Blackhawks Division Likely To Change

With the move from Atlanta to Winnipeg, it looks like the NHL divisions will look a little different starting in 2012. According to this article the three most likely teams to move East to make room for the Jets in the West are Detroit, Columbus and Nashville. This make sense as these are the three most eastern West conference teams and they all play in the Eastern Time Zone.

All three of these teams are in the Blackhawks division, so it appears change is on the horizon for them.

The Current Central Division is

Chicago
Columbus
Detroit
Nashville
St Louis

Personally, I think the following scenario makes the most sense. Winnipeg moves from the Southeast to the Northwest (to join with the 3 other Canadian teams in the Western Conference), Minnesota moves from the NW to the Central and Nashville moves from the central to the the Southeast.

Three moves that make geographic sense, and don't mess up too many teams. Saying that, I've already heard rumors that Colorado could be going to the pacific and Dallas could join the central. I hear if Detroit moves East, then the Penguins would move to the southeast. Then you start thinking of the different scenarios and your head hurts.

Bottom line is, the Central will not have the same teams in 2011-12 as they will in the 2012-13 season.

Ranking Host Cities for the Next Winter Classic

SI.com’s Dan Shaughnessy wrote an article today saying the NHL should get rid of the Winter Classic. I do agree this year’s game was unfortunate with the rain, but the Winter Classic is a great idea and should be continued. Now that this year’s game is over, it’s time to start thinking of future sites. Below is my rankings for possible sites of next year’s (and future years) Winter Classic.

First off, I want to spread around who gets to play in the Winter Classic. So sorry Montreal, Edmonton, Chicago, Detroit, Buffalo, Pittsburg, Washington, Boston and Philadelphia. If you played in the game before, then you are out of consideration (Montreal played Edmonton in the 2003 Heritage Classic which was the predecessor to the Winter Classic). The next issue becomes warm weather cities? I am not suggesting the game be played outside in the 70s (although apparently they have the technology for this) but what about teams with Dome’s nearby? The Stars playing in Cowboy Stadium sounds cool, but what about the Lightning in Tropicana Field (Rays)? I decided since Detroit hosted the Frozen Four in a dome to include domes. I know this will lose some of the appeal of having the game played in cold and snow and my ratings will reflect that.

Ohio Stadium (Columbus):

My number one choice would be to see a hockey game played in the Horseshoe. The Blue Jackets have had a great following since they arrived in Columbus and I could see 100,000 people coming out to see them play in the cities most beloved stadium. Just last month, Michigan played Michigan State in the Big House which was a huge success. So we know the game could work in a large college stadium. The issue I see though is the success of the team. They have only made it to the playoffs once (lost in Round 1) and do not have many household names. The NHL wants to promote this event and needs stars or good teams to do that.

Rogers Center (Toronto):


Obviously the Roof of the Stadium would be open for this. Toronto is a hockey crazed town and they would embrace this game. The stadium has already hosted games for North America’s 3 other major sports (MLB, NFL/CFL and NBA) so getting Hockey would be a nice way to round it off. Toronto is Canada’s biggest city and the Maple Leafs are Canada’s favorite team. Maple Leafs are an original 6 team. I see no reason why this game wouldn’t work.


BC Place (Vancouver):














Vancouver has been lobbying to get the Winter Classic played there. We know the city is capable of handling big events after hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics. The game being played inside the inflatable dome wouldn’t be as exciting but getting the game into Canada for the first time would be a plus.


Cowboy Stadium (Dallas):


Jerry Jones has wasted no time getting large events to come to his palace of a stadium. Cowboys stadium has been open for just two years already will have hosted the Super Bowl, NBA All-Star game and annually hosts the Cotton Bowl and a College Football Kickoff game. The stadium can host big events and would have enough time between the Hockey Game and the Cotton Bowl (played on January 7th this year).


McMahon Stadium (Calgary):


McMahon Stadium is home the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders and is located on the University of Calgary. Even though it only holds approximately 46,000 (with temporary seating) it is Canada’s 5th largest stadium. The stadium has hosted the Largest Grey Cup game ever (2009) so should be more then capable of hosting an event like the Winter Classic.

Target Field (Minneapolis/St Paul):














Target Field is the new home of Minnesota Twins. Getting Minnesota the Winter Classic would be great and hosting it either in Target Field or TCF Bank Stadium (University of Minnesota Football) would work. I picked Target Field because it was designed better to handle the cold then TCF was as we found out this NFL season.


Yankee Stadium (New York):

I was thinking this would be one of the top choices for next year. It’s North America’s biggest market, home of an Original 6 team playing in a brand new stadium. However, until they move the day the Pinstripe Bowl is played, there won’t be time to set up the field for another game. So would they move it to the New Meadowlands or Citi Field? I don’t think so, I think the NHL would prefer Yankee Stadium. Until they move the date of the bowl game or the Winter Classic, Yankee Stadium will be low on this list.


University of Phoenix Stadium (Glendale/Phoenix):



The University of Phoenix Stadium has hosted a Super Bowl and a NCAA National Championship games. It has also hosted Wrestlemania proving it can be used for more than just Football games. Having hockey’s biggest regular season event played in the dessert would be a little odd. Also, there is a chance the Coyotes could move back to Winnipeg. If they move back, then they can play in the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers new stadium expected to be complete in 2012

Frank Clair Stadium (Ottawa):


Frank Clair Stadium is the former home of the CFL’s Ottawa Rough Riders, Ottawa Renegades and most likely home for an expansion Ottawa team in 2013. The stadium only seats 26,000 which is only five thousand more than Montreal’s regular stadium.

Tropicana Field (St. Petersburg/Tampa Bay) :














I am as a big of a fan of this stadium as you will find. But I do not see this as a likely place for the game. The main reason is the Lightning played in the stadium regularly from 1993-1996 (see picture) which would eliminate the novelty of the event. The stadium does have the NHL Attendance with approximately 28,000.

NHL's Worst Shootouts

Best Move of the Stanley Cup Finals So Far

This just makes me smile.

I Finally Found a Reason to Watch Hockey!

As a Chicagoan, it has been my duty to root for the Blackhawks through this great playoff run of theirs, but I gotta admit, hockey still just isn't my game.

It ranks comfortably behind basketball, football, baseball, and soccer on my list of personal favorites. Dodgeball would leapfrog it as well, if there were a professional dodgeball league, but then I wouldn't be stuck doing this for a living now, would I?

Anyway, thanks to the thorough douchiness of Chris Pronger (man, that's an easy guy to dislike! See his "bush league" puck stealing for exhibits A and B.), I started exploring the wonderful world of hockey fights today. My last experience with hockey fights was probably in NHL '95 for the Nintendo 64, where it involved a health bar and wannabe Street Fighter action. Good times.

Allow me to direct you, via the mysterious rabbit hole of YouTube, to one of my new favorite sites:

www.hockeyfights.com

It's pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Only more so. There's a page specific to every team and every player, and even a 'top 25 fights of 2009-2010' section.

Blackhawks Fights

This one is probably the best, starring Adam Burish and Derek Dorsett (it rated a 6.8):



And, what's that you say? You'd like to see Flyers captain Mike Richards get his a** handed to him? Okay!



It's not that I love violence, but hockey is the only sport I can think of where the game happily transforms from one thing (hockey) to quite another (amateur boxing/flailing) and nobody minds. Can you imagine this happening in football? Somebody would die within a week! They sure as hell wouldn't be putting up a Tale of the Tape as the helmets dropped.

So yeah, go Hawks. And if somebody decides to take on Pronger, I wish them the best. Paging Dustin Byfuglien...

EDIT: Deadspin is on it. Ohhhh yes.

NHL Trivia

Which three men made comebacks in the NHL after being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto?

Answers will be in comments on Wed

NHL Trade Deadline

So the NHL Trade Deadline has come and gone with the Blackhawks only making so small moves. They traded for defensmen Kim Johnsson before the olympic break, and aquired Nick Boynton last night. Don't know much about Boynton, but he was assigned to the Hawks minor league affiliate. Johnsson has been decent in the 3 games he has played for the Hawks so far. He has been described as a big minutes D guy which is good because he can help with taking some minutes from Keith and Seabrook and keep them fresh for the playoffs.

What is most dissapointing about this deadline is that they didnt really do much to help out their goalie situation. Huet lets get his head get in the way and I believe the Niemi is showing that he might not be ready to take on the work load of a number 1 goalie just yet. The Blackhawks were rumored to be looking to aquiring various goaltenders, but not sure if they werent looking or couldnt get anything done. So the Hawks will be going into the playoffs with Huet and Niemi as their goalies and one of them will have to stand out for the Hawks to have a chance at the cup but its not impossible. We will just have to wait and see.