Author Archive

Ryan Miller Makes the Most of Life Without Crosby

Ryan Miller seems to be the beneficiary of Sidney Crosby’s media shyness.
Crosby’s agent has now said Crosby didn’t do Letterman after the Olympics because his schedule was too tight.
I’m not sure if Team Crosby turned down any other high-profile gigs, but it’s hard not to notice Miller is now everywhere and Crosby isn’t.
Miller did the [...]

Really Long-Term Contracts

Why NHL teams locking down players into long-term contracts really could be an even bigger problem:
Raised as Scientologists, Christie King Collbran and her husband, Chris, were recruited as teenagers to work for the elite corps of staff members who keep the Church of Scientology running, known as the Sea Organization, or Sea Org.
They signed [...]

Slow Trade Deadline

Yesterday’s trade deadline was one of the quietest I can remember in years.
There just weren’t any really big moves. Teams like Pittsburgh and Phoenix made a couple of moves to get better, but none of them were exciting blockbuster trades that make you gasp.
My theory is that the Olympics suppressed any huge trades. GMs just [...]

Atlanta Roller Coaster and Chicago’s Dilemma

So the past few weeks have been a bit of an emotional roller coaster for Thrashers fans.
Before the Olympics, the team traded away Ilya Kovalchuk. That was a little sad.
Then, GM Don Waddell said the team would be buyers at the trade deadline, rather than sellers. And that had to make the fans happy.
But then, [...]

Catching Up with “Whiskey Robber” Author Julian Rubinstein

THE BALLAD OF THE WHISKEY ROBBER is the incredible true-life story of Attila Ambrus, a “professional” goalie by day and a bank robber by night (and sometimes day).
The book is an exciting page-turner, as entrancing as any piece of fiction you’ll pick up. But it’s also a nice snapshot of post-Communism Hungary. It was one [...]

Bettman Feeling Good About Olympics; Salon? Not So Much

Just some Olympic odds and ends:
Gary Bettman went on FOX Business Network and seemed to have a little bit of an Olympic high:
Watch the latest business video at video.foxbusiness.com
The most interesting part? He doesn’t rule out Sochi 2014 out of hand. It seems to be something he really wants to consider.
That gold medal game was [...]

Great Hockey Does Not Depend Upon Star Power…Even In the Olympics

What can you say about yesterday’s gold medal game?
It was awesome
And it was awesome because of the discipline shown by Team USA and Team Canada.
Both teams stuck to their game plans. There was no panic. The US didn’t panic when they went down by two goals and Canada didn’t panic when the US tied it [...]

Mike Babcock Over- and Under-Coaching Team Canada

Rich Chere says Mike Babcock is over-coaching Team Canada, changing lines and goalies too frequently.
Just about everyone watching last night’s Germany/Canada game had the same thought: ‘I could successfully play goal for Team Canada against the Germans.’ Germany just wasn’t much of a threat. Babcock probably could have safely given Brodeur another start without much [...]

NHL Might Finally Take an Olympic Stand

I’m glad to see NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman admit the Olympics does very little for the NHL.
Yesterday, I watched Russia-Czech Republic on NBC and USA-Canada on MSNBC, both games moderately-to-negligibly hyped, and both games played with a ton of NHL players (or former NHL players, in the case of Russia-Czech Republic).
I wouldn’t have watched [...]

Olympic NHLers: ‘Can We Play Some Pee Wee Teams Next?’

Is anyone else embarrassed by Olympic hockey so far?
Watching U.S./Switzerland yesterday, the American team seemed content to nurse a three-goal lead most of the game. The Americans didn’t go for the throat and in general, seemed to be trying to find their Olympic footing.
Basically, it was a super-talented team not executing in a super talented [...]