SB Nation User Blog: joehass

Boston, Detroit, and "Adam's Ribs"

joehass — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 03:27:30 -0000

There's an episode of M*A*S*H* called "Adam's Ribs," in which Hawkeye is subjected to the same two choices for meals for 10 straight days. On the tenth day, he snaps violently (but comically, of course), and starts leading the entire mess tent in the chant "WE WANT SOMETHING ELSE! WE WANT SOMETHING ELSE!"

I mention this because two weeks ago, after lousy weather kept me in "beautiful" Nashua, New Hampshire on a Thursday night, I drove (or, more accurately, raced) down to Boston to catch a Bruins game at TD Banknorth Center.

By luck, it was the Habs in town, so the crowd had enough red white and blue in it to keep it honest. But I'm here to tell you something, folks, after spending two hours at the rink (the racing didn't help: I got there 10 minutes into the first). And allow me to be as polite and kind as possible as I say this, and know that I mean no disrespect.

Red Wings games suck.

No, I'm wrong. To borrow a line from Bart Simpson, "I didn't think it was physically possible, but it both sucks *and* blows."

I cannot remember the last time I paid for Red Wings tickets (though I've gone using other people's tickets). And after going to the Bruins game, I can't think of a reason I'd pay for them again.

So...why?

Joe Louis Arena: I could spend a much longer time explaining how the poor Joe has managed to skip the "treasured old barn" stage and gone directly to "horribly outdated smelly municipal facility." But I'll pick just one topic.

My seat for the Bruins/Habs game were on the club level ($110). TDBNG (I'm sorry: the only building worthy of just being called 'The Garden' was demolished in 1997) has three concourse levels. The game did not have a dramatic ending (you knew who was gonna win with five minutes to go), so there was no mass rush out of the building. And yet, as I walked out of my seats, at no point did I break a reasonable walking pace except on the escalator down.

Think right now about the last time you went to a game at Joe Louis. That concourse can barely handle the original capacity of around 19,000. Now put such things as statues and Little Caesar Crazy Bread stands and other crap in the middle of it, and I double dog dare you to leave your seat at the end of a game and *not* be stuck in pedestrian traffic, even before you hit the gerbil tubes.

The fans: Admittedly, it was for a division game against the Habs, but you know what? That building was into it. It was into it for a full 60 minutes (I'll assume they didn't wait for me to show up). A loud, boisterous, pumped full of energy crowd.

And it was a smart crowd, too. They applauded good play that doesn't make the highlight reel. I sat next to a couple of long-time Bruins fans and struck up a conversation, and they were talking about how the team had been doing, and actually had followed the Wings as well. For a team that they would see once, they knew about some of the line shifts that Mike Babcock had been dealing with (more so than even I did with my travel).

With Montreal in town, there was even that sense of edge that makes a game feel extra special. You don't like the other team's fans, but at the end of the night, you'd buy 'em a beer anyway.

Finally, there were the fans in the top two rows of Section 307. They were standing. They were yelling. They were chanting. You were so glad not to be in front of them, but you were also so glad to have that energy in the rink.

The in-game entertainment: Yes, they have Ice Girls. Yes, they have a mascot of some dopey kind. What they also have is a video board and presentation that looks absolutely incredible. Ribbon displays around the front of the "balcony" level. Two more ribbon displays around the overhead scoreboard. Four high-definition display boards over center ice. Out of town scores constantly displayed (someone want to drop a memo to Mike that no other arena keeps a broken piece of technology in the building?). A great mix of music, most of which came from after 2000.

But, for no other reason, the game presentation rocked because of their second-intermission game. I want to share this with you, and it should immediately be stolen and replace Score-O in every rink on the continent.

Two contestants. Each stands on one corner face-off circle. Three pucks.

The object is to shoot the pucks into the opposite corner face-off circle. They don't have to land on the dot itself...just stop anywhere in the circle.

When they announced it, I thought (and you can picture the line from Monty Python And The Holy Grail), "THAT'S EASY!"

After the first one, I realized how difficult of a task this was.

After six shots, not one finished in the opposite faceoff circle.

Really: we've seen Score-O since the first one required shooting frozen dinosaur poop between two rocks. It's time to tuck it into bed nicely, then smother it with another pillow.

The fight: Milan Lucic and Michael Komisarek dropped gloves in the third period. Watch the fight below.

When they went, that building exploded! When Lucic was motioning to the crowd after taking down Komisarek, oh, man...it's why we love the sport. And that building stayed buzzing for a good five minutes of real time afterwards. And they kept showing the highlights of it during media timeouts, and every time, the crowd came back to life.

Compare that to four nights later, when Darren McCarty and Zack Stortini went at it.

Lemme tell you (and this is no disrespect to McCarty, who hasn't had to buy a meal in this town since 1996): it's not the same. Not even close.

In fact, as I was doing research, take a look at this video. In particular, the first 13 seconds:

Note the scoreboard. Note the ads over the entrances. Other than replacing the video wall, nothing in that building has changed in 12 years! The only things that would tell you that this video wasn't from 2008: Gary Thorne's voice, ESPN's graphics, and Steve Yzerman taking the faceoff.

Four bonus reasons:

The cool hats the security people wear.

An actual sense of not just Bruins and Celts history, but Red Sox and Pats history as well.

Hot dog "buns" that are actually just weirdly cut bread.

Mike Milbury.

Now, here's the dirty little secret that I've actually known for years, but I'm going to share it with you.

Olympia doesn't care.

Really. They don't care. They have a history of not caring (if you think this is a flaming post, ask me what I think of what Illitch did to Tiger Stadium, but hide the flammables beforehand). And I'd like to say that not going to the games will encourage them to somehow care, but it won't. Remember: these are the people who have guaranteed that you will not see an over-the-air regular season game unless it's on NBC or CBC for the next nine years. Don't have cable? Too bad! Good luck picking up the signal on 97.1.

The fact that the phrase "Hockeytown" is still painted on that rink just shows how clueless they are.

The fans deserve better. They should have something else.

Lidstrom and Sportsman Of The Year

joehass — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 03:10:40 -0000

Let's lay down the standard that Sports Illustrated's Sportsman Of The Year selection is probably one of the most flawed "awards" in sports. What little credibility the award had evaporated two years back when they selected Dwayne Wade over Roger Federer.

That said, Kostya Kennedy over at SI wrote a "nomination" for Nicklas Lidstrom that's rather nice. While most Red Wings fans are well aware of Lidstrom's behavior, it would indeed be nice to see him get some dap outside of the hockey world.

Putting The Puck In The Net Is Good In Theory...

joehass — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:41:49 -0000

Yes, last night's loss to the Canucks wasn't particularly pleasant, but at least you're not a Canadiens fan this morning.

From last night's Isles/Habs match up, on a delayed penalty, which meant the goaltender was out for the extra attacker...

That'd be Ryan O'Byrne, with the pretty empty netter. Unfortunately, it was an empty netter into his own net, which tied the game, which was won in the shootout.

It's just a good thing that Montreal fans know how to keep things in perspective.

Finally...Winter Classic Ticket Info Released

joehass — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:17:21 -0000

The NHL has finally announced the public sales process for the 2009 Winter Classic. Yes, you'll be in line behind the Blackhawks season ticket holders and "NHL Winter Classic partners," which for all we know could be anyone.

To enter the drawing for the scraps, visit www.chicagoblackhawks.com after Noon ET on Wednesday, November 5. go to http://blackhawks.nhl.com/tickets/wctickets.htm. You have until Noon ET on Friday, November 28 to register. As usual, one entry per person.

(we'll pause here for the snickering to stop for the "one entry per person" line).

Good luck!

Free Trial Of NHL GameCenter Live

joehass — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 15:31:04 -0000

A heads-up: The NHL is offering a free trial of their new online product, NHL GameCenter Live, this Thursday, October 30. This is their online version of Center Ice, but with a lot more game data and such.

The only reason I don't have this product is the lousy Internet connection I have at the hotel I'm staying at (you need at least a 700 kBps connection; you can test your connection here). It's a brilliant adaptation of video and data, and shows why the NHL truly gets how to manage and promote their product on the Internet. Check it out over at nhl.com/gamecenter.

You Didn't Think You Could Actually Go, Did You?

joehass — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 20:26:59 -0000

In a heartwarming announcement, Gary Bettman has made it clear that if you're not a Chicago Blackhawks season ticket holder, you're gonna have a problem getting tickets to Winter Classic 3:

"This game is going to be sold out. Most of the tickets, not all, will be going to season ticket-holders of the Blackhawks. They are our first priority and the Blackhawks' first priority. We're not going to have the massive public sale like we did in Buffalo last year when we were playing in a 72,000-seat facility. Some tickets will be made available to the public, but if you want to be assured, you have to get season tickets."

This should not be a surprise to Wings fans who are used to being treated by the redheaded stepchild of the league for years, but let me just throw out a math question:

Assume you can fit 40,000 into Wrigley for this game. The last number I've heard for Blackhawk season ticket holders is around 15,000 (keep in mind that the United Center holds 20,500 for hockey). Unless my math is bad, that leaves 25,000 seats. The NHL obviously will take a portion of these seats. But how many?

Remember, this is, according to the league, an NHL-run game, which means the league gets to control who gets how many tickets. So why not give a decent portion to Red Wings season ticket holders (at a minimum)? Oh, that's right: because the Blackhawks have turned into the new poster boys of Toronto and New York.

You know what'd be nice? If the Red Wings front office actually grew a spine at some point and stood up for their fans. Ah, we can only dream...

Throughts From Saturday Night

joehass — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 14:04:09 -0000

I was graciously given a pair of tickets to last night's Rangers/Wings game. Some thoughts.

There's no better feeling than paying cash to park, then when leaving seeing the sign changed to "Prepaid passes only"
The pregame "ceremony" for Ted Linsday was very disappointing in its shortness. No video of the pre-opening dedication ceremony; some SVP of business operations pulling the black curtain off the print that everyone had seen.
I have absolutely no qualms with giving Ted, Alex, or Gordie statues. However, given the limited amount of concourse space, I grow frustrated with putting more things fans have to work their way around.
We sat directly in front of a group of fans who were a bit rambunctious (read: drunk). They didn't feel the team was being physical enough. And I have to agree with them to a point.
There's nothing I like more than a quick goal to penalize those who feel that there's no need to get there for the start of the game.
Full and complete credit to Bill McCreary and Tom Kowal for calling a great game. They kept the whistles out of it and let two teams play. Hey, Gary Bettman: send this tape to the rest of your officiating crews and tell them this is how to do it.
For all intent and purposes, Budd Lynch isn't doing PA anymore. Yeah, he announces the Wings starting line-ups, and the shot totals after the periods, and that it's the "last minute of play in this period," and the three stars of the game. But someone else announces the goals and penalties. I'm kinda surprised this hasn't gotten more play. I have more to think about this, but I'll save it for another post.
Whomever told "Tunes By T" (the JLA Musical Director) to stop playing the line "it's nine o'clock on a Saturday" from Billy Joel's "Piano Man" at 9:00 on Saturday night games: take an extra $20 from petty cash.
The Hossa goal was as pretty as you'll see in hockey. Magnificent job by Pavel Datsuyk to set him up.
Based on the way these two teams played tonight, I think we could see this matchup again in eight months.

Rule 39

joehass — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 14:42:23 -0000

If you watched last night's game, you saw a flaw in the NHL's video replay rule. It's Rule 39 in the NHL rulebook.

The rule clearly explains what to do about time, especially after a goal:

"In the event that a video replay shows a goal was scored prior to the play being stopped, the Video Goal Judge will inform the Game Timekeeper and Official Scorer of the time of goal and the amount of playing time left to be reset on the game clock."

But what it doesn't cover is what happens *after* the goal was scored. In this case, Tomas Holmstrom's tip of Pavel Datsuyk's shot hit the back support bar and bounced right out. Moments after, Brian Rafalski was called for interference. The penalty was left on the board, but pushed back to the time of the goal.

That makes no sense. In theory, since time was placed back on the clock to the point the goal was scored, what happened after the goal was scored should have disappeared as well.

I'm sure it's happened, but you could have a situation where a goal was scored but not noted, the other team could go the other way and score, and both goals could appear at the same time on the score sheet.

Versus

joehass — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 23:32:30 -0000

Last night marked the first of seven Wings games exclusively on Versus. It is, of course, fashionable to bash the NHL for putting their games on a three-digit channel for anyone not on Comcast (which owns a portion of the network).

I've always believed that the NHL took an calculated risk when they took the money from OLN (the former name of Versus) as opposed to the profit-sharing structure that ESPN offered after the lockout. At that time, there was serious talk that OLN was going to try to reposition themselves as a true competitor to ESPN by also trying to get MLB and NFL rights. As it turns out, they didn't get either, and the NHL was isolated on the little network that promotes themselves with attitude as opposed to actual content.

What frustrates me as a hockey fan is the fact that the NHL argues that they felt the would be ignored on ESPN, but I don't think Versus does a whole heckuva lot to push the NHL either. I noted during a live blog last year that Versus didn't do any sort of pre-game show during the playoffs (at one point showing MMA as the lead in). Versus doesn't do a nightly hockey show. Before the Wings game, instead of talking hockey, we got the opening of a Def Leppard concert. Add to that the embarassment from last year when they accidentally cut away from a multiple-overtime game to show an informercial.

Then there's Mike Emrick. Let me be clear that I'm aware that I'm in the minority on this topic, and that people liking or disliking announcers is a purely personal choice. But I can't stand Emrick. I mean fingernail-on-the-blackboard can't stand him. He's stunningly obvious at times, prone to overexcitement, and gets easily distracted. He had more than a few stunners last year during my live blogs. For my money, Ken Daniels is the gold standard (I can't believe the CBC didn't steal him away as the phase out of Bob Cole continues).

What frustrates me is that ESPN is so ready to face real competition in this world. There's a part of me that would've loved it for ESPN to face real competition, and I thought Versus might be there. But their coverage of the NHL just reminds me of how far away we really are from that point.

The "Hangover"

joehass — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:08:15 -0000

USA Today had it as their cover story in their sports section the other day: the seemingly inevitable postseason decline of the Stanley Cup champion the following season. To put it simply: since the Wings repeated in 1998, no Stanley Cup champion has advanced past the second round. Since Dallas in 2000, no Stanley Cup champion has advanced past the first round.

I agree with Christy on the Wings doing it again (then again, I thought the same thing about the other team I love, and I believe the official scorer of Game 1 of the NLCS will charge a Cubs infielder with an error out of habit). But I also don't doubt the Wings are going to be looking at a long season after a short offseason.

I'll add a couple factors:

* There is no reward for doing well in the regular season. Simply having home-ice advantage in the playoffs isn't enough, as we've seen too many 8-over-1 and 7-over-2 wins. Since 1996, there have been 15 major first round upsets: just more than one a year. In an average year, there are five seeded upsets.

* The regular season is just too long, both in games and calendar time. The idea tossed around earlier this year to add games at the start and reducing preseason games is the solution for the wrong problem.

* The geographical imbalance of the league puts Western Conference teams at a brutal disadvantage. Remember: all 15 Eastern Conference teams are in the Eastern Time Zone. The 15 Western Conference teams are spread across all four time zones.

So how do we fix this?

* Reduce the regular season to 71 games: 4 games against every team in your conference (and get rid of the stupid three-division format and just go to a 15-team conference). The trade off: The playoffs expand to 10 teams per conference, with a 7-10 and 8-9 first round matchup for a best-of-five (or even best-of-three).

* Reward the top-two seeds with an extra home game in their first playoff series. Play the first three at the higher seed, then the next two at the lower seed, then the final two back at the higher seed. If the top seed advances, they get an extra home game in the second series as well.

* Replace the east/west conference alignment with a baseball-style conference system in which each conference goes from coast to coast. Balance the playing field to force each team to play from coast-to-coast.

It's no guarantee that the best teams will always win, but it makes it a lot more likely.