Up Close and Personal With Dan Rosen of NHL.com

This week NHL Digest was honored to have interviewed hockey journalist, Dan Rosen, from NHL.com.  Dan grew up in Northern New Jersey and studied journalism at the University of Arizona.  He worked at various papers as journalist for 7 years prior to joining the NHL last October.  Please enjoy getting to know the man behind the keyboard at NHL.com!

Do you think Sundin has a shot at winning a Stanley Cup with the Canucks? And, how do you think the Canucks feel about being Sundin’s second choice to the Rangers?

I’ll actually answer the second part first. I don’t think the Canucks feel much, if anything in regards to that because it has never been stated as a fact that Sundin did in fact favor the Rangers over them. I know it can be construed that way because Sundin didn’t immediately take a huge sum of money from Vancouver on July 1 and that he waited and waited and waited to find out what the Rangers plans were going to be to acquire him. Believe me, I see that side of the argument. However, why would the players on the Canucks care? They have him now and they know Sundin wouldn’t be there if his heart wasn’t in it.

In a way, he has a lot to prove, which leads to the first part of your question. Yes, I think he has a shot at winning the Cup with the Canucks. You always have a shot if Roberto Luongo is your goalie. That being said, I can’t sit here today and tell you that he will win the Cup with Vancouver. I still think the Red Wings are the favorite. I mean, how can they not be? I do think Vancouver is better off with Sundin than without him, which of course means he has a shot.

Did the Dallas Stars do the right thing by ridding themselves of Sean Avery? And, do you think Sean Avery will ever play in the National Hockey League again?

The answer to both questions is yes. For one, I think it was pretty obvious that Avery had a negative influence on the players in that dressing room. You have some established vets in there like Mike Modano, Brenden Morrow, Stephane Robidas, Brad Richards, Sergei Zubov, Marty Turco, Jere Lehtinen and Mike Ribiero. They didn’t need or want the sideshow that Avery brings wherever he goes. So, by taking Avery out of the mix, the Stars can now become a close knit group again. It’s showing. They beat Toronto, 8-2, in their last game before Christmas. Prior to the holiday, they had gone four straight without losing in regulation. I see it turning around there.

And, secondly, yes I do think Avery will find his way back into the League, probably next year provided the Stars can figure out what to do with his contract. I do not think he will play in Dallas and it will have to be a team in need of a jolt or a spark. I’m thinking Columbus, Atlanta, the New York Islanders, if you can believe that, or perhaps the Colorado Avalanche. I can’t say for sure this will happen. I do wonder if and when he comes back if he will put on the good boy behavior or will he be the same Sean. If he toes the line, I’m fine with that. Bad boys can be good for the game, too. If he jumps over the line, he needs to be disciplined. There’s no place in the sport for that.

What is your opinion of Sidney Crosby’s “low blows” on Boris Valabik of the Atlanta Thrashers? Do you think he should be punished by the league?

Tough question. Is it heat of the moment, wailing away with no disregard? Or, was it pre-meditated? I’m going to have to say it was heat of the moment and Crosby was wailing away with no disregard, but that doesn’t make it any better. There are certain body parts that should be, um, off limits. I think we know that is one of them. Every guy can attest to that. Every girl should attest to that or guys should run away from them. I don’t think Crosby should be punished by the League for the infraction, but I do agree with the roughing penalty. He was the third guy in to the melee. I don’t like it. It hurts to watch it. But, is it finable or suspendable? I’m not too sure about that.

Who do you think is the favorite to win the Calder trophy in 2008-2009?

Derick Brassard was at or near the top of my list for most of the season until now. Poor guy dislocated his shoulder in a fight with James Neal of Dallas and will be out for the year. Why was he fighting? I don’t know. However, I don’t see how you can overlook Drew Doughty in Los Angeles. Aren’t defenseman supposed to be late bloomers? Aren’t they supposed to take a while to develop? Doughty looks like he’s been in the League for five years already. He’s the Kings’ ice time leader by more than a minute. I mean, that’s unbelievable. It’s incredible. He’s been excellent despite being thrown right into the fire. I think Doughty is the guy to watch from here on out, but of course don’t take your eyes off of Columbus goalie Steve Mason either. He may struggle because of the Jackets’ defense, but Mason is the real deal.

Growing up in Northern New Jersey, have you always been a hockey fan?

Absolutely. My first hockey game I ever went to was on Feb. 28, 1988, the day before my 10th birthday, at what was then called Brendan Byrne Arena and later re-named Continental Airlines Arena. The New Jersey Devils beat the Minnesota North Stars, 8-6. It was my birthday party and it was awesome. I was already a Devils fan at the time, but after going to that game I was hooked. I went to Game 6 of the 1988 Patrick Division Semifinals at the Byrne Arena with my dad to see the Devils win the series over the Islanders with a 6-5 victory. Again, it was amazing. I remember seeing Wayne Gretzky come to town with the Los Angeles Kings. I also remember screaming a profanity his way – I was maybe 12 or 13 years old – and my mom told me to sit down and shut up. Of course, she said it in a motherly, very nice way. I grew up a Devils fan and I still root for them, but it’s a little different working in this field now. The good thing is that in my office we have a great group of hockey guys, some of which are Flyers’ fans. That sparks up a good rivalry between the Devils fans and the Flyers fans. It brings the passion for my team back. It’s great stuff.

Of all of the hockey articles you have written, which one(s) has been your favorite?

I may think I have written a lot, but then I look at guys like John Dellapina, who used to cover the Rangers for the New York Daily News and now works for the NHL as the media relations director, and Tom Gulitti of The Record (Hackensack, NJ) and I think I have a long way to go. I’ve gotten to know guys like Pierre Lebrun, Scott Burnside, Jim Matheson, Mark Spector, Dave Stubbs, etc. Those guys have done way more than me. I’m only 30 years old. I’ve got a long way to go.

However, to answer your question, I’d have to say I have a few favorites. The first article I ever wrote relating to the NHL was back in the 2002-03 season when I was still at The Record and I filled in for Tom Gulitti on a Devils’ practice. I wrote about Scott Gomez and the sports editor at the time liked it enough to give me a few more shots filling in for Tom. I ended up covering the Devils’ entire run to the 2003 Stanley Cup championship alongside Tom, traveling to Boston, Tampa, Ottawa and Anaheim. It was an incredible experience. Two more of my favorites came last season when I wrote about Alex Ovechkin, who is presently my favorite professional athlete. I wrote about Ovechkin using his late brother, Sergei, as his inspiration to get to the NHL. I also wrote about Ovechkin the day before he made his playoff debut. I was at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex for practice that Thursday morning and Alex was the first guy on the ice, taking a twirl and shooting the puck into the boards because the goals weren’t even out yet. The Zamboni was still on the ice. He was so restless. He was so ready. Those are some of my favorites, but of course covering the Winter Classic and Stanley Cup Final last year was amazing, too.

As a journalist, what are your thoughts on Bloggers being awarded press credentials?

It’s a really tough call because sometimes bloggers can do everything they do from their own couch. Sometimes there is simply no need for them to be in the locker room. It’s a muddy area, though. If a blogger is reporting the news and has established a business for himself or herself in doing so, then I think he or she has the right to be there. They have to show proof of that, though. They have to show that they aren’t just there to slam on the coach or a few players, or they aren’t just there to play favorites. That’s just not journalism, at least not good journalism, and it ruins it for us real journalists.
The Rangers credential Dubi Silverstein of Blueshirt Bulletin. I know Dubi well and he’s a great guy. What’s great about Dubi is he’s objective even though the Rangers are clearly his favorite team, and he also puts out a newsletter for fans every month. So, while he may just be blogging off the games, he is contributing in another way, too.

If a blogger is going to enhance the coverage of the team and the sport like Dubi, I’m all for it. However, that blogger has to show proof of legitimate journalism.

Do you use social media to interact with hockey fans and/or get ideas for columns?

I get e-mails all the time and I always make it a point to respond unless the e-mailer has some nasty things to say about me. That has happened on more than one occasion, believe me. So, I talk to fans via e-mail and we also have a social interacting web-site on NHL.com called NHL Connect. It’s a place for fans to talk via their own blogs. I have a blog on NHL Connect as well. Hey, I’m a fan, right? I’m not on Connect all the time, but I certainly check it out and can get pertinent information or story ideas from it. Nobody knows more about their team than the fans. They are the ones that are intimately involved with their favorite club. I need to be listening to them considering I write for them. They are my audience.

Who is your favorite hockey player of all time and why?

The guys I work with would say it’s Ovechkin, but he’s not quite there yet. He’s  close, but I’d still have to say it’s Scott Stevens for how he played the game and respected the game. If you know the story of Stevens, you know that he was a hot shot youngster with the Washington Capitals who liked to pile up the points without caring too much about how many penalty minutes came with them.

He learned over time that is not the way he was going to last a long time in this League, so when he got to New Jersey he changed with the system and became arguably the best, if not one of the best, shutdown, physical blue-liners in the history of the game. I loved his tenacity. I loved his physicality. I will always remember him crushing Slava Kozlov and then warning Dino Ciccarelli, “You’re next.” People will say his hits weren’t legal. They were. They were just really hard and really good. Eric Lindros knows.

If you could sit down for dinner and talk hockey with anyone, who would it be and why?

It wouldn’t be a player, a coach, or a manager. I would want to sit down with Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick and talk puck over a good meal. To me, there is nobody in the game with a better knowledge of its history. He’s basically an encyclopedia for names, dates, goals, games, championships, etc. I have talked hockey with Doc before, but not to the extent I would like to. He is one of the nicest men in the business and always willing to share stories. He’s seen so much from the broadcaster’s booth so to me there is no better brain to pick than his. Of course, if I wanted to talk strategy I would have said Gretzky or Scotty Bowman or Bobby Orr. I don’t want to talk strategy. I want to talk about the game, the stories within the game, the history of the game, the current state of the game, etc. Doc’s my man, plus I get to listen to his voice and that’s pretty darn cool, too.

I would personally like to thank Dan Rosen and NHL.com for thier cooperation in with this interview.  Please check out Dan’s blog on NHL Connect and his feature columns on NHL.com.

Interview With XM Radio’s Joe Thistel

Your pick for a player to watch from last year, Alex Ovechkin, was right on the money. While Ovechkin is currently struggling, who do you think will be the player to watch as this season unfolds?

I have a head start this season, so it would be too easy to point at Semin and Malkin and predict they’ll surpass their more famous teammates.

Instead I’ll turn my focus to the West and shine the light on Corey Perry in Anaheim.  Playing on that line, and with any kind of creative freedom, he’s capable of being a top 10 scorer this season and beyond.  I so wanted to say Jason Spezza, but the inconsistency is too consistent.

We’ve seen the Rangers actually get the on ice results from a team that looks fantastic on paper – what is the secret in NYC this year?

I suppose if you want to point at something, it would be that some distractions have disappeared, and the players can concentrate on hockey. Jaromir Jagr was their best player and still seemed to be a beacon of controversy.  Brendan Shanahan’s future was another story-line, and then of course there was Shawn Avery.  I’m not saying its addition by subtraction, but I will let you do the math.

Any chance we’ll see Mats Sundin in New York City for his retirement year a la Wayne Gretzky?

Naw.  There are 10 million reasons for Mats to take his hockey tack to Vancouver.  And now that it looks like the Canucks can be a playoff team, he can say it wasn’t for the money and actually keep a straight face.   And he’ll be good there too, so play-by-play broadcasters better take heed:  Sedin, Sundin and Sedin are coming to a barn near you.

With Brian Burke finished in Anaheim, where to you see him landing?  Any chance he’ll end up in Toronto?

Rumors have connected Brian Burke to a half dozen teams already, and all seem to have legitimate reasons for the hook-up, including family considerations, but none make as much sense as the Leafs.  It’s been talked about for too long and just fits on too many levels.  The confusing Toronto organization, who not too long ago allowed Pat Quinn to pick his own boss, has one shot to get it right.  It’s a six inch putt – even these guys can’t get the yips bad enough to miss this gimme.  Can they?

With Melrose being let go in Tampa Bay, do you think Rick Tocchet will complete the season as Head Coach of the Lightning?  If not, who is the most likely candidate?

Why not Tochett, a guy who has zero experience as a head coach to go along with everything else that’s happened in Tampa?  The team bus should be one of those miniature circus cars bursting with clowns.  Listen, Rick Tochett might be the best coach since Toe Blake, who knows, but this ownership has been an embarrassment of biblical proportions.  I could go on, but then you’d all miss dinner.

Is, or could, the Kontinental Hockey League a legitimate threat to the National Hockey League and its position as the premiere hockey league in the world?

Nyet, nyet Soviet.  I was once sitting between two former players – one who had spent his career in the minors, and the other who had played for years in the NHL.  In the middle of some glory days chatter, the minor leaguer announced rather proudly that there were some “great places to play in the American Hockey League”.  The National Hockey Leaguer stayed silent for a moment, slowly took a sip of beer and then replied, with perfect timing,…”Yeah.  There are some great places to play in the NHL too.”   The National Hockey League – accept no substitutes.

What is one thing about XM Radio and your National Hockey League coverage that may surprise hockey fans?

Hell, we’re just like they are: hockey fans who are privileged to be able to shoot off our mouths.  Sure, some of us have extensive media backgrounds and are proud professionals of sports broadcasting, but guys like Mick Kern and Boomer Gordon, two of my more popular personalities, are doing this on-air nonsense for the first time.  Know your stuff, have a valid opinion, be passionate and don’t be intimidated by the microphone.  You’ll be fine.

How do you view XM Radio with regard to the company’s position in bringing NHL news and commentary to the fan base? ie. What is your unique value proposition?

30 teams, no waiting.  While radio stations still hang onto that ridiculous argument that sports is local, we’re serving listeners from San Jose to Halifax.  And we get as much positive feedback from players and management right across North America as we do from our subscriber base.  Sports is local.  Right!  And Gordie Howe was a flash in the pan.

Is there anything that XM Radio has found through your market research that would be surprising to the average hockey fan?

It surprised me.  Statistics show that over 80% of sports fans in a particular city actually cheer for an out-of-town team.  That’s why our play by play is so important.  If you’re a Philly fan living in Dallas, we’ve got you covered.  And vice versa.

Can you tell our readers a little bit about what you do and about upcoming programming or features on XM Radio and Home Ice Channel 204?

I’ve been with XM Canada since the very beginning and oversee all the sports, talk and comedy channels while Jeff Leake looks after the music.  NHL Home Ice is truly my baby though.  I even named it.  So if you have a beef, you can blame me (joe.thistel@xmradio.ca).

I have been in broadcasting 30 years now, and if I could write my own job description, I wouldn’t change a thing. We have some excellent programming on the horizon too, including the World Jr Championships over the holidays, plus an exciting new partnership agreement with The Hockey News to announce in the very near future.   For me, its the quintessential labor of love.

NHL Digest would like to thank Joe Thistel for taking time to provide us with this interview.  If you haven’t yet had a chance to check out what XM Radio has to offer hockey fans, please visit XM Radio’s Home Ice channel.  They are even offering a Free trial, so you really have no excuse not to check them out!

The Battle Wages On!

Stars Prevail In Overtime Thriller

Marty Turco made 61 saves and Brenden Morrow scored on the power play at 9:03 of the fourth overtime period to lift the hometown Dallas Stars to a thrilling and gruelling 2-1 win over the San Jose Sharks in a game that ended early Monday morning, moving them on to the next round of the playoffs.

So much for the Dallas Stars choking in the playoffs. I would wager that every second person who picked Dallas to score in overtime chose Brendan Morrow to notch the winner…he is clutch.

The game would have ended much earlier if it were not for this amazing save by Nabakov.

In related news, Joe Pelletier breaks down some of the longest NHL Playoff games in history.

Jagr Not Finished Just Yet

After the New York Rangers were bounced from the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the upstart Pittsburgh Penguins, Jaromir Jagr was asked if he was going to retire. In response Jagr stated “I don’t think I am going to retire”.

The same question could be asked of Brendan Shannahan, but I would have to wonder why they would retire because they were the Ranger’s best players in the Playoffs. I think these two guys should pull a “Selanne and Niedermayer”, contemplating retirement until their old bodies are fully revived only to re-join the team at mid-season and reach peak form in time for the playoff run.

I really think that the Ducks were on to something there. The older and more talented players in the league have a lot to offer a team, but an 82 game season can be grueling on 35-45 year-old bones! I think we’re going to see a lot more of this strategy in the future. The $500,000 fine for a player missing training camp is peanuts to the benefits that it could mean to the team in a playoff run.

Mats Sundin may be another candidate for this “maneuver”.

Kessel Shines Bright for Stars and Stripes

Phil Kessel had a hat trick and the United States watched its power play remain red-hot in a 5-1 win over Slovenia Sunday night at the IIHF World Hockey Championship.

Kessel’s talent and skill are undeniable. he had a tremendously successful learning year in Boston and there is no doubt that he will have a bright future in the National Hockey League when he rounds out his game and gains some more experience.

Avery Released From Hospital

Rangers forward Sean Avery was released from the hospital Sunday morning, five days after suffering a season-ending spleen injury in a playoff game. Avery was believed to have suffered a lacerated spleen during the early moments of last Tuesday’s loss to the Penguins.

Thoughts from a New Jersey Devils fan:

“I’m glad he’s OK, but ain’t Karma a bit@h ?”

Capitals Have Even More Young Prospects!

The Washington Capitals have built an amazing young team from the ground up and believe it or not, they have some more “can’t miss talent” in their pipeline! This Capitals franchise could be dangerous for many years to come if their prospects develop as anticipated.

On Frozen Blog has the entire list and a breakdown of the Capitals prospects.