Classic Indeed

The day Flames fans had been eagerly awaiting all year has now come and gone.  Sunday, playing in rather chilly conditions, the Flames were able to beat the Canadiens 4-0 in the Heritage Classic at McMahon Stadium.

First and foremost, the win got the Flames a big two points, and they now find themselves tied with the Nashville Predators for fifth place in the Western Conference.  I think the result speaks volumes for the Flames and how much this team has changed in the past two months.  It would have been very easy to get lost in all the hoopla that goes with playing in an outdoor game.  With all the off ice activities and the extra attention the games was receiving, it would have been east to get distracted and lose focus, forgetting that this game counts as much in the standings as 81 others on the schedule this year.  The team deserves full credit for playing a good game, dominating parts of it, and in the end getting a shutout and a victory.

The Heritage Classic is Here!

The day has finally arrived; Christmas in February for Flames fans. Today is the day of the Heritage Classic. The opportunity to watch the Flames play outdoors, at McMahon Stadium is a once in a lifetime event.

But really what’s so special about watching this Flames game? Yes, it’s outdoors, but that only means it’ll be much colder than the climate-controlled confines of the Saddledome. The stadium itself isn’t anything special. First off, I’ve seen many a Stamps game there; secondly, McMahon is kind of a dump. The opponent isn’t especially riveting. Sure, the Flames played them in the Cup finals twice, but that was over twenty years ago. Today, the Habs are simply a team we rarely see, save a home and home each year. There aren’t any head to head battles for a playoff spot, and let’s be honest, the game would be more exciting if it were between the Flames and Canucks or Oilers. Then why the hell am I so excited to see this game!?

To be perfectly honest, I’m not really sure. I might just be looking forward to almost every aspect of today. I can’t wait to arrive at the stadium several hours before puck drop to see the hoopla and spectacle that the NHL has created in an effort to separate me from my money. I can’t wait to tailgate in -15C weather, sharing beers with perfect strangers. I can’t wait to see what McMahon stadium looks like with an ice rink. Sure, I’ve seen the photos and the webcam, but seeing it live is totally different. I can’t wait to see the Flames play a game in their ‘new’ uniforms. And perhaps most important to me, I can’t wait to see the Flames play in another venue.

It isn’t one of the league’s 30 home arenas, but McMahon Stadium will be the 18th different venue I’ve seen the hometown heroes play in, and of course I’m always happy to add to my total. Of course, unlike the other arenas, the Flames won’t be returning to this one anytime soon. This truly is a once in a lifetime event. For the next few decades, when people talk about the outdoor game at McMahon, I’ll always be able to say, “I was at that game…”


Don’t forget to dress warm, pack your flask, and cheer loudly, it should be a helluva hockey game!


-TheRev


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Playoff Hockey Talk

At the start of the playoffs, you might have figured that the player with the most points would be a superstar like Sidney Crosby, and you wouldn’t have been wrong with that assertion. What many people did not see coming were the two players that follow Crosby in that category: Joe Pavelski and Mike Cammalleri.

The San Jose Sharks have been desperately searching over the past half decade for players to take the weight off of Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau. Many thought Dany Heatley would be that player. Not many would have guessed that Joe Pavelski, 5’11” and 190 lbs from the USA(a.k.a. Little Joe), would be that player. Leading the Sharks with 14 points in 8 games, Pavelski, a 7th round pick in the 2003 entry draft, is helping the much maligned Sharks shed the label of post-season choke-artists one goal at a time. Pavelski, who has nine goals, has six more tallies then Thornton, Heatley and Marleau combined.

Going into this series with the Red Wings, the Sharks, who finished 1st in the Western Conference regular season with 113 points, entered in as underdogs despite having seven more wins than Detroit throughout the season. This was due in large part to the distinction that the Wings have as perennial playoff veterans and that San Jose has never really had success after the month of March. Case in point, the Sharks have not progressed passed the second round of the playoffs since 2004, when they lost to the Flames in the Western Conference Final. During this time their lowest point total during a regular season was 99, when they finished 2nd in their division to the Dallas Stars.

San Jose is a team that has been searching for that ‘Je ne sais quoi’ to push them over the proverbial playoff hump. They might have finally found what they have looking for in an unlikely source; a guy named Joe, who may not be Jumbo, but he is playing larger than life when it matters most.


Let’s move out east…

Mike Cammalleri is 5’9” and 185 lbs; a dwarf or little person compared to almost everybody else in the NHL. But, what Cammy lacks in size, he makes up for in skill and precision. He ranks 3rd in the league in points going into game 3 against Pittsburgh tonight and is averaging nearly a goal a game; he has 8 in 9 games. He is contributing with timely goals on a team that relies immensely on the play of their goaltender Jaroslav Halak. The Habs are the only team left in the playoffs that have given up more goals than they have scored (26 for, 29 against), yet they remained entangled in the heat of the playoff race. This is due large in part to the clutch play of Cammalleri and his ability to score when his team needs it most.

The 2010 playoffs have been a coming out party for Jaroslav Halak; and the party is showing no signs of shutting down. The Habs have been out shot, on average, just over 12 shots per game, while facing an average of 39 in each contest. They made one of the greatest comebacks in recent playoff history against the Washington Capitals (The Presidents Cup Champions), and now have stolen home ice advantage away from the defending Stanley Cup Champions.

Remarkable, if not unfathomable.

The last decade has seen 3 teams defy all odds and make the Stanley Cup Final: the 03’ Mighty Ducks, the 04’ Flames and the 06’ Oilers. If Halak and Cammalleri stay the course, we could be adding the 2010 Montreal Canadiens to that distinguished list of Cinderella’s.

Moving to the junior hockey ranks if I might, the Calgary Hitmen are two wins away from winning the WHL championship and advancing to the Memorial Cup for the first time since 1999. With the likes of the WHL regular season scoring champ Brandon Kozun leading the charge and Martin Jones, WHL Goaltender of the year, stopping pucks in between the pipes, the Hitmen will be a tough team to beat going forward.

After pummelling the Tri City Americans by a combined score of 11-1 in the opening two games in the Saddledome this past weekend, the series moves to the Kennewick, Washington and the Toyota Center for games 3 and 4 where Tri-City is 6-3 this post-season. The Americans will need to re-group and figure out a way to stop the mighty Hitmen from putting pucks past goalie Drew Owsley; who has been pulled in both games thus far.

Special teams have been the difference in this series as Calgary has managed to kill off all 12 man-advantage opportunities by the Americans, and have now killed off 27 straight power plays dating back to last series. The Hitmen have gone 2 for 8 on the power play in the final, while going 23 for 96 throughout the post-season.

Kozun leads the Hitmen in points going into Game 3 tonight with 30 points in 20 games. Joel Broda, a former Amerk who played 124 regular season games in the Tri-City area, leads Calgary with 13 goals so far this spring.

Going into tonight, if Calgary is able to get a jump on the young Amerks early, this veteran laden Hitmen team could find themselves with a stranglehold on the series and one win away from the Ed Chynoweth Cup.

This has been,

Newman on the NHL and WHL

Vive Le Quebec Libre...of NHL Hockey.

Jean Charest, Premier of Quebec, said this week that after talking with Gary Bettman, he is confident NHL hockey will return to Quebec City. “It is going to happen,” said the Premier, citing plans to build a new arena to lure the NHL back to Quebec’s capital city.

Cela est une grande idée Jean. But here’s why it ain’t gonna happen.

1. Population of Quebec City. It has historic battlefields, a beautiful riverside setting, and the largest winter festival in the world. What it doesn’t have is people. According to the 2006 census, there are only 715, 515 people in the metropolitan area of Quebec City, which would make it by far the smallest market in the NHL. (Edmonton is currently the smallest, with 1,034,945, but is still 44% larger than Quebec City.) There simply aren’t enough people in Quebec City to sustain an NHL team. A major arena needs to be filled more than just the 41 times per year that an NHL team would be playing. There also needs to be concerts, trade shows, conventions, etc. I don’t think that Quebec City’s small population would be able to make an arena of this size feasible.

A small population also means the media numbers would be low. With just over 700,000 people, there wouldn't be a significant TV or radio audience. Add to this that any boradcast would most likely be in French only, it would further limit the team from picking up any viewers in the Northeastern US or the Maritimes. While the Flames and Oilers, which don’t have very large population bases either, can draw TV audiences from other parts of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and eastern British Columbia, a Quebec City team would be forced to compete with the Canadiens for any viewers out side of the city itself; a battle I don't see them winning anytime soon.

2. Corporate Money. There isn’t any. Or at least there isn’t enough. Quebec City is a government town, not a center of business and commerce. The majority of people work for the government in one capacity or another. While government jobs offer above average pay scales, government departments or agencies are unable to buy luxury boxes, club seating or even season tickets. Nobody working for the Federal Government ever says, “I have my company’s tickets tonight, wanna go?” And if that did happen, I’m sure most Canadians would be outraged that their tax dollars were going toward hockey tickets. Ottawa has a similar problem being primarily a government town. There aren't nearly as many large corporations as Toronto, Vancouver or Calgary, which means fewers corporate sales, which bring in millions of dollars each year from club seating and luxury suites. There simply are not enough companies in Quebec City that could afford to purchase a luxury suite for $200,000, or buy season tickets in a club section, and the average Joe cannot afford to pay even close to what most companies can pay for these seats.

3. The Arena. Mr Charest says that they will build an NHL calibre arena, capable of hosting not only a hockey team, but also the Winter Olympics. First off, that would be at least seven or eight years away before an arena could be built, and that’s if they started tomorrow. While he may say that his government is willing to pay 200 or 300 million dollars toward an arena, we’ll have to wait and see what the people have to say about it. The people in Quebec might not be too happy seeing so much of their money going toward another arena or stadium. They need only look at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, which ended up costing $1.6 billion, took 30 years to pay off, and is perhaps the biggest white elephant in Canada, no longer being used for anything except one or two Alouette games each year. A new arena in Quebec City would sit empty a lot of the year as well, as their small population wouldn’t be able to fill it.

4. The NHL. Gary Bettman and the National Hockey League, despite what Jean Charest feels, have no interest in moving to Quebec City. For starters, it is far too small a market, lacking both people and corporate money. Secondly, the people in Quebec City are already hockey fans and already follow the NHL. If the Lightning moved from Tampa to Quebec, what few people followed the Lightning would probably stop watching hockey all together, causing the NHL to lose fans. Meanwhile there isn’t any increase by moving to a team to Quebec, as those fans are simply changing their allegiance. On the off, off chance that Quebec ever did receive a team, I would think it would be an expansion team, not through a relocation, which leads to the final reason. After fighting so hard to keep the NHL in Phoenix, why would they suddenly let another franchise pick up stakes and move to Quebec City? The answer is they wouldn’t and they won’t.



There is a reason that the Nordiques moved in the first place. They weren’t viable 15 years ago, and there’s no reason to think they would be viable in 2010. The list of cities that will be home to an NHL franchise before Quebec City is long; Hamilton, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Houston, Seattle, Portland, Hartford and Milwaukee. All have larger populations, better arenas and more money, and if by chance a team relocated, it would be to one of these cities before Quebec City.


photo from http://www.toptenz.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/nordiques-uniform.jpg

Arena #13 - Bell Centre

My mission is to see the Flames play in all 30 NHL arenas, a mission that began in October of 2005 while at a local pub watching the Flames take on the Oilers. With the previous season’s work stoppage, and the season before’s run to the Stanley Cup Finals, Flames tickets had become a very hard item to come by. I was then struck with the idea of combining two of my favourite activities; watching hockey and travelling. You can follow my quest to visit all 30 arenas right here…

December 9, 2008 – Montreal, PQ

After seeing the Flames beat the Rangers in New York City, we headed to La Belle Province to see them play one of the most storied franchises in all of sport, the Montreal Canadiens. Arriving in Montreal the day of the game, we checked into our hotel before heading to the Bell Centre in downtown Montreal. Replacing one of hockey’s greatest venues, the Montreal Forum, the Bell Centre opened in 1996 and is the largest arena in the National Hockey League.

We arrived at the game well before puck drop to see the sights the Bell Centre had to offer. Before the doors opened, we popped into La Cage aux Sports, a bar within the arena that is accessible from the outside and serves the same purpose as Dutton’s in the Saddledome. Unlike Dutton’s however, La Cage sells pitchers of beer for only $10! After a quick jug, we entered the Bell Centre. On the main concourse, the arena features a hall of fame type area, where bronze plaques and busts commemorate many of the great players who have worn the famed red, white and blue of the Canadiens. Notables like Maurice Richard, Jean Beliveau, Guy LaFleur, Larry Robinson and Patrick Roy have their achievements celebrated here.

Our seats were located in the upper levels of the Bell Centre, but we entered the seating bowl from the main concourse before the game to get a glimpse at how seating for 21,000 plus fit into an arena. The lower bowl of the Bell Centre is enormous with over 25 rows of seats. The seats in the lower section are also very steep, similar to the nose bleeds in the Dome, meaning that the upper level seats are not as far from the action as in many newer arenas, but are quite high up. In the rafters, the Bell Centre offers a very different view from most arenas. The Canadiens have 17 retired numbers, each with a banner, plus 24 banners celebrating their Stanley Cup victories. Unlike most teams, the Habs don’t waste their time with division or conference championship banners. As this was the Canadiens’ 100th season, there were additional banners in the rafters, on the walls of the concourse and even on the outside of the area, celebrating their long history.

The concourses of the Bell Centre are the same as any other arena, featuring wide, well lit walkways and standard concession offerings. Much to our surprise, none of the concession stands sold poutine, something we would have to buy after the game to enjoy. I had assumed that would be the local dish, available at almost every outlet, much like perogies in Edmonton.

The game began with a lengthy pre-game ceremony on the jumbotron to celebrate the team’s 100th season. For nearly ten minutes, the screen flashed photos and videos of great moments in Canadiens’ history, offering commentary in both French and English. This ended up being something we noticed that is unique to the Bell Centre in the NHL; as all announcements were made in French and English, including goal calls, penalty calls, and in-game promotions. Imagine Steve Strachan repeating everything he says in a second language.

The game turned out not to be one of the Flames’ best efforts as they lost to the home team 4-1. Dustin Boyd scored the lone Flames goal, in the 2nd period, while the Habs received goals from D’Agostini, Kovalev and two from Robert Lang. Former Flame, Alex Tanguay also had a pair of assists against his old team.

We left the arena, in search of poutine, having gone one and one on the short road trip out east.


Thirteen arenas in the books; almost half way there!


-TheRev

Bell Center Fast Facts

Seats: Section 325; $95 (face value $41), eBay
Score: Flames 1, Canadiens 4
Arena Rating: 7.4
Unique Concession: No poutine!
Souvenir Stick: Habs 100 Seasons, white, plastic
Public Transit: One block away, accessible without going outside
Unique Arena Trait: Canadiens’ Hall of Fame in concourse
Swag: none

Photos



Who knows where we’ll see the Flames next…