Monday, June 30, 2008

Prepare Yourselves

www.graydarka.com



A while back we did our Sharks Deal or No Deal guesses for the upcoming free agency extraveganza. With some players already resigned, let's see how we're doing so far:

We said Boucher, Palvelski and Shelley would get a deal and they did. We said Patzold would not and he's off in Russia doing his thing. We didn't mention JR because at the time it was already known he'd resign. So far we're 4 for 4 and +1 JR.

Tomorrow will be the true test of our predictions. Stay tuned!

In other news, we saw this over at the Sharks Broadcasters Blog today:
"I think Todd Bertuzzi would look great in Teal. The Sharks need a guy who will stand in front of the net on the powerplay. Yes Ryan Clowe can do it. But the Redwings have Holmstrom and Franzen there's no reason the Sharks couldn't use another big man with great hands."

Drew, we heart you but, NO! For one thing Bertuzzi wasn't so great for the Ducks last year which is why he's now out of a job. Secondly, nonononononononononononononono! We can only judge him based on what we see him do on the ice and we don't like what we've seen. No thank you.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Items that should be noted...

* Even though July 1st is like an extra Christmas for hockey fans, it has been noted that this Christmas in July is more likely to feature coal in stockings than a brand new Wii. Which is not going to stop me from feverishly refreshing various hockey sites in the hope of the little teal Shark announcing that one signing that is going to put the Sharks over the top and get them that amazingly beautiful trophy (I'm getting carried away, I know). All a hockey fan can ask for is something interesting to happen. I can promise that I'll be here (watching my air conditioning get mercifully repaired) and I'll certainly post my "expert" opinion about any signings.

* As Gray reported, the Sharks re-signed Jeremy Roenick, Brian Boucher, and Joe Pavelski. These signings make me happy. The Couch Tarts love for JR is pretty transparent. Hell, he promised me a beer when the Sharks win the Cup. I'm just glad he gets another chance at fulfilling that promise. Boucher is a solid back-up goalie and Joe Pa had a great season (for him) last season. Nice job, Doug.

* Last night, the Sharks announced that they issued qualifying offers to Ryane Clowe, Marcel Goc, and Christian Erhoff and I'm happy with that development. My issues with Erhoff have been numerous, but when we need him in the playoffs, he did show up and play well (then again it was compared to Seminov so we won't go there with the comparison) and I was generally impressed with Goc during the season, particularly the many different ways that Randy Hahn pronounces his name. But Clowe is the one player that I would miss the most if he were to leave. As the wise Mr. Plank showed, Clowe was a damn monster during the playoffs, very Tomas Holmstrom-esque without being as annoying (to me at least). I'm not sure I could handle the Sharks without him. Besides how many teams have a guy from Newfoundland on their team?

Unless something exciting happens, I'll see you kittens Tuesday.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

The Countdown Continues


www.graydarka.com


JR, Pavelski and Boucher will be back next year. Woo!

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Free Agency Chatter

[15:50] Gray: who do you think will find a home first: Avery or Emery? GO!
[15:54] Mina: Honestly, I think Avery. He might be a jerk but he proved in New York that he can still play. As much as I like him, I'm not really sold on Emery. He let all the outside crap get to him which is one thing. But he didn't back up his mouth with his play. A 3.13 GAA and a .890% save percentage don't scream valuable goalie to me. Even if Avery was a pain in the ass, he was a team player, which is more than you can say for Emery.
[15:55] Gray: I have to agree. I like Emery, but he's shown he can be far more of a liability to a team than an asset. That said, I think if he can get a spot with the "right" team, he could come back.
[15:56] Gray: Avery will work wherever he goes
[15:56] Mina: Except maybe New Jersey
[15:56] Gray: yeah, except maybe there. Would be funny though.
[15:57] Mina: The mean girl in me would love to see him and Brodeur on the same team.
[15:57] Gray: YES

Monday, June 23, 2008


www.graydarka.com

Friday, June 20, 2008

Couch Tarts Draft Coverage





I'll be honest with you folks: I am not really excited about the draft. For one thing, the Sharks don't have a pick until the 4th round (unless something crazy happens). Plus, most of these guys won't make a major impact for a while. Like a long while. I will certainly watch the draft and semi-live blog my ideas. But honestly I am more looking forward to July 1st and free agency.

4.05 PM
Looks like the Ducks and King made a trade along with Calgary. Mike Cammalleri gets sent to Calgary and LA and Anaheim get some mid to late 1st round picks. Plus I'm hearing that Alex Tanguay is going to Montreal for their pick. Curious, curious. Plus I think I heard some booing. Bettman must be around somewhere.

4.10
They tried to have Blonde Reporter lady (I'm sure she has a name. I just don't care) talk to Steven Stamkos but the mic didn't work. I love unintentional comedy.

4.17
Bettman opens with "Hello Ottawa. I love your passion.
Ottawa opens with "BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
Bettman know how much he's hated and seems to revel in it. What more could you want in a villian.

4.19
Trade time again. Oli Jokinen went to Phoenix for Keith Ballard, a pick, and Nick Boynton. I am so slow remembering this. God help you if you're coming here for news.

4.21
The worst kept draft secret was just revealed. After a bunch of blah, blah, Steven Stamkos was selected as the first pick. And to you sir goes a sexy Lighting Jersey and a pretty hat. Congrats to you.

4.26
Fantastic. The Kings have 9 picks before the Sharks have one. Or the Pens. Love it.

4.29
Drew Doughty goes #2 with one of the Kings 9 million picks. Congrats LA, you have another hot young player on your team.

4.41
Zach Bogosian goes #3 to Atlanta. I love that the talking heads a criticizing Atlanta for a bad trade instead of talking about the pick. Seems like a good kid. I kinda wish the Sharks had had one of these picks to be able to get one of those defensemen.

Trade Time! This is the Tanguay trade I had heard about. Some picks tossed in there most notably Montreal's 1st round pick. I bet Bettman loves announcing trades cause it's probably the only time he'll get cheers.

4.49
Alex Pietrangelo goes #4 to St. Louis and is seriously the first guy I've seen to look really excited. Chris Pronger without the edge? Without the meanness? Just what St. Louis needs. Congrats to the Ontario Hockey League for having the first 4 picks. This kid is funny. He bought stuff from the Steven Stamkos website. Good comedy.

4.54
Picks #5 and #7 appear to be traded between the Islanders and the Leafs. The Leafs must be hard up for whoever they want. And the Leafs included a 2nd and a 3rd pick that are conditional.

5.02
And announcer man-crush Luck Schenn goes to Toronto at #5. The Ottawa fans seem to love him. I loved watching his film and seeing him beat the crap out of other players. Man I wish the Sharks had one of these picks.

5.08
TRADE! Columbus trades #19 and a 3rd rounder for RJ Umberger and a 4th rounder. My heart stopped for a moment with concern given the talk about trading any number of Sharks to Columbus. I'm still a little nervous.

5.11
Nikita Filatov goes at #6 and again looks super excited. Shame he kinda looks like a girl. I love the whole "Russian factor" and HWFO of how he might leave in a year or two. Bah. Kid looks stoked to be there.

5.21
Islanders moving around to get more picks trade #7 to Nashville for #9 and #40. And Nashville picks Colin Wilson, who is apparently a "man amongst boys." The Islanders seem to be following the 49ers philosophy of drafting which is "We have so many holes we need 1 million players so lets get 1 million picks." Good luck with that.

5.26
Gretsky gets some nice pop when he comes to announce Phoenix's pick at #8. I feel bad for the guy cause it must be rough to coach in Phoenix. Mikkel Boedker goes at this pick. Looks a little cocky to me but what do I know? Enjoy the heat kid.

5.32
Holy crap! The Islanders are finally picking. They chose Josh Bailey, who I guess was expected to be a pick around here which would make trading the picks make a whole lot of sense. I love how clean cut these boys all look. It's a different scene than the NFL draft. Other than the whole everyone is white thing.

5.39
Vancouver is up. Last time they picked #10 they picked Luc Bourdon. I think it's a classy touch for them to all wear guitar pins on their lapels and to give a shout-out to his family. Classy Vancouver. They pick Cody Hodgson who is apparently a character guy and a slower version of Steven Stamkos. Not bad.

5.44
The interviews with the players are much shorter now than they were. I love the "What are you going to do to help the team win?" question because it is breathtakingly dumb. Hodgson had the best response which is "I need to make the team first." Of course the best question of the night was "Was Sydney Crosby your hero growing up?" Awesome.

5.46
Chicago takes Kyle Beach at #11 right after they have an interview with him asking him about whether he was going to drop a lot based on a bad reputation. He plays like Shananhan but acts like Avery. Uh oh. One story goes he called a guy with a birth defect spine curvature a "hunchback." From what they are saying, he doesn't fit the true agitator model of being annoying if you play against him and awesome if you play with him. He just sounds like a troubled kid who needs to get his ass kicked into gear. Not sure if Chicago can do that with all their young players, but good luck.

5.54
Trade! Buffalo moves up one spot in exchange for a 3rd rounder next year with LA. And Buffalo takes a strong defenseman in Tyler Myers. I love that he got into his first fight this year. And that he's 6'7". Holy Crap.

5.59
LA comes up to make a pick at #13 to pick Colten Teubert from the Regina Pats. I love hearing people say Regina cause I am 4 years old (rhymes with.....hee).

As an aside, I've noticed that the teams have been saying hello to fans at draft day parties. Then I realized that the Sharks don't appear to be having one, which makes me feel a little bit better about whether some guys will get traded for picks.

6.05
Zach Boychuk goes to Carolina in a pick that didn't move. At this point you almost expect trades to be made for every pick. There is a nice point being made about shorter and smaller players being able to play in the NHL. I still don't think I have a chance.

6.12
TRADE! Nashville trades their pick at #15 to Ottawa for their pick and a 3rd rounder in '09. And the crowd goes wild. Daniel Alfredsson makes the pick for Ottawa. Such a bunch of applause whores. Heh. And they pick a Swede Erik Karlsson. Swede picks Swede. Even though he's going to stay in Sweden next year. Eh.

6.20
I didn't realize the lisp that Brian Murray had. Oh goodie, more to make fun of. Boston's turn. They take Joe Colborne who is apparently the son of a rich gas company man. Looks like he's going to be at Denver next year. I love the comparison to Joe Thornton in mannerisms and size. I wonder if he shares the same supposed extracurricular activities as Joe. *sigh*

6.29
Anaheim comes to pick and they take a high school kid, Jake Gardiner. It's at times like this when I am bored that I wonder what Doug Wilson is doing. Is he alseep? Is he watching old Family Guy episodes on his iPod? What do you do when you are making no picks until the 4th round? I wish I could find out.

6.36
Must resist desire to sleep. Nashville takes Chet Pickard. I just can't imagine sitting around and waiting to be picked. As a fan of a team with no picks today, the day started out promising with lots of trades and stuff. But this is a good pick especially since they traded away Chris Mason away today. Not that I want them to do well or anything but this is a smart pick.

6.41
Philly is up and after kissing some Ottawa ass, they pick a Swiss Luca Sbisa. At this point my spell check quits and goes home.

6.46
I love that people in Ottawa paid for free tickets to the Draft. That is dedication. I even heard people started paying before the free ones had been completely given out. The Rangers are up. Blah, blah, Ottawa, blah, blah, Redwings. And they pick the guy they were talking about having dropped, Michael Del Zotto. These guys are like the magic cure for not getting picked. As soon as they talk about someone falling on the draft list, they get picked. Good for you Versus.

6.52
Poor Michael Del Zotto. They showed a picture of him in youth hockey with Alex Pietrangelo and Steven Stamkos. How does it feel to be the loser of the bunch??!!?? Good for you Versus. New Jersey trades picks to Washington for a later 1st round and 54 or so. I'm starting to black out every time that Bettman talks. That isn't a good sign.

6.54
Washington comes to pick. They take Anton Gustafsson. What is with the Swedes and all the ss's. Sounds like he was a reach with an issue with his health. His dad played back when the Cap's logo was an original and not a throwback.

As it approaches 7 pm, I wonder if they'll cut into coverage to show Bloodsport. No one wants to miss a good Van Damme flick. I can imagine someone tuning into Versus now and being disappointed to see the hockey draft. They might go all Van Damme on their couch. Hehe. I'm making my own fun here.

7.00
Glen Anderson pays tribute to Lorne Davis. It's a little long but very sweet and teary. Regina! Hee. Jordan Eberle goes to Edmonton. Sorry kid. I'm more sorry about the dye job on his sister's emo sweep hair. It's not his fault I hate Edmonton but I just am having a hard time caring about them and their pick. I'm happy for him like I am for all the other kids who get picked and are infinitely more talented than I am. But seriously, that hair!

7.08
TRADE! New Jersey swaps picks with Minnesota and gets a 3rd rounder for next year. What is it with the 3rd round for next year. Meh. Minnesota is on the clock.

7.11
New Jersey is playing draft Frogger. Well played guys. Minnesota comes up, kisses fan and Detroit ass (I am getting so sick of this. Makes me glad that the NFL commissioner makes all the picks in that draft.) and picks Tyler Cuma who has apparently dropped in draft position. Really I think the draft rankings are crap cause all that matters is what the teams think of the guys. But then again I'm not making a living predicting the draft.

Cuma is apparently good at remembering people's names which the announcer tells me means he has good attention to detail and a desire to be a leader. Whatever. I think he just has a good memory.

7.17
The Devils FINALLY pick Mattias Tedenby. I know he's Swedish cause of the sexy yellow uniform (seriously those uniforms are fantastic. Probably the only international jersey I would buy.) He's also one of the few guys I have seen that holds up his jersey to display his name on it before putting it on. Thanks Mattias for giving me a chance to make sure I spelled your name right. Oh yea, he's supposed to be fast. *shrug*

7.23
Calgary comes up to make their pick and pick Greg Nemisz from the Windsor Spitfires. It was nice of them to honor Mickey Renaud who was a draft pick of theirs last year who died suddenly in February. ESPN has a nice article on him which made me a little teary eyed. Good thing I saw Darryl Sutter to get me out of it. Just looking at him makes me irrationally angry. I have a cold, bitter spot in my heart for guys who leave the Sharks after doing poorly and go on to do very well (there's a place for you there too Kiprusoff).

7.28
With the pick that should have belonged to the Sharks (I swear if you don't sign for a reasonable contract Brian Campbell, I will booo you till I die....or not), Buffalo picks Tyler Ennis, which is creepy cause I didn't know I had family in Canada. I now have reasons to make Buffalo my Eastern Conference team with Steve Bernier and my brother Tyler.

7.37
The Flyers sends their pick for Steve Eminger and the 84th pick. Washington pick John Carlson and honestly at this point I'm entertaining myself by reading other live blogs. Check out Mr. Plank of We Bleed Teal and Jess's Friday Night NHL First Round Entry Draftstravaganza 2008. Good stuff gentlemen.

TRADE! Anaheim trades their pick to Phoenix for 2 early 2nd round spots. I love the comment that some guy is "California like Arnold Schwarzenegger." Hee.

7.43
Phoenix comes up to make their pick and they take Viktor Tikhonov, whose dad worked for the Sharks and grew up in California. They keep talking about how connected he is to the Sharks and how his grandfather was a big deal Russian player. Seriously, this is the most they've talked about the Sharks all day. Kinda makes me sad.

7.49
Daultan Leveille goes to Atlanta in the pick that was part of the Hossa trade. He sounds like a project player who needs lots of time in college to get better. But I always find it weird that you make that kind of pick at #29 but it's not my call.

The unintentional comedy of this pick comes when Daultan's girlfriend was taking picture for like 5 min while she was on camera the guy she was sitting sit kept trying to get her to notice that they were on the big screen. Comedy gold.

7.52
And the last pick goes to Detroit. I half expected them to congratulate themselves based on what everyone else has done. Stevie Y gets a big pop as the local boy and announces the pick of goalie Tom McCollum. Sounds like a solid pick. There is a general tongue bath for Detroit.

And it is mercifully over. No Sharks moves which wasn't completely surprising. Good news is that I entertained myself here and got to know a little more about some of the younger guys who are making their way into the league. And in then end, isn't it all about learning. As long as we have all grown as people today, it is all worth it.

And now to what we all came to Versus for: the Jean Claude Van Damme classic Bloodsport!!! (Dude! I didn't know Forest Whitaker was in this. Man, I feel bad for him.)

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Trade Rumors

TSN is saying both Marleau and Cheechoo are available for trade. I will believe it when I see it.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Watch This Space

We have some things in the works to keep you going during the long hot summer, never fear. Baseball is good, but it's not hockey. We're in withdrawls still.

With July 1st speeding towards us, we'll be providing as much news as we can find, in our typical scattered fashion. Cartoons should be expected.

The draft gets ever closer and while Gray could careless, Mina will likely be keeping a watchful eye on the proceedings and will hopefully keep you, dear readers, up to date on the drafting and handing out of oversized jerseys/sweaters to the kids to wear in bad publicity photos.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Holy Frak

I know this has NOTHING to do with with hockey, but the Galactica mid season finale was tonight and I nearly had a heart attack about 5 times during it. I did accurately guess the ending, but...O.O

When they say they'll reveal the 5th of the Final Five "soon", and they mean 2009, it's not soon enough. Just saying. Thus ends my off topic nerd rant.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

ROBBED

www.graydarka.com

I'll post a cleaned up version later. This was my immediate, visceral reaction

Sharks Coaching Announcements: Live Blog Style

Your intrepid reporters were on hand (in our living rooms) to watch the live announcement of Todd McLellan as the new Sharks Head Coach. And, in our normal fashion, we discussed the event online. Here are the highlights (read: things that make sense if you're not watching the feed with us.)

[11:03] Mina: oooo noise
[11:03] Gray: check check
[11:03] Gray: lol
[11:03] Mina: sounds like me trying to get my cats attention

[11:07] Mina: Go #2!
[11:07] Gray: woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo #2
[11:07] Mina: and we are going to try to copy them (the Wings)
[11:08] Gray: hey, if it gets us the cup, I'm so ok with that
[11:08] Gray: SO OK
[11:08] Mina: As am I
[11:08] Gray: put Joe's big ass in front of that net
[11:08] Mina: I can handle being the Wing rerun if it means we get a Cup

[11:09] Mina: I like that he's interested in having a stable couching foundation
[11:09] Mina: Not a 1 and done
[11:09] Mina: Hehe
[11:09] Gray: yes
[11:09] Gray: that's nice to hear
[11:09] Mina: Doug is funny
[11:10] Mina: We all know this guy has cred
[11:10] Gray: some people think he doesn't because he's never been head coach in the NHL
[11:10] Gray: and you can't find a lot on him
[11:10] Gray: other than he won stuff
[11:11] Mina: Exactly
[11:11] Mina: As a Niners fan I have learned to give people a chance
[11:11] Gray: :)

[11:11] Mina: I like "now and for the future"
[11:11] Gray: he has to be jazzed to get a chance
[11:11] Mina: I hope so
[11:11] Gray: right after getting the Cup

[11:12] Mina: I'd like him to look more jazzed but I know he's trying to be professional
[11:13] Gray: he is
[11:13] Mina: But I'm happy there is a guy who wants to coach here

[11:13] Mina: I'm curious about whether they are keeping Timmy and Rob
[11:13] Gray: me too
[11:14] Gray: short and sweet
[11:14] Mina: Now we sit and answer lame questions
[11:14] Gray: yep
[11:14] Gray: Bueller. Bueller?

[11:19] Mina: I like the shape of his head
[11:19] Gray: lol
[11:19] Mina: hee
[11:19] Gray: I like how DW looks like how could have been a model back in the day
[11:19] Mina: I missed the point didn't I?
[11:19] Mina: I NO
[11:19] Gray: that distracts me every time I see him

[11:19] Mina: He got people to rep for him
[11:20] Mina: never missed playoffs? curious
[11:20] Gray: high expectations
[11:21] Mina: well we have those anyway
[11:21] Gray: true

[11:22] Mina: I want to hear drew talk about how much he likes a Saskatchewan boy
[11:22] Gray: hahahhahaaha

[11:24] Mina: My name is Minako from the website Couch Tarts. I was wonder if you are going to keep the same assistant coaches.
[11:24] Gray: that was short
[11:24] Mina: it was
[11:25] Mina: Well I would have liked other questions answered but I get it
[11:26] Gray: me too

[11:26] Gray: now it's something about the flyers
[11:26] Mina: odd
[11:26] Gray: yes
[11:28] Gray: when in their training did they learn how to get more suspensions than any other team in the league?
[11:28] Mina: Hee
[11:28] Gray: oh yeah, I went there
[11:29] Mina: of course you did
[11:29] Gray: heh

A Sharks Toon

I whipped up a quick (read as rough looking because I just scanned it and posted it without cleaning it up) little comic in honor of our new cephalopodic overlord, Todd McLellan. I was amazed at the poor showing of sharks hats when I googled for reference. Everything was Jaws inspired. Sharks fans, I have seen some fantastically ridiculous shark hats come out during the playoffs, you need to start posting those.

Thanks to the folks at Knitting Ninja for posting pictures of one of the best hats I have ever seen. I'm not into knitting but that hat was ftw.






www.graydarka.com

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

The Tampa Bay Rays......Awesome??

I know we're still in hockey mode (and kind of ignoring baseball) but I just had to share this.



I don't know how I feel about living in a universe where the (Devil) Rays are a winning team. *shudder*

News

The Sharks will be announcing their new head coach tomorrow, and on TV, no less. We're moving up in the world! TV coverage for this, amazing.
Some places/people are already saying who it is but we're not going to link to them. We're boring and will be waiting on the official word before we comment.

Edit: the Sharks have said that the new head coach will be McLellan. They kinda had to because the Detroit Free Press beat them to the punch. You can't keep a secret like that nowdays. No sir. Official announcement to come tomorrow at 11am PST. (Sure, the Sharks could have leaked this themselves, but it's more fun to blame someone else)

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

A Good Read

One of our favorite blog stops, Sharks Hockey Odyssey, has a nice piece on why warm weather markets shouldn't suffer because a small (but loud) group of Canadians feels that we don't deserve our teams. He addresses this particular point of ire far better than I can. Go check it out.

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Making the Hockey World a better place

Tiger Woods disappointed me with his comments about hockey. It's hard for me to take the same position as Mike Milbury because it is hard for me to criticize someone who plays a sport well (particularly one I do not have the patience to learn). It is easy to say "Woods is a pansy because golf is so much less difficult to play than hockey" and "I'd love to see him try to last just one period of hockey." And then I remember trying to learn how to play golf and the one million small things that have to be done perfectly in order to hit a golf ball even a few yards. Your posture, grip, back-swing, follow through, and head placement (among several other things) have to be just right in order to be even remotely good at golf. And while many hockey players play golf in the off-season, there aren't any hockey players who are on the PGA tour. So while calling him a wuss makes you feel better, it's not relevant to my disappointment.

Tiger Woods' comments make me sad because he is an ambassador of sports in general. For better or worse, he is more recognizable than the most recognizable hockey player (arguably Sidney Crosby, particularly if you listen to NBC). When Tiger Woods says something like "Hockey is teh suck," many non-hockey fans are going to listen to him and find more support for their ignorance of the sport. Which is sad. I would hope that Woods would use his notoriety to encourage people to check out other sports. Is it his responsibility? Of course not. But would it be difficult to do? Absolutely not.

I know all the arguments about why hockey has a hard time getting an American audience. Lack of big flashy stars, difficulty for kids to get involved in playing it, the idea that it's Canada's game, blah, blah, blah. It's a catch 22. The media doesn't pay attention because it's not worth their dollars and yet hockey has problems expanding their audience without media exposure to draw in the causal fans. The other day James Mirtle posted the front pages of many newspapers from the day after the Cup Finals ended. On the New York Times and LA Times front page, you'd need a magnifying glass to find anything about the game and these are two big markets with hockey teams. As much as I hate the bandwagon, know-nothing fans, they are necessary for the survival of the game. Case in point: Nashville. They have a very passionate fan base that is too small to support their team. They could benefit from an influx of casual fans.

But instead of wallowing and pouting, hockey fans need to work to get their sport more notice. The hockey Internet community is a great place to start. Bloggers like James Mirtle, Greg Wyshynski, and the good people at the AOL Fanhouse are helping to bring information about hockey to the Internet masses. But fans need to be more proactive. Like Gray said, there are things fans can do make hockey more popular. I start at a small level. All my students know that I am a huge hockey fan and I have had many of them tell me this year that they started watching Sharks games (though it was often to find out if I would be in a good mood the next day *^_^*). I even did a contest for picking the winner of the Cup Finals. Simple little things that I have done to expand the hockey fan base. And now it is your turn. That means you too Tiger Woods.

Thanks to our first and greatest commenter Will for alerting us to the link

Excuse me, Sir?

The Conn Smythe Trohpy is not a hat.




Image credit the NHL Frozen Moment, Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Stanley is in the Building

We here at Couch Tarts would like to congratulate the Redwings on their Stanley Cup win tonight. We'd also like to congratulate the Pens on a well fought series. This series gave us one of the best hockey games I have seen in a while. I am sad to see this season come to an end.
Thanks for the ride, gentleman. We'll see you both next year!

A Terrible Idea. A Better Suggestion.

Now I'm telling myself that Tiger Woods probably said this in a somewhat joking manner, and we shouldn't take it so seriously. Maybe he was serious, and if so, it was a really dumb thing for him to say. He's an ambassador of sports and he should be more careful. But people say silly things all the time, we can deal accept that. I'm not really annoyed by what Woods said. It's what a commenter said that really got me going:

Let's face reality, Hockey means nothing to the US.
The NHL should shut down about 10 teams, move some to more cities in Canada and only be in proven US markets (Primarily in the North).
Maybe it could be 10 Canadian teams and 10 US teams and then each team would have a lot more skilled players.
The game could only get better.


Really? Do you honestly believe that by shrinking the sport and alienating fans in smaller markets that you will improve hockey?

I've only been a fan for a relatively short period of time and I am already very tired of hearing people say that the NHL should get rid of all the non Canadian/non norther eastern US teams. It's stupid. How can shrinking your markets, alienating establish fan bases, and reducing coverage help hockey? Maybe it will make the sport better for you personally, but it won't help it grow or gin new viewership in new or small but expanding markets.

Want to get people to take it seriously? Stop whining about the lack of coverage and start demanding better. More hockey on TV means more chances for joe/jill schmo and pals to flip past, stop, watch, and get hooked. Mentioning the local team on the news outside of the playoff will get the general awareness of a local team up and potentially draw in new fans.

Hockey fans shouldn't be ignored because of some outdated ideas regarding popular sports. A lot of Americans like hockey and there's a big chance to expand already successful smaller markets by improving local coverage. THAT will help hockey. Work on programs to help get low income kids involved in hockey. You never know what kind of talent we could find if we could find a way to extend the sport to kids who normally couldn't afford it. THAT will help hockey. Reducing the number of teams by getting rid of successful ones in smaller market areas will HURT hockey. Suggesting otherwise is ridiculous.

Edit: Californians like hockey

Monday, June 2, 2008

How do you sum up a 3OT Stanley Cup Finals Game?

I think the boys over at pensblog said it best. Congrats gentlemen. Way to kick the Wings fans where it hurts. We at Couch Tarts are hoping you pull off the near impossible. It'll be worth it to see Holmstrom cry.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

WWCTD?

Couch Tarts would buy JR. OK not the actual person, but we did sponsor JR's page on Hockey Reference.com. Those little pages are so tempting to purchase, but we only got one. Currently, the tag is going to say WWJRD? but we are open to suggestions. God bless the interwebs and the ability to "pay" for little pieces of real estate.

Sharks, Deal or No Deal

Our uneducated guesses of who the Sharks will keep and who the Sharks will chose to let go come July 1st. This is based off an unofficial list of UFAs and RFAs. We left off the AHL guys because we don't know as much about them. Deal= keep, No Deal= moving on

Brain Campbell: Deal
Boucher: Deal
Ozolish: No Deal (we realize this might just be us projecting our desires onto the Sharks management. He was a good player and he has had to come back after facing some personal problems, which we respect him for. We believe he's past his prime as a player though, and that's why we say No Deal.)
Patzold: No Deal
Plihal: Deal
Rissmiller: Deal
Semenov: No Deal
Shelley: Deal, if they don't acquire anyone else deal

We think Clowe, Palvelski and Goc will get new contracts. On Ehrhoff we were undecided.