Puck Podcast – August 15th, 2009

This week we update the Patrick Kane situation and discuss the latest ownership news in Phoenix and Tampa Bay. We also talk about a controversial hit in a Canadian Junior camp, the Hurricanes battle with a hip hop artist and a hall of famer you may not know who has passed away. We’ll also read some listener e-mails. All that and a whole lot more in this special episode of the Puck Podcast.

MP3 File

About Doug Stolhand 27106 Articles
Doug Stolhand is one of the co-founders and co-hosts of the Puck Podcast and has been a member of the NHL media since the show's inception in 2006.

19 Comments

  1. I enjoyed this week’s riff on jersey-wearing protocol. However, I think you neglected to mention the ability to change name and number on the back. I know several Devils fans who had Gomez jerseys รขโ‚ฌโ€œ after he signed with the Rangers in 2007, they changed the name and number to various Devils mainstays.

    I can also vouch for some fans’ creativity with customized jerseys. I don’t remember if the game was at MSG, Nassau, or the Prudential Center; but a fan walked around in a Rangers jersey with the following emblazoned on the back: name LOSERS SINCE, number 94.

  2. Intresting discussion on the jerseys, the only thing that’s even more idiotic then your own name is having a nick name. One time I considered putting my nickname on a jersey, good thing I didn’t do it.

    For the division breakdowns, which division do you think will be the toughest to play in this season?

    Speaking of divisions, the AHL has a new look to it this year with Adirondack, NY. Austin, Texas and Abbostford, B.C. joining the league this season.

    Here’s the new AHL Divisions:

    Eastern Conference

    Atlantic Division
    Bridgeport Sound Tigers
    Hartford Wolfpack
    Lowell Devils
    Manchester Monarchs
    Portland Pirates
    Providence Bruins
    Springfield Falcons
    Worcester Sharks

    East Division
    Adirondack Phantoms (Moved from Philadelphia)
    Albany River Rats
    Binghamton Senators
    Hershey Bears
    Norfolk Admrials
    Syracuse Crunch
    W-B/Scranton Penguins

    Western Conference

    North Division
    Abbotsford Heat (Moved from Quad City, Illinois)
    Grand Rapids Griffins
    Hamilton Bulldogs
    Lake Erie Monsters
    Manitoba Moose
    Rochester Americans
    Toronto Marlies

    West Division
    Chicago Wolves
    Houston Aeros
    Milwaukee Admrials
    Peoria Rivermen
    Rockford Icehogs
    San Antonio Rampage
    Texas Stars (Expansion)

    The Iowa Chops have been suspendsied for the 2009-2010 due to breaking league rules.

  3. Sadly, I do sometimes pay the extra money to get concessions when I’m working at Comerica Park. Little Caesar’s locations offer a large $5 pizza, and it’s a pretty big success. You used to be able to buy one slice at the ballpark for $2.50. It kept going up until finally this year, they had to introduce the MONSTER SLICE (Which is one corner of a small square pizza) for $5.50! I’m not sure how much a whole pizza is, but It sure as hell isn’t $5.00. I’ve only bough a MONSTER SLICE once, but I did often pay $5 for two slices about 5 years ago.

  4. I was given a gift of a Red Wings jersey with my name and favorite number on it. I used to wear it all the time when I played street hockey. One good thing about it – no player has ever worn the number I do, so at least it’s unique, and I’m sure people who randomly see me don’t know it’s my name. I mean, there was a Red Wings player in training camp a few years back whose name is Robin Big Snake. Now that’s a name that people would assume is personalized.

  5. To weigh in on the jersey discussion:

    -If -IF- you are going to emblazon your name on the back, grab a 00 as the number…

    – There is ALWAYS a Red Wings jersey at Kings games! No matter who they are playing- Ducks, Coyotes, Canucks, Blue Jackets, Devils…- there is always someone with his KOPECKY Red Wings Douchecape walking around. “Hey! Hey! Look at me! I like a GOOD team! And I’m SOOOO cool that I get a jersey of a fourth liner!”

    – Do your research. My ex-girlfriend’s favorite team is the Panthers and her favorite player is David Booth. Before I was going to drop $$$$ on a jersey, I checked his status. RFA. In Fla. So I waited until he was under a new contract before even considering it. To use another sport as an example, I’m a big Angels fan and a big Texiera fan. But there was no way I was getting a Tex jersey until he was under a decent multi year deal. Obviously that didn’t happen. Those guys with Texiera jerseys at Anahiem Stadium this year are proudly proclaiming that they REALLY enjoyed those three months??

    – You’ve mentioned it before, but I think it is okay to wear a player jersey from another team. If you’re a big Ryan Smythe fan, go ahead and rock that Avs jersey this year at Staples. I think it’s a nod to celebrating a player’s career that you followed. (Mentioning The Smythe and the Kings reminds me of my favorite post from the Avs board the day he was traded [paraphrasing]: “I have two Avs jerseys. Lappy and Smythe. Well, there’s $500 I WASTED! Thanks Avs Managment.”)

    – My new favorite activity when attending hockey games with friends is pointing out the jerseys that make you say “How did s/he end up with BLANK?!?” For instance, the Kings DAN CLOUTIER jersey wearer! Who ran out the day that guy was signed and said “Hook me up with a #29!” ?!? Or Trent Klatt? Or the HUNDREDS of Jason Allison jerseys I see every home game? Or the PINK Tom Priessing jersey at Frozen Fury 2007?

    Man, that turned into a long rant. I’ll close with my favorite jersey sighting ever. Dodger Stadium last season. Field level. Dodgers white home jersey. #87. “B. MONEY.”

  6. My all Time Favorite jersey

    During the Gretzky years.

    Mcnall and with no numbers but dollar sings

    McNall
    $$

    Just like that

    Now I own a Ottawa Jersey with my own last name but the mens team I played for used that jersey but I never wear it in public

    Draft Mike
    Diamond bar Cali

  7. On this week’s news:

    I LOVE the fact that Marleau is no longer considered captain of the Sharks. I think that he has not been the team leader he once was for awhile now. I think that if anyone deserves it on the roster, it should go to Jumbo Joe. He always exemplifies perseverance and the willingness to play hard every shift. I have seen Marleau take many shifts off the past two or three seasons, so why does he deserve the ‘C’?

    I do not want to see McLellan give out like 9 A’s though instead of a C and two A’s. I think having your whole team as alternates takes away the responsibility of being a true leader from three people. If you have an A Tuesday night but you won’t Wednesday, what is going to give you the drive to truly lead? If three players are set in stone as the captains, the rest of the team can relax and let the three players handle the tough situations with the referees.

  8. As a Lightning fan I do enjoy seeing a Vinny Lecavalier Rimouski jersey as well as a University of Vermont and Calgary Flames Marty St. Louis jersey at a few games.

    I haven’t bought a jersey in a long time and have been contemplating it lately. It will be a Lecavalier sweater. But you can’t blame me for waiting, especially during this ownership groups reign. He’s got the new deal in place as of July 1st with the no trade clause, but the way Koules and Barrie are going at it, who knows what will happen.

    I still have a John Tucker 14 jersey signed by the whole team (people often mistake it for Darcy Tucker 16). I also have a Dino Ciccarelli jersey from all of his 2 years with the club.

  9. Jeff- Isn’t one of the knocks on Joe that he’s NOT a leader? I seem to remember that being a part of the story with their playoff exits for the last three seasons. Or maybe this is an attempt to force Joe into a leadership role? I agree that going the “90 A’s” route is the wrong way to go. I think rotating captains is not a good idea. At some point you have to look at someONE in the room as THE leader.

    There’s a few interesting “C” situations out there. Who does Montreal turn to? After Gomez’s tenure in NYC, how much trust do you place in him? Who does Tampa Bay give it to, considering that whoever is wearing it may be gone by the All-Star Break? Or Colorado. Statsny seems the obvious choice, but do you give it to former Jackets captain Foote for his final year?

  10. I think Dan Boyle would make the best Sharks’ captain. I think he has way more intensity and desire to win than Joe. You could see this in the way he owned up to their defeat and called out a few of his teammates during the State of the Sharks address to the fans at the Shark Tank after this season. By contrast, you could more/less summarize what Joe said as “Well, I thought I played pretty good.” And Marleau said pretty much nothing at all.

    I would make Boyle a bit more of a face of the franchise and let Thornton come back down to Earth for a while.

  11. If I’m not mistaken, the Canadiens’ captain has traditionally been player-elected.

    Even before the Canadiens’ roster shakeup, I would assume that the natural choice is Andrei Markov: a tenured number-one defenseman in all situations, the Habs looked like a mess if he was out the lineup due to injury. The only strike I against him (that I can think of) is that he doesn’t speak much French.

  12. I don’t have any jersey’s with a player name on it, or my name. Now I might get say Stevens or Daneyko since their number is retired. But otherwise hate to see someone get traded. My daughter has a series of Marty shirts, guess that would be safe for NJ. One thing I do see a lot of is the Stanley Cup ’95 or Lord stanley 95 etc..

    Oh and btw – its not the sound quality – its the content. Don’t worry about the sound.

  13. Jeff- I like your point about Boyle. Not hearing the “State Of The Sharks” address, I was unaware of those comments. By your account, that may be a good choice. They definitely need some grit to step to the fore. I didn’t seem to see any emotion from Yo Thorton until the game in which they were eliminated. Watching with a Sharks fan, he had a “FINALLY! Where was that in game one?!?” reaction to Thorton slamming his stick on the bench when he realized that 1,000 regular season wins don’t mean crap when you can’t play with urgency in the corners.

    Do they really call it “The State Of The Sharks Address?”

    As far as Montreal goes, if the C is team elected, Markov could be the choice simply by tenure. But is he the right choice? Looking at their depth chart, there may not be any OTHER choice! Like I said, I cannot see anyone trusting Gomez right now. Gionta and Cammalleri aren’t the right choices, either, as neither seems to be able to stand up in the room. Not that anyone could see them behind Hal Gill. I’m afraid this season is going to be a trying one in Montreal.

    I don’t remember where “Douchecape” came from. It’s not an original from me, I’m sorry to say. Last I remember hearing it was in Joel McHale’s standup act. “Any male over the age of 18 wearing an Ed Hardy t-shirt is wearing a Douchecape.” It’s become a favorite expression of me and my friends. We’ve attempted to define other examples, with the Red Wings “Maltby” jersey being worn to a Kings game being the best so far…

  14. Todd $&@*tuzzi signed another contract with the Detroit Red Wings.

    Again, I cannot believe Gary Bettman and Colin Campbell have allowed the complete TRAVESTY of permitting this individual to continue to play in the NHL with ABSOLUTELY NO PENALTY ASSESED FOR ATTEMPTING TO KILL SOMEONE.

    The league wants to get serious about hits to the head? How about getting serious regarding the injury to the spine, head, neck, upper body…

    “Oh, we’ll suspend him… For the duration of the lockout…”

  15. BTW: On the whole “cabbie-gate” deal: One thing that would really interest me is the story that lead up to the whole thing. Nobody wants exact change from a cabbie, unless one got really pissed off before. In my entire life, I had maybe 1 or 2 incidents where I asked a cabbie or waiter (or someone along those lines) for exact change, and in each case, I was at the end of my rope because something outrageous happened before. I imagine there must have been a similar story there. Otherwise, it makes absolutely no sense at all.

  16. The “rule” of not having your name (or any other name) on a jersey is ridiculous. You buy the jersey because you are the fan of the team. You will always be a fan of the team, whereas any player has a limited time on the team. If you think you can only have a current player’s name on the jersey, and therefore being forced to buy a new jersey every year or so, then you Eddie are the fool to be laughed at for being conned into shelling out money every year to buy a new jersey. I bet you are going to love having that DOUGHTY jersey after he gets traded to, or signed by, the Ducks ๐Ÿ™‚

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