NHL Network Puts Best Foot Forward

The NHL Network is free (if you don't already get it) this week. They have a week long plan to reel viewers in and expand the base of NHL fans who don't already get it (odds are, if you follow this blog you already have it).

Their bait? Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby as they face off at the Verizon Center on Wednesday night. But they are also showing specialty programs like "The Battle of Comm Ave" at 6 pm tonight, or "50 Years Behind the Mask" on Friday night.

While some of the programming is good, like NHL on the Fly; Recaps and highlights of last night's NHL action and HD Classics; Replays of some of the great games in High Definition, lately the NHL network has taken a turn away from some of the older specialty shows they used to show.

Gone are history time pieces like Classic Games that featured Gordie Howe taking several rookies down with his manly elbow and opposition teammates just telling the rooks to "watch out for the elbow." Or maskless goalies making unbelievable saves in the playoffs. Rarely (if not at all) does the network show any of the good ol' days of hockey.

Flowing locks of hair (or balding spots if your are Langway) racing down the boards. Fights were guys back away from the two and let the two of them settle it (Bradley not included). Hard clean hits that were never retaliated. Some of what the NHL was born on seems now disregarded by the network that once loved to show off it's past.

Don't get me wrong, I love the NHL network. The channel number is worn down on my remote control. But I would like to see those classics again. If for nothing else, but to say I at least saw Bobby Clarke cheap shot someone in front of the net.

Caps Notes:

• Scott Walker's ailments maybe more than just a "tweaked" knee. He canceled his appearance at the "Caps on the Fly" show at Hilton Garden Inn. Walker left after his bout with one of the forwards from Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night. Walker fell awkwardly after getting an upper cut from Zenon Konopka early in the second period. He would not return.
• Warner Video and the NHL have come out with a DVD set just for Capitals fans (about time). Warner Home Video Washington Capitals: 10 Greatest Games DVD Set is available for $49.99 on Shop.NHL.com. Get yours today!
• File this under "counting chickens before they hatch" column: The Pens are busy tonight facing off against the Red Wings in Detroit. If Sid and his band of merry men happen to lose tonight to the Wings, the Caps could clinch the Conference with a win against the Penguins Wednesday night. That is right, they could clinch the Eastern Conference with 8 games remaining to play (knock on some major wood) IF the Penguins lose tonight and Wednesday and the Sabres lose to Montreal Wed. night and Devils lose their game to Columbus as well.
  

Can't Keep It Bottled Up Anymore

Okay a lot of NHL drama going on, I can't keep my opinions to myself much longer. Some if it is older news, I know. But I've been busy.

First, Danny Heatly asking for a trade and refusing to be traded to Edmonton. The drama seems to be in limbo at the moment. I think the very action of asking for a trade waives any kind of trade clause on any contract. Also, if you ask your general manager for a trade after you publicly committed to money and time to be with a particular team you give up any say over what team you may be traded too. At first I thought Heatly was an okay guy, not any more.

Second, Chicago and their paperwork. I guess when you live in the windy city, one should get a paper weight (sorry old joke). Now the NHLPA has filed a grievance with the league over the paperwork. At worst, some big players for the Blackhawks get a taste of the free market as unrestricted free agents. But they were already restricted free agents and Chicago had a right to match the contract offered them. It may not be a huge deal. Plus the other 29 general managers may just give the "too bad" signal to the players association and not sign any of the players with bad paperwork, allowing Chicago to resign them. At least the PA is looking out for their own.

Third, Alex Ovechkin becomes an ambassador for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi. There is a possibility the NHL will pull out of letting players play in the Olympics, but that is maybe why they made Ovi a full fledged ambassador. It's also a great pick up line for the ladies I'm sure. You have to admire Ovi's countryman's spirit.

Lastly, Brian Burke successfully gets his goaltender. TSN reports Burke has gotten Jonas (the Monster) Gustavsson to be the starting goaltender for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Possibly leaving long time Capital Olaf Kolzig with out a team if the Leafs do not resign him. He is a Free Agent this summer. Gustavsson comes highly touted from the Swedish Elite League. He has size (he looks big in net, hence the nickname 'Monster') speed and good basics. However, he hasn't seen scorers like Evgeni Malkin, Jerome Iginla, Ilya Kovalchuk or Ovechkin. So he is basically a wild card for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Some of his highlights are on YouTube.

Caps Notes:

• Barrack Obama mentioned Alex Ovechkin's name in a speech and some fans were quick to jump on the "why doesn't he come to Caps' games?" critic. Honestly, I think he has much more important things to do rather than take in hockey games or basketball games. Like finding jobs for hundreds and thousands that will be on the street after the States budgets get slashed. Just my gut reaction.
  
• Okay, back to hockey. Development camp is less than a week away and as usual the Caps are going to lean heavily on the kids for the future of the team. The names to watch will be Anton Gustafsson (who missed last year's camp due to injury), Joe Finley (the big meany from North Dakota), Jake Hauswirth (who made quite the splash in last year's camp) and first round pick in the '09 Entry Draft Marcus Johansson is not confirmed to be there, but is likely to show. Camp is from July 13 - 18.
• All this week, be sure to turn on NHL Network as they will be replaying the Rangers/Capitals series starting with game one today. Relive the Caps first series win in nearly 11 years.
  

Now, We Have A Series

On the brink of a possible sweep, the Pittsburgh Penguins finally woke up at home and get back on track in the Stanley Cup Finals against the Detroit Red Wings. They even showed signs of dominance that we saw with Carolina and Washington with their aggressive forecheck.

In fact, this kind of feels like the Washington series in a lot of ways. Down two games to none, the Penguins looked like all the luck had run dry. Then they just got lucky and started playing with more and more confidence. That is a scary prospect if you are a Red Wing fan.

What may be even more important, the series is now long enough for NBC to pick up the awarding of the Cup. If the Wings won game three and then win again in Pittsburgh, there was a good chance that Versus would be showing the series clinching game, not NBC. Hence, some upteenth million households would miss out completely the completion of the Cup finals. That would have been the real shame.

NHL Notes

• Jim Balsillie (besides having a silly name) is dead set on buying a NHL franchise and moving it to Hamilton, come hell or high water. The league has been fighting him every step of the way even when he seems to play by the rules. His plan is to purchase the struggling Phoenix Coyotes and he made no falsehoods about moving the team. Which is a shame, since hockey was starting to grow in the desert.
• Apparently the GM position for Jacques Martin in Florida was just too much. He jumped at the first chance to become head coach with the Montreal Canadiens. Hmm, trade Guy Carbonneau for a guy that couldn't coach the Panthers with the talent they had. I am just saying, Habs' fans might be waiting awhile to win.
• The NHL loves concussions. They love it so much, that they won't even consider a hit to the head rule to prevent them. The GMs met in Pittsburgh just before game 3 at Mellon Arena to discuss a possible hits to the head penalty. But nothing came of it. I guess they figure if we dumb down the players, the next CBA will be easier to handle.
• Finally, Comcast may offer the NHL Network on its Classic Digital Channels lineup. Good news for some of us that have to pay extra for the network. Finally, Comcast doing something good for a change.
  

Hunter Love From Cherry

Since a new feature this year on NHL network is the broadcast of CBC's Hockey Night in Canada, my wife has just about had it up to here with hockey already. Needless to say, I pick my Saturday nights to get a peek at what we are missing state side.

Last night, Toronto gave mad props to Wendel Clark and the Maple Leafs got off to a fast start. What I am really waiting for is the Coach's Corner with Don Cherry. Cherry did his normal rant as he does every Saturday night, but he took an interesting turn when he talked about Andrew Ference playing on a broken leg.

"Dale Hunter did even better," Cherry recalled. "Dale Hunter in Quebec going into the playoffs had a broken leg like [Ference] and he had two screws in it. The doctors told him, 'Dale, you can't play anymore, the screws have come loose in your leg.' ... You know what Dale did? Played the whole [series] and played great with two screws [rattling] around like that."

Then came the kicker: "Not only that, [Hunter had] like twelve hundred points and he tied with the "Rocket" [Maurice Richard] ... with four overtime goals and he is not being considered for the Hockey Hall of Fame. That's ridiculous."

Oh Don Cherry, you made a lot of Caps fans very happy with your rant. And on a night where two greats were being honored in Patrick Roy and Wendel Clark, Cherry had to bring up good ol' Hunter. I knew I always like Don, crazy suits or not.

Actually Dale Hunter had 1020 career points regular season and 118 points just in the NHL playoffs. His number is already in the rafters at the phone booth.

NHL Network To The Rescue

Sitting at my comfy "blogging chair," I was literally ripping at my face with my fingers as I look through the NHL news on just about every site I can think of. Is it really this slow? Yes, it is. With Shaone Morrisonn's hearing not scheduled until Thursday (yes it's this Thursday) and the likelihood that it will happen means for the next few days there is not much to talk about.

God bless the bloggers and writers, they are trying. But with no one playing hockey, and the August summer winds are nearly at our backs it seems everything has ground to a halt. Thank goodness for the NHL Network.

As I stare blankly at site after site on my laptop, 7 pm rolls around and NHL Network starts replaying game 1 of the Capitals/Flyers series from last spring. And it was the TSN broadcast to boot. Nothing against CSN Washington, they did a great job. But it's nice to hear a third party call the game and TSN did a great job of talking about both the Capitals' and Flyers' storylines.

Crisis adverted. My hockey fix is satisfied as I still yell at the Matt Cooke penalty, the missed call on Marty Biron playing the puck in the forbidden zone, and jumped up and down when Mike Green buried two goals to tie and Alex Ovechkin sneaky steal to win the game. Dang that was a good game.

The NHL Network will be replaying the whole series for the remainder of the week. Yeah me! As long as the news is slow, I can now take a more rational look at the series that almost was won by those boys of winter. Just a fix for a Caps fan that still can't wait for next season.

It's Comcastic!

Not!

Really? Did Comcast Sportsnet drop the ball again? On a big free agency day, the Wizards got their props, but not a single story, teaser, any comment on the Washington Capitals and their free agency. Did DC media just take 5 huge steps backward since the love fest in April?

Apparently so. The Caps play in the District too, and they have some pretty important news going on today with free agency and all. Caps fans are starved for news judging by the numbers of those coming to my corner of the internet. I understand if you can't get GMGM on camera, but Tarik looks good in HD. You could do a phoner with Green or some agents. Or, at the very least acknowledge that the Capitals exist and that free agency is today at noon.

That's Comcrapstic! Why did I ever change the channel from the NHL Network?

Ovechkin Takes Over NHL Network

If you have the NHL Network, then get your popcorn ready for a night of "An Ovechkin Ovation." The NHL Network will be showcasing his best performances of the season with a rebroadcast of 3 games.

Starting at 5:00 pm et Sunday (March 9), they will be showing the Caps games vs. the Senators (Ovie had 4 goals and 1 assist). Then after that the game that Ovie willed a win, Caps vs. the Canadiens (4 goals and an assist), then the beat down on the Bruins from a few nights ago (3 goals and 2 assists). Pretty much from 5 pm to 11 pm it will be an Ovechkin love-fest on the NHL Network.

Don't forget to "spring" forward on Sunday as well.