Allsports

So it didn’t take long for Bruce Boudreau to change his address and find employment in the hockey world. He is starting to make a few waves in the hockey sports news and sports on the web. In fact Boubreau was only unemployed for about 67 hours before he was snapped up by another NHL team.

Bruce Boudreau hired by Ducks

The Anaheim Ducks, who are having a brutal season tied the can to their coach Randy Carlyle and brought Bruce Boudreau on board. Management thought that Boudreaus easy going nature and relaxed attitude might be just the change the team needed because they sure were not responding to Randy Carlyles regimented and strict style anymore.

Randy Carlyle

Funny how things work sometimes, the Washington Capitals were in need of a good thrashing to try and get them in line, thus the arrival of Dale Hunter,  while the Ducks having had the tough task master for so long were in need of a little more subtle approach.  Carlyle won’t likely be out of work that long though as he is a good coach with a strong resumè.

Besides I am sure there was not much sting in the firing considering Carlyle just signed a new 3 year deal back in the summer. Life is tough when you get paid whether you work or not. As for Bruce Boudreau, that has to be some sort of record for a professional sports coach to be unemployed. Not long at all.

No Guts No Glory

Walt Webb

Allsports

In the hockey sports news and sports on the web this week, two coaches in the NHL fraternity lost there jobs due to one of two reasons, lack of talent that the general manager put together or indifference by the players.

Paul Maurice message

Paul Maurice was fired in Carolina and replaced by Kirk Muller and Maurice showed nothing but class upon his exit. Kirk Muller was due to get a chance at a head coaching job because he had done so well as an assistant coach in the league. Allsports thinks Kirk will need quite a bit of luck and motivation to get the Hurricanes into the playoffs because they are pretty thin once you get past Staal, Skinner and Ward. I just don’t see them as a playoff team. Oh and by the way they lost last night in Muller’s coaching debut.

Bruce Boudreau

The Washington Capitals fired Bruce Boudreau on Monday and replaced him with Dale Hunter. As usual for Boudreau he was brutally honest about the firing and said “I tried every trick I knew in 18 years and nothing was working.” The Capitals have played lethargic, lazy hockey since they started the season 6-0. With this team it is not a matter of the talent, it is more like they need a heart transplant. Dale Hunter might be just the guy to give it to them too, Hunter was anything but lethargic and lazy during his playing days and allsports thinks there will be a few star players given a wake up call in a hurry. You would not play for the nice guy, well now you are stuck with the Drill Sargent.  Hunter’s Capitals lost in his debut too and if you saw the look on Hunters face at the final whistle you could see that he was just seething. Ovechkin and company are in for some very tough days of practice ahead. Hunter might even take a stick to the underachieving Alex Semin, who seems to coast through many games. At this point I think the Capitals would trade him for a bag of pucks but no one would take his contract.

“No Guts No Glory”

Walt Webb

Allsports

So the biggest news for hockey in the sports news and sports on the web was the return of Sidney Crosby to game action last night. The National Hockey League in general and the Pittsburgh Penguins in particular can now breathe a  sigh of relief at having the franchise back on the ice. It has been almost eleven months of concussion issues since Crosby last laced up the Blades in game action and Crosby did not disappoint in his season deput

Sidney Crosby's 1st goal in his Season Debut

Crosby looked like he had not missed a step and controlled the game from the outset. He scored his first goal on his third shift of the game and was dangerous every time he was on the ice. The evening was a huge success as he scored two goals and added two assists in the 5-0 drubbing of the New York Islanders.  His first goal was vintage Crosby and here is the video evidence for your enjoyment.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Being a hockey fan it was great to see Crosby back on the ice. The NHL needs their premier player back doing what he does best and his return is great for the game of hockey. Does anyone else think that the Pittsburgh Penguins could just be the team to beat in this years Stanley Cup playoffs. Allsports likes their chances.

“No Guts No Glory”

Walt Webb

NHL Logo

Allsports has not written anything in the sports news or sports on the web in a few days because he was feeling a little under the weather but this post has been on his mind for the past week. I don’t know if you watched the hockey game on ” Hockey Night In Canada” a  week ago Saturday and in particular “Coaches Corner” during the first intermission.

Coaches corner last Saturday

So from the video you can see that Don is all for the City of Winnipeg to get an NHL franchise back.  Allsports agrees as I wrote in my post back on April 2nd titled, “Allsports wonders how the NHL Owners like Mr. Bettman now” . As Don states in the video, the NHL may think that Winnipeg is too small with only a population of around 700,000 . Maybe that is a bit small but there are 650,000 hockey fans there. Way more than Phoenix ever will have. It would make economic sense but who ever said Bettman uses good sense. That clown will try and keep the team in the desert so they can loose money every year. The owners have to realize Bettmans agenda is not good for the league and say ENOUGH Gary, you are GONE.

Brian Burke

If you watch further in the video near the end, Don starts talking about Brian Burke stating that back in the old NHL you could bear hug and opponent near the boards so you were not face planting him into them. With the new rules any of that stuff would be considered a penalty. It just seems to Allsports that they have to keep making more rules to counter the rules they put into place without much thought. I wrote about this exact thing way back on January 24th 2009, with my post titled, “Allsports thinks there is Method to fighting in Hockey“

Coaches Corner

The segment I am referring to is located near the end of the article under the spinning hockey puck. Here is the quote I am talking about from it if you don’t want to check the link.

“with the NHL being so critical of little hooks and holds it takes some defensive mechanisms away from the players. That being when you used to go into the boards to fight for the puck you could take one hand off your stick and “wrap” the other player up. You would take the opponent out of the play with a hit into the boards but in doing so you could put an arm around him so he would stay on his feet and not be propelled into the boards. You took him out of the play effectively but both players remained on their skates, the hit was made but the risk of neck and head injures was eliminated. Allowing the players to do this minor bit of holding within 3 feet of the boards would really reduce the risks. Then of course once contact is made the slight hold is removed and the battle for the puck can continue. The ref can then call a penalty when the hold stays in place to long. One or two seconds along the boards could make a huge difference in safety”.

It is satisfying to Allsports when hockey people as astute as Brian Burke and Don Cherry start to mention things that allsports has brought to the table in the past. Hey who knows maybe their reading my articles, LOL.

“No Guts No Glory”

Walt Webb

HHOF_Logo

If your following the sports news or sports on the web you will know that there is a movement going on right now to get Pat Burns elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame before the ravages of Cancer take him from us.

Hockey Hall of Fame building in Toronto

Allsports can’t think of a more deserving inductee into the hall. Burns has won the Jack Adams Trophy as coach of the year three times in his hockey career, with I might add, three different teams. He won the award coaching Montreal, Toronto and Boston, the most times of any coach in NHL history. Add to that a Stanley Cup victory with the 2003 New Jersey Devils and it becomes quite clear that he belongs in the Hall.

Before his career in hockey, he was a police officer in Gatineau, Quebec. He was resently honoured with An arena to be built to honour his career, at Stanstead College, a private boarding school in the Eastern Townships. The arena is slated for completion  by 2011.

Hopefully, god willing, Pat Burns is around to see it finished

Burns announces arena in his name in March

A campaign has started on Facebook to get Pat elected into the Hall as quickly as possible. Allsports would like people to go there and sign up to show their support. Momentum is building for the cause and to date there are over 40,000 people who have pledged their support.

“No Guts No Glory”

Walt Webb

NHL Logo

So it has been a few days since allsports has posted anything in the sports news or sports on the web. I have been wondering about this topic for a while now (since the trade deadline) and was curious as to how the NHL owners were viewing the fact that the Phoenix Coyotes were one of the busiest teams at the trade deadline. They must have found this a little hard to swallow considering the NHL owns the franchise right now as I wrote a few months back.

Garry Bettman

It is kind of ironic that Bettman is trying to get players that will give the Coyotes a chance to win in the playoffs, bidding against the other owners in the league with their money. Thinking that by doing so he will be able to drive the value of the franchise up with a winning team. Well wake up Gary that franchise is worth very little if it remains in the desert. Look no futher than what has gone on this year. The Coyotes are a very good young team that is right in the mix to win the Presidents Trophy as the team with the most regular season points and yet they are lucky to get 8,000 behinds in the seats to watch them play. The fan support is even more abysmal than it was last year.

Jim_Balsillie

This team would be a gold mine in Canada but is worth zip in Phoenix. Bettman will not get close to even what the NHL paid for it and that price was 100 million less than what Jim Balsillie offered. The team would have been huge in Hamilton and would have contributed revenue to all of Bettmans other sad sack franchises in, are you ready, Atlanta, Nashville, Florida, Tampa Bay,  and the jury is still out on the likes of the New York Islanders, Dallas Stars and the St. Louis Blues.

Phoenix_Coyotes.logo

It is time for Mr. Bettman to put his ego aside and admit his ill fated expansion plan is a bust. Now even if they do sell and move the Coyotes, the NHL will not get close to what Balsillie offered. Bettman is putting his personal feelings ahead of whats best for the league. He should be held accountable by the owners.

Now stories are surfacing that Canadian billionaire David Thomson and the city of Winnipeg are throwing their hat into the ring to purchase the Coyotes and move them back to Winnipeg where they were and where they belong. Of course Bettman and the NHL are denying this claim. David Thomson by the way has very deep pockets with an estimated worth of about 25 billion dollars.

The city of Winnipeg could support an NHL franchise and generate some solid revenue for the league. Allsports advise to Gary is admit the writing on the wall and sell to Thomson. He would be a great owner and a team in Winnipeg would be strong. It would be one less team to worry about, Lord knows there are many more in difficulty that need attention. Swallow your pride and do what is best for the league.

“No Guts No Glory”

Walt Webb

NHL Logo

Did you hear either on the sports news or sports on the web that Alexander Ovechkin was suspended for two games because he hit Brian Campbell from behind the other night. If you have not had a chance to view the video yet, here it is.

So allsports has to ask the question, what was Ovechkin thinking when he pushed Campbell from behind? There was no where for Campbell to go except into the boards. Campbell suffered a clavicle fracture and a rib fracture on the play and will be lost to the Blackhawks for seven to eight weeks. Ovechkin got off easy on the play, if it had of been some run of the mill player he likely would have got at least 5 games but since Ovechkin is a star player, he only got two games.

Brian Campbell

Colin Campbell was caught between a rock and a hard place for his ruling too. Since Ovechkin is a star player no matter what way Campbell ruled there would be some back lash. Allsports thinks Ovechkin got off light considering he could have ended Campbell’s career with the bone head play.

Colin Campbell

So allsports thinks that Ovechkin better start to watch his step. It is not the first time he has been ejected for a questionable hit. The other guys in the league are taking notes and may decide to put him out of commission before he starts taking runs at them. Ovechkin has to tune it down a little, don’t get me wrong, he is an exciting player to watch and does play the game with exuberance but that is not a good recipe for a long career in the NHL. Someone will either hit him or he in turn will hurt himself with all the crashing and banging . Something will have to give, the body can only take so much abuse. Sometimes Alex needs to think before he acts.

Alex Ovechkin

“No Gut No Glory”

Walt Webb

NHL Logo

So did you happen to see Coach’s Corner last night during the first intermission of the Toronto Maple Leafs game? If not I can show you the segment courtesy of sports news and sports on the web. You can find anything on Youtube.

Now Don Cherry was being politically correct when he was on and that was likely pretty hard for Don to do because the last thing you would think about Don Cherry is that he is politically correct. That’s what you have to love about him, he usually speaks his mind and it has got him into a little hot water over the years.

So read between the lines here people. Cherry mentions that the weasel Matt Cooke would have never tried any of his crap on Wayne Gretzky or Steve Yzerman because of the fact that then he would be dealing with either Dave Semenko or Bob Probert if he did. In other words he is saying that if the instigator rule was not in place this stuff would not happen just like allsports indicated in his previous post. He just can’t come right out and say it. He has spoken out about the stupid rule in the past and had his wrist slapped by Mr. Bettman for doing so.

Steve Yzerman

In the video Cherry makes a good point also and that is if you re going to introduce this head shot rule that the GM’s are talking about, you had better get it done now and not wait till the summer, otherwise the can of worms that the NHL has opened will make it open season on head shots and there will be a whole slew of head injuries happening. He also mentions the look on Sidney Crosby’s face that is caught on the video. Crosby is disgusted with Cooke and knows that his actions could come back on him and Malkin, Pittsburgh’s two best players.

Pittsburgh comes to play in Boston next Thursday and the game should be quite volatile. Allsports thinks that the Bruins have to much class to target Crosby and Malkin but it will be open season on Matt Cooke. He will definitely have a target on his back. That is if Cooke has the balls to play in the game. Then again the Penguins may sit him out to avoid an incident. The NHL may tell them to.

NHL Logo

Allsports has been thinking about what to write about for the past while because after the letdown of the Olympics being finished and the veritable cornucopia of events taking place, there was not too much in the sports news or sports on the web which allsports was too interested in.

Marc Savard

Then the weasel, Matt Cooke reared his ugly head with another cheap shot on the Bruins Marc Savard and allsports figured it was time to react. It is too bad someone could not punch his lights out without getting an instigator penalty for doing so. As people well know allsports is of the opinion that there is a place for fighting in hockey as I wrote way back on February 24th 2009, with the post titled “Allsports thinks there is Method to fighting in Hockey”

Here is the video

So what did Matt Cooke get for this incident in which Savard was knocked cold? Nothing because as far as the rules go it was a clean hit. Never mind that Cooke was predatory in coming up on Savard’s blind side. Never mind that Cooke has already done this little act twice before. So now the NHL brain trust is discussing that a penalty should be given when a hit to the head occurs. That’s it put in another rule. Make it so the players will be afraid to give a hit and the game will turn into a non contact old timers league. Take fighting out too and then Bettman and company will have succeeded in making hockey really BORING.

Matt Cooke

No sometimes less is more people. Never mind adding another stupid rule, take one away. That rule is the stupid Instigator rule, which most players in the league detest. If there was no instigator rule do you honestly think that pests like Cooke would be running around targeting the best players on the other team. Not a chance, the fear of getting his lights punched out would keep him honest. Without the instigator guys like Cooke would either be playing with better intentions or dare I say it, not in the league at all.

Dave Semenko

Why do you think Wayne Gretzky very rarely got hit? Two words people, Dave Semenko. If you didn’t play nice with the great one you would be sure to have to deal with Semenko. So guess what the weasels did. They backed off. The instigator rule is foolish and was brought in by people who just don’t understand the dynamics of hockey.

So for now the Boston Bruins are without their best offensive player and will be hard pressed to make the playoffs while a cheap shot artist gets off scott free. Maybe Chara should tear Cooke’s head off the next time the teams meet.

“No Guts No Glory”

Walt Webb

So the new Toronto Maple Leafs made their much anticipated debut last night at the ACC. If you follow the sports news or sports on the web you will find that Jean-Sebastien Giguere shut the door on the New Jersey Devils with a 3-0 shutout victory.

J.S Giguere was not the only star in this game as both newly acquired Dion Phaneuf and Freddie Sjostrom also received game star honors. Sjostrom assisted on Nikolai Kulemin’s opening goal and played well, being noticed for his effectiveness when penalty killing. Phaneuf made sure the Devils had their heads up when coming through the neutral zone. A couple of big hits and a fight near the beginning of the game for Phaneuf made his teammates take notice and play a spirited game.

With Phaneuf, the Leafs get their stud defenceman that will keep the opposition honest and with J.S Giguere they get a goalie who is steady, consistent and does not get rattled. J.S Giguere never really gives up a weak goal which is something the Maple Leafs have lacked since the Ed Belfour days.

Allsports believes that the Maple Leafs will make Dion Phaneuf the team captain before the start of next season.

“No Guts No Gory”

Walt Webb