Pavel Datsyuk spoke with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Jason Mackey about what Datsyuk believes is a lack of creativity in professional hockey today:
“There are not many creative players now,” Datsyuk said after Team Russia’s World Cup of Hockey practice Sunday at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry. “It’s less and less every year. There’s lots of talent, but teams are playing more systems.”
Datsyuk continues: Continue reading Datsyuk discusses creativity in hockey, or the lack thereof
The Globe and Mail’s Roy MacGregor asks an intriguing question:
It’s not likely to happen – but it’s not entirely inconceivable, either.
Canadian hockey fans cheering against Team Canada?
It’s early in the relatively meaningless exhibition round of the World Cup, but there are still some things to be learned. And the most obvious has to be is the most-gimmicky team is for real.
Team North America – more often referred to as the Under-24s by the hockey world – is pretty damn good. The kids, as they’re also known, made easy work of Team Europe in two exhibition games last week. And while Team Europe – composed of players from Slovakia, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France and Slovenia – isn’t expected to be a factor, no one really knows what to expect from the kids.
They could fizzle; they could contend; they could … As the Globe and Mail’s Montreal sports reporter, Sean Gordon, put it in Monday’s paper, they’re “half high-speed circus, half hockey team.”
“Let’s face it,” Team Europe captain Anze Kopitar quickly conceded, “they’re faster than us.” And more skilled. And more ambitious.
The Red Wings posted a very slick Instagram video of a drone flying over Detroit’s skyline, including Little Caesars Arena…
And the Red Wings were very busy in terms of posting Instagram content on Monday. It was good to see Johan Franzen skating again:
Continue reading Flying over Little Caesars Arena and a happy Mule
I love this story: Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston hit a chord (no pun intended) in explaining why Team Canada goaltender Braden Holtby is wearing a Tragically Hip-themed mask during the World Cup of Hockey:
“Everyone knows the story in Canada,” Holtby told Sportsnet in an interview. “It’s one of those things that has turned a positive from a negative. It’s pretty amazing kind of what Canadians do. I grew up and I can have vivid memories of listening to my first Hip songs. We even had a class in school, a little part of it that was based on (the song) ‘Wheat Kings’ – I mean you just remember it. It’s Canadian, it’s the Hip, and with me being a huge music lover (it made sense).
“This being the biggest stage for hockey and a lot of Gord’s songs have hockey in them, I mean it ties the two in and I think it’ll be very good.”
The plan, ultimately, is to auction the mask off for charity. Word has already been passed along to the band and Holtby hopes the Hip will determine where the money ends up.
He’s never met Downie or other members of the band, but has long been a fan.
Johnston continues, and the mask looks awesome:
Continue reading Braden Holtby’s mask pays tribute to the Tragically Hip
As per usual, I’m raising funds for my annual prospect tournament/main training camp trip to Traverse City to cover the Red Wings’ fall prospect tournament and main training camp. I’ll be working for Kukla’s Korner for the duration, but I’ll try to post some exclusive stuff here on TMR as time permits.
I’m impressed by the quality of these videos:
ESPN’s aired some short videos in which Chris Chelios and Brett Hull recall playing for Team USA and share stories as promotions for ESPN’s World Cup of Hockey coverage. Chelios and Hull discuss the honor of wearing Team USA’s jersey…
Let’s just say that being a Calgary Flame didn’t prevent Hull from allowig Chelios to take on a teammate in Hull’s first NHL game…
Continue reading Chris Chelios, Brett Hull appear on ESPN to promote the World Cup of Hockey
Dylan Larkin appeared on the NHL Network on Tuesday evening, discussing the “Larkin Hockey School” and addressing Team North America’s World Cup hopes:
WordPress can post entries from cell phones, though options are somewhat limited.
Good stuff from AWood40 again: 20 minutes of the Red Wings’ 1997 playoff goals:
Can Twitter posts be directly embedded?
.@tylerbertuzzi days. Opening Night is October 14!
Single game tickets go on sale on Sept. 16 at 10 AM. #GoGRG pic.twitter.com/pQWd2Ad24W
— GrandRapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) September 5, 2016
Yes…But the URL embed works better.
.@tylerbertuzzi days. Opening Night is October 14!
Single game tickets go on sale on Sept. 16 at 10 AM. #GoGRG pic.twitter.com/pQWd2Ad24W
— x – Grand Rapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) September 5, 2016
