In this week’s episode we talk about the latest news…or lack thereof…regarding the future of Mats Sundin, Joe Sakic and Teemu Selanne. We also discuss Scotty Bowman blowing off Detroit to join the Blackhawks, why Gary Bettman needs to rethink the way he’s doing things, another Wings players interesting day with the Stanley Cup, a minor league player who’s a major league moron and the surprising shake-up in the Oilers front office. We’ll also talk with Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune about the Blackhawks resurgence and what they plan to do with Nikolai Khabibulin now that they’ve signed Cristobal Huet. All that and a whole lot more in this episode of the Puck Podcast.
Click here to check out Chris Kuc’s Blackhawks blog at ChicagoSports.com.
Doug, I appreciated the opportunity to play in the Puck Podcast fantasy hockey league last season, it was fun, but having to check on it nearly every day was a bit of a chore. Many times my real life got in the way of staying up to speed. It was also pretty silly to see players in games only to find out that they weren’t available to pick up because they weren’t listed on the NHLPA’s website.
I’m assuming Yahoo isn’t one of your sponsor’s (yet!) so I would strongly recommend trying out cbs.sportsline.com for the Puck Podcast Fantasy League. I’ve played fantasy hockey there for a few years now and found it to be very user-friendly. Also, their writing staff is pretty knowledgable. They provide daily updates on players, their streaks and slumps, and recommendations for newbies and and seasoned GM’s alike. They also do a great job of fanning the flames when it comes to smack talk among GM’s, but in a good way. In short, it’s fun, all current players are available to add to your roster, live drafts if so chosen, and it can be tweaked to give points for everything from PIMs to Saves. The best part? You only have to set your roster once a week. Every Sunday you assemble the best lineup you can (after balancing how many games each player has for the upcoming week, and against whom) and then you go head-to-head with your scheduled opponent.
Hell, I could set my weekly lineup while listening to the latest Puck Podcast episode! Try it out on the side for a season at least, you may like it better.
Eddie & Doug
We are all on the ends of our seats. Was there a drunken barn dance in the parking lot after Sunday’s game?
Mike
Drunken party or subdued wasted beer?
Chris
The lack of news on this game leads me to believe the PR firm of Selanne, Sundin and Sakic has unleashed it’s “Shield of Silence” over this matter.
Fans of the Puck Podcast…I will let Eddie be the one to decide if he’d like to reveal the results of our game on here or whether he’d like to wait for this week’s show. After all, Eddie is the captain of the team.
That sounds good to me.
All will be reveal on the show this week.
-The Captain
Well I hope it was fun win or lose
Hey guys,
Just a couple of quick things about Mats Sundin. I don’t think he’s getting more media attention in regards to his playing status just because he was a Leaf. That definitely doesn’t hurt, but I think the reason he gets more attention than Sakic and Selanne is because no one’s sure where he’ll play next season if he does decide to play. The other two only have one team that they’ll play for (Colorado and Anaheim respectively) whereas there’s no guarantee that Mats will end up back with the Leafs. If his return to Toronto was a definite thing there wouldn’t be this kind of interest.
Personally, I don’t really think he should come back to the Leafs. For the record, I am a Leafs fan through and through and Mats has been the best part of the team for years. But he deserves to end his career on a team that actually has a shot at the cup. Toronto is just not that team. Not this year anyway. I wouldn’t even mind if he ended up in Montreal. At least there we’d get to see him play with line mates who are actually good instead of dead weight like Ponikarovsky and Antropov. And if he does end up on another team, and I end up at a game where he plays against Toronto I certainly wouldn’t boo him. I don’t understand how anyone could begrudge him moving on after carrying this team for years and years. Often times he was the only reason to cheer!
Lastly, Eddie, I don’t understand why you think it’s dumb to honour numbers but not not retire them. I mean, if the Leafs did retire all the numbers they honoured they wouldn’t be able to use 1, 4, 7, 9, 10, 17, 21, 27, 93 in addition to the already retired 5, 6, and 99. And 1, 4, 7, 9, 10, and 27 each have two players with that number honoured, so it might mean that the second player to use those numbers would have had to use other ones so that would mean there’d be 6 more numbers retired. At some point it just gets ridiculous. Can you retire the same number twice? At what point do you have to start un-retiring numbers just so your players have some choice?
Anyway, thank you very much for the time and effort you guys put into this show. I’ve been listening for about a year now and it is consistently excellent. Keep up the good work!
Graham from Toronto
Hey Eddie and Doug, I think it would be intresting for our listeners to see the Champions League Schedule on the website.
CHL Qualifer (All Games in Nurnberg, Germany)
All Games Home VS. Away
September 12
Sinupret Ice Tigers VS. SC Bern
September 13
SC Bern VS. HC Kosice
Septmber 14
HC Kosice VS. Sinupret Ice Tigers
Note: Sinupret is the title sponsor for the Nurnberg Ice Tigers.
Group A: Karpat Oulu, Eisbaren Berlin, Metallurg Mag.
October 8: Eisbaren Berlin VS. Karpat Oulu
October 22: Karpat Oulu VS. Metallurg Mag.
October 29: Metallurg Mag. VS. Eisbaren Berlin
November 12: Karpat Oulu VS. Eisbaren Berlin
November 19: Metallurg Mag. VS. Karpat Oulu
December 3: Eisbaren Berlin VS. Metallurg Mag.
Group B: HV71 Jonkoping, Espoo Blues, Qualifer Winner
October 8: HV71 Jonkoping VS. Qualifer Winner
October 22: Qualifer Winner VS. Espoo Blues
October 29: Espoo Blues VS. HV71 Jonkoping
November 12: Qualifer Winner VS. HV71 Jonkoping
November 19: Espoo Blues VS. Qualifer Winner
December 3: HV71 Jonkoping VS. Espoo Blues
Group C: Salavat Yulayev Ufa, Slovan Bratislava, Ceske Budejovice
October 8: Salavat Yulayev Ufa VS. Ceske Budejovice
October 22: Ceske Budejovice VS. Slovan Bratislava
October 29: Slovan Bratislava VS. Salavat Yulayev Ufa
November 12: Ceske Budejovice VS. Salavat Yulayev Ufa
November 19: Slovan Bratislava VS. Ceske Budejovice
December 3: Salavat Yulayev Ufa VS. Slovan Bratislava
Group D: Slavia Prague, Zurich Lions, HC Linkopings
October 8: Slavia Prague VS. HC Linkopings
October 22: HC Linkopings VS. Zurich Lions
October 29: Zurich Lions VS. Slavia Prague
November 12: HC Linkopings VS. Slavia Prague
November 19: Zurich Lions VS. HC Linkopings
December 3: Slavia Prague VS. Zurich Lions
Semifinals*
Group D Winner VS. Group B Winner
Group A Winner VS. Group C Winner
*If 2 Teams from the same league make the semifinals, then they will play each other.
December 10: 1st Leg
January 3: 2nd Leg
Final
Semifinal Winners
January 21: 1st Leg
January 28: 2nd Leg
During the Semifinals and Final, Home Ice Advantage will be deterimned by home ice advantage.
Eddie and Doug,
Thanks for the podcast you guys do a great job. When I first checked out my Ipod and saw that your podcast was updated I thought “what can these guys possibly talk about this week??” and for over an hour!! But you pulled it off. I enjoyed every minute of it including your personal experiences. Keep up the good work.
Stu (Hockeytown west Grand Rapids, Michigan home of the Griffins)