Jerseys and Hockey Love

It took the Avalanche long enough to do what everyone already knew they would do, and fire Tony Granato. Even before the information was leaked to the media that the job was offered to Patrick Roy, it wasn’t a stretch to see Granato’s time with the Avs was coming to an end. It was a bit of a surprise that Granato was (re-)hired for the job in the first place, but there he was, screaming and scheming all last season.

Granato wasn’t the only one to get the axe, as five other members of the management staff were let go as well. From the Avalanche:

The Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club announced today that the organization has relieved six members of its hockey operations staff from their respective duties.

The list includes head coach Tony Granato, assistant coaches Jacques Cloutier and Dave Barr, goaltending coach Jeff Hackett, Assistant to the General Manager Michel Goulet and video coordinator PJ DeLuca.

Oh, where to begin.

Jeff Hackett was brought in at the request of Jose Theodore. After Theo left the team for “greener pastures,” I was kind of surprised Hackett was kept on. I figured he would get the boot. I would like to say he was more useful than I thought he would be, but look at how the goalies did this season.

Anyone surprised that Cloutier is gone? He was supposedly in charge of the penalty kill under Quenneville, and that hasn’t been worth beans since the lockout.

Michel Goulet was a bit of a surprise, but if you are starting over, I guess you really start over. His exit truly signals the end of the old Avs (along with missing playoffs, losing signature names, and the death of the third jersey).

Was the path for Tony Granato ever mapped out in a way he could succeed? From assistant coach to head coach of a stacked-with-stars team, back to assistant coach, and back to head coach of a team with more talent holes than a porno, Granato was tossed around by the organization, and always asked for more abuse. If Granato were to be the coach of the future everyone (and I’m sure he thought he would be), the best thing for him would have been to coach the Lake Erie Monsters. It’s worked for other teams to groom a coach in the AHL system along with the players who will soon be filling the NHL ranks. And considering how the roster looked at the end of last season, that time has come. Having said that, it took the Avs a while to take the AHL system seriously, and it’s taken them a while to adapt to the salary cap system of building from within (if they even have).

The problem the Avalanche have is the belief that the future is always now. There has never been a rebuilding time in Colorado, and the memory of time wearing the powder blue and red in Quebec is dull at best. Everything was so positive in the rockies, no one realized the wheels were falling off the bus, and things would have to be build up again. Pierre Lacroix was famous for making tight deals that brought just what the team needed at the right time, which was somewhat the talent of Lacroix, and some of it being luck. In the cap era, luck is rarely available to tap. There has never been a sense of desperation that motivates teams to build themselves back into contention. Look at the massive changes the Blue Jackets went through. It payed off for them in spades, and will again next season. The Avs are not only at that point, they are past it.

So now we have a new power structure in place. Starting with a little hiring from within. From the Avalanche:

Heading this new management structure is Greg Sherman, who has been named General Manager. Sherman, 39, has spent the last seven years as the team’s Assistant General Manager, and has been associated with the franchise for the last 13 years.

“Greg Sherman deserves the opportunity to prove he can be an effective general manager in our business,” said Lacroix. “He has shown that he possesses the necessary qualities required to be successful with this new challenge in front of him.”

“Surrounded by a strong hockey staff and under my supervision, he will have all the necessary support to lead the Avalanche in this new direction,” added Lacroix.

Under the supervision of Lacroix. Forgive me for thinking this is not a statement to rally behind. Looking back at the last season, I would say the Avs, and Lacroix, were as lazy as possible, missing opportunities in free agency, the trade deadline, and everywhere in between. I don’t believe Lacroix has lost complete interest in running the Avalanche, but to call him involved over the Francios Giguere era may be a stretch.

The best part of this promotion is that Sherman has a handle on where the team is in terms of overall talent, and who is available in the minors (of course, so is the rest of the league, since the entire system seemed to be skating in the Pepsi Center last season). The bad part is that we could be looking at more of the same. It’s which half of Sherman’s experience with the team he will tap that will set the tone, the successful first half of his Avalanche based career, or the traumatic last half.

Here is the rest of the power structure breakdown. From TSN:

The team’s new management structure will be as follows:
- Craig Billington remains as Assistant GM
- Eric Lacroix is the new Director of Hockey Operations
- Brad Smith remains as Director of Player Personnel but with expanded duties and responsibilities
- David Oliver, based in Cleveland with the farm team, is the new Director of Player Development

Eric Lacroix. Great, a guy who was considered a cancer in the dressing room is brought back into the fold. Nepotism, it doesn’t always work. But if Pierre Lacroix is hiring people he trusts to do his bidding, his son is the best place to start.

Next up, hiring a coach. I can’t imagine this will take long.

Is this the direction and moves the Avalanche need to take? We will find out soon. We wish you the best, Tony, unless you are on the opposing bench.

Technorati Tags: Pierre Lacroix, Tony Granato

The Kalamazoo Wings, as storied a franchise as you are about to find in the minor leagues, has opted out of the IHL.

The Wings announced today that they have…

submitted a letter to the International Hockey League to voluntarily withdraw from the league.

Keep in mind that this is not the same IHL you remember from back in the day. That IHL was a league on solid footing, with a serious hook into the NHL development system. This IHL has a much more dubious background.

This IHL sprung from the UHL, which was a 14 team league only two years before it turned into the 6 team IHL. The former commissioner of the UHL, Richard Brosal, left the UHL for the B2 Network (online broadcaster of hockey games), after he was recorded having a conversation that “never happened” about a UHL linesman being coerced into changing his account of an incident with James Galante, then owner of the Danbury Trashers (a good summery of the events can be found here at the still missed blog, sidearm delivery).

The rest of the IHL is in plenty of trouble as well. The Flint Generals have had financial problems all season long, the Muskegon Lumberjacks changed ownership before the season, and the Port Huron franchise has never been all that stable.

The Wings still plan on playing next season, their 36th. They will announce where they will play at some point soon.

The Wings announcement follows the news that the President and CEO of the IHL left his post to go back to running the… (wait for it) Kalamazoo Wings. From the IHL website:

The International Hockey League (IHL) announced Friday that Paul L. Pickard, IHL President/CEO, will leave his post with the IHL following the expiration of his two-year term as League Commissioner. He advised the IHL Board of Governors that he would not be seeking an extension of his current contract to return to the Kalamazoo Wings as team President, the position he held prior to becoming the IHL’s Commissioner.

So the league president leaves his post heading the IHL, then the team he goes back to running leaves the IHL. What does that say about the IHL? Nothing good. The only team that is on solid footing would be the Ft. Wayne Komets, who lead the league in attendance by a country mile.

But the league remains optimistic.

“Additional expansion efforts are underway as the IHL’s geographical alignment is proven to be successful,” stated Michael Franke, IHL Chairman of the Board. “The League continues to field several calls about expansion possibilities with markets within the Midwest and new markets for the upcoming season. We, as a league, look forward to what is to come in the near future.”

I wish them the best. With attendance like this at a semi-final playoff round, they may need wishes.

It’s going to be a wild ride for the minor leagues this off season. Stick around.

Technorati Tags: IHL, Kalamazoo Wings

In the much-ado-about-nothing category, you can rack up the Patrick Roy becoming the savior of the Avalanche again. Roy finally turned down the offer that he never got, or would not talk about.

I had a big post written about why bringing Roy into the organization in this way was a mistake, and while some of it is still relevant (what the Avs should be doing to put butts in seats rather than another stunt hiring), I’ll have to cut it down quite a bit.

Tom Luongo and I do talk about it on the podcast, which you can find here. We also talk about other coaches around the league. I have been spending a lot more time on the podcast lately, and it’s something I want to talk about here at some point. Still, I’m having a lot of fun on The Rink. Stop by if you have a chance.

The question I have is, with a team as secretive as the Avs are, what does Tony Granato know about his position with the team? Is he being hung out to dry, or does he know exactly what is going on? If he is replaced, does he have another gig lined up within the Avs? Is he going to be the next head coach of the Lake Erie Monsters? If he isn’t talking, can we assume it is because he still has some version of a job?

Plenty of questions, not a lot of answers.

Technorati Tags: Patrick Roy

It’s opening day for the Denver Outlaws, our MLL outdoor lacrosse team. It’s not hockey, but it’s still a lot of fun.

Technorati Tags: Denver Outlaws, Lacrosse

If you don’t follow the Avs, or check out Kukla’s Korner every so often, you may not know who Adrian Dater is. But if you follow the hockey blogging community, you have probably read his stuff. He is the Colorado Avalanche beat writer and blogger for the Denver Post (the newspaper that is still standing in Denver).
Unless you have an RSS feed reader, and unless it was picking up the feed for the Denver Post’s Colorado Avalanche blog, All Things Avs, you may not have seen Dater’s post about NBA basketball. Mr. Dater has stated that he is not a fan of the NBA, which is fine. I’m not a basketball fan myself (although shooting hoops is fun). But then, at the end of his post, he makes it clear that there are other things he does not care for:

The announcers were awful. Some female was doing the color. Sorry, I’m a chauvinist on this one. How many women play in the NBA? Zero you say? Oh. So why is a woman doing the color analysis for the game?

Wow. Some female? That’s quite a statement.

And while I have placed a link to the original article here, you will be a little disappointed when you click on it. The post is no longer there. Here is the link that was in my RSS reader. Go ahead, click on it. The blog post doesn’t exist anymore.

Here is a screen shot of the article from my RSS reader:

And a screen cap of the original quote that sparked my interest:

There are so many things wrong with that statement, I don’t think I have to spell it out. And considering how fast it was taken down (much like his ESPN rant), I’m guessing others at the Post feel the same.

This is a quote from the Denver Post’s Ethics Policy Blogging section:

Nothing may be published under the Denver Post name, or on its internet sites, unless it has gone through an editing and/or approval process. While blogs are more often written in an informal and personal style, everything that is posted to a blog must be factual and fair. Maliciously and inaccurately attacking private citizens or public officials is prohibited, and any criticism of public officials needs to meet the same standards of fairness as in print.

So this post made it past editorial approval, and was then taken down?

I wanted some version of confirmation that this post was online at some point, since I don’t have a screen cap of the original. A Google Blog Search for Adrian Dater came up with this:

So I guess that’s confirmed.

I emailed Dater to get his take on the post, and while he did respond, he didn’t want to talk about it. I don’t feel comfortable putting the text of that email online, since I did not ask his permission to post it for public consumption.

I have placed calls to the Denver Post sports department, but have not heard back from anyone in editorial. To be fair, they are not scheduled to be in until Monday early afternoon. As soon as I hear back from them, or get a call through to an editor, I will update the blog with what they have to say.

Your thoughts are welcome in the comments.

Technorati Tags: Dater, Denver Post

There are two things NPR usually fails reporting about: anything internet (their “coverage” of twitter is a joke) and hockey.  Anytime hockey comes up, it is either the start of the playoffs, the end of the Stanley Cup finals, the start of the season, or someone did something really stupid on the ice.

This didn’t make it on the air, but it comes from Chicago Public Radio’s blog, and is almost a 101 for the Blackhawks. It’s certainly worth a listen.

Technorati Tags: Chicago Blackhawks, Radio

After driving non-stop to Southaven, MS yesterday to catch the Colorado Eagles get their asses handed to them, I thought I deserved to lollygag a little. If there is any reason to have an iPhone, it’s for the maps. A quick search around Little Rock told me what I was doing for the evening.

Occasionally, I like to take in a minor league baseball game. The parks are fun, the games are decent, the crowds are fun, and the price is right (just check out my $8 seat).

The Arkansas Travelers have a nice following, and a park the style of which people love to complain about these days (the manufactured nostalga). Still, it has comfy seats, good basic food choices, and cheap beer.

They are announcing the starting lineups, and it’s startling to hear the mellow crowd, after the screaming and yelling in hockey.

Let’s go, Travellers.

Technorati Tags: Arkansas Travelers, Baseball, MiLB

Lucky me, the Riverkings are having a post game skate.

Unlucky for me, the Eagles lost 6-2. Plenty of photos to share later.

Technorati Tags: CHL, Mississippi Riverkings, Playoffs

I drove my ass off today to get to the upper part of Mississippi for the Mississippi Riverkings vs. Colorado Eagles playoff game tonight. More to come.

Technorati Tags: CHL, Mississippi Riverkings, Playoffs

There are things to be said about tonight’s Columbus Blue Jackets game, or at the very least, my time at the CBJ game.

• The atmosphere was awesome. It’s all well and fine to poke fun of the Blue Jackets fans (or any other fan whose team hasn’t had the success of others). But the fans showed up. They showed up in droves, they showed up to support their team, they showed up ready to do battle (and at times, with each other). They bought the swag, they shouted their support, they lived and died by the game. If the fans could have played the game themselves, the Red Wings would have lost big. You can not count this fanbase out, no matter what the regular season attendance looked like. Winning brings the fans to the arena, and this experience will bring the fans. They may have been swept out of the playoffs, but the fans didn’t care.
• Do we have to talk about the refs? Fine. The linesmen are the ones who call ‘too many men on the ice’ penalties. When the penalty was called, no one knew what was going on. It wasn’t just the inexperience of the fans, it was the lack of real evidence and the refs (the guys with the orange armbands) seemingly putting their whistles in their pockets. If the linesmen, who have a very specific list of penalties they can call, are not on board, they will make this call. It is what they are trained to do, and if it was the right call, then so be it. As for a storyline or a way you want to see a game end, this wasn’t it. There are better ways to end a game, and end a series.
• I do not care for the reaction of SOME of the fans. Throwing things on the ice is no way to show that you support your team. It shows a lack of class, and while class may be lacking in fanbases around the league (or around any sports league), putting it on display like this does the fans that truly support their team and sport a disservice. Hell, half of the objects thrown didn’t make it to the ice, and wound up hitting another fan. Showing a lack of respect to the refs is one thing, but to negatively influence the experience of a fellow fan is an offense that should be punishable by death (or Florida Marlins season tickets, which is a toss up, really).
• I did not see some of the ‘non-calls’ thanks to them happening along the boards at my end of the ice, and the fact that I had a really tall guy standing in front of me. I could have saved sixty bucks had I taken the standing room only tickets, but I opted for a seat. I hope to use it more often next time at Nationwide.
• Sure, I wanted the Red Wings to lose, but I really wanted to see the Blue Jackets fans rewarded for sticking with their team, and their excitement for the playoffs.
• I started the season in Columbus, and I ended the season in Columbus.
• To the bloggers and internet hockey fans I did not get to see, I am sorry. I wasn’t able to hang with you as much as I wanted to. Know that you are my people, and I will make an effort to see you again.
• I am getting up early tomorrow to drive to the Memphis area to see the Colorado Eagles take on the Mississippi Riverkings. Tonight, the went to double OT, and lost, but they are now 7-1 in the playoffs. I think seeing a friendly jersey will be just the spark they need.
• This was simply awesome. I can’t wait to listen to some of the audio I gathered, and hope to have some stuff for the podcast.

I took a ton of pictures, but have no time to sort them tonight. They will go up soon (I could fill the offseason with the photos I haven’t posted).

Technorati Tags: Playoffs, Columbus Blue Jackets