5.) —–> To Chicago: Hal Gill, Travis Moen, 5th Round Pick

—–> To Montreal: Kyle Beach, Brandon Saad, 2nd Round Pick

– Seemingly going nowhere this season it may be time for the Habs and GM Pierre Gauthier to start thinking about unloading some pieces in an attempt to build for the future. Both Gill and Moen are set to become unrestricted free agents this summer and could provide a Cup-hunting Blackhawks team with some added depth and grit for a playoff run this spring. Neither Moen nor Gill give you much in the way of flash or skill, but both are very durable players who have a Stanley Cup on their resume. For Montreal, both Beach and Saad fit the mold of what the Habs need the most: big, strong power forwards who can put the puck in the net. While neither will give Montreal much in the way of immediate assistance, they both have the potential to become cogs in the Canadiens’ lineup for years to come.

4.) —–> To Boston: Tuomo Ruutu, Bryan Allen

—–> To Carolina: Jordan Caron, Matt Bartkowski, 2nd Round Pick

– For a team that has simply run roughshod on the Eastern Conference since the start of November there really aren’t many glaring holes on a roster full of Stanley Cup winners. However, like we saw last February, GM Peter Chiarelli isn’t afraid to tinker with his team in order to add the necessary depth to make another run at Lord Stanley. This trade makes perfect sense for a Boston team that still relies on an inexperienced Steven Kampfer as it’s seventh defenseman. The hard-nosed Bryan Allen isn’t known much for his offense (0G/7A in 51 games this season) but can provide a solid defensive presence in his end of the ice, as well as log some valuable time on the penalty kill. Like Allen, the 28-year-old Ruutu will be a free agent on July 1. The Finland native seems to have been cut from the same mold as Boston winger Rich Peverley in the way that he can be trusted in any situation. Ruutu has posted fifteen goals and added eleven assists in 51 games this season while being shuffled up and down the Carolina lineup.

3.) —–> To Philadelphia: Ryan Suter, 3rd Round Pick

—–> To Nashville: James Van Riemsdyk, Brayden Schenn, Andrej Meszaros, Jody Shelley, 1st Round Pick

– Now, I’d put this trade as the least likely to happen, at least not until this summer. A deal like this makes perfect sense for a Flyers team that will be without captain Chris Pronger for the remainder of the season. Ryan Suter is perhaps the most underrated defenseman in the entire NHL. Often overshadowed by Shea Weber, Suter has quietly stacked together one all-star season after another and is slated to finally cash in this summer when he becomes an unrestricted free agent. The question still remains as to if the cash-strapped Predators can re-sign Suter to a long term deal to keep him in Nashville. However, if GM David Poile comes to the realization that he will not be resigning with the Preds, he would be better served to deal him now than let him walk for nothing this July. The package I’ve presented seems like quite a hefty price for one player but keep in mind, true number one defensemen simply do not grow on trees. While I really can’t see this one happening before the deadline, if Suter is adamant about not re-upping in Nashville, I can’t see any better scenario for the Predators’ franchise both now and into the future.

2.) —–> To Toronto: Jeff Carter, 3rd Round Pick

—–> To Columbus: Luke Schenn, Nikolai Kulemin, 2nd Round Pick

– There’s no question that Jeff Carter’s brief stay in Ohio’s capital is coming to an early end. Reportedly frustrated by the entire situation, the former Flyers star has put up only seventeen points (10G/7A) in 30 games this season while playing for the league-worst Columbus Blue Jackets. While many teams would be skeptical of accepting any player with ten years left on his contract, the Leafs have been on a league-wide search for a true number one center since Brian Burke took the helm in November of 2008. It’s my belief that if Carter is surrounded by a talented team (like he was in Philadelphia) he will once again be able to return to his elite form. While many could think of this as an overpayment for Carter, I would argue that while Schenn still looks like a future all-star, he seems to be the odd man out on a Leafs’ blueline already manned by Dion Phaneuf, Mike Komisarek and John-Michael Liles — all of whom are signed to lucrative contracts. Kulemin is a young player with loads of skill and potential who seems to be struggling under the hockey-crazed pressure cooker that is Toronto. Perhaps a change of scenery would do him a world of good. In Toronto, Maple Leafs’ fans may be foaming at the mouth with the thoughts of putting an elite pivot in between all-star wingers Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul.

1.)  —–> To Minnesota: Zach Parise

—–> To New Jersey: Devin Setoguchi, Charlie Coyle, Jonas Brodin, 2nd Round Pick

– This trade simply makes too much sense. With Parise still unsigned and the Devils’ ownership situation still uncertain, it’s easy to suggest that New Jersey will be unable to retain Parise at year’s end. Recent speculation has suggested that the 5’11″ Minneapolis would like nothing better than to return to his home state to continue his career, making him a perfect fit for the Wild. However, a former 40-goal scorer with extensive leadership qualities simply does not come cheap. With this package the Devils pick up a solid return for a guy who will likely be gone for nothing on July 1. Devin Setoguchi is a solid young winger who can play top-six minutes and provide some pop playing across from Ilya Kovalchuk. In Coyle and Brodin New Jersey receives two former first round selections who look to be sure bet NHL contributors in the near future. Parise should provide the right type of boost for a Wild team trying to work themselves off of the playoff fringe.

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Forty-three human beings perished yesterday in a plane crash moments after takeoff from Yaroslavl, Russia. Seven were crew members of the airplane.  The remaining thirty-six were hockey players and coaches constituting almost the entire roster of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, a Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) club that reached the semifinals last season.  The team was destined for the capital city of Belarus where they were scheduled to play Dinamo Minsk in the 2011-12 season opening game for both clubs.  That game will now be indefinitely postponed because of this unspeakable tragedy in what must surely be hockey’s darkest year ever in North America and now Russia.

The death of New York Rangers’ enforcer Derek Boogaard from overdosing on painkillers in May … The reprehensible conduct of depraved, heart-hardened inciters and opportunists, rioting and looting in Vancouver hours after the Canucks lost Game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final in June … The premature death of Winnipeg Jet scrapper Rick Rypien who suffered from depression in mid-August followed just two weeks later by the death of enforcer Wade Belak who also suffered from depression.

Now this.

Now another cold, cruel slash through the soul of the global hockey community.

“A catastrophic loss to the hockey world.” – NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman

“The darkest day in the history of our sport.” – IIHF President Rene Fasel

There have been and will be more retrospectives on those who died in Yaroslavl.  Most will recount the statistical record and notable accomplishments of certain players.  For NHL followers, some names on the list of people lost in the plane crash are familiar: New Lokomotiv head coach Brad McCrimmon and assistants Igor Korolev and Alexander Karpovtsev.  Players Ruslan Salei, Karlis Skrastins, Josef Vasicek and Pavol Demitra.

We remember Salei representing Belarus in three Winter Olympics including 2002 when his country stunningly upset Sweden in a quarterfinal game.

We remember the dazzlingly consistent Demitra who once scored 20+ goals in nine straight NHL seasons, mostly with St. Louis.  As late as last year in the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, Demitra led all players with 10 points in 7 games in what would be his swan song season as an NHL player with the city’s Canucks.

Yet in the context of this horrible event, the real tragedy is not that Salei, Demitra and their teammates will never again skate for Lokomotiv or any other club, but that simply, their lives have been lost and those closest to the 36 hockey team members and 7 air crew have lost a grandson, granddaughter, son, daughter, father, mother, brother, sister, cousin, uncle, aunt, husband, wife, teammate or close friend.  Hockey in Yaroslavl may one day rise again, but in the present moment, it is a time of sheer agony for mourning lives lost.  It will be doubly agonizing for Yaroslavl citizens to know that Lokomotiv members who passed away yesterday will never again grace their community.

We try to cope or console at these times by offering kind, sincere words but often, only platitudes emerge from our lips.  Therefore, this post will be brief.  The accompanying photograph of mourners in Minsk speaks more powerfully than any further extraneous words.  May God, with His sovereign power to bestow common grace on all peoples, grant wisdom and comfort to Russia, especially Yaroslavl, as they mourn and rebuild.

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One topic debated at the Summit that continues to be a polarizing subject within North America and Europe is the future of NHL player participation in Winter Olympic hockey.  The dream of most fans and players became reality in February, 1998 when the NHL took a scheduled two-week break while many of its members wore national colours to compete for Olympic medals in the Nagano, Japan Winter Olympics. Anyone who watched that tournament and the subsequent three Olympics likely witnessed some of the highest quality hockey played in the last quarter-century.

Yet there is another side to the Olympic coin.  While the IIHF, most of Europe and most NHL players are in favour of further participation in the Olympics, Toronto Maple Leafs’ and Team U.S. GM Brian Burke noted at the Summit that many NHL teams are uneasy about shutting down for two weeks in the middle of the season every four years.  Burke cited the Anaheim Ducks as a club that suffered lost momentum and a decrease in ticket sales after the Olympic break.  He also did not like the cramped schedule that gave national clubs virtually no preparation time between the end of pre-Olympic NHL games and the start of the tournament.

“We played games in the NHL on Sunday afternoon, 5 o’clock or 3 o’clock at the latest, then had to fly to Vancouver, practice Monday and play Tuesday … it wasn’t ideal, so let’s do it right …  Let’s have a training camp; let’s get the team together, work on special teams and put the best product on the ice,” Burke said, suggesting the resurrection of the summertime quadrennial Canada/World Cup to replace NHL participation in the Olympics if a week of preparatory training is not feasible in February.

There is also the real risk to NHL clubs that participating players could suffer serious injuries that could have considerable impact on a team’s playoff chances.  In 2002, centres Mario Lemieux and Steve Yzerman won gold for Canada then missed almost all of the second half of the NHL schedule due to injuries suffered during, or exacerbated by the Olympic tournament (though Yzerman did return for the playoffs before undergoing off-season knee surgery). In the Torino Games of 2006, Czech Republic goalie Dominik Hasek hurt his legs just nine minutes into his first Olympic game and was unable to play for Ottawa for the remainder of the season including the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Senators were forced to use rookie Ray Emery in goal and the team lost in the second round.

The famous 1987 Canada Cup winning goal scored by Mario Lemieux, assisted by Wayne Gretzky, occurred late in the summer. Future best-on-best hockey tournaments should be held at a similar time, perhaps during the Summer Olympics, to preserve NHL player participation, negating the schedule interruption, while giving players adequate time to recover.

Detroit GM Ken Holland also chimed in on the risks and benefits. “As a fan, I want to go back to the Olympics … I think the Vancouver Olympics were an incredible display of what’s good about our sport.  The games were played with incredible speed, incredible skill.  It was exciting … [However] there are major issues that need to be taken care of,” Holland continued, citing Red Wing forward Tomas Holmstrom’s difficult decision to sit out the 2010 Olympics due to injury concerns.

Since participation in the Sochi, Russia Winter Olympics of 2014 and beyond must be collectively bargained into a new agreement between the NHL and NHLPA, what can be done to maintain the status quo?

One idea from the Summit suggested by Burke at first sounds absurd, but actually is sensible on further review: hold the hockey tournament in the Summer Olympics.  Preposterous?  Not really; it’s been done before.  At the 1920 Summer Games in Belgium, seven countries competed in the first Olympic ice hockey tournament.  True, the NHL was only in its third season at the time and the gold medal winners, Canada, were represented by non-NHL players from the Winnipeg Falcons, the national senior men’s amateur champions.  Clearly, as odd as it seems, there is precedent for Summer Olympic hockey and it would preserve NHL players’ participation, negate the densely packed NHL regular season schedule in Winter Olympic years and diminish the fatigue factor of players, many of them of all-star calibre, returning for the playoff push.

Don’t forget that the best-on-best Canada Cup and World Cup tournaments were typically contested late in the summer.  Like Burke, I believe the greatest display of international hockey ever played was at the 1987 Canada Cup, capped by the famous Gretzky to Lemieux winning goal that gave Canada the championship over the Soviet Union.  Burke recalled that players from most competing nations assembled in the summer for proper orientation, training camps and full practices.  That tournament began in late August and concluded in mid-September giving players a head start on conditioning for the NHL regular season and time to recuperate before the start of league games in October.

The Canada Cups of 1976, 1981, 1984, 1991 and the 1996 World Cup of Hockey followed a similar August – September schedule.  It can be done.  Fans and players certainly want to see NHL stars continue to shine for their countries at the Olympics while many owners and clubs have legitimate reservations about interruptions in the schedule, financial losses and injury risks.  A summer of hockey may not be a perfect solution but it may be the best way to satisfy all parties.

Sorry to all for not posting sooner, but, when you’re not a full-time TSN analyst/writer; some things have to take precedent over writing for the readers.

The WHC, although amusing to watch (in my mind anyway), is usually completely disregarded due to the much more attention grabbing playoff action of the NHL. No excuses needed. But the tournament itself is beginning to evolve and really play a significant role on the world stage. What I am referring to and I hope some of you have noticed is the substantial amount of upsets occurring in the tournament.

Now give me a list of excuses to why teams may not be performing to their usual level, the main being not all NHL players are overseas playing for their respective countries, and I will gladly agree with you. But I still think merit needs to be given to what is happening.

About two years ago to this day I watched a documentary featuring countries such as Switzerland, Germany and even Norway and their respective developing hockey programs. Some of which even led by amateur to semi-pro coaches from my own Canada. The documentary really hit home the message that countries, previously regarded as no-name hockey countries, will be quickly developing into 5^th, 6^th, maybe even a medal finish or two. No more 9-1 games. Even though it’s not the Olympics I believe it’s evident that we are seeing this trend.

Interesting games thus far;

Germany over Russia: 2-0

Norway over Sweden: 5-4 (SO)

Germany over Slovakia: 4-3

Latvia almost beating Finland: 2-3 (SO)

Norway blanks Austria: 5-0

Denmark holding their own against Russia: 3-4

Canada & USA only beating Norway & France: 3-2

Switzerland over USA: 5-3

Saying it one more time, I am well aware that not all the players are overseas representing their respective countries but it’s more than just an evolution of the final scores. Watching games where France, a former non-qualifier, is not only barely losing but actually controlling the hockey game at times and executing successful plays and strategies. The intensity level from both sides of the hockey game is incredible and it makes for much closer games.

In retrospect, past games would feature (no offense meant to anyone) Belarus v. Canada, if the score only came out 4-0 it was usually because the Belarussian goalie stood on his head or Canada just missed a lot of shots, it was never because Belarus dominated the second period only anything along those lines. With more funding to minor hockey, development programs in these countries and some ‘damn’ fine coaching, these teams are starting to become a proverbial thorn in the top Countries side.

It all begins at the WHC, teams gain confidence playing against ‘weakened’ top teams and see what it takes to beat these teams. Confidence on top of all of the previous mentioned developments and you’re looking at a round robin where Sweden, among other top teams, has to play full force to beat teams like France, Norway & Denmark. Although I love to see Canada dominating on the world stage I am really excited, I think it is fantastic for the sport of hockey and the competition on the world stage. It could potentially make for some interesting Olympic matches in 2014 & 2018…

Of course this is all providing the NHL plays in the Olympics in the future, but that of course is an entirely other article for another day.

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The Gold Medal Game: forever burned into the memory of every Canadian.  Canada went up early on goals by Jonathan Toews, who clearly shone above any other individual player in the calendar year 2010, and Corey Perry.  Ryan Kesler put the U.S. on the board shortly after Perry’s goal and Zach Parise tied it with a desperate pulled-goalie tap-in with less than half a minute to go in regulation.

Midway through the overtime period, Crosby tried to streak into the American slot but was met by all four U.S. players and forced to the far half-wall.  But Crosby stayed on the puck sliding it to Jarome Iginla in the corner as Crosby rolled off toward the net.

“Iggy!” Crosby screamed.  The pass was right on his tape…

Click here to view the embedded video.

Today, Crosby rests and waits to see if he can salvage something, anything, out of a season where he was scaling new heights with ridiculous ease before being sent to the sidelines with a concussion suffered on or shortly after New Year’s Day.  Iginla’s Flames started the 2010-11 season slowly to the point where the Calgary captain was the subject of trade rumours.  Since then, Calgary has made a strong push for the playoffs.

This is what I wrote on the night Crosby scored in overtime, February 28, 2010:

Sidney Crosby was born and bred for this moment.

In a country that elevates its sublimely talented hockey superstars to iconic status, it was only appropriate that out of the many star players populating Team Canada’s roster, the wunderkind from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia would emerge as the one who seized the moment that asked for a hero.

Out of the many, Sidney.  E pluribus, Crosby.

At 2.54 pm local time, with over 15-million alarmed fellow citizens anxiously looking on, Crosby took one small step toward Ryan Miller, flicked the puck past him, then took one giant celebratory leap for Canadian mankind.  OT game-winning goal.  Gold medal-winning goal.  On home ice.  Lights out, Vancouver.

Did you seriously think it would turn out this way?

Of course you didn’t.  After all, Hollywood is an American institution and surely, Canadian hockey fans never believed that a script worthy of an Academy Award next weekend would play out in living colour on the silver screen of Canada Hockey Place.  In a Winter Olympics that has simply been magical for host Canada, it was stretching the bounds of reality to ask for one more storybook, golden moment.  Oh sure, Canadians could envision winning gold in a business-like, non-fairy tale fashion over the United States, and it certainly looked likely when Jonathan Toews scored in the opening frame and Corey Perry scored mid-way through the second period to give Canada a 2-0 lead.

However, when Ryan Kesler cut the lead in half five and a half minutes later on a deft deflection, Doubt cast her dark shadow clouds over sunny Vancouver.  When American Zach Parise scored the tying goal with Miller on the bench during the United States’ last, desperate push with just 24 seconds remaining in regulation time, not only was a storybook golden moment unlikely, it was completely out of the question.  Even the possibility of a business-like golden finish became questionable.

Every Canadian in the arena or watching at home, at the corner pub, or pressed up against the windows of an electronics store looked up and down that home team bench and wondered about all the many talented, battle-tested players and asked the same question: Who would be the one to rescue Canada?  Who would be the overtime hero?

Out of the many, Sidney.  E pluribus, Crosby.

In Canada, there is a reason why we label Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux “hockey icons” and place them on a higher tier than their merely “star” contemporaries.  For Gretzky and Lemieux, their natural gifts, their stratospheric accomplishments and their uncanny ability to succeed in pressure-cooker situations gave them the right to be labelled “icons”.  Crosby traces his hockey ancestry to this royal lineage.  It was Gretzky who tabbed a then 14-year old Crosby, fresh off a 193-point season in Nova Scotia Minor Hockey, as the one who had a shot at breaking his records.  It was Lemieux, the King Penguin, who drafted Prince Crosby and welcomed him into his castle, where they both still reside together.

Icons identify the moment; icons seize the moment; icons create one frozen moment that will be remembered for all time.

Every great achievement Crosby has earned thus far in his still young career was but a prelude to what we witnessed yesterday.  Youngest to score at the World Junior Championship.  Youngest to win a scoring title.  Youngest captain ever.  Youngest captain to hoist the Stanley Cup.  All, mere arrows pointing to this frozen moment that was waiting for him from the day he was born, a prodigy on skates.

Some critics lamented, even as late as Saturday evening, that Crosby was underachieving and not scoring as much as he should in the Olympics.  They wanted Crosby to rediscover his finishing touch in the same manner that Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Rick Nash seemed to do as the tournament proceeded.  What the critics constantly fail to grasp is that there is no need to fret about the performance of icons.  Out of the many stars on Team Canada, some will score in bunches and some will periodically slump.  As we speak, out of the many Canadian teenagers, mesmerized by the hockey that they observed the last two weeks, some will in four years, populate a portion of the next Olympic roster.  Out of the many, there will be stars but likely, no icons.  Out of the many, there will still only be one hockey icon for this generation, ever to the rescue.

Out of the many, Sidney.  E pluribus, Crosby.

The answer was neither ‘yes’ nor ‘no’.

The World Hockey Summit was never intended to be a watershed moment for international hockey relations nor for any other hot-button issue related to the game.  The Summit was always a conference intended to bring together global hockey leaders, stakeholders and fans with an interest in brainstorming and sharing ideas on how to meet the challenges facing hockey and to find ways to continue sustaining or expanding hockey’s reach in local communities.  Therefore, nobody should really have been disappointed when a photo of IIHF president Rene Fasel, a clear supporter of NHL participation in the Winter Games, and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, who has remained non-committal on sending his players to future quadrennial shindigs, together shaking hands on a deal, never materialized.

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A decision in favour (or not in favour) of sending NHL players will ultimately result from days, weeks and months of future negotiations and many mundane, undocumented, closed-door, rancorous meetings.  This Summit was for bigwigs like Fasel and Bettman and Bill Daly and Brian Burke to state their case and their position on major hockey issues in a controlled forum to the public with limited feedback or expectations of official agreements.

It was obvious to anyone in attendance that appearances by, and interaction with, Fasel and Bettman, widely acknowledged as two of the most influential men in hockey worldwide, were tightly controlled.  Fasel’s Q and A session largely consisted of questions from moderator Jim Hughson with little participation from assembled delegates.  However, while credit should be given to Fasel who made himself available for media scrums on three separate occasions, Bettman seemingly departed the Summit almost immediately after he arrived.  After Bettman’s Q and A session, this writer took a seat in the media room where Bettman fielded more questions from reporters.  The promised fifteen-minute media session was inexplicably cut to just over ten minutes, a small but telling point.  For a commissioner who has made extremely difficult but economically prudent decisions in his tenure, but has a reputation of talking down to his audience, it would have been appreciated if he had stayed the extra five minutes to listen to a few more questions and open up to share more of his insights and perspectives on the game he leads in North America.

Despite the lack of resolution on the Olympic issue, the Summit could still be considered a success – with guarded optimism.  The atmosphere was relaxed and mostly “collegial and collaborative” as USA Hockey’s Dave Ogrean put it, and mutual respect, at least in public, pervaded the three venues where the Summit took place.  Solid brainstorming and exchange of ideas flowed from most of the six topic-area panel discussions on Tuesday through Thursday and the four introductory hot-stove panels on Monday evening.

For example, agents Don Meehan and Pat Brisson found common ground with Toronto GM Brian Burke when they discussed the role of agents in working with young players.  All three cautioned parents in the audience to be on guard against unscrupulous fraudsters posing as agents who may attempt to exploit teenaged hockey players and their families.  Other examples of cooperation occurred in a hot-stove session where growing the game was discussed when representatives of widely differing interests – Steve Yzerman (NHL team GM), Hayley Wickenheiser (women’s hockey star) and Uwe Krupp (German national team coach) all concluded that funding and facilities are the overwhelming drivers of growth and excellence.  Moreover, the Wednesday morning panel reviewing the Vancouver 2010 Olympics finished with unanimity on the need for getting NHL players to participate in future Winter Games.

Yet as everyone realistically knows, unoffical consensus, high-sounding language and flowery rhetoric accomplishes nothing for hockey unless it is accompanied by follow-up work and official agreements based on the ideas and concepts presented at the World Hockey Summit.  This is why one can only give the conference a “report-card grade” with a qualifier at the present time - success, with guarded optimism - as the final result will not be known until leaders and delegates return home and meet within their countries to decide which goals and ideas can be feasibly implemented.  If certain goals, like increasing funding for women’s hockey in Europe, seem worthy but unattainable, it will be incumbent upon those who made pledges to make the unattainable attainable, like Fasel or Finland’s Arto Sieppi, who emerged as a strong advocate for the women’s game, to use their clout to influence others and to change attitudes to ultimately benefit the game of hockey.

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IIHF President Rene Fasel consistently championed the inclusion of NHL players at the Olympics throughout the week and made an additional pledge on Thursday afternoon in response to the imbalance between North America and Europe in women’s hockey.  “I promise to women all over the world who play hockey … we’re going to put some money, effort and passion into developing the women’s game.  I promise I will push very hard to find a way at Sochi in 2014 to have less of a gap than what we had in Vancouver.”  Fasel also encouraged his fellow leaders to maintain a long-term vision, work together and take action on many of the ideas presented.  “If we don’t care about the future, in 10 to 20 years, we are nowhere.   That’s why development is the first priority.  Safety and development are really important … Some very good ideas were presented.  Now we have to go back and ‘make our homework’.  We will take action, summarize, prioritize, agree, discuss, fight and then we have to act.  We need to work together.”

USA Hockey executive director Dave Ogrean similarly recognized the complexity of the tasks at hand and encouraged a spirit of cooperation.  “The great thing about this sport is that there is none that is as collegial and collaborative.  There is a lot of work to do.  I hope everyone goes back home motivated to get to work …  The work, the commitment, the funding, the political will and the action has got to take place in our own federations and in every individual community.”  Ogrean gave much of the credit for the advancement of the profile of hockey to the NHL, noting ”there’s no league that works with a sport anywhere near as well and with as much commitment as the NHL does,” then thanked Hockey Canada for their generosity.  ”They’re great partners, their game is so entrenched and it means so much in Canada and they’re always willing to share it with the rest of the world and all of us.”

He concluded his podium remarks by stating he looked forward to attending more summits in the future to gauge progress from around the world.  At the post-Summit media conference he shared how he “never realized how similar Scandinavian countries are with the U.S. and Canada at the grassroots level.  They’re built under the same model, totally volunteer-based, dealing with the same issues on how to recruit and train volunteers,” emphasizing the collective need to develop the game in a similar fashion in North America and Europe.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly called the World Hockey Summit a “monumental success” and came away impressed by “a lot of bright ideas, bright people and really good dialogue and discussion [and] found all the sessions very entertaining, enlightening and it forces us all to take a look at the game we love and look at ways to make it better and grow it.”

Bob Nicholson, president and CEO of Hockey Canada said that the closing of the Summit also represented a new beginning.  “This is just the start.  We have to challenge everyone here,” including the NHL when he said “we need you”, alluding to his desire to see its players participating in the next Olympics.  He praised the NHLPA for providing the ”best role models in any sport” and looked forward to Hockey Canada board meetings on Friday where he would ”set new challenges and new agendas to try to grow the game.”  Finally, he called for accountability from his fellow leaders and himself, pledging, “Don’t let us off the hook.  Bring us back to what’s happened the last three days, so that we make the game better.”

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Dr. Paul Dennis, a veteran sports psychologist who worked for two decades with the Toronto Maple Leafs, talked about the concept of “athletic Darwinism” explaining that “we have an obligation as adults to help children adapt to change.  [It is] a collaborative effort amongst coaches, parents, referees and trainers.”  Dennis used anecdotes from golf to discuss how to help kids deal with pressure.  When PGA professional Rocco Mediate had to make a critical putt in the 2008 U.S. Open, the golfer told himself that he simply and absolutely could not miss this putt.  Dennis also pointed to the fierce competitiveness and concentration of Tiger Woods (before his personal indiscretions) as an example of an athlete able to stare down intense pressure.

Dennis noted that elite professionals have the ability to turn the psychology of fear into thoughts of success and the thrill of winning.  Likewise, he encouraged parents and coaches to teach these concepts to children at a young age.  “Try to take the word ‘pressure’ out of the vocabulary and replace it with ‘challenge’ and ‘thrill’,” he concluded.

The Canadian physician was followed to the microphone by two distinguished Americans, Pat Kelleher of USA Hockey and Chicago Blackhawks’ President John McDonough.  Kelleher stated that there are approximately 600,000 players, coaches and officials in USA Hockey but numbers have slightly declined recently.  To combat the decrease, Kelleher talked about a type of marketing to parents to promote the game.  “We want to brand youth hockey as being positive for kids,” he explained.  Many parents who only have a cursory knowledge of hockey fear the expenses associated with equipment, team fees and tournament fees and his goal going forward will be to highlight the positives of the game to families.

McDonough’s presentation began with a high-energy video set to a military march-like beat showing the transformation of the Chicago franchise from an NHL laughingstock to one of the most respected organizations in professional sport.  The video flashed snippets of on-ice and business achievements over the past few years including a 386% increase in merchandise and concession sales, 100+ consecutive home sell-outs, back-to-back 100+ point seasons for the first time in 38 seasons and 112 points this past season (the team’s best ever total).  McDonough stressed the “really, really deep and strong connections” younger fans have made with stars like captain Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, seemingly due to identifying with them as peers.  He also stressed the importance of coaching clinics and the involvement of the team in the community, proudly noting that the Illinois State championship is held at the United Center.

One of the final session speakers of the day was Arto Sieppi, who also presented in the morning during the women’s hockey discussion.  In Finland, he put forth that playing for the love of hockey and fun and safety should never be forgotten due to the overwhelmingly stacked odds against achieving a roster spot in the NHL.  Of 33,000 boys who are born every year in the country, 500 will join the “Lions’ Club” children’s hockey program.  Of the 500, 300 will go on to play in formal peewee or bantam leagues.  Of the 300, 150 will attend an under-16 camp, the first chance at trying out for a national team.  Of the 150, just 30 will attend an IIHF World Junior Championship or World Championship.  Finally, of the 30, only 3 will ever make the NHL.  Therefore, he reasons properly that “the key words for Lions’ hockey are ‘fun’ and ‘safety’.”

Canadian star Hayley Wickenheiser fields media questions after her featured presentation on the future of women's hockey on Day 4 of the World Hockey Summit in Toronto.

Under clouds of concern for the viability of international women’s hockey due to the huge competitive disparity between North America and the rest of the world, Canadian star and featured speaker Hayley Wickenheiser described the frustrating challenges in growing women’s hockey outside North America while American star and panellist Angela Ruggiero was more hopeful about the future when they spoke this morning on Day 4 of the World Hockey Summit.  Wickenheiser opened her presentation by asking a rhetorical question.  “How many of you have women in your life?  Mothers, sisters, daughters?  How many of you, if they wanted to play the game of hockey, would want them to have that opportunity?”  Wickenheiser proceeded to outline the challenges in giving girls outside North America that opportunity to play hockey as well as the economic problems of funding women’s hockey.

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At a thinktank in Finland this summer that involved the top 14 nations in women’s hockey, the wide gap between Canada, the United States and the rest of the world was exposed.  While Finland, one of the most improved women’s hockey nations in the world, has 62 clubs playing on 124 ice rinks, Russia and China only have 6 rinks in each country.  She noted that the thinktank recommended having development camps for players from all nations in one place to learn and to bring best practices back to their country, coaching exchanges, a full-time person advocating for female hockey at the IIHF and coverage or waiving transfer fees (up to $2,000) for players who wish to change teams.

HAYLEY WICKENHEISER 6 mins 40 sec Hayley Wickenheiser discusses all aspects of the challenges facing the future of women’s hockey. (This writer’s question about the benefit of exchange programs occurs at 3:05).

Wickenheiser said that China has made a start to closing the gap, “playing 35 games with their national team.  What China is doing is that they’ve invested a ton of money into 30 players in their country, centralizing them, “hot-housing them” and trying to really develop a national program.  The problem with that is they’ve only got a few hundred players in their entire country and outside their national team, there’s nothing to support it.  There is no development system.  So I think we need more exhibition games for national teams and for the under-18.”

On the topic of funding, Wickenheiser lamented the paucity of dollars supporting women’s national teams, wistfully noting that her former elite club team in Calgary, now defunct, operated on a budget of $480,000.  “I don’t see how you can run a national team on a budget of $480,000.”  While Slovakia has increased their budget for women’s hockey, she expressed concern that Germany’s budget has actually decreased by 21%.  She said she spoke with German men’s coach Uwe Krupp about the reason for this and he responded, “because they’ve had no success … that’s the way it is, that’s the battle we’re facing, if they had success, there would be more money.”  Wickenheiser termed this “inverse thinking”.

Alarmingly, she noted that Russia is “spending zero on development, yet they’re hosting the next Olympics … so to me, on a federation and country level, it’s just not good enough and we have to raise the bar.”  Furthermore, she pointed out that half of the top 14 women’s hockey countries don’t even have a national women’s committee.  She exhorted other countries to mimic the model of Canada and the United States in terms of funding, recruitment, a balance of elite-level and grassroots hockey programs, leadership and education.

American star Angela Ruggiero, the all-time U.S. leader in games played, started by saying, “If I could send one message, it’s ‘give that opportunity to all the girls out there that want to play.”  She described her own experience, having to persevere and trying to even find a league to play hockey in California, through getting cut from boy’s teams as a youngster simply because she was a girl.  She described the explosive growth in American women’s hockey, from 5,000 girls playing at the time of the first U.S. national team in 1990 to 60,000 today.

ANGELA RUGGIERO 6 mins 17 sec U.S. star Angela Ruggiero answers questions about marketing and exposure of women’s hockey players and her role as advocate for womens’ sports. (This writer’s question on Ruggiero possibly becoming an IIHF board member occurs at 4:19).

“That’s improvement to me, that’s says that we’ve put some time, money and effort into it and we’ve seen some results.  That was only 20 years ago and I think there is the same potential worldwide.  I think it just takes the right people, believing that the girls deserve to play and that they can be amazing hockey players and just giving them the support to do it.”

U.S. women's hockey star and IOC member Angela Ruggiero answers media questions after her panel appearance on Day 4 of the World Hockey Summit in Toronto.

Ruggiero was grateful for all the benefits that playing hockey has afforded her in her life.  “I’ve been able to play in four Olympics, get a great degree from Harvard.  I’m pursuing a master’s degree as well.  I’ve had all these doors opened up to me because of the sport of hockey.”  In turn, Ruggiero, involved in numerous girls’ sports advocacy groups and charitable foundations, wants to use hockey as a vehicle to open up those same doors to others.  “I meet kids that can’t even talk, but they’re so excited to meet you and all they want to do is get your autograph, and they’re inspired, and to me you can change a generation by inspiring and I think that’s what women’s hockey has the potential to do.”

She enthusiastically talked about her visit to China with the New York Islanders when she attempted to introduce hockey amongst girls and boys, with the aid of a translator, teaching them simple skills like how to take a wrist shot.

Both Wickenheiser and Ruggiero were clearly moved when reminiscing about their childhoods and both stressed how much it meant to them that their respective families were involved in encouraging them to pursue hockey, when many at the time put up obstacles in their way.

Finnish women’s hockey director Arto Sieppi openly talked about how he had to overcome his ignorance and dismissiveness about women in sports in general, to become one of the strongest advocates for the women’s game in Europe.  He likened women’s hockey to a corporation and called each of the delegates a potential shareholder, urging them to “invest” and “buy that stock”.  He cited hopeful information about his nation: an increase in the number of proficient skaters from 2,300 to 4,700, “excellent cooperation with Hockey Canada” including a version of the Girl’s Hockey Day project, and heavy centralization of the national women’s team in advance of the Sochi 2014 Olympics.

GARY BETTMAN 10 mins 56 sec NHL commissioner answers media questions following Q and A session.

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Krueger used a spider-web on a diagram as an analogy to explain his vision for future international hockey events, implying that nations should find common ground and build a “Global Hockey Web”.  He spoke about how every hockey-playing country can point to certain landmark victories or tournament-hosting opportunities where the citizens, especially kids, became inspired to pursue hockey.  For Sweden, winning the World Championship in 1962 was akin to Canada rallying to beat the Soviets in 1972.  The Americans had their “Miracle on Ice” in 1980 while for Latvia in 2006, the chance to even host an IIHF World Championship represented a great source of pride.  Some of the innovations Krueger proposed were the creation of a new World U-23 Championship and a Victoria Cup Final that would see two NHL teams battle for the right to face the winner of a KHL champion vs. European champion match.

Deputy NHL commissioner Bill Daly agreed fundamentally with most of Krueger’s ideas, but said, “I believe that Olympic participation every four years, World Cup participation every four years and World Championship participation every year is probably too much to ask the best players in the world to do on a regular basis.”  However, he expressed his support for a World U-23 Championship noting, “it’s a great concept.  It’s actually something that’s received some attention in the past [with] discussion and dialogue,” reasoning that splitting the current workload for international representation among different age groups may ease the burden on many stars who presently suit up for their country in every tournament.

ALEXANDER MEDVEDEV 17 mins 04 sec KHL president reviews contract transfers, the Olympics, relations between the KHL and NHL and future growth in Russian hockey. (This writer asks questions at 1:33 about the Evgeni Malkin transfer controversy and at 13:18 on further KHL European expansion).

KHL president Alexander Medvedev then pointedly said, “It’s quite obvious that there’s no need to spend time and money to analyze the effect of international events on hockey.  That’s why I was a little bit surprised to hear Gary Bettman say there still has to be time to decide [NHL participation in the Olympics].”  He then wryly added, “We have a first-class product; NHL is a “triple-A” product and not to send the NHL to Olympic Games, either to Sochi or the next destination is like putting poison or pesticide into the soil that produces this first-class product!  I hope that such a decision will not be taken.”

Next, Burke gave a taste of comments to come when he fidgeted in his seat and joked, “These might be the most uncomfortable stools ever invented.”  He reiterated his stance that he and the Maple Leafs both support NHL involvement in the Olympics but “if and only if some of the concerns that this poses for NHL teams are addressed,” citing Anaheim as an example of a team who suffered off the ice due to a loss in fan interest post-Olympics and on the ice when players lost momentum.  “It’s much more complicated than waving a flag and saying we have to go.  It’s much more complicated than saying we want to see the best players.  If the NHL decides not to go, the Olympics will continue.”

The Toronto GM then discussed resurrecting the World Cup as a best-on-best alternative if NHL Olympic plans fall through with the caveat that proper preparation time is a must.  “The World Cup, the advantage to me, where I think it’s a preferable tournament is in terms of international hockey, the best hockey I ever saw was the ’87 Canada Cup.  Those teams assembled early, had a training camp to work on special teams.  My players, a lot of them, got to Vancouver on Sunday.  We played games in the NHL on Sunday afternoon, 5 o’clock or 3 o’clock at the latest, then had to fly to Vancouver, practice Monday and play Tuesday … it wasn’t ideal, so let’s do it right.  Let’s hold this tournament in August or early September.  Let’s have a training camp; let’s get the team together, work on special teams and put the best product on the ice.”

Subsequently, Paul Romanuk proposed holding a “Global Hockey Week” in February instead of the All-Star Game where every professional league in the world would shut down and come together for a conference much like the World Hockey Summit to exchange ideas.  The “crown jewel” of the week would be an NHL champion vs. European champion exhibition match and a World Players’ Skills Competition.  When broadcaster Healy suggested using that week in February for the World Cup in non-Olympic years, Burke dismissed the idea saying that there was already too much of a burden of in-season events for NHL players.  Immediately, Healy quipped, “Fine, we’ll have [the World Cup] in Toronto in April!” a poke at the moribund Leafs’ annual absence from the playoffs that everyone in the room laughed at, except Burke.

Burke also took loud exception to what he perceived as unfair criticism from Bassin.  Bassin tersely declared to the panellists that people are tired of hearing about the problems and conflicts of getting NHL players into the Olympics and wanted to hear solutions, a comment that received applause from many other delegates.  Burke responded by yelling, “It’s not that simple to get everyone on a goddamn plane and go over and play the games … It’s not that simple and we’re letting it become an emotional issue in this room,” and rebuked Bassin for making an applause-garnering statement without considering all the difficult factors involved in the decision.

Tomorrow, the Summit will come to a close, but not before the imbalance between North America and the rest of the world in women’s hockey is discussed in the morning, followed by the final topic, Growing Participation in Hockey, in the afternoon.

The first question I asked Mr. McKinley was maybe an obvious one. What would inspire a native Canadian to put together such a detailed and thorough history of our sport together? It read as follows:

GP: I know that the CBC approached you to work on Hockey: A People’s History after you wrote Putting a Roof on Winter earlier in the decade, but what inspired you in putting together such an epic telling of the 135 or so years of hockey in this country?

The answer is probably the most resounding reason that everyone reading this should go and pick up a copy of this book today, if they haven’t done so already:

MM: I was inspired by the place the game holds in the Canadian imagination. It’s been 135 years since the first indoor hockey game, and in a relatively short historical time period (considering recorded human history) it fascinates me how one sport could so quickly dominate a country. I wanted to explore why that was the case.

There really isn’t any better way to put it. Hockey has come to be a major part of almost every Canadian’s life. Whether it’s someone whose family has resided in Canada since long before the sport’s creation, or even someone who is just arriving to the country, they’re likely to have at least watched one hockey game in their lives. When there is a game on, it’s on every screen at every sports bar, in many homes across the country, and in many Canadians’ minds, even long after the final buzzer. Americans have football, basketball and baseball. Europeans have soccer. But no sport resonates more with a single country’s population and history than hockey does in Canada.

Despite this clear connection with most, if not all of us, not many people really think of how this sport came to be such a major part of our daily lives. When The Checking Line opened its doors nearly a year ago, we added the following tagline at the top of the page, mostly in jest:

Awesome hockey discussion since 1875. True Story.

We didn’t really give it much thought, but that’s really how long hockey has been part of our history, of our nation. Through world wars, cold wars, revolutions, riots, economic highs and economic lows, controversies and moments of glory, hockey has somehow found a way to leave a mark on Canada.

Hockey: A People’s History shares with us many of these stories, many of these moments in our history, and manages to teach even the most informed hockey fans many interesting and astounding facts about both our sport and our history over the last 135 years.

Luckily for us, Mr. McKinley was kind enough to answer a few questions in regards to his book and the process of writing it, to the current state of hockey and the NHL, and to his upcoming projects as an author.

You can read the full interview with Michael McKinley at The Checking Line.

Moreover, you can find Hockey: A People’s History , which was written to accompany a CBC special of the same name,  here, on Amazon. His recent foray into the world of novel writing, entitled The Penalty Killing: A Martin Carter Mystery can be found at this link. If you are a hockey fan and, more importantly, a Canadian, both are titles that should be in your book collection.

——————
My thanks to Mr. McKinley and Stephen Crane of CraneCreek Communications for the opportunity and interview.

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Timo Lumme, managing director of the International Olympic Committee’s TV and marketing services, presented some encouraging viewership statistics which showed the impact that NHL players participating at the Olympics had around the world.  He noted that the men’s gold medal game was the most watched hockey game of all-time worldwide, seen by 114-million people.  In Canada, that game averaged 16.6-million viewers and in the United States, 27.6-million viewers tuned in, a figure almost equal to the 28-million who watched Game 7 of this year’s NBA Finals.

Hockey historian and researcher Igor Kuperman chimed in and refuted several misconceptions about risks to NHL owners.  He noted that a drop in ticket revenue during a two-week Olympic break is generally negligible as most teams already have completed the majority of their ticket sales through a core of about 14,000 season-ticket holders.  He also commented that his investigation into injury risk showed that pre-season injuries have been greater than injuries sustained by players during the Olympics and found that through his association with the Phoenix Coyotes, players on the club from varying nations including Keith Tkachuk (U.S.), Nikolai Khabibulin (Russia) and Teemu Selanne (Finland) all showed up to NHL training camp in Olympic years, already brimming with enthusiasm about the Winter Games.

Detroit GM Ken Holland presented two perspectives, from the angle of a fan and in his role as a club manager.  “As a fan, I want to go back to the Olympics.  I’m like everyone up here.  I think the Vancouver Olympics were an incredible display of what’s good about our sport.  The games were played with incredible speed, incredible skill.  It was exciting.”  However, he also took time to illustrate the real risks and reservations NHL teams have about continuing Olympic participation citing the injuries to Steve Yzerman in 2002 and Tomas Holmstrom in 2010.

“There are major issues that need to be taken care of … In 2002, when the Olympics were in Salt Lake City, a week or two before the Olympics, Steve Yzerman was selected for the Canadian team and he was having problems with his knee.  He didn’t know if he shouldn’t go or should go and ultimately, Steve made a decision to go represent his country at Salt Lake City and half way through the Olympic Games, Steve told me that his knee was bothering him and he probably needed to take a rest.  He kept pushing on and helped Canada win gold.  When he came back from the Olympics, he never played one regular season game for us for the rest of the year.  He played in the playoffs and was on painkillers and ultimately he had knee surgery.”

“In 2010, I sat in the locker room with Tomas Holmstrom, who was having the same bone-on-bone issues with his knee as Yzerman in 2002 and it was an emotional hour and I said to Homer (Holmstrom) make the decision tomorrow morning.  Tomas Holmstrom ultimately decided not to go.  When the Olympics were over, he was healthy, he played and he’s feeling good.”  Holland also cautioned that some contracts are not totally covered by insurance and noted the fatigue factor that many NHL teams with a large contingent of Olympic players tend to suffer in the immediate days and weeks after the Olympics end.

NHL players Daniel Alfredsson and Jamie Langenbrunner, like all the other speakers, were in agreement that the NHL should participate in the next Winter Games but Alfredsson acknowledged that, “there are hurdles that we need to get by, but I believe the Olympics are bigger than that.  You need to find a way to get everyone on the same page.”

JAMIE LANGENBRUNNER 10 mins 08 sec New Jersey forward talks about NHL players at the Olympics and answers inevitable questions about the Ilya Kovalchuk contract situation. (This writer’s suggestion that the NHL season should start earlier in Olympic years to give more rest to players, occurs at 3:36).

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Fasel strongly expressed his displeasure at any possible merger arrangements that would see European clubs become part of the NHL.  ”I will fight like hell and not allow anybody to come from abroad,” but he was open to an idea proposed during one of last night’s Hot Stove Sessions where a European champion would play the Stanley Cup winner.

Fasel praised the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics as a model for growing the game among the next generation of fans.  ”Vancouver was the best example.  The product was so good.  For a young boy interested in hockey, watching, he will play hockey.”  Fasel also approved of the smaller NHL-sized ice surface.  “I like the small rink very much.  I like the small ice.  This is a very political question in Europe.  I was sceptical in the beginning [but] what I saw in Vancouver, the intensity was great, unbelievable and the women’s game was much better on small ice than big ice.”

Fasel closed by exhorting both North America and Europe to work together in a spirit of cooperation to overcome current difficulties whether they are political or financial, to promote and strengthen hockey.  ”We need to work together, the NHL, the clubs, the leagues, the federations.  It’s not a money thing,” he said, as he paused and tapped his heart, “it’s here.”

The afternoon topic-area session, Junior Development in the World, was opened by Murray Costello, a former president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (the forerunner to the CHL) and a veteran observer of Canadian and international hockey.  Costello explained the differences in on-ice styles of European countries, then strongly advocated for letting European teenagers remain in their home countries to develop their skills and a distinct style rather than prematurely bringing them to North America to play in the CHL.  He reasoned that taking European players out of their countries as teenagers destroys the investment and work of European hockey volunteers who will never get to see the finished product of their efforts in their home country.

Co-speaker Slavomir Lener, a Czech native, who has coached in four different countries, concurred with Costello.  While recognizing the mutually beneficial relationship between the NHL and Europe, Lener sombrely presented chart after chart showing the rapid drain of junior talent, especially from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, to the CHL.  Unfortunately, many of those players have simply not honed their skills to a high-quality level to compete in the CHL and wash out.

“We don’t want to prevent players from leaving, but we want to inform them of their percentage chance of making it to the NHL.  We also like to say that the NHL is important for Europeans and European hockey.  It’s so crucial for our sport.  On the other side, European hockey is very, very important for the NHL.  All these players bring different styles, different flavours, different moves.  Obviously they bring a different quality to the NHL.”

“Why are they leaving?  Talking about the agents, a lot of the time they misinform players and parents.  They somehow withhold numbers of success rates of Europeans playing in the CHL … Some agents back in Europe don’t care.  They just blindly send the players over to the CHL.”

At the World U-20 Championship, the Czech Republic won back-to-back titles in 2000 and 2001, but since then have claimed just one bronze medal and fell to 7th place this past winter.  Slovakia won bronze in 2000 but fell to 8th place this year.  Players who leave, “lose their national characteristics [and become] “hybrids”.  They aren’t great players.  They didn’t master their skills.  They come here at 16 to 17 years old and want to be NHLers, are “half” Czech or Slovak and “half” North American and they’re nothing special,” Lener added, recommending that European players play in their home nations until they are at least 19 to 21 years old.

One of the final panellists who spoke was Jim Johansson, assistant executive director of hockey operations for USA Hockey.  He described the system the Americans have put in place to promote elite hockey development.  Through high school, collegiate, and a three-tiered junior system as well as the respected National Team Development Program, the U.S. is ensuring its most talented youngsters are challenged at every age, often playing against players older than them.  In the off-season, NTDP members will undergo skills training, working on passing, shooting and conditioning.

JIM JOHANSSON 2 mins 35 sec USA Hockey’s Jim Johansson answers three questions from this writer about youth hockey in California, the financial model for funding the NTDP and whether the U.S. is entering a golden age in hockey.

Tomorrow, the scene shifts to the Sheraton Centre in downtown Toronto for the third day of the World Hockey Summit.  The much anticipated Q and A session with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman will take place at 1pm while Vancouver 2010 Evaluation and Establishing a Long-term Global Event Agenda will be the topic areas for the panels to discuss.

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From the NHL, commissioner Gary Bettman, deputy commissioner Bill Daly, GMs Brian Burke, Darcy Regier, Ken Holland, Steve Yzerman, coaches Peter Laviolette, Bob Boughner and players Jamie Langenbrunner and Daniel Alfredsson, are all scheduled to attend.  KHL president Alexander Medvedev, KHL chairman of the board Vyacheslav Fetisov and IIHF president Rene Fasel headline the list of panellists from Europe, a group that will also include representatives of Swedish, Finnish, Czech and Slovakian national hockey associations.  Members of USA Hockey, Hockey Canada, the CHL and NHLPA will also be among the featured speakers and panellists.

On Monday evening, the World Hockey Summit will open at the Hockey Hall of Fame with four “Hot Stove Sessions” tackling some of the challenges facing the business of hockey.  The first topic, Contracts and Transfers, will examine contentious issues surrounding contracts and player movement, especially between the NHL and KHL.  Second, Agents’ Role in Working with Young Players will focus on the reservations and perception that European hockey associations have about their junior players being transferred to the CHL through the work of agents.  Third, State of the Game will look at whether the time is right for hockey to be introduced to non-traditional countries.  Finally, the fourth session, Comparison of the North American and International Game, plans to study the differences between the NHL-sized rink and international-sized rink and whether one size emphasizes certain skills or promotes a more exciting game.

From Tuesday through Thursday, in-depth presentations and discussions will focus on six key topics: player skill development, junior development, an evaluation of hockey at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, establishment of a long-term global event agenda, women’s hockey and growing participation in hockey.

For cerebral hockey fans, this event will surely be considered a potential landmark, and a great lead-in to the upcoming hockey season.  Just last week, the NHL held the Research, Development and Orientation camp in Toronto to brainstorm and test proposed rule changes that may make the game more exciting and enjoyable for players and fans.  Likewise, by bringing the most influential decision-makers in hockey from around the globe to Toronto for the World Hockey Summit, one hopes that this week, they will establish a foundation for new protocols, innovations and improved communication within countries and across borders, to enhance the excitement of hockey for all stakeholders for many years to come.

While the Olympic Games didn’t start off until the opening ceremonies that night, my Olympic experience started with a long journey into the city itself. Bus ferries, busses and sky train cars left the impression that the world had indeed arrived in Vancouver. Even the line at the liquor store made it quite clear that everyone was ready to start the games. Unfortunately while travelling through town with thousands strangers from all over the world, the biggest topic of conversation became the death of Georgian Luger Nodar Kumaritashvili who was killed in a tragic accident at the Whistler sliding centre. It was a sad day for the Olympics and the Vancouver games themselves, the loss of an Olympic athlete shook everyone in BC place during a moment of silence that night, however as the ceremonies continued the stadium atmosphere became electric, sparked by the entrance of Team Canada.

Once Team Canada entered BC Place, the stadium was alive with excitement, ready to cheer on the athletes walking in front of them over two weeks of intense and spirited competition. The Own The Podium movement had been put into place, now it was time to see how far we have become. The excitement of Canada’s first Olympic gold medal on home soil, the musical talent of K.D. Lang, the poetic ability of Shane Koyczan and the anticipation of the lighting of the Olympic torch all built the Opening Ceremony into an amazing event to start off the games. As I watched from a living room in Kitsilano, I realized that the opening ceremonies were Canada’s way of stepping out into the spotlight, welcoming the world to visit one of the best places on earth.

As the ceremonies continued, the topic of conversation turned from tragedy to giddy anticipation as everyone wondered who would be the last person to bring the Olympic flame into BC place, and officially begin the games. Names like Gretzky, Greene, Le May Doan, Orr, Nash and Hansen were all kicked around, but in the end they all had a part in the flame reaching its final destination for the games, with none other than The Great One taking it there.

While the ceremonies did not come without their hiccups and malfunctions, the ceremony was Canada’s final coming out party. The lighting of the Olympic torch served as a declaration by Canadians everywhere, welcome to Vancouver, British Columbia Canada, home of the True, North, Strong and Free.

The feel continued into the streets and bars throughout downtown, anyone who was wearing Team Canada clothing became an immediate friend, another ambassador to the world among a sea of red and white throughout downtown Vancouver. For two weeks Robson Square and the Granville strip became a sea of high-fives, “Go Canada Go” chants, and honking cars celebrating the great athletic achievements Canadians had conquered over the last two weeks.

We came together to witness a collection of amazing achievements that led the nation to believe that we really did “Own the Podium”. While we did not win the overall medal count, Canadian athletes made history winning a record 14 Gold Medals, most in any Winter Olympic Games, an especially commemorative achievement to be accomplished on home soil. This is how I remembered the Olympics over an amazing two weeks full of tragedy, anticipation, relief, joy, pride, anxiety and ecstasy.

• Saturday 13^th – Jennifer Heil wins a silver medal in women’s moguls, so close to the first gold medal on home soil that Heil, and all of Canada had been hoping for. The city is still happy to see Canada on the board with a medal.
• Sunday 14^th – Finally, the streak is over. Canadian Men’s Mogul star Alexandre Bilodeau is the first to win gold at home for Canada, let the party begin! Robson Square, Granville Street, and everywhere else downtown is a giant party, local news that night declared Vancouver’s “no fun city” moniker of the past dead.
• Monday 15^th – After the excitement of Canada’s first gold medal on home soil, the nation turned to Men’s snowboard cross to find another medal. Canada’s four man team performs well, capped off with Mike Robertson’s heartbreaking finish in the final heat of the day. Robertson held the lead for the majority of the race, but was caught on one of the final turns of the course, winning the Silver medal. That night at Malone’s pub, we play pool and meet many other Canadians taking in the Olympic atmosphere. Later, my friends and I met two of the funniest Australians I’ll ever meet, who we thoroughly debated with over the local boy turned enemy Dale Begg-Smith.
• Tuesday 16^th – Finally, after enjoying an appetizer of sporting events before Tuesday, it was finally the day to see the Canadian Men’s Team take action. After a first intermission of analysis and questions of the Canadian offence, the 2^nd an 3^rd periods provided Canadian Fans and media members alike with an explosive offensive statement, declaring that Canada’s scoring will not be a problem in the tournament. Canada 8 – Norway 0. At night, we enjoy the victory at Forum, dancing with Slovakian friends, and more Australian party goers.
• Wednesday 17^th – With the Canadian women on deck against the Swedish team in the afternoon, I decided to wander around the beautiful downtown morning in the sunshine, while others waited the SIX HOUR WAIT for the zip trek across Robson Square. Now that it is gone, I wish I too had done the zip trek, but six hours is just too much for my patience. At night, it was Shaun White’s amazing performance in Men’s halfpipe, destroying competition with his 1^st conservative run before upping the anty like any performer would in his final run, besting every run that day in what was a spectacular display of White’s talent and domination of the sport.
• Thursday 18^th – As friends come over from the island to celebrate the Olympics together, we fire up the BBQ on a beautiful February afternoon to watch the afternoon hockey game in style. The feast settles our stomachs for an upsetting 3-2 win for Team Canada over Team Switzerland. Sidney Crosby proved on his second shootout attempt that he is a force to be reckoned with in this tournament, wiring a wrist shot past Jonas Hiller after previously being fooled attempting to deke out the Swiss keeper. Christine Nesbett’s gold medal winning performance in Women’s 1000m speed skating was capped off by a huge final lap that shaved a half second off of her own pace time in order to slip under the lead time by .02 seconds, an amazing final push from the newest Canadian hero.
• Friday 19^th – Live Hockey! I am lucky enough to join my Dad at a Men’s hockey game; Czech Republic vs. Latvia. I have to give it up for both teams and all the fans inside Canada Hockey Place, it was electric. Some Czech athletes in the suite beside us taught us cheers from their own country, an interesting look into the culture of other nations’ fans, having grown up on a healthy dose of “Go Canada/Canucks Go”. While at the game, the small in house televisions show Mellissa Hollingsworth’s final run, an unfortunate ending to a promising day which saw her move from 2^nd to 5^th in her final run, after bumping the walls twice at the Whistler sliding centre. Later however, Jon Montgomery saves the day, winning the Gold Medal in Men’s Skeleton; his celebration was a scene straight out of Canadian beer hockey league’s everywhere. After flag waving and cheering at the sliding centre, Montgomery walked down to the Whistler Village, picking up a pitcher of beer on the way to add to the Canadian nostalgia.
• Saturday 20^th – As I take a day off from partying in Vancouver, I get time to watch more hockey with my family, including an amazing game between Swiss and Norwegian Men’s Teams, featuring the heroics or Tore Vikingstad, who potted a hat trick on his birthday.
• Sunday 21^st – Kristina Groves wins Silver in Women’s 1500m speed skating, however the big focus is on the much anticipated day of hockey, the Canada vs. USA showdown is the talk of the town, the lines at bars and restaurants everywhere were a sign of the importance of the game to the city, and fans everywhere. At Irish house, our friends and I enjoy the Irish food, music and of course, over priced beer. The game itself leaves us devastated after Ryan Kesler dove to poke the puck into an empty Canadian net, ending the game and crushing the hopes of Canadians everywhere still hanging on for a comeback. After the game, we did the best we could to enjoy the night, dancing and singing the night away in between difficult conversations with American fans who I acknowledged won fair and square, but I promised we would face again.
• Monday 22^nd – Canadian pairs Ice Dancing tandem of Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir throw down an amazing skate, winning the Gold Medal for Canada and simultaneously giving Ice Dance a legitimate spot in my heart. I am also starting to realize that Canadians have some of the most beautiful female athletes in the world. God Bless You Tessa Virtue.
• Tuesday 23^rd – It’s do or die day for Canada, as they took on Germany in the men’s qualification round. Full of anger and resolve, Team Canada didn’t disappoint by dominating the Germans in almost every facet of the game in a decisive 8-2 victory. Suddenly there seems to be faith in the team again throughout the city, overcoming the doubters who sounded off after losing to the U.S. earlier. The country eagerly awaits the next game, looking ahead to a showdown against the Russians. Even Canada Hockey Place can be heard shouting “Bring on Russia” during the late stages of the game. Suddenly the country, and the hockey team, have their swagger back.
• Wednesday 24^th – The anticipated gold medal matchup of Canada vs. Russia comes early in the men’s quarterfinal, an epic knockout game that can make or break the success of the whole tournament. With one of its most impressive physical games team Canada has ever iced, team Canada jumped all over the smaller Russian squad in order to jump out to an early 4-0 lead in the first period. Team Canada never looked back, again winning 8-2. Just after the game ended and the party was about to begin, Team Canada Women’s Bobsled team crashed the party, and the podium, claiming both the Gold AND Silver medals with both Canadian crews, setting off a celebration for the ages in the streets of Vancouver. By this time, the whole city has realized that it isn’t necessary to find a club or bar to party the night away at, the party downtown and on the streets is its own venue.
• Thursday 25^th – It’s a big night for Canadian women, as the Canadian Women’s Hockey Team won their awaited duel with their rival American Squad. The early 2-0 Canadian lead built by Marie-Philip Poulin would stand to win the game, giving Canada a taste of Gold on ice days before the men could do battle for Gold at Canada Hockey Place. As a last celebration for players, the Women took to the ice after Canada Hockey Place had been cleared and just hung out, like kids after they had won their regional tournament, just sitting on the ice and enjoying the moment with a beer among friends, is there anything more Canadian? While athletes are constantly under the eye of impressionable children, celebrations are off limits in my books, the Team didn’t walk down Granville with Cigars and open beer, (That’s the norm anyways, although the Cigar is otherwise represented) they celebrated in private with the team, and of course some photographers to provide us with a slideshow of the celebration. So I’m completely in favour of Team Canada partying the night away on Canada Place Ice, after four years and hard work and anticipation they earned it. “Stogies, Why Not!” Thank you, John Beckwith Owen Wilson.
• Friday 26^th – It is a huge day for Canada as we begin the closing weekend with Gold Medals in Men’s Short Track 500m and Men’s Short Track 5000m Relay. Charles Hamelin had an especially big day, winning the individual 500m title, moving on to win the four man relay along with his Brother Francois Hamelin, and fellow teammates Olivier Jean and Francois-Louis Tremblay who also claimed a bronze medal behind Hamelin in the 500m. In Women’s curling, skip Cheryl Bernard lead the Canadian Women’s team to a silver medal, falling short to Team Sweden in an extra end. After all the afternoon success, the collective outlook on the evening’s hockey game was positive, fuelled by eager anticipation of seeing Team Canada in the gold medal game. After an intense game, which was too close for my comfort the entire night, Canada held on to a 3-2 lead and finally had its birth into the finals. In the dying seconds, Roberto Luongo made the save of the tournament, stopping NHL teammate Pavol Demitra in order to keep the lead and move his team on to a shot at Gold.
• Saturday 27^th – After Friday’s gold rush, it was hard to imagine Canada had more left in the tank on the final Saturday. Amazingly, three more Gold Medals were won on the final full day of competition, vaulting Canada up the medal count leaderboard, especially when counting Gold’s. In speed skating, Canadian Men’s Team Pursuit foursome brought home Gold, followed by impressive performances on the mountain and the curling rink, as Jasey Jay Anderson and Kevin Martin won Gold in Men’s Parallel Giant Slalom and curling respectfully. Vancouver was again partying in the streets, ready to carry the party all the way through the night towards the noon start time of the Gold Medal hockey game.
• Sunday 28^th – I woke up at 9am to a cell phone call from a friend, and he just told me to turn on the news and look at the lines. Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, anywhere with a liquor license, television and seating had a line-up to get it. Some of them weren’t even open yet, some were already at capacity, but EVERYONE was lining up to see the game. After a short bus ride, my friends and I saw for ourselves the mob of Canadian fans that had lined the streets, coffee in hand, waiting for history to unfold before them in a few hours time. After battling the lines and running through a variety of scenarios in which we could find a good spot downtown, we decided to go old school, and watch the game from the comfort of our friend’s home in Kitsilano. With a beer in one hand and breakfast in the other, we sat down and watched the most exciting, intense, and important hockey game the world may have ever seen. It was only fitting that not only would the game take extra time, but that Sidney Crosby, golden child of Team Canada, would score the winning goal, ending the game and setting off the biggest party the nation has ever seen, all in one swift flick of the wrist. Crosby came through for Canada, and within seconds the streets were lined with red, white and gold. From the moment the game ended until early morning the next morning, the streets were filled with the sounds of honking cards, cheering fans, and screaming partiers, all celebrating the perfect ending to two weeks of outstanding athletic competition.

Click here to view the embedded video.

After an Olympic Games that began with tragedy, poor weather, and early disappointment from Canadian Athletes, the games grew into not only a celebration of personal achievement, but a celebration of a Country as a whole; our history, our identity, our passion, our game.

It wasn’t until late Sunday night that I realized what the games are all about, as I was reflecting on the night so far at a downtown bar. The Olympics are about bringing together the world in celebration of our common passion for sport. From the passion of Canadian Hockey fans to the determination of Ghana’s “Snow Leopard” Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong who is a one man Olympic Team, competing for Ghana in the winter Olympics after only learning how to ski six years ago on artificial snow. Athletes from all over the world, from all walks of life, came together to compete in friendly competition all for the glory of themselves, their country, and the games. The many rivals, storylines, politics, controversies, and other events surrounding the games are only a small aspect of what is the greatest sporting event in the world.

It took a couple of the stars of the afternoon’s game on closing Sunday for me to come to this realization. As a couple players and family members of Team Canada strolled into the same bar I partied at on Sunday, I realized that for some family’s this game is the greatest achievement of their entire lives, a life of early practices, power skating and open skates in order to succeed in the biggest game of their life. It wasn’t the star power of a couple players walking into the bar that struck me, but the sight of a much older man making his way through the crowd that made my mind wander. After realizing this man was a father of a Team Canada player and gold medal winner I immediately congratulated him on his son’s success as well as his own success as a father. It was then that the amazing joy in this stranger’s eyes said to me “this is what it means to be Canadian”.

Later in the night in passing around the bar I found the same joy and honest pride in other strangers. It is hard to really understand the person behind the microphone at times when we see television personalities daily from your living room, however one media member who was happy enough to share a drink with my friends and I put it simply “What a night eh boys”. The honesty and sincerity of his voice said it all, this was a night of a lifetime and there was nothing that could be taken away from it.

Olympic athletes, family members, media members, and the people of Vancouver all came together to celebrate the greatest two weeks Vancouver has ever seen, punctuated by a day of athletic triumph and celebration that will go down in history as one of the most important games in Canadian history; It will be relived and re-told by everyone who witnessed the games for years to come. The experience has been burned into the hearts and minds of every Canadian who was touched by these games, I for one am proud to say that I am Canadian, and I was there.

The game was what every hockey fan could ever dream about.

Overtime to decide the Gold medal. Sudden death to decide which country takes control of the hockey realm for four years. Team Canada edged the desperate USA squad 3-2 in OT with, of all players, Sidney Crosby’s game winning goal 7:40 into the extra period.

The game was everything hockey fans wanted, the suspense of the game lived up to the hype. Team USA had their natives screaming for GOLD when Zach Parise scored the game-tying goal with just over 24 seconds left in regulation. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t meant to be for the Americans who proved many doubters wrong.

As for Crosby, who is now has more silverware to prove his dominance, now has the country of Canada in the palm of his hand for the rest of his life. Oh yea, he’s only 22.

“Our team worked so unbelievably hard. Today was really tough, especially when they got a goal late in regulation. But we came back and got it in overtime,” said Crosby.

Whether Flyers fand like it or not, the ‘kid’ is great. Without a shadow of a doubt Crosby showed up when the entire country of Canada expected him to. He answered the bell.

The bell of the 20,000 ballistic fans in red that were on their feet for the entire game and for over 34 million Canadians who poured their admiration for their Olympic hero. For Philadelphia, im sure this will give them even more ammunition to ‘hate’ him. However, at some point the guy will have to get his due respects for what he’s accomplished at only 22.

The toughest part of this game if you were rooting for the Americans was to see the face of superstar olympic MVP goaltender Ryan Miller’s face after the game. Miller, once again kept USA in it until the very end. He stopped 34 shots and many of those were big saves that easily could have been goals.

Miller deserved better. Because he was the better netminder. He should be given a congratulatory gold medal for the performance he put forth. The 29-year-old Buffalo Sabre goalie put it all out on the line and afterwards he wore his emotions on his sleeve.

At any point of this game USA or Canada would’ve put this game away, however, great goaltending and defensive play kept this game exciting through and through.

Onto what this means for the Philadelphia Flyers.

For those whose watched every Canada game, they’d see that their captain Mike Richards was stellar at every role he was put in by head coach Mike Babcock. Richards, finished the Olympics with five points (2G, 3A) and was plus five. Chris Pronger, who had a rough start to the tournament finished with five assists and was a plus three with over 124 minutes worth of ice time.

Richards and Pronger coming home with the gold medal could really motivate these two for the home stretch. They could easily ride this emotional high into a locker room that’s been distant for a better part of two weeks. Adrenaline could really help a Flyers club who went into the break on a four-game winning streak.  

The only issue that can arise out of these Olympics, a big issue, could be the long-term health of both Richards Pronger as the Flyers get deeper into the season and hopefully a good run into the playoffs.

Richards note:

The win gives Richards a rare hockey feat. He’s one of the only players – if not the only one – to win an Olympic gold medal, Memorial Cup, world junior championship and a Calder Cup.-Per News.TheRecord.com

Catch all Flyers news and updates on Faceoff with Chris. Follow me on Twitter @NHLChrisDiFran

If you want to see the end of journalism…start here.

All it takes is a English failed musician who lives and writes for the Russian rag Pravda. He has a long history of anti-American and anti-Israel invective. He sits on the Pravda editorial board and launches pro-Russian propaganda whose main thrust is to disparage what it is aimed at, while making the Russian side seem more glowing and noble.

We can argue Western journalism, corporate filters and Chomskyesque debates until we are blue in the face, but Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey’s editorial accusing Canadian athletes of doping simply because Russia was unable to get any medals like they used is cold war rack-and-pinion steering by an Englishman educated in Leeds, but steering the anti-West attack for the motherland.

Queue up the Canadian Press, who reacted as if Mother Russia herself was speaking out of Vladamir Putin’s behind, who launched their own defense, never bothering to look up Pravda’s author or the long google litany of sad discourse and riotous reaction by bloggers who did bother to look him up.

From one blogger who was able to look up his bio before it was deleted:

I incidentally became involved with the world of music and even became one of the leading English song-writers of the 1980s. I took part in three Eurovision contests, released three albums, two maxi-singles and five singles. That was the time when I started establishing contacts with the press. “I had to give a lot of interviews for television and newspapers. I noticed that facts were reinterpreted on numerous occasions, almost always, in order to make an article correspond to ideas of a reporter. One fine day I realized that there was only one way to strive for the truth: to write a true story and to send it to mass media outlets. That’s what I did.”

I showed my first articles to a friend, a reporter, who expressed his interest in them and asked my why I did not take up journalism seriously. After that, I finished journalism courses, and worked as a freelance journalist at Portuguese, Spanish, Latin American, English and Romanian media outlets. However, journalism was not my only occupation. “I believe that there is nothing more boring for a journalist than to sit at table, working on the so-called news, which has already been picked out from the Internet by someone, retelling someone else’s stories. In addition to that, it is proof of the absence of professionalism, it is not worth it, in the long run. I like to visit new places, to collect new material for my own articles.”

So Timmy seems to use Pravda…which is Russian for “truth”, by the way, to launch venom at the West and all things that rail against his pro-Russian way of life.

Meanwhile per the Wall Street Journal, the 2010 Games are set to go down as the Olympics with the fewest doping infractions since Nagano.

But reality has not place in Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey’s ludicious little world. He uses his perch to rip Vancouver as an unfit location, how terrible it was for Russian athletes (including one who was caught for doping), and finishes it off with his creme-de-la creme of accusations and hyperbole with assuming doping must be how Russia screwed the pooch.

Yet, some were onto him early on when he ripped Vancouver.

Via the National Post:

Mr. Bancroft-Hinchey apparently has a history of this sort of gibberish. And it’s probably unfair to denounce all of Britain over one fruitcake with an axe to grind in Pravda. (Even Russians don’t read Pravda any more, do they?)

Going into the 21^st Winter Olympic Games, Team USA was predicted to finish in 4^th or 5^th place and not even contend for a medal.  Ryan Miller and Team USA had other ideas.

Team USA’s first two games against Switzerland and Norway, barely made Ryan Miller break a sweat.  In the two games combined, Miller only had to make 24 stops.  Thus, propelling the undefeated American team, in to their clash with their arch rivals, Team Canada.

Sunday February 21^st, 2010 will be a date remembered forever in the eyes of American hockey fans.  Team USA VS Canada!  Nobody gave the Americans a chance to beat Canada at their game, on their home ice.  Apparently Ryan Miller wasn’t intimidated.  Miller made 42 saves against the Canadians that night, helping Team USA to their first victory against Canada in Olympic competition since 1960.

Not only was the win against Canada a huge win for Team USA, but for Ryan Miller as well.  Miller opened the eyes of many that night.  Even actress Alyssa Milano chimed in.  On her twitter page, Milano posted “Ryan Miller almost makes me want to be a Sabres fan”.  Miller was even a guest on the Ryan Seacrest radio show.  Yes, that Ryan Seacrest.  Other than the fact Seacrest kept calling Miller, Brother, I thought it was pretty cool to see all the recognition the Buffalo Sabres goaltender was getting and deserved.  But, there was more work to be done.

With the win against the Canadians, Team USA earned an extra day off to rest for their quarterfinal matchup against Switzerland.  Anaheim Ducks goaltender, Jonas Hiller, who deserves recognition in itself for the job he did between the pipes for the Swiss during the Olympics, made it tough for Team USA to mount any type of offense.  Hiller made 42 stops to Miller’s 19.  The 19 save performance gave Miller his first Olympic shutout.

The semi-final matchup against Finland was supposed to be a hard fought battle to see who would play for gold.  But, that was not to be.  USA roared for 6 first period goals and Miller was barely tested as he made 18 saves before being replaced by Bruins goaltender, Tim Thomas.  If you were keeping count, when Miller was replaced, his shutout streak was at 111 minutes 38 seconds.

The gold medal game VS Canada was all it was expected to be.  Exciting and heart-stopping are just a couple words to describe what Americans and Canadians were feeling as the game went on.  Ryan Miller, who saw his shutout streak end at 124 minutes 38 seconds, was once again stellar for Team USA.  Miller made 36 saves and kept his American teammates in it until the end.  Sidney Crosby, who seems to have Miller’s number, did it again.  He scored in OT to bring the Canadians gold.

Ryan Miller’s unbelievable play earned him the MVP of the Olympic hockey tournament and was one of three Americans to make the tournaments All-Star team.  Miller finished the tourney with a 94.56% SVP, which was tops in the tourney, and a 1.35 GAA, which was just behind Henrik Lundqvist of Team Sweden.  The 1.35 GAA is the lowest GAA for a USA goaltender in Olympic history.

As a Sabres fan, it is nice to say that Ryan Miller is coming home to Buffalo! Miller did his country proud and every Sabres fan around the world.  Congratulations Ryan! This is only the beginning.

The Sabres resume play on Tuesday night in Pittsburgh.  Ryan Miller will NOT be playing.  Patrick Lalime (if he is still a Sabre) will get the start against the Pens.

An underdog is a person or group in a competition, frequently in electoral politics, sports and creative works, who is popularly expected to lose.

Do you believe in miracles?

“Sometimes, the best team in a tournament does not take home the Gold medal”. That was Team USA head coach Ron Wilson’s quote after the United States lost in Overtime to Team Canada during the Mens Ice Hockey final at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver .

The miracle aspect I did not buy into however, I did buy into the fact that this Team USA roster had the goods to compete and possibly defeat the best. That was, of course, after looking over Ryan Miller’s season as well as the entire unit as a whole one at a time.

The “underdog” tag was placed on the U.S. team the day Brian Burke announced his roster (as well as the second annual Winter Classic being played). That was until everyone started to realize that a great, hot goaltender could steal games.

Ryan Miller is that goaltenders mold. Posting a stingy 1.04 goals against average during the two week tournament and being named the MVP of the tournament proves why, along with buying into coach Wilson’s system as a whole, the Americans took the Gold medal game into overtime.

The positive that did not show on one single players face on team USA as they recieved their “Silver” medals is that the “experts” didn’t even feel this team would play for a medal. Let alone take the Gold medal game into an extra session.

Aside from Miller, what can be said about the efforts of the entire roster except congratulations. Congrats on an amazing effort and bringing home the Silver medal. You are on the map as one of the top countries in the world. And, to be fair and give credit where credit is due, you had already beaten the team who captured the bragging rights tonight. Do not look back on these Olympics and dwell on them. Carry your head high with pride in knowing that as an underdog you defied the odds.

Tim Gleason, Zach Parise, Chris Drury, Erik Johnson, Brian Rafalski, Ryan Kesler, Patrick Kane; the list can go on without excluding a single player – a list of warriors, of “olympians”. Bobby Ryan, Joe Pavelski, Paul Stasny, Jonathan Quick, Ryan Suter, Jack Johnson, Dustin Brown, Ryan Callahan, Phil Kessel, David Backes, Ryan Whitney, Ryan Malone and Brooks Orpik all need to take this experience and carry it with them towards the World Championships as well as the upcoming 2014 Sochi Games. I say that with a positive thought that NHLers will be permitted to play in said games.

Even Tim Thomas needs recognition for being an amazing teammate.

For names that were “snubbed” like T.J. Oshie, Kyle Okposo and Craig Anderson to name a few; build in anticipation of being able to take part in some of, if not, the best hockey every played.

The outcomes of the events in Hockey that took place over the course of these Olympic games should have brought in new viewers to the sport. Especially within the states for the Americans put on a performance that no one should be able to look passed. This tournament showed the intensity and excitement that comes along with the great sport of hockey. The NHL fan base should immediately grow from the previous two weeks.

No, the USA did not come out on top of the world but they did present enough proof that they are a dangerous group talent wise and that they can play with the best of the best.

To the Canadians and great nation of Canada, I tip my cap. A wonderful Olympics, a wonderful host and tonight you sit atop the rest of the globe in the sport you made famous. A more than worthy candidate to receive the gold medal. However, the talent level was evenly matched for sixty minutes today.

The amazing story that was written today was that of two great powers colliding. Now that the chapter is complete, the NHLers who participated for every nation re-create the common theme as a whole to do battle for Lord Stanley’s Cup.

A common bond was formed and for what it’s worth I truly hope the world gained a bit more respect for the sport as well as the development that is now starting to show it’s potential within the United States of America again.

You can reach Anthony anytime by e-mailing him at: ac@thehockeyguys.net

and be sure to follow him on Twitter: HockeyGuy_AC

Sidney Crosby was born and bred for this moment.

In a country that elevates its sublimely talented hockey superstars to iconic status, it was only appropriate that out of the many star players populating Team Canada’s roster, the wunderkind from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia would emerge as the one who seized the moment that asked for a hero.

Out of the many, Sidney.  E pluribus, Crosby.

Yesterday afternoon, at 2.54 pm local time, with over 15-million alarmed fellow citizens anxiously looking on, Crosby took one small step toward Ryan Miller, flicked the puck past him, then took one giant celebratory leap for Canadian mankind.  OT game-winning goal.  Gold medal-winning goal.  On home ice.  Lights out, Vancouver.

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Did you seriously think it would turn out this way?

Of course you didn’t.  After all, Hollywood is an American institution and surely, Canadian hockey fans never believed that a script worthy of an Academy Award next weekend would play out in living colour on the silver screen of Canada Hockey Place.  In a Winter Olympics that has simply been magical for host Canada, it was stretching the bounds of reality to ask for one more storybook, golden moment.  Oh sure, Canadians could envision winning gold in a business-like, non-fairy tale fashion over the United States, and it certainly looked likely when Jonathan Toews scored in the opening frame and Corey Perry scored mid-way through the second period to give Canada a 2-0 lead.

However, when Ryan Kesler cut the lead in half five and a half minutes later on a deft deflection, Doubt cast her dark shadow clouds over sunny Vancouver.  When American Zach Parise scored the tying goal with Miller on the bench during the United States’ last, desperate push with just 24 seconds remaining in regulation time, not only was a storybook golden moment unlikely, it was completely out of the question.  Even the possibility of a business-like golden finish became questionable.

Every Canadian in the arena or watching at home, at the corner pub, or pressed up against the windows of an electronics store looked up and down that home team bench and wondered about all the many talented, battle-tested players and asked the same question: Who would be the one to rescue Canada?  Who would be the overtime hero?

Out of the many, Sidney.  E pluribus, Crosby.

In Canada, there is a reason why we label Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux “hockey icons” and place them on a higher tier than their merely “star” contemporaries.  For Gretzky and Lemieux, their natural gifts, their stratospheric accomplishments and their uncanny ability to succeed in pressure-cooker situations gave them the right to be labelled “icons”.  Crosby traces his hockey ancestry to this royal lineage.  It was Gretzky who tabbed a then 14-year old Crosby, fresh off a 193-point season in Nova Scotia Minor Hockey, as the one who had a shot at breaking his records.  It was Lemieux, the King Penguin, who drafted Prince Crosby and welcomed him into his castle, where they both still reside together.

Icons identify the moment; icons seize the moment; icons create one frozen moment that will be remembered for all time.

Every great achievement Crosby has earned thus far in his still young career was but a prelude to what we witnessed yesterday.  Youngest to score at the World Junior Championship.  Youngest to win a scoring title.  Youngest captain ever.  Youngest captain to hoist the Stanley Cup.  All, mere arrows pointing to this frozen moment that was waiting for him from the day he was born, a prodigy on skates.

Some critics lamented, even as late as Saturday evening, that Crosby was underachieving and not scoring as much as he should in the Olympics.  They wanted Crosby to rediscover his finishing touch in the same manner that Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Rick Nash seemed to do as the tournament proceeded.  What the critics constantly fail to grasp is that there is no need to fret about the performance of icons.  Out of the many stars on Team Canada, some will score in bunches and some will periodically slump.  As we speak, out of the many Canadian teenagers, mesmerized by the hockey that they observed the last two weeks, some will in four years, populate a portion of the next Olympic roster.  Out of the many, there will be stars but likely, no icons.  Out of the many, there will still only be one hockey icon for this generation, ever to the rescue.

Out of the many, Sidney.  E pluribus, Crosby.

The 2010 Winter Olympic competitions have come to an end, and the OT gold medal hockey game provided the perfect exclamation point for the final scene. As an American – the USA kind (you have to clarify since Canadians are, after all, North Americans), I was rooting for the home team. Am I devastated they lost? Errr…not terribly. Just bummed. But I am feeling positive that this high octane game will bolster interest in the sport here in America – you know, the USA part – because Lord knows it could use a boost. As a hockey fan, I’m especially glad that this nail biter of a match happened on the last day of February, labeled by some sports commentators as the most boring sports month of the year (which is their not-so-subtle way of insulting hockey). Well I LOVE FEBRUARY and I LOVE HOCKEY and I DON’T MIND THE SNOW and I’m obviously camouflaging my lack of interest in the upcoming baseball season behind those capital letters due to my being a Mets fan!!! Anyway…

I did find it amusing that the game served up bitter pills for both Islander fans and Ranger fans to swallow. I had to watch that Handsome Devil, Zach Parise, tie the game up and be reminded once again that he could have been and probably should have been an Islander. Kind of like the guy he scored against, Roberto Luongo was, for five minutes. Oh, I’m sorry, is that hyperbole I’m guilty of? I meant 24 games. Yes, 24, like the number of seconds left when Parise scored. Then again, I had built up my tolerance for unholy visions by staring at Milbury’s mug for the past two weeks. And for Ranger fans, there was Public Enemy #1 in the Ranger universe, Sid the Kid, scoring the game winner for Canada. Man, that must’ve stung, ’cause they really, really can’t stand him. The hockey gods are laughing their asses off at our expense once again.

There is a silver (plated) lining in all of this for the Islanders. The team, save for Streit, got a nice, long rest, and maybe Gordon picked up a few coaching pointers. This probably won’t change things much, however, and we’ll most likely be seeing John Tavares gritting his teeth in frustration before the next Lindsey Vonn pictorial is out. For John and the rest of the young players, I hope they made the most of this rare vacation and come back focused. And I hoped they watched every minute of these games and are dead set on being in them four years from now…that is, if NHL players will still be selected for them. Hmmm, that scenario seems to be very up in the air these days – da, comrade?

P.S. One quick comment about the Women’s hockey celebration. Did they go a little too far considering the conservative nature of the Olympics? Perhaps, but just barely.

If they were men, would this have become even a tiny deal? No way.

Let it be said rather plainly. I think Alexander Ovechkin is the best NHL player bar none right now.

But, his behavior from dodging the sports press in Vancouver, to pushing a fan…has been poor sportsmanship no matter what pressure, excuse or Milbury-insult launched from a host’s seat.

Well, sadly it has continued as per a RIA Novosti correspondent who taped Ovechkin until he finally came up to the camera guy and added another situation to his personal Vancouver resume.

Per the story:

When Evgeny Fatkin asked Ovechkin for an interview, the hockey star answered by saying “Do you want me to break your camera?”

He did not wait for an answer and broke the camera display.

“I was holding the camera in my right hand,” Fatkin said. “When Ovechkin approached, I put it [my arm] down, and he broke the digital display with his right hand,” he said.

Following the incident, Ovechkin reportedly smiled, left the bar and disappeared.

There has been criticism from this season that Ovechkin has been reckless in his play, even causing Washington owner Ted Leonsis to take him aside to ask him about it. But many have come to his aid and side that he is “just having fun”. However, if you tie all these things together this season….under the white hot light of the Olympics and a season of some questions, might that image be cracking just a bit? Is something up with Ovechkin beyond just the loss, or just now being reckless now with his own image and how he handles paparazzi and fans?

There might be more to all of this, or maybe not. But for a guy who is a vibrant personality and marketed face to a game, something is crumbling a bit.