Friday Five: So It Begins

Another week and another season has started for the NHL. We've got the European games, the domestic games, and other games....I think....or something. Anyway-- we'll get into my Friday Five questions and some awful inane answers to contribute.

1. Is there a time where the European games don't make sense??

The time is coming soon, especially when you don't have many "sexy" teams heading over there this year. The downsides to this is just the teams lose a home game, which loses revenue for the team-- even though it could help some teams because they won't lose money because people won't come to the rink anyway. The problem is, with the fact Rene Fasel is still the head of the IIHF, that there's issues in North America with teams having troubles-- the NHL in Europe is just for show and if you want to do anything; go back to the old school times where one or two teams do a tour of a country and use that as their pre-season and to get the league out there. The Caps did it in Russia in 1989, the North Stars did it in France in 1990; set it up like that. Don't put regular season games there because it's not going to win anyone over.

2. It seems youth is being served early: Brandon Sutter and Jeff Skinner in Carolina, Sergei Bobrovsky in Philly, and the Edmonton Three. How long can this last for them?? (Assist to Captain Hammer for the idea.)

For the Edmonton triad of Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, and Magnus Paajarvi (SVENSSON!!)-- it could last all season. Hall seems to be the real deal, Eberle should have been there last year, and MPS is the great compliment to those two. In Carolina, it looks like Skinner is ready to get things going-- but it could be just no one knowing how to play him, time will time. Sutter has the alternate captaincy, so he could be ready-- but because he plays where he does; no one is onto him.

Bobrovsky could be the wild card. We have always seen goalies get off to the quick start, then falters when people catch onto them-- right Jim Carey and Blaine Lacher?? That said, Bobo could be the guy who stops the goaltending carousel for the Flyers. He couldn't do any worse than the guys they've seen come in and out of the door. If nothing else, he's a guy that could keep the confidence given and parlay it into a solid season and beyond.

3. With Raitis Ivanans getting knocked the eff out by Steve MacIntyre, is this a record for people like Bob McKenzie to rag on fighting??

It could be, but I understand McKenzie's point of the game being out of hand and it being a worthless cause for this to happen. Yet, at the same time-- you try to get some kind of momentum into the next game if it's a lost cause-- whether it's a flurry of goals or a fight. Granted, Ivanans getting KTFO isn't what the Flames wanted, but he made a stand. If that could have happened earlier in the game with a different result-- who knows what could have happened. Yet, we'll see how much of a backlash this gets if something happens again.

4. What opening ceremonies thus far have been somewhat meaningful??

Though I very much dislike the Penguins, having Mario Lemieux put some of the melted ice from Mellon Arena on the Consol Energy ice was pretty snazzy. Not as cool as what the Montreal Canadiens did when they closed down Forum, but what do you expect from a team that has the history the Habs do??

Other than that, it seems like it's by the book for most teams. The Leafs bringing out their alumni for the opener, the Europeans bringing out their stars, teams just going through the elaborate opening announcing the team. It's nothing that's out of the ordinary, but it seems to have the same excitement factor behind it all.

5. What would be the perfect opening ceremony for a team that you were in charge of??

For one, you need fire-- that's a must. Have the mascot come out of the sky and hopefully not get stuck in the rafters. I'd go by the book and get the introductions and have the players do a victory lap to thank all the fans. Put replays of last year's season up there, good or bad, and then hype the team up about how well they're going to do and they're ready for a big Cup run.

All the while, I'm counting the money and trying to sell off some of the team's stuff like Charlestown Chiefs owner Joe McGrath or be like Howard K. Duff VIII and look for a way to move the team to Albuquerque and not let anyone know about it.

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And that's another week. If you have any ideas of questions-- I'll answer them. Email Scotty.Wazz@Gmail.com and I'll put into the upcoming F5 and you can join in. If you don't like this and didn't submit-- you have no room to complain about this craptasticness.