Alumni Game In Review

The Flyers/Rangers Alumni Game this afternoon was one of the unexpected highs of hockey for me this year. I got to watch some of my favorite Rangers growing up lace up the skates one last time. There won’t be many bullet points, but here they are nonetheless.

• The game was very slow moving, but that’s expected considering these guys are all in their 50s. The only guy who looked fresh was Marc Recchi, despite his Stanley Cup hangover.
• I loved watching the Gartner-Messier-Graves combination. What a thrill. I haven’t seen that since I was nine years old.
• Brian Leetch, still my idol.
• Darren Turcotte still has some speed, doesn’t he? Gartner too.
• It was great seeing Beezer and Blackburn in net. I still feel bad for Blackburn and his shoulder injury. This kid had a great future, and took the reigns as an 18 year old. Sad that his shoulder injury happened.
• Darius Kasparaitis looked good too, he threw a nice hit too.
• Eric Lindros and John LeClair didn’t miss a beat, did they?
• Roenick is still really fun to watch.
• I wasn’t around when guys like Maloney, King, Greshner, Duguay, etc were around, but I’m sure watching those guys lace the skates up again was chilling for those that grew up watching them. Duguay’s hair is unreal.

The game was really fun to watch, even if it was an old man beer league game. If you missed it, be sure to catch it on re-runs.

Winter Classic Alumni Game

The Winter Classic Alumni Game is today (moved to 3pm from its original start time of 1pm). The Rangers and Flyers alumni will square off in an exhibition game that is sure to be a good time to watch. The rosters are below.

Game is at 3pm on Versus. The game will also be on tape delay on MSG starting at 4pm.

Watch: 24/7 Episode 3

In keeping up with the posting of 24/7 videos here, enjoy the third episode.

S/t to Adam Rotter of SNY Rangers Blog for finding this.

Watch HBO’s 24/7: Rangers/Flyers Episode Two

Last week after episode one, I wrote that I wanted to see more of Lundqvist, Girardi, Staal, Sather, and of course Torts in episode two. Fortunately, most of my wish was granted. As promised, here is episode two. Enjoy!

(Spoiler Alert)

People’s irrational hate for John Tortorella has finally started to die down. Obviously the Rangers performance is driving this, but I would like to think 24/7 has helped as well.

Last night’s episode definitely revealed different sides of his personality that we don’t usually get to see or read about. The scene in the film room showed what a great teacher he is and that his compliments are just as strong as his criticisms. And obviously we also got to see a more humanitarian side of him.

What about everyone else? What was your favorite moment? Please don’t say it was Sean Avery getting out of his car.

Watch HBO’s 24/7: Rangers/Flyers Here

I was initially going to do a full recap of last night’s episode, but my words and opinions just can’t do it justice. I will say this…I have a new found appreciation for several members of the Philadelphia Flyers and I am very happy there is now footage supporting the many positive things I have written about John Tortorella. If you think he doesn’t treat every player the same after watching this, then there is no hope for you haha.

With that said, I don’t want to spoil anything for those of you who haven’t watched it yet or who don’t have access to HBO.  Here is the entire episode broken down into 4 parts. Enjoy folks!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

(Spoiler Alert)

I know we haven’t even scratched the surface yet with getting behind-the-scenes to this hockey club, as Lundqvist, Girardi, Staal, and Sather were either barely visible or notably absent. I am eager to see those personalities in technicolor as well as more from Coach Torts. What’s your take?

New NHL Realignment Good For Business?

Monday evening the NHL announced that they will go with this four “conference” realignment plan as opposed to just swapping Winnipeg for Detroit, Columbus, or Nashville.

Radical though it may seem, if you put your thinking cap best fitted suit on, you’ll realize this was indeed the best plan all along.

The benefits of the four “conference” setup (formerly known as divisions) are pretty easy to understand. Teams like Detroit and Columbus will no longer have to play a ridiculous amount of road games three time-zones away, which not only caused a lot of travel fatigue, but also cut into their local television ratings. Most people don’t stay up to watch those 10:30p games.

But Detroit and Columbus aren’t the only teams benefiting from this realignment plan. Washington and Carolina (especially the latter) likely get a boost in ratings and attendance since they will be playing more games against the Rangers, Penguins, and other easily marketable franchises.

Naturally any radical idea is going to produce reverberated cynicism. Some believe having the Panthers and Lightning in the same conference as the Maple Leafs, Bruins, etc. would just be shifting the travel burden. However, this move will likely work out well since the Florida rivalry remains intact. And just like Carolina, both teams will likely receive a ratings/attendance boost from playing northern markets more frequently.

I mean think about it; a Sunday night game featuring the Panthers in Raleigh isn’t quite the same as having Crosby in town.

Of course simply shading teams in a nicely colored map (brought to you by Raw Charge, a Bolts blog) is only half the battle. As for the scheduling, each team will have a home-and-home series against every other team in the league, something that’s long overdue IMO. Each team will also have six or so games against division rivals, pending the number of teams in their respective divisions, I mean conferences. Boy that’s going to take some getting used to.

Now here is where things get interesting. Once the playoffs arrive the top four teams in each of the four conferences will make the post-season. The first place team plays the fourth place team, second place plays third, and after that there is re-seeding for the semi-finals. So we could potentially see an East Coast team play a West Coast team in the third round of the playoffs.

I’m not warm to this concept for two reasons. First, having two (old) Western Conference teams playing each other for the Cup is a ratings killer. Two, not being able to compete with teams in another division for a playoff spot makes their regular season games almost irrelevant. Some of the best games to watch in March or April are often the games that directly affect who gets into the playoffs or where teams will seed. The last several years you had 4-6 teams in both conferences competing for those final 2 or 3 playoff spots. Under this plan, all that potentially goes away.

With that said, none of this has been approved by the NHLPA, so things could conceivably change. Stay tuned…

Musings: Sports Biz Secrets, Uninformed Bloggers, & More Ryan Talk (Updated)

• There’s always a lot of fuss over Forbes’ annual rankings of the NHL’s supposed franchise values. What often doesn’t get mentioned is that few sports teams are tied to publicly traded companies, so a lot of these figures are pure guesstimates and not actually lifted from the books.

• On top of that, these values are based on announced prices of sold franchises, which are grossly overstated (figures can include fees, taxes, debt, etc.). They also base these numbers on reported attendance figures, which include comp tickets, plus all of the people working in the venue such as team staff, press members, etc.

Uninformed Undermining Success

• If the Rangers lose to the Hurricanes, will everyone’s praise for this team turn to scorn? Maybe elsewhere…

• Speaking of which, how come McDonagh & Girardi make a couple of boneheaded plays against the Penguins -that actually lead to two goals-but Michael Del Zotto gets the brunt of blogger frustration?

• Now, I’m not saying MDZ should be immune from criticism. However, he does deserve praise when he makes the right play, and I’m not finding too many people offering that side of the equation. For example, he started the play on 2 Rangers goals against Pittsburgh. Anyone mention that anywhere?

• There is an element of internet fans that do not know hockey beyond their basic passions, but are delivering “analysis” to all of you that is neither fair, nor well-informed. I hope you all are recognizing the difference: Blue Seat Blogs = a fine Cabernet, some of these other sites = boxed wine.

• Sorry, I’m drinking an aged birthday gift as I write this…

The Kid With Two First Names From Jersey

• I’m not sure if Ducks GM Bob Murray planted trade rumors in the press regarding Bobby Ryan to motivate him, or to test the market to see what his value is – it could just be a bunch of smoke – but if he is moved my money might be on Toronto. If there is any GM aggressive enough to make a move of this nature at this juncture in the season, it is the man who drafted him…Brian Burke.

• As far as the Rangers go, it’s interesting that fans are labeling Kreider & McIlrath as untouchables, but not Christian Thomas or J.T. Miller (2011 1st rounder) for that matter?  Is the media coverage & hype playing a role here? Perhaps.

• We put up a poll to your right that is somewhat facetious about this whole Bobby Ryan rumor. No matter, place your vote!

• *** Last night Caryle was fired and was replaced by Bruce Boudreau (boy that was fast).  If I’m Murray I might wait to see what Boudreau’s thoughts are on Ryan before moving him. Get a fresh perspective. Thoughts?

Rangers Alumni Game Roster Announced

The full Alumni Game rosters for both the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Rangers have been announced, and the Rangers roster includes the names you would expect. There are five members on the 1994 Stanley Cup team on the roster, but then there are some pretty cool names that surprised me. Darren Turcotte is on the roster, as is Dan Blackburn. Perhaps the coolest surprise to me was Mike Gartner being on the Rangers roster. He was great as a Ranger, one of my all time favorites.

Notable players missing from the Rangers are Mark Messier, Mike Richter, Wayne Gretzky, and Stephane Quintal.

I’m slightly kidding about Quintal.

HBO 24/7 Preview This Friday. Will We Hear Sather Speak?

According to Andrew Gross at his blog Ranger Rants (you can also follow him on twitter), HBO’s 24/7 twelve minute preview will air this Friday at 9:15 pm. More from Gross…

The HBO cameras and microphones were back at practice today and the word is they’ll be around when the Rangers host the Flyers, Saturday.

Here’s the rest of that schedule:
HBO                                 HBO2
Nov. 25 (9:15 p.m.)                  Nov. 25 (5:40 a.m.)
Nov. 26 (12:00 p.m.)                  Dec. 8 (1:15 p.m. and 8:45 p.m.)
Nov. 29 (12:30 p.m. and 4:05 a.m.)    Dec. 11 (8:15 a.m.)
Dec. 2 (9:30 a.m. and 12:30 a.m.)    Dec. 15 (6:15 a.m. and 9:45 p.m.)
Dec. 4 (9:00 a.m.)
Dec. 6 (8:15 p.m.)
Dec. 9 (2:30 p.m.)
Dec. 12 (5:15 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.)
Dec. 14 (7:00 p.m.)

I, like the rest of this fanbase, am super excited for this program. However, like I said over the summer when all of this was announced, I am hoping Sather opens up a little bit to the cameras. I mean the guy has been the Rangers GM for over a decade and we still don’t know him any better than we did the day he got here. This has not helped his public persona one iota.

Whether or not this is because of Dolan’s strict media policy or because Sather doesn’t like to reveal himself is unclear. But 24/7 provides an opportunity not only to give you a glimpse into the lives of the players, but also into the front office.

I know when it comes to divulging information about the team he and Torts like to play things close-to-the-vest, but there can be a balance. Hopefully this program will shed some light on the “man behind the curtain.”

Yankees Hope To Have Winter Classic At Some Point

While watching a NCAA Football game at Yankee Stadium, Mark Herrmann caught up with New York Yankees CEO Lonn Trost about other events at Yankee Stadium, to which Trost replied “Hopefully, we’ll have hockey here.” Clearly this indicates that the Yankees want to have a Winter Classic at the Stadium in the future.

The problem herein lies with the Pinstripe Bowl, which plays on December 30 each year from 2010-2013, when the initial contract runs out. Because of the timing required to set up a rink, there is not enough time between the Bowl game and the Winter Classic (January 1) to get the rink set up in time. In short, any Winter Classic at Yankee Stadium would have to be after the current contract with the Pinstripe Bowl runs its course.

There are other non-BCS bowls played after New Year’s Day, so that would be the most realistic scenario for the Yankees and the NHL. Assuming tearing down a rink can be done within two or three days, Yankee Stadium could be a viable option for a Winter Classic in the future. But it won’t be the near future.

For more news and analysis on the Winter Classic, click here.