Irvin, DickDick Irvin Jackson, BusherBusher Jackson James Claypool James Fullerton James, AngelaAngela James
Thursday, September 1, 2011
When a day with the Stanley Cup goes wrong
Looks like when he called airline customer
service, Horton heard a "who?" YEEEAHHH
service, Horton heard a "who?" YEEEAHHH
Bruins' forward Nathan Horton was scheduled to enjoy his traditional day with the Cup in his hometown of Dunnville, Ont. on Sunday. But the Cup missed its flight, and Horton had to appear in front of the assembled fans empty-handed.
The Cup did eventually arrived for a shortened appearance at the event, and an embarrassed Horton apologized to the crowd. But he shouldn't have felt bad. Despite all the feel-good stories we're used to hearing this time year, Horton is just the latest in a long line of NHL players to have problems with the world's most famous trophy.
Here's a look back at some past champions who had their day with the Cup go badly:
1999 - Brett Hull is half an hour late returning the Cup in violation of the long-enforced 24-hour limit, but everyone agrees to just pretend that rule doesn't exist rather than make a big deal out of it.
2001 - Whitby's Adam Foote is disappointed after spending the entire day showing off the Cup to hockey fans in nearby Toronto, only to discover that none of them recognize it.
2007 - Officials are forced to explain to a disappointed crowd in Fort McMurry that yes, it was easily the biggest goal of his career and yes, it will go down in the record books as the Stanley Cup winner, but no, Chris Phillips still isn't getting a day with the Cup.
1996 - The Cup leaves North America for the first time when it travels to Sweden with Peter Forsberg, then proceeds to spend the rest of the summer annoying everyone by being unable to make up its mind about whether it wants to return.
2003 - Joe Nieuwendyk brings the Cup to this his alma mater at Cornell University, drawing such a huge crowd that the school is forced to cancel that day's scheduled lecture entitled "A detailed theoretical model of why anyone who becomes a general manager some day should probably trade their franchise player at the deadline if he's obviously planning to sign with the Rangers in the summer".
2004 - Martin St. Louis' day with the Cup is ruined when he accidentally tumbles into the bowl and spends the rest of the afternoon adorably squeaking for somebody to come and lift him out.
1995 - After winning the franchise's first championship, members of the New Jersey Devils save everyone time by just going ahead and engraving "A bunch of boring guys playing the trap and making you hate hockey" into the Cup's next ten years' worth of panels.
2005 - In the spirit of the lockout, NHL and NHLPA lawyers each get to take turns bringing the Stanley Cup from town to town and hitting fans over the head with it.
1994 - While spending his sixth day with the Cup in the last ten years, Mark Messier realizes he's really getting tired of all these championships and resolves to sign his next free agent contract with a franchise that has no hope of ever winning one.
2010 - After several intense hours, Jonathan Toews wins the staring contest when the Cup blinks first.
2009 - As he sits alone in front of a giant cake in a balloon-filled gymnasium with a party hat tilted sadly to one side, Joe Thornton begins to realize that fans aren't really interested in helping you celebrate your day with the Presidents' Trophy.
1991 - The Cup is famously left at the bottom of Mario Lemieux's swimming pool during a players' party after nobody goes in to retrieve it, marking the only time in recent NHL history that nobody on the Pittsburgh Penguins is willing to dive.
Carlyle, RandyRandy Carlyle Charles Charlie Holt Charles Schulz Cheevers, GerryGerry Cheevers Ciccarelli, DinoDino Ciccarelli
Bourne Blog: Taking concussions seriously at last
The fact that the head shot rule seems to be changing every season and that the league introduced the "quiet room" for players who just had their bell rung shows that, at the very least, there's a heightened awareness of the issue.
It's even become more acceptable within the culture of the game to say, "Hey remember when I got run over by that guy a few nights back? I think it's connected to the reason I puke when I exercise now, I may sit out a few games."
It seems we're taking concussions seriously at last.
But it's been a long road to get here.
Even just a handful of years back it seems like we were in the dark ages about players who needed to sit in dark rooms.
I know hindsight is 20/20 and all, but how insane is it to think that prior to the last season, you were 100-percent free to absolutely de-rail someone who wasn't looking by smashing their temple with your shoulder?
Were there actually people on the other side of the debate going, "Boy, I just don't know if we can take that valuable form of defense out of the game?"
(Answer: yes.)
And this is how it goes with issues like this ? the second we actually change the rules, we realize how ridiculous it is that it was ever any different. The new head shot wording has already been changed to remove the wording "blind-side and lateral," (making any head shot illegal) while allowing refs some leeway to decide if the player put himself in that position or not.
Once again, we'll find it odd it wasn't always this way when we look back. My kids will watch old highlights and say "soooooo ? driving your shoulder into an opponent's mind was allowed?"
And I'll get to say "not just allowed ? encouraged!"
It will blow their minds.
When you spend time with someone struggling through a serious concussion (redundant), I think you become a little more sympathetic to how badly we needed to get here.
I think back to one teammate in particular who could've used us to move a few years quicker on this.
This teammate was on the wrong end of what the NHL would clip on video to show players "this is exactly what you can no longer do." He never saw the guy coming.
His helmet popped off before he made it all the way down, and his head hit the ice. It was awhile before we saw him around the rink again.
At first, his visits to the dressing room were just to check in with the trainer and get progress reports. He was clearly not himself.
He'd sit in his stall with his hood up and stare at the floor in a prolonged zone that was uncomfortable to be around. It's helpless watching someone who's in that state ? there's just nothing you can do for them.
Setback after setback, he kept trying to start workouts but couldn't. This went on for months.
You watch a friend dealing with that and grow increasingly mad at the guy who hit him. But, at the time, it was legal. You know it was cheap, but we were letting guys get away with that at the time.
He did get back on the ice that year, but he was a guy who had to occasionally scrap to make his living. How scary must that have been, knowing that with every shift, you could be sent back to the dark?
And his situation was not a rare one ? you could grab just about any guy in the NHL and they'd be able to tell a similar story about a guy they played with ? so how did we slough off the severity of concussions for so long?
It's tough to comprehend, but now that we're here, it will seem crazy to go back. I'm proud of the steps the NHL is taking.
"Any hit resulting in contact with an opponent's head where the head is targeted and the principal point of contact is no longer permitted."
Finally, we're moving in the direction of reason.
Frank Zamboni Fred Moseley, Jr. Fredrickson, FrankFrank Fredrickson Fuhr, GrantGrant Fuhr Gadsby, BillBill Gadsby
Tim Thomas now has a bridge named after him in Michigan
For years, communities around North America would welcome locally born Stanley Cup champions with the usual combination of quaint pep rallies, keys to the city and a chance to glimpse hockey's holy grail at the player's old high school.
Yeah, that's great for the rank-and-file. But if a playoff MVP was born in your town, you apparently have to up the ante.
In 2010, Winnipeg native�Jonathan Toews of the Chicago Blackhawks had a lake named in his honor. In 2011, Conn Smythe winner Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins returned home to Davison, Mich., with the Stanley Cup, only to discover that the town had decided to name a bridge after him.
Well, a pedestrian bridge. But a bridge nonetheless.
"It's a nice bridge," said Karen Miller, Davison Township Clerk. "It's going to get a lot of pedestrian traffic. And Tim's name will be there for all to see."
(Wonder if Roberto Luongo's pissed off that no one's even offered to name a ladder or a filled pothole in his honor ?)
The bridge is located on the Black Creek Nature Trail on Gale Road, which goes around the township hall and eventually connects to the city's trail system. There are signs at either end of the bridge to notify walkers that Tim Thomas is about to carry them to their destination. (The same message could probably have been conveyed by posting photos of Games 6 and 7 of the Final.)
The idea came from a staffer in Miller's office, as they were trying to brainstorm offbeat ways to honor Thomas when he came back to Davison with his championship hardware. The Bruins goalie was given a "photo of the sign and an inscription dedicating the bridge in his name," according to the Flint Journal.
So Toews gets a lake, Thomas gets a bridge (and a corn maze, no less!) ? what's next? A dam? A hydroelectric plant?
Clearly, these last two Conn Smythe celebrations are as transformative as when MTV started filming Sweet Sixteen parties; now instead of a few dozen friends at the Elks Lodge and a new Dodge Stratus, every girl wants the Ritz Carlton rented out and a Ferrari. Go ahead and see if next year's Conn Smythe winner will settle for a marching band and a photo-op with the mayor. "Hey, where's the airport terminal rechristened in my honor?"
John Connie Pleban John Doc Gibson John Jack Garrity John Jack Kelley John Jack Kirrane
Rangers Sign Eminger To One Year Deal
I had posted last week that the Rangers were close to extending Steve Eminger for another season. Today it was announced that the Rangers have extended Eminger for one more year.
According to Ranger Rants:
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Agree or Disagree with what was said? Use the comments link below...let your voice be heard!
According to Ranger Rants:
Defenseman Steve Eminger, 28, has agreed to terms on a new, one-year deal with the Rangers worth $800,000 after compiling two goals, four assists and 22 penalty minutes in 65 games last season.That's a very cap friendly number for the Rangers. Eminger will likely play the same role that he did last season, rotating in and out of the lineup as a 6th/7th defenseman.
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Agree or Disagree with what was said? Use the comments link below...let your voice be heard!
Source: http://puckcentral.blogspot.com/2011/07/rangers-sign-eminger-to-one-year-deal.html
John Jack McCartan John Jack Riley, Jr. John Snooks Kelley John Chase John Cunniff
Video: Witness the dawn of Gary Bettman?s NHL reign
Ah, December 1992. Such an innocent time. Bill Clinton was newly elected, the Internet was beginning to revolutionize communication, we were still several months away from the release of "Last Action Hero", and a fresh-faced junior executive from Dunder Mifflin was hired as the first commissioner of the National Hockey League:
YouTuber "Catch The Taste" has a collection of cool heritage videos and just uploaded this Gary Bettman introductory clip. To Bettman's right was Bruce McNall, then-majority-owner of the Los Angeles Kings and chairman of the NHL Board of Governors. He would be neither of these things two years later.
From the Sun Sentinel in 1992, a bit about the then-40-year-old NHL commish on the day he was hired:
"I think I`m pretty knowledgeable in the sports industry," Bettman said. "I'm going to cram and learn and study as much as I can. I've got to learn the specifics of this business better."Bettman said that he plans to meet with each NHL owner between Feb. 1 and the end of the playoffs. "I`m going to spend time with each of the owners in their markets and I`m going to try to get my fingers on the pulse as quickly as I can to understand what the issues are, both on a league basis and a market-by-market basis," Bettman said.
Asked about a salary cap, Bettman said, "I think we've got to analyze the type of transactions, the type of player movement there should or shouldn't be in the NHL and then create a system that works well for all sides."
'Until the owners find a way to circumvent their own rules and screw themselves,' he added, under his breath ...
Look, someone needs to tell the truth about Bettman, so we're just going to swallow our pride, roll up our sleeves and admit something:
That is one hell of a tie for an introductory press conference.
It looks like the Painted Hills of Oregon, or if Jerry Garcia tried to draw a map of Portugal. For a league that's as buttoned-up as the NHL, this must have been like showing up to prom in an orange tux. Sigh ... what happened to that non-conformist ... oh, right, he signed with a hunting and fishing channel after the lockout. Should have seen that one coming back in '92.
Francis Moose Goheen Francis, RonRon Francis Frank Coddy Winters Frank Nick Kahler Frank Brimsek
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