Interesting survey that apparently shows that more sports fans consider hockey their favorite sport than NBA basketball.

http://www.harrisinteractive.com/har...ex.asp?PID=622

I don't think 5% is good, and it's well behind football, baseball, and auto racing. But it's higher than it's been in 20 years, and still better than basketball, golf, and tennis.

Of course, let people list a top three or top five instead of just one and watch the numbers change radically.

Ducks don't need to. You can hope more needy teams may give it a shot, though (too bad you can't "poach" yourself, huh?).

For the USA Hockey fans

USA Hockey Magazine predicts '10 Olympic roster

Forwards:
Dustin Brown
Brian Gionta
Patrick Kane
Erik Cole
Scott Gomez
Phil Kessel
Chris Drury (shoe-in for Cpt)
Chris Higgins
Ryan Kessler
Zack Parise
Brian Rolston
Paul Stastny
RJ Umberger

Defense
Chris Chelios (he'd be 46)
Mike Komisarek
Erik Johnson
Paul Martin
Jack Johnson
Brian Rafalski
Ryan Whitney

Goalies
Rick DiPietro
Ryan Miller
Tim Thomas

He is 46 now, he will be 48 when the Olympics start.

The linesman in today's Rangers/Flyers game getting kicked in the face, suffering a broken jaw and 60-stitch cut, then pushing the ref away so he could go break up a fight was probably the most badass thing I've seen all year.

Seriously, the NHL should use that in their commercials.

Hey, check out the new blog!

(I probably should get the "down goes brown" reference, but it's escaping me at the moment)

Please let the Wings and Ducks meet in the playoffs...
Please let the Wings and Ducks meet in the playoffs...
Please let the Wings and Ducks meet in the playoffs...
...

nice!

it's totally awesome that you've created a blog dedicated to the other Avalanche captain...

Panthers Zednick gets cut in the neck by a skate from a falling teamate and is rushed to the locker room, the entire medical staff is working on him, there is blood all over the ice and the game has been halted for the time being in Buffalo.

Holy shit...

Any update? I see the game has resumed, is Zednick OK?

Yes, would like an update. Tried to find something online, but just seeing the live box score.

TSN.ca says he's stable and on his way to the hospital.

According to ESPN.com:

Players and coaches on both benches looked on in shock, and a silent hush fell over the crowd at HSBC Arena. The game was delayed for more than 15 minutes as crews scraped the blood from the ice.

"Richard Zednik is in stable condition and on his way to a Buffalo hospital," was the announcement over the loudspeaker.



SI

I must have said 'Holy Shit' about fifty times after it happened...Malarchuk all over again and in Buffalo, no less.

I just hope he's okay...there was a huge trail of blood all the way from the corner to the bench.

Is this accurate? Or did the reporter get a little ahead of himself?

http://www.buffalonews.com/258/story/273338.html
Updated: 02/10/08 8:39 PM

The scariest moment in hockey happened again in Buffalo, as a player had his jugular vein severed Sunday night during the Sabres game against the Florida Panthers. Florida's Richard Zednik was struck in the throat by the skate of falling teammate Olli Jokinen, a large trail of blood leading Zednik halfway across the ice to the dressing room.

Zednik skated from the corner to his bench, where he was greeted by trainers from both teams who applied pressure to the neck of the 32-year-old. He was quickly escorted back through the tunnel leading to the dressing room.

Officials and players waved for the medical personnel, who turned away from the rink and ran back for a stretcher. Upon returning to the entrance, officials waved off the unnecessary stretcher and skated briskly across the ice with a paramedic in tow.

Gasps came from the sellout crowd in HSBC Arena as it saw the more than 100-foot blood trail on the ice. After a 15-minute delay, the public-address announcer relayed that Zednik was in stable condition and on his way to a Buffalo hospital. Fans responded with a standing ovation, but silence quickly returned.

Longtime residents and Sabres fans quickly flashed back to March 1989, when the jugular of Sabres goaltender Clint Malarchuk was slashed by the skate of St. Louis' Steve Tuttle.

In case it isn't clear, I'm questioning the specific injury that's being cited.

http://www.wgrz.com/news/news_articl...?storyid=55248

Panthers' Zednick Injured by Skate, Rushed to Hospital

Click here to add your comments on this story!
Posted by: Thea Tio, Reporter

Created: 2/10/2008 8:40:46 PM
Updated: 2/10/2008 8:54:24 PM

Panthers hockey player Richard Zednick was injured when his teammate's skate cut his neck at a Sabres game on Sunday evening.

Sabres' doctors immediately stopped the bleeding.

A trail of blood could be seen from the goal line in the Sabres' zone all the way to the Panthers' bench.

Zednick was transported to Buffalo General Hospital. He is in stable condition and will undergo surgery.

Channel 2 will have more information in tonight's 11 PM newscast and right here on wgrz.com.

Lindy Ruff seems pretty chocked-up about it in the post-game interview.

He's now in surgery.

The footage:



Edit: It's disturbing, but not especially gruesome.

Sorry I wasn't updating that guys, I was huddle on the couch with Telle as we waited patiently to hear that he was ok. It was really scary to watch. (I actually missed the live action, Telle told me it happened then they showed the replays.)

So when do we start hearing the calls for mandatory neck guards?

It didn't happen after Malarchuk...why would it now?? Not that they would be obstructive in anyway...

Because the media jumps all over things now, and our culture is much more about protecting people from themselves in all areas than it was 20 years ago.

If they can't get visors to be mandatory, I highly doubt neckguards will get that designation.

Which is unfortunate really. The sooner both are mandated, the better.

Good point. I can't believe it's been 20 years since that incident.

I know it's dumb, but I wouldn't want neckguards mandatory. I play once a week, and while I do wear a visor, there are two pieces of equipment that I just don't feel comfortable in: a neckguard, and a mouth guard.

I wore a neck guard as a kid, and I just hated the thing. After losing most of a front tooth in a floor hockey game, I tried wearing a mouth guard, but I'm a mouth breather and I just found it tourturous trying to get air. I actually took a puck in the mouth four weeks ago that thankfully didn't cost me any teeth (although it opened me up pretty good), and still my mouthguard sits at the bottom of my bag. I think I might be more comfortable moving to a full cage, but I haven't made up my mind.

I, too, play once a week and have never worn a mouth piece...but, I do wear a cage...always have. Well, save for about half a dozen games about 15 years ago when I took an elbow in the chops and suffered my last concussion. But, I do have all of my own teeth...thankfully.

While I don't think that one bad call determines an outcome of a game (save some exceptional circumstances), that was a very bad call.

I can't stop looking at this photo up at TSN.



not for Zednick...but for the look on the faces of the people in the stands.

Definitely glad to hear he's doing well.

Have you ever tried a full shield? I remember they used to fog up really bad, but maybe the technology has improved? Or is the cage just the better way to go? Do you find the bars annoying?

I've never had a full shield for the exact reason you stated...fogging up. For the short time I went without a cage I had a half shield and even it fogged up like crazy...but that was 10 years ago...and like you said, I'm sure the technology has improved.

I'm 33 years old, so I grew up having to wear a cage. That's 25 years or so...I'd say I'm definitely use to it. Do I find the bars annoying?? Not at all, but I'm sure if you aren't use to it there would be an adjustment period. Once you get over the "pride" or "macho" factor of wearing a cage then I think adjusting to the bars will take no time whatsoever.

At my regular shinny game, I was the only one wearing a cage probably 5-10 years ago. Now, I'd say about at least a third of the guys either have cages or full shields. Funny thing is, most of the converts are older than me and never had to wear cages as a kid but are sick of sticks in the mouth...who knows.

Please educate a southern boy here. What's a "shinny" game? I imagine it's like a recreational game, but does anyone know why it's called "shinny"?

Pumpy to the rescue. I didn't wanna be that guy.

Oh by the way...yesterday at the Pens-Flyers game I got to sit in Ty Conklin's seats and after the game got to shake Mario Lemieux's hand.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinny


Some stuff in there I wasn't familiar with, good question.

Whenever there's something that I don't get about hockey, I can pretty much cover myself by saying "I'm from the south!"
That is awesome. I considered trying to go (as we'd discussed in PM), but then I remembered that my bowling league was in action last night. Too bad the game didn't go your way, pal. :)

Thanks for the info. My brother-in-law (who incidently is the one who put the puck in my face last month) has been trying to convince me to get a cage (he wears one). I suppose the major reason I haven't is definitely the 'pride' factor, which is really pretty dumb, but also I just think they look weird (even dumber). I think I'd get a shield right away if I knew it wouldn't fog up, but I don't want to waste the money only to move to a cage or back to my visor.

I don't find my visor fogs all that badly, although it has a couple times. I just a keep a towel on the bench and wipe it in the rare times I need to, but I don't see that being very easy with a full shield.

Decisions, decisions... :)

Frozen road apple. lol.

Hurricans trade Stillman and Commodore to the Sens for Corvo and Eaves.

I like that trade for the Senators. Commodore is likely to be a more valuable defensemen in the playoffs than Corvo and Stillman is putting together a pretty solid offensive year.

Just so you don't think any less of me...my grill is all scratched up and looks pretty tough. As tough as a cage can look at least. :D

I admit to feeling rather mixed about this. Commodore and Stillman were going to be FAs after this year, so perhaps Rutherford felt it was a longshot to keep either or both. Still, they made great contributions and Commodore was a fan favorite.

Corvo looks to be a good pickup for our lackluster PP, but we've been in need of better defense, not offense. Eaves, obviously, is a gamble. He's young, but he's been hurt, so it's unknown what we got with him.

This looks like a "sell" trade as JR probably figured there wasn't going to be any magic this year. However, given the craptacularity of the division, he didn't cripple the team so they couldn't have a chance at the playoffs and the valuable home gates that go with it.

This may be true, but in general Corvo is a terrible player. He's marginally decent offensively, but he's terrible defensively. Awful. The Leafs blueline thinks he's bad.

I wouldn't dispute that. Carolina hasn't had problems scoring this year (except in stretches including lately), but they've been horrid on defense. Curiously, the magic phrase that fans seem to think would be the cure is "puck-moving defenseman", so here he is, I suppose. I'd rather have a puck-stopping one at the moment. Then again, if he's more of an offensive-minded defenseman, then this probably fits into Laviolette's style more as he's definitely "best defense is a good offense" in philosphy.

Another consideration is that Matt Cullen really has not come back from that vicious hit he took against New York back in December. He has played in stretches, but has been out the last several games due to vision problems. Ostensibly, if Corvo is coming in for his puck-moving and power play abilities, then there is some justification to bringing him in in particular as a sub for Cullen on the power play. (It should however, also be noted, that we are also desperate for help on the PK as we're pretty rank there as an extension of our atrocious defense, so if he's as bad as you think he is, this isn't going to solve that problem....)

Thought you might say that. And while I agree, the penalty you were on that gave you that opportunity was an equally bad call. As was calling goalie interference earlier in the game on us when we scored a goal--on the goalscorer as he carried the puck!

Sorry, that last was a bad call, but Wings fans should be happy the refs kept them in the game close enough for it to matter.

BTW, just talking specifics of where that game stood with respect to the score. Largely the Wings outplayed the Ducks and deserved better, and there is little doubt the Wings are the best team right now. But since we both had goals waved off that shouldn't have been, I am thinking we're pretty even on that one.