Behind the Blog: Tom Benjamin’s NHL Weblog

Today’s Behind the Blog will feature the writer of Tom Benjamin’s NHL Weblog. Tom is a very opinionated guy, which is pretty clear when you visit his blog. His readers are very passionate and love to leave comments, which are almost posts of their own.

Q.1 – When did you create Tom Benjamin’s NHL Weblog and what made you do so?

I started it in September of 2003. I had been annoying people with my hockey opinions on various internet message boards since the early ’90s and so when blogging became big, it was a natural for me.

Q.2 – Have you always been connected with CanucksCorner.com and what made you join that webite?

Brian knew me because I’d played on the message board at Canucks Corner. About the time I decided to try a blog, Brian asked me to do some writing for him. It was a coincidence, but we both think it has turned out to be a good fit.

Q.3 – You seem to have the most involved readers who leave passionate comments regarding whatever topic you discuss. When did you first realize that you had developed a following of hockey fans who desired that interaction with the blogger?

My stuff has always drawn a fairly strong reaction in both directions. Some people really like my ideas about the sport, others really dislike them. It’s great that more than a few really smart people regularly contribute comments. They produce as much content for the blog as I do. As long as everybody plays nice, it works, and so far everybody has played nice. .

Q.4 – What advice would you give to fellow bloggers, especially newcomers?

First Find a voice and go for a different slant. I think blogs are popular because readers crave a diversity they can’t find in the mainstream media. It follows that we should be diverse.

Don’t take it personally. If you are going to start publishing your views – particularly ones that offer a different slant – at least some people will think you are an idiot and they will tell you so in no uncertain terms. (Sometimes, of course, at least some people will be right.) Disagreement is healthy and fun as long as nobody is mean spirited about it.

Q.5 – What do you hope to achieve with your blog over the next few years?

I don’t have any aspirations for it. I regularly resolve to give it up. I’ll be satisfied with the blog if it still exists in five years. If so, I’ll probably still be regularly resolving to give it up.

Q.6 – While you certainly discuss NHL issues in your blog, you are a Vancouver Canucks fan first and foremost. When did you become a Canucks fan?

When the Canucks first came into the league, I promised myself I would stay loyal to the Red Wings forever. The resolution didn’t last through the first season’s exhibition schedule.

Q.7 – What changes, if any, do you feel necessary for the Canucks to make the playoffs next year and become a Cup contender?

They have to become much better without the puck.

Q.8 – When did you attend your first hockey game and who was playing?

My Dad took me to an exhibition game at the old Forum in Vancouver. It was the Montreal Canadiens playing against the Western Hockey League Vancouver Canucks.

Q.9 – What first attracted you to the sport of hockey?

Again we can blame my Dad. Every Saturday night, it was Hockey Night in Canada. In those days, the game was picked up in progress about halfway through the first period. Dad watched Bugs Bunny with me until HNIC picked up the game and then I watched hockey with him. It was the only night of the week we got to eat in front of the TV. Mom always served burgers.

It was great.

Q.10 – Who is your favorite hockey player (either current or retired player)? Why?

Pavel Bure. I had more fun watching him play than any other single player.

Q.11 – What did you do to pass the time during the lockout last year?

I was blogging so I watched the labour dispute pretty closely. I watched more movies, read more books and I rekindled my relationship with baseball.

Q.12 –Which team has surprised you the most this season? Disappointed you? Why?

Carolina was the most positive surprise, Minnesota the most negative. I didn’t think the Hurricane would be good and I thought the Wild were going to take the next step.

Q.13 – Where do you see the NHL in 5 years? Why?

I’m not optimistic. I have zero faith in the people who own the league. I’d like to think that the game is good enough to thrive despite the greed and incompetence, but I doubt it.

Q. 14 – Of the teams left in the NHL Playoffs, who do you predict to win the Stanley Cup? Why?

Anaheim, almost entirley because I’m hoping for them. Any of the four teams left could win. Any of the 16 teams that made the playoffs could have won. I like the idea of Cinderella winning once in a while, but I also think we should be able to identify a favourite and be right once in a while.

Q.15 – Is there any hockey blog or website that you look to for inspiration?

I read most of the blogs. Jamie Fitzpatrick, Sisu Hockey, Mudcrutch and about a dozen other bloggers I feel guilty I’m not mentioning are favourites. James Mirtle is the most likely to get rich and famous

Behind the Blog: Japer’s Rink

Today's Behind the Blog features Japers' Rink, a blog run by Jon (more commonly known as JP) dedicated to covering the Washington Capitals and other NHL news. His daily roundups recap the previous night's Caps game along with who would win the end of the year NHL awards if it was based solely on the previous night's performances. Be sure to check out his blog if you don't regularly read it already!Interested in answering 15 questions to be in next week's Behind the Blog? Drop me an email or leave a comment to this post. Thanks guys!

Q.1 – What made you decide to create an online hockey blog and why did you name it Japers’ Rink?

I actually started writing the blog last summer while I was studying for the Maryland State Bar Exam. I needed to break up the monotony of studying (I’m sure you can relate) and thought a hockey blog would be a good way to do it, since I felt like I had some things to say on the subject and my fantasy hockey league was probably sick and tired of reading about it on our message board.

As for the name, “Japers” is sort of a spin on JP, but also a japer is “one who says or does something jokingly or mockingly” or “one who makes mocking fun of,” which is very fitting for me and this blog. Japers’ Rink sounded good, so I went with it, though if I had a nickel for every incorrect variation of it – Jasper’s Rink, Japer’s Rink, etc. – I’d have, well, a medium-sized handful of nickels.

Q.2 – What do you hope to accomplish with your blog over the next few years?

I don’t have any grandiose plans for The Rink, but from the start I’ve wanted to make my site sort of a homepage for Caps fans (and other hockey fans as well), somewhere fans would start their hockey-surfing day. I aim to aggregate all the Caps-related info out there, provide some analysis on it and other hockey issues, link to other hockey-related resources, and have a good amount of discussion on the team and the game, generally.

I also wouldn’t mind a co-contributor for the site, and would love to do a rivalry-type page a la the Battles of Alberta/Ontario, so if there are any Penguin (or similarly detestable team) fans interested, let me know. Of course, I’m not sure they have the internet in Western Pennsylvania yet, so that might be a problem.

Q.3 – When did you attend your first hockey game and who was playing?

It was back in 1982-83 against the Islanders in the playoffs (the first time the Caps had ever made the postseason). I was eight and remember going out to the old Capital Centre in Landover with my dad, though I can’t remember the game itself.

Q.4 – Why is the Washington Capitals your favorite team? Where do you see them in 5 years?

They’re my favorite team because I’m a masochist. And because I’m from the D.C. area and my dad’s had season tickets for the past 20 or so years. From the time I was eight until I was 22, the Caps made the playoffs every year and they’ve had some great teams with great players, including Rod Langway, Scott Stevens and Mike Gartner on through recent stars like Peter Bondra, Olie Kolzig and some new Russian kid. Until very recently they’ve always been both competitive and entertaining (now they’re only usually competitive and frequently entertaining), and I latched onto them.

In five years I see the Caps as an annual contender. With Alex Ovechkin, Alex Semin, Eric Fehr and whichever center they choose in this year’s draft, a stable of good forward prospects and a solid blueline of Steve Eminger, Shaone Morrisonn, Mike Green and Jeff Schultz (and who knows which other prospects will turn out to be the real deal), the only question mark may be in goal, and the ownership has shown that they are willing to open up the checkbook once the team is only a piece or two away from completing the puzzle.

Q.5 – Since you have seen him play throughout the season, what are your thoughts on rookie sensation Alexander Ovechkin?

He’s unreal. I’ve never seen a player that combines his speed, strength, scoring ability, physicality and, perhaps most importantly, love for the game. The rest of the world got to see some of that in Turin, but to see it night-in, night-out has been a real treat. If there’s a negative aspect to his game, he does try to do a little too much sometimes, but I chalk that up to being young, confident and not having the best supporting cast. As he gets older and the team gets better, he’ll become an even better player, as scary as that is to imagine.

Q.6 – Which team has surprised you with their performance thus far? Disappointed you?

Carolina has really surprised me. I looked at their roster on paper at the beginning of the year and didn’t see a playoff team. I’m still not sure how they’re getting it done, exactly, but there’s really no reason to think they’ll let up any time soon. As for disappointments, I thought San Jose would be a contender in the West – great goaltending, deep blueline, some talented forwards and an excellent coach. Similarly, I expected more out of the Bruins. And I’d say that the Penguins have been far worse than I expected, though that doesn’t disappoint me in the slightest.

Q.7 – If you had to predict two teams that will be in the Stanley Cup finals, which ones would you pick?

If I pick someone other than the Wings in the West, will you still post this? Actually, I think the Wings will come out of the West, but if Marty Turco somehow turns into a playoff goalie and Guerin remembers how to score, Dallas could be tough, as could Calgary or Nashville if their great goalies get hot. In the East, Ottawa needs Hasek back, but even with the Dominator, Carolina has shown that they can handle the Sens. I’ll make a surprise pick in the East, though – how about the Flyers? Once they get healthy and Bobby Clarke makes a move or two, they’re going to be tough to beat. You said predict seven teams, right?

Q.8 – Who is your favorite all time NHL player? Why?

I’ve had favorite players by era. As a young Caps fan, I loved Scott Stevens for his toughness and Bengt Gustafsson for his grit and offensive ability. Then in the early ‘90s I became a huge Peter Bondra fan – his speed and shot were so exciting to watch. Later in the ‘90s I became a big fan of Olie Kolzig because of all he has meant to the team both on and off the ice. Now, it’s hard not to love Alex Ovechkin. But my favorite of all-time is probably Rod Langway. When he came to D.C. he turned the franchise around and ushered in 15 or so years of (relative) success. Remember when the Norris Trophy was given to defensemen who played defense? That was Langway.

Q.9 – What are your thoughts on the 2006 Winter Olympics and its outcome concerning the Ice Hockey tournament?

I think the tournament is better in theory than in practice. Can you really expect great hockey when you basically have all-star teams flying across the ocean for one or two practices before playing 7 or 8 games in 11 days? But it was a bit of a coming out party for Alex Ovechkin, so to that end it made me happy. I think the elephant in the room that no one’s talking about is that early US and Canadian exits exposed the inability of the North American game to translate to the international ice surface. As much as the “new NHL” has opened up the ice, the game over here is still a relative clutchfest interrupted by all-too-frequent powerplay (not that I don’t love it).

Q.10 – Which division do you think has been the most competitive this season?

Probably the Northwest. You’ve got all five teams within 12 points with the top three separated by just two points. The last place team (Minnesota) is only five points out of the playoffs as I write this – pretty tight.

Q.11 – Aside from the many things you wrote in your blog, what did you enjoy most about your trip to the owner’s box with Ted Leonsis, owner of the Washington Capitals?

Winning. The night would have been much different had the Caps lost, but it was a good, hard-hitting game that the home team won, which put everyone in good spirits and provided us with the opportunity to go to the locker room afterwards to meet the team. Had the game gone the other way, it still would have been a nice night, but the win made it nearly perfect.

Q.12 – What did you do to pass time during the NHL lockout?

Graduated from law school and passed the Bar. But honestly, looking back on it, I have no idea how I made it through last winter. I mean, “Lost” wasn’t that compelling.

Q.13 – For your daily roundup posts, you post the winners of popular NHL awards if it had been based on the previous night’s performances. When and why did you start doing that feature?

I don’t recall when I started doing it, but it goes back to my desire to be part of people’s daily routine. By providing people with a quick recap of what went on the night before and acknowledging impressive performances without much editorializing, it’s a quick stop to start your hockey day. To be honest, I figured the feature would spark more discussion – people disagreeing over who was the best defenseman of the night, etc. – but I guess I’m always right.

Q.14 – What advice would you give to fellow hockey bloggers, especially newcomers?

Chickity-check yo self before you wreck yo self ‘cause shotgun bullets are bad for your health. Yeah, you know who you are. Just kidding. I’d say the key is focus. The most successful blogs, I find, are the most narrowly-tailored – there are tons of hockey blogs out there. The easy way to distinguish yourself is to do so by the subject matter you cover (the hard way to distinguish yourself, btw, is to be really really good at what you do). The more specific your blog is, the easier it is to find an audience and it also helps you to focus your writing.

Q.15 – Is there a hockey blog or website that you look up to for inspiration?

Eric at Off Wing has been tremendously helpful to me on more than a few occasions, and his blog is both informative and insightful. I love Jes Golbez’s blog – wicked sense of humor, appropriately snarky and condescending. As I alluded to above, I like the rivalry sites (Alberta/Ontario) a lot as well – trash talking is such an integral part of hockey and being a third-party observer to buddies (I think) dishing it back and forth in a friendly manner is great fun. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Capitol Punishment, a Washington Nationals blog that is probably the most comprehensive and entertaining team-specific blog I’ve ever seen.

Any additional comments?

If Esa Tikkanen didn’t miss that empty net in Game 2 of the 1998 Cup Finals, the series would’ve gone back to Washington tied 1-1 and anything could have happened from there. Sigh. On the plus side, I did get to meet the Wings at the White House the following January.

JP's photos from the event:

Behind the Blog: Kukla’s Korner

Today's Behind the Blog features Paul Kukla of the ever so popular Kukla's Korner. After working on Breaking Sports over the lockout, Paul purchased a domain and went to work on it. One can always catch the latest news on his blog whether it's Red Wings updates or NHL news. Numerous BtJ blog entries have originated from an article found by Paul and posted at Kukla's Korner. I'd like to thank Paul for taking the time to participate in BtB!Q.1 – Why did you create Kukla’s Korner, specifically the hockey section? And why did you decide on its current format: reading like a Daily newspaper?

Kukla's Korner was established by the success I had with a previous blog, called Breaking Sports. I was not getting the information I needed about the NHL lockout from my Detroit area newspapers and other media, so I would search and search for any information I could find regarding the lockout. I decided to share that information with other hockey fans and decided just to blog whatever I found.

Q.2 – How many hours a week do you spend working on KK because it seems that there is always a new post about the latest hockey news?

I don't even want to know!!! Whenever hockey news breaks, I try to get it up as soon as possible. When not near my computer, I travel with a pocket pc which allows me to access the web from wherever I am. So basically I am "on" 24/7, give and take a few hours a night for sleep. I am blogging on a full-time basis, so I look at it as any new owner would, you have to put in a lot of hours for it to succeed.

Q.3 – Where do you see KK in the next couple of years?

Bought by Google for about $2 million or so!!! I have swayed back and forth about opening up a forum section and letting readers interact more. It is a lot of work to maintain and I want it to be top notch, but that is one of my goals. Another is to be on the cutting edge that software technology allows. I know little about the back office of a website, but learning as I go and always on the lookout for anything new an improved. I would hope by the next hockey season, Kukla's Korner would by a 'must stop' for every hockey fan on a daily basis.

Q.4 – How are the Detroit Red Wings doing in comparison to your preseason predictions? Better? Worse? About the same?

I thought when the Wings were in training camp, they would be seeded 4th or 4th in the West. But after their 12-1 start, I upgraded that to a top 2 team in the West. Granted, their division is very weak, but Babcock has kept his team on their toes the whole year, and I am looking forward to a long playoff run.

Q.5 – How long have you been a Detroit Red Wings fan and where do you see the organization in five years? The NHL?

I have been following the Wings before they put the escalator in the old Olympia. I remember watching the Wings in black on white when Channel 50 would join the game in progress in the 2nd period..I see the Wings maintaining their level of play in the foreseeable future and the NHL will be enjoying a re-birth, although two or three teams will re-locate.

Q.6 – You recently interviewed Detroit’s national anthem singer, Karen Newman. What made you think to interview her?

Sometimes I like to throw a change of pace into the daily routine. I had to find a face hockey fans were familiar with and felt Karen was the perfect choice, plus Elisha Cuthbert wouldn't answer my ten or so emails per day.

Q.7 – Which Wings’ Stanley Cup win did you enjoy the most? Why?

The cup in 1997. I had to be at the Joe and to be truthful with you, I snuck in. Went in the media door when it was busy and just floated in with the mass of people. I also enjoyed the 1998 victory because I was able to attend games 3 and 4 in Washington. It was Joe Louis south, the arena was filled with Wing fans and seeing Vladdy on the ice was something I will never forget.

Q.8 – Who is your favorite hockey player? Favorite Wings player? Why?

My favorite right now is Ovechkin. I think he may have the ability and charisma to help bring the NHL into the spotlight again. Wing player is Zetterberg. His game has improved steadily over the last few years, and is a threat on the ice every shift. His defense goes unnoticed but look for Selke talk in the next few years. All-time favorites in order, Gordie Howe, Bobby Orr and Jean Beliveau.

Q.9 – The NHL has had its fair share of ups and downs this season. What has been your most and least favorite event or moment to report on?

Least favorite has to be the Gretzky reports. I hated posting information about him, but readers were flocking to Kukla's Korner to get as much information as they could. I tried to keep it fair and balanced, but reporting anything negative about him tore me apart.

The ups were the Malik shootout goal, AO's goal on his back, and the report that Jiri Fischer had survived his heart problems and was out of danger.

Q.10 – What changes do you believe the Wings need to make in order to have a successful playoff run?

In my opinion, the Wings have lost faith in Chris Osgood and need to find a goaltender who can come through in case of an injury to Legace or take if Manny runs into a bad streak in the playoffs. A stay at home defenseman would be great too, but just about every playoff team is also in need of one too.

Q.11 – Where do you see the Detroit Red Wings finishing this season (ie. what seed in the conference, making it to the Stanley Cup finals, etc.)?

Wings will finish 1st or 2nd in the conference, and will face some stiff competition if they have to play Calgary in the West. If they can avoid them, I see the Joe filled in mid-June.

Q.12 – What did you do to pass the time during the NHL lockout?

See Breaking Sports. My first attempt at blogging, that kept me very busy.

Q.13 – When did you attend your first hockey game and who was playing?

My first game was 1962, but I have no idea who the Wings were playing. All I know is Gordie Howe was.

Q.14 – How do you think defenseman Niklas Kronwall’s return will affect the team and its performance?

It is funny, the rest of the league has yet to see or feel the affects of Kronwall. Many people don't realize it, but he was the best defenseman in the World Championships last year and is under the radar. Kronwall's game is one that will flourish in the coming months and he will be able to take some pressure off of Lidstrom. He is a future Norris candidate and will be the anchor of the Wings defense for many years. At this stage of his career, he is better than Lidstrom and that is saying alot. Staying healthy is something he must prove.

Q.15 – Is there a hockey blog or website that you look up to for inspiration?

Sharkspage, Hockey Rants and On the Wings gave me the inspiration to start KK. I visit numerous hockey blogs on a daily basis, and the majority of them are excellent. Each blogger has their own style and are very informative. The ones that draw my attention are updated on a regular basis, and contain information I want and a bit of the 'off the wall' stuff helps too.

Behind the Blog: Abel to Yzerman

Today's Behind the Blog features Bill Houlihan who runs Abel to Yzerman (A2Y). A2Y is a pretty new blog, but already one of my favorite daily reads. He posts a "Fan Post of the Day" including Wings game summaries and thoughts on the latest NHL news. It's always an entertaining and informative read.Q.1 – What made you decide to create a Red Wings blog and why did you name it A2Y?

As a fan, I’ve always wished I could go to one place on the internet and find everything packed in one site: all the day’s articles, articles from our opponents’ paper, fans viewpoints, stats, history…all of it in one place. So, I figured rather than keep whining about it I would go ahead and try it myself. Also, I love to write and the Red Wings are certainly something I feel passionate about so it was kind of natural for me.

As for the name…I had considered “Hockeytown South.” But, thankfully, it was pointed out I might run into copyright problems so I scrapped that. “Abel to Yzerman” came out of nowhere, really. I was thinking alphabetically, obviously. One of Kukla’s readers wondered why it’s not Abel to Zombo. Not sure that would attract the readers Yzerman would.

Q.2 – Abel to Yzerman just started in December 2005, yet you have over 11,000 hits in that period. What do you credit your popularity to?

I have no idea, really. I think it’s great, but it may be an indication of the frustration so many Wing fans have with the Michigan media, which is terrible where the Wings are concerned. I try to give Wings fans what I was looking for when I started…a central place for Wings news and maybe a little humor thrown in.

Q.3 – Since A2Y is so new, where would you like to see it a year from now?

I’d like it to be a little more visual, with some multi-media aspects to it that you don’t see now. But, believe me when I tell you I’m about as novice as you can get where site design and code are concerned. So, it’s going to be a slow process.

Q.4 – How long have you been a Detroit Red Wings fan and where do you see the organization in five year?

Well, I grew up in Michigan. I’ve been a Wing fan all my life. I think the future of the Wings is incredibly positive. There is so much young talent. Not just in Detroit where Zetterberg, Kronwall and Datsyuk lead a great core of youngsters. But there are players in Grand Rapids like Valteri Flippula, Jimmy Howard and Jiri Hudler. Igor Grigorenko is back to 85 percent of what he was before his ’03 car accident and he’s going to be great. I’d say that the Wings will be just as good in 5 years as they are today.

Q.5 – Which Wings’ Stanley Cup win did you enjoy the most? Why?

Wow…good question. The ’96-97 team was obviously special to all Wing fans because it ended the 42 year drought and the Wings had to go through Colorado to do it. And McCarty’s goal in Game 4 was unbelievable. The two Cups following that one were great for their own reasons. But to see Steve Yzerman get that monkey off his back…that was the best.

Q.6 – If you could change one thing about the Wings either as a team or organization (front office/owners), what would it be and why?

As a team, I’d like to see a little more grit. I think getting Niklas Kronwall back helps in that respect. But, if Ken Holland makes one deal on or around March 9th I hope it’s for a tough winger. One player I really disliked during the height of the rivalry with Colorado was Mike Keane. But, I think the Wings could use someone just like him right now. As for management…get the corporate types who buy out the lower sections to donate them to people who wouldn’t typically be able to afford those tickets. Get the vocal fans, the hard core fans, closer to the ice. That’s the definition of a pipe dream, right there.

Q.7 – How hard has it been for you to follow the Red Wings when you haven’t been back to Michigan for 15 years?

It was a lot tougher before the internet and before the Center Ice package. I remember watching the Wings lose to Colorado in ’96 from an aircraft carrier in the South China Sea. And I watched them win the Cup in ’02 from another ship in the Persian Gulf with the satellite cutting out with 7 minutes left in the clinching game. It’s been hard, but worthwhile.

Q.8 – When did you attend your first hockey game and who was playing?

Well, I can tell you that my first pro hockey experience was watching the Saginaw Gears in the late 70’s. I remember Dennis DeRosiers and Marcel Comeau. My first Wing game at the Joe wasn’t until 1990 against the Rangers.

Q.9 – How many hours a week do you spend working on A2Y? Do you find it hard to balance the blog and everything else going on in your life?

Aha…the big question. I usually get up at 5 and try to do a game recap and post whatever Wing-related articles I can find before I go to work. Then, I’ll usually try to post something at lunch time. I’ll spend an hour or so at night working on it, too. So, I’d say about three hours per day. It is hard some days, but it’s been fun so far. I can definitely see how some people can get burned out on it, though.

Q.10 – Why did you create and currently run a feature entitled “fan post of the day?” And which post has been your favorite thus far?

I’m glad you asked that. I was a message board guy for a long time, especially the MLive Wings Board. So, I guess I have a soft spot for the fans who post there and at some other boards. Plus, as hockey fans we are so passionate about our sport. I think it’s cool to demonstrate that however I can. My favorite fan post so far has been the one from LGW that included several links to historic Wing radio broadcasts.

Q.11 – Where do you see the Detroit Red Wings finishing this season (ie. what seed in the conference, making it to the Stanley Cup finals, etc.)?

Well, I see them earning the 1 seed in the West. The easy answer to that is that the Wings will go as far in the playoffs as Legace allows them to. I think it’s a bit more than that, though. If the Wings have trouble scoring like they have the last two playoff runs, it won’t matter how Legace plays. If Lang, Zetterberg and Datsyuk can play the way they’re capable, I see the Wings hoisting the Cup again in June. If the scoring drops again, we could lose to anyone.

Q.12 – What did you do to pass the time during the NHL lockout?

It’s kind of a blur, really. By the time it was over I was so tired of numbers and acronyms. I remember listening to The Score on my computer at work when they had those two or three days of extended negotiations last Jan or Feb. It looked like we would have a 30 game regular season. Then it all fell apart. Pretty depressing stuff to look back on. But, in hindsight, I’m glad they didn’t cheapen the Cup by playing an abbreviated season.

Q.13 – Who is your favorite hockey player? Favorite Wings player? Why?

I was a big McCarty fan. I really liked everything he brought to the table as a player and as a member of the Detroit community. It was obvious that he really loved playing for the Wings. Yes, Darren had some personal problems but who doesn’t? He brought a real human side to that team. With him gone…I’d say Chris Chelios is my favorite player. He’s fun to watch every shift. Steve Yzerman’s obviously a favorite too. I think an unspoken motivation among the players is to win one final Cup for the Captain.

Q.14 – How do you think the Tocchet gambling ring scandal will affect the NHL aside from just giving it a black eye?

The issue is Gretzky. As a coach, he allowed Tocchet to keep his job while heavily involved with illegal activity. That, in itself, is bad for hockey because of Gretzky’s stature. But, if that’s the extent of it…just that Wayne knew about it and didn’t stop it, then I think the damage could be minor. If it turns out that Janet Jones was betting on behalf of her husband, then that’s going to be bad.

Q.15 – Is there a hockey blog or website that you look up to for inspiration?

Definitely Kukla’s Korner. I’ve been reading his blog since the day it started and still do. Aside from being a fan of his site, Paul has been great in answering my blog-related questions. I also enjoy Cason’s Blog and The Battle of Alberta. Both make me laugh and offer some great writing. Acid Queen, when I can get past her hatred of my Wings (out of sheer jealousy….easy, AQ….just kidding), is a daily read, as well.

Behind the Blog: Boltsmag

For today's Behind the Blog, BtJ heads south to the warm state of Florida to catch up with John Fontana at Boltsmag. This blog covers everything you need to know about the Tampa Bay Lightning including other local hockey teams. Always a great read.Whenever I have a free moment this week, I'll be sending out my next batch of Behind the Blog email interviews out to various hockey bloggers. I have two in mind specifically, but if you're interested in participating please drop me an email. I'm planning on sending out four total this batch so I need two more blogs. Thanks!

Q.1 – You’ve been blogging consistently since February 2004. Why did you create Boltsmag?

As a Lightning fan, I’d been active on the Internet in various places and in various amounts from 1999 onward, discussing the Bolts on FanHome.com, ESPN’s message boards, and the old Rivals.com network site named Boltsmag. I’d discuss the team with a clique of other fans who were optimistic despite the team’s dismal performance and held out hope that things would improve in the future. And over the course of the years – they did improve for the Lightning.

The Dot-com bubble burst and Rivals and Boltsmag disappeared. FanHome has become part of the Scout.com network and the few places I could talk about the Lightning, I was treated as an outcast because I wasn’t part of another clique of posters, or I wasn’t a fan who shared a certain opinion that the Lightning needed to do this-and-that in order to contend. It really started to bother me that my opinion amounted to nothing because I wasn’t agreeing with a certain message board member, or I wasn’t articulating my argument with certain information that another message board member seemed to make vital to all their posts. With a chorus of nay-sayers, I ducked out of the message board communities and started following things on my own, talking about the team with only a few close friends.

2003-04’s preseason rolled around and I got curious looking for Lightning fan site. I took a look at some web pages that were devoted to the Lightning and was taken aback by it all. Most sites were non-updated entities that were relics of years gone by and the glory period that was the 1995-96 season. I felt sorta ashamed because it looked like there were no fans for the Lightning on the Internet. What fans you could find were on wayward message boards like Sun Sports TV.com and were that closed clique group (aforementioned) that wouldn’t even address general hockey issues or opinions from certain NHL fans that the team doesn’t have a fan base and should relocate.

It was the constant misperception by closed-minded fans that suggested Tampa Bay didn’t really like the Lightning, that the Ice Palace / St. Pete Times Forum was a waste of money to build and so-on and so forth. There was no one defending the Lightning and the fan-base through all of this.

So I simply said “The heck with it” and decided to build my own blog to report on the Bolts, to show that there are fans in the south and in Tampa Bay. I might not be a season ticket holder, I might not be the most in-the-know guy on the Internet with regards to the team or the NHL but I do follow and support the Lightning.

Q.2 – What do you hope to achieve over the next few years with your blog?

I’m hoping to improve coverage of the Lightning organization and local hockey in general…I had tried to obtain media credentials earlier this year in an effort to expand coverage of the team and was shot down for it.

Q.3 – Do you have any advice for fellow hockey bloggers, especially the newcomers?

K.I.S.S. – keep it simple, stupid. There are a lot of great in depth blogs out there and sometimes less is more. There are several official NHL blogs at current that rarely post and when they do – they write long stuff that rambles in several areas before coming to a halt. These are looked at as “blogs” but they really are just columns with comments.

Shakespeare also had a good line which needs to be remembered by anyone writing daily – “This above all, to thine own self, be true.” You’ll hear other's opinions and other's comments and beliefs wherever you go on the Internet, just don’t get caught up in it.

Q.4 – When did you attend your first hockey game and who was playing?

This is sort of sad but I think it was 1998… I’ve been a fan for a while but it’s hard for me to get to the games or talk people into going to games with me. I don’t drive and the arena is a ways off – always has been. Tampa Bay also offers few or no mass transit options to get around – so I was at the mercy of family or friends to go to any sporting event. At any rate, it was the Lightning versus the Ottawa Senators. I think the thing that stands out most in that game is Cory Cross giving away a goal and me screaming “CROSS, YOU SUCK!” at the top of my lungs. To which I must say, thank you Toronto Maple Leafs for Fredrik Modin in exchange for Cory “Sieve” Cross.

Q.5 – Any final thoughts on Tampa Bay’s Stanley Cup win in 2003-2004?

James Mirtle had told me to savor the Cup – because it may be the only one the Lightning ever experience. That wasn’t James trying to discourage me or discredit the team – that was speaking with history in mind. How many teams in the NHL have won the Cup? How many years tend to pass between Cup wins? I mean, the Rangers had a 54-year drought, the Leafs haven’t won the cup since 1967, and there are teams that have NEVER won the cup.

I guess my final thought is that even if the Lightning never play for the right to hoist Lord Stanley’s cup again, the 2003-04 season will be mine to savor for the rest of my days – and that’s the same for Lightning fans everywhere. The Bolts might look like a fluke right now in certain people’s eyes, or they look nothing like thy did last season – but that doesn’t make the Ring’s any less shiny or the memory of the Players with the Cup any less sweet.

Q.6 – Which player has had the biggest impact on the Lightning this season?

John Grahame – and the impact hasn’t been for the better. I could also say “Jassen Cullimore” as someone having the biggest impact on the Lightning this season. Jassen departed the team for Chicago during the 2004 off-season before the strike. Without him on defense, things feel a lot weaker…But I believe Grahame has had a bigger (negative) impact on the team.

John's Comment on 2/6/06: Just a sidenote, Christy sent me this interview request and I compiled my responses at the beginings of the Lightning's current hot streak, if not before it. Grahame has become an entirely different animal in his last 4 starts (3 shut outs) and the entire team has found emotion again.

Q.7 – How long have you been a Lightning fan and where do you see the organization going over the next 5 years?

I’ve been a fan of the Bolts since their inception. I was a kid at the time and while hockey was a novelty at first to me, we had a hockey ref who owned a baseball card shop near where I lived and we would spend hours hanging out with this guy and talking about the team and hockey along with other sports.

As for where the Bolts go in five years – I haven’t a clue to be honest. If they get there bearings back, it’s possible they make another Cup run or more than one. If the team tries too hard to become competitive this season or next season – the next five years could be a mess.

Q.8 – Which Lightning player, if any, do you believe will win an end of the year NHL award like the Selke or Hart?

As of right now, Brad Richards for the Lady Byng…besides that, the Bolts don’t really boast anyone worthy of an award this season.

Q.9 – What did you do to pass the time during the lockout?

Channel surfed a lot more. Spent more time watching TV shows such as “House MD”, “The Daily Show” and stuff on the Discovery channel. I also – and please don’t laugh at me! – watched NASCAR races more than I used to…Meaning I went from never watching NASCAR to catching a race occasionally. It’s sad, really…

Q.10 – Who is your favorite hockey player? Why?

Brad Richards. He’s the most consistent player on the Lightning and has been since he joined the NHL roster. This was a guy who was overlooked at Rimouski Oceanic as being a by-product of teaming with Vincent Lecavalier. He went on and starred on his own after Vincent joined the Bolts… Still taking knocks from critics because he played in the softer QMJHL… He signs with the Lightning and ends up runner up to Evgeny Nabakov for the Calder and later goes on to win Conn Smyth. Vincent Lecavalier is the boy wonder but Richards is the Dynamo that makes this team go.

Q.11 – What are your thoughts on Tampa Bay’s slump of late and where do you see the team finishing this season (ie. what seed in the conference, making it to the Stanley Cup finals, etc.)?

In a word – blah. Things just haven’t gone the way they should and the team has not responded to “rule changes” (these are mostly subjective and interpreted differently by the officials – see above Referee thoughts). Then factor in the losses behind the blue line (Jassen Cullimore, Brad Lukowich) as well as the departure of their #1 goaltender and bestowing goalie duties on a career backup and you’ve got problems.

I’ve also made comments on Boltsmag that the Olympics may be a detrimental factor this year as players (league wide) aren’t focusing fully on the games at hand and are thinking of the forthcoming Olympic tournament… This affects the Lightning pretty well as Richards, Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Fredrik Modin, Grahame, Vaclav Prospal and Pavel Kubina – the top 2 lines and a top D man.

If the Lightning turn it around – it’ll be after the Olympics and that gives them very little time to do it. I can see them making the Playoffs as a low seed – 7th or 8th – but it’s almost a stretch at this point.

Q. 12 – If you could change on thing about the NHL, what would it be?

The entire referee system. How rules are enforced, how refs are trained, disciplined and all the like. It’s been a long-standing complaint of mine that Referees need to call penalties and not just pick and choose which penalties to call. At the start fo the season – actually beginning during pre-season games – I thought that they were finally going to show that rules were meant to be enforced…. Then by mid November, the penalties stopped coming though infractions kept on occurring. Refs started to pick and chose what penalties to enforce and the league hasn’t stepped up and complained about this.

Systems of rules are there to be enforced, not selectively enforced. Power plays can disrupt the flow of the game – I realize that – but it’s not a refs fault for initializing a power play – it’s the fault of the player who committed the infraction that got him the penalty. You can blame definitions of penalties ro the refs themselves for their interpretations of what constitutes a penalty… Just don’t give me the “hindering the flow fo the game” crap that justifies a ref not calling a penalty.. A Referee’s job is not to manage flow fo the game specifically – it’s to enforce the rules.

Q.13 – Have you heard that the NHL is close to a deal with Apple regarding the iPod? If so, what are your thoughts on that?

The NHL? Trying to innovate? A pox on them! What’s next?! Glowing pucks?!?!?

Seriously – I think it’s good, especially if they can get into personal electronics faster than the other major sports.

Q. 14 – 61% of your readers who responded to your Boltsmag’s poll said they were not satisfied with OLN’s broadcasts of the NHL. What are your thoughts on the issue?

You know, it’s odd. I ran that poll the night before the last OLN broadcast (Tampa Bay versus The New York Islanders). I had written the poll thinking about how I had abhorred the OLN broadcasts early on.

I watched that game and enjoyed the broadcast more than the locally aired Lightning broadcasts on Sun Sports TV. It might have been camera positions at Nassau Coliseum or other technical issues with the building itself that made the broadcast better, or it could just very well be that OLN has improved that greatly over the first few months of the season.

Lightning fans also end up complaining with anyone besides Bobby Taylor and Rick Peckham calling Lightning games. That’s got to be a factor with some people voting against OLN’s broadcasts

Q. 15 – Is there a hockey blog or website that you look up to for inspiration?

Definitely Eric McErlain and Off Wing Opinion, PJ Swenson and Sharkspage. Eric covers the world of sports like no other and PJ is just an incredible hockey blogger. Others that I admire are James Mirtle and Tom Benjamin – play nice boys.

Any additional comments?

This season has been tough for me to blog at Boltsmag. My posts are coming less frequent as one can see… Part of it’s being taken aback by the team and not knowing how to articulate what I feel is a problem. There are other factors like hand surgery I had in November (which I am fully recovered from) that have just had me off the ball this season.

Yet Boltsmag will be around for a while. I have no plans to give it up any time soon.

Behind the Blog: Sweet Tea, Barbecue, and Bodychecks

Today's Behind the Blog features the always opinionated Acid Queen at Sweet Tea, Barbecue, and Bodychecks. She is a dedicated Carolina Hurricanes fan who always speaks her mind whether it's about Carolina bashers, happenings around the NHL, or Carolina's rise to the top of the NHL.

Q.1 – You’ve been blogging since August 2005. Why did you create Sweet Tea, Barbecue, and Bodychecks?

I'd created a Blogspot ID for the sole purpose of commenting on Jes Golbez's blog, and just called my little space “This Is Not A Used Blog” (and pretty much had a note in there to that effect). I have my own livejournal which I've used for personal and hockey-related journaling purposes over the last 3 years, but never really gave much thought to actually having a blog where I could rant about hockey until Jes put the bug in my ear earlier in the summer of 2005. I finally decided to take the plunge on what really amounted to a lark—I changed the name, changed the layout, started posting, and here we are..

Q.2 – What do you hope to achieve over the next few years with your blog?

Lots of ranting about injustices, tilting at windmills, generally pissing people off—y'know, the usual.

Actually, that's not really true. One of the things that I'd like to see come from STB2 is the realization by the general fandom that there are increasing numbers of people down here in Mayberry that do know and love the Sport of the Gods, and that the sport is steadily growing here despite the worst efforts of the Hurricanes' lackluster marketing department and the slackards in most of the Triangle media outlets. I also want to provide people with a perspective on the Hurricanes from a local's point of view, which is something that you can't get from some talking head in Bristol or Toronto who doesn't know the Brickyard from Franklin Street from Krzyzewskiville.

Q.3 – I visit your blog because you say what you’re thinking. I may not agree with you on a certain topic, but at least I know where you stand. Have you always been this opinionated? Are you very opinionated on other topics or just hockey?

I think my family (and people on several message boards) can vouch for my always having had strong opinions on everything. I certainly don't expect people to agree with everything I say—such an expectation would of course be quite foolish—but I've never been shy about speaking my mind.

Q.4 – When did you attend your first hockey game and who was playing?

The first NHL game I ever attended was actually Game 2 of the 1999 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, when the Bruins played the Hurricanes at the Greensboro Coliseum. Before that I was only ever able to attend various youth hockey games and a game by the Minot Maple Leafs of the Continental Hockey League (now the All-American Hockey League), back home in North Dakota, and a couple of high school games when I lived in southern Minnesota.

Q.5 – Where do you see the Carolina Hurricanes finishing this season (ie. what seed in the conference, making it to the Stanley Cup finals, etc.)?

I don't want to jinx anything, so all that I'll say is that the Hurricanes will finish where they finish—hopefully it's winning the Cup in anywhere from 4 to 6 games (so that they can once again have Finals Scoreboard on the rest of the Division); but given the fact that the pundits thought they'd finish down in my mother's basement with the catbox and the cockroaches, everything is gravy. Mmmmm, gravy.

Q.6 – Do you really hate the Detroit Red Wings as much as you wrote in this post? And which do you hate more: Red Wing fans or the Red Wings organization?

1) Yes—but I was grossly exaggerating when I said that I'd laugh at the fans if the Wings go plummeting to the basement. I'm far more sportsmanlike than that, I promise.

2) The organization, I have a great deal of respect for —they built a three-time Cup winner through smart drafting, smart trades, and a smart signing or two, and that deserves respect. But my personal interactions with a lot of Wings fans have been pretty uniformly crappy—especially because the Asshat Value of the fanbase has increased exponentially with each Cup. Every time the Red Wings have played at the RBC, it's like the assiest of the assy show up and feel that they have the right to be screamingly arrogant (and aggressive) jerks in another team's house just because it's the Detroit Red Wings—and nothing gets a body on my bad side faster than coming into my house and taking a dump on my living-room rug.

Q.7 – How long have you been a Hurricane fan and where do you see the organization going over the next 5 years?

Long story short: I grew up as a fan of the Edmonton Oilers—they were the first team I ever saw play (back on 4 October 1980), and I liked their style, so I decided that they'd be my team. By the time the Whalers came to town and became the Hurricanes, I'd graduated high school and lost touch with hockey (and the Oilers), so I was effectively a blank slate. Of course, if you took a look at my collection of hockey cards and Panini sticker albums, you'd think that I'd always been a Whalercanes fan because I have way more Hartford cards/stickers than I do any other team. Go figure.

As for where I see the organization going in the next 5 years, it's hard to say for sure. The hiring of Marshall Johnston as head of pro scouting and Peter Laviolette as coach are very encouraging signs, considering the current ownership's history of “promotion from within”–but at the same time there's a refusal to give European talent more than the most cursory of glances and a dearth of what one would consider even halfway decent prospects in the Hurricanes' system. If something isn't done to fix that, then this team could easily find itself right back where they were before Ragnarok.

Q.8 – Who would you pick to win the Calder trophy?

Alexander Ovechkin, no question. Of the current Top 4 Calder candidates (Crosby, Ovechkin, Phaneuf, Lundqvist), no one has done more with less than Alexander the (so far) Great.

Q.9 – What did you do to pass the time during the lockout?

I paid more attention to the NFL and my beloved Washington Redskins, and got into baseball again. I also followed the Euro leagues, particularly the Czech Extraliga (largely thanks to Golbez, since Czech isn't one of my languages) and the German Hockey League, and got some writing done.

Q.10 – Who is your favorite hockey player? Why?

Marek Malik is and always will be my boy—unless he becomes a Red Wing, in which case I'm liable to light myself on fire and fling myself off the top of the RBC Center (just kidding). I've always been quite fond of his keen sense of humour, serene demeanour, and the fact that he does his best every time he gets out on the ice–and I also love his uncanny ability to pull some wild-ass move out of thin air when everybody least expects it. Mostly because of the reactions he gets.

Q.11 – Which NHL division do you think is the most competitive this season? Why?

The Central is pretty much a two-team race between Detroit and Nashville, the Atlantic is all Philly with a smidge of the Rangers, the Pacific is kinda meh, the Southeast had a nice little three-way going between the 'Canes, Thrashers, and Lightning until the Lightning went pfft, and until the Canucks decided to take a little nosedive I would have said the Northwest (which is now down to Calgary and Colorado). So that leaves us with the Northeast—which is a spirited three-team brawl between Ottawa, Buffalo, and Toronto. That's the division I think is the most competitive to this point of the season.

Q. 12 – Which player has had the biggest impact on the Hurricanes this season?

Without a doubt, it would have to be the Warchief, Rod Brind'amour. Eric Staal's strong performance so far has been nice, the goaltending has been a very pleasant surprise, and the contribution of the offseason acquisitions has been quite bomb-ass—but I don't think it would have been entirely possible without the renaissance of Rod Brind'amour.

Q.13 – Why do you refer to yourself as the Acid Queen?

The Acid Queen was a character I used to run in the pen-and-paper RPG Shadowrun. AcidQueen is also my IRC nickname on a small network that I and several BattleTech fans hang out on, and I use it on a couple of hockey boards. And it's easier to explain than any other nickname I've ever had, so there you go.

Q. 14 – Which team has surprised you the most by their performance thus far? Disappointed you?

The team that's surprised me the most is the Flames. I seriously expected them to fall flat on their faces a la the Hurricanes in 02-03 and the Ducks in 03-04, but they've actually done quite well so far.

The team that's disappointed me the most? Columbus. Most expansion franchises usually have their act together and have stopped pissing around by the time they reach the five-year mark, but the Blue Jackets seem to continue to hope for Top 10 pick after Top 10 pick season after season—and that's no way to build a team. The sooner the Jackets clean house and fire Doug Mclean's sorry carcass, the better.

Q. 15 – Is there a hockey blog or website that you look up to for inspiration?

Jes Golbez, no question. I wish I was even half as funny as that lovable nutbar.

Any additional comments?
Go Canes!

Behind the Blog: Red and Black Hockey

Today's Behind the Blog features David Lee, who runs Red and Black Hockey. This Carolina Hurricanes fan blog has game reviews and other unique features and hosted the most recent Carnival of the NHL.

Q.1 – Why did you create Red and Black Hockey? What do you hope to achieve over the next few years?

Like a lot of folks, I started Red and Black Hockey as a "mistress" blog. I was spending an awful lot of time writing about hockey on my other blog, and I realized that although the readers of that blog don't care for hockey, I could find an audience that does. The end of the lockout and the onset of the free agent frenzy made it really easy to get started. Over the next few years, I hope that I can become a better photographer, learn some programming code, and design my own site instead of using a pre-fab. The narcissist in me hopes that one day I'll meet someone, and in mid conversation, they'll exclaim "No way! You're the guy who writes Red and Black Hockey?!"

Q.2 – Why do you have that Wayne Gretzky quote on the top of your blog? Is it a favorite quote or something?

To be completely honest, I don't know why I put it up there. It's just a quote that I like a lot. I guess it's one of those things that anybody can use as their motto. It can apply to any walk of life. Hard work is more important than raw talent. Just ask Pavel Brendl, because he's a great example of someone who doesn't use that as his motto.

Q.3 – You first started blogging on July 17, 2005 for Red and Black Hockey. How did you get the word out about your blog and when did you realize that it had become popular?

I plugged Red and Black Hockey on my other blog. At first, I got a little bit of cross-over readership from folks who were curious about my passion for hockey, but after about a week, I had exactly one regular reader. I didn't really do anything to promote myself, but the more I wrote, people gradually started coming around. I wouldn't say that it's become "popular" but I was featured in the Carnival #4, which really helped. At that point, I didn't even know that the Carnival existed until I got a random e-mail telling me that I had been included. After that, my hits went way up. I saw another spike in readership when the blog was mentioned in the Toronto Star.

Q.4 – After winning the bet between you and Jes Golbez, is there anything you’d like to say?

Not really. It was just for funsies, and I don't see the point in gloating about it. I'm actually kind of sad that Hutchinson reached eight points so soon. I hoped it would have been a little more dramatic.

Q.5 – Where do you see the Carolina Hurricanes finishing this season (ie. what seed in the conference, making it to the Stanley Cup finals, etc.)?

I see them finishing atop the Southeast division and probably getting the second seed in the Eastern Conference. I see a Carolina-Ottawa battle for the Prince of Wales, and I see it going to seven games, with Ottawa prevailing. I hope I'm wrong about that last part, though.

Q.6 – Which Hurricane players, if any, will win one of the NHL awards at the end of the season like the Selke or Hart?

Barring a freak accident involving power tools, Rod Brind'Amour should take the Selke. Although he's in a slump right now, Eric Staal has a realistic chance of getting the Rocket Richard. And don't look now, but if Cory Stillman keeps playing the way he is, he could be an Art Ross contender. Those last two are sort of dark horses, but I'd put money on Brindy for Selke at this point.

Q.7 – How long have you been a Hurricane fan and where do you see the organization going over the next 5 years?

When the team moved to North Carolina, in 1997, they played in Greensboro (where I live) for the first two years. I followed them from day one, but I only got serious about it during the 2001-02 season. I've lived in North Carolina my whole life, and we never got much exposure to the NHL, so I never had a team before the Canes moved down here.

In the next five years, I think the team will grow in popularity both locally and otherwise. It's really hard to compete with college basketball around here, but continued success on the ice will beget more support.

Q.8 – When did you attend your first hockey game and who was playing?

That's hard to say. It must have been some time in 1995. There used to be an ECHL team here in Greensboro. I have no idea who they were playing, but I do remember that Kevin Weekes was in goal for Greensboro. My first NHL game was on November 29, 1997. The Hurricanes were hosting the Avs. I remember being somewhat awestruck by Patrick Roy.

Q.9 – What did you do to pass the time during the lockout?

My other passion is Scrabble. I've been playing competitively for a few years now, and I started to get really serious about it during the lockout. I'm a much better player now than I was pre-lockout.

Q.10 – Who is your favorite hockey player? Why?

This is tough. I'm tempted to say Rod Brind'Amour, and I could give half a million reasons why. However, I keep coming back to Ronnie Franchise. It's hard to argue with 549 goals and 1249 assists. Throughout it all, he never craved the spotlight, and he always put the team first. Even when praise was due, he would find a way to deflect it to his teammates. He was always the epitome of class and the prototypical team leader. His impact on the game extends way beyond his goals and assists. In his last season, I really enjoyed watching the way he tutored Eric Staal. Oh, and he scored that game winner in game 1 of the Finals in '02.

Current players, I'd have to say Brindy. He works amazingly hard. He's always the first to show up for practice and the last to leave. His fitness level and training techniques are the stuff of legends. He excels on both ends of the ice, and is playing like he's ten years younger. He's done an outstanding job slipping into the role of captain.

Q.11 – Any thoughts on what went on during the World Junior Championship tournament, especially when a Hurricane prospect, Jack Johnson, made a lot of news?

If you're referring to the booing, I'm not as bent out of shape about it as some people are. It might have been a little, um, zealous, and a lot misdirected, but I think the media and the bloggers took it more to heart than the players did. There are a lot of theories about where the booing came from. Softwood lumber dispute and George W. Bush are the leading vote-getters. Obviously, these kids have nothing to do with either one of those issues. They just happen to be from the United States. I have proposed that part of the hostilities arose because USA has emerged as a more powerful force in the international hockey arena, and some fans felt threatened by that. Of course those are just the rantings of a disordered mind, but I honestly think there's something to that.

As far as Jack Johnson goes, he made a stupid mistake with the elbow. He deserved to be booed for that, but they were already booing anyway because of the softwood lumber dispute, or perhaps because Americans refuse to revere Barenaked Ladies as a good band. I don't know. Anyway, he played very well in the tournament, and I'm really excited about his future with the Canes.

Q. 12 – What player do you think has had the biggest impact on the Hurricanes this season?

Wow! Another really tough one. I wish you would have asked which newcomer has made the biggest impact. The answer there is, hands down, Cory Stillman. He sees the ice so well and makes some really incredible passes to create plays that we simply wouldn't have been able to make last season. Brindy and Aaron Ward have both found the fountain of youth, and Eric Staal is perhaps the NHL's most improved player, so they're also good candidates.

If you force me to pick one, I'll go with Stillman. We've not really had a guy like him who can create plays so well. He's been a really good fit here, and he's thrilled to be somewhere where he's wanted. From the get-go, he looked like he'd been playing with the guys forever. He may not be the flashiest player out there, but he's making it happen on a nightly basis.

Q.13 – What advice would you give to hockey bloggers, especially the newcomers?

I'd give this advice to anyone who writes any kind of blog: carry pen and paper at all times; take notes. Sometimes you're not near a computer, but you get inspired anyway. This helps tremendously. If you go to a game in person, or watch one on tv, take notes. You might want to write about it in your blog.

If you're going to do game recaps, provide something that TSN or NHL.com doesn't: a personal angle. We can get a box score anywhere. Give your opinions, no matter how harsh they may be.

Read. Read. Read. You should be a voracious reader of other blogs and even official sites. These should be your friends and your sources of inspiration. Also, be an active commenter to other blogs. This will help you to establish a name for yourself.

Link, but don't overlink. Nobody wants to read a post that's nothing but links to other articles. People want to know what you think.

Probably most important: SPELL CHECK IS YOUR AMIGO. Use it. This may be informal, but you come off like a dolt if your post is riddled with misspellings.

Q. 14 – If you could change one thing about the NHL, what would it be?

I've always been a proponent of eliminating some of the rules that protect the goalkeeper. I'd like to see the day when it's legal to check a goalie who goes outside the crease to play the puck.

Q. 15 – Is there a hockey blog or website that you look up to for inspiration?

Sure. To name just a few: Jes Golbez, James Mirtle, Hockey Country, Sabre Rattling, Tom Benjamin. Oh, and I can't forget [so.very.obsessed]. That's where I got the inspiration to incorporate my photos in the page design.

Any additional comments?
This was a lot of fun. Thanks for the interest.

Behind the Blog: Vancouver Canucks Op Ed

This week's Behind the Blog features the always amusing Vancouver Canucks Op Ed. When Jeff and Alanah Downie aren't busy with their bookstore, they entertain hockey fans with their blogging. They are very opinionated and have plenty of humor, which is easy to see at Vancouver Canucks Op Ed. Their blog is one of my favorite reads because I catch up on the latest Canucks action, usually get a good laugh, and look forward to their weekly Thursday Quote Sheet.

I'm sending out some email interviews tonight for the next batch of Behind the Blog. If you're interested in participating, drop me an email!

Q.1 – Vancouver Canucks Op Ed was started in October of 2003. What made you create this hockey blog?

Alanah: Frustration. One day in October 2003 I read this subject header on the Canucks board: "Is Todd Bertuzzi Finished?" This was in October 2003, and seemed like an idiotic question on its face. Furthermore, the consensus seemed to be that he was finished. I disagreed and responded to the poster of that topic, then got slammed with a ton of psycho responses. So I created Vancouver Canucks Op Ed so I could vent my opinions in relative peace. It just naturally evolved into a blog for both Jeff and I since we're both pretty passionate about the team.

Q.2 – When did you realize that you had a popular hockey blog on your hands?

It started slow, but we were still surprised that somehow there were a couple dozen daily readers stumbling onto the site in November 2003. Slowly but surely it just increased from there.

But our greater awareness – of both popularity and impact – came when we learned how much we actually affected people. In March 2004, we wrote a piece about Todd Bertuzzi, the same night that he punched Steve Moore. Like many people, we were emotional and upset about the incident. That piece was linked by so many websites, and we received thousands upon thousands of visitors within days. All were affected by Bertuzzi's actions, and, very surprising to us, many were affected by our comments as well.

One of the results was a whole lot of emails from people. Some of those writers to our site were people we knew from the hockey world, including some players and other well-known types. All were deeply upset by the events of that night, and further incited by our comments. The response was overwhelmingly positive, but some people were angry with us as well.

It was a very quick, powerful lesson about how our impressions could affect others.

Q.3 – How long have you been a Vancouver Canucks fan? What made you become one in the first place?

Jeff: Since about 1983. As a kid, my parents and I had moved to Vancouver from Toronto. I was a Leafs fan, but Stan Smyl changed that. He was a guy with a lot of heart on a team that worked very hard. They made you care about them.

Alanah: Since the mid-1990s. I was raised surrounded by Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens fans. I eventually came to my senses and abandoned those Dynasties for the nearly perpetual disappointment of being a Canucks fan.

Q.4 – Where do you see the Canucks in 5 years? NHL?

Former GM Brian Burke's philosophy to build an exciting team game has benefitted the Canucks in recent years, and hopefully for the long run. While many have complained that the Canucks never seem ready to win the Stanley Cup, we've been mostly happy to see a good product on the ice, game in and game out. That being said, we're still hopefull about that damn Cup. But Burke's legacy might at least mean the Canucks remain an entertaining, competitive team in the coming years. We'll have to see where Dave Nonis takes it from here.

Regarding the NHL, our guess is that the next five years will see a couple teams contract, while maybe adding one in a new city. Just a guess and we have no idea where it will all go.

Q.5 – Do you find it challenging to balance work (your bookstore) and your website?

Not at all. The website takes some time, but it's all just fun. Hockey is a hobby, not life support. Work, on the other hand, equals "mortgage payment" and "groceries". Since we're fond of both food and shelter, we find it pretty easy to prioritze the book store.

On the other hand, it would be very hard to give up Vancouver Canucks Op Ed.

Q.6 – Which team has surprised you the most by their performance thus far? Disappointed you?

Biggest Surprise: Buffalo. What the heck is going on there? And how long till they screw it up?

Biggest Disappointment: Pittsburgh. Not that we were expecting them to blow everyone out, but the team made things looks so optimistic for Pens fans. Is it a chemistry problem? A coaching problem? It's a mysterious disaster, what's happening over there.

Q.7 – Who is your favorite all time NHL player? Why?

Jeff: Darryl Sittler. My dad had season tickets to the Leafs in the 70s, and Sittler was the best.

Alanah: Wayne Gretzky.

Q.8 – Which NHL player annoys you the most and why?

Neither of us are annoyed much by hockey players. Different personalities, even ones you don't like, are found everywhere, so whatever. We just try to find amusement in their antics. But one non-player that we don't like much would be Colorado Avalanche GM Pierre Lacroix. Admittedly, he's got a great eye for talent and team building, but a capacity for sleeze, too. Maybe he's the nicest guy in person, how would we know? But we're not fans, and we'll leave it at that.

Q.9 – When did you first start doing the Thursday Quote Sheet and what made you do so?

We started the Quote Sheet in 2003. It arose from our interest in some of the intelligent, foolish, contradictory and often entertaining things that hockey players say. Since no one else had created a weekly list for us to go to and read, we figured we might as well do it ourselves.

An interesting side note is that the Thursday Quote Sheet started its life under a different header – it was called "From the Horses' Mouths". What an idiotic name. Who wants to call NHL players "horses" every week? Finally, due to an astounding lack of originality, we renamed it the "Thursday Quote Sheet".

Q.10 – What do you hope to accomplish over the next couple of years with Vancouver Canucks Op Ed?

Financial freedom. (Hah!) Seriously, a site re-design is in the works, and we hope that makes it more functional and attractive. Perhaps other changes too, but who knows where we'll end up. What won't change is our vision, which is just to provide a light-hearted and informative site for NHL and Canucks fans. If it ever stops being fun, we'll stop writing it.

Q.11 – What are your thoughts on the US Olympic roster picks? Team Canada’s roster picks?

Team USA: Mostly good, but leaving off Jeremy Roenick seemed like a knee jerk response to his personality, and maybe not smart. It's not his stats that matter most with a guy like this, it's his "intangibles" that are worth bringing. He's a player who loves to show everyone else up in the big games. Wouldn't you want that kind of player on your team in the biggest hockey ego match there is, the Olympics? No Brett Hull, no Jeremy Roenick… a boring day for US hockey.

Team Canada: We like the picks, and even the omissions. Sidney Crosby may have been great on the team, but it's hard to imagine his experience would have been better than any of the other forwards that did get named. His time will come. Basically, there are a lot of good players both on and off Canada's roster, and we can accept Hockey Canada's vision pretty easily. Tough choices.

Q.12 – What advice would you give to fellow hockey bloggers, especially new ones?

New hockey bloggers should follow their own path and completely ignore (and even contradict) what everyone else is doing. If you behave professionally and you're doing something different and interesting, plenty of people will find your site over time.

Whatever you do, don't try and conform to other people's ideas of a 'good' hockey blog. You can't please everyone, and most readers and other bloggers will be very supportive and helpful.

Q.13 – What did you do to pass the time during the lockout?

Jeff: Golf

Alanah: Alcohol

Just check our blog archives – we were AWOL for nearly the entire year in emotional self-defense. To this day, the acronym C.B.A. can cause us to break out in hives.

Q.14 – If you could change one thing about the NHL, what would it be?

Sorry, it's two things. Penalty calls (please, NHL, figure this crap out!) and scheduling. The schedule was meant to create regional rivalries, which wasn't a horrible idea, but not every team needed the help. New teams in newer markets have possibly benefitted, but established teams didn't need the nurturing of this kind of schedule.

For example, we once hated the Colorado Avs. Now they're just boring us to death.

Q.15 – Is there a hockey blog or website that you look up to for inspiration?

Our all time favourite blog belongs to Tom Benjamin. His comments are always astute and interesting, and we learn something from every post. He's never mean-spirited, but he's always critical of what he sees. Joe Tasca, now at Off Wing, is also a superb commentator of all things NHL. Ourselves, we have neither the interest (nor the skills) to be anything like these guys. Our blog is more frivolous by far. But we appreciate how much work they do, and we really enjoy reading their respective sites.

Regarding other blogs, we should say that we would never have found readers two years ago if it wasn't for blogs like Tom Benjamin's, Eric McErlain's Off Wing, PJ at Sharkspage, and Chuqui at Teal Sunglasses. They all played a big part in linking their readers to us. We're very grateful.

Any additional comments?
Thanks for the memories, Christy. That was fun!

Behind the Blog: Jes Golbez’s Hockey Rants

I'm happy to say that today's Behind the Blog is featuring the always humorous, passionate and entertaining Jes Golbez at Hockey Rants. His hockey blog has always been one of my favorites since I entered the hockey blogosphere. Next week's BtB will feature Jeff and Alanah Downie at Vancouver Canucks Op Ed.

Q.1 – Your first posts date back to May 16, 2004. What made you create a hockey blog and why did you name it Jes Golbez’s Hockey Rants?

I had been reading baseball blogs (my other favourite sport) for quite some time and thought that I had many good things to write about, only about hockey. I had visited message boards for years, but the conversations were often childish and anything I wrote of significant length would just get lost in the shuttle. So, I basically thought that since I always wanted to do blog where I could just spout out off on whatever I want. Why don't I create a site and see where it goes? As for the title, it just fit since I rant a great deal and I'm not the most original title maker.

Q.2 – When did you realize that you had finally established Hockey Rants as one of the premiere hockey blogs?

Well, since I write it, it's always been the best . Really, I always think there is lots of room for improvement in my site and my writing. It's not-for-profit, so I'm not sure how I can measure success.

Actually, I probably 'arrived' when I got emails from a couple of new blogs telling me that my site was the inspiration for them to get started. That was quite flattering.

Q.3 – Aside from Hockey Rants, you also run a blog entitled The Sidney Crosby Show and write a monthly team report for FantasyHockey.com. What made you take on these additional projects?

I have done quite a lot of writing, although not as much as I used to, for various sites and even a few publications over the past few years. Since I've been into fantasy hockey for many years, it just seemed natural to write for FantasyHockey.com and report about the St. Louis Blues. Writing also keeps me motivated to not be the usual lazy sloth that I am.

The Sidney Crosby Show is sort of a social experiment and a way to track the phenomenon that Sidney has created. No other player, not even Eric Lindros, has created so much hype. Sidney has the advantage of once-in-a-generation skillset combined with the explosion of multimedia reporting that Lindros, Lemieux, and Gretzky never enjoyed. I figured that there should be a one-stop shop for Sidney news plus it would be an interesting social study.

Q.4 – What advice would you give to other bloggers, especially to the newcomers?

1. Be prepared. Blogging can take more time than you first imagine. It may seem easy, but there are times when your mind is blank and/or you just don't feel like writing.
2. Update often. This keeps your site generating more visitors and keeps your mind active. It's like working out…once you stop; it's hard to get started again.
3. Incorporate images into your blog.
4. Be yourself. Yeah, this sounds like the garbage your mom used to tell you after getting rejected for the 1,000 time on a date request, but the best bloggers are the ones that inject their own personality into their sights.

Q.5 – Do you find it challenging to balance work and your blogging?

Well, I follow and read so much hockey news and write quickly that I don't find it hard at all. Most of my writing tends to be 'natural' and spur-of-the-moment. It also helps that on long SkyTrain (our public overland subway of sorts) rides that I can sort of daydream about posts and other material that I write.

Q.6 – You closely follow the Vancouver Canucks and St. Louis Blues. But which team would you pick as your favorite team? Why?

In a death match, it would have to be the hometown Canucks. I have truly lived and died with them more than the faraway Blues. It also helps that the Blues let my favourite player, Pavol Demitra, walk to LA.

Q.7 – Where do you see the NHL in 10 years? Why?

Well, I expect the US economy to implode on itself thanks to an unretainable level of personal, government, and trade debt combined with an over-reliance on insurance… oh wait, this isn't Political Rants . Honestly, I see the NHL in the USA as the regional sport that it is now and that it will be the same fabric-of-the-nation sport in Canada that is has always been. I hope to see the NHL flourish better in some of the new markets, but it wouldn't surprise me to see one or two of the weaker markets lose their teams and perhaps head to Winnipeg (crosses fingers) or Houston. Florida, especially, looks to be a franchise that will never flourish. If the Devils owner wasn't so tight with Bettman and the BoG, I could see them losing their club to a better market.

Q.8 – What did you think of the New Jersey Devils head coach, Larry Robinson, stepping down from his position?

I was shocked, but I don't follow the Devils closely so that was part of the reason. I wouldn't be shocked, though, if he was rehired by the Devils some time in the future. Fat Lou runs the team like a bit of a cult.

Q.9 – What are your thoughts on the US Olympic team roster picks?

Let me answer that when I stop laughing.
…
there!

The main surprise, to me, was that they included the ancient and slowed-down Chris Chelios. If they were leaving the past behind by leaving off Leetch, Amonte, and Roenick, why take Chelios? In a tournament against the world's best players, I feel Chelios will be an awful liability for the US club. The goaltending is incredibly weak and none of the 3 goalies picked would leave me with a lot of confidence.

I wouldn't totally underestimate the US squad, but they will have a tough time keeping strong opponents off of the scoreboard.

Q.10 – If you had to predict two teams that will be in the Stanley Cup finals, who would you pick?

Ottawa versus Calgary. Ottawa is the cream of the East and Hasek is back to his old self. Calgary has a very well put together roster and Kiprusoff is proving to be the real deal. Vancouver doesn't have the defensive depth to make the finals, but anything can happen…we're crossing our fingers.

Q.11 – When did you attend your first hockey game and who was playing?

When I moved to Vancouver from Cranbrook. I was 8 and it was against the Nordiques. The Nords weren't very good at this time, and the Canucks won. I forget the score, but it was something like 7-4: a typical 80's high scoring game. It was the first live NHL game that I had ever been to, and it was quite an experience. Cranbrook had very low level junior hockey, with crowds of a few hundred at most. Attending a game with over 15,000 screaming people caused my eardrums to nearly explode. I loved every minute, however.

Q.12 – What team do you find to be the most exciting to watch this year?

Our hometown Canucks have been one of the most attack-minded teams in the NHL for a few years and they are fun to watch. As for an opposing team, this year's Ottawa Senators are very fun to watch. It's too bad that the Leafs are always on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada and not the superior Senators. I also enjoy the offensive aggressiveness of Tampa Bay.

Q.13 – If you could change one thing about the NHL, what would it be?

Off Ice – Fire Gary Bettman.
On Ice – Scrap the shootout. I can live with every other rule change except this one. It's silly!

Q.14 – Is there a hockey blog or website that you look up to for inspiration?

I had read baseball blogs long before I read any hockey blogs. When I looked around for hockey blogs, there were so few! The ones I found were Off Wing Opinion, Confessions of a Hockey Fan, Hockey Pundits, and Sharkspage.com. Those 4 sites gave me my first taste of the hockey blog sphere and I felt I should jump in.

Nowadays, I enjoy the statistical analysis I find on The Puck Stops Here and HockeyAnalysis.com. I always wanted to do more metric studies for hockey, but I don't really have the time. It's good to see others are taking charge.

Q.15 – Any additional comments?

The blogosphere really exploded after the lockout ended. Before and during the lockout, there were only a handful of us. Now, there are too many blogs to keep up with! I try to visit them all when I can, especially since they give good links to relevant news and discussion you won't find in the mainstream media.

I've also been blessed to gain new friends and opportunities through Hockey Rants. I've met PJ of Sharkspage down in San Francisco and have talked numerous times online with Michael the Hockey Fanatic and the Acid Queen. Meeting new contacts and people through blogging is another inspiration to keep going. I even met my girlfriend though my site (long story for another day).

Behind the Blog: HockeyAnalysis.com

After quite a break in this feature, Behind the Blog is back. Today we're asking 15 questions to David Johnson at HockeyAnalysis.com. Whether Johnson is posting his weekly power rankings or daily game predictions, you are sure to take some interest in how these stats predict the outcomes of hockey games. Additionally, Johnson has a formula he developed to determine the most entertaining teams. He also will comment on important events like when the Team Canada roster was announced. The next BtB feature will be posted on Monday, January 2nd, where Jes Golbez at Hockey Rants will be featured.

Q.1 – The first HockeyAnalysis.com post I could find went back to September 13, 2005. What made you decide to create a hockey blog especially one that relied heavily on statistics whether power rankings or daily game predictions?

I have a personal blog at http://www.davidjohnson.ca which I was posting a variety of stuff (including hockey) on a semi-regular basis. Over the summer when the lock-out ended and the free agent frenzy that followed I found that I was posting mostly hockey articles and thus decided to create a hockey specific blog.

The goal of this new website was to provide information that was not found elsewhere and to debunk myths often perpetuated by biased mainstream hockey journalists, particularly those from the Toronto hockey media and about my favourite team, the Maple Leafs. This past summer there was talk in the main stream media about how the Leafs sucked and that McCabe, Kaberle, and everyone else on the team should be bought out and the team should start all over from scratch. Later on many in the Toronto hockey media predicted the Leafs would be horrible, would struggle to score goals and some even predicted they would get as few as 76 points. But any objective analysis of the team could prove otherwise and my goal was to do that. This is where statistics comes in. I believe that proper analysis of statistics is a better way of achieving the truth that some subjective opinion which is more often than not biased or agenda based. And for the most part my analysis has been correct. Toronto isn’t a horrid team, McCabe and Kaberle are excellent defensemen, and Toronto has been able to score goals (7th best in the NHL in fact).

Q.2 – With close to 12,500 visits since November 14, how did you get the word out about HockeyAnalysis.com?

Very early on most of the traffic came to HockeyAnalysis.com from my personal blog. Shortly after that the guys at FantasyHockey.com (which I see you are now a contributor) asked if I wanted to write for their website. I declined since I had just started my own blog and had my own plans for HockeyAnalysis.com but we decided to exchange links and that brought a whole bunch of new visitors. Since then it has slowly grown but I am hoping that it hasn’t maxed out yet.

Q.3 – Who is your favorite hockey team? Why?

I was born and raised just outside of Toronto so my favourite team is the Maple Leafs which makes it fun considering I now live in Ottawa. But I love hockey and am certainly not limited to just watching Leaf games.

Q.4 – Where do you see HockeyAnalysis.com in 5 years? What do you hope to accomplish over that time period?

In an ideal world I would love to be able to get paid to analyse hockey statistics and blog all the time but I am not sure that will happen. More realistically I just hope it will grow in popularity and hopefully also promote the idea of using statistical analysis to evaluate teams and players. I also hope that I can dedicate enough time to it to add some more features in addition to the game predictions and power rankings. I’d love to be able to spend the time to do a player ranking system. Unfortunately the stats I need to do some of the things are not always easily obtained in a database format needed for analysis. If anyone knows where I can get easy access to hockey stats let me know as manually extracting data from NHL box scores found on the web is tedious and very time consuming.

Q.5 – Do you find it challenging to balance work and your website?

Yes, of course. I think all bloggers struggle with this from time to time. But with HockeyAnalysis.com being much more analytical than some other blogs I think it makes it a bit more difficult since the statistical analysis is often more time consuming than posting a game summary or an opinion piece.

Q.6 – How hard was it for you to develop a power ranking equation? Do you have a background that made these rankings less challenging?

I have a BMath degree in computer science and I do a lot of data analysis in my regular work life so my background lends itself to doing this sort of thing. Really, analyzing hockey statistics is really a perfect combination of my work life and the hockey fanatic in me. In developing my power rankings, and the game prediction algorithm, I studied 2002-03 and 2003-04 game results to try and determine which teams won and why. I looked at things like how often the home team won, how often the team with the better offence or defence won, the effect of playing 2 games in 2 nights or 3 games in 4 nights, etc. It was a challenge to sort through all of that and try to figure out what actually means something significant and what is just coincidental. Once I figured that out I developed the formulae for game predictions and power rankings. Next summer I am going to do some more analysis to see if the new rules have changed anything significantly and whether my formulae need adjusting at all. So far things don’t seem to have changed much though so that is a positive sign.

Q.7 – Where do you see the NHL in 10 years? Why?

Probably about where it is now – huge in Canada and popular in some select U.S. markets but well behind other sports such as NFL, NBA, MLB and NASCAR nationally. I just don’t believe that the current leadership at the NHL offices in New York are capable of taking hockey to the next level in the United States. They seem to rely too much on trying to sell gimmicks (like the shootout) instead of just selling the game itself.

Q.8 – What is your current “success” rate with your game predictions?

I rank my predictions as strong, good and some confidence levels and then a pick-em category for games that are too close to call. As of game games through December 20th my success rate is:

Strong: 71 of 99 – 71.7%
Good: 88 of 134 – 65.7%
Some: 61 of 107 – 57.0%

Not bad but I would really like to see the ‘Some’ category rise above 60% success rate. It was almost there a while back but has fallen in recent weeks. I am also going to start posting my success rate every Monday from now on so readers can keep track of how things are going. One thing to remember is that these predictions should just be used as a guideline. Things like injuries and the use of back up goalies are not factored in by the prediction algorithm and someone with this knowledge should be able to improve on the success rate a bit more.

Q.9 – What are your thoughts on Jeremy Roenick accusing USA Hockey of blackballing him as the reason why he didn’t make the US Olympic team?

Jeremy Roenick is a talker. He loves the attention and loves to stir up controversy. He has done it his whole career so I wouldn’t read too much into his comments. I am sure he realizes he is in the tail end of his career and can’t contribute what he once did but I am also sure that he thinks he can also contribute in a leadership role similar to that of Chris Chelios and because of that he is disappointed. But I don’t think he was blackballed because he didn’t play in the past 2 World Cups as much as the Olympic committee might have been worried about his off ice antics being a potential distraction.

Q.10 – Which team has surprised you the most by their performance thus far? Disappointed you?

The biggest surprise has to be the New York Rangers. Most people predicted them to be last or very close to last in the east but they have done great. A lot of that has to be attributed to Jagr’s play but more importantly I think what the Rangers are doing is perfect evidence of just how important good goaltending is. As good as Ovechkin, Crosby, Svatos and Phaneuf have been this year, Ranger goalie Henrik Lundqvist is my pick for rookie of the year so far.

The biggest disappoint is probably the Penguins. While I didn’t predict them to make the playoffs like many people did, I didn’t expect them to be this bad either. It’s not just that they are bad, it is that they are bad and seemingly have no direction or focus. Atlanta has been a disappointment too as I had really high hopes for them. But at least for them you can blame it on their goaltending injuries. I had predicted they would make the playoffs and that Kari Lehtonen would be the rookie of the year.

Q.11 – Who is your favorite all time NHL player? Why?

That’s a tough question because I generally don’t pick favourite players. But with that said I really admired Nikolai Borschevsky. He was a small player who played with energy and skill. He also scored some pretty big goals for the Leafs including a few against the Red Wings in the early 1990’s.

Q.12 – When did you attend your first hockey game and who was playing?

The first NHL game I attended was a Leaf game probably around 1984 or 1985 but I don’t remember exactly when or who they were playing.

Q.13 – What are your thoughts on Steve Yzerman and Mario Lemieux bowing out of the 2006 Olympics?

I think it was a very honourable move. Both could see that they couldn’t contribute at the levels they one did so they bowed out to let a new generation of Canadian hockey players take the next step. It’s quite a contrast to Jeremy Roenick.

Q.14 – If you could change one thing about the NHL, what would it be?

Just one thing? Hmmm. How about make me commissioner so I could change a whole bunch of things. If you made me choose just one thing it would be to get rid of the 3 point game (or else make all games worth 3 points). Why some games are worth 2 points and others are worth 3 is just stupid. It was just one of those gimmicks that short sighted management in the NHL head offices thought would somehow spontaneously make hockey a popular sport in non-traditional U.S. markets.

Q.15 – Is there a hockey blog or website that you look up to for inspiration?

There are a number of excellent hockey blogs out there and several that I visit regularly (Hockey Country, James Mirtle, Hockey Rants, Hockey Dirt, The Ice Block and Behind the Jersey of course) but I don’t model my blog to be like any of them. Quite the opposite actually as I generally try to be different to provide information and analysis that isn’t found elsewhere. If anything it is sabermetrics, which is the analysis of baseball statistics, which inspires me the most. I think that studying hockey statistics can add further insight into the game of hockey just as sabermetrics did for baseball.

Any additional comments?

I hope everyone has, is having, or had a very happy holiday season and for those Canadian readers, get out and vote on January 23rd.