Eric Godard Fights Colton Orr

Eric Godard and Colton Orr trade haymakers to start this game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers.  As a hockey fan you have to love seeing two tough guys square off and fight right at the drop of the puck.

Godard got the best of Orr in this fight as he connected with a stiff right hand that dropped Orr to his knees.

Eric Godard and Colton Orr have fought each other no fewer than three times since the beginning of December.

Who Are Your Favorite Hockey Idols?

This article was submitted by NHL Digest columnist Kyle Roussel.  Feel free to catch up with Kyle at http://twitter.com/kyleroussel.

The Importance of Idols

We all had idols. We probably still do, no matter how old we are.

When we were kids, we wanted to replicate their feats on the ice. They type of person they were rarely factored in to the equation. In fact, we barely knew what these people were like off the ice. If we were fortunate enough to meet them in person, you could barely contain yourself.

However, in the days of the internet and 24/7 sports coverage, we now sometimes know more than we’d like to. Or ought to. It makes it that much harder for some guys to stand out when there are so many in the media salivating and waiting to dig up dirt and to get a headline.

Now that were older, and clearly not skilled enough to ever play a minute of pro hockey, we instead look to other qualities our idols have. Instead of hoping to some day surpass their stat totals, we now try to live our lives by the qualities we see in them.

My Hockey Idols

I’m going to list my 5 hockey idols and associate them with 1 word that I think they have, and that I try to add to my life.

1. Jean Beliveau – class
2. Bob Gainey – integrity
3. Saku Koivu – determination
4. Steve Yzerman – commitment
5. Wayne Gretzky – vision (not just for his on-ice vision, but as a coach, GM, executive and “entrepreneur”

Other Sports Idols

Honorable mentions from other sports: Robert Smith, Marv Levy, and Tony Dungy. 1 player and 2 coaches that I have lots of time for. In the case of Marv Levy, I would recommend that you pick up his book “Where Else Would You Rather Be?” by Levy. A terrific read.

Who are your 5 idols? Or even 3?  Maybe you have a 10 person list. Whatever that list is, let’s see it!

Online Hockey Store Review

In this day and age, the advent of the internet and online stores has given us access to the best prices on high quality hockey equipment and collectibles throughout the world. More and more people are seeking out online stores for their new hockey equipment purchases as they become more familiar and comfortable with purchasing online.

If you are looking to buy hockey equipment or memorabilia online, the following are a great collection of stores and sites to find exactly what you are looking for at great prices.

Hockey Equipment

Hockey Deals – Hockey Deals has a great selection of the latest equipment available. Hockey Deals features especially great deals on the new blade replacement technology Thermablades as well as the most technologically advanced skate on the market, the Kor Shift 2.

Hockey Giant – Hockey Giant is the largest store for hockey equipment on the internet. They feature a huge selection of equipment and always seem to have a great selection of clearance items. They are known for having absolutely outstanding markdowns in their clearance section.

Total Hockey – Total Hockey.Net is the online source for the latest and greatest hockey equipment. If you can’t find it at any other store, try Total Hockey.net. Total Hockey is always the first to offer pre-orders for the newly announced equipment like the CCM U+ Skates and CCM U+ Stick!

Ice Jerseys – Ice Jerseys is your leading source for the greatest selection of official licensed NHL hockey jerseys from all 30 NHL teams – and more. Buy RBK Edge, authentic pro, replica and kids jerseys and customize your jersey with pro sewn-on lettering. This is a great place to pick up your own 2008 All-Star Jersey.

NHL Digest Store – We have compiled a store right here at NHL Digest that lists great prices on the equipment voted most popular by hockey players across North America.  Check out our own online hockey store.

Hockey Collectibles

NHL Shop – The NHL Shop offers a HUGE variety of collectibles and clothing for your favorite team. You can buy everything from drinking glasses to hats, to jerseys with your favorite team’s logo. This is by far the best one-stop shop for everything team related.

Pro Sports Memorabilia – Pro Sports Memorabilia offers a great selection of some of the most original and unique NHL Collectibles. I highly suggest that you check out their selection of merchandise. You never know what might you might find at this site!

Ebay – Ebay.com is obviously one of the most reliable sources for anything that your heart desires. Although you might not always find what you set out to look for, you will always find something to add to your collection when you visit Ebay and spend some time looking around at all of the auctions that they have to offer.

Amazon – Amazon.com is most well known for their selection of books. Although they have a great selection of hockey books, they also have all of your favorite hockey movies and other collectibles that you never knew you needed!

I hope that these sources help you to find what your hockey heart desires!

Let me know what your favorite online stores are!

Top 10 Most Popular Pieces of Hockey Equipment

It may come as no surprise that the high end hockey equipment that is the most popular with the National Hockey League players is also the most popular with the general public.

This is precisely why the equipment manufacturers pay lofty figures in the form of endorsement deals to elite NHL players in order to wear and promote the newest equipment.

Here is a breakdown of the 10 most popular pieces of hockey equipment on the market today.

1.) Bauer One95 Hockey Skates – Bauer has long been a popular choice with professional hockey players and the company continues be on the leading edge of hockey equipment technology.

2.) Bauer Vapor XXXX Stick – Along with their incredible skate technology, Bauer continues to improve on their development of composite stick technology as well.

3.) CCM U+ Skates – The CCM U+ skates entered the market on a relatively quiet note.  There was not as much hype as is typically seen with a product launch by Nike Bauer or Easton, but these skates are quietly becoming very popular with professional players and are certainly worth consideration if you are in the market for a new pair of blades this season.

4.) Easton Stealth S17 Stick – The Easton lineup of sticks has been favored by many elite hockey players since they began producing Aluminum sticks a couple of decades ago.  The Easton brand name has been synonymous with leading edge composite technology and the S17 Ellipse stick is no different.

5.) Bauer Vapor XXX Lite Stick – Even with the advent of the Vapor XXXX, the Vapor XXX Lite has retained it’s popularity with pro players.  This stick was the first in a lineup of composite sticks to weigh in at less than 420 grams, the lightest stick ever produced by Nike Bauer.

6.) RBK 9K-O Stick – This is the stick that has created the most “buzz” and hype over the last couple of years with arguments stemming as to the actual effectiveness of the holes in the bottom of the shaft which RBK claims reduce wind drag during slap shots.  Pavel Datsyuk has used this stick with great effectiveness and several other pros have endorsed the technology as well.  Scientists, on the other hand, argue that the physics of the claim has little if any merit.  Test it out and see for yourself.

7.) Easton Stealth S17 Helmet – Easton partnered up with a great cycling helmet company in GIRO that has assisted them in developing one of the most form-fitting and lightweight helmets on the market, all without sacrificing protection.  One of the unique features of the helmet is that is allows for adjustment of the size without requiring any tools.  We  first saw this feature back in the 1980′s with the Cooper XL7 – luckily the Stealth S17 isn’t nearly as ugly as the old Cooper!

8.) Vaughn Velocity 3 Goal Pads – Vaughn is the premiere manufacturer of goal equipment and the Velocity line-up of pads continues to improve each year.  The Velocity 3 was first seen worn by Miikka Kiprusoff and have been a favorite of many Vaughn supporters ever since.

9.) RBK 9K Pump Skates – The popularity of these skates is most influenced by their use by Sidney Crosby and the development of a much better “pump” system than we saw when CCM introduced their ultra-heavy version of the Pump skate back in the 1990′s.

10.) RBK Edge Jersey – While this jersey lacked some functionality that made it less than desirable by players, the marketing brass at the NHL’s head office made these new jerseys fan friendly and  rolled them out with tremendous suspense and excitement.

Can Montreal Afford Vincent Lecavalier?

The following is the an article submitted to NHL Digest by columnist Kyle Roussel.  You are encouraged to catch up with Kyle at www.twitter.com/kyleroussel. Enjoy!

Here we go again. Again.

If you believe what’s going on in Montreal, Lecavalier is going to be a Canadien sooner than later. Stop me if you’ve heard this before.

Apparently it’s not just fluff this time though. Bob McKenzie thinks there’s at least the potential that this can happen. In past years these rumors were almost immediately shot down by everyone and their dog. Tampa didn’t want to move their cornerstone, their cornerstone didn’t want to move and the Canadiens didn’t seem to want any cornerstones from the outside. Apparently times have changed. If you believe what’s being said, the Canadiens are about set to trade half their roster and future to make this happen now.

Betting The Farm

Bob Gainey is said to be offering Chris Higgins, Tomas Plekanec, Josh Gorges, at least one of P.K. Subban or Ryan McDonagh, and some combination of elite draft picks.

Ouch.

That’s a lot, even for a guy as prolific as Lecavalier.

The Canadiens have been successful in the past couple seasons because of their organizational depth. With this trade, that’s almost all but washed out. Of course, Bob Gainey has forgotten more about hockey than I’ll ever know, so who’s to say if I’m right or wrong. I agree that in order to get something, you have to give something, but in this case I think there’s an element of mirage in what is coming back.

“What???” You’re asking yourself? “Lecavalier is the REAL DEAL. A cup winner. Conn Smythe winner. Where’s the mirage?”

There are a lot of intangibles that go in to this deal. There’s a BIG difference in putting up numbers in Tampa and replicating those same stats under the glare of the Montreal spotlight. A huge difference! Especially for a Francophone. Pierre Turgeon wasn’t exactly the same Pierre Turgeon that was among the league leaders year after year when he was a Sabre and Islander. He melted under the pressure here. Theodore fell as quickly as he rose once the fishbowl around him either got too small or he got too big. And then there’s Patrice Brisebois.

Brisbois was a nice fit for several years, then inexplicably was given a huge long term deal as the Canadiens #1 defenseman. He eventually became the nightly whipping boy and was literally booed out of town. When he was signed by the Avalanche, people were dancing all over the place as if the Emperor had been thrown down the Death Star shaft.

My point here is if the trade goes down, there will be a sweetheart of a honeymoon with Lecavalier, during which time he will put up middling numbers, which will be excused by the fact that he just had shoulder surgery. That may or may not be fair. But the Canadiens wouldn’t acquire him to put up middling numbers, nor would the fans accept middling numbers…for long.

Lofty Expectations

And therein lies the problem. This guy will be expected to score 40-50 goals EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR. for the next ELEVEN years. Sure, at some point fans will temper their expectations of him. But who in their right mind takes on an 11 year deal for ANYONE? To me that’s just irresponsible. Eventually Lecavalier will have a bad year. It may be sooner than later. Just wait to see how quickly that honeymoon ends! Ever see “The Heartbreak Kid” with Ben Stiller? It would end about that quickly if Vinny DARED have an off year. It’s just not accepted around here, especially not from a home grown star who is supposed to lead les Glorieux to the promised land.

I don’t blame the fans. The Canadiens are religion in Montreal. Seriously – they are. A local university actually has a course entitled “The Religion of the Canadiens”. So says Michael Farber’s latest article. They’re passionate about their team, about the roots of their team. Richard, Beliveau, Plante, Lafleur, Latendr…nevermind.

I’m passionate about them too. But it seems in their passion, they lose sight of the fact that this is a different age. It’s now an age where the game and the business of the game has changed so much that there are very few of those legends left. A player has relatively few issues with picking up and moving to another market where he will make similar, if not more money. There’s been a void since the Flower left. Sure, we had Roy. But I’m talking about a home-grown, lift-you-out-of-your-seat goal scorer. We thought the void was at least partially filled with Turgeon. That didn’t work out. In fact it was a bust. Kovalev gets people out of their seats sure enough…but, you know…he’s Russian.

I suppose their *could* be an upside to this. I’d even go as high as 50-50. With so many pending unrestricted free agents at season’s end, having a stud like Lecavalier takes some of the leverage away from Koivu and Kovalev to demand another fat contract. Is that on Gainey’s mind? He’s a strategic guy, but I don’t know if that counts as strategy or circumstance.

Either way, it wouldn’t take long for the media to start the “ditch Koivu” (after 15 years of service mind you) campaign at season’s end and appoint Lecavalier as captain. Do me a favor and stay tuned. If this trade happens, you can set your watch to that prediction.

Could The Habs make It Work?

In the end, I think the Canadiens can absorb the loss of the guys they’d give up. They now draft well enough and have guys like D’Agostini, Chipchura and Pacioretty ready to step in to the NHL. They’ve also got a plethora of young defensemen that look like they will be the future of Montreal’s blue line. But I think an 11 year deal is just too much contract to take on. Add to that the fishbowl environment, and the pressure Vinny will face, and it’s certain to explode in Gainey’s face before the contract is half over. Then he’ll have to trade him away for nothing, as Houle had to do with Roy. Ok, maybe not that bad!

Either way, it’s going to be interesting to see how this shapes up.

I sound fairly dug in on the “nay” side of this equation. The truth is I want to see Vinny here in a Habs jersey as much as anyone. It would be so great to see a local kid bring the cup back to Montreal. So I’m asking you to give me reasons as to why this makes sense. Why should Gainey do this trade?

Laraque’s Blog Gets Knocked Out By Canadiens Brass

The following is the first article submitted to NHL Digest by columnist Kyle Roussel.  You are encouraged to catch up with Kyle at www.twitter.com/kyleroussel. Enjoy!

Wow. Words cannot express how disappointed I am in the Montreal Canadiens. First, I should mention that I am a die hard fan of the team. They’re an inseparable part of my life. That said, they’ve clearly screwed up this time.

Generally speaking, there is no team in pro sports that carries itself with more class and dignity than the Habs. Just look at any retirement ceremony, or any event where they honor players from the past. It’s pure class. Other teams probably take notes on how to properly commemorate an occasion. Of course, nobody’s perfect. The Habs waited too long to retire Hall of Famer Boom-Boom Geoffrion’s jersey. He passed away the day of the ceremony. Poor Larry Robinson’s parents both passed on before they got to see what they should have seen 15 years ago. Those are 2 black marks on what is otherwise a virtually spotless record.

But this past Tuesday, I think they’ve really blown it, and it was SO simple to avoid. All they had to do was let things be.

Habs enforcer Georges Laracque has been blogging with Sportsnet.ca since December ’08. Well, make that HAD been blogging. After only 2 entries, someone in the Canadiens hierarchy told him to end his apparent rogue activity.

Check out Georges’ opening statement in his last blog:

“Before starting this blog, I just want to let everyone know that this will be my last one. It’s unfortunate but it is a team rule that Canadiens players are not allowed to do blogs simply because of the many requests our team gets and it would be unfair to all the other people asking us for similar projects. As you can imagine, when you’re a French-Canadian playing in Montréal you get a lot of requests so I agree with the team’s decision because this makes it fair for everyone.”

Did they command you to say that Georges? C’mon, you can admit it. Get on Twitter and let us know the real deal! Or are you not allowed to do that either? If Shaq can do it, why shouldn’t you be allowed? Oh that’s right. Because the Canadiens don’t get it. At least not when it comes to the new world of marketing and PR. Which is crazy, because there are some great social media marketers in Montreal that can probably help them out.

It’s no secret: blogging, and other forms of social media bring organizations and fans/customers closer together. Georges, as brief as it was, had a thoughtful blog on the go. He was earning respect with his mind and words instead of his fists. Hell, he’s an enforcer blogging about the validity about fighting in hockey. How transparent is that?

So what exactly are the Canadiens afraid of? Can it be something so infantile and childish and corporate as they’re worried that he will say something “unauthorized”? Like a rogue customer support agent letting slip on his own blog that his company’s software doesn’t quite do all the things it says it does? Are they afraid that since it’s not hosted on their website, they can’t control the message, so they just simply deny permission? Sounds rather anti-cluetrain, doesn’t it? Does their fear creep closer to ice level? Are they afraid he would give opponents bulletin-board material? The Canadiens reasoning is among the lamest and most pitiful excuses I’ve ever heard. It’s the parent telling the child to stop what they’re doing simply because they can.

How on earth, in this day and age, can a reputable organization like the Canadiens be so blind? Or so stupid?

Let’s go back to Georges’ opening statement:

“it’s unfortunate but it is a team rule that Canadiens players are not allowed to do blogs simply because of the many requests our team gets and it would be unfair to all the other people asking us for similar projects.”

That’s sort of like saying that since you can’t please everyone, don’t bother trying. Does that make any sense at all? Seriously, I’m asking the question. Does that make any sense? Putting it all together, you’ve got a player who is publishing thoughtful stuff, promoting discussion on the game of hockey and driving interest. “Sorry, please shut it down. You’re not allowed because then we have to say yes to everyone else’s request, for everyone else’s time no matter what they want your time for.” Huh? It’s a blog! Done on his own time! It contributes so much and costs so little.

There is an insatiable appetite for Habs hockey in Montreal. It cannot be quenched. Why put the lid on something that was providing value at no cost to the team? The Canadiens are missing a unique opportunity to further build their own brand and buzz by allowing one of their more intelligent and (surprisingly) well spoken “employees” to connect with fans. If they think they’re a bulletproof brand, they’re sadly mistaken. Habs management must have been shocked at the poor attendance when the Canadiens had terrible teams through the late 90′s and early 2000′s, considering every home game prior to that was a sellout.

What kind of damage are the Canadiens doing to themselves? Well, for starters, they’re putting a sour taste in an opinionated player’s mouth. Will he have nice things to say about the Canadiens to his free agent friends? Maybe, maybe not. They’re making fools of themselves in public by showing how woefully behind the times they are.

Can you think of other ways in which they’re hurting themselves by imposing this restriction on Laracque? In the end, 21,273 fans will still be at Canadiens home games, and a million other people will tune in on tv, radio and online, so what do I know?

I hope that enough sports and marketing people are as upset about this as I am and that enough criticism finds it’s way back to Donald Beauchamp’s inbox (he’s the Habs head of PR). I’m hoping that they reverse their decision, and instead of a lame compromise of starting a filtered blog on canadiens.com, they instead allow Laracque to resume his blogging on sportsnet.ca.

So….are you as ticked off as I am about this? Can you see a reasonable angle that prompts the Habs to do this? How can we as hockey fans and social media nuts change this?

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