On this week’s show we’ll talk the first ever all-star game fantasy draft, we’ll also talk about a player hanging up on a GM, a waffle thrower getting sentenced and a disturbing story involving a minor league player. We’ve also got an interview with San Jose Sharks beat writer David Pollak of the San Jose Mercury News as well as your e-mails AND a hot dog eating contest.
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Hi Guys. LOVE the show!! I had to write in to say that I HATED the new all star format of captains picking the teams. First, I hated seeing the players who have made it to the NHL reduced to nervous little boys. It was painful to watch….especially when they did the interviews. Second, if they were going to interview the players, the only choice for that is Ron MacLean. The guy who did it was a clown. It was obvious that he did not know what he was talking about. MacLean knows hockey and the players and has the biting sense of humor the situation called for. (He should also still be doing the Hockey Awards Show but that is another rant!) Third, the selection process was such a sham. I can’t believe that Jonas Hiller, the hottest and best goalie in hockey, was picked last! Fleury and Ward before Hiller?!!! Come on!
Here is my solution to fix it:
Get rid of the all star game completely and leave in the skills competition. You have to admit that the skills part is the only one where the players really try and it is exciting. Each team would hold their own skills competition and send the winners of that to the all stars skills competition. Each team would be represented and the players would actually compete because their pride and reputation would be on the line. I have always believed that the all star skills competition as it is now should come with an asterisk because it is the best player of the players at the game not the league. I’m sure there are players with hard shots or are fast skaters who don’t make the all star list. This would give fans of each team reason to watch and it sure would be exciting. Also, there is little to no chance that anyone would be injured. We would really see the best of the best. Wouldn’t you love to see Parros there putting other forwards to shame?!!
BTW, I have been a hockey fan since 1973 (Go Amerks), a Caps fan since 1975 (in college) and a Die Hard Ducks Fan since day 1 (I moved to So. Cal in 92). I am a hockey purist.
Thanks for your time.
Here, here. End the All-Star game once and for all.
At least Shanny is trying to revamp it. The skills competition was weird. So much down time made it awkward. And the elimination shootout, while an interesting idea, just shows how much the league thinks we like shootouts. They took the most exciting play in hockey and said here, see it a few hundred times a year, and about 60 more on Saturday. As for the game, I wouldn’t mind seeing the host team take on a team of All-Stars and let the guys get a little physical. I think these guys are capable of playing a competitive game somewhere in the middle.
I wouldn’t be against getting rid of the All Star game. But, I am not a fan at all of this new format that Shanny put together. I was more of a fan of the traditional East vs. West format. (If we’re going to have one at all)
I completely agree with Doug during the conversation on all points. Let’s either get rid of it, or go back to the traditional format.
I started up a GM mode in NHL11, using a Fantasy Draft to get as many Michigan born players on the Red Wings as possible. Of course, I missed out on Kesler and LA will not trade him to me. But here we go:
David Booth (A)- David Legwand (A)- Mike Grier
Brian Rolston – Doug Weight – Chad LaRose
Justin Abdelkader – Mike Modano (C) – Adam Hall
Kevin Porter – TJ Hensick – Drayson Bowman
13th: Nathan Gerbe
Andy Greene-Brian Rafalski
James Wisniewski-Jeff Finger
Austin Levi-Matt Hunwick
Ryan Miller
Tim Thomas
Brent Johnson
Jason Bacashihua
Levi is the only guy in my starting lineup not from Michigan. There aren’t many active defensemen out there from MI.
Anyone else do anything like this?
Dustin,
Interesting idea. How are things going with that team? It looks like it would be an awful team except in net.
Doug
Well I suck anyway. I lost to Nashville 3-2 in the first preseason game, then turned the game off after Columbus came back from down 2-0 to go ahead, 4-2. I had a goal from Grier, Legwand and 2 from Abdelkader. Gotta work on my defense I guess, though the computer always just puts the puck top shelf so easily to beat any goalie.
The All-Star Game itself is so boring. I liked the format for the simple fact that it showed character from the players and the fun attitude everyone had towards the whole idea. I think the back stories of the Staal & Sedin brothers, and the teammate vs teammate etc were just what Shanahan’s new format was all about. I’m not really sure why Mike Green was an Assistant Captain, but whatever.
In response to the above poster (too lazy to look up the page), I don’t see where the “nervousness” came into play. Also, I think the car should have also been donated, because I think any all-star (or NHL player) can afford a Honda…
On a separate note:
With Mike Smith being recalled from his AHL conditioning assignment, the Lightning’s goaltending pickle is finally here. What do you see them doing with Smith or Ellis, assuming Roloson is here to stay (which I’m very much in favor of). Detroit and Anaheim could both use a veteran backup goalie with Osgood injured and McElhinney’s consistent awfulness. Do you see either one of the Lightning goalies going to one of these 2 teams, or perhaps another team? It’s not as “simple” as the Flyers situation since both Tokarski and Desjardins are excellent in the AHL and need playing time over Smith or Ellis. I know both are rather crappy this year and aren’t worth much in a trade but with Desjardins set to be the backup next year (or so I’ve heard), what are your thoughts on the Lightning’s goalie situation?
Thanks for your time:
PetrPuck (Nathan Drummond)
Also thanks for the shoutout a couple weeks back! Sorry its taken me so long to get back to you!
I haven’t weighed in in a few weeks (since I questioned Doug’s hot dog eating ability actually), so here’s my “Rome is Burning” type of post ranging across many categories:
– Thanks for holding the hot dog eating contest. I finished the episode this morning and cracked up throughout the day. I still think that you should be able to eat more than one if you take the proper approach (try eating the hot dog and bun separate).
A few issues with some of Doug’s comments over the past few weeks:
– “Patrice Bergeron is the most overrated player in the NHL.” A big, BIG no-no in my book. A few months ago you plugged “Boston Hockey Talk,” so as Bruins fan, I checked them out. In the first episode I listened to, they made the same mistake and got to know my opinion on Bergeron pretty well: http://bostonhockeytalk.blogspot.com/2010/11/boston-hockey-talk-episode-5.html#comments
To summarize what’s in there: There’s a reason why the likes of Yzerman and Gretzky picked Bergeron for the Gold Medal winning 2010 Team Canada over others like Martin St. Louis and Brad Richards. Bergeron is the best defensive forward on the Bruins (and one of the best in the league), he’s posting a phenomenal +23 as a FIRST line center, he wins a whopping 56.1% of faceoffs, he often runs the point on the powerplay…oh, and by the way, he’s far and away the best OFFENSIVE player (44 pts) on the sixth best offense in the league! Not to mention, if it was up to most Bruins fans, they’d appoint him Captain over Chara because he’s a noticeably the best leader in Boston.
Doug, I listen to the show every week, I agree with some things, respectfully disagree on others, but when it comes to calling Bergeron “overrated,” you’re flat out wrong and saying such things only enforces my notion that he’s one of the most unappreciated stars in the league.
– “The NHL doesn’t need ESPN.” Untrue. While it’s fine that Doug doesn’t watch ESPN (they don’t talk a lot of hockey, so that’s understandable), most people rely on ESPN for sports news. I tend to stumble upon a lot of games on ESPN channels or catch news on Sports Center. Few people stumble upon ones on Versus or NHLN (people like us would, but that’s only because we know to type in 215 or 603 on the DirecTV remote). ESPN’s claim that it’s the “worldwide leader in sports” is legit. The NHL NEEDS ESPN to get back to being relevant in the greater American sports perspective. Take a look at NASCAR. When they signed onto have races on ESPN, there was a show created “NASCAR Now,” and a noticeable increase in NASCAR news and coverage on Sports Center. It personally sparked my interest in auto racing, and while I’m not saying that’s the case with everyone, it at least promotes the sport to the large sports public. Also worth noting that my ringtone is the old ESPN Hockey Night diddy, so I’m all in favor of bringing that back. I’ll say it again: the NHL NEEDS ESPN to become a major American sport again.
– A few other things on which I’m burning. I agreed completely with the assessment of who’s a “real” and “casual” fan. I compare it to my interest in the NBA. I could not care any less about the NBA regular season, and I’m honestly pulling for a lockout as I’m confident that will benefit the NHL. However, obviously, being from New England, I can’t help but get excited for the Celtics playoff runs. I fully admit to being a “front runner” when it comes to the C’s (I only care when they’re winning in the playoffs). However, it’s completely different with the Bruins. Being on the West Coast, I DVR all their games (their blacked out live on NESN, so I record the later re-run called “Bruins in 2,” which doesn’t start until 9 pm) and watch all their games, usually a few days later, even if I already know the score.
– Lastly, like Eddie, I was rather offended by Doug’s “Colin is a Cancer” t-shirt idea, that’s wrong. However, while I love the “Colin is a Clown” t-shirt and am thrilled that GlassBangers made it, I have a second idea. Sticking with the vocabulary of the show (like “clown”) and using Doug’s analogy to the colon, how about: “Colin is a Rectum”? I think that’s a fair compromise.
Keep up the good work and show Patrice a little more love 🙂
Jonathan,
Thanks for taking the time to post all of that and for being a fan of the show. Your support is greatly appreciated by both me and Eddie.
If there’s a reason that Bergeron was picked for the Olympic team over Stamkos and St. Louis is there not also a reason that those two were named to the All-Star team over Bergeron? I agree with you that he’s an under-appreciated player but I think he’s more the type of guy that die hard fans, such as yourself, who watch every game appreciate more than a casual fan who only watches them play once a week or so. He’s a solid player, no doubt about it, but is he really one of the top 12 Canadian forwards in the league? I don’t think he is and I stand by that assessment. He’s good defensively, no doubt about it, but it’s not like Stamkos (a +14 on the #1 line of a team that DOESN’T have a Vezina Trophy winning goalie nor a Norris Trophy winning defenseman) is a liability in his own end.
I have been impressed with Bergeron this season and have watched him closely whenever I do watch the Bruins play (Bruins in 2 is awesome) and he is better than I thought he was. He’s not the most overrated player in the NHL, that’s true. I was wrong to say that. There can only be one most overrated player and that will continue to be Jay Bouwmeester.
As to your point about ESPN, can you tell me why interest in the NHL reached it’s all-time low while the sport was on ESPN? And that was BEFORE ESPN got the NFL, before they got NASCAR and before they expanded their coverage of both the NBA and NCAA sports. The NHL would get absolutely lost in the shuffle of ESPN broadcasts and since the NHL season goes head-to-head with the NBA all season long, head-to-head with the MLB playoffs to start the season, head-to-head with the NFL for the first four months of the season, head-to-head with NCAA Football for the first three months of their season, head-to-head with NCAA basketball from November through March, head-to-head with MLB for the entire playoffs…it would always take a back seat to their other sports. Would ESPN broadcast as many playoff games as Versus did? Would they have intermission shows that discussed the NHL or would they just throw it back to SportsCenter for NBA and other highlights? Would they have a show dedicated to hockey news and highlights as Versus has? I am not convinced they would.
Thanks again for your post and your support and best wishes to you and yours.
Doug