Anaheim Ducks GM Bob Murray, accidentally, struck a woman with a chair following his teams series loss to the Detroit Red Wings a week ago. The woman declined to seek charges against Murray according to the AP article on ESPN. Who knows, maybe Murray’s apology was very heartfelt, or perhaps the woman, who was in the press box, felt bad for the guy. It’s understandable Murray was probably upset with the loss, but swinging a chair in a press box is pretty lame. Punch the wall or slam a door; don’t swing a chair at an unsuspecting woman.

The NHL is not pro wrestling and this is not good press. It’s a shame that a white collar employee, who should be concerned with helping the NHL and hockey rid itself of its barbarian-esque reputation, reacted this way. I’m sure Murray will or has gotten an earful from someone, but incidents like this don’t help the NHL gain fans.

I think that hockey itself is a good product, it is a great product watching live, and probably has been helped the most out of any sport with the invention and mainstream of HD TV.  Work with the momentum, gain back the casual fans you idiots.  For being inept at running a sports league, the NHL gets The Drubbing FAIL of the week award.

It’s funny how each sports season starts. At the start of the year, I usually am openly optimistic, but tend to quietly listen to all the “experts” who say that one team will do this, another will do that, this team will be lucky to make the playoffs, and this group is good; but not quite ready for the show.

The 2008-2009 Flyers are the latter bunch; and deep down I think I realized it all season. They’ve proven that they can win against the best teams in the league, yet they are still missing a few key pieces to the puzzle. An upgrade at the goalie position is needed as is a deeper and tougher defensive corps. Defense wins championships and that’s the bottom line. If the other team is kept off the scoreboard, your chances of winning skyrocket (duh).

Game 4 this past Tuesday was a perfect example of how defense wins games. The Penguins Marc-Andre Fleury was stellar. He literally and figuratively stole the game for the Pens. A No.1 draft pick for the Penguins a few years ago, the guy has turned out to be quite the performer. Fleury’s performance brings me to another point. Do the Flyers buy or sell their current crop of goalies?

Both Martin Biron and Antero Nittymaki are slated to be free agents this offseason. Neither have shown they have the consistency to be a top tier goalie in the NHL. Nittymaki has his Winter Olympic heroics to validate his skill, but that type of performance has been hard to come by on a regular basis. During last years playoffs Biron proved to himself and the doubters that he is a solid netminder. He led the Flyers to the Eastern Conference finals, but had his own ups and downs this year.

With neither goalie able or willing to solidify themselves so far, what do the Flyers do? Do they buy or sell? Resign them both and see who shows up next year? (No-been there done that this season). Do they sign one and not the other? Do they let them both go and try to pick up some other goalie?

Despite the fact I respect both goalies and believe they are serviceable backups – I do not think either is ready at this point to lead a team to a championship. I wouldn’t mind seeing the Flyers sign one of them at a respectable backup salary and go after a true No. 1 goalie. That would make the most sense in my mind. With multiple opportunities, neither has really taken charge, so go with a fresh face.

The only issue with signing one to a backup role is, who do you pickup as your starter? I don’t think much is out on the free agent market. That leaves the Flyers shopping a top d-man or forward to try and get a true starter. The farm system appears to be pretty bleak at the moment. I can’t even begin to think about who i’d be willing to trade from the forwards – however someone is probably expendable as they have a deep bench and some young guns ready to make the step to the big show. Time will tell, but i think the best move is to sell.

On a related note: Ryan you are correct – I think the Bruins are trouble. They should steamroll every  team in the East, Big Z is a scary dude. If the Flyers lose I just hope that every other team from the Atlantic division gets bumped from the playoffs as well.

I’ve got a particular interest in the Philly-Pittsburgh series. The first two games left me with a sour taste in my mouth, but Sunday’s Flyers performance has me feeling a lot better about things. Seeing Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin making plays yet the Pens still losing is great. Those two fall into the category of “you can’t stop him, but you can slow him down.” If they light up the scoreboard and fill the stat sheet, yet the Flyers still win the series, I am “eh”  okay with that.

When Crosby gets his panties in a bunch it’s hilarious. He seems to incessantly chirp in the referees ear. After the hit delivered by Pens forward Chris Kunitz on Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen, I am sure the Flyers are going to take their liberties with the Penguins players when able – so Crosby will be back whining before you know it.

I’m not certain the hit Kunitz delivered was illegal, but I definitely think it was questionable. Timonen admitted he put himself in a vulnerable spot, but it appeared Kunitz was up around Timonen’s head. Either way, there was no injury, no penalty, and no action taken by the league so that argument can be dismissed.

What can’t be dismissed is Tuesday night, Game 4. It is sure to be a fun one. 

The Flyers are still down 2-1 in the series and will look to even things up. Some teams are built for intense match-ups; and the Flyers have what it takes in order to be both physical with the Penguins and stay true to who they are as a team. The Crosby/Malkin led Penguins I don’t think have the same type of makeup. Crosby doesn’t ooze “tough-guy” to me. Compare him to Flyers captain Mike Richards and there is a sharp contrast. Richards undoubtedly does not have the physical skills of Crosby, but he has the leadership qualities that will help send Pittsburgh packing.

It’s a crazy time of year, but this is a crazy tournament. Lord Stanley’s Cup is up for grabs and the level of tenacity is only going to go up.

It's time to get serious...who will win Lord Stanley's Cup?

With just about a month to go in the regular season, the NHL is primed for what looks to be a very competitive playoff run for the Stanley Cup.Outside of the current conference leaders (Boston from the East, and San Jose and Detroit (No.1 and No.2 respectively) in the West) who I imagine will continue to dominant in the fashion they have since October, the matchups for one of the most passionate tournaments has yet to be decided.

Looking at the East the Bruins, Devils, Capitals and Flyers (the current top 4) have to be looked at as favorites to lock down high seeds. The rest of the field will most likely be decided in the final games of the season. My picks to round out spots five through eight are Montreal, Florida, Carolina and New York (Rangers; there is no way the Islanders make it to the playoffs any time soon).

Sidney Crosby and the Penguins, despite their heroics in last year’s playoffs will not make it to the post season this year. They’ve lost too much fire power up front and have been inconsistent. Buffalo will be edged out as well. Losing goalie Ryan Miller to injury will cost the Sabres. Without Miller in net this average team has no hope of battling the big boys. A good example would be the drubbing provided by Philadelphia last night in a 5-2 road loss for the Sabres. Aside from the fluky first goal of the game, where a puck was redirected off the skate of a jumping Maxim Afinogenov, Buffalo didn’t pose much of a threat.

The West I think is going to be a bit more fun to watch over the next thirty days or so. The middle of the conference is loaded with average teams battling night in and night out for points. The Los Angeles Kings, currently sitting in the 13^th spot in the conference, are only 4 points behind the Nashville Predators who are holding onto the final playoff spot in the West with 71 points through 67 games played. In my honest opinion – the teams that end up filling the fourth through eighth seeds in the West are just going to be punching bags for the likes of San Jose, Detroit, and Calgary.

Calgary who was already a solid team made some huge trade deadline moves bringing in center Olli Jokinen and defenseman Jordan Leopold. Miikka Kiprusoff is leading the league in wins, but doesn’t have the flashiest of stats among league leaders in save percentage or goals allowed. This may have to improve going into the playoffs, but with 39 wins under his belt so far and the fact Kiprusoff is capable of playing like one of the best goalies in the world – the Flames could menace Detroit and San Jose come playoff time.

With regards to the rest of the West, I think it would be great to see teams like the Columbus Blue Jackets (yes, Columbus has a team), the St. Louis Blues, and Los Angeles in the mix. It seems like forever since St. Louis and Los Angeles produced competitive teams.

It’s all still up in the air, but tune in and gear up for what will be a fun race to the finish. The intensity will be kicked up a few notches and the body checks are certain to pack a little more “oomph” the next few weeks.

On a side note, I read something the other day where there is a rumor circling around that ESPN might start televising NHL games again – possibly a Friday night showcase or something. I hope that happens. As much as I don’t mind the Versus broadcasts or the local channel broadcast, having a network like ESPN cater to the hockey world, a bit more, would be good for the sport.

There was absolutely no excitement to the game itself – zilch. The pre-game ceremony was dreadful. Between the spinning violinist (perhaps she was playing viola) and the half-naked guy with the giant hoola hoop it felt more like Cirque du Soleil meets the New York Philharmonic. Somebody should have told Montreal that this was not the opening ceremonies to the Beijing Summer Games. I’ll have a side order of yawn with my NHL all-star game, please.

Whatever happened to hair bands and pyrotechnics? Watching Alexander Ovechkin and his youthful enthusiasm during the skills competition was enjoyable. It was nice to see the rookies versus the sophomores in the YoungStars game. Yet, the centerpiece of the weekend – the 2009 All-Star game was brutal. The fact that it went to a shootout may have been the best thing for a pretty lackluster performance from some of the top players in the game. The Eastern Conference finally ended this nonsense, winning 12-11. There was no defense and no emotion.

What kind of hockey game ends 12-11? Perhaps this was the NHL’s version of the And-1 mix tape videos. Maybe an adult beer league game on a Monday at 11:30 p.m. ends in a 12-3 route. Nobody cares to watch a game with no sense of urgency – at least I don’t.

Maybe it’s me. Maybe I was expecting too much from such an event by a professional league. I was reading John Buccigross’ most recent column on ESPN.com and felt motivated to chime in as well. Bucci touches on the aspect of competition. Major League Baseball has tried to make their version of the all-star game a bit more entertaining by granting home field advantage to the winning league in the upcoming world series. That’s a start. In general, the all-star game/weekend in every sport is a joke.

The recognition that comes with being named an “all-star” should be like a gold glove in baseball. It’s a resume builder and potential factoid or stat that can be regurgitated upon induction into a sports hall of fame. Play the all-star game after the season, or at the start of the next season (like some readers of Buccigross’ have proposed). Make it mean something. The Winter Classic this past New Year’s Day was great. Last year in Buffalo was great. The spectacle of such an event is captivating. But, more importantly, the game is played with a certain intensity. An intensity only found in a game where there is something on the line; such as 2 points in the standings.

Hockey is a team sport and deserves to be portrayed as such. Maybe the NHL should revert back to the format of “North America” versus “the World.” That may spark some excitement and competitiveness. Perhaps, scratch the all-star game and promote the Winter Classic even more. What about re-instituting a game or set like the “Super Series”? I am pulling at straws here, but there needs to be a change. This past weekend was embarrassing. I expect a lot more from a league and a sport that has much more to offer.

Admit it.  Hockey isn’t nearly as boring, hard to follow, trivial, unimportant and irrelevant as you’d like to make it.

We’re now three season’s separated from an NHL work stoppage that many thought would spell the end of hockey in the U.S. for good.  With a plummeting fan base and a TV contract that found its way to rivaling the rodeo for air time, the NHL looked to be in ridiculously thin ice.

Then something interesting happened.  Despite the same awful TV deal, and general ambivalence from all major sports networks, new faces that started taking hold the last few seasons have now thrust themselves into the hockey limelight and an exciting 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs has cast a sense of possibility as well as intrigue on even the most jaded of hockey nay-sayers.

Learn these names: Ovechkin, Crosby, Semin, Malkin, Getzlaf, Kessel, Schenn, Staal (you pick), Cheechoo, Kane, Toews, Setoguchi, Stempniak. These names are the future of hockey and they are putting on a show as we speak.  Fast paced, exciting, relevant. They are just skilled and in some cases even more so than the Dwight Howards, LeBron James, and Chris Pauls of the world that compete for our attention.

With trap-happy hockey a thing of the past; speed, skill and strong physical play have emerged as the foundation for which hockey can begin to rebuild itself in our national consciousness.  The Orginal Six teams, (Boston, New York, Detroit, Chicago, Toronto and Montreal) all find themselves factoring into playoff plans heavily, even this early in the year.  They’re once again packing fans into arenas in Chicago and Boston, hockey strongholds, with on-ice product that inspires regional significance and recalls whimsical memories for many disgruntled puck-heads.

Sit up, pay attention, search a little, the NHL is here.  It has any number of problems that need to be fixed, the same can be said of our other major sports who are wallowing in off-field issues, performance enhanced mania and money grubbing insanity.  Hockey is still the fastest game on the planet, created to be watched live and the reason why 97.3% of Americans buy HD televisions when they witness the NHL demo at Best Buy.

Before you forget that you’ve read this post, buy tickets to a game.  Soon.  Get to the game early, watch the skate-around, grab a beer, get vocal and embrace hockey.  Keep an eye on who’s coming over the boards, note who hit who on the big hits, watch how the puck moves and learn to appreciate deflections and dekes.  I promise you won’t be disappointed.  4 offensive lines, 3 defensive pairs and a goalie.  Poetry in motion.

Now if we can only figure out an impeachment procedure for Gary Bettman…