Sea of Red

Go Canada Go!

During the first intermission of last night's Canada/Czech Quarterfinal, I listened to the TSN panel theorize as to what went wrong in that first period (incidentally, when's the last time Canada played a truly exciting quarter final game unless it was a very rare situation where they entered the game as the lower seed?). Two things that came up were that the crowd was booing, the other was the crowd itself. Specifically, the crowd that WASN'T watching.

You can draw your own conclusions on the booing. I have no issue with it, personally. Some are of the belief that if you pay that much to watch a game (more on that later), you are entitled to do what you want. I get that, though I've never really applied that theory myself as a spectator. There's also the "they're a bunch of teenagers" school of thought, which I can appreciate as well. Either way, what few fans that were in the stands in Montréal last night booing the team was a non-issue. At worst, it served as an audible kick in the pants. It happens and players of a certain age and beyond know it.

The lack of a crowd might have played a small factor in how the game unfolded early on but I'm not bringing it up here in relation to gameplay good bad or otherwise. I bring it up because this tournament should not be held in that damned rink to begin with. Nor should it be in Toronto. Or Vancouver in 2019. Obviously, these locales are drawing the assignment of host team because of any number of factors related to city size, arena size, potential revenue generated, etc. But is there a lack of perspective behind this rationale?

Personally, I think a lot of people involved with this tournament and others on the outside saw this coming a mile away. A year ago Thursday, the President of the IIHF publicly critiqued the organizing committee regarding high ticket prices. The decision to hold the tournament in the same two (large) venues two out of three years has been debated since it came to be known.

All of this belies a simple truth... Toronto and Montréal are no longer "junior hockey towns". At least not in the sense of what a "junior hockey town" is in this day and age. Yes, the Memorial Cup being held at Maple Leaf Gardens used to be an almost annual rite of passage. So were Maple Leaf Stanley Cup parades, too. And smoking in arenas. And goalies without masks and players without helmets. I just finished reading the book "In the Pressure of the Moment", an outstanding biography of little heralded Montréal Canadians goaltender Gerry McNeil written by McNeil's son David. He mentions how Gerry's senior team would sometimes sell out the Forum. All well and good... but also events that occurred more than sixty years ago. Sixty years ago, you could get into the Forum for an NHL game for about the price of a cup of coffee today. A small coffee.

It's a whole new ballgame now. With the entertainment options available in those areas, changes in lifestyle and inflation when it comes to... well, everything, sustaining a high level of attendance for anything sporting related save the Leafs and Habs is a daunting task. Ask the Toronto St. Mike's Majors. Or the Mississauga Majors. Or the Montréal Rocket. Or the Montréal Junior. Or the Laval Titan. And that's not even close to the full list of relocated/defunct junior teams I could draw from. To expect these two cities - wonderful places that they are - to support this type of tournament two out of three years at the prices being asked was asking too much.

Unfortunately, all signs point to this occurring in Vancouver in two years time. Vancouver... where their latest WHL team, founded in part by a hockey legend and less than a decade removed from a Memorial Cup victory, saw their attendance dwindle to the point where they now literally are making a go of it in the suburbs. And can anyone see ticket prices dropping? Remember... this is Vancouver. Just do a Google search for cost of living in Vancouver. There's not enough time here.

I'm not wishing for the World Juniors to go to Val d'Or or Owen Sound or Prince Albert. Again, perspective. But is it too much to ask for Sherbrooke or London or Regina? Want to try a good junior town in the states? Let's see Portland, Oregon or Everett, Washington put in a bid. Decent sized buildings that have for the most part hosted successful events in the past and should be able to put a fair number of bodies in the rink even for non-Canada (or non-US) games. Not to mention fans that will still pay a premium (just not the "Montréal/Toronto leave your credit cards at the door" premium) to get in the building. Somewhere along the line the bottom line blurred the line between revenue and event experience. And with a tournament that should be a lead pipe cinch to succeed wildly in this country whenever it hosts, something has gone horribly off the rails.

So it's a semi-final date with the Swedes tomorrow night. I'll be watching. Many others in the city where it's being held won't. Personally, if I could watch the game without the Nike ads, it would almost be worth it.

... So as I Was Saying...

Thought I forgot about this place, didn't you? Well, yeah I did. But that's neither here nor there.

It's been over three and a half years since I have written anything here. I had my reasons for moving on. Busier schedule, taking on of new positions within the hockey/broadcasting realm, life in general... it all added up. Some of the things that kept me away are still very much in the forefront, others have become less prevalent. One thing that has been constant has been the number of views on this site. People still read this according to the figures and there have been a few people over the past couple of years who have asked why it no longer gets updated (admittedly, one of those "people" may have been my dog but I digress). Bottom line, I enjoyed it then and I think it's time to get started up once again. I don't know how often I'll be writing but when the mood strikes, I'll throw a few lines in here and see where it leads.

In June, 2016, I moved to Halifax. Home of the Mooseheads, of course. You know how some teams have to basically be held at gunpoint to embark on a rebuilding plan of any sort? The Moose are not like that (anymore). The result is a fun to watch, young team that has had a few long nights (and will have a few more ahead) but can honestly saying they are building towards a greater good. As a neutral observer (unlike some people, I actually took that "no cheering from the press box" thing seriously and still do) just looking for a good game to watch, the Mooseheads, even when they make things hard on themselves (and lately that's been happening a bit more) at least give you a good game most of the time. They will give people an even better game in the years ahead.

Speaking of the Mooseheads, I remember going to games in September and wondering how long it would take Nico Hischier to adapt to the Q. I remember that only vaguely, because now the question has become both "What is he going to do next" and "How long will he be in the Q, anyway?". As of 30 minutes ago, he just about played an instrumental role in taking down Boston University (aka Team USA) and was a frank reminder that, at this level, even when it's a best on best tournament, sometimes it's all about beating one or two guys. I remember the playoff series between the Wildcats and Mooseheads in 2015 (mostly because the one game I covered for it was actually played in Fredericton... how's the new rink coming along Moncton?) and the underlying story being that if the superior (on paper) Wildcats were to advance, they of course had to beat the Moose... but really, they had to stop two guys; Nikolaj Ehlers and Timo Meier. They almost didn't do it. That's what one or two people can do for a team at this level. Sure, a team needs that clichéd "player 1 through player 20 effort" to win in general but make no mistake... sometimes players one and two make a hell of a lot more impact when they're a particularly big fish in a relatively smaller pond. Especially in a short series or tournament. The Mooseheads know this all too well (and are suffering in part because of it as of late). Team Switzerland came within a big Team USA save late from making the semis because of it.

All that being said, this tournament should be a six team event. We all love the Cinderella Danes and the Swiss did give it a good go... but there are still more ugly games than classics during the WJC. Until we can say otherwise, that means there's too many teams. Maybe it's time for Team Europe Jr?

How about that Team Canada? Yeah, the junior kids are great... but I'm talking about the Spengler Cup! Now THAT is an interesting tournament. There truly is nothing like it. From the Valiant Arena to Davos Head Coach Arno Del Curto (who is my vote for Most Interesting Man in the World) to the glory that is Doug Honegger... how can you not love the Spengler? We all know it takes nothing short of moving mountains for Vic Rauter to temporarily step aside from the cutthroat world of curling broadcasting to get on board. That's the power of the Spengler.


Glad we got the annual "Chicago Blackhawks play in an outdoor game" thing out of the way for another year. If you find out this summer that the roof is being removed from the United Center, just try and act surprised.

So the Columbus Blue Jackets are the best team in the NHL... thanks to the third longest winning streak is league history... under the coaching of John Tortorella. Most absurd thing ever written in this blog, right there. And just another chapter for Torts, whose entire coaching career has been built on absurdity.

Finally, if you're looking for a good read, pick up The Battle of Alberta by Mark Spector. Outstanding look at the Oilers/Flames rivalry of the '80's. Between commentary from players, coaches, media members and a rather ummmm.... special exchange between Glenn Anderson and Nick Fotiu, the book will make you look at the rivalry in ways you never would've imagined before.