1. NHL players in or out of the next Olympics?

There is no reason the NHL should not send players to the 2014 Olympics. The amount of attention the tournament gets worldwide is nothing but a positive thing for the NHL. Even for teams like Germany Latvia (among others) who were unlikely to win a medal at the games it gives them exposure and a gateway to getting more people interested in the game which results in better teams as the years go on. That is also true for countries that were unable to qualify for the Olympics this time around. The more countries that participate in hockey the better the talent pool, as a result the level of play in the NHL will continue to go up making a better product to market.

Secondly, the amount of people who watched the Gold Medal game in the United States was reportedly close to 30 million. The NHL (and NBC for that matter) is always looking for ways to better market the game in the U.S. and to gain greater viewership across the country. The Olympics (the Gold Medal game in particular) provided that to the NHL as everyone on the ice is currently playing for an NHL team. Not only that but it got people who ordinarily would not care about hockey to tune in; of that group of people—let’s say 5 million don’t care about hockey generally—if even 200,000 people (that’s only 4%) grew an interest in the game that makes it completely worth it for the NHL to participate in the Olympics. That is 200,000 more people to buy tickets and merchandise or possibly compete in hockey tournaments of their own and perhaps expose the game to other people.

Granted, the U.S. team will not always make it to the Gold Medal game, nor will that game consist of all NHL players and there is also the time zone issues when the games are not held in North America. There is also the issue of the NHL gaining no money from these games directly while also having to halt their season for two weeks, sacrifice its own all-star game, and subject NHL players to injury that could cause them to miss regular season time. But in the end the exposure they get is priceless and they do not have to invest a dime to get that. Players are not being paid for their participation in the Olympics –at least not by the NHL—so there is no salary issue for NHL owners. Not to mention the fact that it is only two-weeks once every four years for something that most agree ultimately helps the NHL much more than it hurts if it hurts the league at all. Some have suggested it’s just a bargaining tool by the NHL to use when negotiating the next CBA, no matter the case the NHL players should be in the Olympics so enough nonsense already and let them go.

2. Touch Icing:

For whatever reason there has been a debate for many years about whether to institute automatic icing in the NHL like they do in international and NCAA hockey. It should be a no brainer, END TOUCH ICING. I have given my piece on this before so I won’t say a whole lot. This past week on Coach’s Corner on CBC’s Hockey Night In Canada Don Cherry did a great segment on getting rid of touch icing, go to the following link to see the piece (http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Sports/CBC%27s_Hockey_Night_in_Canada) , then click on Coach’s Corner (on the left side of the screen) then watch the March 6^th video, it is one of the last things Cherry talks about toward the end of the video and I could not agree with him more.

3. Shootouts, why do home teams always choose to shoot first?:

I will never understand why the home team always decides to shoot first giving the road team the last chance to score. Some say it’s because they want to put pressure on the other team by scoring first. Quite frankly that logic is garbage and inherently flawed. Ask any athlete in any sport and when it comes down to it they want to have the ball in their hands/at their feet, or the puck on their stick with the game on the line witch a chance to win. Consider baseball, the oldest game in America for years and years has always given the home team a marked ADVANTAGE by giving them the last chance to score in the game (i.e. the bottom of the ninth). If any manager went up to the umpire before a game and said “I know we’re the home team but today I’d like to bat first instead and give them the final at-bat in the ninth. Yeah this way we can put pressure on them from the get-go.” he would be fired almost immediately. The only time I can see this logic being reasonable is if your goaltender is your best player, then of course you went to give your greatest asset in the best position possible to win the game for you but 99% of the time that is not the case. I do not profess to know more about hockey than coaches or professional players generally but in this case the decision to shoot first is asinine.

After most NHL teams have played in the neighborhood of eight games it is important to note (as should be said every year about this time) that no top team is as good as they seem and no bottom teams are as bad as they seem.  So Pens and Rangers fans keep your lids on and Leafs fans it really will get better.

The L.A. Kings are for real. There has been some debate whether they’re ready to be good now or are still a year off. Well after a very strong start there should be no doubt in anybody’s mind that they are ready to compete now. So to those of you on the east coast if you do not watch any other games for west coast teams all year make sure to catch L.A. in a home game if you can it’s worth it to watch a team just beginning to bloom.

Early signs point to the Atlantic Division in the east and the Pacific Division in the west as being the most competitive division in each conference. As a result they will probably have the most teams in the playoffs come April.

The Washington Capitals are in the bottom third of the conference in terms of goals allowed. As exciting as that offense is to watch they can forget about winning anything other than the division if they don’t play better defensively (and that’s not entirely on the goaltender).

The Ottawa Senators have been playing well. Enjoy it while it lasts Sens fans because they are a fraud.

Credit to the Phoenix Coyote players who have not allowed any of the off-ice drama from the summer affect them. They are playing very well right now and the team is going to be solid all year of they can remain focused on hockey. Playoffs? Doubtful, but they are no easy W for anyone. Kudos to the players and keep up the good work.

As much as many puckheads might hate to admit it the Detroit Red Wings are the favorites to win the West until they are officially eliminated from playoff contention or knocked out of the playoffs themselves.

Enjoy your weekend of hockey everyone, all teams in play Saturday, should be a good one.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are back to defend their title and with the exception of the loss of Rob Scuderi the team is about the same now as they were on the day they won the cup. Despite that, repeating is going to be a daunting task because not only are they the defending champs but in order to repeat they will have to reach the Stanley Cup Finals for a third year in a row. At the same time they still have two of the best players in the world on their team so it will be interesting to see how the story develops in Pittsburgh.

As for the rest of the league there are a lot of intriguing stories to keep an eye on including some old faces in new places (for example Dany Heatley to San Jose, Marian Hossa to Chicago) as well as the return of a few from their disappearing acts (Ray Emery in Philadelphia, Theo Fleury in Calgary).  There are also plenty of questions to be asked about both up and coming teams as well as those who have been on the cusp but have not quite made that next big step:
In the East, can Washington play just enough defense this year to get them into the Conference Finals and possibly make their first finals appearance in the Ovechkin Era? Will Philadelphia finally get the consistent play in net they have lacked the last two years that will likely get them over the hump? Does the Southeast Division continue to be a two horse race or can Tampa Bay finally put their talent together well enough to become serious playoff contenders? And what is actually going on in Montreal and Ottawa, have they finally got their respective acts together?
Out west, will Chicago seize this opportunity to dethrone the Detroit Red Wings in the Central Division? Is Dany Heatley the answer to San Jose finally translating their regular season triumphs into post-season glory? Are the L.A. Kings poised to translate their young talent into a playoff appearance? Is Calgary ready to kick their first round exit habit of the last few years? What is the deal with the Coyotes, are they moving or what?

Of course along with all of the aforementioned questions there are to two major events on the horizon this year in both the Winter Classic (January 1 at Fenway Park) and the Olympic hockey tournament in Vancouver this February. There is so much to talk about and look forward to this season. Over the next few days I will go through a preview of each conference, give you not only who will win each but what other stories to watch out for like what teams will overachieve and those that will disappoint.

So much to do and talk about, it’s great to be talking puck again. We here at sportsroids.com are very excited to start year two of hockey blogging, it’s great to have you with us!

As a matter of practicality it is probably unwise to field more than one Winter Classic because part of its allure is how unique the event is. However, the underlying theme is an important one that should be well considered by the NHL and that is if this trend continues Canadian based teams will always be excluded from the yearly Winter Classic and that is an abysmal prospect. Hockey is by far the most popular sport in Canada, most of the  players on NHL rosters are Canadian born, and the support of all six Canadian based teams is second to none. The passion with which they support their teams by using their hard earned money to buy game tickets along with merchandise (both very expensive) among a plethora of other things makes them deserving of at least having a team in the Winter Classic. Sure the name of the game is money and the best way for NBC to do that is to increase ratings which will likely reach their greatest potential by having two American based teams in the game. But in the long run as a matter of principal these fans cannot be shut out forever. It isn’t fair to take one of the biggest contingency of fans and completely disregard them when considering what has become one of the game’s most sacred events. Even if there is ones team from each country in the game it is unlikely that the ratings will make a major decline since the novelty of the game still exists. As Sir Isaac Newton taught us for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction and if the NHL does not work to include Canada in the Winter Classic somehow it will surely comeback to bite them somewhere along the way.

Patrick Roy in Denver would also work out quite well. With the energy he’ll bring to the bench (as discussed above) he can reinvigorate a city that has been an unbelievable hockey town since they moved there from Quebec City almost 15 years ago. The team did not have a good year and for the first time in a long time some of the seats at the Pepsi Center remained unoccupied. Putting Roy behind the bench will certainly put fans back in the seats and give the Avalanche some much needed national attention (from both Canada and the U.S.). Of course it wouldn’t only be the fans who would be excited about Roy’s return to Denver but also the players who would feed off of Roy’s fire and passion for the game. And last, but not least, is the hype that would inevitably be created leading up to the four meetings between Patrick Roy and Wayne Gretzky. Two living legends leading their teams against one another is sure to add an extra intangible element to that match-up. As of right now there is really no rivalry between Colorado and Phoenix but with these two guys behind the bench, their respective competitive natures are sure to spill over onto the ice which is a very exciting prospect.

Love him or hate him no matter where Roy ends up his presence will have nothing but a positive effect on his team, the city, and the league as a whole.