Russia and Milbury, Pay Your Tab Now

Credit Pierre LeBrun, the hockey reporter being held hostage by ESPN, for a quick and precise postmortem on the fall of the flying Russian men's hockey team.

LeBrun, who seems to be relegated to ESPN's website while the worldwide leader in televised sports gives you Barry Melrose for hockey analysis, tells of a split on the Russian squad. Are you an NHLer or a KHLer. In a digital world, it's either yes or no, 1 or 0. This just in. It's zero medals for the Russian men's hockey squad this year.

Canada took Russia out of the game with a hard forecheck, solid team play and an eye for detail. You try to jack me near the end of the game, and I'll jack you back. Alexander Semin, meet Dan Boyle.

Canada's victory in hockey, apparently by coincidence, also took Vancouver off the must-see list of President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia. I say coincidence, but the CBC sees things in a slightly different matter. So see, hockey does matter. But you knew that if you are frequenting the Lounge, right?

Now back to LeBrun, who says the Alexander Ovechkin we have come to know in the NHL was not the OV8 reporters got to work with, or against, in Vancouver. Will Ovechkin's attitude improve when he is back with the Washington Capitals? I say yes, and look out if he should see Mike Milbury coming down the hallway.



Milbury's slur on the Russians was just the right tone for a man who confidently maintained an outhouse of a franchise in the New York Islanders. He flushed money and prospects, all the time saying there was a plan. His plan. His plan? To stay employed for a while. Islanders? TSN? CBC? NBC? Sure. He's not picky.

Congrats, Mike. Somehow, you've remained employed. Now shut up.

Adjusting to Brodeur on the Bench

Sometimes you need to shake things up a bit. Eat here one day, down the block the next. Nothing wrong with either place, but this one seems right for the moment at hand.

That's the feeling here in the Lounge about Canada putting Martin Brodeur on the bench and Roberto Luongo in net.

There's a confidence factor, for the goalies in question, and for the whole team. When your rock in net looks shaky, it's time to reassess.

Brodeur has been the main man for a long time, steady hands as the waters begin to roil. But last Sunday against the United States he looked like he was trying juggle one of those Fat Darrell sandwiches you get from the grease trucks at Rutgers.

Brodeur a legend. A Fat Darrell a legend. In shaky hands? You have a mess on your hands. Canada has put its hopes in steadier hands in Luongo, who was fine on Tuesday night against Germany. He's on home ice as a Vancouver Canuck. He's ready to take over. I expect great things from him tonight against Russia.

Hmm, I wonder if I can get a Fat Darrell anywhere around the office.

This Is Super Sunday

Got the chips, adult beverages and other grub ready for the day. And the chores here in the Lounge are done.

In other words, I have just to clear a few thoughts from my head before the the Olympic men's hockey games begin today.

***Germany, you kill me. You really do. The German team has given us every reason to find an infomercial on another channel during their games. The Jupiter Jack, the Magic Bullet, whatever. Those infomercials go on the offensive. They attack your senses. They dull your resistance by sheer volume and intensity.

Even if you do not buy these items, you know better than to doubt the resolve of the pitchman yelling -- and I mean YELLING -- at you. He wants your money. And even if you don't give him your money, you will have to defend your wallet. There will be a cost. Nothing is free.

The German team? You could do school figures in your own end and so long as you retain the puck, no harm will come to you. Boredom is Germany's weapon. Frustration is building. You are getting sleepy. You have lost the puck. Hypnotizing, yes? Sleep inducing is more like it.

Good for Belarus to draw some offense out of the Germans. Good for Belarus for defeating the Germans, 5-3, in the late game on Saturday. Of course the German coaches and managers will say, lose despite scoring three goals or lose after scoring no goals, what is the difference? Artistry, entertainment, development of skills that allows your team to contend -- yes, that's the real concept -- at the elite level.

So do us all a favor, Germany. WAKE UP. Learn to play offense. Go and sin no more.

*** A loss today will not change the attitudes of the Canadian or Russian men's teams. If you've been around the block before, you do not have to explain your failures in the preliminaries. That is why they are called preliminaries. Canada and Russia will not beat themselves up today if they lose. That is for the fans to do.

*** A victory today will not change the concerns people have about the United States men's team. And I do not think anything will settle the nerves of U.S. fans except a gold medal. This is the beauty of hockey in the United States. Fans want the team to win. Deep down, they wonder why the team doesn't win more often. And I believe the American hockey players understand this. It's still just a game down here. A game played by kids. Let's see what the kids can do. Let them play.



*** The AHL outdoor game in Syracuse was fun. An outdoor game in the minor leagues feels like a winter carnival or a state fair, and that is why I believe future outdoor games should be limited to the minors.

Look, the NHL got lucky with falling snow and rabid fans for the outdoor game in Orchard Park, N.Y. The first outdoor game, the Heritage Classic in Edmonton, did nothing to make me want to see another game outside. It looked cold, and the Oilers and Montreal Canadiens did their best to entertain, but the stadium looked like any other football stadium. Big. Charmless. Generic.

The football stadium in Western New York had the same lack of visual appeal, which the league addressed by placing the next two Winter Classics in Wrigley Field and Fenway Park. Some of that visual charm, for me, came from remembering when the NFL and the old, dearly missed AFL played their games in baseball stadiums with terrible brown grass. A stadium for the summer game playing host to the crude beauty of football in the deepening chill of late fall and early winter.

It was great to see the old baseball yards filled in winter. And to have it be a hockey game on the main stage, well that was all the better in my book.

But there are no good baseball stadiums left. They are all new, more like malls with exposed brick to make you think it is a classic stadium. But it's pretty much like New Coke. Not a classic. The new ballpark on the South Side of Chicago may be nice, but the old yard was where men went to blow off some steam as their favorite side booted grounders and waited for next year. Ditto the Polo Grounds, Shibe Park, Tiger Stadium, etc. Those joints are gone. And the malls that have replaced them for baseball and pro football leave me cold.

At least the AHL got it right. Take the game to the New York State Fairgrounds. Make it look like a carnival. No need for 60,000 or 70,000 fans. How about 20,000 fans sitting in what looked like a large rodeo ring. Big grandstand on one side. Players and some small bleachers on the other. Elephant ears, apple fritters, beer, hot dogs. Maybe even a Jupiter Jack. Food and toys for the working people. A place to blow off some steam. Kudos to the AHL. You get it.

And I get it. Time to stop writing and get the food ready. The games are about to begin.

No Gold for the Olympic Network

Another day with three games of hockey to watch -- LIVE-- as I get ready for the big Saturday. Three Olympic men's hockey games and the AHL outdoor game. Yep, Binghamton Senators at Syracuse Crunch at 1 pm Eastern at the State Fairgrounds. (NHL Network will broadcast it.) Cannot wait. All this hockey is music to my ears.

*** Despite all the gripes and angst about the treatment of Olympic men's hockey on the mothership NBC, I am happy to have four flat screens in the office, all at my disposal, to watch the games as they move from right to left, and from CNBC to MSNBC with an assist from the USA Network.

But NBC? Garbage. The people on the "Today" show spend more time gushing about a figure skater or a skier than telling people what they missed last night. They just rehash what NBC already broadcast in prime time the previous evening.

This morning, when the rather annoying Hoda Kotb and Kathy Lee Gifford come on at 10 am Eastern to recap the Olympic events, its more about skating, which by 10 am means that the same has been said near the top of the hour starting at 7 am.

At one point, a correspondent for the "Today" show tried to talk about the Canada-Switzerland game (don't even ask them to update anyone about the late, late Slovakia victory over Russia), she was muted by the USA! USA! USA! cheering/commentary of Kotb and Gifford.

Note to self: "Today" show is yet another good argument for sleeping in.

*** Happy to see Ziggy Palffy back on the ice for Slovakia. It was a sad sight to see Ziggy at the Salt Lake Games, dressed in street clothes, because he was not cleared by the NHL to play in the early round games. The Los Angeles Kings allowed him to join his countrymen in Salt Lake City, but the league said no. No such sad sights this time as Ziggy is back on Olympic ice. Good for you, Ziggy.

*** If you are not on Twitter when the Canadian men's hockey team is playing, you are missing a great deal. Joy, angst, anger, bitter reflection and then more joy. All in 140 characters or less. I say you get on Twitter by Sunday. That's where the hockey conversation will be.

*** After the Czech Republic/Latvia game tonight, it will be time to get out for a cold one or two and some good tunes before heading home to catch the last 30 minutes of the Finland/Germany game. Looking forward to some hockey, hot and sour soup, live jazz, and more hockey.

I'll let Mr. Coltrane see you to the door.

Things We Know So Far

Some things we learned after the first game in the Olympics for each competing nation:

Flames can burn brighter. Some players from the Calgary Flames look pretty good when they can get out from under the restrictive defensive system the team employs. Nik Hagman scored twice for Finland, both off his backhand, in the Finns’ 5-1 victory over Belarus. Hagman’s Calgary linemate, Jarome Iginla, had a hat trick for Canada in its 8-0 victory over Norway. Iginla did not ignite until he was put on a line with Sidney Crosby and Rick Nash, a group that was initially formed during Canada’s orientation camp in the summer. Expect them to stay together for the balance of the tournament.

The specter of the stopper. A hot goalie(s) will emerge during this tournament but we were reminded of just how much damage a netminder can do to Olympic hopes by the play of Vitali Koval of Belarus, who held his team in longer against Finland than it deserved to be, making 40 saves. Of course, a hot goalie can also cool like yesterday’s fish. In that same Finland-Belarus game, Antero Nittymaki of Finland, who was named the most valuable player of the 2006 Olympic hockey tournament, did not even suit up.

There is speed and then there is crazy speed. Russia has the latter. There seems to be a calculated frenzy to what the Russians do on the ice, always skating, sticks alert, flooding the zone, bearing down on the net. It’s nearly as wild as those skates of Alexander Ovechkin. Such a style is guaranteed to spawn defensive lapses but it sure is fun to watch. Additionally intriguing will be how long the Russians stick with this freewheeling nature as they move the deeper into the tournament. It is one thing to dangle against Latvia, quite another to dipsy doodle in the medal round.

Didn’t you used to be . . . ? Jaromir Jagr and Peter Forsberg both looked good in their openers, Jagr scoring once in the Czech Republic’s 3-1 victory over Slovakia. Forsberg played nearly 13 minutes in Sweden’s 2-0 win over Germany. He had no shots but still retains his eye for a nice set-up, dishing off to Nicklas Backstrom for a good scoring chance. Neither player will ever be as dominating as they once were but both looked inspired. Granted, it’s early, but nothing they did yesterday will tamp down talk about either of them returning to the NHL.

A big country. Brian Burke, the general manager of the United States, promised his team would be big. It is and it used its size effectively against Switzerland. That will please Burke to no end but, more important, it may also allow a young U.S. team to assert itself much quicker than one would expect. Oh, and the line of Zach Parise, Paul Stastny and Patrick Kane is definitely worth watching.

Quack, quack. How can the Anaheim Ducks have eight players in the Olympics – a goalie, two defensemen and five forwards representing four countries -- and be sitting on the outside of the Western Conference playoffs? Just askin’.

Snow Days and the Olympic Break

Getting ready for the Vancouver Olympics, and that means it's the perfect time for the Recess Monkeys' cover of the Chilliwack's "My Girl." It doesn't quite measure up to the original performed in the late 1981 by the band out of Vancouver. But it's the thought that counts. Thanks, SCTV.

*** The state of Ryan Getzlaf's health has prompted a summit meeting among the heads of Team Canada. Getzlaf underwent an MRI, which the Anaheim Ducks said found no "significant ligament or muscle tears."

His day-to-day status has Team Canada chief Steve Yzerman taking the same approach, but with a limited number of days left before the Olympic hockey tournament begins, there has to be a plan, and it has to be announced soon.



*** I have to say that Russia is the team that most interests me. I like the skill level on the forward and back lines. I think this team can compete on the small ice. What would concern me if I were running the Russian operation is the goaltending.

On some nights, Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov plays a man's game. On other nights, he can be as unimpressive as the list of things to do or find in San Jose.

(Need help? I'll give you the first two on the list: 1. Finding a ride to San Francisco. 2. Finding a ride to Monterey.)

That's why Ilya Bryzgalov is the critical player in my projection of Russia as the gold medal winner in Vancouver. After all, I've looked up and down the roster, and there is no Giorgy to turn to when times get tough.

*** From where I'm sitting, with my face pressed to the window overlooking Eighth Avenue in Manhattan, the snow storm does not look as severe as feared. That means the Nashville Predators and New York Rangers most likely will play tonight at MSG 4.0

Larry Brooks of the New York Post says Marian Gaborik is not expected to be in the lineup for the game. Gaborik. Rangers' main scoring threat. Rangers' lone scoring threat? He received a deep thigh cut when he came across the skate of goaltender Henrik Lundqvist in practice on Tuesday.

Brooks says Gaborik may not be in action again until the Olympic tournament starts. But that is of no help to the Rangers, who need him to score early and often.

I'm off to shovel some snow.