red bulls nba team

Thursday, September 30, 2010

A Conflation of Nerdity: The Best of #NHLStarWars


I suffer from a myriad of interests; growing up, I was both a nerd and a jock, obsessively reading comic books, scientifiction, and fantasy, while also playing soccer and baseball and obsessively following hockey. I adored the original Star Wars trilogy, actually wearing out my VHS copies through repeated watching. I equally adored the Vancouver Canucks, actually wearing the infamous "Flying V" jersey to elementary school during the 1994 playoff run.

On Tuesday, these two worlds collided, thanks to @whatnojagr and his #NHLStarWars hashtag. The meme really took off when Greg Wyshynski got ahold of it and brought the eyes of the masses (of his followers) to the table. Harrison and I are no strangers to NHL hashtags, contributing to the wonderful #NHLCupcakes and attempting to start a few of our own. Unfortunately, #ForthepriceofDerekBoogaard and #ImissKyleWellwood just don't have the same traction.

Here are a few of our favorite #NHLStarWars tweets, including a few of our own, because we are awesome. #shamefulselfpromotion

Bam! Short jokes! Also, just like R2D2, Gionta will require an interpreter for the French-speaking fans to understand him.

Mostly I just love the animated gif for this one, which has been around for a while. Hopefully Hips won't do the same to Luongo this year...

Best part about this one is that she was already too late.

She nails it with this one. "Leave Phoenix? In our moment of triumph?"

There was an odd attempt to cast Sean Avery as Han Solo. Ugh, no thanks. He's certainly a scruffy nerf-herder, but there's no way he gets the plum position as anti-hero-for-the-ages. ACMESalesRep gets it right with the Jar-Jar Binks comparison.

He wasn't the first to make the joke, but he was the first to make it well. Though really, wouldn't Admiral Ackbar be every team playing against Jacques Lemaire?

The addition of the #TooEasy hashtag lifts this one above the other Scott Hartnell as Chewbacca references.

Despite her earlier assertion regarding the creativity of Wellwood fat jokes, @thetinnishflash goes for the old, yet hilarious, Crosby-is-a-whiner joke. #hypocrisy?

Harrison steps to the plate with the first PitB entry and nails it. Nothing more to add.

Indeed. It's tempting to jump in here with a rant about how disappointed I was that the Clone Wars simply featured one side of the war using an army made of clones rather than a revolution of clones fighting for clone rights, but that would get a little too nerdy and I'm still trying to wipe the memories of the prequels from my mind.

A typical "Montreal Canadiens are short" joke vastly improved by the addition of Chewbacca. Just like the actual Ewoks.

@Disastromatic Pierre McGuire = C-3P0
@Disastromatic jumped in with this gem then followed it up with a series of killer puns, the best of which was...

@Disastromatic Mon Cammalleri
This joke is just too perfect. Seriously.

I arrived late to the party, but I still think this is hilarious.

Harsh. Also, humourous.

Apparently @hawknut is in the business of being funny and business is booming (I am clearly not in that business). Also, I don't know what he's talking about as I don't remember either of those things happening.

As Professor Farnsworth might say, "Oh my, yes." For those needing reminding, Stefan should be embarrassed for what he just did.

Finally, just 15 minutes ago, I made this hilarious joke. If you don't likewise think it's hilarious, then you have no sense of humour and you should be ashamed of yourself.

I Watched This Game: Canucks at Sharks, September 29, 2010



I Watched This Game is a recurring feature on Pass it to Bulis, chronicling the insights and observations of two guys that watched a hockey game.


I'm not sure why, but I honestly thought last night's game was going to be closer. Before puck drop, Skeeter told me it was going to be like the Edmonton game. I goaded him into a prediction of an identical 8-2 score. Then I laughed to myself, and told him it was going to be low-scoring, tight-checking. Indeed, the Canucks were going to lose, but not by the laughable margin he thought they might. 8-2, I said? Come on, Skeeter! I hypothesize that you are a fool, and tonight's score will likely support this, I said. Unfortunately, exactly halfway into the game, it was 4-1. After that, I was much less sure of myself.

Unfortunately, last night's incarnation of the Canucks were in about the same headspace. It was a crummy, disjointed effort from a bunch of guys who, I would have assumed, were going to bring a lot more considering the stakes. I know it's just the fourth-line, but I feel like nobody's' really stepped up and claimed a spot. The next game needs to be a tune-up for the regular season, and a lot of these guys let their last shot at a roster spot slip away by sucking an orange peel last night. Here are some things:

  • I know Raffi Torres scored both Canuck goals last night, but Jeff Tambellini might have been the best forward. He and Jannik Hansen simply seemed to have more skill than everyone else (probably because they do). The problem is that both Hansen and Tamby have similar skill sets and would likely be used as in a sort of sliding capacity as the third forward with AV's duos. You've got to think Hansen's got an edge because of familiarity, but I feel like Tamby's been the better forward these past few games. And if they both make it, what does that do for Brendan Morrison?
  • I want Morrison on this team, but I wonder that has more to do with my concern he won't have a job. If he signed with another team, I'd be ecstatic, not upset. Ask yourself if you want him on the team because he's a good fit or because you like him.
  • Last game, Skeeter suggested The Rog Mahal as a possible nickname for this place after Shorty called it the Rog. I think he's on to something with "Rog" puns, but I've got a few more. How about, the Jolly Rog? Rog al Ghul? Rog-stafarianism? The GaRog? That one would be an easy transition for fans. Rog Hashanah? Nah, too sacrilegious. I feel like these are getting worse, and they were terrible to begin with.
  • Shane O'Brien had a weird game tonight. I hesitate to say it was bad, because I love Shane O'Brien, but it wasn't always good. His odd attempt to cover a loose puck in the first was hilarious as he laid down with his head nestled into Lack's torso. He looked like a piglet after its breakfast. Even he knew it was ridiculous. That huge smile of his was priceless. And later, during attempt to bring the puck across the blue line, he had a Lack-ian brain cramp and forgot what the lines were for. He crossed the line, then stopped and brought the puck across. After the whistle, he wore an "Oh-no-I-think-I-just-cut-myself" sort of cringe.
  • As a scientist of sorts, I can pinpoint the precise moment Darcy Hordichuk got waived. It was just over five minutes into the first when he took a hooking penalty in the offensive zone.
  • Guillaume Desbiens and Mike Moore had a spirited scrap in the first period. The announcer commented that they know each other pretty well from their time in the AHL. Well, they'll have plenty of time to see where that relationship is going this season, in the AHL.
  • Is it safe to say James Duthie didn't read the Team 1040 handbook of dos and donts for interviewing Mike Gillis? He lost MG's respect early on when he asked, effectively, if any trades were brewin'. After that, it was all condescending lip curls and pat answers for Gillis. Tip for Duthie and all others who might interview a Canucks GM: if you want him to love you, start by ripping Dave Pratt, lob a few softballs, then tell him the mind room was a great idea.
  • Skeeter pointed out that this is the first year we've heard anything about the 50-contract limit, and now we hear something nearly every day. Odd how that happens.
  • Cody Hodgson needed to play like a superstar in the making last night in order to be here for the season opener, and instead he played like a guy who has plenty of skill, but needs to get back to game speed in the AHL. That's fine. There are so many examples of current superstars needing some seasoning I feel like I shouldn't even have to make the argument. Go elsewhere for that.
  • The Canucks' penalty-killing was atrocious last night, which might be the only cause for concern. All of these guys are bottom six guys. That's going to be their job come mid-October. They need to be good at it.
  • I'm a lot more enamoured with Lee Sweatt than Skeeter is, but I thought he was okay last night. He won't be making the team (he was in the lineup for this shellacking and the 8-2 debacle, so he's done), but he's going to push for a spot next year. Both Sweatts are, and that's awesome.
  • Dan Hamhuis made one small mistake, by overcommitting himself on the beautiful Dany Heatley goal. Other than that, he continues to seem downright holy.
  • Keith Ballard had good and bad moments, as usual. His footspeed is starting to look better, though. On a sidenote: Skeeter's been tagging posts that mention him as "Hips." Is this his attempt at a brand new nickname? If so, I'm on board. I love nicknames that are just body parts. Ryan "Balls" Johnson. Sami "Ball" Salo. I hereby declare Keith Ballard "Hips".
  • "Hips" had good and bad moments, as usual.
  • Skeeter and I made notes and there was more to say, but I forgot my notebook at home and now I'm at work. Sorry, Skeeter. Anything you want to add?

Why yes, Harrison, I do have things I want to add:
  • Harrison and I pinpointed 4 times that Guillaume Desbiens was cut from the Canucks of our hearts. Fortunately, he will only need to be cut once for real. Still, he performed better than I expected and he made a decent argument for being a call-up if someone on the 4th line goes down with an injury. He hits and can fight in a pinch and isn't as useless as Hordichuk at the other elements of the game, but guys like Glass and Oreskovich are more likely to start the season as 4th-line wingers.
  • Eddie Lack was reasonable, given the lack of support in front of him, but his biggest deficiency appears to be his lateral movement. He had trouble moving across his crease quickly to react to the passing of the San Jose powerplay. His save percentage was .890 at even strength and .600 on the penalty kill. I like Lack a lot, but he will definitely need some time in the AHL to adapt to the North American game and get a larger number of starts after being a perennial backup throughout his career.
  • I hate that the referees don't get to use their discretion on delay of game penalties. Both Torres and Ehrhoff took them after batting pucks out of mid-air in the defensive zone and seeing them flutter over the glass. That's not a penalty, that's bad luck.
  • I have some thoughts on the role of fighting and enforcers in the NHL (look for a post tomorrow), but both Harrison and I were thoroughly annoyed when the refs jumped in between Ehrhoff and Pavelski after both had dropped the gloves. There was a legitimate fight brewing for legitimate reasons (Pavelski had just hit Ehrhoff from behind) and it was broken up for no reason other than that they are not "designated fighters." To quote the Arrogant Worms, "Please Mr. Linesman, let the players fight."
  • Also annoying, the fact that Ehrhoff got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for dropping his gloves. Are you kidding? Not only had both players dropped their gloves, making it ludicrous that one would get a penalty and not the other, but how is it unsportsmanlike to drop the gloves in preparation for a fight? Back in March of 2009, the NHL took action to eliminate "staged fights," but fighting after a cheap shot or illegal hit was considered to be okay. So why did the linesmen step in between Ehrhoff and Pavelski to prevent them from fighting and why did only Ehrhoff get a penalty for dropping the gloves?

CSHL Showcase set for Burton Oct. 22-25

The Central States Hockey League and the Michigan Mountain Cats are pleased to announce the schedule for the 2010-11 CSHL Showcase.

The showcase will be held October 22-25 at the Ice Mountain Arena Complex in Burton.

The four-day showcase will feature the 12 teams from the CSHL in one facility. The purpose is to allow collegiate scouts, and scouts from Tier I juniors and Tier II juniors to gather in one location to view the hundreds of players from the CSHL.

Ice Mountain Arena Complex
5371 Avalanche Drive
Burton, MI 48509

Friday - 10/22
10:00 Metro vs Mountain Cats
10:30 Toledo vs Battle Creek
1:00 Cleveland vs Chicago
1:30 Queen City vs Peoria
4:00 Pittsburgh vs Quad City
4:30 St. Louis vs Flint

Saturday - 10/23
10:00 Peoria vs Metro
10:30 Chicago vs Flint
1:00 Battle Creek vs Pittsburgh
1:30 St. Louis vs Cleveland
4:00 Quad City vs Toledo
4:30 Mountain Cats vs Queen City

Sunday - 10/24
9:00 Pittsburgh vs Quad City
9:30 St. Louis vs Flint
12:00 Cleveland vs Chicago
3:30 Queen City vs Peoria
4:00 Metro vs Mountain Cats
6:00 Toledo vs Battle Creek

Monday - 10/25
9:30 St. Louis vs Cleveland
10:00 Quad City vs Toledo
12:30 Peoria vs Metro
1:00 Chicago vs Flint
3:30 Battle Creek vs Pittsburgh
4:00 Mountain Cats vs Queen City

BU On the Tube

Yesterday NESN and The CBS College Sports Network released their TV Coverage of College hockey games. BU will have 13 games in all on TV this season, including 8 on NESN and 4 one CBS Sports and one game on Maine's WABI-tv. The Schedule on the side bar, will show you the games that will be covered. Games in Blue are on NESN, Games in Orange are on CBS Sports, and the one game on WABI will be in Pink. 

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Why I Love the Sport, the Franchise and the City But Ultimately Hate This Team




I love the Cowboys. No, wait scratch that. I am in a relationship with the Cowboys. I committed to them, for better or worse. It was a long time ago and there’s no way that I can switch allegiances. I used to feel sorry for people who grew up without an NFL franchise in their town. They never got to meet that perfect team. They never got to go through the courtship that is a Super Bowl season. I did. I do. I have the Dallas Cowboys and they’re my team and like a good Catholic, I’m stuck with them. Shackled to them for eternity, left only to offer excuses for them when they fail and explain away their shortcomings.

But I’ve come to realize that I secretly hate the Cowboys. Of course, I want them to win. Mostly for my own selfish, debauched reasons. I don’t even want them to win for themselves since I learned long ago that in the pantheon of things important to the Cowboys, winning comes in five spots behind ticket sales, sandwiched somewhere between cheerleader calendars and paper towel and charcoal product licensing. The greed doesn’t surprise me. You don’t become the NFL’s most valuable franchise without caring first and foremost about butts in seats and pro-shop merchandise. But at some point, you told me that you, quite frankly, didn’t care about me any longer.

You built a new stadium that has all the soul of a Roomba gliding along a taupe linoleum floor while Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music plays in the background. And when you announced the price point for tickets, you patted me on the shoulder and told me that you were sorry that I wouldn’t be able to attend any regular season Cowboys games while firmly guiding me to the exits. I didn’t take that too well. I’ve had to deal with the sideways glances and ridicule that comes with being a Cowboys fan for two decades now. And the whole time I stood my ground because you did care that I gave my time and attention and support and meager paycheck to you each Sunday.

Now, you’ve done it. I don’t know how I can look at my friends and say that I support you or your behavior. You apparently thought you would ingratiate yourself to the public by telling them a story about how Dez Bryant took the team out to a steakhouse and spent $55,000 on dinner for them. All of this to make up for some perceived rookie slight towards Roy Williams that everyone had already agreed was not actually a big deal. The whole thing was over and done with. Sure, Dez could have still taken the team out to dinner and the rookies could have paid for the team to dine lavishly. But wouldn’t you try to keep the story quiet, something just between your players and your front office.

Instead, this story has hit the media complete with quotes from team sources and Tweets from players, mid-gorging. So you’re proud of it. While you didn’t encourage it, you aren’t discouraging it either. Before you start giving me reasons why this is not that big of a deal, let me tell you that I think those reasons are, at best, weak and at worst, absolute bullshit of the highest order. You say that plenty of NFL players have had to pay up on bets or promises of steak dinners. You say that it is his money which he is free to spend as he chooses.

But unless your PR department is run by the same brain trust helming the BP PR department over the summer, you should know that you must immediately include a comparable donation to a food bank or charity of some kind to offset the gluttony and wastefulness of this gesture. Perhaps if the rookies were the ones who picked up the tab, the veterans can match that amount with a donation to Austin Street Center, the North Texas Food Bank or the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance?

But that’s not my real problem with this story. My real problem is that someone somewhere in the chain of command or amongst the players should have known that $55,000 is a lot of money. Money that the people who watch you on TV, buy your t-shirts and save up to attend your games would love to have lying around. There’s a pretty good chance that they don’t have it lying around though and because of that, they have had to give up certain luxuries once the economy took a nosedive. Luxuries like Cowboys games. So what you’re saying to Dallas Cowboy fans who fantasize about what a difference in their life $55,000 would make is essentially, “Sucks to be poor. Let us hear from you when you’ve got money again.” It’s a slap in the face and don’t think for a second that I won’t savor every morsel of news I hear about the team being broke.

Speaking of the team, I don’t blame Dez entirely for this situation. I blame the team’s mentality as a whole. You took a chance on drafting Bryant, a kid whose upbringing you would be generous to describe as “rough” and you told everyone to watch what a disciplined, good guy you believed him to be. And what lessons on character and values do you have to impart on him? A source says that, “Players ordered basically everything on the menu and even took home bottles of wine.” What kind of Latrell Sprewell-ian lesson is this to teach a kid who is young and impressionable? Grandiose displays of gluttony are apparently more important than discipline and humility. How utterly unoriginal that the team that plays in the most tacky and over the top stadium in the NFL encourages such displays.

Let me put it to you this way: you’re a 1-2 team going into the bye who hasn’t managed to get your mange-y, excuses-filled collective asses into a NFC Championship since Justin Bieber was learning to walk. Your second-in-command/coach-in-waiting is Jason Garrett, an offensive co-coordinator who squandered his choice of head coaching opportunities before his talent was discovered to be not much more than a momentary fluke.

Maybe it will take a losing season and empty seats and mounting debts for you to learn that $55,000 steak dinners eaten off the backs of the ever-dwindling number of lower and middle class fans who have the means or enthusiasm to support you don’t taste nearly as good as wearing a Super Bowl ring feels.

Hockey East coaches rank BU 4th

David Warsofsky was picked
 to be an all league defenseman
Earlier today was media day for Hockey East and as usual, the coaches ranked the ten teams in the league. BU was ranked fourth, behind BC, Maine, and UNH respectively.

Complete Rankings 

  1. Boston College (9 first place votes, 90 points)
  2. Maine (1 first place vote, 80 points)
  3. New Hampshire (76 pts) 
  4. Boston University (59 pts)
  5. Northeastern (54 pts) 
  6. Vermont (53 pts)
  7. Merrimack (48 pts)
  8. Lowell (33 pts)
  9. Umass (26 pts)
  10. Providence (21)
In Other News 
Alex Chiasson and Corey Trivino will be suspended for the season's first 3 games. This includes Saturday's exhibition game against the University of Toronto and both the Icebreaker Tournament games. We reported that Trivino would be suspended back in May, but we did not know for how long. The Chiasson suspension is new. Parker said it was because he had broken a team rule back in May as well. 

BU's head coach Jack Parker, will miss the exhibition game this weekend. Parker states he has yet to get clearance from doctors, post bypass surgery. He also said that he should be good to go for the Icebreaker festivities in St. Louis, but if not, then definitely for the next weekend against Umass.  

"I feel pretty well," Parker said. "Every day is getting better and better. ... I feel 100 percent, but I haven't gotten the OK from the doctor yet to go back to work."- The Boston Hockey Blog

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

I Watched This Game: Canucks vs Sharks, September 28, 2010


I Watched This Game is a recurring feature on Pass it to Bulis, chronicling the insights and observations of two guys that watched a hockey game.

Know what I like to see? Antti Niemi losing. I also like to see a near-regular season lineup for the Canucks look so poised and ready for action. It was a solid performance all-around, but all eyes were on the fringe players, the ones doing their best to make the team. Players like Cody Hodgson, Jeff Tambellini, Tanner Glass, and Alexandre Bolduc. Here's what we saw tonight:
  • Shorty attempted to nickname Rogers Arena "The Rog" before the game. I'm not sold. Perhaps "The Rog Mahal"?
  • Teams should use duos or trios more often for the national anthem. Harmonies help fill out the sound and can cover up the occasional flat note.
  • Cory Schneider answered all the questions that were raised after getting shellacked for 8 goals against Edmonton. It's amazing what he can do when he's not facing poorly defended 2-on-1s every single shift. John Garrett, who made his return to the broadcasting booth after Burrows was sent to the minors, pointed out that he has a reputation for bouncing back from weak performances; I don't know about that, but I'm sure he appreciated having an NHL-level defence in front of him. He made most of his saves simply by being sound positionally and controlling rebounds, though he moved well when necessary, especially on the penalty kill.
  • Cody Hodgson started off well enough and didn't look out of place with Kesler and Raymond, but he was also nothing special. He managed to draw an early penalty and made a couple decent plays defensively, but he got demoted in the third period to the fourth line, while Torres skated on the second. He'll likely get one more chance with two pre-season games left, but it looks like he'll be starting off the season with the Moose, which is probably better for him. It's tough to lose an entire year of development.
  • Jeff Tambellini, on the other hand, really improved his stock, scoring the Canucks third goal with a beautiful snap shot over Niemi's glove. It's his go-to shootout move and he showed that it works just as well on a 2-on-1. Also note, Jannik Hansen freeing up the puck for Tambellini with some strong work on the boards. The guy's got speed to burn and looked good enough on the fourth line that he got bumped up to the third line in the final period. He skated hard on the forecheck and definitely made a good argument for his versatility.
  • While Tambellini showed off his great shot, Glass showed why he should never be on the third line, not by missing an open net, but by completely missing the puck with an open net. On the other hand, he did blow up Joe Pavelski with a big open-ice hit and stood up to Douglas Murray with a smile on his face afterwards, so he's plenty suited to the fourth line. Only the fourth line.
  • Bolduc? He was merely okay. Nothing particularly stood out from him, which likely means he's Manitoba Moose-bound.
  • That's that for the bubble players. The rest of the team was largely fantastic.
  • I'm loving the look of the powerplay under new assistant coach Newell Brown. Every player on the ice is in motion, causing plenty of confusion to the penalty killers and opening up numerous shooting lanes. I have the feeling the Sedins will thrive under this system. It only led to one goal, a classic example of wizardous sedinerie, but it seemed to constantly bamboozle the Sharks' penalty killers and the second-unit looked just as good.
  • Bieksa had a strong game skating with Dan Hamhuis. The two seem well-suited together, especially on the penalty kill, though it could just be that Hamhuis is so damn good that it doesn't matter who he's paired with. He could be paired with Taylor Ellington and I'd be praising Ellington for having a great game. Actually, that's extremely unlikely. Never mind. In any case, Bieksa hit hard, created offense, and limited his mistakes. That's all I ask of him.
  • Mason Raymond's goal, in the video at the top of this post, is all sorts of beautiful, roofing a backhand while making Dan Boyle look extremely silly. Lovely. It was a great shift for the entire line, including some nice work from Bieksa.
  • Jannik Hansen has solidified his spot on the third line, in my mind. He was great with Manny Malhotra on the penalty kill, forechecked effectively, and drew an interference call in the third period just by skating hard and keeping his feet moving.
  • I'm still not seeing enough from Raffi Torres. He threw a few hits and managed an effective cycle with Kesler and Raymond in the third period, but he was mostly invisible and seemed to stay on the perimeter. He was the only minus player for the Canucks in this game. One of the main criticisms he has faced throughout his career is inconsistency, so I'm hopeful he'll be better in the regular season. Quite frankly, as a third-line winger, he just needs to be competent most nights and chip in some scoring when possible. But if he's asked to fill in on the top-six with Burrows out, he'll need to be better.
  • How nice was it to see a hipcheck from Ballard? So nice. He absolutely obliterated Wallin against the boards. Speaking of hitting, it was good to see Edler continuing his physical play from last year's playoffs. He had a nice solid hit on Setoguchi in the first period and wasn't afraid to engage physically in his own end. I'm thinking this could be a big season from the blond wonder.

#14

Thats what the Terriers have been ranked in the USA Today poll, that came out yesterday. Thats basically what I said they would ranked in my season preview. The top five reads like this: Boston College, North Dakota, Miami, Yale.

Miami will likely fall out of that slot by mid october, much like the Terriers did last season. The Red Hawks lost a lot of leadership and some very skilled upperclassmen.

BU opens the Icebreaker in ten days and their first opponent in St Louis is Wisconsin, who fell all they way from #2 last year to 13th, one slot better then the Terriers.

So BU is ranked 14th, not bad for a team that did not even break the top 18 all winter long. The Terriers are coming of a down year (to their standards), but unlike last year, this season BU has something to prove. At the start of last season, BU was ranked 3rd in the nation in this same poll. I think some of the voters got it a bit wrong last fall.

In Other News
  • The woman's team is ranked 6th in the land after a good, solid 4-1 exhibition win over Windsor University (Canada). USCHO's Melisssa Wade took a whole bunch of great photos from the game and put then m in a slide show on USCHO.

  • Boston University coaching legend Jack Parker continues to recover from heart surgery he had over the summer. If he needs a night off behind the Terrier bench this season, associate coachMike Bavis will handle the duties, accompanied by Pertti Hasanen, who is back on Commonwealth Ave. again after pursuing other business. - The Boston Globe, Kevin Dupont 
  • BU will unofficially open it's season Saturday night when they take on the University of Toronto at Agganis Arena.  

Monday, September 27, 2010

Three WAC teams in Judi Garman Classic field

Three Western Athletic Conference softball teams will participate in the prestigious Judi Garman Classic on the campus of Cal State Fullerton in the 2011 season.The tournament (March 16-20, 2011) is traditionally one of the nation's best, and next season's field is another incredible one that includes Fresno State, Boise State and San Jose State of the WAC. The Bulldogs, two-time winners of the

Why Are the Atlanta Thrashers Actively Acquiring Black Players?

"I think we're going to try to stick with more Western Canadian kids [...]" -- Canucks GM Mike Gillis


In July of 2009, the Atlanta Thrashers signed prospect Anthony Stewart, formerly of the Florida Panthers. In the 2009 entry draft, they selected center Evander Kane fourth overall. In a trade deadline swap, they acquired Johnny Oduya, among other pieces, from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Ilya Kovalchuk. This past summer, they picked Sweden's Sebastien Owuya in the sixth round of the 2010 entry draft, acquired Dustin Byfuglien and Akim Aliu in a 9-player trade with Chicago, and signed Nigel Dawes to a two-way deal just prior to the beginning of training camp. Why are these moves significant? All of these players are black.

That's seven black players (six if you discount Owuya, who has not yet signed an NHL deal) that the Thrashers have acquired in just over a year, in a league that only has about 30 active black players. To put it another way: in the last fourteen months, the Atlanta Thrashers have acquired 20% of the black players in the NHL. On purpose. Considering the sensitivity around racial discourse in North America, one might be hard-pressed to find any member of the Thrashers' organization foolish enough to admit that they are intentionally acquiring black players, but this is a conspicuous trend. Considering that active acquisition of visible minorities is an unprecedented organizational mandate in the hockey world (both for political reasons and the availability of such players), a discussion of Atlanta's seemingly race-conscious roster-building is warranted. There are two major questions that need to be answered. First: why are they doing it? Second: is it an acceptable practice? In this article I will explain the uniquely African-American market in Atlanta, and why the Thrashers' strategy is a good one.

Atlanta has such a large black community that it is often called "The Black Mecca." While the total population of Atlanta is just shy of 5 million, Atlanta's black community accounts for over 1.5 million of that total--almost 1/3 of the population. What makes Atlanta different from other heavily-black areas, however, is the near-preponderance of a black middle class. According to the 2008 Atlanta Census Report, almost half (48%) of Atlanta's black community members own their homes and the median black household income is just under $40,000 a year. 25% of blacks are college graduates, which means large numbers of blacks among mid-sized corporations. Much of this is owed to the Atlanta University Center (AUC), which has six historically Black colleges and produces more Black post-graduates than any College system besides Howard University. There are more than 60,000 black-owned companies in Atlanta, including the nation's largest black-owned construction company (H.J. Russel Company). Atlanta is a city bursting at the seams with black entrepreneurs, and Atlanta hockey needs their dollars.

Hockey is an alarmingly white sport. It is also, unfortunately, an elite sport, as the cost of involvement (either as an attendee or a participant of games) tends to rule out lower-class interest. Sports such as basketball and soccer, which require much less money and equipment to play, draw in the lower classes, but it is the upper and middle classes that are usually involved in hockey. This is one reason we see very few blacks in the game. Urban Legends, a recent The Hockey News article on Chris Stewart and Wayne Simmonds's difficult road to the NHL--a must-read if this topic interests you--explained some of the issues facing lower-income families. "The costs to play [hockey] are astronomical," writes Ken Campbell. "It is not uncommon for a family to spend $10,000 a year to have a member participate at the highest level of minor hockey."

The socioeconomic standing of much of the black community, unfortunately, just doesn't allow for hockey's necessary expenditures. In the same article, Stewart admits, "I think every game before I take the faceoff, 'If I can't do this, I'm taking food out of my sisters' mouths." Powerful stuff. Campbell also mentions SKILLZ, a non-profit hockey organization aimed at diversification and serving kids from immigrant families. A list of its graduates is an alarmingly comprehensive list of hockey's black players: Kevin Weekes, Jamal Mayers, Anson Carter, Chris & Anthony Stewart, Trevor Daley, Joel Ward, and P.K. Subban. It is clear from this article and the realities of the situation that, without reaching out to the black community, they will never find their way to hockey.

This cannot happen in Atlanta. Atlanta's black community could not only support a hockey team and produce talented players from within its black middle-class families; it must, in order for the Thrashers to reap a large enough chunk of the market share to survive. The Thrashers have failed, in the past, to connect with this vital demographic in any meaningful way, and much of this has to do with the lack of black representation within their locker room, let alone the game itself.

I am a black hockey fan. Black players have been conspicuously absent from the NHL as long as I've been alive. I grew up playing the EA Sports' NHL games. I used to try to create an all-black team (typically called the Blacks, or the All-Blacks, until I discovered New Zealand's Rugby team). This never went anywhere, as Jarome Iginla was always forced to play center and usually had to skate between Donald Brashear and Peter Worrell. And, even when, at the zenith of my desperation, I would add Manny Malhotra to the mix, I never managed to get the 20 players necessary to qualify the team.

I also used to create myself so that, like all hockey video gamers, I could pretend I was awesome at real hockey. For most of my life, creating a semi-realistic self was impossible, as the default player profile in these games was a white guy. Worse, there was no way to change this; it seemed the folks at EA considered whiteness a foregone conclusion. As a young kid, it made me a little sensitive about my skin colour. I got the sense that the NHL wasn't for me, a sentiment that I believe is echoed by far too many blacks. I kept coming back, however, because I loved playing the games, and I eventually discovered that if I wanted to be black and good at hockey in EA's NHL, my one option was to edit the profile of Jarome Iginla. At that time, he was the only coloured skill player in the league.

These days, EA provides a few different options for the skin tone of the player you create, but it took them far too long. They should be ashamed. And still, the possibility of a minority in hockey, even on the video-gaming end, continues to be underconsidered: in last year's NHL 2k10, Wayne Simmonds--who was not yet established enough to receive anything but the default player profile--is white. It's a dumb mistake that should never have been made, and just serves to reinforce the falsity that hockey is a "white sport."

All of this is to say that I have a vested interest in what the Atlanta Thrashers are doing, both because of my own visible minority status and because their practice is in direct contravention to the hockey world's previous nonchalance regarding the involvement of black people in hockey. Here I refer both to the players and the consumers, as both are connected, and a strong presence among one group will lead, invariably, to an increase in participation among the other. More black players means more black consumers will take interest in the team; more black consumers means more black children will be raised around hockey. Atlanta is actively seeking to engage their black audience by increasing the incidence of black players in Thrasher uniforms. Black celebrities too. This is a good idea.

Those that might disagree are going to do so because of the perception of racial bias, or perhaps blatant racism, but that's not what's going on here. Much of racism is about exclusion on account of race (you can't be here or you can't marry her on account of your race), and the Thrashers are not excluding anybody. There's no affirmative action happening here either. Evander Kane was the best available player with the 3rd pick in the 2009 draft, and may very well have been the impetus for this entire shift in organizational philosophy. He fell into their laps, and he is a player you can build a team around. Johnny Oduya and Dustin Byfuglien are talented players as well. This isn't like my attempt to create an all-black team, where I promoted black players to roles they were not suited for. Atlanta is acquiring skilled guys that would fit on any team; their blackness is a bonus. If, on the flipside, they were attempting to purge their dressing room of a specific ethnic group, that would be racial exclusion, and I would have a problem with that.

One might look to the recent troubles of the NBA's Indiana Pacers as an example of racial exclusion, and I should first qualify this by saying that I am, embarrassingly, a huge Indiana Pacers fan. My first real exposure to basketball was Reggie Miller's epic Eight Points in Nine Seconds. I've loved the Pacers ever since. I was a Pacers fan during the now-infamous Brawl at the Palace, when Ron Artest jumped into the crowd and a fight erupted between players and fans. That incident began an era of foolish and unprofessional conduct for the Pacers, resulting in a local backlash against the team's thuggish core that forced Pacers' management to make roster changes.

Unlike Atlanta, which is nearly one-third black, Indiana's population is 88% white. While basketball is an important part of their state identity, they pride themselves on a particularly "white" playing style, characterized by fundamentals, sportsmanship, humility, and teamwork. (Think of the guy at the street court who can do all sorts of fancy AND1 Mixtape moves but can't perform a bounce pass or a left-handed layup.) Consider that Indiana's greatest basketball export is NBA legend Larry Bird, who could do everything well while still being a humble, down-home kind of guy. In this context, it should go without saying that the Brawl at the Palace and the ensuing incidents were antithetical to Indiana basketball. From a Peter May article at Yahoo! Sports:

Indiana added to its woes in the ensuing months and years with a number of embarrassing off-the-court incidents involving its players (strip clubs and guns are never a good mix). The fans turned away in droves; in 2006-07 the Pacers were 28th in attendance and, the following season, fell to rock bottom, No. 30.

The misconduct of the Indiana roster disconnected the Pacers from a fanbase that expected humility, honour and teamwork from its basketball players. The team has been on the brink of bankruptcy ever since. Unfortunately, the common skin colour of the offenders made race a major issue, and over the next few years, the Pacers suspiciously acquired quiet, unassuming white players: Peja Stojakovic, Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy, Tyler Hansbrough, etc. Pacers' people have denied they were performing any sort of racial roster cleanse. Maybe they weren't, but like the Atlanta Thrashers, the acquisition of so many minority players (in this case, a white minority) will raise eyebrows.

Is the whitening of the Pacers--if indeed it was intentional--worse than what Atlanta is doing? Yes, because they were specifically purging their roster of black players. The difference between the two cases is the difference between exclusion and inclusion. That said, a community needs to feel a connection to its team in order to spend money on it, and the Indiana community will never connect to thuggery. You can see why Pacers' management might lean towards safe, white players. It's not fair, but blame the thuggish black players who propagate negative black stereotypes at the same time you blame the white fans for buying into them. And the fans should be ashamed. Let's continue.

If you think your team is above acquiring players for reasons of ethnicity--you'd be wrong. Consider the celebrity of Don Cherry, who makes a living valuing Canadianness over skill. Just last year he took Paul Kukla to task for his claim, based on Corsi stats, that Ryan Johnson was the worst player in the NHL (and, to Cherry's disgust 5:28 into the clip, Marian Hossa the best). While Cherry never came out and said it, Johnson's fearlessness reflected Cherry's ideals regarding Canadian hockey, and it therefore warranted a defense. Cherry's been accused of racism before and walked away unscathed because the players he discriminates against aren't visible minorities (so it's not racism--it's ethnocentrism). That said, he's never going to be fully held accountable for this, because his biases are shared by the majority of Canadian hockey fans.

Hockey is so enmeshed in the Canadian national identity that Canadians will always feel uneasy when our players are the minority on our hockey teams. For us, Canadianness is an attribute of the game of hockey, and we don't want foreigners representing it because, as foreigners, they simply can't. A recent survey by the Association for Canadian Studies showed that 53 per cent of respondents believe Canadian-based NHL teams should have a minimum percentage of Canadian players. The reality is that, just like the Atlanta fanbase, Canadian hockey fans have a unique identity and a strong sense of themselves. As stakeholders, we expect that to be reflected in the makeup of our teams. If you find yourself disagreeing with this assessment, let's look at two examples: The Montreal Canadiens and the Vancouver Canucks.

Quebecers are particularly sensitive to Canadian representation on their hockey team. In the above survey, an alarming 72% of French-Canadians supported a mandated quota of Canadian players. (As a sidenote, I personally feel this overwhelming public opinion played a huge role in Montreal's stubborn determination to keep Carey Price over Jaro Halak). But there's more: Quebecers expect French-Canadian representation. Every year, there seems to be a rumour that Vincent LeCavalier or some such other star Francophone is headed to Montreal, as the city has been clamoring for a French-Canadian figurehead for years.

The province of Quebec is insistent that their team's players be representative of their identity. In fact, when I began writing this article, I had not yet heard the ludicrous comments made last week by Parti Quebecois language critic Pierre Curzi, who claimed, according to Daniel Halton's report, the lack of Francophone players on the Canadiens was part of a federalist plot to rob Quebecers of a cherished symbol of their identity. It was unsubtle nationalism, so boorish that Ted Bird at CTV Montreal claimed Curzi could take subtlety lessons from Don Cherry. Curzi came under fire almost immediately for his comments, but he's just spouting an extreme version of the same sticking point Quebecers have adhered to since the club's inception. From Canadiens blog Habs Eyes on the Prize:

One year after the birth of the Montreal Canadiens, known then as Le Club Athletic Canadiens, it was decided that this would become the franchise that would cater to the desires of the french speaking clientele. Slowly but surely it filled it's roster with french names [...]

Despite Montreal management claiming otherwise, nationality will always factor into their roster-building strategy. At the end of the same report, Daniel Halton tells us that 1/3 of the players trying to make this year's Montreal team are Quebecers. That is the highest percentage you'll find anywhere in the NHL. Halton: "Management insists their skills on the ice--not the language they speak--will determine who makes the cut." This may true, but that doesn't mean they aren't on the lookout for NHL-quality Francophones, especially after last year's playoff run, which piqued fan interest and nationalistic scrutiny at the same time. Suggestions that there's an "Anti-Francophone Virus" in Montreal grew suddenly louder after the Canadiens were, ironically, eliminated by a Philadelphia Flyers team led by Francophones like Simon Gagne, Claude Giroux, and Danny Briere. Montreal noticed that; they weren't happy.

One could argue that Quebecois nationalism in hockey is out of control, but you have to realize that the hand of the Canadiens is forced: in order to garner continued support for their hockey club, they must pander to a desire for Canadian--and especially Francophone--representation. Just like Atlanta, Montreal is a community with a specific ethnic priority. That community needs to feel a connection to the team in order to stand--or, in this case, remain standing--behind it.

For British Columbians scoffing at how ridiculous this sounds, be aware that your team is no better. If Montreal's nationalistic explanation for their loss to Philadelphia seems shortsighted, consider the similar line of reasoning in Vancouver following two consecutive postseason eliminations by the Chicago Blackhawks, a team full of BCers. Consider the furor over Markus Naslund's captaincy and the Euro-captain debate in general, or the annual cries by some that the team has too many Swedes. Consider general manager Mike Gillis's response to a fan inquiring about the pursuit of Russian players at July's Summer Summit: "I think we're going to stick with more Western Canadian kids," Gillis said, to a hearty applause. It was little more than clever pandering in an effort to dodge a silly question. But, it worked because BC fans fear foreign takeover like all other Canadian fanbases, and expect BC-born players on the roster.

It's been said that there are two Canadas: English and French. This division is palpable, but there are actually three Canadas: Quebec, naturally, and the East and West Coasts. Much of the pressure to give Henrik Sedin the Hart trophy came from West-Coasters sore over constantly being overlooked by what they feel is a hockey media with an East Coast bias. West-Coasters have a tendency to feel underrepresented in Canadian media (right or wrong), often jealously calling Toronto "The Center of the Universe." This tension bleeds into our hockey teams. Just like Quebecers expect for French-Canadians to represent their unique micro-community within the macrocosm of Canada, we demand a Western-Canadian presence.

It's why all Canuck fans know that Dan Hamhuis is from Smithers and Willie Mitchell is from Port McNeill. It's why it matters that Brendan Morrison is from Pitt Meadows, and don't underestimate Morrison's role as the BC-born pivot for the West Coast Express during their heyday. He allowed Canuck fans to take complete ownership of that line. It's even why it seems to take heavy community involvement (Trevor Linden's charity work or the Sedins' massive donation to the BC Children's Hospital) from our star players before we accept them completely. To hail from any birthplace but in Western Canada is to be a foreigner, and we need to be able to claim them as our own to get behind them fully.

The ultimate no-brainer was Indo-Canadian forward Manny Malhotra, who fit the Canucks' need for a third-line center, but also has notable BC connections and shares his heritage with a large portion of the Canuck fanbase (drive down South Fraser Way in Abbotsford after a playoff win to see this firsthand). The Vancouver Canucks have the largest Indo-Canadian fan following among Canadian teams, and just happen to have the only two Indo-Canadian players in the NHL in their organization, with Malhotra and Surrey native Prab Rai. Yes, Malhotra's skillset was likely the major factor behind his donning the orca, but don't kid yourself: it wasn't the only one. It never is.

Back to the Atlanta Thrashers. All of this is to say that, from a business perspective, I support their strategy of acquiring black players. It is imperative to their success that they engage their community in the same way that Vancouver, Montreal, Indiana, and many other sporting communities do. As we've seen, the way to do this (short of winning, which isn't an option for Atlanta) is to give your team a local connection. A Georgian birth certificate is a rarity in the NHL, but black players are beginning not to be. In Atlanta, this needs to be apparent in order for hockey to gain any momentum there.

That said, while I don't blame ownership for pandering to a fanbase's unease with otherness and foreignness (they have to do what will sell tickets), I do blame these fanbases in Canada, where hockey is already established. Our teams are forced to consider and carefully manage the foreign element when building their rosters because of our mean-spirited nationalism and ethnocentrism, and that is unacceptable.

Canucks Training Camp Roster V

Are you ready for a huge round of shocking cuts? Here goes. According to the Vancouver Canucks Twitter account, Mario Bliznak, Kevin Connauton, Evan Oberg, Prab Rai, Jordan Schroeder, Chris Tanev, Aaron Volpatti have been assigned to the Moose, while Travis Ramsay, who does not have a contract with Vancouver, has been released to them outright. Also, Tyler Weiman is on waivers, which is understandable. While there is a goaltending battle brewing for the second spot, Weiman wasn't a part of it, and he'll back up either Schneider or, more likely, Lack, depending on what happens in these last two games.

As for the rest of them, there are very few unexpected moves here. Let's start on defense: Kevin Connauton showed he's nearly NHL-ready and might be in lie for a callup this season, but his defensive coverage needs to catch up to his offensive acumen before he can be considered a Canuck. Chris Tanev simply needs more seasoning, but he showed some promise. Evan Oberg, who surprised last year and was one of the Canucks' first defensive callups, seems to have either regressed, or worse, shrunk. It will be worth watching if he can get back to last year's level of play. I don't even remember Travis Ramsey, but he was never Canucks property, so that's okay.

As for the forwards, I thought Bliznak had moments, but that's all--he's not an NHL regular. He's a valuable checker when the game isn't too fast for him, so Manitoba will love him. Prab Rai, like Chris Tanev, needs more seasoning, but he got me more excited for him than I was prior to training camp. He'll come through Abbotsford a few times this season. Expect the Lower Mainland's high Indo-Canadian population to go nuts for him. I'm a bit bummed about Aaron Volpatti, who had such a great prospects camp, but, again, he was seven years older than most of those kids. Against men, he just didn't have it. He might be in line for a callup later on this year.

The big surprise is Jordan Schroeder. He was quiet during prospects camp and the early stages of training camp, but I really felt like he got his legs under him in the Anaheim game. He scored a goal, showed some good hands, and demonstrated his NHL skating. I guess it was too little, too late, however. Don't worry, Canuck fans: Schroeder will be a top-line guy in Manitoba, and he'll be in the NHL soon enough.

Now it gets interesting. This leaves the Canucks with 36 guys in training camp, below:

Forwards (22)
Alex Bolduc, Alex Burrows, Guillaume Desbiens, Tanner Glass, Jannik Hansen, Cody Hodgson, Darcy Hordichuk, Ryan Kesler, Manny Malhotra, Brendan Morrison, Victor Oreskovich, Joel Perrault, Mason Raymond, Rick Rypien, Mikael Samuelsson, Peter Schaefer, Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Sergei Shirokov, Bill Sweatt, Jeff Tambellini, Raffi Torres.

Defensemen (11)
Andrew Alberts, Keith Ballard, Kevin Bieksa, Alex Edler, Christian Ehrhoff, Dan Hamhuis, Shane O’Brien, Aaron Rome, Sami Salo, Yann Sauve, Lee Sweatt.

Goalies (3)
Eddie Lack, Roberto Luongo, Cory Schneider.

It's Not an Excuse, It's a Reason


Who would guess a guy who hits like this would get a hip injury?

One of the biggest disappointments of the preseason has been the play of Keith Ballard. Back in June, Mike Gillis made arguably the biggest splash of the entry draft by trading the Canucks' first round pick, along with Steve Bernier and Michael Grabner, for the hard-hitting Florida defenceman and Victor Oreskovich. Because Ballard has played his entire career in small-market cities, most of the Canucks fanbase was unfamiliar with him except from a pair of hilarious youtube videos that showed him to be a goaltender's worst nightmare and one video slightly less hilarious but more full of glorious hipchecks. Harrison admitted his own confusion and NucksMisconduct had to ask, "Just what the hell is a Keith Ballard?" in their own review of the trade.

So, for many Canucks fans, this preseason has been the first real opportunity to see who Keith Ballard is and how he plays. Canucks fans wanted to see how "their" 4.2 million dollars was being spent and the results have not been encouraging: Ballard's defensive zone coverage has been a mess and he's a -4 in the two preseason games he's played. He hasn't just been bad, he's been noticeably bad in both games. But, as Iain Macintyre pointed out this morning, it's not necessarily his fault.

It turns out, and this is the first I have heard of it, Keith Ballard had a hip surgery back in May that kept him on crutches for two months. Apparently, he "had a stress fracture repaired in his hip socket and a cyst removed from the area" that delayed his summer training. He played through the injury all of last season, enhancing his reputation as a durable player with another full 82-game season. The report back in May was that the surgery was minor and that he would be 100% by training camp. Health-wise, this appears to be the case as Ballard claims that the hip is not the issue and that he's just taking a while getting back up to game-speed. Still, it's hard to believe that missing two months of training in the summer would not be a contributing factor to his slow start.

My soccer coaches always used to say, "Don't make excuses for a poor performance." And Ballard isn't making excuses, admitting that he's "just not quite there yet." But it is a reason why his play has not been up to par. Quite frankly, it's not surprising that Ballard would have a stress fracture on his hip given the number of hipchecks he deals out on a seemingly daily basis. I'm hoping that he gets back up to speed by the start of the season and I'm doing my best to avoid judging a player after two entirely meaningless games. But it's difficult to avoid when Ballard has spent his career in Arizona and Florida, far away from Vancouver eyes. Ballard's game depends on good reads and great timing, as a proper hipcheck is nearly impossible without perfect timing.

Fortunately, the Canucks defense is deep enough to start the season that Ballard won't have to play on the top-pairing as he did on Sunday. And he should never, ever be paired with Kevin Bieksa again. Ever. Bieksa and Ballard were on the ice for both of Edmonton's powerplay goals and were spectacularly ineffective together. That was a comedy of errors that should never be repeated.

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