Link Of The Day

For those who don't watch football soccer much, after big matches it is customary for players on each side to trade their jersey with an honoured opponent. I've always found the tradition quite impressive - a step farther from just a handshake. While there is too much money involved in the used jersey market for hockey to ever allow that to happen, a neat story did come out last week about fans trading sweaters. While they weren't opponents, it still is a really nice read. Check it out, over at Uni Watch.

No Heat Wave Can Kill Hockey

As the weather gets hotter and hotter here in New York, my longing for the frozen pond grows exponentially ... and its not even July yet. So, as my brains become scrambled in the torturous heat, I figured what better thing can I do to cool down than to write about a winter sport?

*Larry Brooks asked "are the Blueshirts better off with a combined $6M investment in Rozsival and projected third-pair defenseman (Josef) Melichar, or with a combined $6.5-7M investment in (Brooks) Orpik and, say, impending Montreal free agent Mark Streit"? I would say no, they aren't. Melichar didn't play in the U.S. this year, and didn't do so well when he did, often falling victim to a bum shoulder (more in his Wiki, which was clearly edited by a Pens fan). Rozy was a mess this year, no matter how Brooksie wants to justify it. Orpik is a hitter and Streit is a power play stud - both qualities needed by the Rangers that neither Rozy or Melichar would be able to provide. Although I think Streit and Orpik will end up costing at least a million more than Brooks estimated.

*Jaromir Jagr wants to remain a Ranger. Should he return, he had better play like it ... for the entire season. If he doesn't come back, I said it before: I think Mats Sundin would be a fantastic replacement for around the same cost.

*The Rangers have yet to give out any information about season tickets for next year or even anything about their Eurotrip to open the year. The Tampa Bay Lightning, their opponents in Prague, have had a travel package available for weeks. What could the Blueshirts box office folks be doing? The Rangers have been out since the second round, the Knicks ... hahaha and the Liberty are already well underway.

*I went through some of my archives and noticed a lot of pictures were down. Sorry about that. When I first started I would just grab Yahoo! photos without realizing they dump their archives. I'm not about to go back through all of them (sorry) but have taken some steps to avoid that going forward.

*Its kinda funny: I lament the loss of the Jets, Puck Daddy memorializes the Whalers and this week's Hockey News brings up the Nordiques (no direct link, sorry). Do you think many people will fondly remember the days of the Thrashers and the Predators as fondly?

*And I love the Hockey News. I have read it on regularly for most of my life but they have to improve their production schedule. As a subscriber, I received the June 10th issue on June 7th and it talks about the upcoming Stanley Cup Final series, while the damn parade already made its way through Detroit on the 6th. Jason Kay and the crew have done a really good job trying to make THN not as time sensitive but for things like this, they need to do better and altering the production schedule by condensing it and improving the means they print will help keep them relevant.

*For Wings fans, the Behind The Jersey blog is a must-read by a great young writer but this photo is a little bit unfortunate/perverted/leading for the poor girl, don't you think? Maybe I just have a dirty mind ...

*Pierre McGuire pointed out that the ice at the Igloo wasn't the greatest due to the heat and humidity in the building. As the NHL continues to stretch their schedule into June, don't you think they would prepare for this kind of thing by now? The ice was awful in Florida and Tampa Bay and, well, pretty much everywhere in the states during June hockey. Why wouldn't they have insisted the Pens bring in more dehumidifiers and air conditioning units?

*For everyone who is still salivating over the thought of the next Winter Classic, I just want to again voice my concerns. The Heritage Classic in Edmonton that got the outdoor thing started wasn't nearly as good as the Winter Classic but was so well received because it welcomed back some of the best players in history in an exhibition before the game. The NHL had better have one helluva gimmick up their sleeve for the next one because you just can't replicate what happened in Buffalo.

*Those Winter Classic jerseys will be back as third jerseys next year. The NHL Tournament of Logos has been having a lot of fun pitching other prospective kits so check them out.

*Speaking of jerseys, if anyone hits a garage sale this summer and sees someone selling an Islanders fishsticks jersey in XL for 10 bucks or less, let me know. I want one of those, just for laughs. Maybe I'd get it personalized "HAHAHAHA 94" or something.

*The NHL Draft is again scattered across two days, so they can put the first round in primetime the night before the second through seventh rounds. Simply said, I think its terrible. Aside from a few geeks like me (and probably you), who is going to sit home on a Friday night to watch the draft? And aside from viewership, by splitting up the draft, it kills any kinds of draft parties team might/should hold. I remember going to MSG on the day of the 1999 draft for all sorts of festivities including tours of the locker room, player appearances and bubble hockey. Of course I left early when they traded Dan Cloutier and Marc Savard and drafted Pavel Brendl and Jamie Lundmark, but the party was still a good idea.

*And no time-killing post would be good without some YouTubage so I turn it over to the Sharks fans over at We Bleed Teal for a look at the best NHL commercials.

Ok, that's it. I'm spent. Time to revel in some air conditioning.

Its The Little Things, You Know?

So tonight I've been watching the Montreal Canadiens take on the Buffalo Sabres and something struck me. The Canadiens truly have beautiful jerseys.

I've mentioned my love for the Original Six sweaters before but they are truly iconic and its a damn shame that only the home fans get to see them. If Gary was smart (and he is despite mounting evidence to the contrary), he would mandate that the Original Six teams - that's the Rangers, Hawks, Wings, Habs, Leafs and B's for those counting - wear their coloured kits on the road whenever possible.

As someone who goes to a lot of games, I gotta admit that I am pretty sick of seeing white teams play every game. Ok, not every game, there have been some exceptions. I know Phoenix wore their reds on the road in L.A. and Dallas, but there should be some kind of rule - especially when it comes to steady sellers like the classics. The whites are nice, don't get me wrong, but there is nothing that compares to seeing simple beauty of the spoked wheel on a red field or the Blueshirts blue. Of course, its kinda sad that the Bruins are no longer yellow but black sells, that's why so many professional teams have tried it. Some have ditched it - San Jose - but others have done well to keep it, like Philly and Boston ... but whatever, this isn't just a black/yellow issue. Its a green one.

The Sabres were the top sellers last season but those primarily came from their rabid home fans. There are Rangers fans everywhere. There are Red Wings fans everywhere. So why not give those wonderful blues and reds some more exposure? It will please the hardcore fans and can only result in the sale of more jerseys. Isn't that what the league wants?

Granted, they should wait until the RBK 'system' fully fails but that shouldn't be long now. Right??!??!?

More New Sweaters

As you can see, this is the "new" Canadiens jersey. Thankfully it looks a lot like the old ones, so a gold star to the league for not blowing it.

And here is the new Calgary Flames jersey:
Personally I think they are fine, with the exception of the shoulder patches - one side has the Canadian flag, the other is the Alberta coat of arms. If all of the teams north of the border had the maple leaf then I would say ok, but there is no way the coat of arms works - it is a blue patch on a red and black (or white) jersey. It clashes. See what I mean here.

Just an fyi, unfortunately y'all may have to wait for the Eastern Conference predictions/things to watch entry as I am at a gig where I can't really work on it. But rest assured, it is coming and will be here by the end of the week. I promise. Really. Truly. Deeply. I like hockey. You should to. In fact, if you are reading this you do. So I like you too. Ok, I will stop now.

Another Mediocre New Jersey

Well, that is it - the new jersey for the Vancouver Canucks. The jerseys carry the most recent orca logo on the front and the original hockey stick emblem on the shoulders and are in the same blue, green and white colours the Canucks originally wore.

It was unveiled today and I think it would be pretty good if not for the useless VANCOUVER in block lettering at the top. I still don't get why they feel the need to pimp their Orca Bay company with the whale logo; it isn't like anyone outside of geeks like me know that it is corporate ... whatever. More on the new design here.

Since I forgot to post it when it came out, below is the bland new Tampa Bay Jerseys. So bland, so boring ... I am just glad the NHL decided not to screw up the Original Six sweaters ...

A Good Link ...

With everyone's curiosities raised for the new look of NHL jerseys, the best site I have found that has been breaking the designs is The NHL In 2007-08.

Feel free to check it out and comment here on your thoughts. The picture on the right here is the Rangers new design. I am unimpressed; the lettering starts too far offcenter. But whatever, I am sure I will eventually buy one, especially since I have most every other jersey the team has come out with ...

New Panthers Jerseys

Now I won't post the pictures of what is thought to be the new Rangers jerseys as they are not official yet. Hopefully they won't be too wacky because if the league messes with the classics, there will be hell to pay. As of right now, with the new kits that have been released, the best jersey is the new Caps jerseys that look like their older designs. And are definitely better than the 'leaked' versions that came out. New first, then prototype or fake: