An Anatomy of Three Hits: Hall of Fame goalie Ken Dryden pens an essay at Grantland about hits and their consequences in the NHL of today and yesteryear.

posted by holden to hockey at 02:30 PM - 1 comment

Power (Dis)Play? Teams In Black Draw More Penalties : Hockey teams wearing darker-colored jerseys are more likely to be penalized for aggressive fouls than teams wearing white jerseys, according to new research. Teams wearing black jerseys in particular get penalized the most, according to an analysis that may offer a window into the hidden psychological dynamics of the ongoing NHL playoffs.

"Teams that wore black jerseys were penalized more, significantly more, than teams wearing other colored jerseys," said researcher Gregory Webster of the University of Florida, Gainesville.

posted by Wensink to hockey at 04:54 PM - 16 comments

Some Bruins Fans Took the Loss in a Classy Way: Reactions on Twitter after Joel Ward scored the game-winning goal for the Washington Capitals over the Boston Bruins in game 7. NSFW. Not safe for anyone who hoped we're better than this in 2012.

posted by yerfatma to hockey at 11:21 AM - 29 comments

Panthers President Too Important for Twitter Critic: After a New Jersey Devils fan told him on Twitter he was "making an ass of himself and the organization," Florida Panthers president Michael Yormark said this in response: "You have 70 followers. No one cares what you think." Now Devils fan Lauren Ashley Rufino has 1,900 followers and was given sweet suite tickets to Tuesday's playoff game between the teams.

posted by rcade to hockey at 01:04 PM - 14 comments

Phoenix Coyotes' Raffi Torres Suspended 25 games: There is throwing the book, and then there is launching the entire library, which is what the NHL has done at the Phoenix Coyotes' Raffi Torres.

posted by tommytrump to hockey at 12:51 PM - 20 comments

Working for the clampdown: Asham gets 4, Neal and Backstrom get 1, Shaw got 3 yesterday. Is Torres next? Shanahan strikes back.

posted by kokaku to hockey at 09:41 AM - 23 comments

Nicklas Lidstrom is ahead of the game: An exploration of what make Lidstrom, Lidstrom.

posted by apoch to hockey at 12:46 PM - 6 comments

The Toughest Team in the Federal League: The movie Slap Shot, which recently turned 35, is "the only movie I trust to understand what sports is really about," writes Will Leitch. "Sports is not a series of storylines, or an Olympic clash of athletes at their peak, or some sort of allegory for how we should all live our lives, a set of role models representing the best our world has to offer. ... It's a sideshow, a carnival, and one that, at the end of the day, has enough sentiment attached that some rich owner can write it off as a tax break and it all goes away."

posted by rcade to hockey at 11:44 AM - 15 comments

Rich Pilon and Jeff Norton immortalized in bronze by Penguins!:
Oh, and there's the third guy, too.

posted by grum@work to hockey at 06:47 PM - 2 comments

Parent Aims Laser Pointer at Opposing Team's Goalie: The father of a high school girl's hockey player in Medford, Mass., was caught aiming a laser pointer at the eyes of the opposing team's goalie during a playoff game. The dad was rooting for Winthrop, which beat Medway-Ashland 3-1 and had the victory upheld after an appeal. Medway-Ashland goalie Kathryn Hamer described the effects of the laser: "It's kind of like when you look at the sun and then you look away you see that spot and you can't see for a couple of seconds. You shake your head and try to get it out of the system and just keep focusing, but it's difficult." Another coach said someone flashed a laser at his goalie's eyes during a game against Winthrop a year ago.

posted by rcade to hockey at 07:18 PM - 15 comments

Butt Ended: Mike Keenan, on coaching the Blackhawks in 1988: So I'm coaching my first exhibition game and I go into the dressing room after the first period to talk, and there's no one in there. I'm wondering what in hell is going on, and take a walk out to the other side of the hallway and the whole team is out there, smoking cigarettes." This is an interesting article on what seems almost unimaginable today - Hockey stars of the 1970s and 1980s, such as Guy Lafleur and Denis Savard, being pack a day smokers, or more.

posted by rumple to hockey at 12:21 PM - 7 comments

Jersey Fouls: Jersey Fouls don't have an expiration date. They're the stench that keeps on stinking.

posted by BoKnows to hockey at 09:37 PM - 3 comments

Sam Gagner has NHL's highest one game point total in 23 years: The Edmonton Oilers forward not only registered his 2nd NHL hat trick, he added an exclamation point by finishing with four goals and four assists in an 8-4- victory over the Chicago Blackhawks Thursday at Rexall Place. Gagner’s eye-popping night puts him in elite company. He tied Wayne Gretzky & Paul Coffey for points in a game by an Oiler.

posted by tommytrump to hockey at 12:48 AM - 4 comments

Potvin Sucks Forever: For 33 years -- and nearly a quarter-century since he retired -- Madison Square Garden faithful have chanted "[Denis] Potvin Sucks." Though Potvin's Islanders have won just two postseason series (both in 1993) since his retirement, the sentiment remains for Rangers fans. While this sort of historical memory is a feature of European (and perhaps collegiate) sports, what are some other examples in North American professional sports?

posted by Mookieproof to hockey at 10:33 PM - 7 comments

Alain Vigneault is desperately concerned about the health of Brad Marchand: but the Bruins would prefer he quiet down. Vigneault was a regular winner of the Lady Byng Trophy during his playing days, who has a tremendous memory for dirty hits like low checks. Something like that could be used to try to injure Marchand in a game.

posted by yerfatma to hockey at 01:39 PM - 28 comments

EASY Online donations to The Jack Jablonski Fund : If you have the means, please consider making a donation to the medical expense fund set up for Jack 'Jabby' Jablonski. Jack is the recently paralyzed Benilde-St. Margaret's hockey player who will very likely never walk again.

posted by NormsAndNedums to hockey at 12:57 PM - 0 comments

NHL re-alignment halted by NHLPA: "It is unfortunate that the NHLPA has unreasonably refused to approve a plan that an overwhelming majority of our clubs voted to support, and that has received such widespread support from our fans and other members of the hockey community, including players," Deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in a statement.

posted by MeatSaber to hockey at 10:10 PM - 6 comments

Florida Panthers Krys Barch Suspended One Game for 'Inappropriate Language' : "I stated my case; I know myself and what I said. It may have been inappropriate but it was nowhere near a racial slur nor that intent,'' Barch stated. Although Barch nor the Panthers will divulge what Barch said, 2 sources told The Herald that, aside from various expletives, Barch basically asked Subban if he "slipped on a banana peel" after his legs went out from under him after being punched by Gudbranson.

posted by tommytrump to hockey at 01:18 PM - 15 comments

Flyers Fans Attacked Rangers Fans After Winter Classic: Philadelphia police have released video that shows three men in Philadelphia Flyers jerseys beating two men in New York Rangers jerseys outside Geno's Steaks in South Philly after the NHL Winter Classic Sunday. One of the Rangers fans, an off-duty New Jersey cop and Marine, was hospitalized for his injuries. One suspect may have posted on the Flyers fan site Broad Street Hockey. "It was me and my friends do something about it u fagits," the fan posted.

posted by rcade to hockey at 12:57 PM - 23 comments

Minnesota High School Coaches Assail Permissive Hockey Culture That Allows Dangerous Contact: Well-wishers crowded into Jack Jablonski's hospital room and lit up his Facebook and CaringBridge pages all weekend as the high school sophomore and his family awaited a prognosis on a paralyzing injury he suffered during a hockey game on Friday. "It's a parent's worst nightmare," his father, Mike Jablonski of Minneapolis, said on Sunday in the pediatric intensive care unit at Hennepin County Medical Center. "He dropped and didn't move. Right then and there I knew that my son, that there was something seriously wrong." Please take a moment to wish Jack a full recovery at his caringBridge website.

posted by NormsAndNedums to hockey at 01:14 PM - 0 comments

Hockey Player Banned for Pooping in Opponent's Glove: "Midway through the second period, Bermingham came out of his locker room. He had showered and changed and was ready to crack open a beer but needed to collect the last of his scattered equipment. Those gloves were nearly new: this was the second game he had worn them, and the price tag was still on. Bermie went into the seats where it had landed, picked it up, and put his hand in. ..."

posted by rcade to hockey at 09:16 AM - 12 comments

Underage Handshake Hockey Brawlers: As this viral video shows, the nine-year-olds of Kokshetau-Burabay and Kazakhstan-Astana have become the Colorado Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings of the Turkic states.

posted by rcade to hockey at 11:30 AM - 29 comments

The Physical Toll of Being a Goon: The New York Times has published a three-part series on the life of late hockey enforcer Derek Boogaard, who died earlier this year at age 28 of a drug and alcohol overdose. Part 1: A Boy Learns to Brawl. Part 2: Blood on the Ice. Part 3: A Brain 'Going Bad' (via MetaFilter).

posted by rcade to hockey at 12:21 PM - 30 comments

NHL governors adopt radical realignment plan: The NHL's Board of Governors on Monday approved a radical realignment plan, according to multiple reports. The plan reportedly eliminates the current two-conference, six-division setup in favor of a configuration that features four conferences based on geography. Two conferences will have eight teams and the other two conferences will have seven teams, according to the report.

posted by NoMich to hockey at 09:44 PM - 30 comments

The Kid is back: Understand that it will take a little time. Sidney Crosby hadn't played in a game in nearly 11 months until Monday night, so it's inevitable that he'll need a little time to scrape the rust off his game. In his return, he shook that rust off with a 2 goal/ 4 pt night in 16 min of ice time.

posted by Debo270 to hockey at 09:09 AM - 7 comments

Get ready for Minnesota High School Hockey (video): The 2011-12 MN H.S. season is set to begin later this week. It will culminate in March when class AA and class A Champions are crowned. The video does a great job of capturing what it is like to play in the state tourney at St. Paul's the Excel Energy Center in front of 18,000 people. More than 3,000 boys will participate during the regualr season. 38 of them will come out the other end as Champions.

posted by NormsAndNedums to hockey at 01:50 PM - 3 comments

WTFinland: Last year Minnesota Wild prospect Mikael Granlund turned heads with his Floorball-style (or "lacross-style" for the uninitiated) goal during Finland's semifinal game against Russia in the World Championships. Mikael's younger brother Markus notched a similar goal today (via MetaFilter).

posted by rcade to hockey at 09:59 AM - 2 comments

Teen Killed by Puck During Hockey Game: Edmonton minor hockey player Kyle Fundytus, 16, died Sunday after he was hit in the throat by a puck during a midget double-A game the night before in Edmonton. Fundytus was wearing a neck guard, which are mandatory in all minor hockey in Canada.

posted by rcade to Hockey at 06:57 AM - 5 comments

NHL Player Wears Blackface for Halloween: Phoenix Coyotes NHL player Raffi Torres and his wife, Gianna, dressed in blackface as rapper Jay-Z and singer Beyonce Knowles at a Halloween party, sparking outrage when a photo of the couple was shared on Twitter. "For those who forgotten their history -- and these two folks clearly did -- blackface was a type of makeup worn by vaudeville performers in the 19th century as a parody of African Americans. It was degrading then, and it is degrading now," writes Bill Plaschke.

posted by rcade to hockey at 04:41 PM - 32 comments

There's No Defense for a Bad Goalie: Schuckers mapped every shot each goalie faced last season, allowing him to isolate a goalie's save percentage against shots from every location on the ice. He put those findings against a plot of every shot taken in the NHL in order to estimate how each goalie would fare not just against the shots he faced, but against the shots all the goalies faced—therefore putting them all up against the same shots. DIGR stands for "defense independent goalie rating."

posted by NoMich to hockey at 02:34 PM - 2 comments

Hockey Enforcer Apologizes for Mocking Unconscious Foe: After knocking out Washington Capitals forward Jay Beagle during a fight Thursday, Pittsburgh Penguins enforcer Arron Asham made a "you're out!" sign like a boxing ref and then put his head by his hands like he was going to sleep on the way to the sin bin. "It was kind of classless on my part," Asham said. "I wish I could take that back." Barry Petchesky writes on DeadSpin that Asham taking down an inexperienced fighter like Beagle's nothing to crow over: "This kind of mismatch isn't supposed to happen. ... Beagle was so out of his element that he was illegally wearing a visor during a fight."

posted by rcade to hockey at 01:33 PM - 15 comments

Oilers' Fedun Breaks Leg on Icing Play: Edmonton defenseman Taylor Fedun suffered a complex leg fracture Friday crashing into the end boards after getting tangled up on an icing play with the stick of Minnesota Wild left wing Eric Nystrom. "If they're not going to get rid of the rule with no-touch icing, they've got to do something about the guys coming in there recklessly," said Fedun's teammate Darcy Hordichuk.

posted by rcade to hockey at 12:34 PM - 5 comments

Simmonds Accused of Yelling Homophobic Slur: One week after a banana was thrown at him on the ice, Philadelphia Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds called New York Rangers winger Sean Avery a "fucking faggot" during a preseason game, as captured on video (video). "To be here now having to answer the questions about what he did is disappointing for me. I'm disappointed for him," said Avery, who appeared in a public service announcement in May supporting gay rights and marriage equality.

posted by rcade to hockey at 08:05 AM - 12 comments

Fan tosses banana peel at Flyers' Simmonds: Often as the only black player on his team, growing up in Ontario, Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds dealt with his fair share of racial slurs on the ice as he climbed the hockey ladder. Few experiences could have prepared him for what happened on Thursday night, as a fan in the John Labatt Centre threw a banana peel at Simmonds as he skated in alone on a shootout attempt during a 4-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings. According to a fan on Twitter at the game, it was not the only time Simmonds was targeted with a banana peel during the game. Another peel was thrown, presumably by the same person, when Simmonds scored late in the 3rd period to tie the game but the toss did not clear the boards to make it onto the ice.

posted by tommytrump to hockey at 09:44 AM - 13 comments

Mikey Mo hangs 'em up.: After 22 years in the NHL, all but one spent with the Stars franchise (both pre- and post-move), Mike Modano has signed a one-day contract with Dallas and will formally announce his retirement tomorrow. With career totals of 561 goals and 1,374 points, Modano retires as the most prolific US-born scorer in NHL history.

posted by Ufez Jones to hockey at 08:07 PM - 5 comments

Being convicted of attempted murder helped a former NHL player save a life: Former NHL player Mike Danton was sent to prison for plotting to take a life. In his return to professional hockey, the skills he learned while incarcerated may well have saved one.

posted by Demophon to hockey at 04:01 PM - 1 comment

When EA Sports releases its NHL 12 video game Tuesday, you can choose to play as a 90-pound 14-year-old girl from Buffalo.:

posted by grum@work to hockey at 06:24 PM - 6 comments

Plane crash kills ‘majority’ of KHL team Lokomotiv: Among the NHL alumni on Lokomotiv's roster as of Aug. 31: Josef Vasicek, Pavol Demitra, Karel Rachunek, Ruslan Salei, Karlis Skrastins and Red Wings goalie prospect Stefan Liv. Former Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Brad McCrimmon was listed as their head coach.

posted by NoMich to hockey at 10:23 AM - 20 comments

Winnipeg Jets unveil official new jerseys: The Winnipeg Jets unveiled their new jerseys this morning at 17 Wing Winnipeg, the local Canadian Air Force base.

posted by tommytrump to hockey at 06:02 PM - 10 comments

NHL enforcer Wade Belak found dead: National Hockey League veteran Wade Belak, who played 15 NHL seasons and recently retired, was found dead today in a Toronto hotel. Belak's death, 35, follows closely the deaths of NHL players Rick Rypien and Derek Boogaard. All three were considered enforcers.

posted by wfrazerjr to hockey at 06:48 PM - 13 comments