Posts from the Nhl Videos Category at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

A couple of years ago, ESPN kicked up a lot of dust with a piece of original programming called Playmakers. I'm sure most folks remember the nighttime drama that followed the ups and downs of a fictional professional football team. Even though it killed in the ratings, Playmakers was canceled after just one season, primarily because the folks at the NFL didn't like the way it portrayed the league and its players.

ESPN, knowing that it made lots more money televising the NFL than it ever could on 10 seasons of Playmakers, was happy to pull the plug. Unfortunately for us, the NHL doesn't seem to have the same sort of pull, which means America is about to get a whole season of MVP, a Canadian import debuting on cable network SoapNet tonight, inflicted upon us with little or no warning.

I guess I could go into details, but it's probably easier to simply share this promo with you. Besides, if you're even passingly familiar with similar fare out of the U.K. like Footballers' Wives or Dream Team, you probably know what you're in for. So what can you expect if you watch? I'm not sure I care, all I know is that the drama was canceled by the CBC after only a few weeks on the air, though at least one Canadian network is standing by to put together a second season if the show catches on South of the border.

One thing is pretty clear -- SoapNet is excited about the show, going so far as erecting a 60-foot billboard in New York's Times Square featuring Dillon Casey, one of the show's stars. Forgive me if I yawn.

Not long after EA Sports released their teaser trailer for NHL 09, featuring Dion Phaneuf, the folks at 2K Sports put forth their new spot featuring cover boy Rick Nash.

High marks for humor as Rick Nash gets caught raising the Stanley Jug (which is as close as Columbus will ever get), but a little worrisome that nary a single second of game footage was shown.

Is there more to come? Are they a little afraid of being compared unfavorably to EA? We shall see.

No, Last Call with Carson Daly isn't Leno, but when you're on the talk show circuit promoting the hardest working professional sports league in North America, you go when you're invited. I'm guessing this was taped earlier in the week so Nick Lidstrom could get back to Toronto in time for last night's NHL Awards Show.

Trevor Linden, one of the classiest and more generous professional athletes of all-time, has formally announced his retirement from the NHL after a career which saw him compile 867 points in 1,382 games.

While Linden's announcement is no surprise, it still feels like a rusty dagger through the heart. Hockey in Vancouver without Trevor Linden just doesn't feel 'right'.

"Today is an emotional and exciting day for me as an athlete and a person," said Linden. "It closes one chapter of my life, my playing career, while opening up another which I am very much looking forward to. The game of hockey has been good to me and I would like to thank my family, former teammates, coaches, managers, support staff and the incredible fans that have been so generous in their support of my career."

To those outside of Vancouver, I can understand why you might think the hubbub and fandom over Trevor was so overblown. For the second half of his career, Linden was paid generous salaries, but was truly nothing more than a solid 2nd-3rd line player. While most of Vancouver worshiped the guy, most fans outside of Vancouver rarely ever thought about the guy unless his name popped up in NHLPA matters.

Let me fill you in on why Trevor is so beloved by fans and peers, alike, and why he's one of the few sports figures that I would ever call a 'hero'.

Steven Colbert's take on the CBC saying goodbye to the theme from Hockey Night in Canada.

Why would Colbert even notice? Perhaps because he's appearing in a Summer movie where he portrays a hockey announcer for, you guessed it, Hockey Night in Canada?

HT: Mirtle.

Here's another hidden bonus of having the NHL on NBC: Getting a pair of Red Wings on Jay Leno with the Stanley Cup. It was nice to see that half of Rochester, Michigan was in the audience and that they got a chance to touch the Cup.

Stick Tap: Mirtle.

Meet Katrina Hancock. Aside from having a potentially unfortunate last name (tee-hee!), she is also a reporter for NBC's Detroit affiliate WDIV. Hancock was assigned to cover the Penguins and Wings Stanley Cup Final but at some point she became the interviewee and not the interviewer. KDKA, a Pittsburgh station interviewed her and, well, I don't want to spoil the YouTube. What I will say is that it's a lesson in instantaneous career suicide.



The money quote: "She was the only Detroit journalist to say that Pittsburgh has better fans than Detroit."

Really? The only one? You don't say! I guess the rest of them liked their jobs too much. Seriously, did she want to get fired? If she did, I can commend her for doing it in such a creative way. Otherwise, well, WHAT THE HECK WAS SHE THINKING?

What Hancock said might not have been the best quote of the whole piece, though. The Pittsburgh anchor, Paul Martino, finished his piece by saying "and I had to promise Katrina that we wouldn't be sending that interview back to Detroit." Somehow I imagine it took a Herculean effort on his part to not burst out laughing in the middle of that sentence. You had to figure that he was smart enough to know (unlike Hancock) that even though he wouldn't send it back to Detroit personally, in a digital world things like this do, in fact, get back to Detroit.

Whoops. I guess it is very different when you're on the other side of the microphone.

h/t Awful Announcing and Puck Daddy

Late last week the Islanders released a new DVD entitled Dinner and a Dynasty, which sounds like a great combination of two very exciting things (a nice chicken parm really gets me pumped up). I haven't watched it yet, something that is usually required for a movie review. For that, I blame the marketing department for not sending me a free copy. But they're a smart bunch of folks. They also know that I'll break down and buy it soon enough.

Anyway, if you're interested in some classic hockey talk, I imagine this DVD is for you. It features the cornerstones of the Islanders dynasty -- think Nystrom, Arbour, Trots, etc. -- discussing some of the finest moments that were both public and private. Mike Bossy, who has been an Islander PR guru in recent years, was inexplicably not invited to the dinner. Fear not, the Boss is interviewed in there some where.

Dinner and a Dynasty features a 75 minute round table discussion with legendary alumni from the Islanders dynasty, set over dinner at Rothmann's Steakhouse. The production was filmed during the "Core of the Four" celebration weekend in early March and features Bill Torrey, Al Arbour, Bob Nystrom, Bryan Trottier, Ken Morrow and more. The dinner was hosted by Hall of Fame Islanders broadcaster Jiggs McDonald.

Various topics were discussed at the dinner table, including: thoughts and opinions on all four Cup victories, Al Arbour's nicknames, punishments and rewards for the players, how the famous Butch Goring trade actually went down, and many more.

It's one of the toughest jobs in all of sports broadcasting. While your colleagues are talking with athletes who are overjoyed at reaching the pinnacle of their sport, you're stuck interviewing one of the guys from the losing team. On NBC during the Stanley Cup Finals, that guy was Bob Neumeier.

Which really just gives me an excuse to play this appropriate tribute.

Long before I started my side career as a hockey blogger, I spent a number of years as a corporate speech writer. Over the course of that time I had the distinct challenge of writing a commencement speech for one of my clients. And when it comes to commencement, there are really only two commandments for an invited speaker: Be brief and be gone.

While you might be thrilled to have been invited, the day isn't about you, it's about the graduates and their families. So be nice, make sure everyone thanks Mom and Dad for all their support, and get out of there.

Safe to say, this is a lesson that's been completely absorbed by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. One can hardly blame him. After enduing relentless booing whenever he shows up anywhere in public in an official capacity, it seems as if a new technique has emerged to short-circuit hostile crowds.

Witness last night in the aftermath of the Cup Finals when Bettman emerged to award the Conn Smythe Trophy and the Stanley Cup. Listen closely to the Mellon Arena public address announcer as Bettman walks onto the ice.