| Montreal Canadiens News | | | Dodger Stadium Winter Classic; 10 worst NHL fans; ‘While The Men Watch’ debate (Puck Headlines) (Puck Daddy)
Here are your Puck Headlines: a glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media.
• Viggo Mortensen is a huge Montreal Canadiens fan. What better way to remind the world of this fact than by wrapping Kirsten Dunst in a Habs flag at Cannes, continuing an odd red carpet tradition for Aragorn. [ OMG Yahoo! , via Martin Leroux]
• Marty Brodeur on the Mark Messier guarantee ghosts of 1994 haunting the New Jersey Devils in Game 6: "I know if you guys look at it, it looks the same, but it's different teams and a different way of playing the game and it's 18 years ago and that's a long time. I know I'm feeling a lot different. I'm feeling a lot more appreciative of what's going on." [ Fire & Ice ]
• Bruce Driver on 1994: "I ended up going to New York and played with Mark, a tremendous leader and one of the best captains of all time. In 1994 against us, Mark did what he did, backed it up and scored three goals. But from our standpoint, the way we looked at it, we blew the game." [ NYT ]
• Great piece on the friendship between Devils fans and Rangers fans, unnatural that it is. [ WNYC, via Michael Raphael]
• No structural damage in Michal Rozsival's knee after that Dustin Brown hit. [ Sportsnet ]
• Mirtle with poll on fighting that finds hardcore fans love it, non-fans loathe it. [Globe & Mail, and see graphic ]
• Earl Sleek sees a lot of the 2003 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the 2012 Los Angeles Kings. Say, are those the Devils on the other side of the bracket? [ Battle of Cali ]
• Los Angeles Dodgers President Stan Kasten wants to pursue a Winter Classic at Dodger Stadium. Read this and other stories in our new book "[Expletive] No One Would Be Saying If The Kings Weren't In The Cup Final." [ LA Times ]
• Rich Hammond on the matter: "Gary Bettman has sneered (literally) at any suggestion that a Winter Classic could be played in a warm-weather environment. And while the Kings would love to host an outdoor game — Luc Robitaille is a particularly big proponent — AEG is also in the planning stages of a new downtown football stadium, which would probably be a more likely location in the event that Bettman stops sneering." [ LA Kings Insider ]
• The 10 most annoying hockey fans. Including you, Guy Trying To Get on TV. [ THW ]
While The Men Watch Hockey Night, the women get frustrated with CBC (Puck Daddy)
(Ed. Note: The "While The Men Watch" controversy rages on , as CBC Sports presents a new program featuring two women who commentate on hockey while the "sports addicted men" in their lives watch it. The backlash was palpable, but it's not without its defenders. We asked blogger/Montreal Canadiens fan Julie Veilleux, a.k.a. @MetricJulie , for her take on the program.)
By Julie Veilleux
When I first heard about " While the Men Watch ", I thought to myself, "Great. More women in sports acting ditzy and pretending they're Sarah Jessica Parker."
Then I saw the backlash on Twitter and in various blogs. While awesome for recognizing sexism and outdated gender roles, something about the intensity of the criticism toward the two hosts bothered me.
I mean, okay. They ARE willingly enforcing the myth that all female sports fans are really just sports widows who reluctantly and begrudgingly learn the sport to please their man or spend more time with him. They DO contribute to a system that, while maybe being "fringe" and letting women to join in on the conversation, still only allows those corresponding to a standard of beauty to take part.
But to hate these women because they like pink, or talking about men, or hinting at wanting to have sex with them, seems pretty unfair. I like pink. I like men. I like stuff. That doesn't make me a bad fan or less of a fan. Most of the outrage I've seen has been directed toward the CBC for putting this show on the air, but there have been personal and gendered attacks on the hosts as well.
Well, that's not solving anything. I hate the way the system works just as much as anyone else who's been discriminated against based on gender, orientation or color. But there are a whole lot of things wrong with While the Men Watch that are worth your ire. Let's take a look at just a few of them, shall we?
How the Last 13 Stanley Cup Champions Didn't Repeat, Part 4: Fan's Take (Yahoo! Contributor Network)
In the past 13 years, all 13 Stanley Cup champions fell short of raising the Cup another consecutive time. The first part of my series looked at how the champions from 1999, 2000 and 2001 failed to repeat. Part two studied how the 2002, 2003 and 2004 champions missed the chance to win again. Last week, part three explained how the 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 champions were undone the next year. Finally, this series ends by exploring the way the 2010, 2011 and 2012 champions went home early. Alain Vigneault signs extension with Vancouver Canucks because he’s excellent (Puck Daddy)
When Vancouver Canucks GM Mike Gillis signed his contract extension earlier this month, the conversation turned to the future of coach Alain Vigneault.
His return was never a guarantee, given the team's President's Trophy-to-first-round-exit performance and the fact that Vingeault has been on and off the hot seat since 2008. But Gillis gave him an endorsement:
"He has done an excellent job and I don't know why you wouldn't want somebody back who has done an excellent job and has the results to show for it," said the GM.
On Wednesday, the Canucks made a most excellent decision: Signing Vigneault, 51 to a contract extension. From the Canucks:
"Alain has established himself as one of the premiere coaches in the National Hockey League," said Gillis. "He has demonstrated a commitment to winning that has led to back-to-back Presidents' Trophies and we are confident his dedication and hard work will continue to yield positive results. Alain has built a foundation of winning with this franchise and I feel he can continue to build on that foundation to achieve our ultimate goal."
"I am pleased to be signing this extension to continue as the Head Coach of such an outstanding organization," said Vigneault. "I look forward to taking the next step with this franchise in bringing the Stanley Cup to Vancouver. I feel fortunate to be able to work with such a dedicated group of management, coaches and players in this great city I love."
Vigneault had one more season left on his current deal. Had the Canucks severed ties with him, heavy speculation had him potentially returning to the Montreal Canadiens to fill that vacancy.
Cataractes eliminate Oil Kings from Memorial Cup
SHAWINIGAN, QUE. The Shawinigan Cataractes got goals from six different players as they coasted to a 6-1 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings in the tiebreaker game Thursday night at the Mastercard Memorial Cup.
The win put host Shawinigan (2-2)... More to give
MONTREAL â Travis Moen was on his way to having the best season of his career before hitting a wall at the most inopportune time.
The wall in question was Mike Komisarek. On Jan. 21, during a tilt between the Canadiens and the Maple Leafs in T... Do or die
SHAWINIGAN â No one said winning the Memorial Cup would be easy.
The Cataractes will have to take the long way to the Memorial Cup. If they want to cap the season as CHL champs, Shawinigan will have to win back-to-back games on Thursday and Fr... Roster Report
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER Erik Cole was the team's prized free agent signing and he bounced back from as slow start to lead the team with a career-high 35 goals]]> | | | | |
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