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nhl’s green initiative

Posted by  on 20 May 2010, 6:50 pm

i ran across a post by the nhl on their green initiative. my initial reaction is ‘???’. the post is pure garbage and political bull-shit. it simply just seems that the green movement has truly become a must for every association, organization or political entity in order to gain support. after digging through the useless bullshit about the dying planet, changing environment and climate change one will manage to find what the nhl plans to do in order to become ‘greenet’. their biggest actions are one almost retired hockey player driving what is thought to be a green car and the nhl selling branded re-usable bag.

i wonder if bettman was drunk or on drugs when this initiative was started. this is the same man that simply won’t understand that an ice sport can’t build a strong support base in a desert. the amount of energy put to keep the ice frozen in subtropical places is enormous. it can only be kept with the help of lots and lots of energy. energy that needs to be created at the expense of our environment. but, one of the biggest stars drives an environmental friendly car…that ought to off-set all the pollution created by the ice rinks in pheonix, miami, tampa bay, carolina, etc.

how about the pollution created by all the plane travel done between games? is it really necessary to play 82 games a season? almost a game every 2 days? maybe…but with all the plane travel done, this league is light years away from becoming green. it’s hard to have a league without travel, but they can be a bit smarter about they it is done. combine travel for teams. use more efficient ways of travel (if possible).  however, i doubt the hockey stars will be subjected to any travel less than first class on a plane.

how about the 7 game series? or i shouldn’t touch this…as the hockey fanatics will point to ‘history’ and that it’s always been a 7-game series. 3 or 5 game series can result in the same outcome, with less travel..thus less pollution. less pollution from the arenas, as there’s less time spend inside (and other sources of pollution that come from the arenas will also be reduced with less games). that might also bring better effort from teams in all games, because less games make each game more important. thus, a bad effort in one game can cost a series. in a 7-game series, you can waste 3 games and still advance (i.e. 2010 philadelphia flyers).

how about all the broken sticks? there’s bound to be materials out there to make them just as flexible, but less likely to break. history of the game is brought into play when changes are not wanted, but last i recall the original sticks were make out of wood, not composite. i guess the argument ‘it’s always been this way’ fails at this one. make sticks stronger and less likely to break, will reduce waste…thus be green. i haven’t heard this from the nhl!

don’t get me wrong, being green has to start somewhere. but i for one am sick of overhearing the bullshit connected to being green, going green or any other initiatives…when they only words without proper actions. the green initiative has become a political move to get support; and with that it’s losing its importance very fast. no real actions are taken. reductions have not been done. the nhl is a far way from being green, and while it’s important to start…i wish they actually did it properly.

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lay it on the line

Posted by  on 8 May 2010, 3:42 pm

it’s been tough lately to be a canucks fan, but the road just got added a few extra bumps. the canucks have simply melted like the snow on cypress mountain during the olympics during round 2. game one of the second round seems like a distant memory. it seems like a small mistake of the blackhawks, rather than a huge showing by the vancouver hockey club. staring game two, the canucks fell apart. the bandwagon fans have since fell off and have turned into haters

the games have slowly gotten away from the canucks, and with every second their season is slowly coming to a very early end. inconsistent officiating in the playoffs has proven once again that the nhl has no desire for canadian teams to do well. however, the canucks are not making their life easier. while a good portion of the penalties taken are questionable, there is no excuse for not taking advantage of the power-plays they did obtain. their poor showing in goals for is simply horrible. they got away from their game and not are facing a huge climb back into this series.

what has gone wrong? well, they simply thought they can out hit chicago. however, that has not been their game plan the entire year. adaptation to a series is huge in the playoffs, and the team that can adapt faster will move on. the canucks have tried to adapt, but they are simply not playing smart. the ‘play from whistle to whistle’ exist for a reason in hockey. they are throwing punches at the hawks at the wrong times, and they are being called for them. to add insult to injury, the hawks are putting the puck in the net with every powerplay chance. something the kings did in the first round against the canucks.

to advance, they need to simplify their game. take the hits, if they are there. finish the checks, and stop the retaliation. stop the extra activities after the whistle. improve their penalty kill and take advantage of their chances on the powerplay. all sounds simple right? however, these are all things the canucks have done quite well this whole season. take the game back to basics, add a player in front of niemi and put the pucks on net. niemi has not been tested in the last two games. put more pucks on net, from everywhere and get players there to pick up the rebounds. take the series one a game-by-game basis, and simplify it. until the fourth loss is in the books…i still believe they can turn it around.

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another cinderella story?

Posted by  on 18 April 2010, 10:42 pm

with the 2010 nhl playoffs in full swing, there’s hockey everywhere (well…if you’re in canada that is). games over games, goals after goals, and a surprising increase of over-time games. speaking of surprises, there’s quite a few in this year’s playoffs. a minor surprise is that all 8 series were tied at 1 game a piece after the first two games. this most likely is one of the side-effects of a ‘salary-cap’ era in nhl. have to admit it, but this is making the league more balanced and thus more difficult.

another surprise occurred prior to the playoffs kicking off. 7 out of 8 teams in the west had 100+ points. on one side, definitely balance…but for those points to be earned some teams had to lose them. so although there seems to be somewhat of a balance at the top, there’s quite a discrepancy between the top 10 teams in the western conference and the other 5. anyhow, moving along as there’s another bigger surprise in the making. one might even call it a cinderella story.

no, it’s not the montreal canadiens. even thought they beat the president’s trophy winning team in the first game of their series. they also surrendered a 4-1 lead to lose the game only 19 seconds into over-time. it’s not the phoenix coyotes, even though they’re currently leading the series 2-1 after a win in game 3. their qualification into post-season may have surprised some, but not really. their team is a nice combination of older experienced players with a younger touch. however, the pieces have been into place for a few years…it just took a more experienced coach to polish that diamond in the rough. it’s also not the los angeles kings. yes, their stars are young, but the team is held together by stanley cup winning players. while the team is counting on a young goalie, the leaders of the team are quite experience when it comes to the playoffs. it’s also not the vancouver canucks. sure they have the point leader for this season, but the team has been put together to be a force in the playoffs.

the cinderella story in the making are the colorado avalanche. this team was supposed to fight for the first draft pick in june, not for the second round of the playoffs. they barely made into the playoffs with 95 points (good enough for 5th place…only if they were in the eastern conference). the team is based on 19 and 20 year olds that are playing rolls that usually will be suited for more experienced players. their no.1 goalie was thought to be a back-up goalie back in september. their coach…was a nhl playoff virgin a week ago. to make things ever harder…their first round match-up are the perennial playoff under-achievers winners of the western conference, san jose sharks. the key to the series…perennial playoff under-achievers.

after game three, where colorado showed signs of another northwestern division team (edmonton oilers of 2006), the seed of doubt is finally starting to grow roots for the sharks. the sharks threw everything at anderson (the colorado goalie) in the first three games. yet, the avalanche are leading the best of 7 series by 2-1. it got so frustrating in game three that dan boyle scored on his own net, so they won’t be ‘shut-out’ in the game. but with all laughs aside, anderson is proving to handle every shot. the avalanche are playing a defense first game (it’s as if mourinho is coaching them). they shoot scarcely, they have a hot-hot goalie, and make sure to keep the game close going into the final minutes of the game. all the players are buying into what the coach is preaching, and the san jose sharks are starting to show frustration. if this keeps up in game four, the series could be over by game 5.

however, the story may not be all due to the avalanche, but also due to the lack of proper managment/coaching from san jose. the team is lead by shaky and fail under-pressure joe thorton, ex-fluke-captain marleau and cry-baby always wanting a trade heatley. the minute leading player of the team is a 40 year old defence-man. blake is a great player, but he’s 40. the goalie got raped by canada in the olympics for 7 goals…and never recovered. how this team manages to win the conference…and never show up in the playoffs will always ‘remain a mystery’. they play great as long as there is no pressure on them to deliver. as soon as the playoffs hit…the sharks drown.

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