Tag Archives: hockey

The Separation of Skate and State

  By Chris Speziale | 01/25/2012 - 4:22 pm | Musings
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Perhaps Tim Thomas could use his Conn Smythe as a soap box?

Maybe it’s because we’re in an election year.  Maybe it’s because our President just gave the State of the Union address. Heck, maybe it’s just because I feel connected to what’s going on in the world around me.  For whatever reason, Tim Thomas refusing to visit the White House really struck a chord with me.

Now, it’s no secret where my political affiliations lie, I’m a proud Democrat, who believes in a liberal social and fiscal agenda.  And while I support the left, it’s become evident that the Bruins Vezina Trophy winning goalie clearly has a right leaning mentality.  I don’t want to hear that the statement he made to excuse himself from the visit was bipartisan or centrist.  I don’t want to hear that he was speaking out against government as a whole.  Dig a little deeper and you’ll learn that this is a man who rallies around the fear-mongering of conservative talking heads like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh.  Tim Thomas chose not to visit the White House because he doesn’t agree with the administration, and I think he made a mistake.

I had to stop for a second when I first read the story.  I was shocked by it, and I just couldn’t find a good justification.  I put myself in this hypothetical situation:  I’m a star athlete (wouldn’t that be nice) and my team is scheduled to make a trip to the Oval Office in the year following a championship run.  Let’s say that we’re in the middle of the previous Republican administration.  I can’t imagine a scenario where I’m not standing on that stage with the rest of my teammates shaking hands with President George W. Bush; a man with whom I vehemently disagreed on almost every issue.  You don’t have to agree with what he’s done with his time in office, you don’t have to agree with his policies or beliefs, all you have to do it stand there and smile.  And you know, I might even take that opportunity to have a conversation with the man (or woman) making the big decisions.  You just don’t get invited to the White House all that often.

But it goes beyond even turning down an invitation.  We live in a world where news and information are instantly available, and it’s incredibly easy to connect to people in even the remotest of locations.  Because of this far reach, we’re noticing more and more athletes/actors/celebrities taking to the soap box, and spewing their beliefs and ideologies all over the place.  I just can’t seem to set aside my belief that the sporting world isn’t the right place for this.  Turning to an athlete for political advice would be like turning to a politician to take the last penalty shot in an overtime shootout.  It’s something you just don’t do.  Can we take this for what it’s worth?  I say no.  One guy taking a stand to protect what he believes in is one thing, and yes, everyone (Tim Thomas included) has a right to free speech, but just because you have the right, doesn’t make it right.  What TT did on Monday was childish.  He put himself ahead of his team, and turned what was supposed to be a highlight for the city of Boston, and the Bruins organization, into a media circus.

As an athlete, your talent and physical skill get you millions of dollars, the admiration of thousands of fans, and a platform to spread whatever message you choose.  We listen to you, we idolize you, and we cast you as the role model, so you need to be careful with what you say and how your present yourself to the public.  If upon your retirement, you want lobby for a Republican agenda or start your own bigoted talk radio show, then by all means, go right ahead.  But now? Now, your job is not to campaign for the next Republican nominee, it’s to stop that little, black, rubber disk from making its way into the back of the net.  Maybe I’m naïve, or maybe I have a hard time coming to grips with the fact that some of the athletes I root for don’t share my beliefs.  But had Thomas just put politics aside, supported his teammates, and been gracious in receiving an honor from the President of the United States, we wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place.

Loathing Luongo’s Linguistics

  By Chris Speziale | 06/13/2011 - 4:43 pm | Musings, Predictions
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Roberto Luongo may have just disturbed the sleeping bear....

Roberto Luongo may have made the gravest mistake of his career on Friday.  After Vancouver’s 1-0 victory at the Rogers Centre, the Canuck goalie made comments in his post-game press conference criticizing his Bruins counterpart.  Tim Thomas played his usual aggressive style in Game 5, and it cost him dearly in the final period of play.  With over 13 minutes remaining, a hard shot off the end boards from the right point deflected right to the waiting stick of Maxim Lapierre, who had all day to bury the puck in the back of the net.  Thomas had been out of the paint, trying to cut down the angle on the shot from the point, and it led to the game’s only goal.

 

The issue at hand isn’t at all about Thomas being out of position, but rather how are Thomas’ teammates going to take to the Vancouver goalie calling him out?  On a scale of “One to Rex Ryan”, Luongo’s comments probably rank right around a six.  In reference to making the save that Thomas couldn’t, “an easy save for me, but if you’re wandering out and aggressive like [Thomas] is, that’s going to happen.”  It wasn’t the grandest of shots, but the media heard it.  The players heard it.  And the fans heard it.

 

If you think this physical Bruins team is going to stand by and let another team take shots at the heart and soul of their team, you’ve got another think coming.  The B’s have played well at home (as Luongo could certainly tell you) and will need to force the Canucks to play their style when the puck drops at TD Garden tonight.  Boston has continuously started off on the wrong foot when hitting the road for Vancouver in this series, and they know it.

 

If the Stanley Cup is going to come back to Boston for the first time since 1972, the Bruins will need to establish their aggressive style early and hope that they can carry it through six more periods of play.  The bad news for Vancouver?  They may have just given the Bruins that extra little fire to carry them through.  Remember what happened after Nathan Horton went down with his concussion; the Bruins played inspired hockey for the rest of that Game 3 and into Game 4.  Now you’re messing with Papa bear, and Papa bear and his teammates won’t take it lying down.

The Case for Playoff Hockey

  By Chris Speziale | 04/22/2010 - 2:44 pm | Musings
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After blanking Atlanta on March 23, I tweeted that Tuuka Rask had saved the B's season. I'm saying it again after last night's amazing double OT thriller.

I don’t know if you’ve been watching, but the NHL Playoffs have been absolutely off the hook this year. In the East, the 6 and 7 seeds are making a run at major upsets in the first round, which would set up for a pretty nutty reseed in the conference semifinals. The games have also been crazy close; in the Buf/Bos series, there is a 3 goal differential, and the Sabres have held the lead for all but 19:40 of play, yet they are down in the series 3-1. The Canadiens stole an OT victory from the Capitals in game one of their series, only to lose game two in OT in a 6-5 shootout.  The Flyers and Devils have combined for 203 hits and 136 penalty minutes, and also played an OT game this postseason. It’s no surprise that Philly has been banging; they made their name this season on physical play, and that’s also why I think they could be a tough match-up for Washington in round two. The Penguins started off slow against the Senators, but have turned the series around in a big way after scoring 7 goals in game 4. The Penguins have momentum, and I think they have the best chance of finishing off their series in five games. And while Pittsburgh has the best shot at a short series, all of the East first round series currently stand at 3-1, with Washington, Philadelphia, Boston and Pittsburgh currently leading. If those teams can seal the deal, the second round match-ups would look like this: (1)Washington vs. (7) Philly, and (4)

Pittsburgh vs. (6) Boston.  The Capitals/Flyers series will be a fun series to watch, but what I’m really looking forward to is the Bruins and Penguins.  Matt Cooke laid Marc Savard out with a borderline dirty elbow to the head in a game almost 7 weeks ago.  Savard has yet to play, but yesterday was cleared by doctors to return to the ice when his conditioning will allow.  No one believes, myself included, that Savard will be back before the end of the Sabres series, but if the Bruins advance, he could return to face the team that knocked him out two months ago, and that makes for some exciting hockey.

In the West the series are closer, with Phoenix/Detroit, Vancouver/LA, and San Jose/Colorado tied at 2 games apiece.  The number 2 Chicago Blackhawks are down 2-1 to Nashville in the fourth Western Conference series.  Phoenix and Detroit have traded games since the start of the series, and are also separated by 3 goals.  Interestingly, the first three games were decided by one goal, before the Red Wings blanked the Coyotes 3-0 in game 4.  Vancouver and LA are even in the win column, but the games have been exciting and high scoring.  Everyone expected Luongo to come off his Olympics Gold Medal and shut down the Kings, but that hasn’t been the case so far, and LA is capitalizing.  San Jose and Colorado have gone to OT 3 times in the series so far, and there is nothing to suggest that these two teams won’t take this series 7 games.  Colorado is playing at a very high level right now, and their goalie, Craig Anderson has gotten hot at the right time.  The biggest surprise has be the Blackhawks/Predators series.  Chicago comes into the series as the two seed, and was picked by many of the “experts” to win the whole enchilada.  The story of the series has been goaltending; Pekka Rinne leads all goalies in the post season with a 1.35 GAA and a .953 save percentage.  He’s allowed 4 goals in 3 games, against an extremely potent Chicago offense.  I don’t dare try and pick the winners of the Western Conference series, but what I do know is that there is a possibility, a possibility, that the bottom 4 seeds could win.  That would give Detroit and LA home ice in round two.  Crazy.

The moral of the story?  Watch the freakin NHL playoffs.  Only 7 teams (Boston, Montreal, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia and New Jersey) in the 16 team tourney have won the Stanley Cup.  Boston and Philly haven’t won it since ’72 and ’75 respectively, and Chicago has been Cup-less since ’61, so there are a lot of frenzied fan-bases out there. The home crowds have been boisterous, and angry, and alive with energy. If you’re not a hockey fan, or if you’ve never watched a game, this is the time.  I haven’t seen this much enthusiasm, or parity for that matter, since the lock-out in ’04, and if you’re not watching, it’s your loss.

The Mission: More NHL Coverage

  By Chris Speziale | 12/04/2009 - 1:00 pm | Mission Statement
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Dear Commissioner Bettman,

My name is Chris Speziale, and I write a blog on ChrisSpez.com.  The blog is centered around fans and the fan experience.  Once a month, I explore an aspect of the sports world that has been bothering fans, write a letter to a person in a position of influence, and then send that letter along with all of the readers’ comments to that person.  This month I’m taking a look at NHL television coverage, and I think you can help, which is why you’re receiving this letter.  I’ve been a hockey fan since I was a little kid; I grew up in Boston, so the Bruins are my team.  They had an incredible run last year, no?  I personally don’t think the Canes should have beaten us, but they had the momentum coming into the series and they took it from us.  I’m getting off topic.  In the Conference Quarters and Semis last year there were 4 games that I missed parts of because I’m no longer a Boston local.  My readers and I were curious why hockey is the only of the 4 major U.S. sports not have its playoff games nationally televised?

Hockey coverage in the United States has essentially disappeared since the new C.B.A. in 2005.  It’s under-exposed; it’s gotten to the point where, when I typed “NHL Commissioners Office” into Google to get your address, it told me I was mistaken.  Surely, I meant the “NFL Commissioners Office”.  And yes, I know that NBC just bought Versus, and we should see a higher quality product with greater availability.  And yes, the Olympics are coming back, which should spark some interest.  But how can we expect to grow the sport if we can’t watch it on national TV?  I follow the B’s closely on the internet, and watch whenever they play the Rangers, Devils or Islanders because I’m now a New York resident, but I want to see highlights.  I want to be able to turn on Sportscenter and see the Bruins score.  The only hockey we get on national television is the occasional Ovechkin highlight in the days top ten.  It isn’t enough.  Hockey fans are loyal, blue collared Americans, trying to sell their sport in a country that is struggling, and we feel like we have no voice.  Even the players have been feeling jipped, Paul Kelly tried to speak up on their behalf (they want to be seen to you know), and he was let go.  Now, not only do the players not have a rep, but the fans have been left out in dark as well.

It’s not like people don’t want to watch; last season the Stanley Cup playoffs were the highest rated in seven years, and attendance has been steadily on the rise since we came out of the lockout.  The problem is that when they want to watch, they can’t.  Versus isn’t available in all areas, and the NHL Center Ice package is far too expensive for the average person in our economic state.  Now, I’m not proposing anything crazy here, and honestly you might not even be the guy who can help us.  But, you’re the commish, and you get things done.  I appreciate the rule changes that have come down over the last couple of years.  I like that player safety has taken on greater importance. I like that the game has gained speed. And I like that scoring is up, but the only people who are watching are the ones who would have watched anyway.  I knew coming out of the lockout in 2005 that we were going to be in for some tough times.  Americans need to be beaten over the head with things, and the fact that hockey was gone for an entire year hurt.  That said, nobody expected that they’d be here 4 years after the lockout, wishing they could stay home and watch game 7 of the Bruins/Hurricanes series rather than having to drop fifty bucks at a bar with NESN.  But here we are, so let’s start small.  One half hour a week on a major network.  That’s it; I think it’s all we need to start getting things back on track.

If we can get a highlights and analysis show on a channel like NBC or ESPN the sport will get noticed.  Hockey has the TV personalities to pull it off, and if you put a likeable guy in front of the camera, people will warm to it.  It’s also a matter of understanding; hockey is a complex sport, with a lot of rules, and I think the average person needs a little help grasping its concepts.  A good analyst could help explain plays, coaching strategies, and playoff scenarios.  We can call it, “Hockey Night in America,” or “The NHL Tonight”.  It’s not a ridiculous concept, and with the NBC/Versus merger, you now have access to one of the largest and most advanced television studios in the world.

I believe that sports and genealogy have a lot in common; loyalties and fandom are passed from generation to generation. I think if we can get a little more press, attendance will rise, and parents will start passing hockey traditions on to their kids. Then, when the ripple affect takes hold, you’ll have a whole new generation of fans.  I hope to be a hockey fan for the rest of my life, and I plan to teach my children the game if it survives.  That’s why we need help.  The NHL is stuck in the back of the American mind right now.  Will you help us move it to the forefront?

Thank you for your time,

A Concerned Citizen of Hockey Nation

The Mission Statement

  By Chris Speziale | 11/06/2009 - 12:00 pm | Mission Statement
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If the Red Sox won the World Series but no one was there to see it, did it happen?  Picture this.  Keith Foulke is on the mound for the Red Sox, it’s game 4 of the 2004 World Series in St. Louis.  Edgar Renteria steps into the box with a 1-0 count. He takes the next pitch and hits a knubber back to the mound.  Foulke snares it; he is so stunned and excited that he hesitates to throw on to first.  He takes a couple steps towards the bag and flips underhanded to Doug Mientkiewicz.  That’s it.  The Red Sox have just won their first World Series title in 86 years.  BUT! The stands are empty, there are no camera crews, no flash bulbs, no Joe Buck trying to capture the emotions of hundreds of thousands of Boston fans.  It’s just a bunch of guys pouring champagne all over each other in the middle of a baseball field.  Doesn’t sound right, does it? So what conclusion do we draw from this? We face facts: it’s a fans game.  And I’m not just talking about baseball.  The American sports industry would be absolutely nowhere without its fan base.

That one moment on October 27th, 2004 changed the lives of millions of people and sent a riptide through the sports world.  With an unlikely cast of characters, a sometimes wobbly manager, and a 3-0 hole to the Yankees in the ALCS, no one expected them to win.  But they did, and it was the fans who carried them through those last 8 games.  When Dave Roberts stole that base in game 4, we knew something special was about to happen.  On ANY other Red Sox team, in ANY other year, he gets thrown out and the season is over.  But he didn’t and the Sox pulled off one of the most incredible comebacks in the history of sports. And WE did it.  Am I biased?  You bet your ass I am.  The Red Sox are my team.  They have been since I came out of the womb.  I’ve followed them every season since I could comprehend the game.  We, as fans, want to believe that we are a part of this, that we can somehow affect the outcome and push our team to the next level.  We employ truly crazy superstitions, wear rally caps and scream until our lungs bleed, all in the hope that we get to see them in the playoffs. We pour our hearts and souls into these teams.   So why are we getting such a raw deal?  Professional sports are an industry.  I get it.  There is money to be made, and if you have the opportunity to make a buck, why wouldn’t you do it?  Ticket prices are climbing, the media frenzy is increasing, every Tom, Dick or Harry is writing a blog (ironic, isn’t it?) or doing a Podcast.  We are all trying to cash in.  All it’s costing us is our sports identity.

That’s where I come in.  I took a sports broadcasting class this summer led by the immortal Ed Ingles.  He brought in a cast of characters to impart some wisdom on breaking into the sports business.  And they all basically had the same advice: Don’t quit, practice practice practice, and lastly, write.  It was that last one that knocked me for a loop.  I never considered writing; I didn’t think I had the chops, but sports broadcasting is what I want to do.  It’s something I feel like I can be good at.  So what do you write about?  Who will read it?  I thought about this for a long time and I came to this.  Fans will read it.  And so, I will write about the fans.  How do we get that identity back?  Who will fight for it? I don’t have the answers, but I’m hoping to explore these questions, and with your help maybe we can figure something out, come to some sort of arrangement, either with the sport (whichever it may be) or with ourselves.

So what are we going to do here?  I’m glad you asked.  Of course we’re going to talk sports, because a real fan isn’t a fan without knowledge.  But this can be so much more than that.  Along with all those sports posts, on the first Friday of every month you’ll see a story about the fan experience.  We have lots to discuss; whether it be gambling, fantasy sports, announcers, TV blackouts, the disappearance of the NHL, the lack of soccer in America or just plain old ticket prices — we’re going to cover it all.  And I want your feedback.  Each monthly post will be sent along with all your comments, to someone who can make a difference.  For example, the post set for December is about the disappearance of the NHL.  After the lockout ended in 2005 it seemed like the league vanished from TV and sports news shows, but no one seemed to get angry and it continued to get worse.  Now they cover, maybe 10 games nationally all year.  In the 2008-2009 postseason you couldn’t even see the first three rounds on National TV! So, we send the letter along with all your comments to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman in hopes that he’ll notice the millions of hockey fans aching for more coverage. Will it work? Who knows?  But it’s worth standing up for.  Sports mean so much to us, so why shouldn’t we fight back? The 2004 Boston Red Sox were underdogs just like the fans of today.  Everyone is counting us out, but maybe, just maybe, we can pull off an even bigger comeback.