HBO rocked the hockey world

Finally I managed to get my hands on the first episode of HBO’s new reality show „24/7 – Road to Winter Classic”. Yes, you heard me right, I’m watching some reality TV and what’s more – I’m going to post about it on a blog. 24/7 is HBO’s sports series showing various disciplines with all-access nothing-hidden approach. This time they took on the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals depicting the teams’ preparation to the outdoor game between the two on Jan 1st. HBO promised full access and no censorship. After the first episode I must say they have delivered.



For me, as a hockey nut, the show is captivating. I caught myself thinking that if that episode went on for three hours, I’d still watch it with my jaw between my feet. We got everything – chats with referees, coaches’ rants, shots from the dressing room and hotel room pranks. You can see how a hockey team operates and how players gel with each other. “Road to Winter Classic” offers a unique glimpse behind the curtain and gives a chance to better understand the game.

It’s quite well shot and produced, I must say. The music is cool [the final shot with Band of Horses’ “The Funeral” in background – huge thumbs up] and hockey is shown in detail. A viewer grows to like players more – I noticed that I felt sorry for the Caps after another loss even though I’m not a fan of the team and generally I have lots of “Schadenfreude” when looking at their struggles.

I truly do believe that, if marketed well, this show can attract many people to NHL hockey. The game is shown as it is – unfiltered, without the ugly parts cut off. But it makes it more human. These are not mindless punks going at each other anymore. We see living people, who leave their families for road trips, drive to practice rinks with a cup of coffee in their hands or struggle with injuries in the locker room. Of course, there is quite a lot of stuff that a hardcore fan already knows by heart – the introduction about Ovechkin and Crosby’s rivalry, the Caps’ playoff failures, the Penguins Stanley Cup… Anyone who follows NHL even half-closely doesn’t need to listen to this again.

Here comes the part that, I think, is the show’s greatest asset. You can buy some beer and watch 24/7 with your non-hockey buddies. Hell, if you have a girlfriend who doesn’t shy away from sports, you can watch it with her. They will be entertained and so will you. You will drool over Dan Bylsma explaining his team’s strategy to the players and your friends will be looking at tenacity of a hockey practice and at the speed the game is played at. That is a rare feat – not to bore hardcores to death and attract new fans. I think “Road to Winter Classic” has potential to achieve. For me, the most interesting part were bits of sound usually held off the record – Boudreau ranting in the locker room or Ovechkin talking to referees. Also, the routine of a hockey team, travelling or coach’s daily meeting with the manager.

So, if you are a hockey nut, go find this show – it is a must-see. And if you don’t really grasp hockey, if you think it’s not your cup of tea, give it a try. An episode is only one hour of your time and you may be surprised how quickly this hour will pass.

Just a little bit... Just a little bit...

Those terrible youngsters... They have no respect for the elders. Ya get such punk in the best league on earth, he plays his first game and he thinks he’s allowed to do whatever he wants. That’s what bad educations leads to – talking back to the captain [of the opposing team] or daring to score a winning goal. These days!

A few days ago we had a young Swede named Linus Omark play his first NHL game. The kid is well-known in his country because of him being a shootout specialist. He’s got some talent, he’s a terrific puckhandler and apart from that, he can invent tricks that make fools of goaltenders. The game between Edmonton and Tampa Bay ended with a shooutout and, like in a cheap B movie, Omark had the deciding shot. It looked like this:



In case you haven’t noticed, Dear Reader, Omark was extremely disrespectful. That circus-like spin with the puck and tapping the ice just before the shot didn’t sit well with anyone from the Lightning camp. Young Swede was called disrespectful by Martin St.Louis and goalie Dan Ellis [the one who’s a specialist – just like a brain surgeon]. Also people not associated with Tampa Bay voiced their displeasure – among them was Sharks GM Doug Wilson who allegedly said that there’s no place in hockey for stuff like that. Hilarious.

Macho hockey culture causes lots of silly situations. Testosteron-filled thugs are being glorified and “pussies” are being dissed when they protest such harmless things as heads smashed against the boards or gloves dropped at every occasion. They are being told to “grow a pair”. Does it mean, however, that most hockey tough guys are stone-carved dudes who after a game shoot: “Sorry, doll” through their teeth and ride into the setting sun with their guns at the side? Not really, it seems.

These goons go soft like wax when they are publicly – wait for it – disrespected. Mike Richards, captain of the Philadelphia Flyers, publicly voices his remorse over P.K. Subban’s behavior, because the young defenseman’s actions weren’t all to Richards liking. Now the amateur surgeon [sorry for my disrespect] Dan Ellis says he’s discontent because a young player dared to literally spin his head and score a winning goal. While Richards is surely satisfied now – after a quick shock therapy Subban finally plays like a rookie – Ellis needs to wait for Omark to learn how to shoot predictable and straight – hopefully straight in a goalie. It’s funny that both guys whining about lack of respect seemingly don’t know too much about it – for the Flyers captain there was nothing disrespectful in elbowing David Booth in the head and Ellis didn’t have much concern for less fortunate people’s feelings when he bitched about his financial troubles on Twitter.

Let’s escalate the situation to absurd – isn’t a shutout in the first game disrespectful? Should a rookie with a chance for hat-trick blow the opportunity and then bow in front of the other team’s bench? These questions aren’t all that stupid. In the age of “young man’s game” and psychological war, calling young players to be “respectful” is, in fact, calling them to be worse players. If Omark believes that spin-o-rama and tapping the stick on the ice maximizes his chances for a goal then should he discard it because Sir Dan Ellis might be offended? Sad thing is, he probably will eventually. As the respect guru Mike Richards teaches us: “[…] uh, I'm not saying I'm going to do it but something might happen to him of he continues to be that cocky”. However, before respect gets elbowed into rookies’ heads, I’d like to dedicate this song to Dan Ellis, Mike Richards and all their disrespected buddies:

For starters - a bunch of highlights

The season is almost two months old now and there have been a bunch of nice saves from around the NHL. Some of them were brought up by Puck Daddy in today's article. The big reason was this:



Wow. I mean, just wow. Of course, usually such a big save is made because the goalie had made an error before - Thomas is a little off his position and needs to dive in order to make a save. But there was no significant wrongdoing on his part and the recovery was absolutely gorgeous. Plus, if he lets this one in, it's the end of game.

The other Save of the Year candidates listed by Puck Daddy were as follows:



For me, perhaps the least amazing from these all. The puck is going top shelf, that's for sure, but without great speed. Nice save, but low velocity of the shot made it less stellar in my eyes.



The man I gave up on not so long ago shines bright. Very similar to Thomas' heroics, maybe slightly less eye-opening, but great juicy bite of solid goaltending nonetheless.



Now stick saves are always a crapshoot. You just dive to your side, hope for the best and try getting as much of you in front of the puck as humanly possible. Nobody will ever convince me such saves are premeditated. Does it make them less entertaining? You bet it doesn't!

And for the end, Tomas Plekanec's goal from last afternoon's game between Sharks and Canadiens. What a beauty. Count the number of dekes this guy made - I spotted four. Brilliant, brilliant display of skill.