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Andrew Ference Breaks ‘The Code’ and That’s Good for Hockey

February 07, 2011   Alan Adams   No comments

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Hats off to Andrew Ference of the Boston Bruins. Hats off to a guy who isn’t afraid to speak his mind, to defy “the code.”

In case you missed it, Ference waded into the debate about head hits last week when he was asked about teammate Dan Paille’s maiming of Raymond Sawada of the Dallas Stars.

“It’s a bad hit, right? That’s what they’re trying to get rid of,” said Ference. “You can’t be hypocritical about it when it happens to you, then say it’s fine when your teammate does it. It’s a hit they’re trying to get rid of.

“You hear it from every player after they do it. They feel bad. Same thing. I talked to Danny and he feels bad. It’s tough. That backchecking forward, to make those kinds of hits, it’s so hard to do it in a clean fashion with the new rules.”

In a subsequent interview with the Calgary Sun, Ference stayed true to his convictions.

 

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Mike Milbury’s Television Act is Getting Old

January 09, 2011   Kevin Schultz   No comments

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Saturday night on CBC’s Hot Stove, a panel discussion between Ron MacLean, Eric Francis, Pierre LeBrun and Mike Milbury devolved into a shouting match between panelists. The brunt of the fervent discourse was about hits to the head focusing on the recent destructions of Detroit’s Brad Stuart and Ottawa’s Peter Regin. Instead of intelligent discourse and debate on the subject we were left with a bunch of grown men yelling at each other on TV — something that’s a standard occurance when Mike Milbury is involved.

Whether it’s with Pierre McGuire on the NHL on NBC or the recent Hot Stove panel, Milbury seems intent on being the vocal minority for the “old school hockey” crowd — emphasis on vocal. No matter the subject, he’ll talk about his playing days and give any subject the “in my day” treatment similar to what you might hear out of Don Cherry. It almost seems as though Milbury is auditioning for Grapes’ job when he finally hangs up the microphone. To hear him debate the Stuart hit with the other panelists was an exercise in futility as much as it was inane.

“Loved it! Let’s go to namby pamby land because I know these guys have other thoughts,” Milbury exclaimed when MacLean asked for his thoughts on the Stuart hit. “Stuart had the puck, he’s trying to get rid of it. You guys just wanna keep. … You know, why don’t we all just go listen to Peter, Paul and Mary records.”

Instead of arguing his point in a more intelligent manner, we’re treated to Milbury accusing anyone he can — be it the panelists, league or Brad Stuart himself of being soft, not old school enough or just not seeing exactly what he’s seeing. He’s more than welcome to his opinion and if it’s from the Don Cherry “School of Old School Thinking” that’s fine with me. There’s certainly a sizeable segment of the audience that thinks the same way — although I do have an issue with referencing Milbury’s playing days since Milbury was going into the stands when Ron Artest was only one month old. The issue I’m taking up with Milbury is that he devolves the conversation into something more, how do you say, prehistoric.

 

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Tight-Lipped Islanders Quietly Part With Assistant GM

July 08, 2010   Kevin Schultz   No comments

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The hockey operations department of the New York Islanders, under General Manager Garth Snow, has always been tight-lipped. While Snow’s predecessor Mike Milbury was routinely looking for the spotlight and usually had something to say to the press, Snow has carefully and precisely planned his reign as the polar opposite of Milbury. Today, Snow and the Islanders made yet another move that leaves many on-lookers scratching their heads and a story that we’ll never really know the truth behind.

 

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Jeremy Roenick Gets Emotional After Chicago’s Win

June 09, 2010   Kevin Schultz   No comments

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Eighteen years ago, Jeremy Roenick was 22 years old, in his fourth full NHL season and taking the Blackhawks to the Stanley Cup Final. Behind the young center’s 53 goals and 103 points that year, they were the last Blackhawks team to have a chance to play for hockey’s Holy Grail. That year, the Hawks would win 11 straight playoff games, only to be swept in four games by the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins.

Fast forward and Roenick was in the building as an analyst for NBC Wednesday night for the Blackhawks’ Stanley Cup victory. The only chance Roenick had to play for the Cup was back then in 1992.

After the final buzzer sounded and the Blackhawks were celebrating on the ice, NBC cut back to the in-arena studio where Roenick was seated with Mike Milbury and Dan Patrick. Both Milbury and Roenick reflected on the game, with Roenick recalling an upset young fan from ’92 after the Hawks had lost. Patrick asked Roenick to explain his emotions further and he understandably had trouble holding them in.

Blackhawks win series, 4-2
Blackhawks 4, Flyers 3 (OT): Recap | Box Score | Series Page

 

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Jeremy Roenick Takes the Mic in Chicago for Some Karaoke

June 03, 2010   Kevin Schultz   No comments

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About a year and a half ago, I wrote that Jeremy Roenick needed to retire immediately for the good of the game. I argued at that time that Roenick, while very entertaining on the ice, would be even more entertaining off of it. In a broadcast booth or on a studio show, Roenick could help bring some interest to American hockey broadcasting that had been lacking, despite the best Pierre McGuire and Mike Milbury have tried to, uh, squabble. I was wrong, if only about the location of where off-ice he would be most entertaining.

Last August Roenick retired and almost immediately found himself in the broadcast booths of Versus, NBC and CBC’s Off the Record. Most notably, he sat next to Milbury for two weeks this past February for NBC’s coverage of the Winter Olympics. It has worked out pretty well, although it’s safe to say that Roenick isn’t America’s version of Don Cherry (and maybe that’s a good thing). But earlier this week, Roenick took the time to show us that he’s always entertaining with a microphone in front of him regardless of whether it’s in the broadcast booth, being interviewed during his playing days or — in this case — in front of the mic at a karaoke bar.

 

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Knuckle Puck: 10 Ways NBC Can Improve Olympic Hockey Coverage

February 20, 2010   Kevin Schultz   No comments

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Each and every weekend this season I’ll be taking a look at the random happenings and absurdities that occur in the world of hockey. Feel free to suggest stories, complain or otherwise babble at me via electronic mail.

If you’ve been watching any of NBC’s coverage of the Olympic ice hockey tournament this week — and chances are you have if you’re reading this site — you’ve undoubtedly encountered some kind of coverage faux pas. Whether it’s been skipping half of the first period for curling, switching channels because the world cannot go two weeks without Keith Olbermann or cameras missing a goal, NBC’s done just about everything to make their coverage as bad as possible. It sure seems like that was their goal at this point, anyway.

 

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