Puck Podcast – October 3, 2009

October 3, 2009 Doug Stolhand Podcasts 13

On this week’s show we’ll talk about the judges ruling in the Phoenix Coyotes ownership saga, we’ll tell you two big named players ending their career and one player who left his team right before the start of the season. We’ll discuss Gary Bettman’s comments regarding the NHL’s future participation in the Olympics. We also have a special interview with Carolina Hurricanes head coach Paul Maurice and we’ll read some of your posts and e-mails as well.

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.

13 Comments

  1. I don’t know if anyone is watching this Blackhawks-Panthers game in Finland, but the crowd is terrible! They look like they were rounded up and forced to watch this game. They pan over the crowd every once in a while and nobody is ever smiling or talking, they just sit silently with stoic expressions. I don’t know if this is the type of crowd that Europeans are (I’m betting not, judging by soccer fans) or whether they just don’t have any interest because of the teams playing, but this still seems like it’s not generating any interest among the fans, at least those in attendance. Have the European games been successes, and if not, at what point do you stop kicking off the season 4000 miles away?

  3. Again want to thank the brilliant folks over at WhoreCast Communications for denying at least 1/4 of the tv watching public the ability to witness some of the better match ups this season. Can’t wait for the coming Pens-Caps and Bos-Mon games… So I can catch the highlights on the NHL Network. Brilliant Ovie goals. Crisp Crosby passes. Tim Thomas sprinting out of the net after giving up the late game winner as if he’s got a plane to catch. The whistles and boos of Habs fans as they slowly realize that they own pets taller than the top line.

    I won’t see any of this live. Because the powers that own the Philly Flyers are greedy bastards.

    I’ve flipped on VS in the morning, if only because it makes the guide function easier. Or I’ve scrolled through it looking for NHL games. You know what makes up %99 of that channel’s programming?

    Infomercials and hunting shows. WhoreCast believes that DirecTV should fork over huge increases in carrier fees so that loyal customers can discover the wonders of SLAPCHOP!! and watch grown men douse themselves in deer urine. That’s it. One lousy USC game a year and yet another racing league where dumb primadonnas demand millions of dollars because they turn left really, really well are thrown in to mix it all up. And this is cause to hike up fees by double digit percentages.

    I’ve defended Bettman a number of times on this board. I’ve decried the fans that beg him to “take the ESPN deal” as ignorant because there IS no ESPN deal and there never was. I’ve said that he is correct in fighting to keep a horrrible team in the desert because it helps the game in the long term. I’ve proclaimed that he made the right decision about the Winter Classic (every season, but ONE GAME) and the league’s focus on a dozen or so star players.

    And then that son of a bitch has the audacity to ask DirecTV customers to complain to their provider and demand that DirecTV give in to WhoreCast’s demands. Mr. Bettman: GROW A F###ING SAC and stand up to WhoreCast!!! The NHL KNEW that this was coming. They decided to respond with less than a week to go until the Aug 31 deadline by saying…”Ummmm, we’re hoping this gets worked out.” OPEN YOUR F###ING EYES!!!

    There HAS to be something in the TV contract that demands VS and, therefore, WhoreCast, must act in the best interests of the NHL in order to continue it’s partnership. If that is true, the league SHOULD have legal grounds to TERMINATE THE CONTRACT IMMEDIATELY!! Get the games on the NHL Network, which is carried by DirecTV, Dish Network, Verizion Fios and many cable companies now, AND GIVE THE FANS THE F###ING GAMES THEY WANT TO SEE!!

    But, of course, Mr. Bettman refuses, AGAIN, to do anything to upset ONE SINGLE OWNER. Now, I’m pretty sure Mr. Bettman is the NHL Commisioner, meaning he works for THE LEAGUE. And while the league is made up of it’s piece of garbage governing board, it is also made up of it’s FANS. You know, the passionate, loyal, intelligent, hard working, MONEY SPENDING individuals who continue to get SCREWED in an uncomfortable place and keep coming back for more like Whitney Huston to her crack dealer? Those fans. Which, in turn, means that I believe that Mr. Bettman WORKS FOR ME AND YOU.

    I’m sick and f###ing tired of hearing people refer to the NHL as a joke. I’m tired of it being used as a punchline on sports talk radio. I’m tired of hearing “is that still around??” when I ask friends to turn on the game. I don’t care if people try the experience and walk away not liking it. I’ve come to accept that hockey isn’t for everyone and I admit that the fact that less people “get t” than other major sports is part of the appeal to me. But I want to let them try it out.

    AND I CANNOT DO THAT IF THE F###ING GAME IS NOT ON F###ING TV!!!

    Bettman- grow up, grow a spine, grow a pair and fix this. Piss off WhoreCast and of they don’t like it, tell ’em to sell the team to Basille and GET OUT OF THE LEAGUE. And don’t you dare compromise this league again by handcuffing the national exposure of this sport to a corporation YOU ARE ALREADY IN BED WITH.

    Obviously I am angry. I’m angry because it should have never come to this and I’m sick of saying this in regards to the league over and over again. Work Stoppage: Never Should Have Come To This. Phoenix Starting Season W/O Owner: Ditto. The Coming Work Stoppage: Ditto. And I’m angry because though I have stood up for him in the past, Bettman decided to stab DirecTV customers in the back by perpetuating the MISINFORMATION that this is not WhoreCast’s fault.

    And WhoreCast, I really, really, REALLY hope DirecTV- with it’s superior product and customer service- puts your greedy, ignorant, disingenuous asses out of business and all of your management personnel are panhandling on street corners by the first of the year.

    I hate you. And, Gary Bettman can kiss my ass.

  5. I feel bad for phoenix fans b/c i think this court battle may have done too much damage to the organization for the team to stay there. However the ruling did a really good thing for teams in this league, its keeps all sports teams, not just hockey, from being hijacked in the court system, and moved places against their will.

  6. Doug – Did Gleason actually have to sit in the bin for a full 17 minutes?? If so, that’s ridiculous – and hopefully he at least had a good view of those southern belles…

  7. I just want to say thank you Doug for your interviews. I like that you give us background on the coaches and I like that the questions are interesting. I am so sick of people asking questions to coaches like, “How do you think your team will do this year?”

    What is the interviewer expecting to hear, “Well our GM is more or less incompetent so I don’t have a lot to work with. I could say that we are going to bring up some of our youth and try to develop from within but all that really means in that I have more confidence in our AHL players than I do with what the GM gave me. Expect a mediocre year which won’t get us into the playoffs while at the same time not sucking bad enough to secure us a solid draft spot.”

  8. Ditto on Doug’s interviews – I think you can hear that the guys appreciate that Doug is not throwing the same old tired questions at them, and you get a sense of their actual personalities instead of Bull Durham sports-talk cliches.

    What I want to give kudos for however is the Puck Podcast Theatre segment. lol I was in the middle of washing the kitchen ceiling (before painting tomorrow….not a fun job) and got a good laugh just when I needed one. Who says it’s just about hockey?!

  9. Other than the Puck Podcast, I don’t think I’ve ever even cracked a smile due to any other hockey-related media (okay, Kippy makes me smile sometimes on the Hockey Central podcast). There was a really sarcastic piece on the Hockey News website the other day by Charlie Teljour (whoever he is) – I thought I’d share a few of the scandals he suggests might make things more interesting now that the Phoenix thing is reaching its conclusion. Here goes;

    LEAGUE DROPS VERSUS; SIGNS WITH CINEMAX
    “It’s more exposure for the NHL,” Bettman says. “More nudity, yes, but more exposure.”

    GRETZKY IMPOSTER ARRESTED; REAL GREAT ONE RELEASED FROM CAPTIVITY
    “I thought that guy’s coaching record would have been an obvious clue,” Gretzky wonders.

    BETTMAN AND BALSILLIE SECRETLY FRIENDS?
    Facebook scandal rocks hockey world.

    SINCE RECESSION DON CHERRY HAS BEEN LIVING IN SQUALOR
    “I’ve had to make suits from old drapes,” hockey icon admits.

    CANADIENS’ GIONTA CAUGHT WITH GROWTH HORMONE
    “Without the stuff I’m 3-foot-8,” says Habs winger.

    ISLANDERS TO RELOCATE TO PHOENIX
    “Sure Glendale can’t support one team, but have we tried two?” Commish asks.

  10. Those are great headlines, Mark, thanks for sharing.

    And, speaking of Phoenix, they sure looked impressive in the Igloo last night. They are driving their price up, for sure…

  12. Great interview with Paul Maurice. I have a lot of respect for him and his demeanor behind the bench, and especially so after last season when he beat my Devils in game 7 of the first round in devastating fashion (for us at least), and was most gracious about it, even acknowledging in post game interviews how hard it must be for the Devils players who lost the game. Much respect to him, and hope for all the best (just don’t beat us again like that).

  13. And I respect Paul Maurice because he dresses SO MUCH better than me! That guy has “high powered lawyer” down pat!!

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