This book wasn’t as deep as the Lindros . . . → Read More: MARIO]]> I had no idea that I had so many hockey books hiding away on my bookshelf. Having recently finished the Eric Lindros autobiography “Fire On Ice”, I picked up “MARIO” by Lawrence Martin. It was an easy read, and I wrapped up it a few weeks back.

This book wasn’t as deep as the Lindros book, possibly because it seems as though Lemieux didn’t have as much (if anything) to do with this book. In fact, the biggest thing I took from reading this book is that the author feels Lemieux was cheated out of the career he deserved.

I think I’d argue that point. Lemieux was told early on that he had to start conditioning programs, stop smoking, and just in general take his health more seriously. He steadfastly refused to do anything of the sort until it was too late. He was weak and unprepared, and he ultimately paid the price for it.

Here’s some choice quotes.

Continuing his performance as the perfect host, Gretzky introduced one of the girls to Mario. The four of them then adjourned to the Westbury Hotel, where they spent the night and, if what Mario later told a friend was true, a big moment in his young life took place.

In other words, Wayne Gretzky took an underage Mario out bar-hopping, hooked him up with some puck bunny and the Magnificent One has the Great One to thank for losing his virginity.

The players in the NHL had gotten bigger, stronger, and faster, but the league had failed  to take the trend into account. Rather than take out a couple of rows of seats to enlarge the ice surfaces and give the players ore room, as they had on European ice, the NHL father remained tied to the status quo. Hockey played in crushed quarters meant more injuries, more fights, less room for skilled players, less art.

As an avid fan, it’s extremely frustrating to know that the size of the ice was recognized as problematic 20 years ago. Since then, the players have only gotten bigger, stronger, and faster, and the league has still not adjusted. We now have wave after wave of superstar going down with injuries, and the game is suffering. One has to wonder if an ice surface that grew in size at a rate similar to the average player would alleviate some of today’s biggest concerns.

All in all, not a horrible book, but not one I think I’d read again. I think it would be interesting to hear Mario’s words though. I’m curious to see how he feels about his career now that it’s over, and whether or not he’d do things differently.

I picked up the next hockey book, Leafs Abomination, after finishing the Lemieux book, and already knocked it off. Stephen Brunt’s book, Gretzky’s Tears, is sitting on my shelf, whispering my name from time to time. I’ll get to it soon.

There are 2 things that struck me.

Does . . . → Read More: Things I Think I Learnt]]> I didn’t watch much of the NHL all-star game. My girlfriend wanted to watch, but only because Javier Colon sang the anthem…so we tuned out shortly after that. We tuned back in towards the 15:00 minute mark of the 2nd period, lest we miss the Drake performance.

There are 2 things that struck me.

Does the NHL really believe that Drake is the best performer for their target market? When I think of the hockey fans I know, there’s very little overlap between them and the Drake fans that I know. Here’s proof, Venn style.

The NHL isn’t alone in this regard, evidenced by the NFL having Madonna perform at the Super Bowl. Surely there must be some marketing executive at the NHL’s offices who understands that young and hip does not necessarily serve to promote the game. My girlfriend tuned in to watch Drake, and then tuned out. She was not converted to a life long fan simply because Drake wore an all-star jersey and said “NHL” about 25 times in 5 minutes.

The other thing I noticed in my 10 minutes of watching is that Scott Hartnell is probably responsible for Dion Phaneuf being named Hockey’s Most Overrated Player. Hartnell was mic’d for the game, another gimmick that really doesn’t appeal to me at all, and couldn’t help but take shots at Dion at every opportunity.

Anyhow, let’s be thankful that hockey is back and the race to the playoffs is on.

What interests me about this move, as a Leafs fan, is . . . → Read More: Liles Makes it Eight]]> Earlier this week, the Maple Leafs announced that John-Michael Liles had been signed to a 4-year contract extension. You could argue that Liles left some money on the table by foregoing unrestricted free agency, but that’s not really the point I’d like to cover.

What interests me about this move, as a Leafs fan, is that we now have 8 NHL calibre defensemen on the roster, 6 of whom are already under contract for next season.

• Dion Phaneuf
• Mike Komisarek
• Luke Schenn
• Carl Gunnarsson
• Jake Gardiner
• John-Michael Liles

It’s a real toss-up over what part of this event is the worst.

“I believe the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property . . . → Read More: Tim Thomas, Tea Partier?]]> In one of the more overblown stories of the year, the Twittersphere has been abuzz tonight discussing the merits of Tim Thomas’s decision to skip the Boston Bruins trip to the white house. Here’s what Thomas had to say.

“I believe the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People,” Thomas’ statement read. “This is being done at the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial level. This is in direct opposition to the Constitution and the Founding Fathers vision for the Federal government.”

“Because I believe this,” the statement continued, “today I exercised my right as a Free Citizen, and did not visit the White House. This was not about politics or party, as in my opinion both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country. This was about a choice I had to make as an INDIVIDUAL.”

That sounds reasonable, which immediately rules him out of the Tea Party.

The whole “controversy” around this is asinine.

First, the tradition of the championship team being treated at the White House belongs in the same category as anthems before the game and criminal investigations into league issues. Sports and politics should not mingle in the best of times. With the entire world slowly circling the drain to economic catastrophe, they should stay far apart.

More importantly, Thomas is an American citizen. As such, it’s his right to exercise whatever freedoms he chooses. If he chooses not to lend whatever small vote of confidence his presence would lend, that’s his prerogative.

Seriously people. If you want to visit the White House, take the tour like anyone else.

While those may be legitimate gripes, make no mistake about it, this . . . → Read More: Keys to the Puckopalypse]]> When the NHLPA rejected the NHL’s proposed realignment and scheduling changes a few weeks back, they released some PR BS (we’ll see lots of that in the coming months) about how the players were concerned about the potential travel burdens and playoff fairness.

While those may be legitimate gripes, make no mistake about it, this was the first shot in the 2012 labour battle.

The NHL wants something. To make it look like they’re working harmoniously with the players, they offered the NHLPA the opportunity to review the proposal. I suspect the NHL presumed it would be a formality. But there are no formalities in the coming war.

The NHL will not get anything for free. The players are correctly viewing this as a potential bargaining chip, and they were right to not concede the point this early.

There are many other topics that are going to come up over the next few months. None of them will be settled until a new CBA is in place.

• Olympic Involvement
• Safety Protocols
• Realignment
• Expansion/Contraction
• Salary Cap/Floor
• Shooutout/Overtime Rules

Most of us sitting at home today have a reasonable approximation of what the final solution will look like, so let’s hope that the NHL/NHLPA are smart enough to not throw another season down the drains.

The player who impressed me the most physically was one of our defensemen, Scott Stevens. Scott looks like Jean Claude Van Damme, the martial arts fighter from action movies like Double . . . → Read More: More Fire on Ice]]> So I finished the Eric Lindros book (“Fire on Ice“) that I made mention of the other day. Here’s a few more choice quotes.

The player who impressed me the most physically was one of our defensemen, Scott Stevens. Scott looks like Jean Claude Van Damme, the martial arts fighter from action movies like Double Impact and Universal Soldier. You should hae seen him. Wow! He’s just huge. He blew everybody away in the physical fitness testing on the opening day of training camp.

Aside from the obvious irony, how do you mention Van Damme movies and leave out Bloodsport?

What a lot of people don’t realize is that there’s no such thing as real free agency in the NHL. That was really drilled home to me again at the start of the Canada Cup when an NHL arbitrator awarded Scott Stevens to the New Jersey Devils after Brendan Shanahan signed as a free agent in St. Louis.

Eric is referencing this point as evidence that had he signed his first contract with the Quebec Nordiques, the state of free agency at the time means he probably would never have been allowed out of Quebec. It’s somewhat difficult for fans of today to appreciate that point, but when you consider the shenanigans involved in the Shanahan signing, it helps remind us how much that aspect of the game has changed.

This last quote is in a section of the book written by Brendan Shanahan. The book drops into sections written by various people from Eric’s life, including his parents, agents, lawyers, and team-mates, and it’s a style that is both different and effective.

Eric could turn around the entire tempo of a game without even touching the puck. I remember against Sweden, Keenan sat him out one shift. It was in the middle of the game; there was bit of a lull. When he opened the door to let Eric out, Eric was so fired up, he just went out and crushed a few guys with hits. It was awesome. On that same shift, he put Ulf Samuelsson out. And those were big, clean, hard hits, not cheap shots. It’s like, “Here I am. I’m coming. My elbows are down and I’m going to run you over.” It was a head-on challenge – and Eric won them all.

Of course, in hindsight, we know that Eric didn’t win them all. For those wondering, Shanahan is referring to a game against Sweden in the 1991 Canada Cup.

So, with this book finished, I must reiterate my desire to read the follow-up from Lindros. I really want to hear how his thoughts have changed, how he feels about the state of the game today, and what he might do differently given a do-over.

Alas, such a book does not yet exist, so I have moved on to a Mario Lemieux biography that was hiding on the book shelf. I’m sure some interesting stuff will arise there as well.

JVR sidelined indefinitely with concussion.