Florida Panthers Local TV Ratings Lose To Infomercial

Florida Panthers fans got round of bad news as their team made national headlines for having TV ratings in Florida that lose out routinely to infomercials and kids programming. Hockey has had a tough time grabbing attendance and TV ratings in many Southern markets and the fact that

Last year the Panthers averaged 15,147 fans per game with one sellout. This year they rank at 23rd in the NHL and have had a hard time selling out.  Meanwhile, Canadians are upset that the NHL will not expand in their markets where they believe TV ratings and attendance would be less of an issue.

I’m not sure what the solution would be but when your games lose out to a kid’s show named Doodlebops, an AbCoaster exercise equipment infomercial, and the Ninja Professional Blender, Chopper and Ice Crusher infomercial you have a problem.

The Panthers .19 local rating was the worst in the NHL among the 22 teams studied by Sports Business Daily (numbers for Carolina, Nashville and Canadian teams were not available).  That means that more people probably fall asleep to an old rerun of Baywatch than watch a Panthers game.  Ouch!

Blue Jackets Rookie Nets Natural Hat Trick

Welcome to the NHL, Matt Calvert.

The Columbus Blue Jackets rookie made a splash on Friday night by getting a hat trick and assist in just his 20th NHL game. The Blue Jackets rookie tallied a natural hat trick in a 5-3 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes.

It will take a lot more play like Calvert’s to get this team in the playoffs as they currently sit in 4th place of the Central Division.
The Blue Jackets are 8-1-1 in their last ten games and after going down early 0-2 to the Coyotes surged back thanks to the stellar night of Calvert who now has six goals in the last five games, including one on the power play.

And with the NHL’s trade deadline on Monday at 3 p.m. ET, it will be interesting to see if the Jackets push for a few talents to join their team in an effort to make the postseason.

Calvert, playing in his 20th NHL game, had never had two goals in a game. His night included a highlight-reel score when he tipped the puck to himself waist high and then batted it like a pull hitter to give Columbus a 4-2 lead.

“It’s one of those plays that you try a few times,” he said with a grin. “Luckily, that one got that one past the goalie. It was pretty special to see that go in.” [ via Yahoo! Sports]

Puck Doctors Weekend Links, Is Sidney Crosby Done For Season?

Return of Alexei: Pens Land Kovalev for Pick

The Pittsburgh Penguins have been targeting Ottawa Senators winger Alexei Kovalev for about a month.

Today, February 24th, is his birthday. What better birthday gift than for him to be traded back to a city where he was once loved, where he set his career high with 95 points in a season, and who are currently legitimate Stanley Cup contenders (as long as Sidney Crosby returns this season)

Report: Sidney Crosby Could Be Out for Rest of 2011 Season

Sidney Crosby out for the year? As the Penguins work to retool their roster before the NHL trade deadline comes to a close, they have to be factoring in the devastating injury to their franchise player. ESPN.com’s James Murphy reported on Twitter that Sidney Crosby, who is currently sitting out indefinitely with a concussion,

Justin Bieber Meeting Wayne Gretzky is the Stuff Dreams Are Made Of

Not my dreams mind you. No, I dream of a world without Justin Bieber’s brand of bubble-gum fueled pop music that gets overplayed to the point that it makes me want to wretch.

Could the Devils do the unthinkable?

Dead in the water. That’s what this New Jersey Devils club was just two months ago. Their season was practically over as they brought up the rear in the entire National Hockey League. But a coaching change and a trade later, the Devils find themselves making a late-season push for an improbable playoff berth.

Crawford’s Shutout Leads Blackhawks To Win Over Host Predators

On a night where Duncan Keith played possibly his best hockey of the season, and Marian Hossa finally put a goal in the box score, it was Corey Crawford‘s night to shine. With the playoffs creeping closer, and the Blackhawks still sitting on the outside of the top eight, Chicago rose to the occasion on Thursday night, sneaking back into seventh place with a 3-0 win over the Predators in Nashville.

Vancouver Canucks Rookie Show Signs of Improvement

Chris Tanev is now 6-2 and 195 pounds and growing both physically and intellectual in the NHL level of hockey. The Vancouver Canucks scouting staff has been very impressed with Tanev and in their words barely believe their eyes. Neither can the Vancouver fans and the organization who has watched this poised rookie defenseman improve himself over his first 15 games in the National Hockey League.

Toronto Maple Leafs Trade Rumors … Paul Stastny to Toronto?

Time is ticking and there is about 3 days left before the NHL trade deadline day has come. Overall there has been a ton of action from numerous teams, there has never been this many trades before the actual day of the deadline then we have ever seen in recent years.

Don Cherry Calls Out Mario Lemieux as Hypocrite

Don Cherry is back in the headlines this week and if you guess that he showed up on the CBC’s Coach’s Corner during Hockey Night in Canada wearing a questionable suit made by color blind smurfs and badmouthed someone in the NHL you’d be right on. Actually, that’s what I like about the old, grouchy dude.

After talking about the Tomas Kaberle trade, Cherry eventually gets into a topic that had us a bit ruffled last week after Mario Lemieux’s Penguins got beat up in Long Island.

In a nutshell, Mario is unhappy with the league in their enforcement and punishment for goons and fighting in the sport. But what happens is that Mario also has on his squad the biggest goon of them all, Matt Cooke, and has yet to do anything about him. Well that my friend is just plenty of fodder for Don Cherry to feast on. Here you go.

If you’re blinded by the suit, our friends at Puck Daddy have a transcript for you:

“You know, it’s a funny thing: Here’s Mario, he’s a millionaire, and all he does … every time he comes out … remember, he said it was a ‘garage league’? National Hockey League made him a millionaire, and all he does is kick it all the time.

“Here’s what I don’t understand. First of all, he didn’t think this was bad; we’ll show Johnson breaking DiPietro’s head. Crushing him. Thought that was great. Never said a word there. Lots of fun. Now here’s Cooke now. Doing a little number. Here he is on Ovechkin. Mario never said a word here. That’s OK.

“Here we have Savard here, getting his head ripped off, never been the same. Mario never said a word there. Here’s the worst one: There’s Malkin, going in. Mario never said on Willie Mitchell(notes). He had to get traded off the club, and never played for the rest of the year. Funny, Mario never said a word.

“He said the National Hockey League doesn’t do enough. A $100,000 fine? A 9-game suspension, 10-game suspension, and now he says it doesn’t do enough. You can’t have a guy like Cooke do the things he does, you keep your mouth shut, and then you have a little donnybrook, where nobody gets hurt, and now you’re going to get out of the League.

“But you do that, you’re a hypocrite, and speak two sides out of your mouth. You shouldn’t do that. If you’re going to keep your mouth shut on other things, keep your mouth shut [here].”

Scottie Upshall Earns Suspension For Oskars Bartulis Hit

Phoenix Coyotes forward Scottie Upshall, and former Philadelphia Flyer, is now the proud recipient of a 2 game suspension courtesy of a lethal hit on his former teammate, Oskars Bartulis, Tuesday. I don’t recall Upshall being a cheap player from all his years down here in Nashville but you can watch the video and clearly see that Upshall gets that left shoulder in good to hit Bartulis.

The result of the play not only cost Scottie a few games, and about $25k in salary, but it also cost Bartulis the season possibly. Bartulis will undergo surgery after dislocating his shoulder as a result of the collision. The fact that Bartulis was injured no doubt helped the decision for the suspension but the hit was as late as it was unnecessary.

Upshall checked Bartulis into the boards 17 seconds into the second period as Coyotes goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov was covering the puck. Bartulis left the game with an upper-body injury and is scheduled to have an MRI on Wednesday.

“It was a late hit,” Philadelphia general manager Paul Holmgren told reporters. “I guess I got a little bit of a problem with it, yeah. It’s not really like Scottie to do that. Things happen.”

Upshall received a two-minute minor penalty for boarding on the play. The 27-year-old Upshall will miss games Wednesday night at Tampa Bay and Friday night at Columbus as part of the suspension. [via NHL.com]

Crazy Colorado Eagles Coach Strips On Bench

I love minor league hockey games. You never know what to expect. The last time we saw a coach throw a tantrum on the ice the ref made the childish coach look like a fool. Throwing trash on the ice is one thing but what’s a ref to do when a coach throws his shirts and coat?

An assistant coach for the CHL Colorado Eagles decided to protest a bad call by the ref by doing the most logical thing anyone could think of, stripping and tossing the articles of clothing onto the ice.

I’m not sure what Eagles assistant coach Greg Pankewicz was thinking when he went all Chippendales on the ref but maybe the ref should have made Pankewicz stay on the bench without his shirt as punishment and freeze. Well, on second thought I don’t think anyone would want to see that….

At least he kept his pants on.

Fanastic Shorthanded Goal

What a great shot. Lucky, but great. One lucky guy from the University of Denver made this 190 foot shorthanded goal right at the start of a powerplay. Don’t blink, you’ll miss it.

Right off the faceoff Denver freshman David Makowski gets the puck and takes the shot. The fun part is Makowski is behind his own red line, by his own goalie, when he shoots. Michigan Tech goalie never saw it coming to let in one of the longest shorthanded goals ever.

Makowski was modest in postgame interviews.

“I was just trying to get it out of there,” he said. “I wasn’t really trying to score or anything, but it took a wild bounce and we’ll take it.”

Oh yeah, Denver went on to win the game 5-1.

Sweet! Marty Turco pranks Roman Polak

One of the benefits to being the backup goaltender is the ability to sit back and relax and watch a sweet hockey game with the best seats in the house.

Yeah, you even get to play every now and then but that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun while you’re warming the pines.

Chicago Blackhawks backup goalie Marty Turco enjoys himself a bit in this clip from the Blues game. St. Louis player Roman Polak gets pushed into the boards near the Blackhawks bench and as he’s slowly backing up along the side of the boards Turco sees his opportunity.

Marty unlatches the door for Polak to fall into and has a bit of a laugh.

Heritage Classic – Guy getting sacked on TV

The fun Heritage Classic has come and gone and unless you’re a die hard hockey fan you might have missed it. On my DirecTV it wasn’t even listed. It was on Versus but they had a movie on the schedule and not the game.

The outdoor event held in Canada was lightly promoted here in the states but it was a lot of fun as the Calgary Flames shut out the Montreal Canadians 4-0 in freezing temperatures in Calgary.

Caught by the CBC cameras was an odd exchanged between fans. Check out this very short clip of one fan punching another in the crotch. That’s a true hockey fan.

Ouch! Who knew Sean Avery was in the stands!

Heritage Classic Returns With Outdoor Hockey

Miikka Kiprusoff got his 4th shutout of the season as the red-hot Flames hosted Montreal in the return of the Heritage Classic. The outdoor event in Canada had been pushed aside for the Winter Classic, which occurs during New Year’s Day in the States.

To honor at legendary Habs netminder Jacques Plante, Montreal goalie Cary Price busted out this oddly creepy mask which is also very unique. It’s a mask on a mask on a mask….whoa!

Carey Price's creepy Jacques Plante Heritage Classic tribute mask

The Flames and Montreal Canadians faced off in chilly McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Alberta, with temperatures that sunk to freezing levels this afternoon before the puck dropped. The temperature caused a bit of trouble for the ice, making it rough and bumpy. The NHL even opted out of using Zamboni machines to clean the ice during intermission and went with man-powered shovels to clear the ice.

The Calgary Flames bucked a trend of host teams losing NHL outdoor games by defeating the Montreal Canadiens 4-0 in the Tim Hortons Heritage Classic on Sunday.

Rene Bourque scored a pair of goals, Anton Babchuk scored short-handed and Alex Tanguay also struck for Calgary in front of 41,022 on a cold, clear night at McMahon Stadium.

Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 39 shots for his fourth shutout this season, while Montreal counterpart Carey Price turned away 33 of 37 in the loss. [ via National Post ]

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