NHL FanHouse

Hockey Fan in Need of a Team Asks Web to Play Matchmaker

Kevin Schultz — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST

The NHL has always been at the forefront of the major American sports leagues when it comes to the internet. The league streams most of its games online through its GameCenter Live application and has openly embraced bloggers and websites like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Given all of that, maybe it's no coincidence that an internet savvy sports fan has chosen these same websites with which to embark on an NHL social media experiment.

John Meyer, a native of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is self-employed through his social media company and is a diehard Minnesota Twins fan. And now, Meyer is looking for a hockey team to follow. He is admittedly not an NHL diehard but has "always wanted to get into hockey and the NHL but never really knew where to start."

This winter he has decided to get in tune with the league through his website, PickMyNHLTeam.com. There, Meyer is asking the collective hive of hockey fans on the internet to choose a hockey team for him to follow this season.

According to Meyer, it is no coincidence that his website and the NHL's online strategy align. In fact, the NHL's strategy has had a profound effect on his course of action. "I spend so much of my day online and I really believe in the power of social media," Meyer says. "Also, I noticed how the NHL was really embracing social media and using it to promote the league, the teams, and their fans. It's very cool considering many other of the professional leagues have turned away from social media."

Every other day Meyer posts a YouTube video documenting a certain team. The videos are sort of a crash course in the NHL for Meyer. He researches the team, its history and players then reports back for the site's visitors. Each video is complimented on the website by a guest post from one of the team's fan bloggers. The posts serve as a first-hand account for why he, or anyone else, should be a fan of the team. With tongue firmly in cheek, I asked Meyer if he was worried about disillusioned fans when he got to teams such as the Islanders and Thrashers who haven't had recent success.

FH: When you ask people to tell you 'what's great about being a Team X fan' you do realize that some fanbases -- the Islanders, the Thrashers, for example -- are going to laugh and reply 'almost nothing,' right?

JM: Actually this thought crossed my mind briefly, but then I realized many people ask my why I'm a Minnesota Twins fan and I know many Twins fans that are equally as passionate as I am. There are always those few souls out there committed to their team and their city. In fact, we already received a great guest blog post about the Atlanta Thrashers and the Thrashers are currently in 3rd place in team voting.

Meyer has been chronicling each of the league's 30 teams alphabetically and after almost two weeks is up to the Chicago Blackhawks, which will run on the site Saturday. Viewers can vote for the Hawks or any other team through each of the four channels set up for the site. They can comment on the blog, YouTube, tweet him or post a message on Facebook. Each response for a team on any of the platforms is a vote that Meyer tabulates. As of Thursday night, the Anaheim Ducks were leading with 63 votes while the Boston Bruins were second with 23.

Meyer played a perfect politician when asked about which team he thought would win, declining to make any predictions. And despite my probing, would not reveal if he was rooting for any particular team to win.

"I'm honestly ready to embrace any team that fans pick for me. I think that's what makes the whole concept intriguing. On January 1st I'll wake up as a new fan to some random NHL franchise and I'm ready to put my passion into that team. My fate is in the fans' hands."

But maybe just how much emphasis the NHL puts on social media and its fan support on the internet was visible for the world to see when Meyer was featured on NHL.com Wednesday. That the league chose to feature him on the front of its "NHL Fans" homepage wasn't even what raised my eyebrow. It was where he was featured -- right next to a story about the retirement of Brendan Shanahan. So when one of the league's all-time greats hung up his skates, the story was featured right next to one of the people who helps keep league in business -- a fan.

While many sports leagues continually dismiss the ideas and interests of fans (*cough* baseball *cough), the NHL has continued to implement a more open, fan friendly policy. Of course, that came in the wake of a lockout and lost season. The NHL had to adapt and try to do anything it could to bring fans back and win over new ones. What's good to see is that five years later, the league is still trying to do that, especially on the internet.

As with any sports fan, Meyer is full of opinions and I decided to get a quick temperature on how his hockey fandom was evolving.

FH: Let's wrap this up with the lightning round. A little bit of free association. First thing that pops into your mind when I say Sidney Crosby?

JM: The NHL's golden boy. Many say he's the greatest player in the game right now. He's no Gretzky though.

FH: ... Alex Ovechkin?

JM: I think this guy is the league's real superstar. I love the gap in the teeth and the rugged look.

FH: ...The shootout?

JM: Overtime in soccer.

FH: ...The trapezoid (those odd red lines behind the net)?

JM: Four sided shape with one set of opposite parallel lines.

FH: ...Zdeno Chara naked?

JM: Where's the sand volleyball issue?

FH: ... Gary Bettman?

JM: I do know he is the commissioner and I hear most people don't like him. Kind of looks like a short Kevin Spacey.

The anti-Bettman rhetoric could use some work -- it's the mark of a true die-hard -- but I think he's going to do just fine as a hockey fan with whichever team he lands with.

Hockey Fan in Need of a Team Asks Web to Play Matchmaker originally appeared on NHL FanHouse on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alex Ovechkin: The Classic Superstar

Christopher Botta — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:38:00 EST

Filed under: Capitals, NHL Media Watch, NHL Economics

NEW YORK -- As Alex Ovechkin takes the pregame warmup at Madison Square Garden, an hour before scoring in his return game -- a Capitals' 4-2 win -- Rangers fans in blue and white jerseys stand 10-deep behind the glass. In a rarity for this most vocal of fanbases, hardly anyone makes a sound. They mostly just stand and watch and appreciate. Ovechkin is back after a two-week injury and he seems to have been missed not just by Capitals fans.

Bob Hoch attempts to focus on Ovechkin with the Canon 200 he's taken out of his jacket pocket. Hoch has been a Rangers season ticket-holder for five years, but he's an unabashed Ovechkin true believer. "I love Ovechkin and hate Sidney Crosby," Hoch says, as if there has to be a choice. "They're both incredible hockey players, but Crosby takes dives and avoids contact at all times and Ovie is old school. He's the guy you'd kill to have on your team."

While Hoch does what he can with his point-and-shoot, longtime NHL photographer Bruce Bennett has the luxury of a Canon EOS Mark III with a 300 millimeter f/2.8 lens. There are plenty of Ovechkin shifts in which even state-of-the-art technology doesn't cut it.

Bennett, the director of hockey imagery for Getty Images, reviews his work and a few options provided by his associates.

"I'm looking at a lot of frames -- from warmups! -- and in every single one Ovechkin is out of focus. He's so fast, it's ridiculous, but the real challenge is that he's a waterbug. He can't stand still. I think even he doesn't know where he's going all the time. NHL defensemen can't keep up with him and neither can I."

That said, the photographers adore this on-ice artist.

"He's still the favorite of most of us," said Bennett, who has been shooting the NHL for 34 years. "The key to great images is the action, of course, but just as much it's the faces. Ovechkin wears his heart on his sleeve and he has such an expressive face. If you keep up with him, he makes it worthwhile."

Barry Meisel was raised in Brooklyn a Rangers fan and went on to cover the team for the Daily News from 1985 until 1997, including the Stanley Cup year of '93-94. Still True Blue today, he's at the Garden on this Tuesday night as a businessman -- and Alexander Ovechkin is very good for business.

Meisel is the president and COO of The MeiGray Group, a game-worn jersey authenticator and dealer. Among the 14 NHL teams Meisel represents are the Capitals. If a fan or collector wants a game-worn Ovechkin jersey, they have to go through MeiGray. Along with Martin Brodeur of New Jersey, an A.O. jersey is the priciest in the NHL at $7,500 each.

"He's our most requested jersey," said Meisel, who gets to move about 10 Ovechkin game-worns a year. "We hear more from true hockey fans about Alex than anyone else in the league. He's effervescent, he's exciting, he plays like he loves the game. Fans respond to him. Of all the current players, I think Ovechkin is the game's greatest ambassador."

That's why global sports, media and entertainment giant IMG last month signed Ovechkin for exclusive marketing and management. He's why the Capitals' fundraising efforts for charities boom with a signed Ovechkin stick, if not an appearance by the star himself. Washington PR director Nate Ewell said Ovechkin autographed an estimated 5,000 items last season for charity.

Ovechkin is why Stephan and his girlfriend Katherine made the journey from Calgary to New York and watched from center ice in their Capitals No. 8 jerseys. "He's just the greatest player and the most exciting to watch," said Katherine.

Notes from Tuesday's game: Ovechkin scored his 15th goal of the season 15:06 into the first period as Washington won in his return, 4-2 over the Rangers. With just under five minutes left in the third period, Washington forward Matt Bradley -- who needed stitches earlier after a nasty fight with Aaron Voros -- took advantage of a Wade Redden turnover and scored on a breakaway to break a 2-2 tie. Rangers left wing Marian Gaborik scored two goals to tie Ovechkin for the league lead.

After missing two weeks with a strained muscle near his left shoulder, Ovechkin showed no discomfort in blasting a slap shot from just inside the blueline past New York goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. "My first shot of the game," he said with a grin.

Ovechkin said he made it through the game with his health intact. He admitted to being "a little scared to make a hit" early in the game, but once he absorbed a hit he felt more comfortable. Ovechkin was credited with seven hits in 19:23 of icetime. Ovechkin is the reason why youth hockey leagues have sprung up all over the Beltway. He's the reason the Capitals' beat, fading just five years ago, is now a high priority for the Washington Post. "Ever since Alex won the Calder Trophy, the demand for coverage has been constant," said Post reporter Tarik El-Bashir, who has been on the beat since the lockout. "But that's the effect Alex has had on the media everywhere. Whenever the Caps play on the road, there's a lot more press than there used to be."

A dozen reporters dragged themselves out of bed to cover the Capitals' morning skate on Tuesday, nine hours before the opening faceoff between Washington and the Rangers. After the game, even two New York newspaper columnists found their way to the visitors' locker room. Then there was the crew from VERSUS, the NHL's cable network partner which could not contain its joy when Ovechkin made his return on their air Tuesday night.

"On any given shift, he can make the play of the year," said VERSUS coordinating producer Mike Baker. "I've been working hockey on TV since 1980 and I've never seen a player exude such joy. For our purposes, Alex has been a gem. He's never said no, and we've made many requests of him. He understands the importance of bringing in viewers and bringing them closer to the game. And his reactions after goals are priceless."

Sure enough, when Ovechkin scored on a slap shot just 15 minutes into his first game in 15 days, he didn't act like he'd been there before. He shouted. He raised a fist to the air. He bear-hugged his teammates.

As much as the game missed him, Ovechkin missed scoring goals. Most of all, he missed the celebrations.

"That was unbelievable," he said. "That felt good."

Alex Ovechkin: The Classic Superstar originally appeared on NHL FanHouse on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:38:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Knuckle Puck: Area Sports Fans Ask for New Hockey Joke

Kevin Schultz — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: NHL Media Watch, College Hockey

Each and every Saturday this season I'll be taking a look at the random happenings and absurdities that occur in the world of hockey. Feel free to suggest stories, complain or otherwise babble at me via electronic mail.

Earlier today, a group of local sports fans led a petition for originality from sports media humorists*. Standing outside a local bar the group spoke to reporters with local citizen Michael Davidson representing the group, which was composed of about 10 18-to-35-year-old males and females. The group of fans say that they are "upset" and "distraught" by blogs, websites and sports media who continue to make the same joke about hockey each year.

"We've had enough and we're not going to stand around and let them continue to recycle the same garbage over and over," Davidson said. "I can't tell you how many times I've logged onto The Onion or read a hockey post on Deadspin only to see the same joke made over and over -- that nobody pays attention to hockey. Maybe if they did a little research, they could at least make jokes about how Alex Ovechkin badly needs a shave or Sidney Crosby being a whiner. Instead, we're left with the same material about how nobody in the mainstream knows anything about hockey. Honestly, we think sports humorists have been mailing in their lone hockey joke since 2002 and we've had enough."

While some onlookers of the press conference were clearly confused by the sight of a press conference outside the local watering hole, a few were heard cracking jokes like "hoc-key?" or saying things like "if it doesn't involve a grown man putting his hands between another's legs and yelling manly things I don't care about it" to each other. The press was only slightly more coherent.

"But doesn't the joke still apply since hockey is still irrelevant?" asked one reporter.

"That's not what this is about," replied Davidson. "This is about websites we know and love mailing it in time and time again. If College Humor was making the same beer or boob joke everyday you would be pissed too. It's headlines like 'Hockey Hall Of Fame Ceremony Held At Steve's Place,' 'NHL Star Called Up To Big Leagues To Play For NFL Team,' and 'People Probably Affiliated With Hockey In Some Way Inducted In Hockey Hall Of Fame' that grind our gears. It's been five years since the lockout and in that time, you would think they could have come up with another angle."

Dr. Scott Slausmann, a sports humor professor at UC Berkley had some sympathy for the protesters. "Imagine David Letterman cracking the same joke every night for five years... Wait, no... Imagine Jon Stewart continually laying into conservatives and republicans... Err... Look. The fans simply would like some variety but the truth is most comedy is copied or regurgitated."

The protesters didn't seem to make a lot of head way during their press conference, but Davidson vows that they will continue on. "You can laugh at us, but deep down you know that there's room for more than one hockey joke in this world."

*None of this ever really happened

YouTube of the Week and Knuckle Pucker of the Year Rolled Into One

Each week, we'll nominate someone who deserves to be recognized for their outstanding service and commitment to giving me something to write about. By the end of the year I'll come up with some way to declare a winner. Today's nominee is...

...the 1986 Boston College hockey team. They're at the head of the pack right now alongside the Killer Cyber Bear from Alaska for this... For whatever in the name of Peter, Paul and Mary this is.

Jokes I Can't Resist Making
- This has as many awkward white guy high fives as there have been in the entire history of golf.
- Aerosmith realized they needed the help of Run DMC to break into hip hop. These guys need Jay-Z, DMX and at least half the Wu Tang Clan.
- It's a tragedy that this is the height of Scott Gordon's rap career.
- There's a 'high quality' button on the video. If you press it a giant hand pops out of your monitor and slaps you for your insolence.
- This makes the 1985 Chicago Bears look like the Jackson Five.

Knuckle Puck: Area Sports Fans Ask for New Hockey Joke originally appeared on NHL FanHouse on Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Flames' Swine Flu Clinic Not Piggish, Just Celeb Reality

Christopher Botta — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:30:00 EST

Filed under: Flames, NHL Injuries, NHL Media Watch

Don't blame the Calgary Flames for swiping swine flu shots for their players, coaches, staff members and their families. Blame the culture of celebrity. Since most hockey players are big stars north of the border, blame Canada. Blame Alberta Health Services, the agency responsible.

But don't get all high and mighty about the Flames getting vaccinated while thousands of Alberta residents waited all day or were turned away at clinics throughout the province. The hockey team did not ask for preferential treatment. They only asked for treatment. Why a squad from Alberta Health provided the Flames with their own clinic is something the agency will have to explain. One suggestion for the investigators: start with the team's head physician. Those docs tend to be deeply connected.

If you haven't heard about the controversy, it's all the rage in Canada. The Alberta government is trying to determine how the Flames were vaccinated for the H1N1 virus on Friday. At the same time Calgary's hockey team and its extended family were being taken care of at an undisclosed location, countless citizens waited on endless lines and several clinics were closed as Alberta Health re-focused its vaccination program on high-risk patients. Alberta Health Minister Ron Liepert said the swine flu shots were "inappropriately diverted" to the hockey club.

On Tuesday, Flames president Ken King said the franchise simply contacted Alberta Health Services and followed all guidelines. "Our organization and medical staff felt that our players should receive the vaccination, given the risks associated with frequent physical contact, extreme exertion and onerous domestic and cross-border travel," King said in a statement.

OK, so King did not explain the extra shots provided for the spouses and children of front office executives, but the Flames' request was not illegal. King added, "Our players did not seek to either avoid lineups or get special attention."

Whether he meant to or not, Edmonton Oilers VP Allan Watt took a shot across Alberta at the hated Flames. Responding to a question about the Oilers' plan for vaccination, Watt said, "If a player wants to get a shot, he can go to a clinic just like any person."

And therein lies the argument that has transcended the playing surface and has Western Canada in an uproar. The Alberta government was receiving mounting criticism well before the Flames controversy. The beloved hockey team -- the pride of Calgary win, lose or overtime loss -- is getting some rare heat. "The majority of fans and Albertans are pointing their fingers at Health Services," said Fan590 sports radio host Rob Kerr, "but the Flames have been hit a bit with this notion that they're queue-jumpers."

That's life. If Jarome Iginla wants tickets for a hot concert at the Saddledome, he can score as many as he wants. Although at $6 million a year Dion Phaneuf is the last guy to need anyone's generosity, no doubt his tabs have been picked up by the owners of local restaurants many times.

In the final report, chances are there won't be mention of any pictures taken and autographs signed during the inoculation. But if anyone thinks the Flames were not given the star treatment with these swine flu shots, they're kidding themselves. Just don't kill the franchise for asking. Within the rules, the Flames were only trying to take care of their own.

While the investigation of the Flames' very special clinic is ongoing, Alberta Health Services announced a new vaccination plan favoring pregnant women and young children. There's no truth to the rumor the plan also extends to anyone named Sutter.

Flames' Swine Flu Clinic Not Piggish, Just Celeb Reality originally appeared on NHL FanHouse on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Does Anybody Really Care About the NHLPA Drama?

Christopher Botta — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:40:00 EST

Filed under: NHL Media Watch, NHL Economics

The National Hockey League Players Association has denied various reports on Friday that it has ceased operations. The union released this statement at 4:00 p.m. ET: "The NHLPA staff continues to work very hard on behalf of the players in all areas of the Association's business and will continue to do so going forward."

The NHLPA did confirm that interim executive director Ian Penny (pictured right) is no longer associated with the union. From the statement: "Ian Penny informed the NHLPA staff and the NHLPA Executive Board earlier today that it is his position he has been constructively dismissed as Interim Executive Director of the NHLPA and can no longer work in the present circumstances. Effective today, Ian Penny is no longer employed by the NHLPA." In other words, get ready for another round of "I was fired," "No, you quit."

Have I lost you yet? About ready to check out Kevin Schultz's list of the top five NHL coaches on the hot seat? Don't blame you one bit.

About all these Players Association shenanigans, I have one simple question: does anybody really care?

Oh sure, there will be a time when a lot of us in the Nation of Hockey care a lot. That's two years from now, when the Collective Bargaining Agreement expires and we may have to manage to get by without the NHL again.

But is anybody on the edge of his or her seat over the latest drama? Does even the Chris Chelios Fan Club give a flying puck how much the future Hall of Fame defenseman is involved behind the scenes?

The hysteria -- the "I got all the latest!" tweets, the passionate blog entries, the deep investigations by the mainstream -- it all pains me for two reasons.

For starters, every time aces like James Mirtle, Elliotte Friedman, Darren Dreger, Pierre Lebrun, Damien Cox, Larry Brooks and our FanHouse staff get distracted by the PA soap opera, that's time they're not more usefully deployed entertaining us with stories of Brian Burke and Mike Gillis. I mean, c'mon fellas: instead of this monotonous union story, try thinking about the rest of us. Is Taylor Hall the second coming? Who's got the edge on the fourth-line center spot on Team Canada? What job is Dave Nonis next in line for?

If hockey fans really wanted coverage of a bunch of charm-free dorks like Ian Penny, us hockey writers could just start writing about ourselves. (Reminds me of what David Lee Roth once said: "The reason music critics love Elvis Costello so much is because they all look like Elvis Costello.")

Besides losing the fun, escapist hockey coverage, I also cringe over NHLPA drama because ... well, I really like most of the union members. While I've been on both sides of the game as a former team PR VP and now a reporter, hockey players have been very gracious to me. The ones I know personally have never let me down. The ones I watch, often in awe, I believe are the most admirable athletes in major professional sports in North America. Individually, the NHL players are generous, sincere, dedicated. It's only when they try to put the collective in Collective Bargaining Agreement that they're a disaster.

Dysfunction in the Players Association is not a new thing. The union has been a fine mess for most of this decade. Even then, their good souls shine through at times. The PA's "Goals & Dreams" fund has raised over $17 million for grassroots hockey programs around the world. That's news worth covering.

But until someone takes charge and everyone falls into line, there's not much for hockey fans to see here. On Oct. 18, the NHLPA held a conference call to discuss the dismissal of former head Paul Kelly and several key issues. Although the call was on a Sunday and no NHL games were on the schedule, representatives from only 23 of the 30 teams participated. Only one, the Canucks, was said to be traveling and unavailable at the time of the call.

If the National Hockey League players don't care enough about their own Association, why should anyone else? Take the next year, boys, to figure it out on your own. Get back to us when you're ready to act like men.

Does Anybody Really Care About the NHLPA Drama? originally appeared on NHL FanHouse on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:40:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Former Player Criticizes Ron Wilson

Kevin Schultz — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Maple Leafs, NHL Media Watch, NHL Coaching

Doesn't that sound like a juicy headline?

It probably does and has probably left you wondering who it was taking on the Toronto coach. Was it Joe Thornton? Maybe Evgeni Nabokov or Olaf Kolzig? Well, the answer is none of the above. The former player who laid into Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Ron Wilson on TSN's Off the Record this week was Jim Thomson.

If you just said 'who?' you're not alone.

Jim Thomson was originally a ninth round pick of the Washington Capitals in 1984. For 12 years, Thomson carved out a nice career for himself as an enforcer in both the AHL and NHL. He played a total of 115 NHL games for six NHL teams, compiling four goals and over 400 penalty minutes. The funny thing is that Thomson only spent one year under Wilson's wing. Not only that, Thomson was injured for most of said year.

In 1993-94 the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim skated in the NHL for the first time. Their coach? Ron Wilson. Their journeyman enforcer who would retire after playing only six -- yes, six -- games? None other than Jim Thomson.

Somehow, TSN decided that the opinion of someone with six games of experience under Wilson more than 15 years ago was worthy to be filed under "headlines" on their website Saturday night. Clearly, if there is anyone who knows Wilson it's not any of the Sharks players he coached there for five seasons nor any of the Capitals he led for the same number of years. But I digress. Let's humor Thomson and TSN by taking a look at the damning quotes.

"Ron Wilson is not a good coach," Thomson told OTR. "Where it breaks down is he can't motivate players, he doesn't know what to do with players when there's controversy and they are losing."

Or maybe it's just tough to manage an expansion team made up of rookies and throw away veterans led in scoring by the likes of Terry Yake and Bob Corkum. I'm going to go with the latter.

"When he calls out Luke Schenn three games into the season, a young player who's their future, and starts beating the hell out of him. ... You don't call a player out in the media, you go behind closed doors," Thomson stated. "I watched him do it to Oleg Tverdovsky in Anaheim, and he ruined the kid's career."

Thomson may have more of a point here. Tverdovsky was a former second overall pick who never quite panned out. But he lasted only a season and a half in Anaheim before being shipped off to Winnipeg for Teemu Selanne (that worked out well for Anaheim, I think). It's hard to blame a 10-year NHL career that fell short of second overall expectations thanks to the guy who coached about 1/8th of said career. Of course, I wasn't there so I can't dispute that Wilson had no influence on Tverdovsky.

Either way, I'm glad that TSN brought this to our attention. I really thought Wilson was a great coach -- after all he has a winning record, has been to the Finals and has stuck in most places he's been -- but now, I know better.

Former Player Criticizes Ron Wilson originally appeared on NHL FanHouse on Sun, 25 Oct 2009 13:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toronto Star Chooses to Look at Lighter Side of Leafs' Streak

Kevin Schultz — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Maple Leafs, NHL Media Watch

Of all the cities in the hockey world, no town's media may be quite as big or as hard on the folks it covers than the one in Toronto. The Toronto Maple Leafs are covered from every angle -- two or three times over -- and every year it seems the Leafs are going to trade for every star player in the NHL. Add to that a very fine microscope that is placed on the players and employees in the organization and, well, we get one of the toughest places to play in the NHL in terms of media attention.

But today, I'd like to take a moment to credit the Toronto Star for taking the time to laugh at itself and the team in a good, ease the pain, therapeutic kind of way after the Leafs' 0-6-1 start to the season.

It's been a while since the Maple Leafs won the big prize, but you know all about that already. Add to that a sour start to the season and that dream continues to crawl further away. So what the Star decided to do today was make it a laughing matter. Make the whole thing a big joke because, hey, it really can't get much worse (I hope I didn't jinx anything). Although, to be honest, it's a little unsettling when seven games into the season we're already at the point of trying to pass the time:

To pass the time, we want to hear your Maple Leafs favourite jokes. Use the comments section of this article to send us your jokes and the Star will publish a selection in Thursday's edition.

Now, no one really expected the Leafs to challenge for the division or anything this season. This wasn't supposed to be "their year" until the whole thing went horribly wrong. It's just another in the long line of bumps in the road for a team and fanbase that has already hit a lot of potholes over the past few decades. It almost goes to show how much Leafs' followers have had to put up with over that time. That you actually get to points like this when the local newspaper decides to laugh about the whole thing seven games in as opposed to ripping management or the team is new. It probably hurts too much do anything else than laugh (and they do say it's the best medicine).

So, Leafs Nation, try and take it all in stride. It's not easy but if you can't laugh about it, what can you do? And hey, the early submissions from the commentors at the Star are pretty good, too.

"Hamilton may not have a team yet, but they're only one point behind the Leafs!"

"What do the Leafs and a TV evangelist have in common?...

...They each have the ability to make 20,000 people stand up and yell 'Jesus Christ!"

Toronto Star Chooses to Look at Lighter Side of Leafs' Streak originally appeared on NHL FanHouse on Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Georges Laraque Shouldn't Be Sorry in NHL's Hypocritical World

Christopher Botta — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Canadiens, NHL Media Watch, NHL Economics

Georges Laraque recently appeared in an online commercial for an alcohol-infused energy drink, violating NHL policy. On Tuesday, he apologized for breaking the league rule. He has not stopped apologizing since. He really needs to stop.

The phoniness of our major professional sports leagues is boundless.

Laraque is one of the league's top fighters and a popular player for the storied Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens play in a hockey palace currently called the Bell Centre, formerly known as the Molson Centre. Back then, you couldn't go anywhere in the rink without a beer logo in sight.

The team was recently sold to the Molson family, which owns Molson Coors. So there's no confusion, Molson Coors does not make tractor equipment, advance technology or save the whales. It makes beer.

The Montreal Canadiens franchise can exist because of a beer company, but one of its players cannot endorse an alcoholic product because the NHL declares it's not the image the league wants to present.

C'mon. Alcohol is everywhere in this league. Teams profit from the sponsorships of adult beverage companies and "pouring rights" in arenas. Beer is as much a part of the hockey brand as Gordie Howe. You play a game and have a beer. You go to a game and have a few beers.

Here's one example of the hockey-and-alcohol culture. There's been a lovely trend in the NHL over the last decade in which teams host "fathers' trips," a nice three or four days when players take their dads on the charter for a pair of road games to see what the NHL life is like. It's a time for bonding. In other words, it's a drinkfest. If you think the dads are playing backgammon while waiting for the games to start ... hey, it's hockey.

To add to the hypocrisy, Laraque's video spot has also sparked some outrage for its depiction of women. "The camera, the eye, is only focusing on certain parts of the body," noted Chantal Isme, whose group fights sexual exploitation, to the Canadian Press. Isme is correct, but the NHL better hope she doesn't surf team websites.

In the PG-13 ad, the Canadiens' left wing takes part in a pick-up game of street hockey against a five woman aggressive forecheck. (He easily stickhandles circles around them, like they were the Maple Leafs).

The ad is lame, cringe-inducing, everything its creators aimed for. As a result, it's a major viral hit. But there isn't anything there you cannot find by logging on to the Dallas Stars website and clicking on "Ice Girls Videos."

The controversy comes at the same time the lovable Laraque was being hailed for becoming an animals' rights activist. He pledged his salary for the commercial to charity.

The Canadiens are not punishing Laraque for his indiscretion. Team spokesman Donald Beauchamp points out that Laraque did not wear a Canadiens jersey in the commercial and there are no references to the franchise. "For us," said Beauchamp, "it is case closed."

The NHL has only acknowledged that Laraque's drink endorsement was in violation of Article 25.A of the CBA, prohibiting players from sponsoring alcoholic beverages. The league says it will not comment on the possibility of a fine for the player.

Laraque made a mistake, but got the NHL's attention. Now the league should put the hypocrisy aside and work with Laraque, not against him.

Georges Laraque Shouldn't Be Sorry in NHL's Hypocritical World originally appeared on NHL FanHouse on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It's a YouTube World, Kid

Kevin Schultz — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: NHL Media Watch, NHL Videos

When was the last time that the evening Sportscenter (I'm not talking about Sportscentre, mind you) led off with a teaser about something that happened in the hockey world?

That's a rhetorical question, since I'd have to do a lot of digging through a lot of film that I don't have access to to find the answer. Maybe it was when the Penguins skated the Cup around Detroit after winning Game 7. Or it could be further back, when Chris Simon stomped on Jarkko Ruutu, possibly?

My guess is the latter, since, in this YouTube world we live in, the only stories -- clips, I should say -- from hockey that seem to catch on are ones featuring dirty plays and bench-clearing brawls. Despite even the recent positive attitude ESPN has shown towards hockey, it would normally take a Roy son flipping off a crowd to make hockey relevant on the highlight show.

So, for one day, hockey was used as a teaser in a positive light, and we can thank a nine-year-old from Maine who made an unbelievable play for that. Hopefully for him he's got more great plays ahead.

Still, it was not Gary Bettman, Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin or any other adult that was responsible for the positive publicity. That's not to say anything negative of those three. It's just funny how sports picks the most unlikely of stars sometimes.

But kudos to the NHL as this could, in a roundabout way, be thanks to their liberal use of the internet and, specifically, internet video. The league has approached the internet with open arms, something I'm sure you've heard many times, and that's likely part of the reason this video got out there so fast. Heck, could it have even been planned this way by the league, or it is a simple case of video gone viral? Remember, the video that shows up in most places, including FanHouse, is one from the NHL itself. Not YouTube. Almost kind of ironic how that worked out.

The league is smart, they know the game. Nowadays it's only the quick clips that catch and hold on blogs and television, unless you're peddling the almighty football. The clip was posted on the NHL.com for much of the day today -- whether to showcase it or sell it, who knows -- and can still be found on the Bruins' homepage, their home rink being the stage for the shot seen 'round the internet.

So as much as Gary Bettman appears to bumble along at times -- sticking with Versus, potentially mishandling the Versus/DirecTV feud -- the league is doing a few things right. They know what they're up against and how to attract attention. Right now, it's with the power of the internet and the YouTube phenomenon. I wouldn't be surprised if this was a strategically deployed video clip. Not 'strategically deployed' in the sense that it was staged in any way (it wasn't) but in the sense that the league knew exactly how it was going to get it the maximum attention and promotion possible (although having the No. 1,347 ranked website on the entire internet doesn't hurt, either).

In the end a deserving kid from Maine gets 15 minutes and the sport gets some positive attention from ESPN and the mainstream internet media. No matter how it happened, it's nice to see it happening for the right reasons. Now just don't let it get to your head, kid!

It's a YouTube World, Kid originally appeared on NHL FanHouse on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Knuckle Puck: Why We Must Stop the Biting Epidemic

Kevin Schultz — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: NHL Fans, NHL Fights, NHL Media Watch

Each and every Saturday this season I'll be taking a look at the random happenings and absurdities that occur in the world of hockey. This is the first edition. Feel free to suggest stories, complain or otherwise babble at me via electronic mail.

There are a lot of issues facing the NHL. We can argue about the NHL's policy on hits to the head till we're blue in the face, or we can debate the shootout all night. Then there's the situation in Phoenix and the Versus/DirecTV squabble. Sure, all of that is very important. But there's no bigger issue in the NHL today than the biting epidemic. The league must act swiftly to ensure the hands of our favorite stars stay intact and not in the mouths of other players.

First, it was Jarkko Ruutu taking a chomp on Andrew Peters last season. This week, it was Scott Hartnell allegedly biting Kris Letang. The total suspensions for those two incidents? Two games, and Hartnell got off scot-free.

'Sure,' you may say. 'These aren't the hands of serious goal scorers.'

You're right, they're not. Peters has only four goals in 200 career games and Letang has 18 in almost 150 games. But if the NHL doesn't nip this epidemic right away, then we're headed down a death spiral towards rampant hand biting, lawlessness and death panels that decide who lives and dies. It's a very slippery slope, people.

That's why we must act now and convince the NHL that biting is a problem that needs to be addressed. What if Hartnell had decided to chow down on Evgeni Malkin's hand? What a black eye that would be for the sport to have; one of it's best players on the sidelines due to a hungry, hungry Hartnell. This may be funny now, but when teams turn to biting as a way to stifle top goal scorers, we'll wonder why nothing was done about this sooner. I propose that the NHL needs to implement a strict no biting policy unless it involves ice girl-on-ice girl action, or food from concession stands.

YouTube of the Week
TSN wants another Canadian team... In New York?

Jokes I Can't Resist Making
- Since corporate re-branding is a big deal nowadays, the Islanders try some of their own.
- TSN has scientifically determined that the only thing more annoying than the Toronto media is combining it with the New York media.
- The team's logo is a Maple Leaf that reads fugghedaboutit.
- Now, New Yorkers can find out what it's like to have a team with the history, tradition and arrogant fans of the Yankees without all the championships.

Knuckle Pucker of the Year Nominee
Each week, we'll nominate someone who deserves to be recognized for their outstanding service and commitment to giving me something to write about. By the end of the year I'll come up with some way to declare a winner. Today's nominee is...

Josh Sacco. I'm sure you've seen the 4-year old Herb Brooks already but he certainly deserves to be nominated for this award. Here's a new video of him giving his speech to the Predators' in-game entertainers. Somewhere, Herb Brooks is looking down and smiling.

Knuckle Puck: Why We Must Stop the Biting Epidemic originally appeared on NHL FanHouse on Sat, 10 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2-on-1: The NHL's Duty in the DirecTV/Versus Dispute

Bruce Ciskie — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: NHL Fans, NHL Media Watch

Every Monday during the season, two of our hockey writers will debate one topic. It's the 2-on-1. This week, Bruce Ciskie and Kevin Schultz discuss how the NHL has handled the flap between DirecTV and Versus.

Bruce Ciskie: DirecTV customers have a bit of a problem, as all games available on Versus are not available to them. When it comes to options they have that are actually legal, there aren't many. How embarrassing is it for the NHL that millions of people don't have access to some of their games because of a petty contract dispute?

Kevin Schultz: Pretty embarrassing really, but the worst part is this is a problem that wasn't created by the league itself (for once). The tough part is that there's not much they can do other than try and be a mediator, which they have chosen not to do. There's probably not much they can do anyway.

What really surprised me was when the overnight rating came out on Friday from Nielsen declaring this the highest rated season opener yet for Versus. They didn't do Winter Classic numbers or anything, so let's not get too crazy, but keep in mind they did that without the help of the biggest satellite television provider in America.

But, Versus being, well, Versus and not ESPN or any other major cable network and throw in the fact the two factions look more like warring middle school girls, I think we could be in for a long stand off here. It's keeping with the trend that the NFL Network and other niche sports channels have set of going to war with cable providers. That didn't work out well for NFLN and well, I don't see it going well for Versus. There just aren't enough people out there who are going to start clamoring for it. This isn't Rogers blocking LeafsTV from the city of Toronto or anything.

Ciskie: What stinks about this is that the NHL is allowing it to happen. Yes, Versus is a major partner for the league, and it makes no sense for the league to throw them under the bus.

However, DirecTV is a HUGE part of the league's marketing, as they not only have carried Versus, but also bring NHL Network to households, and they offer Center Ice.

The league has no business taking one side or the other, and instead they should be more actively involved with making sure a deal gets done before we're deep into the season.

DirecTV should be offering free Center Ice to ALL subscribers until the Versus deal is complete (with pro-rated credits on the bills of all who have already paid for it), and there should come a point where they are forced to carry -- in HD -- all Versus games on a dedicated channel until a deal is done. This shouldn't be done as a favor to anyone, because having DirecTV put just Versus games on does neither side any long-term good. Versus needs all their programming on DirecTV, and DirecTV needs to have Versus on 24/7 or not at all. It makes them look absolutely silly to have these games floating around, but nothing else from Versus available. It is about the only weapon the league has to get a deal done before we're knee-deep into the season, because as you said, Kevin, these two sides are feuding like teenagers.

It's pretty ridiculous, frankly, and as a customer of DirecTV, I find it insulting. Don't tell me that you understand how important something is to me. I'm paying good money for Center Ice because I want to see every game. Not having Versus available dramatically cuts the tangible value of Center Ice, since there are some marquee games I'll be missing because of not having Versus.

No, Versus doesn't always do the best job, but they've made hires aimed at improving their on-air presentation and the overall image of their product. Unfortunately, millions of people have no idea how those hires will work out, because they can't see the games.

Schultz: You're absolutely right. The smartest thing for the league would be to sit down at the bargaining table and try to work this out between the two sides. Both have been helpful to the league and are responsible for creating programming and distributing the programming.

That being said what I can't understand is DirecTV's position. We have DirecTV at work -- yes, we get to watch TV here and yes, it's awesome -- and there are 700 channels. Heck there's probably more that I don't know about. So why hold out on one? And some of the reasoning given when you try to tune in is pretty funny.

"In these difficult economic times we don't want to pass the increase [in airtime fees] on to you, our valued customer."

They don't want to pass on the, what is it like 50 cents extra Versus wants? If it's even that much. If there's anyone out there who is going to call DirecTV pissed off about that then those folks need to rethink why they're shelling out all that money for satellite in the first place. I know times are tough, but jeez, 50 cents a month isn't breaking anyone's bank.

Speaking of hires, where's Jeremey Roenick and why is he not on my television?

Ciskie: I'll give Versus credit. They still don't quite get the whole concept of shooting hockey games or how to present the game graphically (their scorebar is cumbersome, way too big, and almost ugly). I've almost given up on them, because they clearly don't get "it" on either of these topics.

Where they've improved is in the voices that they are using. Joe Beninati isn't all that great, but he's improved over having been virtually intolerable a few years ago. They have Dave Strader, Rick Peckham, and John Forslund available for play-by-play, and all three are pretty good or better. Analysts like Billy Jaffe, Ed Olczyk, Andy Brickley, and Darren Eliot are all easy to listen to and do a good job.

This year, they stepped up their game in the studio. Even if Darren Dreger is only on via satellite once a month, he improves their pregame and intermission presence. He can do it without breaking a story, so if he does that it's a bonus.

The broadcasts should be better, and that's a start. Now, if we can only get them to use the same scorebox they use for college football.

Schultz: I'm willing to let their game presentation go. This is America and we're talking about hockey. If it's not on ESPN I'm not expecting miracles. Their commentators have improved and the presentation is flawed but my worst fear is watching the intermission reports. I don't think I've seen one of those in a few years.

I think we're getting a bit off topic, though. Let's try and iron out some conclusions on the subject of DirecTV and Versus. Can we agree that A) DirecTV owes something to it's hockey loving customers B) the NHL isn't helping the fans out at all here (surprise, surprise) and C) watching games on Versus kinda sucks anyway?

Ciskie: I agree on all counts. The NHL needs to stop acting like they can play no role in this without the consent of both parties. It's their product, and both DirecTV and Versus are their distributors. They're not partners in the NHL. Their job is to help the NHL distribute the product to the people who want to see it. Right now, millions of people are being left in the dark on some of the bigger games being played, and the league is just sitting around with the proverbial thumb up the rear end. It does them absolutely no good to continue to let the two sides fight like this, when the only people being hurt are the NHL and the fans.

2-on-1: The NHL's Duty in the DirecTV/Versus Dispute originally appeared on NHL FanHouse on Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Knuckle Puck: Maybe He Is Simply a Grain Enthusiast

Kevin Schultz — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 11:39:00 EST

Filed under: Maple Leafs, NHL Media Watch, NHL Coaching, Junior Hockey

Each and every Saturday this season I'll be taking a look at the random happenings and absurdities that occur in the world of hockey. This is the first edition. Feel free to suggest stories, complain or otherwise babble at me via electronic mail.

Sometimes when naming a child, a parent chooses to give their child a special name. Occasionally, they name their offspring after a parent, a friend or someone else who has been influential in their lives. Other times, well, the child is named after a Canadian junior hockey club in Western Canada. This is one of those times.

The Brandon Wheat Kings play in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada. They're a WHL club, not some Western Conference team you've never heard of -- expect severe East Coast bias every Saturday, by the way. I cannot confirm, but what probably happened was about 18 years ago some expecting parent went a little overboard and named their child after their favorite junior hockey club. 'Well, what's the big deal about a kid named Brandon King?' you say. Not so fast. If his name was Brandon, this could be a coincidence. But no, not only did the parents go so far as to name the child after the team, they made sure to name him in such a way that tells the world, 'Yes, we named him after the team on purpose.'

Meet Wheaton King from Brandon, Manitoba who plays for the Brandon Wheat Kings. Somewhere, that kid who got named after Florida quarterback Tim Tebow -- Tebow Sanford Crumley -- is thinking that he doesn't have it so bad after all.

Jokes I Can't Resist Making
- His parents couldn't go with Wheat. That was a little too crazy.
- The worst part is he gets made fun of by teammates named Dayln, Dallas and Klarc.
- OK, to be fair, maybe he really likes Wheat a whole lot.
- Why doesn't it surprise me that this is what it takes to get Deadspin to acknowledge hockey?

Ron Wilson's Playbook
Maybe this is why the Leafs lost to Montreal on Thursday night. Hockey Night in Canada aired a pretty clear picture of coach Ron Wilson's gameplan. Maybe the Habs installed a television behind the bench over the summer.

Then again, maybe Wilson needs some better insights than "No Leaf is ever left behind" which, I guess, is now plausible since Kyle Wellwood is no longer with the team. But what happens if Jeff Finger oversleeps and misses the team bus? Do they just say 'screw it' and keep driving or show up during the second period? That would explain a few things about last season.

YouTube of the Week

This bear from the University of Alaska Fairbanks is ridiculous and clearly has superpowers. No wonder Stephen Colbert is always warning us about bears. This one flies through space blowing up the solar system and then smashes in the roof of a hockey arena! It's these kinds of glorious videos that make me wish I was old enough to remember the 80s... Wait... NAH!

Knuckle Pucker of the Year Nominee
Each week, we'll nominate someone who deserves to be recognized for their outstanding service and commitment to giving me something to write about. By the end of the year I'll come up with some way to declare a winner. Today's nominee is...

ESPN's NHL Power Rankings! Thank you ESPN for having baseball writer Tim Kurkjan fill out your opening week power rankings. Either that, or someone wanted to have fun at the expense of Barry Melrose. Clearly, nobody in the hockey world had a hand in it since the Lightning are 10th (Fifth in the east! That's playoff bound! Easily!), the Canucks are 17th (they do have that Luongo person, right?) and the Devils 24th (HAHAHAHAHA... Ah, man. That's just funny. I think ESPN just pissed off Brodeur into winning another Vezina).

Thank you, ESPN NHL Power Rankings for providing us with some unintentional comedy. It's good to know that none of your hockey writers were consulted during their creation. The article is attributed to Scott Burnside, but we know he's a bright guy and is clearly not behind this.

Knuckle Puck: Maybe He Is Simply a Grain Enthusiast originally appeared on NHL FanHouse on Sat, 03 Oct 2009 11:39:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Versus Calls Out DirecTV

Bruce Ciskie — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: NHL Fans, NHL Media Watch, FanHouse Exclusive

On Sept. 1, DirecTV subscribers no longer had access to Versus. Hockey fans who have DirecTV likely didn't panic, figuring the two sides -- comprised of mature, professional adults -- would be able to work out their differences before the NHL season started.

One month later, the NHL season is indeed underway, and we are seemingly no closer to a resolution. In fact, if the talk from Versus is any indication, we might be a long way from DirecTV subscribers being able to watch NHL games on Versus.

While DirecTV has toned down their rhetoric, moving away from calling out Versus' programming, it seems that Versus has had enough of this situation.

Network president Jamie Davis was on a conference call with reporters to preview the NHL season Wednesday, and he offered up strong words about the negotiations with DirecTV.

He accused DirecTV of trying to "cloud the issue" regarding subscriber rate talks. He flatly denied that his network demanded a 20 percent hike in fees from DirecTV. Davis noted that September of 2009 was the "most-watched September in the history of our network," even though the network was not on DirecTV.

"In September of 2008 we were on DirecTV. In September of 2009, we have not been," Davis said.

Davis also claims that DirecTV wants a clause in their deal that allows them to move Versus to a sports-exclusive tier. This tier is called the Sports Pack on DirecTV, and it costs subscribers an additional $12 per month. It includes regional Fox Sports Net channels, as well as well-known networks like NESN, Altitude, and a couple regional Comcast sports networks, along with ESPNU and CBS College Sports. Davis says this move would "permanently" cost Versus some 6 million subscribers.

There have been reports that DirecTV has offered to air the NHL games, presumably taking Versus off the air again once game coverage is complete, while the two sides continue to negotiate.

"It is only due to the massive outcry from the Versus fans, and the NHL fans," Davis said, "that they realize that they made a mistake."

A Versus source told FanHouse Friday that DirecTV is also telling media they offered -- 30 minutes prior to faceoff -- to air the Thursday night NHL doubleheader, but this claim "is absolutely not true."

"They say they're willing to air the games," the source said, "but they never officially offered to do it."

The source became quite agitated when questioned about the possibility of officially approaching DirecTV with a similar offer, saying he wasn't "going to deal in hypotheticals," and reminding FanHouse that Versus "is doing everything we can to get a deal done."

Asked if allowing DirecTV to air only NHL games would potentially bring the sides closer to a full agreement, the source would only repeat that the network is doing all they can, and questioned how wise it would be to let DirecTV flip the feed on for NHL games and off when the games are over. It doesn't sound like Versus is interested in letting DirecTV air NHL games only while the rest of the deal is consummated.

The source also said the network has presented a proposal to DirecTV in the last few days that included a "zero total cost increase" to DirecTV. However, it also would not allow DirecTV to move Versus to a sports-exclusive tier.

Anyone who has followed high-profile negotiations in sports knows that -- in a high percentage of cases -- deals tend to get done when the public rhetoric increases. Time will tell if DirecTV and Versus can come together, but both sides are under pressure from NHL fans to get the deal done.

In the meantime, the fans continue to lose out. As of the end of the day Friday, four "nationally televised" NHL games will have been played, and DirecTV subscribers have had access to exactly zero of them. Whether you are looking at this from the perspective of Versus, DirecTV, or the NHL, this is an unsettling development, and a much more significant problem than anyone in the league seems to think it is.

Versus Calls Out DirecTV originally appeared on NHL FanHouse on Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NHL's Expansion Follies Started in '66, Writer Says

Kevin Schultz — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: NHL Media Watch, NHL Economics

When people criticize the NHL's move to southern markets, usually the new locales of the 1990s and 2000s are targeted. The expansion to Tampa Bay, Miami, Nashville, Atlanta and the Whalers' relocation to Carolina tend to come to mind. Each has their supporters and detractors and now that the Phoenix Coyotes, who moved to the desert in 1996, are in trouble, the topic comes up for debate more often.

Given this much ammunition, detractors usually keep busy trashing on the likes of Phoenix, Nashville and their southern brethren. But not Frank Deford of NPR. When it comes to trashing the NHL's expansion, he takes it old school. And by 'old school' I mean 'back to the first time the NHL expanded in 1966.'

Mr. Deford -- 43 years after the fact, mind you -- thinks the NHL was better off with only six teams.

Long ago, one evening in 1966, I was in a suite at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto with some folks from the National Hockey League. They were all feeling pretty heady. The league was about to double in size, an incursion into the United States that would take Canada's game as far south as Los Angeles.

Since the NHL was a huge success in all its six franchise cities in Canada and the northern U.S., everybody was certain that great times must lie ahead in the expansion outpost.

Of course, it didn't work out quite that way.

Yeah, those six franchises they added in 1966 were a mistake. The Philadelphia and Pittsburgh franchises never really were able to establish fanbases before folding in 1972 and '76. The two California franchises were swept out to sea during a 1984 earthquake and the Minnesota expansion got lost in a blizzard back in '87. The other franchise in St. Louis, well, they did alright for themselves.

Err... wait. Am I remembering that right? Help me out, Frank.

But the league has pressed on, forever sprinkling franchises into places like Miami and Nashville and Raleigh in a vain effort to be a fully national American television sport. It doesn't seem to do any good. NHL ratings are traditionally woeful, especially down South.

I'll give you Miami, but the teams in Nashville and Raleigh are attracting fans, no? And let's ignore the success stories in places such as Columbus and Dallas while we're doing this. But I digress.

This isn't about the recent expansions and relocations. It's about that pesky bunch that took the NHL from a niche sport in 1966 to slightly less of a niche sport in 1967. That's where all of the league's problems stem from! Forget that the NHL has since turned into a nationally recognized sport in America, albeit not nationally followed, and earned itself enough attention to be nationally televised. Bah! In 1966, they didn't have TVs! Right, Frank? So let's all go back to wood-burning stoves, eight tracks and coal power too!

NHL's Expansion Follies Started in '66, Writer Says originally appeared on NHL FanHouse on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kansas City Star Has High Expectations For John Tavares

Adam Gretz — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:10:00 EST

Filed under: Islanders, Kings, NHL Media Watch

The New York Islanders are taking on the Los Angeles Kings in an exhibition game on Tuesday night at the brand new Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.

Since the town has been considered a possible landing spot for the Islanders if the lighthouse project falls though, forcing the team to consider other options, the local scribes in Kansas City are already hyping up the players in orange and blue to semi-ridiculous levels.

Take, for instance, the article written by Randy Covitz of the Kansas City Star on Monday, particularly the paragraph discussing No. 1 overall draft pick John Tavares (who, by the way, will not be playing against the Kings on Tuesday):

Unfortunately for Kansas City, Tavares, a forward expected to be the next Wayne Gretzky and Sidney Crosby rolled into one, won't be part of a split squad when the Islanders face the AEG-owned Los Angeles Kings at 7 tonight at the Sprint Center.

Emphasis mine. Look, we're all excited about Tavares, and speaking for myself, I hope he does for the Islanders (in New York) what Sidney Crosby did for Pittsburgh and what Alex Ovechkin did for Washington, but let's drop the ole hype machine a few notches here.

Wayne Gretzky and Sidney Crosby? All rolled into one? We're all guilty of a little hyperbole now and then ... but wow.

I don't think I've ever read, or heard, such a comparison when discussing Tavares. At least not recently. Let's keep in mind that for as talented as Tavares is (and he's very talented), and for as much potential as he has (he has quite a bit), he wasn't even unanimously considered the No. 1 prospect in his own draft class. Some favored the No. 2 pick, Swedish defenseman Victor Hedman, while there was a seemingly legitimate discussion as to whether or not the Islanders would even use the top pick on Tavares.

Of course, that's not to discredit Tavares and his abilities (like this, for example), just to point out that it's completely unrealistic, and a little unfair, to label him as somebody expected to be the next "Wayne Gretzky and Sidney Crosby rolled into one."

Asking him to be "the next Crosby" might be too much on its own, but it's at least understandable. After all, Tavares dominated the OHL in a manner that was comparable to Crosby's dominance in the QMJHL. Plus, it's not out of the question for Tavares to possibly be the better goal-scorer in the long run, even if he's not the better overall player. But throwing in Gretzky, the guy that's considered to be one of the greatest hockey players of all-time (arguments for Gordie Howe, Bobby Orr and Mario Lemieux are all perfectly acceptable) is just off the charts.

Kansas City Star Has High Expectations For John Tavares originally appeared on NHL FanHouse on Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:10:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lightly Attended Preseason Game Somehow Deemed Newsworthy

Kevin Schultz — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 09:30:00 EST

Filed under: Coyotes, NHL Fans, NHL Media Watch

The Phoenix Coyotes attracted only a few thousand fans to their first preseason game at home Wednesday night. Now, in any other year, would that be a newsworthy headline on any story? No, of course not.

But since the Coyotes are in Bankruptcy Court Limbo, under a microscope and expected by many to draw negative fans this season, it is. Anyway, the AP felt the need to publish the story. Some local outlets also weighed in giving even more grim numbers accompanied by pictures of worried fans. It was all really kinda manufactured and poorly reported.

First off, the difference in attendance figures was so drastic it almost seemed like no one was really counting. Each story trying to one-up the previous. The first example from the AP paints a bleak picture.

"With only a couple thousand on hand, if that, the Phoenix Coyotes began an uncertain pre-season with a 4-2 split-squad win over the Los Angeles Kings."

OK, so that doesn't sound good. But that's probably not too distant an attendance figure from many American hockey clubs during the preseason. But the Phoenix Business Journal one upped the AP and declared Phoenix a dying metropolis of sorts.

"About 1,000 people were at the 17,800-seat Jobing.com Arena for the Coyotes preseason 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings, according to stadium personnel and others."

So, the attendance got cut in half between the two reports. Seems like it was because the Journal took the time to talk to "stadium personnel and others." Since they didn't feel like giving full disclosure I'm going to assume "and others" means "we paid the bum outside five bucks to tell us how many people he thought were at the game and another five to write the story."

But hey, not everyone can go so in-depth into their reporting. The local FOX television affiliate, KSAZ, went one graver step forward. They not only painted a zombie filled doomsday scenario of the attendance but even took the time to go inside and take pictures of the people there. Careful! I hear that these days the remaining Coyotes fans only come out at night and feast on the living!

Last year the average attendance was in the thousands. Tuesday, only a few hundred people attended. Although the Glendale City Council continues to support a deal that would keep the Coyotes in Glendale, fans are disappointed in the sad turnout.

Read the second sentence of that quote over. It doesn't even make sense. I guess that's what happens when we're dealing with a FOX affiliate.

Regardless, it seems that no matter who we're asking about the attendance it was clearly sparse. I've got a problem, though. Since there was supposedly such a small crowd and the average hockey game takes about 2 1/2 hours, couldn't someone have actually taken the time to count how many people were there?

But this is starting to get way off topic. My main point here is that they're making news out of the fact that this team is getting a sparse crowd for its first home preseason game. So here's the scenario the news outlets are trying to convince us is shocking:

1) It is a Tuesday night. Clearly no one has to work on Wednesday.
2) We're in Phoenix in September, which means that it's acid rain season and there's no reason to go outside.
3) It's a preseason game (first one, no less).
4) The Coyotes were awful last year.
5) This bankruptcy thing has annihilated a fan base that was already one of the worst at the gate the last two seasons.

Actually, it would be more shocking if anyone actually went to a Coyotes game. You could ask them all sorts of fun things like: "on a scale of 1 to 10 how ironic is it that the team that moved here after deserting a city is probably deserting this one too?" "Wouldn't it just be more fun to actually set your wallet on fire?" and "Are you only here because you missed your tee time?"

But anyway, the team that doesn't draw many fans to begin with inhabits a warm, sunny climate and isn't playing a meaningful game for another few weeks drew a couple thousand fans -- maybe -- to a completely meaningless game that neither team was really trying to win. And in other news the sun rose in the east and set in the west today.

Lightly Attended Preseason Game Somehow Deemed Newsworthy originally appeared on NHL FanHouse on Thu, 17 Sep 2009 09:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What Do TSN.ca's Ads Tell Us About Hockey Fans?

Kevin Schultz — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: NHL Fans, NHL Media Watch, NHL Economics

Advertisements on television, the radio and internet usually tell us a bit about the group of people that regularly take in a certain program or website. It's a pretty basic fundamental of advertising and marketing -- you try and sell certain products to a certain demographic. That's why it kind of surprised me when I saw an ad for the television show America's Next Top Model on TSN.ca before watching the highlights of Monday's rookie scrimmage between the Leafs and Bruins.

Since the dawn of the internet, advertisers have been trying to find a way to reach consumers. They haven't had a heck of a lot of success. But some of the most common and successful ads today are 30-second spots that air before you watch video clips and television shows online, such as the one on TSN.

That's where I found the spot for America's Next Top Model, which at first glance appears to be a show that would not appeal to most hockey fans. It's wildly successful in pop culture and with fashionistas, but that doesn't mean hockey fans are clamoring for it. Since ads are specifically targeted to certain groups, what made the advertisers for the show choose TSN.ca? More specifically, why the NHL section? Do hockey fans have a soft side that we like to repress or do many of us simply have a secret dream to become a supermodel? Maybe we just like to look at models? That's probably it.

But to make sure I wasn't seeing things, I refreshed the page a few times hoping to get a look at all the different ads TSN airs before these video clips. There were a few others, ones that you would probably expect. Ads for fast food chain Wendy's, an ad for an upcoming NFL game on TSN and one encouraging viewers to play fantasy football on NFLCanada.com. Judging by the ads, hockey fans are also into bacon cheeseburgers and football but those -- especially the latter -- aren't the long-shot connections that ANTM is.

So what's the conclusion here? Do we, as hockey fans, have a soft side or pipe dreams to become famous models? It's hard to say, although I do have some photos of the NHL FanHouse editors in dresses for safekeeping. But that's neither here nor there. I think that, despite our bloodlust that's more than visible every time a couple of enforcers drop the gloves, we hockey fans do have a soft, creamy inside. We love the kiss cam on the scoreboard. Those pink jerseys the Hershey Bears wore last season were just darling and, of course, we're eagerly awaiting the new season of America's Next Top Model.

What Do TSN.ca's Ads Tell Us About Hockey Fans? originally appeared on NHL FanHouse on Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Versus, DirecTV Deal Expires Aug. 31

Bruce Ciskie — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 19:35:00 EST

Filed under: NHL Fans, NHL Media Watch

UPDATE: VERSUS has given FanHouse the following statement: "Since our last deal with DirecTV, VERSUS has added many marquee properties and has become the fastest growing sports cable network in the country. Despite this tremendous momentum, we are offering DirecTV the ability to carry VERSUS the same way it does today at the market price for the network. We continue to talk and are hopeful that we will reach an agreement."

Wednesday was the day that the NHL announced their national television schedules for the upcoming season. The league's main United States television partner, Versus, has a slate of 54 games that begins on the first night of NHL play, Oct. 1.

FanHouse has learned, however, that millions of fans might not have access to those games. Major satellite provider DirecTV is in a contract dispute with Versus that threatens to take the network off the service.

DirecTV says their contract with Versus expires Aug. 31, and while they note that negotiations are ongoing, their message to customers makes it clear that the network could be removed from DirecTV if a deal is not reached.

A brief question and answer on DirecTV's website puts the blame for this issue on Versus.

Versus is asking for terms which do not reflect the market and which they are not asking of all other distributors. DIRECTV wants to keep your monthly fees low, so it's doing everything it can to avoid paying exorbitant programming fees.

Obviously, the NHL is affected, as they are the main anchor of Versus' programming.

Also impacted are fans of college football. Versus is scheduled to air games out of the Big 12, Pac 10, and Mountain West this fall, starting with Texas at Wyoming Sept. 12.

There are still more than 10 days left before this contract expires. However, in the light of the NHL's improved ratings and overall exposure nationally last year, this is not good news.

Versus, DirecTV Deal Expires Aug. 31 originally appeared on NHL FanHouse on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 19:35:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Statistical Analysis in Hockey Trails Other Sports, but Progress Is Being Made

Adam Gretz — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:28:00 EST

Filed under: NHL Fans, NHL Media Watch

The recent SABR explosion in Major League Baseball has changed the way fans watch the game and evaluate the players taking part. Out are batting average and ERA; in are On-Base Percentage and WHIP. If you're a hockey fan looking for the same type of advancements, Behind The Net is a must-bookmark, as well as the folks at Puck Prospectus.

Hockey may be trailing baseball and the other major sports when it comes to advanced statistical analysis, but the gap is starting to close, and Gabriel Desjardins, lead man of Behind The Net and contributor to Puck Prospectus, is one of the people at the forefront.

"I have to give a lot of credit to the guys at Citizen Sports/Protrade," said Desjardins via e-mail. "My original idea for Behind the Net was a Win Probability model, which I pitched to Jeff Ma just before the lockout. Bad timing. I worked with the Protrade guys on other sports for a couple of years, but Roland Beech (of 82games) was a huge supporter of my hockey work and gave me the push I needed to get back into hockey analysis."

He continued: "Hockey is so far behind the other sports on the analysis side that it has a bit of a wild west feel to it, and a sense that some random blogger somewhere might have figured out something that many GMs and coaches don't know. That's no longer true in baseball, for sure. I really respect the Oilers blogger community for their contributions to hockey analysis, and trying to bring some of their brilliance to the rest of the league keeps me going."

For years, the only metrics hockey fans had to evaluate and compare players were the raw numbers (goals, assists, points) and what I've considered to be a heavily flawed statistic in plus/minus. The issue with plus/minus, to me, is that it punishes players for playing on bad teams, and rewards players for playing on good teams. An example I use, and one I proposed to Desjardins, is Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara. During his final year with the Islanders in 2000-01, he was a team-worst minus-27. The following season, after being acquired by the Ottawa Senators in the now infamous Alexei Yashin trade, Chara instantly improved to a plus-30, a 57-goal swing in one year. Did he suddenly get that much better over night? There has to be a better way to measure players.

Two of the concepts that Desjardins uses at Behind the Net are "quality of teammates" and "quality of competition."

We know that if you're an NHL winger there's a difference between having Joe Thornton as your center as opposed to a guy like Jordan Staal. One of the players (Thornton) is significantly better at distributing the puck and setting up his teammates.

But how much better? Can we put a number on it? Apparently, we can.

"Everything starts with the idea of relative plus/minus, which I've called a player's 'rating,'" said Desjardins. "This is just his team's plus/minus when he's not on the ice subtracted from his plus/minus. It's an attempt to account for a player's performance relative to his team so that players on bad teams aren't unjustly penalized for their teammates' performances. It's not perfect, but it's rare that you build a perfect metric by subtracting A from B."

"Quality of Teammates is pretty straightforward, he said. "It's just the average rating of a player's teammates. If he only plays with players who outperform their team, then it'll be high. You can identify which line a player plays on almost immediately by looking over a roster's worth of Quality of Teammates. I also wanted to make these metrics computationally simple so that anybody could reproduce them if they wanted to."

And about that Thornton or Staal question?

"The difference between playing with Staal and playing with Thornton is approximately one goal per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 time on ice," said Desjardins. "So that would change your plus/minus by about 15-20 goals per season. So while Marleau-Thornton-Setoguchi was plus-16, Marleau-Staal-Setoguchi would be around even. That sounds about right to me -- Thornton is probably worth 2-3 more wins per season than Staal. It's difficult to say exactly since these statistics are simple first-order metrics and they don't separate out the impacts of the other players on the ice."

Below is the rest of my chat with Gabriel Desjardins:

******

Quality of teammate is explained above, but what about quality of competition. What is it, how is it factored, what does it mean?

Quality of Competition is a slightly different animal. It is just the average "rating" of all opponents faced by a given player, weighted by ice-time. It behaves differently than the quality of teammates because playing ratings tend to vary by team. So it is a very good metric for determining who faced the toughest competition on a given team, and, in a general sense, it can isolate which players faced the toughest competition overall (Bouwmeester, Lidstrom, Jan Hejda, Seabrook/Keith, Anton Volchenkov, Sami Pahlsson, etc...). But it has some quirks -- the Flames and Oilers, for example, came out with overwhelmingly negative ratings -- which come from not having an iterative adjustment of competition like what's done with Power Rankings to make sure teams aren't dragged down by facing tough opponents.

Despite some early scrutiny and mainstream media backlash (example: Joe Morgan vs. Moneyball), statistical analysis in baseball has really taken some leaps forward in recent years, I mean, It's to the point now where On-Base Percentage and OPS are actually featured on ESPN game broadcasts. Do you see a point where hockey can advance that far?

I actually see something different taking shape. For a long time, baseball analysts focused on what I would call "static" analysis, that is, linear weighting of statistical categories that somebody made up in the 1880s. This turned out to work exceptionally well for modeling hitting, but it had almost no value for pitching and fielding. What improved fielding analysis by leaps and bounds was to view the game as dynamic (as all sports are) and take what amounts to scouting information -- a bunch of people scoring the game and noting where balls were hit and how hard -- and aggregate it over thousands of plays. Mitchel Lichtman deserves tremendous credit for popularizing this concept. The next big step has been Pitch F/X, which took scouting electronic, and has given us information about pitchers that we could never have otherwise obtained. The amount of math involved has dropped to virtually nil - one college-level stats class is more than good enough - but you need people who understand the game and know what questions to ask.

Hockey has made some good steps in collecting dynamic information, but we're still missing too much of the action. We have no idea if passes connect, if shots are screened, or where players are positioned. The Blues scored a goal on the Sharks this season because Dan Boyle went to the bench while the Blues had possession in his end. If you're trying to figure out why that goal happened, the data collected at the game is of little use. The NHL needs to put tracking devices on every jersey and the puck; once that happens, analysts will be able to get the same sense of the game you can get from watching it closely in person.

Defense. How can we measure it?

It's difficult. Ultimately, you need to look at how many goals were scored against an individual player and who was on the ice with and against him, as well as whether he started out in his defensive zone or in the offensive zone. This last point is a brilliant observation by Oilers blogger Vic Ferrari. It seems to me that if we knew which team/player had the puck at any given moment, we'd be able to make some big strides on that issue. But watching film and making a subjective judgment is probably the best way to do it at the moment.

How does all of this compare to the SABR explosion in baseball in recent years, and what are the most useful statistical tools developed most recently?

I think the single most brilliant realization anyone has made in the last few years is that coaches have a huge impact on player opportunities based on who they send out for faceoffs. Vic Ferrari deserves a lot of credit for noticing this: Some guys always go out for offensive zone faceoffs; some guys start in the defensive end almost all the time, and once they win the face-off or break out of the zone, they go back to the bench and somebody else gets their offensive opportunity.

It's like the proverbial problem with football: the guy who moves the ball the first 99 years gets no credit, while the guy who runs the ball in from the one-yard line gets big credit for a high-percentage play. So much of the rest of what's involved in analyzing a player depends on whether he starts in his own zone or in the other team's. The other thing you notice is that most coaches seem to know what they're doing. In baseball, you'll still see a manager bring in his 5th-best right-handed reliever to face the other team's lefty-hitting 3-4-5 hitters in the 7th inning of a tie game. I like to think of this crappy Joe Mantegna movie, Comrades of Summer. Mantegna is managing the Russian national baseball team and one of his coaches is a Cuban guy who seems to know the game pretty well. Every time a player makes the wrong decision, the Cuban guy tells them what to do: "Manuel says pitcher covers first base." Mantegna assumes Manuel was some brilliant Cuban baseball guru. But eventually Manuel is wrong about something and Mantegna finds out the truth: "Manuel" is the Russian Baseball Manual, and the assistant coach was just reading from it. Managers make such gross strategic errors in baseball that many fans can point them out.

But how many hockey fans would know whether it was a good idea for Columbus to send Manny Malhotra out for every defensive face-off in the last two minutes of the game and then get a change if he won the draw and broke out? How many fans would even notice this? I've played hockey for 25 years and I feel like I barely know how to watch a hockey game. I don't think this contradicts my earlier assertion that a random blogger could figure out something that many GMs don't know -- teams are good at analyzing their own players, but not necessarily the guys on other teams, especially in other divisions.

Statistical Analysis in Hockey Trails Other Sports, but Progress Is Being Made originally appeared on NHL FanHouse on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:28:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Swedish Prospects Dominate NHL Draft's First Round

Adam Gretz — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:10:00 EST

Filed under: NHL Draft, NHL Fans, NHL Media Watch

The first round of the NHL Draft saw the league's general managers clean out the Swedish cupboard, as seven players from Sweden were selected on Friday night. Massive defenseman Victor Hedman led the way, going to the Tampa Bay Lightning with the No. 2 pick, while Leksand's Oliver Ekman-Larsson went to Phoenix at No. 6.

Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson, projected by many as a top-six pick going in, slipped down to Edmonton with the tenth overall pick, while David Rundbald, Jacob Josefson, Tim Erixon and Marcus Johannson rounded out the Swedish invasion.

After the jump, more thoughts and observations on what happened (and what didn't happen) during the opening round.

More: No Surprises Among Top Three Picks

All quiet on the trade front

Aside from the Chris Pronger blockbuster that came out of left field, nothing interesting happened in terms of the big-name players that were supposedly on the block. Dany Heatley, Vincent Lecavalier, Tomas Kaberle, Jay Bouwmeester, and even San Jose's Ryane Clowe, are all still with their current clubs. That's not to say there weren't rumors flying around for most of the day. One of the big ones that TSN reported earlier on Friday was that Boston had offered Phil Kessel to Toronto for Kaberle and the No. 7 pick. As good as Kessel is (and as good as he can be in the future) that doesn't seem like enough for a top-pairing defenseman and a top-10 pick in what's supposed to be a strong draft. Not surprising that nothing came of it.

For the second day in a row word surfaced that a Bouwmeester trade could be imminent, and for the second day in a row nothing happened. At this point, the Panthers should be ecstatic with a second-round pick for the rights to negotiate with Bouwmeester.

Personally, I was hoping that a Lecavalier-to-Montreal trade would have been announced at some point, just to see what would have been a magnificent reaction in the Bell Centre. Honestly, the fans might have rioted in celebration like it was 1993 all over again.

We need more Brian Burke

TSN decided to put a microphone on Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke, and, quite honestly, they couldn't have made a better choice. Always great for a quote, Burke offered some candid, and sometimes hilarious, insight every time the camera went to him. Some of my favorites:

-- Early in the draft, Burke was spotted having a conversation with Montreal Canadiens general manager, Bob Gainey, and he helped create a rumor in the process: "The rumor is (Vincent) Lecavalier is going to either you or the Islanders."

The Islanders? Needless to say, word spread quickly.

-- Prior to Toronto's pick at No. 7, Burke had an exchange with Ottawa general manager Bryan Murray that consisted of Burke asking him if Nazem Kadri was the guy the Senators liked. When Murray responded that yes, in fact, he was, Burke said "Well, we're taking him."

-- On not moving up in the first round (paraphrasing): We could have moved up. We could have moved up to No. 2, but we would have had to give up (Luke) Schenn, we still wouldn't have had Tavares, and we would have ended up looking like idiots.

TSN needs a draft tracker

Something missing from TSN's draft coverage, and something that every other network has for its coverage of over other sport: a scrolling draft tracker across the bottom of the screen. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, just something simple that keeps viewers updated on the players that have already been taken. Not everybody tunes in for the first pick and memorizes every selection as they happen.

Random YouTube highlight of one of the first round picks

No. 10 pick Magnus Paarvji-Svensson makes a ridiculous pass from behind the net.

Other odds and ends

... Pierre McGuire interrupts analysts and talks over people during the draft just like he does during games.

... Louis Leblanc, selected 18th overall by Montreal, received quite a loud, and lengthy, standing ovation from the hometown fans. No pressure on the young man, of course.

... Detroit traded out of the first round for the fifth time since 2000. The Red Wings' first pick will now be the No. 32 overall selection, and my money is on Swedish prospect Carl Klingberg.

... Pittsburgh closed out the night by selecting Saint John defenseman Simon Despres.

... Update on the ESPN John Tavares poll: America is catching on.

Swedish Prospects Dominate NHL Draft's First Round originally appeared on NHL FanHouse on Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:10:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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