's Saturday Report.  At the 26:26 mark you can see the HockeyDirt.com team congratulating the Toronto Firefighter Service team following a well played victory, for them.   
More About: The N , Made , The Nation

Senators acquire Comrie
2007-03-09 04:52:14
The Ottawa Senat or s have traded Russian prospect Alexei Kaigorodov to the Coyotes for Mike Comrie.  With centres Jason Spezza & Mike Fisher out with injuries, the Senators have been looking for help down the middle.  They were reportedly interested in plucking Peter Nedved off the waiver wire, but Nedved was claimed by the Oilers.  Ottawa GM John Muckler can only hope Comrie works out better than Tyler Arnason, the player he acquired last season to occupy the long-vacant spot as Ottawa's second line centre.  Arnason was a bust in Ottawa and was released in the offseason. 
More About: Nato , Acquire