Win Blade Tape For Your Whole Team!

Now, most of you know that I am a big fan of Blade Tape and I have been using exclusively since 2007!

I wrote a story about Blade Tape when it first surfaced on the national stage after being highlighted on Hockey Night In Canada.

I was the first to let you know when they came out with NHL Team branded Blade Tape and I’ve also given away my fair share of Blade Tape samples over the years.

So, it’s pretty apparent that I love the stuff and I’ve helped them out along the way.

But, what is really cool is that now they have decided to give an NHL Digest reader enough Blade Tape for their whole team*!

Here’s How You Can Win

1. Search for pictures of Chris Mason on Bladetape.com
2. Find the picture of Mason wearing a Blues Jersey with a “Treble” image rather than the rather than the traditional “Blue Note”.
3. Scroll over the image until you see a pop-up that says you found the ‘egg’
4. Click through the link to the contest page where you register to win!
5. Contest ends February 15, 2010.

Now,you do have to enter your e-mail address. Blade Tape sends out a monthly e-mail newsletter with deals, discounts and announcements of new products (Like this Team Canada Blade Tape). However, as always, you can unsubscribe at any time.

So there you have… you have nothing to lose by entering the contest. Who knows, you might just come away with enough Blade Tape for your entire team*!

*25 player units and 2 goalie units.

The First Goaltender To Captain An NHL Team

While Roberto Luongo, as Captain of the Vancouver Canucks, is the only goaltender to have that honor bestowed upon him currently, it certainly isn’t a novel idea.

The first goaltender to be named Captain of an NHL team was John Ross Roach.  Roach was named Captain of the Toronto St. Pats back in the 1924-25 season.

Roach was nicknamed “Little Napolean”, mostly because of his small size (5′5″) as well as his temper.  Having a goaltender as a captain suited the St. Pats coach, Eddie Powers, just fine. He would often have Roach start a debate with an official to give his team a rest.

In total, seven goaltenders have served as captains of their respective NHL teams over the course of history. Along with Roach and Luongo there were George Hainsworth, Roy Worters, Alex Connell, Bill Durnan and Charlie Gardiner.

Charlie Gardiner also holds the record of being the only goaltender to captain a Stanley Cup winning team. Gardiner was the captain of the 1933-34 Chicago Blackhawks 3 Games to 1 in the Stanley Cup final.

Game Four of the Stanley Cup final went to double overtime, but Gardiner had left the game after regulation due to health problems. He passed away that summer as a result of a brain hemorrhage.

source: Wikipedia

The Hockey Fight That Never Was

With the recent news of Georges Laraque being told by the Montreal Canadiens that they no longer needed his services (4 fights in 28 games this season), it prompted us to look back in the files for some “fighters” who well… just didn’t fight.

While conducting that research, it sparked a memory from the recent past. Two players, who nobody would mistake for highly skilled talent, dropped the gloves at center ice to square off for what looked like it should be a good fight.

It was April 6, 2006 at ScotiaBank Place in Ottawa with 7:13 remaining in the second period of a game between the Ottawa Senators and the Montreal Canadiens when the fight that never was broke out.

They’re Gonna Go…Or Are They?

Brad Norton of the Ottawa Senators and Aaron Downey of the Montreal Canadiens squared off.  They adjusted their jersey sleeves and elbow pads (Downey tripped over the faceoff circle), danced around in circles sizing each other up, made a quick lunge at each other… but backed off.  After a minute of this charade the officials stepped in. Both players were issued 10 min. misconduct penalties.

Brad Norton went on to play just 8 more games in the NHL, racking up an impressive 39 penalty minutes. Aaron Downey went on to split the next couple of seasons between the AHL and NHL, managing to get 2 more NHL goals in that time.

Joe Malone: Most Goals In One NHL Game

The National Hockey League has seen some fantastic scorers over the years, but none quite as prolific as “Phantom” Joe Malone.

It seems Joe Malone has been in a class by himself, and has remained unmatched, since the early 1900’s.  As the story goes, Joe Malone was a gifted offensive player with tremendous speed and a real nose for the net.

That nose for the net was certainly apparent on January 31, 1920. Malone was playing against Toronto in his last game as a member of the Quebec Bulldogs.  At the age of 30, he managed to score 7 goals in that night’s contest.

Unlike some other single game records, Joe Malone’s 7 goals in a single game was not an anomaly. Far from it.  In fact,  it isn’t even the most goals that Malone had scored in a single game of professional hockey!

In 1912-13, when his Quebec Bulldogs were a member of the NHA, Malone led his team to the Stanley Cup championship.  That season Malone scored an amazing 43 Goals in just 20 Games.  Following that season, in the first game of the Stanley Cup final, Malone scored 9 times! Yes, Joe Malone scored 9 goals in Game 1 of the 1913 Stanley Cup final with his Quebec Bulldogs winning 14-3.

As further evidence of Malone’s scoring prowess, he scored 5 or more goals in a single game 10 times over the course of his career. This includes a 6 goal performance on March 10, 1920 – less than two months following the record 7 goal game.

Malone’s record for most goals in one NHL game has been challenged only by Darryl Sittler’s 6 goal performance on February 7, 1976. Sittler added four assists that night en route to his record for most points scored in a single NHL game.

The most recent attempt at this record was on December 20, 2007 when Minnesota’s Marian Gaborik scored 5 goals against the New York Rangers (the team he now plays for). Before Gaborik’s performance in 2007, no NHL player had scored five goals in a game since 1996.

Book Review: Playing With Fire by Theoren Fleury

When I first heard about Theoren Fleury’s new book, Playing With Fire, I was excited to read what promised to be a full account of his life to date. I had read the previous account of his life from 1998 entitled Fury: Inside the Life of Theoren Fleury and was looking forward to a more candid account in Playing With Fire.

While there are some similarities of the early accounts of Fleury’s life between the two books, Playing with Fire was more emotional and pulled no punches as opposed to Fury which, in retrospect, was rather selective. Of course, the emotions poured out of Fleury in Playing With Fire as it was written in a first person narrative style.

A General Overview

Playing With Fire is a book that reveals the demons of Theoren Fleury, and that alone makes the book worthwhile. However, much of the book also refers to players, coaches, and specific games. These sections are so specific, including player nicknames, that they may be misleading or confusing to anyone who was not a hockey fan during Fleury’s career. As one non-hockey fan told me after she read the book “I felt as though I was having a conversation with a dumb hockey player”.

Emotional Story

One thing that was very noticeable throughout the book was that Fleury still holds anger toward some people from his past. And while painting the tragic childhood picture assists in the entertainment value of the book, it also leads one to wonder what the future holds for him.  Anyone who has never dealt with an alcoholic father, pill popping mother, or sexually abusive coach can really profess to understand, but Fluery continues to deflect blame for his destructive actions until very late in the book when he takes responsibility.

Fleury’s Affirmations

Fleury also refers to himself as a “elite athlete” dozens of times in the book. The first few times were understandable, but after the 20th time it sort of feels like some sort of affirmation or comping mechanism. Honestly, any player who plays in the NHL is an elite athlete. At first I thought he was simply referring to himself as elite, even among NHL players, until he referred to his Dad as an elite athlete as well. Confusing.

Needless Negativity

What is also confusing as a hockey fan reading the book are several anecdotal stories that appear as needless jabs at some of Fleury’s former teammates and coaches. Clearly he didn’t like certain coaches, ie: Mike Keenan and Dave King – and added comments about them and former teammates that didn’t serve any relevance in the book. Furthermore, he selectively and deliberately pointed out specific things that he didn’t like about them, adding in a few “he was a good guy” and “he had some talent…but” to soften the opinionated blows.

While he heralded the Flames organization for giving him another shot after he was reinstated at the start of the 2009-2010 season, you would never know that he appreciated the organization in the least after reading the book.  Fleury asserts that he was the primary reason why Calgary fans came to games, he made the Flames a ton of money, the Flames would have won more Stanley Cups had they not gutted the team in the 1990s…etc. And, adding more negative comments,  saying that he had no talent to play with on the Flames in the 1990’s, even degrading the talent of several teammates by name.

The Verdict

While there may be pieces of this book that I don’t understand, hidden beneath all of the negativity is the emotional story of a young man who despite his size, troubled upbringing, and addictive demons made an undeniable impact on the game of hockey.

There is no doubt that Theoren Fleury will battle his demons for the rest of his days. That said, we cannot deny his talent or the intensity and passion that he consistently brought to the rink. Nor can we deny the excitement and entertainment that he brought to hockey fans throughout his career.

If you’re looking for a no holds barred account of Theoren Fleury’s rise to fame as a hockey player and/or an emotional account of a person’s struggle alcoholism, drug abuse, gambling and sexual abuse, then the book is worth a read. Just don’t expect it to be shelved next to top selling autobiographies.

Buy Playing With Fire at Amazon.com.

Video: Ryan Wilson Hits Patrik Elias

Of all of the hits this season that were clean, but may have been questioned, this hit by Colorado’s Ryan Wilson on Patrik Elias is as clean as they come.  The outcome of the hit is awful as Elias was removed on a stretcher. However, it was later determined that he would be OK and would travel with the team.

Elias was streaking down the board in front of the benches and Wilson simply took a terrific angle on him ( Matt Duchene pressured Elias toward the boards) and laid a shoulder into the chin of Elias.

Elias’ head snapped back and the CBC announcers who reviewed the replay said he was unconscious before he hit the ice. This may be why the stretcher was immediately called to the scene.

Take a look at the video of the hit.

Now, in this instance, there is no penalty that could be called on the play and yet the player was still injured.  Hockey is a contact sport and this type of thing will happen.  As I have stated before, the NHL has rules in place to protect from headshots via illegal hits … if they choose to use them.

This was a legal hit. How can the league protect its players from this type of injury?  The only real solution, in my mind, is to address the construction of shoulder pads.  With advances in today’s technology there is bound to be company that could produce a shoulder pad that both protects the player’s shoulder and would reduce the force of impact in a collision.

Update:

Even though this was a clean hit, Wilson was challenged to a fight. And, to his credit, didn’t back down.

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