Team Canada unveiled their 2014 Olympic jerseys today. These Canadian hockey jerseys will be worn exclusively in competition by the men’s, women’s and sledge hockey teams representing Canada.
“When designing the new uniforms, we were very purposeful in our approach of blending Canada’s rich hockey history and tradition with the performance needs of today’s athletes,” said Ken Black, senior creative director, Nike. “We constantly strive to provide athletes with leading Nike technology to give them a competitive edge on the ice. Decades of design and adaptations from our leading products in other sports allowed us to create a lightweight jersey that maximizes range of motion and speed while bringing to life the pride of competing for Team Canada.”
A few jersey facts via Team Canada:
RECYCLED POLYESTER
· The jersey and socks are made from 73 per cent recycled polyester as part of Nike’s commitment to produce performance apparel with reduced environmental impact.
· Each jersey is made from up to 17 recycled plastic water bottles, and the sock uses an average of five plastic bottles.
· The plastic bottles are chopped into flakes, then melted down to form yarn that is spun into fabric, reducing energy consumption by up to 30 per cent compared to manufacturing virgin polyester.
· Since 2010, Nike has diverted more than 1.1 billion plastic bottles from landfill through the use of recycled polyester.
The jerseys are already receiving mixed reviews from fans who aren’t fully supporting the new design. What do you think?
Last night was the Kings’ home opener. While they were able to spoil the party for Minnesota, eventually stealing 2 points in a shootout, New York more readily returned the favor with a 3-1 victory in regulation.
It was an interesting game for sure because neither team seemed particularly sharp. Both teams were making a lot of mistakes and turnovers but everything just seemed worse on the Kings’ end. By now most people have probably seen the video of the fluky shorthanded goal that Quick allowed when he went out to play the puck. But the loss can by no means be hung on his shoulders. In fact, it was his stellar up to that point performance that had been keeping the score 2-1.
The Kings were credited with a whopping 17 giveaways to New York’s 8. Not to discredit the Rangers for their stellar play that caused these turnovers, but it was very un-Kings like to make quite so many errors.
The most interesting part of the game, though, is that the underlying numbers indicate that both teams were about dead even. Via ExtraSkater.com,
Team stats
| Kings |
Stat |
Rangers |
| 1 |
Goals |
3 |
| 60 |
Corsi |
56 |
| 44 |
Fenwick |
44 |
| 29 |
Shots |
28 |
| 5v5 (47.4 min played) |
| 0 |
Goals |
2 |
| 44 |
Corsi |
45 |
| 33 |
Fenwick |
35 |
| 20 |
Shots |
22 |
| 5v5 close (31.7 min played) |
| 0 |
Goals |
2 |
| 34 |
Corsi |
29 |
| 23 |
Fenwick |
23 |
| 13 |
Shots |
16 |
| 5v5 tied (13.5 min played) |
| 0 |
Goals |
1 |
| 17 |
Corsi |
12 |
| 12 |
Fenwick |
10 |
| 6 |
Shots |
7 |
Corsi is defined as “the plus/minus amount of shots directed at a net while at even strength-blocked shots, shots high and wide, shots that hit, shots that get tipped, etc. Fenwick is almost the exact same as Corsi, but it doesn’t count blocked shots-the reason for this is that it is entirely possible that blocking shots is a skill, and not just a series of random events.” (via matchsticksandgasoline.com)
Based on the chart above, both teams had exactly the same amount of puck possession time. (When it comes to statistics, as we all may remember from school, a small difference usually means they’re virtually the same.) So where did the Kings go wrong if they were about dead even with the Rangers? While both teams had the same amount of possession, the biggest difference was that Rangers applied more pressure, created more turnovers and simply put the puck towards the net more often.
The first goal was a turnover by Drew Doughty, who was then bailed out by his defense partner and his goalie only to have the puck deflect off his head in an attempt to block the shot. The second goal was good pressure by the Rangers to exploit young sophomore Jake Muzzin into turning the puck over before Brad Richards slid it through a sprawling Quick’s 5 hole. The third goal was just the gift of the Hockey Gods mocking Kings fans [note: that’s a joke] of Jonathan Quick making a human error. He dropped his stick and the puck went off his blocker. Angry at himself, he decided to be sure the Rangers would score no more goals the rest of the night. He even took the “Bronx cheer” in stride, waving at the crowd the next time he stopped the puck. (Side note: that was very cruel and more important, stupid of fans to do that to him. He’s a world class goalie who will likely be starting for Team USA in Sochi and he’s capable of making a mistake; for goodness sake, he’s only human. He’s also the only reason the score was 2-1 up to that point.)
The Kings’ lone goal came 4 on 4 when good effort by Mike Richards kept the puck in the Rangers’ zone and Muzzin was able to capitalize on a rebound alone in front of the net.
Los Angeles hopes to rebound tomorrow from a poor showing when they welcome Bobby Ryan and the Senators.
Even one of the best goaltenders in the league can make a mistake. Last night during the Kings, Rangers game – Jonathan Quick lost his stick and scored on himself when the puck bounced off his pads.
[tubepress video=”zcMHy4Mvs3I”]
This weeks edition of NHL Celebrity Look-a-Like is a reader suggestion.
At 6’5, Toronto Maple Leafs Frazer McLaren is a force to be reckoned with on the ice. A talented edition to the Leafs lineup, McLaren was claimed off waivers by the club back in January and has proven his worth to the organization on a nightly basis. McLaren’s Celebrity Look-a-Like, Sam Palladio a British actor that croons country on a weekly basis in ABC’s smash hit Nashville.
@sampalladio
@Frazermclaren68
Have a good look-a-like suggestion, shoot us an email with NHL/Celeb in the subject line, pinkpuck@thepinkpuck.com
I’ve always believed that the fun part of watching hockey is caring about its players. Trades and injuries and losing streaks are agony because we are disappointed in–and achingly sorry for–the boys on the ice. A team is just a hallowed-out exoskeleton without personalities to animate it. The Pens are the Pens because Sidney Crosby is the captain, because Evgeni Malkin constantly looks like an adorable 8-year-old with a head cold, because Marc-Andre Fleury is terrible when he’s bad but blindingly brilliant when he’s good. The Blue Jackets are the midget line and Jack “I’m Really, Really Not the Jack Johnson You Think I Am” Johnson and Sergei Bobrovsky, the number one cop on the force.
I can watch a hundred thousand Hawks games, but those boys are never going to be my boys if I don’t bother to learn anything about them other than their numbers.
Now, given that my options are fairly limited in terms of getting to know them–I’m reasonably sure that Quenneville isn’t going to let me waltz into the UC and take everybody out for lunch (also I’m too poor to take a group of fully-grown hockey players out to lunch, I’ve seen those dudes eat)–I’ve decided to play a little game called “Speed Dating with the Internet.” It’s a totally real game that I in no way made up a minute ago while stuffing my face with Tostitos.
The rules of the game are as follows: pick five players. You have two minutes to Google their names and find out as much about them as you can. Wikipedia is not allowed. NHL.com is not allowed. Use discretion when determining the legitimacy of a source–“mollyhalleatsalotoftostitos.blogspot.com” probably doesn’t fact check (though, you never know, some fans are more meticulous in their facts than accredited news outlets).
Now, in the name of honesty, I do already know a bit about some of these players thanks to last year’s Cup run, but this is a game about getting to know them on a level that is deeper than “Jonathan Toews is freakishly good at face-offs.” (And by “deeper,” I mean “sillier.”)
Ready, Internet? Okay. My five players are: Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, Brandon Bollig, and Patrick Sharp.
On your mark. Get set. Go.
Jonathan Toews
What I Learned in Two Minutes on the Internet
- People have really strong feelings about him being the Canadian captain instead of Sidney Crosby
- He did not like the Canadian jerseys, according to his super bummed out face
- He really wants to stop getting called “Captain Serious,” so he can be the Hawks’ Cool Dad
- Wow, Chicago really loves this dude
- Looks like an actual Disney Prince with his hair long, what is that
- Hockey-married to Patrick Kane? Or maybe hates him? They shout at each other a lot, but also seem to hug disproportionately
- Spends the majority of his life weathering torment from Patrick Sharp
- He on-purpose wore plaid-on-plaid to the Cup Ring ceremony and nobody stopped him
- Speaks French!
- Seriously though, his face-off stats.
Patrick Kane
What I Learned in Two Minutes on the Internet
- Holy bananas, can this dude handle a hockey stick
- He punched a cab driver and got really drunk in Wisconsin, which is disappointing, but he also…
- Stayed with Stan Bowman’s family during his rookie year, and apparently stuck around and helped out and was generally an A++ dude during Bowman’s cancer, so as it turns out humans are complicated and can’t be measured by one mistake (or one good deed)
- Claims to be 5’10, which I’m not even going to address
- Once said, “I guess Tazer’s my Larmer” in reference to their hockey marriage
- An actual news source once called him a heartthrob, which is bewildering because he made the conscious decision to grow a mullet and shave stripes into the side
- Really loves his sisters
- Basketball??? This can’t be right.
Duncan Keith
Sorry. I had to. Here’s a better one:
What I Learned in Two Minutes on the Internet
- “Duncan Keith lost his teeth, but not his heart”
- He put his baby in the Cup and it was super adorable
- Didn’t invite his BFFL Brent Seabrook to his wedding
- It’s possible that he gave his teeth to Seabrook? Like. As a gift? I couldn’t definitively confirm this in two minutes on the Internet, but it was suggested at least twice
- Goes fishing a lot
- Apparently one time he spilled a protein shake on his floor and decided to cover it with a box instead of cleaning it up so it made the whole house smell like a fraternity house after a frat party
- Seriously, 90% of these articles are just called “Duncan Keith has no teeth but he has a big heart.” I GET IT.
Brandon Bollig
What I Learned in Two Minutes on the Internet
- Brandon Bollig doesn’t grow playoff beards, he grows Manly Dude beards that he just maintains during playoff season
- His goal in the Hawks opener this season was his first career goal!
- Oh my God, I accidentally looked at the Wikipedia sidebar and he is a former child actor
- This is so legitimate, he was in Defiance! That’s such a real movie! It has a 46% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes!
- “Jim Freivogel stars in this 2002 Western that follows the life of a vengeful young man. His father gunned down by the local heavies, the boy grows up focused on settling the score. But as he sets out to enact his own brand of justice, it becomes clear that it may never be enough.”
- That’s enough out of you, Brandon Bollig, you beautiful moonbeam.
Patrick Sharp
What I Learned in Two Minutes on the Internet
- Patrick Sharp isn’t a model, the camera just went off
- He’s an enormous troll who lives to make Jonathan Toews cry
- Fully plans on missing a game if his wife goes into labor, which is making me kind of emotional
- Deadspin thinks his baby is the cutest baby in sports, so apparently all Sharps have mutant DNA for being aesthetically pleasing
- He is not the same Patrick Sharp that started a White Student Union at Georgia State University
- He once met the lead singer of Pearl Jam and was super pumped about it.
The AHI Fighting Spirit remains undefeated in regulation as they move to 6-0, and remain in first place in
Northern States Junior Hockey League standings, with only one shootout loss on their record.
The Fighting Spirit swept the Cape Cod Islanders this weekend, blanking them 2-0 on Saturday. The Islanders and Spirit had a closer match on Sunday which resulted in a 3-2 win in the Spirit’s favor.
Mitch Purdie and Matt Roberts netted the Spirit’s goals on Saturday, as Anthony D’Urso recorded his first shutout of the season.
On Saturday, the Spirit faced a much more energetic Islanders club. After a scoreless first period, the Fighting Spirit would capitalize on two power play goals, the first from Chris Paggio and the second from Anthony Langevin. The Islanders battled back as Taylor Saffer found the back of the net behind Spirit netminder Adam Higdon to cut the lead in half. However, the Spirit scored on the man advantage again when Alex Peddle netted a goal to extend their lead by two.
Chris Harris of the Islanders found the back of the net in the third period to make the score 3-2, but it was not enough secure the win.
The Junior Mariners notched their first wins of the season this weekend. The first came on Saturday against the New England Stars, which was decided in overtime, 8-7.
“The good news is we scored seven goals in our game versus the Junior Mariners,” said Head Coach Darryl Green. “The bad news is we have yet to figure out how to play a full sixty minutes.”
The first period of the game belonged to the New England Stars, as they put five pucks behind Mariners goaltender Sami-Pekka Ansio. Ricky Mulligan, Wes Monson, Cam Richard, Ryan White and Phil Sweeney were all credited with goals.
The Mariners put Domenic Montecalvo in net with one minute remaining in the first period to shift the momentum of the game. The Mariners came out strong in the second period, with Steven Reu netting his first goal of the season on Stars goaltender Matt Pearless. The Stars came back when Levi Marden found the back of the net, assisted by Ryan Donohue. The Mariners would notch three more goals that period from Jonathan Mathieu, Andrew Paterson and Dan Camara to make the score 6-4 in the Stars’ favor.
The third period opened with a short-handed goal from Mariners forward Derek Butler. Both teams would then capitalize on their own power players, the first from Ryan White for the stars, and then Tyler Boudrow from the Mariners. Butler netted one more goal to force overtime.
Stars goaltender Dalton Doire played in net for the overtime, stopping 9 shots, but was beaten when Kim Miettinen put a puck past him.
The Stars played a non-league game on Sunday against the Middlesex Bears, 4-3, that Green says will be used as a “valuable learning experience.”On Sunday, the Junior Mariners ran past the Maine Moose, 7-2. After a scoreless first period, the Junior Mariners put two pucks behind goaltender Jarrett Ross. The Moose battled back with goals from Yannick Price-Prevot and Brandon Nale, both of which came on the power play. Edward McCarthy and Toms Laus would also notch goals for the Mariners in the second period.The Mariners blanked the Moose in the third period, adding three more goals to the scoresheet, from Dan Camara, Colin Walsh, and Chris Conners for the 7-2 win.
The Syracuse Stampede swept the Maine Wild last weekend, winning 3-2 in a shootout on Saturday and 4-1 on Sunday. The shootout loss gives the Maine Wild their first point of the season, but the team has yet to see a win, while Syracuse improves to 4-0.
“Maine Wild played hard and with heart, they out worked us and out battled us,” said Syracuse Stampede assistant coach James Muscatello. “We were lucky to come out with wins. I admire the passion and effort the Wild showed in both games.”
The Stampede opened scoring on Saturday with a short-handed goal when Rick Runyon beat Wild goaltender Benoit Niclot. Alex Foster would also find the back of the net for the Stampede minutes into the second period. Wild Captain Keith Barnaby cut the lead in half when he scored his third goal of the season. Wild forward David Wilcox netted the game-tying goal with just one minute and eleven seconds left in the third period to force overtime and eventually a shootout. The Stampede came away with the game-winner.
“We finally put together a 60-minute effort,” said Maine Wild Head Coach Mike Tenney. “We were successful on special teams, we went 7 for 7 on the penalty kill and we scored one on the power play. I felt really good about our defensive zone play – we blocked shots like pros. We got the game into overtime however we could not score in overtime or in the shootout. I was really proud of the effort we put forth and can see we are starting to turn the corner.”
On Sunday, the Wild again struggled with special teams, giving up four power play goals to the Stampede. After a scoreless first period, the Stampede’s Mike Iselmoe would capitalize on the man advantage twice. Wild forward Ignat Molchanov would score the lone goal for his team, assisted by Drew Lupardo and Noel Fischer. However, Hampus Alenov would find the back of the net behind Niclot again to make the score 3-1 in favor of the Stampede. Syracuse locked up the win with a third period power play goal from Anton Liljekvist.
“We came out with the same fire and intensity we played with Saturday. We moved our legs we executed the systems and we played another really solid game,’ said Tenney. “Unfortunately we were not as good on special teams. Our power play did not score and our penalty kill allowed four goals on six power plays. Our special teams need to be special and they weren’t…against a good team like the Stampede. We can’t have a bad special teams game.”
Still, Tenney has faith in his hockey club.
“Overall I feel really good about our progress. We have some things to work on but we are starting to play some really good hockey,” he said.
Young Canes defensemen Ryan Murphy assisted on Jay Harrison’s first period goal to get his first NHL point on Sunday evening’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers, who were looking for their first win this season, fell to the Canes 2-1.
The Hurricanes opened the scoring as defenseman Jay Harrison wristed one past Flyers goaltender Steve Mason at 8:11 in the first, with assists from Murphy and Jeff Skinner. In the middle frame Luke Schenn tied the game, but that tie was shortly ended by Radek Dvorak’s snap shot at 8:20, Skinner getting his second assist of the night.
That would stay the score for the remainder of the game, which saw a low 12 penalty minutes, 8 of which were served by the Flyers. The Flyers have been outscored this season 9-3 in three games, their worst start in several years.
New Canes, Nathan Gerbe and Radek Dvorak, have been impressing in the season so far. Both men had goals in the season-opener, a loss against the Detroit Red Wings.
Hurricanes rookie, Elias Lindholm, who’s parents were in the building for the game, left the game early in the third and did not return.
THREE STARS OF THE GAME
After beginning the season with two road games, the Los Angeles Kings return to Staples Center and hope to continue their dominant reign at home from last season. Tonight they will take on the visiting New York Rangers, who will likely be in a sour mood having lost to the Ducks 4-1 and may carry over some bitterness from a 4-1 preseason defeat in Las Vegas. The Rangers will be the more well rested of the two teams, having not played since Thursday but they could also be rusty, a factor the Kings would look to exploit.
The Pre-Game Fan Fest will begin at 4:30pm outside of Staples Center and across the street at L.A. Live. According to the Kings’ website, “The event will feature the Bud Light Beer Garden, Coca Cola Zero sampling canopy with inflatable penalty shot, the Alberta, Canada snowboard simulator, the FOX Sports 1 Fan Express, California Lottery, Ferrara Candy Company and Toyota’s Autograph Session with Sean O’Donnell.”
The team will introduce its roster for the 2013-2014 season and will possibly premiere a new pregame video, as hinted by Kings Vision on twitter. Fans are encouraged to be in their seats by 7pm so as not to miss the special pregame show.
For those who will be unable to attend in person, the game will be televised on Fox Sports West as well as broadcast on KTLK 1150am (which can be streamed online via iheartradio.com).
We Are All Kings
A few days ago, Kings Vision released the first videos in a new series called “We Are All Kings” which features some special fans who get a chance to interact one-on-one with some players.
In one video, actor Colin Hanks and goaltender Jonathan Quick discuss sports superstitions. “This is the silly stuff fans do… We grow the beards, too,” Hanks comments.
In another video, defenseman Matt Greene meets up with WWII veteran Michael LaVere as they talk about what makes us all Kings. “That’s what I like about hockey, is the action. I mean there’s no game like it.”
Check out these two videos and rest on the LA Kings website at http://video.kings.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=731 .
The Blackhawks left goalie Corey Crawford with little action for the first period against the Tampa Bay Lightning Saturday.
In a period with a mere seven shots on goal, the Lightning tallied none. In fact, both teams entered the first intermission scoreless. Defenseman Mike Kotska debuted with the team Saturday. The last time the Blackhawks held a team that long without so much as a shot was in 1946 against Detroit.
Patrick Kane broke the scoreless game about a minute into the second period. Brandon Saad capitalized on an inadvertent empty net at the end of a Power Play halfway through the second period when Tampa Bay Goalie Ben Bishop left the goal open.
More more than halfway through the game, the Lightning had only three SOG.
“That means we’re playing well defensively, but at the same time we’re not playing to win periods … we’re playing to win games,” Chicago forward Ben Smith told media.
Veteran star Marty St. Louis scored a backhand goal in the third shortly followed by right winger Teddy Purcell’s power play goal to tie the game with about nine minutes left.
Exposing weakness on both the Power Play and the Penalty Kill, this second game of the season, the Blackhawks weren’t able to get back ahead during regulation or in the first overtime.
Tampa Bay’s Valtteri Filppula performer where Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and Marian Hossa could not, beating a goalie in the shootout, giving the lightning an overtime win.
Despite being outshot 39-16 overall, the Lightning took home a win.
Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper told media his team stole one in Chicago.
“Let’s call a spade a spade: there’s a reason they’re the Stanley Cup champs and they showed us for most of the game why they’re the best team in the league,” he said. “We needed Ben Bishop to stand tall if we had any chance of coming back, and he did. We just hung around. You get one, and then we were opportunistic on our power play, and snuck out with a win. I was looking for the police when we left the locker room because I thought we’d get arrested for stealing.”
Chicago fans can only hope this encourages the Blackhawks to work harder on policing their own Power Play and get back the Penalty Kill performance they’ve shown historically.
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