Thack's All-Star Picks

As the All-Star game approaches, I always get a little excited. It's always enjoyable to get wrapped up in the madness of it all. To tell you the truth, the all-star game isn't always my FAVORITE thing in the world, I would sometimes even call it boring (no hits, fights, penalties, etc.), but it's still one of those experiences that make you feel like a kid again. I don't know, maybe it's seeing all those superstars lined up next to each other that kind of makes my jaw drop open like a 9-year old. Maybe it's Alexander Ovechkin doing his hold-the-puck-spin-a-rama move that didn't really work but was still fun to watch. All that takes me back to those kid days, when the highlight of my life was moments like the All-Star game in 1997 when Owen Nolan, in front of his home San Jose crowd, got that breakaway against Dominik Hasek and called his shot, pointing to a corner of the net and then (with a huge smile on his face), proceeding to put the puck right where he pointed. All that against the greatest goalie in the game at the time. One of the best parts was that the Dominator was smiling just as big as Nolan after the goal. It's things like that make me love not only the All-Star game, but the sport of hockey entirely.

Enough of the nostalgia. If voting ended today, here would be this year's All-Star starters:

Western Conference
Henrik Zetterberg (F) - Red Wings
Pavel Datsyuk (F) - Red Wings
Marian Hossa (F) - Red Wings
Nicklas Lidstrom (D) - Red Wings
Dion Phaneuf (D) - Flames
Roberto Luongo (G) - Canucks

Eastern Conference
Alexei Kovalev (F) - Canadiens
Saku Koivu (F) - Canadiens
Alex Tanguay (F) - Canadiens
Mike Komisarek (D) - Canadiens
Andrei Markov (D) - Canadiens
Carey Price (G) - Canadiens

Hmmm... Are we noticing a trend here? Did they change the rules and change the All-Star game to be a Western Conference vs. Canadiens format? Not what I planned, but still not a bad idea. I think having six starters, all Habs, would be very cool in Montreal, even if the starters aren't exactly "the best" of the best this season (i.e. Kovalev, Komisarek, Price). Oh well. Our friends from up north are stuffing the ballot box, and who can blame them? After all, it's just an all-star game. I think it would be great for Canadiens fans to see all six Eastern Conference starters be from the hometeam.

If it were up to me, however, here would be the starters for each team:

Western Conference
Marian Hossa (F) - Red Wings
Jarome Iginla (F) - Flames
Joe Thornton (F) - Sharks
Shea Weber (D) - Predators
Dan Boyle (D) - Sharks
Niklas Backstrom (G) - Wild

Eastern Conference
Evgeni Malkin (F) - Penguins
Alexander Semin (F) - Capitals
Simon Gagne (F) - Flyers
Mike Green (D) - Capitals
Andrei Markov (D) - Canadiens
Henrik Lundqvist (G) - Rangers

These are the guys that are really taking charge of the league right now. I'd love to see them line up together to start this year's All-Star game.

Rock on. Enjoy the All-Star game.

A Sad Day For the Tampa Bay Lightning

After just 16 games, the Lightning have fired coach Barry Melrose. A horrible move that shows the incompetence of owners who are willing to do anything for short-term success at the expense of the long term. Their lack of patience led them on a spending spree this last summer that brought them in some mid-range talent for top-dollar price. A bad equation that has not paid any dividends to the team that finished in the NHL basement last season.

Melrose, who coached Wayne Gretzky and the Los Angeles Kings in the early '90s, was brought in last season under difficult circumstances. The above-mentioned owners, Oren Koules and Len Barrie, proved themselves to be the biggest free wheelers in the NHL by drastically overpaying hard-working yet middle-of-the-road players like Ryan Malone and the aging vets Mark Recchi and Gary Roberts. They ignored building any type of defensive core in their focus on offense, and basically forced GM Jay Feaster to resign. The team had no team captain, was demoralized, and more than half the players on the roster were entering their first year with the team.

All in all, not a good situation for ANY coach, much less one who was 15 years removed from the league. Melrose came in and did his best, but COME ON, how do you expect to go out and have a perfect record when you have a brand new team that basically sucks as bad as it did last season? In the end, it comes down to one simple fact: Losing is a group effort. The Lightning don't suck because of Barry Melrose. The Lightning suck simply because the Lightning suck. It's too bad Barry had to be held accountable for that.

I wish him the best with whatever he chooses to do now. I personally hope he gets back on with ESPN. I love having Matthew Barnaby there, and it would be awesome to see the two of them together.

And the ode to the Great Mullet continues...

Barry! Barry! Barry!

Great Hockey Names

This one's for one of my best friends, Derek. Check him out at dereksmith.blogspot.com, where you can find his list of favorite hockey names among other ramblings.



10 - Nikolai Khabibulin - Chicago Blackhawks - Sverdlovsk, USSR
9 - Radek Bonk - Nashville Predators - Krnov, Czech.
8 - Saku Koivu - Montreal Canadiens - Turku, Finland
7 - Lasse Kukkonen - Philadelphia Flyers - Oulu, Finland
6 - Derek Boogaard - Minnesota Wild - Saskatoon, Sask., Canada
5 - Jarko Ruutu - Ottawa Senators - Vantaa, Finland
4 - Miroslav Satan - Pittsburgh Penguins - Topolcany, Czech.
3 - Johnathan Cheechoo - San Jose Sharks - Moose Factory, Ont.
2 - Jordin Tootoo - Nashville Predators - Churchill, Man.
1 - Cal Clutterbuck - Minnesota Wild - Welland, Ont



And the winner is: Finland for having the craziest names! Thank you for making life enjoyable for every hockey announcer out there!

Of Comraderie and Cowardice

My respect for the Boston Bruins grew exponentially as I watched them play the Stars back on Nov. 1. The B's are quickly turning out to be one of the surprises of the season with their stellar one-two punch in goal (a healthy Manny Fernandez and all-star Tim Thomas), a well-rounded defense (Chara, Wideman, Ward, Ference), and a fantastic young group of forwards (Lucic, Bergeron, Kessel, etc.). Just before writing this, I noticed that rookie 22-year-old Blake Wheeler scored three goals against the Maple Leafs tonight. Add him to the mix.


By the way, how about freaking Phil Kessel!? This guy is single-handedly making hockey fun to watch. He's doing things you see only after you've had a year experience playing "NHL 'o8" and have mastered the special moves. He's flying out there... and shooting like a bazooka. It's nice to see him maturing, the scary thing is he's only going to get better. Remember, this kid's into his third year and just turned 21 last year.

Back to the game then: This was a night of pure cowardice on the part of two Stars players, who looked more like two cranky toddlers on the ice rather than hockey players. The tots I speak of are none other than Sean Avery and Steve Ott. You know, before watching this game, I didn't really mind Sean Avery, I certainly didn't think he was as bad as everyone made him out to be. And Steve Ott, well he'd played for our hometown Utah Grizzlies back in the day, earning him a special place in my heart. I have now carved that part out of my heart and jammed every single player for the Boston Bruins in his place. These two displayed their immaturity, wearing it on their sleeves for all to bear witness.

Ott and Avery proved that night to be the cheapest, most cowardly players in the league.. Not only were they throwing cheap, behind the play shots common of players of their caliber, but they were going for knees and for backs... on multiple players. In other words, they were seriously trying to injure members of the Bruins. The announcer called Ott a "Knee Seeking Missile", which I thought fit him well. Multiple Bruins fell victim to the childish play of Avery and Ott. Stephane Yelle took a shot in the knees from Ott, who soon visited Marc Stuart with flying check from behind. Avery, besides his usually stick-waving and carving, saw fit to check Milan Lucic from behind, among other things.

The thing I LOVE about this game is the Bruins response: Poise, courage, and brotherhood personified. As soon as Yelle went down after the aforementioned knee shot, Bruins tough guy Shawn Thornton went straight at Steve Ott, who practically hid behind the referee to escape the wrath of hell fire.Then, after his hit on Stuart, Ott found himself staring into both of Shane Hnidy's fists. Ott, not willing to step up and answer the bell after his dirty hit, cowered and skated away, refusing to fight. That's not all. After Lucic was checked from behind by Avery, little Seanie found himself being pummeled by Bruins leading scorer Marc Savard. That's right, MARC SAVARD did not hesitate in jumping on Avery, fists flying. Soon every Bruins player on the ice was at the scene of the crime, swinging at anything in a white and green jersey (you should have seen Hnidy's absolute wrath of destruction on Matt Niskanen's face. Wow.). Never in all my life have I seen players looking out for each other like the Bruins that night.

The absolute highlight of the night was courtesy of Bruins defenseman Andrew Ference. But a modest 189 lbs., the speedy defender found himself with a bead on Steve Ott, who was skating straight up the middle of the neutral zone. Coming out of nowhere, Ference absolutely DESTROYED Ott with one of the most beautiful open ice hits I have ever had the pleasure of witnessing. Ott looked like he had just been hit by a bull. And to add more to Ference's pedigree, he accepted Sean Avery's invitation to fight immediately after, not afraid to answer the bell for his destructive hit, unlike Ott had been earlier on two occassions. After edging Avery in the fight, Ference received a standing ovation from the crowd, and even threw them a wave as he skated to the penalty box.

Ott, by the way, was later ejected and had to rely on teammates like enforcer Krys Barch to go out and do his fighting for him, while he sat protected in the comfortable confines of the locker room. Wimp.

In the end, the night completely belonged to the Bruins, who found a way to play some hockey between all the madness and won 5-1.

Stars center Mike Modano, in his usual classy way, summed up the situation perfectly. "Tonight, it was idiotic and stupid," he said. "It was one of the most embarrassing things I’ve seen. If that’s what we’re going for, then they need to find me an off-ice job." I imagine most of his Stars teammates felt the same way after the game.

The Bruins announcer made another good point after one instance earlier in the game where Ott (surprisingly) took a shot at Milan Lucic a few seconds after the whistle. He said, "Who's career will end because this guy [Ott] is allowed to get away with stuff like that?" Indeed.

Childish and stupid. Go Bruins.

To see all the mayhem, have a look at this montage, divided into two parts on You Tube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbufCcwYImk&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtvBFY7a3lQ&feature=related