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.

Another outdoor game?

Oh, hello there. When Vic wasn’t looking, I pulled the plug on the jukebox. That’s what happens, Vic, when you give the night watchman the keys to the kingdom.

And, in a move that is not designed to rile Vic – but may do so, anyway – I am going to use basketball to make a point about hockey.

That’s because I think we have officially jumped the shark when it comes to these outdoor hockey games. When the Harlem Globetrotters swipe your idea and play their game outside on ice, then maybe it’s time to shelve outdoor hockey for a while.

The problem with outdoor hockey games is this: there are too many of them. The Winter Classic seems firmly fixed on Jan. 1. There are rumblings the NHL is considering adding a second outdoor game next season, something for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to televise, presumably involving two Canadian teams and most likely to be played on Hockey Day in Canada. If you missed Saturday’s outdoor college game at Camp Randall Stadium between Michigan and Wisconsin (scroll down for the video), Michigan and Michigan State will play outdoors Dec. 11 at Michigan Stadium, a reprise of their first outdoor meeting nine years ago (video above). In the American Hockey League, Binghamton will play outdoors at Syracuse on Feb. 20. Many NHL teams have outdoor practices.

Whoa, already. The novelty is gone. Over. Done.

There is no denying the Winter Classic has been a financial windfall for the league. If you liken the tenure of Commissioner Gary Bettman to a shootout, the Winter Classic has been that sharp wrister that never misses the five hole.

But how long before these outdoor extravaganzas turn into that fancy deke attempt that dribbles off your blade? At this rate, not much longer. Oh, yeah, it’s New Year’s Day and time for the outdoor hockey game. The Rose Bowl is on Jan. 1, too, and it used to be a big deal for a long time. Now, it is another televised moment, one that comes on shortly after the Outback Steakhouse Bowl concludes.

Give the fringe fan a reason to watch hockey being played outdoors. Make them want to see the game by doling it out in smaller amounts, maybe every other year if it must be played on New Year’s Day. This corner likes the idea of heading outside with the all-star game, a property that has been kicked hard to the curb by the rise of outdoor hockey.

The venues are also losing their lustre. The game has been played in a football stadium and on hallowed baseball grounds. What else is left? The cricket pitch?

Wait a minute, you could always bring the game indoors, you know, installing the ice over a basketball floor.

Oh, but who’d go see that?

The Winter Classic: Past, Present and Future

The Winter Classic was another hit in the Bunker, from start to finish. And after the game was over, it was nice to have the Atlanta/Buffalo game to help bring this viewer back down to the matters at hand.

The games are played indoors, the magic somewhat limited to what the two teams on the ice conjure up. Not that the Fenway Park game was pure fantasy. Not at all. But the indoor games here will be more about the work, which concludes when one team is lifting the Stanley Cup in June.

Until then, we have a few weeks of regular-season action (as you read this the New York Rangers have found another way to lose at home) before the Olympic break. Then the run through March and early April to get us to the tournament. The Cup.

For now, what to do with the Winter Classic. I'm not certain there is much more one can achieve with the game in the remaining stadiums available in the United States and Canada.

The game in Buffalo was fun because it was the first regular-season NHL game of its kind we could see across much of the United States (Thanks ESPN, ABC, Fox, whomever had the contract and chose any number of not so interesting games rather than show the Heritage Classic in Edmonton).

But Bills' football field was not the attraction that came in the following games at Wrigley Field and Fenway Park. And in the name of greed; more club seats and luxury boxes; larger tax breaks; or stadiums that were actually ready to fall down, there does not seem to be any others that will bring to the table what the ballparks in Chicago and Boston did.

Olympic Stadium, or the Big Owe, as my former colleague Jeff Hale calls the cost ineffective enterprise for the 1976 Summer Games, will not do justice to a game involving the Canadiens. Toronto's ballpark doesn't have it. Vancouver's football big top lacks appeal. Yankee Stadium is not a classic, unless you consider the Las Vegas-style building (let's make it look like something great and maybe people will close their eyes and believe they are paying -- paying big time -- for the real deal ... suckers.)

I believe it's time for a Woodstock approach. Time to get back to the land. Find a pond, open field or wide street. Build a rink and allow the fans to get right up to the glass. If the league wants corporate partners at the game, the NHL can build a little hut in a corner. There, the corporate partners can watch or ignore the game in comfort.

Every NHL city has a grand park or outdoor setting that could make this game become part of the urbanscape, playing off the architecture of the host city. New York could have one in Central Park, for example; Toronto's game could be situated on one of its grand boulevards.

Take the game to the streets, parks and open areas in every NHL city. Now that is a New Year's celebration that a community and a league should get behind. Those are my two cents, anyway.

Hey, the Kings are going on the power play against the Capitals right now, which means I will end it here. Here is the Team USA roster and discussion on From the Rink. Below is a rundown of the action Friday night.

THE SCOREBOARD
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Boston 2, Philadelphia 1 OT
At Buffalo 4, Atlanta 3 OT
The standings are here.
The recap from Sportsnet.
Three stars from Puck Daddy.

AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE
Houston 5, at Milwaukee 2
At Providence 4, Bridgeport 2
Hershey 3, at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 2
At San Antonio 3, Abbotsford 1
The standings are here.
The roundup is here.

EAST COAST HOCKEY LEAGUE
Kalamazoo 1, at Toledo 0
Trenton 7, at Elmira 4
At Idaho 5, Stockton 1
The standings are here.

QUEBEC MAJOR JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
No games scheduled.
The standings are here.

ONTARIO HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Kingston 3, Peterborough 0
At Kitchener 5, Plymouth 2
Ottawa 4, at Oshawa 3
Windsor 6, at Guelph 3
The standings are here.
The roundup is here.

WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Swift Current 3, Medicine Hat 2
The standings are here.
The roundup is here.

UNITED STATES HOCKEY LEAGUE
Tri-City 4, at Des Moines 2
Team USA 4, at Sioux Falls 2
At Chicago 5, Lincoln 4 SO
The standings are here.

WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP
No games scheduled.
The standings and statistics are here.
Preliminary round three stars from Puck Daddy.

Happy New Year, 2010!

Just some quick bookkeeping before the start of the Winter Classic. I hope all is well with you and your family as we begin the new year. Keep your head up. It's time for hockey.

THE SCOREBOARD
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Montreal 5, at Florida 4
At Ottawa 3, N.Y. Islanders 2 SO
At Detroit 4, Colorado 2
Nashville 2, at Columbus 1 OT
San Jose 3, at Phoenix 2 SO
Vancouver 4, at St. Louis 3 OT
N.Y. Rangers 2, at Carolina 1
Los Angeles 5, at Minnesota 2
At Dallas 5, Anaheim 3
At Chicago 5, New Jersey 1
At Calgary 2, Edmonton 1
The standings are here.
The recap from Sportsnet.
Three stars from Puck Daddy.

AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE
Albany 1, at Adirondack 0
At Lake Erie 5, Rochester 1
At Manitoba 3, Texas 2
Worcester 3, at Portland 1
At Binghamton 3, Norfolk 2
Hamilton 7, at Grand Rapids 3
Lowell 5, at Manchester 2
Chicago 4, at Peoria 1
At Rockford 5, Houston 4 OT
The standings are here.
The roundup is here.

EAST COAST HOCKEY LEAGUE
Elmira 6, at Johnstown 3
At South Carolina 4, Florida 1
At Wheeling 3, Toledo 2
Cincinnati 3, at Kalamazoo 1
Victoria 3, at Utah 2 SO
Stockton 5, at Idaho 1
At Alaska 6, Ontario 3
The standings are here.

QUEBEC MAJOR JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
Gatineau 7, at Lewiston 1
Saint John 4, at Moncton 3 SO
The standings are here.
The roundup is here.

ONTARIO HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Brampton 4, Mississauga 1
At Windsor 4, Saginaw 3 SO
Sarnia 4, at London 3
At Sault Ste. Marie 4, Sudbury 3 OT
Erie 8, at Niagara 7
At Peterborough 1, Belleville 0
Owen Sound 6, at Barrie 4
The standings are here.
The roundup is here.

WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
Brandon 6, at Edmonton 2
At Kootenay 8, Regina 4
At Chilliwack 4, Kelowna 3 OT
Saskatoon 2, at Everett 1
At Tri-City 5, Spokane 2
At Portland 6, Seattle 0
The standings are here.
The roundup is here.

UNITED STATES HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Indiana 5, Chicago 3
At Fargo 4, Team USA 3
At Green Bay 4, Des Moines 1
Omaha 5, at Sioux Falls 3
At Waterloo 4, Lincoln 3 SO
At Cedar Rapids 5, Youngstown 1
Sioux Falls 4, at Tri-City 2
The standings are here.

WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP
Group A (at Saskatoon)
Switzerland 4, Slovakia 1
The recap is here.
Canada 5, United States 4 SO
The recap is here.

Group B (at Regina)
Sweden 7, Finland 1
The recap is here.
Russia 5, Czech Republic 2
The recap is here.
The statistics and standings are here.
Three stars by Puck Daddy.